An icon of Wyoming's old highway days, The Tumble Inn cowboy has lost his hat.

Located in what is left of the little back highway town of Powder River Wyoming, on Highway 20/26 between Casper, Wyoming and Shoshoni.

Out in the open prairie, it can't be missed.

This sign was put up before there was such a thing as interstate highways.

Those old back highways were much slower back then.

The Tumble Inn was a restaurant and bar with a few motel rooms for travelers, or those who had too much to drink and did not want to drive home.

The old sign has been falling apart for decades.

Not long ago it looked like this:

Photo By Tim Mandese
Photo By Tim Mandese
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I walked the area with Tim Mandese, who was taking the pictures for me.

We could not find the top of the sign.

Did someone from the town scoop up what fell and take it home?

Notice not only is the hat gone, but where is the arrow?

So what was the cause of the damage?

Turns out it is not damage at all, but the beginnings of restoration!

 

They had a sign company take it about two weeks ago. said Lyndon Meade of Wyoming.
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Does that mean someone has purchased the sign? Yes!

Wake Up Wyoming was contacted by the new owner, Johnathan Thorne. Johnathan grew up in Wyoming, looking at the iconic sign, and dreamed of restoring it to its former glory.
Photo By Tim Mandese
Photo By Tim Mandese
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Johnathan first tracked down the owners of the sign and got to work convincing them to sell to him. Turns out it was a package deal. They told him he could buy the sign and the inn along with it.

Thorne acknowledged that there was plenty of damage done by years of Wyoming weather and wind, but work has already begun to get the sign back up!

He even has an Emmy award-winning cinematographer on hand to showcase the progress!

There's still plenty of work to go before this old cowboy is shiny and new. But you can follow along with updates here.

Photo by Tim Mandese
Photo by Tim Mandese
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For now, any photos of this old sign will not be complete. But one day the Tumble Inn Cowboy will watch over Wyoming drivers again.

Devils Tower As Seen From The Mother Ship

If you've see the movie (documentary) Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, then you know what it looked like to see "The Mother Ship" descending down to Devils Tower.

But what did it look like from the Mother Ship's point of view?

We don't have any actual photos from the Mother Ship

So we recreated the scene using Google Earth and one Nasa Photo.

Inside Wyoming Missile Silo For Sale

There are decommissioned missile silos for sale in Wyoming.

Thermal nuclear device not included.

Now why would anyone want to own one of those?

Lets start by looking to the outside, then go in.

Well, because owning one is just such a cool idea.

So lets have a look at what the realtor is offering.

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