One day, three bowling centers - Part 1: Wheatlanes

On Thursday, March 17, I drove from my hone in Cheyenne, WY to Rapid City, SD (to the Days Inn on 725 Jackson Blvd in West Rapid City, to be precise).

I was rendezvousing there with a travel friend who was coming from Minneapolis, MN. He had a 9-hour drive (which turned out to be less than that because he drives really fast!) and I had a 5-hour drive.

I decided to take my time and stop in at two bowling centers in towns in Wyoming off of I-25 North, the highway I was taking to Rapid City.

The 24-lane bowling center in Cheyenne, 2 Bar Bowl, is open from 10 am to 11 pm or midnight depending on the day. But Cheyenne has 60,000 people. The towns in question had 5,000 people or less, and so the bowling centers are only open for evening hours (except on weekends). But I figured I would go to each bowling center, take photos and get a good lay of the land in preparation for another visit- when I would actually bowl in each center.

Wheatlanes, Wheatland, WY

Wheatlanes in Wheatland, WY on a Thursday morning in mid-March

Another view of the doors to Wheatlanes

Wheatland, Wyoming is a town of about 4,000 people. It's just a little past Chugwater (the town famous for its annual Chugwater Chili Cook-off and for having no gas station as a drunk driver crashed into it some years ago). It's an hour's drive or so from Cheyenne to Wheatland, on I-25N.

The address of the bowling center, Wheatlanes, is 101 16th Street. I plugged this into my GPS and it took me right to the spot, just off of I-25. On the opposite side of 16th street is a Burger King. On this side there was another fast food restaurant...an Arby's I think? (Will double-check on my next visit and amend this entry!)

The bowling center is adjacent to a motel, and I parked in the motel's parking lot as, when I arrived, there was a Budweiser beer truck making a delivery and parked right in front of the doors.

I walked over, saw the sign on the door giving the hours (4 pm to 10 pm except on weekends.) But, because the owner was there to take delivery, the doors were open and she let me come in and have a brief look around the place.

Earl Anthony in his iconic bowling pose

It's a small bowling center - ten lanes I think. (The lights were off and I had time for only a couple of photos before the owner and I got to talking. Too dark to photograph the lanes properly). The owner is a widow, and wishes to sell the bowling center. It's actually got an attached apartment (which I did not see) and if I only had the money.....!

Anyway, this woman was in her seventies at the very least, and she and her husband had bowled for decades. She had known Earl Anthony. So I will be interviewing her in another week or so.

There's a grill, and a bar (which serves more than just Budweiser, obviously) and interesting decor on the walls, or as below, in the window separating the lobby from the lounge/bar.

Stained-glass window of a bowler

After my brief chat, I bade the owner farewell and set out for my next destination in route to Rapid City, SD - Douglas, Wyoming.