Native Floridian - Looking to buy land for a small family ranch around Cody - Clark - Powell, Wyoming (Cheyenne: insurance, inspection)

[nm9stheham]

'Culture shock' depends on what you are used to. If the OP spent a lot of time in rural AZ, then he may be well suited for this. I come from the Southern Appalachians, and the small rural area around Dubois is not any culture shock. And the overall values and attitudes are close to the same. But I like to work on things, and not get out to parties or 'just walk in the park', so any rural area suits.

FWIW: Worked on building and wintering-in a garage last fall. Wind was up everyday from late Oct to early Dec. Meaning gusts to over 40 mph every day. Only a couple of calm days in there, and sometimes it would be calmer in the morning and then pick up. Peak gust on the knob above 2 winters ago was 98 mph. But not all new to me. And folks who live in FL can see some bad occasional winds in nor'easters and hurricanes. So it is not unique to WY, just more regular and frequent.

Very dry. Others can speak much better to water for animals and land needs.

OP, if you are building, think about living while you build. We are doing what is fairly common: building garage first and living there (in a camper). Cost to rent a short term place around Cody is going to be very high, with the tourist trade.

Prices are peaking pretty badly right now, and 'supply' of good land and houses is very limited; lots of not-so-good stuff being sold. So what you see in FL is going on in WY.

[BabyBoomers2]

First, we've been in: Laramie, Cheyenne, Douglas and Cody. In Laramie and Cheyenne, for their PRCA rodeos and Cody to go into Yellowstone N.P and the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum. I'm a former member of that rodeo organization. Anyway, we use to live just south of Denver and visited each of those Wyoming cities. Wound up in northeastern Florida for 10 1/2 years, then returned to Colorado 2 1/2 years ago.

I really believe, like others here, that the OP needs to visit Wyoming in the winter. And, their "ranching" desires could, and many times do, get expensive.

As far as "acceptance" in Wyoming, all I can say is wife and I were pretty instantly. How? Wrangler jeans, Ariat Lace-Up Hiking boots, one of my trophy buckles and a nice Resistol straw hat. Someone told us, while up in Wyoming one time, "you two look like you already live here". Then I told them about my years in rodeo/timed-events.

Now, the thing about being pulled over by law enforcement: I was never pulled over, but, while in the Billings, Montana Public Library in 1995, a note was left under a windshield blade on my truck. At that time, I was still living in So California, but looking at horses in Billings.

The note read: "If your going to stay in Montana, get a Montana license plate. If not, get your a** back to California!" I was sort of shocked, until that night, watching local news, I seen how a guy who had done a murder in Palm Springs, CA had been caught in a weekly motel in Billings.

And, I truly believe, whether it's a rental car or personal car, there are states in the U.S. that don't like to see out-of-state license plates for any reason.

Another true fact, there is a major difference in taking a vacation to somewhere and living there. And, Wyoming is very, very different than any part of Florida. Although, there are fairly large cattle ranches in Florida and a pretty big rodeo south of Orlando. But, the states are still different. Florida, obviously not nearly as cold as any part of Colorado, Wyoming or Montana can get.

[OneDawg]

Mom always said "you can't eat the mountains"
Boy, was she right

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by BabyBoomers2

First, we've been in: Laramie, Cheyenne, Douglas and Cody. In Laramie and Cheyenne, for their PRCA rodeos and Cody to go into Yellowstone N.P and the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum. I'm a former member of that rodeo organization. Anyway, we use to live just south of Denver and visited each of those Wyoming cities. Wound up in northeastern Florida for 10 1/2 years, then returned to Colorado 2 1/2 years ago.

I really believe, like others here, that the OP needs to visit Wyoming in the winter. And, their "ranching" desires could, and many times do, get expensive.

As far as "acceptance" in Wyoming, all I can say is wife and I were pretty instantly. How? Wrangler jeans, Ariat Lace-Up Hiking boots, one of my trophy buckles and a nice Resistol straw hat. Someone told us, while up in Wyoming one time, "you two look like you already live here". Then I told them about my years in rodeo/timed-events.

Now, the thing about being pulled over by law enforcement: I was never pulled over, but, while in the Billings, Montana Public Library in 1995, a note was left under a windshield blade on my truck. At that time, I was still living in So California, but looking at horses in Billings.

The note read: "If your going to stay in Montana, get a Montana license plate. If not, get your a** back to California!" I was sort of shocked, until that night, watching local news, I seen how a guy who had done a murder in Palm Springs, CA had been caught in a weekly motel in Billings.

And, I truly believe, whether it's a rental car or personal car, there are states in the U.S. that don't like to see out-of-state license plates for any reason.

Another true fact, there is a major difference in taking a vacation to somewhere and living there. And, Wyoming is very, very different than any part of Florida. Although, there are fairly large cattle ranches in Florida and a pretty big rodeo south of Orlando. But, the states are still different. Florida, obviously not nearly as cold as any part of Colorado, Wyoming or Montana can get.

Sounds like you have to be careful with both 2 leg critters as well as the 4 leg critters.

[BabyBoomers2]

Originally Posted by nowhereman427

Sounds like you have to be careful with both 2 leg critters as well as the 4 leg critters.

Nope, don't have to worry about either. No more horses and, darn near as soon as we arrive at where ever we move to, we get new drivers license and new plates. When we first arrived back in Colorado, we still had Florida plate on our vehicle and locals would ask us "why, Florida". So, within two weeks, we had the plate changed to Colorado. Problem and explaining ended.

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by BabyBoomers2

Nope, don't have to worry about either. No more horses and, darn near as soon as we arrive at where ever we move to, we get new drivers license and new plates. When we first arrived back in Colorado, we still had Florida plate on our vehicle and locals would ask us "why, Florida". So, within two weeks, we had the plate changed to Colorado. Problem and explaining ended.

Do you use rental vehicles until you can get new state plates or what do you do?

[Happy in Wyoming]

When I arrived in Wyoming I had six, eight, and ten months left on Colorado plates; we replaced them with Wyoming as they expired. We didn't hurry with DL either. Nobody cared. In fact, nobody cared about anything. It was quickly apparent that Wyoming was freedom on steroids. It's the same twenty-two years later.

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by Happy in Wyoming

When I arrived in Wyoming I had six, eight, and ten months left on Colorado plates; we replaced them with Wyoming as they expired. We didn't hurry with DL either. Nobody cared. In fact, nobody cared about anything. It was quickly apparent that Wyoming was freedom on steroids. It's the same twenty-two years later.

Less people and less problems like that.
Perhaps in the more populated areas might be different. Though people have changed.

[sunsprit]

Beware the folks who suggest that Wyoming isn't interested in your timely registration of your motor vehicles and obtaining a Wyoming driver's license. You can set yourself up for some hefty fines and penalties for not obtaining same in a timely manner.

Perhaps there are areas of Wyoming where these requirements aren't routinely enforced ... but there are areas where they are noticed.

It's not uncommon, for example, for local LE to notice a vehicle routinely parked at a place of employment ... such as a shopping center, or a business ... and note an out-of-state license plate. After awhile, they may place a "courtesy" notice on the vehicle windshield reminding the operator that there is a limited time period in which a new WY resident has to register the vehicle here. Ignoring that notice may find you with an officer doing a bit more investigation to ascertain if you're a local employee/WY resident.

It's a really simple situation ... Wyoming, like any other state ... is reliant upon tax revenues. With lower taxes on other sources, Wyoming has a fairly high vehicle registration cost. TPTB want their money ...

Note, too, that the insurance companies want their piece of the action. If you're a resident of Wyoming, your vehicle must be insured to operate on public roads ... and your insurer in another state where you had residency may not necessarily be happy with you not notifying them of a change of residence and getting appropriate Wyoming auto insurance. (Same thing with Health insurance ... when you move to Wyoming, your policy in another state may not be valid, check with your insurance agent)

[BabyBoomers2]

Originally Posted by sunsprit

Beware the folks who suggest that Wyoming isn't interested in your timely registration of your motor vehicles and obtaining a Wyoming driver's license. You can set yourself up for some hefty fines and penalties for not obtaining same in a timely manner.

Perhaps there are areas of Wyoming where these requirements aren't routinely enforced ... but there are areas where they are noticed.

It's not uncommon, for example, for local LE to notice a vehicle routinely parked at a place of employment ... such as a shopping center, or a business ... and note an out-of-state license plate. After awhile, they may place a "courtesy" notice on the vehicle windshield reminding the operator that there is a limited time period in which a new WY resident has to register the vehicle here. Ignoring that notice may find you with an officer doing a bit more investigation to ascertain if you're a local employee/WY resident.

It's a really simple situation ... Wyoming, like any other state ... is reliant upon tax revenues. With lower taxes on other sources, Wyoming has a fairly high vehicle registration cost. TPTB want their money ...

Note, too, that the insurance companies want their piece of the action. If you're a resident of Wyoming, your vehicle must be insured to operate on public roads ... and your insurer in another state where you had residency may not necessarily be happy with you not notifying them of a change of residence and getting appropriate Wyoming auto insurance. (Same thing with Health insurance ... when you move to Wyoming, your policy in another state may not be valid, check with your insurance agent)

ALL so, so true!!