CHEYENNE - Vice President Dick Cheney will waste no time getting back to Wyoming after he and President George Bush officially leave office next month.

Cheney and wife Lynne are slated to fly to Casper immediately after the Jan. 20 inauguration ceremony for a reception that night at the home of family friends Mick and Susie McMurry, said state Treasurer Joe Meyer, a longtime friend of the Cheneys.

The private reception will offer a chance for the vice president to begin to "decompress" after eight years in office, Meyer said.

Close friends, including some members of the Cheneys' 1959 Natrona County High School graduating class, are expected to attend.

"It will be low key," Meyer said. "It's just a chance to get out of that [Washington, D.C.] environment, come home. There are so many friends here, and let's have fun."

The following day, Cheney will meet with the state Legislature, which will be in session in Cheyenne. Legislative officials said the format of that encounter has yet to be finalized.

Also on Jan. 21, Cheney will be honored by the Longs Peak Council of Boy Scouts of America, said Sheryl McBride, director of support services for the council.

Cheney will receive a distinguished citizen award from the Boy Scouts. He will also be the featured speaker at the event, an annual fundraiser for the Longs Peak Council, which includes part of southeast Wyoming,

The fundraiser will take place at the Cheyenne Little America. Tickets are $175, but contributors will pay up to $15,000 to attend, McBride said.

"If you want to meet and greet and rub elbows with the Cheneys, it's going to be $15,000," McBride said.

The Cheneys' long-term plans may also include time in Wyoming.

The Cheneys own a home in the Jackson area, and are building another in Maryland, near their children and grandchildren, said Meyer, who expects the Cheneys to commute to Wyoming.

Cheney, 67, was born in Nebraska and grew up in Casper. Wyoming voters elected him to Congress five times.

He also served as chief of staff for President Gerald Ford, defense secretary under President George H.W. Bush and chief executive officer of Halliburton Company from 1995 to 2000.

Contact capital bureau reporter Jared Miller at (307) 632-1244 or jared.miller@trib.com