President of The Bank of Boulder, Steve Bosley, proposed to Crowder they would do a fundraiser to send Ralphie to the Orange Bowl game against Ohio State. When a reporter asked Bosley how Ralphie would travel to Miami, he explained that the information was top secret since Colorado was concerned that Ohio State students would try to kidnap, or "buffalo-nap" Ralphie. The story of the potential "buffalo-napping" made newspapers nationwide, featuring a picture of Ralphie in full charge with her Handlers. The story stimulated over $25,000 in donations. Ralphie's trip to the Orange Bowl cost $2,500, and the balance was put into a fund for Ralphie's future care. Ralphie I attended every Colorado home football game for 13 years, including all bowl games, and retired at the end of the 1978 season. The team matured too, selecting and training knowledgeable Handlers. The Handlers wore classic western attire while working with Ralphie, and initially would wear their cowboy boots when running with Ralphie. In 1978 the Handlers began to wear athletic shoes when running with Ralphie instead of cowboy boots, finding that it was easier to run faster and guide Ralphie while in athletic shoes. Colorado's first Ralphie achieved national celebrity status, and was even kidnapped in 1970 by some Air Force Academy cadets, as well as being named Colorado's 1971 Homecoming Queen at the height of the anti-establishment era. In 1968, Ralphie was promoted as a candidate for Student Body President with the slogan of "What's It To You?" She did not win the election. During the football season Ralphie lived at the Green Meadows Riding Stable, located near present-day East Campus of the University, owned by C.D. "Buddy" Hays. Hays not only cared for and trained Ralphie, he was also the coach of the Colorado Rodeo Club. The Ralphie Handlers would also practice and work with Ralphie in the arena of Green Meadows Riding Stable. In the off-season Ralphie lived on the pastures at Hidden Valley Ranch, where Hays also kept his herd of buffalo, located north of Boulder. Ralphie I lived at Hidden Valley Ranch until 1981 when she moved to the McKenzie Ranch located in North Boulder. Ralphie traveled in a modified steel, brown, 4-horse trailer, donated by Hays. She used a custom harness and headstall made by Ray Cornell out of Boulder, Colorado that lead ropes were attached to allow the Handlers to run with her