The drive north from Fort Collins to Laramie was stunning. Canyons, rock formations, rolling hills. The wind started to pick up. Arriving in Laramie we got gas and drove around the historic town. Lots of churches, a quick stop at Daylight Donuts and a craft fair at the Elks Lodge and we were on our way west.
Interstate 80 was a straight shot across southern Wyoming and I figured it would be an easy drive, especially since the posted speed limit was 80 mph! Wrong! There were warning signs flashing about high winds blowing across the wide open space. They weren’t kidding and I had a hard time keeping the car on the road. I could barely do 55 mph and the wind gusts were 60 mph. Sounds like a math problem to me — if a car traveling at 55 mph with 60 mph wind, how long will it take to drive 100 miles?? We knew it was bad when we came upon a semi truck that had overturned. Thankfully the driver was not hurt. There were so many trucks waiting at the rest area; I had to pull off the road, too. Driving in these conditions was stressful.
Sinclair is a small dot on the map and it wasn’t until we saw the huge refinery that I connected Sinclair Oil with the town name. Who remembers the big green dinosaur? These gas stations are all across Wyoming and the refinery is located here.
The town of was Rawlins was just down the road and a good place for a break in yet another historic town. A visit to the penitentiary? Sure, why not. Now a museum, it was closed but we snapped a few photos and picked up a brochure about the murals that could be found around town.
Back on the road again, the wind had calmed down a bit. Around Rock Springs the landscape changed. Another sign pointing to yet another historic downtown. Might as well take a look. The former city hall, now a museum, offered a peek at life in Rock Springs in the late 1800’s. The self-guided tour takes you to 47 historic sites downtown. An interesting tidbit I read — in 1875 hundreds of Chinese were recruited to work in the mines. Too bad we didn’t have time to learn more about the town’s history. You could certainly spend days roaming Wyoming discovering all kinds of things about the early days in the wild west.
Signs started appearing for Little America — hotel, travel center, gas, convenience store, gift shop, restaurant, play area — everything a traveler needs. We’re getting hungry so let’s check it out. Everyone else had the same idea; must have been the 75 cent ice cream cones! The food was OK and gas was a bit more expensive. As we were sitting in the restaurant and I looked around, I realized that places like this take business away from the small towns we had just driven through. Next time I’ll spend a little more time in a town like Rock Springs or Rawlins, eat at a local diner and support the community.
Finally we are closing in on the western border of Wyoming! Clouds were coming in and the skies were getting darker. Could we make it to Ogden, Utah? Barely. It started raining with some snow mixed in. The rain came down harder, so hard that my sister and I couldn’t even hear each other talk. She was driving, we got a little turned around and I yelled to her to just take the next exit. Turns out there was a toll (what?) but since it was only $1 we paid it and drove right into downtown Ogden. The first hotel we stopped at had no vacancy. We finally found a place just off the highway. The snow was still falling. What will we find in the morning??
Next up, Idaho and Oregon! Thanks for reading!
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Barb, I remember stopping at Little American on the way out to Ft. Collins from Seattle. It is huge! And yes, the food was only so-so. Not much has change in four year! They don’t call it Windy Wyoming for nothing. Great state for wind power. Glad you did not stop in Cheyene; not much there and Laramie is much more interesting.
Thanks again for a great read!
Lois
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