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Rawlins, WY - West Across Windy WyomingJun 10, 2008
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Wyoming Sign at Visitor Center
Sign on Lincoln Highway
Monument to Lincoln at Wyoming Visitor Center
We got an early start and were on the road by 8:30 a.m. Once through Loveland, we hit I-25 north to Cheyenne and then I-80 west. Our goal for the day was Rock Springs but we stopped about 100 miles short at Rawlins.
Lots of deer were visible off the highway through northern Colorado and Wyoming. I was keeping a close eye on them to be sure none of them darted across the highway. Just north of the Wyoming border, we saw a herd of buffalo grazing. The snow capped Rocky Mountains were a beautiful sight. We saw a sign for Medicine Bow National Forest, and we both said simultaneously…….where are the trees? I swear to you there wasn’t a tree anywhere in sight and we sure could have used them for a wind break.
As we gained elevation to about 8,500 feet, the temperature fell and so did the fuel mileage. Snow was still accumulated on the ground around the snow fences. Joe saw an animal that looked like a moose wading in a pond. The wind was blowing at gale force and we were going to stop at the next rest area. Wouldn’t you know it……..closed.
OK, we weren’t desperate so we went on to the next one and had some lunch and took Foxy for a walk. When we got back on the road, the wind was much worse, 35-45 mph sustained and gusting to over 50 mph. This was way too much work to keep the rig on the road and we were getting clobbered on fuel mileage. Why keep going? So, we hopped off at Rawlins and we checked into Western Hills RV Park.
This park is wide open, no wind break here either, and the slide toppers were making an enormous racket. Joe tied them down and, at least, we could hear each other talk. It seemed the winds got even worse after we parked but finally calmed a bit by early evening. We cooked hamburgers for supper and watched the weather forecast…..snow for tomorrow in Jackson. Well that's where we're heading; we'll see how far we get.
