June 27-28

Lander, WY, to Jeffrey City, WY....59 miles. We liked Lander....the City Park was peaceful. We had a tough uphill climb of a butte that seemed to go on forever. After topping it, we enjoyed a tailwind. Lunch was at Sweetwater Station, which was really a rest stop. We anted up our possessions and enjoyed Oreos, hamburger buns with peanut butter, beef jerky, trail mix and oranges. We pedaled into Jeffrey City, a small town that suffered through losses when a uranium mine closed there over 20 years ago. The place was desolate and fitting of a modern day ghost town like something out of a sci fi movie. Split Rock cafe was sort of a help yourself place....staff seemed busy with laptops so we cleaned the table and Howard brought food straight from the grill. Four of us crammed in one motel room whereas Dave chose to sleep outside in his tent. We rode our Bikes to the Sweetwater River, about 3 miles to jump in for a swim. The gravel road beat us up, the mosquitoes tried to eat us up, and a big snake at the swimming hole watched us. We went back to our room, showered, talked and laughed and passed out early.

Jeffrey City, WY, to Rawlins, WY....After breakfast, we rushed to get out of town, as the mosquitos had intensified. We found the faster we rode, the fewer would light on us. We had a moderate uphill with a crosswind. My ears are now dry and chapped from exposure under the helmet. We rode along roads that had previously been part of the Mormon Trail, Pony Express, Oregon Trail, and Chief Washakie Trail. We ate a second breakfast at Granny's Cafe. We all agreed WYO roads were the worst. There was little shoulder, there were potholes, cracks and ripples. RV's were a constant problem, passing oh so close. The last stretch of the day was 33 miles to Rawlins, WY. We had a long straight stretch with a huge hill to climb at its terminus that we stared at for hours as we crossed the valley floor. Plenty of time to think about what was coming. Rawlins had a nice KOA with pool, which we enjoyed as our laundry was spinning. The Bike shop we were counting on was closed. Jordan's tire had ripped and Howard had loaned us his and we wanted to replace it. We rode bikes to a great place to eat called Square Shooters. Steak, apple pie, the works. We rode back to camp, made calls, wrote in journals, then has sweet dreams of doing it all over again.