Laramie, Wyoming July 2013

We just got back from a three day ride to Laramie for my birthday.  What a great ride - beautiful scenery and such fun!   It was 806 miles, and a little warm (95) on Thursday afternoon (luckily we left early because we knew it would be hot), but so FUN!  As you know, "It's all about the ride" :-)

We left Hart Ranch on Tuesday the 9th at about 8:30.  We stopped in Lusk, WY at a biker bar for lunch.

Look at all the pretty bikes!

We stopped in Guernsey, WY because the Oregon Trail ran through there, and we heard you could actually see the ruts.  Unfortunately, it would have been a detour to go see the ruts, so we passed on that.  We did stop at the city park so that we could wet down our cooling vests.  It was starting to get into the high 80's, and was getting warm riding.

Mike soaking the cooling vests

After Guernsey, we hit I-25 for about 20 miles, and then headed East on WY Hwy 34 just south of Wheatland.  What gorgeous scenery!  It ran through a wild life refuge, and there was rain in the distance, and it was beautiful.  Luckily the cloud cover helped cool things off.

On the road to Laramie

We got into Laramie at about 4:00.  It's really a charming town, and is the home of the University of Wyoming, which has a pretty campus.  It surprised us to find that Laramie is at 7,000 feet in elevation.

On the 10th, we left in the morning for Medicine Bow.  Mike wanted to go here, because this is where the TV show "The Virginian" takes place.  We left early enough that we were able to see a few critters.  Lots of Pronghorns, prairie dogs, and we even saw a Bald Eagle sitting on a fence post.

There isn't much to Medicine Bow except for the Virginian Hotel which was built in 1911, Owen Wister's cabin (he wrote The Virginian novel after staying in Medicine Bow for one night), and the old Train Depot which is now the museum.  The area used to have big sheep ranches, but now it's mostly cattle.  The Union Pacific Railroad made the town, it used to stop here, but stopped  service in the early 40's. Now the trains just run by, blowing their horns.  The current population here is 284.

The Virginian Hotel

Owen Wister's Cabin and the old Train Depot

The Union Pacific made this town

The Dining Room in the Virginian

I'm glad we didn't stay in Medicine Bow.  We walked into the hotel, and went upstairs to look at the rooms.  Everything smelled very musty, and the rooms didn't have bathrooms - you had to share the hall bath.  No Thanks!

On the way back to Laramie we had a great four lane, divided road and no traffic.  I decided that I wanted to see how fast the Spyder would go - I got up to 100 mph before I started backing off - it would have gone much faster I think. What a thrill!!

Today we left Laramie at around 7:00 because we knew it would be a hot ride this afternoon.  We headed East on I-80 towards Cheyenne, and turned off toward Curt Gowdy State Park.  Our friend Char told us to go through here to see Vedauwoo - some stunning rock formations.  It was a beautiful ride.

I-80, and the road that we took to Medicine Bow, are part of the old Lincoln Highway.  This was the first road built to cross the United States.  It went from Times Square in NYC to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, and crossed 13 states.  There is a monument to Lincoln at the rest area where we exited to go to Vedauwoo.  The picture isn't very good because I was taking it into the sun (so early in the morning!).

We got home around 2:00 - and boy was I glad because my thermometer on the bike said 93!!  Now we're unpacked, doing laundry and having wine.  Work tomorrow.....