Day 43 Wind Whipped in Wyoming

Apparently these "Hardy Mums" aren't hardy enough for Wyoming! I snapped this shot while holding up the bike outside a Pamida Pharmacy in Rawlins while Mike went in to grab something for the bee sting he received after a bee came up under his glasses! That is sting #4!

Fresh asphalt on Highway 80 East to Walcott. We stayed to the right to avoid the many semis on this stretch. It was fabulous and we had a tailwind at this point in the day. Later it turned ugly...

Gregory makes a pillow out of Mom's lap while splaying out on the concrete. You must notice that he made his own little ice pack with a Ziploc snack baggie. Mommy's ice pack was discreetly hidden. You know where I bet!

Yummy Pickled Eggs!

Overland Trail Platte River Crossing 9 Miles West 1861 to 1868

Note the wagon ruts in the background.

Snack Stop

Miles of Snow Fence and Sagebrush

Pronghorn Antelope

We saw many of these but this was the only shot I got.

Soaking at the Saratoga Hot Springs

This pool in the river is fed with hot water overflow from the enclosed Hobo Pool just above. Mike was able to sit in the 109-113 degree water but Gregory and I remained in the river. At the source of the spring it is said to be 119 degrees. It is free to the public.

Idaho Plate in Wyoming?

Renie & Everett generously offered us a place to stay and gave Gregory his first set of matching plates that recently came off of their son's truck. It's almost time for another shipment to Grammy and Papa!

Date: Aug. 31, 2009

From: Rawlins, WY

To: Saratoga, WY (Home of the Saratoga Hot Springs)

Route: Hwy. 80E (to Walcott) and Hwy 130 (to Saratoga)

Passes:

Miles: 47 miles

Top Speed on this trip: 47.7 mph

Weather: Hot and Windy!!

License Plates Collected: 5 Montana plates, 6 Wyoming plates (2 motorcycle) and 1 Idaho plate (found in WY)

Wind is not the cyclist’s friend unless it is a tailwind! Wind was our friend the first 20 miles of our day with the added benefit of new asphalt out of Rawlins. The fast lane was closed so we were blessed with not to having to ride next to the “billions” of semis that travel this road. Gregory commented that it was the most semis he had seen anywhere! Once we turned south-east on highway 130 we had a brutal crosswind with to contend with the rest of the day. Mike commented at the 20 mile mark that he didn’t know if he had another 20 miles in him and I was certainly hurting but there was no place to stay and we all wanted to get to the Saratoga Hot Springs. When we rolled into town the wind had beaten us down something awful. Mike rode right past the turnoff for camping and heading to town stopping at the first restaurant he saw. I said, “Are you sure you want to eat here? Shall I check out the menu first?” The look on his face said I don’t care what they have as long as I don’t have to ride further. I checked it out and got a recommendation a couple blocks down the road where he could get a cold beer and some Mexican food.

As fate would have it this was the right move. We knew we didn’t want to back track to the camping on the outskirts of town and kept asking if there was other camping headed out of town. Most responded with, “Nope. That’s it.” We also still wanted to do the hot springs hobo pool and it was getting dark. Then we met Renie and Everett. They actually work at “The Pool” and informed us that sometimes cyclists camp behind the hot springs or in the city park though they aren’t supposed to. I was seriously considering it though Mike thought we should go back to the other camp and perhaps do the hot springs in the morning. Fortunately, we didn’t have to make that decision because these fabulous people invited us to go take a soak and then ride a couple of blocks to their home and have a bed for the night. To top it off when they heard that Gregory collected license plates Everett came up with the two matching plates from his son’s truck that he was throwing away. We had a hot shower and nestled down under the sheets for a good nights sleep.

Yes, my buns are still uncomfortable on my current saddle and I spent our rest stop at Walcott Junction with a baggie of ice between my two pairs of shorts! I don’t know that it helped much but I’m willing to try anything! The riding at the beginning of the day seems worse than later on because after a while everything just feels numb! Good news is that my method of a Dr. Scholl’s Corn Cushion with a blister bandage over it seems to be working well. I’m still not healed but hopefully getting there. I’m almost done with my course of antibiotics and making every effort to get a hot shower each night so I can do my warm compresses.

Poor Mike started this day with a bee stinging him when if flew up under his glasses and though we got an antihistamine in him right away and it didn’t swell it wasn’t a great start to what would be a long day. Today it was really mind over matter to get to our destination. I stared at the miles and miles of sagebrush on the shoulder without looking ahead to the never-ending open highway. Gregory and I looked for license plates and pronghorn antelope of which we saw several later in the evening and that was the thrill of this very long day. Of course we did enjoy the hot springs but at 109-113 degrees it was too hot for Gregory and I and we ended up down in the river where a pipe dumps the hot water overflow from the hobo pool. Apparently on years when the river is high the temperature in the pool is much hotter. At the source of the spring it is said to be 119 degrees! We were amazed to find a young lady just a little older than Gregory going underwater and playing ball. Talk about one tough cookie.