Day 44 Prairie Dogs and Pronghorns

Polaris At The Market in Saratoga

Mike got to talking to the produce manager here and was offered a job! (He worked in a produce dept. in high school.) That is one of several offers on this trip. One guy wanted to sell Mike his rain gutter business (He just shut down his handyman business.) and another wanted him to come work as a bike mechanic. Mike definitely makes a good first impression on folks!

Unicorn, Moose, Elk or Caribou? This guy was above the produce department at the market in Saratoga along with many, many other pieces of taxidermy. Oh, Aunt Sally you would have loved it! Hee! Hee!

Ahhhh, Ice Cream at Riverside

Encampment River next to our campsite

Date: Sept. 1, 2009

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

To: Riverside

Route: Hwy 230

Passes:

Miles: 20 miles

Top Speed on this trip: 47.7 mph

Weather: Windy!!

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

The thrill of the day were the over one dozen separate prairie dog sightings and at least that many pronghorn antelope including a baby. The prairie dogs have their burrows right by the road. Occasionally we would just spot them scurrying down their burrow but sometimes we would find them sitting up on their hindquarters just as cute as could be.

Our hosts Renie and Everett joined us for breakfast along with their two lovely granddaughters and though we’d hoped to treat them, they insisted on treating us. Thanks again you guys! I was blessed with holding 9 month old baby Hailey so Renie could finish her breakfast and was pleased to be able to rock her to sleep. That was a special treat.

We opted for a short day today and were glad because once again we were beat up by a crosswind. Also, for whatever reason the bike had a lot of annoying and questionable ticks and creaks today. The front tire sounded like it had gum stuck to it and had an annoying incessant tick. We stopped several times and wiped down the tire, checked the spokes, checked the nipples and even disconnected the sensor on the computer with no luck. Mike was going insane between that, more miles of nothing and the wind. When the back end of the bike produced yet another noise we stopped to investigate. This time I held the front of the bike while Mike held up the back (not an easy task with this weighty beast) while asking Gregory to spin the wheel. Poor Gregory gave the wheel a good spin but got his pinkie finger down between the wheel and asphalt and let out a wail! Mike felt bad but at this point knew he might "lose it" and we switched places so I could soothe and attended to Gregory’s wound. It took a while but Gregory got back on the bike and sniffled on down the highway.

The little town of Riverside was a sight to behold. We plunked down at the little store and had cold drinks and ice cream before riding ¼ mile around the corner to The Lazy Acres Campground. We set up camp around 2:30 P.M., which is probably a record for us. Gregory had a cool river to wade in, Mike got a nap in the tent with a nice cool breeze blowing in and I got a shower, put the laundry in and read the first 60 pages of To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I picked this up back at the KOA in Rawlins and was thrilled to actually have some time to read for a change. Gregory is also devouring his book Gregor The Overlander by Suzanne Collins. He says it is sad though. I must make an effort to find him books he will enjoy because he doesn’t mind doing his reading each day if he is enjoying it. Getting him to write in his journal is still a struggle but it is getting better. We try to do ours at the same time. Today we actually practiced times tables while pedaling on the bike but Mike didn’t like that because he thought Gregory wasn’t putting any effort into the pedals.

Dinner was just across the street at The Beartrap Café and I enjoyed an evening free of cooking and cleanup. We’ll probably be back for breakfast! Tomorrow we should cross into Colorado and perhaps make it as far as Walden. Wyoming has a special beauty all her own but we will not be sorry to leave the wind behind. We are looking forward to the mountains of Colorado. Did I just say I was looking forward to mountains?