I rode out of Fort Collins a lil' late and really still not having it settled what way I wanted to ride. Makes it a lil' difficult to pick roads!
But, the road kinda forces you to make a choice and ended up rolling up hwy 287 toward Laramie.
I hit the border and thought it'd be good to stop and collect that border crossing sign. I was standing there doin' my thing when a lil' car pulled up and stopped.
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| * The Wyoming Border South of Laramie* |
It gave me a chuckle. It was a fella named Wes Parker and his wife on a trip from I think he said Atlanta, but that part escaped me. Anyhoo, as he's takin' his pick of the sign he says; "Looks like your takin' a trip."
"Yep"
"Where you headed?" He asked.
"Not really sure" I replied, where ever I end up I guess." A genuine Then Came Bronson moment. :)
So,I continued rolling, right into the usual Wyoming wind. Not sure how hard it was blowin' but the quartering wind I ran against nearly all day knocked my usual fuel consumption form the 50+- mpg vicinity down to 43 mpg. Not so important down here in the states but things like that can cause knots in your shorts up in the Yukon...
when ya'll only have a 4 gallon tank... and you have to run the last gallon with the computer tellin' you're empty and how many miles you've been running on that "reserve". :)
I decided to take U.S. 30 out of Laramie to Medicine bow where I'd turn onto Wyoming 487 to make the run to Casper.
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| *The Virginian Hotel in Medicine Bow Wyoming* |
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| *What? A Massacre? - Sand Creek Massacre Trail sign* |
There's a wind farm just north of there a ways... I don't really remember it being there the last time I went this way...
My son-in-law is a crane operator. I believe he runs a 190 ton. He runs up to Wyoming a lot to work on the wind mill farms, so it's likely he set a good number of these wind turbines up above Medicine bow. That and lifted parts on and off for repair...
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| *Wind Power Farm near Medicine Bow Wyoming* |
I refueled on the west end of Casper and turned onto U.S. 20 toward Shoshoni. Right about there is when I really first got to noticing the smoke filling the sky up ahead.
Just my luck the road was aimin' right directly for it. How-some-ever, After a few miles it started anglin' off toward some blue sky and I risked the fantasy I might just ride clear...
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| *Smoke in the sky as I rolled toward Shoshoni Wyoming* |
This one was closer to the ground and had my eyes burning...
By the time I got to Meeteetse my thoat was burning. The road I was supposed to take out of Meeteetse to the campground I'd been planning on ran straight into the smoke cloud, which was heavier and lower than that back by Shoshoni. I just kept that Raider runnin' north and rolled all the way into Cody.
There bein' no Forest Service camps right close to hand there and it bein' late I chose to just pull into the KOA and use it for the night... even if such doin's was a budget buster for a busted Buster! ;)
...and that's when I found out my 20 year old whisperlite stove wouldn't fire up to cook my supper any more. Sweet Momma Yamaha! Betterer and betterer!
Good thing I was at a fine KOA! 'cause they had a micro wave in their lil' game room that was probably built the same day my stove was. Once I deciphered the tricks to turning it on, I nuked the meal in a box I'd grabbed in Thermopolis, had me a hot supper and called it a night!
Come the morning I rose to one of those "Red Sky at morning" warnings...
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| *Red Sky Sunrise over Cody Wyoming* |
I fought with the stove some more before pronouncing it KIA and tossed that pricey old timer in the trash bin...
... and started day 2...
To be continued
Brian
2 comments:
Nice sunrise picture! I like the cooler weather riding much more than riding in 100° heat.
Looks like they painted the Virginian since the last time I was there. I think there was only one wind turbine then too. I think that was before 9/11
Looks like your having an adventure.
Howiet
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