It seems like we've been here a long time. This is a big state!
We left Loveland, Colorado yesterday morning early, and pulled into Pinedale, Wyoming, at about 4 pm. It was mostly a driving day, but we did manage to get off the freeway a few times to wander around.
Wyoming is just beautiful. It has a bit of everything: weird rock formations in the eastern part of the state (my pictures can't do it justice--the panorama is so huge!), and then, as you go west, the land rises and flattens out. They call this area the High Plains: it's flat for miles and miles, with nothing but cattle in sight. Lots of freeway exits lead right to dirt roads (Bar-X Road, Red Rock Road, Black Bluff Road) that go off beyond the horizon somewhere and you wonder what's over there for a road to go to. Then, as you get further west, the land starts to rise into mountains again, with pine trees mixed in with the same kind of striped-layer desert erosion we saw in Arizona and New Mexico. Very cool!
Now, just let me say a word about trucks in Wyoming. They go FAST! The speed limit here on the freeways is 75; 65 for trucks. The speed limit on smaller roads is generally 65; 55 for trucks. The trucks pay no attention to this whatsoever. I went the speed limit and nearly got smooshed several times by trucks riding my bumper, demanding to be let past. I didn't see a single cop the whole day. It's a free-for-all out there! I guess this is where the truckers make up for all the lost time in the cities.
Outside every large town, you see signs warning that, when the lights are flashing, the freeway is closed, and there are gates that come down just like for a train crossing. This is mainly for winter snow. Freeway closures, according to some people I talked to, happen a couple of times every year, and some years (like last year) more. One woman I spoke to said she went 30 miles down the freeway to work in the morning and then couldn't get home that night because the road had been closed. It was reopened the next day. I asked her if that happened a lot, and she casually said, "Yeah." She just takes a change of clothes with her when it looks like "bad snow."
We also passed, in the eastern part of the state, the "Smallest Town in the World": Buford, Wyoming. The sign says "Population: 2" but really, there's only one now: an old man who lives in the house next to the sign. (I guess someone died or left, but I didn't like to ask).
A few miles down the road (and in Wyoming, "a few miles" is a long way!) at a rest area east of Laramie is the Lincoln monument. This huge statue of Lincoln looks out over the freeway, and was erected to honor Lincoln's 150th birthday in 1959.
In Rawlins, we stopped for lunch and drove through the town and stumbled upon this beautiful Victorian, dated 1903. The house was built by George Ferris, a local businessman, and is now a B&B.
At Rock Springs, we left I-80 and headed north on a small two-lane road, coming to Pinedale after about 100 miles.
Tomorrow: the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone at last!
2 comments:
Do you think the second resident moved a few yards away to start his OWN smallest town in the world, and now the two fued over which has the better claim? Do they measure their waistlines to make the determination?
:)
That is too funny!
Your comment is just-right funny, roog.
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