Laramie to Rawlins Wy

Wind..... that about covers it.

We drove out of Laramie on 287/30. We drove out into the middle of nowhere. As far as we could see there was just rolling hills and sky. Every once in a while we saw an antelope and the antelope saw us. They always look so surprised. We drove into a headwind all morning, if we turned south a bit, we still drove into a headwind. We were well bundled up as the temperatures were brisk to say the least. Dorothy was moving right along, the Cadillac was not as happy. Dylan and I couldn't speak to each other much unless we yelled so we just listened to the roaring of the wind in our ears. I just about jumped out of my skin when a train came up along side of us and blew his horn.

We passed a small group of bicyclists struggling along up a hill and entered Rock Creek. Later we found out they were riding from Texas to Alaska. I wonder if they really looked at how far that is? We stopped in Rock Creek to wait for Dorothy and Dan who were behind us after stopping for a minute. We went in for a visit to the general store and met Carol. She took us out to meet Aaron and Kelly at the welding shop and they came out to see the cars. They were so enthusiastic. We pulled open the hoods and they climbed in. It is really gratifying to meet guys who just love to look at the cars.

Later a rancher stopped for a visit. He told us his family had been there since his great-great grandparents came out with the wagon train many years ago. They broke down in Rock Creek and that is where they stayed. He also told us that the Lincoln Highway used to go through town perpendicular to where it went now. The old gas station used to face the road. When they moved the highway the owner turned the station so that it still faced the highway. There were a number of interesting old buildings that really gave us the flavor of the town in it's heyday.

A young girl drove up to take photos of the cars. She told us her family was renovating the old Lincoln Hotel. We drove over for a look. This was where Alice Ramsey stopped for the night. We chatted with the family for a minute and gave them the info we had. They were happy to hear that as they were trying to date the building, so this gives them at least 1909 as a date to work from.

We pushed on from there to Rawlins. Again we entered the great expanse of grass and sky. A giant windfarm grew in front of us as we drove towards it. The giant blades turning slowly in the
wind looked like dancers on the ridge. The wind was still pushing us hard backwards, or so it felt. We climbed hills slowly and descended quickly. Driving through Sinclair past the huge refinery was a bit surreal. The town is beautiful. Old adobe style buildings centered around a town green with a very lovely fountain. Eventually we came to the end of the old road and had to do a brisk run down the interstate to Rawlins. Fortunately we fit on the shoulder so that is how we did it. The trucks whizzed by but we had no problems and we did go a lot faster! Camping for the night. I could not get my head onto the pillow fast enough.

Sinclair, WY.