Wandering Retirees

On what started as a beautiful travel day, we rode 268 miles from Estes Park, CO to Casper, Wyoming. We had great weather as we left Colorado on Rte. 34 toward Ft. Collins, winding through gorgeous canyons and gorges. Lots of twisties and elevation changes to make the ride exciting, if a bit slow. North of Ft. Collins, the road opened up on US Rte. 287 toward Laramie, Wyoming, home to the University of Wyoming. The name Laramie encourages romantic images of old Westerns from long ago. (I’m thinking of Shane in particular.). Our route took us through Medicine Bow, home to 267 souls and named after the Medicine Bow River. It boasts the Virginian Hotel, setting for the TV show that starred James Drury. It was lunchtime so we stopped in. The hotel was built in 1911 and is beautifully maintained. The proprietors make the most of the connection to the TV show and the book, The Virginian, by Owen Wister (copies available at the restaurant counter, of course). And the food is excellent!

We headed up WY Rte 487 through some pretty if underpopulated land. We passed maybe 8 cars in an hour, though there were a fair number of cattle out to graze. The land feels very open with rolling hills and gullies, and even some buttes to add variety. What we noticed was the immense sky that can make you feel so very small. The land we passed through was beautiful and seemed to go on forever.

We arrived at last in Casper, second largest city in Wyoming with 55,000 people and checked into our motel. Tomorrow we head toward Powell, WY in the northwest corner of the state.

BTW – what was the principal railroad that has served Casper? Someone has to know. 😀

That’s all, folks!

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The landscape changed quickly as we left Rocky Mountain National Park

Wyoming landscape is just entrancing even though the roads can be quite straight.

The Virginian Hotel and Cafe