Wyoming!
Ooo, birdie!
Just into the eastern border of Wyoming is a welcome center at about 5,100′ elevation, high enough to knock the cabin temps down to a balmy 83 degrees. There are only an official 6 truck spaces here, though more will probably pack around the perimeter. It has a slight slope to it, but nothing that the fridge can’t compensate for.
So much for rest stops in corn fields…
Today’s drive was the proverbial three-hour, 177-mile jaunt, and with the shift to Mountain Time, I got here somewhere after 1 o’clock. Not a tough day. The Magic Readout initially showed 12 MPG for quite awhile, but the gradual climb up netted 11. That was until I noticed a roaring sound over the radio’s music. With the radio off, it was apparent that I was suddenly bucking a pretty stout headwind about half an hour short of this stop, and the turbo pressure gauge was higher than normal in order to keep speed up. Keeping an eye on the pressure gauge is an instant way to get a pretty good idea of just how broke you’re going to be on this day’s fuel costs. That knocked the average down to 10.8 MPG overall. Fascinating, I’m sure.
Need some big rocks? They got some here.
This welcome center is small but nice, with a manned desk inside, and tons of tourista brochures. They also have a gaggle of somewhat elderly local ladies sporting free lemonade, iced tea, and a good 11 different varieties of homemade cookies. Not fake “homemade”, but the genuine articles. Oh my. Now that’s a welcome center. I chipped in a buck for a few, and if you’ll excuse me, a windy thunderstorm is blowing in, and I have a lot of tourist and camping literature to go through before tomorrow.
Welcome to Wyoming! Free. Any donations they collect go toward helping veterans at and around the VA Center in Cheyenne.
Strolling Amok 
Nice space! What’s the passive solar mean at that rest stop?
Probably pretty fair. Maybe I should walk over to one of those boulders after sunset tonight and give it a hug to see how warm it is? Then again, I don’t think anyone else at this place would understand. “Why do they all shy away from me now?” 😉
Don’t know if you’re going west from there but a couple of weeks ago I spent a few days up on the hill just a few miles east of Laramie. Exit 323. Good view….lots of towers so I had a great Verizon 4G signal. Medicine Bow National Forest. I marked as a place to go back to to get away from my usual Walmart parking lots. 😉
My plan is to be closer to Buford, Flybiker, though if the one spot that will accommodate the Defiant is still taken, I may have to explore. I would like to drive Happy Jack Road, but have no idea if any of the pull-offs are tame enough for the tin whale. You have a van, no?
Right, a van although I saw rigs like yours drive by me where I was parked, not far off of forest road 703. I only drove up 703 I think less than a mile from 210 (Happy Jack Rd). You could turn around where I was parked in fact. Junction of 703 and 703C 41.267283, -105.437902
GPS coordinates to boot! Thanks, Flybiker. I will check that trail out, possibly even today if there is time enough. The Defiant has half the ground clearance of more modern rigs, so the Evelo e-bike may be called upon, depending on appearances at the start. Since I’ve watched gigantic fifth-wheels happily wander up trails where the Defiant would not have a prayer of clearing, I assume little and check much. Easier on the nerves, and the equipment. Thank you!
Good idea Doug. There is a nice big parking lot on the east (right) side of 210….unload the bike and check out 703.
Hi Doug, Glad to see you’re into some cooler temps.
Wyoming is awesome, are you heading further north?
Be careful with those prairie winds, they can be tricky as you know.
Karen says hi.
No plans to go further north this trip, Roger. This right-angle route taxes my fuel costs already. After the Green River area further west, I backtrack slightly and take what could be some adventurous highways to the Flagstaff area. A thunderstorm that just blew through helped me get back my sea legs already. If I had still been on the road, it would have been a disagreeable experience. And hi to your bride!