Left around 6:30 am; the mosquitos were absolutely intense, so we didn't even have breakfast. I kept my pants and fleece on until we returned to the roadway. No breakfast.
We rode all the way to Sweetwater for breakfast and there Bill set up his stove to heat water for coffee and oatmeal. He heated additional water for me and I tried out my instant herbed couscous for the first time. Too much salt for use at home, but WOW, great for a road breakfast. Wonderful alternative to oatmeal. There were nice shelters and restrooms, but I resisted the temptation to take a sponge bath; we will be in Lander in 39 miles, with access to showers and a laundry. There is nothing to make you appreciative of potable water like an absence of it.
The crazy woman from the Jeffrey City restaurant (wouldn't sell a baked potato without the meat dish) had told us yesterday that we should push on to Lander because it was mostly downhill. I think she is suffering from uranium radiation poisoning; she seems to have forgotten the uphills. This happens a lot with car drivers, but there were some nice downhills. Have I mentioned how much better east to west is?
9 miles out of Lander there is a cross roads and an RV park. Stopping there we found they had cold drinks and ice cream bars. Oasis.
A really beautiful ride to Lander awaited us. Red stone bluffs and views of the snowy range.
I think I was in Lander about 6 years ago and liked it. There is even more to like now. Its population is greater than its elevation, it doesn't have a huge big box strip and still has a vibrant business district.
I picked up a package from the PO my husband sent me (big shout out to him: Sara loves him), so the test of the postal service was successful. The second package had not arrived, so I asked for it to be forwarded to Yellowstone. That will be a different kind of test.
A great bike shop called Gannet Peak Sports tightened my head set, again. They opened it up degreased it a little and then carefully tightened it again. When I get to Eugene, I will ask Bike Friday to look into this problem. We bought some other items, such as a side opening water bottle cage for me and a headlight that mounts on the fork for Bill, but they had no fun socks. Sigh.
We overbought at the grocery store and went to eat lunch outside the library. Sara called and said she was at the city park and then we discovered the entire boatload of Amigas and remaining desperados were all in Lander! So exciting. EVERYONE is back together! Janelle and Ted arrived. Ted had the bike shop look at his hub and they found a simple no parts needed solution! We had long conversations with Jamie and then set up camp at Holiday Hotel. Funky, but quiet and only $8.50 per person for the river campsite we sought out before, a shower and coin laundry. Nice
We hit a Micro brew pub! Do you see all these exclamation points? This is a great town! Bicycles of all sorts are ridden by all sorts of people for all sorts of reason.
Even Bill loosened up, but not too much!
Ted did not.
Janelle and I enjoyed the jukebox.
Jamie knows her limitations. They are leaving really early tomorrow for Dubois. Heidi and her don't hold still long enough for clear pictures. I think that is so later they can say, "that wasn't me!".
No comments:
Post a Comment