Same as it ever was, same as it ever was

Today's trip from Jeffrey City to Rawlins, WY felt more like when I work out in the winter. I use rollers in my laundry room, so even though I'm pedaling for a long time, the scenery never changes.  The views from the saddle today didn't change much, except we turned right at one point if I recall.  We cycled through the Great Divide Basin, and it is populated with scrub brush to the left, scrub brush to the right, and an occasional antelope browsing by.  

Curious antelope, ready for play

We started the day at the Green Mountain Motel in good old Jeffrey City.  The room was good and clean, it kept the bugs out, and the people who run it were extremely nice.  They wished us well on our trip and we mozy-ed on down to the Split Rock Cafe, where, as promised, Isebel showed up at 8 to open up to fix us breakfast.  She started the coffee, started our breakfasts, and of course we were completely on her schedule.  Eventually breakfast came, and like the night before, it was certainly plentiful. After we paid our bill, we headed out into the sunshine to face the day.  As I said above, then the scenery basically stayed the same.  On our way out of Jeffrey City, we saw the name-sake of the Cafe, the Split Rock.  This is just what it says, a mountain outside of town with a split in it that looks like a gun sight.  It was a very clear milestone on the Oregon Trail, as it can be seen for miles.  

The Split Rock Bar and Cafe

And its namesake, the Split Rock

We rode along for about 20 miles, looking for our morning break.  It came at Muddy Gap junction, when we would turn towards Rawlins.  We rode down toward Muddy Gap, which in essence was just an old metal building with a convenience store and a gas station.  We went into the convenience store to pick up a couple of sandwiches and snacks, and to fill our water bottles.  We met the manager, a very nice guy with dreadlocks and his Deadpool T-shirt.  Not a typical Wyoming cowboy.  He was a bit nervous, because his gas station had gas, but his pumps didn't work and he'd had some angry customers already.  There was a girl at the station with her dog Marley, who was a happy fellow who greeted everyone.  She had just about run out of gas, and it would have been a bad idea to try to get the Jeffrey City's gas station in case she didn't make it.  She said she was waiting for her mom to pick up gas somewhere and bring it to her.  She was moving from Colorado Springs back home to WA/OR (I'm not sure).  She said she hated Colorado Springs because she doesn't like to hike.  Yes missy, time to go home with Mom.  

So we turned towards Rawlins and spent the rest of the day in constant motion, feeling as if we were getting nowhere.  At about 1:00, we decided to eat our lunches by the side of the road, in the sun, again, and started up again.  We knew that we would be facing a hill climb today before Rawlins, and it would pass the continental divide two more times.  As we started our afternoon, we could see the road up the hill in the distance... for the next hour and a half.  The road looked like it was just down a piece from us, but we rode and hour and a half to get to it.  It felt like we were on a treadmill, riding very quickly towards nowhere.  No progress.  Eventually, after this time, we did get to the hill.  It was a nine mile climb - one steep section at the beginning, but never terribly steep after that, but nine miles.  Towards the top we saw what looked like an accident between a camper trailer and a car.  I'm not quite sure the whole story, but it looked like the car hit the camper from behind while they were driving.  All were stopped and a highway patrolman was yelling at a very bearded fellow emerging from his beat up Jeep. It was curious what was happening and I am hypothesizing this was a road rage incident.  Pat followed by a little later and said that the patrolman was cuffing the bearded guy, and he was like a foot or two taller than the patrolman.  Weird incident, and patrol cars were buzzing up and down the highway.  This was the "highlight" of the afternoon.  

The view, the same view, all day long...

We rolled into Rawlins mid-afternoon, and found a cheap stay at the 1st Choice hotel, consisting of two beds, shower, and WiFi, the necessities we've needed all along.  Pat (Poor Pat, as my daughters have named him, because he's been staying with us) got his own room tonight, which was good because he said he had a lot of work to do.  I believe that Pat, while cycling, has been the most productive realtor in Cheyenne.  He has listed and sold multiple properties all while cycling through Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and now Wyoming.  Good for him.  We will miss him as we part ways tomorrow mid-morning.  We will be turning south towards Colorado as he turns north towards Medicine Bow, Laramie, and finally home to Cheyenne.  Farewell Pat, I hope you can join us on future bicycling adventures, perhaps with even more Ryan brothers.    

We hit a local sports bar for dinner tonight, and true to form, stopped by for ice cream and doughnuts on the way back.  Have I told you what a voracious appetite this trip gives us?  In any case, we of course talked with the owners of Jerry's doughnuts, and discussed the trip we are on.  They said that hadn't seen many cyclists this year, but they did see old Jim and his wife in the black Mercedes van (see Council, ID).  I would assume that they drove in, together...

Our totals for the day were:  68 miles, with 2,137 feet climbed.  Tomorrow we are off for Encampment, Wyoming, our final stop before crossing into Colorado.