Day 15 – Travel Day – Chappell NE to Rawlins WY – 275 miles through NE and WY

It was a pretty awesome travel day. It started out cloudy and fairly cool, and then the sun came out. We stopped at the Wyoming Welcome Center, and Bill went to investigate some exhibit signs on the hill in front of the center. It was a short archeological trail around the Pine Bluffs with signs along the way. However, when he saw that rattlesnakes had been sited on the trail on Monday, he decided to pass.

West of Cheyenne in-between the east and westbound freeways is a small pine tree growing out of big boulders. The transcontinental railroad builders diverted the track around the tree and even watered it from passing trains. The Lincoln Highway and finally I 80 passed around this enduring tree. What a fun find.

East of Laramie, storms started building in the west which made for a wonderful scene. We passed around the edge of the storm seeing lightning off to the side. Finally we did catch some rain and a really strong wind. Bill was holding on for dear life as we trekked down the road. We stopped at a rest area in the rain and fixed some lunch and headed out of the storm to Rawlins, arriving at 2:30 to our campsite at the KOA.

The guest host told us that we would really enjoy the Wyoming Frontier Prison Museum. We didn’t think too much about it and went wandering into town looking for cigars. We saw the prison and saw that there was a 4:30 tour, so we went in. It was a real find. We were the only ones on the tour, led by a college student. The prison was in operation from 1901 to 1981 and was going to be torn down when it was saved and put on the National Register of Historic Places. Unfortunately they barely have enough money to keep the roof over their heads, but it was a really interesting hour-long tour.

Then we went to a restaurant we had found on Yelp called Rosa’s Lariat. It is a tiny place with one 4-person booth and 12 bar stools around a counter. We were the first ones there, and I am so glad we went. The food was amazing for not much money. I had green chile relleno with beans, rice, and a wonderful green chile sauce. I cleaned my plate which I don’t normally do.

For just a travel day, it was a neat day!