Day 29 and 30 Rawlins to Saratoga plus an extra day enjoying the hot springs in Saratoga

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How to start this blog...well, we were sharing our "bag" breakfasts in Rawlins outside the Econolodge ( kind of reminded me of sharing lunches with friends in kindergarten.."i'll take the peanut butter sandwich off your hands if you eat my banana"). It was nice and warm out...we were not in a big rush...I remember hearing something about a "highway." Hmmmm. Peter seemed excited. That was suspect...We all stayed together for a few miles. The road construction kept us from moving too fast. We arrived in Sinclair in no time. Sinclair! Green dinosaurs. A playground! We really can revert to childhood quickly.
After enjoying the playground, we rode along the road that takes you past a monstrous refinery. (The playground was more fun).
Shortly after that, The Highway! Seriously. Interstate 80. OMG!

I filed in behind Sue Sister knowing that the less time on that highway, the better! And following Sue was the answer to getting the job done. And as we flew along ( with me praying to get this section of road done quickly and safely)...I had all kinds of frights in my head. Even though we were only on the highway for 14 miles, I saw enough evidence of accidents, blown tires, broken glass and your usual "road debris" to thoroughly scare me. I was pretty sure the first couple of truckers communicated to other nearby truckers that there were a bunch of crazy nutters on the highway today and to stay clear of them. Which I have to say, they mostly did. Thank God!

And following Sue Sister made the journey go by quickly. Phew! Thank you again Sue!!! After that first 14 miles, it was a piece of cake ( who came up with that expression? Where is the cake?)...We got off that highway onto a lesser road and it was smooth sailing all the way to Saratoga, Wyoming. We did 42 miles in 2 hours and 50 minutes. Saratoga is a cute town. I had no idea where we were lodging, so we got a bite to eat in a sandwich shop and walked around a bit. Lots of evidence of cowboys here.
Lesli guided us to our lodging shortly thereafter which turned out to be the Copperline Lodge, a cute place on the outskirts of town. We were thrilled to know that:
1. We would be staying for 2 nights
2. There was a hot springs in town, open 24/7, free to the public. Oh yeah!
                                                                                                             ( "Hey" says Pete. "Wha?" says Betsy) 
When we were all settled in, Peter made us a stir fry and we played music for a while.The plan for the next day was to get up early and visit the hotsprings. It worked out perfectly.
And after a lovely breakfast prepared by the owner of the lodge, we all spent the day enjoying our own endeavors: reading, shopping, napping...oh yeah, I indulged in a nap to the distant background noise of thunder from an approaching storm. Storms here are different than back east. Sometimes they rumble on for hours and then just disappear. The thunder makes for great napping. When I awoke and went outside, there was a horizontal rainbow in the sky. I had never seen that before! Just beautiful.

In the afternoon we all gathered for some corn hole before Lesli served us an awesome meal of roasted chicken, spinach and mashed potatoes followed by a peach pie for desert. Yum!
The owner of the lodge joined us for some music. He has a smooth, low voice and played for us an original piece he wrote for his Mom. He was an excellent musician. It started to sprinkle so our jamm ended earlier than we had hoped. But tomorrow is a 50 mile ride to Waldon. Even with a nice long nap worked in, we have a good long day ahead of us...Bonne nuit! Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Comments

  1. AnonymousAugust 15, 2022 at 11:42 AM

    You guys are amazing!! Enjoying the blog! Also enjoying Ann...we had a lobster dinner Sat. night. Fernando had been in Boston and brought home 20 lobsters so of course we said we'd help eat them! I wanted to sent a photo but couldn't figure out how to do it. She's also enjoying pickle ball and she is getting really good!! Keep having fun.....Susie

    ReplyDelete
  2. GuzAugust 15, 2022 at 8:38 PM

    Hey Noodles, you, Betsy and the rest of that fine team are doing incredibly well. Fourteen miles on I 80 is nuts. A whole different take on doing a fourteener! Glad to hear you are on some 'local' road, and knowing you are getting closer to us here in Colorado. I hope Lesli joined you in your jamm session. See you soon.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousAugust 16, 2022 at 10:04 AM

    Riding bikes on I-80 is lunacy....I hate driving on that truck-laden highway. Glad you could put that behind you.
    Love the huge "hot tub"

    ReplyDelete
  4. TheresaAugust 18, 2022 at 10:46 AM

    Playgrounds are the best! Who climbed up on the dinosaur?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kathy Buckner SwansonSeptember 1, 2022 at 6:47 AM

    Great picture of the creek with the mist!

    ReplyDelete

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