Thursday, May 29, 2014
We were up early again this morning. No animal noises last night. There was a thunderstorm last night as we went to sleep. But, it was clear and cool when we woke up. We had breakfast in the room then we packed up and checked out of the Snow Lodge. We were on the road by 7am.
We made a lot of stops because
everything was so picturesque and we didn’t exit Yellowstone until 10am.
We crossed the Continental Divide twice driving across the southern part of the lower loop. We headed out the East Entrance to Cody. We drove along the North Fork of, I think, the Shoshone River. It was a Wyoming Scenic Byway with the Route numbers of 14/16/20. The map showed it as following along an original trail, the Overland Stage Route and the Original Pony Express. It was impressive. We visited the Buffalo Bill Dam. We
stopped in Cody and got gas. There we turned south on 120 to 20 in Thermopolis and drove through Wind River Canyon. We decided to save our remaining sightseeing time for the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in
Thermopolis. It was amazing! Now I don’t know how Utah claimed the catchphrase
Utah Rocks! Because clearly Wyoming Rocks! too. We stayed on 20 to Shoshoni where we turned to 20/26 until Casper where we got on I-25 South.
We had a picnic lunch at a nice rest stop along the way on 120 past Meeteetse on a hillside overlooking Gooseberry Creek. They had up warning signs about rattlesnakes! That was worrisome, but we didn't see any wildlife other than a trashcan-emptying magpie. That and we watched a street sweeper clean back and forth repeatedly on the bridge over the creek without another car passing him. That was weird. Wyoming keeps a street sweeper way out here just to scrub that bridge?
We got to the Quality Inn at Exit 188B on I-25 in
Casper at 5pm. We got room 253 which was upstairs without an elevator, again. The room was very like the one in Springdale with the 5
square pillows. (Seriously! What is up with that?) It was fine and convenient and affordable. We paid $102 for the night. It included a filling breakfast, cable TV and wifi, so it was all good.
We went to Poor Boys’ Steakhouse at Exit 188A. Clay was craving steak after a 100 miles of open
cattle range. I had the chicken fried steak just because it was on the menu. It
was my 3rd and best of the trip. It was a larger serving, but the
best part was the light fluffy breading. They brought out a relish tray to start along with bread and butter. Then they brought out a large blue plastic bucket that was full of iceberg lettuce salad. It was a lot of food! So, then we shared a whoopie pie smothered in
chocolate sauce for dessert. Clay loved it. I suspect ice cream would have
improved it for him. I was done and didn't care for it.
Tomorrow we drive on to Denver for a last night at a Days Inn by the airport. Then an early flight home. It is nearly over. We are ready to stop!
Photos
