Day 66, Jeffery City to Lander, Wyoming

The scenery changes dramatically from time to time.

You can barely see the grand Tetons in the distance.

And there she is. The jewel of Wyoming.

Check out my new hair dew. I'm thinking about patenting it.

Sun rise at Jeffery City.

Meet Steve, operator of Twin Pines RV camp ground.

Some interesting rock formations.

Red rocks, it was really nicer than pictures can depict.

Anybody out there know what this is?

I just had to stop and get this shot. Too bad those markers were in the way. It would have been a great shot if wasn't for that.

Steve told us that there is a whole valley of the red rocks just a couple of mile off our route. Too bad, not going there.

Pretty cool huh? I like the way it contrasts from everything else.

This is where we first saw the red stuff. Awesome!

The pond at twin Pines.

This is the miniature town of Po Po Aggie.

Jeffery City skyline. It's actually a ghost town.

How's this for a view?

The frontier Lodge. Our home for the night.

Down town Lander. This is Main street.

Meet Bree she lives in this miniature town.

This is a big boy, he didn't even care to move.

The Baptist Church where we stayed in Jeffery City.

This little fella was so tame, he stuck his head out so I could pet him.


Day 66, Jeffery City to Lander, Wyoming. “A Day Of Blessing”. 60.79 miles.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

This morning I woke up early, 4:00Am to be exact. I lay in my tent that I had set up inside the hall the night before. The mosquitoes were bothering me, and I didn’t want to have to deal with them all night. I turned on my I-touch to keep myself entertained, but after fifteen minutes, I couldn’t take it any more, and got up. Lisa also was up. I guess it was because we had an early night.

On our way out of Jeffery City, we stopped by the Split rock Cafe for breakfast. We knew we had a long day ahead of us, and no services for the next 50 miles, so we wanted an early start in case we ran into difficulty later on in the day. It was cold, I was almost tempted to put on my full finger winter gloves, because my fingers were getting numb. I knew it would heat up soon enough so I decided to ride it out. It was calm and quiet. The traffic had not started yet, and the air was still. As we rode out of town, I turned to see the sun just above the mountains, and took a shot. This was great. We had clear skies, little to no wind, excellent forecast for the next few days, and we were riding our bikes again. I put the camera away, and followed Lisa as we cruised along at a good rate.

A few miles down the road, I spotted a hawk sitting on a fence post. These creatures are extremely difficult to photograph. I have tried on a number of occasions on this trip, and they always spook before I can get off a shot. This was no exception. As I watched it fly off, I thought about the bald eagle in Virginia that I came so close to photographing. I could have blamed the missed shot on a number of things. But the one thing I’ve learned, is that some scenes are just not meant to be photographed………………… We rode along on fairly flat and straight roads. You can see for miles across the plains. It’s hard to judge how far it rally is across. It could be 10 miles, it could be 100. You just can’t tell. We rode passed a few narrow valleys formed by rocky ridges that looked like they were forced up from beneath the earth. It looks so different from what I am used to seeing back home.

As we crested our biggest climb of the day, I was awed by the majestic view I saw. It was like the whole world opened up before my eyes. I pulled over onto a paved overlook to check it out. “Wow! How cool is that!” There in the distance, was The Grand Teton mountain range. Snow capped and standing proud. Below, lay a wide expanse of flat plains, narrow gulches, and foot hills. I took a few shots, and walked around a bit. By this time, Lisa was long gone, on her way down the hill. This was a four mile decent, so who knows when I was going to see her again. I got back on my bike after a few minutes, and started the decent myself. To my surprise, Lisa had stopped about a mile and a half down the hill to check out on what she described as: “Green Sand“. It didn’t look that green to me, although if I imagined hard enough I could convince myself it was green…………………… We then came to the conclusion that her dark glasses must have made it appear greener than it actually was. The rest of the decent was a blast. Not having to pedal, but still making mileage…………………. We were blessed in a special way today. You see? Every morning before our ride, I pray for a number of things. Our safety, good weather, protection for those around us, and also the well being of family and friends not only back home, but where ever their paths happen to take them. Today, the head wind was a concern, not so much for myself, but for Lisa as well. In a place where strong wind is an everyday occurrence, one would expect strong wind at the usual time regardless of the situation. Well, today, the wind never developed. We were expecting it, we felt it yesterday, the day before, and we heard stories from other riders ahead of us. But today was different. We actually arrived at our destination a couple of hours ahead of schedule. I don’t know about you, but I call that a Blessing.

10 miles before reaching Lander, I was getting really hungry. The map showed an eating establishment in the area, so I told Lisa we should have lunch. We pulled into what we thought was a town. It was actually a miniature western town. Kind of like an spectacle more than anything else. There was no food, but we did get to meet some nice folks, and see a lot of neat animals, and cute little buildings. We left that place still hungry, but by chance, I saw a 7-up vending machine at an RV park. “Twin Pines” the sign read. We pulled in to find Steve who ran the place. He had snacks, cold drinks, and even ice cream. I had all of the above. This would hold me over till dinner for sure. We talked with Steve, and learned that they had been in business for three years now. And was interested in getting his establishment known to cyclists. A place where they could camp, including a shower room, and a host of activities including nature tours. I told him I would take some pictures and put the word out to those who stumble across this blog. Good luck Steve. You have a very nice place.

From here it was a short 8 mile ride into Lander where we are currently spending the night at the Frontier Lodge. Thanks again for all your support. Mahalo, Ted.