Days 94 and 95 - Laramie City

Day 94 - Wednesday - up to 8100 ft altitude

Continuing our journey west, we don't get very far before we stop.  The small town of Guernsey, named for Charles Guernsey (a person, not a bull although there are cows of that breed in the vicinity) boasts two significant landmarks, and we check out both.

Register Cliff, just outside of town, has names and dates inscribed dating back to the 18th Century, and including many from the period when the Oregon trail came through here.  We find several from the 19th Century, but I'm disappointed to see that they haven't  stopped people from inscribing their names so there are hundreds of more recent inscriptions.  Still, I suppose 200 years from now people will consider these historical too.  An interpretive panel highlights the lives of some of the early pioneers who passed through - many of them never made it to Oregon.

Just down the road they have preserved wagon ruts from the Oregon Trail.  I was expecting the sort of ruts you see on a dirt road, but this was something else.  An outcrop of limestone rock was part of the route traversed by the wagons, and the "ruts" are actually a 6 or more foot deep gouge into the limestone creating what looks like a railroad cutting.  Definitely a learning experience for me.

Continuing southwest, we notice the road is rising gradually although mountains remain on the horizon.  We travel a very lonely, but beautiful road without incident until the tire monitor starts beeping at us.  It tells us that one tire is at 123psi (its cold pressure is 110psi) and is leaking.   Since 123psi is well within the operating range of these tires, and the pressure doesn't drop from that number, and since we're only 20 miles from our destinations I just slow down and take it easy.

It was a false alarm as the pressure goes down to 110 and no lower.  We drive US30 down the main street of the city of Laramie and find a "Super Walmart" on the east side of town where we plan to overnight.  It's a little noisy, but settles down.  On the way in we noticed a Chili's restaurant fairly close, so Vicky has a half rack of ribs and I settle for chicken fajitas, much to Vicky's surprise.

The original plan was to move on tomorrow but I have a class in the morning and a scheduling session at 6pm tomorrow evening for my instructor job, and I need internet for that.  So we decide to make it 2 nights in Laramie.

Day 95 - Thursday - Laramie

My morning class is immediately followed by another online session that takes us up to lunchtime.  Vicky spends the morning reinventing our journey to Santa Fe since the extra day here messed up the original plans.  After eating we join one other couple at a movie theater we noticed yesterday and see "Mamma Mia - Here We Go Again".  We love the music of Abba and the story, while a little contrived and very predictable, is fun.  I won't spoil it for you, but if you like Abba's music, go see it.

We get back to find that my 6pm session has been postponed until next Thursday (so we could have moved on anyway).  I decide to treat Vicky to a special meal as it's our last night in Wyoming.  Cavalryman's Steakhouse is a historic (1925) building on the grounds of a Civil War fort - Fort Sanders.  The building has been a golf clubhouse, a private club and, since 1972, a restaurant, and Trip Advisor reviews say it has the best steaks in town.

The building is made of wood and resembles an old western cabin except for its size.  I asked for a romantic table and we get it - a corner table on a raised dais in a room with a ceiling of pinpoints of light.  The lights are reflected in the large picture window and make it look like there's a huge canopy of stars outside.  Except for tripping but not falling off the dais, everything is wonderful.

The meal starts with a skillet of soda bread made from a recipe found in the ruins of Fort Sanders.  The old time cooks certainly knew how to make soda bread.  I opt for a 12oz striploin steak, which is tender and flavorful and cooked rare, just as I like it.  Vicky chooses medium rare prime rib and declares it's equally tender.  The meals come with a crispy salad - Vicky's blue cheese dressing is full of chunks of cheese and my orange wasabi dressing is just perfectly sweet and tangy.  We also get a bountiful bouquet of vegetables (squash, peppers, onions and more) and a "twice baked potato".  I had to ask what it was and it lived up to its description - a potato is baked, the inside is mashed with sour cream and bacon and placed back in the skin, then baked again.  Need I say more?

No room for dessert but a great meal with very attentive service.   A great ending to our Wyoming stay - this is another state we want to come back to.