Day 3 Ogden to Cheyenne

Saturday August 7, 2010

Seemed like a long drive today; probably because it is day 3. Lots of construction on the highway. But OMG it was fabulous. Driving up into the Rockies out of Ogden then in Wyoming it seems as though you are on top of the world; and we did get up pretty high: the highest summit was over 8,000 feet.

First train of the day (don't worry, I won't have too many):

A little while later we cross into Wyoming and then a big plant of some sort south of I80; maybe it's a power plant? Anyone know?

Late morning or early afternoon we need gas and drive into Green River. We had planned to gas and dash but got caught up in how nice the town is. Got a nice picture of The Brewery; an old building capturing the big rocks in the background. Then we turn around and a train is rolling into town

Back on the road we are captivated by the Big Sky; the clouds were gorgeous and we were almost so high (in elevation, thank you very much) we could almost reach up and touch them.

We pulled into Cheyenne about 4:00 and we had just enough time to get to the Cheyenne Frontier Days museum. The Cheyenne Frontier Days is a big ol' rodeo that takes place most of July, we just missed it. There are a lot of videos and memorabilia regarding Cheyenne. I found a Fire Truck and Carla found an old overland stage coach. Outside was a statue similar to the profile on the Wyoming license plates.

We wanted to walk around downtown and have dinner before checking into the hotel, so we went to the Union Pacific depot. Guess what! Another train; this one coming in from the west for a crew change.

All around town there are decorated boots. Portland did this a few years ago with cows I think, as has Chicago. We got someone to snap a pic of us in front of one.

We ate dinner on the sidewalk at the depot restaurant. There was a live band on the town square playing some good blues music. In the background we heard the trains coming and going. I had brisket; Carla had a Hawaiian  burger; we both enjoyed a local brew Kolsch style beer. As we finished dinner the rain was coming into town; we beat it to the car just beating a short downpour.

We headed for the hotel and checked in. Good thing we made reservations last night; they were sold out; lots of motorcyclists staying over going to or coming back from Sturgis. The guy in front of us had just left Sturgis but was heading back tomorrow. Our hotel is a Days Inn; not as nice as the Best Westerns we stayed at in La Grande and Ogdent. But it is across the street from the Union Pacific mainline, and just down the street we can see the bridge where the BNSF crosses over. We've seen two trains so far.

Tomorrow we get off the interstate and on to US 30 and meander toward North Platte.