Rawlins, Wyoming

 

We left Wendover this morning with regrets about leaving our beautiful suite at Montego Bay.  We figure that maybe with the addition of a small kitchen, we would be able to spend our winter months at a similar location (just not in Wendover).  Leaving Wendover, you go across the Great Salt Lake, which is normally dry in the western side, but with all the rain they have had, there is standing water on both sides of the interstate.  Both salt plants were in full swing with huge piles of salt waiting to be processed.  The Morton facility was the largest.  

It's funny how the mountains rise out of the flats.  Perfectly flat land and then you have these enormous mountains.  Nothing compared to the Wasatch which rise further east on the other side of Salt Lake City.  Stopped for breakfast and then continued on through Salt Lake City on I-80 to where it rises into the mountains up to Park City.  Ski areas are pretty much decimated, but there is still plenty of snow on the mountain sides.  They are really worried about when all the snow melts.  Normally, the rivers and creeks we see are small and slow, not the case today. 

Doesn't take long after Park City to get over to the Wyoming line.  It's more country where you have to appreciate the subtleties of brown, not much green or trees.  Wyoming is a state which has a lot of natural resources - windmills, oil fields, coal mines, cattle ranches, and most importantly, cheap gas!!!

Driving on I-80 in Wyoming is like Nevada.  You can crest a hill and look ahead more than ten miles.  Lots of truck traffic and there were some huge trains on the tracks which parallel the highway. Easy driving and no navigational skills required.  I got to drive through SLC, but the rest of the time, I'm relegated to changing the discs on the audio book.  No worries because Vi does an excellent job of driving. 

We're staying in Rawlins (hence the name of the post) which is a town of about 9500 people and I'm guessing services quite a large area of this part of Wyoming.  We shopped at Walmart and decided to get our meal there to eat at the Best Western.  On our way back, we did some sightseeing - didn't take long.  One of the more interesting sites was the Wyoming Penitentiary which is no longer in us. 

Tomorrow we head northeast to Casper and Rapid City. Lots to see and do up there.