| Laramie, Wyoming to Salt Lake City, Utah | |
| Day's Route Overview: I dropped down off the high plain and headed for the great Salt Lake Planned 392 miles |
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Starting out: Trip / Odometer / Time: 57.1 / 44,278 / xx:xx AM PDT |
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| My first stop was at the Laramie Harley Dealer.
I was their first customer of the day. Not that I was all that
early, it's just that they were not all that busy. I caught breakfast at the local McD's. While I was chowing down, a fellow came in wearing riding leathers. On the back of his jacket it said Coos Bay, Oregon. When I was done, I went over and struck up a conversation. He's a real nice fellow. He was returning from Cheyenne, Wyoming, just up the road some 45 miles and heading home to Coos Bay. When I mentioned that I was coming home from Xenia, Ohio, he laughed and said that he used to live in Dayton, Ohio which is just 15 miles from Xenia. I mentioned that I grew up in Humboldt County, he mentioned that he also used to live in Crescent City, California. Another parallel is that he is riding the same model Harley as I am. Small world full of coincidences. |
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| The day started out really nice. The
temperature was in the low 70's and there was almost no wind.
Later in the day, the wind would strengthen and become a real
bother. For a couple hundred miles I was fighting a strong
head wind. The rest stops had little nature lessons on message boards. One spoke of the wind. Note the flags stretched full out and flapping hard. |
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| At one of the rest stops I ran into a couple riding a Honda Gold Wind towing a trailer. There are more motorcycle trailers this year than I have seen in the past. This couple was Bob and Lena. They are from Salt Lake City and were returning home. I mentioned that I had been to Indiana and they said so had they. I spent the Fourth of July in Terre Haute. They spent the Fourth on a family member's farm 20 miles south of Terra Haute. Again, small world, full of coincidences. | |
| Where Nebraska has corn, Wyoming has sage brush.
They even brag about it on their rest stop signs. |
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| Did I mention it was windy? |
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| In
Evanston, Wyoming, there is a chance to get a
photo of a "U" county,
Uinta. As you might imagine, "U"
counties are not all that common. I actually have been to Evanston, Wyoming two years ago and for the very same reason. |
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| The first rest stop upon entering Utah is at a
place called
Echo. It is a gorge between two mountains. On one side, the ground is covered with soil and vegetation. On the other side, there is stark rock walls. Interesting contrast. |
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| I was looking for a sign that says "Utah" for my
ABC's. I say a sign for visitor information and followed it. What I found was one of the venues for the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. How's that for a ski run. Anyone want to try one this winter? |
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| Salt Lake City. I rode from east to west on
Interstate 80 looking for the signs that announce the presence of
motels. When I got to the west side, there was a sign on the freeway saying I-80W would be closed from 8PM to 5AM. I wondered if it was because of the fires. Finally I decided that it was just normally scheduled highway work. There are no motel signs visible. I rode around the city on the confusing freeway system and wound up back in the heart of the city. I took a random off-ramp somewhere near the temple. What luck, there were couple of motels. Remember when I said that I did not like Super-8? Well beggars can't be choosers. Now I like them even less, but any port in a storm. |
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Done for the day: Trip / Odometer / Time: 97.0 / 44,696 / 6:00 PM |
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ABC Letters: Counties: I; States: Nevada, Arizona Day's Totals: 408 miles, 9 hours 40 minutes |
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Updated: Wednesday, May 28, 2014 11:44:38 AM