Before we left we checked the forecast for Rock Springs.  Winds at 30 mph with gusts to 50.

They were right on.  It was windy.  We were heading down the road with the bike leaning at a hard angle just to go straight.
The large trucks seem largely unaffected by the wind, not slowing down.  We were not running at the 75 mph speed limit but the big-rigs were.  The winds were mostly from the southwest. Consequently we were always leaning left.  When the trucks passed us, while beside, they would momentarily block the wind causing us to lurch toward them.  As they passed, the wake they produced was behind and right (down wind) and we would be sucked toward their rear quarter.  Then as there became some distance, there was a chaotic, swirling of the wake.  Rather challenging.

I rode through this same stretch five years ago (click here to see) and thought it was windy then, but this was much more so.

In addition, there was the forecasted 50 mph gusts.  These would often seem to come out of nowhere.  Not directly from the side, but from the left front quarter, they would move us across our lane and slow us down.

You can see on the map below that there are not too many places between Laramie and Rock Springs to stop.  We took advantage of a couple rest stops and, of course, the town or Rawlins.  In Rawlins, we found a delightful little restaurant.  The waitress, a young 20 y.o. if that, told us she was planning to head toward Florida in August.  She is going to rent a U-Haul and move there with the hope of getting a job at Disneyworld.  They only hire Orlando residents so she is going without having a job.  She is very brave.

We finally arrived in Rock Springs and took a drive through the historic downtown.  Pretty run down, many closed stores.