Lusk, Wyoming - Day 20

Gratitude is the word of the day. We're grateful that the ride wasn't like Thursday's ride! We were a bit apprehensive about the 106 mile day as we set out. We were also sad as we waved good -bye to Cate and Dennis. They were heading up to Yellowstone and then in a few weeks Cate is shipping off to Shanghai to teach. There was cloud cover all day, the headwind didn't start until mile 65 but it wasn't that strong. The scenery was open range with green along the North Platte, rolling hills, buttes and mountains in the background, an improvement. Our pace was perfect and we enjoyed riding with Jordan and Rosy from Alaska, and Jeff and Kathy, the Minnesotan staff people. We felt like we were riding bikes not being taken for a ride. Even though huge, dark clouds were building during the day, we once again dodged the rain, probably because we all carried our rain jackets. I might mention we were also grateful that the full beer can that a jerk from an on-coming car tossed at us didn't hit or bounce into us.

Can you believe that we went through a town called Lost Springs with a population of 4? It had a bar and an antique store - go figure? There were some pretty lonely patches including empty school houses with their silent bells atop. It reminded us of what it might have been like for Laura Ingalls Wilder in The Long Winter when they were snowed in and the train couldn't get in with food. However, we saw several trains, long coal trains, because for a good part of the ride we were riding parallel to the railroad tracks.


As we rolled into Lusk we passed the fairgrounds full of trucks, horse trailers,  horses, mules, and people getting ready for Rawhide Days. Our rooms at the Covered Wagon Motel (a classic place we would recommend) were ready when we arrived at 2:00 (YEAH another thing to be grateful for) and by the time we got something to drink, our bags were unloaded so we had time to stretch, bathe in Epsom salts, before running out to watch the parade that went right past our hotel. 


Day 20
Miles - 106
Total Miles- 1464
Elevation Gain - 3110
Next Stop - Hot Springs, South Dakota

Link to Mimi's Garmin

Douglas WY - home of the Jackalope

Our vistas most of the day

Rawhide Days Parade in Lusk

White boys dressed up as American Indians

"Garters for Sale"

John Deere for Dennis

 And other tractors in the parade

And of course the Lusk Niobrara Ambulence!

The lawn outside the Motel - a great
viewing spot for the parade!

Our hotel, complete with Covered Wagon