Wild Times in Wyoming

I liked that title but really nothing too wild is happening. Tonight (Friday) I'm in a little place called Ten Sleep (it took ten days for people to get here from someplace, is why it's called that). Camping in a great RV park, trying to get to bed so I can get up before the dawn and tackle the big-ass mountain I need to climb to get to the next destination: Buffalo. That's where I get my rest day, yay, and watch the World Cup final in a saloon on Main St.

It's been soooo hot - and the past couple of days there really isn't any shade at all alongside the road. There isn't really anything along the road but gravel, and - I kid you not - the skeletons of animals. Small ones, so far. There aren't even many towns between my destinations. It's been a challenge to carry enough water but I'm managing.

Last night I stayed at this place outside of Thermopolis, the home of the World's Largest Mineral Spring! (the sign says so). The RV park had its own mineral baths, so I went in - it was neat, but to be honest I wasn't that much in the mood for hot water, given my day in the hot sun. It was also the home of vicious mosquitos, many of whom dined on me. Happy to report that the Ten Broek RV park seems to be mosquito-free (maybe because of the stuff they were spraying earlier this evening).

The coolest thing in Thermopolis, actually, was the Wyoming Dinosaur Center. I expected it to be really hokey (which is why I went a whole mile off-route to visit - I need some postcards) - but actually it was lovely. Really great displays of fossils and dioramas. I took a ton of photos which probably will be impossible to see, but I was happy I went. (Wyoming has tons of fossils and dino digs, is why that's here.) It affirmed my decision to leave the group and ride on my own - so I could have time to do stuff like that. Check it out: www.wyodino.org/museum/

Now I need to get to bed! But for those of you who have been clamoring for More Pictures, I spent a lot of time downloading & organizing some which I hope to post this weekend. It all depends on a reliable internet connection, which I hope/expect to find in Buffalo.

(And yes, I am excited that I get to go through Buffalo WY *and* NY.)