Today, Montana and I left Denver and made a beeline straight for a Love’s Truck Stop (Welcome Center?) on the way to Torrington, WY. Their prices are $.50 lower than in Georgia! Huh?
Drove to Torrington and went through the Homesteader’s Museum. The attendant was understanding my time issues and gave me an abbreviated tour of their small but full-of-local-history facility. They sure are proud of their town. It all started with making sugar from beets back in the early 1900’s. There are some discussions over the exact date. The sign going into town says it was established 1906 but their museum information says 1926 and the nice lady says 1925. Like I said, there is some controversy over the date. The best part? The snow plow below! Do you see Montana?
Next, off to Fort Laramie, WY. This fort is on the North Platte River which, at this time, is almost overflowing and there’s more rain in store for this week not to mention melting snow. My friend, Big Ed who knows more about Wyoming than anyone I know, says his friends in Laramie say there’s likely to be serious flooding problems for me later this week as I move westward. Great!
What a snow plow!
Fort Laramie
After walking around this huge fort, I headed for Guernsey, WY to visit the Oregon Trail Ruts Museum but what I found on the way there was a really cool house. So, I stopped to take the picture of the house and turned around and headed for Chugwater where the chili is supposed to be the bomb. I figured a museum about ruts just couldn’t top this house design even if the ruts were caused from the oxen pulling wagons westward.
can't beat this for design
Next stop is Chugwater, WY known for its chili. Big Ed said it would be worth the stop and he wasn’t wrong about the chili. He was just a bit off about the price of the room I had to rent but it’s okay. He was totally right about me stopping for the night here because the wind is quite strong and there are supposed to be some thunderstorms coming and the last place you want to be with that crazy combo is a pop-up camper in the middle of open prairie where you can get carried off back to Kansas! Plus, I forgot my magic red slippers.
what a view!
I stayed at a nice little Mom & Pop hotel in Chugwater right off the I-25 (the exit with the gas station) called “Buffalo Lodge and Grill”. The rooms are clean and the folks are real nice, hardworking Americans trying to make a living. Of course, they serve the famous “Chugwater Chili”, plain or with cheese and onions. Yep. I got mine loaded with a side of Angus beef burger. The town name came from the sound the buffalo made (chug) when the Native American Indians ran the buffalo toward the water… hence “chug”+”water”. Cool, huh?
Tomorrow, I’m skipping over Cheyenne because there’s more to see in Laramie and the Medicine Bow National Forest beckons me. Oh, yeah, that storm’s a-comin’ strong and I’ve got some really cool places to see before it hits… Vedauwoo which is Arapaho for “earth born spirits”, the Geological Museum and the Laramie Plains Museum. How cool is that, huh?
We’ll talk again tomorrow night. It’s gonna’ be a great day!
from a Friend 