We smashed 57 miles to Rawlins

Day 34. Monday 9/19. 57 miles into the town of Rawlins, Wyoming. Last night there were herds of Pronghorn near the reservoir. When we pumped water, the filters clogged up. In the morning we all left the A&M Reservoir together, (6 of us) and it was a dry night so our tents were not wet. We «smashed it » as our Canadian/British friends say, for the first 15 miles, two by two, speeding down the dirt road, nearly nonstop. We hit pavement then and climbed our way up and down. The road turned to dirt again and we passed a Uranium mine next to the Raptor Conservation Project Lands. What?! At the next junction, where the pavement began again, we had lunch. There was also a barrel to collect one wing of any bird you shot. We dumped in six wings from the sage grouse we shot. (Not!) Then we climbed, going up the hill on the highway before descending into Rawlins. We had to pedal hard, both uphill and downhill, to keep the wind from blowing us back wards! It was tough going DOWNHILL!! We spent the night, 3 tents, in one KOA site, right next to the highway. I guess it’s for the convenience of those hauling a big camper, but the truck traffic went by ALL night long! However, there was ice cream, showers, flush toilets, and washer/dryers. The wind was crazy but it was warm. Difficult getting the tents up but great for drying laundry. The activities of having services is all about cleaning……and eating. After laundary, dishes, and showers, we went out to a great Mexican restaurant and then rode another 3+ miles round trip for a resupply at Walmart. We needed food for 3 or 4 days to get us to Steamboat Springs- Colorado!!! Another state almost complete! I was toast. 4 challenging days and I could barely see straight. We rode back in the dark and fell into bed to listen to zoom, zoom, air brakes, truck traffic. Lulled into sleep.