Into the Mountains

Tue Jun 12 - Low key day today - we really needed it. After a leisurely breakfast, we set out westward though high plains of Nebraska. The fields of wheat we passed were beautiful. Talk about 'amber waves of grain!' Photos couldn't begin to capture the beauty. As we climbed in elevation, the temperature became more moderate, but still no sign of 'real' mountains.

We stopped in Ogallala, NE - once known as the 'Gomorrah of the Plains.' It seemed pretty quiet today, however. There was a small historic re-creation of the main street, but not much excitement.

We crossed into the Mountain Time Zone just before getting into Wyoming - at least this time there was a sign so we could change the car clock. When we got to the border of Wyoming, all of a sudden the landscape changed, several bluffs with trees interrupted the smooth high plains landscape, and we continued our gradual climb.

Just south of Cheyenne, WY, we visited a bison ranch. On the way there, we could see the massive plume of smoke from the Colorado wildfire - it stretched over half the sky. We were glad we'd decided not to continue through to Denver - the road might have been unpleasant with all the smoke. (Bookh wants to state for the record, she had NOTHING to do with the fire - she never even set foot in Colorado!) We were able to get glimpses of distant mountain ranges on the horizon despite the smoke and resulting haze. There was also a 'point of interest' in the middle of the interstate which explained some of the geology of the area. We especially liked the 'earth born' stone formations.

Just before getting to Laramie, we hit the highest point on Interstate 80, over 8600 feet. There was a monument celebrating the Lincoln Highway (and Abraham Lincoln) at the rest stop there.

In Laramie, WY, we toured the Univ of Wyoming campus, checking out their Anthropology museum and what little of the geology museum was not being renovated. Very cool displays. We grabbed dinner at Arby's (at least it was a bit more 'western' than Wendy's) and relaxed, looking forward to Utah tomorrow.