057: Day 70: June 17, 2021: Douglas to Glenrock WY: 37.5 miles today and 2520 in total (m453.0)

We left Douglas early, as planned. We did not even have a quick breakfast at the Plains Trading Post and Restaurant. 

But there was much to see in Douglas.

Firstly Christine misunderstood the sign at the local microbrewery and she sat down with the early customers. 🤣🤣🤣

Then Ben got involved in the whole Jackalope saga. So much has not been said yet - I shall see if I can get the true story of the Jackalope and also catch one in the wild.

This church had an interesting tower.

We soon crossed the North Platte River and

noted these plaques decorating the railings.

As we left Douglas we had a view of this valley - see the I-25 as well - and 

the daddy of all jackalopes came to wish us goodbye.

We cycled past a large feedlot and these things make you wonder - shall we eat beef again?

We crossed the North Platte again and had

to wait for a train to pass.

There is no direct road for cyclists between Douglas and Glenrock, the next town. So, we had to take minor paved roads about 35 miles in total. 

We were happy to see the Merino Sheep in the pasture but the smiles soon gave way to about 19 miles of agony. The cracks in the asphalt opened up over time and the DOT has not managed to close these properly. We had to cycle slowly and, with it the wind started blowing while we were on the road.

This part of Wyoming is very deeply involved in energy production. There is coal and we cycled past

many wind turbines. We also understand that there is a large uranium mine in the area as well.

Just look at the cheerful flowers!!!

And there are realtors in these wide open spaces as well.

We came acrods the horizon in the background and pedaled and pushed to get to the top of this hill.

We could see the next small town, Rolling Hills in the distance and were happy. But the cracked asphalt continued right past Rolling Hills and into Glenrock.

We at last found a "Namibian River,"one with sand in it.🤣🤣🤣

We saw a lot of pronghorns as we bumped along. They do not like being photographed. 

We were very happy to see Glenrock in the North Platte River valley and 

were soon taking photos of interesting murals. This one is of part of a rider and his horse.

Dino's on the wall of the museum and 

the newsman on the local paper's building. Note the statue of the Pony Express Rider as well. Glenrock was a major depot for them and, after the Pony Express, the stage coaches.

Our hotel for the evening took quite a knock with COVID and we can only hope that the owners would be able to resurrect the activities of the historic Higgins Hotel and Paisley Shawl Restaurant. We had a long chat with Robert the owner's husband and can only wish the family well.

We walked across the street and had a very enjoyable dinner at the Classic Cafe. We noted these pavement signs all over town - good way to both beautify the town and advertise the businesses.

Tomorrow we shall say goodbye to Glenrock and we are looking forward to getting to Casper, Wyoming. Louise and Sampson are driving from Breckenridge Colorado to come amd say, Hi. We are very happy and shall be on the road soon.