October 12, 2010 9:55 p.m.
Day 15 was Sept. 18
Woke up in Dubois, Wyoming.
Temperature 38 degrees.
Drove on to Cheyenne, Wyoming this day. It is remarkable how vacant the state of Wyoming is. We saw all variations of scenery, including red cliffs that looked like they belonged in the Southwest. Then there were rolling, sagebrush covered hills that were essentially treeless -- land that appeared to be used for nothing. Every time, on this trip, that we have seen land like this, the map indicated that it was a Native American Reservation. My initial reaction to this was that truly, the United States had reserved some of the worst land for these people. Sad.
I did a fair amount of driving, myself, diagonally across Wyoming, and the lack of traffic was amazing, and enjoyable. There were several miles in which we did not see a vehicle in front of us, or behind us, either going our direction, or the opposite one. In addition, in many places, there were no visible roads besides the one we were on. It often felt so solitary, like we were the only people in the world. Quite a different feeling for us.
Eventually, we arrived in a town called Rawlins, where we found a P*zza Hut and had lunch. Across the street was a diner that reminded me of my good buddy, Penni. It was called Penny's Diner, and although they got the name spelled differently, I still thought it was worth taking a picture of this cute diner.
We eventually reached I-80 and drove on through Laramie on the way to Cheyenne. It was a little ways west of Cheyenne that we caught sight of a wind farm or two. Now, on occasion, we would see along the way a tractor trailer hauling a single blade for a future wind turbine. The size and weight of these blades is far greater than I would have guessed, their length being about 50 meters. Each wind turbine, I have read, generally produces less than 1.5 megawatts (i.e. its maximum output being 1.5 MW), which is but a small fraction of most gas or steam turbines. I can't help wondering what the payback period must be for one of these things; longer than anybody wants you to know.
We eventually arrived in Cheyenne, and it is like the Orlando of Wyoming, even though its population is a tiny 55,000 people. Yet, it seems to have everything. The KOA Kampground here was pretty good, and the drive into Colorado tomorrow will be relatively short.
Day 15 was Sept. 18
Woke up in Dubois, Wyoming.
Temperature 38 degrees.
Drove on to Cheyenne, Wyoming this day. It is remarkable how vacant the state of Wyoming is. We saw all variations of scenery, including red cliffs that looked like they belonged in the Southwest. Then there were rolling, sagebrush covered hills that were essentially treeless -- land that appeared to be used for nothing. Every time, on this trip, that we have seen land like this, the map indicated that it was a Native American Reservation. My initial reaction to this was that truly, the United States had reserved some of the worst land for these people. Sad.
I did a fair amount of driving, myself, diagonally across Wyoming, and the lack of traffic was amazing, and enjoyable. There were several miles in which we did not see a vehicle in front of us, or behind us, either going our direction, or the opposite one. In addition, in many places, there were no visible roads besides the one we were on. It often felt so solitary, like we were the only people in the world. Quite a different feeling for us.
Eventually, we arrived in a town called Rawlins, where we found a P*zza Hut and had lunch. Across the street was a diner that reminded me of my good buddy, Penni. It was called Penny's Diner, and although they got the name spelled differently, I still thought it was worth taking a picture of this cute diner.
We eventually reached I-80 and drove on through Laramie on the way to Cheyenne. It was a little ways west of Cheyenne that we caught sight of a wind farm or two. Now, on occasion, we would see along the way a tractor trailer hauling a single blade for a future wind turbine. The size and weight of these blades is far greater than I would have guessed, their length being about 50 meters. Each wind turbine, I have read, generally produces less than 1.5 megawatts (i.e. its maximum output being 1.5 MW), which is but a small fraction of most gas or steam turbines. I can't help wondering what the payback period must be for one of these things; longer than anybody wants you to know.
We eventually arrived in Cheyenne, and it is like the Orlando of Wyoming, even though its population is a tiny 55,000 people. Yet, it seems to have everything. The KOA Kampground here was pretty good, and the drive into Colorado tomorrow will be relatively short.
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| No question about it. We are out West! |
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| This scenery was a stunning surprise. |
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| Miles and miles of open space. Miles and miles. |
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| "Where seldom is heard a discouraging word". . . . . of course, because nobody is out here! |
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| Cute Penny's Diner - Rawlings, Wyoming |
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| A wind farm west of Cheyenne. |
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| Just arrived at our campsite - Cheyenne KOA. |
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| Balancing at the play park. |
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| Is the sun always setting out here? |
1 comments:
By coincidence I was just sorting through some windfarm photos from our trip north this week!
These are amazing Western landscapes.