...where the deer and the antelope play - under the windchargers! We've been surprised by the number of windcharger farms we've passed going across Nebraska and now Wyoming. And, the antelope are huge. We climbed across Nebraska and overnighted in Cheyenne, Wyoming (elevation over 6,000 feet) on Saturday. I drove ahead with our commander's wife, Muriel Shelswell, and we put together a cake party for one of the couples celebrating their 50th wedding anniversay that day. It was a fun surprise and several of us continued the celebration at a Mexican restaurant. We needed our Tex/Mex fix after many hot dogs, hamburgers, and BBQ sandwiches. Afterwards, Den and I drove around the Capitol (which you can no longer do in Austin) and took pictures. We found the boot on one of the downtown corners.
Railroads are a significant part of the scenery and economy up here. We've waited for many trains, who now honk and wave at us. We saw massive machinery working on the railways between Ogallala, NE and Cheyenne.
On Sunday, we traveled from Cheyenne to Rawlins, again on parts of the original Lincoln Highway. One part was through Tie Siding, a rolling gravel road through private ranch property. At the intersection of I-80, we saw a large memorial to Lincoln positioned at the highest point of the original Lincoln Highway, over 8,050 feet. Den is shaking hands with our convoy commander, Terry Shelswell, in front on another memorial at the site dedicated to the Henry B. Joy, who was the first president of the Lincoln Highway Association. As we left the area, the vision of the convoy crossing the high desert on winding gravel roads fufilled all Den's expectations for the trip. We lunched at the Virginian Hotel in Medicine Bow where they were hosting the Quick Draw contest and the town's centennial which was in 1978 - they were just a bit late.
We crossed the Continental Divide twice today going west. How so? It's the only place in America where a basin splits the Divide, so travelers cross it twice at 7,000 and 6,930 foot elevations. We are staying the night in Green River, Wyoming and while attending festivities for us in the City Park, Dennis hears his name called. For our Denton friends, it was Doug and Lynn Ebersole who are vacationing in the area, heard about the convoy, and had come to the park to see the vehicles. While taking pictures, Doug said he needed to send this to Boots and one of the convoy members said that he was here. They found us and we spent the rest of the evening in pleasant conversation.
The antique truck picture is a Nash Quad, one of four 1919 era trucks that would have been on the original convoy. This one is still driveable and our commander gave his daily driver's briefing from it a couple of days ago.
We continue to be overwhelmed by the support and patriotism alive in small town America. Where can you be treated to lunch on picnic tables in front of the local grocery store with a keyboardist playing patriotic music and immediately feel like you are a part of their community? We know that at least half the citizens in a tiny town (pop. 253) lined the city park fence yesterday and waved us through. We've seen a Boy Scout leader walking his troup through the vehicles at 6:30 on a Sunday morning, talking about the importance of the vehicles, the men who drove them, and the role they played in our country's history.
We're off to Murray, Utah tomorrow, a suburb of Salt Lake City. First gear is at 6:30 - GROAN - so we better cut this off and get some sleep. Hope all of you are doing well. Goodnight from the High Desert - Marilyn and Den
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