Monday, May 20, 2024

2024 Trip 1 - Day 20

May 20, 2024

What a beautiful morning at Guernsey Lake State Park in Wyoming.  Well, it was after the rain let up.  This is a gorgeous park with 13 different campgrounds within it and I recommend it highly.  

Today is my last day of this adventure and I plan to just grab The Slab to cut the distance down to about 400 miles for the day.  The weather looks like it might get moist so I don’t want to spend time trying to enjoy backroads under those conditions.

Here are some photos from camp this morning.









I had breakfast (oatmeal) and got packed up and on the road by 8:30 am.  The first stop was to the dam that holds back Guernsey Lake.  It was built on 1927.   The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the state park and its structures.  The dam is used to generate electricity. There is a CCC museum nearby.  Here’s some photos from the dam.






I got back on Hwy 26 and it took me to I-25 which I rode to Buffalo, WY where it connected to I-90.   The first thing I noticed was that I was underdressed for the conditions.  I tried to tough it out but when the temperature started dropping into the 40s and the rain became serious, I knew I had to pull over and did so in Evansville, WY at a gas station.  I put both the rain and thermal liner in my jacket and pulled on my rain pants.  I also got out my waterproof and insulated cold weather gloves.  After getting gas I pulled away from the island and noticed that one of my boots had come untied so stopped in front of the Tesla Superchargers to tie it.



I continued on going north which took me right through Casper, WY.  The road went to 2-lanes as they are undergoing a major construction project here.  Riding through a city, on a road under construction, in the rain, reminded me that I did the same thing last week in Columbus, OH.  I got past that and kept heading north, now much more comfortable with the right gear on.

I was sort of getting a headache, for what reason I’m not sure, maybe the stress of the ride, so I pulled off in Kaycee, WY to take a couple Ibuprofen.

Outside of Buffalo I pulled over in one of the many “Parking Areas” designed for truckers to take a few photos.




In Buffalo, I pulled off thinking I might find someplace for lunch but it’s really difficult traveling in this part of the world as a vegetarian so I got back on the road and headed for Sheridan, WY.  It was beginning to rain again anyway.  In Sheridan I got gas and had a salad with bread (a Subway veggie sandwich).

Now it was just about getting the 2 hours to Billings done.  I stopped in Hardin for a short break and then back on I-90.  As I got closer to Billings I could see that I would be welcomed by an afternoon storm.  I shot this photo about 15 miles east of the city,


I didn’t hit the weather until I exited the highway in Lockwood and headed across the Yellowstone River when I got both rain and hail.  The hail abated but the rain remained all the way to my house.

My wife tracks my location and created a parking spot for me in the garage and was out there with the door open to greet me.



What a great 20 days.  Today was 407 miles and made the total, 5,928 for the whole adventure.  

As is my custom, I’ll wrap this up with another post with stats and observations, hopefully, sometime tomorrow.




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