Day 34 – The View that Makes the Whole Trip Worth It!

Because of the heat and lateness of the day yesterday, we decided to leave early today. We also wanted to arrive early to ave a relaxing afternoon. As we pulled out, we heard the church bells striking 8. It was nice to be on the road this early. We rode through the beautiful downtown of Lander, WY and enjoyed the nice buildings and smooth road and light morning traffic. As we got out of town we began to feel what every biker loves, a tailwind! Unlike yesterday with my struggles with gratitude, this was an easy thing to be thankful for!
We spent most of the day in the Wind River Indian Reservation and the roads, once we got out of town, were not very smooth. We spent much of the day slaloming between the gaps in the rumble strips from the road and the shoulder. The road was the typical chip seal that we have been riding on but the shoulder was not so smooth. My theory is that they ran out of good help so they went down to the elementary schools and told them that they were going on a field trip for art class. They gave each of the students a bucket of asphalt and a toy bulldozer and told them to spread it and smooth it with their toys. This created a very bumpy road and more than uncomfortable bottom.
We made our only stop in the city of Fort Washakie, WY and got Gatorade and a candy bar. It was just what we needed! The winds continued in our favor so we quickly got back on the bikes to make the best use of it that we could. We had just gotten out of town when we saw an interesting double flagged bicycle in the distance going up a very steep hill. It was a recumbent tricycle and since they are much more difficult to power up hills we caught him in no time.

Merle Knotts is a 68 year old man who has Multiple Sclerosis. He lives in Marietta, GA and is riding his bike 1) to raise money to find a cure for MS and 2) to attend his 50 year high school graduation in Oak Harbor, WA. We rode up the hill with him and enjoyed talking with him. He was a man with a neat sense of humor and a quick mind. He told us that because of his disease his feet would often hurt very badly. He then told us that his sandals were water cooled. He took his water bottle and squirted water on them. I got a chuckle about that later because I didn’t get it right away. We got our picture together and wished each other a good ride and left. I told him as we left that I would put a link to his website on mine, which I have, and I decided to put a plug in for his cause. I am asking that you would consider going to his website and donate to his cause. He was a nice man and I think that he has a worthy cause. Let each person do what they think is best!!
We continued through the reservation and saw the Sandstone Butte with the Bighorn Ridge in the background.

We crossed the Wind River and enjoyed the beauty that it provided.

The Crowheart Butte had just come into view when we again saw that white Tahoe parked in a pull off.

Even though we were not hot or tired, watermelon tasted very good and refreshing. The few amount of miles remaining, and the relaxation that the end would bring sent us back to the road and we finished the final 35 miles with a certain amount of ease. The ease can be greatly attributed to the amazing and ever changing scenery.

It seemed like around every bend in the road there was a new rock formation with new colors.


We came up one hill around a corner and while stopping for a picture we noticed that there was a herd of mule deer in the nicely irrigated field.

We pulled in the campground at 2:15 and enjoyed lunch, time with the family, and time at the river.

It was nice. Abby and I took some time to walk through the old west style downtown and enjoyed the shops.

We had a wonderful supper at the Cowboy Café.

Their pies were the high point of the meal. Joshua and I ordered the peach caramel crunch, finished it. Abby and Annamarie ordered the peanut butter cup cheesecake and we finished that one too. Mom ordered the same and Abby, we finished that one too. I will probably need a steel framed bike on Monday instead of aluminum.
The bed felt a little softer tonight than in other nights past. It was probably the 6 day week. I look forward to the day off tomorrow and meeting more of the LORD’s people in the LORD’s house on the LORD’s day!