Dubois to Lander, WY

(Ridden Friday August 21st)

Via Hwy 287. 80 miles.

It was one of our longest days in terms of mileage, but actually quite pleasant. Most of the route was a gradual downhill, so we were able to maintain a much better pace than normal. The weather was near-perfect - sunny skies, light winds (unusual for Wyoming) and the temperature was too warm for only the last few miles.

Most of the day was spent crossing the very large Wind River reservation, where Shoshoni and Arapaho tribes were forced to settle despite the fact that historically they were enemies of one another. We stopped for lunch in Fort Washakie, in the Shoshoni section and were struck by how uniformly handsome the Shoshonies are - both men and women. It is easy to see why they were once a proud warrior nation.

We are staying in Lander tonight at a couple's home who we contacted via warmshowers.org. Warmshowers members are people (usually other cyclists) who are willing to host touring cyclists at their homes for a night. The host provides at least a place to sleep (which may be a bed, a couch, the floor or a campsite in the yard) and take a shower. Sometimes hosts agree to provide or assist with meals. Sometimes they simply give you the keys to the house and tell you to enjoy yourselves. (we signed up about a week ago). In this case, our hosts in Lander, Jim and Julia, invited us to stay in the guest room at their lovely home. We first went to a local brew pub and got to know each other over a few beers, then they led us to their house where we showered while they made a terrific dinner. We really enjoyed ourselves and were especially grateful for a break from the anonymity of the motel/campground scene.

As it turns out, since Jim and Julia have cats (Penny is very allergic to the dander) we instead set up our tent in the back yard and slept under the stars* on a beautiful, warm evening. It was a great way to end the day.

*Our tent is screened on all sides (i.e., there are unobstructed 180 degree views).
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry