The fireworks lasted until nearly midnight. I think the everyone in Lander was setting off fireworks in front of their houses last night. The rain seemed to have had no effect other than driving me inside my tent where I could hear everything and see nothing.
It was damp and clammy when I woke up and I briefly considered waiting for things to dry out, but it was cold and cloudy outside so that didn’t seem likely to happen soon. I packed up my wet tent and went into town for breakfast. I tried two different coffee houses, both really good. I like that there exist small towns progressive enough to sustain multiple good coffee houses.
It was a dreary ride out of Lander, impossible to believe this was July, but by noon it was sunny and warm. Not particularly striking scenery. I stopped for lunch in Riverton, not an interesting place, at least at first glance. The mosquitoes next to the reservoir near Shoshoni were maddening. They would draft in my wake and take turns chewing on my arms, leg and face, impossible to outrun. I finally escaped on a downhill descending into the canyon, but once set up at camp they found me and I was driven into my tent for an early night. I’ve an easy day planned for tomorrow, I’ll be spending it in Thermopolis, a place I’ve wanted to visit ever since I saw the name on a map. I imagine marble Greek columns, hanging gardens and fountains in the street.
I was the first one up and out of the park this soggy morning
All the highways I’ve been on in Wyoming have signs like these, and barricades which can drop to close the road. It’s pleasant now, but I imagine the winter can be brutal
I passed a section where there were hundreds of these, crossing the road in both directions and oblivious to the signs of carnage all about. I sense a metaphor
