Day 19 - 21

2004_0422Image0001.JPG on the road N of Fort Collins 2004_0422Image0005.JPG nice-looking road cut, part of a thrust sheet I think 2004_0422Image0007.JPG Out the hotel window in Laramie 2004_0422Image0009.JPG County courthouse in Laramie 2004_0422Image0010.JPG church in Laramie 2004_0422Image0011.JPG U of Wyoming campus 2004_0422Image0012.JPG colorful house across from campus 2004_0422Image0013.JPG flourescent minerals at Geology museum 2004_0422Image0016.JPG Geology museum, UW 2004_0422Image0021.JPG 2004_0422Image0022.JPG 2004_0422Image0024.JPG 2004_0422Image0025.JPG 2004_0422Image0027.JPG The art museum on campus

Day 19
Fort Collins, CO
0 miles

Winds were 20-25 mph from the direction I was going to be heading, so I took the day off and revised a research paper that I wanted to submit.  Obviously with just the laptop I didn't have all the resources I needed, but I think it turned out okay and I went ahead and submitted.  Went and saw "Kill Bill, Volume 2"; had the time wrong so I showed up a few minutes late, but I don't think I missed anything critical.  Anyway, a great flick, I recommend it.

Day 20
Fort Collins, CO  to Laramie, WY
Rode 25 miles
Bummed ride 40 miles

A real bummer of a day.  I knew a storm was supposed to blow in, but it wasn't supposed to hit until afternoon.  The ride from Fort Collins involved nearly 2000 ft. of climbing and was reasonably hilly.  I left at 6:30 and was really doing well with the overhauled bike, and the scenery was great.  However, the storm hit at about 9 a.m. in Livermore.  Rain that quickly turned into a driving snowstorm; visibility was too low for me to feel comfortable on the shoulder of a highway with semis blowing buy.  So, ended up hanging out at the general store in Livermore for a few hours (no lodging anywhere nearby), and finally paid some guys driving cross-country in a '72 van to drive me to Laramie.  They were pretty cool and it was good to get to a hotel, but I was disappointed about not getting to ride the whole way.  As you can see above, it snowed hard the rest of the day.

Day 21
Laramie, WY
0 miles

Once again the weather forecast was wrong.  Was supposed to snow heavily, but that never happened.  Was extremely windy, but wouldn't have been a headwind so I probably could have ridden had I known.  Oh well, I got to check out the town, the university, and the geology and art museums on campus.  The accent here sounds a little like a North Dakota accent, not quite what I was expecting.  The campus is pretty with lots of giant evergreens everywhere, but as you can see most of the buildings are the same color of tannish brown stone.   The geology museum was mostly paleontology with some good dinosaur stuff.  The art museum was actually quite nice; the featured exhibit was Picasso pottery.  The weather is supposed to improve for the next several days, so hopefully I'll be able to cover some distance.