Saratoga, WY

Day 46: Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Rawlins to Saratoga: 52 miles

Mileage-wise, this was a short day today, because I took the time to tour the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins. I had never before been inside a state prison (jail, yes, but that's another story), and thought it would be interesting. It was, and it deserves a column of its own, and I'll write it as soon as I catch up with where I really am.

Sinclair is a company town not far from Rawlins. The main buildings (there aren't that many) have a kind of Spanish mission theme, and there's the obligatory caboose in the park.

The town of Sinclair has a Spanish mission theme.

Sinclair's caboose

The refinery itself seems to be booming - there's a lot of construction there.

The Sinclair refinery

It looks like they're adding capacity.

Just outside Sinclair, I got to ride the Interstate for a while. Riding the Interstate is not very exciting.

Would my Interstate ride take me into that rain shower?
(It didn't.)

Somewhere after the Interstate, while I was stopped for a rest break, a motorcyclist pulled up alongside. We had quite a chat about bicycle touring. He had done his share of it, but got bored with it (I can see why, cycling through Wyoming), and his touring now was on a faster contraption. It turned out that he was born less than a month after I was. He was a cool guy.

Hispanic Harley rider gave up cycling
for something less boring.

Open letter (or at least a diatribe) to the town council of Saratoga, Wyoming:

Why do you erect a grand sign out on the highway, advertising the Saratoga Lake Campground, and then put it 7/8 mile down a paved road that is bumpier than any gravel road I've traveled on this trip (so bad that I feared for my bicycle), and then have the gall to charge cyclists $7.00 for a campsite in a mosquito-infested campground (once again, the worst on this trip) that has absolutely no amenities other than a pit toilet?