Return to Denver2

During this trip we covered a lot of miles, so we were ready for the final drive back to Denver.

Before breakfast Jacob and I took a run on the Wyoming Heritage Trail , which is a rail trail from Riverton to Shoshoni.  We were not on a particularly scenic part of the trail, but it was a nice way to avoid traffic.  As we left town we saw landmarks in the distance that we tried to reach.  However, we were not able to judge distances too well because of not being accustomed to the wide open spaces.  So we never reached that big tree in the distance.

When we were leaving the parking lot from the hike in Idaho, I drove too close to some brush and put some light scratches on the passenger side of the rental van.  To try to avoid being charged for the "damage" to the van, I washed the van since the dust was highlighting the scratches.  I also picked up some rubbing compound at an auto parts store.

The morning drive was uneventful and the weather was sunny and warm as we headed east on 20/26.  We were driving through high desert chaparral and we saw lots of pronghorn along the road.  Lots of wide open space with very large ranches, where you could see small herds of cattle roaming the sparse land with lots of space between them. Occasionally there would be a windmill with a watering trough, and every now and then there was a small cluster of ranch buildings.  Rural Wyoming living must be hard and lonely, but I'm sure it has it's rewards too.

We stopped Casper for lunch and gas, no correlation.  Here we connected with Interstate 25 which continued east while we were flanked on the south by the Laramie Mountains.  Later 25 turned south toward Cheyenne and Fort Collins.  The afternoon was cloudy, windy and quite cool due to our altitude.

We had another wonderful dinner with the Witonsky's, such gracious hosts despite all their busy schedules.  I was able to buff most of the scratches out of the rental van with the rubbing compound.

The second part of the Denver² equation was the return trip to PA, which went as well as air travel with a family can go.  This leg of our journey was much less stressful than the trip out.  BTW, the rental car intake person did not notice the scratches, so either he chose to ignore them or the "elbow grease" worked.