July 9 Casper to Lusk, Wyoming

Spot the Schooner

Back into the oceanic grasslands for the 107-mile run from Casper to Lusk. Casper seems like an up-and-coming place.  It even has a minor league baseball team — the Casper Ghosts. Lusk is a much smaller town on the edge of the vast grasslands ocean.   It’s a pretty place that seems to be the hub of the local agricultural communities.  As we came up a green, grassy hill today, I saw low clouds hanging just above the horizon. The whole scene seemed like low clouds scudding over a green, swelling ocean.  No wonder they called covered wagons Prairie Schooners.

I spotted another animal for Roadkill Bingo — a jackalope.  Unfortunately, my camera battery was dead so I couldn’t document my find with a photo.  I did stop in Douglas, Wyoming, however, to take a picture of their town’s official jackalope.  Apparently, Douglas was the first place the jackalope was found and identified as a separate species.

Most of the pictures I have of myself show me standing around with some pretty scenery in the background.  I don’t have many action pictures because my camera is in my pocket when I’m in action.  So, I’m very thankful that Jim Benson, our mechanic, took this photo of me climbing Togwotee Pass the other day.  When Jim took this picture, I still had about 15 miles of climbing to go to reach the summit. Some nice mountains in the background, no?

When we got into Lusk today, my buddy Columbus Dan and I walked over to the local Subway for lunch.  The place was full — there’s a parade to honor Lusk’s foundation day later today.  As we waited in line, we chatted with a young woman who’s a student at Valley City State University in Valley City, North Dakota.  She had just traveled with a youth group to the YMCA of the Rockies in Colorado and was headed home.  During the course of our conversation, I mentioned that I was raising money for MS.  After we got our sandwiches, the young woman came to our table, said “I think what you’re doing is wonderful.  Here’s five dollars. God bless you” and disappeared.  It’s one of the sweetest, most generous donations I’ve ever gotten.  I don’t know whom to thank so I’ll just thank Valley City State University.  Thanks, VCSU — you’ve got some pretty neat students.

Day’s distance: 107.1 miles (172.4 km)
Average speed: 19.1 mph (30.7 kph)
Day’s climb: 2,550 feet (777.2 meters)
Total distance: 1,501.2 miles (2,415.9 km)