Day 37 - Monday June 4th: Up and Over the Rockies

<-- Day 36 - Sunday June 3rd: Leaving The Plains | Day 38/39 – Tues/Wed June 5th/6th: Road Home – Epilogue -->

Day 37: On Monday we drove from Denver, Colorado, to Salt Lake City, Utah, with a short stop in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

We thanked our new-found cousin Gary and his wife Kathy for hosting us, then off we went to find a place they think serves the best Bagels in Denver, the Woodgrain Bagels. They didn't have a very wide selection of bagels, but they had the proper chewiness. I enjoyed them (of course, Ann can't eat them because of her gluten issues).

Along with a half-dozen bagels, I bought some poblano cream cheese. Oh boy, was that excellent!

Coincidently, the bagelry and numerous other nearby shops and houses are located at the old Lowry Air Force Base. Ann had spent time there (as did Bob Christy). Needless to say, Ann was shocked at the transformation of the base from one with endless goose excrement (she remembers having to march through goosepoop) into a place with a museum, restaurants, beer garden, high end shops, and storage facilities. It was quite disorienting.

After a short drive around the former base, we left for Salt Lake City. As we approached Cheyenne, I felt the need for a bathroom, so we found a gas station. Since we were already off the Interstate, we decided to explore downtown Cheyenne, as neither of us had been there (though we've driven by Cheyenne numerous times).

We followed Highway 30, aka the Old Lincoln Highway, through the center of downtown. Along the way we saw some fantastic old motel signs in excellent shape. It's the kind of scenery we'd expected to see more of along Route 66. Once downtown, the center of Cheyenne seemed vibrant and interesting. The downtown square contained oversize boots painted in mural-like ways. The railway station is now a museum and a brew pub.

Some photos from the Cheyenne Depot Plaza:

The museum:

The museum appeared to focus on the Transcontinental Railroad, which put Cheyenne on the map. We didn't take time to explore the museum on this visit, but hope to return and do a better job of exploring the city.

Not for west of Cheyenne on Interstate 80 sits a Lincoln Highway Memorial. It's another one of those places that we always say, "we'll get there next time". Well, this was "next time". We stopped, took a photo with Lincoln, which was originally along Highway 30, but moved to the current location when I-80 opened,

Lincoln's view east along I-80:

Then, we went inside the visitor's center. inside there was a good little overview of Wyoming's history:

We spent the remainder of the afternoon driving to Salt Lake City.

On Tuesday we celebrated my birthday with my boys. On Wednesday, June 6th, we headed home, driving 9 hours back to Pasco.

That ends another fabulous trip. A thanks to everyone who made it so interesting and fun!

<-- Day 36 - Sunday June 3rd: Leaving The Plains | Day 38/39 – Tues/Wed June 5th/6th: Road Home – Epilogue -->