Over the past few days we’ve visited quite a few real cowboy towns, with Laramie perhaps the most “genuine” - no flashy (tacky) casinos, no romanticising of history. Despite the popularity of the series Yellowstone, there really is no glamour in the life of a cowboy now, and 150 years ago there was even less. Like most communities Laramie is a town of two disparate parts, with one being prosperous and vibrant, the other pretty dowdy and depressing.
Wherever we’ve travelled, trailer homes are a reality providing what is possibly the lowest rung on the accommodation ladder - the next step is a tent. Again, as in any community, some are occupied by proud and tidy people looking to make the most of what others would see as fairly dire straits. Unfortunately there are others whose trailer may as well be at the town dump, surrounded by wrecked cars, rubbish, the flotsam and jetsam long abandoned by anyone else. Todays ride had a bit of everything as we left Wyoming and entered Colorado, a few twistiest early on, quite a bit of long, straight and fairly quick “prairie” riding, step climbs to great heights (was past the US Army High Altitude School), with the temperature increasing hour on hour. There were times we the radiant temperature from the road was quite incredible, and will only intensify as we get closer to Phoenix. After coping with several hours in the heat, arriving at the hotel is a real highlight, with some quickly taking advantage of the swimming pool - I enjoyed a cold shower and have my liquid coolant in a bath of ice ready for our 5:30 team meeting. Comments are closed.
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Don MalcolmA perfect day involves being on my Harley with a long ride ahead.
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