Day 31
Miles: 33.96 – Total accent: 1,040
Totals:. Miles-1,560.89 – Accent- 56,415 feet climbed 134 hrs 51 minutes in the saddle
During the still of the night, I hear a sound by the bikes, like something jumped on my trunk bag. I look out the tent but can’t see anything. I decide to wait til morning to check it out. Well. At sun up, we find my bike laying on its side. The sound was the pannier hitting the ground. And we see fresh pronghorn hoof prints. Our best guess is one got curious and perhaps tugged on the pannier or saddle pulling it over. How I wish we would have caught that on film! The bike was fine, saved by the fork and rear panniers.
After breaking camp, we head the the market for a cup of coffee and they had amazing breakfast pizza! Woohoo!
Today will be a light day so we can make lots of stops, photos and play more!
We get to the North Platt river bridge and Drew launches the drone. Within seconds, the swallows from the nearby overpass go crazy and storm the drone. The flight lasts 90 seconds, bringing it down before an incident occurs. We can’t wait to share this with you on our YouTube channel.
Further down the road, huge bales of hay are setting in fields. And then the biggest group of pronghorn yet-maybe 10 animals.
Passing a pond on our left, we look to the sky and see a half dozen pelicans flying in formation towards the pond. Based on their flight, you can see the airflow/thermals they are riding. One at a time, they make an approach to the pond. They’re not the most graceful when landing. After a few have landed, another group joins the air space, some flying really high and swiftly descending. Amazing to watch!
Passing by more incredible geologic formations, we get to the highway mower. About a 10 foot swathe of the growth is being mowed. We’ve noticed a number of dead snakes on the side of the road, even before the mower. We hope there’s one that is somewhat intact so we can identify it.
Along the way, a dead fawn is against the railing. It was such a beautiful animal with perfect little white spots on its hindquarters, a tiny nose and big eyes.
We arrive in Casper and head to Mountain Sports where a resupply package was sent-thank you Jeff! It’s like Christmas!! Our vitamins, protein powder, collegen, energy gels,floss, toothpaste and more. All the items that are tried and true and we’ve grown to love! If you’re in the area, stop by and say hello to Chloe! While there, several people asked about our trip and shard their experiences. Randomly, two separate people recommended we go to Eggington’s for food. So off we went. Cheyenne was our server and she was amazing!
Next, to our Warms Showers Hosts Lorraine and Charlie Powell. They live in the historic section of Casper. Their home was built in 1917. We settled into the basement area complete with a kitchen, bedroom and private bath. Charlie had the patio area all set for an evening BBQ when out of nowhere, a storm blew! Grabbing everything off the outdoor table, we moved indoors and watched the trees and bushes sway sideways!! Their son Zach joined us for dinner and Lorraine’s sister Lannice. She is traveling and stopped in for the night before returning home. By the time dinner was done, the skies had cleared and we retired to the patio enjoying the warmth of the fire pit and interesting conversation. Charlie and Zach have so much knowledge of the area and it’s history. Fascinating!
Today was the ninth consecutive day of riding and while we are still strong, we are a little tired. A rest day tomorrow is welcomed.