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Published: October 30th 2023
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Rough Road Ahead
Rough Road at Dusk: Coming in to Green River's cemetery Day 4 – Rawlins to Green River. So Bill had to do it. Kate and I were willing to lighten up on all the offroading but even after desperately seeking and finding a rest room at Rock Springs (great old Western town), we were getting dangerously close to sunset as we got close to Green River. We made the grand entrance to Green River via the old road (with I-80 tantalizingly close to the south) at about 8-10 miles per hour. It was a beautiful but teeth jangling descent into Green River, a bustling mining burg. We came in to town via the cemetery, kinda spooky! Amazingly we were the last people to check in at the Hampton Inn which was full of mining contractors. This was our favorite Hampton Inn – the staff was friendly and they had a little pop up bar tucked in an event room. They also feed the miners a simple dinner each night, not usually a hallmark of this brand.
Day 5 – Green River to Evanston. Our last day in Wyoming was quite the adventure. First, Bill really wanted to use the old road through an otherwordly trona mining and reservoir system. Huge
Green River Hampton Inn
View from our Window in Green River at our Favorite Hampton Inn piles of soda ash and weirdly shaped hills looked like something out of Star Wars. When we re-emerged we continued to Fort Bridger and poked around the restored “Orange and Black” Tourist Cabins. We had a couple of off-road experiences from Ft. Bridger to Evanston. First there was the steep incline up to a narrow tunnel. Good thing we walked it. Our intrepid truck was a workhouse but not that much of a workhorse. Kate, Bill and I trudged up the hill on an exploration with pronghorn bounding alongside. Back to the 2
nd generation highway was a long, bumpy road. Then we got lost (off the route) as we climbed a mountain through private land and many signs warning off hunters. We saw lots of trucks though so not sure the signs were much of a deterrent. We now had superimposed the GPS “blue dot” on our Lincoln Highway map so we eventually figured out where we went wrong. Scenery was amazing but we were very excited to find our beds that night!
Day 6 – Evanston to Bountiful, Utah. Just before crossing from Wyoming into Utah, we took a quick exit on to the old road from I-80
Black and Orange Cabins
Orange and Black Tourist Cabins - Ft. Bridger to see a Pony Express site. However, it was locked up tight with lots of no trespassing signs. This site is now a junkyard and we looked longingly over the gate. Well, we decided to approach from the southeast by doubling back. This time we found an unlocked gate so proceeded cautiously till we got to a rockslide. As we looked back we saw a truck at the gate. Fearing that we would now be locked in we drove as quickly as was safe. The truck owner was the grandson of the junkyard owner so we exchanged information. He and his grandfather were friendly – just wanted to make sure we were on the up and up. And it turns out the grandfather is the great great grandson of the Pony Express operator. This section of the road had a circuitous route in and out of canyons. This gorgeous section of road had us on and off the freeway and mirrored the famous Mormon Trail.
We tucked in to Taggarts Grill near Morgan for lunch. It was a rare exception to our no lunch on the road rule but well worth it. Taggarts hearkens back to the site of
Elkhorn Nebraska
Our Brush with Fame: Interview for the Youtube Series in Elkhorn, Nebraska Lincoln Highway tourist cabins. This was also our last shot at trying to find the rumored state sandwich of Wyoming, trout. Ok, so we were in Utah but close enough. No dice, halibut was on offer and I quite enjoyed my fish sandwich. Wyoming was the only state we were unsuccessful in finding a state sandwich. We decided to end our day once we got into the greater Salt Lake City area and finish the following day. We stayed at the Embassy Suites so were able to enjoy wine (no hard liquor at happy hour because of Utah laws) and a nice suite.
Day 7 – Bountiful to Temple Square, Salt Lake City. This was our easy day. We backtracked to Bountiful, then followed the Lincoln Highway south to Temple Square. We took a tour of the Temple Square with 2 lovely young Mormon women clutching their Books of Mormon. I was thrilled to see and hear the huge pipe organ where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs. We also enjoyed a Brittany confection called Kouign Amann, a crustier, sweeter version of a croissant, at Eva’s Bakery and had enjoyed not just one but two Imax movies at the fabulous Clark Planetarium. Believe it or not, even though I have 7 siblings and many nieces and nephews, this was the first city on the route where we encountered a relative. Yay! My brother Chris and wife Claudia were home and greeted us with Margaritas, a huge meal, and a bed for the night.
The real proof of our Lincoln Highway will come in the spring when we attempt the perilous Salt Lake City to Reno route. Stay tuned!
Addendum: We were interviewed for one of the episodes of a Youtube series on the Lincoln Highway. This was on the road from Omaha to Denver. Check it out on Youtube -- go to about minute 10 and you'll also see a lovely stretch of original brick pavement in Elkhorn, Nebraska..
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