Today was the end of riding on the plains. I looked forward to mountains, but there still is something beautiful and peaceful about the big flat middle of America. I headed due west to soon cross into Wyoming and head to Cheyenne. It's a little iffy where you will get gas but not too bad. Today I came the closest to panic about gas when I pulled into one of the tiny towns and saw no gas station. I asked at a garage and they said the only thing they had was a couple tanks with self serve, but it was 10% ethanol. Sure enough a cement slab with 2 pumps (diesel & gas) were just down the road. It was only 85 octane, but my beemer can run on camel wizz if required so it ran fine. And these folks are so welcoming, I would have no problem asking anyone if they had a can of gas somewhere. Next stop road construction. The WYDOT was putting oil on the road and then sprinkling the red gravel over it and brushing it into the oil. One of the highway guys, with the classic giant cowboy mustache stopped me and said it would be a while. He then walked over to his truck and came back with an ice cold bottle of water (hows that for service!). When he saw I was from Vermont we did the whole comparing our states. And he reminded me that Wyoming proudly has fewer people (584K) than Vermont (625K). He says he can call his representative or senator and they will actually talk to him. I have not tried that, but that may be true. We agreed smaller is better. He also warned me about Cheyenne since the Frontier Days rodeo was going on. I have been to it a couple times before so did not have a desire to stop.
I stopped for coffee just outside of Cheyenne to decide where to go. The north routes would take me too far north so I decided to run down Rt25 toward Denver then decide to go to Estes Park or keep going to Denver. Denver won out and I turned west on I70 and traffic came to a standstill due to a truck on fire further up the road. I originally wanted to get to Grand Junction and head south through Utah, but then thought I could stop in Aspen and see my nephew Troy and his wife Chris. I messaged then and they immediately said come on up to Aspen. I rode past all the backed up traffic on the little strip of pavement on the median side and finally cleared the backup. Troy suggested I go over Independence Pass and was that a nice treat at the end of the day. Denver was very hot but the temperature cooled right off as I climbed the mountains. I pulled into Aspen and it was hopping. I called Troy and he rode his bicycle over to where I was and lead me back some blocks to his house. A cold beer and we walked downtown to get the tour of Aspen. This town has population 5000 or so and Troy says it doesn't grow because it is pretty real estate limited. It is a pretty wealthy town, but they have a lot of public space and everybody was out and about.
We walked through the John Denver park which is beautiful with a semi-natural amphitheater and a creek running through it with a dog beach. Yup, this town pampers their dogs (and for good reason). Summer and winter are the high seasons with tourists and skiers respectively. Sounds like if you want to visit, spring and fall are the off seasons, but September has better weather. I got here just after a lot of crappy weather and it was a beautiful night to walk around town. We go a couple drinks and food in one of the gazillion places you can eat, but this one was one of Troy and Chris' regular places so I met some of their friends and co-workers.
A nice evening walk back from town, and the soft bed called me into sleep. Another great day, and the big change from plains to mountains.
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