Rest Day

Waking up this morning knowing that we did not have to pack up and ride into the wild was feeling which we had not experienced in over 600 miles. Instead of waking up in a tight sleeping bag we awoke in large and soft beds. Unfortunately however, some sort of critter had found itself in power substation which subsequently knocked out power to most of the city of Casper. Because of this, the hotel breakfast we were looking forward too consisted of cold bagels and dry cereal. Most of our morning consisted of simply lounging around our room, allowing our muscles to rest and repair themselves. One of the things we had to accomplish at least was to visit a bike shop. After noon, we headed out into the city. Casper is a surprisingly bustling city for its relative size and isolation. Although it is quite small when compared to other cities, it has just about everything you need in the state of Wyoming, from cow boy boots to bike shops. After filling meal of bacon burgers at Hardees, we struggled the four miles to the bike shop with our full bellies. After thousands of miles, bikes can start to make funny noises. Like infants or toddlers, these noises never tell you exactly what is wrong if anything. A squeak here and creak there can translate in my mind as either a severe mechanical catastrophe or simple fix with WD40 or duct tape.  The bike shop was gracious enough to do a quick run down on our bikes, inspecting for any major problems and making minor adjustments that might be helpful, all at free of charge. After this errand was completed, we lounged away the rest of the hours at a local Cold Stone Creamery. Thus, our day complete, we now must sleep, awaiting the journey tomorrow which will take us into some quite uninhabited territory. Morale has been boosted because of our rest and and soon we will be finding ourselves climbing the Rockies.