Here's a Google map of our drive  It opens in a new window

Saturday 28 May

Down to breakfast by 8am - large bowls of fresh fruit & berries. Finished packing, checked out and left by 9am. Had used wi-fi in lobby to track down Autozone which was in fact immediately off Colorado - the route we would’ve been taking anyway. Their key fob tester said that our battery was okay but we bought a new one anyway just in case. It made no difference. We still couldn’t get the locking to work. We had to decide between going back to the airport and carrying on. In the end we decided to carry on and put up with the problem. Going back to the airport would’ve delayed us and there was no guarantee that we would find a suitable replacement car.

Got on to the I25 going north. The satnav indicated that the next turn was 155 miles. As we went north the traffic got gradually lighter. Scenery was interesting without being spectacular. It soon became prairie grassland with very little sign of agriculture apart from the odd cow.

As we got to the state border with Wyoming there was a Colorado Visitor Centre (on the south bound side) so we pulled into that, mainly to use the loos. It was very interesting with loads of free information and free coffee as well. Had a long chat with a very nice lady volunteer about her travels including a recent trip down the Rhine

Continued on until we reached Cheyenne. It wasn’t clear which of the four exists we should take so we took pot luck. We ended up driving through the historic bit but couldn’t see any of the attractions we’d read about. As we turned round to go back into the historic district we saw JJ’s Gourmet Sandwiches. Went in and had excellent ‘subs’ very cheaply. Unfortunately they didn’t do coffee - something we’ve found before in America.

Coming out we managed to find our way to the Capitol - we’d seen the gold dome from a distance on the way in. Being Saturday it didn’t appear to be open so we went into the adjacent State Museum. Had a short look round - could’ve spent longer if we’d had time. Got some not very helpful directions from a volunteer to the Big Boy. This is reputedly the largest steam locomotive ever built in America. It was certainly huge. It stands in a local park.

As we left the park we spotted a Chrysler dealer and went in and asked about the key. Their ‘expert’ came out and simply pressed the blip a few times and told us it wasn’t working. We left there and made our way down to the Union Pacific Depot. This nicely restored building was (and possibly still is) the centre for all Union Pacific’s locomotive work. It doesn’t seem to function as a station but there was lots of train activity going on.

Carried on back to the I25 where we found the next two junctions were much more clearly marked. Traffic became very light now and as we travelled the scenery changed and we were running alongside sandstone escarpments. Pressed on until Wheatland where we stopped for tea in a small family diner. Carrying on on the I25 we turned off at Orin towards Lusk. This road was parallel to the railway which had three tracks. We soon realised why as we passed several enormously long trains. These obviously take coal northwards and then return empty. Presumably they feed power stations.

Got to Lusk around 5.30pm. It really is a one horse town. We drove right through and saw one small restaurant and one pizza parlour. When we checked with the owner we were told they were the only places in town to eat. The motel is excellent - we have two bedrooms separated by a bathroom. They really have provided everything you can think of including tooth flossers, etc. There is a flat screen TV in each bedroom and free wi-fi. We also get free cooked breakfast in morning.

Most importantly the guest laundry was only a couple of doors away so we immediately set about washing absolutely everything. Whilst it washed and dried we sorted out the rest of our stuff, had a coffee and checked our emails. By 7.15pm laundry done and we walked to the Triangle Restaurant. Very homely. Anne had an omelette and Les had a steak (unfortunately they were out of red wine!). It wasn’t the best meal we’ve had but it was adequate and at $27 it was half the price of the next cheapest meal that we’ve had.

We were back in the room by 8.30pm in time to type this up and start sorting out some of tomorrow’s details.