And through a wide variety of scenic vistas.
We woke up to another dusting of snow, and then it started drizzling with rain. As we drove up through the valley north of Baggs, Wyoming you could see how much snow they had received the day before. But fortunately, the roads were clear and the temperature was now slightly above freezing.
Yuck.
Filled up with gas at $1.88 a gallon! That's about $0.62 per litre Canadian. Nice! I had purposely arranged to be near empty when we made it into Rawlins, and so Sherman sucked back almost 50 gallons to fill his tank right to the top.
Yep, this is Wyoming at the end of April. Looks like the arctic!
The Continental Divide.
We crossed the Continental Divide four times on our route yesterday, including driving through part of the Great Divide Basin. The basin is a section of the continent where any water falling as precipitation does not make it to either the Pacific or Atlantic Oceans.
Your geography lesson of the day!
Nice scenery. Dreary weather.
Clear roads.
Again, there was hardly any traffic. Sherman kept his cruise control on at 55 mph for most of the day. On one steep downhill section he was flying...coasting all the way up to 68 mph! Pretty sure the speed limit was 70 mph at that stretch of the road, so he was still legal!
Sure looks like the arctic to me.
We did get some rain, but not as bad as these storm clouds look.
We stopped for lunch at the Walmart in Riverton. Went and did some shopping, and of course we're always on the lookout for deals.
I picked up this bottle of "very rare" Scotch for only $11 USD ($14.30 CAD). How lucky am I??
A 7 lb frozen turkey breast for $5.27 USD ($6.85 CAD). What a deal!
North of Riverton as the elevation decreased, there was no more snow.
Pretty drive through the Wind River Canyon.
Going to have to come back to that area some day.
Three short tunnels.
Wind River Canyon.
Natural Hot Springs at the tourist town of Thermopolis.
Some really nice small towns here in northwestern Wyoming. Again, an area we could return to. We didn't have time to stop, but both Greybull and Lovell are towns we would return to and spend a couple of days.
We had left Baggs at just after 7:00am, and our only stop was for lunch for about an hour. We pulled into Lovell at 4:00pm, and headed right to their free RV park. No hookups, but fresh water and a dump station are available. Nice new facilities including a washroom and shower building. Yep...all for free. Thanks Lovell!
Sherman, parked up at GPS 44.841118, -108.383226
And, free wifi available parked outside the town visitor center. Nice!
Filled up with gas again this morning at $1.97 gallon to find that we got 10.2 mpg for the drive yesterday. Sherman tends to average about 10 mpg, although with a headwind we're sometimes below 9 mpg. We must have been going dowhill most of the day yesterday!
Today, we'll go north through Billings, Montana...and tomorrow home for the summer at Cabri Regional park in Saskatchewan.
Yesterday's drive, 356 miles (570 kms).
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Biofreeze pain relief products are on sale at Amazon.com...today only. Based on the good reviews, this stuff really works!
And in Canada, a big selection of Timex watches are on sale at Amazon.ca...
Yucky weather, good thing you have good tires on.
ReplyDeleteWe haven't got the tires changed! Because of our extra overnight stay in Baggs we don't have the time now, plus they are almost the same price in Swift Current once the exchange rate is taken into consideration. Having said that the tires are still in good condition but are now getting to old.
DeleteWow! Every town should have a free campsite. Love the long winding road through snowy landscape picture. Two more drives to your summer home!
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you. People who stay at these parks generally spend money in the town so it is a win-win situation for both parties.
DeleteWe cross the border in a few hours!
That is a long travel day for you, but your needed to do some catch up.
ReplyDeleteLike you I always look for deals and there is lots to stock up on.
Yes, it was definitely a long day for us but it went by very nicely and the roads were all in good shape.
DeleteCooked that turkey up last night and it was delicious and now we have leftovers to use! :-)
Great pictures. The snow is beautiful, but not driving in it, especially pulling a fifth wheel. Something I haven't experienced yet and avoid. Safe travels.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, and we would prefer to see snow on a Christmas card or on Facebook these days but sometimes you don't always have a choice. Good thing the roads we all clear and in good shape.
DeleteGreat pictures of your looooong travel day. Felt like putting on a jacket to finish reading your post. Stay safe!
ReplyDeleteLol, I know the pictures sure do make it look cold and miserable and it pretty much was.
DeleteWave at my kids as you go through Billings. So glad we're still in AZ. Looks way too cold. Safe travels.
ReplyDeleteWe did Sandy and Jim and everyone in town was looking at us like we were crazy! I am sure they were wondering where they knew us from, it will bug them for the rest of the day now, lol! ;-)
DeleteThat can be less than a thrilling drive:)
ReplyDeleteIt might have been better if we could have seen the scenery, some areas looked beautiful!
DeleteYou didn't stop for a soak in the free State Park hot springs in Thermopolis?....
ReplyDeleteThey only allow 15 minutes so as not to compete with the others..$$$$$..
I soaked for 30 minutes last time there.Figured what? throw me out?...The water is more than swell!
Maybe next time eh??
Upriverdavid
Unfortunately we didn't have time! We lost a day of driving when we had to stay the day in Baggs because of the weather. We have both commented on how much we loved this drive up to Canada on the roads we choose so I am sure we will be back for another visit in the area and we will get into the hot springs then. It sure did look inviting! :-)
DeleteI would also highly recommend the Thermopolis State Park hot springs. Not only is it free but it is a very nice facility staffed with friendly folks. It has both an indoor and outdoor soaking pool. You enter and exit via shower/locker rooms. You will need the showers to wash off the sulfer smell from the pools.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ruth, we will make sure to stop in the next time we head through this area, which I am sure we will, just not sure when that will be. The area around there looks beautiful along with lots of hiking so it wouldn't take much to twist our arms. Too bad we didn't have time this time. :-(
DeleteNope, not much traffic at all, that's why we love staying away from the Interstates! :-)
ReplyDeleteA long day for you and you even cooked up the turkey after all that driving. Too bad you didn't buy a second one for the freezer. Good luck with the border today.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't cook it up at the end of this day but the next (last night). Unfortunately we would have loved to have brought back another one for the freezer but at the moment there is a restriction on poultry at the border and no raw poultry meat is allowed to cross. One of the reasons for cooking it up before crossing the border, now we have lots of leftovers! :-)
DeleteHow kind of the Town of Lovell to offer free camping, water, dump station, AND wifi. Don't see that very often. Good to know. Didn't envy you the first part of your drive!
ReplyDeleteWe have found that there a number of towns that do this type of thing in the West, not so much in the East though. It would have been even better if the free WiFi had been at the campground but beggars can't be choosers! We did get a good cell signal from the campground though. Even though there were train tracks behind the campground we didn't see or hear one until the next morning when we headed out.
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