Wish we had this three wheeler yesterday; thinking maybe this will be our next touring vehicle.

Ten minutes earlier and ten degrees warmer, when we pulled away from the wonderfully comfortable bed of our hotel.  We felt remarkably refreshed considering the beating we took yesterday.  Gillette, Energy Capital of the Nation, is a quirky town.  Where else would you find a “Rock Pile Museum” and rock/paper/scissors sculpture!  Within two miles, we hit road construction that once again had us on a dirt road.  But most traffic had avoided this stretch because of it, so we had the road almost to ourselves.  It was certainly not a particularly pretty ride, muddy fields a huge electrical plant, an oil field and large rail switching station, but infinitely more enjoyable on the flat road with a nice southwest wind.

Shortly before ten a.m. with 30 miles complete, we ran out of our flat road and climbed a steep hill into Moorcroft.  Though still satisfied from breakfast, we stopped for a rest and a bit of sugar; once again, our one and only available stop for the day.  We knew the second half was filled with climbing, with the worst two climbs at the end; so we left the hillier country road behind and opted for the interstate.  We knew it would be less scenic, but we had not seen much on our earlier stretch, so did not think we would miss much.  The landscape was surprisingly pretty and we were fortunate to find shade in several spots and took advantage of each one.  Though the temperatures had climbed to over 100° by noon, the shade felt like air conditioning.  The rolling hills started off mild,the Black Hills coming into view on the horizon and Devils Tower/Bear Lodge in the distance.  Around a bend in the road, trees and stunning green returned; a refreshing and instant contrast from the past 100 miles.   The scenic distraction helped with our two tough climbs in the last ten miles; the last one to 5089 feet.  A four mile no pedaling downhill into the town of Sundance of Sundance Kid fame,  Arriving before check-in time and with a restaurant across the street, we enjoyed a late lunch.

The sky on our walk to dinner, was very bizarre; thankfully after our leisurely dining, the sky had cleared completely.  We strolled past a very sobering War Memorial to the veterans of Crook County.  This area contributed many souls to every war in recent history.

Sorry for the sober finish to a beautiful day, but we should never forget the scarifies our soldiers made for us, All of us!