Day 20 / July 26 / Gillette, WY to Sundance, WY / 88.0 miles and 4,859 feet / 82 degrees and gusty wind

Today we visited the 1st National Monument, Devil’s Tower.

The weather today was so much more conducive to riding – except for the gusting headwind, which can be seen in the flag above. That was exhausting…hoping for a tail wind tomorrow.

Curious about where we have lunch? It’s usually a road-side set up. Here is today’s spot just as we turned on to WY24 to go to Devil’s Tower.

So, BNSF has hundreds of idled locomotives just outside of Gillette, WY because of decreased coal production. This particular line was over a mile long and in some spots the locomotives were two or three deep.

The Robinson family has been in the area for quite a few generations.

It’s been a few days since either of us had a flat and today was my day again. Fortunately, I have my personal bike mechanic along on the trip.

And finally, we are staying at the Bear Lodge Motel. It makes the Super 8 look like a five-star resort. The shower was hot and the towels were clean. The motel also has quite a collection of taxidermy in the lobby.

And it was better than camping on this campground that is just outside of Devil’s Tower. The facilities might be well-appointed inside, but I saw a line of porta-John’s along the road in front of the campground.