Day 45 Week 7, 3 June 2025

Short ride today from Saratoga to Rawlings Wyoming. COLD was the word for today. Started out in the 40s and seemed to get colder as we went along. IN JUNE!!! Where we stopped before getting on Rt 80, the lady at the gas station said yesterday it was in the 70s. After we got on Rt 80 it started warming up a bit and by the end of the ride it was in the low 60s, so tolerable. Yes we rode on Rt 80 for about 13 miles, a major interstate highway. I didn’t know that it was legal to ride bikes on an interstate, but apparently in Wyoming, if there are no other hard surface roads going in the same direction, it is legal. Fortunately the shoulder was very wide and very clean. We had a tailwind and the traffic wasn’t terrible so it was in fact a rather enjoyable experience! We stopped at the gas station right before getting on the freeway, for coffee and to warm up a bit. Then at the exit we stopped in the town of Sinclair which was an interesting experience. It is the location of a very large Sinclair refinery. In fact the town was built in 1924 specifically to service the refinery which was built in this location. There are remnants of the town still standing, including the large hotel/inn constructed in a Spanish adobe style, and the town bank. The bank is now a museum, filled with memorabilia of the old town- very interesting to see what it looked like in the 1920s. Even back then it was a very large oil refinery. The town was originally named Parco, for the Producers and Refinery Corporation that built and owned the refinery at first. It was later bought out by Sinclair. The refinery seems quite large- it has a capability of refining 94,000 barrels/day. Looking at Google, this doesn’t seem to be very much- some large refineries in the US can process up to 600,000 barrels/day.

We got in to Rawlings by early afternoon and were at the campsite, an RV campsite called Western Hills Campground by 2 PM. Rawlings is a much bigger town than Sinclair, 8000 people vs 363! Haven’t had a chance to explore it much, we rode through the town and there are several restaurants, bars and convenience stores- a regular midwestern small town. We have again the sweet sound of train horns as there is a major rail line which passes through here. The road paralleled it for a bit coming in to town. No spa tonight, but the shower facility here was excellent- plenty of hot water so we all could have a nice hot shower to warm up after this ride today. Looking to get in the 30s tonight so tomorrow’s ride will start out cold. Bundling up when I get in my sleeping bag tonight!