May 20, 2025

North Platte, Nebraska > Rock Springs, Wyoming

There isn’t much to say about the drive between these two “cities”. The route is Highway 80 all the way. The speed limit vacillates between 65 mph and 80 mph. There are occasional construction sites where the speed drops to 45 mph. There are trucks, but not that many. The traffic has been lite all day.

The terrain between Nebraska, flat with low rolling hills and farms, and Wyoming, where the hills begin to take greater stature and changes from farms to cattle ranches, isn’t boring but not overly exciting either. It is amazing to see so much open space. The road often seems to stretch on forever under the cloudy blue-grey sky.

It is about a 350 mile ride between the two “cities”. On the interstate (80) there aren’t a lot of towns actually along the route. Many of them are a mile or more off the interstate. Driving east to west it is best to get going in the morning as the sun is behind you and not in your eyes. We actually got started about 09:00 after a light breakfast at the Starbucks.

Our stop was in Sydney, Nebraska after about two hours. It was time to get out and walk around a little, fill the car with gas and get something to eat. The gas prices are still reasonable about $3.30 a gallon for premium, which the BMW likes. We had a quick bit at a Burger King. No nutritional value but kept us of getting hungry.

From Sidney it took another three or so hours to reach Rock Springs. Rock Springs is actually a fairly large town. Like many along this route there is the “old town” and the new town. Neither was setup for any type of walking, clearly automobile driven development. There was a large Walmart, which undoubtedly caused the demise of the “old town” of Rock Springs. There were a number of other box stores and quite a few restaurants to choose from.

We stayed at the Hampton Inn on Dewar Drive just off the interstate. Dewar drive is the main “drag” in Rock Springs. Three lanes in either direction lined with various stores, restaurants, and hotels. The Hampton Inn on the south side of the street part way up a small hill overlooking the “new town” on one side and the train tracks and commercial zone on the other.

The wind was whipping though the area, apparently, we were on the tail end of the weather front. The room was comfortable and clean, but the wind howled by the window and was almost frightening in its volume. We went to the Walgreens down and across Dewar Drive and got some supplies. It was still early in the day so we got some laundry detergent and dryer sheets so we could do laundry. Not that we “needed” to do laundry, it was just something, so we didn’t go to bed too early.

Dinner was at dinner at Jack’s Crepes. It is a small place in a strip mall next to the hotel. Neither of us was particularly hungry, even after the disappointing lunch, but we felt we should eat something, or we would be hungry later in the evening. I had the savory Monte Cristo crepe. It was their version of a Monte Cristo sandwich. It was actually very good. Unlike the usual Monte Cristo, which consists of ham, turkey and Swiss cheese between two slice of bread chick have been dipped in a beaten egg and pan-fried until golden and gooey with berry jam on the side, this Monte Cristo had the ham and cheese, probably not Swiss, folded into a crepe and topped with powdered sugar and a very nice raspberry sauce. It was nice, but it would have been better if it included the turkey and a better cheese. Mary opted out of the crepe and went with a salad which which fresh and tasty.

After dinner we went back to the hotel and played cards. Then I went down and did laundry. The wind had died down a little, so I was able to step outside the back door of the hotel, near the laundry room, and have a cigar while I waited for the laundry. It should be noted that apparently the evening between 19:00 and 22:00 are the time when guests at the hotel do their laundry.

When I checked on the status of the laundry machines at 18:45 both machines were available. Upon returning from gathering the laundry in the room at 19:00 one of the washers was already in use. I started one washer with a load of quick drying items, by the time I finished loading it another guest check on the status of the machines. A busy place. There is no timer or suggest posting of the time it takes a washer or dryer to do its job, so waiting just outside where I could keep an eye on the laundry room door was a good idea.

A woman came down an emptied her washer which gave me the break needed to load the second batch of laundry. I sat for a few minutes and waited for the first load to be completed, at which time I transferred it to the one waiting dryer. I took the soap and dryer sheets back to the room, keeping a couple dryer sheets in my bag. Then I returned to my post just outside the back door and waited to hear that the dryer had stopped. It began to drizzle lightly just as the first load finished drying. It took just about thirty minutes for the washer and the same for the dryer.

I changed over the second load to the dryer then folded the first load. The second load as smaller so it only took about twenty minutes to dry. After folding the second load I went back to the room. We replaced everything, keeping the clothes for the morning out, into the suitcases so they could be loaded quickly in the morning. It had gone 22:00 by the time it was to go to bed. We gained an hour in the change from Central time to Mountain time, so it was really 21:30 anyway. The proper time to go to bed.

That was it for the day. Buonanotte e Ciao, Enrico e Maria