After Sheridan we headed out to Saratoga, WY. Known for its trout fishing. Along the way we went through Medicine Bow WY. Now for those of you that don't know Medicine Bow, don't feel bad, I didn't either. As it turns out it's a pretty infamous town.
To start with the town only has about 250 people residing in it. It mainly exists because of the first transcontinental railroad that passed through the area. Its post office has been in continuous service since 1869 and Dippy the dino was found nearby. Because of this it became a stopping point for paleontologists looking for more dino bones, including Brontosaurus bones.
However, the town was plagued by crime in the late 1800s and Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch robbed a train nearby.
On 07OCT55, United Flight 409 crashed into Medicine Bow Peak during bad weather, killing all sixty-six passengers and crew onboard. You can still see the black marks on the side of the granite where the plane exploded on impact.
I was just glad that it was there because our route had taken us along a pretty desolate stretch of road and by the time we found Medicine Bow we were running on fumes. Not good in an RV. Once we refueled off to Saratoga we went.
On our way to Saratoga, I was starting to feel a bit worried. Most of the ride down there wasn't much to see. No forests, few trees and little to no lakes or ponds. But that changed as we turned onto the road leading into town. Our campsite was right on the North Platte River. In fact, our site was right on the river proper. Now the North Platte River is supposed to be one of the best fly-fishing spots in the country. So naturally Jodi and I tried our hand at it. But, neither of us knew what we were doing and other than laughing our fool heads off and enjoying the weather we didn't catch anything.
The next day we took a ride through Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest. What a beautiful ride. Around lakes, up around and through valleys it was an amazing ride. We even stopped at a lake and watched the trout jumping. And although we said we'd come back later to fish, we never did.
Upon our return to camp that night we decided to try our hand at fly-fishing again. Nope, nada. So we decided to take a walk around the campground. As we came back to the RV, we noticed a bunch of people gathered behind our bus. Not knowing what was going on we walked back. Where we had been fishing not ten minutes earlier now stood a bull moose. Yep, Jodi's bucket list for animals was complete, we found Bullwinkle.
Bullwinkle chowing down where we'd been fishing.
Now September 13th is the day that Jodi and I first met, back in 1991. So, for our anniversary we had dinner at
Hotel Wolf in downtown Saratoga. The hotel was built in 1893 and has been a stopover for travelers ever since. We had grilled prime rib with all of the fixens and I have to say, it was among the best meals I've ever had. The saloon across the hall as well as the main dining room takes you back in time. I would love to have seen the rooms, but from what I understand they retain their 1890s charms, all be it with some minor upgrades such as indoor plumbing.
The next day, Jodi and I again hopped onto the motorcycle and rode south along SR230 to SR70 and finally to the
Little Snake River Museum. There we got to get a look into what life was like back in the 1800s along the frontier. From explorers to blacksmiths, a one room schoolhouse to major landowners/cattlemen and their families. It was interesting to see not only how they lived but what they grew and how the families evolved.
Our last day in Saratoga was rainy and we spent most of the day inside getting ready to leave the next morning. But we still had one more adventure we wanted to do before we left town. One thing that Saratoga has are hot springs. And one of the best known is Hobo Hot Springs. Well once the rain stopped, we grabbed our gear and off we went. There were actually two springs. One much hotter than the other. We started in the cooler of the two which was still warmer than a hot bath. But it felt sooo good and relaxing. After about twenty minutes I decided it was time to get in the hotter of the two. I'm pretty sure you could have boiled a lobster in it. I wasn't in it too long before I headed back to the cooler spring. Either way, it was amazing. Definitely one of our must return to towns.
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