Nomad Life - Day 142

I woke up this morning at 0500 (before my alarm) and started teleworking immediately.  At 0745 (after my first set of meetings), I took a break for breakfast in the Lobby of the Super 8 (Cheyenne).  It had rained outside but the temps were already in the high 30s by then.  Teleworking through to mid-day, I made lunch in my room; other than this break, I teleworked without interruption until 1355.  By then, it was 52 F, clear and sunny.  However, it was also VERY windy and I had significant trouble loading/unloading things from my car.  At 1400, I left hotel and followed WY-210 (Happy Jack Road) to the west for about 25 miles.  Along the way, I crossed through a barren prairie, which seemed to be dedicated to cattle.  I'd missed views of this area when I arrived on Saturday because it was already dark.  I passed lots of pronghorns (in a herd) and countless windmills.  On a negative note, I noticed that the little crack in my windshield had started to grow - hope it stays like that until the end of the winter...  I listened to audiobooks on the way.  Eventually (1430), I reached the entrance to Curt Gowdy State Park and spent some time exploring near the Visitor Center.  Unfortunately, it was closed.  Undeterred, I started getting ready to take a hike on one of the trails but, suddenly, Kerith called and I ended up talking with her for 45 minutes.  At 1530, I was finally able to start my hike.  By then, the temps were in the mid 40s and the wind had started to slacken.  This still allowed for a good hike, mostly on the Ferguson Trail.  The dry trails above a frozen Reservoir gave me lots of interesting views of the surrounding countryside.  Actually, I was in only a small corner of the huge park - still, I as pleased with the variety of experience nearby.  In the distance, I heard gunfire on the south side of the Reservoir.  Curious, I crossed the causeway to the south side of the lake and located some staging areas for hunting and archery.  I continued walking along the dusty trails.  At one point, I started to feel like the whole environment was just like that of Patagonia.  Along the way, I encountered lots of big (freshly dug) holes - from a Google Search, it appears that these might have been made by pocket gophers.  As I was getting close to finishing (1655), Mollie called and we chatted for about 10 minutes.  After that, I reached my step goal and wrapped up my visit to the State Park (1705).  By then, there were some very pretty colors painted on the prairie that were the remnants of the setting sun.  To reach Cheyenne, I backtracked on WY-210 (didn't use any Google Maps) and reached the city at about 1725.  Hoping to find some fast food for my dinner, I drove down Business Loop 80 (Lincolnway); unfortunately, I didn't find any places to stop.  Then I remembered that I'd seen a Taco John's restaurant near the State Capitol Building.  Even without my online map, I easily found my way back to that area and parked at the restaurant.  I ordered dinner at 1730 and ate my food (taco salad and taco burger) in the dining area.  As usual, the food was good.  Afterwards (1800), I departed without remembering that I had reached Taco John's via a one-way street!  Fortunately, there wasn't any traffic, so it was hard to tell that I'd made this mistake until I saw a row of three sets of headlights facing in my direction only three blocks away.  Luckily, I had enough time to turn down a side street and escape any disaster - whew. From that point, I drove back to my hotel (arrived at 1815).  For the rest of the evening, I watched movies and relaxed.  My day ended when I turned out the lights at 2215.  Great day outside!