Take The Back Roads...

I was just listening to the news and they reminded me that 'Labor Day', (national holiday here in the U.S.) is coming up. About how many million people will be driving somewhere, on national highways, going back and forth, to who knows where. Having driven a truck for over forty years, I have seen more than my share of roads, national and otherwise. Maybe it's because I was born a long time ago in a simplier time when everybody's kid did not have a car and the roads were not quite so nice, that I still love to drive the old, sometimes forgotten, back roads across this wide country. One such road, much bypassed, is old highway 30, across the vast state of Wyoming. One of the last bits of the 'Old West'...

The particular stretch of road I am thinking of, runs between Laramie and Rawlins, Wyoming. This old road(US 30) is only a few miles farther than taking the new super highway(I-80), and passes through a couple of smaller towns(almost ghost towns) before bringing the occasional traveler into the town of Medicine Bow.

Maybe, it's because so many people are in a hurry to take a vacation  and want to get there fast, that they totally avoid the old, unfamiliar roads, or the fact that a lot of history has been lost because travelers have no idea that so much even exists. The old road(actually in good shape) through Medicine bow is worth the trip.

Driving into town is quite a sight. Here is a town of mostly one or two story buildings and in the midst of it all stands a crude, somewhat strange looking building, towering over all the rest. The Old Virginian Hotel and Saloon...
The Hotel is so named because of a story of Cowboys and the wild west, written in 1880s
, by Owen Wister. The story because quite famous and was later because the basis of a TV series: 'The Virginian'...
The Hotel has a somewhat colorful history and over the years many famous people came west and stayed at the "Virginian'. President Teddy Roosevelt stayed there on his occasional hunting trips. I haven't been there in many years now, but some years back I stopped and they told me they STILL rent rooms. A real chance to stay where history still resides. Wandering though the halls and rooms and feeling like I was in another time, I had to wonder... how many of the former occupants are still here?

If anyone ever finds themselves crossing Wyoming in the dead of winter, Take my advice and take the old road west. The wind is not so bad and  there are not so many hills, and if conditions get too bad, you might be able to find a room at the 'Virginian' hotel.
 If you need a good nights sleep, you can always go next door to the SALOON...

The Old Road...

I use to spend a lot of time driving around the country and I guess I have always had a THING for history, the past...OLD stuff, in general...I have always thought that if we can't remember where we came from, HOW will we ever figure out...where we are going?

In the some parts of the western US, the land is still pretty much open country. On a stretch of road between Cheyenne, Wyoming , heading south towards Greeley, Colorado, I chanced to see what remained of a very old road,  off to one side of the present, modern day road. Most of the old road had disappeared but I continued watching and a little ways farther along the way, I spied what remained of a bridge.

I have no idea when that road and bridge were last used, but from the width and size of the road , it must have been very early in Automobile history. I would assume it could only have accommodated smaller vehicles, like the Model T, or A Fords. For sure, nothing like what we drive  now, and never the truck I was driving...

It really saddens me to see our history bypassed for the (so-called) sake of progress. It's almost, as if, we don't care anymore, as long as we make money...Maybe it's the younger generations  that haven't aged enough yet to realize, they too, will someday be older and be forced to look back...and wonder...What was it like back then? When their day comes, who knows if this old road and bridge will still be here, or will someone dig it up several hundred years from now...and appreciate it?

In other parts of the country, I have witnessed similar sights. In Illinois, where I am originally from, my Uncle once showed me what remained of what was called...a HALF road. Back in the early days, often the road was only one lane(often made of BRICK), and just wide enough for one vehicle. The idea was: IF you should chance to meet another car, one of you would have to pull to the side and allow the other to pass.

With today's selfish attitudes and traffic I hate to think of even trying o get anyone to be kind enough to do something like that...

End Of The Line...

Everyone has their stories, their memories of days gone by. Times, when life was at such a high pitch, then it all came to an end. That's our existence, but that's just the way it is... unfortunately!  I guess we can say that  for all things. They come and they go. They serve their purpose, then it's over.
 Walking in our local park the other day, I stood looking at the old locomotive; just sitting there; looking so forlorn and lost. It made it last run long ago, but one can only imagine the days and nights it raced back and forth, doing what it was designed for. The hot fires in the boiler, the massive amounts of smoke that billowed from it's stack...

I bet, IF it could talk, it would have lots of tales to tell; of the many people it carried to their destinations; Most ordinary, but maybe some famous,  EVEN some infamous, outlaws. During this train's time, it was still the wild west(as it was called)... Who knows for sure? Now, it's work is done, but still I have to wonder(crazy me) if trains have ghosts? If so, I'm sure somewhere this old giant, fire  roaring in it's boiler, the engineer with his hand on the throttle, is burning up the line. Out across the open desert, it's whistle screaming at every crossing...Going somewhere...