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 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.
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...
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