Day 39: (Still catching up so the next few days are going to be short recaps) 
We got up kinda early at 6:30. We went back to the McDonald’s for breakfast. I’m still amazed how much I love the caramel frappe. I didn’t budget spending 3:50 on a drink everytime I pass a McDonald’s haha. Luckily I have the McDonald’s app that keeps giving me free McCafes.  

Getting out of town was a little bit of a pain. There was heavy traffic and not much shoulder. A couple miles in I passed a sign: Sacagawea Grave. It was an unexpected historical landmark so I stopped and read the sign. I guess it made sense as I was close to Fort Washakie and the Lewis and Clark Trail.

The next couple hours flew by. It was impossible not to enjoy the day. The temperature was perfect and the wind still. On either side I was surrounded by Wyoming’s famous red rock outcrops. A closer examination (and some googling) proved the rocks to be part of the Chugwater Formation. A couple miles later the wind picked up and I now knew why the pass and river was named ‘The Wind River’. It came out of nowhere. I turned around the bend and almost got blown off my bike. Thankfully I stopped, put both feet on the ground, and leaned over my bike to brace myself against the wind. If I had been using clips I would have wrecked for sure. I couldn’t tell which way the wind was coming from. Was it from the left, right, in front? I had no idea. I could see Ellen in front of me but everyone else was gone. There was another group of 3 (biking the northern tier) behind me. To top it off a black cloud blew up from around the mountain. Rain pelted my arms and stung my face. The wind was so strong I had a hard time balancing on my bike to start peddling. I couldn’t get started without falling over so I started walking. One of the northern tier folks caught up to me and said if I could get started bike in a zig zag pattern so the wind doesn’t push you around so much. I eventually got started and caught up to them. The weirdest thing happened. After getting out of the valley it was silent. No wind, no rain, nothing. The sky was blue without any clouds. I turned around to look at what I just biked through and I swear it looked like Armageddon behind me. I’m glad I got through that without getting thrown off my bike. I talked with the northern tier people and the last 10 miles were no problem. I was jealous that they got to bike through the black hills and the Badlands. I has no idea where anyone else was but after 3 minutes of getting into town I ran into everyone else. The town was packed! The forest fire ahead had gotten worse stranding a lot of people in town. Evan is incredible and scored us a cabin that was being renovated. We could camp in the back of a cabin tourist resort and use the shower in the cabin. (The place was called Chinook Winds). I ate a very tasty chicken fried streak with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables. After dinner I walked around to explore. It was a typical tourist town so it was fun to wonder in and out of the shops. At the end of town I bought some wild mountain berry ice cream. I think I may have found my new favorite flavor! I don’t know what a wild mountain berry is was delicious. The shop also had a giant jackaloupe. We took turns taking pictures on it. 

I headed back to the campground to set up and shower. The manger was nice enough to let us have the wifi password. I messed around on my phone while waiting my turn to shower. Despite the forest fire ahead we built a fire in one of the fire pits. Evan ran into town and bought s’more stuff. It was our first fire of the trip! I now know the secret to a good s’more is to use cinnamon graham crackers. I had some Reese’s pieces that proved an excellent substitute for chocolate when we ran out. 

The sun started to set and thankfully our fire kept most of the mosquitos away. The sky reminded me of the movie ‘Life of Pi’. It looked like the scene where he’s seeing the clouds reflected on the ocean surface. Tomorrow we start the day with the climb up Togwotee Pass. It stands at 9, 659 feet and I’m currently at 6200 feet. It’s going to be a slow morning for sure.