Motorcycle Trip Out West 10 Years Later, Day 4

Total Mileage 1465.6 (332.6 for the day)

S&T had to work so we were up with them and out the door around 7:00.  It was very dry and temperatures were in the low 70s.  Great motorcycle riding weather, but a premonition of what the day's heat was going to bring. We headed south and west towards Wyoming.  Early in the day, it was surprising how many cars were on the road and how slow they were going.  Actually, they weren't going slow, just not fast.  Perhaps nobody was in a hurry for Monday morning work.  We were not working and happily motoring our way through Nebraska and Wyoming.  As we continued on, the Sand Hills area gave way to bluffs and rocky outcroppings.  This landscape almost brings to mind the badlands.

As we crossed the border into Wyoming, the bluffs gave way to more hilly to mountainous terrain.  The temperatures increased until the elevation increased and the temperature moderated somewhat.
The fastest way to Rawlins, Wyoming was the interstate, but I had been through this area last year on my
Antelope Hunt and took Wyoming 130 to Saratoga.  I wanted to go through this area again on the motorcycle so this was a perfect opportunity.  Wyoming 130 leaves the interstate at Laramie and goes through a small residential area before heading into the Medicine Bow National Forest.  It is one of those great motorcycle roads with little traffic, lots of curves but a few straight stretches to get past slower moving vehicles.
We rode Wyoming 130 up to the pass.  As the elevation increased to over 10,000 feet, the temperature cooled before turning almost cold.  At the upper elevations, snow was still present; a reminder of last year's harsh winter.  The overlook at the highest point is worth a stop since the views are spectacular.

Going down is just as fun as going up except it is a little faster and uses less fuel.

Once through Medicine Bow national Forest, we were into Wyoming ranch territory and the same area where I successfully hunted antelope.  Before that hunt, I met the guide in Saratoga at the Wolf Hotel.  Since it was near lunch, we had a great burger and grilled ham and cheese there.  Because I had gotten to Saratoga so early before the hunt, I had time to kill and spent it seeing the town and stealing the WiFi at the Community Center.  I had read a brochure there about the Wyoming Frontier Prison and that was on the must-do list.

Leaving Saratoga, we headed north back up to I-80 and to Rawlins.  We got a room at the Roadway Inn.  This hotel had several bad reviews, but I have no idea what those meatheads were complaining about.  The staff was very nice, the rooms clean, with coffee in the room, a flatscreen TV and fridge.
After unpacking the bike to lighten the load, we went up to the Wyoming Frontier Prison.  This was a working prison from 1901 to 1981.  It had around 13,500 prisoners over that time and 14 executions - 9 hangings and 5 gas chamber executions.
It was hard to tour the Wyoming Frontier Prison and not compare it to the Mansfield Prison in Ohio toured last year.  Mansfield is more run down, but the self-tour is a little easier to do.  The Wyoming Frontier Tour is an organized tour so there is more information, but less ability to explore and the larger group was a little annoying a couple times.  Both are extremely interesting though.  Both had a similar life after closing, starting out as empty buildings, and each had some movies filmed in them - they still bare the scars form those movies as well (Wyoming Frontier Prison had the B-Horror movie Prison filmed there).
The building from the outside is a combination Victorian Gothic structure.  The front bars/door/gate is impressive and intimidating.

The tour guide gives lots of interesting stories throughout the tour and some interesting historical tidbits.  The odd thing was, he always talked about the prison in plural possessive, even though he was likely too young to be around when it was open.  He also had a Kevorkian-esque grin on his face when talking some of the less-pleasant points which was between humorous and disconcerting.  The tour group mostly stayed together, although a few of us hung back a couple times to take pictures without all the other people around.

As they are likely supposed to be, the free-standing cell blocks are imposing.

The cells themselves are spartan with different cell blocks coming from different eras and show different ideas about how to house and control inmates.  Regardless, thinking of living in a cell like that for years on end is enough to make anyone want to avoid prison, if there wasn't already reason enough to.

I was really surprised that the tour included portions of the prison used for execution, The Death House.  This was actually the hook that was used as the main support for the gallows, killing 9 people.

Even more harrowing, the execution gas chamber is still intact with the original chair and leather straps.  It was sobering to think the state took the lives of 5 people here using cyanide gas.

After the tour, we were going to go down to the Carbon County Museum, but it was closed on Mondays so we headed back to the hotel.  A nearby grocery store produced some snacks before heading to Diamond Lil's restaurant.  Diamond Lil's sounds a bit like a "gentleman's club" but is really just a small restaurant attached to the nearby Days Inn.  It is only a few minute walk from the Roadway.  I'm not sure what was so special about the daily special burgers since they were still at menu price, but they were very good just the same before ice cream from the store back at the hotel room ended the day.