Tuesday, July 24th: Afton, WY or … tsjirp, tsjirp, woef, woef, pscht, pscht

The first thing my boss usually does when she gets out of her bed is looking what kind of weather it is outside. No way to predict today. Clouds are in the West …But for now we just start out with our small incline. We cycle on US 89 and this stretch of the road can become a real treasure hunt: there is some junk to find today also like a license plate of California (which my woman does not pick up – there is still too much car on it), yellow, red or blue balls… While my woman has her head focused on the ground, I look up to the sky trying to find out where that noise is coming from. Next to the telephone poles are poles with a platform high up. There osprey have made their nest and birds are now moving around in there. 

In Etna my woman looks for her name on the bench, but there is something big standing on the bench and her name is now hidden! Meanwhile some dogs are so enthusiastic about me on the bicycle that they come running towards us. But – they are on the other side of the road and there is a lot of traffic! Luckily they stay on their side of the road – I was a bit worried about them! Star Valley is known for farming – dairy farming. And we see cowdominiums where calves are housing for the moment. 

Oh boy… I knew everything is big in the USA, but these chickens are just amazing! I do not want to chase those beasts! They are just good for KFC: a bucket of 6 wings gets you going for a long long time! 

Pscht, Pscht, pscht … boy, I need a tree desperately hearing that noise all the time. Farmers have the sprinklers on, since it’s been dry out here too. But no trees around. My boss will only stop in Thayne – next to the Cheese factory. She tells me it’s time for the tree, but she also urges me to hurry: black clouds are rolling in. She doesn’t  really know what to do: go on or wait and see if it gets bad! She knows the route and thinks that she can always hide somewhere in a barn if there is a thunderstorm over our heads. The pace is up – the clouds are culminating. There you have it.. a few drops and in the plastic bag again. Her idea of hiding at that house is not so good: a warning sign of a dog changes her mind. In the distance she sees the rain falling – where we are it is just dripping a little bit. Come on boss – hurry up to the post office of Grover. We are just in time before the rain reaches us! Luckily it doesn’t rain too hard nor too long. About 10 minutes later we are rolling again – the last 5 miles to Afton. The town has this arch of antlers across US 89. It isn’t until we cycle underneath them we notice two men crawling up there. What were they doing???? It’s now just one block to the Hi Country Inn: the place hasn’t changed a bit – it’s still a mess, but the people are so friendly! And yes, my boss will go and fetch us some food from the Red Baron – across the street.