Day 12 Kemmerer to Evanston
48 miles

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PICTURES FOR TODAY

Today we slept in until 8:10. It would have only taken a little prodding to call today a rest day and stay put. I asked the hotel maid where the nearest cafe was and she directed us to the only one. Check out was at 11:00 and it was only 9:00 so we thought we had plenty of time to eat and get groceries for the day. We started the day out by coasting the rest of the way down the hill into Diamondville and then climbing up the next hill into Kemmerer. We walked into the cafe and it was full. We waited for a table and set down to eat. It was almost 10:00 before we got our food. I don't think they are used to having so many people there. We ate a huge breakfast. Spencer is starting to experiment and order new things. This morning he ordered an omelet. I don't think he liked it enough to ever order it again but hey, he gave it a try. I actually think that we are starting to make some progress with him. Rhielle and I talked to him last night about coaching him and how we are afraid that he will get mad if we say things as often as we think we should. Today he has been a lot of fun. I'm afraid that this trip will end before we get a chance to get the real bonding done. During breakfast I told him that I wanted to take a few more days of vacation to put together a web site about our trip and wanted his help. He seemed excited and maybe that way we can keep this going.

Anyway after breakfast we went to an ATM and got some cash. Then I sent Spencer and Rhielle to get groceries while I went back to the motel to get us checked out by 11:00. We were all loaded up and pulling out of town by 11:10. We were concerned about what the ride into Evanston was going to be like. Everyone assured us it was flat. We climbed back over the hill to the south of Diamondville with our muscles complaining so loud we could hardly think. The first 5 miles were rollers but not bad and basically loosing altitude. Then the road gradually flattened out and was a very pleasant ride. There were scattered thunder showers ahead of us but moving east and I figured that we would miss them. Then a new set sprung up to the west just a couple of miles from Interstate 80. We made a dash for the freeway underpass however at our fast cruising speed 2 miles still takes 12 minutes. The kids kept going but I was getting cold so I stopped to put a rain jacket on. We got under the underpass in time to miss most of the storm though we were all pretty cold. We got our rain gear on and bikes prepared for rain and waited for the storm to blow past us. We had a fun time eating fruit snacks and chatting while the rain ended. About 4:30 I declared it time to go and we started out again. It was 13 miles to Evanston, all on interstate 80. We knew that we would have a big climb but we didn't know if we would have more than one. Between Evanston and Lyman are the 3 sisters which are three mountain passes to climb. We only had to climb the last one which lasted about 3 miles and then it was basically a 10 mile coast into Evanston. What a great way to end the day. We got a campsite in the Phillips RV park (which is one of the nicest campgrounds I've seen) and immediately started on laundry. We have only rinsed clothes since Douglas and they sure needed a real washing. While I'm working on these journal entries, Spencer and Rhielle went to get a big drink and a gallon of milk. We have become fond of milk and cookies in the evening. My favorite is Mother's old fashioned oatmeal. Spencer has stuck with his old standby of Oreo's. Rhielle has tried several types and I'm not sure that she has settled on one that she likes best. Its really amazing how much food we can put down in a day and even at that I feel that I'm loosing weight. We've made two discoveries about this RV park. The first is that the railroad runs right next to it. The other is that the rodeo grounds is just down the street and has a very loud PA system. We've decided that we are going out for dinner tonight. There is a mexican place next door that really smells good but Rhielle has her heart set on pizza. She has not had pizza since before her 5 week folk dance tour in Europe. Her folk dance tour is the reason that we are doing this tour so late in the summer. The pizza place is about a mile away. Now that the laundry is done and we can shower and put on clean clothes, we will see where we end up. I'm starting to get to like this simplified life. Now that my body is getting in shape I think I could handle it for awhile longer. I am missing LeeAnn and the rest of the family. Getting home is really a driving force with all three of us right now.