Days 16 and 17 - Buffalo to Casper to Loveland, Loveland to Russell, Kansas

Monday was both awesome and a nightmare.  We had batted around several plans for viewing the total solar eclipse in or near Casper and had settled on the fairgrounds, which seemed to be a good choice.  They had indoor bathrooms, food vendors, and plenty of space - it wasn't crowded at all.  The University of Wyoming was there handing out t-shirts and NASA eclipse folders, as well as giving away eclipse glasses for those who didn't already have them.  We tried to get a t-shirt, but they were letting people take multiple shirts so they ran out right before we got to the front of the line.  The eclipse itself was a marvel to behold.  Watching the moon seemingly take a larger and larger bite out of the sun was amazing!  Even more amazing was the fact that you'd barely even notice anything was going on unless you were looking at the sun through the glasses.  The temperature gradually dropped about 18 degrees by the time we neared totality, and we could see that it was getting darker.  Even in totality, we weren't in complete darkness - it was more like twilight or a really bright full moon.  To look at the sun directly during our 2 minutes of totality was really cool - we could see the sun's corona and solar prominences very clearly with binoculars.  All of the articles I read were right - it was mostly a waste of time to try and take photos without the right equipment.  Cell phones and ordinary digital cameras just don't do it justice, even if you have a sheet of solar filter to use. 

After totality ended, we hung around for a little while longer but then got on the road again.  This was where the nightmare part came in.  The plan was to ride out of Casper to the small town of Medicine Bow and then on to Laramie and then to Loveland to my dad's house, a total of about 200 miles.  We left the Casper fairgrounds around 12:15 or so and at first it seemed like it would be smooth sailing.  Then we hit our first backup, but that didn't last too long and seemed to be due to the road dropping down to one lane - you know how those merges can be...  But soon we were backed up again...and again...and again.  The ride to Medicine Bow, about 70 miles, took 4 1/2 hours and I needed gas to get to Laramie.  The only gas station in Medicine Bow was out of gas and waiting on the tanker truck to arrive, so it looked like we had time warped back to the 70's gas crunch, with cars and motorcycles lined up waiting.  The tanker was supposed to have been there between 4:00 and 4:30 but was running late and didn't arrive until 6:00...because he was coming from Casper and got stuck in the same traffic as the rest of us!  By 6:45 I had a full tank again and we were hopeful that the next 130 miles would go by quicker.  We again started out OK but soon were backed up and bumper to bumper, stop and go all the way to Laramie and it was getting dark and cold.  We had to pull over once to put on extra layers and then a second time because I couldn't wait until Laramie to go to the bathroom!  After gassing up again in Laramie, we still had 75 miles to go and it was now 9:40pm.  Neither my dad nor I are fans of riding at night - too many deer and other creatures can dart out in front of you and you can't see the texture and surface of the road very well - but we had no choice.  There was no way we were going to find a motel room at the last minute, so we pushed on, into another backup.  Finally, by the time we crossed into Colorado, the traffic eased and the road opened up.  We pulled in the driveway at about 11:45pm, 11 1/2 hours after we had left Casper.  Minus the 2 hour wait for gas, we averaged 21 miles per hour for those 200 miles.  The best part about it was seeing all the headlights lined up behind us, but only because it reminded me of the scene from the movie Field of Dreams!  That and we got to see a nice sunset.

Today was completely unremarkable, travel-wise.  I got a late start because 1) we got home so late, and 2) Margo's flight home was cancelled just as I finished packing the bike so I stayed until she was re-booked for a later flight.  This day of the trip, and of any of my previous 2 motorcycle trips out west, is my least favorite.  Eastern Colorado has nothing on the foothills or the mountains - it's all farm fields and feed lots.  And Kansas is the same, just tons of fields and pastures.  Not that those things aren't important, it's just that there's not much to look at, and I didn't have any places planned to stop and see.  Hopefully tomorrow there will be something to report.  I didn't even take any pictures today, especially since I didn't have my wonderful photographer riding with me!