Wind River Canyon

Exciting day today. Both good things and bad things, but the bad things ended up good. So even though I was shaking from fright and sick to my stomach in fear, it all ended okay.

We started out this morning heading south to ride through the Wind River Canyon, a stretch of beautiful road about 30 miles long ending up in a wide spot in the road called Shoshoni. And yes, that's spelled correctly. Here are some pictures taken in the Wind River Canyon. Mind you, they aren't great because everything is shot from the back of the bike while it's moving.

Above are some of the beautiful red cliffs coming out of the canyon. We stopped in Shoshoni looking for lunch, and after talking to the owner of a small gift shop we stopped in we decided this town wasn't dying, it was already dead. Other than the gift shop and a gas station the only business that we could find that looked even a bit viable was the drug store below. And all it consisted of was an old fashioned soda fountain - no pharmaceuticals.

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So, needless to say we didn't stay long and headed back north toward Thermopolis. Someone had told us that there was a marina by the lake one the way back that had a pretty good restaurant so we decided to stop there for lunch. I went into the bathroom to use the facilities and took my "biker chick bag" off. It's a pouch-like affair that has two heavy-duty clasps on it that attach to the belt loops of my jeans. And it's just easier to drop your drawers without that hanging on you. So I proceeded to set it on a chair that was in the ladies room. After pulling up my jeans, buckling my belt and washing my hands I walked out of the ladies room.

Ole paid the bill and we motored on down the road back to Thermopolis where we stopped at a little bar for a club soda and a beer. The bartender handed me something to read and I reached for my bag to get my reading glasses out but MY BAG WASN'T THERE! My heart sank as the first thought was that it had come unclasped from my jeans, and then it hit my like a ton of bricks. I had left it lying on the chair in the bathroom at the Marina. I just about gagged and puked right there. I had just gone to the ATM so I had several hundred dollars in cash in it, along with all my credit cards, my debit card, my check book and all my medical ID cards.

First thing, of course, was to try to call the Marina, but of course the line was busy. I tried for about fifteen minutes to no avail, so we hopped on the bike and went back 15 miles, all the time my heart was doing flip flops and I was having a hard time keeping my stomach down.

I walked into the restaurant, asked about the bag and the owner told me that no one had turned it in. I made a dash for the bathroom and what do you suppose - there is was, on the same chair I had put it. All the cash and cards intact. The waitress said there had only been one little old lady that used the facilities since I had been there and apparently she hadn't spotted it. Phew!!!

So what could have turned a wonderful vacation into chaos ended on a very positive note.