Day 5 - Evanston, WY

 

Day 5 - Easter morning, we left the AB Campground early to try to beat the extreme winds.  We were not successful.  Winds ranged from 20-40 mph with some gusts up to 65 mph!  And we even hit icy and snow covered roads.  Thankful for Rick's great driving and the Lord's protection.

First we thought we would go as far as Laramie.  Then Rick thought, "well it's not too bad, let's keep going."  Then we got to Rawlins, which didn't seem to have much to offer and we continued on.  Made it to Rock Springs, and in hindsight, we probably should have stopped there or driven another 100 miles to Salt Lake City.  But we went to our intended destination of Evanston.  Not much in Evanston...

We found one restaurant serving food for Easter, Legal Tender.  The restaurant was beautiful!  The food was average and the staff was very attentive and courteous.  

We had a deal through Hotels.com for $48 for a king bed room at Grizzly Inn (regular rate of $75).  The Best Western was $84 and driving by, from the outside they looked comparable .  So we decided to stay at the Grizzly Inn.  I'm sure they are doing their best, but the rooms are not well appointed - hooks on the walls with no pics, the microwave is missing a foot so it doesn't sit level, the smell of potent cleansers is overwhelming (and not in a good way), and the view from the back of the hotel, which is where our room is, is of the dumpster - which if maintained wouldn't be bad, but it has garbage laying all around it.  

On the plus side, we are directly across the street from the Bear River Greenway.  A lovely greenbelt with fitness stops along the route.  Really cool!  I don't believe we have ever seen that before.  I have always loved greenbelts, ever since the first one we encountered just a couple houses down from where we lived in Wheat Ridge, Colorado!  Brings back wonderful memories... After our nice walk, we went back to the room.  I began to feel my throat closing, headache and nausea, the odor was literally making me sick.  We decided to leave and continue on to see what we could find.  The owners were very understanding and offered to refund our stay.  So, off we went.

We programed the GPS to Ogden, Utah and I began searching for a place to stay.  

We ended up at the Comfort Inn & Suites.  Cactus Reds restaurant is attached.  We were a little bit hungry so decided to check it out.  We split a Southwest Burger and Onion Rings...DELICIOUS! And the staff was very warm, kind, and welcoming!  We will come back!  

Looking forward to exploring this area tomorrow before we heading farther West.  

And, of course, the map for our son:)