Friday 7/21/17 (YES . . . STILL) I barely even got to Lusk when I was distracted by one of the Wyoming History signs that are seen throughout the state. I have to say, this is a state that does it right. When you're driving for miles and miles, no hundreds and hundreds of miles, the road seems to never end. The big historical landmark signs are a nice diversion along the way . . . a great spot to get out and stretch your legs. On the outskirts of Lusk, the C&H Refinery marker gave me reason to stop and check things out.
Reading about the refinery made me ponder if this place was like the Sinclair Oil refinery my Grandpa McAlister worked at until his retirement. I really didn't know him well, but what I did know was that he had lung disease from decades of working in the refinery, but in spite of it, lived a relatively long life into his 80's.
Heading on into town . . . there it was! What in the heck? I never in a million years expected to see a barn quilt in the middle of a town in Wyoming. To be more precise, a quilt square since there were no barns in Lusk . . . maybe nowhere in the state of Wyoming in fact! There there it was, no wait . . . two of them at the same intersection. One was on the front of a house, the other on a house turned CPA office. What in the heck???
I stopped long enough to snap a couple of photos, but didn't linger as I knew I needed to get to the Stagecoach Museum ASAP or risk their being closed. As I stepped up to the door, while it was unlocked, I noted they were to close at 4:30pm . . . in just five minutes!
Inside the volunteer on duty for the afternoon was just leaving. I was feeling totally bummed that I was going to miss out on this experience. Fortunately for me, however, board members Deb & Jim were going to be there "for a while" doing chores around the property so they invited me to stay for as long as I wished. What a dangerous offer, but of course, I took them up on it! Having only seen the entry foyer and exhibit area in the front room, I knew I would be spending quite a bit of time lingering and viewing items dating back to the mid 1800's. Again, I found myself thinking about my Mom and her family; what it was like to live in Wyoming during the wild west era.
I spent nearly 90 minutes touring the main building (which by the way was the former Wyoming National Guard Amory), as well as the garage and four outbuildings . . . including an old one-room schoolhouse, an outhouse and the town's general store which have been brought on-site for display for visitors.
Here are just a few of the photos I took while touring this American heritage treasure!
It was nearly 6pm when I left the Stagecoach Museum and there were still places in town I wanted to visit, including the local quilt shop to get the lowdown on the quilt squares around town. I was told by Deb at the Stagecoach Museum that Karen at the Lickety Stitch Quilt Shop was responsible for rallying the local residents & businesses after the severe flood on June 4, 2015.
During that flood much of the lowlands were destroyed. The quilt square effort was a way to show the resilience of the community. I was told there were more than 50 of the 4' x 4' squares throughout the area.
My timing to the quilt shop was such that I caught the ladies closing out a sale with their last customer of the day. I was lucky that Karen was in and in no hurry to close up shop. She was very interesting to talk with and had met Suzi Parron Smith in Cheyenne so she was familiar with the barn quilt trail in the United States. In fact, she had Suzi's first book on display for sale.
The night was fast approaching . . . it was now dinner time and I needed to figure out a game plan for the evening. Would I stop and have supper in town, or hit the road, pushing on the 2 1/2 hours to Rapid City?
I decided it had been a long enough day and that a nice bed, hot shower and TV would be a nice cap for my final night away from home. I had noticed the Covered Wagon Motel as well as a Best Western back at the beginning of town. Not having a mobile device to do such research was an inconvenience so I just stopped in at the front desk of the Covered Wagon Motel to inquire about vacancies & rates. Affiliated with America's Best Value Inns, I was able to get a nice 15% discount in spite of not have my loyalty card. I figured for $89+ tax, that would be the best valued expense on my vacation, especially since a decent hot breakfast was included in the room rate. Imagine my surprise when I learned my "neighbor" was also from the Milwaukee area!
With my sleeping accommodations taken care it was time to find supper. I had a hankering for a steak and on my way through town I did take note of the Triangle 4 Cafe & Steakhouse. I also remembered the gentleman at the front desk responding to the couple in front of me inquiring about where to get a good steak. Apparently the Triangle 4 is the only place in town . . . too bad because it was really bad!
The service was slow and the steak, while priced right ($18.95 for a 16 oz. t-bone meal), was terrible. Served overcooked and dry, it just was a huge disappointment especially since Wyoming promotes and supports their cattle ranchers and the beef industry.
After dinner I rolled back through town to take a few more photos and to gas up so that I could hit the road first thing in the morning. It was close to 9pm when I finally got back to my motel. I sat up and watched some TV and the news . . . I finally went to bed around 10:30pm.
Logged 493 miles (3,032 total) . . . TOOTS reported 14.5 hours to Milwaukee for Saturday!
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