Laramie to Rock Springs

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Centennial, Wyoming
Centennial, Wyoming

Our next “proper” destination after Laramie was Grand Teton National Park. That would have been a six-hour drive, and we hate sitting in the car all day, so we broke it up with one night in Rock Springs. Even so, it looked a boring drive along the interstate so we decided to cross the Snowy Range Pass again and stop in some different places. The first was the pretty little town of Centennial where we took morning coffee and looked at the outside parts of the Nici Self Historical Museum. The old railroad depot building wasn’t open (we weren’t having much luck with our timing).

Mountain View Historic Hotel
Nici Self Museum
Nici Self Museum

We stopped again for lunch in Saratoga, but after that it was all interstate.

Saratoga, Wyoming
Saratoga, Wyoming

Usually, we prefer B&Bs or small inns, but I couldn’t find anywhere suitable listed in Rock Springs so, as it was only one night, I chose a chain hotel, Homewood Suites. Actually, I could get converted back to this sort of place – we had a spacious, comfortable room and, had it not been the weekend, could have partaken of a free dinner buffet. The only downside was its location on the edge of town – but as luck would have it, right next door was Trip Advisor’s number one restaurant, a Chinese / Japanese place called Bonsai which we really enjoyed.

Before that, however, we had driven to the historic downtown area for a walk around. As well as lovely old buildings …

Rock Springs, Wyoming
Rock Springs, Wyoming
Rock Springs, Wyoming

… we enjoyed the street art, including some fine benches, and were amazed that artwork just hung in an underpass and didn’t get vandalised.

Art in the underpass
Bench art
Mural
Bench art
Bench art
Street art
Colourful adverts

Rock Springs used to be a coal mining town – the coal seams running right underneath the downtown area – and they’ve made a lovely job of preserving this history in the park by the railroad.

Mining history
Mining memorial
Mining memorial
Mining memorial
Union Pacific
Old mine sign

Outlaw gangs who roamed the West often passed through Rock Springs or used it as a destination. Apparently, as a young man, “Butch” Cassidy acquired his nickname while working in Rock Springs as a butcher. We were really getting to like these old western towns and, you’ve guessed it, wished we had more than one night here, but the next day we had to press on. Grand Teton was calling us!

USA, Wyoming , ,

50 Comments »

  2. A real wild west adventure. How did you travel? In a covered wagon? 😉
    Intresting to read the information on the mining coming from a (Former) mining community. The memorial to the miners who were killed earning their living is a poignant reminder of how dangerous the industry was.

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  8. Those Old Western towns ARE fun. Your photos really capture the feeling of being there…the wide open spaces, the architecture…..
    I love a collection of painted benches. Interesting about the art work…!

    Looking forward to the Grand Tetons with you!
    Peta

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  11. Looks very much like parts of inland rural Australia I passed through and 6 to 10 hour drive times on arrow straight roads to cross deserts there which put me off hiring a land-cruiser although fuel was cheaper than the UK. Big country- big roads and distance to cover. Looking forward to the mighty Tetons that have graced many a cowboy film.

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  12. Looks like a film set – and so clean! I so understand your need to get off the interstate, though they are infinitely nicer to drive on than our jam packed motorways!

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  13. What a cute town Rock Springs is! I love all the street art and it’s nice you were able to find a good Chinese/Japanese restaurant. The Grand Tetons are my favorite mountains in the USA, so I can’t wait to hear all about your time there. It’s been about 37 years since I was there!! I can’t believe it’s been so long, so I’m looking forward to going down memory lane.

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  14. I see I’m not the first to comment this, but had never heard that about Butch Cassidy – you learn something new every day! Road tripping in the States is so much fun – it’s just built for it, isn’t it?!

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  17. I am so glad you are writing about Wyoming right now. It looks like we will be passing through that state in a few days, on the way to California and if we have some spare time, I’d love to visit somewhere in Wyoming, since I have never been there. Day 1 of 5 days across the US started this morning and is still going after ten hours of driving with a few short breaks. No, you wouldn’t love this kind of road trip! 🙂

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  18. I always liked Butch Cassidy and nice to hear how he did get his nickname. What a pretty town and so nice and clean. It just shows how many great towns one can visit.

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  21. Hi Anabel – how interesting to find out such fun things … ‘Butch’ was a butcher … crazy, but logical I guess. Rock Springs looks a delightful find … and glad the restaurant and the hotel worked out well … cheers Hilary

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  22. Fascinating info on how Butch Cassidy came to get his name. So mundane for such a charismatic outlaw. Correct that, for such a charismatic star as Paul Newman! Great trip you had by the sound of it.

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