Day 26 - An Interesting Town ( June 27th, 2024)
City To City: Landor - Jeffrey City
Miles: 58
Miles Total: 1,673
Video:
It was slow, with a big climb in the morning and a crosswind. The night before, Henry and my dad suggested lowering my seat even more. So, for most of the morning of climbing, I was miserable. We stopped for lunch at an overlook, looking over the road and valley where we had biked. With winds blowing up to thirty-six mph, we had to closely watch the lunch wrappers and other light things.
At the top, Henry's back tire got flat, so we stopped and fixed it, then hopped on our bikes, eager for the downhill.
After going down, we had a very fast tailwind, letting us bike close to thirty mph. As we flew past, the scenery blurred.
With less than a mile to go to Jeffrey City and us flying so fast, we didn't see a huge bolt on the ground. Somehow, my dad and I, who were ahead of Henry, missed it, but Henry unluckily hit the bolt, and the air out of his back tire immediately whooshed out. We couldn't see things on the shoulder with us going so fast. As we fixed the tire, an older man came over and talked to us. It turns out that the ghost town was a uranium mine in a booming business, but when the mine closed, the people left. We asked about the only pottery place in town, to which the guy said dealers, so we stayed far away. The man then prayed over us, and we went the last mile to a small church.
The church rooms had names of people who had stayed there, and quotes and sketches were also on the walls. We also looked in the guest book and saw the two men's names we'd run into a couple times along the route.
We had hot showers for the first time in over a week. (Yellowstone and Grand Teton charge five bucks for a shower.) We ate dinner, then went over to the only restaurant in town. During the day, it's a cafe, but during the evening, it becomes a tavern. As we opened the door, a sign said anyone under twenty-one couldn't enter, but Henry and I did anyway. And no one cared.
The place was meant for a huge crowd but was slowly being abandoned and dwindling away. At the bar sat a loner cowboy, still hanging on to the traditions of a cowboy style. After a hard day's work, he had a beer or two before he talked to the others. Others came and went. And some stayed for a beer or two.
As we sat there, a woman came in and offered all the women their swimsuits. I wasn't paying attention, but then she approached me and asked if I wanted one! I didn't understand her at first because she was talking so fast, but I declined to offer with surprise once I figured out what she was saying.
We ate chili cheese fries there and talked to the owner. She told us that she had been in Jeffery City since 1967 and married in the church where we stayed. The church still has some attending every other Sunday. We paid the bill and then left. Back at the church, we ate cookies and stretched while watching the political debate between President Biden and President Trump. Then, we all went to sleep in our own bedrooms.
Huh, that town seems like the setting for a Western movie.
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