Fort Laramie, Wyoming (June 17 and 18, 2011)

We are back in Wyoming. The ride to Fort Laramie was fairly long (about 350 kilometers), as Alain had confused it with Laramie. What a surprise when we arrived in Fort Laramie! Whereas Laramie seems to be a very lively town, Fort Laramie is in the middle of the Wyoming plains and has about 300 inhabitants, no grocery store, no gas station, but 3 small restaurants and one camping located almost on the railway. It will turn out that there is a train whistling every half hour, day and night... But cheap, 10$ a night with WIFI...

We had decided to come to Fort Laramie as it had been described as the crossroads of the nation moving west...This was more than enticing for us. As America expanded westward, this outpost in the Wyoming wilderness played a crucial role in the transformation of the West, first as fur-trading center, then as military garrison. For over five decades, it was a landmark and way station for the cavalcade of trappers, traders, missionaries, emigrants, Pony Express riders,, and miners wending their way west. It was also an important staging point for the U.S. Armary in its dealings with the plains tribes displaced by migration and settlement.

On the Road Again to.... Mount Rushmore, South Dakota.