Friday, August 17, 2012

US Hwy 30: Green River / Rock Springs, Wyoming

This is a hard area for me to like. It's hot, dry, dusty, windy and just plain feels like a desert to me. Despite the eponymous river and Flaming Gorge Reservoir nearby, there's no feeling of water that's so important to me. Similarly, the surrounding geology is imposing but not very beautiful to my eye.



Green River city is the county seat, yet the smaller of the two towns. It also feels less prosperous, with the small downtown area dominated by a huge railroad yard and many, many saloons. There is a nice little museum that's well laid out and documented, featuring a good balance of natural and local history on display. Otherwise, there didn't seem to be much around.

Rock Springs is far more modern in feeling, with a definite buzz to the place. It is home to Western Wyoming Community College, and the typical influence of a few thousand students is quite evident: WalMart, Starbucks, Applebee's, a mall, movie theater, etc. A pretty annoying wind / sand / smoke storm impeded my exploration, but I don't think I missed much. Instead, I saw the new Expendables movie which -- to my great surprise -- was actually a very good, really fun film.

True confessions: I've been on the prairies, plains, steppes and high desert long enough. I'm ready to see some green again. So, I'm going to push west out of Wyoming tomorrow and set my sights on someplace in Idaho.

Along the way I will certainly be mindful and appreciative of my fantastic road rig. While I'm sitting in air conditioning, listing to an audiobook and powering down the road at 60mph, I will ask myself if I would have done the trip in a wagon like the one shown in this photo... Stay tuned!

Click here to see exactly where I am posting this from on Google Maps.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That google map location looks like you're on top of an underground missle silo. When I lived in Ft. Collins during the '70s, Rock Springs was known as the "armpit of America". Looks like you're headed into more smokey fire country. : (
Happy Trails! and remember - Green is in your future!
Louise and Stella

MOM IN PA said...

I remember flying over Wyoming and you asking if it was the surface of the moon... guess not much has changed from the dry sandy soil. Don't know how the pioneers did it in the conditions they had.