Rawlins...

Rawlins is a growing town. You can learn more about Rawlins, home of the Old Penitentiary, from the Chamber website. Lore I have picked up says that the State Pen used to have an excellent store which sold stuff made by the prisoners, but, alas, said store is no more (not enough space).

Rawlins is at a crossroads--I80 runs right through it, and the turn to go to Casper or Lander/Riverton leaves from here. It isn't a particularly pretty town on the surface, but don't be deceived. There's a lot of energy.

There's a new Comfort Inn and it's shiny and comfortable, with a "deluxe" breakfast. The Lodge at Rawlins has recently become the Quality Inn--this is since August, when we were last here. Rumor has it that they are losing population, but another rumor says they issued a LOT of drivers licenses recently. So who knows. Anyway.

We went to go for dinner, me eagerly anticipating dinner at Anong's Thai, the only Thai restaurant in this part of Wyoming (one of only 4 known to me in the state--two in Jackson, and one which barely deserves mention in Lander). It was closed--but luckily that's temporary, so you'll still be able to try it when you come through. It is located downtown at 210 5th Street. This little restaurant is a breath of fresh air in this town. It is painted a deep red and has elegant, modern furniture. The food is also fabulous.

Since it was closed, we went to the Aspen House (318 5th Street) instead. Food is good, if expensive. They serve a mix of steaks and Chinese/Singaporean inspired food. I had a chicken stir fry which was full of vegetables--shitakes, snow peas, broccoli, carrots (that's just a few), and lots of chicken. The sauce was a bit much though. Brown Chinese, a bit strong and too much of it. My dining partner had a Singapore Blackened Beef, which I did not try, but it was huge chunks of beef in a black sauce--very dramatic and elegant. He said it was good.

We were both disappointed to see that the Blake House, which opened earlier this year, has already closed. That was good, and the people who owned it seemed very community minded. Rumor has it they couldn't find consistent help.

Other than food, Rawlins has a very cool Concerts in the Park series in the summertime. Thursday nights in the park. They serve up a mix of jazz, folk, local and other music, free to anyone wanting to come. Local restaurants and groups offer food for sale as fundraisers. They also do a fundraiser every week for a local non-profit.

You should also stop by the Depot, downtown. It has been restored nicely.

First Post

Less than a week and I already have two blogs! This is silly. However. This blog is going to be intermittent only, and has a specific purpose. I travel, you see, for my job. Somewhere I would like to see someone write something positive about traveling in Wyoming, and a place to record all the wonderful things to see here. So I am creating it. I did a search recently and found that most people comment on how empty it is. Here's an example. Although he isn't really wrong. Wyoming has a lot of empty space, which is one of its charms in my book. This blog has pictures of some parts of Wyoming--you have to search it for the Wyoming pictures, because they are old.

Remind me to talk about dinosaurs sometime soon. Wyoming has amazing dinosaur history and resources.

So check back periodically and learn more about Wyoming!