This morning was an early one for Chris, as he had a longer mileage day. He had his stealthiest exit yet though and didn't wake August, so we had a good night of rest. We woke up ready to take on the day! After leftover biscuits for breakfast, we packed up and decided to spend a little time in Rawlins before moving on.
I had heard that the Wyoming Frontier Prison was an interesting experience, so we decided to make a visit. This building opened to prisoners in 1901 and closed in 1981. Of course, there is a lot of history in a place that has housed 13,500 inmates, and the museum board has worked hard to try to capture as much of that for visitors as possible.
The lobby museum had a series of exhibits, all focusing on the escapes, riots and murders that took place there. I suppose the darker side of prison is the real draw for most spectators. This was confirmed when our 16-year-old tour guide started it off by demonstrating the gallows on a miniature set up. 13 prisoners were executed here, and that is a highlight for a lot of the visitors.
I didn't need to worry about August catching on to much, because he was busy continuing on his Dog Tour of 2015 by meeting this little Chihuahua named Corey. They were both so excited at the sight of each other that they weren't able to make contact. Fortunately, the dog came along on the tour so August had lots of dog-spotting throughout that he was more than happy to do.
The prison was interesting, and I was glad we stopped in. I enjoy the logistical side of prison tours - how guards worked to keep inmates in line, what worked and what didn't, whether giving well-behaved prisoners special privileges helped the discipline issues, etc. Because Wyoming winters are so cold, many of the strategies revolved around what prisoners were willing to put up with to get to a warmer area. For example, a couple of solitary confinement cells built in a newer wing became very popular amongst inmates because that area was noticeably toastier than the regular cell blocks.
I also tried to do my own version of Scared Straight with August, showing him the cells and telling him to be a good boy! Not sure if that lesson caught on.
After the tour, which was long and August was very patient and attentive throughout, I decided to go to Anong's Thai Cuisine for lunch. There were rave reviews online for it, and I had to try it. I ordered the masaman curry and spring rolls, and it was really delicious. August started to get a little squirrelly as the time went on, so I ended up eating as quickly as I could and taking the leftovers for later so we could get out of there. Not my favorite way to savor a meal, but we do what we have to do and I had the rest of it later as an afternoon snack.
He was really ready for his nap, which was good since we had a 2+ hour drive. The route was scenic and barren, with wide open spaces and only one small town across the hundred or so miles. Most of the time there was no cell service, which made me appreciate that we were able to start and end the day in civilization. Not having working phones always makes me a bit nervous about meeting up with Chris, but thankfully there was service again once we got to within about 10 miles of our destination.
Tonight we are staying in Lander, a nice little town. We were able to do a grocery restocking and get August some free play time before walking to a pizza dinner and back to the RV for the night. If it seems like we do grocery restocking often, it's because we have a teeny tiny fridge and we eat through its contents pretty quickly.
Tomorrow we are heading towards Grand Teton National Park, and are excited for the rest days we have planned to see it and Yellowstone.
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