prairie dog towns

high desert plain
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I had another flat leaving Casper. No biggie, but c'mon. They said there was nothing out here and they were right. Most of the dots on the map are not really towns - small communities perhaps, but not towns – very few trees and even fewer campgrounds. It makes for long days and lots of sun. There are prairie dogs out here running from hole to hole and still a lot of pronghorn. They’re all afraid of me. Riverton is in the Wind River Indian Reservation, but I’m still waiting for some sign of the Indians. Everyone looks white to me and town has your standard Burger King, Walmart, and Super 8. At the campground I was productive. I cleaned my chain, showered, finished my book, patched my inner tube, addressed some letters, put new batteries in my tail flasher and toasted marshmallows with the kids in the next site. They helped me start a little fire. They were fascinated with everything - my helmet mirror, the platypus water bottle, my knife! They wanted to help me set up my tent and ring the bell on my bike. Kids are easy to impress.