Delightful little city on the res

We are at the Elks lodge in Riverton, Wyoming (map), a town completely enveloped by the Wind River native American reservation.

We had a nice drive from Casper yesterday, after a short stop at the vet's to pick up a prescription refill for Opal, and at the liquor store to replenish our supply of red wine -- we finished off the last bottle, a New Mexico Merlot, Tuesday night. Wyoming is another one of those states where wine is not sold in grocery stores -- a 5-liter box of Vella Merlot sold for $15, whereas we usually pay around $11 (hey -- we live the high life here).

We tried valiantly to stay out in the boonies -- our Gazetteer showed several pockets of BLM land on our route -- but none of the options was easily accessible to Odyssey. There were a couple of options on graded dirt roads, but it was raining pretty hard and we did not want to chance encountering any mud. Our guides showed three options here in Riverton: a Wal-Mart on the north end of town, the Wind River casino about a mile south of town (and off our route), and this Elks lodge right in the downtown area. We opted for the Elks as it was a bit more private and had several dinner options in walking distance. It's a small lot, though, and we'd hardly fit if there were any other rigs here.

We walked to dinner at the Ol' Broker restaurant just next door. The food was tasty and the service attentive, but the bare laminate tabletops and paper napkins did not fit with the fine-dining pricing and menu. Still, we can recommend it -- it appears to be the nicest place in town. The wine list was fairly extensive and reasonably priced.

Yesterday afternoon I walked around the historic downtown, surprisingly vibrant for small-town America. (Thus refuting the notion that Wal-Mart is putting downtowns out of business. We've been through many towns, though, where the old downtown is essentially boarded up and withering on the vine, Wal-Mart or no.) The sidewalks have been freshly redone, and the old railroad depot, which houses a Mexican restaurant, is being completely renovated (the restaurant is operating in temporary digs a few doors down). The old railroad grade has been transformed into a bicycle trail. There is also a well-kept city park with a skateboard area, horseshoe pits, tennis courts, a playground, and an amphitheater -- quite extensive for a town of only 10,000.

This morning we walked across the street to the Doit-Best hardware store and picked up some stair nosing, a transition plate, and a cheap miter box so I can finish up the floor project in the next couple of days. Shortly, we will head west to Dubois, where we believe there is a laundromat.