The Most Magical Place on Earth

Summer has arrived, and that means vacation time for many of us. We were privileged to spend the last few days at the most magical place on earth. Disney World you ask? Oh no, my friend, much more magical--Rawlins, Wyoming.

A man in our ward has been hiking the continental divide trail (which runs from New Mexico to Montana) in pieces. His normal approach is to have someone drop him off at a starting point and then meet him at a predetermined location at the end of the day. He wanted to do a few segments in southern Wyoming this week, and invited us to come along and be his driver.



In between the drives to and from hiking trails, we found time to see the famous attractions that have made Rawlins the legendary city that it is. One attraction that tourists from all over the country drive for miles to see is the heated pool at the Comfort Inn. After logging over two whole hours in the pool, we can now affirm that it is indeed a sight to behold.

One night, we ate dinner at what is widely held as the best restaurant in Rawlins, the Aspen House. Though they are famous for their huge ribeye steaks, we decided to steer clear (pun intended) of red meat that night. I enjoyed some fresh grilled salmon while Rachael went with gourmet fettucine alfredo. Verdict: Given that there can't be much fierce competition in a town of 9,000, we, too, vote the Aspen House Restaurant as Rawlin's best. At the very least, it was better than the Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Subway we attended for our previous meals.

The obvoius highlight of our trip was our visit to the infamous Wyoming State Penitentiary, which was built in the late 1800's and was closed around 1980. No one else showed up for the 9:30am tour so it was just us and the tour guide. This ensured that every one of our questions was answered but came at the expense of several awkward silences. Overall, the prison tour was very interesting and we have determined that we never want to end up in an early 1900's prison.

Believe it or not, we also enjoyed the Wyoming scenery. Although the terrain was somewhat flat and boring, there was something nice about being out in the middle of nowhere. Out by the hiking trails it was incredibly quiet and desolate. Indeed, we saw many more cows and pronghorn antelope than we did people.