Never know what you'll find on a lonely road

©2012 Lydia Hinshaw

Our mountaintop cabin

Our cozy interior

 CENTENNIAL, WY --We almost always conduct our western travel adventures with only vague plans and no reservations.  This lets us take advantage of opportunities that turn up unexpectedly.

 That's what happened Friday night, when we were wandering across Wyoming, chosing road noted on maps as "closed in winter."  We were 40 miles from Laramie and I was checking out Laramie campgrounds in our directory.

 Just below the top of a mountain pass, we found place that rents out small log cabins for quite reasonable rates.  We hadn't seen an open campground for miles, as there was still quite a bit of snow above 8,000 feet.

 So we checked into a one-room cabin with a kitchen, so to speak, and a bathroom.  There was a gas range with oven, and a microwave in the kitchen, but no sink.  

 The bathroom had no door, just a curtain, and the light was so poor in there that neither of us braved the shower. Rustic as it was, it did have a small, flat-screen TV. 

 There was a gas stove that would have kept the place cozy if necessary.  The cabins are open year-round, and apparently well-insulated as we didn't need the heat in spite of a 35 degree night.

 We stayed in a similar place once in Washington State, except that cabin had no electricity and the Prince got a free eyebrow trim as he experimented with lighting a kerosene lantern.

 There were no near-catastrophes this time. We woke up to another beautiful morning, had a quick breakfast and continued down the mountain.