July 11, 2014

Day 116: Rawlins (2,083m, 6,834ft, 1.55bn)

Parco Inn

Today we passed through a place that was once called Parco after the company ....

Today it is called ....

Where the Sinclair Refinery is to be found.

Also, my first impressions of Wyoming are that it is desolate. Indeed, it reminds me of areas of the Highlands of Scotland only on a vastly greater scale. Also, there is a marked reduction in the quantity of wild flowers to be seen. Indeed, there were virtually none to be seen today. Do not know whether there simply are not that many to be found or is it the wrong time of the year for flowers in Wyoming?

Furthermore, with a population of approximately 580,000 it is the least populated State, and has a population density of only 5.85 per sq mi, with only Alaska having a lower density. Indeed the population of Glssgow is greater (596,000) and has a population density of 8,542 per sq mi.

Also, suprisingly, Wyoming has only 1700 (aprox) prisoners, which by American standards is remarkably low. We visited the old State Penitentiary, which is now a museum (and well worth a visit). Her is a photograph of Adell inside a cell:

Apparently the prisoners could paint their cells any colour they wished. So some painted them very dark colours so that they could see out of the cell, but guards could not see what the prisoner was doing inside it!