Day 19: July 7, 2013
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Today's first stop was at what was once the nation's smallest town. The population of Buford, Wyoming dropped from one to zero last year and the town was sold. I'm guessing that the dramatic population reduction makes this a non-town but I don't really know how all that works.
Don't try anything foolish, Tree. They have you surrounded. The second picture of Wyoming's famous Tree Rock has a couple of cool cars in the background.
This is the view from where Robert Russin's giant Lincoln bust originally stood. It's a stop I missed on my previous pass. I did not know that the relocated bust was visible from here until Paul pointed it out to me.
We did, of course, also stop at the bust's current location which is also home to the relocated Henry B. Joy monument. That's where we met up with Jeff and Demetria and the Family Truckster. I'd seen the car a few time but Paul was somewhat familiar with the story behind it. Jeff has had the car since he was sixteen. He is a fan of the Lincoln Highway and of the movie Vacation. What better way to celebrate the highway's 100th and the movie's 30th than by driving the former in a car resembling the one Chevy Chase drove in the latter. The two started in New York and are essentially following the same schedule as the tour group but with a few route deviations and side excursions. They will travel with us off and on for the remainder of the tour.
Although today's weather on the road north of Laramie approached perfection, there were indications that this isn't always so.
I believe I paused at this one-stop in 2009 but today we did a full stop and visit. An associated small store and some gas pumps are across the road from the Longhorn Lodge. When I paid for my Gatorade, the owner asked where I was from. I answered Ohio and she asked which part. That sequence occurs often and typically ends when I say Cincinnati. This time "Which part?" followed the Cincinnati response. Turns out she has a son living in Cincinnati and has visited several times in the past. Road construction prevented me from stopping at the "Dinosaur House" in 2009 so I was looking forward to this visit. The long closed attraction is made of dinosaur bones which earned it the name "Oldest Cabin in the World" from Ripley's Believe It Or Not.

At the Dinosaur House, our caravan consisted of one Mustang, one Valiant, one Pontiac G6, one Chevy Caprice Estate Wagon, and two Packards ('47 & '49).

We ate lunch at the 1911 Virginian Hotel. There's the Owen Wister Dining Room, where we didn't eat, and the bar, where we didn't drink (although I did in 2009), and the Owen Wister Suite, where we didn't sleep. The last picture is of the room where I stayed in 2009 although they've rearranged the furniture to confuse me.
This is Henry B. Joy's favorite spot on the Lincoln Highway and the original location of the monument pictured a few panels back. The gravel road at the right is the Lincoln Highway heading west.
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