The end of Wyoming

We are almost through Wyoming. I am sort of glad, since about 200 miles of this stretch have had deserts with no towns or service stations. The last 2 days we rode over 80 miles a day, so we decided to take a half day today and rode just 40 miles to Rawlins, WY. There's not much to do here, so we are spending the afternoon drinking rum before finding the cheapest hotel we can. It's only 4pm, but I feel like I am about to pass out because we camped along the highway last night and a pack of coyotes kept me awake; there must have been like twenty of them howling off and on.
Speaking of animal things, we slept at a campsite outside of Yellowstone two nights ago and the bartender told us that we didn't have to worry about bears, so we put our food out right next to our tent ( in Yellowstone we had to lock up even toothpaste before going to bed). The next morning one of the staff staying there told us he'd heard a bear outside his cabin 2 nights ago, and that two grizzlys with cubs had been seen in the area. Mary also read a sign that warned against grey wolves that have been preying on livestock, biting them until they are too bloody to run and then eating only their hearts or fetuses (inside pregnant cows). We also overheard someone talking about catching a four foot rattlesnake in the area we camped last night.
The next few days we will be going into Colorado. We are only a week away from finishing the Rocky mountains. We've heard that the elevation gain is so severe that some cyclists get asthma symptoms and insomnia, so we plan on taking it slow. I'm a little nervous, the hills haven't been fun at all. We went over the Togwetee pass a few days ago ( the second highest point on the transamerica route) and it was almost thirty miles uphill. Six miles into the climb, a construction crew made us load our bikes in their truck and gave us a ride for three miles, because cyclists were not allowed to ride that section due to roadwork. It was a nice surprise, but I feel less secure going into the Rockies without completing that ride.
Other than that, I am so sunburned that my skin feels and looks like shrink wrap after sweating, I learned how to stand on my bike with no hands going down 50 miles of hills, Mary has ass blisters that she's worried about, and we are having what I would consider the best time of my life.
-Beth

Beth only knows how to ride standing up with no hands because I demonstrated. She didn't even know that shit was possible.
Also, the mountains are fun to me. Kind of. They suck until you break a sweat, then it's fine. Sort of like getting in a river that seems too cold at first. And the altitude thing has already got to me, I had bad asthma the first day we got really high. So I'm not too worried. Other than my ass, it's smooth sailing for me.

-mary