Ride Day 13 (Day 14) of 2025 Epic Motorcycle Trip: Riverton, Wyoming to Englewood, Colorado (380 miles)

We have a really long day on Saturday to head to Colorado (over 380 miles). Two more days on the bike before we load her up and head home. Get up, have our free Hampton breakfast (these are great), pack up, and head out. 

We get on 135 for about 35 miles of nothingness before getting on 287 for more nothingness into Rawlins, at Interstate 70. We go 127 miles before we even see any civilization – and gas stations! 

We stop at Stinker (the cousin to Buc-ees and Uranus, in terms of humor, but pretty much just a gas station with convenience store.

Hampton and Golf Course across the street from Stinkers gas station in Rawlins.

We think this group of bikers is heading to Sturgis.

Stinkers mascot, Pete

About Stinker (https://www.stinker.com/): Farris Lind, the man behind the Skunk, considered himself to be a real Stinker. He opened his first gas station with the promise of keeping fuel prices down to undercut the “Big Boys” high prices. Quickly he became known as a real “Stinker” in the gas industry, so, what better way to identify the station causing all the stink than by naming his stations Stinker.

Lind opened his first Stinker Gas Station in Twin Falls, ID in 1936. Soon after, stations started opening up all over Idaho, Utah and Nevada.

The brilliance of Lind’s marketing mind was illustrated by the many road signs he put up along the highways of Idaho. What started as an idea to cover the “other side” of his advertisement board, quickly turned into an opportunity to post humorous sayings. These billboards combining the power of humor with advertising became an instant hit for Stinker.

Lind was quoted as saying “I’ll do anything for a laugh - and for a few dollars, I’ll get hysterical.” He thought up most of the sayings but he also offered to pay 50 cents to anyone in his family who came up with a good line or two. At one point there were 150 signs between Green River, Wyoming and Jordan Valley, Oregon. Today you’ll find a few old standing signs along with some new ones!

Throughout driving in Idaho and Utah and Wyoming, we didn’t see a single Stinker sign. Also, the skunk mascot is named Pete.

We get on Interstate 70 and go about 95 miles to Laramie. It’s pretty windy and there are lots of semis. There are also lots of antelope (and cattle) on the other side of the fences. There are also lots of snow fences.

Snow fences and sky.

About snow fences: A snow fence is a barrier that forces windblown, drifting snow to accumulate in a desired place. Snow fences are employed primarily to minimize the amount of snowdrift on roadways and railways. Farmers and ranchers use snow fences to create drifts in basins for a ready spring water supply. 

We gas up at Maverick in Laramie before taking 287 to Fort Collins (yes, it’s windy, but it’s not interstate). 

Woman with her "travel cat" at Maverick?

We cross into Colorado, but no sign except for the one at the rest area. 

Colorado!

Rocky Mountains in the distance

It’s warm when we get into Colorado, so in Fort Collins, we ditch our jackets for the 90+ interstate and tollway ride to the hotel. We get stuck in construction right before the Buc-ees (in Johnsonville) in Colorado, with a huge line of traffic exiting (not sure if it’s because of Buc-ees or the construction). But the line of traffic isn’t nearly as bad as it is going north on 25. This 90+ miles is miserable in wind and traffic and wind.

We’re staying at a Hilton Garden in in South Denver (Hilton Garden Inn Denver South Park Meadows Area, 9290 Meridian Boulevard, Englewood) across the street from the Lone Tree Golf Club (I walked across the street and the 13^th hole is along the road (but I looked at the scorecard I found online and maybe they’ve changed the front and back nines because the 13^th is a par 5 on the sign on the course, but a par 3 on the scorecards.

Watching golf from the window.

Lone Tree Golf Club

Lone Tree Golf Club

About Lone Tree Golf Club (https://frgclub.com/lone-tree-2/ ): Arnold Palmer and Ed Seay designed the course at the Lone Tree Golf Club & Hotel. Opened in 1986, the 18-hole, public course is immaculately maintained and very demanding. The course not only offers a challenging game but also beautiful panoramic views of Denver and the Rockies. It offers 7,054 yards of golf from its championship tees, playing to a par of 72. The natural landscape of the golf course features lakes and a stream, which create water hazards that come into play on many holes. The course is also well-bunkered. 

We’ve been lucky this trip and either have a late lunch before we get to the hotels we stay, or there is something really close to the hotel. In the case of the Hilton Garden Inn, it’s Hacienda Colorado (which, is technically a chain since it’s owned by the Uncle Julios Restaurant group (https://haciendacolorado.com/ , but is across the parking lot from us). The chips and salsa are just like Uncle Julios. Good early meal. Rest up for our last ride of the trip to Raton, New Mexico, hoping for less wind. It’s really weird that this hotel doesn’t have any real sugar (I don’t use sugar in my coffee, but Tony does and they also don’t have the flavored coffee creamers).