Kyle Petty Charity Ride Diary: Day 3

Greetings from Cheyenne, Wyoming!

	Richard Petty Credit: Phil Cavali

It's every biker's dream to ride through the state of Wyoming and now, I know why.

We spent the entire day traveling 472 miles through just one state, but the landscape looked like we traveled through five different ones.

We started the morning in Jackson Hole, traveling through the snowcapped Grand Teton National Park, with one of the most scenic mountain ranges in the United States.

The further we got up in elevation of the route, the colder it got.

Finally, when we reached the top of Interstate 26, we saw snow on the ground in the middle of June. We also saw all sorts of wildlife running along side the road, including elk, deer antelope and moose. (I swear I saw a jackalope too.)

Credit: Phil Cavali

From there, we made our way into Dubois and Lander, which felt more like the desert. The land there is just hot and dry. When we pulled into the fuel stop in Lander, more than 125 fans greeted us.

I heard that the fans started arriving at the gas station as early as 6 a.m. just to see our bikes parade in. That was pretty cool.

We stopped for lunch at the Saratoga Inn in Saratoga, Wyoming. We dined on some unique, local stuff including elk and venison sausages, barbequed buffalo and Indian flat bread.

The food was great and definitely made for one of the more memorable meals of the trip. Following lunch, we traveled along the Snowy Range through Medicine Bow National Forest.

It was a cool sight to see these more than 150 bikes traveling down a winding mountainside road in single file.

	Credit: Phil Cavali

Even though we're in the middle of this massive landscape, fans have found their way out to cheer us on all along the way.

We were traveling down a deserted stretch of highway between Lander and Rawlins, Wyoming when we came upon three fans holding a big No. 5 sign for Terry Labonte on the side of the road.

Here are these three fans, in the middle of nothing but wide open fields without a building in sight, cheering us on.

Terry pulled over the minute he saw them, autographed their sign, posed for pictures and then rejoined the rest of the Charity Ride as they drove by.

Several miles later, we found two fans standing on the back of a truck with a #45 decal and a Kyle Petty flag. I just had to pull over to say hello and thank these guys for traveling all the way out there to see us.

Credit: Phil Cavali

Tomorrow we leave first thing in the morning for Nebraska, and may even do a little racing while we're there.

By the way, the fantasy racing trip auction on our eBay site is starting to pick up steam. To find out more, visit eBay.com's charity page.

There are only four days left to bid on a dream trip to Petty Enterprise and a ride-along with me as your driver. Proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Victory Junction Gang Camp, the national charity of the 2002 Charity Ride.

Until tomorrow,

Kyle