Road Trip Day 21

Today was the longest and hardest day of the trip so far. We drove a whopping 700 miles from Ashland, Nebraska to Rock Springs, Wyoming. The first 400 miles of the trip were totally boring. We were in Nebraska after all. The only excitement I can report for that part of the day is that I listened to “Murder on the Orient Express” by Agatha Christy. I love Agatha Christy books but always guess the wrong murderer. “Murder on the Orient Express” has so many twists and turns I was dizzy by the end of it.

The last 300 miles were in Wyoming. That section of the drive was a lot more exciting. Wyoming is a really beautiful state. The contrast in scenery hit us almost the second we crossed the border. Unlike Colorado, Montana, and New Mexico with their simple mountain range for the continental divide, Wyoming has the Great Divide Basin. That means that after climbing to the top of the mountain, I didn’t get to start going down right away. Instead, I got to stay above 6,500 feet for 150 miles.

Have you ever noticed how storms like to hang around the tops of mountains? That was this afternoon/evenings excitement. Wyoming is a beautiful state, but today is was also really stressful. For 150 miles, we were stuck at the top of the continent in the middle of a thunder storm, with 30+ mile an hour winds.

After finishing “Murder on the Orient Express”, we didn’t put on a second book. Instead, we listened to the NOWA weather service. They are predicting gusts of up to 60 miles per hour between midnight tonight and noon tomorrow. Our original plan was to jog north up to the Tetons tomorrow. There is also a prediction of 3-6 inches of snow falling in Yellowstone tonight, so I think our national park adventure for tomorrow is out of the question. I’m just hoping we don’t blow away during the night.

We stopped at the Rock Springs KOA. We are technically out of the Great Divide Basin and slightly lower in elevation (only 6,000 feet). But KOA’s are really expensive parking lots. So the only thing sheltering us from the wind is the giant RV’s parked beside us. Technically, I may also be inside a giant RV, but I still feel very gouache “camping” at a trailer park. But they do have free wi-fi, that’s a plus.

Joke of the Day

Never say anything bad about a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes. By then you’re a mile away, and you’ve got his shoes. So you can say whatever you want.

If you know a better joke, enter my contest and you might win a free book.