Bear at the wheel. Note the white knuckles, furrowed brow, turning stomach |
As we headed west the
sky started to clear and the scenery was beautiful. The roads dried up and things were looking
really good.
We stopped in Laramie for
gas and as we pulled back onto I-80 noticed that west of us we could see
truckers all the way to the horizon and that they were not moving! Apparently 20 miles out of Laramie 7 or 8
rigs had left the road and they had it closed in order to get them cleaned
up. It took us 6 hours to go the 60
miles from Cheyenne to the accident site.
This put a definite crimp in our style.
Wyoming is very interesting.
The geology changes every couple of hours (after the first six) and the
snow highlighted everything. Bug got to
add antelope and ravens to her running list of animals seen on this trip. We got to cross the Continental Divide
twice. At the Great Divide Basin it
splits and encircles the basin before joining back up at the bottom.
It only took Bear 11 ½ days and over 3800 miles to finally
give up the steering wheel. Bug got to
drive across SW Wyoming. Sew Diva’s
segment was through Utah. We definitely want
to come back and drive this segment in the daytime. What we could see in the dark was beautiful
but a little on the harrowing side. Utah
DOT seems to be out of reflective paint so visualize driving a chicane downhill
at 75 mph without being able to see very far down the road. The reflective paint is not just missing from
the road, there is none on the little markers indicating the sides of the road
or on the highway signs – such as speed limit, exits, etc.
As soon as we crossed into Utah we noticed the “no services”
signs on the exits. Bug is convinced
that is Utah’s state motto. She thought
“pass with care” epitomized New Mexico and “picnic area, handicap accessible”
worked for Texas. (In Texas rest areas
have bathrooms, picnic areas do not- and there were no rest areas).
Tonight is in Yakima and then into Seattle mid-day to be
there in time for the evening Husky game.