Driving. Lots of driving. And not just us... we were detained for 20
minutes for a cattle drive across the two-lane rural highway, but you'll
read ALL about that at the 8:27am update. And for reasons that were no
reason at all, we opted to just drive straight-through, resulting in a
20+ hour drive time over a window of nearly 22 hours. Yessir, we were
a bit loopy toward the end, but that's to be expected.
Giving in to conservative
natures, I set the alarm for later than usual. Fortunately, I wasn't
made to regret doing so.
6:37am
In nearly record time, we were ready and off and running for the
hills. Literally -- to get out of Rapid City, except back the way
we came, you'd going through one set of mountains or another.
7:55am
We crossed over from South Dakota
into Wyoming. There was much rejoicing.
8:06am
Approaching a crossroads, we turned left, from Highway 16 westbound
to Highway 18 southbound.
Whoa, nelly! Traffic is stopped, and there's a ruckus a brewin'.
It seems a herd
of cattle is being driven across the highway, and the Wyoming
Highway Patrol is out to allow 'em to cross without being turned
into ground beef. One of those waiting near us commented that five
riders wasn't enough to corral them cows. I didn't mention the herding
dogs present assisted in the effort, as we didn't want to get drawn
into that conversation.
8:47am
The state trooper stood
aside and we were allowed to pass, once the cattle were safely
behind a load-bearing barbed-wire fence.
8:54am
A quick bio-break at a roadside rest area, and we were on our way
again.
9:56am
We passed through Lost Springs, Wyoming.
Nothing special, really, but we found the population -- 4 -- to be
amusing. Seems hardly worth even putting up a sign. On the flip side,
how cool is it for the family to tell folks they have their own town
AND a personal postal ZIP code?
10:19am
An important moment -- we turned from Highway 18 to Interstate 25.
11:41am
A stop in Cheyenne for gas, food and
whatnot. Then we were on our way again.
12:37pm
We pass through Sherman Hill Summit (elevation of 8,640 feet) and
engage in driving through a solid five minutes of rain. And on minute
six, dryness anew. We also figured out, with Tubby's father's help,
that these
are likely snow fences, meant to keep the snow from drifting across
the highway.
3:31pm
A brief stop in Rock Springs, Wyoming
for fuel. Yea.
4:56pm
A 10-minute jaunt around Evanston, Wyoming. I wanted to look at
the police station and a few other sites as part of a writing pet
project. Then we were off once more.
5:09pm
We crossed into Utah, and minutes
later, were passed by a brunette with a broken passenger-side rear
view mirror. After stopping to retrieve a Pepsi from the cooler, though,
she got away.
Salt Lake City. We didn't stop. But
crossing across the salt flats between Salt Lake City and Wendover
gave me occasion to grab a
sunset photo. Because we all know I can't get enough of those
pictures.
7:42pm
Wendover, Utah. After only slight consideration, we pushed on to
Elko, Nevada as a stop to spend the night.
7:49pm / 6:49pm
Just outside of Wendover, Nevada is
the Pacific Time zone line. Once crossed, we're back on
8:44pm
Elko. There's little interest in stopping at this point, what with
it just being 500 or so miles from home.
9:01pm
We stop for dinner at Subway. It's
no Togo's, but it works.
11:37pm
A quick stop in Lovelace, Nevada for a liter of Pepsi. Mmmm, Pepsi.
12:51am
The final stop: Reno. For the final
fill-up of gas. Onward to the nest.
3:47am
We manage to cross through the hills before the home nest. Foggy;
who wouldda thunk it?
4:04am
We roll to a final stop at the nest.
Time for sleep, finally...!
