Jackson, WY

Our journey has commenced! Yesterday we drove approximately 550 miles from Denver, CO to Jackson, WY. It was a slow start. I was ready, but Rachel and Sophia still had bills to pay, errands to do, and of course, still needed to pack. After a very stressful morning full of almost breakdowns and packing the car in the perfect way so everything fit, we were on the road! It was an anti-climatic start because we left at 5:00pm along with the entire city of Denver. We spent the first hour of the trip inching away from Denver. Luckily, for me it was still exciting because I could look at the Rockies towering over us.
The drive from Colorado to Cheyenne, WY was uneventful. Flat straight highway with the Rockies on the left and endless prairie lands on the right. Cheyenne, the capital of Wyoming, was also pretty quiet. I guess it was a Tuesday night. We ate at a popular Wyoming franchise called Sandford’s pub and grub. Although it was packed with locals, again, it was very quiet. Strange. We started the trip with a meal packed with grease only to vow that it would be the last time. My favorites were the Freddies—a whole potato chopped in four slices, breaded, and deep-fried. Mmmm.
After Cheyenne, we all piled back into the Blue Avenger, Sophia took the wheel, I was navigator, and Rachel cuddled up with all the squishy stuff in the back. In retrospect, we probably should have planned this leg of the journey a little more. Here we were in the middle of nowhere Wyoming at 9pm still 400 miles from our final resting spot of Jackson, WY. Although we probably could have, and probably should have just pitched the tent on the side of the road when we got delirious around 12Am, we decided to just stick it out till we got to Jackson. Sophia went for two hours. Rachel took her turn and listened to the ever-calming Harry Potter book on tape, which put me right to sleep. Then it was my turn.
I took my spot at 1AM and Rachel sat next to me as my personal cheerleader along with Steve Tyler and the boys (Aerosmith). Sophia immediately fell asleep in the nook. For the next two hours we were the ONLY car on the road. We passed through about four villages along the way. We would pass a sign that said “reduce speed, entering Boulder: Population 75 Elevation 7865. Before we knew it we’d be out of the “town”. Then 60 miles later we’d enter Bondurant: Population 100 Eleveation 6076. We then came to the booming metropolis of Pindell. Only slightly large than Lincoln, VT, this town was fully equipped with several bars, Best Western, and even Subway!
In this environment it was easy to fall under the spell of highway hypnosis. Slowly my speed would creep up to 95mph. This is when we started thinking about maybe just stopping for the night. However, this is when the landscape also started to change. We were no longer driving through the friendly flatlands, we were in bear territory. Mountains had crept up out of nowhere and there were finally trees again. Camping was out of the question. We really busted out the last 40minutes. Rachel sang loudly to Beyonce trying to keep me chipper and awake, when she herself was about to pass out. Then we saw the city lights! I slowed my speed to 70mph as we approached. After what seemed liked hours being all alone, another car was on the road. We rejoiced thinking, “Civilization!”.
Then the car did a quick U-turn. Literally, at 3AM half a mile away from our heavenly super 8, blue lights flashed behind us. I pulled over as we all sat in disbelief. The cop came over and said “Did you know you were going 70mph in a marked 55mph?”
“Was I?!”. I explained that we’d been driving from Denver and were going to Jackson. He replied, “oh yeah? That’s it right there”. Uhhh. He was actually very friendly and ended up giving us a warning explaining that normally it would have been a $150 ticket! Oh thank god we are three beautiful young women.
We checked into our motel at 3:15am only to be told that check out was at 11am. We all hurried to bed to get our expensive 7 hours of mattress time.