Wyoming Doesn't Look That Big on the Map!

July 12, 2010

(Lisa) We spent the night at the Fairfield Suites in Laramie WY. Very nice hotel, very clean, good breakfast. We left there about 8:15ish and headed to Walmart where we bought the rest of the food we would need for the next 2 weeks. Uh oh…where are we going to put all these groceries? We managed to squeeze everything in and headed out of town about 9:30 a.m. I bought a new Atlas before leaving Louisville and I really like it because the maps are big. I like Wyoming because it’s the last map in the atlas and easy to find. However, when I look at the map it seems that Wyoming is a small state and the towns do not look that far apart. But, believe me, they are far apart. It took way longer for us to get to the next town then it looks on the map. We stopped in Rock Springs and ate at a Wendy’s because (ironically) it was too windy outside for a picnic. We finally made it to Jackson about 5:15 due to construction by Hoback…yes, that is the name of the town.


Despite the hours it took to get there, it was a BEAUTIFUL drive, the landscape was amazing. We got gas in Jackson and headed to the Grand Tetons National Park….the only word I can use to describe it is breathtaking. You turn a corner out of Jackson and there are the mountains-wow! We stopped and took some pictures even though it was late-like 6:00 p.m. We drove through the park and saw what is called a bear jam…cars stopped to see a bear…it was just for a split second but we saw a grizzly bear walk into the bushes. It was amazing! We also saw pronghorns, elk, and buffalo-just on the drive through the parks! We did get to Yellowstone and pushed on to West Yellowstone where our campground was. FINALLY at 8:30 we pulled in-ugh. Got our campsite-141- and started setting up. Paul bruised his hand trying to get the thingies down to balance the camper. We both worked hard to get all the stuff set up and organized…it was pretty hard. Finally after 10:00 we sat down and ate some cheese and crackers for dinner (not the chili I had originally planned!) We worked on the inside of the trailer and went to bed about 11:30, pretty darned tired but really happy to be here!

(Paul) Well Lisa pretty much summed it up. We failed to account for the 35-45mph in the park so the last 100 miles was very slow going with bear jams, elk jams, your general rubber-necking and the pullover's for the irresistable scenic photo shots. Learned something new about my wife along the way but I still love her... the adventure continues.