STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 22131: Little America Layabout (”Weather” I Like it or Not)

February 14, 2008 on 7:21 pm | In On The Road, Travelblogue |

The return trip to las Vegas from Bakersfield was uneventful except for the Jeep overheating on both ’steps’ of Baker Hill. It’s really time to put some serious thought into getting a newer, more dependable car. At least the overheating was not caused by coolant leaks. I have no idea what actually caused it, old age I guess.

The first trip I did after returning to Corinne on the 11th was to Cheyenne, WY. I left for Cheyenne about 1800 on the 12th. I drove to Fort Bridger, WY where I had a late dinner. I then drove the rest of the way to Cheyenne in one shot, arriving around 0100 on the 13th. The roads were clear for the whole trip, but I did encounter some strong winds between Rawlins and Laramie (where else). This store doesn’t take early deliveries, so I napped until about 0430 when the receiving docks opened. After being unloaded, I went to bed about 0600. After my 10 hour break, I left Cheyenne about 1600. Again the road was clear, that is until about 40 miles east of Rock Springs. Things ‘went south’ in a hurry. Within 5 miles, I was in a full blown winter storm. I made it to Rock Springs, but couldn’t find a parking place, not even at the Walmart. I continued on to Green River, but there was no place to park there either. I set off to Little America, determined that I was going to stop there no matter what. I did “make” myself a parking place there near the fuel islands. I was parked illegally, but so were a lot of other people. By this time, Wyoming DOT had closed the road ahead of me, so I had to park somewhere. By this time it was 2300.


It was a real mess.

The next day, the 14th, the storm had passed over for the most part. There were a few flurries in the morning, but the sun actually came out in the afternoon. That didn’t help much because the road was still closed. Like I said, it was a real mess. When the road finally did reopen about 2000, I left immediately. I was bored out of my mind. It took 4 hours to make the 170 odd mile trip to Corinne, but I made it. All of the slow going was in Wyoming. Once I crossed the border into Utah, it was like someone hit a switch. The road was completely dry. 2.5 hours to drive the 68 miles in Wyoming, 1.5 hours to drive the 100 miles from the border to Corinne. GEEEEEZE !!! Wyoming needs to buy some SALT.