road trip: Day 41- Dec. 15 Wyoming

Well, now that you have seen my Oklahoma fun and SW experience, we are going to jump past the really bad sick days and come to current time.

I spent my sick days camped out on my friend's couch in Colorado. It was so nice to have a home to sleep in rather than a hotel.

Now, it's off to Salt Lake to see friends and meet up with my dad. He will fly in there and the two of us will see the National Parks of Utah for a week!!

As I left Colorado, I was driving north on Interstate 25 and this bonehead, in a fancy sports car, was behind me right up my tail.

How many lanes are there on the freeway, buddy?

Anyway, I had flashbacks of the last time I was in Colorado and got the only speeding ticket I have ever had. You don't mess with Colorado when it comes to speeding. They have zero sympathy and could care less how fantastic your driving record is and being out of town just invites them to give you a ticket so they can teach you a lesson!

Lesson learned- so buddy behind me, this blue buggy has a cruise control and I love using it.

You could see his frustration at my insistence to go only 4 mph over the speed limit so as soon as he got a chance, he zoomed around me.

I was probably 10 miles up the road and low and behold, there he was stopped on the side of the road by a Colorado State Patrol car.

HAHAHAHA

Should have stayed behind me, huh!!!!

Welcome to Wyoming!! I now find myself back in pick-up driving, gun carrying, and testosterone filled lands again.

Just after crossing the Wyoming state line, I stopped at the visitor's center to see what stops I should make as I pass through.

At every other visitor's center, they have given me enough to see for a month, but then there's Wyoming...

When I said I was headed across the state and wanted to see what he recommended for me, he said, "Ma'am, the interstate is made to get you through the state. There's not much to see."

"Ok. So what back roads should I take?"

"Oh, can't do that; there's too much snow."

"Ok. So there's nothing to see?"

"Well, I guess there's one thing!"

"Oh, what's that?"

"The prison."

"The what?"

"Prison!"

Hmm... quite the salesman for the state of Wyoming!

"So the only thing to see in 500 miles is the state prison? How old is it?"

"Yes, but it's very interesting and is just a few years old."

"Hmmm... Thank you!!"

I grabbed some tissue for my stuffed nose and headed back to my car.

He said the prison tour was a few hours and I don't think I want to get up early for that. I guess I'm going to have to figure this one out alone!!

As I headed down the interstate singing to country music, I noticed this cloud at about 1:00.

If you flip it around, it looks like the Detroit Redwings logo.

Traveling this interstate brings back so many memories of when my mom and I were on the road selling steel dog silhouettes. We traveled for 8 years in a motor home to dog shows all over the country. Our home was in Olympia, WA, so I-80 through Wyoming was our route to reach the midwest and other states.

We were the most clueless individuals you could dream of when it came to RVing. Neither of us had ever done much camping. I had driven nothing more than a small VW convertible and my mom a minivan. We figured a minivan was a big vehicle so this 30-foot RV should be no problem. HA!!

I was laughing thinking of the two of us heading out across this interstate on our first trip. Most people try things out in small doses and try the new RV close to home.

Not us! Oh, no!

We pulled out of the dealership and headed straight for Denver. To say that was a learning experience is an understatement!!! Once we entered the freeway, this monster on wheels felt enormous and I couldn't figure out where the lane was. So while driving down the interstate, my mom hung her head out the passenger window, like a dog, yelling at me, "You're too far right; too far left. Ahhh... SEMI PASSING!! Don't swerve." I was only going 30 mph on the interstate, so we clearly were occupants of the "slow lane." It took us 3 hours to go 60 miles and we had to get all the way to Denver!!

Being from western Washington, we didn't understand cold climates. It only got below freezing maybe one week out of the year so we had no concept of what negative temperatures felt like.

This interstate I am on today, here in Wyoming, was where we learned the true definition of cold. It was mid-February and our heater in the motor home couldn't keep up with the -80 wind chill temperatures. We drove down the road looking like Eskimos that had just ventured out from their igloo. I was in the driver's seat and my mom in the passenger seat. We stripped our beds of every comforter and wrapped them around our bodies that were already covered with down jackets, ski hats, gloves and boots. We had hand warmers in our gloves and boots to keep our extremities from freezing. How I even found the steering wheel is amazing!!

Oh, my gosh. I can see us like it was yesterday. We have written a book based on all our RV experiences called "RV'ing Made Easy," so you can email me at dana@rvingmadeeasy.com if you would like a copy or more information.

Luckily today, the sun was out and while the bitter wind still blows, it was beautiful and the sunset didn't let me down!!!!

After that sunset, I drove for another hour and decided to plant myself here in Rawlings, WY.

I couldn't help but giggle when I walked into the hotel room and saw the pillows on the bed. Am I in a miniature hotel? I paid $70 for couch throw pillows as my main pillow? It was like they cut a real pillow in half or maybe less than a half.

Good thing I have a small head because my head barely fit on one. This picture just doesn't show their tiny size well at all.