We began our day in Evanston, Wyoming, at the Best Western with a moment of heart-pounding stress. Returning to our room after breakfast, Snoopy was nowhere to be found! After searching high and low, we couldn't find him anywhere. I envisioned him escaping while Jim put things in the car. Jim worried that perhaps the housekeeper had inadvertently given him a chance to escape. Finally, we decided neither of those events had occurred, and he must have made his way under the bed. After removing all the bedding, the king mattress, and moving apart two box springs, his head popped up from beneath them. Somehow, he had fit in between the wall and the enclosure they put under hotel beds these days. Unfortunately, Snoopy has a good memory, so now we will have to block that space carefully each time we check into a room.
Heading east from Evanston, we continued along I-80 today. The first thing that we noticed was a striking range of snow-covered mountains running east to west, parallel to the highway beyond some wind generators. They are the Uinta Mountains in northeast Utah, the only east-to-west trending mountain range in the contiguous Rocky Mountains. It looked as though they had a very generous snow accumulation over the winter.
This area of Wyoming has many interesting geological formations visible from the highway. Buttes with very steep sides and flat or narrow tops appear regularly. Created from a plateau or mesa, the surrounding softer rock wears away over time, leaving the harder core standing alone.
Another beautiful feature here is stratified rock made up of distinct, visible layers called strata. Formed by sediment or volcanic material deposited sequentially over long periods of time that vary in color, composition, or grain size, these combine to create the visible layers.
We observed that there is a lot of natural gas being collected in this area, with sites bringing it out of the ground as well as what appears to be processing equipment and buildings, too.
This area deals with wind and substantial snow in the winter, and you can see snow drift fences constructed along the road to control drifting snow. Once, we thought we saw a live elk standing by a snow fence, but after passing by, we realized it was a metal sculpture!
The straight roads here extend for miles into the distance, and after a while, it becomes mesmerizing, and you have to work hard to stay alert.
A serpentine-shaped ridge stood out to us along our drive, and a snow-draped hill foretold what was soon to become a challenging drive in the snow!
Approaching Laramie, Wyoming, we drove into a snowstorm that made visibility of vehicles in front of us almost dangerously impossible. Prudently, we decided to stop for the day at our age. Finding a Best Western motel, we waited out the storm and then headed into town for dinner. The hills around town were covered in snow.
Driving into Laramie, we passed by the University of Wyoming, one of the many universities in the western United States that Jim acquired for yearbook production when he worked as a professional photographer.
Upon the recommendation of the front desk at our hotel, we had dinner at Wyoming Rib & Chop House. It was delicious and the best baby back ribs we've had in a long time. A perfect way to end the day!
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