Rawlins, Wyoming
I’m tooling down US 30 East today thinking, “Hell, only 1,700 miles to go. Maybe I just finish things up today.” But then, dammit, the sun went down and I missed seeing 100 miles of rocky desert. Anyone else would probably shrug and think, “Nothing to see anyway. What’s the big deal?” Me, I’m ticked off. I want to see every inch of ground crossed with my own eyes. I’m so irritated I’m considering backtracking 120 miles just to see the barren wasteland in daylight.
But time grows short. So I doubt I’ll be able to. Dammit.
Crazy place out west. This morning I woke up to a blinding snowstorm with 1/2 on the ground and climbing. Looked like it was going to be a miserable, grey, snowy, blowy day. I go ten miles north out of Salt Lake City proper and there are blue skies and not a hint of precipitation. But it was still cold. For 300 miles, through two canyons, across a mountain range and in two states it was never higher than 32 degrees all day. With a stiff wind. Bitter. Flat out bitter.
On the bright side, the sun did come up. Eventually. I didn’t have to breakfast with the bums. I got to see most of John Browning’s prototype guns including the BAR and .30 cal machine gun. I took a picture of Citadel Rock from across the UP tracks on the bank of the Green River that pretty much duplicates a photo in my rail road book. I saw many, many trains cruising across the plains. And I saw snow.
What a weird year. I’ve been chasing summer since summer started in the warmth of a Pennsylvania May. I chased summer across Western Europe and Central Italy. I chased summer all down the East Coast, across the South and up the Pacific Coast. I sort of stumbled onto fall – with summery temperatures – about a week ago in the foothills of the Sierra. I got to experience about three days of fall across the northern Nevada desert. And now it’s winter. Bitter, snowy winter.
Next time I’m planning better. And I’m doing this snowy part of the world in August. Can you imagine how pleasant it would be to be cruising through Phoenix and into West Texas right now with Florida as a destination rather than contemplating two more weeks hauling ass across the Great Plains?