Day 12 - Rapid City, SD to Larame, WY

Snow had fallen in South Dakota on day 12, confirming our desperate need to get south as fast as possible!

We still had a park pass though – so first we went back to Custer State Park to hike in the snow. There we studied snow safety and mistook dogs for mountain lions. We built a snowman and realized too late that we were on the wrong trail. It was beautiful, unmarred white snow with a pristine blue sky, and Maryanne did yoga while Helen made snow angels.

Driving into the “flat with small hills” state of Wyoming, we speculated two things:
1) Absolutely no one lives here.
2) So there are probably no police.

Point 2 proved to later be false when we saw someone get pulled over, but not before Maryanne took her car to 110 MPH! Her car goes 160, so who knows?! Actually, she’ll never go that fast again, I just spoke with her telepathically. This was easy because I am writing in a third omnipotent voice.

As we drove farther and farther into Wyoming we got scared. This state is 66% McCain and 28% Obama. Our Obama sticker and North Carolina tags could only emphasize that we were radical liberals seeking to destroy this state. (Or understanding of current issues and voting wisely to benefit the world.) We built this up so much in our mind, that every desolate area we passed we speculated our bodies might end up there and questioned how long it would take them to be found. We had no cell phone service. The only other car we saw on the road was missing tags!

As our panic took full effect, the gas gauge dropped. Soon we had only 30 miles and about 300 miles of Wyoming left…we stopped in Lusk. Helen hid in the car, while Maryanne (as stealth like as possible) tried to fill up her tank. THEN, a man wearing a cowboy hat started to talk to her. It was a polite conversation revolving around the mechanics of her car. It was friendly, and yet, the feeling that he was sizing up how fast she could drive away didn’t escape – UNTIL he pulled away, and there, on his enormous truck was an Obama sticker!

WELCOME TO WYOMING!!

Bouyed, Maryanne went inside and bought coffee. When she presented her debit card, (which in the “sign here” area she has written “STOLEN! Ask for ID.”) the woman laughed and laughed and showed everyone in the store. (And asked for ID.) She thought Maryanne was wonderful, even if her ID was a NC license.

As we continued our drove south, we noticed something unusual – it was getting COLDER! In fact, by the time we arrived, we had lost 11 degrees. I guess it’s that elevation thing, because we did see some mountains that looked rocky today….and yes, those were the ROCKY MOUNTAINS. These are the mountains of our birth, so we both felt fond toward them, UNTIL THE ANTELOPE AND DEER APPEARED! Not one or two, but herds of 50 were in the road. Maryanne’s driving stress level was at its highest ever. There were only about 5 people within a 100 mile radius of us, and it was unlikely that they were the operators of AAA, so hitting one would have been a huge unnecessary hassle. Helen got mad at her for going 50 in a 65, but Maryanne held her ground (or foot off the accelerator).

Finally we arrived at Mike and Melissa’s abode in Laramie! They greeted us and Melissa got to watch Maryanne fail at parallel parking. We had a warm meal and good conversation. Melissa has about 100 varieties of tea to choose from, mmmm! Their house is so welcoming that we immediately felt comfortable. And Maryanne feel asleep before even writing this blog!