3500 Miles: Day Five

Day Five was probably the best day of the trip. By "best," I mean shortest. We started the day at my uncle's ranch in Colorado. After four early starts, we decided to have a relaxing morning. We didn't get in the truck until around 11 or 12. That was nice.

On the way out of town, we picked up some peppercorn beef jerky. We'd had a variety of snacks in the truck before, but the jerky was a clear winner. This was my cousin's suggestion; she was right.

We headed up towards Wyoming, henceforth abandoning I-70. I-70 would've taken us through some beautiful stretches of the Rockies, but M-N would've gotten out and stayed in Colorado. The truck, too, might've decided to mutiny. Plus, technically, I-80 goes straight into San Francisco.

We kind of missed Cheyenne, then headed towards Laramie for lunch. Over the past day, we'd apparently climbed to a significant elevation, because the road into Laramie was a terrifying blitzkrieg down a mountain. I was trying to save the brakes while not careening out of control while M-N worked on our will and the cat cowered under the seat.

Then we went to Applebee's. I don't know much about Laramie, or Wyoming (I'd only been there once before, visiting Devil's Tower), but I know it's Dick Cheney's state, also Matthew Shepard's state, and I think it's where Boys Don't Cry was set. For all those reasons, we stuck to an Applebee's near the interstate. Apparently, I ordered five cheeseburgers made as one, while M-N ordered the appetizer sampler (which consists of enough greasy, cheesy food to satiate Chicago).

Back on the road, we decided we'd call it an early day, committing ourself to stopping at a reasonable dinner hour. The first day we stopped around 10. The second day near 7. The third day at maybe 8. And the fourth day around 8, too. We were drained.

Then came a little town called Rock Springs, Wyoming. We couldn't find our Wyoming AAA book, so we just got off the highway and went to a Hampton Inn. This was nice. After our last hotel experience, we just wanted a place free of bloodstains. At the Hampton Inn, we also got a nice indoor pool, warm cookies, and a nice view of some big rock things (smaller than mountains, bigger than just rocks).

We even found a decent Asian restaurant with ok sushi. Plus, the mythical Kum & Go, the rest-stop chain I'd tried to convince M-N existed, though she didn't believe me. But yes, there really is a chain called the Kum & Go. They even have a website.

That night we had HBO, too, so we watched "The Girl Next Door." I was glad Boys Don't Cry wasn't playing, b/c we were still in Wyoming. Girl Next Door is pretty lousy. It seems like it should be funnier than it is. But then it's not.

Still, it was a good day.