From Reno to Jackson, Wyoming

We blasted off from Reno with good intentions. Make some time! It was pretty wide open out there, speed limit 75 and later 80 and we could go that fast. And the sky seemed so very blue when it wasn't cloud covered. With the weather being pretty yucky since we left Seattle, I'm not sure if it was just because it'd been too long since we'd seen the blue sky or if it really was that blue. But we were clipping right along and then fell victim to a distraction in the form of the last casino in Nevada before you crossed over into Utah. We were taking advantage of another trick we've learned in the dining arena and that is the fact that you can usually get a good buffet or meal at a good price in the casinos. Ok, the meal wasn't the distraction, it was the after dinner entertainment that kept us there another hour or so that we shouldn't have. Needless to say, we pretty much missed Salt Lake City altogether to darkness. Chose to keep on getting it till we got to Duchesne, Utah. Got in very late, about 2:30 and was up and back on our way by 9:30 the next morning. And that takes me to today. This had to be in the running for the most adventurous day we've had thus far. It didn't start out well. We had gotten in a tiff when I discovered he was gonna skip Dinosaur National Monument and go straight on to Yellowstone. I threw a flipping fit! He was a few miles on up from where he should have turned and went on back out of sheer fear I am certain. We were able to drive out to the site ourselves since the shuttles weren't running and saw the 1500 plus dinosaur bones preserved in the side of a mountain. From there we made our way back into town and found the Utah Natural History Museum which was dino central. We hooked up just down the road with Hwy 91 which did have a sign which said "Road may be impassable". This was the Wyoming Scenic Biway and I was snapping pictures right and left. Another sign we saw said "Open Range, Loose Stock". No fences for their moo moos! We saw signs for "Flaming Gorge". It started sprinkling. And then, in the blink of an eye, in one instance, we were in 3 inches of snow and fishtailing on a wide sweeping turn on a mountain road. Over 8000 feet elevation. I handled it very well, I think. I know I kept saying something over and over again. It may have been, Oh s***, oh s***, oh s***. Or, let's hope it was oh my, oh my, oh my! But I do remember saying "You got this, you can do this!" I'm glad I wasn't driving because I doubt that I could have got that! Shook us both up a bit. We passed a big basin and saw some prong-horn antelope around a pond. And then we looked up, way up, and there were horses on the side of a steep hill. We entered up into the high desert of Wyoming, veering towards Jackson. Then we saw a signpost for an OLD 191 loop of 31 miles. It was supposed to go towards "Boar's Tusk". Started down it as I read the sign "Road not maintained in winter". Well, we started seeing mud and deep ruts and were debating continuing on or turning around. No service on cell and no other traffic. Get stuck and well.....We kept going. Glad we did cause it didn't get much worse. And we got to say we went mudding in Wyoming! We went off THAT path for a 3 mile each way to "The White Mountain Petroglyphs". Lots of stories written on the sides of a huge multi-colored rock. We were 3 miles at least out in the middle of nowhere and it was just us and those ancient stories. Oh! And a couple of huge blackbirds that had made a nest high up in a hole on the side. And my favorite part of the day is coming up. Ran up alongside a gray mare shortly after we left the petroglyphs. She was prancing around and seemed to be asking us what we were doing. And then no sooner had we gone over another dip and there were brown cattle with their calves! The little ones were all frisky, jumping around and bucking at each other. We had to shoo them off the road! And as we pulled away, we looked in the rear view and saw the gray mare coming on up like she was checking on us! Later we stopped by Falcon, Wy where they had a Pony Express Station Memorial across the street from the post office. And finally before we got into Jackson Hole, we saw a couple markers for the Oregon Trail. And you could just picture the wagons lined up on the crest of the valley looking out over all they had to cover in its' beautiful splendor.