The Cowboy State

The day started early in a parking lot in the middle of Steamboat Springs, CO. The day started once again with Canned Heat (it has become the trip anthem by now). We got up, packed our things away, and headed away to the Hayden, CO, rest stop. We stopped in Hayden to wash the dishes from the tortellini the night before. We were welcomed by swarming mosquitoes while washing in the bushes. We were all scratching and slapping our legs while washing. We finished the dishes, packed up, and headed north to Jackson, WY.

From this point on I took over driving. The drive from the rest stop to Jackson, WY, was about 5 and a half hours. We began the trip west to Craig, CO, and then north into Wyoming. As we traveled west to Craig, the large mountains turned into smaller rolling hills. Once we reached Craig, we stopped at the Kum and Go gas station. We got gas and sat in the parking lot, because it was the only place along the route we had cellular service. Leaving the gas station, we headed north towards the Wyoming border. A quick half hour drive, and we had made it to the welcome sign. We were very happy and proceeded to get out and take pictures. We all hopped back into the van and continued on.

Sam in front of the welcome to Wyoming sign

The rolling western hills of Colorado soon turned into giant multi-colored sand stone hills of southern Wyoming. We were all in awe with every new turn around the large hills. An hour or so after entering Wyoming, we hopped onto interstate 80 and the speed limit was 80 miles per hour. We thought this was crazy, we had never seen a speed limit that high before. We continued on up north through the Cowboy State. The scenery did not change much until we were about an hour outside of Jackson Hole. We followed the Snake River and canyon into the town of Jackson. We were amazed with the town. We drove around to find a park to eat our lunch in. With a quick drive around the town we found a nice looking park not far from the town square. We ate our lunch the cruised the town for a bit. After a while we were all tired from the trip and headed out to find a campsite. We settled with a campsite not very far from the town and the entrance of the park. The campground was called Gros Ventre. It is a French name that was given a very long time ago. We settled in early (which was very unusual), and met our neighbor Bob. Bob was amazing, very outgoing and nice. In the first few minutes of meeting him, he gave us all his maps to borrow to plan our route for the next couple of days. We returned the maps and started cooking dinner.

For dinner we made chicken and pork gumbo that we had purchased the night before at a Walmart in Steamboat Springs. We were all very hungry as we smelled it getting warm. It was one of the best meals we had prepared. We finished up dinner and headed to the bathrooms to wash dishes. Luckily it was a short walk. Also it had running water for sinks and toilets which was pretty luxurious at this point in the trip. After washing dishes, we brushed our teeth and headed to bed. I headed to bed with a smile because I always had wanted to go to Jackson Hole and the Tetons. I went to bed knowing I had no regrets that day!

Moose on the Loose

Transitions