Chuck's Maiden Voyage

Day 1: Getting There

I must admit that even though I work for an airline & have access to worldwide destinations at the drop of a hat, I still love a good old fashioned road trip in my home country. America is so gorgeous. I'm not sure that I'll ever be able to experience all of the beauty America has to offer, but cramming in three states in a span of 48 hours seemed like a good way to try. The trip was all John's idea, he had been craving a visit to Yellowstone for National Park Week, so who was I to deny this genius idea? Sam & Nich were invited too, but work schedules, injuries, & adult responsibilities got in the way... but don't worry, the raincheck for our second attempt doesn't expire. We will be back.

I spent Sunday, April 17 packing & preparing for the trip. We decided that we'd rather drive through the night on Sunday than to sleep & get an early start, knowing full & well that neither of us ever sleeps the night before a trip. This seemed like a logical idea at the time, because I was wide awake & wired. I went to pick up John Sunday around 8 P.M., forgetting that he had to close at work that night (duh), so I popped in to Roadhouse, caught up with my original Colorado family, & spent time highlighting the airports on my Rand McNally Road Atlas & configuring a route for our journey by car while John closed down the bar. I think we were officially on the road shortly after midnight. 

I worked at the airport on Sunday morning, so I had been awake since roughly 3 A.M., but I took the first round of driving since I was already in the driver's seat anyway. John fell asleep pretty quickly after we drove through Denver (either I'm an amazing driver or he was just that tired), so I spent the drive in the dark listening to the radio & the occasional snore, looking at the stars, & dreaming about Yellowstone & the Grand Tetons. Right before we passed into Wyoming, the moon was s.p.e.c.t.a.c.u.l.a.r. -- had I not been driving, I would have stared at it for a much longer duration, but the road needed my attention more than that beckoning moon. I nudged John awake so he could see it too, the white moon reflecting against the hills on the horizon, like a generous flashlight showing us the way against a pitch-black sky. The sight was remarkable to me. At 4 A.M., I cracked open my Starbucks-in-a-can & inhaled its contents for a surge of energy, which only lasted for about another hour on the road. I was starting to feel really exhausted by 5 A.M., having now been awake for 26 hours, & my eyelids would only stay open one at a time. I nudged John awake again, asking if he felt coherent enough to drive. He shook his head no, so I pulled over to the side of the highway, threw my seat back, & fell asleep almost instantaneously.

I was woken up about an hour later by a txt message -- my best friend's water broke & she was on her way to the hospital to have Nathaniel (fun fact: my best friend also happens to be my sister-in-law, so this was a pretty big deal). I said a prayer for her, then went back to sleep for a few more minutes before the chill of my 4Runner, Chuck, woke me up. I was tossing & turning, trying to get warm & comfortable, when John asked what time it was. The clock read just shy of 6 A.M., & the sun was beginning to greet the world with glowing colors. He was ready to drive -- I was ready to sleep. We traded seats, readjusted them accordingly, & took off through Wyoming. Before I dozed off completely, I told him he'd better not let me sleep through something cool... & he promised he wouldn't. Case & point: these giant, beautiful rocks that showed up, literally, out of nowhere, in Ten Sleep, Wyoming (what a coincidental name, amiright?). We rounded a corner & BAM, there they were, & we both started screaming, "HOLY COW!" & laughing uncontrollably at our mimicked joy.

The winding roads through those canyons was like being rocked to sleep. I fought the urge to sleep for about twelve miles, but then I woke up in Casper, Wyoming, about four hours from Yellowstone National Park. I continued to sleep off & on for most of the morning, praying that I would be wide-awake enough to enjoy the park. We made it to Cody, Wyoming, & searched for a souvenir shop before continuing on the journey. The first shop was closed (lame), but the second shop had the lapel pins (and a super cool giant flask that I refrained from purchasing) we were looking for. 

New pins in hand, we followed the signs along the route that directed us to the Yellowstone entrance... or, so we thought. The signs along the road said that the East Park Entrance was open, even though the NPS website said that just the North Park Entrance was open. Sure, it was our own fault, but we took the chance of betting on the electric signs on the side of the road than on the NPS website. The drive on Route 14 took us through Buffalo Bill Reservoir & Buffalo Bill State Park before we saw the Yellowstone National Park sign... and the subsequent "Entrance Closed" sign. I'll refrain from sharing our colorful word choice in this segment of the journey, & instead share a photograph from Buffalo Bill Reservoir, where we had to travel beneath two tunnels & were met with red rocks & flowing, green waters. The good news is that we got to make a traditional U-turn (a u-eey if you will), because no trip is complete without at least three of those. Check. 

Trusting the road sign cost us about two hours of driving time, so we started heading back east so we could try to make it around to the North Park Entrance before dusk, which we knew for sure was open. Wyoming, your roads are ultra-confusing. In an effort to not rely on mobile phones & GPS systems, we trusted our eyes & brains to the open road & both of the road atlases we packed. That was a mistake. Spoiler Alert: we ended up driving about another hour out of the way because we missed a turn. Again, I will refrain from the use of colorful language... we did, however, get to chalk up another u-eey, so that was a bonus. I am beginning to understand now why people use their GPS systems so regularly. A booming voice will yell if you miss a turn, meanwhile I'm just sitting back, enjoying the sunshine & open road, distracted by the views. In the future, I think I'll stick to my Rand McNally for road trips, but I think I'll work on improving my navigation voice. And eyeballs. 

By the time we got through Wyoming & Montana, the sun was setting, which meant that we had a decision to make: drive in to Yellowstone through the North Park Entrance in the dark & be unable to see anything (90% of the park's roads were still closed for the season anyway), or find a place to drink a beer & a parking lot to sleep in so we could get an early start the next morning to see the Tetons. We chose the beer & parking lot option.

We found a dive bar that had a full bar, seven casino machines, & some Packers merchandise (Go, Pack, Go!, even though I've been a Broncos fan since the seventh grade), so we had a couple beers, relished in having phone service, & John told me all about The Chive.  I was convinced the organization just shared news articles about half-naked women, but come to find out, it's actually not the completely-sleezy brand I thought it was (it's only mildly sleezy, but they do some amazing charity work, so I'm not mad about it... I may or may not have downloaded the app). Anyway, we finished our beers & scouted out a decent parking lot for the night that was right across the street from the city park. This was a small town, so everything shut down before midnight -- which meant that the public restrooms also shut down before midnight. Beer & whiskey made a bathroom requirement an absolute necessity, so being close to an "outhouse" was like hitting the lottery. I hunkered down in my sleeping-bag-cocoon & fell fast asleep. Of course I had to take a bathroom break in the middle of the night... while it was pouring rain... but I will spare you the details of me running across the street, in the dark, in the rain, without shoes on, to look for a decent tree to use as a stabilizing device. 

Day 2: Grand Teton National Park

I don't know why I bothered setting an alarm, I was awake before 6 A.M., & so was John. All we needed was some quality gas station coffee, but nothing was open yet, so we hit the road while the sun stretched across the morning sky. The itinerary for the day included driving through parts of Idaho, exploring Grand Teton National Park, & beginning our journey back home to Colorado. Want to know what I didn't expect? For Idaho to be so dang beautiful. I also didn't expect to drive through a snowstorm, but thankfully I played navigator & didn't have to actually drive through any of it. Praise hands. Going over the pass to get to Jackson Hole, Wyoming had the most snow coverage of the entire trip, with near white-out conditions & extremely limited visibility. I had both hands on my camera, ready to snap dramatic snowfall photographs, while John had both hands on the wheel. Once we were through the snow & down the pass, the sky was a brilliant, clear blue.

Jackson Hole, Wyoming reminded me of Aspen, Colorado, with its endearing little shops & restaurants, a beautiful, quaint city park, & people walking along the sidewalks like a scene straight out of a movie. This town was beautiful -- so beautiful, in fact, that we had to pull another u-eey because we had missed another turn again. We really are good with directions, I swear.

My heart was starting to pound in my chest with such force that I could feel it reverberating through my ears. The photographs I had seen of Grand Teton National Park throughout the years were making me anxious & nervous, knowing that I was about to experience the magic & mystery of this park for myself, in the flesh. We passed two entrance signs, which John graciously pulled over for me to scream, squeal, & take pictures of, before continuing into the park & pulling off near the Jackson Hole Airport. The clouds were such a tease, wrapping around the peaks of the Tetons & filling me with anticipation, not knowing if I would get to see the full range in their splendid glory. 

We continued down the road to the Visitor's Center, where we stopped to purchase the traditional lapel pin, stickers, & postcards, in addition to picking up a complimentary park map. The Park Ranger highlighted the map to show us which roads were inaccessible, while also offering tips for seeing wildlife in the area. We took the main road, Highway 191, through the entire park, scouring the plains for bears, moose, & elk while I read off the variety of facts that were listed on the National Park map. 

My breath was taken away again when we saw Jackson Lake, partially frozen & completely encompassed by layers of fog & cloud coverage. With no other cars or people around, it felt like the lake was a secret to be kept between the two of us. The air was so silent & still, I don't even remember hearing birds in the distance. We tried to wander out onto the frozen waters, but the ice wasn't strong enough close to the banks, so we admired the view from the blankets of snow surrounding the lake. The foothills of the Tetons stood before us, remaining hidden under a veil of swirling clouds, which only added to the mystery of the majestic peaks. 

I wish I could've spent the entire day sitting there, watching in steady anticipation for the moment when those clouds would roll off the mountains, but the road was beckoning us to return. We hopped back in Chuck & went as far north as we could to the Yellowstone South Entrance, where we had to pull another u-eey. The air was cold, but I had my window down most of the time, taking in the scent of the chill while throwing half of my body out of the car window to take pictures. We noticed a crowd of vehicles around Jackson Lake Junction, two of which were Ranger vehicles, so we pulled in & asked what was out there, The Park Ranger pointed through the thick brush & gave visual clues to guide our eyes to a wild grizzly bear. I caught a flash of its fur before it hurried through the thick foliage of the wilderness, but my eyes immediately turned wide. 

We decided to stick around & see if the bear would make another appearance. The Ranger told us to drive down the road a little bit, to where the brush opened up to another field of plains, & to wait there for a few minutes. My adrenaline spiked at the prospect of seeing this bear, for real, not just a quick glimpse. I swear, we started to hear crickets. My faith that the bear would make a re-appearance was wearing quite thin. Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes passed, & still nothing. We both kept checking the clock, with eyes desperate to stay but anxious to start heading home. Five more minutes. By this time, more cars & people had gathered to the bend in the road, hoping to see the same bear we were waiting to see. Photographers with telephoto lenses worth more than my car sat in their truck-beds, armed & ready with their shutters. Moments later, the bear returned through the brush & started walking across the plains. The silent air became filled with gasps from the small crowd that had gathered. Even though we were probably 200 yards away, you could tell that this bear was a beast. We studied the bear for at least another 20 minutes before concluding that it was time to start the journey back home (despite my reservations that I didn't see the full Teton Range & I wanted to stay for another day). 

All we had wanted to see the entire trip was a bear in the wild, so it was perfectly fitting to hit the road after we spent 20 minutes gaping at one such bear. Another whirlwind trip, complete with lapel pins & u-turns, was in the books. Driving home the southwest route through Dubois, Wyoming had some of the most incredible views & interesting terrain I have ever been fortunate enough to witness. Desert, brush, & rocky mountains, all in view at one time, was a startling experience that I didn't expect... but it was the greatest surprise.

And don't even get me started on the sunset we saw in Laramie, Wyoming, which was so bright that the sunset behind us was reflecting in the clouds in front of us. When we passed a river that caught the same reflections, I asked John if he would pull over -- but he was already on the same page, slamming on the brakes & pulling off to the side of the highway. Time stood still as I watched the sky catching fire, as it became slowly surrounded by the cool night of spring. Simply stated, it was magic, rendering me speechless... much like this entire trip. I can think of no better way to have ended this adventure than with that sunset.