Leg 8 - Grand Lake to Rapid City/Wyoming - you'll never see me again

Today is turning out to be a very interesting day. You readers have a lot to read and are probably intrigued by the title, so here goes........

For starters neither of us slept well at all and we woke up bleary eyed and exhausted. The couple in the room above us were fighting till almost 12am, there was a lot of yelling and screaming going on and then finally their door shut and it quietened down. Maybe one of them got fed up and left.....but whoever was remaining kept pacing up and down the room all night long and since it was a log cabin motel, it reverberated throughout the entire building.So much for a 4 out of 5 rating and a good night's sleep!!!! Since we wanted to get a fairly early start to the Rocky Mountain Park, we got up around 8am and then headed on back to Bear's Den (see previous blog) for breakfast. Once again, great food and R says the pancakes he ate were the best he has tasted.

After checking out we drove to the Park's west entrance about 16 miles from where we were staying only to be told that due to heavy snow last night, the entrance was closed. This posed 2 serious problems....one of course was the fact that we wouldn't be able to see the Rockies, but more serious was the fact that we had been planning to exit the park thru the east exit and head on towards Cheyenne and Rapid City to the NE, to see Mt. Rushmore tomorrow. By not being able to go east thru the park we would have to take a 90 mile detour to the south and then the north.....that would have messed up everything. The Ranger told us (and all the other cars waiting) that in about an hour and a half they would know for sure. So we were in a dilemna...if we decided to wait and then found out they were not opening the entrance, we would lose valuable time. If we decided to take the detour and then found out later they had opened it, we would be kicking ourselves......after much thought we decided to take the risk and wait....and as luck would have it, they finally opened the gate at noon. We drove through the Mountains and it was INCREDIBLE!!!!!! At some points we were at a 11,000 to 12,000 ft elevation surrounded by snow clad mountains. We felt as if we were on top of the world. There are about 60 mountains in the Rockies ranging from 7000 to 14,500 feet. It was breath taking in more ways than one....we were so high up and the air is so rarified, we had to literally take in deep breaths every so often. Speaking of air, it is so dry in Utah and Colorado....its doing wonders for my hair but my skin is starting to look like an alligator's.......

(I forgot to mention something really cool here....as we were driving thru the first 16 miles to get to the gate, ours was the only car at the time....all of a sudden we saw a flash of brown and a fox crossed the road in front of us. There was no mistaking it...it was a beautiful golden color with a big bushy tail. I tried to grab the camcorder in time but it was too late....then to our delight an elk coolly sauntered across the road, majestic and proud and posed for us in front of the car. It was awesome! See pic attached...)

Some of you may need a break at this point to get coffee or whatever cos there's more to come.....

After leaving the Rockies we stopped briefly for lunch on the way and then headed on north thru Colorado to Rapid City, SD, through Wyoming. Wyoming.....Hmmmm....what can i say about Wyoming????? Its like a lumpy pancake, flat for stretches and then small undulating hills, and you can see the road for as far as the eye can see ahead of you. All you see is ranch after ranch with poor unsuspecting cows corralled by wire fences, chewing on grass or waiting by the fence as if the only fun thing for them is watching the cars driving by. I tell you...if i had a wire cutter with me, i'd be cutting all the wires and setting them free!!!!! But then as R says they'll end up on a dinner plate anyway! Makes me proud to be a vegetarian! Also, if you are ever planning to drive across this state, go easy on water and drinks because there are no rest areas for miles and miles and miles and the couple that did show up were by far the worst we have ever seen! I wonder how the locals manage with so few rest areas but I think I am beginning to understand the "Open Range" signs we see along the road.....

Oh, then the other thing you see is cops with nothing else to do (not unlike the cows) but wait on the side of the road and catch drivers. I was driving along merrily with the cruise set at 66 (speed limit was 65). I saw a cop car coming in the opposite direction, look steadily at me as he passed by, and then very deliberately turn around and come after me. He stopped me and said i was doing 70 and i disagreed, but admitted i had been doing 66. It was no use...he issued me a warning and let me go. I am more than a 100% convinced that if i looked different it would not have happened!!! Officer B.Reech of the Wyoming Highway patrol....you're a LOSER!!!! R is not very happy with me writing this, but even tho the name of the blog suggests otherwise, it is MY blog!

We got into Rapid City a few minutes ago at about 9.30pm....just an fyi - my computer's clock is still on PST, so all my blogs posted after Las Vegas were actually posted an hour later.

More pics at the Rockies

Travel Tip - If you're tired of fast food, Safeway makes a mean made to order sandwich. With chips and a drink its far better than any processed fast food junk out there.

Starbucks Sightings - none! But then again Wyoming doesn't deserve any!!!!