Luck...or something very like it!

Howdy All,

Thought I’d try to recreate some of my crazy trip for everyone so you could all go along for the ride whether you’ve been able to escape your environs for the summer or not. With the best of intentions, I trotted off to Target and bought a journal to take with me and planned on encapsulating the important moments every night when I settled into my hotel room. Very “author-ly” of me, I thought. I was so proud that it was made of recycled paper and had a cute little owl on the front; trying to go green, you know!

Yeah. Sooooo, that attempt at putting pen to paper lasted about three days. Turns out I’m still as scattered on the road as I am at home. Ah, well, back to what I know.

And, what I know is religiously capturing the scenery with the trusty iPhone. May not be the best camera to have along on such a wonderful sojourn, but, as my friend Amy told me - the best camera is the one you have with you.

After leaving Colorado and following the instructions of the Magic 8 Ball, I found myself going north and then west through the southern part of Wyoming. Due to the crazy winters they have, summer always brings a lot of road construction with it. I’d find myself flying along at 90 miles an hour (What? What??? There’s nothing out there but wide-open spaces!!) and then reduced to slogging away slowly behind semis as we made our way through a single lane of highway, penned in by orange traffic cones.

So, I saw a lot of these on the trip:


And, I saw a lot of cops, too. Turns out they’re not so fond of the happy-go-lucky drivers like me who see wide open space and accelerate through it for the sheer joy of the wind in my hair. But, I was still a little surprised to get pulled over on my second travel day through Wyoming. I was actually using cruise control which, for a driving control freak, is a huge feat. The officer walked up and pleasantly asked if I thought the sign didn’t apply to me. Since I was going the speed limit, I confessed to being more than a little confused. Let me give you the transcript as best I can remember it.

Officer: Ma’am, I didn’t pull you over because you were speeding.

Me: Oh?
(Oh, thank god you weren’t around yesterday as I whizzed into town searching for a hotel for the night, I thought, with a smile pasted to my face.)

Officer: Ma’am did you happen to read the automated road signs above the highway today?

Me: Yes, yes, I did.
(He seemed rather proud of the signs, so I attempted valiantly to feign an interest in them…turns out they are new and rather expensive.)

Officer: The one that says “Stay Alive – Don’t Text and Drive.” You realize it applies to you, right?

Me: Yes, Sir.
(Great, he and the great state of Wyoming are poets and I wasn’t texting!)
I wasn’t texting, though.
(Wait for it…….)
I was taking pictures with my phone. You wanna see ‘em?
(Big smile, proffering the iPhone)
(Hmm, I haven’t heard a sigh like that in ages!!!!!)

Cop: Ma’am, you aren’t supposed to do that either. We just couldn’t fit it all on the sign!

Me: Oh! Blink, blink, blink. But, it’s such a pretty state. :->
(Dammit, I wish he’d stop sighing like that. He might inhale a bug or something.)

Cop: Ma’am, where are you going, anyway? I notice that you have a Colorado license plate.

Me: I’m going wherever the Magic 8 Ball tells me and stopping wherever it suggests.
(Oh, crap, now I sound like a raving lunatic listening to the voices in her head!)
See? Handing him the 8 Ball.

Evil Bastard: Hmm, well why don’t we see whether the Magic 8 Ball thinks I should give you a ticket then?

Me: Shit!!!

Turns out, I owe the Magic 8 Ball big!! He turned the Magic 8 Ball over and the reply came back -

“My Sources Say No”

Booyah!! It said no!!

And, to my surprise, the officer smiled, handed back the 8 Ball, and said he would usher me the hell out of his fair state as long as I put down the iPhone while driving.

Big smile!

It really is a beautiful state.



Peace, Love, and a hell of a lot of Wyoming to you all!!