We woke up to a cold, snowy morning in Salt Lake City. A text message from my friend in Laramie was beeping. I’m so thankful for Christi. She kept me and Paul updated on road conditions and survival tips. Apparently, traversing I-80 during a snowstorm isn’t a smart idea. Of course, we waited until mid-April thinking such weather events would be in the past. Sadly, no.
We climbed through the mountains of Utah and into Wyoming. It took forever to get to Wyoming and the weather quickly deteriorated.
Did I mention that I have never driven in snow before? I’ve been a passenger many times, but never actually drove a vehicle in such conditions. This was definitely a trial by fire…or ice.
Paul was great at giving me advice, “Just as fast as you feel comfortable. Take it slow and easy.” Snow was drifting across the freeway like a really weird fog machine at a rock show. In other places, the snow was piling up, so I just followed the tire mark.
About 50 miles into Wyoming, we decide that we’ve had enough and start looking for someplace to stay the night. I-80 was shut down about 150 miles east of us anyway, so we weren’t going to get to Laramie anyway. We had planned to stay with Christi, but sadly it was not to be.
Finally, we happened upon Little America. It was an oasis. There was a hotel, restaurant, and gas station. We could safely hunker down there until the next day.
We were going the opposite way and stayed in Little America, too. It was an oasis in just the perfect spot. Our stay was about 2003, and the furniture in the motel that we stayed in was strictly from the 1950’s. It was that white finish with gold accents. I’ve never seen anything like it in a hotel or motel.
Yes, the furnishings were fairly dated even when we stayed there. But, it wasn’t as bad as where we ended up the next day! Yikes.