Welcome To Casper

Welcome to Casper...population 53, 569 (give or take).

Well Amigos,

After 3 days, 1600 miles, and 75mph down I-80 (yes, the speed limit was really was75mph), I finally made it to Casper, WY around 5:30pm Mountain time on Saturday, August 28th. Immediately, my breath was taken away by the pristine mountain range driving.

Before I get ahead of myself, I must tell you about the adventure getting to the Wild Wild West. On Day 1 of my trip, I said my good-byes to Daddy and Chantaine around 6:30am and then I was off to experience a lot of unknown territory. I was on this huge adrenaline rush; I couldn't believe that the 26th of August had arrived so quickly and I was moving clear across the nation. From the beginning, my goal was to relax and enjoy every minute of this experience.

From having a mini Berea reunion with Dallyda and Tish to my GPS, Maggie, getting me partially lost on half paved half gravel Nebraskan truck routes, I gained some great memories just from the car trip alone. I picnicked in several different rest areas and made sure to enjoy each landscape that I came across.

In Missouri I saw a lot of opulent farm land. Once I entered into Iowa, for a brief moment, I viewed large wind turbines from a distance (so of course, I pulled over to take a picture). And then came I-80 through Nebraska the corn capital of the world!!! The good news was it was legal to go 75mph; the downside was that all I saw on day three of my travel was lots and lots and LOTS of CORN! So to break up the monotony, I strolled through the state fair in Grand Island, NE. People there were so friendly and hardworking,

Taking some of the suggestions of the kind folks in Grand Island, I stopped several hours later in North Platte, NE home of Buffalo Bill and Pony Express. I stopped at this major tourist spot called Fort Cody and Cody Go Karts right off the interstate. After learning about Buffalo Bill at Fort Cody, I couldn't resist, but to have a little fun so I stopped by the go karts and went for a "joy ride" on the miniature speedway. I can't remember the last time I was on one of those things, but it was great to feel the breeze blowing through my hair.

After that I continued on my journey through Nebraska and at last when the flat land began to cease and hills started to form, I knew I was super close to crossing into Wyoming. And low and behold, I still hadn't gotten out of Nebraska yet; I had over 50 miles to go before crossing into WY.  I must say that the "Welcome to Wyoming" sign is probably the least plain out of all the states that I've ever crossed into. I couldn't believe that I had finally made it to WY, which ironically had been one state that I used to say I had no real desire of seeing.  I can't even begin to describe the beauty of the state.  I will just let the pictures speak for themselves. I felt as though I was in one of those John Wayne classics. Wide open spaces, gorgeous horizons, cattle grazing, and trains-yup, I was in the West.

Finally, I made it to the last "large" city, Cheyenne, before I was in the home stretch to Casper. At that point I was just ready to be in Casper, so I don't remember much about Cheyenne except for driving past the Air Force Base and entering a storm. At first I was bummed to see the rain, because my entire trip had been rain free up until that moment. It didn't take me long to realize how much more beautiful the area was with the added touch of rain. It was so neat to see the rain fall in one area of the mountain with rays of sunlight beaming down from Heaven. There was something majestic about that moment. Around every winding stretch of road that I encountered, there was landscape like no other in the background. All I can say is my camera was ready to go at all times.

At last I came to a sign that read "Casper next 3 exits"...

To be continued