7:29 pm: We stopped to get gas & I talked to some of the
locals about the approaching storm. One woman said, "No, it ain't gonna be
bad. It'll be alright". Then the one at the counter said, "We never
know, it could be Hellfire & Damnation or it could just be a
sprinkle". I asked her if we'd be safe, she looks at the van & says,
"Well....Huh!...Yeah...Yeah...You'll be alright". We don't know who
to believe. We don't know at all. The locals could get a kick out of fooling
tourists & letting them ride off into the storm to their death before they
even see Devil's Tower. We've got chips & salsa. 80 miles to Devil's Tower.
7:47 pm: We're at a store called, Pamita. Todd got a
windshield wiper in preparation for the oncoming storm & a wrench. I went
in the store and they have a great selection of cowboy hats & a lot of guys
in the store were wearing cowboy hats. One of the employees, someone of some
position because he wore a tie, mailed my postcards for me.
Todd gets the Handyman of the Day Award, he fixed the radiator
& the windshield wiper. Thanks Todd!
I feel proud. It's always good to do something.
A white cow, we're in Wyoming! It's in my liver. We're
driving on and the road is red and I wish I was dead. This road is paved with
Indian blood.
Wyoming, according to the sign, is like nowhere on Earth;
but at least some things are similar to Columbia City, Indiana. I've never seen
a red road in Whitley County though, except for Chauncey Street. In fact, the
more I think about it, the more I realize that this place is like other places
on the Earth. Propane tank, right there. "East Pedro".
 |
| Sam-On, the salmon; our mascot. |
There's a train coming, it's blue. It's a blue engine then a
green engine, a blue car, then a green car, green car, green car, green car,
green car, red car, yellow car, yellow car, yellow car, rust car, red car,
yellow car, yellow car, green car, green car, green car, green car, green car,
green car, green car, yellow car, yellow car, green car, rust, rust, rust...
The windshield wiper has come loose, we have to stop & repair it. We're
leaving the friendly skies behind us, it's raining now. From here on out, we
might as well be in Hell.
We've got some antelope in Wyoming. It's 8:39pm on Day 4,
the rain stopped & then all the antelope came out. That might be all of
them, just those three. Those are the "Wyoming Three". Outlaws. Now,
here's some animals...These are cows. Big Brown. It's really chaotic. We're
spraying citrus air freshner.
Day 4, 8:55 pm: We're definitely in mountainous-type
territory, the population sign of this town had another sign below it that had
the elevation listed. Elevations's important to these people. The posts that
hold the signs up are made of wood - not metal. Wood.
We've just caught sight of Devil's Tower after a long tiring
journey. An old abandoned log cabin, it's just a shell. It's just beautiful
here; listening to Johnny Cash, we've got a sunset goin', hills of green
covered with trees. If I wasn't tired, I'd probably be dancing. If the storm
slows down, we might be able to make it out of Wyoming tonight, but that would
be fucking nuts. But maybe we can. Laura just saw an owl. The road's gonna
curve. If it didn't, we'd fly off of it.
We're now near the base of the Devil's Tower National
Monument. The first monument of the United States established by Theodore
Roosevelt as we learned from AM 1210. Really neat rock formations here, it's
pretty dark though. Devil's Tower was the core of a bygone volcano. I didn't
know that before. It's very dark and there's a prairie dog. They said on the
radio that the prairie dogs here will bite you & they carry the plague! So
there's a bunch of diseased prairie dogs that are mean & aggressive here.
"They appear tame, but they are wild animals and they will bite", the
lady said. "Don't feed them anything".
We're riding in a circle, the road's in a perpetual curve,
it seems like. Devil's Tower is standing ominous in the center, lightning
flashing around it like the Man in Black we're listening to.
Comparing the
Devil's Tower to Johnny Cash is a terrible metaphor. I guess I was thinking of
Crazy Horse.
Roosevelt would declare this a national monument. I bet he
really got into this. He used to take "beeline hikes". The Bull
Moose. His greatest legacy is the National Parks System & having his face
on Mount Rushmore.
10:28 pm: We're at Devil's Tower and there's a big storm
brewing. A visitor told us that she heard the weather report & we can
expect, "Hail, heavy winds, severe rain & deadly lightning".
Deadly Lightning! The kind that will kill you. I could not have asked for a
better experience of Devil's Tower. It was great! It was dark and ominous &
the lightning would light it up for us. We were running down the trail in the
storm trying to keep up with Laura, who runs like an antelope anyway.
11:52 pm: We're going into Gillette to get some gas. I'm
noticing that the majority of exits are at those, "Cattle Xing"
grids, so I'm keeping my eye out for stray cattle wandering across the road.
The rain stopped, the windshield's clear and we're back on 90 going full speed.
We're gonna cover a lot of miles. As soon as Jon gets tired of driving, then
Todd will take over & we're just gonna haul balls.
12:10 am: Good Times Liquor Discount, in Gillette. Their
Taco Bell is closed at only 12:10, fuck them. I don't know what's going on,
hauling balls West.
1:00 am: Here in Gillette, Wyoming, we came out of a Subway
Sub-Shop. That was real good food and, in Mel's words, "Fuck Yeah!"
(in response to the question, "Are you driving all night"?). West on
90, let's hang our balls out and drive! Everything in Gillette closes at 9:00
except for James & Jamie (at Subway) because they're hard-core employees.
They want us to drink a beer for them in Alaska and we will. We won't forget
James & Jamie in Gillette - we can't forget that. I'm refreshed. There was
a fucking ad in there - for $600, the price of this van, I could "Crazy
Woman Creek Road", "Stony Prairie Dog Town Creek", "Piney
Creek". Just a bunch of creek roads because they've got a lot of creeks,
so it's a real easy name.
We saw a sign for "Tongue River Creative
Playground". We oughta check that one out.
Do we check it out, or forget about it?
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