The last state in the alphabet

Alison and I have been on the road together for over a week. I've learned to turn down the music and that I need to remind her to hydrate and she's learned "that the only thing that makes [me] angry is the Republican Party because [I have] control over everything else in my life." We said goodbye to South Dakota and entered the wildly changing landscape of Wyoming. We took a detour off I-90 to encounter Devil's Tower, America's first National Monument. Having determined we weren't yet hungry for lunch, we just said we'd wait for the next rest area to pull over to have our picnic. I don't know how much time any of you have spent in western Wyoming, but there's not much going on. It was an hour and a half until we found a rest area (though, to be fair, there were gas stations and fast food places on the road between). Our summer picnic was not so summery since it had started to rain and the temperature was in the low 60's.

At Buffalo, WY we said goodbye to I-90 and headed west on route 16 and up into the Bighorn Mountains. This was Alison's first time at the wheel of the Prius on such demanding terrain. She insisted that the car was protesting (I likened the sounds my car makes going up mountains to those of a pug breathing: you think she's struggling but really she's fine). Up in the Powder River Pass and down into the Ten Sleep Canyon, we faced our first snowflakes and temperatures below 40. However, there was so much downhill coasting that I'm pretty sure we used close to no gas for about 25 minutes. (see photo)

Every turn of our drive left us more awed than the last. Sprawling plains, river carved canyons, mountains covered with conifers, and finally the Buffalo Bill Reservoir. After a quick Mexican dinner in Cody, WY, we crossed the Shoshone River and into the front range of what I think are the Carter Mountains (my map is a bit ambiguous). We've stopped for the night at a beautiful spot in Wapiti, WY, about 30 miles from the east entrance of Yellowstone. Hopefully the weather will clear up for our day in the park tomorrow and I also hope that this cold weather has driven away the mosquitoes.