Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Through Wind and Snow, We'll Still Go

We spent the first night in a campground in Park City, UT. During the night I wasn't sure if I was sleeping in my camper or on a boat. The wind and rain were OUTRAGEOUS. The camper rocked and rolled all night long and when we woke up it was COLD.

Cold or not, we were headed to Martin's Cove, WY. I am a bit of a wimp when we pull our camper, I hate the way it feels like it's going to roll or fish tail, and with 40 mph winds I pretty much white knuckled it the entire way. Thankfully, we made it safely and in time to get a tour of Martin's Cove.

We went 6 years ago and pulled handcarts along a 5 mile stretch to the cove, but I'm telling you, getting a ride in the little atv rover is MUCH easier. :)


Check out Halle's hair. It was SO blasted windy!

Here we are back in the cove. It was still cold, but the wind was SO much less. Gave us a real appreciation as to the protection the pioneers received from this exact same place with wind and snow whipping around them. This truly is a humbling place to visit.

As we headed on through Wyoming, we made sure to have a pit stop at Independence Rock.

Where we climbed

and climbed.

Well, some of us anyway. I stayed down below and enjoyed the wild life and worried about running into rattlesnakes. I kept saying, "One good thing about how cold it is today, is that the rattlesnakes won't be out and about."

Kate and I started to head back to the truck, and wouldn't you know it, a SNAKE comes slithering out and I almost stepped on it. It wasn't a rattler (thankgoodness) but I was so worked up having been thinking about them, that I screamed when I saw it. Poor little Kate, who truly does have a fear of snakes, fed off my reaction and just about came out of her pants.

As we headed on down the highway, the snow started coming down. And then the wind mixed in and before we knew it, we couldn't see anything, the freeway was a mess, and cars were crawling along at 30 mph. We decided we'd just pull off at the next exit and call it a night. This is what we woke up to the next morning.

8 comments:

Wendy said...

You had wind, snow, AND snakes? Wow! What an adventure...

Jewelle said...

Wow! What and adventure to start your journey. Park City huh?! You were so close to my house! 15 mins.

Lee Ann said...

CRAZY craziness!!!!

The Manwarings said...

Trips like that make the best memories for kids! I'm glad you all had fun and were such good sports about it, and I'm still very jealous.

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

Snow? In September?? Did you have warm enough clothes? I can take the cold - but combine that with wind and I am a wimp!

CB said...

Wowza the wind I would have expected - it seems to always be windy in Wyoming but the snow already - Oh MY!!!!! Quite an adventure so far - Loving it!!

becky ward said...

you did get some beautiful pictures of the scenery! how fun! and poor kate (and you too)! so glad it wasn't a rattler. what a great place to visit. did any of your kids remember being there before?

more...we want more...

LouandAngela said...

Wow, such a neat and adventurous trip! Glad you were able to miss the snake. I almost stepped on one (barefoot) in my front yard--in the CITY!! I don't think it was anything dangerous, but I don't know anything about snakes. I tried to catch it, but wasn't successful and haven't seen it since (about a year ago).