Rocky Mountain Road Trip



I walked out of my accounting final on Wednesday night with a weight off my shoulders.  Finals took their stressful toll on me for the week and I was ready to spend some time with friends and then take off on the road from Denver to Portland.  My dad flew in on Thursday afternoon to help me pack up and make the ~20 hour drive to Oregon.  After loading my ‘97 Chevy Suburban to the brim with my belongings, otherwise known as a bunch of junk,  we woke up around 5:30 AM Sunday and got on our way after a stop at Starbucks. 


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View from the passenger seat just outside of Denver, oil rigs passing by.
I had made the drive to Jackson, WY before but our planned route was to go further into Teton and Yellowstone National Parks for some sightseeing before we got home.  Most of the drive was plain and boring Wyoming landscape but moments of scenic views were scattered throughout our trip.  My dad, with his caffeinated morning perk, took first shift driving all the way through Wyoming.
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Wind turbines and pronghorn antelope are the only things in Wyoming.
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Actually, I guess there are some cool rock formations too.
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The weather was awesome for most of our time through Wyoming.  We stopped for snacks in a podunk town called Muddy Gap.  The entire place consisted of a trailer, gas station and convenience mart.  When we entered the store, the lady at the counter greeted us with “Hi there, welcome to Muddy Gap.  How ya doing today?” just like a line out of the Oregon Trail Video Game.


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Teton National Park wasn’t too scenic with the clouds ruining the views

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Jackson, WY is a pretty classic Western town
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We took a foggy Togwotee pass into Idaho
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It was lush green grass and rolling hills on this side of the mountains.


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Our original plan was to stop somewhere around Boise or Ontario, OR but we hit Oregon around 8:30 PM and figured we might as well pull it off in one day.  I was finally back in familiar country once we hit Baker City, OR and was on cruise control for much of the driving home.  We rolled in around 3 AM and surprised my mom and brother who were both happy to see us back.  Its great to be home for awhile to prepare for New Zealand without the stress of school.  In the meantime before NZ, I’ll have to see what kind of exploits I
can get into around here.

-Tyler Grubb

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