We decided, since financially we weren't in the position to talk to a travel advisor and book a cruise, prior to the wedding, and take off to a Caribbean paradise, we were going to "go West". We woke up, ate breakfast at our favorite restaurant at the time, Loxton's, ordering our typical omelette a Carbonara. We then met the family at my parent's house and opened up my Grandmother's gift to us. It was a bread maker. Not too exciting today, but then, it was an awesome gift. We used that machine for more than ten years. We said our goodbyes to the family and then left. I had an atlas and our route roughly planned out. We were going to drive until we spotted something amazing. We discussed possibly making it to Yellowstone, so that's where we headed. We loaded the Escort, and we were ready to travel.
At the time, we didn't have Google Maps or GPS, for that matter, so I routed the plan taking I-80, or better known as The Lincoln Highway. The trip was a little boring, but when we entered near a corner piece of Colorado it got interesting. There were these vast mountains, The Rockies, before us, and they were majestic, something we hadn't scene in our lives on this scale. We trekked to Cheyenne, Wyoming from there and spent the night at a motel. There were some shady creatures there, making a lot of noise out the door of our room, which raised suspicion. I had a knife, so I was good, we didn't sleep well, but travel often did that, and the noise outside the hotel room was also keeping us alert for our own safety. It seemed the place was teeming with a modern day Wild West. We left early the next morning, when all the night animals of Cheyenne's society had decided to go rest while the remainder of the world started the day.
Wyoming, and the entire trip, really, was desolate, a sprawling unpopulated landscape. It was the end of September when all the other tourists were back to school, back to work, and here we were traveling through a moderate amount of traffic, it was peaceful, and it was decided that we picked the right month to travel. So often do other tourists take away from what travelers could enjoy and this time of the year took them out of the equation.
Wyoming was the least populated of the trip. We drove through scenic mountain views. We stopped at Thermopolis and soaked in a pool of hot spring water. It was refreshing, the sulphuric scent wafted, albeit a little stinky, through the air, and the natural warm water soothed the well traveled and abused muscles. We then journeyed deeper northwest into Wyoming, heading to Cody, where we would hunker down, create a base camp in a hotel and relax to enjoy the rest of our time.
The weather in Wyoming was snow, rain, more snow, and then sunshine. Here we thought Michigan weather was unpredictable and bipolar, but in Wyoming this time of the year, it was bizarre, uncanny and bordered on downright schizophrenic. It was a different world, from the weather, to the scenery. When we drove into Yellowstone, there was an abutment that led down to a ravine. On the other side of the ravine there was a family of three buffalo, trekking through the newly fallen snow gently landing on their tufts of fur. They were ambling in their habitat, naturally unmolested by humans, tourists, and cameras. The sight was surreal. Surreal, because the world is so inhabited by humans and most don't take the time to enjoy the beauty that nature has to offer. This beauty sealed the deal for us, the deal that in our future, travels would occur, and we would start with what the United States has to offer. So much of the world, and life, is hustle and bustle and the Honeymoon had helped us to relax, take a step back, and to take it in.
I could probably go on for pages and pages about what we did and what we saw, because there was so much that our eyes took in, but I'm going to end it here. Living vicariously is one thing, but to get out and do, brought dimension. Our marriage began, our trip to the west of the United States had initiated and unlocked an urge to travel, it woke the bug that lay dormant inside. The love and care that our family showed us to get us to our marriage and honeymoon destination was overwhelming, a lot like the scenery that we had enjoyed. We will never forget, we will always remember, and those memories will forever anchor us to those that matter, and the memories created.
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