Nebraska to Wyoming

Drive from York, Nebraska to Rock Springs, Wyoming

We figured that we had to get some physical activity at least every other day, so since we climbed at Climb Iowa yesterday, this would be our long driving day.

To pass the time, Herb suggested I play with the Trip Advisor app to look for Things to Do “Near Me Now,” which is actually very useful when crossing the country with no particular plan in mind.

That’s how I discovered Happy Jack Road (Wyoming Highway 210), a 40-mile scenic alternative to I80 that connects the towns of Cheyenne and Laramie, Wyoming. After 400 miles of driving, we were about ready for Happy Jack.

It was great. We went from the streaming traffic of 80 to feeling like we were out in the middle of nowhere – just prairie and ranches and rocky plateaus.

Just before we got back to I80, we stopped at a Visitor Center – mainly to find a restroom — and were surprised to find a giant 13 ½ foot statue of Abraham Lincoln’s head atop a 30-foot granite pedestal, obviously made to be visible from Route 80. It was built to commemorate Lincoln’s 150th birthday.

Why a bust of Lincoln in Wyoming you might ask, as I did? Well, before there ever was an I80, connecting New York City with San Francisco, in the early 1900s the old Lincoln Highway did the job. The statue originally stood alongside the highest point of the old highway, at Sherman Point (8,878 feet above sea level), but was moved to this location in 1969 when I80 was completed.

Happy Jack Road was a good diversion, and we were recharged to forge on. As we continued west through Wyoming, we began hearing forecasts for heavy snow in the higher elevations, which we had now officially entered.

Sure enough, shortly after dark it started to flurry. We needed to find a place to stay soon, but the next major town, Rock Springs, was about an hour away. I consulted the Trip Advisor app to find something highly rated (as we might be snowed in for a day), but reasonably priced. I found an extended stay hotel – hopefully our stay wouldn’t be that extended – called My Place. It even had a small kitchenette. We got there just in time before it started snowing more heavily.

We quickly went out to get takeout Chinese food at nearby Wonderful House, brought it back to eat in our room, and settled in for what we hoped would only be one night. It was kind of cozy. I was getting used to the life of a nomad.

The next morning we awoke to find that the forecasted snowstorm was thankfully a bomb. I reheated the leftover Chinese food for breakfast, and we surged on westward.