Wyoming: Day One
4:45
Ella seems to just know, somehow, when something is going on that is out of the ordinary. She woke up a touch early, and held my finger as she had her morning milk (which was a bit unusual; usually she’s entirely focused on eating). She was pretty darn tired, but wanted to play with her toys, with me. That is, when she didn’t want to try and walk.
Such a little cuteface, that one. I hope that she’s not too upset when I don’t come home this evening.
5:35
I kissed Grace goodbye after handing Ella off to her, grabbed my bags and the last couple sundry items, and stepped outside just in time to catch the cab as it arrived. It’s nice that the timings worked out, although that’s not the same thing as saying that the departure was wholly welcome.
The driver was familiar with the region of Wyoming that I’ll be working in, so we talked for a bit about the area and how starkly it contrasts with many of the surrounding regions and states. If there’s one thing that stands out about where I’m headed, it’s how crossing state lines in that part of the US is almost always accompanied by some pretty sharp transitions in terrain. Wyoming has a distinct visual flavour, which is entirely separate from the visual flavour of Utah’s north-eastern regions, which itself is a distinct visual flavour from that of Salt Lake City (which is on the other side of a mountain range).
6:15
It didn’t take long to get to the Edmonton International Airport, but I regretted coming almost instantly. What a gong show — the lines were longer than I believe I can ever recall seeing. It’s like everyone was going to Salt Lake City this morning!
Of course, Salt Lake City is itself a transfer point, being a regional hub for Delta, and judging by the boarding passes of the people in front of me and behind me in the line, a lot of people were California-bound by way of the Mormon equivalent of Vatican City.
6:35
Apparently, Delta overbooked the flight, so I got to play the waiting game. Strangely, the thought of being on standby didn’t concern me as much as it probably should have.
Having said that, though, I’ve never NOT had a seat before…and I really hope I don’t get to find out just how “interesting” the situation can be.
6:45
After enduring one line after another, I finally got to the customs area…and there realized that I had forgotten to remove my Swiss Army Knife from my keychain! Fortunately, such items can be stored at the airport. This fact was brought to me attention by a helpful Filipino customs agent…just after he selected me for a random search.
I must have a certain facial type that customs agents zero in on; this happened the last time I flew out on a trip to Rock Springs as well.
7:05
After a comprehensive search and pat-down, I finally made it through customs and into the gate area, where I had a small but much-needed coffee and breakfast. The customs agent asked whether I had brought any fruit or vegetables with me, and I was able to tell him “no,” but in so doing I remembered that I forgot the loaf of bread Grace baked for me at home.
So no homemade bread for me on this trip. Fooey.
7:20
I ran into another a co-worker in the gate area; she is headed to a couple other sites in Wyoming, along its eastern side. We chatted for a bit, and it seems everything is in order with her flight. We didn’t spot any of our other co-workers in the area however.
7:45
Sweet, I get a seat! Yes, it’s at the very back of the plane, and then not a window seat…but it’s a seat all the same. I can’t complain.
7:50
I found out our plane is a Canadair CRJ200 (slightly larger than a cigarette with wings). It’s not the sort of plane people who place a high value on personal space should board.
Fortunately, I have no such qualms.
8:15
Takeoff! And only fifteen minutes late; not bad.
9:45
And now we’re beginning our descent. We’re still a few minutes out though, and I’ve no idea if we’re late or early, as I left my itinerary in my stowed baggage.
Which, come to think of it, I hope arrives here safely; I barely got a seat, and I hope my luggage wasn’t held up waiting on confirmation of that fact.
10:00
Touchdown — we’ve landed safely. Or “safely,” as the pilot brought the plane down a little hot; we took the turn at the end of the runway with a fair bit of speed.
I think we’re early, though, by about half an hour.
10:20
The weather in Salt Lake City is pretty moderate for August — just about my ideal temperature, in fact. Though the same was true the last time through.
Aside: kids on leashes. Why do parents do this? They’re children, not small dogs; you discipline then and teach them to remain within a reasonable proximity of you; restraining them can only be counter-productive in the end.
10:25
Total Starbucks passed: 2. Why the Salt Lake City airport needs two Starbucks locations on the path between the arrival gate and baggage claim, I cannot begin to imagine.
10:30
Yay! My luggage made it safely.
10:40
Thanks to the miracle of self-check-in kiosks, I got my rental (a Ford (ugh) Edge) in a matter of minutes. No lines need hamper those who do not fear the digital devices at the end of the counter!
The Ford Edge is one of those “crossover” near-SUVs that are so popular these days. It has nice lines, admittedly…but it’s still a Ford.
11:20
I stopped at a local Wal Mart for food and a few other supplies. I hate shopping at Wal Mart, but it’s cheap and convenient…and I really don’t know much else about American grocery chains. Plus that, the Wal Mart in Salt Lake City is visible from the highway; I didn’t see any other stores on the drive, and I’m on a limited time budget.
12:00
Now laden with supplies, I’m on the road again. A bit of confusion on a lane change meant I had to double back to get onto I-80 East. The signage on I-15 (the north-south route through Salt Lake City and its suburbs) is a bit confusing, and seemed for a moment to indicate that the I-80 exit was on the other side of the highway from where it turned out to be.
Or, more probably, I’m just dumb that way.
1:00
I stopped in Park City for lunch. There’s not much to recommend the place, apart from the fact that it’s where the ski jumping took place back when the Winter Olympics were here in…the 90s.
1:30
With lunch done, I’m back on the road.
I always forget that at a Wendy’s, “medium” means “huge.”
3:05
Without event, accident, or fanfare, I arrived at at Kemmerer. The motel — the Fossil Butte Motel is…decent. I mean, it’s a motel, and it has that general appearance that one might expect to find in a bad movie or a CSI episode. And yet, the room is clean, and the manager seems a decent sort. It’s a roof and a bed, and it has Internet access that actually seems fairly speedy. In the end, that’s all I need.
And yes, I need the Internet access for work.
4:00
Having finally gotten moved in to the room, I set about getting Skype working, and then worked on getting Grace connected. A few adjustments to microphone volumes at both ends were required, but in the end we got the audio working just swimmingly.
It’s so nice — almost beyond description — to be able to speak with my wife, and to hear her voice, without having to pay unreasonable amounts of money per minute.
Actually, it’s just nice to speak to my wife. The fact that I can do it for free is gravy, plain and simple. Very tasty gravy.
4:20
Though voice works well, the video in Skype is spotty and freezes often. That’s probably because I’m using wireless Internet at a motel, sharing what is probably just a residential connection with any other net-surfing guests. To say that this limits bandwidth would be an understatement of…well, not epic proportions, per se. But it would be an entirely truthful statement.
I think, in the future, we’ll have to try staggered one-way video sessions.
4:45
Ella wanted to move on from the computer, so the call with Grace had to end. I’ll maybe try call her a bit later this evening.
5:00
Lacking anything else to do, I set out to explore Kemmerer. It’s a pretty small town — it actually makes Vermilion seem big by comparison — and within about the span of an hour I was able to see pretty much everything: the Catholic Church, the hospital, the park behind the hospital (Archie Neil Park — very nice, actually), the Lincoln County courthouse, the JC Penney mother store, and the high school.
And once you’ve seen the church, the school, the courthouse, and the local monument in a small town…you’ve basically seen the town.
7:30
With a camera full of pictures and an empty belly, I set out to find a place to eat dinner. And as it happens, the locals seem to frequent The Westerner Cafe, which is conveniently located across the road from the motel.
It’s a good restaurant. Get the fries.
9:00
Grace messages me on MSN, and after experimenting with Windows Live Call (which I do not recommend) we switched back to Skype and talked for a bit. I miss my girls so much already, and it’s not even 24 hours since I left home.
10:00
Finished editing the day’s pictures; I don’t want to be saddled with a backlog after this trip. I’ll upload photos tomorrow for all to see.
For now, though, it’s bed time. Tomorrow is the first day on site, and it’ll be a heck of a day from the sound of things.
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