Wyoming Trip: Day Ten
6:15
My goal had been to wake up by 7:00 AM. The dog in the room next door (what has it been with dogs on this trip?) had other plans, and opted to flip out at around…oh…exactly this time. Strangely, though, I felt reasonably awake despite both the earlier-than-intended start and the later-than-intended bed time the night before…so I won’t complain too much about circumstances.
7:00
After a shower and some packing up, I sauntered down to the lobby for one last breakfast and coffee at the La Quinta, Rock Springs. If you’re ever through the place, good reader, it’s a decent place to stop. I even learned this morning that the beds are all new as of April, 2009…which probably explains why I actually had a decent experience sleeping on a strange bed, as opposed to waking up every morning with an aching back.
8:30
After packing up the rest of my stuff and double-checking the way to find the road that leads up to the base of White Mountain, I checked out of the hotel and set out for the aforementioned road. Not coincidentally, it’s called White Mountain Road, and runs out past the trapping club in town.
Apparently, Rock Springs has a trapping club.
8:45
After snapping a few pictures of the area, I began my ascent of White Mountain. In retrospect, I probably would have been better-advised to begin it earlier in the day, when the Sun was not quite so high in the sky. Had I been even more “on the ball,” I’d have replenished my supply of sunscreen; I had only a few dribbles left in the little bottle I picked up back in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
9:45
After making a good go of it, and getting to within a couple hundred feet of my chosen peak (there are several to choose from along the length of the mountain), I decided that discretion was indeed the better part of valour. Slightly over-warm and slightly over-daunted by the steepness of the final leg of the ascent, I opted (after losing my balance thrice in ten steps) to stop at the point I had reached and take photos of Rock Springs from there. And believe me, good reader, it was a heck of a view.
I hope I can do said view justice when I get around to editing the pictures I took; the Sun was still fairly low in the sky, so some of the shots are going to require a fair bit of editing in Lightroom. But I think they’re within the realm of what can be saved.
10:00
After filling up the Ford Edge with fuel for the return trip, I set out for Salt Lake City along I-80, departing just shy of two hours earlier than intended. That’s okay, though; as previously noted, Salt Lake’s highway system isn’t exactly “user friendly,” so it’s better to have the extra time to navigate its twists and interchanges. Especially since I’ll have to fill up again once I reach Salt Lake, as I’m supposed to return the Ford with as full a tank as is possible.
12:00
After an enjoyable drive through south-western Wyoming and north-eastern Utah, I stopped for lunch at a viewpoint overlooking Coalville. And of course, I took some more pictures there, including another panorama that I think will turn out just splendidly.
I really will have to remember this sandwich recipe. It’s the Greek seasoning that does the trick.
1:30
The drive to Salt Lake City was uneventful, although getting around the city proper was rather trying. I filled up the Edge at a gas station not far off of I-15, but had to skip past the junction that would have got me back on to I-15 northbound, as it was backed up almost an entire block. Fortunately, the junction onto I-215 was clear, and I was able to get onto the highway there. All three of the major north/south highways — I-15, I-215, and the Bangerter Highway — feed into the airport eventually…or, rather, feed into the northern extent of the Bangerter, which leads up to the airport.
And so, a good ninety minutes before I had intended to get there, I arrived at the Salt Lake City airport and returned the Ford Edge to Hertz.
Next up: check-in and security!
3:15
Having checked my bag (note: I hate flying US Airways, because they always charge $20 for your checked baggage, even if it isn’t overweight) and passed through security, I’m presently seated in a little food court just inside the security area at the airport in Salt Lake City. My flight out is at 5:00 PM, and I’ll probably crack open the laptop and do some work as soon as I post this. I tried connecting the laptop to the network here, but evidently something was amiss, and so I am only able to get online by means of my iPod Touch.
Not that I’m complaining, mind you, good reader.
At any rate, I may post another update to this short article if in fact I am able to (e.g. during my layover in Phoenix, Arizona). If not, I’ll post something between 1:00 AM and 2:00 AM, whenever I arrive home.
Yeah, I get in that late. Yeah, it sucks. Such is the nature of travel for work, I suppose; one is a servant of the cheapness of the flights.
By the way…apropos of the previous comments I made concerning health care in Canada and the United States, I suggest the good reader have a read of Blazing Cat Fur’s horror story about his mother’s experience at the Toronto General Hospital. That goes for any American readers as well as any Canucks.
And yes, you Yanks: this may be what’s coming your way. Not that your system is any great scream in Hell, either.
5:00
The plane (an Airbus A319) is packed, and there is a lineup of other planes waiting to take off.
5:10
That didn’t take long.
I love the sensation of takeoff, especially at that moment when the rear landing gear break contact with the runway and the plane almost seems to jump into the air. It’s a tiny thrill, but a palpable one, and one I never seem to get bored of.
As an added bonus, I got the window seat this time, though there won’t be many pictures taken out the window this time; there’s a big ol’ wing obscuring much of the view of the ground.
I’m still glad I got the window, even so.
6:51 (5:51, Phoenix time)
After another landing at a slightly uncomfortably high speed and a blessedly brief (but still entirely too long) excursion into the thick wall of heat that is 110 F (for Canucks, that’s about 43 C), I’m sitting in a restaurant in the Phoenix “Sky Harbour” (read: airport) awaiting the arrival of dinner. Still having connection issues on the lappy; this too is an iPod posting.
The layover will be about two hours in duration, which is manageable. Sadly, I left a couple of critical documents in my checked baggage, so I’ve come to a standstill in terms of what I can get done for work. If I had thought to pack the work laptop, I could have maybe worked on the diagrams a bit more…or, no, not really. I should have packed more papers in my backpack.
Crud.
7:11 (6:11 Phoenix time)
What are the odds that I’d hear CCR’s rendition of Midnight Special in both this airport and the one in Salt Lake City? Evidently, very high indeed.
And because this is sometimes not quite — but almost — an educational blog, the good reader is instructed to read up on the history of Midnight Special which, like so many other good blues tracks, a) has its origins in the South, most likely from within the black community there, and b) has been covered to death.
8:55 (7:55, Phoenix time)
The trip, at least with respect to aircraft, will end as it began…on a cigarette with wings. The plane, this time, is a Canadair CRJ900, which seems to be longer than the jet that hot me to Salt Lake City, but which is certainly no wider.
Let’s see; we leave at 8:10 Phoenix time, which is 9:10 Edmonton time; with a projected arrival of 12:28 (I think), that’s a flight duration of…basically three hours. On a cigarette with wings, in a seat that feels as though it wore out in 1994, at the latest.
Fun times!
9:30 (8:30, Phoenix time)
Incredibly, I’ve only seen two Wal Mart stores since we took off about fifteen minutes ago. This strikes me as a lower-than-expected density for a large Midwestern American city.
And as we are now away from Phoenix and over empty countryside, two is evidently all I’ll be seeing.
12:30
There’s always one last lineup; it would appear that only two customs agents are on duty, with perhaps a hundred people to process.
Blah blah tax dollars at work.
But I have landed safely, though my back is now protesting at having been jammed in that seat for so long. The flight was just over three hours long, more or less as predicted.
I should be through customs in maybe twenty minutes, and in a cab bound for home shortly thereafter. Hopefully.
Of course, I’ll have to wait until I get home to post these updates; unlike at the two American airports I’ve visited today, wi-fi at the Edmonton International Airport is not free.
1:15
Home at last!
Grace and Ella: I love you both so much, and I hope you have a good day today. Sorry I won’t make the evening Skype call (I’ll be in the air at the time it would usually happen). You’ll both be sleeping when I get home, and I haven’t decided yet whether I’m going to try and sleep as well or just stay awake until it’s time to head to the office. Either way, I love you both, and I can’t wait to be back home with you again.
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