Aunt Donna left work and threw some belongings into a bag, made arrangements for her children to stay with their father and headed to Utah. She arrived in the evening, after Brian had returned from work. She called me from Spanish Fork to let me know she was almost to Provo. At that point, I also threw a few belongings (and my electric blanket) into a bag and expected to stay through Sunday.
Aunt Donna loves to drive her hot little car very fast! First of all, her car is a Mustang Mach II in a bright yellow, with the black hemi on the hood (at least I think it is a ‘Hemi’) It travels fast!We laughed and reminisced as we drove through Provo Canyon. Aunt Donna stated that Aunt T hoped we would all be in Cody for a 9:00 am meeting with Grandpa’s doctor. Aunt Donna was somewhat worried about this because she didn’t want to travel over South Pass at night. She still experiences Post Traumatic Stress from her late teens/early twenties when she hit a deer and rolled her car. (The car was a camaro; Aunt Donna has always appreciated those ‘cool’ cars!)
After passing through Heber, Aunt Donna laughed about how Brian had missed the turn-onto I-80 when we traveled to Cody last June for the service project. She was determined not to miss this exit! Once you get onto I-80 you travel up Immigration Canyon. It is always beautiful through this area but it is steep and has a lot of curves which are posted for 45 mph. I hate to travel this portion of the canyon. The semi-trucks are trying to climb the hill and slow everyone down who are going East. Coming West, they are attempting to hold back their load, but travel pretty quickly.
Aunt Donna is talking away, jabber jabber jabber, when I discover how weird it is to travel below the lights of the vehicle in front of us! In fact, our headlights are reflecting off of the mudflaps before us! I point out there are curves ahead. She giggled as she checked the speedometer. She was doing about 80 mph. I started giving her a hard time about these curves, “45 mile curves, Donna! Not 80, 45! You need to slow down!” Semis are traveling in the right hand lane due to their weight and Aunt Donna moves to pass; on a curve! I am dying, or at least I think I am going to dye before reaching Wyoming!
Aunt Donna tried to assure me that the benefit of having a car with such a low center of gravity is that it doesn’t roll when taking these types of curves. I am sure my own vehicle would have rolled. She says her car won’t ‘roll’ it just ‘slides around the corners!” As she is passing two semis going around a curve, all of a sudden, a stupid deer is standing in the middle of the freeway! Now, I have never seen an animal just standing in the middle of the freeway. I have always watched for deer along the side of the road. I’ve always looked for the glow in the dark eyes along the side and expect that they just jump out suddenly in front of you. It never occurred to me that they actually would be ON the freeway, frozen in place!
Aunt Donna slammed her brakes while yelling “uuhhh you see! There are deer!” I was so shocked I couldn’t even remember what that animal was called! Then it occurred to me that there are now two semi-trucks coming around the corner and we are completely stopped in front of them, waiting for this ANIMAL to decide what to do. I recall hearing one semi pull his horn and watching the second change lanes behind us (yea I was actually looking!). When I look forward again, the deer jumps away. Aunt Donna floors her car and we are flying again, out in front of the semis. Wooo hoooo! (You can just hear her can’t you?)
You could say it was an exciting trip. You could also say I was lucky to have clean underwear on (you know; in case you’re in an accident, at least you know you had clean underwear on? Or is that you started with clean underwear?). We arrived in Thermopolis in the early morning and got about 4 hours sleep before leaving for Cody. Aunt T met us at the motel and asked if I wanted to ride with her. Now, I don’t believe Aunt T drives any better than Aunt Donna; but at least her car is more than a foot off the ground!
Aunt Donna loves to drive her hot little car very fast! First of all, her car is a Mustang Mach II in a bright yellow, with the black hemi on the hood (at least I think it is a ‘Hemi’) It travels fast!We laughed and reminisced as we drove through Provo Canyon. Aunt Donna stated that Aunt T hoped we would all be in Cody for a 9:00 am meeting with Grandpa’s doctor. Aunt Donna was somewhat worried about this because she didn’t want to travel over South Pass at night. She still experiences Post Traumatic Stress from her late teens/early twenties when she hit a deer and rolled her car. (The car was a camaro; Aunt Donna has always appreciated those ‘cool’ cars!)
After passing through Heber, Aunt Donna laughed about how Brian had missed the turn-onto I-80 when we traveled to Cody last June for the service project. She was determined not to miss this exit! Once you get onto I-80 you travel up Immigration Canyon. It is always beautiful through this area but it is steep and has a lot of curves which are posted for 45 mph. I hate to travel this portion of the canyon. The semi-trucks are trying to climb the hill and slow everyone down who are going East. Coming West, they are attempting to hold back their load, but travel pretty quickly.
Aunt Donna is talking away, jabber jabber jabber, when I discover how weird it is to travel below the lights of the vehicle in front of us! In fact, our headlights are reflecting off of the mudflaps before us! I point out there are curves ahead. She giggled as she checked the speedometer. She was doing about 80 mph. I started giving her a hard time about these curves, “45 mile curves, Donna! Not 80, 45! You need to slow down!” Semis are traveling in the right hand lane due to their weight and Aunt Donna moves to pass; on a curve! I am dying, or at least I think I am going to dye before reaching Wyoming!
Aunt Donna tried to assure me that the benefit of having a car with such a low center of gravity is that it doesn’t roll when taking these types of curves. I am sure my own vehicle would have rolled. She says her car won’t ‘roll’ it just ‘slides around the corners!” As she is passing two semis going around a curve, all of a sudden, a stupid deer is standing in the middle of the freeway! Now, I have never seen an animal just standing in the middle of the freeway. I have always watched for deer along the side of the road. I’ve always looked for the glow in the dark eyes along the side and expect that they just jump out suddenly in front of you. It never occurred to me that they actually would be ON the freeway, frozen in place!
Aunt Donna slammed her brakes while yelling “uuhhh you see! There are deer!” I was so shocked I couldn’t even remember what that animal was called! Then it occurred to me that there are now two semi-trucks coming around the corner and we are completely stopped in front of them, waiting for this ANIMAL to decide what to do. I recall hearing one semi pull his horn and watching the second change lanes behind us (yea I was actually looking!). When I look forward again, the deer jumps away. Aunt Donna floors her car and we are flying again, out in front of the semis. Wooo hoooo! (You can just hear her can’t you?)
You could say it was an exciting trip. You could also say I was lucky to have clean underwear on (you know; in case you’re in an accident, at least you know you had clean underwear on? Or is that you started with clean underwear?). We arrived in Thermopolis in the early morning and got about 4 hours sleep before leaving for Cody. Aunt T met us at the motel and asked if I wanted to ride with her. Now, I don’t believe Aunt T drives any better than Aunt Donna; but at least her car is more than a foot off the ground!
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