By 5:30 in the morning, we were driving past the city lights of downtown Denver, though still somehow stuck in traffic.
"I still think we ought to go through the mountains..." I grumbled, "I don't want to play stupid games."
"Oh, c'mon!" Mom sighed again, "It's just some wind. Wind's never hurt anyone."
"It's not just wind, Mom." I argued again, "It's wind plus snow plus ice plus big semitrucks. It's not that the wind's blowing, it's the fact that it's extremely cold, gas stations are few and far between, and there will be tons of semitrucks just asking to get knocked over on top of us. I wouldn't be whining so much if it was just high winds."
"It'll be fine." Mom said, "Take a chill pill and go to sleep. After Denver, it shouldn't take us more than six hours to get to Salt Lake. Then, at three this afternoon, you'll be meeting your new puppy. Think about your puppy, not about the drive there."
"I wish that's how my mind worked..." I sighed as I cuddled up against the window and stared out at the city lights of Denver shining against the dark, predawn skies.
Obviously, I couldn't wait to meet my new puppy. He was the largest cavapoo of his litter, which unfortunately meant that he didn't get adopted out like his siblings did, as people don't tend to want larger, less energetic puppies. For several weeks, he remained at home with his parents and ads across various websites, with not a single person asking to see him. As a result, the breeders were considering just keeping him, but just a few hours before they took down his listing once-and-for-all, I called and asked if he was still available.
Unfortunately, due to his age and size, he couldn't be carried-on an airplane as he couldn't fit underneath the seat. So, Mom and I agreed to take a weekend to drive to Utah to pick him up. His breeders were in Provo, and my mom's best friend, Jen, still lived in Salt Lake City. However, Priscilla (my mom's other best friend who lived in Salt Lake City for many years) moved to Dallas, Texas in the spring of 2022 for a job opportunity. Needless to say, we couldn't stay with her again like we did during the summer of 2020.
At first, we figured we'd stay with Jen. But, Jen's house wasn't big enough to accommodate myself, Mom, and Priscilla (who decided to fly out to Salt Lake to see us and the puppy for a night, as well as help out Jen with taking care of her family for a week). Plus, I didn't want to spend a lot of time in Utah. Had we stayed with Jen, I suspect our trip would've lasted quite a bit longer than just one night.
So, Mom and I found a dog-friendly Airbnb to stay in for the night with the puppy.
At least, assuming we managed to make it to Utah on I-80 in the 4Runner.
Why did we decide to take the 4Runner instead of the Xterra? Well, unlike the Xterra, the 4Runner fit in the garage, and therefore didn't get frosted overnight. Not wanting to spend the first part of our morning scraping ice and snow off the Xterra, we just decided to pack into the 4Runner. Plus, I was curious to see how road-tripping in the 4Runner would be like, especially in the winter. Would it live up to our standards, or would it leave us stranded?
Well... there was really only one way to find out.
That isn't to say that I was looking forward to the drive to or from Utah. Obviously, I was scared shitless. I don't like to drive or ride shotgun on quiet streets on the outskirts of town (I may have some minor PTSD from getting rear-ended in my mom's shitty little Volkswagen Jetta almost a decade ago). I get sweaty palms just driving to my college campus from home in good weather. The mere thought of driving across Wyoming in the winter, with weather warnings all over I-80 from Cheyenne to Rock Springs, freaked me the fuck out. Which is why I wouldn't stop trying to convince my mom to go through the mountains instead.
After all, I'd rather get stuck in ski traffic than get caught in a Wyoming ground blizzard with nowhere to hide from it. But, Mom thought otherwise. So, off to Wyoming it was!
The first signs of trouble began in a valley west and north of Fort Collins. I noticed snow blowing across the road each time we crested a hill. It wasn't much, but it was enough to wake me up and start to bitch about it again.
"Go to Walden while we still can." I practically yelled as I woke up, "Wind's picking up. It's gonna be bad in Wyoming."
"Oh, stop it." Mom laughed, "There's barely any wind or snow here. It's gonna be just fine. Relax!"
"No, you don't understand..." I scowled, struggling to hide my increasing fear, "I'm not just having an anxious moment. The mountains are much safer this time of year. Just- just trust me. Go through to Walden. Please."
Just then, the 4Runner made a bell noise very similar to the bell that precedes an announcement on an airplane. In a robotic voice, the 4Runner said, "Welcome to Wyoming." (Yes, my mom's 2022 4Runner is equipped with an annoyingly sophisticated GPS system).
Sure enough, we were passing by the "Welcome to Wyoming" sign, which characteristically had huge icicles hanging off of it, perpendicular to the ground.
"Well shit..." I thought to myself as I yawned to relieve some stress from my body, "The puppy better be worth it!"
Miraculously, however, the wind actually decreased from there, and they didn't pick up for the rest of the six-hour drive. Things were smooth sailing from Laramie to Salt Lake City, with only one little bottleneck in the road between Echo and Summit Park, Utah!
"See, it wasn't so bad!" Mom smirked as we pulled up to Jen's house just after 2:00 PM.
"Yeah, yeah..." I rolled my eyes, "You were right this time."
"You definitely need to increase your Prozac dose..." Mom trailed off as she exited the driver's seat.
"She might be right..." I thought to myself as I stepped out onto the sidewalk in Jen's cute Daybreak, Utah suburb.
