Chapter 9: Rocky Mountain High

As they boarded the truck for their journey North to Denver, the driver explained that his diversion via Salina wasn't entirely for their benefit. It was just that he preferred to use the free interstate highways rather than pay to use the turnpikes. The direct route from Wichita to Kansas City was a turnpike. It was still comparatively early in the morning, and the eighteen wheeler made good progress out of the Dallas area and headed North along the interstate highway. By the time they reached Denton, they were on the I-35 and making good progress. Their driver was keeping in touch with other truckers, who kept him informed about the location of police patrols, the manning of weighbridges etcetera. Sid and Cassie had already told the driver part of their Story when they were in the coffee shop. They were soon crossing the state boundary into Oklahoma. The driver suggested some music as the truck approached Oklahoma City. Sid said "okay". Seeing assign indicating I-44 to Tulsa, he put on Gene Putney's 'Twenty-Four hours to Tulsa', which was a song about a truck driver one day away from his love. Their driver commented that he would put on another geographically relevant song a bit later in the journey.

Just beyond Oklahoma City, they pulled into a truck stop, where they had an early lunch. As they got under way again, their driver, knowing that their next destination was Denver, told them he had been in touch on the radio with some of his friends, and that he might be able to find them a ride to the Mile High City. True to his word, as the truck approached Wichita, in Kansas, Glen Campbell's 'Wichita Lineman' was playing.

"This is where we leave the turnpike." said their driver as they negotiated the junction which oils take them onto the I-135 interstate highway to Salina.

As they were passing Wichita, Sid's mobile phone rang. He answered it. It appeared that their luck was still holding. The caller was the manager of a hotel in Denver which was in the same group as the ones they had worked in at both San Antonio and Dallas.

"Could you two get here by tomorrow evening?" asked the manager.

"That is the general idea." said Sid.

"Where are you now." asked the Manager.

"Somewhere between Wichita and Salina." said Sid, "We plan to spend a night in Salina and travel to Denver in the morning. When we actually get there depends on the trucker who's offered to take us from Salina to Denver."

"That's okay!" said the manager, We'll be expecting you. By the way, I like your accent."

He concluded by giving Sid precise instructions regarding the location of the hotel in Denver.

That evening their driver pulled in to a truck stop in Salina and indicated the best place for them to spend the night without paying too much. He also confirmed a pick-up time and place, the next morning, so that his colleague could pick them up for the day's journey to Denvar. They had arrived in Salina early enough to have dinner and a nightcap before turning in for the night. Their bedroom was basic, comfortable and somewhat better than the ones they had slept in in San Antonio and Dallas.

In order to meet their driver, they were waiting at the truck stop at six in the morning. Shortly after meeting him, they went to the diner at the truck stop for breakfast. At seven, the truck was under way Westwards along the I-70 interstate. Oklahoma is relatively flat prairie country with small towns serving the agricultural community, so they made good progress along the highway.

As on previous occasions, the driver was interested in how this young English couple came to be in the Mid-West and travelling around the United States. He found Sid's transatlantic quest to search for the girl he loved particularly touching, as he, himself had experienced something similar. However, he only had to cross the continent to find the girl of his dreams after her family had moved, for employment reasons from Allentown in Pennsylvania to Salinas in California. Her father, to obtain promotion in his company, he had to move to the West coast.

The music preferred by this driver was mainly Country and Western. He particularly liked bands which featured a pedal steel guitar. Cassie found the sound of this instrument entrancing and often seemed to go into a dreamlike state when she heard a long solo. Back home, Sid did have some of this genre in his collection, but didn't realise that Cassie loved it so much. He now realised why Cassie was so sad when it was time to leave Nashville. Both Sid and Cassie were delighted when he played the album 'Home Home on the Road' by the New Riders of the Purple Sage. This was not long before their first rest break as this driver believed in not driving for too long between rest stops. He had experienced beginning to fall asleep at the wheel, but managed to save the situation before an accident occurred. Accordingly, just before ten o'clock they pulled into another truck-stop for coffee and a leg stretch.

This particular stop appeared to be in the middle of nowhere, with no sizeable towns nearby. As they got under way again, this led to a discussion about what constituted a village, a town and a city. Sid had remarked that a lot of places, which would be average sized towns in England were called cities in the USA.

"In Britain," said Sid, "For a town to have City status, certainly in the past, it would have to have both an Anglican cathedral and a university. Most of our cities also had populations of around a million. Out here, it seems, even quite small towns are called cities."

"I guess we have a different idea on what makes a city over here." said their driver.

After a further three hours, the truck pulled off the interstate again, this time for a longer stop. It was lunchtime. It had been a clear sunny morning, and when they made their second stop. There appeared to be a line of snow capped mountains on the far Western horizon. They were nearly at their destination, the city of Denver in Colorado. Although they had been just sitting and relaxing for the last three hours, listening to the driver's tales about his adventures on the interstate highways, both Sid and Cassie felt hungry.

Sid, Cassie and the driver went in to the trucker's diner and enjoyed an American lunch. Once the truck was under way for the relatively short final leg into Denver, the driver asked them about their plans during and after their stay in the city. Sid told them about their projected visit to Yellowstone National Park, and their plans to go south via the Grand Canyon, hopefully ending up in Los Angeles for the Winter. The driver gave them some suggestions for day trips out of Denver as well as giving them some practical advice on the best way to try to reach Yellowstone. He suggested that it would be better to try to do it in two stages. The first day would take them to Casper in Wyoming. That's where the interstate changes direction to go to Billings in Montana. By the end of the second day, they should have reached Yellowstone.

All the time they were on this final leg of their day's journey, the mountains were becoming clearer, also, the land was becoming hillier as the entered the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

"That looks so beautiful!" exclaimed Cassie, as the mountains came more clearly in view.

"Imagine what the first Europeans must have thought when they were confronted by those mountains, after hundreds of miles of flat grassland." said the driver, "There are main highways through them now, but back then they would have seemed to be an impassable barrier."

Their previous driver had told this one about their intended destination in Denver, and they were dropped off only fifty yards from the front door of the hotel. Although Sid had bought both breakfast and Lunch, he left a fifty dollar bill with the driver as he thanked him for the lift.

They entered the hotel and made themselves known to the receptionist. The manager came down and introduced himself.

"You two have made good time from Salina." said the manager, "And wow! Our crew in Dallas didn't tell me you were so beautiful."

"Thank you so much," said Cassie, "I try to look reasonably good if I can."

Her light, gentle voice, and her English accent enchanted the manager.

"I'm beginning to realise why you left such an impression with my friend in Dallas." said the Manager, "I'll show you to your accommodation."

He took them to their basement room, and let them relax briefly before calling them back to his office for a couple of brief interviews. They were taken on, and their rotas were prepared. As in Dallas, they did have a weekend free as well as a couple of coincident single days during their proposed six week stay in the city. As in their previous short-tern jobs, they spent their first few shifts learning the layout of the premises. They also got to find out which areas of the city were 'safe', and which areas to avoid if they could. Sid also researched whether they could get to see some of the nearby Rocky Mountain scenery on their free weekend.

Somehow, he managed to arrange a long day trip to the Rocky Mountains National Park. They also managed to visit most of the city's attractions including a rock concert at the Red Rocks Amphitheater.

As the six weeks passed, there were indications that Cassie was getting tired of the constant moving on. She didn't seem quite so eager to fit in with Sid's ideas. However, they did get to see what they wanted in Denver, including a long day excursion to the Rocky Mountains National Park. Cassie had used her charm and her accent to persuade a couple they had met in a bar near the hotel and engaged in conversation to include them. They saw the logic of making use of the spare seats in a five seater car. Their work experience was fruitful in that it paid reasonably, and Cassie's income from tips was at least as much as her wages. Sid did quite well out of tips as well, it seemed the kind of people who stayed in the Mile High City were quite generous.

They felt they had to make the most of what they made in Denver, as they believed that they were unlikely to get any more employment until they reached Phoenix in Arizona. Their next main destination was Yellowstone National Park, but that was almost two states away. Not long before Sid and Cassie were due to head North towards Yellowstone, the manager of the hotel asked them about their ideas for the next few weeks ov their travels. When told about their proposed route, he mentioned that the chain had premises in Casper in Wyoming and Salt Lake City in Utah. He did point out that they would probably get a ride to Casper without much difficulty, and from there they should be able to get to Yellowstone. From Denver to Casper, he said, the interstate went the way they wanted to go, but the journey would be on quite minor roads after that. He said that it was very unlikely that they would be able to get o Yellowstone in one hop. In any case, he said, the distance from Denver to Yellowstone could easily make it a two day journey.

"Are you saying that there's a place in Casper that might take us on for a few weeks?" asked Cassie.

"In a word, 'yes'." said the manager, "Call us when you know when you're going to get there, and I'll make sure they're expecting you. Don't let it go to your head, but during the past six weeks, you two have been an asset to this hotel. I'm very sorry to see you go but you have ambitions to see our wonderful country, so I won't stand in your way."

Thank you." said Sid, "You've been very helpful."

With this they said farewell to the hotel in Denver. It didn't take them very long to blag a ride to Casper, as all that part of their intended route was on an Interstate highway. Once they had settled down in the truck's cab, Sid called the manager of the Denver hotel and let him know they were expecting to arrive in Casper fairly late in the afternoon as it was a five hour journey, and there would be a lunch stop somewhere along the way.

As on previous trips between cities, their driver was interested in what they were doing in the States, and was also touched by Cassie's story of Chris's sudden death and her escape to New York. All the time they were travelling along Interstate I - 25, it was obvious they were on the border between the prairies and the Rocky Mountains. To their right, the land was flat, while range after range of mountains could be seen on the left.

This part of their exploration of America was more pleasant as the weather was clear and not too hot. Also there wasn't very much traffic on this road. Their lunch stop was made at the quaintly named town of Chugwater, and they reached Casper about mid-afternoon.

Once they found the hotel, they made themselves known to the receptionist, who fortunately had been briefed about their expected arrival. They were given brief interviews during which their previous employment before Denver was discussed, including their four months in Orlando. They were shown to their, albeit basic accommodation and given their rotas.

Since Casper was not one of Wyoming's major tourist honeypots, they found that eating and drinking out was not as expensive as it had been in their previous stopping places. Over a drink at a local bar, they started to think about their next move. Obviously their next main 'tourist' destination was going to be Yellowstone National Park, but Sid's interest in science fiction films suggested another visit before they went there. He had seen and enjoyed the film 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind', and expressed a wish to see the mountain featured in the film, Devils Tower, which was in the far North-East corner of Wyoming.

They were helped in this endeavour towards the end of their period in Casper, when they were engaged in conversation by another youngish couple, who had hired a car and were on a leisurely tour of the United States between employers. They had heard Sid and Cassie's English accents and were intrigued. This couple said that they were shortly going to leave Casper and drive to Devils Tower before they themselves were going to visit Yellowstone.

Would you two like to come along with us for a few days?" asked the man.

"Most certainly," said Sid, "If you can put up with some extra load for a couple of days."

"That's okay," he said, "We could do with some company."

Now that their decision had been made, they could plan their next move after Yellowstone. The next place they intended to look for work was Salt Lake City in Utah. Until then they would have to stay overnight in cheap hotels and live like holidaymakers. As they informed the hotel management they were moving on, they were asked about their next prolonged stop. On being told that they would be in Salt Lake City in a couple of weeks, they were given the name and phone number of a contact in a hotel there who might be interested in employing them for a few weeks. Now he knew the exact dates he would be at Yellowstone National Park; Sid phoned ahead and made a reservation for four nights at one of the hotels in the park, as the couple whose car they were sharing had already made their reservations there.

"Where are you going immediately after Yellowstone?" asked the man.

"We're hoping to get a few weeks work in Salt Lake City," said Sid, "Before go to see the Grand Canyon."

"Would you mind tagging along with us in Yellowstone?" asked the man, "While we're there, we plan to visit the Grand Teton on one of the three days. Afterwards, we can drop you off in Pocatello, where your route goes South to the Mormon City, and we drive across the Idaho lava plain. You should be able to get a ride from there."

"Thank you." said Sid, "That would be more than helpful. I don't know how we can repay you for your kindness."

"That's okay!" said the man, "A few years ago we were in the position of having to uses buses and hitch rides to get around, so we feel we're helping another pair of young wanderers."

The journey to Sundance along normal state and national highways proved interesting and pleasant. Sid paid for meals by way of paying for their lift. They spent a night in a motel in Sundance, before visiting the Devils Tower early the next morning. Sid presumed that Sundance in Wyoming was the place the 'Sundance Kid' hailed from in the movie: 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'.

The Devils Tower National Monument lived up to its expectations. All four had seen the 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' film, so the place had more of a significance than being just an interesting geological formation. The car was stopped at viewpoints on the approach to the tower for photographs to be taken. They spent some time in the visitor center before strolling right round the base of this stack of columnar basalt, marvelling at the size of some of the hexagonal columns. Once again, as they left the monument on their way to Yellowstone, the stopped for pictures before finally saying farewell to the site of the alien landing in 'Close Encounters'. One of the features which delighted Cassie were the large numbers of prairie dogs in colonies in the region of the tower.

They had satisfied their curiosity about the Devils Tower. They realised that it did actually exist and wasn't a product of CGI technology. Once they were out of sight of the tower, they started out on their journey to a hotel at Grant Village in Yellowstone National Park. This would take the whole day.

When they reached Interstate I-90, at Moorcroft, they stayed on it until they reached a town called Sheridan. There they found a Denny's and had lunch. After another short drive along the interstate to the last intersection before the border with Montana, they joined US-14, which would take them all the way to the park.