- Colorado Here We Come -

Before leaving Utah, Kelsey and I figured we had to visit Temple Square (the Headquarters of the Mormon Church). Before we went downtown to check it out, we quickly packed up our things from the hotel and were on our merry way! That is until we made it to the car and I realized I forgot my curling wand (only the most important styling tool in my life at the moment). I quickly ran back inside and up the stairs only to rescue my most trusty tool from being left behind! And then this time, we were actually on our way.

We finally arrived downtown and hopped out of the car to find that we were wildly under-dressed for Temple Square. Feeling the dirty glares we were getting for not being dressed in our Sunday best, we quickly did a lap of the square and then scurried back to our car.

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Salt Lake City, UT to Boulder, CO was only a quick 7 1/2 hours away, so on that shameful note of being under-dressed, we were off! To get from SLC to Boulder took us through Wyoming, The Forever West state!

Despite simply driving through Wyoming for hours on end, I will say that this day was very educational. With nothing but ourselves and the internet to entertain us, we became observant to what was going on in the world outside of our little Accord. Before we knew it, our Google search history became rather obscure.

The first question we took to Google was a debate we got into about how long the average housefly lives for (28 days, thank you very much!). But the second question for the all knowing Google was one we had trouble even figuring out how to define. If you have ever driven on I-80 through Wyoming (and I can only assume other northern states) you may have noticed these bizarre fences lining the interstate. Our first thought was that we were passing farm land and the fences were to keep the livestock from wandering too far, but after actually looking at the formation of the fences we quickly realized that was a silly conclusion.

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These fence structures are in fact, snow fences! To those of you from California or other equally warm and snowless places, I will give you the 411. Snow fences are actually the coolest and most practical piece of work created!

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The image on the left is from before the snow fences were implemented. Pictured on the right is the same location but utilizing snow fences. The pictures are from the article linked above.[/caption]

Upon Googling what snow fences are and reading this article (which articulates the point in a much more eloquent way) we quickly learned three things:

1. Snow fences essentially slow down the wind so that it isn’t hitting the interstate at such high speeds, and as a result of the wind hitting the slats of the fence, some of the snow being carried by the wind drops and effectively lessens the snow and wind coming at you.

2. That Wyoming was the first state to allow women to vote (Go Wyoming!)

3. Wyoming has the second highest mean elevation in the country (trailing behind Colorado). And the lowest point of WY is still has a higher elevation than the highest part of 17 other states!

So now just from reading this you’re already up four fun facts and I’ve essentially summarized the article I linked for ya!

Anyways, back to the endless drive! Despite driving for hours on end through what can only be described as “the middle of nowhere,” we finally reached our final destination, Colorado!

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Once finally getting to the Wyoming — Colorado border, we were in the home stretch! Only about an hour and a half away from Kels’ aunt and uncle’s home in Boulder. When we arrived we were greeted with smiles, hugs and a delicious home cooked meal. After some much needed grub, we all mozeyd outside to appreciate the beauty of the stars and surrounding nature with a hot cup of peppermint tea followed by a rejuvenating needed night of sleep.

Hope you’re enjoying the road trip so far! Two days down, many to go!