What do you call a guy who sets off on a 3,600-mile road trip in the dead of winter to drive the Rocky Mountain chain from Alaska to southern Colorado? Bear in mind that this is the same guy who goes kayaking with his Australian shepherd - in the ocean.

Crazy doesn't quite sum it up, because there was a fair amount of planning up front. Adventurous is probably closer to the mark, because these are the undertakings that lead to stories - for your buddies and for your future grandchildren. "That's nothing. I once drove the Alcan in December with a dog and two cats."

Hey, it's got to be better than sitting in an office attending a budget meeting or deciding annual employee raises. Who's the crazy one now?

Day 14: There are two very important things you should know when driving from Bozeman, Mont. to eastern Wyoming. You have to take an exit east of Billings just to stay on I-90. And the wind blows more often than not in eastern Wyoming - hard.

The lanes of Interstate 90, east of Billings become Interstate 94 heading to Bismark, N.D. If you want to stay on I-90 heading east, you actually have to take the I-90 exit.¹ I wasn't paying a lot of attention and then suddenly noticed that the drive wasn't the way I remembered it. This was at mile 14 of I-94. Unfortunately, the next exit wasn't for another eight miles, so I ended up making a 44 mile detour.²

The wind wasn't too bad on this particular evening until just north of Casper. I started getting a strong head and cross wind. I've encountered Wyoming winds before³ and wisely elected to stop in Casper for the night. By midnight, the wind was still howling at about 40 miles per hour with frequent gusts over 70 miles per hour. I advise gassing up in Buffalo and Casper. There's only one other town on this stretch of highway. If you hit a strong head wind, you could find yourself running out of fuel.

There are some small sections of wind around Livingston and Big Timber, Mont., but these are relatively mild. For those traveling with a scanner, the NOAA weather forecasts can be picked up just above 162 MHz in this region.

I have an old friend in Columbus, Mont. so I decided to drop by unannounced. I know he'll be in town. You see, he is interred at the Columbus cemetery. He died two years ago. I dropped by on my way north a year and a half ago and it's not far off the freeway, so I thought I'd stop again on my way south. I brought Taiya with me to pay my respects.

One thing that will freak you out in a cemetery is hearing the sound of your dog chewing on a bone. "Taiya, I hope to hell you didn't dig up that bone."

On occasion, I like to walk through old cemeteries to find interesting names or find out who died in which wars.⁴ There were some interesting names here like Lofing⁵, Countryman⁶ and Chute⁷. There are also several tombstones that are fashioned after cottonwood tree stumps.

The following morning, the winds had barely abated. In any other state I'd consider waiting for the weather to get better, but waiting for the wind to die down in Wyoming is like waiting for mountains to grow in Kansas. You could find yourself waiting for a blizzard, which is the only weather in Wyoming that I would wait out.⁸

So as the sun rises, the plan is to drive about 45 miles per hour to Douglas, Wheatland, Cheyenne and on to Colorado. In fact, I think this wind is blowing some of the Canadian dirt off my trailer.

Day 15. 
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¹ I know this sounds idiotic, but it's true. You're on I-90 going straight, but it magically turns into I-94.
² This was the Pompey exit. There is a little road on the map heading straight south, but it shows up as gravel about 40% of the way to I-90. Who knows how straight it really is or what the road conditions are? I played it safe and back-tracked on the interstate since I was hauling the trailer. No use in making two mistakes in a row. Maybe someday I'll try the road when I'm not hauling an extra 6,000 pounds.
³ On the drive up to Alaska, I had strong winds from Cheyenne clear up to Buffalo. Somewhere just north of Casper, I remember slowly climbing a hill in first gear, cresting the hill and driving downhill into a head wind that was so strong, I had to keep the truck in first gear and press on the accelerator. My fuel efficiency dropped to less than five miles per gallon. If you think the spring winds are bad in New Mexico, the wind blows like that throughout the year in eastern Wyoming. I love northwestern Wyoming from the Wind River Range up through Yellowstone, but due to the winds you can have the rest of the state.
⁴ There's a small town, almost a ghost town, in New Mexico southwest of the Ladron Mountains called Santa Rita. One of the tombstones in the cemetery reads "Killed by bandits."
⁵ Not much to do in a coffin but loaf. I don't expect them to be running any marathons.
⁶ Isn't everyone in Montana a countryman?
⁷ Chute, darn - I'd have a lot worse to say if I found out I was dead.
⁸ The axiom meteorologist use is, when the wind is at your back, low pressure is on your left. This should help you predict which way winter weather might be approaching.

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