Wyoming And Me
When last we left our intrepid adventurer (that's me), he was in Utah. The morning after my visit to Arches, I kept driving through Utah. And kept driving through Utah. Utah, folks, is BIG. The landscapes made it at least an interesting drive, though. Then it was Colorado. As pretty as Utah was, the best parts of Colorado are better. The highway curved, hugging jagged rocks, lush green mountains and the ever-present Colorado River. The river alternately intersected, ran alongside and wandered away from the highway, as if it were a dolphin curiously following a boat.
In time, Colorado gave way to Wyoming and my destination, Cheyenne. Eight hours after I left Moab, I pulled into Cheyenne and saw that for a state capital, there wasn't a whole lot there. Luckily, this was just a stop dictated by geography, not a destination. Though devoid of most anything interesting, the city was disturbingly in the grip of the ubiquitous big box stores. What could have been the area's single unique niche - a desolate ex-cowboy town struggling for a reason to exist today - was ruined by a cluster of banality that included a Home Depot, an Outback Steakhouse and several chain hotels and car dealerships. Of course, I stayed in one of those chain hotels and ate in that Outback, but it was that or have sugar packets for dinner.
I was dimly aware of it before, but during my trip I've become acutely aware of the big box syndrome. No matter where I go there are the same stores in the same monstro-shopping-dining-plexes. Home Depot. Chili's. Kohl's. Wal-Mart. Applebee's. It's taking some of the fun away from travel. Every now and then a little familiarity in a strange place is comforting. But now it's progressed to the nth degree. And it's even reached the relatively distant outpost of Cheyenne. Which I am leaving behind Wednesday morning for...well, you'll just have to wait to find out, won't you?
P.S. I edited the last entry on Utah because it was perfunctory and I left out some good stuff. So now it's better.
In time, Colorado gave way to Wyoming and my destination, Cheyenne. Eight hours after I left Moab, I pulled into Cheyenne and saw that for a state capital, there wasn't a whole lot there. Luckily, this was just a stop dictated by geography, not a destination. Though devoid of most anything interesting, the city was disturbingly in the grip of the ubiquitous big box stores. What could have been the area's single unique niche - a desolate ex-cowboy town struggling for a reason to exist today - was ruined by a cluster of banality that included a Home Depot, an Outback Steakhouse and several chain hotels and car dealerships. Of course, I stayed in one of those chain hotels and ate in that Outback, but it was that or have sugar packets for dinner.
I was dimly aware of it before, but during my trip I've become acutely aware of the big box syndrome. No matter where I go there are the same stores in the same monstro-shopping-dining-plexes. Home Depot. Chili's. Kohl's. Wal-Mart. Applebee's. It's taking some of the fun away from travel. Every now and then a little familiarity in a strange place is comforting. But now it's progressed to the nth degree. And it's even reached the relatively distant outpost of Cheyenne. Which I am leaving behind Wednesday morning for...well, you'll just have to wait to find out, won't you?
P.S. I edited the last entry on Utah because it was perfunctory and I left out some good stuff. So now it's better.