We paid deposits, bought preference points and eventually drew tags for Wyoming Antelope Area 50. On the day I found out we drew tags, my cohunter "likely" dropped out. This was confirmed a few weeks ago; one tag donation to Wyoming.
I was in regardless, although this situation has made me resolve to plan these hunting trips on my own and not try to corral others into these things. I'm a little embarrassed for how this turned out.
Only a couple weeks ago I was on a motorcycle vacation so I probably wasn't as anxious about the hunt as I would have been otherwise. After getting back from the motorcycle trip, I went to the range one last time to ensure I was ready. I've shot more at 200-300 yards in the last few months than I've done in the rest of my life combined.
Work buttoned up Monday, I went home and packed up. My SO was visiting family, so we were to miss each other back at home by a few hours. Luckily, the dogs would have someone home so no beagle jail was needed.
Anxious to start the trip, I was up early. While letting the dogs out, I heard a large pack of coyotes to the east of the house howling and yipping. It was magical and I'll take it as a good sign. I was on the road before 4:00. I took a new way to the interstate on some small roads and was headed west at speed in no time. At this early hour, it was mostly myself and the tractor-trailers.
I hunt wild boar in South Carolina for several days each winter and on those trips, I've had countless gorgeous mornings near the Tennessee/Kentucky border. This trip, the sun rose in the rear-view mirror in Illinois. No contest, Tennessee/Kentucky is far superior. I was happy to be making good enough time to see the sun rise well into Illinois.
Traffic on I-74 was very light, but as usual it got much heavier on I-80. I was into Iowa by 10:00. Traffic on I-80 was pretty hairy, especially around Iowa City. Des Moines wasn't too bad given it was the capital, and then traffic thinned considerably for the remainder of Iowa and Nebraska. Rain was pretty intense near Des Moines, but mostly sunny other than that.
Given that most of my long distance travel, spring through fall, is by motorcycle, it was hard not to feel a little envious of the people on touring bikes. I was even jealous watching people in full rain gear through the inclimate weather. If I could find a way to combine motorcycles and hunting, I'd probably never go back home.
I listened to two books on CD during the day. The first was The Ride of Our Lives by Mike Leonard. It was about a TV personality going with his aging parents on a motorhome road trip. Some of the dialogue was centered around the personal family stories that are only amusing to the family, aside from that it was a good book to read. Even touching at times.
I didn't mean to listen to the entire second book on day 1, but The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie just kept getting better and better. It is a very honest (at times too honest) narrative by a young person growing up on an Reservation.
Both of these books have at their heart, taking risks and associated life pay-outs. There is a lesson there, maybe I should listen.
I stopped in North Platte after about 14 hours on the road, this puts Area 50 in Wyoming well within reach. I made reservations earlier at a gas stop in Nebraska by cell phone. I've never used this tactic, but it saved me a few dollars at the Super 8.
One significant oddity was that gas at the station I get fuel from in North Platte was $3.50 for the combustible with 10% ethanol, and a whopping $4.23 without. Like many people, I'm not sold on the benefits of ethanol in gasoline, but on a trip when it will all be burned shortly, this is a no brainer. There must be Nebraskan political motivation behind this.
Dinner that night was Peking Duck at Hunan's which was very good. I had been craving Chinese food for some time. My fortune cookie fortune was truth and hopefully prophetic.
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