It turned out there was a Celtic festival going on downtown. After walking through the old Union Pacific terminal, I watched the brief Celtic parade at 10 a.m., which consisted of men and women wearing kilts arranged beneath clan banners marching and playing "Scotland the Brave" on bagpipes.
The capital was located about ten blocks away from the festivities so I jumped in my car and zipped northwest to see if it was open. It was not. Out front though are two sculptures. One is of Esther Hobart Morris who was instrumental in passing the Wyoming constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote. Wyoming was the first state to grant women this right and proudly touts that fact.
By ten, I was done with Cheyenne. I jumped onto Interstate 80 and started the long drive to Salt Lake City where I would end up the night. About 50 minutes later I was in Laramie, where I made a pit stop to have lunch. With Yelp's assistance, I found Sweet Melissa's Vegetarian Cafe. I strolled around in Laramie's historic downtown for 20 minutes, then hopped back on the highway to continue my drive.
My general impressions of Wyoming weren't that positive. I can see why it's the least populous state in the union. I've heard the northern part of the state is prettier than the southern half I drove through on Interstate 80 so maybe my judgment is premature. But, of what I saw, I didn't find the landscape very compelling or the handful of people I interacted with warm in any way.
Thankfully that all changed as soon as I crossed into Utah. Steep mountains suddenly shot up. Elevation began to rapidly change. Greenery sprouted along the burnt rock walls hugging the highway.
I stopped at the first info station once in Utah and the woman at the desk was overwhelmingly helpful. She suggested allowing for at least a week to see the southern Utah national parks and pointed out a few lesser known attractions including Cove Fort and Goblin Valley State Park.
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