Ranting 102 - Mindless Driving!

I had to go to Casper for a Board Meeting so left about 11 a.m. About 3/4 mile before starting up Togwotee (spelling??) I glanced over to the side and saw a small elk herd so had to turn around, go back and test the new toy some more. As you can tell we are "elk" folks.Hope you can see the baby elk.

So I got to Riverton, stopped for a bit and headed out to Casper. Ken's wreck was at milepost 69 and I always stop for a bit there. It doesn't mean much to Ken as he was out of it; but to Whitney and myself that is the place that K.C. met the angels. So I'm motoring along about milepost80 or so. I'm going about 65 and there were 4 vehicles behind me. I was a ways behind a school bus which was followed by a small car but there was plenty of room between us 4 and the other two. There was a tanker truck coming toward us when I looked in my rear mirror and there is a small Jeep out in the passing lane - just pooping along. I start to think he's going to pull back in; he isn't going fast enough; OMG he isn't and he's still out there. He's passed the first guy but not the second or me. The truck is getting closer and I watch in the mirror as I pull over onto the shoulder and put my brakes on - fortunately the people behind me were paying attention and then put their brakes on also so all was well on that front. The @#$#@ little Jeep zipped into our lane passing by me. About 2 seconds later the tanker went by. Well he had a logo on his vehicle Wyoming's New Leader Channel @. Well I am so going to stop at the office and have a chat. The little dude zips up to the car and the bus; pulls out into the passing lane and then zips back just as a car passes him. I SEE Red!! Now I put my foot into the radiator and head out after him to get his license plate number. I zoom up to him and behold he pulls to the side of the road and stops. So do I. It is at about milepost 70. I slam out of the pickup and go up to his vehicle. He is getting out, looking down and jumps when I begin reaming him out. He didn't even know I had stopped behind him!! Talk about mindless driving!

Well he heard the story about the Moneta Triangle and how 14 people lost their lives on this horrid stretch of road between MP 68 and 74 in 16 months in 2001-2. Only one accident was at night and only one was alcohol related. The others were during daylight. How Fremont County banded together to put reminders up on this road with no shoulders to put their lights on. It is a straight stretch of road. How the group went to Thermopolis when the Transportation Board met; loaded them into a bus and took them to the area to show them how dangerous the road was and it needed bumped up five years to be fixed. How because of the death of my 13 year old son, a 14 year old girl, a 3 year old girl, a 12 year old girl and some adults there was a SHOULDER for me and the other folks to use so that we all were annilated in some fiery explosion when he met the tanker head on!!!! He just kept saying I'm so sorry! He wouldn't give me his name; but I do know how to google and his picture is on their website. He got the water he had stopped for out of the back and motored on. I went another mile and stopped at the accident site to marvel and how wonderful the new road is and talk with K.C. a little. I had to settle my stomach and stop shaking. It is so hard for people to think that it CAN happen to them. That the next minute is a gift not a promise!! I hope this young man can grasp that concept as there are a lot of straight, mindless driving roads in Wyoming.