A Bet on Yellowstone

T W O: The Journey

I wasn't two weeks later that Erin and I found ourselves loading up her red Jeep Cherokee. We had everything we could possibly fit in her jeep paked in there. After an hour of playing Tetris with duffle bags, we were gone and heading for Nebraska. Erin would drive first and then I would pull a majority of the overnight shift. We had a cooler full of waters, juices, and energy drinks to keep me up.

"What should the first song of the trip be?" I asked, plugging her aux cord into my phone.

"Cowboy Boots by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Duh." Erin laughed. "We are leaving Missouri."

I chuckled to myself. "I cannot wait until we get to Wyoming." I stated, turning on the requested song.

"It is much needed for both of us. I need to get over Gavin. You need to have a little fun."

"Why do you say that?" I questioned, my eyebrows furrowing.

"Ever since you found out that Ryan had been cheating on you, you just seem board with everything. It has become all work and no play for you." Erin stated seriously. Another thing Erin and I had in common was the fact that our -ex- boyfriends had cheated on us. The only difference is that her and Gavin dated for six months. Six months is the time Ryan had been cheating on me in our two year relationship.

"Well someone has to pay the bills." I halfheartedly laughed.

"See! That's what I mean!" You are trying to carry both of weight. You need time to relax, baby cakes."

"Alright, alright." I began. "Work does have me in knots." I admitted.

"Exactly."

The rest of the ride to Nebraska was filled with laughter and singing. We had a lot of small talk, mainly about work and boys. Erin had went on a date last night, and it had been a disaster. She claimed the only reason she even accepted the date was to stop thinking about Gavin for a bit. Around Lincoln, Nebraska we stopped to grab a touch of food and then I took over the wheel. Erin decided to catch some sleep before she took back over at 5 am.

Erin had always been afraid to drive at night. Her older brother, Jackson, had gotten into a serious accident while driving at night about a year ago. He was in the hospital for a few days and ended up with a few scars on his arms from the glass shattering. It certainty put Erin in a shock, understandably.

Around 3 AM, we passed the Wyoming boarder. Tiredness was sinking in quickly. I leaned over and began softly shaking Erin's leg to wake her up.

"Hmm?" Erin protested.

"I need help staying up."

"Mmkay what's up?" She stretched.

"We are in Wyoming. What is the first thing you want to see once we get to Yellowstone." I asked quickly, rubbing my eyes.

Erin thought for the moment, shifting in her seat. "The big geyser thing."

"Old Faithful?" I questioned.

"Yeah. Do they have other ones?"

"It only holds a third of the worlds geysers. So probably not that many." I answered sarcastically.

"You're such a sarcastic cow when you're tired." Erin slapped my leg as we both laughed and drove off into the dark morning.

"Do you want to switch?" She asked.

"I'm fine, could you hand me a Red Bull? Or an oj?"

"Of course." Erin unbuckled and turned around to get in the cooler. A minute or so later, she buckled up again and handed me a cold bottle of orange juice. "I don't know how just juice can keep you up." Erin started flipping through radio channels.

"I only drank water and milk as a kid. A Pepsi will keep me up all night." I joked.

"Oh lord do I know that's true."

I rubbed my face again. "What does that sign say?" I pointed to a green sign that showed different cities with the miles next to it.

"Yellowstone 265 miles. It looks like we have a while. Are you positive you don't want me to drive?" She pleaded.

"You can at dawn. I've got this."

About two hours later, sunlight began to shine over the horizon. Erin begged and begged for me to take a rest.

"Ok, we'll stop at the next gas station and switch." I bargained.

"Fine."

Within the next twenty miles, we came along a gas station. Once we switched, I was out like a light.