Twice actually, on the first day of my trip, and it had such fantastic consequences.
I have no idea how this happened, but I'm so glad it did. Traveled half a day to the northwest quadrant of Colorado. Was going north to the last main town, Craig. Kept going north and expected to hit the Wyoming border in about an hour and half. Saw signs that kept saying "West", but I've been on lots of roads that don't seem to be going in the direction that they say they're going, so didn't give it much thought. Too busy marveling at the complete open country. Not "beautiful", but amazingly desolate in this current age.
Then I come upon the state border, and the sign says, "Welcome to Utah". Huh??? So, I really had gone west and ended up in Utah, rather than Wyoming. No need to panic though. It's not like I was meeting up with anyone in the next couple of days. I just need to turn right to be going north, but there was only one highway way out in the boonies, so no intersections. After about 20 minutes I came to a town and pulled over to look at the map. Everything was fine. I just needed to take a right a mile up, and it would take me to Rock Springs, Wyoming, which is where I'd wanted to be at day's end in the first place. So, this was actually better, since I'd need to go through a scenic route to get there, rather than having hit Wyoming earlier, and then going west to Rock Springs on the boring Interstate 80, which I'd driven before.
So, I made my turn, and was all the more glad I'd made it to Utah in the ensuing couple of hours. This is dinosaur country, where many tracks and fossils have been found, so there was a lot of unique rock and terrain. And going up, up, up into the mountains, where there was a gentle mist and lots of trees -- a nice sight after all the desolation of the plains. And then... cows! A group of four, right in the middle of this mountain road at high altitudes. Had to come to a complete stop and wait for them to pass. More were seen for the next ten miles or so.
Then I realized I was on a different road, even though I'd never come to an intersection that gave me a choice. I puzzled over that, but the signs said I was still going north, so that was the most important thing. Then, at one point, I turned a corner, high up the mountain and... gollygeewow! The most unexpected beautiful sight below... a huge body of water. So blue against the reddish rocks. I now know that it was part of Flaming Gorge, which is a gigantic recreation area that covers 91 miles. Never heard of it before.
So, I was feeling such incredible exhilaration, having ended up in this unexpectedly beautiful area when I'd intended to spend the afternoon along the boring and truck-filled I-80, and being able to enjoy the mountain roads and hairpin curves with very little traffic. Awed and amazed that this all worked out to my benefit -- missing turns without even realizing I had, so I could end up seeing something wonderful, that was all the more so for having not expected it.
Once back down to the plains, I went east and hit Wyoming before long, and ended up at Rock Springs by 4:30... right on schedule.
The universe knows what I love, and I love it for always wanting everything to work out for me.
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