Which way should I go?

My wife and I drove to North-Central Wyoming on Thursday. We decided that we would go by way of Yellowstone Park since it is a much shorter route, and traffic would be light this time of year. We left at 4:30 pm., and expected a drive of about 7 hours. When we reached West Yellowstone, it was snowing (Yes, this is in MAY!), so we stopped to ask if the roads were open through the park. The store worker we talked to said it was probably snowing, but the roads were open, so we proceeded into the park.

Our first hint that something was wrong should have been the main entrance to the park. There was no one there to take our fee for entrance, but there were also no signs, or anything else to warn us of what we would discover once in the park. We drove between 60 or 70 miles towards the east entrance of the park before we came upon a sign that said, “Road Closed ahead”. Due to this closure, we had to back track 120 miles, and circle around the park through Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We finally arrived at our destination at 6:45 am. after driving all night. Nowhere did we see any signs, and noone said we might not be able to drive through the park, so we endured 14 hours driving in rain and snow, doubling what we should have had to do. We found out that the road was to open at 8:00 am. the next morning. I’ve never been so tempted to ignore a road sign in my life. I desperately wanted to drive right over the sign and continue on our way.

Take care, and check your maps. Stick.