Leaving Jackson on Route 191 south, it doesn't take long to find the calm of the Wyoming hills. Jackson Hole, Wyoming. 9500 inhabitants. A constant flow of tourists around Jackson Town Square, its jewellery stores, restaurants, its Starbuck's. Noise all summer long until 10pm. In winter, the ski resort takes over and the whole southern district vibrates to the rhythm of the evenings at the Lift Restaurant bar.

Let's leave Jackson on the 191 and drive south at 70 miles an hour. The road plays cat and mouse with the Snake River, then it marries the banks of the Hoback, and finally it abandons the river and goes straight through the wide open spaces. Soon the only human footprint is the road that gets lost on the horizon in the heather-covered hills. The road that unfolds to infinity. How about we take a moment of that eternity and stop on the side? Let's build a fence, plant a mailbox on a post and make our house on top of a hill in the middle of the moor.

The horses will be provided with the land, we will buy some heads of cattle that you will keep with the dog, and that will go grazing wherever they want. I'll work at Farson-Eden College. The girls will take the bus, they will become bilingual in 6 months. They'll sleep over at their girlfriends' house. We'll take the pickup truck for a beer in the evening at the Eden Saloon, watch sports on TV and watch bikers playing pool, trying to stay out of trouble and fights. We will see the sign indicating that due to ammunition being expensive, no warning shots will be fired. We won't know if it's really for fun. We will never be around when Pastor Patrick Heeny calls for Sunday Mass in the small Baptist church of Eden, 281 inhabitants. Plus us.

We will become the immigrants of the area, we will tell our neighbours about our life before, while eating their sweet potato pie. We'll get homesick. We will stay in touch with the family a little bit thanks to the very small internet connection that will cost us a fortune. We'll go to the Super Center in Pinedale to stock up for a whole month. We'll take the opportunity to go to the Burger Barn or the Wrangler Cafe. We will be disappointed not to find bowling or movies since the closure of the Pinedale Entertainment Center.

Winters will be long. Frost from October to April. Minus 15 in December and January. We'll keep warm in front of the fireplace, we'll have games and stories nights because we won't have TV. The cat will find a cozy corner on the living room carpet, or between the large blankets in the cupboards. We'll be locked up all week waiting for the snowplow to pass. We'll go sledding behind the house. During the holidays, we will buy ski passes on Jackson's slopes.

When the warmth finally returns, we will sit on the porch, on our swing, and watch the sun go down, hearing out for the coyotes' cry. In summer, we'll go swimming in Jackson Lake, on the pebble beach of Colter Bay, we'll go fishing on Jenny Lake. What a life we'll have together.

But there is still a long way to go. Let's get back in the car and head south, towards Rock Springs, on the 191.