The Road to Cheyenne

In California, cold meant a light jacket. Then came Wyoming. After leaving Duchesne, Utah, a young Mica and her family head north to Cheyenne, Wyoming: another town, another beginning. The way there runs through snowstorms, truck stops, and long highways, and it ends in a trailer that holds the winter cold like it never intends to let go. Mica burrows under the blankets with her little brother and sister, soaking up their warmth while the Wyoming wind howls against the thin walls. Some mornings even the water in the toilet is frozen solid, and her exhausted mother has to chip it out with Dad's pocketknife before sending her back to bed "while it's still warm under those covers." Nobody would call it easy. But they are getting through it, one frozen night at a time. The Road to Cheyenne picks up where The Road to Duchesne leaves off. With honesty and a big heart, Mica Boyd Johnston captures the heartbreak and hope of a childhood spent chasing new starts across 1970s America, and the quiet strength it takes to keep starting over. For readers who were ever the new kid in town, who love true stories of family and resilience, or who remember the American West of the 1970s from the back seat of the family car.