Amanda Wilson enjoys serving and welcoming the modern-day pilgrims who stop at Wyoming’s iconic place of passage along the historic Oregon, Mormon and California trails to the West.
For some, the travelers just need to “go” and use the facilities, others also want to stand on Independence Rock and check out one of Wyoming’s historic sites.
When it comes to keeping The Rock in order, Wilson goes seriously above and beyond. She makes the rest area as homey as possible, one frequent travelers and long-haul truckers look forward to pulling into.
As a Wyoming Department of Transportation contractor, Wilson stewards much of the cleaning and care at the Independence Rock Rest Area on Highway 220 about 53 miles southwest of Casper. That means mowing, emptying trash cans, cleaning toilets and sinks, shoveling snow, and making sure the toilet paper holders are stocked.
She also likes to decorate. With Easter coming up, now there are colorful bunnies in the window.
“This has been an amazing job, I love my job,” she said.
It shows, says John Wade, who wrote in to Cowboy State Daily saying he doesn’t know Wilson, but her efforts have made an impression.
Wilson, 48, first began working at the rest area four years ago helping another woman who had the contract. When that woman could not do it any longer because of an injury, Wilson stepped up, formed a business, went through the bidding process and won the contract.
The yearlong contract is evaluated at the end of the year by WYDOT and can be extended for up to three years before being put out to bid again. Wilson said there is a year left for her before the bidding process kicks in again.
Making the Independence Rock rest area festive for holidays is something that Amanda Wilson enjoys. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
Colorful bunnies for the Easter season greet travelers at the Independence Rock rest area thanks to Amanda Wilson. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
Amanda Wilson first got the idea to decorate her rest area after seeing the Independence Rock rest area filled with truckers on a Thanksgiving. She decorated the site for Christmas and has targeted other holidays since then to welcome travelers. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
Supplies wait on the shelf in the janitorial office at the Independence Rock rest area. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily)
Job Brings ‘Peace’
The job for Wilson, who lives in a little travel trailer off to the side of the rock with her three dogs, is something that has changed her life. She said she grew up in Alcova.
The last time she had been to Independence Rock before she took the job servicing it was during a field trip in ninth grade.
“Ever since I’ve gotten this job and come out here it’s brought me peace,” she said. “My mom is like, ‘For the first time in my life I can sleep at night.’ I hate it that for 40-some years my mom (had) to feel like that.”
Wilson enjoys the opportunities to meet and chat with people as she does her daily cleaning and routines.
In the winter when there are not as many travelers, she cleans the facility once or twice a day depending on needs. Inside the rest area, she has a janitorial room and office with a desk that sits beside the needed water tanks and plumbing and heating infrastructure.
A shelf holds the cleaning supplies, and a washer is in the corner for her to wash her cleaning rags and mop heads.
During the summer, Wilson said she is out and about doing something all day. She cleans the restrooms at least three times a day and empties the 16 trash cans outside that many times as well.
Toilet paper is an essential. In past years, the summer means going through five or six cases of toilet paper a week. Each case holds 96 rolls. This year, there are bigger toilet paper holders with bigger rolls — she will keep an eye on how that changes her ordering needs for supplies.
In late April and early May the buses start showing up that contain Mormons exploring the trail and rock as well as school groups and others. She said she will wake up at 6 a.m. and there will be seven Mormon tour busses parked and ready to explore the area. Another group will show up in the afternoons.
“I’ve met so many awesome people working out here, I never thought it would be like this at a rest area,” she said. “Our summer times are so busy, we have so many people who come through here and they are always so grateful to be here. It’s awesome.”
Decorations
One of the things that hit Wilson the first year working at the rest area was at Thanksgiving when there were several truckers parked in the lot during the holiday. That got her thinking about Christmas.
She pulled out her own decorations and got battery-powered lights to decorate the inside of the rest area. A regular trucker named “Jim” who runs daily between Rock Springs and Casper with his dog in the truck, left her a note thanking her for sprucing up the space for the holiday.
Wilson now decorates for several holidays including Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, Easter, the Fourth of July, and Veteran’s Day
“I’ve gotten so many notes from people pushed underneath my door when I come into work the next day thanking me for my decorations,” she said. “It’s been a really cool experience.”
Wilson said she also has become acquainted with a trucker from either Wisconsin or Minnesota who shows up at Independence Rock during the summer at some point with his grandson while he is on a run. His grandson likes to climb the rock.
“He brings me some RC Cola,” she said.
Two summers ago, she said was doing her morning trash can inspections when two gentlemen, one 78 and another 83, started a conversation with her.
One of the men had seen an article about Independence Rock in National Geographic and found out that his great-great-grandfather had carved his name on the rock. He and his friend were making breakfast.
Name Hunters
“They said they were climbing the rock to find his grandpa’s carving of his name,” she said.
Wilson said she does not know whether they found it or not because she did not see them for the rest of the day.
She said there are many people who show up looking to find a specific name in the rock.
But not everybody who climbs the rock has an easy time getting down, Wilson said. She said a medical life flight has landed in the area a couple of times to help people who became injured or stranded while on top of the rock.
And then there was the “gentleman” who planted a flag on top of the rock on a past Labor Day. He got in a little bit of trouble for it.
“I felt bad for the gentleman,” she said. “But the Boy Scouts brought me down the flag.”
While her role does not extend to policing the rock, Wilson said during her summer grass mowing responsibilities she tries to keep the grass down around the path that leads to the rock so visitors can spot any snakes that might be lurking.
Rattlesnakes camp out in the prairie around the rock. Wilson said she is not afraid of them, though the first year at the rest area her dog was bitten and needed to go to the vet. Now her three pets are all vaccinated and ready for the summer.
Wilson spent part of this winter learning taking an online class about how to repair the rest area’s sprinkler system, so WYDOT does not have to bring in an outside contractor to keep the grass irrigated. She wants to keep her job when the bidding cycle returns.
“I really hate the day that I lose this contract,” she said.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
