Luckily, my sleeping bag did live up to its description. It is rated at 20 degrees, and when I woke up in the morning to 4 inches of snow falling, I was glad for that. But I was done with the cold. I broke down camp and was on the road by 7:30 am. My GPS told me to go back down to the “GTTS Road” and that would be the fastest way. I drove down, 25 miles to talk to the ranger there just to be sure that the road was open. She checked the internet and made some calls. Both had differing opinions, but the reigning one was that it was closed for at least another hour so the rangers could evaluate it. So we looked at the map and the only other way to go was all the way around the park. BUT, the quickest way was a mountain road, and since it was snowing and bad road conditions, she suggested I double back 30 miles and go around a bit. I reluctantly agreed. It took and extra 2 hours that I didn't want to lose, but even that road was a little scary at times, and I got to see wild horses running alongside the road! Really cool, and I got video.
So, Blah blah blah and blah blah blah, I started the beginning of my crazy drive west. I went through some beautiful areas and took some small highways, including one that I was the only one on it felt like, and it went through Paradise, MT, supposedly the place Jimmy Buffet got the cheeseburger that inspired the song. I wish I could have stopped, but, I wasn't hungry and was crunched for time, I thought. I pressed on. I did some of the craziest driving I can remember. I went down 6% declines in the pouring rain with switchbacks, right next to semis. Among other things. Prolly averaged about 80. Stopped once or twice to fill up, organize my stuff, and take care of my basic needs. Learned of a whole new place I never even thought of... Coure d'Alene, ID (PR Cortaleen) which was beautiful, with a mountain lake as the main feature. I pressed on.
Finally got into Washington and it wasn't quite what I expected. It was all brown and barren most of the way from Spokane almost to Seattle. About 80 miles east of Seattle, it finally got interesting. Started having some of the features I've heard about. Pine trees, greenery in general, winding roads, and of course, MORE rain. At this point, it has only stopped raining for about 5 hours combined, and I MIGHT be getting used to it. Or sick of it. Not sure yet....
I thought for awhile that crossing the time zone would put me ahead 2 hours, but finally realized it put me back 2 hours! So, instead of making it in at 9:30 and picking up Paddy and Tom at 11:05, I arrived at 5:30! I made it to the hotel, which is super fancy, and get valet parking and am escorted to my room with a bell hop and all my bags. Turned on the tube for the first time in awhile, and relaxed a bit. I took a long needed shower, the first in 3 ½ days, and decided to do my laundry. Contact the front desk to see if there is a laundry service, and I am directed to a bag with a receipt inside. I didn't really understand the thing, so they had a man come up to pick up my laundry and answer any questions I had. After a minute, we realize what we think are prices on the receipt. $7 for one t-shirt, $4 for a pair of socks, etc....... So, I ask the foreign nice man, after spreading my dirty laundry on the floor to try and get an inventory, what he thinks. He doesn't think that can possibly be the price, but the front desk confirms our fears. Are you kidding me? Two small loads of laundry would have cost me over $150!! I chuckle and hang up on the front desk, offer the laundry man a tip, am refused, and ask the concierge for the nearest laundromat. I drive there, they are going to close in two hours, but say I should be fine. Started the loads and went across the street to a Chinese restaurant. Ordered the Kung Pao Pork and it was delicious, as was the company of my friends at the bar, Lola, and her boyfriend, and Tara, the bartender. We had some nice conversation and I excused myself to switch my load to the dryer, then came back and finished my beer and meal. Lola had lived in China and was a Psych minor, so we had a nice talk, Tara was from Alaska and was pretty hot, and funny. I told my 9-11 knock-knock joke and wrapped things up there.
Picked up my laundry and still had a couple hours to kill, so I drove around Seattle and the city has a great vibe. It reminds me a bit of San Francisco, but it has its own feel, too. Went back to the hotel for a minute, watched a little NFL Live and then set out to pick up Paddy and Tom from the airport. Lola's bf gave me a good tip and I parked in the Cell Phone Waiting Lot, about 2-3 minutes away from the pickup point and wait for the call. Grabbed those fools and we set out back to the hotel. They were both equally impressed, but we were all excited to see the city a bit more. There were a bunch of husker fans out, and we fit right in. We just walked about a mile around the sound area and had a couple beers, but we were all in agreeance that we wanted to be fresh for the morning, when we needed to get tickets and go to the husker game, so we headed back home, which actually was pretty late. I am finishing this blog now to go to bed. Can't believe I'm still up, Tom and Paddy are both asleep. I drove for about 14 hours today, and need to be up in about 5 hours. It is 3:16 am PT, but I woke up and started my ordeal at 6:45 CST, which is 4:45 PT. Aaaah! Not looking forward to tomorrow. But at least I don't feel rushed anymore. I think my trip can finally slow down.....
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Road Trip – Omaha to Seattle – Day 6 – Poston, MT to Many Glacier Camp– September 16, 2010
Woke up early and went down to the lake to shoot some photos. It was a bit after sunrise, but it didn't matter anyway, because it was pretty overcast and I couldn't see the sun regardless. This would become a trend.... I got some great photos, however, because the colors are changing for fall and anyone could take a shot with their disposable camera and make it look good in this area. I saw bald eagles, wild turkeys, and deer that just walked right up to the car and posed, basically.
Cooked myself some breakfast on the grill, eggs, bacon, and toast, and tore down camp to head up the road. First, I drove into Apgar, the first southwest entrance to Glacier National Park, and talked to the rangers as to where to camp. They told me the action was on the west side and to go there and talk to the other rangers. So I took the “Going-to-the-Sun Road” all the way from the west side of the park to the continental divide in the middle of the park, Logan Pass. It was a bit rainy the whole time, but by Logan, there was fog everywhere and construction was going on half the road. This is a alpine road, mind you, which generally has little or no shoulder, and the edge is a 1000 ft fall, if not more. Pretty scary in the pouring rain. But, it was absolutely breathtaking. This whole trip to this point has been a rollercoaster of many sorts. I talked to the rangers at Logan and they said the best place to set up camp for me and my situation would be Many Glacier. So I drove another 50 miles to get to Many Glacier camp and set up my tent. It was raining the whole time. I set out to get in a hike before sunset to try and maximize my experience, even though the weather wasn't the greatest. I drive to this amazing hotel situated on a lake near Many Glacier, and find the trailhead to Grinnell Lake. It is about a 6 mile rountrip hike, but I thought I could make it back by dusk, so I went on.
Turns out, I thought I was prepared for a rainy hike, but by the time I was about a mile in , I started to realize that my gear wasn't as rainproof as advertised. But I pressed on. By mile 2, I realized I was the only one on the trail. Bit I pressed on. By mile 3, I realized my “waterproof” boots, definitely not waterproof. I started getting pretty cold. It wasn't all bad, but, after awhile, I was doing it just to do it. The scenery was pretty amazing, but the weather was so poor I didn't bring my SLR along, just my PAS, and got the best pictures I could. I made it back to camp and realized that my clothes, even layered, were completely soaked through, it was still raining, and was about 50 degrees at this point. I got back to camp to find my tent was leaking slightly and tried to fix that issue. I did my best, and stripped off my wet clothes to trade them in for dry ones. That was an amazing feeling. Then I went and sat in my car with the heater cranked up and seriously contemplated breaking down camp and leaving for an early start to Seattle. I didn't. I don't know what is was, but I wanted to feel like it was worth it.
Cooked myself some breakfast on the grill, eggs, bacon, and toast, and tore down camp to head up the road. First, I drove into Apgar, the first southwest entrance to Glacier National Park, and talked to the rangers as to where to camp. They told me the action was on the west side and to go there and talk to the other rangers. So I took the “Going-to-the-Sun Road” all the way from the west side of the park to the continental divide in the middle of the park, Logan Pass. It was a bit rainy the whole time, but by Logan, there was fog everywhere and construction was going on half the road. This is a alpine road, mind you, which generally has little or no shoulder, and the edge is a 1000 ft fall, if not more. Pretty scary in the pouring rain. But, it was absolutely breathtaking. This whole trip to this point has been a rollercoaster of many sorts. I talked to the rangers at Logan and they said the best place to set up camp for me and my situation would be Many Glacier. So I drove another 50 miles to get to Many Glacier camp and set up my tent. It was raining the whole time. I set out to get in a hike before sunset to try and maximize my experience, even though the weather wasn't the greatest. I drive to this amazing hotel situated on a lake near Many Glacier, and find the trailhead to Grinnell Lake. It is about a 6 mile rountrip hike, but I thought I could make it back by dusk, so I went on.
Turns out, I thought I was prepared for a rainy hike, but by the time I was about a mile in , I started to realize that my gear wasn't as rainproof as advertised. But I pressed on. By mile 2, I realized I was the only one on the trail. Bit I pressed on. By mile 3, I realized my “waterproof” boots, definitely not waterproof. I started getting pretty cold. It wasn't all bad, but, after awhile, I was doing it just to do it. The scenery was pretty amazing, but the weather was so poor I didn't bring my SLR along, just my PAS, and got the best pictures I could. I made it back to camp and realized that my clothes, even layered, were completely soaked through, it was still raining, and was about 50 degrees at this point. I got back to camp to find my tent was leaking slightly and tried to fix that issue. I did my best, and stripped off my wet clothes to trade them in for dry ones. That was an amazing feeling. Then I went and sat in my car with the heater cranked up and seriously contemplated breaking down camp and leaving for an early start to Seattle. I didn't. I don't know what is was, but I wanted to feel like it was worth it.
Road Trip – Omaha to Seattle – Day 5 – Billings to Poston, MT – September 15, 2010
It was getting kinda foggy in Billings when my drive was coming to an end last night, and when I woke up it was as thick as pea soup. I could barely see to the interstate from the rest stop parking lot. I got up about 9 and did my morning routine in the rest area bathroom. Then got back on the road. Within about 15 minutes of me driving, the fog lifted, and revealed absolute beauty. I was surrounded by mountains with beautiful greens and browns all around me. Winding roads and big sky. I can see why that is Montana's nickname.
I stopped at the first city, Bozeman, before McD's stopped selling breakfast at 10:30. Got handed an egg Mcmuffin meal by a good looking girl probably for the first time ever at any McD's. I drove a bit more down the interstate after filling up and using the women's restroom in the gas station because the dude was taking forever. Then I pulled over at some random exit and just ate my breakfast sitting on the hood of my car looking at the gorgeous scenery.
Got back on and stopped next at the headwaters of the Missouri River. This is where the Missouri starts and is still clear and shallow. Quite lovely, there was also a man fly fishing there. I was hoping I'd see some fly fishing while I was in Montana. Anyway, busted through Missoula, and Butte, and finally reached my destination for the day, Poston, MT. Poston is the first large town on Flathead Lake. I have been wanting to come here for quite awhile. Flathead is about 60 x 20 miles. It is surrounded by mountains, and just absolutely breathtaking. I drove around a bit, got some provisions and drove to a couple campsites before choosing Flathead Lake State Park. It was close between this one and Big Arm State Park. Big Arm had showers, and their campsites were right on the water. But Flathead had power and more views, even if you have to walk a bit to get to them. My thought was for the best sunrise shots in the morning, and I hope this one will be better.
Who knows though. I planned on driving to the other side of the lake to get some good sunset shots, and was a bit disappointed. I think I'm just spoiled, though. It was pretty good, it just showed a lot more promise than it delivered. Plus, I was about an hour early, because I forgot I'm in mountain time, and darn close to pacific time here. Oh well, I got to explore a few different locations and I bought some roadside homemade huckleberry jam.
Before I left, I broke out the camping gear, set up my tent and cooked brats, and asparagus on the grill for myself. Pretty satisfied at this point. Plus, with the stuff I borrowed from Beth and her family, I set up a desk by the outlet, which I am currently blogging, listening to my iPod boombox, charging my phone and I have a fire roaring in the background. Couldn't get much better. Well, gotta dump my photos and stare at the fire before bed.....
I stopped at the first city, Bozeman, before McD's stopped selling breakfast at 10:30. Got handed an egg Mcmuffin meal by a good looking girl probably for the first time ever at any McD's. I drove a bit more down the interstate after filling up and using the women's restroom in the gas station because the dude was taking forever. Then I pulled over at some random exit and just ate my breakfast sitting on the hood of my car looking at the gorgeous scenery.
Got back on and stopped next at the headwaters of the Missouri River. This is where the Missouri starts and is still clear and shallow. Quite lovely, there was also a man fly fishing there. I was hoping I'd see some fly fishing while I was in Montana. Anyway, busted through Missoula, and Butte, and finally reached my destination for the day, Poston, MT. Poston is the first large town on Flathead Lake. I have been wanting to come here for quite awhile. Flathead is about 60 x 20 miles. It is surrounded by mountains, and just absolutely breathtaking. I drove around a bit, got some provisions and drove to a couple campsites before choosing Flathead Lake State Park. It was close between this one and Big Arm State Park. Big Arm had showers, and their campsites were right on the water. But Flathead had power and more views, even if you have to walk a bit to get to them. My thought was for the best sunrise shots in the morning, and I hope this one will be better.
Who knows though. I planned on driving to the other side of the lake to get some good sunset shots, and was a bit disappointed. I think I'm just spoiled, though. It was pretty good, it just showed a lot more promise than it delivered. Plus, I was about an hour early, because I forgot I'm in mountain time, and darn close to pacific time here. Oh well, I got to explore a few different locations and I bought some roadside homemade huckleberry jam.
Before I left, I broke out the camping gear, set up my tent and cooked brats, and asparagus on the grill for myself. Pretty satisfied at this point. Plus, with the stuff I borrowed from Beth and her family, I set up a desk by the outlet, which I am currently blogging, listening to my iPod boombox, charging my phone and I have a fire roaring in the background. Couldn't get much better. Well, gotta dump my photos and stare at the fire before bed.....
Road Trip – Omaha to Seattle – Day 4 – Still in Sioux Falls, SD – September 14, 2010
Woke up around noon today. Nothing much to do and planning a 14 hour drive when I get my car back, so thought I'd build up some sleep reserve. Walked to a free art gallery and saw some pretty good stuff, no photography allowed, of course, so I only got like 6 photos. After that, went to a restaurant called Chedd's. Chedd's is only the second one in the country. Evidently, the concept started in Denver and developed a following and an identity. The first franchise went to Austin, and the second here. The two Denver locations are currently closed pending the resolution of a divorce, but all-in-all the place is really neat. They specialize in gourmet grilled cheese, which kinda just means melts. But the atmosphere and vibe and employees all seem cool.
As soon as I was finished there, I headed toward the dealership to see if my car was ready. It was, and I gave them my 800 dollars and got all my shit from Jesse's and hit the road. The plan was to try and get to the badlands for some sunset pictures. I high-tailed it out of sioux falls and didn't make it to the badlands in time, but, oh well. There is a lot of cool stuff that way though. Mt. Rushmore, cosmos, wind cave, custer state park, etc. So since I missed out on those, I may come back that way on the way home, not sure yet. The rest of the day is pretty boring. I took a 5 hour energy, felt like a tweaker, but drove for 11 hours straight in the pitch black night of the winding mountain roads going about 82 the whole way. Still wasn't fast enough. I left Jesse's house about 5:30PM and arrived at the rest area where I slept around 4:30AM. The rest area is between Billings and Bozeman, MT.
As soon as I was finished there, I headed toward the dealership to see if my car was ready. It was, and I gave them my 800 dollars and got all my shit from Jesse's and hit the road. The plan was to try and get to the badlands for some sunset pictures. I high-tailed it out of sioux falls and didn't make it to the badlands in time, but, oh well. There is a lot of cool stuff that way though. Mt. Rushmore, cosmos, wind cave, custer state park, etc. So since I missed out on those, I may come back that way on the way home, not sure yet. The rest of the day is pretty boring. I took a 5 hour energy, felt like a tweaker, but drove for 11 hours straight in the pitch black night of the winding mountain roads going about 82 the whole way. Still wasn't fast enough. I left Jesse's house about 5:30PM and arrived at the rest area where I slept around 4:30AM. The rest area is between Billings and Bozeman, MT.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Road Trip – Omaha to Seattle – Day 3 – Still in Sioux Falls, SD – September 13, 2010
I woke up at 7:20 and drove Jesse's car up to the dealership. When I got there, the very sweet Rachel was going over my info and making up a report. She said she would call me with their findings and try and get it fixed as soon as possible. I went back down to Jesse's house and watched some tv for awhile. I got a call around 9:30 and she had some bad news for me. It had affected another pulley and something else and was going to be about $550. They didn't have the crank pulley in stock and had to order it. It usually takes a week. They had the option of overnight shipping for an extra 40. I did it of course, and so now I wait another day in SFSD. Watched tv and blogged until about 1 pm and headed out to see the city a bit just walking around. I walked around the downtown area, which is really cool and took lots of pictures of their sculptures on the street. They have dozens of sculptures lining the downtown streets. I hopped on the free trolley and went back to Falls Park, where the rapids cascade down into waterfalls in the middle of town. I got back on the trolley and Jesse called me up to tell me he got off work early. So I walked to his house and waited for him to get home. Then we got in the car and drove out about a half hour away to Devil's Gulch. Devil's Gulch is where, supposedly (there are disputes), Jesse James the outlaw, after being on the run for two weeks, with half his men dead, jumped his horse over a 100 foot tall gulch at a place where the span was about 15-20 feet. The posse chasing him were all too scared and amazed to attempt it, and Jesse James then escaped to Missouri. We also went to Palisade State Park and did a little nature hike and took some photos. Jesse showed me where he had jumped off huge rocks into the water below in his youth, and I found some wild cactus growing that I took a sample of, along with some quartzite for home.
We headed back into SF around sunset and went to Wiley's Bar and Grill, a former employer of Jesse's, and a pretty neat bar. We watched Monday Night Football, the Ravens beat the Jets and the Chiefs beat the Chargers. The wings were decent, the pizza edible. And the only real drawback was the loud and drunk 30 year HS reunion going on around us. We went home and went to bed around 12am.
We headed back into SF around sunset and went to Wiley's Bar and Grill, a former employer of Jesse's, and a pretty neat bar. We watched Monday Night Football, the Ravens beat the Jets and the Chiefs beat the Chargers. The wings were decent, the pizza edible. And the only real drawback was the loud and drunk 30 year HS reunion going on around us. We went home and went to bed around 12am.
Days 1 and 2 – Omaha, NE to Sioux Falls, SD – September 11, 2010
I am starting out a road trip from Omaha to Seattle. My plan is to head north and stop in Sioux Falls, SD, and stay with my old buddy Jesse James Wilson. I met Jesse while I was working at Mckenna's BBQ around 2002, and we have stayed in contact ever since, even since he moved back to his home in Sioux Falls SD 6 years ago.
These past two weeks have been crazy stressful, as unplanned expenses have reared their ugly heads in last few months, so I have scheduled a lot of extra work time this month to make up for the lost money. Ugh! Money. Anyway, I won't get into that rant yet (maybe later). I had planned to get a lot of planning done for the details of the trip in the last week, but had a lot of work come up in addition to picking up extra shifts at the restaurant. I had a few impromptu fence jobs and I had three new projects for graphic design, including finishing a website for my friend Paddy's business he runs with his dad. So I didn't get as prepared as I would have liked to. In addition, my car had some recurring issues and I ended up taking it to 3 different mechanics before we finally diagnosed the problem correctly and after spending about $550 on the issue, still I am leaving town knowing that I need a new bearing knuckle in my car when I return.
So, in short, I am stressed. It doesn't happen to me very often, but I am. I need this vacation. And I am excited to leave. I wanted to leave about 12pm today, but was running here and there, packing, planning, getting provisions, gas, etc. and didn't get on the road until about 3pm. No big deal though.
I leave Council Bluffs, IA after picking up some stuff at Wal-Mart and filling up the tank. I immediately feel a great sense of relief to finally have nothing to do and worry about. Just head north on I-29 and three hours later you're in Sioux Falls. I am close to the interstate exits for Sioux Falls and notice that my check engine light is flashing. I continue on, and arrive at Jesse's house around 6 pm. He has a cute little one bedroom box of a house, probably about 600 square feet, but he lives alone and has enough space. I unload some of my stuff from the car, which by the way is pretty full and I am not sure how I am going to get MORE stuff in there and still have room for Tom and Paddy. Anyway, I unload some stuff and Jesse and I set off to see the city's namesake, the falls.
They were absolutely beautiful! It is like being at an awesome area in a National Park in the middle of this city/town of 200K people. There are beautiful natural quartzite red rocks and cascading water screaming through it. Gorgeous. Jesse and I were shootin the shit, catching up, and next thing I know, I had to sit down because I started feeling weird. I think I have had like one anxiety attack in my life, and this was what that felt like, I think. I got sweaty, felt kinda light-headed, couldn't concentrate. So I sat down on the rocks for a minute and just breathed, and it passed. I think it was just too much emotion building up and trying to get out. All the stress, relief, reunion, and natural beauty couldn't be contained anymore.
We decided we were both hungry and decided to go to a place called Minerva's downtown. It is a semi upscale place with a large, fresh salad bar, mostly steaks and chicken dinners, etc. We sat at the bar to have a drink and wait for a patio table to open up. As I drank my Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout I notice there is an item I am unfamiliar with...it's called chislic. Intrigued, when we sat at our table outside, I ordered the chislic appetizer and a Schell Dark, from Minnesota. Jesse fills me in on the history of chislic. He said traditionally it is made from lamb but chislic can refer to several meats, as it is more about the style of preparation. The chislic we ordered is steak, and basically what it is is cubed steak dropped in the deep fryer with no breading. Interesting, I thought it would probably be dried out, but it was delicious and not dry at all. After that we hit the salad bar, and I ordered the half duckling with a dark berry sauce and Jesse got the buffalo burger. Both were good. The duck was a bit more cooked than I normally like it, but not overdone.
We then decided that a quick driving tour of the city was in order. They have some great buildings with character and a beautiful cathedral. I snapped a few shots with my PAS(point and shoot camera. I will refer to PAS and SLR throughout this blog probably. These are my two cameras. SLR is my more expensive body with detachable lenses. SLR refers to “Single Lens Reflex” which means when you look through the viewfinder, with the help of a mirror, you look directly out the lens of the camera.) and we headed to a local bar called Nutty's, where there was going to be music that night. We were about an hour and fifteen minutes early for the show, so we decide to go to the other Nutty's, Nutty's South, and visit Jesse's friend. We have a couple drinks and notice the bar is absolutely full of women. There are like 3 bachelorette parties, annoying as usual, but all in all the bar was packed and fun. South Dakota has beautiful women. A bit like the style in Omaha, but different in a way I can't quite put my finger on. Anyway, we head to a place called Rookie's where another friend of Jesse's was working as a bouncer. Big J, I believe was his name. We just stayed long enough to say hi and marvel at the new phenomenon, the punching bag. You pay a dollar for one hit on a punching bag that then rates your strength of the hit 0-1000. J is a big man who used to be a DL for European league football and he can get a 994. There was a huge crowd around this thing to pay $1 a hit! Wish I would have invented that in this age of the youth that are into MMA and such. It rakes in thousands! We then head back to Nutty's North and enjoy some live music.
One band was a folk band with about 7 members and the other was a rockier band with 4. They took turns playing a few songs each, back and forth. I got a good buzz, mingled around, bought a $10 Sewer Rats(the second band) t-shirt, and Jesse and I went back home via a ride, as neither of us was in good shape to drive. Had a little wacky tobacky and listened to music for about three more hours before we finally hit the hay about 5:30am. Woke up around 11 and went to a diner Jesse had talked about being on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. We found out that it was planned to be in the show, but didn't actually happen. NBD. I ordered chicken and waffles, and Jesse got a hot roast beef sandwich covered in mashed potatoes with dark gravy. Mine totally hit the spot. Jesse had never had chicken and waffles and thought it was weird. This from the guy who introduced me to baked beans on top of cornbread. I made him try a bite with waffle, maple syrup, bacon, and the breaded fried chicken. He was instantly smitten.
We parted ways soon thereafter and I headed to Wal-Mart to get some food, ice and drink. I went back to the tire and lube area to see if they could check out my check engine light issue. They couldn't, but referred me to Tires Plus down the street. I noticed this was the best Wal-Mart I had ever been to as far as quality of customers. There were beautiful young women all over, successful looking people, all groomed properly, it was weird. I had to look around to be sure they hadn't snuck me into a GAP or something. So, I was ambivalent about whether or not to stop at the Tires Plus, so I sat outside Wal-Mart for awhile and did some internet research on my car symptoms. I checked the oil, looked around the engine for anything blatantly obvious, and decided to try and drive it a bit and see if the light would flash again. I got on the interstate and almost immediately it did it again. So I went back and pulled into Tires Plus. Went inside, and found out that they only had one mechanic on duty, and it was about 35 minutes til close. He said he couldn't fit it in. I explained my circumstances and talked him into hooking it up to the scanner to see what it said. The scan came back saying the knock sensor had an issue, which I was aware of, but was told not to worry about it. But it also came back with ALL FOUR cylinders misfiring. They had not really seen that before, and encouraged me to get it looked at more thoroughly at the Subaru dealer, where they have a more detailed scanner. They also thought I could have gotten a bad tank of gas and we sort of decided I should top off my tank with premium gas and a fuel inhector cleaner, drive a little more and see if the light continued to flash. At this point, I am obviously confused, it's 5 pm, I'm already way later than I wanted to be, and I decide to get on the interstate and see what happens.
The light would sometimes flash and sometimes not, and I drove with the radio off the whole time and didn't hear any weird noises or anything. I got about 35 miles outside of Sioux Falls and notice the battery light and the brake light also had come on. I was about ¼ mile from a rest area, so I pull in and as I am parking in a spot notice my power steering is out. At this point I am freaking out, frustrated, and sick of my f-ing car. I pop the hood and see if I can see anything. First thing I notice is a belt sitting in there. I look to find out where this had come from and see my crank pulley is hanging off the bolt at an angle. I decided to sit down in the grass, breathe, and make some phone calls. I talked to my friend and roommate Tom and we decide I very well could have blown a cylinder or more, and I should get a tow back to town and look for a used car in SF. I call my insurance company to line up a tow back to town, and find out I don't have roadside assistance and would pay for this out of pocket. But they lined up the tow for me. I told them to take it to a used car lot in town and sat and waited for the tow driver. About this time, an older man with the hairiest ears I had ever seen was trying to talk to me, but I was on the phone inside the car because of interstate noise and gave him the “wait a minute, I'm on the phone” finger gesture. I got off the call and went over to talk to him. He was delivering a new car to his daughter in Seattle and was also going through Portland, so we hit it off immediately. He was waiting for the sun to go down a bit more so he could see driving west. He had some car knowledge and took a look with me. He said it didn't look bad at all. He said if the pulley hadn't gotten a bit worn out in the center I could probably just tighten the bolt, re-string the belts and drive away! He said if I could go to a junk yard, I could fix it myself for about 50 bucks. This made me a bit optimistic, but having no tools, not much car knowledge, etc. I decided to take it to a mechanic just the same.
The tow driver got there, we looked at the car again, and I asked him for a good mechanic reference, since I had now decided to fix it instead of getting a new one. He said there was a Subaru dealer in town and the service manager was honest and fair. I said ok. So we hopped in the truck and headed back into town. We got to talking and Mark, the driver, is quite an interesting fellow. He enjoys photography as well, and had actually sold several pictures to the paper for like $8000 a piece! He had evidently been the first one on the scene a couple of times when some major shit happened and gotten photos. One time he found a dead police officer. I would have never thought about it, but after the tow leaves the scene of an accident, there are no more photos to take, so he is in a unique position. Anyway, he drops me off and Jesse picks me up from the dealership, I drop the key in the night dropbox and leave a note. Jesse and I get Taco Bell and go home, only about a mile away.
We overindulge on the tacos and watch a Broken Lizard movie, Puddle Cruiser, evidently their first, from 1996. It was pretty awful, but funny at times, so not a bad way to wind down my exciting day. I went to sleep and planned to get up at 7:20ish to go up and talk to someone at Subaru when they open at 7:30.
These past two weeks have been crazy stressful, as unplanned expenses have reared their ugly heads in last few months, so I have scheduled a lot of extra work time this month to make up for the lost money. Ugh! Money. Anyway, I won't get into that rant yet (maybe later). I had planned to get a lot of planning done for the details of the trip in the last week, but had a lot of work come up in addition to picking up extra shifts at the restaurant. I had a few impromptu fence jobs and I had three new projects for graphic design, including finishing a website for my friend Paddy's business he runs with his dad. So I didn't get as prepared as I would have liked to. In addition, my car had some recurring issues and I ended up taking it to 3 different mechanics before we finally diagnosed the problem correctly and after spending about $550 on the issue, still I am leaving town knowing that I need a new bearing knuckle in my car when I return.
So, in short, I am stressed. It doesn't happen to me very often, but I am. I need this vacation. And I am excited to leave. I wanted to leave about 12pm today, but was running here and there, packing, planning, getting provisions, gas, etc. and didn't get on the road until about 3pm. No big deal though.
I leave Council Bluffs, IA after picking up some stuff at Wal-Mart and filling up the tank. I immediately feel a great sense of relief to finally have nothing to do and worry about. Just head north on I-29 and three hours later you're in Sioux Falls. I am close to the interstate exits for Sioux Falls and notice that my check engine light is flashing. I continue on, and arrive at Jesse's house around 6 pm. He has a cute little one bedroom box of a house, probably about 600 square feet, but he lives alone and has enough space. I unload some of my stuff from the car, which by the way is pretty full and I am not sure how I am going to get MORE stuff in there and still have room for Tom and Paddy. Anyway, I unload some stuff and Jesse and I set off to see the city's namesake, the falls.
They were absolutely beautiful! It is like being at an awesome area in a National Park in the middle of this city/town of 200K people. There are beautiful natural quartzite red rocks and cascading water screaming through it. Gorgeous. Jesse and I were shootin the shit, catching up, and next thing I know, I had to sit down because I started feeling weird. I think I have had like one anxiety attack in my life, and this was what that felt like, I think. I got sweaty, felt kinda light-headed, couldn't concentrate. So I sat down on the rocks for a minute and just breathed, and it passed. I think it was just too much emotion building up and trying to get out. All the stress, relief, reunion, and natural beauty couldn't be contained anymore.
We decided we were both hungry and decided to go to a place called Minerva's downtown. It is a semi upscale place with a large, fresh salad bar, mostly steaks and chicken dinners, etc. We sat at the bar to have a drink and wait for a patio table to open up. As I drank my Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout I notice there is an item I am unfamiliar with...it's called chislic. Intrigued, when we sat at our table outside, I ordered the chislic appetizer and a Schell Dark, from Minnesota. Jesse fills me in on the history of chislic. He said traditionally it is made from lamb but chislic can refer to several meats, as it is more about the style of preparation. The chislic we ordered is steak, and basically what it is is cubed steak dropped in the deep fryer with no breading. Interesting, I thought it would probably be dried out, but it was delicious and not dry at all. After that we hit the salad bar, and I ordered the half duckling with a dark berry sauce and Jesse got the buffalo burger. Both were good. The duck was a bit more cooked than I normally like it, but not overdone.
We then decided that a quick driving tour of the city was in order. They have some great buildings with character and a beautiful cathedral. I snapped a few shots with my PAS(point and shoot camera. I will refer to PAS and SLR throughout this blog probably. These are my two cameras. SLR is my more expensive body with detachable lenses. SLR refers to “Single Lens Reflex” which means when you look through the viewfinder, with the help of a mirror, you look directly out the lens of the camera.) and we headed to a local bar called Nutty's, where there was going to be music that night. We were about an hour and fifteen minutes early for the show, so we decide to go to the other Nutty's, Nutty's South, and visit Jesse's friend. We have a couple drinks and notice the bar is absolutely full of women. There are like 3 bachelorette parties, annoying as usual, but all in all the bar was packed and fun. South Dakota has beautiful women. A bit like the style in Omaha, but different in a way I can't quite put my finger on. Anyway, we head to a place called Rookie's where another friend of Jesse's was working as a bouncer. Big J, I believe was his name. We just stayed long enough to say hi and marvel at the new phenomenon, the punching bag. You pay a dollar for one hit on a punching bag that then rates your strength of the hit 0-1000. J is a big man who used to be a DL for European league football and he can get a 994. There was a huge crowd around this thing to pay $1 a hit! Wish I would have invented that in this age of the youth that are into MMA and such. It rakes in thousands! We then head back to Nutty's North and enjoy some live music.
One band was a folk band with about 7 members and the other was a rockier band with 4. They took turns playing a few songs each, back and forth. I got a good buzz, mingled around, bought a $10 Sewer Rats(the second band) t-shirt, and Jesse and I went back home via a ride, as neither of us was in good shape to drive. Had a little wacky tobacky and listened to music for about three more hours before we finally hit the hay about 5:30am. Woke up around 11 and went to a diner Jesse had talked about being on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. We found out that it was planned to be in the show, but didn't actually happen. NBD. I ordered chicken and waffles, and Jesse got a hot roast beef sandwich covered in mashed potatoes with dark gravy. Mine totally hit the spot. Jesse had never had chicken and waffles and thought it was weird. This from the guy who introduced me to baked beans on top of cornbread. I made him try a bite with waffle, maple syrup, bacon, and the breaded fried chicken. He was instantly smitten.
We parted ways soon thereafter and I headed to Wal-Mart to get some food, ice and drink. I went back to the tire and lube area to see if they could check out my check engine light issue. They couldn't, but referred me to Tires Plus down the street. I noticed this was the best Wal-Mart I had ever been to as far as quality of customers. There were beautiful young women all over, successful looking people, all groomed properly, it was weird. I had to look around to be sure they hadn't snuck me into a GAP or something. So, I was ambivalent about whether or not to stop at the Tires Plus, so I sat outside Wal-Mart for awhile and did some internet research on my car symptoms. I checked the oil, looked around the engine for anything blatantly obvious, and decided to try and drive it a bit and see if the light would flash again. I got on the interstate and almost immediately it did it again. So I went back and pulled into Tires Plus. Went inside, and found out that they only had one mechanic on duty, and it was about 35 minutes til close. He said he couldn't fit it in. I explained my circumstances and talked him into hooking it up to the scanner to see what it said. The scan came back saying the knock sensor had an issue, which I was aware of, but was told not to worry about it. But it also came back with ALL FOUR cylinders misfiring. They had not really seen that before, and encouraged me to get it looked at more thoroughly at the Subaru dealer, where they have a more detailed scanner. They also thought I could have gotten a bad tank of gas and we sort of decided I should top off my tank with premium gas and a fuel inhector cleaner, drive a little more and see if the light continued to flash. At this point, I am obviously confused, it's 5 pm, I'm already way later than I wanted to be, and I decide to get on the interstate and see what happens.
The light would sometimes flash and sometimes not, and I drove with the radio off the whole time and didn't hear any weird noises or anything. I got about 35 miles outside of Sioux Falls and notice the battery light and the brake light also had come on. I was about ¼ mile from a rest area, so I pull in and as I am parking in a spot notice my power steering is out. At this point I am freaking out, frustrated, and sick of my f-ing car. I pop the hood and see if I can see anything. First thing I notice is a belt sitting in there. I look to find out where this had come from and see my crank pulley is hanging off the bolt at an angle. I decided to sit down in the grass, breathe, and make some phone calls. I talked to my friend and roommate Tom and we decide I very well could have blown a cylinder or more, and I should get a tow back to town and look for a used car in SF. I call my insurance company to line up a tow back to town, and find out I don't have roadside assistance and would pay for this out of pocket. But they lined up the tow for me. I told them to take it to a used car lot in town and sat and waited for the tow driver. About this time, an older man with the hairiest ears I had ever seen was trying to talk to me, but I was on the phone inside the car because of interstate noise and gave him the “wait a minute, I'm on the phone” finger gesture. I got off the call and went over to talk to him. He was delivering a new car to his daughter in Seattle and was also going through Portland, so we hit it off immediately. He was waiting for the sun to go down a bit more so he could see driving west. He had some car knowledge and took a look with me. He said it didn't look bad at all. He said if the pulley hadn't gotten a bit worn out in the center I could probably just tighten the bolt, re-string the belts and drive away! He said if I could go to a junk yard, I could fix it myself for about 50 bucks. This made me a bit optimistic, but having no tools, not much car knowledge, etc. I decided to take it to a mechanic just the same.
The tow driver got there, we looked at the car again, and I asked him for a good mechanic reference, since I had now decided to fix it instead of getting a new one. He said there was a Subaru dealer in town and the service manager was honest and fair. I said ok. So we hopped in the truck and headed back into town. We got to talking and Mark, the driver, is quite an interesting fellow. He enjoys photography as well, and had actually sold several pictures to the paper for like $8000 a piece! He had evidently been the first one on the scene a couple of times when some major shit happened and gotten photos. One time he found a dead police officer. I would have never thought about it, but after the tow leaves the scene of an accident, there are no more photos to take, so he is in a unique position. Anyway, he drops me off and Jesse picks me up from the dealership, I drop the key in the night dropbox and leave a note. Jesse and I get Taco Bell and go home, only about a mile away.
We overindulge on the tacos and watch a Broken Lizard movie, Puddle Cruiser, evidently their first, from 1996. It was pretty awful, but funny at times, so not a bad way to wind down my exciting day. I went to sleep and planned to get up at 7:20ish to go up and talk to someone at Subaru when they open at 7:30.
Road Trip 2010
It's Road Trip 2010 time!
Hope ya'll enjoy the blog, I'll try not to bore you to death.
Hope ya'll enjoy the blog, I'll try not to bore you to death.
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