Leg 2

I am writing from the Super 8 in Gardiner MT. Just had a local bison burger and a Montana brew called Blackfoot. Its sunny and 50 here and the forecast called for 40 and nasty rain/snow, so I'm pumped. Walked around town a bit to check it out, apparently it is early in the season because nothing is really open yet. 

Before I get going, I have to thank Mark & Lizzie again. They were the best hosts ever. I cant thank you guys enough. Mark took me around Boulder to get some gear I was missing, and he let me borrow some stuff he thought I would need. Lizzie made me feel like I was family during the entire stay. I owe you guys big time. I will see you guys up here shortly, and when I come back to Lafayette/Boulder in Oct. 

Today I drove from Boulder/Lafayette CO to Gardiner MT. Should have taken 10 hours, took 12. It started out great, was on the road at 5am, got within 10 miles of the Montana border with ease, a bald eagle buzzed Lola, it was nice. There was some snow in northern Wyoming, but nothing was accumulating on the roads at all. As I got really close to MT, thinking I am gonna get to Gardiner in 8 1/2 or 9 hrs, I notice a sign that says "Highway is closed when lights are flashing," and they were flashing. I said (out loud) "Bull shit yo!" I kept going for about a 1/2 mile and sure enough the WY hwy patrol had the gates down blocking interstate 90 and the interstate was closed. I exited and there was a hwy patrolman on the ramp. I stopped and asked him, "What gives?!" He explained to me that he had no info on when it would open again but that there was heavy snow ahead and the plows weren't out yet and the roads were a real mess a few miles up. I showed him the road atlas my parents let me borrow which is the size of a standard pillow, and I noticed 2 smaller hwys (hwy 314 north & hwy 212 west) that would bring me back to interstate 90. He asked me to turn around and go back to the town I had just passed. I asked him, "hypothetically, if I decided to ignore your request and take these smaller hwys into MT....." he replied, "If I were you, I would turn around." So naturally, I decided to take the smaller hwys into MT. I really had to. If you aren't in Yellowstone for check in, which for me was the following morning at 7am, you arent guaranteed the job you received. Apparently they overbook jobs like airlines do passengers on flights. My thought was, who knows how long this will take, keep pressing on. So I did. The detour started quite well. The weather was fine, the road were rather dry, light snow falling, but again none sticking to the roads. I was going to take hwy 314 north to hwy 212 west and that should get me back to interstate 90 and back on track if it wasnt closed there as well. As I was a few miles into hwy 314, I double checked my quick gas math. My gauge showed that I had about 80 or 90 miles til empty, I looked at the map, it was gonna take about 60 miles to get back to interstate 90, but I had no idea where a gas station was. Hmmmmm. I grab my phone to locate the nearest gas station... 'Iphones are so great, they can do anything, Im just gonna.... oh, no signal. This amazing technology is totally useless.' Oh well, Im gonna be on 3 different hwys, and meeting back up with the interstate, I will come across a gas station or a person who can tell me where the next one is. So I decided to stay the course. There were literally no FM stations on the radio at this point, and the only program on AM that could be understood was Rush Limbaugh. So at least I had my entertainment all figured out. As I kept going, the snow kept getting thicker and thicker and thicker. I started to ask myself questions I should have thought of before I started the detour: "What if one of these hwys is closed ahead? What if something happens to my car?If I do decide to turn around, how far is it to the nearest gas station in that direction? Does Robert Redford have a house out here?" By the time it was too late to turn around, visibility was about 200-300 yards. I couldn't tell if I was in the mountains or if it was flat. I didnt see another car/truck for about 10-15 minutes. 'Was I an idiot? The locals probably know something I dont and are avoiding this road.' I didnt panic, but it was a little uncomfortable. No phone. Little gas. No info on the roads I was on, advice from a local lawman to turn around. I pressed on. I figure Im this far in already, might as well see what happens. Keep the faith. At this point, the snow is so heavy and bright, I am wearing sunglasses because I was squinting so much. Out of the 60 mile detour, I was about 30 miles in when I noticed an 18 wheeler stuck on the side of the road, and for some reason I felt relieved when I saw it. Looking back I should have started crying for what that meant for me, but this evoked a positive response for one reason: people I could talk to. There was a pick up truck as well helping to block the road for the big rig and waving traffic on around him. I stopped to ask him about a gas station. A few miles back I had passed a sign that said I was on an Indian reservation. I rolled down my window and before I could say anything, this Native American man (North Cheyenne Tribesman to be exact) decked out in carhartt gear asks me "Wet enough for you?" I am aware that this could have gone down in history as the best "that's what she said," in history due to the specific situation, but I couldn't gauge his TV viewing habits, pop culture awareness, or just plain sense of humor in such a short amount of time, and I really needed his help, so I shook of the obvious comment instinct and asked him about the gas station and its proximity. He said it was 30 miles up the road, exactly where I thought is was gonna be. Perfect. The rest of the way up 314 and 212 were nerve racking bc the weather was so nasty, but at least I knew there was a gas station and I might be able to get back on the interstate as well. Just took it slow and safe the whole way. As I got within a couple of miles of interstate 90, the weather cleared up almost completely. As interstate 90 came into view, I noticed cars were cruising on it. BOOYAH!!!! SUCCESS!!!! What a relief. I located the gas station. I had 20 miles left til my tank was empty. Fill up, get right back to the road. Lost maybe an hour or so with said detour and asking the locals if it was 'wet enough for them?' I pulled into the gas station (the only one in sight), and the loud speaker comes on: "Pump 7 (thats me), our pumps arent working." I almost tipped Lola over and started walking back into the blizzard. Are you kidding me?! I had to whiz, so I went in to TCB and ask about the nearest gas station..... with working pumps. A guy doing a survey for the University of Montana approached me, I took the survey, and he helped with with finding a gas station. 12 miles away he says. I have 20 left til empty. What choice do I have? Rode into a gas station about 15 miles away on fumes I'm sure, filled up, and the rest of the way was a piece of cake. I still had about 5 hrs left, all Montana, but the weather was totally clear the rest of the way, and it was even sunny on the last 60 miles into Gardiner. I was excited before, now I got a taste of what is to come with the views. Ridiculously pumped now. The pic above is about 30 miles outside of the park. I cant wait to fall asleep, I am beat. Early, and probably another long day tomorrow. As of right now, my cell works. So I guess we fill find out tomorrow how it works in the park. At least I know I can come to the north end of the park and make calls. 

The Thief and the Trek

So I am in Lafayette/ Boulder CO right now. It was literally 80 degrees and sunny with a nice breeze yesterday. Today it is 38 and snowing like crazy. Hopefully this shit will clear up tomorrow so my 10 hour drive straight north doesn't turn into a 15 hour drive straight north. Its not supposed to, so I am preparing for long day of driving in nasty weather. 

Boulder is unreal. The perfect mountain town. Reminds me of Vail a little bit. Classy and rugged at the same time. Mark says he knows a lot of people here, so finding a job and a place to stay would be really easy after yellowstone. Good to know and after seeing the town and how things are, its a really good possibility I will give it a go, but who knows, its april and thats october. 

The drive was relatively easy. Nice weather, hardly anybody on the road. Took about 13:30, but it really wasnt bad. I mean Kansas sucks, but we all know that, so all things considered it was a good day of travel. 

So, before I left, I had to get rid of all my stuff, or at least the big stuff, so I had a moving sale. I think "moving sale" is hoosier for "meet Kid Rock" because so many weirdos come out of the woodwork, and I dont really wanna know where from. Example: My sale was supposed to start at 9. I had a guy and his wife in a crown vic pull up at 8 and block my driveway. I seriously think his thought process was "If this guy is here and parked around back, hes not going anywhere til I get a good look at that recliner." I noticed him leaning on his ride with his arms crossed and asked if he was a there for the sale. He was. He just wanted to see the recliner. He came in, sat in it, it was awkward, I told him what i wanted for it and he left. Apparently 25 bucks for a recliner is too steep. Im not in the market for a recliner, but if I was, I think I could part with 25 big ones, or at least haggle for a lazboy. There was this other family that came in, I sold them my ottomans, my TV and all that was hooked up to it, and my futon, and eventually my couch. I will make this as short as possible. They had to come back to pick up some of the items they couldn't haul the day of the sale. They came back monday night around 930 pm. I was alone and doing stuff around my house to get the F out of 6335. They show up with 4 people. I was pretty overwhelmed, and at this point just wanted to get rid of stuff, so I was pretty cool about what they took and really didnt care. Plates, a plant, little stuff. I had my Yellowstone items laid out in the front room in the corner where the recliner used to be so I could pack easy the next day: Mistake #1. I helped move the couch out, I guess bc I consider myself a nice guy: Mistake #2. I didnt really notice, but one of the guys stayed in the house when I was carrying the couch out with another guy. I used the bathroom later, while they were still there packing up half of what I have owned for the past 5 yrs, that they got all for under $100, and I noticed my big headphones in my sink. I do not keep my headphones in my sink. So I grabbed them and tossed back with the stuff I am taking with me. I gave my stuff a glance, thinking, what else could/would they have stolen?? My passport is there, checkbook is there.... hey, where is that huge knife I put next to that alarm clock?? OH SHIT. DUDE STOLE MY KNIFE: Mistake #3. I left my knife out, how stupid could i be? I just wasnt thinking about it. I had talked to these people twice a day for 3 days about picking up the stuff, so I guess I trusted them enough that it didnt even dawn on me to hide, cover, or put away some of my stuff. I was pretty pissed. I had treated these people so well. The economy is garbage, they seemed really down on their luck, and I was doing my part as a good citizen who has done ok so far in comparison by giving them good deals. Then they steal from me?? No sir. Against my better judgement, I went outside, they were all in their cars at this point, walked straight to the grandma of the crew of misfits and asked her why my headphones were in my sink and why my knife was missing. She seemed like she had no idea what I was talking about, but was not surprised in the least that it happened. She assured me that if she got to the bottom of it, she would return it to me. How comforting. Thank you grandma. I didnt want to make a big stink because, like I said, one of these weirdos had my knife. So I went inside and called the police. In the time that I was waiting for the police to show, the crew of morons called me 2 times, the first time claiming they had forgot something and needed to come back to get it. I told them I didn't see what they were talking about, but I would call if I found it. I dont know why they wanted to come back, maybe to drop the knife off bc they felt bad (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA) or maybe to chop me up, etc. The police showed, nothing they can do, hi five. It wasn't even the knife that pissed me off, it was actually a POS that i got at a flea market for $10. It was that I was so good to them and they could still do that to a person who actually helped them. If I had taken the time to really sell that stuff, I could have made 3 times what I did, maybe more. I think the real reason I was so bummed about this whole thing is that I lost some faith in people in general. They looked like what most people in STL would stereotype as "South Side Hoosiers." I don't judge a book by its cover, or at least make a conscious effort not to, and they had been really nice about everything so far, so I had no reason to think otherwise. I will just chalk it up as me being stupid for leaving my stuff out, and lucky that dude didn't gut me. Lesson learned. Akes helped me put it in perspective. What are they gonna do now? They are gonna go back home, and continue this lifestyle they are in. What are you about to do? Go to Yellowstone. Perspective. Thank you Shake n Bake. Needless to say, grandma must not have got to the bottom of it, bc I didnt get my knife back. 

Gonna get some grub with Mark. I hope you can comment on this....

April 26th

So, right now I should be moving stuff, but since I have been doing it all day, I am gonna chill in my filth and get a blog up and running. It is monday and I leave Wed morning at 3am. Stressed = understatement. Cant wait to hit the road. Literally, I dont want to wait that long to bounce. Now I do i send this thing out??