Tales of a Technogypsie

Sat

Oct '09

7.29.09: STL Cronicles/Hearth Quest: Chapter 19: ‘Death to the Vardo, Wyoming to Idaho, Boise, Devil’s Slide’

Part of Leaf's adventure in Chronicles of Sir Thomas Leaf, Hearth Quest, photography, travelogues | Tags: Boise, car failure, car loss, Devil's Slide, Idaho, Toyota Matrix, Utah, vardo, Wyoming

[ Back to Chapter 18: The Oregon Trail ] [ Chapter 19: Death to the Vardo ] [ Chapter 20: Faerie Houses ]

Green River, Wyoming

From the journal of Sir Thomas “Rymour Oisin” Leaf: Tuesday, The 29th of Quintilis (Julius Caesar’s “July”) in the good year 2009 of the Common Era

“Early to rise at the rest area outside of Rock Springs, Wyoming. Crunched in the car, but with the cargo carrier back folded down and the boxes piled up around me, but at least no steering wheel stabbing me in the chest. Having travelled 400.7 miles last night, stopping from exhaustion and sleeping from 1 am until 7 am. I awoke and stumbled out of the car flopping around in bare feet and heading over to the rest area to splash water on my face, brush my teeth, and change my clothes. I was back on the road by 7:10 am. My breakfast involved Hostess Ho Ho’s and Fresh strawberries, Yum. Onward with the pilgrimage to Faerieworlds. Passing the Little America Travel Center (exit 68) and the Teton/Yellowstone exits (via 30, exit 66) … I wished I had more time for this road trip. Would have been nice to hit Yellowstone again. Soon, someday soon. By 8:30 am drove by Fort Bridge Historical Site (exit 41) and on into Mountain View (exit 39). Always wanted to check out Fort Bridge. Then a tragedy befell me and my Vardo (2003 Toyota Matrix) … my Pandora Radio lost fuel for the month. :: sigh :: This is the first time in my using it for 3 years that they restricted my time use and cut me after 40 hours. Uggh. I finally made it to Evanston, Wyoming by 9:00 am. Time for a fuel up even though gas prices has risen to $2.49/gallon.

Evanston, Wyoming

My Playlist for the morning consisted of a shuffle of my Summersolstice playlist: YMCA (Village People), Lammas night (Paul Giovanni), Larksong (Woodland), Aria (Delirium), Safety Dance (Men without Hats), Raindance (Paralyzed Age), Slahte Wille (Qntal), Midnight Ring (Woodland), Dancing with Myself (Billy Idol), Lucky (Bif Naked), Diary of Dreams, Levis (Qntal), Unknown, Maypole Dance Song (Paul Giovanni), Dragonfly (Crux Shadows), Faery Child (The Dreamside), Waiting 4 U (Unknown), My Friend the Dwarfstar (Unknown), Fairytale the Storm (The Last Dance), Isis (Faun), Clown (Switchblade Symphony), Supermarket (We Are Standard), Moon Licht (Cirque du Soleil: Varekai); Ich WIll Brennen (ASP); When I Crash With You (Thou Shalt Not), Andro (Faun), Warbots (Rasputina), Unknown (Wolfsheim), Woodland (Woodland), Do You Really Want to Hurt Me (Culture Club), The Dragon (Woodland), Unda (Faun), Speeding (Go Go’s), Sophia Remixed (Cruxshadows), Cernunnos (Faun), Stand Up (Stromkern), and the Pretty in Pink soundtrack. For lunch I had more snacks consisting of pistachios, strawberries, celery and organic peanut butter, vitamin water, and slo jim beef jerky chili … healthy I know (not). On into Utah to massive amount of road construction along I-80 and I-84 with a nice road stop view of ‘Devil’s Slide’ by 10:37 am. ”

Devil’s Slide, Utah

“Going through the I-80/I-84 corridor enroute to Ogden, I travelled through much construction through the scenic canyons and rifts between the mountains on the outskirts of Salt Lake City. The Devil’s Slide of course is an interesting geological feature. Temperature still climbing along the journey, by the time I hit Ogden, Utah it was 80 degrees, and by Snowville, Utah it was 83 degrees Fahrenheit. Time for a swim I think. Thought about the Great Salt Lake, but not wanting to deal with the salt feel n’ smell. As I was playing my playlists on my laptop, the Faerie Star appeared on my Windows Media Player … thought it was very interesting especially since I was on a pilgrimmage to Faerieworlds. Definitely a good sign.”

Faeriestar appearing on my Windows Media Player enroute to Faerieworlds

Evanston, Wyoming

Green River, Wyoming

Little America, Wyoming

Rock Springs, Wyoming

Road to Ogden, Utah

I-84 to Ogden, Utah

I-84 in Utah

I-80 to Ogden, Utah

I-84 in Utah

Devil’s Slide, Utah

Devil’s Slide, Utah
Along the I-84 corridor is an interesting geological feature called the “Devil’s Slide”. It rests in northern Utah’s Weber Canyon near Croydon, Utah of Morgan County. The feature is two parallel parts of limestone strata that lie vertical 40 feet out of the mountainslide forming what appears to be a ‘slide’. Intervening layers eroding quicker have formed a channel about 25 feet wide running down the mountain.

Devil’s Slide, Utah

I-80 to Ogden, Utah

Devil’s Slide, Utah

Ogden, Utah

Rest Area

“Arrived in Ogden around 11 am, ditching the idea of swimming in the Great Salt Lake, decided to continue heading north to Idaho. I hit the Idaho Border about noon. (Total: 696.6 miles from Colorado Springs) I stopped off at the Lake Bonneville rest area for a lunch break and continued onwards towards Boise. A pit stop off at my favorite swimming spot along this roadway for a dip in the Snake River. Extremely Cool and refreshing. Just what the doctor ordered. Onwards to Jerome/Twin Falls for a fill up on gas at the Sinclair I felt refreshed and ready for the next leg of my journey.”

Entering Idaho

Lake Bonneville, Idaho

My swimming spot on the Snake River along I-84 in Idaho

Lessons of Intuition:
Premonitions of Loss.

“Just after passing through Mountain Home I heard a big boom like a sonic gust of wind slam into the car and rocking me sideways. My Car continued driving so I figured it was not a problem, but started thinking it could be the tires. So I Pulled over to give them a look, but that was not the issue. Everything Looked find. I Continued driving and it seemed stuck in overdrive, so I pulled over again and gave it a look, again the car engine looked fine, the dipstick was wet (but very low), and belts looked fine. So I got back in and continued to drive and couldn’t get it over 20 mph, tried driving again, and it quit. Froze up. Tried turning it over and it wouldn’t rotate. Dead. It appears my modern Vardo is dead. I called my insurance company and my policy didn’t cover towing. Looked up online and there was a close towing company, called them and they were there within 20 minutes. Called my friend Hanna in Boise who i was gonna caravan with to Faerieworlds to let her know what was going on, and we decided to meet at the tow company in Mountain Home as I suspected the engine was kaput. Tow guy showed up, could tell what he was thinking when he saw the situation, but he wouldn’t say anything. Instead of the tow company mechanic, he took me to another mechanic who looked it over and said it was the engine and that would cost me over $2,000 for a used rebuilt engine that would only have a warranty for 30 days. He then second guessed me by my looks and asked “By chance, you wouldn’t be one of those Burning Man types”? I said “Yes” and he took me outside to the side and said unofficially … that he recommended that I just sell the car for parts and go buy another vehicle cheap somewhere used. Getting a rebuilt engine with only a 30 day warranty is really a risk and a rip-off. So that’s what I did. Me and the tow man brought it back to the original tow company and dropped it off. The owner of the yard wasn’t in, and said for me to mail him the title and he’d send me $350 (pay the $90 for the twoing and a check for 260). Hanna arrived and we crammed everything i had into her small car, and went for Chinese food which wasn’t extroadinary but ok. Then driving back to Boise, went to visit her friend Johanna and we hit downtown Boise for drinks at a local bar. Much needed. I was quite surprised I wasn’t stressed out by the loss of my car. Some friends online think I blew the timing belt. I relaxed. I drank. Exhausted, we then headed back to Johanna’s with her lover for soup. After hanging out over soup, me and Hanna headed back to her house for some sleep and rest before our long journey to Breitenbush tomorrow. What a day!”