Today was a myriad of disconnection. I woke up in Twin Falls Idaho not knowing what I should be doing today. That lead to punching the nearest Starbucks into the GPS because at least if I don’t know where to go I can edit and figure it out. Two out of two Starbucks no longer existed (old map in the GPS) so I gave up and started driving. I drove out of Twin Falls and on a whim ended up in Sawtooth National Forest. Nice enough park but I was restless, so I kept going. Since I’m working my way South I tried going that direction. Big mistake that was, I ended up lost within a maze of gravel roads, ATV paths and signs pointing to campgrounds that made no sense to me. GPS put me right in the middle and I couldn’t zoom out far enough to see a main road. So there I was lost in the mountains with by this time less than a Quarter tank of gas. I found one road that looked a little more established and started following it, in what ended up being North. I came upon another truck with an older couple driving and they assured me that “civilization” was only 7-9 miles ahead. I was worrying for nothing, all was good. That was until my left front tire went flat.
So now I’m on the side of a gravel road changing yet another flat, dust everywhere and it was a nice balmy 86 degrees out. No big deal. The older couple I had passed came by, offered some help but I had it almost done. I then proceeded into a town called Burley and got the flat fixed and put back on the truck, returning the spare to it’s proper place.
For the next while I stayed on the pavement and made my way East a little, then I saw signs for an area called City of Rocks. Curiosity peaked and it was only 19 miles (so the sign said) out of my way, I wasn’t totally sold on the idea so I flipped my coin. Coin said don’t go, I ignored it and went anyway. In about 45 minutes I found myself in this cool Park Reserve in Southern Idaho where hundreds of rock formation stood out of the rolling foothills like,..well, buildings. I checked out the camp sites and decided that $12 was too much and I’d have to drive back into Almo to pay for it anyway. (I have to start actually planning more things). So I took a few shots and a little bit of video and started on my way. I got to a crossroads that gave me the option of connecting with I-84 heading West and the same heading East. About 20 miles after choosing East I was still on gravel roads, little signs here and there telling me which way to go, again, GPS didn’t see the Interstate. A few miles more and I drove over a cattle guard at about 40 miles and hour and Bam!, there was that flapping sound I’ve heard recently. The left rear tire, the one I got fixed yesterday was instantly dead flat.
So I spent a another 20-30 minutes in the setting sun changing another tire. As I got on my way again and started thinking about things I wondered what the hell I was doing out here. Maybe this isn’t meant to be. Then my ego started chiming in with stupid shit like if we head home we can catch the start of the Canucks hockey season etc etc. I’ll be honest and say that it took a bit to step back and look at the big picture. Sure I had to deal with three flats in two days, sure that’s not fun. Sure I’m feeling dusty and dirty and would really like to get a room but I’m not going to give in to my ego. I’ll find a truck-stop with showers soon. The fact of the matter is that it wasn’t worse. I didn’t blow Betty’s engine through the hood or leave her transmission on the side of the road. I didn’t get bit by a rattlesnake or hit by a truck. It was a minor inconvenience in the adventure known as “the road trip”. So after setting myself straight and finding a Walmart here in Ogden Utah I’ve realized that like any day at home life goes on. ..and so will I.
