You are lost

July 24th, aside from being my birthday, was also my last day at Finnegans. The next 7 days were to be spent cleaning and packing to be out of our apartment on the 31st. The need to visit family before leaving the state was also a pressing issue. Being relatively efficient about things, we managed to have most everything done early enough to visit my family by the 29th.

We returned to Missoula the night of the 30th and had an impromptu goodbye bbq. The idea had been tossed around a bit for a while, but the actual happening got thrown together within an hour of coming home. Despite the short notice a good number of people were able to make it and a good time was had by all. It was nice to have some kind of celebration on Sara’s birthday.

The 31st we finished cleaning and moved out. Jim & Heidi had graciously lent us the use of their garage for storage and with the help of Jared and Larry we had everything packed away. The mass exodus wasn’t to begin until the 6th of August, so Sara and I went to stay at Matt & Lihn’s. With cats.

The cats presented a couple of issues. First off, Matt & Lihn are allergic to cats. Secondly, they weren’t allowed to have pets at their apartment. And lastly, we were informed that certificates of health were required by the state of Arizona to be presented at the port of entry. The cats, especially Puff, were already panicked by the moving around, and now they had to get shots. Sara’s mother had volunteered her services to haul a trailer for us, and since the cats would be riding with her for the trip we decided to take them up to her place after their appointment.

It was about here that the first piece of bad news dropped. Matt’s family had been prospecting houses in the Camp Verde area with us in mind. The housing market had dropped but the sellers weren’t budging. As anyone with a sound business mind would do they refused to overpay. Unfortunately we were now to be moving across the country without a distinct destination.

Sara and I proceeded to visit her mother, stopping along the way to visit her grandmother. We decided while we were at it to visit my grandparents. Rather than go back through Missoula we decided to take the scenic route, driving through Glacier National Park on the way to Choteau. We stopped in Hungry Horse to see the “House of Mystery” on the way.

Family obligations fulfilled we returned back to Missoula to more bad news. The reason we were leaving on the 6th was because Matt’s friend’s wedding was on the 5th. The bachelor party wasn’t the wild night of debauchery most bachelor parties are, but at the end the best man was shot and killed in the Westside Lanes parking lot. Matt, under the most unfortunate of circumstances, was now to be best man.

Sara’s mother arrived late on the 5th.  My mother had come in to town and stayed late, fulfilling a wish Sara and I had entertained for a while:  having them meet.  They hit it off like a couple of school girls, giggling away and exchanging stories of childhood debauchery and such.  It was magical.  Unfortunately it had to end, my mother had to leave before it got too late.  We parked the trailer in the Wal-Mart parking lot and began loading up. It was well after midnight by the time we were finished.

We slept in a bit late the next day, and with some extra delays we didn’t get on the highway until evening. It was already dark when the rain started, forcing a stop in Deer Lodge for windshield wipers; it had been so hot and sunny I hadn’t realized my wipers were shit. New wipers equipped, we resumed but not for long. Not even 10 minutes down the road my driver-side wiper flies off my car and I’m blinded with rain. We stop in Deer Lodge, again, go to the same shop and get another set of wipers, attach them and continue. We had hoped to make it past Salt Lake City to Beaver, instead we settled for Idaho Falls. We found a hotel and settled down for not enough rest.

Despite getting up early it was after noon before we got back on the road. Matt and I had gone to get an air filter for my car, which had decided to give me the “check engine soon” light as of recent, and managed to find a tobacco outlet on the way. The girls and Steven went to get Subway while Sara’s mother and grandmother went to Denny’s.

I’ll stop to mention here that Sara’s grandmother is diabetic. She needs to eat certain foods at regular intervals to maintain her blood sugar. When on a tight budget and trying to get from point A to point B with as few hotel stops as possible on the way, we all felt frequently delayed by the grandmother, who had invited herself along for this venture. However, I will also mention, organizing 7 people to go somewhere is also difficult, and we delayed ourselves just as much. In an additional note, I will state that there are some character flaws to the grandmother that deter any feelings of sympathy one might expect to see here.

We managed to make it to Beaver on the 2nd night, barely. We were about 60 miles out when everyone started getting drowsy. We found a coupon for discounted rooms at a Mom & Pop style hotel in Beaver and made reservations. The old man who owned the place was kind enough to stay up to check us in, though obviously very tired. We made our way to our rooms. I took a few pictures of the glowing electric palm tree out front before going to bed.

We decided to sleep in a bit to catch up on some much needed rest. I rose fairly early still and proceeded to take a shower. The shower floor was slippery, and I lost my balance. I reached for the curtain rod, which wasn’t fastened to the wall, and it and I went falling to the floor, causing some damage to the bathroom and myself. The rod had made a big long gouge in the wall and mirror, I managed to hit my hip on the toilet, my back on the sink, my head on the door and gouged my leg on the toilet paper dispenser. Bruised, sore, bleeding and a little dazed I got up and surveyed the damages. Not cool. I toweled off, got dressed, bandaged my leg and after regaining my dignity complained to old man.

About 20 miles past Beaver is highway 20, which leads to the 89. It’s the prettiest stretch of Utah I’ve ever seen. It conjures up imagery of old western movies, cowboys driving cattle into the undeveloped west, etc. As we traveled the 89 the scenery changed, reminding me of Road Runner cartoons. Reds and browns, dry and desolate, vast stretches of nothingness.

We reached Kanab, where we the 89 splits.  We could either head east to Page or head south to Freedonia.  Both roads would meet up again at Bitter Springs and take us to our destination.  Judging by the map the stretch to Page seemed less twisty and rough so we chose that.  What we hadn’t considered is the Grand Staircase.  The road to Page took us straight up a steep incline that threatened to overheat the truck and most of the cars, causing us to pull over for a time to let the engines cool.  Then a rapid descent full of twists and turns that required riding the brakes all the way down, then finally a flat straight road leading out of Utah.

Just outside of Page was the port of entry station. We stopped to check the cats in, presenting papers only to be told domestic animals don’t require papers. What? I spent over $200 on those papers! Humor me and look at them! Slap in the face. We continue, driving through Page.

A little before Page, in that dry arid stretch of the 89, is a town called Big Water. Why would a town called Big Water be in the middle of this desert-like terrain? Because Lake Powell, a very sizable body of water, is out here. Lake Powell feeds a hydro-electric dam in Page, which you have to drive over as you enter into Page. It was partially this distraction that led to the grandmother slicing her hand open.  We made our way to a Wal-Mart, being the nearest thing around that wasn’t a hotel or IHOP.

We dropped the grandmother off out front so she could go to the pharmacy and bandage up while we proceeded to park.  It was upon completing this task that Matt’s radiator became a geyser, shooting coolant 10 feet into the air.  While he tended to this problem we became informed that the grandmother had severed the tendon to her thumb and needed to go to the hospital.

To be continued…