Big sky country
Travel time: 7.75
hours
Distance covered: 393.2 miles
Current location: 45º 57' N 112º 30'W (Butte, Montana)
Current time and temperature: 10:28pm • 17ºF
Distance covered: 393.2 miles
Current location: 45º 57' N 112º 30'W (Butte, Montana)
Current time and temperature: 10:28pm • 17ºF
We actually got an early start! We had the free
breakfast at the hotel - bagels, orange juice, and stuff - and hit the road as
fast as we could... underway by 10:15. Another accomplishment today was that I
managed to close the roof rack myself. Up until now, I've had to have Wendy
hang off it while I locked it. (Yeah, go ahead and picture that and you'll
understand why I was so thrilled to manage it myself.) The room itself was fine
- just a room - but the lights had these outrageously horrible bulbs in them. I
think I understand how the new energy efficient fluorescent bulbs work: They're
so revolting, no one turns them on. So our standard, just-a-room room was
bathed in this disgusting greenish light that made me want to walk around colour
correcting everything. I can't complain, though: I had an allergic reaction -
my left eye went red and puffy - and when I went out to pick up dinner from a
burger place across the parking lot, the receptionist noticed it. I told her
that I'm allergic to cats... probably someone had a cat in the room or someone
who owns a cat was in the room. (Yes, I'm really that allergic to cats.) When
I got back, she told me that she'd knocked the rate down to $41 for the
night.
Anyway... so... the north of Utah was about as exciting as eastern Idaho which is about as exciting as a glass of milk. It just kind of sits there and does nothing. That was fine, though; we made good time... until the snow started.
It was light at first... nice and pretty... and then we saw an accident... and then another... and the snow got heavier... and then another accident (a really bad one, too). By this point, visibility was down to about 20 yards and traffic had slowed to about 40 mph. I realised just how lucky we'd been up until that point with the weather, but suddenly, all time and distance projections went out the window: At 40 mph, we wouldn't even make it to the Montana border, let alone Butte or, as we'd discussed earlier, Great Falls (almost at the Canadian border). The windshield started getting mucky, so I hit the wiper button ready to see my newly winterised washer fluid spew out all over the glass leaving it icy clean. No such luck. Nothing. The wiper blades just smeared the dirt across the windshield more evenly. I decided we'd better pull off at Pocatello and get it looked at. I needed gas, anyway.
The first thing I did at the gas station was to pop the hood and take a look at the fluid level. I couldn't actually see any wiper fluid in there. Perfect... so maybe the Jiffy Lube guys in Provo only LOOKED normal and they, in typical fuckwit fashion, had forgotten to refill the tank after they'd drained it. It was bitterly cold - about 12ºF - and the wind was blowing hard. I bought wiper fluid in the station's food mart and managed to pour most of it all over the engine - I wasn't joking when I said the wind was blowing hard. Finally, I got some in the tank - it hardly took any to reach the top - so the Provo Jiffy Lube staff were elevated back to "sent from corporate" status. When I found the cap had blown away, I just dumped the rest of the washer fluid - probably 3/4's of the bottle. Oh, well. Still nothing when I hit the button, though. I pumped my gas and found out there was a Jiffy Lube just down the road.
As it turns out, the washer pump was frozen. Jiffy Lube sent me to a Dodge dealer who told me there was nothing they could do. The snow was so bad by this point, that we decided just to cut our losses and have lunch. We ended up at the Pine View Mall. Nothing exciting, there, except to say that we couldn't even find a proper restaurant - just a food court. Great... another burger.
Two hours later, we were back on the road. The weather had cleared, and we made pretty good time. As we crossed the border into Montana, it started snowing a little again, but it didn't last. The countryside in Montana is breathtaking. I'd heard that it was but really wasn't sure - people often think strange things are breathtaking. This truly is majestic, glorious scenery, though. We stopped off at a town called Dillon for gas and coffee and I was very impressed to find a casino attached to the food mart! Apparently, gambling is legal in Montana - I've since noticed casinos everywhere. There's even a small one in the Best Western we're staying in.
In fact, we're all so tired and drained by our three days of driving that I decided we should stay here two nights - spend tomorrow relaxing and maybe see a little of Butte. Yes, we made it to Butte! Considering our two hours in Pocatello, I'm amazed. Anyway, we got the honeymoon suite and will be staying here 'til Thursday morning. After that, it's straight to the border.
I messed around with the .3p2 video from my phone a little more. iMovie doesn't seem to have a problem with it, but I can't figure the damned programme out! It's so counter-intuitive compared with Final Cut Pro. I might mess around with it a little tomorrow.
Here are a few pictures. I can't seem to get the video clips to work yet. Will work on it more tomorrow.
Here we are in Dillon, Montana getting gas.
A Montana sunset.
Inside the food mart, the door to the casino!
Anyway... so... the north of Utah was about as exciting as eastern Idaho which is about as exciting as a glass of milk. It just kind of sits there and does nothing. That was fine, though; we made good time... until the snow started.
It was light at first... nice and pretty... and then we saw an accident... and then another... and the snow got heavier... and then another accident (a really bad one, too). By this point, visibility was down to about 20 yards and traffic had slowed to about 40 mph. I realised just how lucky we'd been up until that point with the weather, but suddenly, all time and distance projections went out the window: At 40 mph, we wouldn't even make it to the Montana border, let alone Butte or, as we'd discussed earlier, Great Falls (almost at the Canadian border). The windshield started getting mucky, so I hit the wiper button ready to see my newly winterised washer fluid spew out all over the glass leaving it icy clean. No such luck. Nothing. The wiper blades just smeared the dirt across the windshield more evenly. I decided we'd better pull off at Pocatello and get it looked at. I needed gas, anyway.
The first thing I did at the gas station was to pop the hood and take a look at the fluid level. I couldn't actually see any wiper fluid in there. Perfect... so maybe the Jiffy Lube guys in Provo only LOOKED normal and they, in typical fuckwit fashion, had forgotten to refill the tank after they'd drained it. It was bitterly cold - about 12ºF - and the wind was blowing hard. I bought wiper fluid in the station's food mart and managed to pour most of it all over the engine - I wasn't joking when I said the wind was blowing hard. Finally, I got some in the tank - it hardly took any to reach the top - so the Provo Jiffy Lube staff were elevated back to "sent from corporate" status. When I found the cap had blown away, I just dumped the rest of the washer fluid - probably 3/4's of the bottle. Oh, well. Still nothing when I hit the button, though. I pumped my gas and found out there was a Jiffy Lube just down the road.
As it turns out, the washer pump was frozen. Jiffy Lube sent me to a Dodge dealer who told me there was nothing they could do. The snow was so bad by this point, that we decided just to cut our losses and have lunch. We ended up at the Pine View Mall. Nothing exciting, there, except to say that we couldn't even find a proper restaurant - just a food court. Great... another burger.
Two hours later, we were back on the road. The weather had cleared, and we made pretty good time. As we crossed the border into Montana, it started snowing a little again, but it didn't last. The countryside in Montana is breathtaking. I'd heard that it was but really wasn't sure - people often think strange things are breathtaking. This truly is majestic, glorious scenery, though. We stopped off at a town called Dillon for gas and coffee and I was very impressed to find a casino attached to the food mart! Apparently, gambling is legal in Montana - I've since noticed casinos everywhere. There's even a small one in the Best Western we're staying in.
In fact, we're all so tired and drained by our three days of driving that I decided we should stay here two nights - spend tomorrow relaxing and maybe see a little of Butte. Yes, we made it to Butte! Considering our two hours in Pocatello, I'm amazed. Anyway, we got the honeymoon suite and will be staying here 'til Thursday morning. After that, it's straight to the border.
I messed around with the .3p2 video from my phone a little more. iMovie doesn't seem to have a problem with it, but I can't figure the damned programme out! It's so counter-intuitive compared with Final Cut Pro. I might mess around with it a little tomorrow.
Here are a few pictures. I can't seem to get the video clips to work yet. Will work on it more tomorrow.
Here we are in Dillon, Montana getting gas.
A Montana sunset.
Inside the food mart, the door to the casino!
Posted: Tue - December 13, 2005 at 10:54 PM
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Published On: Dec 14, 2005 03:35 AM
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Published On: Dec 14, 2005 03:35 AM