The Best Worst Thing (and Cowpersons)

After a short and uneventful drive from Vernal (dinosaur-land) to Duchesne, UT, Flynn & Ollie checked into their campsite and took a leisurely drive around the town to see what it was all about. Turns out it was all about nothing. Okay, the town sits on Starvation NRA/reservoir which did not sound at all appealing to F&O, as they like to eat. They found the Welcome Center – on a Saturday – to be open and staffed by a very lonely friendly person, who was a wealth of information and even provided postcards to Flynn for his distribution. Other than this kind soul, there were no other humans to be found. The place was a ghost town.

After cruising the main drag, desperation set it, and they turned off on a random side street. 4 blocks down ahead of them, they spotted a giant pole barn type building. “Oh”, thought F&O, “maybe there is some sort of industry here we didn’t know about. Let’s see what it is.” SCORE!

They found EVERYONE. Not just the town-folk, but everyone in the entire county, Some sort of national-state-county-wide Jr Rodeo competition, and it was packed. With horses and cowgirls and cowboys and cows and their parents (human parents, not necessarily cow-parents). There were acres of horse trailers (most cost more than our nest), food trucks, and two huge arenas in full use. F&O spent the rest of the day there, watching ropers and barrel racers. Here are some bad pix, since action shots are not an antique Galaxy’s forte:

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The following morning, the critters got up early, and set off for Wells, NV on their way to Reno. Turns out that 70+ mph speed limits make the miles go by quickly, and they decided to pass Wells, buckle in, and make the long, long drive to Reno the same day. They called the RV park in Wells, cancelled, and called the park in Reno to make arrangements to be in a day early, but late in the day. Done and done.

Until 50+ miles west of Elko when a blown semi-tire appeared in their lane, a SUV full of human-beings were in the other lane on the RV’s quarter-panel, and there was no way to avoid it without harming someone. Thump, thump, crack, thump. Thump. *&&%. But, the truck and RV just kept on going. Hey, maybe everything is ok? F&O shall pull over at the rest area a mile up the road, and make sure. Rest area was closed. They shall pull over at the following exit, another three miles down – ‘Dunphy’.

So, there they were, on the ramp at Dunphy, NV. Look this place up. There is actually something there ~ a small, rundown but occupied RV park. There is nothing else there. NOTHING. ZIP. ZILCH. With hope in their hearts, F&O got out in the scorching heat to do an inspection. *&^% again. Two of the RV tires were rubbing together (Flynn thought he smelled burning rubber……). The spring broke.

Here were the negatives: It was 119 degrees outside. They were 50+ miles from the nearest town. It was a Sunday afternoon and nothing was open.

Here go the positives: They had 4G and full bars, two different roadside assistance memberships, enough fuel to let the truck run and keep air conditioning on and plenty of water. They could use everything in the RV, including the restroom and the kitchen (until the truck and then batteries ran out). They were not financially strapped.

Flynn and Ollie had the best breakdown ever in the worst possible conditions. It could have been a nasty event. Instead, the tow arrived from Elko when it said it would, in an hour (50+ mile drive). The driver was great and even tried to ‘fix’ the problem first so we could continue on (this did not happen, too broke). The RV was left with a note at the only RV repair shop in Elko with a note on it. The next day, they managed to find the part on site instead of having to order one, and they had it repaired by the end of the day. The cost was not only reasonable, but downright cheap for what they did. Flynn and Ollie spent two nights in a decent hotel, had showers in a full-sized tub, and slept in a king bed for two nights. Done and Done.

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Oh yeah.. the license plate. Fell off while on the flatbed on the highway. Fortunately, Ollie saw it fly off, and had the wherewithal to make note of the mile marker. An illegal u turn through the median, a slow-roll down the inside lane with hazards on for a a mile, and bingo, there it was in the fast lane of travel on the other side of the highway. A fun game of Frogger to retrieve it, another illegal u-turn in the Highway Patrol only pullout, and back on our way. The tow still beat us there.

So there is the story folks. Early the next morning, F&O saddled up and headed off to Reno. They made it unscathed.

Fin

Flynn

And, while this is being penned a day later, the 26th of August, 2020, let this editor proclaim with all the love in her heart: Happy anniversary to my dearest husband, Bigfokkerdog. The yin to my yang, my rock, my human. All of it.