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Day 877 – But It’s All Good

Annette came for a visit this past weekend. We had planned to go to the Sheephorn Lookout in the hills near Salmon, Idaho. Unfortunately it was a “three strikes, you’re out” weekend.

  1. Her flight was delayed to the point she missed the connection in Salt Lake and had to overnight thus delaying our departure by 4+ hours
  2. Despite checking in with the Salmon/Challis ranger district there was thick smoke and raining white ash as we got closer to the turnoff to the lookout
  3. Not more than 1/2 a mile up the gravel road toward the lookout the right rear tire on the truck blew out with some drama

[sidebar] The tires were BFGoodrich “All Terrain” with, at the time, less than 7000 miles on them. Never again is all i can say.

So, there we were. 9/10’s of the trip completed, sitting on a gravel road in blowing smoke and a flat-as-a-pancake rear tire.

I got out the jack, groused at Annette, got the jack on the ground, groused some more, got the tire off the ground, groused and groused, then realized i had no idea how to release the spare. After some trial and error i figured out the methodology, “hey, it’s lowering!” Annette exclaimed as i cranked the machinery.

Fortunately the lugs broke easily (almost too easily) and within all of 15 sweaty minutes we were turned around and headed into Salmon. We figured it would be unwise to continue 29 miles into unfamiliar wilderness with smoke from nearby forest fires already clouding visibility, our adventurous cat, and no spare tire.

So we ventured into the venerable town of Salmon, settled on “Wagons West Motel” and proceeded to picnic amongst the cigarette butts on the banks of the Salmon River.

Since we were in “camping mode” we opted to not explore the town all that thoroughly nor did we opt to eat at any of the restaurants. Salmon is a town clinging to life by its fingertips. The lifeblood of the town is the Salmon river and the fish therein. But, as is so often the case, the salmon population is badly depressed so there are fishing restrictions in effect.

And the river itself isn’t all that big. I can imagine what it must look like with dozens and dozens of men lined up along the banks casting lines into the water. When we were there the water was so low it would have been easier to walk out into the river and just pick up a fish as it went by.

crw_7003.jpgWhen we departed the next day, deciding to take the much longer mile-wise but much higher speed-wise route, i had to stop and take a picture of the Owl Club. If you click on the thumbnail you’ll get a much larger image…. where the arrows stuck in the owl are more noticeable.

The ride home was long and hot and populated by Isa mewing from her carrier. We let her out to roam about the cab, but it’s hard to tell which bothers her less. But, for a cat, she travels very well. We stopped at the Mackay Reservoir to make lunch and let her roam some more. She’s hilarious to watch; more fun than a little kid because you don’t have to watch her so closely. She loves to explore and exhibits text-book cat behavior of slowly expanding her turf in widening circles.

So we returned to Boise and spent the remainder of Sunday and all of Monday as “husband and wife” living under the same roof. It was nice. Oh, we did get new tires for the little truck and we did drive up into the hills and drive/hike to the Skyline yurt. Hell, you can’t blow $700 on tires and not go off-roading.

Now she’s back in New York. That’s not as good as the rest of the story, but we’re figuring stuff out… and change is in the offing, so it really is all good.

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