Monday, June 16, 2008

Sunday, June 8th : Day 1

As I've alluded to in a few of the recent posts, I just got back from a driving trip around the Western USA. Utah, north and south, all the way through Nevada and skirted up the side of California. Well, because I know you won't read the whole thing if I write about the entire week in one post, I'm going to take it day by day.

Today (according to the title), I picked up Writer, whom most of you know I taught with at a Jr. High for 4 years. She had spent a lot of time down in the Moab area, and knew of a couple nice ghost towns and offered to show them to me. So, off we went. I picked her up around noon and we headed down. We were making really good time by the time we made it to SR191, so when we saw the upside down airplane at the Moab airport we decided to pull over and get a few pictures. Great in theory, not so much in practice. Now, I've gotten in the habit of not locking the car using the little button on the door, it's got me into trouble before. Unlocking it with the button is safe, unless you mistake 'lock' for 'unlock' and leave the keys in the ignition. I knew the second the door clicked shut. Good thing my brother has a set of keys to my cars. Oh, wait. He's 233 miles away. And my cell phone is in the car. So Writer and I trek down to the Moab "International" Airport looking for a pay phone and a wire clothes hanger. We get the hanger, and the phone number for Gary's Locksmith in Moab. I figure I'll call and see how much it's going to cost to have him come out and open my car, before wrecking it with the hanger. $50, and unlike the joke, it's not the same as in town ($40). So, rather than fight with the hanger, shred the weatherstripping on the door and scratching the panel, I ask him to come out. He doesn't even flinch when I tell him I'm 300 yards or so north of the Airport, pulled out on the side of the road. Makes me feel better, obviously I'm not the only idiot to lock his keys in the car out in the middle of nowhere on the side of the highway. 45 minutes he says, and to his credit it was just over an hour. Good thing I found a chair stuck on the fence on the way back to the car, gave us something to sit on. (see picture way up there) I tell ya, we got a lot of looks from the cars passing us on the highway. Well, it took him 34.65 seconds to get the car open and cost me $50. The rest of the evening was enjoyable, but uneventful. Well, except for when Writer spilled water all over the table at dinner. I think she did it to make me feel better about locking the keys in the car. At least that's what she said.

11 comments:

A Paperback Writer said...

Very nice.
Good shots here. I'll have to post MY version of this story soon.
I'm envious of the airplane shot, and the one of the two of us looking bored is quite amusing. (Yeah, I know, there were really 37 of those shots, but you've chosen a good one.)
I did 3 posts on Sego for Father's Day. I found out some interesting stuff about Sego. Do come over to my blog (y'all c'mon over to my blog, honey) and read them.
Shall I post the M.O.A.B, on my blog, since I can't seem to get it to you to post?

Max Sartin said...

Yeah, I read the Sego posts, and loved the picture of the town in 1920. I was planning on linking over to it when I did my post on our visit to Sego. As for the M.O.A.B., go ahead and post it, I'll link to it too when I write about that day.

A Paperback Writer said...

Well, how am I supposed to know you've read them when you don't leave any comments?
I'm putting a new post up now.

Max Sartin said...

Jeese, get a little testy, eh? Just kidding. I didn't want to get redundant between my posts and what I respond to yours, so I decided to wait. You got the head start, so you don't have the same problem. But I promise I haven't forsaken your blog.....

A Paperback Writer said...

I really wasn't being snarky -- just teasing. But you know that intonation doesn't come across very well when typed...
Thanks for dropping over. I hope you liked the waiting for Godot/Gary pic. Perhaps you can just download that one from the blog, since I can't get the stupid e-mail attachments to work.

A Paperback Writer said...

Hey, I have an hour before I have to leave for dance practice; that's probably enough to upload the M.O.A.B. photo. I'll do it so you can link tomorrow's post to it.

A Paperback Writer said...

It took a bloody HOUR to upload the MOAB photo, but the post is now done.
Go ye forth and link.
:)

Max Sartin said...

Yeah, that's one of the reasons I'm not big into text and instant messaging, you lose a lot of your communication when you eliminate intonation, metering and even body language. Don't worry, I assumed you weren't being snarky. Just one word for your picture download problem - DSL. The only other thing I'm going to say on that subjecdt is - thanks for taking the time to get the MOAB and other pictures on there.

A Paperback Writer said...

PS. Feel free to use the burrito pic when you do the Monday post, if you like. I meant for you to have it in the first place.
PPS. I know; I need broadband or wireless. But I'm cheap, and dial up is only $15.00 a month.
PPPS. I am NOT responsible for the fact that your shirt clashes horribly with the tablecloth in the MOAB picture.

A Paperback Writer said...

Oh, and two of my frequent readers (Dancinfool and Danceman) told me tonight they'd been reading all of both of our posts and comments about this trip (and leaving no comments! Hmmph! the nerve!). And they think our bantering is rather amusing. Dancinfool says she feels like she knows you because she knows me and she can sense what you're like through how I react to you.
They both think we sound "comfortable" with each other.
Good thing we're "comfortable" with each other -- because I'd have hated spending hours in a car with someone who made me uncomfortable.

Max Sartin said...

Reponse to PS - ah, I already did the Monday post, and just linked over to yours. No biggie.
Response to PPS - it's only another $30 a month, that's $360 a year or $4320 over the next 12 years.
Response to PPPs - yeah, well, I did it on purpose. Remember, I was a teenager during the Disco years, offensive dress was a part of life back then....
As for D&D, your two frequent flyers, they could at least say "HI" when they drop by here. And there is nothing worse than spending time stuck in a car in an uncomfortable situation - I did that with 2 feuding brothers from Minnesota to Idaho once. Yeah, fun.