What a glorious summer it was in the Big Horn mountains! The summer of 2023 almost wasn’t ! We burned the wood stove into July, happily I might add ,after feeling the scorching sun of Chandler Az that spring.
The wild flowers were magnificent after the snowy wet winter and spring
We embarked on a few projects to try and make the cabin more like a home in anticipation of perhaps selling our Casper place,including adding storage space.
We gutted the bathroom and added cabinets and a larger vanity, I was able to accomplish this while only sawing through the waterline once! After replacing my fried saw, for my next trick, I was able to nick the electrical wires ! The ensuing spark and puff of smoke caused momentary loss of control of my large intestine check valve. Being older now than I once was ,this came as no surprise to me or my seasoned whitey tighties. After a quick wardrobe change I was back at it ,this time shelving!
Unfortunately while taking a board down the back step and simultaneously talking to “my man”, Otis, who lounged in the green grass in the bright sunshine like the cool cat that he is …
I missed a step and fell………now when you are young, time goes in slow motion in these cases. When you are old and very near fossilization like myself, it happens in a millisecond, like going to bed Sunday night before a Monday morning meeting with the big dogs, your head hits the pillow and BAM! The alarm is blaring.
I literally had the time to get the a out of ah shit before my left eye was marveling at the pretty lichen on the rock , the blues and pinks just 5/8
of an inch from my face. My right shoulder impacted the other landscape boulder I’d placed there mere days before while my face broke my fall.
Karen heard my yelp from upstairs and perhaps the loud BONGGGG noise of the 3 1/2 thick slab of wood bouncing off my dome. Karen raced to my side like Ricky Schroder in the 1980 movie the champ
I moaned out DONT F***ING TOUCH ME!!!!!!! I couldn’t really move my right arm but slowly got to my knees. With pleading eyes I asked Karen “hows my face?”
“ Ahhh its not too bad”
After speaking with two different surgeons we ended up with this:
To go along with these from years ago
Poor Karen has been wonderful enough to nurse me back from all my maladies and physical imperfections.
Behold , what I call the $15,000 shelf!
Fast forward to Blanding Utah in November as we headed to AZ.
BANG!!!!!!
The leaf springs broke on the Mc5er!! CHA CHING! $987 down the tubes!!!
For our next trick a blow out on the Mc5er while driving to our great friends Bridget and Steve’s place in Spicwood Texas for the eclipse !
$950 later we had new tires all the way around the fifth wheel!!!
We worked our way forward because these are FIRST WORLD problems….before everyone starts piling on…..I know people struggle to eat and pay bills. Many also have enough body ink to buy a used Beamer, never thought of birth control and /or made stupid decisions that have reverberated thru the decades. Or perhaps, they have just not as lucky as I have been.
WHERE was I?
I’m old
Next week had the serpentine belt on the Ford f250 explode just out of Phoenix as we ascend a 47% grade!
We were lucky as “Look out Point” rest area was only 200 yards down the road. Now, when your recently replaced serpentine belt explodes, you loses power steering as well! This is especially problematic when dragging a 32’ fifth wheel AND you have a recently replaced shoulder and your name is not Steve Austin
But we managed to make it to the rest area where Etta and Otis could sniff and pee and …well be dogs. With our friend Robert’s help we located a mobile mechanic which in Latin translates into “boy is this gonna cost a lot”
$450 later we were on our way, which given windshield time and all wasn’t bad, I guess. My cheapskate mind was thinking “it took longer to refill the antifreeze than it did to install the belt, I think I got fuc*ed”
We happily meander back towards Casper with an overnight at Recapture reservoir in Utah? Colorado? Lots of swimming for Etta and plenty of sand for the Mc5er carpet!!!!
We pushed on toward our beloved Wyoming ,marveling at the ever changing landscape . We chatted happily about visiting Karen’s mom and opening the cabin when BAAAANG!!!!!!! You guessed it, serpentine belt blew AGAAAIIIIN!!!!! We were just outside of Baggs Wyoming,population 411,elevation 6,218 feet! Suffice to say there ain’t much outside nor inside Baggs Wyoming, Karen was on the phone looking for another “This is REALLLLLLY gonna cost a lot mobile mechanic” as I strong armed the Mc5er into the port of entry parking lot. We wordlessly arranged lawn chairs and set up the grill as we both did a mental calculation about the cost of the 77 mile trip from Rawlins to our “campsite” in Baggs. Surprisingly, we’ve both become somewhat numb to the occasional??????, &*(#%@% inconveniences while traveling. We pretended we were camped among tall pines and a babbling creek as the bratwurst sizzled on the grill and the ice swirled in our newly refreshed cocktails.
The new morning shown bright as the dogs did dog things while I sipped coffee and wondered aloud when Larry the mobile mechanic might arrive. I also busied myself with youtube videos of “How to change a serpentine belt”
I was startled as Larrys POS 1993 rusted out Ford F-250 rolled into the lot, backfire loudly and continued sputtering for a few seconds after he killed the ignition.What a piece of shit his truck was! I hoped he knew what he was doing as I shook his permanently grease stained hand, and quickly moved him toward the truck. The clock was ticking and time is money as they say.
I was enveloped in a cloud of utter terror as Larry turned the new belt end over end over end over end as what I could only perceive as his effort to find the top?
I grabbed the belt and took charge as it was quite clear that Larry never changed a serpentine belt, I could barely spell serrrpenteen belt but it was looking like I knew more than the guy that literally held our checkbook in his hands.
The warm asphalt felt good on my back as I tried to instruct Larry from under the truck. Larry paused occasionally to refer to the “map” I sketched showing how the serpentine belt “serpentined” around the various pulleys……….did you see what I did there?? Pretty cool huh….regular Arnie Hemingway I am.
After 20 minutes of grunting and groaning the belt was on and I held a grease stained invoice for $962!!!!!! I shudder to think what the cost would have been if not for YouTube and my labor. It struck me who Larry reminded me of as I waved him out of the lot.
We arrived back in Casper later that day without incident, already missing our Arizona pals
Karen and I stretched out on the couch with a great book and delicious home cooked dinner too!
Some Az friend’s photos were not included.
This is an effort to protect their identity,perhaps from Interpol and or the Witness Protection Program. As you might imagine many of our friends and neighbors in Moon Pond were quite active in the turbulent counter culture times of the 60’s and 70’s
Round the bend 