Lifes' Experiences - You Gotta Love 'Em

There's no pictures to go with this post as I didn't think about throwing the camera in the car so you'll just have to picture this adventure in your mind!

Sunday - the kids have left - the house is back to normal and the laundry is done - and I'm thinking about getting some Christmas decorations out!  The phone rings - it's Glenn - already this doesn't sound good unless he's calling to say he's on his way home from hunting...............

Of course he's not - the starter went out of the truck - are you kidding me?????  He just put a new starter in that truck less than a year ago!!  But he's NOT kidding of course and he's way over at Sargents and it's 2:00pm with the sun on the downhill side..........sigh............

The only choice there is:  head into W. Pk to get a new starter and drive it over to him!  He's about 3 miles off the highway with the truck, camper and the trailer with the ATV (which is how he could call me - driving the ATV into Dotty's which is the ONLY thing in Sargents and it's a gas station/general store/campground/restaurant- and stand in one particular spot under a power booster) and they've had 6" of snow and it's darn cold out!!!

OK - he tells me we may have to spend the night in a cabin over there at Dotty's if he can't get the starter put on in the dark so I grab some cute pj's (what was I thinking????? - why didn't I pack long underwear???) and my makeup bag, along with a bag of Frito's and a few grapes and head into W. Pk!

I'm just pulling into Auto Zone when I happen to look over at the empty seat and there's no purse!!  NO WHAT??????  That's right - I forgot my purse!!! Panic city - I need money to pick up the part - I'm in a BIG hurry as I need to get over icy Monarch Pass before the sun sets - what to do, what to do!!!  I think about running to the ATM and getting cash - duh - my card is in my purse!!!

And then it hits me - petty cash at the office - ah hah!!!!  So I race over to the office and luckily, a client paid cash on Friday afternoon so I grabbed the envelope (along with Glenn's cell phone as he had mine for the weekend) and head over to the parts store!!!  Good thing that client paid as the bill was WAY over what my petty cash drawer held!!

So of course I had to stop back at the house to grab my purse and I was on my way!!  I did make good time, even though Monarch was snow packed and icy with snow falling as I was driving and I actually drove RIGHT to where Glenn was camping - in the 6" of snow I might add!!

Poor Glenn was all bundled up as now it's 10 degrees and the wind was blowing - he was SO thankful I had come!!!  I felt so sorry for him as he hooked up the new starter as I was sitting in my nice warm car with my headlights bumped up to his truck! But he got the starter on in record time!

We decided we had to spend the night - there was no way we were both going to drive over Monarch Pass on the ice at night!  So we pull over to Dotty's and Glenn goes in to book a cabin!  Here's the fantasy I concocted:  a cozy cute cabin where we could relax and watch TV all evening and a nice hot meal at the restaurant where we could tell each other about the last few days.

Here's the reality:  a REALLY cozy cabin with FOUR bunk beds, a small frig with a microwave on top and a built-in desk with a chair with just enough room to walk 2 steps into the cabin but NO BATHROOM - the bathrooms and showers were in the back of the general store, 50 yards away!  And the restaurant was already CLOSED!!!!  So much for my fantasy............

Did I forget to mention there is NO BEDDING in the cabins?  So Glenn got into the camper and we hauled out the 2 sleeping bags, 1 pillow and the sheet set and I made up the lower twin bed, thinking we sure needed to sleep together for body heat!!  There was NO heat turned on when we got into the cabin and with its' vaulted ceiling, it took quite a while to get warm!

We walked over to the general store to get a couple of drinks and I picked up a dark chocolate candy bar which I felt I really needed at that time!!!  Glenn cooked a couple of hot dogs in the microwave that he had left in the camper so with our Frito's, we had quite the fancy dinner - and yes, I ate my candy bar!

I just KNEW that I would have to use the bathroom in the middle of the night but the thought of actually walking outside over to the store was just TOO much so Glenn brought in a large bowl from the camper and that was to be the "chamber pot" during the night!!  (Luckily, neither one of us had to use it!)

Let's see - a trip over to the bathrooms to brush our teeth and wash my face with a paper towel and we were set for the night!!!  After our lovely meal, it was 7:30 - and since there was no TV and Glenn hadn't brought a book, he went to bed.  I crawled in too but HAD brought a book and there was ONE little lamp that I read by for an hour...............

Did we sleep well in that little twin bed with the lumpy mattress?  Of course not!!  BUT we were toasty warm and that's all that mattered!!

We woke up about 6:45 and it looked darn cold out - it was - 15 below - the car didn't even want to start!!  But we got both vehicles warmed up and were soon on our way home!  One thing I can sure say is that OUR bed felt HUGE after sharing that little twin bed!!  Life is sure an adventure with Glenn around!