Day 8: WY to ID

Day 8 was a day of extremes for me. I woke up in Wyoming and walked across the street to a Hardee's for a biscuit (I thought these were called Carl's Jr out west?). On the way through Montana, I stopped and filled up with gas. Now, one thing I noticed is that, out west, the lowest octane is 85. Since I am using my company's gas card, I have to get whatever the cheapest octane is. Well, as I pulled away from the service station, my engine malfunction light came on. As this was the halfway point of the trip and I was about as far from home as I could get, this worried me. I pulled over and read the manual. It said the light could come on due to poor quality gasoline. However, if the light starts flashing, I am about to be royally screwed.

I drove it about 200 miles to Deer Lodge (my next stop), never taking my eyes off the warning light for more than 5 seconds. Every garage in Deer Lodge was closed. I parked and walked to the Montana Prison Museum and proceeded to have the creepiest experience of the trip.

Unlike Eastern State, where employees were thick as flies throughout the prison, I had the entire grounds to myself. There was a couple with their small child leaving the last building as I came in but, otherwise, no one. Every building gave off a creepy vibe but when I went into the cell house from the 1910s, things got weird. I was looking into the cells and I heard someone walking on the tier above me. I stepped away from the cells so I could look above me, and no one was there. The footsteps stopped as well. I figured these were just my footsteps echoing but I never heard them again as I resumed my course around the cells. Here they are...




The wind was howling outside and, somewhere, a loose door was banging steadily...working on my nerves. Finally, I turned a corner and saw a face staring back at me from one of the locked cells. I almost crapped...is what I'm saying. It was dark in the cell but I quickly figured out what I was looking at. Here is the fellow who almost made me mess my pants...



Yes, I am a goober. The rest of the prison was very cool to check out. There were many cells that had only their feeding slot open, so I would reach my hand into the darkness with my camera and take a pic. A few of the cells radiated such bad juju that I refused to stick my hands near them at all, sure a hand would reach out from the darkness and grab my own. I left that museum very pleased and moved on.

Driving through Missoula, MT, I saw a Jiffy Lube open. Since I needed an oil change anyway (yes, I put 6,000 miles on the car in one week), I had them run an auto scan on the malfunction. They said it was my torque converter and I would be without a car if it went out. But, they stressed that they are not mechanics, only oil changers and didn't know for sure. I deliberated but pressed on. One way or the other both that car and I have to be back in Greenville by this coming weekend. The manager told me to keep the car on paved roads no matter what. As I pulled away, I noticed the malfunction light had gone off. It stayed off the rest of the night but I kept waiting for it to return.

I drove next into a National Forest in Idaho. It was mostly unpaved and completely downhill, so I was filled with terror and happy that I could coast without using my gas. When I arrived in Koosia, ID, I filled up with gas and noticed that the front of my car was so covered in dead bugs that it looked like it hadn't shaved. Speaking of which, here is a pic of my on Day 8...



I made it to my hotel in Grangeville and slept like a rock after the tension-filled day.

Josh