11-18-08 Tuesday (Almost Home)

I called Bountiful RV yesterday. The 2 items left were the drip rails/gutters that had come in that day and getting a guy in to get the graphics done. I told the owner, Darren, that if need be, we could wait on the graphics and come back through for them after St. George. I asked that he call as soon as it's done. We never got a call, so I guess it's not done.

I hate to be a pain in the ass and call them so often. Being in the automotive industry, I dealt with the annoying "status check" phone calls. I can see why people do it. It's places like these that force me to stay on top. Tomorrow will be 3 weeks! Yeah, yeah, I know some of the holdup was getting parts. Some of the hold up was them not getting the right parts. From wrong colored awning arms to gutters no longer being made, a lot of this should have been hashed out 2 weeks ago. If we hadn't stopped by and noticed the wrong arms or the piss-poor gutter rail repair, this would have been even longer of a fiasco. I'm still not happy with some of the other "repairs", but I'm DONE. I want to move on.

I'll take photos of the repairs and post them. There was a "slice" in the rubber roof. They patched it with a glob as if they were frosting a cake. Maybe they thought to treat the patch like meringue? The other repair was the shower drain. They globbed white sealer onto the almond tub, obviously forgetting coloring basics - stay in the lines! Argh! You'll see it. You'll hear me bitch about it again, too. Trust me.

In a big city such as Salt Lake is, Progressive didn't have a preferred partner to make the repairs. This kind of leaves us to deal with the mess ourselves. We can't pass the blame onto Progressive. Besides, even if I could, I probably wouldn't. At times, we Americans are all about passing blame. "I'm late because of traffic, it's not my fault." "They should have salted the ice, now I've fallen and I'm going to sue." "They wouldn't have stolen the GPS if Studio 6 had security." Maybe WE were dumbasses for dangling the GPS-carrot out for the world to see. There's so many other blame placing quotes I could come up with, but you get the idea and probably have something better to do. So to sum it up, do I blame Progressive for not having a preferred partner? Nah.

While I'm up on the soap box, let me take a step up a little higher. Now, I'm just ranting. I can see how my mom raised me and how Jim's mom raised him. They weren't perfect, but they did a damn good job! I'm not leaving fathers out. Dads are there for us, but moms were around more often and did more of the wrong-right molding. I remember my mom having a conniption if I threw gum on the ground. She always gave me a piece of gum, and saved the wrapper in her purse. If no trash can was around for the now flavorless glob, she'd get that wrapper, wrap the old gum and put it back into her purse until a trash can was in sight. Jim and I do that with cigarettes. If you are the type that throws it out of the car window, you're an idiot. We've always taken our butts and put them in our pocket. Gross? Isn't smoking gross to begin with?

I won't even get started about pet owner's who don't pickup after their dogs.

Maybe I need to change this blog title to "Random Rants" or "Ramblings on Soap Box"?

We're EXPECTING the RV to be done today. In preparation, I'm doing laundry. That would be Preparation L, not H. It would take way too long to do all of this in the RV. I don't have to remind you of prior laundry blog posts.

Jim called Bountiful, they say it will be ready at 4pm. I have a bad feeling. I hope I'm wrong.

I've picked up on several other blogs in the past few days. I told you already that I've subscribe to some but now it's many. I'm almost addicted in ways. For blogs that have been around a long time, it does take a bit of reading to catchup, but once that's over, it's easy reading 1 entry per blog a day. Besides, we're temporarily retired, so what else do we HAVE to do? I take to reading the blogs much more than Jim. Jim reads maybe 2 out of the 9. Hell, he doesn't even read ours stating "I've lived it, why do I need to read it?" He does read our blog maybe once a week, probably out of boredom. I read the comments posted to keep him in the loop. Sometimes, I'll give him the general gist of the comment. To me, blogs are good reading.

Last night I chatted with Char (Charlene), a neighbor upstairs from us. She and her dog Ruby have been here for months. Messy divorce. Char, not Ruby, silly. We liked Char. She said something about if we had met sooner should would have invited us out with the girls. Sure, we're leaving tomorrow and now we finally meet someone. Dasher met Ruby, but it didn't go very well. They fought. Good thing they both were on leashes. Char, good luck to you and fry that bastard!

Laundry is now complete. Next task for us is to get the salt washed off the Cherokee and to pickup our hotel reimbursement check from Progressive. Exciting.

I'm so bummed. It's hard to find a gay RV park in California. One would think that even San Francisco would have one. We can't find one with full hookups. That's a lie, we found 1 but they aren't very close to the major cities. We prefer the gay parks. We can be ourselves. A lot of those parks have meet and greets and potluck dinners to attend. It's so awesome making new friends throughout the country. We haven't been at one since Georgia. Sigh.

OK, 6 hours later, we're back. We picked up our Progressive insurance check, had the Cherokee washed and then had its oil changed at Jiffy Lube. After that, we picked up the RV. It cost us $1300 for our deductible plus the non-covered repairs. We ate dinner at Applebees. Yeah, we had desert too. As I ate the lava cake, smothered in hot fudge with yet more hot fudge in the center and accompanied by icecream, I asked myself "Why am I getting fat?", but then I forgot what the question was so I finished my desert.

With the RV in the hotel parking lot, most of our stuff is back in the RV. We'll let the fridge/freezer cool and load the food tomorrow. We have some more to take to the RV but I called a coffee break (literally). I was feeling so tired, I needed the caffeine boost.

It's 10:30pm, we've finished loading what we can into the RV and now we can relax. One of us will sleep in the RV tonight to ensure its safety. We're just a little skittish since "The Great Cherokee GPS Heist of 2008 at Studio 6 in Salt Lake City Utah."

We've decided to stay in Salt Lake City a little longer. Yeah, I know but we have 3-4 days left on our prepaid RV park stay at Mountain Shadows. Another sigh........

11-17-08 Monday (Go Pound Salt)

Maybe, in some sort of parallel universe, our RV will be ready today. This Wednesday will be the 3 week mark. I knew in the back of my mind it was going to take longer than what would seem like only a 1 week job. I made so many comments to Jim that I suspected it was going to take longer. I guess I didn't really want to believe my own suspicions.

Off to the Bonneville Salt Flats we go. As we drove on a desolate road, there was nothing but salty sand on either side. It was very smooth looking which must be tempting to travelers to write their names in it. They didn't merely scratch their name into the dirt but rather used rocks to spell out their message. It ranged from peace signs to names to hearts. It went on for miles.

We were a mile away from the salt flats and decided to stop off for lunch at the Salt Flat Cafe, a small Mexican restaurant. The portions were huge and it was $12 for both of us. What a bah-gan!

All in all it was a 2 hour drive. Now mind you, a lot of times I don't know much about the destination, I just go with it. So we arrive at the welcoming sign and it's a flat, vast land of salty nothingness. I asked Jim, "So we drove 2 hours for this?" I don't know what I was expecting. Yeah, I know SALT and FLATS. Duh. After we drove over the salt, it turned out to be an OK experience. The salt glistened in the sun. It was kinda pretty.



There was only one other vehicle on the flats so we let Dasher loose. He sniffed around a little and then jumped back into the Cherokee. It seemed strange of him.

Here's todays photos:

11-16-08 Sunday (Another One Bites the Dust)

Jim is in bed with a headache. We think it's his contact lenses because the doctor changed the brand and the prescription. They're the same brand I wear, meant to sleep in and no hassles for 30 days a pair. Advil will be his friend for today. Well, OK, Wal-Mart's Equate (store brand) will be.

Depending on how his headache is, I may very well be gracing you with my famous day of nothing blog entry. Oh goody.

Just a thought; perhaps the Mormon videos with probable subliminal messages in conjunction with his new contacts, have created this headache? Nah, he had a headache a day or two before we went there. Quit blaming everything on those people.

I forget what we were going to do today. Jim had some of the day planned out already. I think it was a state park or something. It's been cold here so we typically have to dress in layers when we take these day trips. I track the weather on my Google homepage for cities we're planning to visit. St. George, UT in the Southwestern corner, runs about 9 degrees warmer. I'll be loving that. It seems like since we've been in Salt Lake, St. George has had the picture perfect weather.

We've been here so long, I don't even care about the mountains. I look at them and think "They look like they're in the way." When I see something for a while, I no longer appreciate its beauty. I can't help it. It probably happens to all of us. When is the last time you appreciated natural beauty in your own area? Be it a stream, lake, flowers, mountains, beach, etc. This is a once in a life time trip for us; one that many may dream about and all I do is bitch, right?

I spent an hour reading someone's gay fulltimer RV blog I stumbled on. Their blog seems to be more about the destination than the getting there for now. Our blog is about the destination but also the day to day silly stuff and definitely the getting there. Right now, theirs is focused on California which is great for us as that will be another destination in the near future as the cold approaches. They include reviews about various tourist spots (to some I've been to back in 1985) and RV parks. I'll be referring to his blog often as a guide for things to see.

We've not done anything today. It's 5pm and it's getting dark so sightseeing is not an option. We did however, talk to our parents today. It's so sad to talk to them weekly and learn of yet another business in their town that has met with a financial demise. Nevermind sad, it's downright scary.

Allegedly, these, per a website, are dumb Utah laws in existence.


Dumb Utah Laws

It is against the law to fish from horseback.
When a person reaches the age of 50, he/she can then marry their cousin.
It is illegal not to drink milk.
It is illegal to detonate any nuclear weapon. You can have them, but you just can't detonate them.
Birds have the right of way on all highways.
A husband is responsible for every criminal act committed by his wife while she is in his presence.
You're not allowed to sell beverages containing more than 3.2% alcohol.
It's legal for restaurants to serve wine with meals, but only if you ask for the wine list.
It is considered an offense to hunt whales.

Kaysville
You must have identification to enter a convenience store after dark.

Logan
Women may not swear.

Monroe
Daylight must be visible between partners on a dance floor.

Provo
Throwing snowballs will result in a $50 fine.

Salt Lake City
No one may walk down the street carrying a paper bag containing a violin.

Trout Creek
Pharmacists may not sell gunpowder to cure headaches.

11-15-08 Saturday (Mormisney)

Today we drove to Saltair. Saltair was closed for the season. I've included some history (listed in blue) about Saltair. Skip it if you'd like. We wish we did.

The Saltair Resort is considered an important culture symbol of the Salt Lake Valley. In 1893 the Mormon Church built Saltair on the south shore of the Great Salt Lake, located about sixteen miles from downtown Salt Lake City. Architect Richard K.A. Kletting, a renowned architect famous for his work with the Utah State Capitol Building, chose a moorish style design for the resort. The church owned the building until 1906 when it was sold to a group of private Mormon businessmen.

Over the next century the resort suffered through its first devastating fire in 1925. After Saltair burned to the ground Raymond J. Ashton and Raymond L. Evans designed a new pavilion similar to the old with hopes of restoring the popular Utah attraction. Due to the financial stress of the Great Depression and another costly fire in 1931 the resort closed during World War II only to be reopened after the war.

In 1970 the resort once more burned to the ground and was forgotten until 1981 when a new pavilion was built around the original site. Throughout the 80's Saltair experienced trouble with flooding and the lake's shifting water levels. Finally in 1992 the resort was purchased by the local Great Salt Lake Land Company. Restoration headed by the Salt Lake attorney and real estate developer Walter Plumb was finished shortly thereafter and the resort complete with a new concert stage for local and national artists was dedicated in 1993 during the resort's one hundredth anniversary. The remodeled resort also hosts a private club with liquor license.

It was ugly. An ugly building, no landscaping, just ugly. The surrounding area, yep, ugly too. We drove up a bit further to a State run marina and wasted $2.00 on a half hour of our life we'll never get back. The only aquatic life that survives the high salt content is brine shrimp. The brine die this time of year and are washed ashore. The odor in some spots made us gag. Anymore and I think we would have puked. We left after that.

We thought we'd try to offset the icky trip by visiting the Mormon Temple. It was very pretty.....in a brain washing type way. We took a tour. Tours were every 15 minutes and were headed by 2 "Sisters" as they are referred to. They spoke about their beliefs and their history. It was all very creepy to me. Some of the displays around made me feel as though I was at the Mormon Disney. I couldn't wait to leave. I could hear It's a Small World in my head. Get it out! Make it stop! I'll be OK.

All the tourguides carried The Book of Mormon and wore name badges prefaced with "Sister" before their last names. I felt like I was on the backlot of The Stepford Wives.

I did find out something I didn't know. It is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Their "bible" is The Book of Mormon which was written by someone with the last name of Mormon. They're really not "Mormons", that's more of a nickname for their religion. I also found out it took 40 years to build the Temple.

Here's a video recap of our day.

The trees outside on their property had Christmas lights on all branches. It looks like it would be beautiful to see at night. Jim asked if I wanted to come back at night. I rather stay away.

On a different note, I wanted to share with you, a Wal-Mart bingo card that Nancypants shared with us. I edited it a little bit due to 1 spelling error and a very racial spot. It's funny.

11-14-08 Friday (Get Bent)

Omigod, I'm so tired of Salt Lake City! I miss the RV. Jim called Bountiful RV and spoke with Darren. We were hoping to have it for the weekend. Darren said the gutter/drip rail came in bent and another was due in today. We never heard back from him. Tomorrow they're open until noon, so I guess we'll be spending the weekend here again.

I know there's still so many things to see here. I guess we've just become lazy with the absence of the RV. I'm not quite sure what our problem is. Jim had a headache all day, and napped a lot to try and get rid of it. I did the laundry and played video games. By 7pm he still didn't feel that great so I went onto Wal-Mart by myself. I had to get some more meals and other supplies. I think we've been to Wal-Mart so much because we forget things. In the RV we have a wipe erase board that we add things to as we need them. Also we hold back on what we buy, expecting to be out of the hotel in time. I've gotten a few comments (email) about us loving Wal-Mart. I used to hate Wal-Mart when we lived in Florida. Most of that was because the store was dirty, messy and the lines were excessive. Since we left Florida, those 3 problems don't exist. Most of the time, cashiers are waiting for a customer. Strange. Don't get me wrong, I still prefer Publix, Smith's, Kroger, and a lot of other stores we've been to. Wal-Mart's bakery and deli is weak and untasty. As I've said before, it's mostly about the expenses. Keep them low, extend the trip.