Day 12 of the Salt Cured HAMB Tour '07.......Tuesday, Back on the Road Heading East

Day 1 Friday Night, Livonia, MI to Chicago, IL

Day 2 Saturday, Chicago, IL to Omaha, NE

Day 3 Sunday, Omaha, NE to ColoRODo Springs, CO

Day 4 Monday, ColoRODo Springs to Durango/Pikes Peak Climb

Day 5 Dugango to Silerton on the Train

Day 6 Hiking in Blanding UT

Day 7 Blanding to Wendover

Day 8 First Day on the Salt, Tech Inspection

Day 9 Saturday on the Salt

Day 10 Sunday on the Salt

Day 11 Monday on the Salt

Day 12.…Back on the open road
Tuesday Aug 14<SUP>th
</SUP>Wend over, UT to Jackson Hole, WY

Got up on the earlier side (for us anyway) and packed up the cars. Walked over to PurplePickUp’s room and what do you know, he’s packing up as well. Decided he wanted to visit the National Parks we were going to hit on the way home so he was coming with us!

GREAT news as I’ve known and liked George for years now.

We head to the west side of town to the grocery store to pick up lunchmeat, bread, water, ice, etc. then to the gas station. Low and behold we weren’t the only ones fueling up. Believe it or not, I behaved myself and held my tongue.




We hit the highway heading east. Our goal was Jackson Hole WY today. We were planning on arriving in plenty of time to see the town…unlike our usual late nite arrivals earlier in this adventure.




On the other side of Salt Lake City we needed more fuel and decided to take a break from driving and wash off some of the salt on the outside of the cars. The girl at the counter told us there was a car wash in a small town about 20 miles east. We LOVE small towns.


Found the car wash without an issue and since I was told NOT to power wash the salt off cuz you didn’t want to jam the salt into all the cracks and creaves, I gentley washed the exterior being very careful not to directly attack the salt.






A fraction of the salt we left behind in three stalls


While at the car wash I asked a local if there was a park in town and he gave us directions to it. We found a table and had a nice picnic lunch. Packing your own food for lunches and finding a park really helps in lowering the cost of a multi day adventure.


Back in the cars and heading east. Shortly after lunch we hit a two lane highway and didn’t hit another interstate for days.


Anyone who has ever traveled with me, OR I guess if you’re a regular reader of my adventure posts, you know I like the “Welcome To” signs when you enter each state, therefore if it’s safe, I always pull over for a snapshot.

Up to this point I’d been using Ralfs56’s car as a tri-pod, setting the timer and running into the shot. Most of the time making it, sometimes not, but we’d take the shot over and I’d just run faster. So, we get to this spot and I motion for George to pull his car up to a certain point where I’ve already determined the roof of his car needs to be so I can get the shot.

He rolls down the window and asks if I have a tri-pod and I say no. He pulls out a small, plastic tri-pod, still in the packaging, and hands it to me telling me I can “borrow” it. HOLY SMOKES, now why haven’t I ever thought of this???

So the camera is on a tri-pod on top of George’s car BUT I still have to run into the shot. George thought it was funny to take photos of this event……..every time.


I guess I should have had George pull up alittle closer


There is some AWESOME countryside on the boarder between UT WY and ID. I think this lake was called Bear Lake.


We entered and exited a number of states a number of times


An old marker between the two states

 

So….we’re in Idaho AGAIN, just siteseeing and discussing the fact that we’re making great time and perhaps we could go horseback riding once we get to Jackson Hole.


When we come to another WY sign and I pull over. I shut Big Olds off and was out of the car when Megan pulled up right behind Big Olds in the roadster. I turned to Larry and said, that doesn’t sound right. We walked over to the roadster and told Megan to leave it running. Larry unfastened the hood side and we all immediately knew the sound was coming from the water pump pulley, which had been replace the beginning of June when it shattered on the way back to my place after BilletProof.

Larry stuck his hand inside and on the front of it could feel a crack.


Ok, time out, photo time before you boys get too dirty.


Ok, so back to the car where Larry takes the pulley off.


YIKES, probably within minutes of falling apart.


So the decision was made for George to head back the 25 miles to the last town we p***ed thru because it was a halfway decent size and we really weren’t sure of the size of the next town ahead of us. His plan was to hit a parts store. Shouldn’t be too difficult to find a part for a SBC right??


So……we hung out around the cars for a bit till we got bored….


….and decided to go for a walk. There was a building about a mile away that Megan and I set as our goal. Didn’t get to see any moose, elk, bear, or any other exciting animals on the way BUT we did see animal poop, and when I think of poop I think of Larry (3wLarry), so Larry, we thought a lot about you while on our hike.




Our destination. We found out the bar/resturant was closed due to the owner’s dog’s death.


Our hike back


So we walk back, hang out at the cars some more then decide to hike up the mountain across the street. Not the smartest idea in our “Chucks”


Back at the car we’re still bored….too bad my laptop was outta juice or I would have been caught up with all the stories.
Megan loves her sweets




In the meantime, the guy in the yellow shirt stops on his motorcycle. He’s from TX and we talk Speed Week and a bunch of other stuff. Before too long his local pal stops as well.


These two decide that they might be able to find the part we need so they head off and return with a pulley but it doesn’t fit. It was nice of them to try though.

 

About 2 ½ hours after he left George returns with the part and tells us of first stopping at the parts store, they don’t have it. They directed him to a dealership but they didn’t have it. George asks them if there was any hot rod folks in town. Nope. What about car collectors? Nope. Junkyard? Yep! So he heads over there. They were closed but George persuaded the owners hot wife to open up so he could pull the part.

Our hero!


Larry get’s right on installing it.......


...and eveyone helps to look for a dropped screw


We bid our farewells to the guys and head out. Larry decided to drive to make sure everything sounded and felt ok


We went thru a little rain on the way to Alton which was fine in our book cuz it washes off the salt on the undercarriage.


Some more great scenery…




…and before we knew it we were in Jackson Hole checking into our very cool looking lodge like motel room. We showered and then headed out for dinner. We asked at the front desk and they recommended a restaurant. Did a little window shopping on the way and goofed around.




Well, the restaurant wasn’t at all what we thought. We all left hungry. The portion were very tiny. It was one of those fu-fu places. Not even a salad served with our pasta dishes. I guess they thought since they gave us clovers on top of our pasta that we didn’t need any more greens then that.


..so…..while still sitting in the restaurant we called Hagen Das which was just down the street. They said they were closing so hurry. By the time we paid the bill and got there they had closed. They must have taken pity on all our faces pressed up against the gl*** cuz one of the girls came and unlocked the door and allowed us to purchased ice cream. Man, did it taste GREAT.


While walking around town we came upon the place were we probably should have eaten. Looked like a fun place.


This antler arch was right in the middle of town. Very cool looking


Meagn decided to do alittle climbing…..


….before we read the sign. Glad there wasn’t a fine for climbing


We called it a night and headed to bed knowing we were visiting both the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone tomorrow and needed a good nite sleep.

Day 13 Wednesday, Jackson Hole to Cody, Wy

 

4444444444444

 

Thanks for more cool picts. Yall have to much fun.

 

Yaz.....Very Nice....I went to jackson Hole, Back in the 90's and yes ....you should have eaten at the Cowboy Bar. No pix of Moose ?? I saw at least one each day I was there !!!

 

Denise,

I always enjoy your posts / Travel logs, I am convinced that your not always where the party is at,..... the party is always where you are !, Great stuff, thanks for posting it.

 

looks like a killer trip.thanks for the pictures.

-danny

 

Denise,

After "conversing" with you via the HAMB and PM's, finally meeting you at the Drags has made these threads even more meaningful to me. Thank you for sharing all this with us. I'm glad I got to meet Larry also, a very cool guy! (I'm looking forward to meeting Megan some time!) Keep them coming - you have a following which looks forward to each of your adventures. I'm ready for your Drags coverage and I'm sure you will have something good for all of us on your "Fat Lucky's" story as well.

J.

 

Denise; I just HAVE TO ask ... was "you know who" STILL waiting for his motor home to be pulled out of the mud??
(or is that a gas can he's filling!!)

By the looks of those "snowy white" legs; he must have spent MOST of his time in it!!

 

<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on" width="100%"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">Ain't a road trip w/o a lil breakdown, nice work gettin the j/y open brother. Jackson Hole is cool, hope you went inthe million $ Cowboy bar, easy on the eyes with saddle bar stools etc. Been there done that with the fu-fu meals that leave you a little empty and usually your wallet also. Hagen Daas to the rescue, Great scenery in that country. Of course g***in w/Boyd had to be a thrill? Proud you were not mean to him!! Thanx for the cool multi state day.-Sololobo/Roadburners of Omaha
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Now you're getting into my kneck of the woods. Jackson Hole is full fu-fu lots millionaires and billionaires in those parts. It does have its charm though. Wish I would have known you were in the neighborhood, I would have kept an eye out for you and the posse. As it was I was just returning from the Pontiac Nationals in Norwalk OH on the 14th. Your pictures seem a little devoid of smoke from all of the fires that were/are burning in the area, but I'm sure you ran into that as you got closer to Jellystone. Thanks so much for your trip blogs it really shares the experiance for those who can't make it to all these events.
Dan

 

Sharon and I ran that same route a couple years ago when she went to Bonneville with me. It's a nice drive. Last year OBT and I did it but ran to West Yellowstone that first day and stayed in a commercial campground. It was 37 degrees F the next morning.

Charlie

 

i have always used a plate with the pulley, running just the bolts it will harmonic and fracture just like did and has done before, those were made to be sandwiched inbetween the fan mount and waterpump, so no flex you would be surprised at the movement with each revolution, the belt runs off center pulling the pully against the pump mount, if nothing else just bolt the fan mount spacer on there so it contains the flexing possibilites ,,,it is going to happen again

 

As always, your reads are looked forward to with much anticipation. Thank you so much for the enjoyment and for taking the time to post. Saw your car at the Nugget a few times but never saw you. Maybe next year.

 

Killer story and pics Denise! Almost like I was there.

Chasing that pulley down was fun but I missed out on the animal poops up in the rocks. The hot chick at the junkyard was way better, trust me.

I think Megan might have been checkin' out a cowboy in this pic....or maybe an ice cream store .

 

Great pics and story line. But why didn't you offer Boyd one of your stickers? It's lonely at the top.

 

I forgot to ask, was Boyd wearing white supphose with those knee shorts?

 

There will certainly be a fat Lucky interior story sometime between the end of Oct and end of Nov. It's one I'm REALLY waiting for as well.

I used the photos and story of Boyd getting stuck just to demonstrate karma. His motorhome actually got stuck a couple of days after we left the salt. I guess you could call it a flash-ahead in the story line.

The fires in Yellowstone were burning near the East entrance which closed that whole area. We had to exit at the Northeast which added many more miles to our Cody stop. I think you can kinda see a couple of plumes of smoke in one of my photos that was taken on the west side of Yellowstone Lake. Hopefully I'll have a chance to write that day up either tonight or tomorrow. I've got some great shots of the cars with the Grand Tetons in the background that I can't wait to share. Stay tuned

We kept teasing Larry "Chrome don't get ya home". I mentioned what you said which is very similiar to what PurplePickup said as well. I do believe Larry is going to follow your advice. Thanks for the headsup.

I'm bummed we didn't get a chance to meet. Next time I hope.

We p***ed those out to people that we LIKED and those were nice to us along the way.

Sure looks like it doesn't it.

 

...that's ok Denise, my Donna thinks about me when she sees poop too...

She thinks I'm full of it...

 

I definitely did NOT see enough hot cowboys out west. I was a little disappointed about that of course not seeing any bears!
That place we hate was BAD. I ordered gnnochis and literally got 6 (small ones). Ice cream was a must that night!

 

You should host a travel show on the SPEED channel.

 

Denise, Megan and friends,
Wow this was absolutely fabulous!!!!!!!!! I have never been to the salt flats but thanks to you i have come very close. The pictures and the stories were great. You did very good behaving yourself with the Big B at the gas station. Once again thank you so much for all that you do. Hope i get to meet you at the hot rod reunion this year.
G***er Girl