Stranded in Utah With No Money: A Trip Report

[rjoefish]

Okay, El D. you said little but I'm doing a full recap, I'll put cliff notes of just time/mileage at bottom.

We pack up and mostly clean our apt. on saturday morning. We have to be out by noon so a lot of stuff gets left in the kitchen, its not dirty, it just dishes and stuff. Yeah, we suck, I know, but we were so far behind and the landlord was there so we'll just move on.

The guy I'm driving with wants to eat before we leave town so we go to a mexican place. I only eat a thing of flan because I had a breakfast biscuit from Hardees earlier in the morning when I went to the bank.

We're on the road by about 1:30pm (All times will be central). At about Des Moines, or about 3:15pm my car starts heaing up and I get worried. From this point on I am driving with my drivers window all the way down, other windows cracked a bit so stuff doesn't fall out and the heater on full blast as hot as it will go.

We stop a few times and gas up and eat but we end up making it to Denver by like midnight. My friend's mom gave him money for a room but I tell him to keep his cash and have my dad get us a free room with his frequent stayer points stuff.

We get up at about 11am and head out on the road. We get through the mountains and at the top of the pass my [censored] is dangerously hot but then its all downhill and it cools really fast and I don't even need the heater on for a bit.

We stop in Grand Junction so I can check my car because its way hot again and I'm worried at about 3pm or something like that. There are no repair shops open so we continue on, it being sunday and all.

After we pass Green River my car starts getting all funky. This is like 100 miles from Grand Junction. I pull off at the Black Dragon View point about 20 miles past Green River and my car overheats. We put some water in and wait about 20 minutes and try again. About a mile down the road my car can't go any further, its too hot. We drive the 20+ miles back to Green River to get some proper coolant and water and go back to my car. We get there about 45 minutes after we left it and put the stuff in. I start it up and let it idle for a bit. Overheats again. At this point I know its over. It is about 7 or 8pm at this point.

I get a tow truck to take my car to the NAPA shop and my dad gets me another hotel room. My friend says he doesn't want to stay in a hotel again because of his lizard and had given me two options; leave my truck and try to cram into his car with all his stuff, meaning I'd have the lizard on my lap the whole way (have to hold it by the edges of the cage as the bottom is broken glass held together by duct tape. The other option is he'll take me back to Green River and drop me at the hotel and he says he'll come back the next day to get me if he needs to. I decide to stay here as I can't just leave my truck on the side of the road. (We decided to bring me back here before my dad got me the room and I got the tow number)

Friend leaves at about 8pm, I go into the room and settle in for the night.

Next morning, Monday, I check out at about noon, longest they'll let me stay and head down to the shop. I had called when they opened at 8 and they said there was a line of 2 or 3 cars before me. I get there and talk to the lady running the joint. Here's an awesome part of the story I didn't tell yet. She tells me its the water pump and that it'll be less tahn 350$ to fix and it will be ready by the end of the day.

I go eat at Ray's at about 12:30 and go back to the shop. I ask if they looked at the thermostat when I get there and the guy is like 'I haven't looked at it yet' I inform him the lady said it was the water pump and he says 'I have no idea where she got that, we haven't even looked at it yet.' WTF?? So I sit there for an hour or two and he finally gets it into the shop and looks at it. Tells me its wrecked. He says it might just be the gasket but if he takes it apart and the head is warped/cracked it won't be worth fixing as it will just break again and that I'll still have to pay him for all the labor taking it apart. I tell him just to set it outside and I'll get my friends to come get me and I'll leave the truck behing.

At about 3 I set up a reservation for a cargo van my buddies can pick up in Vegas and drive to get me. It will be there by 4. I get a call back and the one friend living out there says he has to help the other guy unpack his bags of clothes. I'm like why don't you go get the van while he moves in, he doesn't have anything heavy he needs help with. Friend won't do it. I get a call back at about 430 saying that there's a change of plans. They refuse to come tonight. I freak out and try to get them to come and tell them that its totally uncool for them to just leave me here. They won't listen and say they'll do it this morning (tuesday).

I call the rental place and tell them it will be picked up shortly after they open, 7:30am Vegas time. I get a call this morning at 9am Vegas time from the rental place asking if I'm going to come pick it up. I'm livid, I thought they were on the road already, but should have realized they weren't when they didn't answer when I called earlier. I finally get ahold of my friends at 10 or so and they say they overslept. Must have been a rough night. They're finally moving now and one is on his way as of like 1130 vegas time.

Its about 7 hours or so from Vegas so I'll be in the hotel lobby until about 7pm.


Cliff Notes:

Leave Iowa Saturday at about 1:30.

Drive about 800 miles to Denver, get there about midnight.

Leave Denver at about 11am next day and drive about 300 miles.

Car breaks down in Green River, Utah at about 5 or 6pm sunday night. Get hotel for night, tow for car, friend leaves all by about 7 or 8pm.

Find out car is totalled at about 2 or 3 pm Monday. Find out friends won't pick up van I reserved for 330pm Monday afternoon until 730am Tuesday morning.

Friend finally picks up van and leaves Vegas at about 11:30am Tuesday morning, has to drive about 400 miles or 7 or so hours to get me. Will repack truck immediately and take off for vegas, hope to be there by about 3 or 4am Wednesday morning.


In about 5 hours I will have been in this town 48 hours.