My Journey Into The Sun: My New Journey

Tuesday-Thursday, May 23-25, 2023

Tuesday was quite the day. It started out with my portable fridge breaking down. Not a biggie. I just figured I’d buy bagged ice every couple days and use the fridge more like a cooler. I basically use it for medical prescriptions that I take that need to be refrigerated.

I started out by leaving Dubois, WY and headed towards the Grand Teton National Park. It was a beautiful drive and I really enjoyed it.

I received my Senior Pass to National Parks last year so it is free to me.

From Teton, I went to Yellowstone National Park. I had been to both of these parks in 2014 at about the same time of year.

Yellowstone is currently having a lot of road construction. One-lane would be closed off and you have to wait about 30 minutes for the other side of traffic to get through. Leave any impatience outside the park if you are going to Yellowstone. LOL! As they are redoing the roads, there are a lot of potholes, now-gravel areas with bumps and dips. I was truly amazed at all the people who had pulled over on the road and had their camp chairs out, sitting watching wildlife (which were very close IMHO). I also tried to find ice at two different locations and neither of them had ice. So yes, my meds didn’t stay cold. I’ve since researched it and found that it’s okay for non-refrigerated meds (up to 56 days). I’m good.

I had originally planned on traveling the loop within Yellowstone and then exiting via the West Yellowstone exit. I got just past this exit and my car started shaking. At first, I thought it was the road conditions, but then my engine light came on. I was about 15 miles to the closest exit (West Yellowstone), so I put my flashers on and carefully carried on. It seemed to be better when I was able to coast without using the gas. I managed to make it out of the park and found an auto repair shop. Gratefully (even though he initially said he didn’t have time), the mechanic drove it and ran diagnostics on it. His first comment to me after he drove it was, “…sounds like the transmission”. Hearing that, I did panic a bit. $$$$ ringing in my head. The diagnostics showed a “#1 cylinder misfire”. He told me he didn’t have availability to look further into it until Friday and this was Tuesday. When he told me he thought I could make it to Rexburg, Idaho (about 80 miles) without breaking down. So I gripped the wheel and did what I had to do.

I made it to Rexburg and got into a motel. I told the lady at the front desk I didn’t know how long I would need the room for and if she had any recommendations for a mechanic. At this time, it was about 4pm. They had a room for me until Friday morning. She gave me the name and number of her mechanic and I called him. This man turned out to be my lifesaver and not only a Good Samaritan, but a REALLY good guy overall.

I talked to Chris (the mechanic) and told him what was going on. He said he didn’t have much availability, but he could look at it and try to figure it out. He even came and picked my car up at the motel and took it back to his shop.

About 7pm he called me. He had fixed my car!!! A simple check by switching the cylinder 1 with cylinder 3 indicated a bad coil and spark plug in cylinder 1. He drove it 20 miles after changing the coil and plug and it didn’t misfire once. He was out driving it while I was talking with him and he asked if I wanted him to drive it further to see if it would misfire. I told him, “no”. I trusted that it was fixed.

He came and picked me & Bali up during this t-storm and torrential rain storm (rain going sideways). Bali and I crawled in the backseat as my passenger seat had my fridge. As we were driving back to his shop, he told me he was on the way to the hospital as his daughter was in labour. It was her 2nd child and her first delivery was 36 hours long so he was worried about her. Even though he had that going on, he really wanted to help me as I was stranded. I’m still tearing up now as I think about how kind this man was to me. He said he had been stranded 10 years before in Death Valley, CA and had never forgotten the man who stopped and helped him. So everyone….when someone blesses you like this, pay it forward! I gave him a huge hug and will stay in touch with him as I consider him a friend now.

I left his shop and headed back in the torrential rain storm. There was an Applebee’s in the same parking lot as the motel and I realized that I hadn’t been so much shaking from the car fiasco as the fact that I hadn’t eaten anything except a small yogurt early that morning. I went into Applebee’s and got a salad.

After having my salad, I took a long, hot bath. It was so relaxing! A couple hours after I got back, my phone rang. It was Chris (the mechanic). He wanted to make sure I got back to the motel okay and if the car was still running okay. Amazing! Here he was still worried about his daughter and he was calling me to make sure I was okay! ❤️❤️❤️

As I was headed to bed, I got a message from an on-line friend who I didn’t realize lived in Rexburg. We made plans to meet up Wednesday morning.

Bali was very content in her bed.

On Wednesday morning, Bali woke me up at 6am. Yep, time to go out and get her breakfast.

Becky and her husband, Danny met me at the motel with their 2 dogs (Max and Wendy). We went to Denny’s and had breakfast and way too much coffee. 😜 A wonderful couple and I am so glad we were able to finally meet!

I came back to the motel and was working on trying to find a plan of what to do on Friday. Becky contacted me and asked if she could come over as she had something for both myself and Bali. She gave us some wonderful gifts and we chatted another couple hours. I’m so grateful she came by. It was like it was meant to be that I ended up here.

On Thursday morning, I went to Walmart early to pick up a foam mattress topper and a 30 degree sleeping bag (so Bali and I are more comfortable).

Bali played with the toy Becky gave her. She even played fetch and brought it back to me!

Becky, Danny, Max and Wendy led us over to the dog park. Max ran and ran and I think finally tuckered himself out. There was a young Bassett Hound (Atlas) that came in and played with Max. The only issue was trying to keep the dogs away from the mug at the gate. It was a great time for all.