Day 46: Truck Bonding on the 4 Peaks Trail

I wake up and spend some time online looking at truck stuff. I think. I am not really sure what I am doing on my computer actually. At about noon, the door opens and Hanna shows up. "What are you doing here?" I ask. Haha, well, she lives here obviously. School sent them home early apparently. "Wanna ride down a dirt road with me in my truck?" No? You have school stuff to do. :(  A little later, I decide to finally leave for my adventure.

About 1, I head out the door. I immediately come back in to fill up my water bottles. I don't know if I am just driving or if I am going to hike as well. I spill water all over the place. Awesome. I take my water and get in the truck. I start my 25 mile on-road drive to the off-road trail. I drive through a neighborhood area. Some lady is jogging. She waves at me. Interesting, I don't think I have ever had a jogger wave at me before. My truck must just be that awesome! I continue down the road. There is some shoulder work going on. I check out the rollers compacting some dirt. Looks fun! 

As I get further from town, the road gets a little scary. There are small hills that I go over and can see nothing as I approach the crest. This is definitely not safe. Someone did not check for stopping sight distance when these hills were made in this road. Some engineer missed something... Oh well. Before I know it, I have reached the trail.

Near the trail head before the truck got covered in dust

It is an easy trail. I want to properly "break in" the new truck but have no desire to push it. It is so easy that I end up getting passed by some guy driving a mini van. Embarrassing. I am really taking it easy though. I don't want to break the truck and I am stopping to take pictures quite frequently. It is a 20 some odd mile trail. It wraps around a mountain (or group of mountains?) called 4 Peaks. It is pretty easy to identify which mountain the name refers to.

No name truck framing the 4 Peaks Mountain

 The first part of the trail is at a pretty low elevation. I see some cacti and drive through deserty stuff. I take a picture of my new truck with some cacti. Since I like cacti so much, I feel that this is necessary. I then start to climb. Most of the trip is spent winding around the side of mountains and driving atop ridges. The trail is pretty well maintained. A few rocky spots but nothing big or anything that is likely to cause damage. As I climb, the cacti disappear and trees appear. There is even some snow in a few places. Places of the trail wind around pin tight blind corners. These make me nervous as the trail is only about a truck and a half wide in most of these areas and people are going both directions.

Nice 'n desert-y

Starting to ascend the mountainsides

I slowly approach these blind corners. At one point, I do encounter someone coming the other direction. I slam on the brakes. OMG what was that noise?!?! Oh, anti-lock breaks. She is on the outside and there is a significant drop off. She waits for me to go. I don't blame her. I wouldn't want to risk falling over that. I let the clutch up and jam down the accelerator. (I am going uphill and one of my wheels is in a bit of a rut....) VROOM! At least I have stock exhaust so it is not that loud. I make it out just fine and continue on my way. I pass many people on the trail. Most of them are friendly and wave. I only see one other Tacoma. I am slightly disappointed that he doesn't even knowledge me or our Toyota connection. Oh well.

That's the trail wayyy off in the distance

 I eventually reach a marked trail head amongst some trees. "4 Peaks Trail." Ok, that sounds fun. I get out. As I start walking toward the trail, I inhale and get a bug up my nose. Grosss. I try to snort it out. I am still not sure if I got it out. I walk a little further. There is no one else here. Ok, probably not a good idea to hike this. As I head back, I inhale a bug through my mouth. I try to cough it up. I am pretty sure it didn't work. Ok, even if there were people here, I am so over this place. These bugs are ridiculous. I am happy to be back in my truck and out of reach of these obnoxious bugs.

Snow on the back side of the 4 Peaks

I continue on my way. I eventually reach a branch in the trail. Both options look pretty well traveled. My trail guide I used to find this place didn't say anything about this. At least not that I remember. I pick the way that my GPS shows as the more predominate road. At least it knows where I am for once. Usually when I am in places like this it is clueless. I drive for a while and conclude that I might have picked the wrong way. I decide to try actually using my GPS. I put Hanna's house address in and tell it to take me there. Yup, going the wrong way.

Descending (on the correct trail)

I turn around surprisingly easily on the narrow trail. I only have to do a 1 point turn! Good truck! I get back to the branch and take the other option. I begin descending out of the mountains. 30 minutes later, I am at the highway. My GPS tells me to turn left. I am 100% sure the most direct way to town is to go right. I stop before turning on the highway and consult Google Maps. Well, I am correct. However, going right will lead me along the Apache trail, which is also dirt and bumpy. It will be faster to just go to the left and go 50 miles out of my way. I am done with dirt road driving for the day so I go left.

Good truck! I think we just might be friends...

It is 75 miles back to town. I have to go all the way around the recreation area that I just drove through. Oh well. The new truck (that still needs a name... I haven't found the perfect one yet :( ) does just fine on the highway. Well, aside from the rocks that it flings out of the tire treads as soon as I start moving faster than 15 mph.

As I drive, I conclude that I am hungry. Hmmm... chicken sounds good. And pineapple! And cashews. Hanna even has some pineapple laying around that is about to go bad and needs to be eaten.... I have no recipie and decide to concoct one of my own. Using my (lack of) vast knowledge about cooking, I think up a sauce that contains soy sauce, ginger, cinnamon, salsa, brown sugar, and baking powder that I could cook all of these in. I text Hanna to verify that the pineapple is still there. It is. I tell her I am making something for dinner.

I get back and immediately start cooking. She asks what I am making. Uhhh, I don't know. It has all this stuff in it though. She concludes that it doesn't sound terrible and goes back to studying. I throw stuff in the pan. Half an hour later, I conclude that it is probably done. Well, the rice is done and usually when I make stuff to go with rice, whatever I am cooking is done before the rice is. Therefore, since the rice is done, I conclude everything else must be done too. Surprisingly, it tastes pretty darned good. However, it can't decide if it is sweet, salty, or spicy. Maybe next time more spicy stuff and no cinnamon.....

I am now sitting at my computer, still trying to dislodge the bugs from my airway, and thinking of a way to make a sweet skid plate for my truck... I have a cool idea but am just trying to make it feasible. I have plenty of time to think about details though since I won't be doing any fabrication until I get back...

Day 45: Mormon Loop Hike and More Truck Stuff

I have a short list of shopping and errands to do today: gas for the new truck, lunch from Chick Fil A, iPod hookup, locking truck bed cover, and fire department patches. My final goal is to go for a hike!

I complete the first three stops with no problem. The truck cover proves to be more difficult. I can't find what I am looking for for under $1000. I'll have to find a used one. Somewhere in all of this, I get a call from the dealer. They need more information from me to get the financing done. Something about a recent pay stub. Uh oh. That will not go well. The last pay stub I have is from October and was only for a week of work. I don't see that helping to convince anyone to give me a loan. I call back and leave a message. I stop by the fire department supply store. Despite my begging, they won't give me a fire department patch for some reason. Department policy or something. I manage to get a few EMT/medic patches though.

I head off to the trail head for Mormon Loop. Looks like a nice little 4 mile hike. My phone rings as I pull into the parking lot. It is the dealer. I answer. I hear him just fine but he can't hear me. Great. I call back. Still can't hear me. I restart my phone. Get the call through but no answer. Shit. I guess he is with someone else. I want this done and dealt with! I set out for my hike, really worried that they might take my truck away if they can't finance me.

New truck parked at the trailhead

 I start to hike. I get about half a mile along the trail when I decide to call USAA and see if I can get $1000 more on my loan. If worst comes to worst, I can put down another $1000 and cover everything. I call. My phone won't work. Ugh. I turn it on and off and call again. I get half way through the menus before my voice stops transmitting. Ughhhh. I call again and finally get a representative. "Hello? Hello? Anyone there?". YES I AM HERE. UGHHH. FUCK. "Hellooo? I'm sorry, I can't hear you." The phone hangs up. I am going to throw this damn phone that can do everything other than function as a phone off the side of this damn mountain. I call a friend who has been texting me as I hike. She can hear me just fine. I thank her and try USAA again.

Finally, success! And the guy can hear me! I stop walking, just in case the problem has something to do with my signal. I ask if I can get $1,000 more approved on a loan. He puts me on hold... for 15 minutes. I pace back and fourth on the trail. I find a survey mark on a rock. Cool! I pace some more. I am bored. Finally he comes back. Nope. They won't give me any more. Ughhh seriously? What does a person need to do to get an auto loan around here? I have good credit, have had credit for almost 5 years, have a job with the government (how much more secure can it get?), and a college degree! I sound disappointed with the news. He offers to look up the value of the truck. I am not sure how that will help but I give him the VIN number. He informs me that it is worth $3000 more than I am able to pay but I can probably talk them down $6000 or so. Uhhhh. I really don't see that happening. I already set a price that I had though I could do that is really pretty reasonable. But thanks for the help....

Survey Marker!

I continue my hike, mildly distraught. Shortly after, I get a call from the dealer again. I lose reception. Dammmiittt. I find reception and call him back. Yes! Contact finally. And there is good news! The financing is done. With almost 2% lower APR than they had originally told me. They need a little more down though. And my loan term is shorter even though my monthly payment is a little higher. That's fine with me! I was going to overpay my payments anyway and probably still will. That will save me money in the end. I have to go back in to pay the rest of the down payment. I tell him I am hiking and should be done in 2 or 3 hours and I will come by. Yay!

Pretty!

I continue on my hike. I find a trail map along the way and check it. This is not the trail I thought I was on. I figure out the route back and set off anyway. I walk and walk and walk. Maybe I missed a turn? I know I need to be on this trail to get back but I am not sure if I missed something. I go to check the map on my phone. It is dead. Awesome. I keep walking. I am definitely going the wrong way. This is the last time I go hiking on a trail system. All of my other hikes have just been a single up and back trail. Nooo problem there. Well, if I keep going I will eventually get to a trail head with a map so I can figure out where I am.I finally round a corner and can identify some landmarks in the city. Uhhh, that is not where downtown should be if I am anywhere near where I parked. Great. I pass a few people along the way and finally reach a parking lot.

Tooo many trails...

Uhhh, how concerned should I be about this...?

I examine the map and finally find where I parked. It is 3 miles away via trail. It looks closer via the road but the trail is pretty straight forward. I am approaching the 3 hours that I had told the dealer. I decide to hike back. I start to run. I want to get back fast. I am tired of hiking. My 4 mile hike has possibly doubled in length. As I go running down the trail, I run by a younger couple that I had passed. "Did ya forget something?" The guy asks. No, just forgot where I parked! They offer to give me a ride to my truck. Ummm. That would be phenomenal. I am so over this hiking thing for the day.

I hop in the car and we talk about local hikes and Alaska as we wind down a windy mountain side road for about 15 minutes. I did not realize I had hiked that far up vertically. I am glad I did not decide to walk down the road. 20 minutes later, I am back at my truck. I thank them profusely and hop in my truck. I set my GPS to the dealer and head off.

I pull up and a salesman walks up. "Nice truck!". Thanks! Apparently he is friends with the previous owner and the one who accepted it as the trade in. And he likes to talk. We talk about the truck. Alaska comes up. He goes hunting up there sometimes so we talk about Alaska for a while. Finally, I tell him I need to get to finance. I am already later than I said I would be! I walk in, resign a few papers, run my debit card, and am finally all done! The truck is officially mine, well, mine and the lien holder's.

As I walk out, I see Matt and the sales manager that I had talked to the last fest days... "Hi Anna! How's the truck?" Awesome, thank you very much! I head back to the truck. The sales guy is still around. Want a water? Yes! I ran out right after I got back from my hike. We talk some more before I finally head off. At some point he calls the previous owner. I find out how recently the differential/t case oils have been changed. They are good to go for a while and are synthetic. Excellent!

It is now dark. My new truck has tinted windows. They suck for driving in the dark. I will have to get used to this. My truck is still super fun to drive regardless of the tint.I make it back. I decide to cook something. Let's try cooking beef parmigiana. I run to the store and grab the few things that I don't have to make it. Hanna is still at school. Boo!

I get back from the store and get on my T100 forum. I have posted to inform my truck buddies that my T is gone and offered to give my repair manual to whomever wants it. I got some really nice responses from them. A few people want my manual too. I spend some time posting and responding. They want a detailed comparison of my T and my Taco. I can do that! While I am doing this, Hanna arrives. And asks what I did today. I am instantly distracted from my posting. I start with my dysfunctional phone and continue through my departure of the Honda dealer. Uhhh, how was school? Oh, are you hungry now? Let me start cooking stuff.

I cook dinner. It isn't quite as good as the chicken but this is my first time making it with beef.  Ohhh welll!!! Next time!

Day 44: Truck Buying!

I wake up around 10. Oh no! I need to get up. I only have two hours before I told the dealer I would come in to buy the truck. I don't want to be late and lose the deal or something...! I hop up and shower. When I am done, I check my phone. The Toyota dealer had called wondering what I thought about their offer on the new truck. Well, I don't want to close any doors yet... I will just ignore that for now. I feel a little bit better about Matt's pestering yesterday though. My initial reaction to his calls was "Why does he want to get rid of that truck so badly." From a private selling viewpoint, that is kind of a red flag. I guess that is just how they roll at dealers. I don't like that at all it's just annoying and not convincing me to buy the truck. Oh well, I feel better anyway.

I continue getting ready. Hanna comes looking for me. Apparently Matt had called her wanting to confirm the appointment at noon. He has her phone number because the first time I tried to call him yesterday, my phone stopped working. It did the whole I can hear you but you can't hear me thing. Ugh. So I had called on her phone. And now he keeps calling her. Sorry Hanna. :(. Anyway, the appointment is confirmed.

I go downstairs and start making coffee and cooking breakfast and my phone rings. It is Pickle, from yesterday. He says that he missed a 4wd Tacoma yesterday when I called asking about them yesterday if I still want to look at it. I tell him I have found one I am interested but thank you. I go back to making breakfast. I am trying to melt butter in a pan to fry eggs when Hanna comes downstairs. "Matt called again."  She has hit redial and handed me the phone. At the same instant I had shoved a giant strawberry in my mouth. I gesture frantically. She figure out that my gesturing means my mouth is full and I can't talk. She hangs up the phone "Anna you need to call him back." I am so sorry he keeps calling you!

I call him back. He wants to push the appointment back to 12:30. Ok, that works for me. At this point I have melted the butter and started cooking eggs. Which I accidentally left on high. The eggs are beginning to burn. Shittttt. I turn them down but it is a little too late. Oh well. I finish making breakfast burritos. They turn out ok. We talk for a while until it is time to head out to buy a truck. Hanna is unusually talkative today. Right before we leave the Toyota dealer guy calls again. I answer. "Hi, have you thought about that truck any more?" I didn't mean to answer if he called back until after the new truck is bought. Uhhh I still don't know yet. I will let you know in a few hours. I want to keep all possibilities open until everything is done.

I get to the dealership and find Matt. He asks if I want to look at the truck again. "Yes, yes I sure do!". I go outside and spend a long time crawling around under it and checking out the interior and the engine. I get road dirt all over my pants from brushing up against the bottom of the truck. Ugh. It has a little less clearance than T Rex. Still enough for me to get under it, just not enough to maneuver easily. I can't find anything wrong. I had read the night before that some early Tacomas had frame issues. So I thoroughly inspect the frame. And checked the rear axle one last time. Ok Matt, let's go sign some papers.

We go inside and he starts handing me papers. I read them all and can't find much to complain about. At one point I get two different Carfax reports, with different total mileages on them. Hey, uh, what is going on here? One is just an old copy that they ran before the truck had been traded in. Oh. Ok. Everything else goes smoothly. $19000 out the door price. I really can't complain. I probably couldn't get it much, if any, cheaper buying it privately. And it is without doubt the best deal I could get on a 4wd in town. And it is a manual. A 6 speed at that. That is exciting.

He sends the paperwork off to financing. As I wait, a random lady asks if I just bought the Tacoma. Yes, yes I did! She says her husband is going to be disappointed. I tell her it is going to a good home at least, even if it isn't theirs.

Matt comes back and gives me the keys. Yesss!!! We chat about trucks for a while. Actually, a really long time. Every single truck (or 4wd) either of us have ever owned and the exciting places we have taken them. I explain what happened to my last truck. He says with all the miles on it, I probably got 3 or 4 times for it that I would have as a trade in. That is nice to hear.

After a while, Matt sends me back to financing and says something about getting my truck detailed. More papers to sign. More decisions to make. Yuck. I have made enough big ones in the last few days. Do I want to purchase a warranty? Um, yes. But I don't want to spend $5000 on it. I highly doubt I will have that much in repair costs in the next 3 years. I ask him a million questions about what the warranty does and does not cover. He says something about breaking my axle in half. Huh, funny, that is what happened to my last truck. Well, kinda. Apparently no one has told him and that was pure chance that he said that. Weird.

I end up with a cheaper warranty that just covers repairs and not stolen vehicle recovery or flat tires and some other stuff. I am mostly just worried about it breaking. Eventually, I finish signing papers and they want my down payment. I pull $1100 in cash out of my pocket. The finance guy seems amused that I have been wandering around with that much cash in my pocket. I run the rest of my $2000 down payment on my debit card. Once that is done, I get sent out to my new truck!

I look at it. Where is the antenna? I know it had one the last time I saw it. Matt asks if he can take a picture/video of me with my truck for advertising. Sure. Why not? He takes a shot and a short video. Ok, now where is my antenna?  He disappears with my truck back to detailing. He is gone for 20 minutes before finally returning with my truck, which now has its antenna attached. Yayy!!! It's mine now and I get to drive it away! I drive it around the parking lot to where Hanna parked. I don't have my GPS with me and don't know how to get back. I think I just drive down the highway. I am not quite well oriented enough with the area to try to make it without guidance though. It drives nice. Yayyy! It's not T Rex but I think it might just do! :D

I follow her back to her house and take lots of truck pictures. Wanna go for a ride? Yes she does. We go to Lowes. She buys some plants, pots, and some soil. I load stuff into my bed for the first time. Sweet!! It looks like a real truck now! Look at all of the hard work it is doing! We go back to her house with the flowers. Alright, it is all unloaded now. Time for more truck pictures! I did a horrible job parking....Well, I double parked. On purpose. Since that is what you do when you get a sweet new truck. Or at least that is what my dad did the last time my family got a new truck :)

Me and my truck! :D

Yayyy!!!

She asks if I am hungry. Ummm yes. Let's go to McDonalds. Ok! Back to the truck! I drive the whole .7 miles to McDonalds. I order just fine. I then pull forward to the window. And pass right by the first window. It is oddly located on the corner of the building and I totally miss it. "Uhhh, Anna, where are you going?" Oh Shit. I put the truck in reverse, errr 6th. I finally find reverse and back up to the window. This is going to take some getting used to. The lady is laughing. Yes, I am awesome and can't find the window or figure out how to drive my truck. We get our food and leave without further ado.

I spend the next few hours transferring all of my stuff that I usually keep in my truck into the new one. I talk to my mom and my dad about my pretty new truck! It has so many storage areas! Super exciting! Then it's dinner and TV watching time!

Well, I think everything turned out pretty well overall.

Day 43: Truck Shopping

Now that I have no vehicle, I need a new one. I wake up because there is tons of light streaming into my room. I was not expecting this. It is only 8 am, way to early to be up. I'm on vacation and it's the weekend! I eventually go back to sleep and wake up again at 10. That is much better!  I shower and go downstairs. Hanna is up and not happy. "What is all that banging outside?!?!" Oh, that is the construction crew that is laying pipes. I don't know why they are banging but oh well. I let her know it has been going on for a week or so. It usually starts around 8, after she leaves for school. I get some coffee and start looking at trucks online.

I look at trucks online for a while and find a few that are in my price range. Kinda. Tacomas are expensive!  Even the ones that are a few years old are $20,000+. Maybe I should get something else.... I call my mom and discuss car buying again. I look at some more trucks. Eventually Hanna asks if I have called any dealers yet. She has offered to drive me around today and look at trucks. For some reason she is not interested in must taking to some random place that may or may not actually have what I am really looking for.... I am now eternally in debt to her I think. Don't you have studying to do or something? No? Uhh okkkk I am so sorry you are going to be super bored but am reallyyyy appreciative. This makes everything a million times easier for me. And like 1000 times more difficult for you....

I call one of the dealers that has a 4wd for $19500. I ask what they have 4wd truck wise and decide to check them out first. They do indeed have a Tacoma. I call another dealer that supposedly has a nice blue one for $22k. I talk to some guy named Pickle, "like the green thing". His own words. Apparently they have no 4wd Toyotas. Bummer. Oh well. We head out to the first place.

It is in a complex with a bunch of dealers. I find Matt whom I had talked to at the Honda dealer with the Taco. Uh hi, you have a 4wd Tacoma? He takes me to it. It is nice black truck. The only color I would prefer more is blue. It kind of reminds me of a high tech T Rex. Which is nice and sad at the same time. And a 6 speed manual!!!! He asks if I have a problem with standards. Um, no. Apparently someone had looked at it earlier in the day who couldn't drive a stick. And had tried to drive it. Or something. He asks for my license and I hand it over. He asks a million questions about Alaska.

I hop in and start it up. It sounds nice! I try to pull out of the spot that the truck was backed into. I start going backwards. Uhhhh. I really know how to drive this thing. The 6 speed is confusing. I can't figure out how to find first. I get it out of reverse and into 3rd. I stall. At this point, some guy in a car decides that he needs to drive through the narrow aisle that I am trying to get out of. I am in the middle of the aisle, trying to figure out how to get the damn thing into gear so I can move. I eventually just push the clutch in and roll back into the parking spot, the guy in the car glaring at me the whole time. He goes by and I get the shifter figured out. I pull out of the parking lot without further ado.

Look at that bad boy!

 I take it to the highway. Wheeee!!! I like! I get it up to 6th gear before I pull off. I then ask the guy how I get back to the dealership. I don't know my way around here.... He guides me back. I like the truck and tell him my budget is $16k and ask how low he can go on the price. He says he probably can't go that low. To act uninterested, I ask him what other 4wd options I have. We look around; Hummer, Element, Wrangler (way out of my price range), some other SUV. No, not what I want at all. I ask about the truck again. I spend the next hour sitting around asking questions to Matt and a sales manager who would disappear for a while to find whatever information and come back with an answer of sorts. By the time one of them came back I would have another question. Apparently the truck was some guy's "baby" and has been taken care of. I ask why he sold it then. Well, he ended up buying a 40 mpg car. I guess he was tired of paying for truck gas. Ok, that sounds legit. I start trying to work out a price. I end up with 18500 before fees and stuff. Not bad for a Taco but I would like better. I think they can do better. Hanna agrees. I feel bad she is driving me around but am really happy she is here. She is a lot more suspicious of people and a lot better at spotting lies than I am. And is more than willing to tell me if she thinks I am making a stupid decision. Really helpful in this situation.

I thank them and tell them I will think about it. Before we leave to walk across the street to the Toyota dealer, I ask if I can pop the hood and check things out. I need to at least look at these things to seriously consider buying it. I don't really know about the 4.0L engine but it looks good. It has been shampooed though so it is hard to tell what is going on under there. It has gone throughout their inspection process or whatever. I crawl around under the truck for a while. Looks good. And the rear axle isn't cracked! Excellent. I thank the guy and head off.

I am ambushed by a bunch of cars salesmen as soon as I make it to the next lot. I tell them I am looking for a 4wd, probably a truck and ask what they have. I am eventually lead to a Tacoma. It is a 4 door and automatic. Not so great. It is newer but has more miles and is more expensive than the other one. I test drive it. Drives nice! I start to get information about the price and such. The sales guy has to go and I am handed off to another. As she finishes up the pricing, we are informed that someone else has bought the truck. Bummer. Oh well! She disappears for a while and comes back and tells me that since that was the only 4wd used Tacoma they had that she can get me a great deal on a new Taco. Ok, I am interested.

We eventually locate a silver 4wd manual truck. It is nice but $10000 more than the other truck. She says she can knock $3000 off the price, which brings it down to $26,500. I know that is a good deal so I at least consider it. In this middle of this, Matt calls me to let me know there are people looking at the other truck. Ok, thanks for letting me know but that is not going to pressure me into buying it. I let him know I am over at Toyota and just got offered a sweet deal on a brand new truck.

2012 I looked at

I test drive the truck. Again, it is nice. Really not as exciting as the first truck I drove though. I inquire about financing and payments and what not. An hour later, I finally have information and call my mom. (for the millionth time today...) While my credit history is short, I still have a good score so I get a pretty good APR which is nice. After a while, I eventually conclude regardless of the deal, a brand new truck really is not reasonable. I know I am going to beat it up no matter how careful I am and I don't want that pressure. And it is way more than I want to spend. We go to leave and are flagged down by the salesman again. The offer stands for a few days but if I want to buy the truck tomorrow, I should get approved now since they are closed on Sunday. Uhhh, No, I don't really want to do that but thank you.

I finally get back to the car. We leave and stop at the other dealer in the area. They have nothing. On the way back, we stop at one other dealer cluster. None of them have any midsize 4wd trucks at all. Apparently 4wds go really fast around here... Matt calls again to let me know that the truck is still available. Thank you again. I didn't really need to know that. Hmm, by the way, will you take $19000 out the door, all fees included? Yes? Ok, I will come back tomorrow at noon then. That brings the sticker price down to about 17,700. Really not too bad at all.

After everything all day, I am 100% sure I will not find a better deal anywhere around here. The truck is nice and I would probably buy it even if I was not in a "have to buy" situation. My only complaint is the lack of a factory sound system, which is extremely hard to come by. I can always install a sound system later if I really want. I pulled my sub and amp out of T Rex too..... And if I for some crazy reason decide I hate it, I can probably make a profit selling it in Alaska. Excellent, that is over. I am emotionally exhausted from all of the haggling and pressure and decision making.

We go back to Hanna's and make dinner and watch TV. I am overwhelmed with the large amount of money I am about to spend. I mess around on my computer. I end up on my Toyota forum. Booo, I am going to have to say goodby to my T100 buddies. We have become online friends over the past few years... :(. Well they still are under the impression that I am a guy named Chip so I guess we aren't really friends. Minor details.... I guess I will make new friends over on the Tacoma forum at least!

Day 42: T Rex Emotional Roller Coaster (warning, sad)

I can't sleep at all. The walls are paper thin and the guy next door is snoring and the cat is meowing constantly. It seriously sounds like there is a cat in my room. I actually get up and look for a cat at one point. Then I remember that cats will probably want attention and if there was a cat in the room it would have probably made its presence known to me by now. There are random banging sounds coming from outside too and the place is right by train tracks. I don't mind train sounds but it is really loud. I am not feeling particularly safe. And of course there is the whole truck issue that I am worked up about.

Around 4am, I finally fall into an uneasy sleep. I dream about trucks. Mostly T Rex. Ok, I might have some attachment issues. I wake up at 6:30 and kind of half sleep until 8. The shop opens at 8. I wait expectantly by my phone for two hours. Ok, what is going on? I decide to call. I apologize for being OCD and ask what is up. They don't have good news. Me rear axle is cracked along with the bad wheel bearing/seal, and the pinion seal. Greatttt. They are still trying to get something together for me so I wait. I take a shower. I go to get dressed and remember I have one mostly clean shirt left. Sweet. I only packed assuming I would be gone for a day.... I look in my bag and my shirt is not there. I remember that I left it in my truck. Damn it. Oh well, I pick the least smelly shirt I have. This is a tough choice, the shirt I skied in or the shirt I went hiking in? I opt for the skiing shirt. I then go to dry my hair. The plug in the bathroom won't work so I dry my hair in the main room kneeling on the floor. This is fun. When I am done, I call my mom and tell her the news. As I finish my conversation about what I should do, get it fixed or sell and buy a new truck, I start sobbing at the thought of selling T Rex. Great.

I do something or other for a little bit (while crying a little) and then get another call from the repair shop. I try to not sound like I have been crying. This time it is good news. They can't find a used axle and new ones are ridiculously expensive but they have a specialist who can weld it for me. Awesome. They quote me at about $1000 for all the work.  They need to replace all of the seals and the rear brake that is now coated in gear oil. Ok, not great but it could be worse.

I call my mom again to tell her the good news. I get off the phone and start packing my stuff up. It is almost noon and they want me out by 12:30. As I pack, I get a knock on the door. It's housekeeping. Sorry, I am leaving soon! I ask her to give me 5 minutes. I shove all of my stuff in my bag and leave. I drop off my key at the office and am happy to be gone.

I look up the Flagstaff Coffee Company on my phone. Seems like as good a place as any to hang out until the truck is done. I start walking with my backpack and computer bag. Sweet, walking around a town I don't know with my expensive looking computer. I walk a lot further than I think I need to. I really should have found it by now. I check my phone. I have walked the wrong way. I walk back the way I came feeling kind of dumb. I walk for a ways and check my map again. I have now walked past the supposed location. I definitely did not see it. I walk back and find Flagstaff Brewing Company. Eh close enough, coffee, beer, same thing? turns out the coffee place is behind the bar.

I walk in and sit at the bar. I order a latte. I want coffee today! The bartender informs me he knows nothing about coffee so my order might be messed up. Well it is easy. Just a latte. Nothing special at all. A few minutes later, my latte is successfully delivered to me. I sip on it and order a cheeseburger for lunch. While I wait, I pull out my postcards and start writing them. Yes, I am so cool I go to the bar at noon, order coffee, and write postcards.

My food comes and I set my postcards aside for a while. It has been a while since I have had a cheeseburger. When I say a while, I mean over a week ago. I finish my cheeseburger and go back to my postcards. I am almost done and try to decide what to do next. The only other thing I have entertainment wise is my Gameboy. Yup. I am about to pull out my Gameboy at a bar and play some Pokemon. I don't even care. My poor truck is broken and I gotta hang out somewhere until it is fixed.

I am saved from playing Pokemon at a bar by my phone ringing. It is the repair shop and there is a problem. It is so bad they are sending someone to pick me up. Fuck fuck fuck. Poor T Rex. :( I pay my bill and head outside to wait for my chauffeur/mechanic. As I wait, I call my mom. No answer this time. Oh well, she does have a job and all that requires her attention at times. My ride shows up and I hop in. He tries to explain the situation. Something about the axle being cracked all the way around. That doesn't sound good at all. As he talks my mom calls back. I decline the call and send her a text. "Truck bad will call soon."

We arrive at the shop and he takes me to my T Rex which is now on a lift missing his rear wheels, brakes, everything really. He pulls out a flashlight and shows me the axle tube. It is indeed completely cracked all the way around where the frame sits on the axle. It has probably been like this for a while actually. Ignorance is bliss. The mechanic explains that in that condition the axle might snap. Possibly as soon as the truck is off the lift. Maybe never. Who knows. Regardless, it is definitely not safe like this. At some point he says the word "shit" followed by an "excuse my language".  Really, don't worry about it! I don't mind. He also explains that the weld won't be strong enough to fix that much damage. The weld just won't work with all of the gear oil seeped into the metal. Ok, I believe that. He also mentions that the wheel bearing was the most fucked up bearing he has ever seen and the axle shaft going to it is bent too. OK, more stuff to fix. This information is received with a tirade of profanity by me. Really, I don't mind you saying shit Mr. Mechanic.

I ask him what the options are. Well, there is a $1400 new axle housing I can get from Toyota and there is a used axle in California that they can hopefully get by the end of the week. I don't like either option. I ask if there is any way to get it drivable to get it back to Phoenix where I can get a better trade in deal. Well, not really. I ask him how likely it would be that I would die if the axle snap while I was driving. He said at highway speeds things wouldn't be looking so good for me.

At this point I have a truck that can't be reasonably fixed in the foreseeable future and a $1000+ bill for the labor that has already been done on it. (axles sent off for new wheel bearings, pinion seal, etc) That bill is only going to go up. I again ask if there is any reasonable way to sell it or trade it in. Apparently, Flagstaff is so small that I won't get shit for it here. I ask him to give me a minute and call my mom back. I tell her the situation and that I am probably just going to sell it for what I can at this point. I hate to do it but the repair is starting to look unreasonable. And I know of several other problems that aren't bad now but will be in the $1000+ range to fix whenever they get worse. She agrees with my logic. I eventually hang up to ponder things. If I were at home I would just hang onto it and get the parts to fix it... but I am not anywhere near home.

I go back to the mechanic. He had mentioned he knows people that work on cars. I ask him about them. He asks how much I want for it. Well, usually I would say 5 grand in it's normal wonderfully running and driving condition but in it's current state I have no idea. We go to the computer and look up the bluebook value. Just over $5000 in excellent condition... just under $3000 in fair condition. I guess it is currently in fair condition... boo. I tell him $3000. He makes a few calls. They are interested... until they hear how many miles are on it. Bummer.  Eventually, one of the other mechanics mentions he might be interested. We end up on an over all price of about $2800. Sadly, part of that is me not having to pay my $1000+ bill. Oh well. I would rather not pay that anyway.... I am kind of out of options at this point so I accept. At least I know T Rex will have a good home and will be fixed and driven again.... and not taken to a junkyard and crushed like a dealer would probably do.

I call my mom again and tell her the situation. Given the information, she agrees that I did the best I could. I then call Hanna. Ummmm hi. What are you doing tonight??? Wanna take a drive to Flagstaff?  Um, I no longer own a vehicle. Because she is amazing she agrees to come get me. She gets out of class early and leaves Phoenix. ETA 6:30.

Now I have to deal with things. I call my mom again. Please help! I need to buy a new truck. Preferably a new one so I need a loan and I don't know how to do that. She explains things to me and I spend the next few hours on the phone. USAA and Alaska USA asking about loans, my dad so he can deal with insurance, Theresa so I can get my title for T Rex sent to me so I can officially hand it over, let Nic know that I won't be meeting him in LA this weekend as I have no vehicle....

In the middle of all of this, I also start unloading all of my shit from T Rex. I have most of my travel stuff in there still. Luckily, I left my huge suitcase at Hanna's. I pull all of the stuff I keep in the cab out and strip him down. I show his new owner the random quirks he has. He seems impressed with all my custom interior work. Sweet, enjoy it buddy. I cry some again. He has been such a good truck!

Eventually, I have everything as taken care of as possible. I find the waiting room and start looking at new Tacomas in the Phoenix area. Ugh, most of them are 2wd. And even fewer are manual.  My only requirements are 4wd and manual. I might have to give one of those up. It is not going to be the 4wd option either.....

Around 6:30, Hanna arrives. Hiii!!! Hanna, I need a hug. She hates hugs. Bummer. I get the possibly most unenthusiastic hug ever. Oh well, it works. I then unload T Rex and put everything in her car. Surprisingly, everything fits with the exception of my skis. I end up leaving them in the truck. I have to come back with the title anyway and it's not like the truck is going far before then....

We drive back to her house. I babble about my Flagstaff trip and T Rex issues and inform her that even if she don't talk much and doesn't really like people that she's a great friend. And then thank her a million times for coming to get me. Hotels get more expensive on weekends and I can't do much to fix my situation by myself.

We make it back and I unload all of my stuff from her car and put it in the garage which is thankfully, empty. She doesn't like having lots of stuff either. Quite excellent. I get my stuff taken care of and come inside. "Anna, you have a plan for stuff like this." Well, I try to. I did have a plan in case my truck broke. However, I did not have a plan that involved parts inavailability and excessive costs. And see, other than you driving 400 miles to get me and me selling my truck for wayyy less than I put into it and it is worth, everything worked out so far!

I then proceed to do my laundry and look at new Tacomas online. I am pretty excited about having clean clothes and think I may have found "the one".  It has all the options I would like to have and is 4wd. The price is pretty good, it's a 2009 with 40,000 miles and it is bright blue!!! My only complaint is that it is automatic. It would appear that there are only 3 manual 4x4s in the area though and they are all way out of my price range. Bummer. I am going to miss my manual. A lot. Well, I guess the sports car I will someway own will have a manual in it......

Day 41: Grand Canyon and T Rex issues

I wake up at 6:30. I don't particularly want to move so I lay in bed for another hour. I finally get up and get ready to go explore the Grand Canyon. I put my stuff in my truck and wander to the office to check out. I grab some complimentary breakfast and check out. The truck smells like gear oil. That can't be good. I check all over for leaks and see none. Weird, oh well maybe they spilled some when they changed the fluids in Tahoe....It has been wet up here for the first time since then and maybe that is causing the smell. I try to program my GPS for the Grand Canyon. Since it is a national park, this is an issue and my GPS can not find it. I pick a random location that is nearby and set off, following the signs I see along the road instead. My GPS constantly tells me to make U turns for a portion of the way....

Before I manage to get out of town, I stall my truck. Ugh. I hate doing that. The gears grind and the engine chokes as I try to restart and make the light after my fail. T Rex obliges as always and begrudgingly restarts  though I miss the light. Good truck!!

I make it out of town and observe the scenery. An evergreen forest eventually gives way to a Nebraska-esque landscape of desert-y shrubs and trees. Still no cacti though. As I drive, the snow slowly gives way to fog and finally changes to dry land. I make it the 75 miles to the park rather uneventfully. I stop just outside and grab some food and some postcards. I enter the park via the pre-paid pass line, since I now have my national parks annual pass. I flash my card and the park ranger flags me on through. I drive through the park, blasting my crappy pop music and marveling at the irony. I drive for a bit until I see a sign: Mather point this way. I decide to follow.

I reach Mather Point with little issue. I park and check my national parks guide book for the trail head I am looking for, Bright Angel Trail. It is nearby and I can't tell from my book if it is at this parking lot or further down. I get to the visitor center and ask for a brochure and map. You usually get these at the entrance station. However, since I went through the prepaid line, I did not get one. I check my newly acquired map: the trail head I am looking for is several miles away.

My first view of the Grand Canyon!

I wander off to Mather Point anyway and see my first glimpse of the Grand Canyon. Wow. It is huge. And amazing. Just like the pictures, but bigger. There are tons of people here. Most of them are bundled up in heavy winter coats. I am amused by this and run around in my lightweight jacket. As I wander around the sidewalks, I see a water point. Sweet. I fill my water bottle with water fresh from the canyon. I still can't decide if it actually tastes better than normal water but it is still cool. I eventually head back to my truck and start driving to the trail head.

As I drive, I see license plates from many states. Michigan, Nebraska, California; people really do come from all over to see this place. I am proud to represent Alaska. I puzzle my way through a labyrinth of roads and eventually finally find myself at the Bright Angel trail head. I start down the trail. It is spectacular. Going down is the easy part. As I descend, I remember that I forgot my note to my grandmother in my truck. Shit. Well, I am not going back to get it. I continue down for a mile and a half. (not vertically, overall) I descend through maybe 2 and a half of the many rock formations along the canyon walls and a total of 1.5 miles before I decide to start back up. I want to hit a few more places in Northern AZ before returning to Mesa. I would love to go all the way to at least the edge of the Colorado River. However, there are signs all over advising against doing this in a day and I am short on time. I guess I will have to come back here some day and hike rim to rim. I don't think doing this by myself is a particularly good idea.

View from the top of the trail head

View from the furthest I went down the trail. If you look across, you can see a red layer in the rocks a few layers down... that is as low as I went. For all the work I did, I didn't get very far down....

The walk up is not nearly as pleasant as the walk down. I pass a lot of people both ascending and descending. I find that a lot of the people I encounter walking down the trail insist on either standing or walking in the middle of the fucking trail. Helloo. It is not exactly a wide trail and I am trying to go up. You have the easier job. I don't expect you to stop but please don't take up the entire trail. I make it back to the truck and set my GPS destination for Sunset Crater National Monument.

T Rex and the Grand Canyon

The route takes me along the Desert View road. There are many scenic pull outs. I stop at a few of these and manage to drop pieces of the letter to my grandmother into the canyon. This was the place that I remember her talking about the most. The last place I stop has a trail. I head along it for a short ways to get out of view of the other tourists. The path is snowy and I end up slipping and falling on my ass. Ouch. Luckily, shortly thereafter I find the perfect place to release my letter bit. I head back to the truck and continue on my way. I stop one more time at the Tusayan Ruins. Sadly, there is not of the ruins to see as it is all snowy here.

My GPS is estimating my arrival at the Sunset Crater at about 3. Bummer, I probably won't make it to the National Monuments south of Flagstaff before they close. (there are so many national parks and monuments on Arizona!!) Oh well. I drive along the little Colorado river area. The scenery is pretty cool, though not as impressive as the Grand Canyon.

As I drive, I see a turn off to the Wupatki National Monument. Why not, let's check it out. I make the turn and spend the next two hours checking out numerous pueblos in the area. The building style of these ruins is completely different from those I have seen further south. Really pretty cool. There are a few dozen ruins in the park. A handful are open for the public to see. I stop a few times and check out the various sites: Lomaki, Citadel, and finally Wupatki itself.

T Rex and the citadel ruin

I love how they integrated the existing rocks into their buildings!

The whole site! It was huge! Can you find the two parts of the pueblo and a ball court?

Eventually, I leave the Wupatki park. As I drive along the road from Wupatki to Sunset Crater national monument, a bobcat runs out in front of me. I slam on my brakes which thankfully work well and avoid hitting it. After the initial shock, I realize this is the first real, live bobcat I have seen in my life. Cool. About 10 miles down the road, I enter Sunset Crater National Monument. Aside from a large volcano and some lava flows, the park is not too impressive. Personally, I think Lava Beds National Monument was more exciting. However, at this point, it is nearly 5 and I am tired and hungry. I just want to be back in Mesa and done driving. My opinion of the park might be slightly affected by my current personal issues. I get through the park pretty quickly. I stop a few times and take a few pictures of my truck and some lava before heading on my way. I still smell gear oil every time I get near my truck. Weird, but I can't find the source. I decide to try washing it when I get back to Mesa and see if that fixes the smell.  If not, I guess I will have to take it in.

Sunset Crater and some lava....

A few miles later, I get back to the highway. I make the turn and hit the cruise control. I hear a horrible sound. It sounds like rubber grinding against something smooth at a high speed. My truck jerks wildly. I hit the breaks and pull off the road. It sounds like it came from the front end. I get out and check everything under the front end and it looks ok. I get back in the truck and slowly pull forward again. Same thing again. Fuck. I stop quickly and get out again. I check out the rear end this time. My driver side rear tire is covered in oil. There is a puddle forming on the pavement. I know that is not good. I crawl under my truck and know that my rear axle is seriously fucked. Well, I guess that is the source of the gear oil smell....

I know need to call a tow truck; driving my truck with that much fluid leaking is bad. I have no idea how to call a tow truck or where to even take it to get fixed. I have never had to get towed before. And 4000+ miles from home, I haven't the slightest idea where to tow it to. I say every curse word I know and consider sobbing before getting back in my truck a little more than slightly panicked. The good news is that I am only 10 or so miles out of Flagstaff and I have cell reception. I am really happy I was not still in the Grand Canyon (where I had great reception while I was hiking but none whatsoever on the road....)

I remember I have a car repair app on my phone. I usually use it to figure out how much a repair should cost. However, it has a roadside assistance feature. I call the number. They are extremely busy and will answer my call in the order that it was received. That isn't good enough for me! It is 4:40 and all the repair shops are going to be closed soon. I hang up and call my mom since I don't know what to do. No answer. I decide to use my GPS to find an auto repair shop. I have no idea what shops are going to be good and which ones are going to screw me. I have no time to go and try to check reviews and figure it out either.

I pick the first shop I see that has "repair" as opposed to "parts store" in the title. I look up the shop on my phone and call. "Uhhh, hi. My truck broke. Please help."  I don't really know what to say. I tell them I need a tow truck and ask if they can do it. They end up giving me a number of a tow company. I then ask them if I can have my truck fixed by tomorrow. They tell me that they don't know since they haven't a clue what is wrong with it. I tell them that there is gear oil leaking all over my driver side rear tire. They think it might be a wheel bearing and if they have the parts they can probably have it fixed by the end of the day tomorrow. Major if there. If that is what is wrong... I thank them and hang up to call the tow truck.

I call the number and a guy answers. He is nice and asks me a few questions about where I am. I tell him I am at mile 458 on highway 89. I am seriously sitting right by the sign. He asks if it is 89 or 89A. Uhhh, I don't know the difference. I apologize and tell him I don't know and that I am not local. I tell him I am north of Flagstaff and he seems to figure it out. He tells me he is on the way. I now need a place to stay. I get on my phone and start looking for hotels/motels. I find one near the repair shop I called. My phone won't let me book it. I yell profanity at it for a bit before trying again. I try another place about .2 miles further away with better success and book my room.

Now that I have done everything I can, I again consider sobbing while I wait for the tow truck. I call my mom again. No answer. I call Hanna to let her know I will not be back tonight. No answer. I had texted Brittany recently and we had talked some a little while again. However, now, no answer. I start calling people. I need to talk to someone to keep from crying. Finally, Tanya answers. Yay! "Hey Nanners (Banana is too cliche for Anna, so it has been shortened and modified to Nanners), what's up?" I tell her I am not good at all and explain the situation; talking about it helps a lot. We start talking about cars and such and before I know it the tow truck guy shows up. He pulls up in front of me and starts backing up. "Uhhh, Tanya, thank you sooo much for keeping me from crying, butttt the tow truck guy is here and he is backing up to my front and it's the back that is fucked so I gotta go..."  I hang up and hop out. Hey buddy, thanks so much for getting here, butttt it's the back axle that's the problem. It really should not be rolling anywhere.

He assures me that he is just going to tow the whole thing and nothing will be rolling on my truck. He jacks up the front and puts some wheels under my back tires. Oh good. I guess I should just trust that he knows what he is doing. He get my truck secured while I stand outside and shiver. (it's 35, 40 degrees out and I am not wearing much in the way of warm clothes) He tells me I can get in the tow truck. Oh good. I hop in. Without the wind, it is much warmer. He finishes getting T Rex secured and hops in. I am almost embarrassed that I have to get my beloved, super dependable Toyota towed. Hey, it has 265,000 miles on it. I would break after that too.

We take off and he adjusts the air pressure in his towing system. Apparently I have a heavy truck. We make smalltalk for a while until we get to the auto shop. He mentions that it could be the whole differential that broke. That is going to be insanely expensive. He also mentions it could be the wheel bearings, which will be about a quarter of the cost of fixing the differential. He keeps talking about broken differentials; that is not comforting. Personally, I am hoping for wheel bearings. Despite that, he is nice. As we drive, my mom and Hanna both call me back. Booo, bad timing. I text my mom and tell her I am ok and have things under control but my truck broke. I text her and let her know I will call her ASAP.

Pooorrrrr T Rex :(

We eventually make it to the repair shop. The mechanics are still there so I get out and talk to them. I tell them in as much detail as possible what happened. They suspect it is the wheel bearings and have me fill out paperwork. They tell me they will look at it first thing tomorrow and let me know what is up. Yay. I am standing outside freezing again so I get back in the tow truck. I see the tow truck driver and the mechanics looking at my truck. Shit, they are looking for the VIN number and I know it is hard to find. My door sticker is gone and the one on the windshield is really hard to see. I get out and tell them that. I pull out my insurance card which has the VIN. Finally, everyone has the information they need.

The tow truck guy is nice enough to drop me off at my hotel. I pay him (only $60... not bad since he had to technically go out of town to get me) and head to the motel office. I tell the office guy I have a reservation and give him my name. He gives me a paper to fill out. Name, address, phone number, and vehicle information. I give it back to him without the vehicle info since I have no truck at the moment. He looks confused and asks for my information. I try to explain my situation to him. There is a severe lack of understanding in our communication. I tell him that my truck broken and is not here and once I get it back I will be on my way. Eventually, I give him my truck information anyway. Make, model, license plate.... for my truck that will not be gracing this parking lot with its presence.

I ask if it is ok if I check out late. If my truck is fixed tomorrow it will be later and I would like to have a place to stay. He tells me housekeeping needs to come and that I can't check out too late. I ask if 4 is too late. It is. I ask what the latest I can check out is. 12:30 apparently. Ok, that is understandable. I just needed to know. Finally, everything is taken care of and I get my key.

I head to my room. I am not too awfully impressed. My $30 a night room last night was much nicer. This room has seen better days and I can totally hear the people in the room next door. They have a cat that meows very loudly. And they like to laugh. Constantly and loudly. Oh well, It could be worse. At least they are not having sex loudly. Yet....

I call my mom. My phone is about to die so I plug it in to the only plug I can find: in the bathroom (which is quite large and spacious at least). I stand in the bathroom and talk to her. I then call Hanna back (still in the bathroom. Man, my hair looks awful. I should brush it) and let her know what's up. She is driving so I let her go pretty quickly.

I decide to check out the repair shop that I have left my truck at online. The tow truck driver had said great things about them. The online reviews also say great things about them. A few reviewers claim to be in a similar situation as me; driving through, broke down, called them randomly and it worked out well. Ok, I feel a little bit better that I will get quality work and not get charged ridiculously. There is a bar across the street and I am hungry so I decide to head over.

I walk across the street to Granny's Bar. They hostesses ask if I want to sit in the restaurant, the sports bar, or some other area. I go for the sports bar with many TVs. I am alone and need some sort of entertainment. I wander through the tables and find one in a corner. I sit down and someone brings me a menu. The waitress comes over and I ask for a beer menu.

I look at the menus for a while. While I am looking, some random girl comes over and asks if I want to try a Bud Light Platinum. Uh, sure I will take a free beer that does not require getting hit on first. Even if it means I have to get my picture taken with it. She tells me about how great tasting it is and how it is 6% ABV. I am mostly impressed that I just got it for free and it is in a pretty blue bottle. I smile for my picture and go back to my table with my free beer. Turns out Bud Light Platinum is on special tonight. Sure, why not. I'll just drink that tonight; I need to save money anyway since I now have a potentially very expensive truck repair to pay for... The beer is actually is not too terrible. It's not like I am driving anywhere in the near future anyway. I drink it all night and a road beef sandwich which is awesome, watch some TV, and text my friends (On my phone that has been charged some but is still pretty close to dying). Around 9, I decide to head back. I make the short but cold and windy trek back to my hotel where I am now blogging and listening to the cat meow next door. Excellent, the people next door still have not decided to have sex.

Day 40: Flagstaff/AZ Snowbowl

I am pretty sure this is the longest I have been away from home at a time. Also, this is how many days and nights Noah was supposedly on his ark with the animals. That is a long time to be floating aimlessly on a boat. Random thought for you there!

I wake up nice and early today. I need to get to Flagstaff by noon since that is when afternoon skiing starts. It is a 3 hour drive. I am making noise in the kitchen when Hanna runs downstairs. Uh oh, weren't you supposed to be at school at 8? Apparently not today. She says something about running late anyway and is happy when I tell her I already made coffee. Yay for being helpful in the morning! Until today, I have still been asleep or upstairs by the time she leaves and therefore not helpful. She leaves a few minutes later and I continue cooking breakfast and getting my shit together.

I leave at about 9. I have barely gotten to the highway when I see some construction. There is an auger spewing dirt everywhere. It looks like it is drilling the foundation of a noise wall. I find it quite exciting. I manage not to run into anything in my distraction.

I have a nice uneventful drive for about 150 miles. Slowly, the landscape changes from desert and cacti to a forest of evergreen trees. As more and more evergreens appear, so does snow. Shit. I forgot to lock my hubs before I left. Now I need to stop to lock them so I can use my 4wd if the roads get slick. I had just passed a rest stop and several exits right before I came to this realization. Unfortunately, I am now in no man's land and there is not a stop for miles. I am trying not to use my 4wd unless I have to since it is making odd sounds and I will need it driving 2400 miles through Canada and Alaska in March... However, I prefer burning up my 4wd to completely wreaking my truck.

Anyway, as I drive, I can see that the moisture on the road is still in the liquid state so I don't need to make an emergency stop to flip my hubs. Also, I see multiple crazy people riding motorcycles on the roads. If they are able to stay in control, the roads can't be that bad. Personally, I am mildly concerned about the coefficient of friction between my tires and the road when I ride on a dry day. I am highly concerned with it on a wet day. There is almost no way in hell I would ride my motorcycle anywhere if there was snow on the ground. Anyway, I make it 25 miles to the next exit, pull off, and get my hubs taken care of. I put it in 4wd just to be safe and get back on the highway. Shortly thereafter, I arrive in Flagstaff.

As I drive through Flagstaff on my way to the ski hill, I am reminded more of Washington and Oregon than the Southwest. There is snow everywhere (I think there is more snow here than there was in Seattle). Also, there is not a cactus to be found. Most of the trees are evergreens. There are a few birch trees scattered about. The houses are all very northern looking too. None of the "adobe" style houses like I have seen around Phoenix. I am really kind of disappointed. I was looking forward to seeing a cactus covered in snow.

I find the road up to the ski area pretty easily. I get stuck behind someone going about 15 mph. It is rather aggravating. At least this is not the road to Mt Baker. It is only 6 miles long and does not consist of pin tight switchbacks. Despite my frustration, I arrive at the ski hill on schedule.

I had worn my jeans for the drive so I am now faced with the task of changing into my snow pants. I could try to be decent and change in the truck. However, there is not exactly a lot of room for the changing of pants in the truck. I go with option 2: check the parking lot for people and change really fast outside. Well, that was a little cold but now I am dressed for skiing. I go to the bed and unlock the cover. I lift it up and everything in covered in dust. Great. The cover is supposed to protect from the elements. And dust. How did that get in there?  I brush off my ski boots and pull out the rest of my equipment.

The parking lot is below the ski lodge. I think that most people walk around the parking lot, up the road, and then to the lodge. I look at the hill and see where a few people have just gone straight up the hill. Looks like a good route to me. I get about half way up and realize that ski boots have no traction and I am extremely unbalanced due to the fact that I am carrying skis. At least I also have my pole to help stabilize myself. I end up throwing my skis up the hill and hoping they don't roll down and using my poles/hands to get up the hill. note to self: Do not hike up steep, rocky, slippery surfaces in ski boots.

I make it to the lodge and purchase a ticket. I checked ticket prices online and had found that students can get a $20 half day ticket. Which is ridiculous. This place is 3 times the size of hilltop where the student half days are $26. The guy checks my student ID which I still carry with me for this reason and gives me my ticket.

I set off to the closest ski lift. The place has a few lifts but most of them service the bunny hill. There are only two that go to anywhere exciting in my book. The closer one serves only blue runs. Exactly what I need for my first run. I get off and navigate through glorious, fluffy, powdery snow to the other lift. This snow is awesome. There is no more fresh powder at this point in the day, but I find plenty of tracked powder which is almost as fun. I make it to the other lift and hop on. It is the longest lift rid of my life. Literally. I check my watch on one ride and it close to 20 minutes long. They could really benefit from installing an express lift. It takes about half an hour to do a run. It is also cold. I was not expecting cold so I did not properly layer. It is about 15 degrees at the top. With the exception of possibly Mt Baker, this is the coldest skiing I have done on my trip. I had erroneously assumed all of Arizona was going to be warm. I was expecting 30s/40s weather for skiing.

Really long slow ski lift

Usually, if I am going to be cold, it is on the lift ride up. On the way down, I usually warm up some. Oddly, on the way down, I just get more cold. That is not fun. While the snow is AWESOME, needless to say the long lift ride and cold ends up being rather uninspiring for skiing. At one point, I go tearing down this nice steep run and decided to stop and rest for a bit and admire the scenery (there was no view but the mountain itself was gorgeous). I somehow plant my pole in front of my ski as I am stopping, effectively tripping myself like a total noob. Ugh. I also encounter the issue of my leg falling asleep while sitting on the ski lift. I have never had this problem before. Getting off the lift with a leg (or two) asleep is interesting. No actual mishaps but the dismount is much more difficult than it needs to be.  There is some ice on a few of the runs. However, it is surprisingly manageable, unlike the treacherous snow I encountered in Tahoe. I play in the snow for a while and then decide it is too cold to do any more.

Nice view!

The snow!

I reach T Rex and start pulling off my gear. My hands are almost dysfunctional from the cold. The snow on my ski boots has turned to ice around some of the latches. Seriously?!?! I am in frikin Arizona. Where it is supposed to be warm. I have to work harder than usual with my frozen hands and iced over boots to pack up. I start up T Rex and turn the heat on for the first time in weeks. I put in my hotel address and start back down the road. I turn a corner and see someone pulling a car out of the ditch. They are blocking the road so I stop and watch. Alright, it is icy. I need to be careful. I am going to be really embarrassed if I have to ask someone to pull me out of a ditch.

I make it to the hotel and check in. It is 4:30 so I decide to get an early dinner. On the way, I see a Home Depot. I decide to stop. I need to make a new engine shield for T Rex. The old one has been wearing out for a while but it finally fell to shreds in Lake Tahoe. It is not a super critical thing to have but I will feel better knowing there is something to stop or at least slow down whatever shit my tires might happen to send flying toward my engine at high velocities. Long story short, I am looking for an easy to cut, sturdy, vinyl/plastic/rubber something. I go wandering about. I have heard I can find such a thing in the flooring department. Flooring stuff should hold up well, right? The flooring aisles are temporarily closed. I wander aimlessly waiting for them to open.

An employee asks me if I need help. No, I do not. He asks if I am sure. Yes, I am sure. He still does not believe me. He says he just saw me turn down three different aisles and turn around. Well, yes, I did. But I don't need help. I finally tell him what I am looking for and seem to confuse him. This is why I did not need help. I don't know exactly what I am looking for. I know its purpose which is kind of hard to explain without a visual and I will know when I find it. He suggests I try the plumbing or gardening section. I have already checked out plumbing and am confused as to how gardening is going to help me. I check anyway. Nothing. At this point, the flooring aisle is now open. I find what I am looking for. It is cheap. I get a square yard size piece for $6. And Toyota charges $70 for a part of a brand new shroud when I can make new ones for $6 total. Anyway, I buy my vinyl flooring piece and head off to dinner.

I end up getting some Mexican take out. I am in the Southwest so the Mexican food is supposed to be more authentic, right?  I take my food back to the hotel and eat it on my bed while watching TV. It isn't like any Mexican food I have had before. It's good, but I am not sure if I would say it is better than the not so authentic Mexican food I have had.

I am still cold despite being in a warm room. I really should have dressed warmer. I decide to shower. This is a great idea as I am now no longer cold. However, the shower drains extremely slowly. I think it took 45 minutes to drain completely. Other than that, I have no complaints about my room.  Anyway, I have now spent the last two hours writing this blog post.