CaptCrash
Dazed and Confused
Nampa Idaho to Jackson Wyoming. June 13, 2016. 397 Miles. Rain x 60 minutes.
Today’s gala adventure started by running down I84, getting off at Mountian Home, cutting across the back to Glenns Ferry and then a 85-90 run from Glenns Ferry to Idaho Falls. Things were smooth, calm and most excellent until we get to Idaho Falls exit (119) and we are rolling along in a pocket between 2 small packs of cars; 85mph spot on. Not so fast as to be a ticket magnet but just rolling with the faster traffic. I’ve worked my way over to the exit/entrance lane when suddenly the delivery van I’m sliding in behind makes a wild swerve and dives into number 2 lane. (I grew up with the number 1 being the outside lane, #2 to the left of it, and 3, 4 etc running off toward the center median. This allows trucks to drive in the #1 lane, use #2 as a passing lane and lane #3 is a ticket). Back to the situation at hand; delivery boy bails left, what the frickity frack, and I see a silver, late model Hyundai sedan going about 40 miles an hour in lane 1. I’m suddenly confronted with a closure rate (delta) of 45mph and my exit is ½ mile up. My brain does some calculations and I hit the binders, scrub off some speed, let the brakes go, swerve left, and pass a gray haired gentleman who’s either inspecting his own junk or reading a cellphone. Literally, he’s head down, driving with his knees and both hands are down in his lap. Maybe it was self-abuse thing, maybe it was texting—don’t know, don’t care—just really avoided a deadly situation with a very quick brake and swerve move. Getting to my exit was a tad exciting but everything worked out.
As a kindness to Julie I didn’t flip the guy off, if I did, who knows, he might have enjoyed it.
Traveling up into the Gran Targhee National Forest was interesting. The landscape is like a crumped paper, you suddenly go from flat dry farms into rolling hills that almost imperceptibly get higher and deeper and BOOM, you’re in the Tetons. As we traveled we could see rain and storms on the horizon—well, what we could see between mountains—and every time we make a turn up a canyon we turn away from the weather toward blue sky. I keep an eye on cars coming the other way to see if any are wet; they aren’t. I keep an eye on the sky and we keep heading away from what is clearly rain in the distance. Then I start to notice that the pavement is changing color…because it’s wet. We are on the back side of the cloudburst chasing it. For the first time in a long time I say, “That’s it, we’re changing into raingear”, figuring that we will and then the rain will not fall. You know the rule, put it and it won’t rain, leave it off and it will. We suit up, get climbing the hill to the pass where we’ll drop into Jackson and it rains! Thank Odin we have our gear on as the temperature drops down into the mid-50s. If we had gotten wet it would have been a disaster. We often think of hypothermia as. a winter problem and forget it’s really just a matter of dropping your core temperature and that can happen in surprisingly mild temperatures.
How do I know? Well, because I’m not very bright.
After we check into our motel in Jackson my publisher Mike Fitterling arrives. We decide to walk 1.5 miles down the road to Bubba’s BBQ, a Jackson fixture that several folks told me I needed to hit. Hey, we’d been siting all day! I had the combo rib plate which is delicious while the mac and cheese and beans were good as well. We’re in Bubbas. It starts getting dark, which it shouldn’t because it’s only about 6:30 and then the heavens open. Comfortable in the booth, with no raingear and light, it fits easily into the saddlebags clothes on we watch as it pours outside. Torrentially. Checking the weather on the web it says the rain will stop in 25 minutes which, impressively, it does. We lollygag in the booth for few extra moments and then notice folks are driving by without their windshield wipers on so we head out to walk back to our room so Julie and I can bunk down and Mike can head over to where he’s staying. (The Adventure Rider Forum has a forum where likeminded people can pitch a tent or sleep in the spare room and Mike uses it and loves it as well as being a host to the wandering adventurer).
Rain never falls on us as we walk home. The temperature has dropped to about 50 and after a few minutes I notice that I’m dragging my feet and stumbling every once in a while. We go into the K-Mart to get some necessities like Diet Mountain Dew and I trip over the threshold going in AND out. Small heaves in the sidewalk catch my toe. I’m thinking, “Boy, I’m tired, must be really out of shape”. Arranging a meet time for Tuesday we send Mike down the road to his overnight spot. I decide to hit the shower and the hot water feels great, can’t get enough and hang out in the warmth of the spray for a while. Finally, worried I’m wasting water the municipality of Jackson would need I kill the shower. Looking for a towel I begin to shiver uncontrollably, violently. The shivering won’t stop. I ask Julie why the room’s so cold and she reminds me I asked to keep it cool. I have to dive under the covers or I’m shaking like a leaf.
Was I hypothermic? I had a couple of symptoms but they didn’t all manifest until at once. Did a cold walk back to the room leave a weakened system that let some lurking bug a change to hit me? I don’t know. I do know that I the stumbles walking back, shivering later and shall we say, poor speech while shivering. Jules said I didn’t feel feverish and I wonder now if it was the culmination of running cold all day and not staying warm enough or simply some illness taking an opportunity. Either way let me say this: There’s nothing better than having someone with you who loves you. Someone to watch over you and be a true partner full of concern and sympathy. I’m writing this Tuesday morning and I’m feeling great and ready to roll and my guardian angel literally will be sitting over my shoulder. Love you Sweetie, thanks for being here.
Today’s gala adventure started by running down I84, getting off at Mountian Home, cutting across the back to Glenns Ferry and then a 85-90 run from Glenns Ferry to Idaho Falls. Things were smooth, calm and most excellent until we get to Idaho Falls exit (119) and we are rolling along in a pocket between 2 small packs of cars; 85mph spot on. Not so fast as to be a ticket magnet but just rolling with the faster traffic. I’ve worked my way over to the exit/entrance lane when suddenly the delivery van I’m sliding in behind makes a wild swerve and dives into number 2 lane. (I grew up with the number 1 being the outside lane, #2 to the left of it, and 3, 4 etc running off toward the center median. This allows trucks to drive in the #1 lane, use #2 as a passing lane and lane #3 is a ticket). Back to the situation at hand; delivery boy bails left, what the frickity frack, and I see a silver, late model Hyundai sedan going about 40 miles an hour in lane 1. I’m suddenly confronted with a closure rate (delta) of 45mph and my exit is ½ mile up. My brain does some calculations and I hit the binders, scrub off some speed, let the brakes go, swerve left, and pass a gray haired gentleman who’s either inspecting his own junk or reading a cellphone. Literally, he’s head down, driving with his knees and both hands are down in his lap. Maybe it was self-abuse thing, maybe it was texting—don’t know, don’t care—just really avoided a deadly situation with a very quick brake and swerve move. Getting to my exit was a tad exciting but everything worked out.
As a kindness to Julie I didn’t flip the guy off, if I did, who knows, he might have enjoyed it.
Traveling up into the Gran Targhee National Forest was interesting. The landscape is like a crumped paper, you suddenly go from flat dry farms into rolling hills that almost imperceptibly get higher and deeper and BOOM, you’re in the Tetons. As we traveled we could see rain and storms on the horizon—well, what we could see between mountains—and every time we make a turn up a canyon we turn away from the weather toward blue sky. I keep an eye on cars coming the other way to see if any are wet; they aren’t. I keep an eye on the sky and we keep heading away from what is clearly rain in the distance. Then I start to notice that the pavement is changing color…because it’s wet. We are on the back side of the cloudburst chasing it. For the first time in a long time I say, “That’s it, we’re changing into raingear”, figuring that we will and then the rain will not fall. You know the rule, put it and it won’t rain, leave it off and it will. We suit up, get climbing the hill to the pass where we’ll drop into Jackson and it rains! Thank Odin we have our gear on as the temperature drops down into the mid-50s. If we had gotten wet it would have been a disaster. We often think of hypothermia as. a winter problem and forget it’s really just a matter of dropping your core temperature and that can happen in surprisingly mild temperatures.
How do I know? Well, because I’m not very bright.
After we check into our motel in Jackson my publisher Mike Fitterling arrives. We decide to walk 1.5 miles down the road to Bubba’s BBQ, a Jackson fixture that several folks told me I needed to hit. Hey, we’d been siting all day! I had the combo rib plate which is delicious while the mac and cheese and beans were good as well. We’re in Bubbas. It starts getting dark, which it shouldn’t because it’s only about 6:30 and then the heavens open. Comfortable in the booth, with no raingear and light, it fits easily into the saddlebags clothes on we watch as it pours outside. Torrentially. Checking the weather on the web it says the rain will stop in 25 minutes which, impressively, it does. We lollygag in the booth for few extra moments and then notice folks are driving by without their windshield wipers on so we head out to walk back to our room so Julie and I can bunk down and Mike can head over to where he’s staying. (The Adventure Rider Forum has a forum where likeminded people can pitch a tent or sleep in the spare room and Mike uses it and loves it as well as being a host to the wandering adventurer).
Rain never falls on us as we walk home. The temperature has dropped to about 50 and after a few minutes I notice that I’m dragging my feet and stumbling every once in a while. We go into the K-Mart to get some necessities like Diet Mountain Dew and I trip over the threshold going in AND out. Small heaves in the sidewalk catch my toe. I’m thinking, “Boy, I’m tired, must be really out of shape”. Arranging a meet time for Tuesday we send Mike down the road to his overnight spot. I decide to hit the shower and the hot water feels great, can’t get enough and hang out in the warmth of the spray for a while. Finally, worried I’m wasting water the municipality of Jackson would need I kill the shower. Looking for a towel I begin to shiver uncontrollably, violently. The shivering won’t stop. I ask Julie why the room’s so cold and she reminds me I asked to keep it cool. I have to dive under the covers or I’m shaking like a leaf.
Was I hypothermic? I had a couple of symptoms but they didn’t all manifest until at once. Did a cold walk back to the room leave a weakened system that let some lurking bug a change to hit me? I don’t know. I do know that I the stumbles walking back, shivering later and shall we say, poor speech while shivering. Jules said I didn’t feel feverish and I wonder now if it was the culmination of running cold all day and not staying warm enough or simply some illness taking an opportunity. Either way let me say this: There’s nothing better than having someone with you who loves you. Someone to watch over you and be a true partner full of concern and sympathy. I’m writing this Tuesday morning and I’m feeling great and ready to roll and my guardian angel literally will be sitting over my shoulder. Love you Sweetie, thanks for being here.
opcorn
