Author: Dean

 So I am back in Casper, WY, and it really feels like I came home. The differences in parts of the country have become very obvious in the last year. I have moved all around the country while in the Navy, and while there were regional differences, mostly in accents and some opinions about the “War of Southern Independence  / Civil War”, it was obvious that we were in one united country.

I don’t have that feeling anymore. From the AntiFa / Black Block insurrectionists in downtown Portland, to the BLM crowds in Minneapolis and other flashpoints across the country, to the tens of thousands of migrants (formerly known as illegal immigrants) pouring across our southern ‘border’, much of the country does not appear to be under the control of state & local governments.  Riding the MAX trains from the PDX airport through Portland to Beaverton I saw several signs of the descent into the third world that I had recognized while traveling overseas. There were literally dozens of homeless ‘encampments’ scattered along the freeways, underpasses, and other ‘unclaimed’ areas. There were scattered areas of a major downtown city that were still boarded up from mobs breaking storefronts. 

I drove back from Portland, through Washington and into Idaho with every gas station requiring masks on everyone, as if we were still in the depths of a global pandemic. When I stopped for gas in Sheridan WY, I felt as if I had left the endemic fear behind. I felt as if I had driven across post-war Berlin and entered the American Sector. 

Casper WY has no homeless camps (that I have seen), no boarded up storefronts, only a few people wear masks (I presume the unvaccinated, the elderly, or fans of Joe Biden).  There is now a dramatic cultural difference between the West (Left) Coast states and the interior hinterlands. I weep for what has been lost.

 So we made an expedition out to get dinner at Chile’s (failed – they closed early at 4:00pm) and to get some groceries to eat in the room. In the meantime I discovered something only found in California. A Lamborghini SUV. See picture below:

From Wikipedia – It appears to be a Lamborghini Urus the perfect family runabout for trips to the grocery store.

 So I’m gearing up to drive back to Oregon for two reasons, #1 to to go on a long planned vacation to So California, with my daughter Kate and granddaughter Charlotte. The second reason is to bring the second half of the load of personal possessions that I had planned for the move. Initial planning to start at the crack of dawn tomorrow and arrive on Thursday 4/29.

In planning the route, I decided to mix it up and see more of Wyoming. My initial plans are to continue North on I-25 to pick up I-90 and take that to Spokane and then cut down through Tri-Cities to Portland. That will give me a chance to see more of Wyoming.  See below:

Trip Route (click me)

My initial plans are to leave tomorrow early morning and to drive through to Spokane or so and see how I’m feeling. I’ll either spend the night there, or push on further.  

Once I get to Portland, I’ll rest up and we fly to So Cal on Sunday for a week. I plan on visiting family, doing some Downtown Disney (at least). The purpose is basically for Kate to burn through some Disney Vacation Club points before they expire. Unfortunately, Jen and Patrick have some medical issues to deal with and won’t be joining us this time. The good news is that they can watch the cat for the week.

After we fly back up to PDX on Saturday 5/8; I plan to leave a day or so later. On this pass through I plan to go the Northern route again, but cut south short of Billings on US-310 and US-20 down through central Wy. 

Click Here

I expect to finish up and wind up back in Casper about the May 11th or 12th.

 Well I have rejoined the less hirsute society by getting a haircut and beard trim. It turns out there was a barber just a couple of blocks away that had an appointment (another change due to COVID – all barbers have gone to appointment only) available the next day. Below is my current appearance.

Unfortunately I got my driver’s license picture taken last week, so I will have by ‘lost in the wilderness’ image memorialized on my driver’s license. Going to the DMV was another instance of  ‘they do things differently here’ . I went in about noonish one day after researching what documentation I needed. They had a DMV lady guarding the door to make sure that people had all their documentation and only allowing the single person in who needed service. While chatting with her, she apologized that there was a 2-3 hour backup, and they were rotating people out for lunch. She pointed out that if I came back the next day that they had 8-10am reserved for older folks who needed service, and that if I came back then I could probably get served much faster. I did and was in and out in 45 minutes.

Wyoming Plates

I also went exploring the local area, so I drove up Mt Casper to the south.

View of Mt Casper from town.

Amazingly enough it’s only about 30 minutes south. About half way up there is a rest area for pictures.

Looking down into Casper

For those interested, right click on the picture and ‘Open in new window’. Click on picture to enlarge. The preserve is about half-way between the lake and the tree in the foreground 

Shot further up the mountain

Visitor Info at the State Park

Major intersection further up. 

It was an interesting trip, the mountain is still heavily snowed, although the road is mostly clear and dry. There are a couple of side trips to places up there that will have to wait to later in the spring, side roads, especially non-paved ones, were not plowed and I wasn’t feeling that adventurous. I figure after I get back from So Cal in mid-May, I will start getting serious about looking for a more permanent residence/abode/bunker in the woods.

 So on the last family Zoom call, yesterday, I mentioned that the cat had unveiled a new behavior, unrolling and munching on, the toilet paper. After he completely unspooled half a roll, I resolved to outwit him.

My initial thought was to get a metal shield like device to make it more difficult for him, but since this is a rental unit I was somewhat limited in what I could do. I was wandering through Amazon (searching under “cat proof toilet paper holder”) and was browsing a likely candidate under “Customer Reviews” and someone was having problems with the product and suggested an alternate.

Using a one gallon zip lock bag, with holes cut in the side to take the center spool. We will see how that works, but the current score is Cat 0 – Human 1.  I think I am safely ahead, provided he doesn’t evolve opposable thumbs.

In other news today at church, they have removed the ‘every other pew kept empty‘ protocol. We are still wearing masks, but it is a sign that we are putting some of the craziness behind us. 

Speaking of crazy, tomorrow I am officially two weeks out from my J&J shot and I believe I am officially immune from COVID-19.  I will assume I am also immune from variants until I see evidence that shows otherwise. 

The other day I had to go to a liquor store to get some more Kahlua for my morning coffee. In WY they have privately owned stores, unlike OR where you have to buy from the official state-owned stores. I was amazed by the difference that free enterprise offers. The breadth and depth of alcoholic beverages was amazing.  I picked up a bottle of Jägermeister, just because I can.

 So on the family zoom call last night (Jan, & Kevin you are still invited; David, Kathy or Greg can hook you up) both Dawn and my daughters were commiserating about a big storm that had blown through the Pacific Northwest. It’s a pretty common thing with low pressure systems that originate in the Gulf of Alaska and sweep down. They warned me that it was coming.

In the picture you can see the snowfall coming down in Wyoming, 12 hours later, as predicted. 

 So I got back from my trip to Cheyenne. It turns out it is an easy 2.5 hour trip down (with virtually no traffic congestion at all).  I learned a lot about the Anti-Collision camera systems. 

More importantly I drove down early enough to stop at the Chili’s in Cheyenne for lunch. If you were following along in the last episode (here), I had the windshield replaced in Casper, but encountered problems with calibrating the Anti-Collision cameras.

When I got into Spradley Barr Hyundai in Cheyenne, the mechanic (Matt Peters) told me it might be a quick check. Sure enough he was back in 10 minutes with the explanation. It turns out that merely replacing the glass doesn’t require a re-calibration if you don’t disturb the cameras. Merely replacing the glass doesn’t necessarily require a calibration. He also pointed out that if the cameras are disturbed, the embedded display system will alert you that the cameras need re-alignment. He apologized that my trip down wasn’t required (certainly not his fault) and I pointed out that I had scored lunch at Chili’s so the trip wasn’t wasted.

The other good news is that the trip down to Cheyenne saved me $250. in an unnecessary re-calibration which was also a net savings. Matt also insisted on giving me his card and invited me to call his direct line if I had any other issues. In the future, for any car issues, oil changes, etc. I will probably just plan on driving down to Cheyenne to get it done (and hit Chili’s of course).