As the day warmed we saw St George through the hills...



...the usual signs greeted us with all the information we needed as we descended into the town:



I was struck by this line-up of (imported) car dealers with the backdrop of the surrounding mountains:



I also finally got a chance to get a shot of one of these little Chevys...



...which mimic the mid-forties Chevs in the same way that the PT Cruiser mimics some thirties and forties designs.

We found the information centre and had a look around. They had a lot of little exhibitions and we looked them over briefly before going out into a shaded corner of the carpark across the road and setting up for our morning coffee.

By this stage in the trip we were well-equipped for this sort of thing... we had bought a picnic set somewhere back in the early states for a mere $4 and into that we put the mugs and cutlery we got at the Goodwill Store in Virginia. We had the coffee, sugar was there from our motel rooms, we'd bought a couple of lots of creamer by this time (though there were sachets of that in the motel rooms too) and our big Thermos was doing a good job having been filled each morning from the Sunbeam 'kettle' (I think it says 'coffee maker' underneath it) so it was just a matter of putting down the truck's tailgate and picking out what we wanted to eat and drink.





(note that these pics were taken at home six months later when this stuff arrived in the truck, and that brown cord is an extension cord that was under the seat in the truck, it's actually a double adaptor as well)

As we started to move off after our refreshments we heard a buzzing noise and looked up to see this:



Janet noted:

As we drove out of town we noted the effort that has been put into placing homes in a good spot to get a view...



We struck out into the desert landscape headed for Hurricane en route to Zion National Park... industry was seen alongside the road...



At a set of traffic lights I got a pic of one of a number of caravan and fifth-wheeler sales yards:



Janet's notes continue:

As we neared Hurricane Janet was insistent that there was something wrong with the car - again. I could hear or feel nothing unusual at that time and anyway, I was well-equipped to handle anything, wasn't I?

The tools I had to hand, mostly bought in Indy and Bloomington:





Among that stuff is the broken throttle spring and other spares, while that rusty spike at the top we still hadn't acquired... it was a part of this day's story. Anyway, we had so much of this stuff, and spare fluids, that Janet found a basket to put it all in:



Out there in the desert, about five miles before Hurricane, we saw another RV sales yard off to our left, then we came to a red light at the entry to a Walmart (yes, out there in the desert!) and a service station. As we pulled up I heard a ticking sound in the front...

Yes, having checked the right hand wheel I found it was the other wheel bearing gone, I walked across to the servo and there was a bloke there making hamburgers - I think it might have been some kind of charity thing - on the forecourt. I told him we needed to find a spare parts shop, he replied:

"Well, there's an O'Reillys about four miles down the road on the right, and if they don't have what you need there's a NAPA another mile along on the right, they will. I've got that blue '92 Olds just down there, here's the key, you can take that."

I really didn't want to impose that much, and as there'd been no wobbling as we'd had in New Mexico I concluded it might not be that bad yet. But should I chance it for the four or five miles?

I went back to the truck. By this time, incidentally, I had noticed that rusty spike in the pic above lying on the side of the road and thrown it in the back to use as a punch to remove the bearings. I fired it up and drove gently forward, we hadn't gone a hundred yards and it started to manifest the problem, so I wheeled around and drove it onto an unused part of the forecourt.

I explained to my newfound friend that I would appreciate the use of his car and I drove it into Hurricane and spent another thirty-something dollars on bearings and grease. It was a pleasant thing to drive, but it suffered badly (as he had told me) from electrical malfunctions... windows and that sort of thing.



Not only had I parked so Janet wouldn't be sitting in the sun, I'd parked so I'd be working on the shaded side. It didn't take long to dismantle and the spike did the job of punching out the old bearings... the new ones were soon fitted...



If you look closely you'll see that I've used a lot of paper towel to degrease things... I'd gone to the servo's toilet and retrieved a stack of that from the waste bins, it was very handy.



Notice here, also, that all that separates a good working surface from square miles of desert sand and sparse vegetation is that concrete gutter!

The hamburger man got a sale too, we needed lunch before this was all done... and Janet went shopping instead of waiting:

The wheel bearing had cost us about an hour and a half, which was to hamper our look at Zion National Park a little, but we were once again mobile and enjoying the drive.

 

Driving towards the Zion National Park took us down a sometimes spectacular 2-lane blacktop road... with, as Janet mentions above, houses sitting everywhere in the desert and landscapes that would make you look again.



This road would take us to Rockville and then Springdale before we entered the National Park. Again, the diary says a lot:

Some homes were down on the flat country, dwarfed by the hills that shade them at times during the day...



...and yes, there is some greenery out here if you look in the right places!



I tried to get a good pic of the roadside river, but this was the best I could do:



And then entering the town Janet asked me to get this picture for a friend of ours who seems to live in fear of rocks tumbling down on his (much safer) house...



Further through town I shot this monument to barreness and erosion:



And then this B & B came into sight with its own view of the time-hewn landscapes:



Another quick stop to get the pixels exposed to the raw scenery of Utah... note the house down below the road, tucked away as if it's trying to hide:



We were now very close to Zion National Park... driving up to the entrance our pass purchased back at the Grand Canyon gained us entry. Unfortunately, it was to prove rather less spectacular than it could have been because of the hour of the day.

The sun was going behind the hills, the light was starting to dim, we were paying the real price for having that wheel bearing pack it in on us near Hurricane.

 

Despite the lateness and failing light down there in the deep valley, we had to make the most of this one chance to enjoy this park.

I walked down to the bridge over the river from a parking spot too far away at this time of the day. With some post-processing this shot of the river might be acceptable...



...and as I walked back to the car from the bridge I got this rather patchy one looking in the direction of our travel:



I caught up to the couple ahead of me in this shot. They were from Japan and were driving one of those crazy little Chevys, they were also heading to Australia a few months later.

One of the really interesting things in the cliffs and walls around this valley (or canyon?) is this formation which is very much like a stone-arch bridge:



We drove up the steep climb... perhaps it's better in Janet's words, written as we drove:

After that second tunnel we stopped and looked around briefly. It was well past ideal photo time, but some of the patterns on the rocks just begged being photographed:









There was even a small display of autumn colours, the sights we'd been enjoying daily just a couple of weeks earlier in the more eastern states...



Different shapes came at every turning:



And we were reminded at the tops of the hills that the contrast between shadow and sunlit was getting greater all the time...



Yet another arch formation...



...and from a lookout this one looks like it has a little derby on it:



One of the highlighted features of the area is the Checkerboard Mesa:



And a little closer to see why it is so named:



The day was way too short... we drove on through an area which seems to consist of very large ranches. Names like 'Clear Creek Ranch', 'Zion Mountain Ranch' and 'Rocky Top Ranch' show up on the online map, while our consultation of the Rand McNally map we were carrying showed that it would be practical for us to head to the next junction, Mt Carmel Junction, to seek out accommodation for the night.

We drove past a field with many bison...



...and yet another canyon that didn't photograph at all well in the failing light. But a bit of the setting sun was shining on some distant cliffs a little further along and that didn't look too bad...



Before too long we saw the approaching lights of Mt Carmel Junction and slipped into the small town between the Shell and Chevron service stations and headed for the little motel opposite.

The place was awash with gemstones and other souvenirs, After taking our needs for the night into the room I took her hand and said we were walking to the restaurant. "How far is it, I don't want to walk far!" she said, but it was actually attached to the motel.

There was a lot more gemstones and displays in there, and at the tables there were interesting things to read, historical items etc, as we awaited our meal. There was only one other table for them to serve that night so it all took place quite conveniently.

We slept in comfort in that room, in a motel that was the one most like the ones we have at home that we struck on the trip. I'd done my usual bit of parking with the rear up against a tree, even though it put the truck further from our room. There was an Oldsmobile Toronado in primer sitting outside another room, the car belonged to the owner's son and was the source of some grief if I'm not mistaken.

As we slept a frosty morning came in on Mt Carmel...

 

Saturday morning, it was now November 3, 2012...

As mentioned, it was definitely a frosty morning. What Janet had recorded as looking like a less than worthy place to stay finally turned out to be good, even very good...

We went for a walk to look around Mt Carmel Junction, after all it wasn't a big place and I also wanted to get a picture of the creek running behind the motel. I tried to get a good shot of the lighting effects of the morning sun through the trees, but that didn't work. Life, meanwhile, was going on as per usual...


A truck or two rumbled through...


...the gift shop was open (we looked, I don't think we bought anything)...


...the creek rippled past the motel...


...a speed trap was ready for business...


...and the Toronado sat there continuing to disturb the motel owner.

The visit to the Bryce Canyon was one Janet was particularly keen to make. Friends of hers had told her it was more appealing than the Grand Canyon and she allowed that to overcome her feelings of being 'all canyoned out', I think she was almost excited about going there this day.

We set out along the road that led in that direction...



Through Orderville and on to Glendale, where I spotted some vehicles that I'd like to photograph. Janet noted this in her diary:

First there was a bunch of old cars in a yard, and - yes - a truck with some rust showing:



But I think the unfamiliarity of this Plymouth grabbed me, too...



By 1940 there weren't many cars coming into Australia.

Just a little further up the road there was a garage sale sign and a paddock full of cars behind the house next door... Janet went to the garage sale while I looked around the paddock at the more interesting specimens lying there.

A shortbed version of the '75 model we were driving:



A burned Corvair flanked by a '46 Ford and an early fifties Ford 2-door:



Even a Falcon ute:







This was but a portent of the things to come... we were approaching the Red Canyon...



...with its colourful appearance, visible as we got closer...



The entry was almost dramatic... yes it was dramatic:



Looking back on it from inside the canyon...



...or even further in...



...we saw clearly how the upper crust was the key to the retention of the soil below as the weathering has taken place over the centuries. This shot near the entry points it up nicely:



But it's really more beneficial to just admire the grandeur of this kind of place... sights like these:







A beautiful little place. Yes, it's a small canyon, almost a nothing alongside what we'd seen before and what we were about to see, but it has a beauty of its own.

She didn't mention the two places we pulled up at on the way through looking for something to eat and didn't find anything. The Chevron fuel place wouldn't take our cards, the little shop just before the Bryce turnoff was utterly hopeless for selection and price, then the prices at Bryce City were atrociously high. We did get fuel there before doubling back down the road to the Rt 12 and Rt 63 junction where the Subway was located (opposite the Bryce Canyon Airport).

I have to say that this was the first I'd heard about her desire to get Subway in the US. It is true that I hate the brand, I really cannot walk into their shops (and I have to hold my breath if I walk past one) because of the stench of the onions. But I did take this opportunity to photograph the lady's little Dodge pickup while I waited outside:



Also the airport across the road:



It was a very late breakfast. We made ourselves a coffee to go with our food and dined in the shade of a nearby tree before we headed back up the road that led to the Bryce Canyon, a real showpiece...

 

After lunch we went to Bryce Canyon, afterwards we would follow this route:



Once again, 'All Canyoned Out' or not, Bryce Canyon was a definite must see for Janet. She had heard all about it from a hairdressing client of hers and would not miss it for the world.

Once again we drove through the tourist area, past the souvenir shops and restaurants, heading next to the tourist information area a bit further along the road. Our first pic from the canyon rim is of this warning sign:



Not a surprise after seeing how loose safety arrangements were (and have to be...) at the Grand Canyon.

Sights like these:





Evidence that it's still eroding:



A multitude of different angles that show the different shapes...





As can be seen, it's nothing like the scale of the Grand Canyon, much more contained, but loaded down with weathered rock that forms shapes and displays colours of many kinds. Down in the canyon could be seen trails where you are welcome to walk for a closer look, and to see things from different angles, some of these shots show the steep walkways to get down there too.



Here's one of those pathways:





Playing a balancing act, you have to wonder when this will topple:



A good view of the steep pathways:



And looking forward to the elevated position of the next lookout:



This was one of the two or three lookouts Janet bailed on. There was a lot of walking involved, even though we drove from point to point in the Dodge. To me, I think it was worth checking them all:



It's the same canyon, the same formations inside it, but from different angles it all changes... and this was from the next lookout... known as the Grottos if I'm not mistaken:



And more of the weatherbeaten earth...



This signboard explains the Grottos and 'windows'...



This lookout was a bit of a walk away from the parking area, once again Janet didn't come along on this one...



The young man standing at this lookout had walked around all the lookouts. He wasn't aware you could drive from point to point, but he wasn't too upset about all the energy and time he'd put into it (though I recall he made some comment about shoe wear!) as it was all most memorable.

Another signboard...



One can just picture living in those conditions, to which we'd all say, "No thanks!" Maybe it was well sheltered from the winds down there in the canyon, but the rising sun would come in late and the setting sun would be elsewhere when dwellers were stoking their winter fires. Even more rigorous than some of the early settlers in Australia had it because of the extremes of temperature changes, by the time we'd finished driving to the last lookout here we were higher than any point in Australia.

Clearly seen here are some of those trails down in the canyon...



...while the majesty of the eternally different shapes stand as sentinels above:



Here's another one showing how things are still forming, the rock having collapsed and fallen into a gap in the sandstone below. Time will erode its seat and it will topple the rest of the way to the canyon floor...



Looking further afield we could see a town. I believe this was Panguitch, where we were to stop off on our way to Salt Lake City:



I snapped this sign as we were driving out of the National Park...



...but we saw neither prairie dogs or horse riders.

Outside that thrift shop was a Plymouth Voyager...



...we never saw this model in Australia, it seems a lot smaller than the later models, but it did have a V6 engine. Once we hit the Interstate it was clear we had to keep on rolling to get to Salt Lake City at any semblance of a good time. I did get a shot of one of these on the way...



...and we saw this on a hill:



Closer:



We were now to wonder (for a day or two...) what this was all about, as we'd see more as we headed north. I don't think these cows noticed our passing, but the photo was to record the grazing country through which we were passing:



We would soon see less of it...



We got something to eat too, then looked at our position. I decided that Provo would be good enough, only 40 miles south of Salt Lake City, we could make up a bit of time in the morning.

At the Super 8 we did have a problem, though. Their machine wouldn't take a payment on my ANZ Travel Card, I got Janet to pay with her credit card, I figured I'd finally run out of the $6,000 I'd loaded onto this card, it was a good thing we had her credit card for backup.

As I looked for a parking spot I realised I had yet another problem. Apart from having to park a long way from the door, there was nowhere I could back up against a fence or tree or anything to keep the back of the truck secure. I found a spot where there was a big old pallet lying nearby and propped that up against the fence in a way that it couldn't be moved once I reversed into position... and it protected our unlockable cargo space.

Time to rest and think about tomorrow's travels into Idaho...

 

Our next goal was to get to Spokane in time to spend a day there with my contact, Jon Duncan...

Jon supplies me with various Mopar bits and pieces and gets axle shafts shortened for me. When we knew we had a problem with the carburettor before I flew over, it was Jon who located a carburettor to suit the slant 6, put it onto a truck to try it, then shipped it overnight to Indiana so we'd be sure to have it there in time to get rolling.

There were two logical paths to take to get to Spokane... up into Idaho and across through Boise and north from there, some of which was on highways rather than Interstates... or straight up the I15 through Idaho, into Montana, then pick up the I90 which runs west all the way to Seattle via Spokane. It seemed like the distances were very similar, but the latter course took us through Missoula.

Remembering that this was early November and snowfalls were possible, David Blair from Pennsylvania had been warning me from early in the trip-planning stages to watch out for the potential holdup we might strike if it snowed. Talking to him as we headed up this way he again warned us, but the forecasts weren't showing any snow for a few days.

Our map for the day:



We were at Provo at the start of the day, about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City... and we didn't plan to drive into Montana until Monday morning. Other forces were to come into play, however, and as you read on you'll see how the day panned out.

Looking across the motel's portico in the morning...



...showed up the rugged range that seems to run a short distance from the eastern shore of the Great Salt Lake. Provo itself is on the shore of the Utah Lake, which is similarly south of the Great Salt Lake. We got the Dodge fired up and drove out of there, working our way along towards Salt Lake City and taking in the morning settings... a change from the desert, small towns and canyons of the previous two days:



No cars yet in the shopping centre carpark:



We turned down towards the lake...



...and we saw yet more of those barren-looking mountains:



Notable was the efforts to which many residents had gone to build up on the ridges, presumably to enjoy the view:



There was some large-scale mining or quarrying going on in the area, too...



...and still plenty of shopping centres:



And more mountains:



Having had a brief look around we got underway. Janet's notes to this point were fairly short:

With the Interstate ahead and the day wasting away, I got her to snap this shot:



It shows the size of the hills to our east, but it also shows some strange looking damage to the tailgate of the Voyager. Note the equal dents both sides? It certainly aroused my curiosity. The sign also indicates that we're 322 miles into Utah

We were driving more or less alongside the lake, there was all the usual types of traffic...



...and I'm sure we were below the level of the lake as we drove along some parts here:



As we drove through these last miles of Utah, Jon Duncan gave me a call. He'd called me regularly during the trip, maybe once a week, keeping tabs on our progress.

"How's it going, Ray? Is that truck still going?" he asked.

"Yes, Jon, it's going great, we're just coming out of Salt Lake City and heading into Idaho," I replied.

"You are? That's great! Are you coming to Spokane?"

"We'll be in Spokane tomorrow night, Jon, I've set aside Tuesday to spend with you," I told him.

"Hey, Ray, that's fantastic! I really didn't think you'd make it this far, let me know when you're getting closer, won't you?"

Jon then made his arrangements for our visit. He owns a pizza shop, which his wife runs for him, while he enjoys his life keeping an eye on the new additions coming into the U-Pull wrecking yards, he has a range of items he buys, cleans up and sells on eBay. Which is how I met him.

What he was to do for us on the Tuesday really made a difference to our trip.

Around Honeyville the I15 diverges from the I84, this being the point where we headed north towards Montana rather than taking the north-westerly route.

There was nobody there to welcome us at the rest area. We set up our gear at a table in the cool afternoon breeze and used the facilities. A snack and a coffee was nice, and I noticed a truck hauling a wrecked truck in the truck parking area of the amenity:



Refreshed, we pressed on...

Another letter up on a hill:



And further evidence that we're out of desert and into productive farming country...



...more vegetation on the hills, and we're seeing (as noted) haystacks:



These were of particular interest to us as we don't have much in the way of haystacks in Australia. We don't have vast areas where snow prevents cattle getting winter feed, but here we were seeing what has to happen in a land where that certainly is the case.

I was beginning to feel very happy about travelling through this country. Productive, pretty despite the onset of the cold season, we were also imagining hillsides covered in snow in the coming months and the skiing that might take place out here.

I identified that 'quaint little village' as being on West Walker Creek Road, just south of Inkom, while the rocks were alongside the road as we went around Inkom. Not surprisingly, the map shows a town named 'Basalt' about 15 miles north.

The haystacks were getting serious as we kept on going...



...noting round bales, big squared bales and in some places some of the traditional smaller bales.

The day was coming to a close and we were experiencing that frustrating loss of light that the early autumn evening brings:



We weren't alone, but we weren't seeing as many towns as we were used to in places we'd been earlier in the trip. The headlights were coming on as the day faltered...



...and I was determined to capture some of the beauty of this sunset that was happening over our left shoulders!

The final attempt at capturing the beauty of this sunset resulted in this picture, it must have been somewhere near Hamer with the Lemhi Range silhouetted:



Only seeing such a grand display of colour, and as we'd seen it over about thirty miles, can give you a full appreciation of the beauty there is in the setting sun. It truly fortified us to experience this for so long, I guess it made up for what was about to overcome us.

It being dark, we started looking for somewhere to stay. Dubois and Spencer proved fruitless...

It was important for us to get a 'Welcome to Montana' photo for a friend...



As can be seen it was well dark by that time. And then she was disappointed as her name is spelled 'Montanna'!

At Lima we pulled in to a motel, there was a vacancy sign out front, I walked into the office as two others walked out. "They got the last room!" I was told. It was quite dispiriting as this was countryside I wanted to see in daylight. Dillon was over forty miles further and there was nothing in between.

At least there was a Motel 6 there, it seemed to be a thriving little place, but the motel was way around the back of the town and it took a bit of finding. It seemed new, the room was nice, we had a parking spot with 'security' and I drove back to get that McDonalds salad for Janet. I had the Swiss Cheese and Mushroom third of a pounder...

 

We awoke to a nice crisp morning in the Motel 6 at Dillon Montana. It was Monday morning, we had gone much further than I had liked in the dark on Sunday night, but we'd found that distances between towns (particularly towns with motels...) had increased since we left the desert. We looked around us and saw a great deal we couldn't see that night when we drove in.

First we saw the letters on the hills. What are they? Janet asked the people at the motel and they said they had something to do with the local schools... but I'd like to know more. Here they are, with the motel in the foreground:





A further look around, now at ground level, showed that the motel was built right next to some trailer-dwellers...





...who even had a Dodge the same model as ours. But it looked rather unused.

First port of call was to top up the fuel at the service station next to McDonalds, which had this little warning on the bowser:



With the fuel tank full, we got back onto the I15 and headed north. Around us we saw signs of the coming winter, snow on the nearby mountains but enough blue sky to give promise of a good travelling day:



There was pastureland to our east, too, with more ragged hilltops not too far away...



This start to the day gave us plenty of confidence that we'd get through the dreaded Missoula Pass and across the top part of Idaho into Washington and our appointment with Jon in Spokane. We'd even have time, we reckoned, to detour the few miles to the east required to call in at Butte, which looked by the map to be a decent-sized place where we could get a few supplies. And have a late breakfast. So our planned route for the day was so:



Janet's notes began early:

Along with the size of the haystacks, the irrigation setups had me quite interested. I'd seen them running in straight lines at home, but I had never noticed them going in circles. Subsequently I have seen them, and learned that they're called 'centre pivot' systems. What's more, checking Google Earth to find the names of places on this stretch (the I15 as it heads out of Idaho and into Montana) shows a multitude of green circles as these efficient watering devices feed the grasses and crops. These are South of Dubois:



As for haystacks...



...there's no end of them. And we went through as they were still building them.

Covering the miles we enjoyed the ever-unravelling views of this great part of the USA. Food production in full swing, I really did like to see it all at work, but Janet had a different appreciation:

Yes, those '52 (or thereabouts) De Sotos did catch my eye as we came around the ramp from the I15 to the I90. Odd numbers adorn the Interstates heading North/South, even numbers are on the East/West Interstates.

As I walked back to the car from looking at the De Sotos I caught yet another UPS rig going by, this one with the triple-trailer configuration:



And then we went into the service centre which included the McDonalds for which we'd seen that sign. We were still a few miles from Butte.

It was still very much election season and the proliferation of signs in some places was just as great as it was in other parts of the country. But this one really made me wonder:



Clerk and Recorder? Back home you'd apply for that job, go for an interview and show your qualifications. How can that sort of position possibly justify being part of the election craziness?

As mentioned, I bought some oil for the truck after we drove through the spread out environs of Butte...





The second pic was taken near the tourist information office, showing more snow-capped peaks in the distance while there is signs of mining in the foreground. This shot concentrates more on the aesthetic grandeur of the mountains at this time of year:



After visiting K-Mart and a few other places we strapped ourselves back into the Dodge and took the I90 to head west towards Spokane... not too far along the road...

Surprisingly, she left out the fact that we stopped at a rest area prior to this and had a chat with the driver of one of those yellow school buses...



...he was delivering it across three states as I recall. We'd been interested in these from the beginning, especially seeing the huge amount of overhang they have at the back of them. This rest area wasn't as well-equipped as many we'd seen, but we managed to comfortably have our (late) morning coffee and use the facilities.

As we headed further Montana continued to throw beauty at us.

 

Into the Tuesday afternoon, the Interstate carved its way through this beautiful country...



...in such a way that it was sheer pleasure driving through the area. Janet's notes tell more:

For a long time we'd been following Clark Fork, a river that winds its way westwards. We'd cross Clark Fork here and there, but when Janet pointed out this old bridge...



...I just had to stop and get a shot.

The railway bridge has its triangulated structure quite tall, so the road bridge actually goes inside it as they converge on the western end. Quite a sight. Not that the modern replacement for the road bridge is lacking in spectacle...



...and ever westward the road beckoned us:



This was a delightful little moment in the day, too. I went by a garbage bin and noticed there was a little fellow sitting there...



I imagine it's a chipmunk, one of which totally eluded me back in New York when I tried to get a picture of it. They are so quick to get away! And this one ran away too, our attempts to see where he'd gone were totally in vain.

There was some information there about the building of the original road through this country...





Thankfully we didn't have to endure the rigors the roadbuilders had to put up with! But we did have a need to keep on moving.This was one part of our trip which we’d been warned about by David Blair. Like Jon, I was in regular contact with him throughout and he kept telling me that the mountains we had to cross at Missoula might stop us if there’d been snow.

We got into the Super 8 motel and unloaded all of our bags into the room after booking in. As we'd be there for two nights it was an opportunity to repack things for convenience over the coming few days, but apart from that it left the back of the truck clear for my pursuit of bits and pieces with Jon at the wrecking yards the next day.

We decided to have dinner at the Dennys next to the motel...

This was one really important part of the trip for me. It was also one that had at times promised to be hard to keep due to the distances and the time it would take to get to Spokane. But we made it and I happily showed Jon the truck before he and Gina went home after dinner. As usual, it was reversed up against something for security purposes, in this case the wall of the motel.

 

Spokane, Washington... a full day there and things to enjoy...

Tuesday, November 6. We had breakfast at the motel first and set the Garmin for Jon's address and drove out on a misty morning. Along the way I snapped this pic:



We found Jon's easily enough and Gina took charge of Janet as Jon started ushering me into his shed and through the piles of parts in his garage. Soon enough the girls were off for their day, I was gathering bits that I could use and Jon was showing me over his project cars and so on.

I was quite taken by the way Jon had things organised, he had good amenities for wrapping parts, various sizes of zip-type plastic bags and he really knew how things went together. Of course, this was a reflection of his methods used in marketing components he gets from the wrecking yards.

Then we got into his pickup and headed off to a shed and yard he uses in another part of town. But first he took me to look briefly at Costco, and I was again in trouble with my glasses and needed a hand from an optometrist or similar. Rapidly he guided us to such a place and there was some further effort went into making the things stay in one piece.

In the meantime, Gina and Janet had gone their way...

Jon once ran the Pete's Pizza business himself, two shops with a speciality in Calzone pizzas, one had been his mother's business. But when medical issues intervened for him he handed the shops over to Gina.

As for us, we reached the storage yard Jon shares with a couple of other people, the place was littered with trucks and cars and the shed was packed with stuff. This Coronet...



...was a model we didn't get in Australia and belonged to one of the other guys, he had a spare car too. And these trucks...



...were also quite foreign to my eyes. One of the objects of our visit to this yard was for me to get a set of pedals to convert my pickup to a manual. I'd got the gearbox from Jon's place and I only really needed a few other pieces to enable me to make the conversion when I get it home. We did get the pedal assembly, but some of the linkages were missing.

Other pickups in the yard...



...and other cars and gear...



...and more...



...most of which are for sale, though some will be wrecked out. The truck on the left in this pic:



...has done an incredible amount of work, Jon told me. It was driven until the old Poly 318 would take it no further. Good rebuild material.

The one on the left here...



...is another model we never saw, the coupe on the right likewise. We couldn't dawdle too much, though, the day was starting to run away and we had to get to the wrecking yards, stopping on the way for a quick bite to eat.

Meanwhile...

Yes, we'd had some success at the U-Pull yards. The first one had delivered up a lot of wheel studs, a spare set of front brakes - hubs/discs and calipers - for my pickup, an internal rear vision mirror that might be more sound and some other small stuff. Jon got a few bits that he can tidy up and sell on eBay, but the bits we needed to complete the conversion to manual weren't there.

We hit the second yard, a little further across town. I wasn't supposed to have my camera with me, but it just happened to be in my pocket when I got to this place, and despite the lateness in the day (we had to rush a bit, it was getting near closing time) I got a shot of what was really a rare old thing to be in there:



We worked together here. Again, Jon found a few things he could use, he also located a pickup with the linkage bits I needed. I found yet another pair of good discs/hubs and then we remembered we had to get the door rubber for the driver's door of my pickup.

I looked at the rubber on the truck we were raiding for bits and found it wasn't too good. "Check the passenger's side, it will fit the driver's door too," Jon said, and indeed there was a good rubber there that quickly found its way into the barrow the yard lets you use to haul your parts out.

We left there as it was getting dark, and there was one more thing we had to do before returning to Jon's place. The retired machinist who shortens and resplines axles for him, Don, was finishing his dinner when we called in, he got up and took us out to his workshop and I saw the mill he uses for cutting the splines:



And I got a shot that included Jon and Don:



We picked up two pairs of axles he had waiting for us there and went back to Jon's place, and to continue the story from Janet's point of view:

We'd tallied up all the parts, deducted the money I'd sent him from home and came to a figure I still don't think was right, I'm sure I owe him a few dollars and I'll have to sort it out and send that to him. He was such a help with regard to getting the carby for the truck at the start of our trip and we've been able to work together well on deals with a number of parts purchases over the past five or six years.

I noticed a Credit Union with an ATM not far away and I went there to pull out some money from my Credit Union card to replenish Janet's cash supply. Joy of joys... the ATM only charged us $1 for the privilege!

From my point of view this day had helped tidy up a number of loose ends and given me a chance to get to know more about how Jon operates. This will help in the future as I continue to buy things from him, I now know more about his sources and the range of stuff he can get.

At the motel we settled in to checking e-mails and forums and repacking bags ready for the next few days. Our destination for Wednesday with less than a week left of our stay, was Seattle.

 

It was Wednesday, November 7, 2012 when we headed for the West Coast...

Janet's notes on the start of the day:

Spokane to Seattle, not an exceptional distance...



...but it was to turn out to be very picturesque and I'll break it into two instalments. Mind you, we didn't hit the road straight away...

And we must remember that all of our trip so far had been through the 2012 election campaign, but Janet observed that there was now a change of pace:



We were now at Moses Lake, this is part of the rest area, and this...



...is one of the boat ramps and some of the expensive lakeside homes. It all made the Dodge...



...look a bit out of place. But we were here, we were enjoying our drive, and more was yet to come. Note also the solar panels on that notice board, I wonder what they do?



Over a long distance it was an ever-changing scene, a lot of variety in the unfolding vistas.

I remember at this time Janet pointed to our right, "Look, a lake!"



Well, to our eyes it was a huge body of water, it could only be a lake. But not in this country, where the snows feed huge rivers. And I'm sure this is the biggest of them all... the Columbia River, which brings those waters down out of Canada to emerge near Portland in Oregon and help keep the Pacific Ocean full.

It certainly is magnificent. And huge! The lookout had stone walls and a couple of plaques with information about the area. One plaque was about yet another petrified forest, the other told a sad tale of Indians who didn't want to go to war:



There must be a moral somewhere in there. And yet another, which appealed to Janet...



...as we departed this point to cross the river at Vantage.

Just before Ellensburg was Kittitas, where this disused railway bridge suspended itself over the I90:



Did I ever? Look at this place:



Under the 'sign of the flying red horse', and the old world stuff on the driveway was amazing...



But it wasn't as amazing as the stuff inside the diner. That will come in the next instalment, and believe me you won't regret coming back to look at it.