Sunday 12Apr20
Day 87
Woke up at 8:30 to a cloudy morning. It was 18 degrees. I turned on the faucet and nothing. Definitely some frozen pipes. I just hope the water heater is okay.
Well this is will be a different Easter for everyone. I realize it will be difficult for many. I want to assure you there have been other Easters that were far worse for members of our great miltary. Following is a link to a YouTube video about Easter 1971. Please respect our Vietnam Vets and watch the entire clip.
As of today I have been retired for one year. A year ago today I drove off Hill AFB, mailed my retirement paperwork and headed out on a two month roadtrip. It has been a great year. I have seen so much of the United States. I have been in 35 States in the year.
After breakfast I asked the attendant operating the scales at the Port of Entry if I could get the RTs weighed. She weighs 8760 pounds. The holding tanks are empty and the fresh water tank is half full so I assume the maximum weight to be around 4.5 tons.
I got on the road and headed to Cokeville Wyoming. The first job I had after I got out of the army and came to Utah was with the Continental Oil Company or Conoco. I was part of an oil exploration seismograph crew. We worked several sites but the last site I worked was Cookeville Wyoming.. Some companies used dynomite but the process Conoco used involved trucks similar to cement mixers but instead of the huge drum they had a platform between the front and rear wheels. These were lowered to the ground using hydraulics. Once on the ground the truck received a radio signal from a control van and the platform would shake the ground. This would send shock waves into the ground that would be detected by hundreds of gyophones that had been placed ahead and behind the truck. The strings of gyophones were connected to the control van as well. Through computer programs the subterranean structure could be plotted. There was a team of workers who would set the gyophones ahead of the truck and another team behind the truck that would pickup them up. A pickup would transfer them from the back of the line to the front of the line as the trucks moved forward there was usually four trucks in single file. I worked both the front and back depended on where I was needed and assigned. I was also the person responsible for repairing the many strings of gyophones. Some days I would stay at the motel to accomplish repairs while everyone else was in the field working. I like those days. Working in the field was fun though. I got to see a lot of wide open country.
The crew was made up of mostly young men but there were a few young ladies as well. That being the case some things happened after work that can't discuss on this blog.
Back then there was a bar in Cookeville called the Red Dog Saloon. I remember there was a decent country and western band that played there. I was never a dancer and I only recall dancing in a bar, "Guest House" in Germany once before, but one night a lady asked me to dance in that bar. I bet she had to ice-down her toes that night! The bar is out of business now but the building is still standing but just barely. Those were some fun times.
After checking out Cokeville I headed back south. On the way I happened to notice a cow giving birth. I pulled over and watched and took some videos. It turns out that this was a twin and she had already given birth to the other calf. Seeing a completely new life taking it first breath is an awesome experience. Once the last calf was up and walking I drove on to Bear Lake
I have had so many great times at Bear Lake that it would take a book to share them all.. One of the most memorable was a time with Mom Dad. I don't recall the nature of our being there but as we were driving along I noticed some movement in the water right next to the shore. We stop and walk over to investigate and discovered it was a bunch of fish spawning. I got the bright idea that if I threw a big rock in the middle of the fish it might stun one of them. Dad said there was no chance but I heave the rock anyway and sure enough after a bit a fish floats to the top. I grab the poor fish and put it out of its misery. We took it home and Mom cooked it up. It was terrible!
Once at the lake I drove a little ways up the east shore. I pulled over on the shoulder and took some photos. Bear Lake has the most unique blue water that is always changing in hue.
After a bit I drove on to Logan and ordered take out from my all-time favorite restaurant, Angie's. I had the Chicken Fried Steak. It was pretty good, but I would have enjoyed it more sitting at the counter watching the USU waitresses walking by. After that I drove on to Brigham City and parked for the night at, you guessed it Walmart.