Adventure Day: Highway 89

I had a four day weekend. It was great. I got so much done. So much sleeping. Mostly sleeping. I pretty much wasted the whole thing. Sigh.

No, it was good. I really really needed this break. Now I just need to power through the next four week of Body Worlds and then I can celebrate unemployment. I tried to make plans to skip town but nothing came together. Luckily for me (but not so much for him) codename Terrence needed a last-minute early-morning operation and ended up taking Monday off, so Adventure Day was born.

I've long held a fascination with US Highway 89. Not really sure why. Before the interstate freeway system 89 ran from the Mexican to the Canadian border. It's the road less traveled now, with lots of old/interesting/beautiful/ugly sights to see along the way. It exists in fragments now, but someday soon I hope to drive the remaining 1250 miles. When I accomplish that I'm going to get a tattoo to commemorate it.

Adventure Day started with breakfast at the Left Fork Grill. It's decorated with a subdued nautical theme which is good because many of the patrons look like old timey sea captains.

Next, the Army-Navy Surplus to gear up because on Adventure Day you need to be prepared for anything.

Surplus packs and bags. The one in the middle must have belonged to Corporal Klinger.


After an ugly incident with a Filipino gang that resulted in a mouth full of broken glass for Terrence, we were back on the road. 89 through Orem is more depressing than not, so we took I-15 and hooked back up with 89 in the Springville area.



89 breaks up and requires a trip through the deadly and dangerous Spanish Fork Canyon, each turn shrouded in a cloud of white.


Normally I would have been nervous driving in those conditions but we were both doped up on Vicodin so it was totally fine.

Pulled over to do some adventuring and crossed the frozen highway.



A short time later we made an amazing discovery: the lost city of Thistle! Like Jamestown, no one really knows what happened to Thistle. According to legend it was drowned in a flood in 1983.

The much receded "Thistle Lake" was frozen solid which made for better exploring.


Wisdom:


He's been in hiding for a long time, but now he's getting sloppy.


Terrence has a friend named Zina. She lives in the heart of Pigeon Valley, a few miles outside of a small town at the end of a long dirt road. I saw a bald eagle on the way there, but I couldn't tell if it was crying or not.

Zina's lifestyle is much more rugged than mine, as evidenced by these neato bone chimes.


She has three cats, and two of them are especially noteworthy. Like this hairless fellow, Ruben.

He looks mean but his personality kind of reminded me of Charlie Brown. And petting him is just like petting microsuede.

Hans, the bengal cat. Probably the prettiest housecat I've ever seen.


An Icelandic artist named Inga left this behind. I like it.


The bathroom is tiled all crazy-like.


Zina knew I was coming so she turned on some glowing green lights so I'd be comfortable.


We ventured back out, Ephraim bound. But the road was blocked, by sheep!


Lots of them! A river of sheep! I haven't spent much time in the country.


A Sheepman wrangling these wooly cattle.. waitaminute, that's a Sheepboy.


To Ephraim, in search of the final resting place of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. Ed Roth was a counterculture/hot-rod icon in the pre-Beatles days. You might be familiar with his creation Rat Fink.

He's buried in Ephraim, in this cemetery.


Or so we thought. He's actually buried one town over in Manti. Manti has some rich sights. Like this, a Temple to the Lord erected by an ancient peoples.



The view from atop shows the cemetery we will soon explore.


Edbigdaddy Roth's grave is not easy to find, and the internet was little help. Cool cemetery though.



After hours of tromping around in the snow Terrence found pictures of Roth's funeral (thanks, iphone!) We were finally able to pinpoint the location through the background in the photos.

The inscription reads "We gave the world our two cents."

Back to Ephraim for some eats. Zina listed off the options: "A Chinese place, a couple of pizza places, the Satisfied Ewe - "

Clearly, when in Ephraim one must eat at the Satisfied Ewe.

We met up with English and his family. I've never met English but I have various connections to him. Gatsby has been good friends with him for years, I'm friends with English's brother TR, and I used to listen to English's public radio show, Huzzah for Ska. I'd even call in with requests sometimes. And I read his blog, so it was cool to finally meet him.

Ewe.



The drive back was something. So dark. So icy. So snowy. So isolated. I had to take too Vicodins just to get through it.

Stopping for gas, and who should I see on the front page of the paper, partying with the Governor? My new friend Zina. How about that.


Also, Sheepman of the Year.

your heart will attack you and probably kill you

This blog. It's falling apart man. I don't even pretend to keep a regular schedule anymore. I meant to update last night but I fell asleep while watching this terrible show where two old guys (one waaaaaaaaaaaay older than the other) talked about boring stuff like the future of our civilization.

My last weekend was good. Here's a (nother) picture of the City and County Building. It was built by Freemasons so no doubt some freaky shit goes on there.



Friday night I took a mini-vacation to Ogden. J. Willard Marriott was born there, so in a lot of ways it felt like going back home.

Once again Calvin tackles the issues the mainstream candidates are afraid to take on. Dust.


I was enamored with Ogden's Historic 25th St. Can you guess why? It's cause of all the neon.



Union Station, still in use and probably once very important.


Few people realize this, but beer was invented in Ogden. Well not beer, but beer in a glass.


Too much red.

Ate at a place called the Two Bit Cafe. It had a lot of Andy Gibb memorabilia. Probably the largest collection outside of Australia. Also a lot of clocks. Ogden has more clocks per capita than any other mid-size city in Utah.

The burger took a long time, but it was outstanding. I'll have to try it again before I can rank it, but it's probably in my top seven.

The reason for the Ogden trip was to see comedy man Norm MacDonald do some of his funny business. He's responsible for one of the funniest late night talk show moments ever. If you have seven and a half minutes to spare, it's worth your time.


Good times.


I worked Saturday. I think I mentioned that on the last entry. I went for a walk on my lunchbreak to take photos that eventually I'm going to post on this other group blog. I'll tell you about it later. I saw this.

I ended up on top of the library. I think I kind of look like Herc from the Wire in this picture. That's not really a guy you want to look like. But I'm way more handsomer.


Apparently my buzzed hair is the best disguise since Clark Kent's glasses. I went to a going away party for Friend of Microsuede Dollar-Sign Teve (at my old boss Brian's house), and no one recognized me. That's okay, I didn't recognize them either. And I didn't even see Steve. Come to think of it, Brian's house looked way different from how I remember it too.

Sunday was my first day off in fourteen, and I took full advantage of it by parking on the couch and not moving for several hours. Baseball was on all day. Oh it was wonderful.

Did you know that Ken Griffey Jr. is HAUNTED?

the end

Duvall

I'm still here. Sorry I haven't updated lately. Just kidding, I'm not sorry. I've just been really busy. New job and stuff. Plus all the free time I have is usually spent lifting weights (no it isn't). The good news is I don't really need to nap after work anymore. Or during work, or in the late evening. I sleep a lot. But not so much anymore, which I think is a good thing.

October! October is the best month. Right now I'm sitting in my office with the lights off (weirdo) with a great view of the Wasatch Mountains engulfed in mist. I like it. I wish I could hear the rain though. I'll have to figure that one out.

October also brings us post season baseball. The best postseason in sports. My heroic Minnesota Twins, predicted by many to finish in last place, defied the odds and made it to the pre-postseason... where they lost to the White Sox in a tie breaker game. Freaking White Sox! I hate them.

We're running about a week behind schedule here at Microsuede HQ, so let's talk about last weekend. I learned a lot. Like where Cowboys come from.

It was Gordon's 80th birthday so cowboy grub was in order. What better place for cowboy grub than a restaurant called Cowboy Grub.

Here Gordon talks about Cowboy stuff with Sean.

Now Sean is holding what can only be described as a baby. That kid is neat. He just learned how to roll over. And the baby is neat too.

When this picture was taken, I kid you not, Gordon was making an impassioned speech about his favorite actor Robert Duvall. "Now there's an actor!"

It was actually a really fun night. Gordon is rad, and dispensed plenty of folksy wisdom that really made sense.

Late night Friday I watched the Presidential debates. I didn't enjoy them as much as I thought I would. But I did get a note from my Congressman in response to my letter voicing my concerns about the economy. I love Government. Can't wait to vote.

I have an Obama sticker on my car and it's really changed my driving habits. I don't want to reflect poorly on the campaign. The other day I saw a car with Ohio plates on the freeway and I cut in front of them and drove very slowly so they could have plenty of time to see the sticker. Ohio is a battleground state after all.

Saturday night my pal Rudy was in town with his special lady pal and we hung out with some of my other pals. Great night. It's going on the year-end Best Of list for sure. We went to the Twilite Lounge. It has a great jukebox, even though it refuses to accept requests.


I think the most important thing we learned that night is that this video is the gayest thing that's ever been filmed.
Bruce Springsteen - Dancin' in the Dark

Sunday was unseasonably warm. I was at work. By the way I've now worked 14 days straight. My own fault though. One job gave me days off and I stupidly went to my other job. I should really only be having one job. I don't need two.

I enjoyed a break at Library Square and ate some soup. The soup was lousy. And too hot. Here's pictures of stuff.

Have you heard of this exhibit, Body Worlds 3 at theLeonardo? Everyone is talking about. Why haven't you seen it yet?

apropos of nothing, i don't like this speech i'm watching right now

"... when the iron beasts rolled by Ricky didn't see progress, or the continent coming together. He didn't hear the sound of capitalism and industry in the chugging steam engines. All he saw was the shrinking of the Great American West; the end of the last era that a man could truly be free..."

Saturday I wanted to see Boulder, because I love hip and happenin' college towns. We didn't get going until late in the afternoon, since we are nothing if not late sleepers. I needed the extra sleep though as I was stuck on an air mattress that wouldn't stay inflated (due to user error).

"Hey Mike, I get to sleep on the couch tonight."

"No! The whole way down you insisted that I would take the couch and you would sleep on the 'comfortable' air mattress."

"Yeah but... I changed my mind."



"Sean, B.'s trying to steal the couch."





"Hmmm. Then we shall cut the couch in half, and divide it equally."




"No no, I'd rather see B. have it then destroy the couch."





"Problem solved! Alright."

Boulder? Boulder. Check this out.

Mustard's Last Stand! Ahahaha. Get it? I haven't seen a dining establishment that cleverly named since Humphrey Yogart.

Do you like hippies? Do you like street performers? If yes, then you will love Boulder. Actually it's a nice little town. I quite liked it. It's very pedestrian friendly and there is ample parking.
I think this is city hall or the court house or something. It reminds me of Tetris.

Neath here lies buried a time capsule from 1977. To be opened in 2075.

I'm guessing that inside is a Star Wars poster, Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, an 8x10 of Jimmy Carter, Mork...

No Pete! Didn't you learn anything from Tax-Evasion Charlie's?

Huh. I've always wondered what those things were for.

Wait, neon is near. I can hear it humming. Also I can see it.

While taking these pictures I learned that in Boulder people get very upset if you don't know the answer to the ages-old question, "Where da party at?" Apparently "I'm not from here, I just want to look at this sign" will earn you nothing but scorn.

Check out this photo segue.



Back to Denver to see the Rockies of Colorado take on the Cincinnati Redlegs. Remember last year when I was all into the Rockies? Well I'm still a big Rockies fan, helped largely by the fact that I can watch their games on basic cable. It was only two days before the DNC started so we had to run a blockade to get into the city, but we got there reasonably on time.

Great view from the park.


The Reds are one of the most storied teams in baseball. In fact, they're the oldest still-surviving team. They're not doing very well this year, and I can see why. These guys need to grow up.

"I'm not moving until you reverse that call. I'm not moving!"

The Reds are like the Bad News Bears but without the heart. These jokers don't even care enough to get in position!


Great game! Last time I went to a Rockies game the crowd was dead and the game was boring. This one was close and the place was full of energy. The Rockies even have a shot at the playoffs, no doubt thanks to me.

One of my favorite players, Troy Tulowitski. Look at the ball flying off his bat!

He grounded out to the shortstop.

"Yeah, I work for Major League Baseball."

"Oh? What do you do?"

"Whatever the commissioner needs. The team couldn't take the field without me."

Laser eye!


The Boys!

Yep.

WTF? It's bad enough that they're destroying Beatles songs, but now the Jonas Bros. are pro-fur too?

The important thing is...


...somewhere on this block is a 420 High Street.

Ah, the bachelor life. The contents of Sean's fridge (all of the boxes are empty):

Sunday morning, er, afternoon, time to go. Sean was sad.


But probably not as sad as he would be when he saw what Mike left in the tub.

Someone dropped some Midwest in northern Colorado.


The stormy plains of Wyoming.


Home!