Four Country Gals

With the family more or less complete, Bev, Cindy and Mom settle in to prepare for the coming winter. Not knowing what to expect, they are laying in wood, and getting things put away and “winterized”, meaning extra insulation stuffed here and there, and “visquene” covering the large dining room window.

Other local “family members are also preparing for winter. Unfortunately, this little guy has chosen the front lawn as his “new domain”. Now, this little guy doesn’t know Cindy or Bev, or Mom, and has no idea exactly how they feel about green grass, and dirt mounds.

Cindy and Shari are chatting online when all of a sudden, Mom yelps. And when Mom yelps… it’s all hands on deck!

The ground is moving… out there, look… Every once in a while something is throwing dirt out onto an ever-growing mound.

What is it? Is it one of those protected prairie dogs? Is it a chiseler?

Never mind… it’s in our yard, and it’s making a mess… It has to go.

Plans are laid.

Here’s the deal… Cindy is the best shot, even though it’s been better than a year since she last fired her rifle. Cindy will sneak out the back door while Bev monitors the critter through the binoculars.

He doesn’t stick his head very far out of the hole for very long, so maybe Bev can help Cindy get a clean shot.

So, here’s Bev, looking through the binoculars, when all of a sudden “Pow!”. Bev is NOT a happy camper… Cindy’s managed to dispatch the critter with a single shot, while Bev saw more than she wanted.

One thing you can say for both these intrepid adventurers, they’re not afraid of hard, physical work. Bev has been steadily regaining her strength, since her bout with the “big C”. Cindy… well, she seems able to work like a horse, day after day.

Remember that big, overgrown Juniper Tam hedge separating the front yard from the circular drive?

Well it’s a haven for all kinds of stuff… garbage from previous owners, tumbleweed that has been blown into the hedge, sand dunes, and untold critters. It’s also incredibly unsightly in Bev and Cindy’s eyes.

What to do? Get ‘er trimmed up. They’ve got Friday free… that’s a good time to “git ‘er done!”

With lopping shears, a hacksaw, a hatchet, gloves, and a large tarp in hand, they set about pruning this monsterous , ugly hedge. Now this thing is nearly 40 feet long, and well over 8 feet thick and nearly 4 feet tall. There’s just no other way to get started than to dive in and find the first unwieldy branches.

By lunch time, Cindy is noticing a rash on her arms. It’s been too hot to wear long sleeves, so they’re both out there in basically t-shirts, jeans and boots. Is it red spider bites? Is it an allergy to something? Is it just an “irritation” from the prickly needles? No time to get too concerned, there’s more hedge awaiting.

So here they are, chopping away, dragging the limbs to the Avalanche so they can haul them to the dump box. The tarp is protecting the truck bed and top from scratches and unnecessary mess.

All of a sudden… ka-thunk! Cindy hits the ground… out cold!

Thankfully, Bev has plenty of first aid knowledge. First things first… call 911!

Long story short… Cindy takes an unscheduled trip to Cedar City, and discovers she’s highly allergic to Juniper.

Where was Shari? Well, she had been in communication with Cindy earlier in the morning and even at lunchtime when she mentioned the rash. All of a sudden, she heard from Bev, just long enough to let her know she was headed for Cedar City behind “the squad” (that’s cop talk for emergency vehicle).

Good news! Cindy was checked out, told to stay out of the Juniper, and released to return home.

So, what about the rest of the ugly hedge? It’s gonna stay where it is for a while, and Cindy’s gonna walk a wide circle around it.

So much for Friday and work in the front yard. They turn their attention to other areas slated for cleaning.

Saturday morning, they’re cleaning more areas, hosing down the outside of the house, so they can get a good look at it’s real color. Little do they know… there’s storm clouds brewing… and they won’t find them in the sky.

About mid-day, there’s suddenly NO WATER! What do you mean no water?

Oh geez! This isn’t possible… the well can’t be dry. The power is on, so that’s not the problem… hmm… now what do they do?

Fortunately, they’d had a well on the island, so they knew the drill… check the pressure tank. Nope, it’s not leaking.

Check the circuit breakers. It looks like everything is in order… That means nothing is tripped. They still don’t know for sure which breaker controls what as nothing has been marked.

Hmm, maybe they’d better call for help. But who? Let’s go ask Bill, the only neighbor we know. Bill provides the name and phone number of the local well driller. That’s a start… sort of.

Uh-oh, well drillers don’t have any responsibility for the well once it’s dug and they find water and case it. Now what?

Pump service? Is that what they need?

By then, it’s Sunday morning, they’ve had no water for nearly 24 hours… and it’s Southern Utah, where most everyone has gone to church.

Compound that with Labor Day weekend… if they can find the pump service dude, it’s gonna be expensive. They’re in luck. It’s now Sunday afternoon and they’ve got a guy coming out to see what’s wrong.

With only hours to spare before sunset, he confirms the problem… it’s the well pump. Oh my God! Does this mean we’re without water for two days… until Tuesday? Things are gonna get ugly here.

He thinks he has a pump that will work, so that’s the good news. He will return on Monday (Labor Day) to pull the old pump out and put the new one in at a depth of 120 feet.

The bad news… pump is over $500 and because it’s a holiday, labor is double time, for another $500 plus. Oh well… at this point, it’s more important to have the water as soon as possible.

It’s the end of the first week, and believe it or not, they’re still unpacking.

Cindy has her room more or less in the order she wants it. With her computer set up, she and Shari are back in touch. Within the next week, Shari will turn control back to Cindy on all the programs they work. So that Cindy didn’t lose any continuity, she had given “admin control” to a few choice programs.

Bev’s room is still in a bit of a mess. She’s not sure exactly which way she wants her bed to face. Of course, that means nothing else has a place, either.

Mom’s room? Well it’s still a disaster. About all that’s been done in her area is to create a space for a computer. The bed isn’t set up yet, as Mom won’t be here for another month or so.

Mom’s bathroom hasn’t been unpacked either, as both gals are waiting to see if Mom is ok with her medicine cabinet. It’s rather small and pretty old fashioned. Seems kind of “old” for a house that was built in the mid-70’s.

They’ve kind of taken care of the more “important” things, like face the couch towards the TV, and set up the dining table in the kitchen. They’ve also sort of made way for fixing meals.

Neither of them are real “adventuresome” cooks, so Mac and Cheese works for a few times a week, as does Soup and Sandwiches or even TV Dinners.

The one thing they’ve had to figure out is coffee.

You see, the kitchen, including the morning coffee is within “Mom’s Domain”. That means neither one of them has ever really learned how to make coffee. Now, they have some idea in that their fancy coffee maker/grinder is more or less “goof-proof”.

You put the beans in one side. You put the water in the other side. You press the button that says “grind/brew”. That’s pretty simple… but how many beans for how much coffee?

Mom never told them that, or else, they never bothered to ask.

Let’s just say they drank some pretty awful coffee, from too weak to too strong for a week or so, until they finally got all “just right”.

Over the weekend, they continue to unpack, and try to figure out where things fit best. Little do they know what lies ahead as they really settle into their new home.

Left all alone with only their boxes, their dogs and each other, Bev and Cindy set about unpacking. Now, I don’t know about you… but unpacking is almost worse than packing.

They had lots of expectations about where things would go, and what they’d have to buy. Time to rethink a few things.

Good thing Mom wasn’t joining them until about six weeks later. They’d have time to get her room “just right”. Remember, the kitchen really belongs to Mom, too… so no matter how they set that up, it would most likely get major adjustments.

Yesterday, they’d had the big pieces moved directly to the proper rooms. Even though Mom’s room would get a paint job, they’d have to cover everything… better to have the moving guys move the big stuff up the the two stairs and around the hallway corners.

Some rooms were pretty straight forward. How many places can you really put the entertainment center when one wall is a fireplace/woodstove, and the other is a 12 foot sliding glass door?

As they were unpacking Mom’s stuff… well putting her stuff into her room, they also set up their computer there… just temporary so they could keep in touch with Shari.

The dogs? Where are the dogs?

Well, they’re settling in. Missy wandered from room to room until she found her favorite spot. Mindy staked out Mom’s bathroom and the tile floor in front of it for her “cool spot”. Koda was perfectly happy anywhere she was… give her a toy and a comfy bed and she was happy.

Monday morning, bright and early, the United Van Lines moving van showed up, complete with an “unpacking” crew. Oh boy… this would be like Christmas, opening boxes, some of which they hadn’t seen for nearly a year.

Where to put stuff?

Fortunately, the house didn’t require a lot of painting or other serious stuff. It was pretty much ready to move into, aside from cleaning out the dust. There were plush new carpets throughout. The only room that would be re-decorated, would be Mom’s room, and that would have to be done after moving things in.

Thank God for a pretty good sized single-car garage. Along with the overhang of the combination back porch, carport, they’d have enough room to put boxes outside and furniture inside… well, almost.

The “off loading” took the entire day. Little time to contact Shari and let her know whether or not they’d have room for all they brought.

Now, this home is about 29oo sq feet, so it’s not small. It has a full basement, although there were virtually no improvements beyond the laundry area. The main floor has a living room/dining room combination, a long narrow kitchen, three bedrooms and two baths with a hallway connecting the bedrooms. There are two doors which open directly to the walled-in back yard and patio. The front door has a small “mud room” so you can get in out of the weather first, then remove any wet clothing, before stepping into the entryway.

At the north end of the kitchen there is a door to the outside which puts you at the foot of the driveway, just in front of the garage door. The door to the basement steps is also at that end of the kitchen, just inside the door to the outside. In some cases, that is a blessing, and in others… well, let’s just say it’s always a good idea to keep the door to the basement closed.

So, back to unpacking… they would get the big stuff in the house in at least the right room. If a box was obviously marked as something they needed right away, it went in the house, and hopefully to the right room.

The rest of the boxes went to the garage. They tried to maintain some order, but in the usual chaos of unloading a truck, they can safely say there are still things they’ve not found, two years later.

After nearly 10 hours of unpacking the big moving van, it was now about 6PM, the van was empty, and the day was done. You could’ve put a fork into both Cindy and Bev, calling them “done”, too.

Upon checking into the motel Wednesday night, the Inkeeper suddenly realized they had three pretty good sized dogs, and saw an opportunity to extract a higher rental… Well, the girls got all undone. After all, they were pretty much exhausted after the very long day.

They soon struck a deal. No extra charges unless the dogs damaged the room.

The next morning, with Bev and Jim having packed everything, and gotten the three dogs into the vehicles, Cindy stood for inspection in the room… no problem at all. Therefore, no extra charge. However, the shoddy treatment by the proprietor has led Bev to put that place on her “do not recommend” list… to the point of not even providing me the name.

Knowing they’d be staying in Cedar City for at least one more night, they went across the street to the Motel 6, where the folks were very dog friendly, even providing them a first floor room near the door.

After a quick breakfast, it was time to “go exploring”… that means go west on Hwy 56 and find their new home. All that stood between them and their home was one more mountain pass… elevation 6455 feet. Lot’s of history here… but no time to stop and investigate.

Within minutes they crested the summit and began their decent into the Escalante Desert Valley. My God, you can see forever!

They pass the little burg of Newcastle. Significant as this is the home of their local Post Office; that and a Phillips 66 station and convenience store. A couple miles further there’s a sign to the Beryl Rural Fire Dept and a community “dump box” area… oh boy.

About 7 miles down the road, they come to Beryl Junction. Where’s Beryl?

What’s at the junction? This is where Hwy 56 and Hwy 18 intersect. You’ll find the “El Rancho Restaurant”, a small Mexican place, as well as the offices of the local power company, “Dixie Escalante Power Cooperative”. There’s an elementary school, a small community center, the “old school”, and a couple of houses. Oh, there’s also a road maintenance shed including some fuel tanks, and a little roadside picnic area.

A few hundred feet south on Hwy 18 is one of the busiest Goodyear Tire stores in the west… they marvel at that…

Turning right (north) on to Beryl Hwy (no longer officially Hwy 18), they soon find themselves in very unfamiliar territory.

What’s this big dairy? How come everyone looks alike? More about that later.

What was once desert is now a huge patchwork quilt of irrigated circles. Folks are growing alfalfa, hay, potatoes, and corn. There are a couple of “cubing” operations on their right about 4 miles up the the road.

Just past a sign that’s had more than it’s share of bullet holes saying… Blowing Dust, they turn west (4800 N or Antelope Springs Road) and see a fair-sized group of locked mailboxes.

Heading west for about 1/2 mile, they pass a couple of mobile homes. Other than that… nothing but sagebrush, tumbleweed and sand.

Right on to 400 W and they’re new property is on the left of the truck… an expanse of tumbleweed, sand, a couple of pinion trees, a couple of sagebrush bushes… and their new house.

I say “house” as it’s not yet THEIR HOME. With the “double closing” and Bev and Cindy on the road, paperwork had to be “overnighted” to Mom. Yes, she’s on the deed. This process proved to take a little longer than they expected. Mom had done everything correctly… so it wasn’t her problem.

A quick call to the seller confirmed that although they could unload the trailer and store the stuff in the garage, they wouldn’t be able to put anything in the house. That was the advice from her attorney… as long as she was carrying the insurance, the new occupants couldn’t have any access to the house.

No problem… with the trailer unloaded into the garage, they’d have room to haul some new furniture. You see, they’d left their old beds on the island, planning to purchase brand new beds when they got here. Hey, if you’re gonna make a change… you may as well make a big one!

Trailer unloaded, they take time out for pictures… gotta show Shari how far away from “civilization” they really are. From here you can see over 40 miles west, about 40 miles or so north, about 25 miles east and about 20 or so miles south. What a view!

Ok, time to get back across the mountains to Cedar City, a distance of about 45 miles, and do some serious shopping. In addition to the new beds, they add a dining room table and four chairs, spending nearly two grand in the process. At least they’ll sleep well, and have somewhere to eat.

Having arrived at Dad’s barn, they set about gathering the many boxes and other items they’d been moving off the island for the past six months or so. Originally, they’d been packing and storing the boxes in the basement of their island home, but the Realtor insisted they move things off and put an end to any clutter.

So, they moved things three times, from the upstairs to the basement, and then back upstairs out the door, onto the truck, to a rented storage building, out of there, back onto the truck… across the lake to Dad’s barn.

By the time they had stuffed the moving van and 12 foot trailer, all available extra space in both the Avalanche and the Blazer, it was nearly 11 PM. Yikes, and they were still in Ohio!

On the road… no matter they’d been up way before the sun. They must press onward.

They convoyed back to pick up the I-80 Turnpike, and head west.

Somewhere west of Toledo at the Swanton Rest Area they pulled off for much needed sleep.

Every time they stopped and started again, Cindy called Shari. It mattered not that there was a time zone adjustment, or that it might be the middle of the night. So, Shari was called after the vet stop, and then again very late, as they left Dad’s barn.

Very early the next morning, with fresh eyes, they again started their trek… Utah or Bust!

Bev and Jim did most of the driving, with Cindy filling in for short stints. On long boring straight highways, Cindy tended to get drowsy (or is that mesmerized).

From just west of Toledo, they put the pedal to the metal, soon heading into Indiana, through Illinois, Iowa, and into Nebraska. They’d be on I-80 until they got to I-76 just west of Ogallala. Even though they had well over 1900 miles to go, they felt like they’d be there in no time.

The towns and cities became a blur as they raced westward, stopping only to fuel the rigs, themselves, the dogs, and to provide a few minutes “out” for the dogs and themselves.

By the time they stopped for the night in Kearney, Nebraska, they’d gone through most of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and half of Nebraska. That’s also four update calls to Shari, who was tracking their progress, as well as keeping an eye on the weather for them.

The found a “dog friendly” motel and crashed for the night, knowing the most challenging section of the trip was still ahead… the drive across the Rockies with the Avalanche pulling a 12-foot trailer.

Up early again and fueled by coffee and a McDonald’s breakfast, it was time to load the dogs, and point their convoy westward.

From Nebraska into Colorado and another call to Shari, they could almost see the mountains now.

With Denver just ahead, the Rockies were in plain view. From Denver, they were just 60 or so miles from the famed Eisenhower Tunnel…

the highest vehicular tunnel in the world at over 11,000 feet. This would officially take them through (rather than across) the Continental Divide.

Now they were on the western side of the Continental Divide, where all the drainage would point to the Pacific Ocean.

Just west of Denver, the weather had turned quite sour on them, with “slushy rain”. That terrible stuff stayed with them all the way through the higher elevations. After that, it was rain clear into Utah. Who’d have thunk you’d run into this kind of weather in August.

Somewhere along the Glenwood Canyon, with Bev driving the Avalanche… the trailer got in a huge hurry to get to Utah. As she was watching the trailer skid along side her left rear tail light, it was all she could do to correct it’s path.

After a quick underwear change at the next rest stop, it was someone else’s turn to drive as Bev took time to recover from her near disaster. Just as soon as they had a cell signal, Cindy called Shari to let her know they’d nearly lost the trailer.

Time out for fuel, refreshments, and a “doggie out” in Grand Junction before pressing forward to Utah… just twenty miles west.

Cindy, who’d never seen much in the way of mountains was in total awe of the beauty and mass of the Rockies. With each turn and slight change of scenery, she’d take another picture.

Would you believe that within less than 180 miles, they had dropped from the “top of the world” at the Eishenower Tunnel into Grand Junction at less than 5,000 foot elevation. No wonder the trailer was in a hurry.

With only 340 or so miles to go, they once again pointed the convoy west, towards I-15 and Cedar City. There they would spend the night at yet another “dog friendly” motel.

As if the drive hadn’t already been tortuous, I-15 was under construction most of the way. Here it was, dark, rainy and now they had the “orange barrel brigade” to keep them on their toes.

It was late, very late when they reached Cedar City. Luckily they had called ahead for reservations. No time for anything but to fall into bed, totally exhausted from the marathon drive, yet anxiously anticipating the next day.

Remember, they had never seen their new home in person.

I had alluded to the fact that “the gals”, without Shari were somewhat familiar with SW Utah. What I hadn’t really said was… they’d made more than one trip to the area. So you really understand, let’s follow their trail over the past couple of years.

In November 2003, with Bev recovering from her bout with cancer (and her hair returning with lots of curls)… Mom, Bev and Cindy had flown to Vegas for a “mini-vacation”. Two days later, Barb drove over and picked them up to stay in Hurricane (just SE of St George).

They figured with Bev retired and on disability, if they were ever to take a vacation… this was the time.

Using Barb’s as a base, they explored the vastness of Southern Utah, even taking time to visit Zion National Park and the Pahrea Movie Set.

Now Cindy, who’s a true flatlander, was absolutely enchanted and fascinated by the mountains. The biggest “mountains” she’d seen were the rolling hills of Ohio. I can only imagine she was like a little kid on the airplane, oohing and aww-ing at the new sites.

Since she’d only ever seen black asphalt or concrete roads, the red rock asphalt paving was a real surprise, too.

From Barb’s place, they ranged about 120 miles or so, and found themselves thoroughly enjoying the scenery, the weather and the people. While sight-seeing, they picked up the “Pioneer Shopper” and soon discovered that land was cheap, really cheap in SW Utah. Had they wanted, there was land available in Hamlin Valley for $100 an acre. Only one minor detail, you’d be living “off grid”, and they weren’t sure they were ready for that.

The second trip, made just two months later at the end of the year was a real house-hunting adventure. Carefully avoiding snowstorms, they drove from Port Clinton to Hurricane, so they’d have their own truck as they looked at a number of properties.

You see, upon returning home, they longed for a change of scenery… permanently.

They found a place to look at in Enterprise. That’s about 37 miles north of St. George. Surprise! Here they’d driven nearly 2000 miles to see a house, and it had gone “under contract” just hours before they arrived.

Now what to do? Look at other options!

They found a place in Hamilton Fort (just south of Cedar City) that looked real promising. It had 20 acres and manufactured house with a log exterior. What a beauty, they thought.

Thinking there’d be no problem selling their lovely property on the island, they made an offer… probably not the best decision they’d make on this adventure.

Now, this was December 2003 and into January 2004, a rather dicey time to be driving across country, especially from Southern Utah northeast to Ohio.

In their new Chevy Avalanche, they felt pretty secure, so racing a major winter storm wouldn’t really be a problem… but wait! The weather forecast was “snow flurries”… at least for the next couple of days.

They’d neglected to inquire about going into 4WD “on the fly”. Having graduated from a Silverado to the Avalanche, they kind of took the 4WD thing for granted. As the snow began to cover the road, and previous tire tracks were being blown away, Cindy reluctantly called the dealership (in Ohio) to ask about putting the Avalanche into 4WD.

Steve their salesman’s first comment was “Utah! What the hell you doing in Utah?” No time to answer that…

“How do I put this thing in 4WD? Can I be moving? If so, how fast?” Cindy inquired.

Laughing, Steve replied, “How fast are you going? See that knob on the dash? If you’re not going more than 55, turn it to 4WD.”

Before you think… silly girls, why not read the owner’s manual? The did… and that part wasn’t explained.

They’d hit snow just north of Cedar City, and would be in 4WD the rest of the way home.

At about Vail, they were caught in an incredible traffic jam. Seems there’d been a real avalanche, as in tons of snow across the westbound lanes of I-70.

So they sat, and from time-to-time, inched their way to the Eisenhower Tunnel, a distance of some 48 miles. To make matters worse, by the time they got to Denver, they were battling freezing rain.

No time for delays, they were attempting to drive straight through to Port Clinton, Ohio as Cindy had to get back to work.

Shortly passed Denver, they decided to spend the night in Limon, hoping for better traveling during daylight hours.

Fortunately, once they cleared Colorado and raced through Nebraska, they’d outrun the storm. Well, kinda sorta.

You see, the ferry boats stopped running the day BEFORE they got home. This was one of those lucky winters where Lake Erie had yet to freeze, so there was still limited ferry service. Knowing this, they drove straight to Sandusky where they’d now fly to the island, leaving their Avalanche on the mainland. No problem, as that’s something islanders did all the time.

Home safe and sound, they set about putting their home on the market.

But first, remember that storm they outraced? Well, it caught up with them , and solidified the idea that living with “little or no snow” would be a wonderful idea.

Shari (the author) was out in Forest Grove, Oregon. Right up until the computer got packed on “the island”, Cindy was providing a “blow by blow” account of everything that was happening.

You see, Cindy and Shari would spend hours chatting back and forth on the computer while they both did whatever they were doing on the computer. Had it been possible, Bev and Cindy would have flown Shari to Ohio to help them drive the vehicles out to Utah… but there were other options that made more sense.

So Shari stayed put, and got very frequent updates. Even when the gals were on the road, Cindy checked in by cell-phone at least when they crossed state lines. Shari also had their itinerary on her computer, so knew about where they were at all times.