musings

The tent was like a sauna this morning, so we all crawled out about 9am. Of course DB remained asleep for another hour while we sat on picnic benches and wrote letters etc.

DB and I went for a good swim in the camp pool, and then we all drove into town to see the sights. The weather was even hotter than yesterday and it was good to go inside the huge air-conditioned Capitol Building. A huge place with marble floors and walls and a big St Paul’s like dome in the centre, around which were scenes depicting the early days of Salt Lake City and Utah. The East-West railroad was joined in Utah which doesn’t say much for the lazy buggers working from the West.

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Had a long, free shower and then we all dug out our fermenting clothes and put them in the washing machine. Played Joe at pool whilst waiting for the dryer to finish. Eventually, after sorting out the car which had gradually filled up with maps, leaflets and other rubbish, we left Steamboat Springs and headed on towards Salt Lake City. It was a long and boring drive and most of us spent hours dozing off or writing letters.

No wonder they call Utah the Big Country. The surroundings consisted of hot red earth scattered with short round shrubs. In the distance, giant mountains surrounded the area, and they were sparsely covered with conifers. Approaching Salt Lake City we passed a road sign pointing to a town called Provo which tickled John. [The Provisional IRA are known as the Provos, and John is an Irish Catholic.]

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Was partially aroused at about 5am by the sounds and smells of breakfast being prepared in the kitchen. About 6 o’clock one of the God Squadders poked me in the shoulder. “Time to get up!!” We slowly roused ourselves and turned to watch DB get up. It’s comical enough when he’s had a good night’s sleep but today I wish I could have photographed him. He sat up in his sleeping bag looking as if he had simultaneously been punched in the stomach and been told that his family had been massacred.

Got up and put my sleeping bag in the car straight away. Not a soul on the street. We (that is, us five and one other guy who had spent the night there) were asked to sit down in the sitting room again and we got another sermon from a different guy. He said Grace for the food we were about to receive and then we sat on long benches at the table.

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Met a guy in the washroom who showed us a good route to follow and recommended places to see. He didn’t recommend Mexico because “all the utilities are government-owned and they put you in jail for hitting a telegraph pole.” These capitalists are allergic to any form of socialism.

We started out for Denver, our first goal since leaving Cleveland and the place everyone enthused about. Drove through superb countryside: winding roads over the mountains with a sheer thousand foot drop on one side. In the valley we stopped the car by the side of a stream swirling round a bend. Paddled our feet in the freezing water being careful not fall in for the current was fast and the river full of boulders.

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Climbed back out through the window and went to a doughnut house for a coffee-and-doughnuts breakfast. We looked through their newspapers for jobs but it didn’t look very promising. We saw an ad for a tent sale at a nearby camping shop, and so it was decided to get one and end this expensive and risky motel routine.

After much deliberation we bought a four man ridge/frame tent for $42. While DB was carrying it back to the car we wandered into a small park or green and there we watched a party of special needs kids playing shuffle board. It was confusing to watch but basically what they did was shove a puck down a smooth stone alley by means of a pole with a fork at one end. There was some kind of target at the other end. Funny the way games are peculiar to a country.

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After a most unpleasant, sweaty, lumpy night tossing and turning I woke at about 7am to find that my rolled-up trousers “pillow” was swarming with ants. My neck and shoulder were covered in mosquito bites – so much for Boots’ insect repellent. Got back into my Originals and woke DB who had wisely chosen to sleep in the car.

Eventually, when we had all woken ourselves up we resumed our Westward trail. Came across a relic – Fort Larned which was as much of a disappointment as Mushroom Park. We expected a big stone castle or something – instead we found a set of stone buildings one storey high, surrounding a grass quadrangle. It was only a hundred years old and had been used as a farm until 10 years ago. Just looked like a farm to me. Still, the curator was very enthusiastic about the original wooden pillars and floors etc, but in that prairie wilderness wooden pillars are about the most exciting thing for a hundred miles in any direction.

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Had “breakfast” at another Forum cafeteria and decided there was nothing in Kansas City to see so we sat in the car and planned our route west …

The scenery was true prairie country – very flat in all directions with a thin black tarmac strip piercing the scrubland. Some fields had maize growing in them but for the most part it was desolate. Even with the windows wound down we were all hot and sticky because the air itself was so hot. We envied those drivers who had air-conditioned cars – it’s not really a luxury, but as necessary as a heater is in England.

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We all woke late – about 12.30 but we didn’t have to vacate the room until 2pm. We simply walked through the foyer of the hotel, sleeping bags under our arms, and loaded them into the car.

Then we drove downtown and headed straight for the Gateway to the West arch we had seen the night before. It was a really magnificent monument – like half of a McDonald’s “M” in stainless steel. We parked on the banks of the Mississippi and wandered over to the arch. There was no way I could get the whole thing in a picture. There were trips to the top observation windows for $1 but the waiting time was three hours so we decided to skip it. Spent some time looking round a historical exhibition situated underground beneath the arch. Then some fake Indians came onto the stage and did a fake war dance so we decided to leave and set off for Kansas City as it was 5.30 and we have five hours of driving ahead of us.

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John woke us about 8am because the factory was open and we were afraid of being caught trespassing. I rolled up my sleeping bag and jumped out of my tube.

Then we all had a nasty shock – the car was missing. All our money, cameras and clothes inside. What the hell were we to do? John, Joe and I decided to enquire at the office and if asked, we would say we slept on the grass at the other side of the road. The guy in the office said that the Standard garage down the road had a contract to tow away unauthorised cars. Great.

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All too soon it was morning – 6.40. Ignored protests from every nerve in my body and got up. Sneaked nervously downstairs and made it to the car. Saw the landlord arrive at his business office at 6.55. Unfortunately he saw the others coming out with their sleeping bags. He came over to the car and asked us if we had slept there. “Oh no,” we said, “just visiting.” He asked who we were visiting so I had to give Phil’s name. His alarm clock was missing from the lounge and we can only presume the bastard landlord took it. Woke Phil up (and his room-mate in the process) and we concocted a story to tell the landlord. Phil’s bond was at risk if found out – $75.

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