The Life Chronicler
Project

If you read my Salt Lake City blog, you know something happened while I was there, which I stated I would address in the Casper blog. Well, here goes.

I left my pants in Salt Lake City.

Yes, you read that correctly. I travel with three pairs of pants, and upon my arrival in Casper, I found out that the pair I had on was it. I also left a hoodie and pullover sweatshirt in my Airbnb host’s dryer. Oops.

My SLC host, an electrical engineer from Kuwait, sent the clothes to my next stop, Billings, MT, by UPS, and I sent her the money via Zelle. But my adventure that will be known as “The Casper Escapade” did not stop there.

On my 100-mile drive from Casper to Riverton and the Wind River Reservation area to interview a prominent Northern Arapaho Tribal Elder, the engine light came on, and the car went into “limp” mode. That means the engine cannot go over 2000 RPM, thus taking away good acceleration. Since I was in the middle of nowhere, I decided to press on. What choice did I have? I arrived and completed my interview with Ben Ridgley, who then took me to an auto shop. They could not help for about a week. The technician was kind enough to give me the names of three competitors. Two weeks, two weeks, and five days. I took the five days one. Luckily for me, they (Gunner’s Automotive Center - thanks, Raenell and Chuck) took a look at my car the following day. They cleared the error, taking it out of limp mode, and told me it was unlikely a severe problem but to visit a Hyundai dealership ASAP. Well, that was in my next town of Billings, Montana.

My Airbnb host must have felt sorry for me because she made a remarkable eggplant parmigiana for us on my last night in Casper. It was terrific.

To top it all off, it rained almost my entire time in Casper. Fitting. But I did get to interview a Native American leader and, with luck, I will get to interview Lynnette Grey Bull, to whom Ben recommended me. She is a nationally known activist and ran for Congress in 2020 and 2022. I hope it happens.

By the way, the Wyoming landscape is beautiful in a raw way. And I really need to stop leaving my pants in the homes of unsuspecting women.