The Life Chronicler
Project

If you read my Salt Lake City blog you know there was something that happened while I was there about which I commented that 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 pair 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 pull over sweat shirt in the dryer of my Airbnb host. Oops.

My SLC host, an electrical engineer originally from Kuwait, sent the clothes to my next stop, Billings, MT, by UPS and I simply 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 simply means that the engine cannot go over 2000 RPM thus taking away good acceleration. Since I was in the middle of nowhere, I decided to continue on. 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 nice 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) actually took a look at my car the next morning. They cleared the error taking it out of limp mode and told me it was unlikely a serious 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 wonderful 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 a chance to interview Lynnette Grey Bull to whom Ben recommended me. She is a nationally known activist and ran for congress in 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 women.