May 13 - United States: Heber City, Utah

From Wyoming to Utah

The drive from Wyoming to Utah was an interesting one.  We left the mountains and hit the desert, and it seemed like it lasted forever.  

Wyoming Mountains

There were long stretches of absolutely nothin'.  No trees, no buildings, no nothin'.  And we had to keep our eyes open far ahead because of "loose stock" that might wander on the road.  

No problemo.

Once, the nothingness went on forever.  We had to pee so badly that we pulled over by some rocks and - under the guise of taking pictures - used the rocks as cover.

Red Rocks in the Middle of Nowhere

An hour later, we had to go again.  This is Jon's fault, because he's a Water Nazi and insists that I chug liters of water under his watchful eye.  Anyway, we had to pee so badly that it was killing us.  And there was no place to go - no buildings, no side roads, no trees.  And while there wasn't much traffic, there was enough that we couldn't just pull over.  Finally, we got to a town with a gas station and we both bolted to the bathroom.

Break For An Oil Change

We stopped in Evanston, Wyoming - just outside the border of Utah - to get the oil changed in the car.  There was a Jiffy Lube right next to the highway and we pulled in to do the paperwork.  Just after they had pulled the car in, Jon glanced over and saw an oil change sign at Wal-Mart for $15 less.  He mentioned it to the Jiffy lube guy, hoping that we might be able to wheel and deal.  But the Jiffy Lube guy wasn't budging.  So we took the car to Wal-Mart instead.  It's beyond us how that Jiffy Lube expects to stay in business with Wal-Mart publicizing significantly lower prices.  They said it was the difference in service levels, but gimme a break.  It's just an oil change.

We ended up spending a few hours in Wal-Mart because we did some shopping and because of a mix-up in the oil filters, the oil change took a bit longer than necessary.  Jon, however, was completely entertained with the bar code sticker he was given for the car.  We could scan the bar code anywhere in the store and see the status of the oil change.  Pretty cool!

Heather in Utah

Then we hit the road and headed to Heber City, Utah, where my sister Heather lives.  Heather works for a non-profit wildlife organization called the Wind River Bear Institute (WRBI at www.beardogs.com).  They breed dogs called Kerillian Bear Dogs, which instinctively hunt bears.  Whenever a grizzly bear comes too close to civilization, WRBI tracks the bears and - at the right time - will leash the dogs and let them bark like crazy.  In addition to the dogs, the WRBI team will also fire rubber pellets at the bear and yell and scream.  In the end, the bear learns to stay away from these areas.  The motto of the WRBI is "Train Your Bears Well".

We drove up to Heather's house, which she shares with two girls, one guy, two dogs, and a very large tropical bird.  Her dog, Fancy, is a Kerillian Bear Dog and Heather just adores her.  It's interesting to compare Fancy to the other dog, who is a Golden Retriever.  Fancy is completely independent and, while she loves to be petted, she doesn't seek it out.  Scooter, however, is incredibly cuddly and wants to be petted and loved all the time.  Next to Fancy, Scooter appears almost needy and insecure.  Kinda sad, really.

So we spent a few hours hanging out with Heather - whom I haven't seen in a year and a half - and catching up.  Then we went for a drive around Heber.  She showed us some of the main points of the city, including the places where the teams stayed during the Olympics in SLC.  We drove past her "new" house, which is a rental she'll be moving into in two weeks.  It has an incredible view of the valley.

View From Heather's New House

We went to Heather's favorite restaurant in Heber City, which is a grill in a swanky hotel called The Homestead.  Unfortunately, the grill was still operating under winter hours, and wasn't open for dinner yet.  

With Heather at the Homestead

Instead, we went to Don Pedro's Mexican Restaurant for dinner.  The marguerites were great, as was the food.

Back at home, we watched a video about WRBI which had some of the bears they had to trap and transport to new locations.  We also watched "Legally Blond".  Later, Heather's good friend Derek came over and we all sat around and talked.