UMTravels

A little slug like this morning… by the time I got out of the house it was a little after 9am. Doesn’t look good for getting to West Yellowstone by check-in time, especially with the longer route through Craters of the Moon National Monument.

So – add extra time for the monument, add extra time for the three thrift stores that I checked out in Boise, but traffic was light, and more fun than just taking the freeway the whole way.

First amusing video – a live action shot of me in the car, driving through the monument – sorry for the wind noise that cut out the commentary on the final shot – the kneeler tucked into the cabin of the Jag.

Next quick stop was Arco, Idaho – where I might have to come back to take the tour of the Idaho National Laboratory – no time today, but this is what I think is the city hall in Arco:

I like the fact that the building is made from lava rock. What the photo doesn’t mention – oh and by the way, I shot that one, but it you click on the Arco, Idaho link, the Wikipedia entry is almost the exact same one – in their photo, the wind is blowing and the flag is fluttering… anyway, what the sign doesn’t mention is that they got that power in 1955, but in 1961 the reactor melted down, causing the only three fatalities in the US due to a nuclear power plant accident. Now you know why I want to tour the lab, to learn more useless facts.

And speaking of tours… guess I need my passport information and 7 days notice:

https://inlportal.inl.gov/portal/server.pt/community/community_outreach/265/step_1

Wow. That will take some planning.

Got to West Yellowstone about 7pm. Unloaded the car and my bowels, made a martini and then went back to the desk for the “I-Bridge” for the computer…good timing. A guests computer crashed and he was turning his back in… the LAST ONE. Considering at times I’ve had three units checked out at a time, that’s going on the comment e-form.

Dinner was chicken cordon blue – to bad I couldn’t get the young maintenance guy to join me – I did get him to bring me a 3-way (bulb, unfortunately). Did chat him up about other resorts and where he should go. Maybe tomorrow I’ll get lucky in things other than I-Bridges.

And the surprises (2) on the nightly news?

1. I resigned my senate seat because I was:
   1. Heterosexual
   2. Married
   3. Right Wingnut Christian Republican (a.k.a. my doppelganger)
   4. Cheating on my wife with a part-time staffer
2. I saw my friend Steve who I am going to prison to visit on Friday on the 10 0’clock news… no, he didn’t escape, they were doing a story on prison firefighting units and he had two sound bites in the minute and a half story.

Weird, wonderful day.

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