Just How We came to Such a State as This Without Really Trying - Part 3

Kristina Mikkelson Casanova Dec 14, 2017

             part three

  We decided to hangout in the Idaho Falls Walmart for awhile as they let you stay for three days and so we did. Met some interesting people while parked there. One being an old gentleman who lived in the bushes near the Walmart. He would sleep in those bushes at night and come out in the morning ,buy some breakfast at Walmart(liquor) and go panhandle on the road. Walmart knew he was there but did not seem to mind. He told Pete that he was a Vietnam vet and this was all he could do. He did not look too well. I hope he is still doing alright.

 

Another person we met while staying on the premise was a young man who lived in his car. Every night sleeping in it and everyday going into Walmart as an employee. His car was his home and he could not afford any better. This kid in his mid twenties seemed as if was at the end of his life instead of the beginning. 

After seeing those two and others it made me feel that we were lucky and had a mansion to live in compared to those two where one lived in a bush and the other a tiny car. We saw others along the way in the same situation as this and it seemed as if we really did not have it so bad.

  After the three days were up we moved to the camp site ...as we had looked it up on a map. We climbed through miles of steep hills and hundreds of those gigantic turbine windmills. I had never seen so many before and none were headed for Idaho Falls. I heard rumors that the electricity was being sent to China but who knows probably just rumors. 

  Finally the turnoff and we traveled through miles of dust bumpy roads to get to our campsite. It looked alright at first until we started walking out and looking at the surrounding area and it was horrible. Garbage and needles,and potty places and bullets and shot up bottle and used shells. Was a terrible mess. We started picking it up but there was so much that it was an impossible job.

  We also thought it would be a quiet place and was for the very first day...wellllllllllllllll that soon ended as cattle truks and hay trucks drove by us about every half hour and were they noisy. The quiet went out the window. Also at night had a time or two with teens having a party a little ways from us. Did not like that. But nothing we could do..put ear plugs in and try and get through it. 

  One night a wind storm came up which they often do in Idaho but this was decidedly worse then the ones we had grown accustomed to. The wind blew in circles around and around the canyon we were in stirring up vast amounts of dust and sand that went straight up into the air like dust devils . It reminded me of the dust storm in the movie THE MUMMY It really scared me but also at the same time we could hear branches falling on our RV..which was not good as we had solar panels mounted on top. The next morning (and no sleep) we went out to assess the damage..yup solar panel damage. Not a good thing.

  The thing that really triggered us leaving a bit earlier then we had planned was the hatching out of a tiny insect called Buffalo Flies (and known by other names). Had never heard of these critters except one time through my stepdad Royal and that he called them noseeums. Well we had noseeums in Utah and though a little annoying were nothing like these things. 

  I started having bites that would burn and itch and if I itched them they would start bleeding profusely. They bothered Pete some but not like me and bugs have always delighted in biting me for some unknown reason. But the bites got worse and more bites appeared on me ….about a hundred...and they were coming through the screens of the trailer and biting me (us_ inside....so using sprays and such which did not help much we sort of kept them at bay. But by this time I was covered in bleeding bites and we decided to go..we really had no choice. 

  We traveled back to Idaho Falls with our tail between our legs and once again set up camp at Walmart which if you like quiet is not the best place.

  I still have some terrible scars from those bites so I traded nap weed for bug bites...was not having much success on the mending trail. 

  Once again I come to the end of this but will post tomorrow part four of this journey..till then love you guys