Solving Problems and Visiting old Friends
Trip Start
Sep 18, 2005
1
5
15
Trip End
Oct 02, 2005
Bozeman,
Montana,
United States
Thursday, September 22, 2005
I drove through Wyoming briefly- I-90 kind of makes a corner through the eastern part of the state. It wasn't terribly exciting- just gentle rolling hills with that yellow-green grass. There were a few buttes and cliffs and whatnot and lots of cows (as you might expect). Once I got into Montana, I gunned it up to 80 mph (speed limit was 75) and I made Bozeman by early afternoon.
By the time I got to Montana, I was really tired of my car being weighed down so much. The trunk was packed, my back seat was a wreck, and I had to keep shifting through everything to find what I needed. So once I got into Bozeman, I went straight to UPS. The friendly UPS guy advised me that it would probably be cheaper to send it through the USPS- which was just down the street. I followed his advice and dumped 2 boxes to be shipped.
Montana
That done, I figured I would go find out how much this oxy sensor would cost. I went
to a Toyota dealership- who promptly advised me it would be over $250 just for the part. EEHHHHHHH WRONG! Buh bye. I figured that I would try to find my friend Hans's place next. Without so much as a map, I found the street and the complex. I noticed a guy outside the complex (almost ran over him) and he looked really familiar. When I knocked on the door, I realized that it was Hans's brother- who I had met back in Garmisch a few years ago. He told me about a really good auto mechanic to see and I followed his advice. The mechanic ran the little test and told me it actually could be 1 of 2 things and to not let it bother me just yet- that I should take some time to get it checked out and it wasn't affecting anything. He sent me on my way without asking for a dime. Nice guy!
I spent some time reorganizing my car after that- it definitely needed it. Hans's brother had taken off with the dogs and everyone else that lived in the house was at school or work or whatever. I walked around Bozeman a bit and discovered that I really liked the little town. It's not too big- not too small. Surrounded by mountains. Yet full of both yuppies and not-so-yuppies. Home to a big university, it's full of students and seems to have a really good and friendly atmosphere.
The rest of the evening was spent hanging out with Hans and his roommates. It was really great to see an old friend from Garmisch. We had a few beers, had some pizza, played with the dogs, and looked at some great photos before turning in for the night.
Tomorrow to Glacier NP! Yay!
