Waiting...

Well, there was some whining and crying from my dad about being beat out of his prize the other day but I think we eventually came to a mutual understanding. This is my blog and my rules, so he can like it or lump it. I will say that his prize (or what would have been his prize) tasted fantastic! Thanks for treating, dad.

It was a long few days spent driving through the Nevada and Utah deserts. The roads were long, hot, and didn't provide a whole lot of scenery to look at while driving. I try to stay off the interstates when I drive and there were a couple spots on the drive with about 200 miles in between towns. Just me, the highway, the wind, the sun the blowing dust, and sage. I'm sure there are some beautiful parts to the desert and if I wasn't in such a hurry driving to Colorado I would have spent some time trying to find them. But as it was I can't say I was all that impressed with what I saw from the highway.

The first town I hit in Nevada was Winnemucca and for whatever reason I guess I just expected most of the towns in Nevada to be small, dusty, poor, mining towns. As I pulled into town at 10:00pm on a Friday night I was proved wrong there. Turns out gambling is just as big in the rest of Nevada as it is in Reno and Vegas. Apparently you couldn't own a business in town unless you had lots of flashing lights on your sign. It didn't matter if it was a casino, bar, restaurant or hotel.

I was thankful to reach central Utah where the landscape started to change a little with a lot of color in the rocks and lots of bluffs and canyons. I even got to see some corn fields in a couple of the towns I drove through. I didn't have time to stop to check out any of the scenery though so I just had to admire it from the road. It was a much more interesting drive then the previous couple days.

I finally reached central Colorado and felt like I could relax again. I found a place to sleep a couple hours west of Denver and when I woke up in the morning bought a nice trail map and headed out to do some hiking. By the time I got to the trailhead I was pretty sleepy so I took an hour or so long nap in my car; waking up refreshed and ready to tackle the mountains. The nap worked out perfect since it was getting late in the afternoon and nearly everyone else had already left.

The hike was wonderful, following a creek back up the mountains as it would through it's own little canyon it had created over thousands of years. After a few miles it opened up into a nice meadow with a couple real nice mountain lakes. By the time I got there the sun had just set behind the mountains; which rose up all around the lake. It was dead calm with no wind and their were small trout rising in the lake to feed on the insects. I sat on a small rock point for a while to admire the view before heading back to the car in the fading light.

It felt great to be back on the trail again and now all I had to do was wait another day for Sarah to arrive.

It's good to be on top

I pulled into Great Basin National Park and after looking at the map I knew that I had to climb Wheeler Peak. It topped out at 13,063', which was about 4000 feet higher then I'd ever hiked. There was a trail to the top and after talking to a ranger found that although it was a strenuous hike there was no actual “mountain climbing” involved. I set out early the next morning for the summit.

The trailhead started at 10,000 feet and was only 4 miles long, which would make for a semi-steep hike. Unfortunately the first mile was flat as a pancake and the second wasn't much steeper; meaning that most of the elevation gain would take place in the last two miles up the mountain. Great, the toughest hike will be in the thinnest air.

As promised the hike started easy and gradually got steeper. Once I got out of the trees I was walking on a ridge directly exposed to the wind. It wouldn't have been very cold at all if it hadn't been for the wind. Thankfully the trail turned around to the calm side of the mountain about 1/2 mile from the top so it was calm after that.

At what I'd guess was around the 2.5 mile mark I passed a family who had stopped for a snack. After them I couldn't see anyone else ahead of me. Looking back I could see one man in a green jacket following me. I was pretty sure I'd be the first to reach the peak that morning.

As I climbed higher the oxygen got thinner and I got slower. The trail turned into loose rocks and gradually got steeper and steeper. I was taking my time, stopping to catch my breath now and again and stopping to take some pictures as well. All the while the man in the green jacket kept getting closer. I can be a pretty competitive person but I wasn't feeling all that competitive this morning. I figured I wasn't going to kill myself trying to race him up the mountain. After all, I had a knee to think about and after growing up in Iowa and spending the last couple months in the Portland and Seattle areas I wasn't real used to high altitudes. I didn't exactly pick up my pace but I did try to walk a little more efficiently and I quit taking so many breaks. After all, I couldn't just give it to him!

The man in the green jacket was relentless, never resting. Just slowly and steadily gaining on me. I thought of just stopping to let him catch up and pass me so I wouldn't have to think about it anymore, but I couldn't do it. My lungs and legs both burned and screamed at me to rest but I kept on my slow and steady pace. The trail got steeper and the rocks got looser; I tried to pick a pace I thought I could maintain to the top without stopping. If he caught me at this pace then there was nothing I could do about it; I just couldn't go much faster. Another check over my shoulder found the green jacket a little closer. I knew he was back there thinking how he wanted to pass me and be the first to the top.

It looked like the trail had a ways to go as it wound its way up the mountain and I didn't know how much more I had in me. I was just about ready to give up and let him by when I noticed the trail made an unexpected turn straight up the mountain. This meant it was going to be shorter then I'd thought; but steeper as well. My competitiveness kicked in and I knew the first summit of the day was mine to loose right then. So I made one final hard push for the top and was easily able to hold off the man in the green jacket for victory.

I got to the top, hunkered down behind a rock pile to escape the wind, and reveled in the glory of knowing I was the first to reach the summit that hazy morning. I celebrated with an apple and some trail mix as I relaxed and enjoyed the view. The man in the green jacket sulked at another rock pile, obviously disappointed in himself. He tucked his tail between his legs and started back down the mountain as I continued to bask in my own glory.

It's good to be on top.

I shot a couple videos while up on top too; one that know my mom will appreciate. As usual the camera doesn't do the view (or the drop) justice. That was a long, steep, drop.

And the Answers are....

In case you missed the first part of the quiz read it first here

Thank you all so much for playing along in our little game about Battle Mountain, Nevada. Here are the correct answers-

A: It's named after a battle between settlers and indians that never actually happened.

It seems there was no Captain Pierson, no settlers and no attacking indians...ooops

C: The letters “BM” written in huge letters on a nearby hill.

This is my favorite and was my tip off of just where I was as I drove into town. It really made my day.

C: They decided to hold an annual Arm Pit festival

Apparently it's held in a pit mine, sponsored by old spice deodorant, and includes “most talented arm pit” contest. I mean really, you can't make this stuff up!

Unfortunately I apparently don't have the brightest blog readers in the world since no one that posted in the comments section was able to come up with all the correct answers. Such a shame since I had such a lovely prize in mind if someone happened to guess all three correctly. I did post a link to this quiz on a couple websites that I belong to and two people who responded to those posts did get all three answers correct though. Unfortunately one was as a result of blatant cheating, but hey, at least he admitted it.

The only person to come up with all three correct answers legitimately was my dad in his response to my post on iATN. Way to go Dad, I knew you had it in you!

Unfortunately for him though he seems to have a reading comprehension problem. You see, in my original blog post I specifically said that people were welcome to play along by posting a response in the comments section on my blog; NOT simply by responding to my post on iATN.

I think we all remember the time my dad ran an ad/contest in the local paper for everyone to correct his grammar and punctuation in said ad. He said to clip out the ad and make your corrections in red. One lady, and english teacher, came up with way more mistakes then anyone else but my dad saw fit to disqualify her since she didn't make her corrections in red. He reasoned that since everyone else had done it in red and she was an english teacher it was no ones fault but her own.

So, since my dad should be well aware to play by the rules or suffer the consequences I hereby disqualify him from the contest! That means I don't have to give out any prizes and instead will treat myself to lunch today. Yippee!

Thanks for playing everyone! Although you may not be the brightest bunch it's obvious that you're not a bunch of cheaters (except for Ole); and that's way more important in my book!

Now to be fair I must say that from the little that I saw of Battle Mountain it didn't look like too bad of a town and from outward appearances didn't deserve it's title of “Arm Pit of America” (though BM on the hill is really funny). I've driven through much worse looking places then this on my travels. And hey, you can't say the town doesn't have a sense of humor!

For anyone who wants to listen to the original segment on Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me you can download it from their website.

A Dubious Honor

Welcome to Battle Mountain, Nevada. The arm pit of America!

Yesterday I realized that it was getting pretty late in the week and I needed to start covering some ground if I wanted to get to Colorado on time; so I've just been buzzing right on down the road. As I drive through Nevada I certainly don't feel like I'm missing much. Eastern Colorado looks like a hotbed of activity compared to South Central Oregon and Nevada! Just miles and miles of desert. I was just mindlessly driving along as I entered Battle Mountain and suddenly I realized where I was...I was in the arm pit of America!!

You see, one of my favorite shows on NPR is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell me (you know, NPR's weekly news quiz) and every week they bring on some special guest, for a section called, “Not my Job”. It's usually a well known celebrity, some big shot in the media or something like that and they ask them three questions about a topic they don't know anything about. The questions are multiple choice and all of the answers seem preposterous, but one of them is true.

Anyway, I remember one episode earlier this year and the questions were about Battle Mountain. You see, 5 years ago the Washington Post had named the 5 worst places in the US and Battle Mountain Nevada was the winner! And I now I found myself in this very town; how exciting!

It actually was really exciting; it had been a boring day driving and I was screaming and hollering with delight in the car (it doesn't take much to entertain me).

Anyway, I thought maybe all of you would like to play the game so I found the old episode on-line and here are the questions about Battle Mountain. One answer is correct for each question. Either play by yourself or post your answers in the comments section for a little friendly competition. Can you do better then special guests Jill St. John and Robert Wagner did on the show?

And NO cheating! If you've already heard the show then you're disqualified.

So here we go-

#1: Battle Mountain as a deep dark secret about it's founding, what is it?

A: It's named after a battle between settlers and indians that never actually happened.
B: The mountain of the towns name is actually a huge pile of mining waste
C: It was created out of whole cloth in 1956 entirely as a tax shelter for an oil company

#2: You know you've arrived in Battle Mountain when you see what famous landmark?

A: The worlds largest EPA Super Fund toxic waste dump
B: The nations second tallest dedicated cell tower
C: The letters “BM” written in huge letters on a nearby hill

#3: The town was surprised to be drug out of obscurity and into the lime light by being named Arm Pit of America by the Washington Post. How did they react?

A: They sued the Post for defamation and after 3 years of litigation won their suit and damages of $10
B: They convinced the Gillette company to film a lady's razor commercial there
C: They decided to hold an annual Arm Pit festival

Best of luck. And remember, you're on your honor!

I'll post the answers tomorrow of the following day depending on when/if I find internet access.

Get the answers

Bye Bye PNW

Wow, I can't believe how the time has flown on this trip! It's been just over 3 months now since I've left Iowa and I've driven 10,000 miles. The little Saturn has performed like a champ though and hasn't given me a bit of trouble. After spending the entire summer in the PNW it's finally time to say goodbye and begin my trek back east where I'll meet up with Sarah for a few days in Denver (where she's attending a wedding) before driving back to Iowa together.

I spent all last week in Portland working and neglecting my blog; but thankfully the neglect was a result of having fun. I'd already worked at this shop for a few days in the end of June so it was nice going into it knowing what to expect and things went smoothly. Terica, a service writer at the shop, decided she'd show me Portland and I got the whirl wind tour through out the week and it was a blast! Everything from an airplane ride over the Columbia Gorge to fondue to drag shows to Voo Doo Donuts and to flaming drinks and deserts. Although I've stayed with some great people during my trip and had a lot of fun with them it was great to be able to hang out with someone my own age. It's really the first time since I've left Iowa that I've had a real friend to hang out with and to spend time with; it was really nice. I got to see a lot of things in Portland that I never would have gotten to see on my own.

I even got invited to her roommates wedding in Cannon Beach, which was actually held right on the beach. After helping set up the chairs I hung around and made sure no one messed with the stuff while everyone else got all fancied up. As I sat there reading my book the violinist came down and started warming up so I had my own private violin player right there on the beach, which was very cool. The wedding was nice but the reception afterwards was even more fun since it included free food, booze, and dancing. Since it was a Sunday afternoon and everyone needed to drive back to Portland the reception was over about mid-afternoon. After it was over Terica and I drove up to Astoria to explore the area a little bit more. Despite the fact that I dropped on of my new cameras into the water it was a pretty fun little trip. We got to see a bunch of Sea Lions and climb Astoria tower for an amazing view of the area. It was pretty late by the time we got back to Cannon Beach to pick up my car but thankfully I didn't have to be to work in the morning so when I got tired on the way back to Portland I just pulled over the car and went to sleep. I ended up staying in Portland through Monday so I could talk to Jim and Liz a bit before I left (the people I was staying with) and I headed out of town Tuesday morning.

I started heading towards central Oregon and it seemed that as I crested a hill I'd found that I'd suddenly left the woods and entered the high desert. I stopped next to a small river last night and woke up just as the sun was lighting the top rim of the small canyon I was in. I looked at it for a minute and then went back to sleep for another hour before continuing on my way. As I passed Prineville reservoir I couldn't resist slipping the kayak in the water and going for a nice paddle. The sun was shining, it was warm, and the lake was calm as could be, absolutely perfect weather for a paddle. The lake was nearly deserted and I found a nice little beach to do some swimming, exploring, and napping before heading back to the car. Tonight finds me just east of Bend, Oregon in the badlands.

Tomorrow I'll likely be out of Oregon, not to return until at least next summer. I just wanted to thank everyone who made my little PNW tour possible and very enjoyable. The people and climate are tough to beat. Let me let everyone one else in on a little secret here. You know how the northwest is really rainy and dreary?

Well it's not!!

At least not in the summer it isn't. Rain is an oddity during the summer months, the sun shines a lot, it's not humid, and they think 85 degrees is pretty hot! Most days the temperatures stayed in the 70's; though there was one week the temps did get well into the 90's but that seems to be the exception. Everyone that I met seemed to be pretty proud of their weather and they told me how nice it was during the summer. This was always followed up by, “don't tell anyone though”. Apparently that's a little secret they don't want to get out, so don't tell anyone I told you.

Thank Goodness for Health Insurance!

Thank goodness for heath insurance, that's all I can say. As soon as I turned 19 I was no longer covered under my fathers health insurance coverage so we had to switch it over to my name. So for the last 10 years I've been paying my health insurance dues like a good boy knowing that some day it could save my bacon. I generally only showed up to the doctor once every 2 or 3 years for something pretty minor, I don't think I ever had a bill over a couple hundred bucks. At times I felt foolish for spending all that money on health insurance but I kept reminding myself I didn't have it for the little minor stuff; it's for the larger, unexpected stuff.

So early into my big trip this summer (www.alangage.blogspot.com) when I dislocated my knee in the mountains I was relieved to know that I'd have health insurance to help me out. Seeing as I was no where near home and had no income that was really a load off my mind. I stopped by the local hospital for a check over and some x-rays and the doc said he couldn't see anything in the X-rays but recommended I see a specialist and get an MRI done to check for ligament damage. In the meantime I'd be OK on the knee if I just took it easy.

I got a recommendation from Albin on a great bone and joint doctor in Bellevue, WA so a couple weeks later when I found myself up that way I made an appointment and stopped in. The doctor looked at the X-rays from the hospital I'd already had done, poked around, gave me some options, and we decided to have an MRI done to see if any damage had occured or if anything needed to be fixed. An MRI is a pretty spendy procedure but thankfully I had health insurance to take care of that.

I got the results back from the MRI a little while later and it turns out I had a partially torn medial meniscus and a partially torn ACL; both of which would require surgery to repair. Without surgery my knee wouldn't be as strong as it should be and it would be easier for it to pop out of place again the future, likely doing more damage. Since I'm an active guy and I don't like the thought of having that happen in the mountains EVER again surgery sounds like the way to go. Thankfully the medial meniscus is pretty straight forward with a quick recovery time. The ACL on the other hand is a lot more involved and will require a loooong recovery time and will probably include rehab too. Phew, health insurance to the rescue!

I was trying to decide just when and where I'd get the surgery done when a few days later I find out that my health insurance company, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, denied the claims they'd gotten from the hospital in Baker City where I'd first gotten my knee checked out. Hmm, I didn't like that at all. Did that mean they were going to deny the claims from the specialist and for the MRI as well?

Yup, it sure did.

After getting ahold of the insurance company to find out what's going on it appears they're denying coverage because of a pre-existing condition. You see, when I was 16 or 17 I hurt this same knee. At the time I was covered under my dads Blue Cross/Blue Shield and they covered the bills from the local hospital which included a few x-rays and advice to take it easy and the knee would heal on its own. When I turned 19 however and the plan was put into my name (same insurance company) I was suddenly a “new customer” and that knee problem I'd had a couple years ago was now a “pre-existing condition”. I remember sitting in the office and having them tell me that BC/BS wouldn't cover any injuries to that knee for a period of two years. I thought that was pretty crappy but it didn't seem there was a whole lot I could do so I just went with it and hoped I wouldn't re-injur my knee in the next couple years; which I thankfully didn't.

Now what I didn't hear them tell me, or what I don't remember hearing them tell me at that time was that after those two years were up I'd have to have submit some paper work and be re-evaluated to see if they'd decide to cover my knee. I honestly don't know if they just didn't tell me, didn't make it clear, or if I just totally forgot but for the last 8 years I've been under the assumption that once those first 2 years were up my knee was covered...ooops, guess not.

I can submit that paper work and have it re-evaluated now, but even if it's accepted it's not retroactive so there's no way they're going to pay for the current bills on my knee. And what do you think the chances are of them re-evaluating the situation and saying, “sure, we'd be happy to cover your knee that we already know is going to require surgery to repair”. I don't think I'll hold my breath on that one.

So here I am looking at some pretty steep doctors bills, which I can pay out of pocket thankfully, but that I'm not really happy about having to pay and that will put a pretty good dent in my bank account. And that still doesn't do anything to address my knee, which is still going to require surgery to be back to 100% reliable, I highly doubt I'll be able to pay for that out of pocket.

Gee, what a fantastic system this is. They really seem to be looking out for what's best for their customers. I'm more then willing to admit my share of the blame for not paying more attention to my health insurance policy and for not realizing that little catch. But honestly, how many people out there are really going to take the time to figure all that stuff out on their own? How many people are assuming they're covered and will later get a very unpleasant surprise.

No matter what you think of Michael Moore I highly recommend that everyone watch his newest movie, “Sicko”. It's all about health insurance industry and it's a real eye opener. Some of the stuff in there is just plain astounding. I felt he did a pretty good job of staying neutral in the politics on this one, though there are of course some jabs at the president and other conservatives. Democrats didn't get off with a free ride on this one though either. In fact I think we all got slammed pretty hard in this movie, I took it as more of a wake up call to everyone living in the US to wake up and look what's really going on. The only reason stuff like this continues to happen is because we let it happen; just assuming everyone out there really has our best interests in mind and wants what's best for us.

The first half of the movie I thought was particularly powerful, the second half seemed a little more like entertainment then enlightenment but still had some really good stuff in it. I'm sure not going to take everything he says in the movie as gospel and there's always another side to every story; but this side needs to be heard.

Hopefully someday I'll be able to say "Thank goodness for health insurance" and actually mean it! In the mean time, anyone in Canada looking for a good mechanic?

Just Browsing

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