Day 14 - Riverton to Dubois

This was supposed to be Riverton to Yellowstone but….. The van has broken!

But first, had a lay in and grabbed a cooked breakfast in the Casino restaurant using the $5 discount voucher. Went back up to the room and wrote up some of my diary. Was a 12 noon check out so I used it up and transferred a lot of photos off my camera via Bluetooth onto my tablet. Was right on 12 when I packed the van. Only had a three hour drive to Yellowstone so would get here mid afternoon and look at some of the sights.

I drove for a while and stopped at a rest stop to use the amenities. Not long after that as I was driving along and all of a sudden a large bang occurred at the back of the car and a grinding sound. I pulled over to the side of the road and got out and looked under the van but could not see anything out of place but could smell a burning smell.

I got back into the van and started it up and tried moving which it did o.k. I was about 20 miles short of a town called Dubois in Wyoming and hoped to be able to drive it that far to get help. The car drove o.k. on the flat road but had no go in it when I came to a hill. It got over that and I was able to get it into town and pulled up at a gas station.

On the way into the town there was a flashing sign saying the road into Yellowstone was closed from this direction due to bushfires in the National Park.

I have had no cell phone reception for a few days out in this area so I asked the attendant in the gas station if I could use their phone to make a toll free phone call. She said o.k. and I rang the Van companies Road Service contractor who asked if the car was drivable. I told her it was but would not make it far.  She looked up the details of a car service and repair company in town and said she would ring them to tell them I was coming. I thanked her for that and hung up.

I then asked the gas station attendant if she could direct me where the address was for the mechanic. I told her the address and she said that there was no garage at that address and there was only one garage in the town at it was called Bulls Conoco. I then rang the road service contractor back and told them this information and she said to take it there and she would ring them.

I drove to the garage and they had already heard from the person.  The boss looked at the van and was surprised that a company would hire out a van that was this old. I asked him what he meant and said this was a 1991 van, so it was 25 years old. 

He went with he for a drive around the block and asked me a lot of questions about what had happened. I told him and when we got back to the garage he looked under the van and shook a few things around. Straight away told me that the rear differential had striped the ring and pin and quite possibly the housing was damaged as well. He told me the van would not be going anywhere soon as it would take ages to find any parts to repair it.

I rang the company I rented the van off and they spoke to the mechanic and then came back to me. He said they would arrange for it to be towed and that I could get a lift with the towing truck. I had already asked the mechanic what options there were in town for transport anywhere. He said they do not have a bus service or a car rental company in town. I asked him where the nearest car rental companies would be. He said in there was an airport and rental cars in Jackson Wyoming and that a local taxi driver could drive me there. Jackson is one and a half hours away west from Dubois.

I had to wait for the Van company man to ring me back but he said it might take till morning to sort things out as it was now about 4.40pm. We left it that he would ring me in the morning with an update.

I was able to get a cabin in the campground behind the mechanics for only $64 a night with all amenities. I booked a cabin and took all my things to the room and did a big sort out of luggage incase I needed to get a plane flight somewhere tomorrow. I also checked flight details and retail car companies costs just in case for tomorrow.

By now the sun was setting and you could see it turning red from the smoke from the fires in Yellowstone.

I spent over an hour repacking and rearranging items to get correct weight in bags if I needed to get a flight. Then turned the lights off and got some sleep.