I Should Have Known

After turns at the dunes, we headed for the City of Rocks to do some rock climbing the following morning. The wind was blowing the van around on the road pretty good and we knew the forecast was iffy, but I didn’t have to be back in Jackson right away…so what the hell.

We didn’t bring much food with us, and we planned on grabbing some dinner when we got off the highway in Burley, ID. It was a little early, I think before 6, so we pushed it down the road to Oakley in hopes of finding an option before committing to the drive into The City. Our savior, Judy’s Café, appeared amongst the many cinder block structures. Not so much like an oasis, more like our only option. Sign said, ‘best burgers in the valley’. How bad could it be?

I should have realized what we were in for when we took a seat and were handed fly-swatters at the same time. Julia and I looked at each other puzzledly, unsure if we should skedaddle out of this joint, before being distracted by the flies buzzing our heads. Lynn, not Judy, took our orders quickly. We wondered if meth use was the cause of her missing teeth.

Our burgers came quickly…we ate them quickly…so we could bail as soon as possible. The only other people there, an elderly couple, moved over to the Casino arcade game to test their luck. We imagined the game jumping to life as they won the grand the prize, but their attention was lost as a younger couple arrived and they began to shoot some pool. We paid cash for our bill and got out as they broke the first rack.

We saw a ton of 22 plates as we drove into The City and recognized a few cars belonging to my TCSAR buddies. Trying to get away from JH for a bit longer, we searched for our space for some privacy. The van offers pretty deluxe car camping and we were soon laying down with our sleeping bags, dozing off as the temps dropped and the clouds rolled in. That is when my stomach began to churn.

Seems something at Judy’s didn’t agree with me and Julia quickly opened the windows of the van to get some airflow going. My backside was starting to create its own. After a bit, things began to get worse and I had to step out for some relief. I threw up…meaning I vomited…big time! I felt better afterwards, unsure of what part of the bacon cheeseburger and tater-tots set it off, but glad to have gotten rid of its toxicity.

We awoke to more clouds in the morning and it looked like climbing was a bust. It started raining lightly as we drove back to Burley and it was a full down pour by the time we got to the highway. There was a TCSAR message on my cell phone from that morning…a call-out for a hunter with a broken leg caused by a horse kick I felt bad I couldn’t be there to help out the team, since it looked like it was probably a gnarly day, weather wise in Jackson. Sorry fellas.