Breaker Breaker, One Nine for Blue Bonnet

By Gladys Lovell Gartrell

This all came about because of a break down and the feeling of total helplessness that came over me. The light bulb came on in my head, I would buy a radio. That would be the answer to all my problems. As it worked itself out, it was a whole lot of peoples answer as well. A travelers dream. Help was as close as the hearing range of a C.B. Radio. Or just friendly conversation to help the driver get through my strip of the road. We start talking as strangers and ended up as friends. The wide open desert didn't seem so menacing as long as you knew there was a radio there. Whether it was standing cattle or hogs,hanging meat or dry goods, the big rig eighteen wheel driver wanted to know there was a radio he could depend on. It also gave me peace of mind whenever we were out on the highway. Hoping we didn't have another Parley's canyon. There were funny times, happy times, and very sad times.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jan 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781468532524

Gladys Lovell Gartrell

I was born in El Paso, Texas, 1936. We moved across the country to Maryland. I went to school at Bladensburg High school. I met and married my husband in 1953. We have been married 58 years and have two daughters, one granddaughter and three great grands.

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CHAPTER 1

Blue Bonnet

It was a very hot day in August, 1974, when we, Dave and I started out to go to Nevada to find a mine he had heard about that was starting up and was looking for new employees.

We came up a big hill on the East side and saw Salt Lake City for the first time. It was a sight. Dave was driver and I was navigator. As we came down into the valley, I was looking in all directions at the same time. Saying Look at that or look at that all the while Dave was trying to drive and watch traffic and look at what I was pointing out. I pointed out the Temple and we were both impressed. Not being Mormon, either of us, didn’t mean we didn’t respect it We were still moving along, west bound, and finally got out of Salt Lake City. We noticed that things were getting fewer and fewer. We drove passed an exit saying Tooele. I called it Tool-E. I found out later it is pronounced Twill Ah. We went on passed another exit to the town of Grantsville and we keep on driving. Off to our right we see a salt processing plant with gleaming white piles of salt waiting to be processed and sent to tables around the world. Morton’s salt. Out we go, following the road across the salt flats. The road at this point is lower than the railroad tracks and we can no longer see the Great Salt Lake. The state of Utah and Nevada had been joined a long time ago via the train tracks and a small dirt road that was built for cars of that day and time. The further we go, the less we see. Then there’s the Bonneville Salt Flats used for record setting. They bring everything there to race the clock. From cars to bicycles they try and set a record. After several hours we get to Wendover. It was a small town at that time. It only had two casinos. The Stateline and a one room casino called Jim’s. They were inside Nevada and the rest of the town was in Utah. And Utah allowed no gambling. We roamed through town looking for our route. It was Alt. 50. It was on the west side of town. We made our turn. I thought at last we were getting close to the mine. Little did I know that nothing is close to anything in Nevada. I always say even the coyotes carry sack lunches and carry water out here.

After another 32 miles or so, and going through a cut in the hills called White Horse pass, we found a sign that says Dolly Varden, on the 15 mile marker. There it was a dirt road. We feel we are getting close now. We start up this wash board road and it’s going up and up. It’s winding up through the hills. Eventually we came to an encampment. It was an almost encampment. It had a bunk house, a couple of double wide mobile homes and a make shift office. Dave got out to talk with a guy and he sent us further up the hill. After going around curves and up the hill further, we came to the mine area. They took Dave inside and after some fancy talking, Dave was hired. With real good benefits and on site living. So we head back to Rangely to get a few things to live with temporarily. We put our camper on our pickup truck. Got the mobile home ready to sell and we were ready to hook our Jeep to the truck. I had named the Jeep MacArthur.

We were ready to head out very early on a Sunday morning. And we went merrily on our way. We didn’t have a care in the world. And we didn’t have one until we passed Park City and started up a big hill called Parley’s canyon. Dave was in the inside passing lane, when our pickup blew up. Vehicles were passing us on our right like rockets. He had to get the pickup across the 2 lanes of cars and trucks to safety and live. What a feeling. We got to the outside without getting hit. Dave raised the hood and smoke was bellowing out and there was oil everywhere. I was sitting there wondering what we were going to do so far from home. Finally Dave said I would do the steering and he would push the truck with the jeep. I asked him how he was going to see. He said he wasn’t that I was going to be his eyes. We had our little Pekingese, Buffy, with us so I got him comfy on the passenger seat and we started off again.

Going up the rest of the way to the top of Parley’s Canyon we didn’t break any sound barrier but we made it. I had told Dave I was going to stay in the center lane so I would not take an off ramp by mistake. By this time it was getting to be late afternoon. Dave told me I wouldn’t have heat, lights or power. Even though it was August, when the sun went down it got pretty cold. When we got through Salt Lake City and all the honking of horns and people yelling at me to park it, and me yelling back I don’t know how to park it that’s why I’m driving it and we finally got to the west side of the city, Dave flashed his lights to let me know the jeep was over heating. We had used what little water we had in the cooler when we first started off up the canyon. So I headed for Tooele and a gas station. While we were putting water in the jeep, the attendant said to me you’re not going to make it to Salt Lake City I said I sure hope not because we just came from there. We are going west to Wendover. After filling our cooler with more water, he wished us well and we headed back to the interstate. It was pretty late and dark by now so Dave told me to turn on the lights and hope the battery had enough charge in it to last.

After a few more miles Dave flashed his lights again. I pulled over to the side and he said the jeep was burning his ankle. I told him I could use some of that heat in the truck. I had covered Buffy with a jacket and he stayed right up against my hip. We took that time to add more water in the jeep. While I was driving, I kept seeing the big 18 wheelers passing us with the big C.B. antennas on their cabs. I thought if we had a radio we could get help. I didn’t have a clue about how they worked but knew they had a link to people.

I didn’t remember how wide the salt flats were. They seemed to go on forever. I didn’t see a single critter. I thought that was strange but later found out it’s because of the salt .They had nothing to eat out there. I did remember a rest area somewhere on the road but wasn’t sure where. And I had not seen it yet. I knew we could get more water there. Finally, I saw the sign for the off ramp for the rest area. I steered in. We went off looking for the water. When we found a faucet, we realized it was turned off. So I went into the ladies room and it was the same thing there. No water. So we put the last of our water from the cooler into the jeep and headed for lights we could see off in the distance. They were 5 miles from the rest area. That was finally Wendover. It was getting on to about 3 or 3:30 in the morning by this time. We stopped at an open gas station, got gas and more water, and were on our way, knowing we were on our final lap.

We turned on Alt 50 and had about 32 more miles. But south of Wendover is a high hill we call 9 mile. It takes some time to go up it when the vehicle is