As I said earlier, my run on unfortunate coincidences (sounds better than bad luck) continued today, Jul. 6: I broke my eye glasses by sitting on them while trying to hook up our DVD/VCR player to the TV, and, needless to say, promptly got roasted by wife number one. OK, so it was a stupid thing to lay them on the chair, but accidents happen, right?
Thankfully, I didn’t break the lenses, but I did break the screws of both stems, right where they connect to the glass, leaving two nubs on each stem and the rest of the screws firmly imbedded in the glass.
Being that these particular glasses never were intended as monocles, you might say they weren’t of much use, but I comforted myself (and my first wife) that there surely must be an optometrist in town who could fix them the next morning.
So, yesterday morning, we (first wife and I) gathered the remnants of my eyewear, and headed into see if some miracle could be performed…. We got the name (Looking Glass) and address from the RV park, and drove the two minutes into town, parked on Main Street, right in front of a building that proudly stated, on a prominent sign high on the wall, that we had landed at the Looking Glass Building.
Gently pushed open the door, and found ourselves in a corridor of one of those small, long and narrow mini-malls….. Six or eight doors lead to different businesses, but as we headed into the abyss, we couldn’t find any that said “optometrist” on them, so we quietly retreated, and there, on the very first door we had passed (and missed in our excitement), it said ”Doctor so-and-so.,” We were greeted by a happy, “How may I help you?”
I took about a minute explaining how I had happened to reap the wrath of the woman I love, and, as proof of my innocence and dire situation, I laid the evidence on the counter for all to see…
“Oh, honey,” she said, “this here’s a dental office, and I’m sorry to say, but there’s not much we can do for you.”
Quick witted as I am, I retorted, “ How ‘bout some dental floss to bind them together?”
We got out of there with the right directions, and soon walked into a huge office with eye glasses occupying every surface that we could see…. Again, I laid out my predicament, only to be told that the lady optometrist was on vacation, and there was nothing they could do to help me…. She did tell us that there was a new optometrist in town, but didn’t know exactly where he was located, but gave us nonetheless a general direction…. We hopped into the truck, and soon found ourselves in that general area….. But no signs! Stopped at a gas station, where Luanne ran in to find out if anybody knew where we were headed….. She came back really flustered, muttering something I have to sensor about Mexicans and the American language.
We drove around in circles for a while, then hit a real estate office, where we finally hit pay dirt…. The new optometrist was on the back side of this very building!
We ran around and busted open the door, crying with glee, “We found you! We found you!” The lady present put down her shotgun and asked what we thought we were doing, scaring the heck out of her like that.
So, long story short (you‘re ahead of me on this one, aren‘t you?), the doctor’s main office was in the next town back West, Orofino, and he wouldn’t be in until 3:30pm.
We slinked out to the truck saying we’d be back, but then I had an epiphany:
We could drive the mere 22 miles (one way), and probably get these glasses fixed a lot earlier. We programmed our steady companion, Molly, (oh, yeah, our GPS has a name) the new address, and we were on our way. No problem!
I think I eluded to this before, but it bears repeating: The drive through Clearwater Canyon is one of the most scenic drives we’ve ever been on, but it so happened that when we arrived last Sunday, there were no roadwork and one lane construction going on, so, today took at least twice as long, but what the heck, we’re retired and enjoying all kinds of sightseeing.
You guessed it, the trip was a total waste (except for the sightseeing, which was definitely worth it, except for the blurry part). They wouldn’t touch my glasses with a ten foot pole; said it would probably take an optometric lab to get them back to normal, so that was it…
That could’ve been the end of my eyewear saga, but, fortunately, this thing has a happy ending.
We stopped at True Value hardware store, back in Kamiah, and purchased some high tech paraphernalia, then went to THE HUB (the local tavern/restaurant) for a drink and some grub before heading back to the trailer, where we unpacked the high tech, laid my glasses on the kitchen table, got a couple of Luanne’s domestic tools out, and proceeded to superglue the stems to their respective lenses, held in one spot with clothespins…. How cagy is that? This morning my glasses were as good as new, my world is once more clear and in focus, and the thing is, you would never even notice anything amiss unless you knew what had happened……
What did I tell you? Happy ending!
So that gets us to today…
Luanne smiled at me, all bright eyes and bushy-tailed, at 6:30 this morning, July 8. All rearing to go. Which we did at 7:30.
AT 8:15 we arrived at the confluence of the Clearwater and the Lochsa rivers, and said our fond farewells to the Clearwater, as we head East toward Lolo Pass.
The road we’ve traveled throughout this whole canyon, from Lewiston and almost to Lolo Pass, is so gradual (in it’s rise of elevation) that if you didn’t see the rapids on the rivers, you’d swear you were driving on flat terrain, and the scenery! The scenery is more and more breathtaking at every turn. I really don’t have the time or space to describe these places as they should be honored, so please go on line and look them up, it’s well worth it, and, maybe it will entice you to take this trip some day.
We stopped at an idyllic turnout called Fish Creek, at 9:00, where Luanne fixed us a fantastic breakfast, which enhanced everything our senses experienced by the surrounding country. We are so lucky to be able to do this!
At 10:30, we pulled up to the Lolo Pass Visitor’s Center, where we spent quite some time studying the journey of Lewis and Clark, as well as the history and traditions of the local Indian tribes…. Really fascinating stuff!
I’m getting a bit tired of all this writing, so let me finish, by saying that we arrived at Jellystone RV Park, just West of Missoula, Montana, at about 2:00pm.
We’re staying here for only one night, since I want to get up to Kalispell, and Glacier Park tomorrow…. Good night and check back soon…. I’ll try to keep it up!
Thankfully, I didn’t break the lenses, but I did break the screws of both stems, right where they connect to the glass, leaving two nubs on each stem and the rest of the screws firmly imbedded in the glass.
Being that these particular glasses never were intended as monocles, you might say they weren’t of much use, but I comforted myself (and my first wife) that there surely must be an optometrist in town who could fix them the next morning.
So, yesterday morning, we (first wife and I) gathered the remnants of my eyewear, and headed into see if some miracle could be performed…. We got the name (Looking Glass) and address from the RV park, and drove the two minutes into town, parked on Main Street, right in front of a building that proudly stated, on a prominent sign high on the wall, that we had landed at the Looking Glass Building.
Gently pushed open the door, and found ourselves in a corridor of one of those small, long and narrow mini-malls….. Six or eight doors lead to different businesses, but as we headed into the abyss, we couldn’t find any that said “optometrist” on them, so we quietly retreated, and there, on the very first door we had passed (and missed in our excitement), it said ”Doctor so-and-so.,” We were greeted by a happy, “How may I help you?”
I took about a minute explaining how I had happened to reap the wrath of the woman I love, and, as proof of my innocence and dire situation, I laid the evidence on the counter for all to see…
“Oh, honey,” she said, “this here’s a dental office, and I’m sorry to say, but there’s not much we can do for you.”
Quick witted as I am, I retorted, “ How ‘bout some dental floss to bind them together?”
We got out of there with the right directions, and soon walked into a huge office with eye glasses occupying every surface that we could see…. Again, I laid out my predicament, only to be told that the lady optometrist was on vacation, and there was nothing they could do to help me…. She did tell us that there was a new optometrist in town, but didn’t know exactly where he was located, but gave us nonetheless a general direction…. We hopped into the truck, and soon found ourselves in that general area….. But no signs! Stopped at a gas station, where Luanne ran in to find out if anybody knew where we were headed….. She came back really flustered, muttering something I have to sensor about Mexicans and the American language.
We drove around in circles for a while, then hit a real estate office, where we finally hit pay dirt…. The new optometrist was on the back side of this very building!
We ran around and busted open the door, crying with glee, “We found you! We found you!” The lady present put down her shotgun and asked what we thought we were doing, scaring the heck out of her like that.
So, long story short (you‘re ahead of me on this one, aren‘t you?), the doctor’s main office was in the next town back West, Orofino, and he wouldn’t be in until 3:30pm.
We slinked out to the truck saying we’d be back, but then I had an epiphany:
We could drive the mere 22 miles (one way), and probably get these glasses fixed a lot earlier. We programmed our steady companion, Molly, (oh, yeah, our GPS has a name) the new address, and we were on our way. No problem!
I think I eluded to this before, but it bears repeating: The drive through Clearwater Canyon is one of the most scenic drives we’ve ever been on, but it so happened that when we arrived last Sunday, there were no roadwork and one lane construction going on, so, today took at least twice as long, but what the heck, we’re retired and enjoying all kinds of sightseeing.
You guessed it, the trip was a total waste (except for the sightseeing, which was definitely worth it, except for the blurry part). They wouldn’t touch my glasses with a ten foot pole; said it would probably take an optometric lab to get them back to normal, so that was it…
That could’ve been the end of my eyewear saga, but, fortunately, this thing has a happy ending.
We stopped at True Value hardware store, back in Kamiah, and purchased some high tech paraphernalia, then went to THE HUB (the local tavern/restaurant) for a drink and some grub before heading back to the trailer, where we unpacked the high tech, laid my glasses on the kitchen table, got a couple of Luanne’s domestic tools out, and proceeded to superglue the stems to their respective lenses, held in one spot with clothespins…. How cagy is that? This morning my glasses were as good as new, my world is once more clear and in focus, and the thing is, you would never even notice anything amiss unless you knew what had happened……
What did I tell you? Happy ending!
So that gets us to today…
Luanne smiled at me, all bright eyes and bushy-tailed, at 6:30 this morning, July 8. All rearing to go. Which we did at 7:30.
AT 8:15 we arrived at the confluence of the Clearwater and the Lochsa rivers, and said our fond farewells to the Clearwater, as we head East toward Lolo Pass.
The road we’ve traveled throughout this whole canyon, from Lewiston and almost to Lolo Pass, is so gradual (in it’s rise of elevation) that if you didn’t see the rapids on the rivers, you’d swear you were driving on flat terrain, and the scenery! The scenery is more and more breathtaking at every turn. I really don’t have the time or space to describe these places as they should be honored, so please go on line and look them up, it’s well worth it, and, maybe it will entice you to take this trip some day.
We stopped at an idyllic turnout called Fish Creek, at 9:00, where Luanne fixed us a fantastic breakfast, which enhanced everything our senses experienced by the surrounding country. We are so lucky to be able to do this!
At 10:30, we pulled up to the Lolo Pass Visitor’s Center, where we spent quite some time studying the journey of Lewis and Clark, as well as the history and traditions of the local Indian tribes…. Really fascinating stuff!
I’m getting a bit tired of all this writing, so let me finish, by saying that we arrived at Jellystone RV Park, just West of Missoula, Montana, at about 2:00pm.
We’re staying here for only one night, since I want to get up to Kalispell, and Glacier Park tomorrow…. Good night and check back soon…. I’ll try to keep it up!
Wow, what a trip guys. I love to read this. Put in a lot of pics from Glacier Park. That was one part I missed on my US exploration back in 87. About the natives; if you have the opportunity after Black Hills, leave the interstate and go southeast to Pine Ridge Sioux indian heah quarter and try to attend a Sundance ceremony that should be around this time. Contact in advance and behave respectfully and no cameras. Forget all you know about indians from Lummi, this is the real stuff, the Dakotas.
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