My week in Utah

I had four essential objectives in Utah. One, I needed to sell my car, so I wouldn't have to keep making payments on it while in Belize. Two, I needed to wait for my laptop to arrive, having ordered one for a really good price right before leaving Spokane. Three, I needed to pick up a tent, sleeping bag, and backpack from a good recreational outlet or army surplus store. Four, I wanted to get my free eye exam from Standard Optical that came with the contacts care package I bought a year ago.

The first objective, to sell my car, was a bust. I listed on Craigslist, KSL, and Facebook, to great apathy. One person contacted me and test drove it the first day, and then I never heard anything from them or anybody else. I determined that I would sell it directly to one of the dealerships for a bit less: I only needed $2000 to make selling it better than continuing to make payments. That was a bust. I visited the dealership, only to learn that my car had Unibody damage before I bought it. We ran Carfax when we bought it, can it came up clean, but they ran Autocheck, which has much more complete results. So I got an offer: $500. Yeah, all of 25% of what I would need. So my car is parked in my brother's parking space for the next couple of months. He doesn't drive, so he doesn't really need it.

The second objective, to wait for my computer, was amusing, and somewhat frustrating. I checked my email on Saturaday, a few hours after arriving at five a.m., to find that my laptop had not yet been shipped. I had not yet updated my billing address on my credit card when I ordered. I put my middle name on the shipping address. So there was a complete mismatch between the billing and shipping addresses, and the vendor froze the order. Too good of a steal to let go (Eee for only $200), I called the vendor to find out what I needed to do. They refunded my credit card and invoiced my paypal instead. I made the payment, so they could process it. This whole thing took a couple days, and my laptop wasn't shipped until Tuesday. I had wanted to leave by Tuesday, but it was alright because it gave me a few more days to attempt selling my car. Still, by the time my laptop came Friday, I was champing at the bit to get out of town. Needless to say I was on the next bus out.

The third objective I had no problems with. I stopped by the army-navy surplus store on Redwood Road to check out what they had. I misremembered how big it was- I thought it was about four times the size of the store I visited in Spokane, and it was closer to six times its size. I was on the phone with my youngest brother while in the store, and he was very helpful in looking up information from the recreational outlet on State Street to price compare for me. I ended up buying my tent and backpack from the army-navy surplus store on Redwood, and then driving over to State to buy my sleeping back at the recreational outlet.

The fourth objective was also easy-peasy. I called Standard Optical on Tuesday morning to find out when my scheduled appointment was. (They scheduled an appointment for me a year in advance when I bought the care package.) I had already missed my appointment, because they never made any reminder efforts, and was probably in Spokane whenever the appointment had been. They rescheduled me for that day, and I got my eyes checked. My prescription has remained consistent over the last year, and I got a written copy so I can buy contacts or glasses in Belize or Mexico if I need to.

My four objectives finally complete on Friday afternoon, I caught the next Greyhound out. Now I am on my way again. Mexico City bound on Greyhound, and from there I will be catching connections to Chetumal, down to Belize City, and then to Hummingford Farm, almost all the way to Punta Gorda in Southern Belize. The official language of Belize is English, but in the south a lot of people speak Spanish, so I should have some good opportunities to brush up on my Spanish.

Happy trails!

p.s. Comments are welcome- I hope all are doing well with school, work, etc.