Today I took the dryer apart to see if I could fix it. While there was a lot of lint on places in the dryer, the exhaust was clean. The heater element works and the dryer gets plenty hot. Plenty of air is circulating. The problem is the dryer turns off before the load is dry.

I went looking for a moisture sensor. Some dryers have a sensor in the exhaust air stream that determines how much moisture is in the air and when that gets to a certain point, the dryer control unit decides that the load is dry enough and proceeds to the next stage which, depending on settings, might be a cool-down stage or shut off and buzz.

Other dryers have a couple of metal strips inside the dryer which, if the clothes are still wet, make an electrical contact. If, after a period of time, the electrical contact is not made, the dryer advances to the next stage.

There doesn’t seem to be any metal strips inside the dryer. The parts diagram doesn’t list a moisture sensor. So what to do next?

On the web page for Sears Parts Direct is a button labeled, “Talk to a Parts Specialist”. I clicked on the button.

A window came up and asked for my phone number along with a button that scheduled the phone call now or sometime in the future. I selected “now” and my phone immediately rang and I was connected to a call center. Based on the accent, the call center was probably in the Philippines.

I explained my problem and asked which part needs to be replaced.

“I’m not qualified to give technical advice,” she responded.

“Well, what do you do as a parts specialist?” I asked. She replied, “If you tell me what part number you need, I can order it for you.” Singularly unhelpful as, if I knew the part number, I can order it online from the web page and don’t need to talk to anyone. She offered to connect me to someone for technical support, though, and I said, “Connect me.”

The call transferred somewhere else, but still with the same accent. I explained my problem again. “I’m not qualified to give technical advice,” she responded. After some discussion it was clear that nowhere in the Sears call center customer support operations was technical support available.

She referred me to managemyhome.com. I went there. On the front page was a box with a button: Ask a question. At the bottom of the page it said that managemyhome.com is brought to me by Sears.

So, I typed in my question (limited to about a hundred characters) in the box labeled “Ask us your toughest question. We can handle it”, and pressed the “Ask It” button. The next page displayed asked me to sign in or sign up if not already registered. I went through the registration process which included a captcha as well as an email response process. But, when I finally got logged in, the question disappeared. I had to re-enter the question, limited to 100 characters.

Pressing the button brought up another page with several more boxes to fill in. That submitted the question. I’m supposed to get an answer in 72 hours, not counting weekends and holidays.

Is all this intended to force me to call for an authorized repair person?

It’s time to go put the dryer back together again.

The New York Times had an interesting slide show about a Chinese convert to the Church serving a mission in Chinatown in New York City. It’s about two minutes long:
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/1-in-8-million/index.html#naisi_zhao.

I had this brilliant post I was going to write back in May. It was a list of things that we might get around to doing this past summer. The post never got written and most of the “maybe” things didn’t happen. Here’s a few of them:

1. Swimming at Lava Hot Springs. We probably drove past Lava Hot Springs going between home and Soda Springs fifty times this summer, if not more. At least half of them Nina would remark as we went by, “We need to go there this summer” (now when we drive by she says, “We didn’t make it!”).The summer is over, the pool has been drained, and the chance is gone. However, the hot pools will be open all winter. We just maybe will do those some cold winter day….
2. Swimming at Indian Springs. This recreation area near American Falls has been closed for several years with a number of legal issues and bankruptcies associated with it. For many years it was a going establishment with a delightful (so they say) pool fed with hot spring water, hiking, camping, and a full menu of recreational things like horseshoes. The complex was bought last winter, the legal issues cleared up, and the pool reopened last May. I think the RV park was open by the end of the summer as well. It sounded interesting to take the motor home over there, spend the night, and spend some time in their pool. Maybe next year?
3. Visiting Craters of the Moon National Monument. The park is less than a half-day’s drive from here and is probably worth an afternoon. I rode my motorcycle through the park on a road trip with my son Trevor in 1989 before he left on his mission. Nina has never been there. Several miles north of the park is a KOA campground, so that could have been another overnight trip. It didn’t happen, though. Maybe next year?
4. City of Rocks and Castle Rocks State Park. City of Rocks is a National Reserve in southeastern Idaho and Castle Rocks is an adjacent state park. Another great place to take the motor home and spend some time. Maybe next year?
5. BYU-Idaho Education Week. BYU-Idaho is an hour and twenty minutes away from here. Each fall they have a three-day extravaganza with all kinds of classes and lectures. However, once again we didn’t get there due to Church responsibilities and dad’s declining health. Next year?
6. Doing a session in all the Utah Temples. This is a bit of a logistical feat as there are thirteen temples in Utah now, each closing at a different time during the summer for two or three weeks. I had a possible schedule worked out, but we went swimming at Hammonasset State Park instead. Well, there were a few other High Priority items on the trip as well. Never-the-less, maybe next year? With our new assignment each week at the Idaho Falls Temple can we work it in?
7. Camping with my favorite brother. We always have a great time together. He even got his trailer licensed this year! But, When they could go, we were gone somewhere else. Then they were also building a new house, into which they are moving even as I write this. Next year, bro!

Now, that’s not to say we didn’t do some of those maybes that would have been in that brilliant post that never made it from my head to the blog. I’m sure we got quite a few of them into our very busy schedule this summer. Two funerals and a call to serve each Friday at the Idaho Falls Temple took Very High Priority. It was a good summer. Time to start planning for next year! If I’m ever going to see a shuttle launch, it’ll have to happen next year as the space shuttles are supposedly going to be retired next year (with nothing US Made and Flown to replace them for several more years). There are launches scheduled in February, March (on Nina’s birthday), May, July, and September. That’s five opportunities. Maybe….

Wednesday we drove out the East Entrance to Cody, Wyoming, another Scenic Byway. This was again a beautiful drive significantly different than the Beartooth Highway. This drive goes up and over Sylvan Pass and down past massive granite cliffs to the William Cody reservoir and then into Cody. This picture was taken a few miles before Sylvan Pass. I just liked the reflection of the trees in Sylvan Lake.

The drive into Cody was another long, beautiful drive. We left the campground about 9 a.m. and arrived in Cody about 1 p.m. One of our stops was at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. This complex houses six major museums and a number of exhibitions. One definitely needs more than a couple of hours to see and appreciate all that was on display. I spent most of my time in the Whitney Gallery of Western art. The picture was taken out the window at the back of this museum. The statue and stonework used to be in the middle of the main downtown intersection in Cody. My Uncle Perry Gillette and his family lived in Cody when I was a young teenager. On one visit some of us cousins slipped out of the house late at night in our pajamas and visited the monument. Cody was then a very small town (maybe 2,500 residents?) and Uncle Perry was a respected physician and pathologist in Cody. The town policeman reported us to Uncle Perry who came and collected us from the monument. We still laugh about it at family reunions.

In 1951 artist Edward T. Grigware painted a mural at the LDS Chapel in Cody, Wyoming under a commission from the local residents. This mural depicts the first 70 years or so of Church history. The mural was painted around the rotunda entrance into the building. Today the original building has been added to and significantly remodeled. Where the Chapel was back in the 1950’s is now a museum documenting the Mormon settlement of the Big Horn Basin. The visitor’s center is open four months of the year during the summer. Four missionary couples staff the center, each serving four days in a row followed by four days off. Their mission call is for four months after which they return home. Our guide was an Elder Cook. He and his wife lived twenty years in Georgetown, Idaho, where he served most of that time on the city council. He had some very good memories of Georgetown and his time there working for the Dept of Fish and Game.

This is the time of year when the bison seem to be on the move migrating from one meadow to another. The easiest way for them move is on the highway. They definitely have the right of way! Long lines of vehicles wait in each direction for them to cross the highway or move down the highway. Nina says this has to be a Park Ranger’s nightmare … all these crazy tourists wanting to get up close and personal with these massive animals.

These motorcycles were keeping well clear of the big bison strolling down the highway. He came from the left across the center line right in front of these bikes then strolled down the road. The bison is bigger than either of the bikes and they wisely let him have all the space he wanted.

We came home on Thursday (Sept. 3rd) through the South Entrance and through the Grand Teton National Park. We stopped for lunch in the Tetons and this was the view as we had our sandwiches. Our short respite was coming to an end. We had a very relaxing vacation and saw some stunning vistas.

This trip we decided to do things a bit differently. To start with, we camped at the Canyon campground, the first time we’ve camped there. This was our campsite. It took a bit to get the motor home somewhat level. We drove around the entire campground looking for the best sites (meaning level, table and firepit close to the motor home, not close to the bathroom or main roads). Maybe we’ll remember to look at the list the next time we go to Canyon to camp.

The campsites were nicely equipped with a good table and fire ring. There was a lot of space between campsites as well. We were generally surrounded by foreigners … on Monday and Tuesday evening they were mostly German-speaking. We took two different fire starters with us. Nina had saved a bunch of dryer lint and I brought a bag of shredded paper. Dryer lint worked MUCH BETTER. Shredded paper clumps too much, doesn’t burn well, and scatters everywhere. I had to get down on hands and knees to pick up the remnants.

The nights were cool, but pleasant. We retired into the motor home around 8:30 or 9:00 p.m. each night. I’d do some reading … Nina would record the events in her journal. There are many, many journals that she’s kept over the years. Something for grandkids to look forward to, I’m sure!

Usually we drive around the Park visiting our favorite sights. This trip, however, we decided to drive the Beartooth Scenic Byway on Tuesday. We drove out the Northeast Entrance and about 80 miles to Red Lodge, Montana and back. This was a very fun and interesting drive. We drove past beautiful mountains, up and down hefty switchbacks, past glacier-carved lakes, and tundra above the tree line. The byway definitely ranks in the top ten drives in the United States.

The Beartooth Highway was under some significant construction, which started literally at the Northeast Entrance. The rest of the road in Wyoming seemed to be under construction with sometimes lengthy waits for a pilot car to lead us through. We passed lots of motorcycles coming through the construction, a fairly dangerous road for a motorcycle. We also passed a number of bicyclists making their way through the construction as well. The pass is over 10,000 feet above sea level. Those were some hardy folks on bicycles.

This picture was taken at what seemed almost to be the top of the world. Glacier-carved lakes abound. We were at the top of the mountain before heading down into Red Lodge, MT. The switchbacks getting here are visible below. This was a beautiful drive. Red Lodge was also a very interesting town. We didn’t stay very long as we had a five hour drive getting back to the campground after a five-hour drive getting there. Red Lodge is the county seat of Carbon County, Montana, and got its start as a coal mining town, The mines are now all closed, but the town lives on as a tourist destination (there’s a fabulous candy shop in Red Lodge). One claim to fame for the town is that the Butch Cassidy gang (including the Sundance Kid) attempted to rob the bank but were foiled. Tracked down and arrested by the Carbon County Sheriff and his posse, they were sent off to jail (from which the later escaped).

1. We’re making our way (with many stops) out the East Entrance to Cody, WY going over Sylvan Pass. Another spectacular drive.

2. This trip we’re staying in the park and taking the beauttiful drives out east and northeast entrances. Yesterday we took the northeast entrance drive, today the east, and tomorrow we’ll go out the south. Monday we came in through the west entrance. The only one we won’t drive through on this trip is the North Entrance at Mammouth.

3. This is a huge park. Tourists on the highways see maybe 10% of the park.

4. I’m writing this as Nina is driving. We’ve had little to none cell service, but I expect I can post this in Cody. I’d sure like to have cell/data services in Yellowstone. I’m sure it’ll happen someday whether the tree huggers like it or not. It’s now six hours later and we’re back at the campsite. The scenery was too interesting to do much writing.

5. Surprisingly, the Park is quite busy. All of the campsites last night were full here at Canyon. There’s a lot of traffic as well. Other than fowl, the only wildlife we’ve seen is bison, lots of bison.

6. We did have cell/data signal in Cody, but we were too interested in other things.

7. The mural in the LDS building in Cody are still there. The building has been significantly remodeled since we were last there, at least 30 years ago. But the mural is still as pretty as ever. It’s now a visitor’s center staffed for four months by four sets of senior missionaries who serve just for these four months and then go home. They work four days and then off four days. It’s one of the part-time mission opportunities of the Church.

8. When the wind picks up a bit it makes quite a noise in the tree tops. We’ve had great weather, probably due to Nina remembering to bring the umbrellas. Meanwhile it’s about 6 pm and the campsites around us are quickly becoming occupied.

9. The drive out the NE Entrance and the Bear Tooth Scenic Byway is quite spectacular. It goes by a very diverse set of scenery from huge pine forests to tundra above the treeline. The switch backs going over the summit are very impressive. It was definitely worth the drive.

Today’s drive down to Cody and back was also delightful. Huge granite cliffs dominate the landscape. We had long waits both going and returning for bison crossing the road.

10. We’ve not stopped at any of the attractions in the Park this trip. Next year, I think. Meanwhile a young lady who appears to be by herself is setting up her tent down below us. Not sure I’d like tent camping all by myself.