My Stay at Panguitch, UT

Why Panguitch?

My Explorer at the Bryce Canyon Pines Chevron

This post is more of an automotive issue blog than photography but it happened while traveling to take some photographs so I thought I’d share. I drive to my photography destinations from my home in Phoenix and I guess it was inevitable that I’d have car troubles at some point.

I mentioned in my earlier blog on November 21, 2016, that I headed to Bryce Canyon National Park for the 2016 Veteran’s Day Holiday Weekend but before I got there the transmission went out on my Ford Explorer. I had made it to the Bryce Canyon Pines Store & Campground Chevron gas station. I tried turning around there to head back to Kanab, Utah, but the Explorer just didn’t want to make it up the hill heading west from the Chevron. It was slipping out of gear.

The couple running the store and gas station was very helpful with getting me in contact with repair shops and towing companies. I wasn’t completely sure what the issue was, and initially I thought (and hoped) that the transmission was low on fluid. There are some services at Ruby’s Inn Car Care Center located just outside of the Bryce Canyon National Park gate. I talked to someone from that shop but I didn’t get the impression that they could do a transmission repair.

He seemed like he was a young service station attendant and just didn’t instill a desire for me to use their services. Plus I thought that if there was something more serious with the transmission that I’d end up having to tow the Explorer somewhere else anyway. Looking at their website now, however, it looks like they may have been able to handle it.

The couple at the Bryce Canyon Pines Chevron also gave me a telephone number for Royal Express Transmission and Automotive in Panguitch, Utah, about 23 miles from Bryce Canyon National Park. I called the owner, Stewart Ivie, and he was confident he could diagnose and handle any services or repairs. He just gave me a warm fuzzy that I didn’t get from the Ruby’s shop representative.

Arriving in Panguitch

I arranged for a tow through State Farm Insurance (I have that rider on my policy). They contract with American Towing Service out of Circleville, Utah, which is another 27 miles north of Panguitch. I talked with the tow company owner Craig Sudweeks a bit to get his opinion of where to have the service performed and he felt that the Royal Express shop in Panguitch would be a good option so between my impression of Stew and this vote of confidence from Craig, I followed his advice and decided to have the Explorer serviced in Panguitch.

Royal Express Transmission and Automotive

It took about an hour for the tow truck to arrive from Circleville, which is when I met Craig. It’s probably due to my age but I’m glad when I have to deal with people more my own age. I won’t guess how old Craig is but I will say that I don’t think he’s less than 40. It took about 45 minutes for him to load my Explorer and take me to Panguitch. I really enjoyed the drive and the talk we had. He’s quite an interesting guy, having done ranching, farming, long haul truck driving, and having his own auto shop.

I met Juarez at the Royal Express shop. He was able to get my Explorer up on a jack immediately and we looked at the undercarriage. The transmission on the Explorer is basically not serviceable by the owner. There is no fluid dip stick or fill spout in the engine compartment. Once the transmission is filled it shouldn’t need service often. If it’s not leaking you shouldn’t have problems.

My transmission wasn’t leaking. It was nice and clean – like a lot of Arizona automobiles and unlike any of the cars I’d had in Oregon and Washington! But, as Juarez pointed out, that meant there was likely a more severe issue. He pulled the plug and black crud poured out. Juarez had me smell it and it smelled burned. This, coupled with the inability of the transmission to stay in gear, indicated a replacement was needed. Nothing is built to be repaired any longer, I guess.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

I called my wife, who in turn called our Rodeo Ford dealership in Avondale that we’ve used for years. Our mechanic there said the diagnosis seemed plausible and the $3,300 estimate from Royal Express was in line with their cost, so I gave Juarez the go-ahead on replacing the transmission.
I also considered towing the vehicle back to Phoenix and asked Craig about it. He said it’d be $1,500 for that tow! If we did that we’d also have the replacement cost on top of it.

The Marianna Inn, Panguitch, UT

Juarez thought they’d be able to have it done by Monday so I was not too upset with the issue. I'd end up missing one or two days of work. On top of it he gave me a loaner van to use. I guess I needed to get settled in for a few days.

I asked Craig about motels in town and he said they're all pretty much one as good as the other. I loaded my camera gear and some of my other gear in the van and headed out. The first motel I pulled in to was the Marianna Inn and when I asked about rates the owner gave me $5 off for the night so I decided to just stay there for the weekend. I got a room for $45 per night plus taxes and paid for 3 nights. I settled in to my new accommodations, filling it with my camera and camping gear.

Monday, Monday

I spent the weekend mainly watching TV, watching my Kindle, and writing in my journal. On Monday morning I called Royal Express about 9:00 AM and got my first bad news. Stewart said the transmission wouldn't be in until Wednesday at the earliest.

I paid for another couple of nights at the motel and waited the time out. On Wednesday I got my second dose of bad news. The transmission had been built out but it had the wrong type of linkage to the drive shaft and had to be re-built. They now expected that it would be in by Thursday morning and that they should have it ready by 11:00 AM. I paid for another night at the motel.

The weather report for Wednesday night and in to Thursday called for 1 to 4 inches of snow. I became worried about the delivery of the transmission - it was coming from Salt Lake City which is about 4 hours north of Panguitch and there were some hills along the route. Not that we were that low in elevation at Panguitch anyway; it is at about 6,600 feet.

Getting In Gear

Snow on US 89 in Panguitch, UT

On Thursday morning I woke up about 5:00 AM. I'd woken up a number of times during the night and had got up to look to see if there was any snow. I probably last looked at about 2:00 AM and there wasn't any snow. At 5:000 AM, however, there was a blanket of snow and it was still lightly coming down.

I was crossing my fingers that the amount of snow would be trivial to Utah residents. At 6:00 AM I walked to the Silver Eagle gas station near the motel to get a cup of coffee and a muffin. I asked the attendant if she thought this was snow and she said no, it was nothing. I still had hope that my transmission would have made it through.

I called the shop around 10:00 AM to inquire about the progress and was told they should have it ready soon. I waited until a little before 11:00 AM to check out of the motel and then drove to the shop. I was told it should be finished after lunch and Stew suggested that I go get some lunch myself.

Kate Lublin Alexander Cabin

I wasn't hungry - I only wanted to get home - so I decided to go wait at the rest stop north of town. I walked around the park area, read some pamphlets and other material I had, took some iPhone pics, and enjoyed the cool temperatures.

The sign for the Triple C Arena was flashing between 27 and 31 degrees Fahrenheit. It was also pretty windy, so I'm sure the wind chill made it feel even colder. But we don't get cold often in Phoenix so I kind of enjoy it for a little bit.

Finally, at about 1:30 PM, I drove back to Royal Express. It was finished but didn't feel right during the test drive so they were looking at it some more. Dang!

At about 3:00 PM they had figured out the issue (a linkage was misaligned) and corrected it. I paid my tab and was finally on my way south!

Impressions

No, I'm not going to do any impressions. But I was impressed with how nice everyone was in Panguitch, or even Utah in general. Granted, in my conversations with everyone I encountered I was a customer, but the politeness I heard between others as well as myself and the enjoyable driving habits was very refreshing when compared to Phoenix. The morning news (which was actually out of Salt Lake City) did not have multiple shootings or murders to report every day. I don't think I'd mind living in Utah at all.