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That Road Trip to Pocatello

 


After two plus years of junior college, I had to decide where to go to continue my education. I was at a gray point in my life. I no longer considered myself a boy, but I didn’t really consider myself a man yet either. Some college done, but not complete. And what was my actual goal in life? What was I becoming? I needed to take the next step, but what was I going to step into?

Track was very important to me. I had been accepted to the University of Oregon, but if I went there, I would be a small fish in a very big pond, as U of O had a nationally renowned track and field program. The coaching staff had not really gone out of their way to entice me to go there (no scholarship offer). A friend of mine had a connection with the new track coach at Idaho State University in Pocatello. The coach there (Jerry Quiller) was visiting my friend in Eugene and asked me if I would be willing to come to Pocatello and see the program. I thought it couldn’t hurt, so I said yes. We made arrangements for a date for me to come visit.

My friend and roommate Vern went with me on my trip. It was a long time ago now, so I don’t remember many of the particulars of the trip. It is about a 12-hour trip by car if you follow the speed limit (55 MPH in those days). That made it hard to do in one day. But we were not following the speed limit. We took turns driving and we were always going faster when Vern was driving. I never got above about 70, but Vern did. Vern could get the little Datsun over 80 which was thrilling and terrifying at the same time. All I remember is that it was a long trip. We had to cross the Cascade Range through the Santiam Pass, and then it was on to Eastern Oregon which is mostly a dry hot desert. Near the eastern edge of Oregon our highway took us through two mountain passes, one called Stinkingwater Pass and the other called Drinkwater Pass. One would imagine the early settlers named these two passes, and it is easy to discern how they got their names, but they provided a good laugh for Vern and I.

Southern Idaho is much like Eastern Oregon in the Summer, dry and hot. There is a large swathe of land influenced by and adjacent to the Snake River and its tributaries, and that is where the bulk of the population lives. We would be following that Snake River Plain for the remainder of our trip crossing the southern part of Idaho as Pocatello is all the way over on the eastern side of the state. We saw a lot of sagebrush. But I came to see that though it was brown and dry, there was a stark beauty to the landscape. Sagebrush and juniper grassland punctuated with basaltic lava flows and talus slopes.

We navigated through Pocatello and found the coach’s house. He was putting Vern and I up on cots in a downstairs room. He took us on a tour of the campus with special attention to the athletic facilities at the Minidome. Since I was a biology major, we explored the Life Sciences building, and then the various amenities the campus had to offer. And we talked. I realized that I liked Coach Quiller. He was offering me a partial scholarship to attend ISU. I was starting to think that I might want to attend there. That was out of character for me. I had always stayed close to home and was not a fan of big changes, and this would be a big change. All my friends were in Eugene. Eugene was a beautiful green place with mild weather. Southeast Idaho was a dry, brownish place. Harsher. The altitude is about 4,000 feet higher than Eugene, and outside of the coach, I did not know anyone in the state. So many reasons to find an option closer to home.

That night as we lay on our cots, Vern said “I am going to say this: I think you should probably come here, though I don’t think you will. I think it would be good for you.” I told him I was already leaning that way. We started on the long drive home the next day. Over the course of the next couple of weeks, I made my decision. I would take coach Quiller up on his offer. You can’t grow if you stay in your comfort zone your whole life.

Star Liner

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