The Adventures of Me & My Shadow #12 in NV,UT & ID
4/6/98
From Boise, ID - Hi Everyone! It sure is nice to be on the road
again, four weeks in Las Vegas was enough for me. I did enjoy
the nice weather till about 300 GMCs showed up and brought the
wind with them, some times I thought the tents would blow down.
We got a hard rain one night and Gertrude must have ordered rain
for the trip to Boise when she heard me telling people that I
was going to put Gus in charge.
I Suppose you would like to hear about my wins & losses while
in Las Vegas. I can tell you for sure that I have yet to loose
my first nickel to gambling, I would rather put it in the gas
tank so I can keep the wheels turning on the motorhome. I did
win a fortune while in Las Vegas, though it was something more
valuable than money. I'm talking about the new friends I found
here in the RV Park, many more in the GMC ranks and a few that
own SOBs. After Hank & Remmy left, a younger couple with two
teen age kids in an SOB took their site. Kevin & Sandy Curtis
own the Pinecrest Trout Ranch at 4121 Hwy 103 near Idaho Springs,
CO. If you ever get up on the mountain south and west of Denver
stop in to see them. You will find them very friendly and they
have a lot of fish to sell. I am adding them to my list of places
to visit.
On the other side of the mountain in CO, I have another new friend.
Lester Bickel is a new owner of a GMC motorhome and he arrived
at the park before the other GMCs showed up, I had lots of time
to visit with him. Les is a retired construction contractor, and
like me, he has had some heart problems, we found we have much
in common. He also was towing a car behind his GMC and said that
he and the car were available any time I needed to go anywhere...
how could I go wrong? It was with him that I saw the dark side
of Las Vegas. He had gone someplace in his car and lost his wallet,
with about a hundred dollars in it and all his credit cards. I
found this out the next morning when I stopped by his coach on
the way to get a cup of coffee. I gave him a hundred dollar bill
and said I had more if he needed it. The next morning we were
to move our coaches to different sites as the convention was starting
and we had other sites already paid for. I went to the office
to pay up and log out of the site I was in and to find out where
my next site would be. It was then that I found out that Lester
had a problem. They told me that he didn't have any money and
security had put a boot on his coach so he couldn't move it. When
I went to his coach to see if I could help, he told me what had
happened. He had gone to the office before I had and offered to
pay for his site with a check. They told him they don't take checks
and they already had his credit card number on file. He told them
that he had lost his wallet and had canceled his credit cards.
It was then that all hell broke loose, and he thought they were
going to throw him in jail. Talk about kicking someone when they
are down, this takes the prize. They locked his motorhome down
and I guess he looked for me but couldn't find me. By the time
I got to his coach he had gotten some money from someone and was
about to go to the office with it. He handed me a hundred dollar
bill and went to the office to get the boot taken off of his coach.
Now we know that it is not all glitter in Las Vegas.
One of my new friends in a GMC is the most gung-ho marine I have
ever met or ever hope to meet. John Culver and I each put twenty
five years in the service. His was one of the last coaches to
arrive on Sunday. He has a loudspeaker on it and had the volume
up high with the Marine Corps hymn playing as he drove through
the park. His coach is painted in Marine Corps colors, has a big
gold Marine Corps emblem on the front of it and the Marine Corps
Seal painted on the spare tire cover. He has a lot of fancy lights
inside and outside. He has a twenty foot telescoping flag pole
fastened to a plate that he parks the front wheel on to hold it
steady. In no time at all he had raised the American an Marine
Corps flags, which were visible from anywhere in the park. I'll
have to say that I was impressed, but I reminded him that in the
old Navy the Marines always went in first too secure the place.
In this case, however, the Navy had arrived in the park almost
three weeks before the Marines show up with the band playing.
In the old Navy, sometimes the Navy UDT sailors (now called Seals)
went in before the Marines and the Navy C.B.s were right in there
with the Marines. I can't imagine what his home in Scottsdale,
AZ looks like so I'll add it to my list of places to visit and
check it out next winter.
I can't say that the trip to Boise went well, but I guess it could
have been worse. Gertrude really must have been bitter when she
learned that Gus was going to be in charge for the trip to Boise.
It was raining when I pulled out, I stopped at the first filling
station for $1.01 gas. The sign on the pump read pay before filling
so I went in to give them my credit card and found out they don't
take credit cards... the dark side of Las Vegas again. I still
had about a half a tank so I headed out expecting to fill up later.
Now Gus had told me to go via Salt Lake City, it being Interstate
all the way. However, I was talking to someone who had made the
trip to Boise several times and he told me that US93 was a good
road and was a lot shorter. I checked with Gus and found out it
was about 100 miles shorter, so I told him to go on US93. When
we turned onto US93 I still hadn't stopped for gas, and it wasn't
long before we started up a grade, poor visibility from the rain
and I wondered how high we would get before it turned to snow
(the morning weather map showed rain & snow all the way to
Boise). I could hear a voice telling me to turn around, it could
have been Gus. I pushed the Miles per Gallon button and it read
5. I pushed the Fuel in tank button and it read 20. (5 X 20 =
100) I had to find a filling station in the next hundred miles
or things would get real complicated. I zoomed out on the map
and could find no sign of civilization for the next 150 miles
so I did a quick 180 and headed back to the interstate, about
four miles south. I should have kept going south to find better
weather but we headed to Salt Lake City. We found a filling station
before the fuel ran out, went in and filled up with $1.26 gas.
It made me cry after buying gas for less than a buck a gallon
so many times. I really cried when we got into Utah and saw it
for $1.03... we could have made it!
Before we got to Salt Lake City we found the snow, not to heavy
though and not for too long, but I dropped my speed a bit just
to be on the safe side. The mountains south & east of Salt
Lake were snow covered all the way down to the interstate it looked
like we could be in Alaska. Lots of construction south of &
in Salt Lake City... after we got out of the construction zone
the rain was letting up a little so kicked my speed up again.
It didn't last too long and the rain picked up again, thanks to
Gertrude. Around Twin Falls it turned to snow again, this time
heavier, and I could see on the shoulders where it had been pushed
the night before. The traffic was heavy so I had to stay in line
and run slower than I wanted to. I was sure glad that I wasn't
on US93, I could just see us running out of gas in a snow storm
& too far from civilization to use the cell phone. Hard telling
how long we would have been there... thanks Gus, for telling me
to turn around. After the rain and snow let up, I let her run
75 MPH to make up time lost, and found three cars were running
with me. When we got in the hills I would pass them going down
at 85 MPH and they would pass me going up. Kept this up for several
miles and when we pulled into Boise we were back on schedule with
the time Gus had allotted for the trip.
Backed in alongside Meg & Erin's house and plugged into AC
power and the phone line so I can get on the net. The temperatures
are running 20 to 30 degrees below the comfort zone... I should
have gone south. The trees are in bloom and budding so spring
is just around the corner. The daylight hours were lengthening
in Las Vegas but here they are about two hours shorter. Will sure
be glad to see some 80 degree temps. again.
Getting good chow and getting some work done on my computer. Added
a Zip drive so I can save and send long files. Also helping Dave
try to fix some problems with an old computer I gave him when
I updated mine.
The 4th of April, Me & my shadow headed south (only about
17 miles) with 4 pretty girls (my granddaughter Erin and three
of her friends plus my son Dave) to visit some points of interest
about the ancient Shoshone Indians by the Snake River. Thanks
to Gertrude the weather was terrible, cold with light showers.
After lunch the rain let up and the girls took lessons on how
to use an "Atalatl", a device the Indians used to launch
a spear with high velocity. They all improved their skills, but
I'm afraid it will take a lot more practice before they will be
able to put meat on the table.
It looks like after I get this letter sent it will be time to
head west to Petaluma, CA with a couple stops on the way to visit
relatives and friends. I hope to find warmer weather and no snow
in the mountains.
After Petaluma, about April 18th, I'll head east to Coleridge,
NE & Sioux Falls, SD with a few stops in CO, MO & IA.
I don't know when or where I'll be to send the next letter. Maybe
I'll still be in Coleridge when Marv & Jackie return from
their trip to Ireland and I can get on Marv's new computer to
send it. I have to remember to get to Virginia before the end
of May to reregister the motorhome. Things tend to get real complicated
if the registration runs out and I don't like complications.
Have a Happy Easter! Till next time, Dallas, or Dad if it fits.