The Adventures of Me & My Shadow #59 in CA, NV, AZ,&
UT 4/8/01
1269 miles this trip, odometer now 6628 total, miles this year
7523.
From Boise, ID Hi Everyone!
The cold rainy weather followed me up the coast and I made sure
to avoid the toll road that Gertrude put me on the last time I
made this trip. I checked in with my cousin Elton, the space engineer
and his wife Ginny. I guess he couldn’t stand retirement
and is back to work, working on something that we will hear about
in about 2004. I also met two more beautiful ladies up by Long
Beach. Katherine and Claire Jenness, their parents Bob and Terry
are both lawyers. I sure didn’t think that a couple lawyers
could produce any thing that beautiful and good natured. Claire
about six months and cutting teeth would give me a smile from
ear to ear every time I looked at her and said something. Her
big sister Katherine about 2 ½ was always there to help
mom & dad care for her. Their Aunt Michelle came over and
visited awhile before having to go back to work. After a nice
visit and a delicious dinner it was back to West Covina where
I left my motorhome at my cousin Bessie’s. I had talked to
Bob on the phone and he told me there was no place to park it
at his place. He thinks that getting up in the world meant buying
a house on a hill and after passing the bar exam he wanted to
get up in the world. I enjoyed a nice long visit with Bessie and
got a bag of oranges from a tree in her back yard to supplement
the grapefruit form Phoenix. The weather improved and the high
temp was to stay up in the 70s as I headed to Riverside to check
in with my nephew Doug and his wife Dianne and son Steve. Like
Bessie they are trying to fatten me up. I’ll soon be heading
out on the desert to the Western States GMC Rally and I won’t
have room for those pancakes in the morning and ice cream in the
evening.
With all the shooting and car crashes they are doing their part to control the world population here in the Los Angeles area.
I Headed east to Emerald Desert Gulf & RV Park at Palm Desert, CA. It looks to me like they are going to try to solve the electricity problem in CA with hot air, or cold air that is moving. They have a whole lot of windmills and a lot more being built along I-10 on the way over here. I did find the temps I have been looking for since January, day time up in the 80s. It’s wonderful but I sure don’t need the gulf course here at the RV park, I have only played 9 holes of gulf in my life and that was a long time ago with my one armed brother and he beat me so I figured it wasn’t my game. The food, seminars and entertainment have been outstanding. I even got a piece of tail on Tuesday evening after the business meeting. The tail came from an eight foot alligator in Florida and was hauled here by the crew from Cooperative Motor Works in Orlando, FL. They also cooked it and it was delicious. It has a flavor all it’s own but it reminded me of the first time I ate frog legs sixty some years ago. On a boy-scout camping trip we caught frogs and cooked their legs like hot dogs over a camp fire. It was some of the best food I ever ate. The only wild game I’ve eaten and would not go back for seconds was a wild duck. It tasted just like marsh mud smells.
I met another California GMC owner here that hasn’t had his GMC very long and didn’t trust the brakes so didn’t drive it here. He said he has been reading my adventure stories and asked me If I needed more citrus fruit. I told him I could use some more so he told me he would bring me some when he came back. A couple days later I had been away from my GMC for a time and returned to it to find four big bags of fruit. One each of grape fruit, oranges, lemons almost as big as grapefruit and tangerines. I have been giving some away and will have to give more away as I would never be able to eat it all before it spoiled. I didn’t write his name down and now I can’t remember what it was. I believe it to be about $100 worth, or more if I had to buy it at a store.
The good weather held out till the Rally was over but on the morning we checked out, the temp was down a little and a stiff wind was blowing. I headed to Nellis AFB, NV at the North edge of Las Vegas to wait till the International GMC Rally starts. The trip went well, heavy traffic but not as bad as I thought it would be. I found my 80 degree Temps again but on the trip I see the higher elevations still have a little snow. I had some interesting visits with some new friends driving SOBs (Some Other Brand) and even a retired Army Infantry man camping in a tent. They all had interesting stories to tell and again I realized just how fortunate I am. One of them had a real problem with his big diesel pusher. As I understood it, several times after running along side of an 18 wheeler with its turn signal on for a few miles, they would move over and crowd him over to the shoulder. He would then have to stop and call the police to report it. I told him that I would have just changed speed a little, he informed me that he had it on cruise control. I just shook my head and walked away. I always do all I can to accommodate an 18 wheeler. I want them to remember Me & My Shadow as a friend. The RV Park at Nellis AFB is one of a kind. Instead of parking side by side there were six circles each with eight RVs in it. It reminded me of the covered wagons camping in Indian country.
4/30/01
I checked into the Oasis RV Park two days early for the rally
and when I read the rules for the park I couldn’t believe
I was still in the USA. This is the most unfriendly RV park I
have ever been in. The rally went well and I again gave a seminar
on GPS. I’m going to have to make some notes for giving these
seminars. Because of those bubbles on the brain sometimes my mind
goes blank. The temps were on the way down when the rally ended
and at 6-am on Sat. as the sun was coming up I headed north to
Boise, ID this is not the right direction to go this early in
the spring. I had a stiff tail wind and was able to run 75 mph
with 10 inches manifold pressure. The temps were down but with
a good tail wind, who cares? I saw a few snow flakes before we
got to Salt Lake City & north of the city a light rain was
falling. After I-15 split off I pulled over to pass a car and
lost traction. There was a thin layer of slush; right away those
little voices that tell me what to do started arguing. The first
one told me to “slow down & be alert”. The second
one said “park it, you have no pressing engagements”.
The third one said, “you know the rules man, when we have
a tail wind we don’t stop for anything”. He then said
“besides, just look at the traffic in the south bound lane,
there are dry roads up ahead”. We kept going, and he was
right, we found dry roads just as the level road ended and the
hills began, how lucky we are. But only for about five miles,
then the shit hit the fan. Heavy rain & heavy snow at the
same time, the temp was just above freezing. Visibility was bad,
the wipers were having a hard time trying to keep up with it.
Those little voices were arguing again, the rain & snow soon
let up and the little voices let me have a little peace, till
we saw the flashing red, blue & amber lights up ahead. Two
wrecked cars being loaded on flatbed trucks and the little voices
started in again. We still had a tail wind & I knew the rules,
I’m the one who made them. We were all alone, I could see
no one in front of us but there were tracks in the slush and no
one behind us but the traffic in the south bound lane was normal.
After a few miles I see some lights behind me, he went over to
the left lane to pass me and just as he got ahead of me he saw
those nice tracks I was following. As he tried to come over to
the right lane he almost lost it, I let up and he made it. He
was soon out of site ahead but in about three minutes I see him
again, just getting out of his car. It was headed the wrong way,
down in the median against the opposite bank. I guess he is just
a slow learner. The weather improved and the sun was just setting
when I backed in beside Rita’s house. I couldn’t believe,
every time I needed fuel I found the lowest price. If the roads
had been good all the way I could have made it in 12 hours. I
see frost the first morning here, so I’m too far north.
Till next time, Dallas or Dad if it fits.
Me & My Shadow & Gus on the road.
