the summer road trip

We managed a two week road trip across and through six states. Here's a wee peek until we can find the time to write more.

waffle making in jackson

when we aren't camping or couching it with friends, we park our weary selves in sketchy, econo-motels. we're not picky (our budget won't allow it) but we do have two requirements...wifi and breakfast.most places that offer the oft-named "continental breakfast" offer up sorry bowls of some sort of bran cereal with raisins and an assortment of plastic wrapped danishes. sometimes there is a variety of cereal to choose from and sometimes there are powdered donuts. if we're really lucky, there are bananas. but in jackson, tennessee we hit the motherload of econo-breakfasts.

waffles!

lonely roads

Just a thought... While we were driving to Amboy from Twenty-Nine Palms it occurred to me just how unusual (historically speaking) this trip is. Lots of people have made trips like this but only in the last, what... sixty years? has any of us wealthy (relative to the mass of the world population) weenies been able to just go out and drive around. There are so many places (and other times in history) that cruising lonely roads is just down right dangerous. Brigands, bandits, marauding Visigoths... oh my!

There are dangers in what we are doing, but are we likely to be stopped on the road by a group of assault rifle toting mugs of questionable allegiance or authority? I am reminded of the tales I have heard of white knuckled rides through countries where chaos rules and a road block is to be feared. We are fortunate to have this chance, and it is hard for me to absorb the degree of our fortune.

resting our weary heads

mr. a-go-go and i are camping out in a motel in williams, arizona that offers up train cars and cabooses for the night if you have the moolah. as much as we wish to, we simply don't so we're here in cabin 18 lazing about. i'm tip-typing away here in a very manic manner and the mister is crafting it up on the enormous bed with its faux patchworked bedspread.we're here because we originally planned to camp in the town of tusayan which is a hop and jump away from the entrance to the grand canyon. we planned to camp for two nights but it seems mother nature would rather we didn't. the temps here are freakishly cold for this time of year and the overnight lows are BELOW freezing and since we're not exactly cold weather birds, we're here in a little room surrounded by train cars and rvs.tomorrow however we DO plan to visit that great grand canyon and i for one and quite excited to see it!

what? only day two?

well folks, after enjoying our overnight in johua tree national park we finally made it to arizona. it took many hours but we did it. along the way we drove all pokey-like along a long, long highway. we managed 350 miles on one tank of gas, go Rodney!we saw the most remarkable salt flat along one stretch that had flowing crystal blue water and bank upon bank of glittery rock salt so cool!we also found ourselves on old route 66 where the famous amboy shoe tree was. well, it's still there but completely toppled over for all the converse and cork wedgies laced about it.and upon entering arizona we saw the colorado river...with actual water in it. i feel all hokey that i love it all.

here's to hoping we get a camp site in tusayan!

feeling weepy

So we’re on our way. Our first night out in Joshua Tree National Park at Jumbo Rock looks like it will be windy and chilly. No sweat, we’ve been through wind chill and a thrashing tent before. Our last visit to Joshua Tree two years ago the wind was so wild it seemed like someone was throwing sand at the tent all night and we drove through sideways mud rain to enter the park. Sleeping with the wind tonight will be a challenge but it’s not what I am thinking about as I type on a lap top as the sky gets dark and the battery monitor ticks down. Instead I am considering my suddenly getting all choked up as we locked up and prepared to leave the friends’ house where we had been visiting for the weekend.

We were the last out in the morning. Everyone else had left early for school and or jobs. We took some time to get Rodney all packed up but when it came time to step out the door I found myself getting all weepy. It took some time to get out of Glendale as we had several things that had to be done before hitting the road east: post office, Michael’s for some craft supplies, Trader Joe’s for vittles…. and so on. My water works switched on again a couple of times as we made our way through the errands. Good grief, who knew that finally getting on the road would make me cough up a mess of emotional stuff that I have been fighting for a while. I’ll miss the kids we were visiting. I’m usually called the Uncle-by-choice there, and I changed a whole lot of their diapers. I have been visiting with them regularly, weekly, for so long, but that will be on hold for a long while. I’ll miss the visits, the kids, and their parents. The loss of that regular interaction struck me first, but it was just the beginning. Then I had to think about how much I have missed of my nephew, and how much mrs. a-go-go has missed of her niece and nephew. That thought led to the apparent impossibility of mrs. a-go-go and I having kids (yes, yes, we can adopt. Hold your breath. It’ll be a long while before we are in any position to do that.) That emotional mess led to thoughts about losing my dad four years ago and then to the forever irksome reality that there are so many things I can do so little about: the present worrisome health problems of loved ones, the impossibility of doing all things for others that I wish I could, and the lack of time I have to do the things I need for my own peace of mind.

Oh well, I guess that is partly what this trip is about. Going out into the world so I can come back and appreciate all the things I miss while away…. Then of course there is the need to do this trip just because. Just because we have talked about it so long, just because there have been too many sad things in that last several years. Hopefully I can spend more time seeing the good and wonderful things from the last several years that are here and appreciate them all the more…

OK gonna get weepy again if I don’t cut this out. I really hope that all the good folks who have supported us on this mission know how much we appreciate it and how much we miss them while we are away.

So, what happened on the way to Joshua Tree other than getting red puffy eyes? A brief recap: By noon we were at last headed east out of Los Angeles, a typical hazy spring afternoon in the valley of the smokes. After passing through the gate (of horn or ivory?) of San Gorgonio and San Jacinto we made the obligatory stop for the Cabazon dinosaurs.

There we made a spectacle of our selves in big floppy masks. Then while climbing the Morongo Valley, we drove into a swarm of bees.

It was like a sudden heavy rain and the noise and moving mass striking the car made us jump out of our seats. Just over the hill we mourned the dead bees that had lost the head butt with Rodney, and we cleaned the windshield at a 7-11. A quick stop at the new East Entrance Visitor Center and a nice chat with ranger Mimi, and we were on our way with a new annual pass for the National Parks. And here we are, sight 27, Jumbo Rock campground. It’s dark now. Gotta hunker down in the tent, hope we can out last the wind, and think about all the good stuff we’ll return to after our odyssey.

following the rabbit down the hole

I'd rather have a good photo of Joshua Tree National Park here but I thought the naughty pet was appropriate even though he's not white or wearing a vest or carrying a pocket-watch. So today we head off to Joshua Tree and then to the Grand Canyon which mrs. a-go-go has never seen. Rodney seems to be doing OK and the orange RTV form-a-gasket seems to be doing the trick keeping the old CV joints happy.

We have now spent a week packing, a weekend moving and storing, a week in San Luis Obispo doing final prep and visiting family, and one more weekend visiting friends. Now we head down the rabbit hole. The next shower may be as far away as Cave Creek, AZ next friday. I am supposing that our posts will be held up for a bit, but well have that weekend to catch up and load the first batch of travel photos.

Here we go, folks. Now which way did that orange rabbit in the pink sweater go?