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?

mojo needed

hey folks! we could use al lthe good mojo you can spare. we don't officially hit the road until monday but it looks like that may not happen. maybe. poor sad rodney.

remember how, when yo uwere a kid and you knew you would be going to Disneyland or some other awesome place and how up until you had your hand wrapped around a stack of e tickets, you never reallythought you would get there? that's how i'm feeling about this trip. we're so close yet so far and it seems there are so many obstacle in our way. i have had constant butterflies fluttering about my insides and i feel as if we're always going to be stuck. if only we were able to buy the Transit. sure, we could buy one now but then there would be no funds for actual adventuring. aack! we're stuck and we're losing our spirit for this whole kooky scheme. sned us mojo please. we and rodney could really use it.

great big hugs and thank yous to those of you who have contributed to the gas fund. you are loved as loved canbe and we aprreciate you greatly (you know who you are)!

and now, back to a very packed Rodney with wonky bits and leakyfluids. keep yer fingers crossed!

pain in the neck and the art of auto maintenance

Alert! alert! I'm going to babble about car stuff. So don't bother reading this if constant velocity joint boots put you to sleep. If dirty black grease gets your blood flowing then read on...

Boy, life would be so much simpler right now if we had managed to talk Ford or Kia (or anybody) into making us a deal on a new vehicle. I spent all of the last two days well into the evening doing needed maintenance on Rodney, our old Toyota Rav4, and my neck is soooooo sore from craning up to look at Rodney's dirty underside. Rodney has over 120,000 miles on his odometer, but who's counting? Most of Rodney is in OK shape but in doing all the upkeep (including but not limited to: a new battery, new alternator belt and power steering belt, new front brake pads, caliper lube, and fresh brake fluid and bleed, engine oil and filter change, transmission fluid change, coolant flush and refill, and fresh power steering fluid.... oh, and new spark plugs and wire harness) I discovered some other things I had not noticed. First, Rodney's rear shocks are still working fine but they have lost some fluid. Gah! That means they may go bad during our trip. We'll have to run with it for now. More troubling is the hair line splits starting to creep into the CV joint boots. Double Gah! I don't have the time or resources to take care of that now. Fortunately, the boots are showing no cracks anywhere but on the small end of the outboard boots right where they join the drive shafts and those cracks don't show until the car is jacked up and the wheels hang at full extension of the suspension and the cracks are not through the rubber yet. Hmmm. I will have to do a little stop gap fix up. Perhaps a layer of orange RTV gasket goop will give the boots a little more life.

It's worth a try, but it won't stop me worrying about the boots and checking on them every day of the trip. Looks like I'll have this pain in my neck for a long while.

what have we done?!

Gadzooks! what trauma! what tribulation! packing and moving is a bear. I can't believe we managed all that mess into boxes and got most of it (excluding a big yard sale, four car loads to goodwill, friends taking bits of furniture, a pile of junk for the bulk pick up, and completely filling ALL of the trash cans at our little bungalow court... the neighbors will curse us) stacked to the rafters in the back corner of the garage at mama a-go-go's house. Now I have to do a mess of maintenance work on Rodney (the car), tidy up our itinerary plan, and organize the stuff that is going with us.

Lots of things are in place but we're not done preparing yet. All the official address changes have been made, our temporary medical insurance is in place, and we seem to have worked out the kinks in all the electronic junk and their individual charging and battery needs. None the less, one of the most important items is a work in progress... our mental state. It has yet to come to terms with what we are doing. I am sleeping soooo much better after making a quick recovery from being gainfully employed, and after jumping the hurdle of packing and storing the stuff, crap, and junk. Even so, I am gripped with the lingering doubt of, "good heavens! what have we done?" I just have to believe the feeling will fade when we get on the road. (that and I must learn to shave with a razor again after years of electric convenience. Have to say it didn't go so smooth this morning. I packed away my old plug-in Norelco to eliminate one more electric gadget from our equipment.)