MADDOGS

THE ADVENTURE CREW: Master, The Nomad, Sweet Bird of Freedom (aka Freeta Roam), Pixie & Pod, Miss Cycle, Ivan the writing muse, Jude, and the brains of the crew--Croc. DOUBLE-CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

 

AN HOUR DOWN THE ROAD...

An hour down the road at Baker, we take the exit that will lead us to the Mojave National Preserve -- when DING! The pesky battery light goes on again.

We give our friend, Rick a call, and he tells us to take The Nomad to Freeway Auto Services in Baker. We call Freeway and get the address. Street number only, as Baker only has one street.

Of course Jude gets lost (remember this town only has one street), and we have to call for directions. Again! We finally get there -- took us all of 1 minute. The mechanic looks under the Nomad's hood, and what does he find? Stuff like gray lint poking out of the alternator vents.

So now we're are taking in the sights of Baker while we wait for an alternator to be delivered tomorrow. Where is it coming from?

Barstow, of course. Here we go again with the eerie feelings.

Alien Fresh Jerky. Yummm! Those Alien's are mighty tasty.


Wait! Uh-oh! An interplanetary alien craft has landed. Jude knew all along those stories of Barstow & nearby Baker were all true.


Baker. Home of the world's largest thermometer. Today is a balmy 68, but on closer inspection, the summer temps can get up to 130! Makes SacTown's summer heat seem like life in the Arctic Circle.

Remote Office #97
The Crew has set up camp in the shade and Jude so Jude can put some time in with the Master.


We have a date with the mechanic at 9am tomorrow morning.

posted by crow  # 3:42 PM 1 comments
 

BARSTOW

Many years ago, Jude read this sci-fi book about the end of the world, the only survivors living underground in Barstow. As Jude remembers the story, it was eerie. Over the years, she has thought about the tone of that book and always thinks of it whenever she hears anything about Barstow.

So here we are, about 50 miles outside of Barstow, when Jude sees this two-lane backroad called Old Highway 58 and decides we should take it. No sooner do we get on the road that there is a DING. Checking the gages of the Nomad, we find the battery light is on. Better not take the 2-lane. Better get back on the highway and stop in the next town. Barstow. All the while Jude is remembering what she remembers of the book (mind you she has lost most of the specifics), and enjoying the eerie feelings and goosebumps.



Afraid to turn the engine off, we don't stop until we see an Auto Zone.


Our friendly helper, Rick (who LOVES the 120+ temps of Barstow summers), tests the battery and discovers it is bad. So we buy a replacement and Rick installs it. We are good to go.

posted by crow  # 3:25 PM 0 comments
 

Freakin' A

So last November (2007) Jude takes a full-time (40 hr/wk) assignment (front office at an elementary school) that is supposed to last for approx. 2 mos -- for maternity leave, she (Kelly person) thinks.

Guess what? No one is pregnant, nor was anyone ever pregnant. So 4 months later, Jude is still working. FREAKIN' A! Does this sound like a J-O-B or what?

But Jude actually likes this J-O-B, so for the time being (meaning while Holly is still in college), she's staying put for as long as the assignment lasts.

Here's the joke: The school calendar shows gray for days off, like 2 days at Thanksgiving, 2 1/2 weeks at X-mas, President's Day etc. So Jude gets to thinking that gray days mean no school OR in other words, Time Off. And lo and behold, there are 3 weeks of gray days in the spring. Spring Break, right?

BUZZZZ! Wrong! This time is actually for intercession. But Jude has already made plans. So the principal is nice enough to give her 2 weeks off. Meaning The Crew is on a MADDOG ROADTRIP!

THE PLAN: To meet Spud Cuz (Renae) in Las Vegas, then caravan to Arizona, hike to some Anasazi cliff dwellings, see the wild burrors of Oatman, and shake it up at Quartzsite.

Jude got off to a good start Monday afternoon, taking the WRONG freeway south. Here we go again! About 9pm, she was ready to call it a night. We pulled off Interstate 5 where there was no town -- just a couple of gas stations, a couple of fast food joints, and one hotel. But many truckers were parked, so we parked on the curb in front of the hotel. And Jude was out.

We were on the road at 5:30am. Croc saw to it that we made the right connection to get us to the right freeway (Hwy 99) and The Crew was on their way.

Labels:


posted by crow  # 3:02 PM 0 comments

Archives

April 2004   May 2004   June 2004   July 2004   October 2004   November 2004   December 2004   January 2005   February 2005   March 2005   April 2005   May 2005   June 2005   July 2005   August 2005   September 2005   October 2005   November 2005   December 2005   January 2006   February 2006   April 2006   May 2006   June 2006   July 2006   August 2006   September 2006   October 2006   November 2006   January 2007   March 2007   April 2007   June 2007   August 2007   September 2007   October 2007   November 2007   March 2008   April 2008   June 2008  

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?