Eclectic Views

    
Not all of us here are witty geeks! 

Some of us are the outdoorsy sorts who would rather be behind the
wheel driving across the desert, watching the moon rise behind distnt
mountains. Only a few hundred more miles to go...
  

    



Make it so, Joe.
  

    
(At least witty geeks don't make as many typos)

I am more at home when I am away than when here. Give me a tank of
fuel, a few cassettes and a State road and I am gone.

I have been traveling quite a bit this year, and the year is still
young. I have a 1971 VW Camper with a zillion miles on it. Most of the
time, I am gone after work on Friday night. I stay in the right lane,
find a true "clear channel" station (KNX or KSL will do), light up a
Chesterfield and hit the road. 

My last trip was down to Lake Havasu, AZ. I was attending a gathering
of VW Buses: http://www.busesbythebridge.com/
Although we seem to exist in some sort of time-warp, there are still
enough old VW transporters to merit gathering throught the country, and
'BBB' is one of the best.

The dog was in the bus, ready to go while was still packing the food,
kerosene lamps, extra clothes, red wine and a carton of Chesterfields.
I was off early, hoping to beat the rush hour traffic, but still
managed to get into the 'beep-and-creep' as I chugged over the Altamont
pass. Of course, I am in the right lane and in third gear, I am not in
a hurry. Good thing too, because 30-year-old VW Campers are designed
not to hurry. 

Soon I was on I-5 at cruising altitude, 62 mph and steady. I listening
to the truckers on Channel 17 (here in CA, 17 is the trucker channel,
everywhere it is 19), they never seem to run out of complaints about
their dispatcher, their ex-wives or the CHP, which they hate most of
all. I topped off the tank in Santa Nella and continued on down the
road, spending much of my time dimming my headlamps when groups of
semitrucks would pass. I listened to a Bob Wills cassette, the dog was
fast asleep.

My original plan had been to stop at a roadside rest, but I wasn't
sleepy so I made it to Tehachapi that night before camping. Tehachapi
is worthy of a stop during the springtime to sit back and watch the
trains at the Tehachapi Loop, but it was winter and I was tired.
I was the only camper at the County Park there that night.

Up before sunrise, I got to see the sun coming up over the Mojave
desert. The numbers of mothballed airplanes has grown since 9-11, there
are oodles of them, more than I have ever seen at the airport in
Mojave. http://www.mojaveairport.com/newweb/storage.htm

I wanted to drive, not look at planes, but the morning sun was
shimmering off of them so beautifully that I couldn't stop looking as I
drove, and almost drove right off of 58 as I went east.
My destination that day was Nipton http://www.nipton.com/, a perfect
getaway for those of us who do not get along well in crowds. Perfect
for train watchers, Nipton is right along the main line of the (mumble)
railroad.

The town (if it can be called that) is perched along the edge of an
immense valley, one can see for miles around. Camping is cheap,
firewood is included and the dog can run around and sniff to her hearts
content. I set up my chair, poured a glass of Italian red and read my
book ("The Road To McCarthy") until sunset. The sunset there is
glorious! I had the sense to build my campfire before it got dark. When
it gets dark in the desert, it's dark. This is a good thing, the stars
are fabulous. It was a good night.

The next day I drove up to Searchlight, Nevada where I filled the tank
with fuel at much lower Nevada prices, then meandered down I-95
towards Lake Havasu. I was in a line of snowbirds, their northern
license plates heading in a southern direction. All going to Quartzite,
Organ Pipe and Puerto Penasco, I assume. They all tow Suzuki Sidekicks
and Saturns. The cars that they tow are worth more than my VW Camper.

I was soon being tailgated by a 1967 VW Sundial Camper, one of the
250-or-so VW vans that were heading to the event. It was early in the
day, otherwise I would have had more company; there are only a couple
ways into Lake Havasu after all. I spent a couple nights meeting up
with new and old friends, like any affinity group it's a small world in
the hobby of old VW busses. The journey was the main thing though.

On the way back I stopped off for an overnight at another private
campground, this one up on a mesa near Maricopa, CA.
http://www.songdog.com/ranch/index.htm

I can't wait to get out there again. Wherever 'there' is. I don't
care, just get me out on the road with a full tank of fuel, a couple of
Robert Earl Keen tapes and a fresh pack of Chesterfields. 
  

    

<snif>

The pictures of the Eastern Kern Airport parking lots made me homesick!
  

    
I think I have a pseud at last. Thanks static.
  

    
Sounds like a really nice time. Thanks for sharing, Joe.
  

    
Now, THAT's a good road trip. A tale with heft. Well told, <static>. I
loved my (1969) VW bus, and desert nights are illimitable.  
  

    
This is a little off topic, but, I love words like "illimitable"
because they remind me of Chip n' Dale.  Illimitable, indubitable,
prohibitable, anything with an "itable" in it that I can say real fast.

Now, back to your normal programming.
  

    
e e cummings

 
  

    
One thing about road food:   I continue to cling to the delusion that
small, rural towns will have great chili in their diners.  I am wrong
*so often*.  But I keep trying.
  

    

but man, do they have good biscuits and gravy at those little places!
  

    

Is it okay to ask about "healthy" road food here?  I have a new set of
dietary restrictions, and two road trips in the next two months...
  

    

 Shoney's has a salad bar.  Does that count?
  

    
The last time I saw my high school friend Shelly was when we sat next
to each other on the bus to our draft physicals.  He was playing
trumpet for the Brooklyn Bridge then.  He said that eating vegetarian
was the only way he'd found to keep to a survivable diet on the road.
  

    

That's what I figure on doing, too.  But more likely vegan, since I need to
avoid cheese and eggs and other delicious cholesterol bombs.  Sigh.

Trumpet for the Brooklyn Bridge, eh?
  

    

There's a blast from the past.  How could I have forgotten that ensemble?
  

    
Have noticed a definite deterioration in small town diner potatoes at
breakfast, lots of frozen shedded cardeboard showing up, B&G getting to
be more of a crapshoot, but I still always give it a try.
  

    
The cost of labor is the reason why the prepared foods are taking over
in the road food department. There are still good places, the Margie's
chain for example. http://www.margiesdiner.com/
In a pinch, the teriyaki bowl at Jack In The Box isn't *too* bad for
you, and pretty much all truck stops have salad bars now. 

This morning, I was driving aimlessly through the valley fog along Hwy
165 near http://sanluis.fws.gov/refuges.htm and found a fruit stand. I
picked up a 10# a bag of oranges for $3.00 and munched oranges and fig
bars. 

There is also that Dar Williams roadfood book for veggies.
  

    
I am planning to get that book.
And I can always live on nuts and berries.
  

    
...or arrange to arrive at friends' houses at mealtime~!
  

    
Only if they're vegans!
  

    
Or willing to be for the evening!
  

    

Trader Joe's canned grape leaves are excellent car camping fare.
  

    
Are they just grape leaves or are they stuffed with something?
  

    
I prefer canned laughter myself.
  

    
Ron, they're stuffed with rice, with a nice lemon-mint flavor.
It's hard to eat just one, especially when camping.  Trader Joes has great
canned food, and camping is the only time most of it tastes good to me,
since refrigeration is so available in the rest of my life.  

I like them for earthquake/storm food too, since I can recycle it to
camping food and actually eat some of it each year that we (knock on wood)
fail to have a disaster.