Typical Day on the Road
May 2006
May 1
Arrived at the home of Dennis' parents in Arkansas.
May 2
Drove to Jonesboro, Ark. to say howdy to our librarian friends and do some computer work, and Zephyr met with a reporter to be interviewed for a local magazine about his books. Later, he also met up with a friend of his at the spiffy new mall, which, we hear, features the city's first escalator ever. We also hear that its first passenger was the same woman who, years ago, also was the first rider of the city's first elevator. This mushrooming town of about 55,000 residents is also about to launch a municipal bus system.
May 3
Back at the home of Dennis' parents. After he retrieved a stash of very old comic books that had been in the garage for years (as well as a stash of ancient Haldeman-Julius Little Blue Books - what a treasure trove of memories and knowledge) we said our goodbyes and headed out to spend the night with his sister en route to our next engagement. On the way, we stopped to do some computering at Midnight Oil, one of our surprise-find coffee shops in unexpected places that transport us for the moment back to California.
(Another that comes to mind is In The Mood in Grand Junction, Colorado. Its name comes from the song recorded by Glenn Miller, who grew up in the town, and who has a tiny but illuminating museum here in his memory. The proprietor of In The Mood is a colorful gentleman who uses his venue to direct theatrical projects for local youths; and he's so serious about theatre that he periodically travels to L.A. to take acting workshops. He also makes an excellent soup. Here's hoping to run into you again one of these days, Perry!)
But we digress, and we promise it won't be the last time. On to visit Dennis' sister, where we showed her, for the first time, the music video Zephyr made - the one in which he appears to drive, and wreck, her car!
May 4
Said goodbye to Dennis' sister and her husband, then we headed out into a thunderstorm that was flooding the streets. We had about 100 miles to go to Harrison, Ark., to do two performances at a school. With the downpour earlier in the day, we were certain that our lucky streak was about to end for sure this time - we'd have to unload our bikes in the rain. But the precipitation abated just in time, and we were able to back our trailer right up to the door. So the streak continues!
May 5
Spent the day in Fayetteville, mostly at the magnificent new library. We're going to miss performing here this year, but we'll be back next year!
Drove into Oklahoma, and at a truck stop just across the border, we spotted a couple of memorable characters. One was a vagabond who looked as if he'd stepped out of the Sixties: shoulder length hair, leather outfit, guitar and backpack. The other was a gritty looking policeman who looked and talked like Wilford Brimley, and commented to someone that he's been rather busy tonight, having locked up 6 people so far (it's a rather small community). When the young man asked him why those people were arrested, he replied, "for being stupid in a no-stupid zone. They're driving intoxicated, driving without a license, you name it. Folks are going crazy tonight.)
The hippie-like fellow introduced himself, and the policeman chatted with him amiably, but then warned him he'd better move along and not bother anyone if he didn't want to become number 7.
May 6
We checked into a KOA near Oklahoma City, the same one we stayed at several years ago. And the same family was operating it, including a son about the same age as Zephyr. In fact, the last time we stayed here, he and Zephyr had a great time fooling around with recording equipment and doing a parody of a rap number. Now, both are dedicated guitarists, so they got together and did some jamming. Zephyr was quite surprised when we pulled into the lot - he didn't know we were coming here, and didn't remember the place until he saw Jason again.
May 7
After leaving the campground, we continued along the notorious I-40 trek through the Southwest that we have traversed, lo, these many times already. We stopped in Oklahoma City to visit the Memorial. It's one of those things which, on the one hand are very depressing, and on the other hand are uplifting. They've added a museum since our last time here, but we didn't enter it this time. There's also a new federal building nearby.
The blast occurred about a block from the main library, and when we performed there a few years ago, one of the librarians mentioned that some of the librarians were still unnerved whenever they would hear a sudden loud noise.
We've lived through quite a number of significant historical events, most of them utterly awful, and we've been to the locations where many of them occurred - sometimes barely missing them, in fact. Somehow, we can't help feeling the more fortunate for it, as though the whole will be more positive than the sum of its parts.
We stopped for the night in Clinton, OK, and went to a little park to cook our dinner. It brought back memories of the first time we ever saw this town, a moment recorded on a video somewhere. We were on our way from San Francisco to begin our first East Coast tour, and we stopped in Clinton to cook dinner. But that time, we were in a motor home, and Zephyr was imitating Dad doing tai chi instead of yakking on the phone, and Mom was operating the camera instead of recuperating in bed from the illness that has afflicted her all day today.
May 8
Before leaving Clinton, we went to a Goodyear shop to get the tires replaced on our trailer, so they'll be nice and fresh for our upcoming hectic summer tour. It took them longer than expected, because a stud was broken on one of the wheels, and they were unable to replace it, so we'll just have to do it on down the road somewhere.
Then it was a 38-mile drive down to Hobart, to perform for an after-school program. Because Kimberly has been very ill the past couple of days, we were afraid that we would have to "do another Reno". (A few years ago when we were performing a number of shows in Reno, she became so ill that she barely could drag herself out of bed to visit the doctor. So the boys had to do 4 performances without her, talking over how to cover her parts in the van on the way to the first show. But the performances went splendidly, and it was the only time in our 18 years in business that any of us has had to miss because of illness.) But she rallied enough to come through, and we were all relieved.
On to Amarillo for the night, and as always, the first thing we noticed coming into town was the huge steak-house that promises a free 72-oz. steak if you can wolf it down in one hour. A lot of folks actually have attempted this suicidal feat. Some have even succeeded. The very thought of it makes us nauseous; but then the very thought of steak itself makes us nauseous. The establishment, however, has a charming facade with the motif of an old western town.
May 9
Left Amarillo this morning, but 12 miles out of town, we started hearing a peculiar noise under the hood. We pulled over and discovered that our belt was wearing out pronto, and was in fact only about half as wide as it should have been - the noise we were hearing was caused by shreds of it flying off and into the engine. The closest parts store was back in town, so we slowly drove the 12 miles back, bought a belt, and Dennis spent about 45 minutes getting it installed. Still, it was much faster and considerably cheaper than going to a garage.
On the way back out of town, we decided we'd stop at The Cadillac Ranch, which we've passed numerous times but never actually set foot on until now.
On to New Mexico, where we gained an hour to compensate for the delay earlier. When we reached Albuquerque, we encountered a fierce windstorm, blowing sand all over the place.
May 10
Spent most of the day at a branch of the Albuquerque Library, catching up on computer work. Then hit a Borders bookstore in the evening. We learned that the windstorm we experienced last night was the outskirts of a storm that savaged the Texas Panhandle, through which we had just traveled, with tornadoes. Reports are that locally, winds reached 80 mph
May 11
The first order of business was to swing by (Yippee!!!) the brand new Trader Joe's, the first in New Mexico we believe, which opened about a month ago.
Thus fortified, we drove on to Farmington, about 200 miles away. Just before Farmington, we passed through the little town of Bloomfield, where we saw a woman and a boy about 9 or 10 standing at a busy intersection and holding picket signs indicting the local justice system. We decided to stop and hear her story. She said that her husband had just bought a new car and was taking it home at night, too late to have it properly licensed. He was stopped by a policewoman, who gave him about $600 worth of citations. Today, he appeared in court, and the judge sentenced him to 3 days in jail because of his "attitude" (for arguing with the police officer). The boy was her son, who volunteered to come with her to help draw attention to the matter. We only heard her side of the story, of course, but in our 14 years on the road, we've encountered a few problems with the local constabulary as well (especially when our vehicle was sporting those dreaded California plates, which automatically made us suspected drug dealers) and it makes us sad to hear about such incidents. We know that most police officers are dedicated, courteous professionals, and police departments everywhere work very hard at presenting a favorable image; it's grossly unfair for the conduct of an occasional bad egg to give the whole department and the whole community an unsavory reputation. We hope this issue can be resolved satisfactorily and swiftly. And we have to give this lady credit for taking her fight to the streets; it also makes us profoundly sad (as it does her) that so many people equate dissent with trouble making and treason. What better way to show your love for your country, or your community, than by addressing its problems?
Once we arrived in Farmington, we had the evening free, so we decided to attend a movie. We settled on "RV" with Robin Williams, which we figured would be a fluffball, but we had to see it anyway, because it deals with fulltiming (as we nomads refer to it), and it reportedly presented a rather negative view of the activity. But even though the individual components of the film were indeed arrant silliness, we couldn't help laughing at the whole thing occasionally. And though many details were quite unrealistic (the script appears to have been written by someone who's read books about RV's, but NEVER taken a trip in one), the portrait painted of fulltimers is really not bad. The one such family that figures heavily in the plot turns out to be far more admirable than they initially appear.
May 12
Dennis and Kimberly's wedding anniversary. And what better way to spend it than by working?
Our first order of business was to pick up mail from the post office, and it included a shipment of Zephyr's books. Initially, there was only one of the two boxes of books we were expecting, but we returned a couple of hours later and the second one had arrived. Huzzah - no waiting around tomorrow or backtracking later!
Across the street from the Post Office was a coffee house, where we spent some time getting laptop work done.
Our mail included a request from a theatre in Chicago to read the script of Dennis' full-length play, the second such request he's received. (Both theatres had read an excerpt and synopsis.) So he scrambled around for much of the morning getting a script ready and sending it off to them.
Then it was off to the Farmington Library, which is just about our favorite library building out of the many, many we've seen so far. We haven't performed here yet - we did a couple of shows at the old library before this one opened. But today we presented a pair of workshops to librarians. Dennis and Kimberly went over some storytelling tips and theatre activities with a group of them, and then Zephyr presented his young author workshop.
Then we zipped off to Cortez, CO., where we had reservations at a KOA. Today, KOA campgrounds everywhere are offering a free stay, with only the request of a donation toward children's cancer research. We certainly complied with this request, being bleeding-heart suckers for charitable causes.
Tonight there was an utterly fantastic full moon, which rose over a tastefully contoured mountain range, establishing a panorama that looked like it came from a John Ford western. What an extravagant anniversary present from Mother Nature!
May 13
Left Cortez and drove to nearby Mesa Verde National Park, where we contemplated going last winter when we came through. But as the ground was covered with snow and we would have had to drive up into the mountains, we decided to pass until this year. Well, this is this year, so here we are.
We drove on up to the gate, and purchased a year's pass to the National Park System, since we plan to be dropping in on quite a few of them. Then we pulled into the campground, where the couple ensconced next to us admonished us not to frighten away the two deer hanging out next to our campsite. We had no intentions of jumping up and down and making faces at the critters, but they appeared quite accustomed to people and very difficult to get rid of even if one had a mind to. They kept returning to check us out, sometimes coming within about 10 feet.
We extracted our bicycles from the trailer, intending to use them as our transport up the road to the pueblo ruins; but after biking up to the visitors' center (a distance of about one mile, but mostly uphill), we decided that with the heat and the hills and the thin air, we'd had our workout for the day. So we coasted back downhill to our campsite, and drove the van the rest of the way. Good thing we did, for it was a distance of more than 10 miles., and the terrain would have offered quite an exertion.
Today, we took the least strenuous of the available tours, a self-guided stroll through a rather large pueblo (over 200 feet wide and about 80 feet deep at one point) constructed into the side of a mountain more than 8 centuries ago.
May 14
Our second day of exploring the ruins, this time with two guided tours.
Today was indeed Mother's Day, but we were unable to call our mothers, for we are quite out of cell range. So Zephyr had to find other activities all weekend to substitute for chatting with his friends cross the country. Now that's roughing it!
May 15
Left Mesa Verde and headed back into Cortez, where we holed up for the afternoon in a coffee shop with wireless access. And next door was a bicycle shop where Dennis had his broken seat repaired.
Then it was off to Moab, Utah. The last time we passed through here, about 5 years ago, was in the middle of the summer, and there was a little fountain on the sidewalk in which people could splash. (And we did!) But we didn't see any such thing this time. We did, however, see an intriguing outdoor gear shop that had Clif Bars on sale for 99 cents, and also offered FREE filtered water, in unlimited quantities. The record, which they proudly posted, was 192 gallons obtained by a Boy Scout troop from Texas in 2001.
May 16
Left Moab and stopped at Arches National Park, which we toured the last time we were around. This time, we lingered just long enough to view a section of the park that we didn't see before.
We discovered a note on our windshield left by a family we've been in touch with through the online group Families On The Road (FOTR), but we were unable to catch up with them before we left the park.
And then we drove on to Salt Lake City to spend a couple of days and perform our next performance.
May 17
After some effort, we managed to put some time on the cell phone we bought for Zephyr a few days ago, especially for the trip he is about to take. Then we went downtown, so he could watch a movie he'd been wanting to see, and the parents went to a nearby coffee shop for some online time.
May 18
Two morning performances at a school in the suburbs of Salt Lake, only the second time we've performed in this area. Then we spent the afternoon at another Internet coffee shop, an outlet of the local franchise called Beans ‘N" Brews.
May 20
Drove on into Nevada without our son. Took a lengthy lunch break in Wendover, a town straddling the Utah-Nevada border; it must feel like the Twilight Zone to live in a city divided between a state known for "family values" and a state known for living it up. The contrast is about as great as one can imagine, and all you have to do is cross the street.
Wendover has been used frequently as a movie location, and of course Kimberly once spent a few days here filming "Independence Day". (Can that really have been eleven years ago already?)
Oddly enough, the time zone doesn't change until a few miles past town; but now we are on Pacific Time once again, and it still feels most natural to us.
May 21
Good Morning, Winnemucca. And goodbye - we continue on our way to Reno. We also pass through the town of Battle Mountain, where a billboard proudly proclaims, "Named the Armpit of America by the Washington Post; Why Not Make Us Your Nest Pit Stop".
May 22
Kimberly's parents go with us to RV lots in the Reno area, helping us look for a new touring vehicle. We see one good prospect, small C-class RV that's a Chevrolet, which our current van also is, and in very good shape.
Kimberly's parents took us to dinner at The Reno Hilton for Dennis' Birthday.
May 23
Off to Carson City today to look at more vehicles, but no better luck than yesterday.
May 24
Going through our storage unit, getting rid of things and getting things organized.
May 25
Zephyr flew into town this afternoon from Charlotte via San Francisco. He had a great time in North Carolina, where his band gave their first performance - at a party for a rather small audience, but it reportedly went quite well. He used his plane time to read "Da Vinci Cone" and most of "Digital Fortress". He was exhausted when he arrived and went to bed earlier than he has in years.
May 26
We've decided to buy the RV, so we went to the bank this morning to withdraw the money, then went back to the lot to complete the deal. Brought it back to Kimberly's parent's place and began going over it with our cleaning supplies and tools, getting it ready for the fleet.
Isn't she cute?
May 27
Got up this morning and saw that it was SNOWING!!! No, we're not joking - this is actually not unusual for this time of year in Northern Nevada. In fact, the snow continued for most of the day, thought it didn't stick to the ground. The temperature, while not really cold, was decidedly chilly, and the winds were vicious.
After a great deal of trial and error, we managed to rent a steam cleaner, and attacked the carpet and upholstery in our new RV.
May 28
Weather warmed up a bit today, but very windy. We continued readying our new vehicle.
We've been listening a great deal to our favorite radio station, KTHX ("The X"), 100.1 FM. It's a station we wish we could take with us on the road; in fact, Dennis commented that if we ever again settle down anywhere, he'd like it to be in Reno so he can listen to this station all the time. Priorities are priorities.
There were new guests arriving at the home of Kimberly's parents today. These included her brother and his family from Sacramento, and her aunt and uncle from Oregon.
May 29
Today there was a big birthday bash for Kimberly's dad, who's turning 65. The house was full of friends, relatives and neighbors, including members of the Corvette owners' club to which her parents belong.
Today is also Memorial Day, of course. Accordingly, we've been reading in the local paper about an interesting case pertaining to the occasion. A soldier from this area was killed in Afghanistan last fall who happened to be an adherent of wicca; and now his widow is trying unsuccessfully to have a symbol of that religion placed by his name on a local memorial, like the other religious symbols that appear on it. Nevada officials seem to be supporting her in her suit, but the folks in Washington apparently are not keen on the concept.
May 30
Contacted our insurance company by phone to obtain a policy on the new vehicle, then headed down to the Sierra View branch of the library, where we have performed many times (but will not be, alas, appearing this year) to do some Internet work and some research for our next production. Said hi to one of our local librarians, and told her how much we'll miss performing in Reno this year.
We had a big scare when Dennis went to our bank and attempted to withdraw some money, and learned that the account was several THOUSAND dollars overdrawn! But this couldn't possibly be true, so we called customer service and learned that when we withdrew funds on Friday to buy the RV, the sum was deducted from our account TWICE!! What's even more astounding is that we were told this was standard practice when an out-of-state withdrawal is made - but the additional debit is then cancelled out. (We just report the facts, folks, we don't explain them.) But somehow, it did NOT cancel on this occasion, and we were left with an account that was very seriously in the red. But not to worry, we got it straightened out quickly, and there were no checks bounced because of the mistake.
May 31
Today was Comedy of Errors day, although it didn't always seem entirely amusing. We decided to drive to Truckee, Ca. to register our RV. But we didn't think we were going to make it there at first; because after we stopped to get our tires aired up, we were unable to keep the engine running long enough to get anywhere. We'd start it up, and it would die almost immediately. (Which somehow gave us a very definite sense of déjà vu.) Thinking the gas gauge might be broken and the tank might be empty, Dennis walked to a gas station, where he purchased a gas can and filled it with a couple of gallons. Then he came back and added it to the tank, discovering that the handy dandy new and improved gas can was designed (by practical jokers with engineering degrees, maybe?) so as to spill liquid all over your hands. The addition to the tank didn't help matters any, so we started looking for a garage. There was one about a block away, and they said they'd be willing to take a look at our problem. We managed to drive over, with the engine dying about five times in the process; but when we pulled it into the shop, it perversely decided to keep running beautifully. So the mechanics, not seeing it die themselves, were unable to tackle the seemingly nonexistent malfunction.
Okay, we figured there wasn't a problem anymore, so we continued on the day's errands, well behind schedule.
The next stop was FedEx/Kinko's to get some paperwork ready. We parked in the closest spot we could find, a street space around the corner in front of an office building. A woman came scurrying out, apparently terrified that we might be setting up camp there, and advised us that "This is not really a place to park a camper." We assured her that it would suit our needs just fine at the moment, and went on into Fedinko's. (Ah, but it brings back such fond memories of our first year on the road, when the very sight of our motor home struck terror into the hearts of citizens all over the continent. RVing has come a long way since then - indeed, we've been amused and bewildered to see how downright TRENDY it's become in the past few years. But evidently, there's still a stigma attached to it in some quarters.)
We attempted to download and print out our new insurance card from Met Life's web site, but due to technical difficulties, it was impossible. So we called them to have the card faxed to us and learned that, lo and behold, there was no record of our having called them yesterday, and therefore we still had no policy on the RV at that point. So we had to go through the whole process on the phone all over again. And when it came time to give the representative the Vehicle Identification Number, we discovered that our registration paperwork somehow had been misplaced in all the shuffle and scuffle and ruffle of transferring belongings from one vehicle to another. We did manage to give the representative the information she needed, and a few minutes later, we received the documentation via fax. But even after we finished our business at Fedinko's, it took us a good half-hour (or a bad half-hour) to find the missing documents buried under a stack of other papers. At last we were on the way to Truckee, and the lady in the office building must have breathed a deep sigh of relief when we finally departed her neighborhood.
Once underway, the vehicle gave us absolutely no trouble on her maiden voyage, a brief jaunt into California - our first visit to our official home state in over a year. And - a pleasant surprise, given how the day had gone so far - it passed the smog test in flying colors. The only real pain here was the price tag: 127 dollars, compared to 49 for a car.
Thus, in mid-afternoon, armed with our full arsenal of papers, we headed to the Truckee DMV, where we were about to participate in a rather comical ritual. About 50 people were in the waiting area ahead of us; and instead of standing in line, they were seated in three rows of chairs that made a zigzag queue. Now the chairs were really a nice touch - they were much more comfortable than standing in line for an hour. But what made it such a spectacle is that each time the next customer would be called to the window, those in the seated line would shift forward by one seat, a game of musical chairs that looked like a most peculiar sort of dance. And it was especially surreal that we all could look across the counter and see the official portrait of the Governator snickering at our silliness.
At last, we finished our two transactions (we also applied for a state I.D. for Zephyr) and were on our way about a thousand bucks lighter. Taxes and fees can add up in a rather painful fashion.
