Opus 2017-173: On the Street: More Like on the Road, part 2 of ?

The first night we stayed in a “resort” in the Palm Springs area.  Picture trying to drive a 20 foot U-Haul with a double axle auto trailer through a parking lot full of tourists.  I only went over a few curbs and hit no cars to my knowledge.  When we got settled in my wife suddenly realized the remote control didn’t work.  For me this would be a blessing because it would mean that the TV would not be on.  For my wife it is a tragedy worse than a President Hillary Clinton.  Something must be done.  The front desk said they would send someone in the morning.  That was an empty hope on their part.  Finally they sent someone who turned out to be the security guy.  He tried everything he knew and finally went and got a new remote out of the package.  It responded and our first night was saved.

The next day we experienced the fear that every traveler between Phoenix and Los Angeles fears.  We had a blow out in the middle of the desert.  If you don’t know the area, we were 40 miles from Indio (Palm Springs) and 70 miles from Blythe on the Arizona border.  It is 100 miles of desolation with nothing the break the monotony of sand and sage.  When we finally got U-Haul on the line and they contacted their emergency people we were told it would be 75 minutes before anyone could get to us.  104º.  A cat.  An invalid wife.  The blessing was the truck engine was fine and did not overheat so we sat in the A/C waiting.  Eventually we were up and on our way again.

At 3:02 P.M. we crossed the border out of the People’s Republik of Kalifornia.  Somehow the air seemed clearer and the sand looked less brown.  We had access to plastic bags in grocery stores again.  Gas also became cheaper.  We made it to Tucson after 10 hours on the road.  That was not enough for my wife.  We had to go looking for a place to eat.  It was past 10:00 and almost any place she would consider good enough was closed.  We stopped to get gas and I got caught in my big fear:  The long trailer would not make the turn around the gas pumps.  It was not a panic situation.  I was able to back up a bit and try another approach but it is a dread I have with this set up.  I can’t seem to convince my wife that this is not a sports car.

To be continued...

homo unius libri