Almost Coast to Coast!
Day 20 July 12th, 2012:
WARNING....LONG BLOG...sorry
Good evening / morning from Joshua Tree National Park, California…
By far the most bizarre and adventurous day this trip, perhaps of all the trips…at least on of the most memorable!
Started off like all other days…me working, kids and Patty sleeping…9:00 ish Patty’s up doing laundry and other stuff she does before we depart a location. By 10:00 am., the HVAC repair guy Eddie from Bobs Refrigeration of Utah came to fix our 1 rooftop AC. I worked with Eddie since getting up on the roof is a tad tricky, and I wanted to make sure he didn’t do damage up there, so I decided to be an HVAC helper in 100 deg heat…maybe it was 103, but who is counting. After 2 hours, problem was fixed, and we had the 3rd AC running, and OMG what a difference…the inside of the camper has been at best 30 degrees difference from outside temperature, which means 85 deg inside we were doing well, in our back bedroom…95 +….it’s been HOT! Now that this was fixed I was EXCITED to get a cool night sleep…boy was I wrong….but hold that thought!
So onto our next destination, outside Mojave Desert…should be nice and hot there! On our way there we drove through my FAVORITE PLACE….VEGAS!!!!! Tried to stop in “Pawn Stars” to see if we could see Chumly (from the TV show)…line was around the corner, so we opted for a drive by!…then we drove south and decided to stop at an outlet mall and do some shopping…then it was time to get some rest. It had been about 7 hours since we left Utah, which BTW was an absolutely awesome ride. South West Utah is VERY scenic…I was blown away by this slot canyon you drive through…absolutely breathe taking…oh sorry, let me get back on track…so we pull into this “campground”. In my mind I was thinking Chainsaw Massacre stuff, especially when we say the “workers”…But truthfully I was DOG tired after the long day, so we gingerly backed into a “deluxe” campsite…which when we opened the bumps had 6” of Clarence before hitting trees…all of us were tired, because we never checked the power…bad move…it was only 30 amps, and we need 50amps. After I shut the MH off, Michael said dad we have an issue…he told me, and I said no issue I have a splitter and we can get the 50 from 2 campsites.
Now…it has not rained at all in 20 days…but now that I have to be outside doing electrical work, the sky’s are about to open up….so I run to the store to see the workers who I swear were sharpening their chainsaws…to ask if I can use the next campsites power, I got blank looks so I assumed it was ok…back out to the on-coming storm. The ground was infested with Fire Ants, and if you stood more than 30 seconds they were on your legs, so I told the kids and Patty to stay in…as I literally was making splices to spare parts and moving to avoid getting bit, the storm was getting worse and started to drizzle. As I made the last splice on an extension cord, I plugged everything in, and it started to really rain. When I came in turned on just one AC because the electrical system at this place was very suspect…no breakers, no disconnects, very scary actually…AC came on, I thought we were in the clear then….,no power! Not sure what tripped but I didn’t wait to find out ...needless to say I flipped. It was 95 deg in the MH, 100 deg outside, we have been having issues with our generator, we had no power, it was starting to pour, and we had Charles Manson’s grand kids sharpening their saws…well within 2 minutes, bumps were in, and we pulled out of the rat trap, and decided to push through the desert in a torrential storm, where the desert floods! I can guarantee you I was not tired anymore!
If you have ever driven through an area prone to flash floods, you will understand, if you haven’t tried to avoid it…it is scary. We drove fairly quickly and were on the leading edge of the storm and fortunate for us we turned in a direction that the storm was now behind us but gaining speed, so I drove faster. The challenge was the road was like a frigging roller coaster, so over 60mph we would almost go airborne…it was actually fun! We eventually got ahead of the storm and flash floods, and were able to enjoy the Joshua trees, and scenery in the desert. Really cool place to drive. Each time we would stop to take a photo Nicholas my weather watchman would tell me it’s gaining again (the storm that is) and we would then need to haul again. After another 100 miles on top of the 250 I did already, we were clear of the storm, desert and are now at the entrance to Joshua Tree National Park! We pulled into a real campground around 10:00pm pst., after an 11 hr drive and day…not including work, and HVAC repair…for me yesterday started at 6 mst., and ended at 11 pst. (12 mst.)…a long day to say the least…good news is Patty and I had AC for the 1st time in a week…didn’t need it, since it was 85 deg, but we had it! LOL…go figure, I needed to drive to the desert to get cool!
We are now way ahead of our schedule, and may swing up to Disneyland today after Joshua tree, before heading to the San Diego area, where I have 2 appointments for work…
Truth be told, yesterday was an awesome day…the boys sat up front the whole day, we laughed literally the entire day, especially going through Vegas…OMG, the kids get such a kick out of the place…AWESOME and BLESSED day on so many levels!
The next 4 photos are Michael's!
Beautiful ride through this slot canyon in SW Utah.
No TV stars today...
Boys are still laughing!
Uh Oh...almost has us!
Really driving and picture taking should be illegal
Nicholas my storm watcher!
Weeeeeeeeeeeee!
Roller coaster ride for sure....
You all know I love my B&Ws
Awesome sites!
Really...despite the crazy day, it really was a BLESSED DAY!
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