Starting a new year

 

Ontario, CA

Road to California is one of our best shows of the year.  This year it is also our first show of the year.  Getting going has been an issue since I started loading the trailer.  Normally we warm up for this show with a show in Oklahoma.  But this year and the next year that show will not be the week prior to Road.  Each year after a couple of months off from show, not from work it seems you have to retrain yourself not to make mistakes and forget things.  Patricia and I have check sheets and lists of items we need to take.  All so the little mistakes can be avoided. 

You know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men.  It started just after we left on our 2000 mile drive to California.  We were filling the truck with gas in Beloit, WI and my wife called to tell me I had left my overnight bag on the couch.  OK no big thing except it had my prescription medication that I am supposed to take morning and evening.  Again I can control my blood pressure for a few days without it, right!  Sure I can, sitting in a car what could be upsetting.  Besides, we were far enough from home that the cost to ship it to me was less that the cost to turn around and go back and start all over. 

All was fine and we headed for Wichita, KS.  From my house it is 14 hours to Wichita.  For Patricia and I it should be a relatively easy trip home after MQS in May.  Spent the night in Wichita and then I remembered why I needed my overnight bag.  No toothbrush. No comb. And you don’t need to know all the other things I needed.  Now it was look for a Wal-Mart or Kmart or someplace to buy a few things.  Going southwest out of Wichita, if you go too far you don’t find a lot.  We did find a stretch of road where there were not services of 75 miles.  Well, this part of the trip ended well because it ended in Albuquerque, NM with Virginia and Mike of Creative Curves, for a great meal and good conversation.

Next day we got up and headed west again.  If you really love the high desert I suppose the trip is interesting.  I grew up in a desert and I like rain even the frozen stuff.  So if I could skip it this part I would be happy.  About 50 miles east of Flagstaff, AZ is a hole in the ground, called Meteor Crater.  Can’t tell you how many times I have driven past it on other trips.  Since we only planned on driving to Kingman, AZ for the night we decided to take a little detour.  Everyone should see and think about how small the rock was that made that hole and how big the hole is.  Enough said.

Now after Flagstaff, AZ we were on the downhill part of the trip and gas mileage improves for a while.  Coasting downhill is so much easier than maintaining speed uphill.   The rest of the trip that day was uneventful and we had a good rest in Kingman.  Next morning we got up and were having breakfast when in walks Cindy of the Stencil Store.  It is wonderful to be traveling and bump into others in our industry.  There are so many hotels there are so many miles and we all start from so many different spots.  We had a very nice conversation and compared notes on our shows in March in Lancaster, PA.  Plans are moving forward nicely. 

Next stop is Barstow, CA.  I have a family obligation in Barstow.  My parents are buried there and I stop each year to place flowers on their graves.  Our next stop is the truck stop in Apple Valley where we got our Suburban and Trailer washed.  Look for it in the parking lot at Road to California. Finally, we were on our last leg into Ontario.  Then Murphy struck again.  I left my laundry bag in Kingman.  Don’t worry,  it’s on its way.  It should be here tomorrow.

I must be getting old and have CRS.  See everyone at the show.  Let’s help the economy get better.