Category: Uncategorized

I’m not sure where to begin with on this one.

          Everything about it is a superlative and so very well done.

          Our destination yesterday was Hoover Dam. It spans the Colorado River just east of Las Vegas and is responsible for providing both water and power to this part of the Country.

          And it does its job well, provided of course, there is available water to use for these purposes, but that we’ll talk about that another time.

          There is nothing trivial about Hoover Dam. It’s list of firsts, statistics, and accomplishments are so significant that the place seems to be an entity, something with a personality, and is as proud of itself as a four-year old kid in a Batman tee-shirt.

          When it was built, and for many years after, the Hoover Dam held records for the usual Guinness Book-type records and even though those numbers have been eclipsed by some more modern structures both here and in China, they are nonetheless still incredibly impressive.

          Here are just a few:

          It is  726’ tall and 660’ wide at the base. This is over two football fields wide, filled with concrete.

          It is over 1200 ft wide, spanning the Black Gorge and holding back the Colorado River to form the largest reservoir in the United States, Lake Mead.

          Here’s a good one, probably not able to be accomplished today…..  It came in under budget and two years ahead of schedule. This is much like the Empire State Building that was constructed basically at the same time.

          There were obviously several engineering obstacles that needed to be overcome. The solutions to these obstacles had never been an issue before because nothing this massive had ever been attempted before! For example, if they had not come up with a way to help cure (dry) the concrete used in the making of the dam, it would have taken 125 years for it to completely dry.  Which means that not until 2060 would it really be ready.

          That obviously would not work!

          Enter the innovations.

          First they constructed the largest refrigeration plant in the world and made over 1000 TONS of ice a day so that they could make the cement with ice water instead of regular water. Second, they imbedded over 600 miles of pipe that had water pumped through to help carry away the heat caused by the curing of the concrete. Concrete cures not by evaporation, the drying is actually a chemical reaction that gives off heat in the process. This also led to them not using a “one total pour” process. They instead made forms in place and poured the concrete in giant blocks that can be seen on the face of the dam. Once the pouring process started, they made a cement “bucket” dump every 78 seconds for two years. By my calculations that is over 880,000 cement dumps made by giant buckets suspended by large cables over the building site.

          How about this one?

          How do you build a dam in a very deep canyon that has a raging river running through it?

          Their answer was to first bore four tunnels, two on each side, that were 56 feet in diameter to carry the flow of the river around the construction site and dump the water just past it downstream. Two of the tunnels are still used to divert water from the spillways when the water behind the dam gets too high. After the water was diverted they needed to scoop out over fifty feet of mud and sand from the riverbed in order to get down to bedrock where the base of the dam was fastened.

          How about workers?

          This is the desert; the only town is Las Vegas about 20 miles away and back then it had only about 5000 residents. The job site needed about 5000 workers, so that means that every man, woman , and child would be needed to work there!

          Enter “Boulder City”.

          The six companies that banded together to work on the project  and the Federal Government,  constructed “Boulder City” to house all of the workers and most of their families. Complete with a “Company Store’, parks, and neighborhoods, this city is still in existence today. It was finally incorporated in 1960 which means that it was finally self-governing and could elect its own mayor and council.

          We went on a tour of the generating station that is bout 500 feet down on the sides of the dam. We went through tunnels of that bedrock that the dam is fastened to and used elevators initially designed for the workers, that now carry an abundance of tourists, most of whom (as far as we could tell) were folks from Europe and Asia.

          It was nice to see that Hoover Dam has really held its own in the World of Wonders for all these many years.

Trip Day 9

          Our second day of travel to Las Vegas had the same 15 (on a scale of 1 to 10) weather.

          Oh well, somebody has to have good weather! Again, no winds, so that made the driving a very pleasurable experience.

          We did not rush out of the Walmart of Page, we had all day to make a five-hour trip, so it was nice to be able to not go crazy. Luckily for me, there was a large motorhome sized manual spray carwash right across the street. We were unable to get the rig washed before we left Texas and again in Durango.

          Technically it makes no difference if the motorhome is clean or dirty.

          Psychologically it makes a TON of difference to me!

          We are already at a disadvantage when it comes to “looks” as compared to the others…. They rarely get used, some even sit in covered storage and look brandy-new no matter how old they are! This may be petty, but I can’t help it. Maybe it’s a “guy” thing, but it feels SOOOOOO much better when we can drive around not looking like the Beverly Hillbillies!

          So, all sparkly and fueled up we continued westward.

          But first we needed to go North, then South, then North again, and then finally kind of Southwest until we hit Nevada. The reason for this is that the road that we chose (there are not many to choose from) did all of that meandering all by itself! We dipped above and below the Utah/ Arizona border several times, which, if you really wanted to, it could drive you crazy because the two states follow different time-zoney things.

          Arizona does not follow the Daylight Savings Time format.

          Except the Navajo Nation Reservation that does!

          So, If you travel through the Rez, then the State , then cross into Utah, then dip back down into Arizona, then go back up into Utah, then……

          I’m sure you get the idea, but that is exactly what did!

          Wisely we just kept the clocks set to Pacific Daylight Time.

Next up……

          Have you ever heard of Pipe Spring, Arizona?

          (No…. not Radiator Springs from the Pixar movie Cars )

          Pipe Spring, Arizona was on our way and is the home to one of our smallest and least known National Monuments.

          This Monument keeps the multi-faceted story of the struggle amongst, and between,  the Paiute Nation, the Mormons, and the United States Government from being lost. This is another National Monument that is run in cooperation with the local Tribe (the Kaibab band of Paiutes) as was the Navajo National Monument from the previous day.

          Unfortunately, the story here follows the usual path of how the Native Americans were treated by the new settlers that were compressing their homeland and hunting grounds.

          Not to make light of these struggles, but rather to simplify the root of them, I will explain the basic ideological difference between the Native Americans and the Settlers..

          Native Americans did not have any concept of ownership of any natural resources. Water, land, game, etc. were all things that were shared.

          Not owned.

          So, when the settlers came and wanted to make treaties about using the land, or whatever else they needed, the local tribes said,        “Sure, there’s plenty.”

          The Settlers thought that they were negotiating for the ownership of these resources.

          Now we’ve got a problem!

          Add in the issues of how the Settlers, (Mormon or otherwise) and how they thought that the Native American’s were not “Civilized” and therefore beneath them socially, et al, we find that the vast majority of the White folks had no respect for the peoples who had inhabited these areas for the last thousand years or so.

          Double problem.

          Augment this with the conflict between the US Government and the Mormons, mainly over Polygamy, but also involving the Mormon’s control over local commerce, we now have the proverbial kettle boiling over.

          This is illustrated no where better than at Pipe Spring where there is, guess what?

          A natural spring!

          Something that in this semi-arid expanse of desert, is quite useful for basic survival.

          Along come the Mormons out of Salt Lake City, sent by none other than Brigham Young, to settle this and other lands further South. They come upon the spring and actually build a fort over the source of the spring, depriving the locals of most of its use.

          Bigger problem!

          As you can imagine, there were issues, but the major outcome of this and other situations like it was the gradual demise of the Tribes and their natural way of life.

          Enter the Park Service back in 1923 and a visit to the area by Stephen T. Mather, the first NPS Director, who thankfully understood the significance of what had transpired here over the years and decided to purchase the now privately owned Pipe Spring Ranch from its owners and fold it into the National Park Service registry.

          These are the kinds of things that make driving around the back roads of our great Country so satisfying. The ability to stumble across these little hidden gems of our history make this trip that much more enjoyable.

          Sure, we can’t wait to get to Big Sur and the California Coast, but I’m not so sure that the impact of that will leave the same lasting imprint as the story of the struggles of those who preceded us.

The time needed to get to our first ‘Foreign” stop of the trip would only take about four hours, so we knew that we had plenty of time to lolly-gag along the way. Our first “Foreign Port” was that of Page, Arizona, a town who had its genesis when the Glen Canyon Dam was being built on the Colorado River. Behind this dam are the waters of Lake Powell, the second largest man-made lake in the States behind its big brother, Lake Mead (which is further downstream behind the Hoover (Boulder) Dam just outside of Las Vegas, which just happens to be our next destination!

          The weather was finally good for traveling, (read No Wind!) and on a scale of 1 to 10, it was a 15! Traveling westward from Durango we passed many of the places that we’ve visited before and their geologic features are now familiar landmarks to us.  The high promontory that marks the entrance to Mesa Verde is only about forty-five minutes from Durango. Out in front of us the city of Cortez lies just east of Sleeping Ute Mountain. Continuing south and west on a deserted Route 160 we could see Shiprock and the Lukachukai Mountains,(affectionally known as the Lucky-Chuckie’s) and just northwest of us, about eighty miles away, the Abajo’s Range jutted from the floor of the desert like a big pile of mashed potatoes plopped on a tabletop. It’s fun keeping track of all of these as they mark your progress across the expanse of the Colorado Plateau, of which, the Four Corners Region is heart.

          Speaking of the Four Corners, we finally were able to stop at this monument as it was finally open. The Navajo Nation was severely impacted by Covid, and all of the public Tribal Parks were closed until they decided that it was safe enough to open again. The Navajo Reservation is three times the size of New Jersey at 28,000 square miles and in it are some of the most dramatic places on the planet, one of which is Monument Valley. I think just about every John Ford directed Western movie, no matter where it was supposed to be located, showed a scene with those iconic towers and buttes of Monument Valley in it. They became, like the Saguaro Cactus (which only grows in a portion of the Sonoran Desert), and the Marlboro Man,  symbols of the Old West that us Easterners can identify with.

          The Four Corners Monument is administered by the Navajo Nation and is crazily popular. Here we were on a Thursday in April standing in line for about fifteen minutes to have our photo taken by the “Line Friends” that we made who were just behind us. We, in turn, took their photo. Surrounding the actual concrete pad and bronze plaque in the ground were approximately thirty permanent stalls, like in a Flea Market, which the Navajo artisans can use to sell their wares to us Touron’s. In this vast, mostly arid, homeland of theirs, there are not that many opportunities for gainful employment, so the enterprising Navajo’s take every occasion to sell these beautiful examples of their culture.

          We almost didn’t make it to the Monument because we practically got swallowed up by cavernous craters in their parking lot!

          To be honest, if I were the manager of a world-famous attraction and my place looked like that I would be extremely embarrassed. All it would take is a few dump trucks of dirt/gravel/sand to remedy this situation. But where can you get this kind of stuff way out here?

          Wait!

          Holy Gravel-Pit Batman!

          There’s a place right across the highway and besides, the whole place is dirt, gravel, and sand! (I feel a letter to the Establishment brewing inside me)

          We left the actual Four Corners feeling happy that (despite the moon-like parking facilities) we had stopped. I guess that is the advantage of traveling around like this, if we don’t need to be in a certain place at a certain time, (Walmart of Page could care less when we pull in) we can stop along the way and smell the cactus…. Carefully!

          Our next destination was another place that we had previously tried to visit which was also closed for the same reason as the Four Corners. The Navajo National Monument is another Navajo Tribal Park and happens to be run jointly by the Navajo and the National Park Service. It was discovered by the Wetherill family back in the late 1890’s. These are the same folks that brought Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde to our collective attentions. There are three very well-preserved cliff dwellings here. They are, Keet Seel, Inscription House, and Betatakin. One of the reasons that they are so well-preserved is their location of the Navajo Reservation. The Navajo treated these ruins with respect and actually did not frequent them because they knew a holy place when they saw it. Also, being on the Rez kept most of the outsiders from visiting, or even knowing about them. They became a Park in 1909 and eventually fell under the National Registry of Historic Places. They are only accessible by guided tours which have yet to be re-opened because of Covid. We did take a jaunt on the trail that leads to the Betatakin Overlook. Again, the weather was just incredible and despite the elevation, (7200 ft.) we felt great. I guess that spending a week in Durango at about 6200 ft. helped acclimatize us to the point where we thought that our hike was actually at a lower elevation than Durango, not higher!

          After Navajo National Monument we continued to our ultimate Daily Destination, that of the Walmart of Page, Arizona. I suspected that we may have some company here, as this area, with its incredible abundance of outdoors activities, is another mecca of sorts for those of us with motor homes, travel trailers and other RV’s.

          I was correct.

          When we got our first glimpse of the Walmart parking lot we thought two things,

          One, there would be no problem with the possibility that this Walmart was one that discourages RV’s from staying and then…

          Two, where would we fit in?

          In reality, the parking lot was large enough, but we’ve never seen one that resembles a RV resort! It looks like folk’s camp out here for an extended period, which is definitely against the RV World Code of Ethics! (I made that last organization up  😊)

          After dinner, we took the Lifeboat/Honda out for a spin and visited Lake Powell which is so low from the extended western drought that the intakes for the hydroelectric plant are dangerously exposed.  

          Today we finish the trip to Las Vegas, which is only about five hours away so we will probably try and find some fun stuff along the way.

          Tomorrow!

Good Morning Boys and girls,

          Welcome to the first day of Ancestral Puebloans 101.

          (I warned you yesterday that there would be a History Lesson today!)

          Initially I should point out that the current term Ancestral Puebloans is the preferred way that the current Native Americans that are descended from these people, namely the modern Pueblo tribes, would like their ancestors to be called. The name/term Anasazi is a Navajo word meaning “ancient enemies” and this does not really accurately describe these folks from long ago. Bedsides, the Navajo are not related in any way to the Old Ones.

          Now that that is out of the way we  can concentrate on how interesting the A.P. are. There are many theories about all of the things that we think that we know about the lives and cultures of them. The stories and traditions handed down from generation to generation of the present Puebloan society help give credence to many of the facts and ideas that we now believe.

          The questions that usually surround discussions of the A. P. are topics like,

          Where did they come from?

          Why did they abandon such magnificent structures?

          Where did they go?  

          And a host of other questions, but these main three are what most people concentrate on.

          I am going to over-simplify the answers to these questions because I’m guessing that by now your collective eyes have already glazed over and are eagerly looking at the clock and hoping that the Professor ends class early so you can go catch some Frisbees on the Common.

          So here goes.

           They came from the same place as most Native Americans, the Siberian Land Bridge, thousands of years ago and started making their societal organizations in about 1200 B.C. It took another thousand years before they started  acting anything like the Ancestral Puebloans that we study today.

          They abandoned their really cool buildings probably for the same reasons that you or I would move.

          Their jobs changed.

          Their jobs back then were simply to exist.

          That means that if the growing conditions, (drought) or availability of food, (hunting) became negative, or if their religious leaders said, “We’re getting out of here!” that’s what they did, they got out of there!

          The third one is probably the easiest.

          They went south, (no, not to Miami) just down a-ways, far  enough for them to be able to live where the forces that made them migrate no longer impacted them as they did before.

          Now, I told you that I would simplify (actually over-simplify!) all of this and that is what I did. If you are in any way interested in any of this there are two wonderful authors that help with the understanding of these topics while making the journey (both figuratively and literally) through the Four Corners Region an incredible literary experience.

          They are Craig Childs and David Roberts.

          Two vastly different styles of writing, but both of which I wish were my friends.

          Read House of Rain by Childs and start with either In Search of the Old Ones or the Lost World of the Old Ones by Roberts.

          No worries if delving into all of this is not what makes you tick. Maybe you just want to get out and see some neat stuff from a long time ago and come up with your own questions and possibilities.

          No problem!

          Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, and Taos Pueblo are all on the UNESCO World Heritage list and as such are fairly guaranteed a special place in our current society for years to come. In addition to these Big Three, there are thousands of archeological sites strewn about this area and most are on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land and as such are there for your careful and thoughtful perusal at your leisure. There are several etiquette type aspects to this type of exploring, most of which can be categorized as “Make sure you leave the site nice for the next people who happen to come along”

          Durango, Colorado is one of our Home Bases and my daughter Lorelyn and her husband, Travis always make us feel right at home. If you go back in the archives you will find several posts having to do with Tomboy Farm and its surrounding environs. There’s even on having to do with all of the Critters that live here and how we watched over them when Travis and Lorelyn went to Eastern Europe last November.

          Or best welcome this time was given by Ling-Ling, the fluffy, white, skittish, introverted, and mostly nocturnal, cutie-pie of a cat that most people have only had a perfunctory glimpse of. Even the fortnightly cleaning ladies called Lorelyn in a panic one day, reporting that there was a strange cat inside the house!

          It was obviously Ling-Ling and even though they had been coming in for years, they had never even had an idea that she even existed.

          We wondered if Ling-Ling would even remember us, much less make an appearance. To our delight, not only did she grace us with a sighting, but she also came right over to us and jumped up on our laps for a brief snuggle.  😊

          All is good in the land of friendly critters!

          When we visit here we love to be part of the general progress and improvement in the never-ending quest for the time when all the projects are completed and the time for just sitting around descends on Tomboy Farm.

          This much-anticipated event is scheduled for some time in 2050.

          Travis and Lorelyn are always asking us what we would like to do while we are here. We’ve been on many an adventure with them and sometimes, even though there is a lot of work to do around here, I think that they secretly hope that we want to have one of those adventures so that they can leave the chores behind without a guilty conscience. Usually, we are content to just visit and hang out and help with whatever needs to be done.

          They are in the throes of finishing the converted, tear down the old one, build a new one, truck barn/garage/workshop/apartment upstairs project.

          We are only too happy to help out.

          It a “My kids” thing.

          We do the same when we are at Danny and Katie’s place in Texas, we are only too happy to help out and do projects.

          We were going to help paint up in the new apartment, but the painter actually showed up and finished what needed to be done before the next step could begin. So, when Lorelyn decided that she’d had enough of the goats hopping the fence and eating her ”good” plants, it warranted a full-scale offensive on making a Critter Free zone in front of the house. That meant that the janky original, looks like something from Dorothy Gale’s farm in The Wizard of Oz, gate need to be replaced.

          Project Time!

          We raided the myriad of original wood piles strewn strategically around the property that were just waiting for a project like this in order to find the materials needed to make a replacement gate. Notice I did not use the term new gate.

          The mantra here is “Everything old is still old and will never be new again” because that’s the way they like it.

          It all looks original down to trying not to use new shiny screws and bolts, or at least an attempt is made to hide them.

          Here’s some photos of the endeavor.

          Today were supposed to be going to visit Mesa Verde National Park, home to the incomparable Cliff Palace made about 800 years ago by the Ancestral Puebloans formerly known as the Anasazi, but the Park Service needed to do so many projects and repairs on so many of the important structures and roads in the Park that it would have been a waste of time to try and have a meaningful visit.

Our friends, Glenn and Stephanie are making their first foray into the Four Corners Region, and this of course would have been on the top of their To-Do List, but we will just whet their appetite with a visit to Chaco Canyon National Historical Park and introduce them to the incredible culture of these Ancient Ones.

          It practically guarantees having them return in the future. 

          Be ready for a Don’s Traveling History Lesson tomorrow so you too, can astound and amaze your friends with your knowledge of the old culture of this region. I can hear it now as you are standing at the water cooler with everyone talking about the NCAA Finals and you drop a line like, “Speaking about the Anasazi…..”

Well, that did not go as planned.

          I’m sure that you all know Murphy’s Law,

          “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, (at the most inconvenient time.)”

          There is a Society attached to this corollary and of that, I am a card-carrying member.

          First I should report that our first leg of the journey has been completed and we are safely ensconced in the warm, snuggly, confines of the Tomboy Farm farmhouse.

          This was after setting two traveling records yesterday:

          Longest Traveling Hours (13+) and

          Longest Daily Mileage (766)

          The reason we needed to jam all of those traveling tid-bits into one day was that we were determined to arrive in Durango not a minute later than we had planned notwithstanding the fact that the fix of the DEF System did not go as well as we had originally thought.

          It, in fact, went much worse and was exacerbated by an untimely flat tire on the Honda.

          Oh, and for those of you that are eagerly awaiting the outcome and score of Madison’s Herd-Ball game, well, in the words of Kaitie (her mom), “The Feral Kitties (previously known as the Wildcats) were frosted by the Rainbow Donuts.”

          No worries Madison, there’s always next week.

          Back to the DEF System trials and tribulations.

          We showed back up at 8 am the following morning as instructed by Larry the Service Manager to have the new DEF Header (that I had with me) installed.

          This was supposed to be the be-all and end-all of the fixes that were needed to put us back on the road with only a slight delay. Once the new hardware was installed with all of its new silicon ships and do-dads, the computer would say to itself,

          “Hah, There it is! I’ll now re-set myself so that these fine folks can get on their way!”

          That was what was supposed to happen.

          What really happened was something other than that.

           After all the work was done, the “Faults” cleared out of the computer, and the “Labor Only” bill was paid, we hooked the Honda back up, waved good-by to Larry, Sam, and Billy, and proceeded north-bound on Rt. 36, headed for Lubbock and points west.

          About eight miles into the trip the same “Faults” came back onto the dashboard blinking their warning lights while saying “We saw Murphy down at the shop, he said to say ‘Hi” when we saw you!” or something like that.

          I called Larry from the Bat-Phone, he just repeated the same expletive that I had just uttered a few moments before and followed it with, “Bring it back in….” A few minutes later we arrived and the guys once again, abandoned the work that they were doing and started looking for anything else that may be causing the Faults to appear.

          Meanwhile, Paula and I went to lunch. While we were driving, a light came on the dash of the Honda! (You can’t make this stuff up!) It was the Tire-Pressure light indicating that there was an issue. I looked around at the tires when we got out and determined that the right rear looked a tad low, and I would check it when we returned to the Truck Center.

          Sure enough, it was by now, noticeably lower. Good thing I carry a plug kit and air compressor with us. I can fix most issues without even taking the tire off of the car.

          But not this time!

          I located the sharp metal object that was responsible for making the tire feel low and dejected. I succeeded in extracting said object but lacked the leverage to insert the plug while the tire was still on the car.

          Out came the jack, and we soon had the tire off and plugged. I then wheeled it through the Truck Center front door and through their showroom. Larry took one look at it and pointed to the back of the service area where their compressor was located. A few minutes later, inflated and spit-tested for leaks, we installed it back on the car.

          We still needed to wait for the outcome of the renewed efforts of the courageous repair guys before we could try all of this again.

          It turns out that Sam went through the whole system and found a wire that was a bit corroded. Things like that can keep the computer from getting the ‘full story’ and indicate such with a ‘Fault’. They also found some extraneous build-up of DEF remains in and around the injector parts of the system. When all of this was finished they performed a “SCA Whole System Test” which is where a service computer takes over the engine and runs both it and a diagnostic test at the same time. This requires an additional hour to complete.

          So, here we are, it’s about 3 pm by now and we still haven’t hit the road yet.

          A few minutes later, Larry came over to me and said, “The test came out good, why don’t you take her for a spin, check it out, and if it ‘s all good then come back and hook up your car and get outa here.”

          Good idea.

          Off I went, leaving Paula as collateral for the work that was done this afternoon and I drove a total of about fourteen miles with no issues!

          Back I went, “thumbs-up” to the crew, and hooked the car up. I then went to Larry and asked for the bill for the additional time that they spent on it this afternoon. He said, “No charge, just get going and have a safe trip.”

          They will all get presents from our trip upon our return in September.

          We obviously could not travel as far this day as we had originally planned. We had lost about nine hours of travel time so what was supposed to be a leisurely two-day excursion was not to be. We drove until about eight or so, and were finally getting too tired to continue. We found a Walmart in Brownwood, Texas which now holds a Five-Star Rating from the Paula and Don Traveling Circus Rating System for no noise, no annoying lights piercing our windows, no loud, unmufflered cars, (it seems that one of the pre-requisites of being an employee of a Walmart night shift is that you must possess a car that has no muffler and your number one priority when you report to work is to drive by the motorhomes in the parking lot several times before punching in), and only one train whistle all night!

          We arose early and were on the road by 5:30 am, headed west towards Lubbock, Texas and Clovis, New Mexico on the way to Albuquerque and finally Durango. As most of you know, Wind is the bane of our existence when it comes to driving. We have surmised that when we detect, Oh, say thousands of windmills in a particular area, that it does not bode well for a peaceful traveling experience.        

Apparently they do not put windmills in areas that have little wind.

          Oh well.

          But the Motorhome and her DEF system performed flawlessly 😊and we only stopped once for a splash of fuel and a few other times to change drivers. We have not yet perfected the Switch Drivers While the Cruise Control is Engaged and One Holds the Wheel While the Other Slides in Behind Them trick. Other than that, we eat and do other “important” things while the other person is driving.

          We made good time, all things considered, as we pulled into Tomboy Farm around 5:45 pm to a raucous welcome from CubScout, Ling-Ling, Munchie, Nibbles, Chloe, and all of the Chickens who thought that we had arrived to feed them.

It seems that more often than not, a bug-a-boo creeps in right before we get ready to commence an Adventure and this time is no exception.

          But…. there may be a Silver Lining.

          Or, at least a Rainbow one.

          The Backstory:

          Whilst preparing the motorhome for travel by making sure that everything was topped off, I drove around town filling the propane and DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) because these two items are harder to find when on the road.

          On my way back to Home Base, the Check Engine light came on with two different warnings, one said DEF Low Level and the other , DEF Low Quality.

          A word about DEF is appropriate here. DEF (for better or worse) is the reason that we no longer see those big black clouds of exhaust coming out of the busses and trucks when they accelerate. It is a very simple product that is mostly de-ionized water with a percentage of urea mixed in. This is then injected into the exhaust of a diesel motor which then gets “burned off” in a process that kind of scrubs that heavy soot causing particulates to be trapped and burned in a high heat process that is far better for the air quality.

          Or something like that.

          The downside is what I was experiencing with the Check Engine light and accompanying warnings.

          Since this DEF fluid and its application system is somewhat complex (lots of sensors and computer chips) and is not really making the motor more efficient, it has a negative effect on mileage and cost.

          So, the Government put “Safeguards“ into the hardware.

          If the system goes bad and you ignore it (because it costs a lot to fix) the motor automatically “de-rates” itself to the point where you can eventually end up traveling  at only 5 mph.

          Ouch!

          The problem is that most of the time the system is just fine.

          It’s the sensors and “chips” that go bad, not the hardware.

          Enter a global shortage of silicon computer chips exacerbated by the “Big C” (Covid) and we have a situation where trucks and motorhomes have found themselves stranded for periods of time while the search for the appropriate part is located.

          But not us!

          Back when we heard of this possible issue and knowing that if it weren’t for bad luck we’d have no luck at all, we purchased the most offending part and stored it away, hoping never to have to use it.

          It looks like something that would go I your gas barbecue, the burner part, except it has wires on it and costs $950.00. It’s called a DEF Header.

          When I started to experience these issues, I called my local Truck Center that does my service here in Texas. I learned that they were over-booked until sometime next week.

          We were slated to depart in less than 24 hours.

          Another ‘Ouch’!

          Needing to try something, I decided to drain the DEF tank which for some reason only an engineer and design person can explain, has NO drain plug! Mind you, DEF fluid is completely harmless and non-polluting. So why not have a drain on this tank?

           A small pump and hose quickly dispatched the offending fluid and yielded an empty tank which was re-filled with brand new DEF fluid.

          Now I knew that not only was it full, (which it was before anyway) but there was no “pumped” DEF , only the high-quality stuff in a bought container.

          I started her up and still the lights stayed on the dash. In my conversation with Larry at the Truck Center, we determined that the lights may or may not reverse themselves when the new DEF was detected.

          Unless…..

          You guessed it!

           If the sensors or chips were “Bad”, then no amount of new stuff would right this wrong. The part was probably on the fritz. We decided that maybe the Service Center was needed to turn off the check engine light by clearing the codes in the computer.

          It took Sam the Technician 45 minutes to clear just one of the codes. The other one, Low-DEF Fluid, was not clearing.

          That confirmed it. The sensors were rotten.

          This is a job that I am not even remotely experienced enough to do.

          But there is a many-day back log of work at the Truck Center.

          But I always drop a Twenty into the hand of the guy who works on the rig and Larry, the Service Manager.

          Larry told me to be back at 8 am in the morning and he’d get us right in.  😊

          So where is this Silver Lining or Rainbow one at least?

          Another backstory:

          Madison started playing Herd-Ball or, as most people know it, Soccer.

          But when 5-year-olds play it, it’s Herd-Ball. The Herd just runs and follows the ball everywhere. There are no positions to be played even if they tried.

          Their games are on Thursday nights (tonight), and as such, we will probably miss this one as we should be in New Mexico by then.

          Madison’s team is named the Wildcats.

          So far they’ve played the Posies and the Sirens.

          Next up is the one that everyone is waiting for….

          The Rainbow Donuts.

          If the repairs do not go as planned and there is a further delay, we will be able to attend tonight’s game.

          Sorry Madison, There is no way that I cannot root for a team that is named the Rainbow Donuts.

Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen!

          Welcome to the first running of the Traveling Motorhome Stakes sponsored by any number of high-priced Petroleum Retailersfound across our great land.

          (Please put your best “Race Announcers” fast-paced voice in your head and then read on….)

          And they’re off!

          Out of the gate it’s California Dreamin’ and Fuel Prices neck and neck followed by Crowded Highway, Rest Stop, Big Flat Tire, Bumper to Bumper and Late Arrival.

          Lots of movement in this race folks!

          Going into the first turn its Crowded Highway making its move past Rest Stop, setting sights on Late Arrival, with Big Flat Tire always in contention.

          There are no clear-cut leaders’ race fans, odds-makers had Fuel Prices as the early favorite, but it’s anyone’s race now!

          Down the backstretch its Bumper to Bumper coming on strong, moving up on Crowded Highway and blowing past Rest Stop. Late Arrival is threatening as Big Flat Tire blows out and pulls up.

          Hold on folks! In the Clubhouse turn it’s California Dreamin’ fading fast with Fuel Prices surging ahead!                                                    No one is in control!

           Out of the turn it’s Crowded Highway, Bumper to Bumper, and Rest Stop. Big Flat Tire threatens again, and Late Arrival could be a spoiler here!

          Wait!

          I’ve never seen this before! Down the stretch they’re all lined up, neck and neck!

           Once again, it’s anyone’s race!

          Now it’s California Dreamin’ and  Fuel Prices on the rail, nose to nose! with the rest of the field thundering right behind!

          Hold on to your hat’s fans!

          Fuel Prices is fading quickly, Big Flat Tire is out of the running, Bumper to Bumper and Crowded Highway dropping back and are now out of contention.

          Rest Stop is coming up and looking good as Late arrival is now nowhere to be seen.

           At the wire it’s California Dreamin’ by five lengths as the rest of the field comes across the line.

           California Dreamin’ wins the Traveling Motorhome Stakes!

          Or so we hope!

          It’s only two days until “Wheels Up” and we commence our Great Circumnavigation of the Lower Forty-Eight on the Way Back to New Jersey for the Summer Expedition.

          Please feel free to share this blog with anyone that you think may enjoy it. It is not private and even though I introduced all of you to it, it does not require my introduction to anyone else.

          With any amount of luck, I should be posting almost daily as we will be traveling and actually have something to write about!

          So, let’s go kick the tires and check the air pressures, pull the dipstick, and help me wash this big rig,

          I hate to travel with it dirty!

It has been 77 years since she was last angry and fired at anyone.

          At 110 ten years old, she is showing some age, and  even though she was born with her “matronly” shape, she somehow still is able to maintain that figure when, in comparison,  all of her contemporaries have faded from memory and have passed on into history.

          If you feel another History Lesson is coming your way, you would be correct.

          But I promise to keep it short!

          Almost exactly one month and year to the date of the day the RMS Titanic foundered, The USS Texas was launched in Newport News, Virginia. The Texas is a ship of firsts, both in battle and peace.

          She was the first to have anti-aircraft weapons installed to fight that pesky new-fangled contraption, the airplane.

          She was the first US battleship to launch an airplane, and one of the first to employ another new idea and invention…. Radar.

          In peacetime, she was the first to become a permanent Museum Ship, the first to become a National Landmark and the only WW I era dreadnaught battleship still with us today, and she is still afloat!

          There is something about still doing what it was designed to do that must be an alluring aspect because it would seem to me that it would be far easier to prepare a harborside site somewhere, float her (or any ship) in, pump out the water and fill in around it, and never have the upkeep of a floating hull again.

          But no.

          That is not what is done with these awesome Museum-type ships.

          The respective organizations charged with the safe-keeping and maintenance of these vessels go to the ends of the seven seas to keep them afloat.

          Oh, and by the way, The USS Texas is the only battleship that fought in both WW I and WW II.

          Currently she faces the issues that I alluded to earlier, that is the ravages of Mother Nature on any man-made object that was not designed to last forever. The Texas lies in her berth just off of the Houston Ship Canal in San Jacinto State Park. She has undergone several re-fits and refurbishments in her storied career, all in an effort to preserve her for future generations to visit ….. and learn.

          Not too long ago, she was leaking to the tune of over a thousand gallons a minute and had numerous pumps working full-time in order to keep her afloat. Thanks to some timely repairs aided by some generous Texas based corporations, that number is now down to about fifty gallons a minute.

          Now that is a number that can be dealt with.

          Nonetheless, she is slated for a full-on, incredibly needed, much deserved, overhaul at a drydock in Galveston, about 75 miles away. Shortly, she will be towed there as soon as everything that needs to be prepped has been completed.

          From there, when the work is finished, she will be searching for a new home. It’s not that the present location is bad, it is just not good.   It is very easy to get to, but like they say, “It’s off the beaten path”.

          I took the trip there on Sunday because this past weekend was the last time that the Texas would be open to the public before she goes into that drydock in Galveston. It’s about two hours from where we are in Brenham to Houston’s port where the Texas is berthed. I wound my way in, around, and through the refineries that seem to stretch to the horizon.  In comparison, this place makes the refineries that line the NJ Turnpike in the Bayway section between  Linden and Elizabeth look like Bob’s Filling Station where Bob would actually pump your gas and clean your windshield.

          So, no one is just aimlessly driving by and saying, “Hey Look! It’s the USS Texas, let’s go visit her!”

          Nope. That is not happening.

           In order to generate the dollars needed for her maintenance, a more suitable location is being sought. One that has an already built-in or visible base to draw from. There are several towns that have expressed an interest in the Texas, one of them being Galveston. Having visited that port last year, I believe that is where she will end up and all things considered, is probably the best place for a permanent berth. Galveston is a resort town, a Cruise Port, and has the infrastructure to handle another large attraction.

          I watched as the kid scrambled over the same massive anchor chain that I was avoiding for fear of tripping over it. He clambered around in his brandy-new USS Texas tee-shirt that his dad must have bought him when they came on board. I had seen him previously back amidships plying the elderly docents with a plethora of questions and I could see that the guy stationed here at the bow was soon to be peppered with yet another barrage of young, inquisitive, queries.

          I watched the face of the man as the kid approached.

          It was all smiles.

          Someone has to tell the stories important and tales valiant, so when that kid grows up, and brings his kids to get their tee shirts, he can say, “I remember…..”

Last night was a first.

          I’ve never been in a Tornado Warning before.

          We knew that the potential for some large storms was possible from the reports of the day before, so the all-day big rains and gusty winds came as no surprise. As the day rolled on, the reports became a tad more intense, and it became obvious that we could have some significant weather.

          There are a few things in this world that frighten me.

          Actually, there are a lot of things that frighten me, but these are the ones that stick out.

          Spiders

          Alligators

          Sharks

          And Tornadoes…..especially in the dark.       

          It’s probably strange then to admit that Twister is one of my favorite movies. The cast is superb, Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman round out this crew of rag-tag storm chasers whose only goal is to gather information to help in developing an early warning system. Not the loser TV storm chasers who’s attempts at this are gossamer-veiled efforts of thrill-seeking, grandiose, You Tube wanna-be’s who benefit at someone else’s expense.

          I’ll get off of my soap box now.

          Anyway, Danny had been giving us hourly updates as the day progressed. He kept the TV on and of course the Houston stations and the Weather Channel gave periodic reports all day long. It was decided that if a Warning came our way, that the prudent choice would be to abandon the motorhome and retreat to the relative shelter of their house.

          Why, and how, do tornados always find a Mobile Home park to devastate? This is one of the aspects of tornados that I do not like. Do they have a mind of their own? Are they that masochistic that they need to find the most vulnerable of us and like a bully in the playground, inflict as much devastation on the weakest of us?

          Sorry…. but that’s how I see it.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

          It was sudden enough.

          We were in the motorhome watching the second season of West Wing when both of our cellphones shrilly announced what we did not want to hear.

          A Tornado Warning.

          Tornado Watches are handed out like pamphlets in front of the side-shows in New York City.

          Warnings are a different animal altogether.

          Warnings, especially in today’s age of Doppler Radar, where they can actually see the tight rotation on the fringes of a thunderstorm cell and predict its path with some un-nerving accuracy, are something altogether different.

          It is now officially scary time.

          We gathered a few things, wallet, purse, flashlights, etc. and headed over to the house where we could see the many cones of probability displayed on the TV screen. I’ve never seen so many Warnings posted at the same time. This was a very prolific system.

          There we were.

           We had our very own cone of probability to contend with.

          It was getting dark outside, and the sky was about as portentous as it could be, which was compounded by the Warning that we had just received. The only other time that I have experienced anything like this was in 1962, I was in Second Grade in Berkeley, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. It’s one of those things that I’ve never forgotten, not because we were effected by it, but just because of that ominous nature of the sight of that funnel dangling from the classic murky green-gray sky that always seem to breed these monsters.

          Except in the dark.

          You can’t see it in the dark.

          You can only hear it in the dark.

          It was now dark where we were.

          You think of stupid things at these times. Tons of what-ifs that hopefully never mature into what-nows.

          My what-if had to do with the three-foot long model of the USS Constitution that I’ve been working on for several years. Aside from the perilous nature and personal safety aspects of this time, and thinking that just about anything else can be replaced, I thought of my model.

          I cannot replace those years of time and effort.

          So, glancing at that Cone of Probability and knowing that any meteorological event was still a little while away, I went back into the motorhome and fastened it down using the same techniques that I do when we are traveling. It’s actually very secure and aside from something being tossed into it, it may have at least a fighting chance of survival. You know the story. A refrigerator is tossed and found blocks away with the carton of eggs still inside with not one of them broken.

          Who can figure?

          I figured that I at least give her a fighting chance, they don’t call her “Old Ironsides” for nothing!

          We watched that cone progress on the television. We are situated on the eastern side of Lake Somerville, and it appeared that the rotation was headed for the western side of the lake and would miss us.

          Good for us, but it was far from over for anyone else that was in its path, and it was headed straight for College Station, the home of Texas A & M University and all of its student housing. Hopefully it either didn’t develop or changed course a little and kept to the relatively vacant thousands of square-miles of farmland that abounds in this part of Texas.

          We will find out a little later when we tune into the morning news.

          We leave for Colorado at the end of next week and as much as I like where we are now, I’m not sure that I could endure a summer’s-worth of Tornado Alley activity.

          If I were here regularly during this season, I would have a Tornado Shelter in a heartbeat.