<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Again, let\u2019s stay with these journal entries,\nshall we, dear reader…? We have much ground to cover once again, and I\u2019d like\nus to do it in the moment, as best we can. Let us rejoin our journey reflecting\nfrom the future of what is now, or has been up to this point. The following is\ntaken from a journal entry looking back upon the past… <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNow, I look back and think of those days in Leucadia [Encinitas] and all the anxiety I had on the trip heading out. Most unnecessary, in retrospect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I delayed so long in\ngetting off the property, \u201ccamping\u201d at Dowdy Lake \u2013 which meant staying at\n****\u2019 place, in the comfort of a home \u2013 lingering at Pawnee National\nGrasslands, detouring to Longmont and leaving in an ice-storm (STUPID! NEVER\nAGAIN!) I was weeks behind schedule and frazzled to the bone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I-25 from Trinidad, CO, to Las\nVegas, NM, (over Raton Pass during construction) was unnerving, and I got into\nStorrie Lake Campground not long before it closed at 5:00 pm. I couldn\u2019t find a\nplace to store the camper, except to park it at an RV campground just a couple\nmiles away (at $125\/week). Then off to SoCal on I-25 through Santa Fe and Albuquerque\ntraffic and hills \u2013 NO FUN!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hopping on I-40 was crazy with\nbig truck traffic and even bigger accidents, stacking up a parking lot for\nmiles. Terrible anxiety here. I would pull into truck stops to shake and get\nsick. I had to confront my fears to not turn back. Started smoking little\ncigars and drinking coffee all day… <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I finally got out of New Mexico and into Arizona, entering the Navajo Nation Reservation, the largest in the United States (and the world \u2013 according to the welcome sign) on the old Route 66. It was getting dark, and the topography started to flatten and disappear. Lots of billboards for authentic jewelry, crafts, blankets and flatbread. More trash on the roadside than elsewhere, and the service stops were in disrepair. Poverty has a firm grip here. Third World in America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I pulled off in Chambers and was\nlucky to get a room at a motel. The thermostat was broken and the TV didn\u2019t\nwork, so I got a different room. I felt ghosts. Seriously. I tried to relax. I\nwanted a beer, but the nearest liquor store was over 40 miles away, off the\nreservation. I guess they don\u2019t sell alcohol on the Rez. Probably a good\nthing…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The best thing about this stay\nwas that I could take a warm\/hot shower for the first time since being at\n****\u2019s, which was a couple weeks prior. The temp was 16 degrees (\u201cfeels like\u201d 9\ndegrees, according to my phone) and there was frost on BroBo [the \u201cBronze\nBomber\u201d Nissan Pathfinder] when I woke\nearly and got on the road, after sharing my complimentary breakfast of eggs,\nsausage and hash browns with Rambeaux [my dog], who has shadowed me with tail\ntucked and ears down the entire time we\u2019ve been here. It is a spooky place. I\nguess she feels the ghosts as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was glad to get on the road,\nwith the sun at my back. Soon, we were rolling through the Petrified Forest\nNational Park, which reminded me of slides [camera pictures projected on a\nscreen] from when our family was returning from Ft. Huachuca, AZ, where my dad\nwas stationed with the Ready Reserves in 1961-62, in JFK\u2019s call-up in response\nto the Berlin Wall Crisis. I was only one and two years old, but the slides are\nmy lifelong reminder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I finally got off the I-40 (Thank\nGod!) and angled SW through beautiful mountain forests: Apache-Sitgreaves\nNational Forest and Tonto NF down to Fountain Hills. Then, I hit Phoenix and\ngridlock traffic \u2013 the day before Thanksgiving. Definitely the most stressful\npart of the trip \u2013 so far. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I got through, and tumbled further down to the I-8 at Gila Bend. I was really frazzled now, but there was no turning back. I\u2019d been skirting the edge of the Sonoran Desert National Monument and saw saguaro (sa-wa-ro)<\/em> cacti for the first time I can remember. Lots of them. Huge ones, with many arms. Very old, I\u2019m told. There were also prickly-pear cacti the size of large juniper bushes exploding from the desert sand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I wish I didn\u2019t have to pay\nattention to the road, but it was all mountain driving for a couple of hours\nbefore dropping down to the hot, dry desert. Pine trees turned to palm trees,\nand I felt I was already in Southern California. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The I-8 has less tractor-trailer\ntraffic than I-40 (which branches into Los Angeles), but we did pass a convoy\nof about 30 military vehicles with big, desert tires going 45 mph. Troop\ntransports, fuel trucks and some other utility vehicles with graffiti on the\ndoors and the rear truck missing a tail light \u2013 all on the busiest travel day\nof the year. I guess the National Guard (or whoever they were) was making a\npublic pitch for better equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then I passed all the head\nlettuce fields and the trucks (double trailer) that are hauling cases away. All\nthat water to grow head lettuce in Arizona deserts for the fast-food burger\nchains of America\u2019s Southwest. Great. Golf courses, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I got a bad rub from Arizona when\none of the first billboards I saw, after getting off the Rez, was an old poster\nof Obama with teeth blacked out and big ears drawn on. It was old \u2013 and looked\nit \u2013 but no one took it down, here in the only state that doesn\u2019t celebrate\nMartin Luther King Day. Enough said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I drove through Maricopa County,\nwhere the Good Ol\u2019 Boy sheriff had made inmates wear pink and white striped\nuniforms. I think he ran for higher office, and lost. Justice served.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I finally made it into California\n(Yeehaw!), and got off the interstate in El Centro, a little over two hours shy\nof Encinitas. It was a great stay, with beautiful bougainvilleas overtaking\nfences. I\u2019ve always loved being in California \u2013 except for all the people. I refreshed\nat the attached restaurant\/bar \u2013 which had a Denny\u2019s menu and karaoke in the\nback. Kind of strange… Great night\u2019s sleep and another shower, then back on\nthe I-8 heading west.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Soon we\u2019re out of ag land and into the Imperial Valley and sand dunes. Then, we ran into huge piles of rocks which quickly became mountains as we climbed out of Ocotillo to Jacumba Hot Springs, where I stopped to get fuel for BroBo and a sandwich for me. Gas was $4.59\/gallon, so I just took on enough to get to Encinitas. It was tough, stressful driving through fog, rain, wind gusts and curves. It seemed to take forever to get out of these mountains… On the way back I measured the distance from sea level on the ocean side to the flats on the other side of the mountains \u2013 it was over 65 miles (from Alpine to Ocotillo). Went through scrub country with an inspection point for border patrol, making sure you aren\u2019t bringing in prohibited vegetation as part of their \u201cpest exclusion\u201d program \u2013 the itty-bitty illegal aliens you didn\u2019t know you carried. Then barreling down through reservations of tribes I\u2019d never heard of, on what was called the Kumeyaay Highway. Very interesting stretch…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, BAM! Down to the flats from 4,500\u2019 and onto the 805, and then playing automobile roulette on the dreaded I-5 right up to the doorstep of A&Z\u2019s [my daughter and her beau] just before noon on Thanksgiving Day. Hallelujah! No more driving for several more days! Hoka Hey!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Amanda [my beautiful daughter]\nwas jamming with the food preparations in the kitchen, so we boys \u2013 Zach [her\namazing fianc\u00e9e], CJ [my wonderful son] and me [a very proud and thankful old\nman] \u2013 took the dogs [Rambeaux and Ember] for a walk\/run\/tear at the sand-pit\noverlooking the beach, where we would later have a post-feast bonfire. It was\nparadise on the ocean\u2019s edge. Sunny with a breeze, and that big, blue piece of\nendlessness stretching to places I can only imagine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The meal was excellent, their\nfantastic friends brought side dishes and dessert, and then we waddled down to\nthe beach for a sunset blaze and drone photo coverage. Coolers of cold drinks\nand music from cell phone speakers rounded out the firepit flame-dance. The\nfull moon rose as the orange sun set, in what is known as the Golden Hour. It\ntakes that long for the solar orb to sink below the horizon, somewhere far out\nover the Pacific. It was my first ocean sunset, and I don\u2019t have the words to\ndescribe how beautiful and magical it was. Locals gather for it every night they\ncan. No wonder there are so many people in Southern California. It really is a\nparadise (again, except for all the people. I\u2019m a small-town boy at heart). <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m there now…as clouds frame the lunar orb, and lifeguard stations are eerily illuminated. Cans of Pacifico and slices of lime from a zip-lock bag can\u2019t keep all the sand at bay. But that\u2019s life at the beach, I guess. I\u2019ll take it…<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Overall, it was an enchanted night. Everyone is chillin\u2019 in their own way, staring into the fire and diggin\u2019 it in their world. Southern California has its own, unique culture. Everyone is friendly \u2013 and beautiful. I love it, though I don\u2019t really fit the groove. But, that\u2019s alright. I\u2019m just here visiting my family for the holiday. I made the trek, sketchy though it was, and I just don\u2019t want to embarrass myself \u2013 not too much, anyway. That isn\u2019t easy…but nobody notices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Friday and Saturday fly by\nquickly. After a big Zach-made breakfast of eggs, bacon, avocado, Odwalla fruit\nsmoothies and gourmet (to me, anyway) coffee, we tool down the 101 [part of\nCalifornia 1, or the Pacific Coast Highway] to UC-San Diego (in La Jolla),\nwhere Amanda works. She took us to the Birch Aquarium to view some amazing sea\ncreatures interact on the other side of tall glass panels. I love that stuff \u2013\nwe all did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then we tour the Scripps Seaside Forum area, where they will be married at the brink of the surf. Time passes fast…children grow so quickly…all in the seeming blink of an eye…don\u2019t sleep!<\/em> Then we blast back to A&Z\u2019s for the sunset, chillaxing and leftovers. The dogs are getting along quite well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Saturday is Small Business Day in Leucadia, so we stroll the 101 (fantastic, funky streetscapes with boutiques, galleries and restaurants). The aroma from the Leucadia Donut Shoppe is incredible and familiar from last year\u2019s visit. D\u00e9j\u00e0 vu<\/em>, all over again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We eat fantastic, fresh seafood\nat the Encinitas Fish Shop (just as good as last year\u2019s meal at Fish 101), then\nbop into a few bodegas as well as some art and craft galleries. We had\nblood-orange sangrias at the quaint, petite jewelry store where Zach bought the\nwedding ring. It\u2019s a beauty. Ohio State (Zach\u2019s alma mater) stomped Michigan\nearlier, and everyone was wearing their Buckeye wardrobe. It was wonderful fun,\nand good for me to do some walking. All that driving had made my knee stiff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, back to the crib for maximum chillaxing and a movie, The Disaster Artist <\/em>with James De Franco and his son \u2013 a pretty unique movie. Great acting and story. Soft furniture too. Enveloping…<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Sunday we drive up the coast\nto Carlsbad, where Zach first lived, and have lunch at Grubby\u2019s for their\nmajor-league burritos. Next, off to Merrells at the Outlet Mall for cool\nclothing (Christmas gifts) before returning to the apartment to watch the NFL.\nThe f**king Packers got beat by the Viqueens 24-17. FOCK!<\/p>\n\n\n\n One last night of sleep in the guest room and early the next morning is good-bye to the kids \u2013 never easy. Zach and I have breakfast and exchange farewells…and just like that, I\u2019m back on the road…<\/p>\n\n\n\n I leave at 9:30, when Google says\nthat rush has hour flushed, then hop back on the I-5 to the 805 to I-8 and back\ninto those scrubby, stony, twisting and pitching mountains, which isn\u2019t near so\nbad after days of non-driving and sunshine and rest. I have the best day on the\nroad and make it to Eloy, AZ, where this journal rejoins…<\/p>\n\n\n\n –Journal Entry Reflection: Friday; November, 30th, 2018; 10:53 am. Back at Storrie Lake Campground; Las Vegas, New Mexico; in my camper, Cochise.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Alright then, dear reader, let\u2019s stop here. I\u2019m getting a bit tired from all that activity, good food and fun \u2013 Southern California style. We\u2019ll pick it up where this left off, with the next episode of The Rocky Mountain Rubber Tramp.<\/em> I hope you choose to join us then, and thanks for coming along on the ride! We\u2019ve made it this far…let\u2019s see where we go next. Orale!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Again, let\u2019s stay with these journal entries, shall we, dear reader…? We have much ground to cover once again, and I\u2019d like us to do it in the moment, as best we can. Let us rejoin our journey reflecting from the future of what is now, or has been up to this point. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":1599,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[240],"tags":[156,158,157,159,160],"class_list":["post-1598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rocky-mountain-rubber-tramp","tag-leucadia-california","tag-road-trip","tag-southern-california","tag-uc-san-diego","tag-uss-midway"],"yoast_head":"\n