Fuel Level Check
Oil
Pressure Check
Trip
Meter Zero Check
Wheels
up at 0420 hours (That’s OH-DARK-TWENTY in civilian slang!)
Captain
Baldy is joyfully into his “pilot mode”. Hey, it’s one of them little thangs
that keep this slightly skewed person happy, ya know what ah’m sayin’? After
all, we have pretty close to 400 miles to cover today! Keep the skipper happy
and all will be well!
What
can a thoughtful soul say about a drive across the Los Angeles Basin at any
hour on a weekday morning? Cultured and gracious personage that she is, Lady
Goldilocks (Barbara) has sternly directed Baldy (me) to avoid saying “it sucks”
in this here blog. As y’all know that I am FAR too vulgar an individual to
comply with such a directive. I hereby note that the aforementioned two-word
expression stands!
At
the Pilot Travel Center, up in Hesperia on the high desert, U.S. 395 starts its
lonely 1310-mile run to the Canadian border. Before Interstate15 came into
being, the 395 ran all the way to downtown San Diego as many of us old-timers will
recollect. The 395 holds memories for Goldilocks and me, stretching back to
1965 when we were young officers stationed at Edwards Air Force Base …
Ain't we the cutest?
With the constant rumble of Diesel
engines and long rows of high-octane coffee urns, the Pilot Travel Center is a
haven for a multitude of truckers! We have stopped here in a succession of rigs
for several years …
Our Travelin' Rigs!
Pilot Refueling Station!
Rollin’ up 395 we are into a couple
of hundred miles of desert! If y’all want pretty cactus desert, go to Arizona!
This is the Mojave, as bleak and desolate as deserts can get! Views are vast,
small towns are dried up and forlorn. Water is sparse and a person could die
easily out here in the heat and dryness …
Kramer Junction -- A Scene from our Courting Days!!
There are serious eats and friendly
service at the Alabama Hills Café and Bakery up the road in Lone Pine.
The peaks of the
Sierra Nevada loom huge in the west. After Bishop, we climb fast up to our cool
digs in Mammoth Lakes. Uh … elevation is 8,000 feet above sea level, beloveds!
Our bodies are telling us to slow down and ACCLIMATE! Tomorrow’s activities
include a gondola ride to the top of Mammoth Mountain! This is a sweet place …
we like it up here!
Affectionately ---
Captain Baldy and Lady Goldilocks
I note from your photos that Goldilocks prefers to be seen with really old stuff. That's good news for Baldy no doubt.
ReplyDeleteNeed some adversity shots to spice up your blog; you know, Baldy leaning under hood up on auto, getting the jack and spare tire out of the boot, Baldy walking down the road from the vehicle with a gas can, Goldilocks showing some leg and a hitchhiking thumb beside auto with hood up, or Goldilocks seated on her suitcase as if Marilyn Monroe in "Bus Stop."
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