Benny is Home

Last Sunday (4/10/11) afternoon after church, we were visiting at Aunty Pat's when Benny came home. Becca wanted a picture with this hunky guy. He has always been kind to Becca. He is Aunty Pat's youngest child. When he was baptized as a baby in the Catholic Church I was asked to be his "Godfather," which is an honor given to a man other than the child's actual father. I feel close to this man.

A gathering of SoCals--l to r--Cindy, Benny, Aunty Pat, Marlo (Benny's daughter) and Katy (Cindy's daughter). This was a happy moment at sad time for this family, as they mourn the loss of Chrissy.

Uncle John with niece Cindy and nephew Benny

Gramma, Becca and I were glad to have been able to come here at this time. We spent as much time with Aunty Pat as she was up to. We hope we have been some comfort to her. She is my older sister and a special person in my life.

A stop in Yermo

This morning (4/13/11), after the usual getaway chores, we pulled the chocks and left the East Shore RV Park, concluding our visit with the SoCals. We took the 210 to the 15 North slowly pulling the steep grade of the Cajon Pass. When we stopped for gas at a Pilot truck stop outside of Victorville, the guy at the next pump noticed our Hawaii plates and began the usual conversation. "How did you get that over here?" My usual answer now "We use the secret tunnel" (yuk yuk). When he asked where we lived I gave my usual answer "Oahu". Now that usually gets a response like my dad/brother was stationed at Schofield or Hickam. But not this time. He said something that I certainly didn't think I'd hear at a random gas station in the desert. "I went to school at Kailua Intermediate School". But it was in '63 so he was gone when we got there in '70.

Outside of Barstow we stopped at the Calico KOA in a place called Yermo.

Gramma remembered this place because they have an old caboose parked out front. Gramma is interested in trains because David is/was interested in trains. So David, this caboose is for you.

The weather report today was for strong winds in the desert, which is not unusual. Can you tell that these trees are bending in those winds? Forecast called for gusts up to 50 mph and "high profile" vehicles (that's us) were encouraged to get off of the highway. We did and we have been joined here by several other rigs for the night.

Tomorrow is supposed to be calmer. So we'll try to get an early start to get across the desert before the afternoon winds kick up.

Quartzsite, AZ, April 2011

We left Mesa on April 5th, after six months of pleasant wintering in The Valley of the Sun. That night we "boondocked" (no water, electricity hookups) in Quartzsite on BLM land at an area called Scaddan Wash. It is free, and worth it.

We had a spectacular desert sunset

The night sky was equally amazing. Watching the deep night full of Heavenly Father's stellar creations helps to put earthly cares into perspective. Below is the desert dawn. You can see Bigfoot to the left and some of our nearby camping neighbors.

This is a good midway stop for us on the way to LA to visit Auntie Pat and our relatives which we affectionately call "the SoCals"

Visit with "Little" Pat

Today we went to one of Auntie Pat's favorite restaurants, "Flappy Jack's". Funny name and funny hours--it closes at 3 PM. It is a fabulously popular place serving just breakfast and lunch--although their long menu has items that could be dinner meals. We have never been here went there wasn't a crowd waiting to get in. They have quality food and enormous servings. It is hard to see exiting patrons who are not carrying take-home boxes. We took home four boxes.

It is great to spend some time with my older sister. It is a sad time for her as she mourns the passing of her daughter Chrissy. But our conversations ranged away from that topic, discussing, among many things, our birth home of Oklahoma and our lives together in the 40ies and 50ies. We laughed a lot. Pat and Becca are buddies. Becca came up with the nick name "Little Pat".

What's In That Truck?

As we travel, we try to stop at every rest stop along the way. As we entered Riverside County, we realized that there would be no more rest stops because we were entering a big city. We were stopping at the last one. We park on the side for trucks and trailers because we are nearly as big as they are, when we pull the car with the motorhome. While I waited for Dad and Becca to come back, a European "smaller" kind of truck pulled in beside us. The driver got out and shook his hands at the skies and wiggled all around. I thought "a strange little man in a strange little truck". He came back about the same time as Dad and Becca. As he pulled out ahead of us, I saw what he had in his truck. I wasn't ready to take a picture. Dad didn't even see him pull away. I thought I had missed a great opportunity. Then he passed us on the freeway. This time I got the shot.


I saw the driver check his load twice and neither time could I see what his load was.

Here is a close up of what the Big Red Pencil looked like.

A Big Red Pencil

Any ideas? Where is this Big Red Pencil going? Why did they make the pencil red? Why not a blue pencil or a yellow pencil? Have you learned how to estimate? How big is this pencil?

In what occupations would you use a red pencil? What are they going to do with this red pencil? If you have any ideas, put them in the comments.

I could see some mounting brackets attached to the bottom side of the pencil as the truck drove away. I could just see it going up the side of a building to advertise an accountant's office or maybe a Tax Preperation business. Dad said,"It could be for teachers. They use red pencils too."