Aliens and Angst

You have to look very closely to see the aliens in my rig.  This is the weirdest thing I've ever seen.  Those fluffs of lint are stuck to the top of those threads which are pointing straight up in the air.  Move your hand close and they move from six inches away and cling to your fingers.  There are probably ten sticking up from Cooper's bed at all times.

 Not to be outdone, Jonathan took the time to scratch his cheek ... in slow motion.  Apparently this feels REALLY good!!!

And so we said our goodbyes at the RV Park as Bill came down to be sure I did things correctly.  I'm very thankful for his help!!!  After hugs all around, I was off down the highway ... except I didn't want to GO the highway, I wanted highway 95.  Those little aliens seem to have an affect.  Just a minor detour.  

About halfway to Needles, I thought a snack would be appropriate, except Cooper had pushed them off the seat to the console.  I grabbed the wrong corner of the bag and dumped every single one out on the floor.  Aliens again.  It was okay, I didn't want that snack anyway.

After computing the mileage, I finally decided to stop in Barstow for fuel.  I know it's bad ... expensive ... out of sight, but I know the station, and know the way in and out.  Lucky for me, after a once-around, there was no one on the outside lane.  Fuel has not been this high in 73 years because I'm 73 years old and I've never paid this much.  

Cute little sticker ... I wonder who put that there???  I settled for 20 gallons at $125.00.  At least I have a much cheaper Jeep to drive when I get home.

Then everything went to pieces.  There was an accident on Tehachapi Pass. Aliens yet again.   There's no other way to go where I was going at this point.  Traffic came to a screeching halt in Tehachapi proper.  Every time I looked at the map and got closer to the end of the red line, the red line extended another half inch.  I was exhausted and my butt had been talking to me the last hundred miles.

I did get one nice train picture coming out of the tunnel.  I mean really, we were going 0 miles per hour.

One full hour later, I finally crawled up to the accident. 

No way to tell what actually happened.  This guy ran up the hill to keep from hitting the steel bars laying on his left side, which came from the truck up ahead.  They were trying to hold the truck up enough to get the bars out of the way, then let the truck down.  It didn't appear to be in too bad of shape.

On the other hand, the guy who was hauling the steel must have rear ended someone already towed away. His front end is smashed into the back of the seat.  

Finally back up to speed ... only 55 ... I hit the downhill portion.  Anyone pulling big trailers want to give me some pointers?  I let it roll up to 60, then braked a little to slow back down.  The engine downshifted into whatever gear and the RPM's hit 3,000 in one second.  YIKES!!!!!  I speeded up to make it shift up, but it did it again the next time I tried to slow down.  I finally just barely touched the brakes, enough to engage the trailer and not downshift the truck.  Is this normal????  Maybe I should have slowed down way earlier.  

Oh ... and did I mention I had to stare at the check engine light all the way from Barstow to Bakersfield?  I did it again ... forgot tow haul and when I kicked it in, the light came on again.  Big sigh!  I'm duck taping a note to my steering wheel that says TOW HAUL.

At long last we pulled in to Orange Grove RV Park to the wonderful perfumey smell of orange blossoms.  

Cooper and I went for a quick walk before crashing in the rig with both AC's running!!  It's rather toasty!

I'll be on the road this morning by 7:00.  I'm anxious to get home, and I have an appointment at 1:15.  I'm taking my entire bottle of aspirin with me.

P.S.  I am reminded daily that my problems are miniscule.  My thoughts go out to Doug and his White Lion and to the Bayfield Bunch.