Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996 21:25:39 -0400
From: Eddiehintz@aol.com
Subject: Trip Report: How the west was fun...
Howdy all!
It's been rather fun since we last talked... Sam, myself and Indra
(the dog) have had adventures. After the kind hospitality of my
sister and her husband and roommate, we headed west on rt. 84, and I
took a nap. Sam missed the turn to continue on 84 to I 40, and woke
me up just before Yeso NM, with the news that she thought she'd
missed the turn. OK, says I, we just take rt. 60 out to 285, thence
to I 40 (look at a map, it'll make more sense). So we pull over so I
can take over driving, and the oil light starts to flash. No big
deal, I add the extra Qt., and make a note to myself to pick up more
oil in the next town. Well, 45 minutes later, the oil light flashes
again. This is not a good thing. So, I go investigate, lo and behold,
I have bit myself. I checked the Valves in Clovis NM before we left
my sister's house. When I put the left side valve cover back on it
didn't seat properly. So we dumped oil at the rate of 1 qt. per 50 or
so miles. No es bueno, especially on rt. 60, in NM, on 4th July, at
4:45 AM, 10 miles shy of Vaughn NM. So we waited.
And waited.
Finally, at about 5:30 a fellow comes by that stops when I flap my
wings at him. He doesn't have oil. Says there's a couple of cars and
a truck behind him. Offers a ride to Vaughn, but I refuse, not
wanting to leave Sam and Indra in the middle of nowhere. So I flag
down a nice old couple in an American (ugh!) mini-van, and they offer
to go back to Vaughn and get us some oil. So they go. Then, 5 minutes
later, the 1st fellow shows up-he decided to get us some oil! And he
refuses payment. Nice guy. So I dump in the oil, and off we go,
waving down the folks in the mini-van to get my change back and thank
them for having gone out of their way. Karma is a good thing to build
up, dontcha know.
So, on through NM. A very scenic place. The sun rising
over the hills, and the neatly trimmed grass, painstakingly
maintained by a herd of cattle. The tan ground stretches off to the
distance, accented by the green of scrub bushes, much like the desert
of California I grew up camping in. And it didn't hurt matters that I
had to wear a jacket. Nice to have a low below 73-hasn't happened for
a few months in Austin. The Cibola National Forest was a real treat
for the eyes, and we snapped the
necessary
photo as we crossed the continental divide. A later
stop in Gallup was the opportunity to purchase some Castrol to
replace the cheap stuff so kindly provided by our early morning
savior. And AutoZone refused to take my Travelers Checks-said they
only take American Express. A
Bronx cheer to AutoZone-what's wrong with Master Card
Travelers Checks anyway? And now, if you'll excuse me, we're pulling
up Winslow Arizona. I think I'll go stand on a corner and see if it
really is a fine sight to see a girl in a flatbed Ford slowing down
to take a look at me... ;-) Somehow I think Sam may not like this
idea...
Peace,
Eddie
Back to the Main Trip
page
So, on through NM. A very scenic place. The sun rising
over the hills, and the neatly trimmed grass, painstakingly
maintained by a herd of cattle. The tan ground stretches off to the
distance, accented by the green of scrub bushes, much like the desert
of California I grew up camping in. And it didn't hurt matters that I
had to wear a jacket. Nice to have a low below 73-hasn't happened for
a few months in Austin. The Cibola National Forest was a real treat
for the eyes, and we snapped the
necessary
photo as we crossed the continental divide. A later
stop in Gallup was the opportunity to purchase some Castrol to
replace the cheap stuff so kindly provided by our early morning
savior. And AutoZone refused to take my Travelers Checks-said they
only take American Express. A
Bronx cheer to AutoZone-what's wrong with Master Card
Travelers Checks anyway? And now, if you'll excuse me, we're pulling
up Winslow Arizona. I think I'll go stand on a corner and see if it
really is a fine sight to see a girl in a flatbed Ford slowing down
to take a look at me... ;-) Somehow I think Sam may not like this
idea...