We’re off! Our Spring outing will be a 2 1/2 month trip to D.C., via Indy and other points. Our goal, after several days of prep (washing & waxing the rig, packing & loading, etc.), was to get up at 0-dark thirty and be on the road by 6am in order to beat the 40 miles of cross-LA commuting traffic. The best-laid plans, etc. We finally rolled out at 7:00, which is better than our usual effort. Traffic wasn’t bad on the 10 heading east, but it sure was clogged on the westbound side. Man, am I glad I’m through with that nonsense. Our first stop was to be the factory in Montclair to buy a few things. Best-laid plans once more.
We ended up buying a new CO detector, smoke detector, and propane detector as ours are all at replacement age. Also a new fridge external display thermometer, some holding tank goop, more polyseal, and a new water filter. Whew! I also was convinced we were on borrowed time with our water pump. It seems to be working fine after five years, but this is the model that has given nightmares of repeat replacements for other owners, so I didn’t want to push it. We got a new Revolution pump, which seems to be pretty reliable according to the forum. I was going to carry it until the old one failed, but head mechanic Vince hemmed and hawed until I got the point that it would be better to install it now and keep the old as a spare. Easier to have him do it, anyway. I also had him look at our air conditioner shroud. I’ve been duct taping the multiple cracks that have appeared, without much success. He said it was cracking all over and was very brittle. Ok, another replacement.
We turned Vince loose on Albatross, and we wandered around, watching final decal work being done on a new rig, and inspecting the floor models. Loni was getting ideas. Hmmm. Danger, Will Robinson, danger!
About two hours later, everything was ready, my checkbook was in flames, and Loni was mugging with Vince.
Yeah, sure. SHE didn’t write the checks. Finally, we were on the road for real, heading east on I-10, northeast on I-15, and then east on I-40. Man, there is a lot of bad pavement on those roads. I continually am amazed that the rig stays rattle-free after the pounding it gets. Our new Michelin tires (last week’s expenditure at Costco) are pumped to the max 80 rear, 70 front, and it feels it. I’m going to have to bleed them down tomorrow morning or we’ll have no fillings left.
Did I mention that today is Friday? And that the yahoos are out in mass heading for Vegas? Traffic slowed to a crawl going up the 15. It didn’t help that a Chippie shot out from an on-ramp and started weaving across all lanes to create a traffic break. Yup, we were first in line right behind him. Just our luck. He got us all slowed down to a crawl, then went full broadside across the highway to stop us completely. Turned out a Class A motorhome had blown a left front tire, and it’s shredded carcass was a huge hazard in the middle of the highway, and the rig was over in the center divider. While the Chippie got out and removed the tire remains, the big rig limped across the lanes into the right breakdown lane. It’s that little white speck up ahead on the right.
The fun and games were not over. The wind started to kick up, but not all that bad. Once again, however, we saw flashing lights ahead and everything slowed to a crawl as cars started bailing from the right lane. Here’s the reason:
Maybe we should have stayed home? All of this was on the 15, which is the route to Vegas. It was packed all the way, and we were happy to see our turnoff onto I-40 and to leave the Vegas traffic to crawl on its own.
The trip on 40 was less eventful, but still had plenty of bumps in the roadway. We’re becoming a third world country, pothole by pothole. At a rest stop I checked the tire pressures in all this heat. Yikes! 94 rear, 79 fronts. No wonder we’re jiggling along. Just before 5:00, we pulled into the Avi Casino Resort,
which has a KOA-managed campground (center, right side in above) at a reasonable price ($26 with tax) for full hookups and cable, and a golf-course view out our front windows. It was 96 degrees when we parked, so I got the power hooked up quickly and the air conditioner going. We are now quite comfortable, but are about to go out in the heat in search of cheap eats at the casino.
We’re back. The first restaurant we checked out featured Chateaubriand for two at $60. Say what? The next was a coffee shop place where the most sophisticated dinner was meat loaf. The buffet had a line a mile long as it is seafood night and half the valley seems to be here. Ah, but just next door was the Ristorante Aviano, looking just right: not fancy, but cloth (ok, plastic, but it looked good) on the tables and a very reasonably priced pasta menu. I had clams with angel hair, Loni had chicken with olives, mushrooms, artichokes, and peppers. Each came with drink, salad, and spumoni ice cream; Loni’s for 11.50, mine for 13.00. And, surprisingly, it was all good! At least as good as Olive Garden. There were also warm bread-roll-sticks with two sauces to dip into, including a great garlic-oil-herb. We are very happy campers.
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