Here's the 2020 Mitzubishi "Outlander" that we rented from "Enterprise" and drove to Boise. It's a nice ride and only had 3,000 miles on the clock. But, I actually liked the previous version because it was bigger and much more useful. Bells and whistles just can't take the place of cargo carrying capability. Despite it being uglier than a plucked mud duck, it is fabulous to drive and and ride in. No complaints at all. A rock was thrown up from a passing truck trailer and cracked the windshield before we even got out of CA.
This is the van we went to get. It only has 88K miles on the odometer! She's prettier than a poodle puppy with a new bow in its hair!
Below is a shot of the "Wilson 5000" CB antenna on the van.
I try to keep an 11 meter CB radio in the van when I travel
more than about 200 miles or so from home. It comes in
handy from time to time. The preferred use is with my
10 meter ham transceiver but it wasn't practical to bring it
this time. And, the 10 meter wave propagation was not active
so it wouldn't have been of use anyway. Otherwise, I just
tune it with the MFJ-949E tuner and talk to the world.
The smaller antenna is a "Tram" 2M/7cm dual-band
antenna for my ham transceiver which I did bring with me.
These pics were taken at Washington Park in Anacortes, WA.
This is my "go to" place for a fried chicken lunch.
It's in Longview, WA and used to be called "Speedy Chicken".
We met long-time friend and brother, Jeff Edgecomb,
there for lunch. He and I used to frequent the place.
It still has the big leghorn rooster parked on the roof.It was great to get to sink some teeth into a hot chicken thigh!
This is youngest son, Michael, who lives on Hayden Island,
Portland, OR. Y'all know Connie the Canner.
Well, here we are... and it’s August. Another month has gone by and we’re already past the mid-point of the year! Ain’t that enough to make you do the Shing-a-ling and shake your thing all night long? Well…um...maybe for ten minutes…uh…how about for one song?! Hey! It would put some pep in your step! Yeah, I know. Maybe a snap, crackle, and pop in your hop, too. OK… fuhgeddaboudit. Moving along….
As you know, our ol’ faithful Coop de Ville suffered
a fatal engine issue last month. It was going to cost an arm, a leg, a
first-born child, and my coon dog to get it fixed. Given that these items are
not negotiable, an alternative had to be found.
After searching far and wide on the Internet for a Freestar van that would fit our needs (we need the utility), the perfect one was found in Boise, ID. We called the dealer and had them hold it for us (a deposit was required) while we gathered our duck and readied for the trip. After a week (our duck is retarded so it took awhile), we picked up the rental car in Visalia on the next Saturday then headed out after church on Sunday.
It was found to be practical to rent a car to drive one-way to Boise. We had to pay a drop off fee but that was reasonable since it would
have required about the same amount to drive our Camry. But, we weren’t just
driving to Boise; the intention was to head to Seattle to see some of the
kiddies. There was no good reason that we could think of to drive two cars and
wear out two old people. We paid the modest fee.
The plan was to drive about half way to Boise then
stop in Reno for the night. That part worked out just fine. However, the “Economy
Inn” was a huge disappointment. We’ve never had an issue with them and actually
prefer them; but, this place was a nasty mess. The room was acceptable (though
just barely) but the hallway, stair landing, and surrounding area was filthy! I
thought we were at one of the rent-per-hour motels on motel row in Fresno. Add
to that, the young lady at the counter was about as personable as a stuffed
armadillo. We departed the next morning as soon as was practical.
After turning north at Winnemucca, NV, we
experienced miles and miles of miles and miles. Folks, there just ain’t
anything out there…not even cell service! We were almost without a change of
scenery and had no phone service for almost four hours!
The Outlander made it to Boise at about 4 PM (the
expected time) which gave us time to consummate the car deal. After that, we
dropped it off at the Boise Airport (which is where we had booked a room) and
called it a night.
The agents who sold us the van were a super nice Christian
couple. In fact, we had church right there on the car lot! We prayed for and
ministered to them (they have been pastors before) and they prayed for us! Love
it! Reckon it was “The First Church of the Open Air”, eh?
The van is a beaut!! It was more than we expected! Though it was older, mechanically, it was only about 6 years old! It appeared to be someone’s around-town daily-driver or a second vehicle because it was in such great shape. And, you could tell that it hadn’t been used for a lot of highway travel since it only averaged about 5,500 miles per year and the cruise control buttons weren't worn at all. That’s about like driving 7.5 miles to work and back each day. There was little wear on anything and even he seats were hardly worn (which was an unexpected delight)!
If that wasn't enough to make us shout, "BOY! HOWDY!", it's the “Limited” edition Freestar which means that it has
all of the goodies and bells and whistles that our old Freestar SE didn’t have!
Sweeeeet! She was all shiny and prettier than Banker Bob's wife's Shitsu! After the last of the paperwork and ministry, we transferred our
stuff from the Outlander to the van and bid everyone good-bye.
We were dog tired after all of the events of the day so our luggage got unpacked from the new van then we settled into the (really nice) "Inn America" room for the evening.
But, not before we had a long-awaited sit-down-in-a-real-restaurant meal! How we had longed for that! Connie and I both had the chicken-fried steak breakfast (yep, breakfast for dinner!). It was more than appreciated since it would be only one of two meals in a restaurant that we would have. So much for the handful of restaurant gift cards, eh? That’s all that we did in Boise as the two old folks were plumb tuckered out and needed to rest.
It’s “only” 561 miles from Boise to Bow, WA where
Tracey, Connie’s son, and his family lives. Given that we were on a tight clock, the already
weary travelers decided to just make it there in one long 12 hour haul (you will
always average about 55 MPH on any given long trip). After taking in a lot of
scenery, abusing our bodies, breaking in the new seats really well, and plundering
our energy resources, the new old-people-equipped van parked at the “Fairfield
Inn” 1.76 miles north of Chuckanutt Junction (imagine the disappointment when they learned that "Petticoat Junction" was already taken).
Tracey met us but the greeting was only a bit more
than a drive-by hugging. We made sure to chat a bit but there were two axel-draggers
that needed to crash. It was right close to dark-thirty and our eyelids were
hanging down so low we were getting eyelashes in our mouth. It was amazing that
we had the spizerinctum to unload the suitcases from the van. We slept well
that night.
Then next day was a great one! We sort of fumbled through
the ad hoc continental breakfast. Due to the virus issue, everyone had to go
get his goodies from the usual breakfast area but then they had to take it back
to their room. That’s not really a deal breaker but it’s that sort of inconvenience,
when added to ten other such inconveniences during the day, that makes for a damping
of the fun of traveling. I managed to sprinkle enough coffee into my eyes to at
least make it to a coffee kiosk (of which there are no few in Washington!) and
get some real coffee.
We spent part of the day over in Anacortes, WA. (a
beautiful place and fewer than 20 miles away). That included having a really
nice lunch at the “Fidalgo Drive-In” (everything there is named after “Fidalgo
Island”). After a delightful fish and chips, burgers and fries, and what-all
meals, it was beach time! Tracey and fam led the way.
“Washington Park” is only about 5 miles from the
drive-in so it didn’t take all that long to get there. Once we did, it was easy
to see why it’s so popular. The place was gorgeous! After lolling about at the
beach and taking a few pictures (a hundred pictures is usually a “few” for me
when I’m on a roll) we went on the “Washington Park Loop” which found us on a
hill overlooking part of Burrows Island, Burrows Bay, and some of the marina. What
a fabulous viewpoint! That was good for a few more pictures, too!
Alas, we had to get back to Tracey’s house since he’s
on call for his business. By then it was pizza time! The gals called in an
order for pizzas and the guys (two of which are grandkids) promptly did their
part by eating them! After a super day of family fellowship, the tired
Californians went back to the inn.
The next morning found us reiterating the goofy breakfast routine and me quickly finding a real cup of coffee once we departed the hotel. It didn't take long until we were BOI (back on the Interstate).
There is a sad note. Brandi, Connie’s daughter who lives in Granite Falls, WA (about 45 min. from Tracey), is quarantined and we couldn’t see her and her family. It may be another year or more before we can get back up there so that really is a bummer.
Then next leg was to Longview, WA (195 miles) where we met friend
and brother, Jeff Edgecomb, for lunch at the “Speedy Chicken”. They have the
best deep-fried chicken I’ve ever had so it’s my “go to” eatery when I’m in the
area (which isn’t often enough). Jeff and I go back to 1990 and are both ham
operators. After a nice long chat and hugs all around, we had to ease on down the
road another 45 minutes to Hayden Island in Portland to see son, Michael.
Mike was ready with a beaming smile and a big hug when
we got there. We hadn’t seen him since last year when we went north for a few
days. Given our current political climate, it may be a long time before we get
to go again.
He suggested a great local burger place for lunch so
we drive a short distance to “Boomers” burger joint. Since the old travelers had
already had lunch, we let Mike test drive the cheese burger special and we tore
into a pile of onion rings. That’s a real “Arnie” deal (“I’ll be back”)! The
place was actually open for sit-down service so we lingered as long as we could
before wending our way back to I-5 and commencing the 825 mile leg back home.
The next stop was about 5 hours later when the car and the driver were both out of gas. When I told
Connie that I had had enough for the day she asked where we were. I advised
that we were in “Grass Pants, Oregon”. Well…you know you’re tired when…..
The “Super 8” motel was happy to see us (that’s the
other preferred motel when we can’t find an “Economy Inn”. If you are in
Chehalis, WA, do stop there). The only gig was that we had to carry our stuff a
long way and they didn’t have luggage carriers or dollies of any sort. That’s a
mean thing to do to old people. After relaxing and me watching the “History
Channel” for awhile and after Connie did some sewing, it was lights out.
This last leg is a well-known and, therefore, an unremarkable one. With the exception of stopping at the “Olive Pit” in Corning, CA to pick up some special olives for a gift, the old folks just wanted to get as much pavement behind them as possible.
One crumby note is that the “Olive Pit” pulled their array of olive tasting jars due to the virus issue. That’s really a bummer when you only have a little time to spare and don’t have time to visit the aircraft museum at “Castle AFB” in Atwater (surely, you don’t think three visits are sufficient for an old wingnut like me, eh?).
Actually, by the time we got to
Atwater, it was night time and we were wrecked anyway. It was time to just call
it a night in Merced after more than 12 hours of being on the road. A generic
motel was finally located (the rest were crowded or full for whatever reason)
and it was “lights out” (and the sound of old people crashing).
The next morning found us searching for quick
haul-off breakfast but every take-out place was crowded so we just moseyed
southbound on down the 99 Highway (we had switched from I-5 to 99 at Stockton since the two highways are only 4 miles apart at that point).
Reckon, other than coffee, breakfast wasn’t all that important. We did have an early
lunch later (take-out, of course).
We finally made it back to the rancho and were weary, worn,
and pretty well trip spun. The chickens didn’t miss us but Abbie did! She
greeted us with enthusiasm and wagging her tail so hard she almost tossed the white tip off! We were home. It took a few days
to get back to normal and are still somewhat out of sorts. This, too, shall
pass.
It needs to pass because we have a great desire to
go to Texas while there’s some resemblance of sanity in our nation (and that
sanity is being executed by force only too quickly).
Discounts R Us: one fun thing about our trip is that
we stopped at several “Grocery Outlet” stores. If we could see the sign from
the freeway, we stopped and loaded up. The back of the Coop de Ville Too looked
like a delivery van! It was great!
Stressin’ and testin’ or It’s treadmill time: the other
day (when lots of things happen around here), Ol’ Ran had to take a treadmill
test to fulfill the FAA requirements to have his medical certificate
reinstated. This was the second treadmill test with the first one being not
long after being released from the hospital in ’14.
The test is a mere 9 minutes long. However, there is
a catch. Every three minutes, they increase the speed and raise the incline on
the treadmill so that, by the time you are in the middle of the third leg, you
are getting a real workout. It’s timed so that you actually can’t run (which
would have made it easier) but have to walk fast.
It was a really long and arduous 9 minutes. The good
news is that I didn’t hit the target stopping point for heart rate (150 beats
per min.) until just about ten seconds prior to the end of the test (few make it
that far). And, my resting heart rate was 60 beats per minute and blood
pressure was 120/70 (perfect!).
Since the “big event” (some would call it a heart
attack), the Ol’ Rancher has made it a priority to do a lot of physical work
and to (over) use the stairs that lead to his computer shop. In other words,
getting a daily “cardio” was always a priority. It paid off. I got a clean bill
of health and then got a fresh medical certificate in the mail in only three
weeks. It usually takes 3-4 months!
There’s a really nice Cessna 150 for rent out at the
airport so Ol’ Wingnut will need to go dust off his wings.….soon.
Due to a lack of time and not wanting to turn this
month’s post into a novelette, a lot of things were left out. Perhaps there
will be time to finish up by posting a second episode. It would be a first but,
why not?
There you have it: another short episode of the long
happenings at Rancho Relaxo, home of Rancho Ran, the world's foremost authority
(the previous one died), home of a retarded duck, and home of Connie the Canner (world's greatest side-kook):
where the air smells like freshly cooked pinto beans (and their after effects):
where things can get...interesting: where it’s all news to me: and, where...you
just never know.
