It has been a few days since I last wrote.. the Lazy Daze gathering ended on a soggy Sunday. It was a lot of fun and am glad I got to go. And I now know why I will remain a person-at-large at these caravan gatherings.  Yes, I know a lot of Past Tents, but I also know alot of folks from the Backscratchers and the Outbackers.  So not being tied to any one group, I can enjoy all the groups. It still bugs me tho… when these caravan events happen, they all stick with their individual groups and there is no togetherness.  About the only thing that brings folks together is the Washer Toss game.  So being this newbie amongst this group, I will remain unattached to any one group and just enjoy my friends – wherever they are located.

Driving South from Live Oak Camp in pouring down rain.. thru LA to the factory – I decided I was just flat out getting out of California. I had many suggestions of places to go to between now and Death Valley event – such as Anza Borrego desert, Joshua Tree NP, Holtsville and its BLM land, and even around Salton Sea. But all these are still in California and well I decided to head East. On that day, I did not know where, but after trying to buy a tank of gas for my RV and no one would take a credit card – I mean NO ONE, I knew it was time to leave CA. They wanted cash or a debit card. They would even take a check over a credit card – can you believe that?!?  I have been encountering this no credit card thru out the entire SW on RV parks, State Parks, etc. but had not encountered this on gas stations until I got to CA.  I can’t even get a check cashed at a bank so I can carry cash – as I’m an out-of-stater…  it is all very frustrating!

So I spent Sunday night in the parking lot of the Lazy Daze factory. Not recommended by the Lazy Daze factory, but I had no trouble. A guy in a hooded rain jacket “guarded” this stretch of the street, as he kept riding up, cross the street, ride back down, cross the street. Saw this frequently when I was awake. When a truck parked on the street, this hooded guy on the bike came rushing out when the truck stopped – circled frequently and when the truck left, I didn’t see the guy on the bike until early morning. The factory was surprised when I told them about this.   As previously mentioned, I had this visit to the factory to be evaluated on the paint job. Good ole Vince, did a walk around and he said I need touch up paint. What I was seeing on the cracking, he said it looks like the paint did not stick to the chalking, as that is the only places it has cracked. He told me how to prep, how to use the activator & then use the touch-up paint they provided to me. I’m relieved it did not require a whole rig paint do-over and its easily fixable.  Funny thing tho… today, this Tuesday morning, I got a call from Todd at the factory. The new bottles they got, which he used one of them to put the paint into – is dissolving. It was a hard plastic bottle, but something in the paint is dissolving the plastic. He told me to check and sure enough the plastic was quite pliable and was told to dispose of before I had paint all over the place. Thanks Todd for the heads up.

So I hightailed it out of the factory and went eastward. Decided to get off of I-10 and get on I-15 northward. Debated when I got to Highway 395 to take that or not, and decided not. So kept on I-15 until Baker, CA.  The traffic on I-15 was relentless, the rain had lifted, but the high winds was hard to drive in with the crowded roads. So when I got to Baker, I stopped to get gas, had a bite to eat and studied the map. Decided to take a more scenic route. I took Highway 127 – called Death Valley Rd. Nothing like being out on a road and no one else is. Only in AK & the Yukon have I experienced that, but for some reason, I knew I did not want to get stranded on this road – ever!  Desolate, rugged, rugged land, but a beauty only Death Valley can provide. Gosh it has been years since I have driven this road, so much I had forgotten, yet the starkness is still familiar.  The shadows were getting long as the day went on, still I drove up one mountain, down another, up another, thru many valleys that prompted warnings of flooding. Nonetheless, no rain was in site, just miles of this same landscape. I also had forgotten the next road I needed, but no real worry has there had been no other road. So stopped in the middle of the road – cause I could! – and studied a map. Lo and behold, a truck came over a rise, honked his horn, made me jump a mile in the air and I scrambled to get out of his way – he just smiled and I just laughed – that was the 1st vehicle I had seen since I left Baker. Map tells me I’m not far to my turn off. The landscape really starts changing when I the 1st road off the the right appears, alas, its the not my road. But the landscape looks like sand lava of sorts. Really bizarre looking. Finally my road comes, its CA Highway 178/NV Highway 372. Steep climb upward and upward – how is it I have been climbing all day, yet I’ve been in valleys too?  Fortunately, it was less steep downhill on the other side – taking me into Pahrump, NV.  I’m in great need of laundry to be done, so I have checked into Pair-of-Dice Escapees RV park here.  Laundry is overflowing, but it will be the cheapest wash & drying I’ve done yet out on this trip. $.75 for either.  So guess what I will be doing the next couple of days?

Wrong.  You thought I would be doing laundry… well, I woke up with a lousy sore throat and feeling like the rug was pulled out from underneath me. Several were sick at Live Oak with the 24 hour flu, but I don’t have any of their symptoms, just what I described. So am sticking to my rig today, not wanting to share whatever this is.  I slept in and have just awakened from another nap and its just 10a in the morning. So will close for now.