The first mishap of the trip. Long ago, I made a bargain with the Gods that I do not expect never to have car trouble, but that my car will break down at times and places where I can cope. Over the years, this arrangement has consistently worked.
West of Winslow, some unidentifiable but not very large object hit the side of my rear right wheel with a clunk, and the tire started to go flat. I got to a the next freeway exit where there was a Mobil station and some shade, and called AAA. It was mercifully not even too hot, since we were at high altitude and a breeze was blowing. The AAA guy arrived in due time, helped unload the trunk and dig out the donut, and put it on. Bobby and Miss Louise actually enjoyed roaming about in the shade and having drinks of water.
Back on our way, we got to Holbrook as planned on a Saturday night. It doesn't look as though anyplace that sells tires is open on Sunday, though, so we will stay a second night in Holbrook and get the tire Monday morning, cutting short our visit to another cousin in New Mexico.
Both Bobby and I are feeling the salubrious effect of the hot, dry climate on our joints. So much so that a second floor motel room is not much of a trial. I did not think to specify a ground floor room because my Best Western mindset involved elevators, somehow. However, if somebody else schelps our stuff up the stairs, I can get up without too much trouble.
Bobby stood at the bottom of the stairs, either daunted by the climb for his tiny arthritic body, or not being able to clearly see what we were doing. But when I said, "up, up, up," he bounced up ahead of me like a rabbit.
I am coming to understand why so many cousins ended up in the southwest.
Sunday, June 10, 2018
Day 3: Goodyear, Arizona
We drove east from San Bernardino to Goodyear, just west of Phoenix, through hot dry desert where interesting rock formations begin.
The necessary rest stops are a bit of ordeal in the blistering heat, and all three of us are glad to do our business and get back into the air conditioned car.
We had dinner and breakfast with cousin Lia, who is several years older than I and whom I haven't seen for many years--perhaps not since her son's wedding forty years ago. She and her husband moved here to retire and let the southwest climate work its magic on the osteoarthritis that plagues us all in our family. Now her husband has passed away, and she herself is facing health challenges.
Eloise matches cousin Lia's living room rug:
Over breakfast we cheerfully discussed illness, aging and death, observing that it was odd to be so cheerful about it all but that not being cheerful won't make it not happen.
Lia luckily had heard on the news about a raging brush fire closing roads on the route I planned to take to Holbrook. So I've readjusted the route to skirt the fire.
The little dogs stayed in the hotel room while we went out to breakfast. I have been leaving them for short periods. As it turns out, having me gone for ten minutes while I pack the car is OK, for fifteen minutes while I get a freebie motel breakfast in San Bernardino was OK, but for two hours while cousin Lia and I face death with equanimity over our benedicts--that is just too much. Miss Eloise expressed her opinion of the matter by deliberately peeing on an ottoman, and not on the pee pad in the bathroom. I know it was her because Bobby is too arthritic get up on an ottoman to pee.
I reported the damage at check-out and paid an extra $50. This amount suggests cleaning and not furniture replacement. Since there were stain traces on the ottoman to begin with, I wonder if Eloise is not the first dog to decide it smelled like the right place, and perhaps that ottoman has earned the hotel hundreds of dollars.
The necessary rest stops are a bit of ordeal in the blistering heat, and all three of us are glad to do our business and get back into the air conditioned car.
We had dinner and breakfast with cousin Lia, who is several years older than I and whom I haven't seen for many years--perhaps not since her son's wedding forty years ago. She and her husband moved here to retire and let the southwest climate work its magic on the osteoarthritis that plagues us all in our family. Now her husband has passed away, and she herself is facing health challenges.
Eloise matches cousin Lia's living room rug:
Over breakfast we cheerfully discussed illness, aging and death, observing that it was odd to be so cheerful about it all but that not being cheerful won't make it not happen.
Lia luckily had heard on the news about a raging brush fire closing roads on the route I planned to take to Holbrook. So I've readjusted the route to skirt the fire.
The little dogs stayed in the hotel room while we went out to breakfast. I have been leaving them for short periods. As it turns out, having me gone for ten minutes while I pack the car is OK, for fifteen minutes while I get a freebie motel breakfast in San Bernardino was OK, but for two hours while cousin Lia and I face death with equanimity over our benedicts--that is just too much. Miss Eloise expressed her opinion of the matter by deliberately peeing on an ottoman, and not on the pee pad in the bathroom. I know it was her because Bobby is too arthritic get up on an ottoman to pee.
I reported the damage at check-out and paid an extra $50. This amount suggests cleaning and not furniture replacement. Since there were stain traces on the ottoman to begin with, I wonder if Eloise is not the first dog to decide it smelled like the right place, and perhaps that ottoman has earned the hotel hundreds of dollars.
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