Cutting It Thin

For the last six days we have been "on the road" meaning three days were devoted to travel by train from Springfield, IL, to Sacramento, CA, followed by three days driving from Sacramento to Laughlin, NV. Finally, we are settled in an RV spot and do not expect to move tomorrow. Of course, there is the day or two after that when we go down to Yuma, AZ.

One of the problems with traveling so much is you get complacent. You start forgetting to plan ahead and worry about what if something goes wrong. You screw UP.

First, let me tell you that traveling by rail from IL to CA during the winter can get boring. All you see is snow, at least this year. There is snow on the ground, and snow on the trees, and snow on the houses and barns. I even saw a homeless man in Iowa sitting on a park bench, and he was covered with snow -- then I realized it was a brass figure. But it sure looked real, and the snow was real. It was cold, down to -15F outside someone said.

It was good to get back to California and begin retraining out dog Wolf. He had spent almost two weeks with our daughter Deb and her partner Paula. Paula took Wolf to work every working day, and he had grown to enjoy the attention and getting around. Slowly but surely we are convincing him that constant sleep is a better alternative.

By last night we had made our way to Bakersfield. I had filled my fuel tank in Coachilla and had over 3/4 a tank left. The weather was overcast/foggy and did not contribute to our really being on the ball. This morning we got up, cooked breakfast, and headed up over Tehachapi Pass. Once we got out of the San Juaquin valley the fog disappeared and only high clouds remained. We could see the sun.

We reached Karmmer's Junction at the intersection of 58 and 395 in time for lunch. I thought about filling my fuel tank there, but at $3.65 per gallon I hoped for something better down the line and the guage still read over 1/2. When we reached Barstow I did not see an easy place to get fuel so kept tootling along.

After we settled into the boredom of driving along I-40, I looked at my fuel guage and at the miles driven and decided I could make it to the Needles area before I needed fuel. Besides, there simply was not much in the way of service stations along the freeway.

I drove and drove, and the road kept getting longer and the guage kept dropping. Halfway across some designated Wilderness, the fuel checklight came on. We were still 60 miles from Needles. I figured we could make it.

The miles kept going by, and as we crested one of the hills I figured it was downhill all the way to Needles. But around the corner there was another valley and climb to the top of the next pass. The needle kept dropping and was soon down to halfway between E and the first mark.

A sign said the next services was 37 miles down the road. I told Alice we could make it all the way into Needles, and that made her feel better. But not me. I had begun to worry.

Miles and miles of miles and miles went by, and I wondered if it would ever stop. We went under overpasses for roads without services -- without even a house or two. No one lived there. Then came another deserted overpass, and another. I realized I was "cutting it pretty thin."

Alice checked phone reception to see if we could call road services is we ran out of fuel. Then these emergency communications posts began to show up every few miles. I wondered how many people had hoped there would be fuel and had cut it too thin along this stretch of the road.

Finally, a sign indicated that the next exit had fuel, and we pulled off and entered the Hi Sahara Oasis, a non-descript place somewhere in the desert along I-40. But they did have diesel -- at $4.239 per gallon. I went in and gave the girl $20. She gave me a smile and a receipt and I went out to pump 4.3 gallons into my tank. I just hoped it was clean fuel.

Net, we made it into Laughlin, though tomorrow I go over to Bullhead City to fill my tank, hopefully at a more reasonable price. The marker is 1/8 inch above E, so there is not much left. No, I could not have made it into Laughlin on what I had, and possibly could not have even coasted on down the hill to Needles.

It reminds of when we were young and Alice's dad told me it was cheaper to keep the top half of the tank full than trying to keep the bottom half full. Made sense then, makes sense now. Don't cut it thin.

sam

Comments

[Trent Fleming]

So good to catch up with you, and to hear you are still at it. Keep in touch.

Trent

[Sam Penny]

Hello to Trent. This is an old friend who helped me on my research for Memphis 7.9, the scenario of what a major earthquake would do to the city of Memphis and the surrounding areas.

Trent, thanks for stopping in and we will see you again sometime. sam