BIRTHDAY GIRLS

Jeanette's & Patty's birthday are just one day apart.

Yesterday afternoon, Bob & Diana Rush picked us up at the house, and we drove over to Bob & Jeanette Fulton's for some cake & ice cream. Eat dessert first, right? Bob & Jeanette's daughter Iris was there, along with Ron & Judy Ellstrom from Kingman. We had a nice visit with our friends, and of course, we solved all of the country's problems. Sometimes it's nice to chat with folks who still believe in the fundamental principles that founded this great country.

Sitting out on Bob & Jeanette's patio, with their new sun & wind screens was a pleasant way to spend a few afternoon hours. The weather has already started what looks like a warming trend, with temperatures into the upper 70's. Not sure if it will last, but we're back into that period of time where we don't have to run the house heater, and it's too early for the A/C.

Homemade birthday cake, strawberries, and ice cream - yummy!

Earlier in the day, Patty picked up Diana, and they spent several hours at Winterfest in the downtown area of the city. This is one of many annual events where the city closes Main St. (McCulloch Blvd.) to vehicular traffic for whatever the activity happens to be. Winterfest is kind of like a giant arts & crafts festival, with hundreds of vendors setting up their booths in the middle of the street. In addition to the vendors, there's live music, food, and other attractions. This is a huge event, that attracts many thousands of people, and one that Patty looks forward to every year. Not big on my list, and with her buddy Diana in town for the winter, I gained a reprieve from attending. Thanks Diana!

Today, I'm making the long drive to Stockton, CA, to attend the funeral of my Aunt Martha. It will be the very quickest of trips, with the return leg tomorrow right after the service. Day after tomorrow, we have to be in Tucson to work the big rodeo for 9 days. No blog posts for the next day or two, but will pick up again when we leave for, or get to Tucson.

THE END OF TRACK

There's nothing more certain than a speeding train approaching the end of it's rails. It's inevitable what the outcome will be. There's no discussion, no debate, or any other rationalization. The end result is cut and dried. No one will argue that a railroad track laying crew will magically appear, and with superhuman effort, quickly lay enough track to keep the fast approaching train from derailing. It's not going to happen, the train is going to wreck, and it's going to be ugly!

I often think of this hypothetical train wreck as an analogy of this country's short sighted monetary policy decisions. Who in the world, if at the controls of a speeding train, would say something like "trust me, I know what I'm doing", and then, open the throttle even wider as the train quickly approached the end of track. The similarity between the speeding train, and the government's history of spending more than it takes in, is simplistic in nature, however the comparison is about as close as it gets regarding the eventual outcome of both scenarios.

The question of viability for the Social Security program has been debated for years. The almost universal opinion is that we're fast approaching the point where the fund will not be self sustaining, and payouts will exceed income. The only issue where opinions differ, is when that point in time will come. Folks on both sides of the aisle have been kicking this can down the road for years. The sad part of the story, is the fact that our speeding train drivers have been raiding the Social Security fund for years, and in place of the money removed for other expenditures, the fund is now full of government I.O.U.'s. If any private pension manager tried the same tactics, he/she would quickly be put behind bars. Can anyone say "Ponzi or Madoff".

Within the Social Security context, I curiously watch the debate currently taking place in Washington regarding the highly touted payroll tax cuts. The Obama administration, public opinion, most political pundits, and a majority of the news opinion seems to agree, this is a good thing, and that it should be extended well into the future. What no one is talking much about, is the fact that on every paycheck, the government will continue to get approx. 4% less in funding for Social Security. The short sighted viewpoint is that it's more money in every one's pocket, and there's very little discussion about the decrease in revenue for the Social Security fund. This deficit spending mentality is what got us into this mess in the first place, and is exactly why Europe is making the news broadcasts almost every day.

The good news is that there are an increasing number of politicians who despite being demonized as too negative toward unfunded mandates, are starting to get the public's attention. The future, particularly the future of our kids, and grand kids are at stake. If the politicians continue to sell out the future of this country with a fiscal policy that puts everyone in jeopardy, then history will eventually be the final arbiter. I suspect it will be written that the engineer politicians should have pulled back on the throttle before America's train reached the end of the track.

BUSY DAYS AHEAD

Since receiving news of my Aunt Martha's passing, the funeral is set for this coming Monday in Stockton, CA. I'll be making a quick trip to CA on Sunday, then driving back to AZ. right after the service. When I return home, we'll be leaving in the motor home on Tuesday morning for Tucson, where we'll begin setting up for the Tucson Rodeo. If not for our commitment to MainGate, the company that produces the official Rodeo merchandise, we would be taking the motor home to CA, and spending more time with Martha's family. Despite the short window of time, I'm looking forward to visiting with some of my relatives, who I haven't seen in many years.

Thanks to all who have emailed, commented, and phoned with condolences.

REMEMBERING AUNT MARTHA

This photo was taken in the spring of 2009. My Cousin Diane, Aunt Martha, and Patty.

The loss of a family member is always difficult, no matter what the circumstances. My Aunt Martha, (I called her Dee Dee), who lived in Stockton, CA for most of her life, passed yesterday at the age of 86. She and her husband Harry, who died a few years ago, raised four children, my Cousins Karen, Diane, John, and Paul. When Patty and I last visited in October of 2011, we became more aware of her advancing years, and even though the news of her death wasn't a big surprise, it still came with a lot of sadness.

My Aunt Martha was the last link to my mother and father, who I never knew. When my parents were killed in an automobile accident in 1946, I was 6 weeks old. I recently learned from my Aunt Martha, that she and my Grandmother Alice were babysitting me when the accident happened. I simply cannot imagine the devastating impact that horrific news must have had on my Aunt, and my Grandmother.

Whenever we visited my Aunt, she always had stories, and new details about her younger life with her sister, who was my mother. I so looked forward to hearing anything that my Aunt had to say about my parents, and probably should have recorded some of those conversations. During the last few years, she provided me with many pictures, and memorabilia of my mom and dad that I did not have. I'm so grateful that she and my Cousin Diane found, and passed those irreplaceable items on to me.

The inevitability of life ending at some point, is part of the cycle that repeats itself with every generation. Because of the circumstances surrounding my very early years, I always shared a special relationship with my Aunt Martha, and I'm so glad that I was able to spend some time with her during her last years. Rest in peace Dee Dee, you were a very special person.

THE AFGHANISTAN CONNECTION

In closing yesterday's blog, I mentioned that my oldest son Michael had just started a 3 month deployment in Afghanistan. This is a voluntary assignment that Mike accepted as part of his job with the National Security Agency (NSA). When I talked with him right before he left the states, he explained without a lot of specifics, that his mission had to do with advance planning for the eventual U.S. exit from that country. Naturally, any significant news coming out of Afghanistan is now more than just a blip on my radar screen.

Since Mike retired from the U.S.Army as a Military Intelligence Officer a few years ago, he first contracted with a company, and did a similar job that he had performed while on active duty in the Army. About a year ago, he decided to apply for a permanent federal government position under the umbrella of the NSA, and his position now carries a lot more responsibility. Because his job has always been at the highest security level, I've never known a lot of details about what he does, but I do know that his expertise often requires a presence in front of top military commanders for briefings and counsel.

While talking yesterday with my youngest son Marc, he told me that he had been online with his brother, and he learned that Mike's accommodations consisted of a converted storage container, and that the temperature was hovering just above 0 degrees. Perhaps that's a little better than a tent in real cold weather, but not much.

Patty and I cheerish the time we had with my two sons and their families on our recent Caribbean Cruise. I have a lot of pride in my kids accomplishments, and will be counting the days until Mike returns to the good ole U.S. of A.

SUPER SUNDAY

Today is the day that over 150 million folks around the world will be tuned in to a football game, that for the 46th time, is called the Super Bowl. The amount of revenue generated by this one football game is almost beyond comprehension. Advertisers line up to pay 3 1/2 million dollars to the TV network for a 30 second commercial! Over the years, the new commercials have added almost as much interest as the game. Thank goodness for DVR, so now, we can replay some of the good commercials. Our friends Bob & Diana Rush are coming over this afternoon for a mini Super Bowl Party, and I'm sure there will be plenty of snacks and food.

I'm not as much of a football fan as I used to be, but no matter who the 2 teams happen to be, the hype of the Super Bowl usually generates my interest. The fact that the game is being played in Indianapolis, at Lucas Oil Stadium has further peaked my interest in today's contest between the New York Giants, and the New England Patriots. Forest & Charlotte Lucas have a huge presence in NHRA Championship Drag Racing, and their son Morgan Lucas drives a Top Fuel Dragster. Our friends, Bob & Shirl Kase work for the Lucas Family, and over the years, I've had a few conversations with Forest Lucas. With the game, the Madonna half time show, and all of the other activities taking place in a stadium that I have a small connection with, I'm a little more interested than I normally would be. One more added connection to the stadium is the fact that the Company who manages part of the concessions at Lucas Stadium is MainGate, the outfit that we used to contract with when we pulled the Harley-Davidson merchandise trailer with our motor home, and the same company that we sell merchandise for at the Tucson Rodeo.

Our friends Len & Ellie Meacham, who have their motor home parked at Emerald Cove near Parker, came by for dinner last night. We were parked with them in the desert near Quartzsite, and it won't be long before they will start their journey around the country, working at many of the NASCAR races. Hopefully, we'll get to see them again before they head east.

As Hank Jr. used to sing on Monday night - "Are you ready for some football"? I'm ready, and I hope that my oldest son Michael, who just started a 3 month deployment in Afghanistan, is also able to catch the game.

BOATS & TRAINS

Part of the Lake Havasu City Marina

During the month of March for the past several years, we have rented a boat slip at the marina. Yesterday, I reserved a parking space for our boat, and it will go in the water on March 1. Call me lazy, but when the boat is at the house, these are the steps that I have to take when we use it for a few hours. 1. Take off the cover. 2. Hook up to the truck. 3. Stop at the gas station. 4. Launch at the marina. 5. Pull it out of the water & wipe it down. 6. Back it into the yard. 7. Put the cover back on. So, guess what? I guess I'm lazy because I've only gone through that process once since we returned home from working at the Grand Canyon last summer. When it's in the water, we drive down, jump in and go. The added incentive to pay the $180 monthly rental fee is that most of spring break takes place the later part of March. I can almost guarantee there will be some interesting photos on the blog during that time period!

Bob Tucker and Patty watching, and listening to one of Bob's excellent slide shows.

We invited one of our Golden Spike RV Chapter members, Bob Tucker, over for dinner last night, as he and his motor home are parked here in Havasu for the month of February. We last saw Bob at the January Indio RV Rally where we made tentative plans to get together when he came to town.

One of Bob's hobby's is photography, which he takes to another level when he incorporates music with a computer slide show presentation. The music and other sound effects are blended to synchronize with the displayed images, and the end product is exceptionally well done. We watched several presentations, one of which was his photos of the Indio Rally last month. Of particular interest to me, was a slide show of the Tehachapi Loop between Bakersfield & Mojave. This railroad engineering marvel has fascinated me for years, and Bob had some great pictures of the loop, and of the new depot/museum in the town of Tehachapi.

We had a nice visit with Bob, and hopefully, we'll get a chance to get together again before we leave for Tucson next week. Our annual work gig at the Tucson Rodeo begins in a little over a week, and we'll be arriving there a little early, so we have some free time to visit with Marc, Chandra and our Granddaughter Laila.

BUY AMERICAN

Since returning from our week in Quartzsite, and a short, two day motorcycle trip, things around the home front are pretty routine. As I've said before, writing about trips to the grocery store, or other day to day stuff is not worthy of the effort, certainly not on the readers end.

When we do make a trip to the store, particularly to shop for other than grocery items, we are making more of an effort to buy products that are made in the U.S.A. In the last week, I've been hearing radio advertisements from two local business's that promote their use of U.S. made materials. One of those companies, Craig Plumbing, encourages the public to buy American made products. Their ad says if we all increased our made in the U.S.A. purchases by only 10%, it would go a long way toward bringing back some of the manufacturing jobs that are now in foreign countries. Even on a local level, it's encouraging to hear this subject being promoted in a more public way. In Stitches, another local company, that specializes in boat covers, and bimini tops, is publicly touting their use of American made products. Last year, I had them build a custom mooring cover for our boat, and all of those materials came from within our borders.

Rather than look for the cheapest price for an item, (wholesale & retail), if we all placed more of an emphasis on quality, particularly those products made here in our own country, it would be a huge boost toward putting a lot of people back to work. Just imagine if large companies like WalMart would place a higher priority on their purchasing of U.S. made products, and less priority on the cheapest price. Unfortunately, many products are only available through foreign made manufacturers, and the issue of choice is completely taken off the table.

As long as the business environment here in the U.S. is such that companies can't compete against cheap foreign manufacturing, the flow of "made in china" products will continue unabated. There's no simple answer, but I personally think that our Federal Government has a legitimate responsibility to make it easier for American companies to compete. On a level playing field, American workers & products will win the ball game every time. Given choices, if we would all buy "made in the U.S.A." products, it would make a huge difference!

DESERT BACK ROADS

Since the feds started bailing out everybody, I wonder if this little watering hole scored some of our taxpayer bucks.

My internal alarm clock started buzzing at it's usual time, which was around 5am yesterday. The slight problem with that was it was actually 4am, as I had picked up an hour when I crossed into CA, and my body was still on AZ time. That, combined with a harder than normal motel mattress, precluded dozing back off for a few more winks. So, now what do I do? Any more sleep was out of the question, so I found a newspaper, made some of that wonderful motel room coffee, and tried to kill some time. By the time I read the paper, including the classified section, and watched the TV news for awhile, I was up to speed on everything from foreign affairs, to who the locals were that got picked up for D.U.I. Finally, the sun peeks over the eastern mountains, and I'm ready to go.

The ride west on Hwy 74 out of Palm Desert is a series of curves and switchbacks that rapidly ascends into the mountains west of the Palm Springs area. By the time I had reached the 5,000 foot level, the temperature had dropped considerably from where I started at almost sea level. The ambient temperature gauge on the bike was reading about 35 degrees. With a lot of my cold riding gear on, the only thing I kind of wished I had brought was one of my full face helmets.

With the morning becoming a memory, the temperatures started rising, as I headed west, then south on several back roads that would eventually put me back into the desert near El Centro, CA. When I'm on one of these rides, I truly get lost in the moment, and it's all about the ride, the wind, what's around the next corner, or over the next hill. I don't stop a lot to take pictures, usually only getting off the bike about every 150 miles for gas.

It was about mid day, when I decided that rather than subject myself to another night on a tortuously hard motel mattress, I was about 3 hours from home, and that sounded like a better way to end a great 2 day ride. When I take off on these rides a few times a year, I never know exactly where I'm going, or how long I'll be gone. Usually, after 2-4 days, I've ridden enough miles so that I'm good for another few months. It's always good to get back home.

ESCAPE

Some of my motorcycle trips are planned, where I do a great deal of research regarding roads, places to stay, and stuff to see. And then, there are the spur of the moment rides, where one minute I'm washing the car, and 30 minutes later, I'm on the Harley, heading off toward an unknown destination. Such was the case this morning, when in an instant, I decided to escape from my normal at home activities, and catch some wind on the bike. Unlike a lot of my friends who ride motorcycles, I'm one who cherishes the open road by myself, where I have no responsibilities to anyone but yours truly. Some might call that selfish, but I really don't care, because it's an escape, and a true sense of freedom that has worked for me, for a very long time.

Fortunately, I have a life partner who recognizes and accepts my need to get away from everything, and for a lot of years, that escape has been on the Harley. There's a saying in the Harley world that goes something like - "If I have to explain, you wouldn't understand".

Amboy, CA is on old Route 66 in the middle of the Mojave Desert.

So, this morning, without saying much more than "I'm going for a ride", Patty knew that I would be gone for a few hours, or perhaps as much as a couple of weeks. The one rule we have is that I call every evening, and tell her where I am. Many years ago, when we lived in CA, I remember calling at the end of a first days ride, and telling her that I was in Wyoming. That trip was one of 10, where I rode to the big motorcycle rally in Sturgis, S.D.

Today, I took off in a westerly direction, and veered off I40, west of Needles, and picked up a section of the old "Mother Road" that is still intact between Needles and Barstow. At Amboy, I put a few gallons of gas in the tank, and turned south off Route 66 toward 29 Palms. That's where I entered Joshua Tree National Park, riding south toward Palm Springs. This road through the park is one of the few roads in CA that I have never traveled. The road through the park is a great motorcycle road, with a speed limit under 45 MPH, and lots of curves.

Roy's in Amboy, CA has seen better times, but at least it's still open for gas, and a few conveniences.

When I left the National Park, I was near the north end of the Salton Sea, and I made a right turn toward Palm Springs. I ended up in Indio near the Riverside County Fairgrounds where we recently spent a week in the motor home at an RV rally.

Tomorrow, I'm going to head west over the mountains, and hopefully travel on a few more new roads that have eluded my quest for complete dominance of all major highways in CA. I'm getting close!

DESERT BAR PART II

Patty, Del, & Diana in front of the metal church at the Desert Bar

If you could close your eyes, and magically transport yourself to the Desert Bar, the scene would be similar to many rural watering holes around the country. However, you can't simply wave a magic wand, and instantly appear at the Desert Bar. You have to know where to turn off Hwy 95 onto a dirt road that winds its way out into the desert. Then, you have to slowly bounce along on a bumpy, dusty road for over 5 miles before you arrive at this very unique oasis in the middle of nowhere. The Desert Bar is a place like no other!

We stopped at Bob & Diana's house, where their friends, Randy & Del were visiting. This would be their first visit to the Desert Bar. We left Lake Havasu a little before noon for the hour drive to our destination near Parker, AZ.

Upon arrival, the parking area was already getting full, and the crowd was much larger than the last time Patty and I were there. In the blog archive, on November 7th, I wrote about some of the history of the place. All of the tables were taken near the bandstand, so we went down to the lower level where we found a table.

At 1 pm, the 3 piece band started playing some classic rock tunes, and they were pretty good. From where we were, we couldn't see them, but the music had us tapping our toes, as we continued our conversation, along with some food and drinks. Patty and I shared a root beer float, a first for us in a very long time.

Diana & Patty soaking up the 70+ degree sunshine.

It was mid afternoon when we joined in the parade of vehicles leaving the Desert Bar on the return trip back to the pavement. On the way home, we stopped at the London Bridge, where Randy got some pictures of the worlds largest antique. Before leaving, we agreed to meet at Casa Serrano for dinner, a local Mexican Restaurant. We capped the day with a short visit to our house, and we vowed to once again visit the Desert Bar before the hot weather returns.

Note: There's a glitch somewhere, as this is the 3rd time I've written the narrative. When I clicked publish the first 2 times, the text disappeared, so hopefully, that won't happen on this third try.