Sunday – September 16, 2007 – Brenda, AZ

Wayne:
As you can tell from today’s photos, we aren’t in Kansas (or California) any more. And when I say we, I mean our daughter Carol, and yours truly. Margaret elected to stay in Southern California for another two weeks and work on her Red Cross project.

To give perspective and size, Carol is 5 ft, 4 inches tall. Standing next to the saguaro, you realize how tall these things are. And this isn't even a particularly big one!

Carol didn’t want me to drive back to Florida alone, so she volunteered to accompany me and share the driving. Plus it will give her a chance to check with the real estate folks in Jacksonville regarding the sale of her (and Ron’s) house there.

After a full week of shopping and eating in L.A., we gathered ourselves and headed out this morning. We left at 11:00 a.m. Enroute we stopped for propane (only 9 gallons!) and diesel. Looking at the map of Arizona, we concluded that once we got past Quartzsite on I-10, there weren’t many places to stop for the night. Brenda, AZ, is about 11 miles east of Quartzsite, and in the middle of nowhere. And when I say nowhere, this is not an exaggeration. Other than a bunch of permanently-located trailers (for the snow-birds), there isn’t much here. But it is only 31 miles from the Colorado River and is probably reasonably comfortable in the winter.

Even though we left at 11:00 a.m. today and stopped at 3:45, we covered over 231 miles. Tomorrow, we’re hopeful that we can make 400 miles – or close to it. The bad news is that that distance puts us in to beautiful, down-town Lordsburg, NM. And that is another story for another day. But ask me about installing florescent lights in Quonset huts!

I’ve asked Carol to contribute her views / experiences on this cross-country odyssey.

Carol’s View of Father-Daughter Road-Trip Launch-Day:
Well, I gotta tell ya’ I was a bit nervous about today. Excited, but nervous. My father and I have never had an opportunity to spend this much time together all by ourselves. I am looking forward to it. Either that, or one of us will lose patience with the other and someone will end up buried in a remote location where none but the prarie-dogs can find him..or her… hee hee!
We set off this a.m. in my parent’s RV that, at least in size, resembles a medium sized hotel lobby. But, I must say that the Howard-Holiday-Inn handles like a dream as long as there are no bumps, wind, rain, or other annoying factors like the rude Southern California drivers.
After a day of keeping the unit in between the perilously close white lines of the slow lane, we have landed and deployed in Brenda, AZ. Now, don’t ask me where we are or who the hell Brenda is….Brenda seems to be a small town, not unlike many others across the USA. Brenda is a quiet, slow, deliberate sort of dead-end town. It is nestled in a valley surrounded by rocky, sharp hills, cacti and fierce sunshine. Sporting 3 RV parks, Brenda’s beauty is only in the water sports and attractions in the towns surrounding her.
We will leave Dear Brenda tomorrow and head to the next place. Maybe Phyllis or Lolita? LOL! Enjoying a cold beer with my dad and will then rest for tomorrow’s adventure.