But first.
(1) Important: Blogger.com does not support displaying the blog from older posts to newer ones. My workaround is to change this first publication date to September 1, 2021 which makes this page show up first. To find the next post, simply click on the link at the bottom of this page for the "next" entry, and the same for each page thereafter.
(2) I begin with a short summary of trip: Depart June 10, 2021; return August 26th. Drove 10,661 miles, passed through or lingered in 25 States, met family and friends, still love my truck (it's right outside!), took my time outbound, got a bit barn sour* on the return, but not always. Regret having to miss a diversion to Arvada, CO to meet with Nancy and Pat Godsil, Lee and Frances Chouinard, and David Dolloff, high school classmates. Glad to be home. ( click on any photo to see full sized)
* If your rental horse is barn sour he maintains a steady but slow pace outbound; however, when you turn toward home (the barn) he knows immediately, and quickens his pace.
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| Anna named our Sprinter camper "Swanky-Tank" |
I chose a darker theme to frame this trip. We were (and still are) in the midst of a virulent virus. I slept every single night in the 2010 Sprinter camper and ate out only infrequently. As I read the worsening COVID-19 news, my caution slowly became an imperative; other times I found myself in crowds blithely ignoring the reality of this deadly virus. Habit is difficult to break.
Just one year ago, in June 2020, a group of friends began to read The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio. Written after the Black Plague (1353).
Wikipedia: "The Decameron sometimes nicknamed l'Umana commedia ("the Human comedy", as it was Boccaccio that dubbed Dante Alighieri's Comedy "Divine"), is a collection of novellas by the 14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375). The book is structured as a frame story containing 100 tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men; they shelter in a secluded villa just outside Florence in order to escape the Black Death, which was afflicting the city. Boccaccio probably conceived of The Decameron after the epidemic of 1348, and completed it by 1353."
Today authorities expect COVID-19 to sequence through endless mutations, each becoming less deadly than the last, until it's like the annual Flu. To date world-wide Covid-19 deaths approach 6.3 million; an average of 3,700 humans still die each day. My second booster was at the VA clinic last week. (April 2022)
That unfathomed experience has yet to run its course. 2020 feels like a lost year to me.
But here we go…Thursday June 10, 2021 in the afternoon. The 12 year-old Swanky-Tank has traveled 15,084 miles as we depart.
We drive South.
Near I-5 Bakersfield for dinner. New bird sightings: both male & female adult Tanagers. Chicken sandwich. Beer. Drive on to Lowe's Home Improvement Castaic where we pull down the shades and sleep. Lowe's for 10 years has provided safe and undisturbed overnight parking, and free WiFi 24/7.
Our destination is Tucson to visit Anna's 94 y/o mom who despite some cognitive challenges retains her sense of humor.
Day 2
To avoid the heat of Palm Springs we agree to go to Joshua Tree National Park where at 4,000' above mean sea level cooler temps await.
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| Photo courtesy of Anna George |
Up early we begin our drive on to Tempe, AZ . Damn! On arrival our rooftop A/C failed as soon as we plug into a 30 amp source. We are left with no choice: it has to be fixed. The next day the Sprinter was at Camping World in Tucson until the unit is serviced (or replaced!) either tomorrow, or the next day or the day after that. (bad news as the temperatures were well over 100; but the pool at the site was a welcome relief). Two days later after renting a car and paying $1,700+ for the new Coleman A/C, we recovered the Sprinter, returned the rental car, grateful that the A/C worked as advertised.
Anna had arranged a ground-floor, backyard in desert-bloom BnB nearby, where we spent 4 nights before she flew home and I departed for Sedona. Our favorite Greek restaurant, Athens on 4th, had been sold, owner retired. We decide to try the new owner's menu. I recall being there with Marilyn years before when we had the episode I've named the "Gentleman Caller".
The Gentleman Caller (c. 2016)
Marilyn, Anna and I are seated at Athens on 4th, each with a glass of Ouzo (a Greek anise-flavored drink: 3ozs. Ouzo plus 4 or 5 ice cubes. Sip a bit when it turns cloudy. It is terrific!) Having ordered, we await our dinner when a tall, well-dressed, even distinguished-looking man of a certain age enters the restaurant through the front door situated directly behind Marilyn. He's a man of experience dressed in a handsome suit. We are laughing and chatting over something, as my attention is drawn to the gentleman. I see him look down as he passes Marilyn's shoulder. He walks to a table about 20 feet away, walks around to a chair facing our way. Anna notices his nice shoes, and I see Marilyn's demure glance follow him to his table. "Marilyn", I whisper, "I can get you a date with that man, just say the word." She's blushes! "He's looking at me!" Just now our meals arrive. Silent consent arrives: we have enjoyed the best of that moment, and return to enjoy our meal, and a second Ouzo.
But this time Marilyn is not here; and the place is not the same place. In her younger days Marilyn was a great beauty. Raised in Hull, MA on Main Street down the road from the Library. Clayton George, her husband, was a jazz pianist at Provincetown on the Cape in his 20's when they met. According to Anna's Cousin Paul Psilos, Clayton was one gig short of everlasting fame. He was a terrific piano man who would go to jazz sites in Tucson, and sit-in on the piano to great applause. Back then, he was known as Clayton George of the East Coast.
