When last we left our Galloping Geezers they were poised on the threshold of North Dakota with my room-mate at the controls of our mobile monster, anxious to guide us safely and comfortably across the vast emptiness that laid before us.   I have to admit that I was very much impressed with the skill and confidence she displayed as she threaded her way neatly across the nearly deserted 4 lane interstate into the heart of North Dakota’s corn belt.   In fact, after several hours of uneventful travel, I had nearly fallen asleep when fate threw my fledgling pilot an unexpected curve...

He has now decided to clear cut his land to obtain an unrestricted view of his neighbor’s duck pond…there are things going on here that I just don’t understand.   And so, after being worked nearly to death, we departed the Zimmerman Fly Farm with several cases of Zim’s Zany Zin and boxes of stuff we are transporting to Mexico for them tucked away in our basement, as well as one of the local ground squirrels who decided to hitch a ride.  Thinking we had picked up a mouse, I set several of the “humane” mouse traps which are no more than large glue strips which snag the critter and allow you to peel him loose and set him free in someone else’s motorhome.   Imagine my surprise when I ran the trap line in the morning and discovered that I had caught a squirrel’s tail in one of them.   I don’t know if these things get chewed off or simply detach like a lizard’s tail, but the thought of having a critter, running free in our home that once had a 6-inch long tail sent me into Battle Mode!   I now have rat traps, rat-size glue traps and a sonic rodent chaser installed in our basement.  HAH!  Don’t mess with Texans, Rodent!!   We haven’t seen or heard from our furry tail-less visitor, affectionately named “Little Jerry” for the past several weeks but our basement now smells like a winery and there are several sets of little purple rodent-type tracks leading into the mountain of boxes containing my brother-in-law’s stuff ….oh, wait….   I guess we’ll discover his fate when we arrive in Mexico next week and unpack.   While in California we visited our kids and grand-kids in Fremont...

  Galloping Geezers                                                       October 7, 2005

That’s Nick and Bella.   Nick was somewhat surprised that we not only had 3 kinds of soda on board but also had 3 kinds of ice cream.   Our son and his wife are pretty health conscious and only keep carrot juice and spinach-flavored yogurt in their house for the kids.   Nick decided he was ready to relocate to Granpa’s.   Our routine stopover in Los Angeles included visits with our family doc, the Godmother of an Armenian street gang of 5-year-olds who push baklava, as well as Kalyn’s breast surgeon and a trip to our daughter’s dentist to get my choppers sand blasted.  The surgeon told us that Kalyn’s breasts are “perfect” (I already knew that) but we were both chastised by our family doc about our weight and the dentist wondered aloud as to exactly what was keeping my teeth in my mouth.   I really hate smart-ass dentists!   We also enjoyed a day at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library wandering through the various exhibits of Presidential history and ending up at his gravesite overlooking the Simi Valley and Pacific Ocean.   This was the first Presidential Library we have ever visited but I doubt it will be the last.   One of the exhibits, that was especially interesting, was a replica of the Oval Office...

This is definitely NOT the Easter Bunny.   Our journey continued through Nevada with a stopover in Reno to catch up with our God-daughter and to take a look at her dad’s new motorcycle shop, “Little City Choppers” in Sparks.   And then…after hours of whining and pleading from my bride…we arrived in Grass Valley, California, for another ne’er to be forgotten visit with…the brother-in-law (feel free to hiss and boo at this time).   As usual, we arrived in time for yet another of the endless clearing and building projects which he “just happens” to be in the middle of at our arrival..

As can be plainly seen, there IS NO SHOULDER on this road!   My ever resourceful and quick-thinking, soon-to-be-the-navigator-again bride managed to squeeze us into a space that didn’t exist by defying several of the basic laws of physics and breeching the space/time continuum.   And to think, some people still believe that prayer doesn’t work!!   After the requisite change of undergarments (and drivers) we continued our march ever westward through Montana and then on to Yellowstone and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.   We did make an overnight stop in Ingomar, Montana and hung out with the local cowboys at “The Jersey Lilly Saloon.”   It is a pretty interesting place and well worth the extra time it takes to get there.   The area offers some pretty good hunting as well as the opportunity to bag one of the more elusive and exotic of the plains creatures...

The door on the right leads to the Lewinsky wing.   We are now anchored in the Tempe Elks campground but will be heading out on Sunday for Tucson, a friend’s wedding, and then it is on to olde Mexico for another winter of over indulgence in all that is good in this thing we call life!   VIVA MEXICO!!!   Adios until next time.   Hugs and smooches, Chuck and Zook