To
complete the jobs in progress from the last post; I bought new Trojan
batteries from a local auto parts house. After spending the better
part of a day cleaning the battery trays I installed the new
batteries. This was not quite the chore I anticipated as the new
batteries are not as heavy as the old T105RE batteries. The 105 RE’s
were not available so I had to settle for the T105 batteries.
We
left early on Monday the 28th and drove to Boulder Creek
RV Park South of Lone Pine on Hwy 395. It was an easy trip but warm
as the temps were about 103 going up the desert.
One
of the reasons for staying at the RV Park was to test out the new AC
unit we just had installed. I must say, it worked quite well.
The
next day we drove to Glass Creek, a Forest Service campground North of Mammoth where our friends Margot and Larry had saved us a spot in
their campsite.
For
the next 2 weeks we explored, laid around camp, took walks, had
campfires and BBQ’ed. We attended the annual Mammoth Library Book
Sale and each came away with large bags of books. They sell the bags
for $5 and you can put as many hardback books in it as you can stuff
in. Oh, and still be able to carry it. I got some that I never would
have bought otherwise. How about "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" a complete history of the nuclear bomb making effort by all governments through WWII. It read more like a college text book but was also fascinating. Or the complete history of building Hitler's "Eagles Nest" with drawings and photos.
The
weather was perfect. Warm days in the 70’s with cool nights in the
40’s. I did make one boo-boo, I forgot to put the propane heater in
the RV before we left so I had to bite the bullet and buy a Mr Buddy
heater to take off the morning chill.
On
Thursday the 14th of September we left as it was predicted
to get down into the 20’s overnight and be that way for days . We
drove to Ridgecrest and stayed at the Elks Club for 2 days. Clyda had
not been back to Ridgecrest since we left in September of 1963 and
moved to the coast. It was an eye opener as little remains of the
town as we knew it. The population now is about 28,000 but was less
than 6,000 when we left there. We spent some time trying to find all
three places where we had lived. We found 2 but not the 3rd
one.
It
is not an upscale community by any means, in fact the locals we
talked to at the Elks Club said that Kern county is dumping its jail
overflow on Ridgecrest. There are lots of houses I would just call
shacks in any other location but people are living in them.
We
came home on Saturday September 15th with no problems
other than my truck exhaust brake had stopped working. The vacuum
compressor was running full time so I disconnected power to it.
This
week I took it back to Buellton where I had it worked on in June and
just got it back this afternoon. The computer module had failed again
so it was replaced under warranty.
I
have been doing my fall trimming this week. Most of it is now in
various garbage cans waiting for a day next week when I will shred it
all. I have also dug up a flower bed of “Naked Lady” bulbs. This
bed had not been dug up in years and some of the bulbs are huge.
Clyda wants to plant the extras in front of the garage. The ground
however is hard as a rock so I put some water on it tonight hoping to
make it easier to dig. I still need to dig up a bed of Agapanthas in
the back yard but I think I need more water on it before I can tackle
that. I think the roots go to China somewhere by the amount of prying
I tried today. It is almost beyond my “senior” ability anymore to
do some of this stuff
Naked ladies (Amaryllis Belladona)
That
brings us up to the present.
