I've been AWOL, but not without cause.
I left home about 6:15 Sunday evening headed for Aromas, CA to visit Joe and Dorothy mid-morning Monday, Candy was going to stop over while I was there. That was more than enough time to get there but I didn't know how much traffic I'd have through the Bay Area and figured I could eat b'fast and/or take a nap with whatever extra time I had. That worked out well. I had supper about 8 p.m. at the In 'n Out in Grants Pass, b'fast and a nap in Gilroy, Ca, and was at J & D's at 9 a.m. We had a great visit and I left about 10:30. Unfortunately, Candy couldn't come over because they had a plumbing problem come up.
From AromasI drove an hour east to I-5 to begin the next 10 hour drive to Phoenix. An hour down I-5 I saw one of those digital bulletin boards over the freeway that said the freeway was closed at the grapevine because of weather. Uh-oh.
I pulled over at the next McD's and went online to learn a major snow and wind storm had semi trucks laying on their side and visibility to zero. The CHP had closed I-5 with no projection on when it would open back up.
OK, find an alternate route, with only one real option - a 1.5 hour drive back to the coast and Hwy 101. Not long after I got there and headed south the rain started, coming from the same storm that had snow up on the grapevine. Pouring rain. Really, really hard rain. Rain so hard that I turned the wipers to high speed.
That lasted for about 30 seconds. Then the driver side wiper went to the left and instead of returning just flopped to the left of the windshield. That meant that instead of maximum water removal I had none, and visibility of zero. I turned the flashers on and squinted to find the next exit.
I'll spare you the details; they aren't pretty. Three hours and three car business later (one worthless dealer and two helpful O'Reillys) I was back on the road headed south. This route added about 90 minutes to the distance, involved more traffic (drivers who, like me, had bailed on I-5) and was very tiring because of the driving rain,
But wait! There's more!
The button in the door jamb that pops out when you open the door malfunctioned so the Blazer thought I had opened the door with the keys left in the ignition. BUZZZZZZ!
And every time I shut the car off the gas pedal stuck. When restarting the car I had to stomp on it to break it loose.
It should have been 10-11 hours drive from Aromas to Phx took almost 24 hours. I left home at 6:15 Sunday night and got to the kids' place here in AZ Tuesday morning at 8:15 Tuesday morning, exhausted mentally and physically. I slept most of the day and all through the night.
Wednesday morning we met with our most excellent financial advisor Chad. After that meeting Pam went back to the kids' while Chad and I went to the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale. Chad is a brother, very good at what he does, and interested in cars. We spent several hours walking the auction site (it's huge with over 1,700 cars to be auctioned) and talking. Wonderful conversation about cars, about our finances, and about spiritual things. I couldn't have asked for a better B-J experience. Plus, I started up conversations - one with a knowledgable buyer about a Volvo P1800 longroof, and a guy selling a '64 T-bird convertible. Both enlightening.
Came home, ate dinner, and went to bed. Slept all night, did some work this morning, and took a nap. I *think* I'm almost back to normal. The mental fatigue is as much of the problem as the physical.
There's more, but this at least explains why I haven't posted in so long.
The next post will be more normal and include some other developments since I left home.
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