Interlude - The Grouch family visits a Tin Goose!

Young daughter contacted me shortly after we returned from our southern adventure to tell me that a genuine 1920s Ford Trimotor airliner, know as the Tin Goose would be visiting Camarillo airport and did I want to see it?

Did I?  You bet!!  So Young Son and I traveled to Camarillo to meet Young Daughter and view the Tin Goose in all of her glory.

https://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/flight-experiences/fly-the-ford-eaa-ford-tri-motor-airplane-tour/ford-tri-motor-tour-stops

I was feeling cheap that day and didn't buy tickets for the Grouchs but now I wish I had.  

Once the plane landed a discharged its passengers we were able to walk up to the plane and check it out.  Amazing that this plane is still flying so many years after its production.

I remember seeing a movie made in the 50s about Forest Service smoke jumpers who flew to the fires in a Ford Tin Goose.  What a way to travel!

The Tin Goose on approach

This chap owns a restored M151 MUTT (not a Jeep) and I was able to talk with him about it.  I drove these minus the mounted gun when I was in the Army

Waiting for the next load of passengers

Fueling her up before the next flight.  They are watching a P-51 Mustang fly past at low altitude

Young Daughter checks out the exposed radial engines

Watch your head getting in!

When we were having lunch at Wendy's nearby the airfield, the Tin Goose passed overhead

Mr. and Mrs. Grouch Head South Part III

After finishing our visit to Salvation Mountain, a quick drive a bit further brought us to Slab City.

Slab City started as a USMC artillery training post during WW2.  It was abandoned after the war and gradually the area was claimed by various Snow Birds, anarchists, adventurers, and down-on-their-luck individuals.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slab_City,_California

There are a few concrete structures remaining from the Marine Corps days such as ammunition igloos, guard posts and the slabs that barracks and other buildings once sat on.   Otherwise everything else is of a temporary nature.

Driving around the area we saw some spots that had upscale motor homes and travel trailers sitting on them, a few even fenced in with new appearing cyclone fencing.  Others were occupied by ancient school buses or thrown together structures of plywood and plastic sheeting.

Some spots had burned out trailers or abandoned trailers surrounded by heaps of old appliances and derelict cars.  What is it about these sort of places that attracts junk collectors?

The whole area had the vibe of 'Bartertown' and I excepted to see Mad Max and Aunty Entity walking along one of the paths between the homesteads.

Bartertown - I mean Slab City is an interesting and colorful place in the bright sunlight.  At night however I'd only want to be afoot with a 12 bore loaded with buck.

Wonder what it was like to pull guard duty in this oven in the middle of the summer?  At the entrance to Slab City

An upscale homestead

Of course, the fork!

A more typical homesite

Ok, this would warn me off from visiting this place!

Is that a catapult? 

This must be a year round resident

Just to add some spice for living here....

Anyone need a shoe tree?

We ended this day's journey at the stinky, shrinking Salton Sea.  The transformation from the middle class oasis of the 50s-early 60s to a stinking stagnant lake with the resulting financial ruin of many persons is so typically California that it needs a whole blog post of its own.

Mr. and Mrs. Grouch head south Part II

Day 2 saw found us joining forces with the other two couples in our expedition and then heading off in the direction of the Salton Sea.  But first, we planned a stop at Salvation Mountain.

http://www.salvationmountain.us/

Salvation mountain is one of those places that seem to abound in California: magnificent obsession. Whether it is digging a tunnel through solid rock by hand for decades (see Burro Schmidt), building non stop on a mansion to keep ghosts at bay (see Winchester House) or in this instance, covering a hill with cement and paint and making it into a message of peace, love, and the holy bible.

The man who was responsible for this magnificent obsession has moved on to his great reward, but his work remains for anyone to see.

The day we were there it was misting rain and cool but the crowd was large and all in good spirits.

The construction is of cement over straw bales and is already showing signs of weathering and crumbling.  Perhaps 10 to 20 years from now it will all be gone so if you wish to see Salvation Mountain I'd suggest doing it now.

How can anyone argue against the messages portrayed here?

This is a major destination for off road fans

The cement covering was a bit slippery in the rain.  Fortunately no one went down while we were there.

The Missus soaks up the good vibrations of the mountain.

In we go!

The Missus and friends examine the unique construction methods.

The stairway to heaven?

We were feeling the love!

After we finished at Salvation Mountain, our next stop was Slab City.  This place was right out of a Mad Max movie.  

Stay tuned for our foray into Slab City (just don't go there after the sun goes down).

Mr. and Mrs. Grouch head south Part I

As has become a tradition for Mr. and Mrs. Grouch, we joined some friends for a long weekend trip over the recent President's day weekend.  

Our plan was to travel to Indio which would be our base of operations and then from there venture out to see the sights around Palm Springs.

Because we manage to attract drama wherever we go, our trip coincided with the greatest and heaviest rainfall event experienced by the L.A. basin in almost 20 years.  We had plenty of warning that the rain and tropical storm-like winds were coming but we decided to set out anyway.  Young Son was staying behind to keep an eye on things so we knew that Grouch Estates was in good hands.

We managed to stay ahead of the rain pretty much the whole trip.  

We knew that our friends would not be joining us until later that evening so we decided to head to Yuma AZ, an 'easy' two hour drive past Indio.   It would have been easy except Interstate 8 was under construction which added at least another hour to the trip, if not more.  Fortunately we managed to make it to the old Territorial Prison museum in Yuma right on the Colorado river before it closed.

We could see the clouds rolling in and the wind picking up so we knew that we needed to see what was to be seen and get back on the road for Indio.

https://azstateparks.com/yuma-territorial/

the Missus contemplates the guard tower at the museum

the prison gate

The Missus felt I looked natural being sent to prison and all

The Missus waves goodbye before she is taken away

Time for her mug shot!

Imagine being in here in the summer with 110F and 90% humidity.  Talk about cruel and unusual punishment!

Maybe she will be let out early for good behavior

I think I will pass on getting a hair cut, thanks!

The original prison bell

The Colorado river is right over the wall.  Must have been tempting for inmates to see freedom so close.

Away Down the River

Recently the Missus and I were shocked and stunned by the unexpected deaths of two people.

The first, the husband of one of the Missus' former co-workers died of a heart attack while is wife was at work.  She came home to find him.

The second was the wife of a former co-worker of the Grouch,  She passed away two weeks after her illness was discovered.

We were saddened by both losses and grieve for the surviving spouse.

I was reminded of this song by all of this.

Time heals the heart but never erases the sweet memories of a lost partner. 

Shop Like You Mean It!

So, once a week I accompany the Missus to the local Ralph's for our supply run.  My job is to fetch items from the list that the Missus controls (only those items I'm not likely to muck up by picking the wrong brand/size/color/texture) and beeline back to the shopping cart for my next item or two.  Kind of like those hunting dogs that race out to retrieve the fallen bird that the hunter just downed.

So as you might guess, I'm pretty goal oriented when doing this job.  Find the box of crackers, bottle of shampoo, and the favorite cookies and RTB (return to base).   I just wish everyone else was in the store.

Listen folks, when you are shopping pretend you are driving a car in a busy neighborhood and navigate accordingly.  The people pushing carts around aimlessly are driving me crazy.

Between the people doing the Walmart shuffle (lean your body on the pushbar of the cart and shuffle your feet to propel you and the cart at a snail's pace), those who are wondering just why they are at the grocery store and are planted in the aisle blocking the flow, the women who apparently haven't seen each other since maybe yesterday and are parked side to side at the end of the aisle blocking the traffic in all directions as they recount the minutia of the day, and the new age parents who are letting their offspring do gymnastics next to them again plugging all traffic from moving...all of you: shop like you mean it!

The only classes of shoppers that I will give a pass to are the men who have been sent to the store with a cryptic note from the wife and are standing there vainly attempting to discern the true intent of the list, and the codgers who are shopping like they mean it but their flat out pace has slowed.  Being an impending codger myself I must give them a pass.

So, when you next go to the grocery store pause before you enter and take a deep breath and review your checklist one more time: multi-use grocery bags? Check. Shopping list with pen to check off items? Check.  Funds to pay for the items? Check.  If everything is a go, hit that sliding door and shop like you mean it!

I'm back!

So I had to take some time off recently due to surgery and recovery but I am back.  Luck you!

I'll start off easy with this post and revert to my inner grouch.

The 'change oil' light came on for my Jeep Wrangler the other day.  I used to change it myself but decided that paying the dealership $10 more to do it for me was a wise way to go.

I stopped at the dealer yesterday to avail myself of the 'express oil' lane (oil changes only!) figuring to kill an hour there which I could pass reading a book or maybe walking up and down auto row looking at the shiny new cars.  the nice young man told me that sadly 6 cars were ahead of me and I was looking at a 2.5 hour wait.  I was a bit stunned.  So much for express oil changes.  I was considering leaving the Jeep and coming back for it later and I commented that I could just do it myself.

the young man smiled somewhat condescendingly and said 'we don't need to be rolling under Jeeps to change oil anymore'.   The 'we' got me.   I'll do it myself I declared, bought the supplies headed home and within an hour and with only a couple pints of oil spilled, the oil and filer was changed as was the air filter and the wiper blades too.

So there Mr. young service writer, 'we' may not need to roll under Jeeps anymore but 'we' can certainly do it when called on!