Off the beaten path.....way off!

Tuesday I went over with Tom what needed to be done to prepare for replacing the front "six pack" of air valves I wrote about yesterday.  The valves are mounted on a 1/2" thick plywood base, which is bolted to the metal floor of the compartment.  Sometime in the past years water got in that compartment which resulted in some rust on the floor of the compartment, as well as the four galvanized bolts, and worst of all the plywood base had delaminated, so it must be replaced, the bolts must be replaced, and the rust abated before we can begin installing the 6 new valves.

Around 11 TLE and I headed into Surprise to visit the local Home Depot to pick up a piece of 1/2" plywood I could cut down, some 16 gauge wire to use to hook the new valves together, some wood sealer for the plywood,  and some rust inhibitor and some gray Rustoleum (I already have the necessary replacement bolts).  Just after arriving at Home Depot TLE received a call from Tom asking if we could pick up a few things for Dave Crouse.....the gentleman I wrote about in yesterday's blog entry......he was at Dave's home borrowing some extension cords, and Dave happened to mention he was heading into Home Depot to buy a few things......Tom suggested I could pick them up and save him the 34 mile round trip drive.  I got on the phone with Dave and took his order (8 3/4" PVC elbows, a 50 amp breaker switch and a 30 amp breaker switch).

After we finished our business at Home Depot we headed over to the local Subway store for lunch, then to Trader Joe's, then over to Goodwill (in the same shopping complex as TJ's) to browse.....we found nothing we couldn't live without so were on our way back home arriving just before 2 at Dave's home to drop off his HD order.   Dave is a very interesting guy, and it's hard not to talk with him about his passion for hot rods and vintage cars.....of course I am more than happy to accommodate him as I love to hear the stories....so that stop took about 30 minutes......lol.

Tom's daughter, Laura, had invited us all over to their home for Quesadillas, so we left around 5 pm to make the 30 minute drive over to Laura's.  The Quesadillas were exceptional, and we ate, talked and laughed almost continuously until just before 8 when it was time to bid our hosts adieu.  

TLE and I sat in the back seat of Tom and Darlene's Honda SUV going to and from Laura's.  For some reason TLE, believing herself to be an exceptional back seat driver, decided she would find a different way home to avoid some of the traffic lights and traffic we encountered on the way over to Laura's.  This kind of goes against my instincts, and past experience learned while attending the school of hard knocks......I have learned when traveling in an unfamiliar area you should always return the way you came.  Every time I have ignored my instinct it has not ended well, but TLE, Tom and Darlene are not burdened by my multitudinous bad experiences, so we followed TLE's recommended route.......all seemed to be going well until the paved road.....and I emphasize the word "PAVED" here......turned left, and at almost the same instant turned to a somewhat smooth dirt road.  TLE assured us the pavement would begin again, but I have been in this situation before, and the pavement never returns......the road always gets much worse.  Soon we passed by the last of the houses with lights, and then it was just us, our headlights, total pitch black darkness, and TLE's Google map directions on her iPhone propelling us ever forward.  Soon the road became a one lane dirt track, and that is being generous.  We began to encounter large mud bogs left over from the rains 10+ days ago, and had to detour around them sometimes driving over bushes, etc.  All the while I am "sounding the alarm" that in my experience over several decades these adventures rarely ever turn out well......you always come to a point where you are forced to turn around because the road either ends, disappears, becomes impassable, you run out of gas, or you get impossibly STUCK and must walk miles to get help. About 4.7 miles from what we hoped would be the "return" of pavement we came to a spot that was not passable......we had driven over 6 miles on this ever deteriorating road going slower and slower in the 2 wheel drive Honda SUV to avoid bottoming out, or high centering.  My companions in this spontaneous, unplanned "adventure" (TLE's word, not mine) were all giggling at my disillusionment/discomfort, and my not so subtle sighing.   As it happens this single lane dirt track parallels for about 6 miles the old Chrysler proving grounds test track, but due to the pitch black conditions we were unable to see anything except what was right in front of us......lest any of you think I am using hyperbole to make my point here is a picture of what I was seeing....and this is the good part.

6 miles after the pavement ended......

Ultimately we reached the point where the road became impassable, so Tom found a place to turn around and we began our 6 mile trek back to where the pavement ended.  So, do you believe this is where the "adventure" ended?  I thought so, but I was wrong.  After getting back to civilization running on virtual gas fumes (the car computer kept saying we had less than 3 miles of gas left.....not good when there are at least 6 miles to pavement), we stopped to fill up with much needed gasoline........as we headed back toward Center Street, our exit off HWY 60, it was decided by the "adventurers" in the car that we should drive to where the dirt track we were on comes out to the pavement again, and drive in to the impassable section to see if Google maps was correct.......to see if it really was 4.7 miles more to the pavement where we turned around.   I was more than happy, at this point, to accept the Google Maps mileage, but I was once again in the minority.....so here we go again driving on a single lane dirt track passing by the odd cow here and there......you could see the look in their eyes which seemed to say......"what the h**k are you doing out here at this time of night?".....this time of night now being after 9:30....I was thinking I would be back "home" way before this time watching "Justified" on my DVR, but, instead, I was on an "adventure" not of my choosing.  Of course, we reached the impassable spot exactly 4.7 miles from where the pavement begins again.....in case you are interested the dirt track we were following for over 10 miles is called Dovetail Valley Road....."Road" is a rather generous term......I am sure at some point a few decades from now this "road" will be improved, and paved, and there will be no one left alive who remembers it as it is now.

Once we were back on pavement I felt better......there had been no "bad ending"......just a lot of giggling by my comrades at my discomfort.....I was able to begin to see the humor in what we had just done and my behavior.  No doubt these types of adventures are much more enjoyable for me in broad daylight when one can see what the lay of the land around them is.  We arrived back "home" about 9:45........without the bad ending.  I guess I am still not completely at ease with what Mr. Jello and Miss Serendipity throw my way.....something to think about hmmm?

This post is a little late as it took me the better part of the morning to figure out how to relate our "adventure" with the appropriate humor, and still have friends later in the day.  I hope I have somewhat succeeded. 

Thanks for stopping by!