The Early Days – Thinking Back

   

When reading Al’s posting of September 20 reminiscing long-gone days of Rv’ing I came to think of our own experiences, our own “Wows” and “Oh Craps”. And there sure has been a lot of both. The very first trip south led us from Alberta across the Rockies and into BC from where we went straight south along the Pacific coast. At one point we made a terrible mistake. Coming from Kamloops we followed Highway 5 over the Coquihalla Pass instead of driving the old TC 1 which would have gotten us around Cache Creek on a much less steep trail. Well, our Ford F350 must have thought it be a good time to get a new transmission. When we stopped aside of the road a stream of oil was pouring out from underneath. Oh Craps!      4 days and 5000 Dollars later we were heading into Vancouver. Had the trailer parked and were standing in line of a red light. I had my foot on the brakes when Bea talked about something which I couldn’t remember three seconds later. The reason being that my foot had let up from the brake pedal letting the truck slam into the little Jetta in front of me where it left a real huge ugly dent in the trunk. Three girls were staring at us through the rear window, then the driver, the girls mother, came out.   “Oh Craps”.   Coming down the coast of Oregon I had a hard time to let my eyes stay on the road. The views were just….”Wow”. After leaving L.A. behind us we were heading out into the desert. Been down Moreno Valley? “Wow… look at the wind turbines”.   The Salton Sea….”Wow..again”. Imperial Valley….the Imperial San Dunes wow and wow! Southern Texas at the Gulf of Mexico…WOW! 6 months later, we were on our trip home and holed up at Kaycee,WY. Next day, as a routine I walked around the rig before getting back up on the road. It was then that I saw the flat tire on our 37ft. 5th.wheel. “Oh Craps” again. Our jack wasn’t capable of lifting that thing in the air, so I invented something which I’m still proud of to this day. I unhooked the trailer and ran the front legs up, so the front of the trailer would come waaay down to the ground. Having that tag axle the rear wheels would almost come of the ground. Then I placed the jack under the rear axle and it lifted the wheels just a bit higher. That way I could get the flat tire off. “Wow”. It was during the fall of the same year that we were heading south on Alberta Hwy36 towards the Dinosaur Prov.Park to spend a nice weekend with friends. A sudden bang from the rear and the rig made an attempt to escape into the oncoming lane. Getting it back where it belonged we stopped along a narrow shoulder. Inspecting the rig I found it down on both rims on the passenger side. Some parts of the skirting had taken off, a support arm of the awning were swinging freely from the top. “Oh Crap”. I got on the phone and Bea was heading back in the ditch gathering various parts of the trailer which had been strewn around. Much later, and during the aftermath of this, we found out that the manufacturer, Pilgrim International, (long gone now) had put faulty (el cheapo) tires on their rigs and that tires had exploded all over the U.S. in some cases with serious consequences. If I should name every “Oh Craps” and every “WOW” I’d be “running out of ink” pretty soon. With a Monkey in his Pants New Dehli – With a monkey hidden in his pants he tried to get past Customs at the New Dehli Airport.  But, according to the “Hindustan Times”, he was caught by airport security. The traveler had arrived from Bangkok and was on his way to his home country Dubai when he and 2 fellow travelers were arrested. A second monkey of the same species, a “Loris” was found in an airport garbage container. Lori monkeys get to be 8 inches tall and weigh a little less than 1/2 pound. Comment: I wonder what made airport security aware of the hidden-away passenger?