February 8 & 9: It was raining when we pulled stakes in Quartzsite-AZ, and headed towards Barstow-CA. Holland had called ahead, and secured a spot to rest a bit before pushing on toward Laton-CA, which is really the end goal for this part of our journey northward.
Bleu was excited to be on the road again, and for the most part was good … but he got overly excited in Laton and no one was happy when he went off the rails :-(
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Lake Havasu is like a family {thing} with Holland's Harris side of the family (his mother's people): many of them have either lived in the city itself … or they have lived in surrounding areas, passing through the city as they moved to and fro. Holland's mother and younger siblings lived in Lake Havasu City for several years - and he drove through the place (from Phoenix to California, moving from job to job) all of his working life as a contractor in the southwest. He could drive this stretch of road with his eyes closed, and not miss a single bend in the road.
But it has been at least two decades since he's been this way, and he is amazed at how much of the desert urban sprawl has claimed. There is a major Mall Complex on the outskirts of Lake Havasu City, near the airport: it literally covers b.l.o.c.k.s. of acreage - yes you read that right, blocks. The Mall could be it's own little community. Seriously.
Lake Havasu City holds many memories for Holland (and his Aunt Gaye still lives there), but I was glad to leave it behind: ever-expanding-touristy cities, do not appeal to me. This road gypsy snowbird prefers wide-open spaces with lots of elbow room ;-)
Holland tells me that Needles has grown four times what it was when he was driving back and forth through it: and I still missed it :-(
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The pumice fields were just outside of our destination in Newberry Springs-CA: Holland had always missed seeing them all those trips he had made back and forth through here, because he prefers driving at night to avoid heavy traffic.
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We took a 3-1/2 hour nap after our Lunch-Supper, woke refreshed and revitalized; then hit the road for Bakersfield … we had planned to stay the night alongside The Barn, but the winds were brutally harsh and very cold.
The drive towards Barstow was easy going, and we finally got GPS service again a little further down the highway, at Kramer Junction-CA.
We drove through Barstow around 7 PM … but it was pitch black, (and like Needles earlier, I missed it) I didn't even get a glimpse of it. Holland reassured me that I hadn't missed anything in either place … but they are places Holland came of age in (and he, his brothers, and his SIL Lana, talk about these places all the time): I wanted to see them :-(
Nearing Bakersfield, we saw flashing red lights in the distance; lots of them, flashing like a power outage … or the Grid gone crazy.
Miles of flashing red lights: Holland thought maybe they were windmills. He was right - I researched the lights and found an article from 2003 that confirmed my husband's thoughts … the article also seems to disregard legit concerns: apparently they decided to drive neighborhoods, and traffic, crazy with the distracting lights.
We got to Bakersfield a bit past 9 PM, and even though it was pitch black nighttime, I could see by the city lights that lit up the area that it's a sizable city, like Tacoma-WA.
Traffic wasn't bad, and the drive was relaxing: we pulled into Laton-CA, about 2 AM. It's a farming community, about the size of Skamokawa-WA; but it's growing. There is a Dollar General, and a Gas Station/Mini Mart - and Holland was surprised to see them. He also said that it looks like the school has been improved; and his cousin Brenda told him that there's 200 students there, now, so it's a farming community that is up-and-coming. Holland spent time here as a child, it holds a lot of good memories for him. This is another place that Holland talks about a lot - I'm happy to be seeing a place that makes my husband smile when he talks about it :-)
There is no RV Park in Laton, so we parked Independence in the only area large enough for us: in a muddy gravel-n-sand parking lot off to the side of the town's P.O. building … and slept for a couple hours, in Betsy. When we woke up, Holland's cousin Brenda, called to see where we were; and Holland told her that we were in Laton - she asked him if he remembered where the Fire Department is, and he said, "We're parked directly across from it." She said, "Good! Stay there, I'll come right over and take you some place you'll be able to park during our visit."
They were so happy to see each other - I was happy for them :-)
They talked excitedly about the Past, the Present, and the Future - and then Brenda turned to me and said, "Hello Wife; I'm glad to meet you!"
She was surprised, and then tickled, when Holland told her a couple weeks ago that he had remarried; he'd been a bachelor for decades; they were talking and Holland mentioned {his wife}, and that revelation stopped the convo and redirected it when Brenda said, "Wait a minute - did you say 'wife'? you got married?" She was so surprised that we both laughed. She sounded like a fun person, and I liked her immediately; and now that we've met in person, and I see how much she loves Holland, I immediately love her.
She drove us to her daughter's house, and told us we could set up in the open field … so, we did.
And then, when we were not watching because we were busy setting Independence up … Bleu rolled around in a pile of dog poop, and got it on us too. BAD DOG!
So, I got his halter off of him and tried to clean him as best I could while Holland prepared to hook Independence back up to Betsy - then we told Brenda that we were going to find an RV Park where we could wash our bad dog, take a shower ourselves, and wash the filthy halter and towel: the closest RV Park was half an hour away (1-way).
Before we drove to Visalia, Holland took me to the property his grandmother and great-grandmother had lived on - it was a sizable piece of property; the houses are both gone, but the memories linger. Laton was a happy place for Holland. I'm glad we came to visit Brenda. I'm glad I am experiencing those memories with Holland. Holland knows the whole town layout.
The KOA Park hostess was real nice.
We got a space, and got parked with no problems.
We got set up … Holland scrubbed Bleu down good; and I sprayed him with some AXE cologne - then took off my stinky clothes and showered before I got busy washing what needed washed before it can be used again. After Holland got his shower too, Brenda called and invited us for Supper at her house tomorrow afternoon.
As of right now (10:30 P.M.), the halter and towels are drying: when they are dry, I am going to go to bed: I'm tired.
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