clones, moss face and john denver's ghost

day two found us waking up in a koa campground somewhere on the outskirts of grand junction, colorado. well maintained and peaceful the campground was a perfect distraction before the next driving leg began. over seven hundred miles had left me a bit road weary but more than willing to face what the day had to offer.

we backtracked about eleven miles to the small town of fruita, colorado home to the world famous mike the headless chicken. we payed homage to the statue of mike and began a fruitless search for mike tshirts. for a town that has built a thriving tourism business on the back of dinosaurs and headless chickens the whole missing tshirt adventure was about the only disapointment of the trip so far. i know tshirts can be ordered from the website but i had my heart set on an in town purchase.

next we visited the dinosaur museum on the edge of town. rather small but a surprising about of information on the entire species.

one thing that has surprised me so far is that in california there seems to be a mcdonalds on every other corner. for whatever reason in utah and now colorado there appears to be a wendy's in every one horse town while mcdonalds are not quite as frequent.

after lunch we began the long drive through the rocky mountains. the landscape had a certain beauty that was lost in the over development of everything. snow still clung to the upper elevations refusing to give up the last vestiges of existance.

we eventually came across the first of many mountain crawl traffic jams. turning a three lane road into a quagmire with anxious drivers cutting right and left. as we approached the sign man directing traffic i had to do a double talk as he appeared to have some form of scraggly moss clinging to his chin. some mean have beardable faces this man was just moss faced soul out of place. i should have takend his appearance has a fortelling of the rest of the day but as usual i ignored the clues.

it was just after passing moss face that i had my first clue that these were no longer john denver's rockies. each new town that has been built with the same clone planning that has gripped america for years. i expect it in la but not the rockies. town after town dominated by the urban clone villages.

the more we drove the more cloned villages we saw and the more angst was building from within.

i did however relish the joy of passing through huge tunnels blasted through the mountain face that appeared to stretch on and on for miles.

as we had suffered through many miles of the clone a techture. we chose to reward ourselves by ignoring denver and moving on.

smog, wind and the long arm of the utah law

day one of the trip is behind us. leaving la behind me and heading off into the unknow woke up emotions and feeling that i have not experienced for many years. freedom, untethered joy and the wonder of the great unknown.

driving out of the desert and into vegas almost ruined the first day for me. my son being to young to remember the vegas of the seventies had no clue. and my most recent visits had come from the hoover damn side and i was not driving so there was a lot i missed. following rte 15 i came to realize how much a city which was never great in the first place had been over commercialized, overbuilt and overpopulated.

the traffic sucked.

the over crowding sucked.

and the air sucked worst of all. in la. my eyes watered. my throat burned and i wondered aloud to my son who in their right mind would want to live here. a nasty, nasty place. of course i will visit again for a day here and there. all that money has created art exhibits that never make it to la.

after crossing the nevada we began a long, long stretch of desert. i am not a desert person but my son the future paleontologist/geologist was in his element. rock formation of every size, shape and color dominated the horizon. cliff faces with colorful geologic era's stratus reflecting the sunlight.

of course my imagination is a bit more vivid than my sons and some what i saw embarrassed him to no end. at least he pretended to be but he did not hide his amusement very well.

soon we came upon one of those famous desert sand storms which quickly reduced the visibility to less than one hundred yards.

it was at this point that one of utah's finest saw fit to flash his lights and pull me over. i was beyond clueless i had no idea why i was being pulled over.

seatbelts on, check.

lights on in sandstorm, check.

registration current, check.

suffice it to say that i was beyond shocked when he informed me that i was clocked at 99mph.

i glanced at the sandstorm rocking my car, the lack of visibility and brown glow of my headlights and thought to myself what the hell is this guy thinking.

outloud i said officer if i was clocked at 99mph than there is something wrong with my speedometer.

the speed limit on the highway was 75mph and i doubt i was making that. he just shook his head and asked for my liscence and registration.

even my son was aghast. dad there was no way you were doing 99mph he is crazy.

of course the fact that i was driving a '95 dodge neon should have given the officer of a clue. i doubt there is a stock neon around doing 99mph on the open highway. just the weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee (thanks to sparky for the high tech special effects)sound of a little engine straining to keep up with the big guys.

the long arm of the utah law soon returned with my ticket to sign. it seems that the money they are making off speeders was put to use for in car printers and computers as the ticket was computer generated.

once we were sent on our way cristian observed that the only reason we were chosen from the masses was because of our california plates. smart kid if i do say so myself.

we ended the day at a koa campground in grand junction colorado. after driving over seven hundred miles i should have been exhausted and fallen immediately into a deep sleep. instead i lay beneath the infinite sky wondering where this seemingly new darrell had come from. footloose and stress free on the nations and hiways and biways.

On the Road

When I was a child my grandfather used to watch a travel show on one of the local channels. It was a husband and wife driving around the country in their R.V. They would share there adventures with the viewing audience. In the days before satellite, cable and a zillion channels this was interesting stuff. Bringing the back roads of the country into our living rooms.

Tomorrow I am setting out on my own happy wanderer road trip. Just my 13 year old son and I for a minimum of ten days. Not sure of all my destinations. Though I do have a few in mind. I could give them away here but that would take the fun out of blogging from the road.

Mayo on Rye (yuck)

Mayo you were good to me or so I thought no I know that my health cannot be bought.

It seems the Dr. Golf (he always looked ready for tee time)was not the doctor I believed him to be. I received his report in the mail this past week and there were a few items he neglected to disclose.

He also gave less credence to my asthma/chronic bronchitis in his written report than in person. In writing he focused more on anxiety and stress as my primary health issue.

1 - My cholesterol was above 240. Not the end of the world but something we should have discussed. My heart is in good shape and I do not want to mess with high cholesterol. Jessic gave me a prescription for one of the standard meds.

2. My white blood cell count continues at a high level. I was feeling rather well in Arizona yet my count was 15. It has been high for a bit and we have been monitoring it. Dr. Golf should have mentioned it though. If the count hits the 20's it could be a sign of leukemia.

3. My diaphragm on the right side is displaced and pushing into the lower lobe of my right lung. This can effect how the lung functions and could be keeping the lung from expanding. This is usually caused by a weakened muscle at birth and can be repaired surgically.

4. I have a small fibrosis infiltration of the lower right lung. Not serious yet but could lead to pulmonary fibrosis or something similar. Two of the primary symptoms are shortness of breath when exercising and a general feeling of unwellness.

A bit more to worry about on the health menu but not the end of the world. I just hope Jessica never stops practicing medicine because if she did I would not know who to trust.

Send in the Clowns

My apologies to one and all for the mini drama of yesterday's post.

I did what I have never really done before and posted something mid anxiety attack. No editing, no thinking just a quick mental dump.

In rereading it this morning I realized that what I wrote was easy to interpet one hundred and one different ways.

No one died.

No one is sick.

No tragedy of any kind occured.

Sometimes a week at my mom's is like a week in some fictional world. Problems slip away and anxiety takes a back seat for a few days. Than something happens to bring me back to reality. And boom anxiety attack city.

At this point the anxiety has subsided. I drove back from mom's today. And was greeted by something that used to be air but now resembles something from a low grade godzilla knockoff.

I will do my best to keep anxiety attacks from bleeding into Murmur's.

Now will someone please send in the clowns.

out of the clear blue sky
a hand reaches down
and slaps the smile
right off my face

Shhhhhhhhhhh

11o degree temps do not lend themselves to creative postings. i have been at my mom's in bullhead since tuesday and creativity seems to have melted in the heat.

i was hoping that a week out of the smog pool would make a marked difference in my breathing but so far i have failed to notice any change.

of course the primary reason for my exodus to arizona is spending time with mom. other than pain and sleepiness she appears to be doing well all things considered. her appetite is good and her spirits are high.

all things considered a good week.