Skip to main content

Goin' to California | Part 1

In this episode - Goin' to California . . .


Have you ever owned a “lemon?” Sure you have an automobile that’s just a bottomless pit of money to keep it on the road. The car I’m talking about is best remembered for its propensity to combust in rear-end collisions. Yes, you guessed it - the Ford Pinto.


We named ours The Mean Green Booger Machine.


Back in the early 1980s my best friend, Nathan, and I decided we would embark on a road trip to California, to photograph the country.


He had a clever idea,


“I’m going to take the back seats out of the car and fabricate plywood beds. When the front seats are folded forward we will be able to sleep in the car very comfortably with backpackers pads and our sleeping bags.”


Brilliant! We would save hundreds, well maybe a few bucks, on motel rooms to California and back.


So the renovation began. Seats removed, plywood measured, cut, and 2x2 wood blocks screwed into place to keep the boards from sliding around. Nathan's father owned a Skelly Gas Station and the car was subjected to a rigorous inspection for our plan to motor west. Routine stuff, oil change, radiator fluid, washer fluid, brake fluid, and check the tires. There was ONE major repair completed; the entire exhaust system was replaced from the manifold to the tailpipe.


We had a cooler for food, all our sleeping paraphernalia, camera gear, clothes, you name it we had it. Our own RV.


“Now we're ready to go.”


We chose the southern route, Interstate 40 (Route 66).


It winds from Chicago to LA

More than two thousand miles all the way

Baby, get your kicks on Route 66

It goes through St. Louis

Joplin, Missouri

Oklahoma City looks mighty pretty

You’ll see Amarillo, Gallup, New Mexico

Flagstaff Arizona . . .


Well, we didn’t quite make it to Flagstaff Arizona. As we entered the Grand Canyon State near the small town of Houck our trusty steed overheated. We were towed to a local Standard Oil service station because the only credit card either of us owned was a Standard Oil credit card.


The car was hoisted on a lift - we waited.


“I’ve got some bad news for you boys,” said the mechanic.


We noticed the fan belt was broken before the car was towed.


“Looks like you’ll need to replace the water pump and the fan belt.”


“How much?” We asked.


“Well, that’s not all. Where you boys headed?


“California!”


“Not on these tires, and you also have a busted rear shock absorber.”


“Your kidding!”


So, after a few hours, with three new tires, water pump, fan belt, and a new left shock absorber, we were “On the Road Again,” cursing Willie Nelson for that damn song we couldn’t get out of our heads.


As we passed through Flagstaff I had to ask my traveling companion, “I thought you checked the tires when you took out the spare to accommodate the plywood beds?”


“I did, the spare is that one-good tire, we put it on to replace the worst of the four tires before we left.”


“Oh brother,” I thought to myself.


“Well, looks like smooth sailing from here.”


Flagstaff, Arizona don’t forget Winona

Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino . . .


This is Patrick Ball, thanks for listening. Join me next week for part two.


See you in the next episode . . .

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular of All Time

A Mother’s Day Reflection

With Mother’s Day here and the world bustling with cards, brunches, and busy schedules, I find myself reflecting on something a bit simpler: taking a moment to remember the person who helped shape my earliest sense of home. Mauricette Elaine (Bontemps) Ball. My Mom. We arrived in Cuba after leaving La Rochelle, France, in 1959—a transition whose enormity I only fully appreciate now. My mother, barely in her mid-twenties, stepped into Midwestern life with remarkable courage. Her smile could warm the coldest Illinois morning, and her hugs lingered long after she let go—quiet reminders that you were deeply loved. Born February 16, 1934, the third of four children, she grew up in Nazi-occupied La Rochelle. As kids, we listened wide-eyed to stories of soldiers patrolling her streets and fear shadowing everyday life. Yet she carried none of that darkness forward. What endured was resilience and an unwavering devotion to family—qualities she carried across the Atlantic and planted firmly in C...
1 comment
Read more

Time Travel, Roving Mics, and Muscle Memory

In this episode, the 2026 Sinkankas Symposium. Let’s get one thing straight: I didn’t arrive in a DeLorean. No flux capacitor, no dramatic lightning strike—just a Saturday parking pass and a name badge. And yet, somewhere between the rotunda doors and the first handshake, it happened anyway. This past Saturday, April 25th, I was transported—effortlessly and completely—back in time at the 20th Annual Sinkankas Symposium on the GIA campus in Carlsbad. Walking into that magnificent main campus rotunda early with my colleagues, Paul Mattlin and Glenn Wargo, felt like wrapping myself in a familiar, gem-encrusted blanket. It was less a building, more a family living room where nobody ever really forgets your name. The halls were quiet (a rare and beautiful thing), and the soft echo of our footsteps on the polished floors sounded exactly as I remembered it. For a moment, it wasn’t 2026—it was April 1997, my first time walking onto the beautiful, brand-new GIA campus as Director of Alumni. Som...
Post a Comment
Read more

Freedom 7 - 65th Anniversary

Podcast - Freedom 7; 65th Anniversary . "Man must rise above the Earth - to the top of the atmosphere and beyond - for only thus will he fully understand the world in which he lives." - Socrates, 500 B.C. May 5, 2026, marks the 65th anniversary of Freedom 7's launch. Commander Alan B. Shepard, Jr. became the first American in space. A 15-minute sub-orbital flight, a day for the history books; the entire world was watching. NASA and the world had witnessed many trial runs explode violently on the launch pad. The space program was in its infancy. Unlike today, there were far too many unknowns. This prompted me to pull out one of my favorite books from my office library,  Light This Candle , by Neal Thompson, copyright 2004. Light This Candle is a biography of Alan Shepard, Jr., you won't be able to put down. It's - "Story-telling at its best . . . every page is alive," says David Hartman, U.S Naval Institute. In the opening pages, you read endorsements fr...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ode To Gemology

For over 80 years, students of gemology have struggled with spectrums, bewildered by birefringence, and simply plagued by pleochroism. The following sonnet is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face, a glow to your heart, and a simple reminder that students of life and gemology rediscover nature's gifts every day.  Ode to Gemology , by a GIA on-campus student. Dispersion, fire, adventurescence. Orient, sheen, or iridescence. Refractive index, high or low. The luster should indicate that, you know. Polarization, double or single. What to do now, they intermingle. Pleochroic colors you really should see. Was that only two, or actually three? Birefringence should help you a lot. Use your polarizer and watch the spot. Now, did it jump most on low or high? Sure, you can get it if you really try! Your liquids should be an aid, I think. Does it float, suspend, or slowly sink? Just use your imagination now. (He doesn't see me wiping my brow.) Solid inclusions or only bubbles? Huh, th...
Post a Comment
Read more