Another 2,000 Miles in the History Books

Truckin' Got My Chips Cashed In       Keep Truckin'      Like The Do Dah Man    Together More Or Less In Line       Just Keep Truckin' On      Arrows Of Neon And Flashing Marquees Out On Main Street      Chicago, New York, Detroit And Its All On The Same Street       Your Typical City In A Typical Daydream      Hang It Up And See What Tomorrow Brings        Dallas Got A Soft Machine     Houston Too Close To New Orleans      New York Got The Ways And Means      But Just Wont Let You Be      Most Of The Cats That You Meet On The Street Speak Of true Love        Most Of The Time They Are Sttin' And Cryin' At Home        One Of These Days They Know They Are Goin' To Be Goin'           Out Of The Door And Down The Street All Alone

Truckin' - The Grateful Dead 

1970 American Beauty 

My body was flipping and a flopping under the covers and my mind was pretending that I really didn't have to whiz. Wishfully thinking it was only around midnight and a mere few hours before my alarm would be sparking me to life. Nope, my phone reads a digital output of 3:03am. 

So the happy feet hit the floor, coffee marker started doing its thang, and my lumbering body was once again in motion. Let The Adventures Begin

I was bounding west on I-70 at 3:45am and Mr Moon setting over Soldier Summit was pure magic. I was aware that the uHaul carried 35gals of fuel but the useless counter person falsely informed me that the truck averages 10 miles / 16km per gal. My first interruption was in Price UT, just in case. That stop allowed me to blow through Salt Lake City. I say blow through because I had a sweet tailwind pushing me towards Windover Nevada. My next fill up while averaging 18mi / 29km per gal. Thanx Mother Nature

This moving truck had a governor device installed. This means the motor/rpm would kick off at 80mph / 129kph. So I found the sweet spot at 78.9 mph and floated through the Northern Nevada Desert while tailgating 18 wheeler tractor trailers. Along the side of the freeway were loads of hippie art installations. Tons of alien sculptures as well. Highly entertaining when one drives for hours through the arid desert landscape of Northern Nevada. If any of you are familiar with Burt Munro and his Worlds Fastest Indian, the above photo is for you. 

I refueled again in the congenial little railroad town of Winnemucca Nevada. Once again I stretched out my hunched over body, Clorox Bleached the nozzle of my sufficient petrol desires, and unzipped my plastic bag containing another Peanut Butter and Honey Sandwich. That fill up put me at the average of 22miles per gal / 35km a gal. Mapquest calculated my arrival time to Reno Nevada in 11 hours from GJ. I figured that in a 16 foot / 4.8 meter moving truck, 15 hours behind the wheel of a large automobile. How about 12 hours and 23 minutes??? Overall, Pretty Damn Uneventful First Day 

An elementary school childhood friend and her husband offered up the best ever hospitality. A warm meal awaited my arrival, we walked the dogs around their 12 acre property, and shared stories for hours and hours. The back story here is that Bill and Chuck were railroaders, K and I are the same age and Heidi and my brother were the same age, and our little town had a population of about 600 back in the 70's. Everyone grew up with everyone. Like All Good Small Towns Hidden In The Woods

Their Canine Tribe were rather happy with my presence and welcomed me in only after a sat on the kitchen floor with them. They happily showcased their food containers, favorite toys, and where we would cuddle puddle during the night on the guest bed. Me, Couldn't Be More Content 

I mean just look at that face above. "Yo Human, We Could Eat Now." I was sipping my morning Joe as these two love bugs made the rounds. Also, for the record, I slept so good. I mean I crashed out. Yes, I was up early the day before and drove the day away but for me to "die" in someone else bed / home on the first night, highly unusual. I laid down face first and woke up in that same position with a massive pillow case crease across my cheek. Perfect Night

In the above photo, K proudly displaying her new painting of mine. Remember the water in the mason jar I set out for March's Full Moon?? Yes, it was incorporated into this acrylic painting. I have photo phoned a number of paintings to K&C and K jokingly asked me for one with purple in it. So this is what I came up with for them. Now, an evening with properly strong cocktails allowed us to visualize all kinds of inconceivable characters and what nots. It wasn't until a few days later that I realized what I had captured in this blink of an eye. Check out that ghostly lady with the white fairy dust elevating towards K's peering mischievous face. Unimaginable  

Yes, they hunt for their meals. And Yes, this would be the first night for the fountain feature. Oh Yes, they really have three purple lights underwater there. Dig It

Mid Morning, after a wonderful home cooked cheesy covered eggs, toast, and K's mothers home made Elderberry Jam, the deployment vehicle was rumbling on highway 395 north bound. I was already less than 50 miles from my home town so why not. My headphones provided a soundtrack by The String Cheese Incident as I made tracks. 

And here it is. The home that I was born and raised in. Actually, my great grand father, grand father, father, brother, and I were all born in the same hospital three streets down the hill from this house. Fun Fact, I was the last baby born in that hospital and my friend Chad Herman was the first baby in the new hospital. Yes, small town history lesson there for ya.  

For me standing there snapping this shot, I couldn't get over just how tiny this house is. As a child, I remember it being such a massive house. And check out the growth of those trees behind the place.

I strolled down the property line and to the right were I am facing the garage for this photo. As children, my brother and I would jump from the deck into the snow bank during the 1970's healthy wet mountain winter snow storms. That felt like such an endeavor as a kid and now I can touch the bottom of the deck while standing there flat footed. Perspective I tell ya. Another Fun Fact: across that brown beam still reads Bill And Peggy. Used to be painted in yellow, along with all the chiseled /carved highlights, it's all brown now. I vividly remember the construction of the room below, deck, and garage like it was yesterday. 

Back in the 70's, 5th & Colorado Street was known as the sledding hill. Obviously that little house on the right wasn't there. Bill used to wait at the bottom ( sledding started high right in the photo, make the right turn, and fly all the way down to the hospital parking lot ) in his 4x4 Jeep. He would throw a knotted rope off the back, all of the neighborhood kids would interlock boots onto the sled behind ya, and he would drive us back up to the top. Hours upon hours, storm after storm, those were the days. True Childhood Dreams And Memories 

I shot this above photo because the sun was shining on the remanence of our old tree house. Thats right, back in those four Ponderosa Trees, we had a tree house. Fabricated with a real trap door and custom wooden ladder. I loved spending time in that tree house. Now, just two lonely boards mounted to that mature tree is all that is left. None of the previous or current owners have this knowledge or even care. And Yes, that little house in the distance wasn't build back in those days. 

This front yard was the arena for everything. My brother taught me how to balance on his bike, competitive baseball games with the neighbors, Spooktacular Halloween theme projects, Christmas winter scenes, and countless years of imaginary play with Hot Wheels. This neighborhood was ideal for childhood living. All the neighbors back then, High School Principal BoB Wise lived a few doors over, participated in ALL holiday events and occasions. Fun Fact: legendary X-Games skier David Wise's Grand Dad was our Principal. Each house on the block rotated the hosting duty for every holiday, birthday party, and / or other adult reasons for getting together to mingle. Now that my brother has become the family albums treasurer, will dig out some of those photo and share with you all soon. Guaranteed, You Wont Believe Your Eyes 

 

This Is The Part Of The Story You Might Wanna Skip - Its Really Just For Me - Scroll Down To The Time Lapse - Be Well - Thanx For Checking In 

I drove on down to the Railroad Museum to pick up a few items for my grand nephew and niece. Nope, CLOSED due to COVID. And the whole town was basically closed. Once the Union Pacific Railroad pulled out, the town simply fell apart. Most homes are empty and stand dilapidating. Buildings that burnt down, never rebuilt. Homes with character have replaced busted out window frames with duct tape and cardboard. The old middle school building is just a lot full of weeds. The whole town resembles misery. Hard for me to comprehend a charming quaint little town nestled in the mountains was once full of delightfully responsible folk and today its become this boarded up trash pile of a town. 

In the above photo, left side on the bare naked hillside, marks the white P for Portola. Back in the day, every senior class would hike up there and fill in the P with white stone featuring the numbers of their graduating class. Today, Nothing!! Should Still Have 20 In It!! The class of 20BLK Jack should be planning for migrating up that mountain side in anticipating of leaving their mark. What Happened To The Tradition Of Excellence 

Why so much of the railroad talk?? Why all the traditions??? Easy for me to answer. My great grand father, grand father, and Bill were all engineers for Western Pacific Railroad. My brother & I were the first two Reed's of the family tree not to follow in those footsteps. Bill boogied when I was little and Mom remarried an evil Mother Phuc-R and we relocated to San Diego. Otherwise, Maybe Yes Maybe No 

So Bill still resides in this town and for weeks I wrestled with what to say. After 25 years, what do you say. I so wish Triple JJJ would have held their word because the support would have been diverting on this day. I struggled like crazy talking myself into going to bat for my brother and asking Bill to engage with him. My brother has always been the family man and strives for family harmony. Both of my oldies just cant wrap their selfish minds around that fact. My brother recently attempted zooming with Bill and his wife and Bill claimed he couldn't hear and just walked out. My gut brain continued to rise up and I had this sinking feeling that it wouldn't fly going to see Bill. So I Carried On 

Bill retired from the railroad after 30 plus or 35+ years of service. During his later years of his career he drove old unique trains, older engines that the younger generation of engineers had no idea how to operate, and coordinated special events that rolled through Portola. He was even in the movie The Magic of Lassie. That was a HUGE deal back in the late 70's. Our school closed early for the day, all of us walked from school grounds down to the train yard to meet Lassie. That was really big stuff for me because everyone knew that it was Bill driving the train. Again, small town living. Cant find those frigging sun glasses on top of my head but I can remember SH*T like that as if it were yesterday. I do this to my brother all the time and he says," No Way, You Remember That." Yup, I Sure Do 

Above is Beckworth Peak and I used to climb it every spring. Call me crazy but I loved hiking to the top of that sucker. That hike is only a few miles these days but was the adventure of a lifetime back in those days. That was something else that boggled my mind. Everything was so far away when I was a kid, the house was so big, the streets were so steep but not at all here in 20BLK Jack. I parked the moving truck and meandered down to the crystal clear flowing Feather River. My plan was to skinny dip but the ice cold snow run off water quickly changed that tune. Me without a towel and even though it's a blue bird day, it was only about 40F / 4.4C. So I opted for removing my shoes, rolling up my pant legs like the good old days, and soaking my feet in the river. It was bizarre, as soon as my feet softly made contact with the sandy rock bottom of the river, my emotional train took over. I uncontrollably cried my eyes out. Because I miss this town, because of remincing, witnessing the decline of what was, and who knows why else. I guess it was a necessary release but there I am, sitting on the grassy bank, butt white feet in the water, crying my heart out like a little school girl wishing that her little doggie hadn't just been hit by a speeding car.  

 

Something else about the Feather River, crawfish swim backwards. My cuz and I would use empty long plastic tubes that showcased beef jerky on the counter of Leonard's Grocery Store, slowly place the tube strategically behind the crawfish, and then dunk our open hand in front of the crawfish. Backwards they would shoot right into the container. Kids being kids. The above photo is of Gifford Webbers old place. Fun Fact: this house is in the opening scene of the 1984 film Hot Dog The Movie. A classic ski bum movie. I spent many a moons here on this farm. 

 

Donnor Summit ( Yes , The Famous Donnor-Reed Party ) was so far away when I was a kid. Hell, it's only about 30 miles from Portola. Truckee California is all right there with the 1960 Olympic Park in Squall Valley looming near by. It's all there in the middle of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Commanding Views 

Haven't stopped at this rest stop in ages. I believe that The Blue Z, Hippie Jim, and myself pulled over here back in about 2012 or so. I might have made up that year because of the polynomial opportunity. 2012 / 21

For whatever reason, I took this photo of the California State Flag. My bladder was full but I stopped for a photo op. Humans, what the flock of seagulls. 

Only a few miles up the road, had no real desire to make tracks to Sacramento, pulled off at this rest stop. The above photo is looking back east and below is a freight train a rolling along. The air was so fresh and I spent more time there than maybe I should have. Forcing myself back into the moving truck, onward I drove towards the valley of armpit hell below. 

 

As a kid, always admired this train tussle. I don't know why but I did. So I took a poorly shot photo of it at speed. You Know, Safety First

When I left GJ Colorado, everything was still dormant and brown. The lush green hillsides of California were a pleasant surprise. So Easy On Me Eyes 

And the State Flower of California is the Poppy and those yellow beauties were in bloom all along the freeway. Again, I was so thrilled to be surrounded by evergreen trees. Something about those tall dancing beauties. 

And then, that was just all a fainting moment in time. Passing Grass Valley opens to this never ending I-80 west towards San Fransisco. Thankfully, my destination was only the State Capital of California. 

The air pollution was atrocious and the freeway was littered with trash. Not just cigarette butts but trash of all matter. I synced with that crying Indian in that 1970's commercial as he looked down upon what white man has succumbed too. Sacramento wasn't at all like I remembered. Get Me Out Of Here 

The below photo is how I remember Sacramento. That is a shot of the downtown skyscrapers and the last of the open space. This used to be hundreds and hundreds of miles of rice fields. Now, its ALL apartments and new construction and box store complexes. And $4 a gallon gas stations!!

When I arrived at my final destination, I sat here for about an hour. I plopped down in front of the wild lavender plants and in the cool shade provided by these lovely American Red Cedar Trees. I was visually spent, I was emotionally drained, and in the 80 degree / 26.6 C heat ( felt like 108 to me ) I just sat. The moving truck was parked and leave me the Phuc alone. I Need Space!! Literally AND Figuratively 

But then, this poor freaked out cat was never so happy to see me. For five years in GJ, this cat wanted NOTHING to do with me. AJ was in Sacramento during the month of February 20BLK Jack and this cat finally acknowledge my presence. Even upon AJ's return, this cat still gravitated towards me. Then, after being a captive in AJ's car for two days, I walked in and that cat screamed for me and wouldn't leave my side. So I provided much needed comfort to the cat during my short stay. Cat Karma Coupons

 

Here is the reason why AJ moved back to Sacramento. Her one and only son had the American COVID Baby Dream. Meet Collin. Born December 2020. JT is actually a really solid father figure and always meets the needs of the baby and his wife. Rather proud of the kid for stepping up his game. Good On You Johnny Boy 

JT and his wife roasted up Ribs and Rice for dinner. I was super stoked as obviously everything for cooking was packed away in the moving truck and I still haven't been to a restaurant in over a year. The visit was fantastic and really a treat for me to meet the wife and two cats. 

That night, I spent the evening with fresh Carmel Roasted Hopped Lagunitas I.P.A. six pack. And Yes, drank them all while tuning into the surrounding and fresh soundtracks by natures very own insects. Night owls talking it up in the distance. And a pleasant breeze over my exhausted body. The next day, its unloading the moving truck. But for that night, I relaxed with the best of them. Reflecting on my travels. Sipping a cold brew. So Thankful That I DO NOT Live Here 

By sunrise, I was up, Coffee was made, I sat here until the Calvary arrived to help unload. My morning cup of Joe never tasted so good. I kicked back for almost three hours in this spot. Fish were jumping, dog walkers thought I was some long haired homeless guy, and all I could do was smile and be thankful. 

It is Spring Time here in California and everything in nature was beyond sensational. I was far enough away from the busy traffic, I was removed from all the family dynamics, and I wasn't doing it wrong. Just enjoying my cup of coffee and listening to the morning birds sing happy little BoB Ross tunes. 

Unpacking the truck couldn't have gone any better. Two of my cousins and two of my uncles arrived on time. We laughed and shared tales from the past while unloading. Nobody was in a rush and we took as many breaks as we felt the need. And it was those insignificant moments that I truly relish. Like Uncle Steve holds up to his chest a couch cushion and pretends to call balls and strikes. Vintage ( old baseball ) home plate umpire reference there. 

After the unloading, headed over to the Uncles apartment to check out the train set. We threw a round of ultra soft sponge like frisbees in the apartment. Checked out some old photos of the grand parents and called it a successful afternoon. Again, Boys Being Boys 

I left their place and drove east until I came to the dead end on Watt Ave. A quick flip of the wheel to the left on Watt Ave and soon arrived on Whitney Avenue. Right on Whitney and at the second stop light, I was back at the old summer time stomping grounds. Below is the home that my Grand Father And Grand Mother from my mothers side owned. So Many Memories!! Wonderful Memories!! Really Gratifying Times 

I helped Papa T plant this California Redwood Tree during the Summer of 1990. I dug a hole and he says, "Little Deeper Please." I dug some more and he says,"Little Wider Please." I dug and he says,"Little Deeper And We Are There." So I dug wider and deeper and he says," Beautiful There Whipper Snapper." We settled that baby sapling into its home and he swore up and down that he would water it every day for me. Below is that tree some 30 years later. Flipping Amazing 

Finally shot a time lapse on my last evening of this adventure. Everyday was severely clear bluebird days with not much help from Mother Nature on the cloud front. But on my last night, mid level altostratus clouds began blanketing the setting sun. So I build up a quick tripod of empty tubs and the old GoPro3 Silver was hot in action.

After sipping some of the finest whiskey on ice, my air mattress never looked so inviting. Yes, AJ got a real kick out of me unboxing her Lava Lamp for creating some atmosphere. "Its all in the ambiance for sure." I Said. And when I was there, screen door was never closed off. I made sure that the living room was full of life. HELLO 

                                     Screen Shot Below, 5g on 4/3/21 @ 11:11 

Last day, running around town. Stopped by my Cousin's place to print boarding passes and say YO to this little guy. Dropped off the Rental Truck after filling it for the last time and with additional 1,130mi /1818.55km on them wheels. Not out of my pocket but the total fuel cost hit $348.19 for the one way trip. 

Below is a passing photo at about 140kph of the American River. A few miles before it merges with the Sacramento River. Flat And Green 

Next thing I knew, airborne and stirring through the smog layers. Admiring Sacramento from about 11,000ft / 3352 meters. So dang happy to be leaving California in the dust.

             Over Folsom Lake from about 22,000ft / 6705 meters above and climbing 

My favorite photo from the whole trip. This is between the border of California and Nevada and starring down at the ever so famous Lake Tahoe. Stunning 

I settled my sit bones into my seat as we cruised at 39,000ft / 11887 meters. I watched the animation film Soul in which Delta Airlines so graciously provided. Fairly entertaining and in a round about way was a theme to my own issues that I have been grappling with. Before I knew it, flight attendants take your seat, the ground of Salt Lake City quickly approached my window. One more leg and its the mean streets of GJ. 

   

Speaking of flying , ( HERE ) is the time lapse that I created while flying from SLC to GJ. As always, I really appreciate you all, possessing patience with me while I was absent, & for all of your positive feedback over the years. Thank You 

   

Enjoy Your April,

Cheers