Let me tell ya bout that dirt road. I named that roar ya know...."dirt road". An' that's the only dirt road in the US that has the name "dirt road". Back in January 2002, me an' first mate Vickie Lynn took off for California in my Tiffin Open Road motorhome. Vickie Lynn named her "Alice".
We was headed west out of San Antone Texas on hwy 90 an' we comes to a junction in the road. Big Bend....so many miles to the south. We too that road an' spended bout 6 days just look'n round, build'n camp fires, sit'n round drink'n up coffee an' shoot'n the breeze. Walked a hunnert mile or so. That's what ya do when you're newly retired.
On our last day in Big Bend we visited Santa Elena Canyon.
The Rio Grande river runs through that canyon.
We had two choices to head west, a paved road an' a washboard dirt road. I was a adventurer, so's we took the dirt road....for the next 3 hours with one stop along the way. Luna's Jacal.
Traveling 14.5 miles on a washboard road is a adventure all in it's self. 35 mile a hour was tops an' even that was too fast. The only other travelers we seen was this nice little spider.
Swored I would never take that "dirt road" again as long I live. But I did it again the next year with first mate Dee Dee. She just HAD to see, an' ride on it, the road I had named.
The other end of this dirt road ends up in Study Butte, Texas....just up the road a very short piece from Terlingua, Texas.
Decals arrived yesterday. Well shoot, they too big. By too big I mean they gonna take up most of the stern. Now I have to make the decision, do I install them or do I spend another $15 to have another set made up just a bit smaller. Here's what I'm talk'n bout......
Whatcha think???? I'm think'n left but DAMN....another $15???
Now let me tell ya, polyurethane sucks. I sanded the stern with 1200 grit wet or dry sandpaper to get rid of a few bubbles an' a dad gum scratch an' a fingerprint. Added a thinned down coat of poly. Holy crap....that's perfect. Yeah, until 20 minutes later it's full of little bitty bubbles. Removed that application an' spray some can Urethane on it. Looks pretty dad gum good. That is until I open the door to let in some fresh 51 deg air. Wind was blow'n in "da house". Dust was float'n round in "da house". The wet urethane says..."hey dust, come check this out". Grrrrrrrr.....!!!! I'm bout to give slap up an' paint the boat bright pink.
For the last two days I been sicker an' a dad gum old dog. Stomach issues. Remember that "heavy" chicken an' swiss cheese sammich I ate the other day? That's when it all started. I missed the early Thanksgiv'n dinner 'cause I was too sick to eat. Today is a bit better....I eated me up a big fat taquito full of fried taters, chopped up ham an' a couple scrambled eggs.....with a bunch of salsa. Yum yum boy howdy.
We was headed west out of San Antone Texas on hwy 90 an' we comes to a junction in the road. Big Bend....so many miles to the south. We too that road an' spended bout 6 days just look'n round, build'n camp fires, sit'n round drink'n up coffee an' shoot'n the breeze. Walked a hunnert mile or so. That's what ya do when you're newly retired.
On our last day in Big Bend we visited Santa Elena Canyon.
We had two choices to head west, a paved road an' a washboard dirt road. I was a adventurer, so's we took the dirt road....for the next 3 hours with one stop along the way. Luna's Jacal.
Traveling 14.5 miles on a washboard road is a adventure all in it's self. 35 mile a hour was tops an' even that was too fast. The only other travelers we seen was this nice little spider.
Swored I would never take that "dirt road" again as long I live. But I did it again the next year with first mate Dee Dee. She just HAD to see, an' ride on it, the road I had named.
The other end of this dirt road ends up in Study Butte, Texas....just up the road a very short piece from Terlingua, Texas.
Decals arrived yesterday. Well shoot, they too big. By too big I mean they gonna take up most of the stern. Now I have to make the decision, do I install them or do I spend another $15 to have another set made up just a bit smaller. Here's what I'm talk'n bout......
Now let me tell ya, polyurethane sucks. I sanded the stern with 1200 grit wet or dry sandpaper to get rid of a few bubbles an' a dad gum scratch an' a fingerprint. Added a thinned down coat of poly. Holy crap....that's perfect. Yeah, until 20 minutes later it's full of little bitty bubbles. Removed that application an' spray some can Urethane on it. Looks pretty dad gum good. That is until I open the door to let in some fresh 51 deg air. Wind was blow'n in "da house". Dust was float'n round in "da house". The wet urethane says..."hey dust, come check this out". Grrrrrrrr.....!!!! I'm bout to give slap up an' paint the boat bright pink.
For the last two days I been sicker an' a dad gum old dog. Stomach issues. Remember that "heavy" chicken an' swiss cheese sammich I ate the other day? That's when it all started. I missed the early Thanksgiv'n dinner 'cause I was too sick to eat. Today is a bit better....I eated me up a big fat taquito full of fried taters, chopped up ham an' a couple scrambled eggs.....with a bunch of salsa. Yum yum boy howdy.
That dirt road has an official name of Old Maverick Road now. I like "dirt road" better. Luna's Jackal has been reworked by the Park Service and looks as real as a plastic antique now. The dirt road and Luna's were a lot more fun twenty years ago before the "improvements". I am glad you have a record of when it was great.
ReplyDeleteNice to have them old pictures of what it was really like.
ReplyDeleteSure don't like them washboard roads.
Think that decal will look ok, no white background right? So it should be good I think.
Perhaps it is my CRS but I do not think I have heard of first mate Dee Dee before (me scratching my head). I guess I am more familiar with Vickie Lynn, the most colorful of them all :)
ReplyDeleteI think the humidity might be too high for your finish. Under 50% humidity would be better. Max.
ReplyDeletejust wanted to say hi to you, hope you start feeling better!!! I wonder that you might have food allergies... not sure but you could follow your diet with the doctor. Just a suggestion!! Love you uncle Bill and miss you, much!!
ReplyDeleteI used to love to drive over old roads and go explorin', but no more. I still like driving the side roads though (the paved ones). Getting old isn't much fun.
ReplyDeleteYour road story reminded me of the time in, I think, the Big Horn Mountains when we turned onto Alkali Road. "Road" was an overstatement. Rock crawling an a Class C is not fun. I look back at that now and I still don't laugh. Aren't horror stories supposed to turn into funny stories with the passing of time?
ReplyDelete