Travels with The Rayman

This a.m. we arose, donned our clothes, packed up the perishables, locked up and drove away. Our sojourn to South Dakota began. And we trekked down to the Registrar of Voters and were the first people in the entirety of San Luis Obispo County to vote. The very first. We were so first that everyone in the office helped us get an absentee ballot that was going to be mailed today. The complexity of voting in CA is noteworthy. However, neither of us had to produce a photo i.d. There you have it. CA is progressive and is not worried about voter fraud like some far flung places are (think the deep South).

But I digress.

After voting, we popped into to a coffee shop and had a non-fat latte and a blackberry muffin. Yum. Beau, of course, was with us and so we sat outside with him while we ate/drank. A man took the next table but not before admiring our dog. Turns out he has one. He also has an 18 year old Jag in pristine condition. A delightful conversation ensued before we jumped in the car and headed to the RV parking lot.

Voila. Here I am in the Mojave desert, in the Oasis RV park located in Boron, CA. Boron is the home to Borox Mining where the speed limit is 37 1/2 miles per hour and the visitors center sits high above the huge hole in the ground that has been mined for a very long time.

Here is one of the richest ore deposits on earth. And out of this place, the TV show in the 60s, Death Valley Days originated. The visitor’s center was a well done commercial. Brought to you by Borox. The hole they have carved out is about 2 1/2 miles long and 800 feet deep. Products made with the chemicals produced here are in your flat screen TVs and your laundry detergent. On the tiles of the space shuttle and the glass in your cupboard.

And that’s what’s in Boron. They have a life-size replica of the 20 mule team that was originally used for moving rocks from Death Valley to everywhere. Now it’s done with trains, ships, trucks.

On the way here we drove thru Cayama valley to reach the San Joaquin valley. Very pretty ride. Very few cars. Yuccas were blooming. The oaks looked healthy as they had more rain there this year. Then we sprinted over to Arvin via a detour (closed road). And up the into the mountains to again come down to the great Mojave desert. At one point, a CHP SUV darted out with lights ablazing and slowed everyone down. It turns out an electrical crew was restringing high voltage power cables across the freeway. We had a bird eye’s view. You don’t see that every day. So, there we were parked on the 58 freeway for a few minutes while the work was being completed.

And so now I am somewhat reclined on the sofa typing this blog and am very tired. Just waiting for the sun to sink behind the mountains to our west so that I can take my book to the boudoir and read about Theodore Roosevelt and his trip down the Amazon. River of Doubt is the book. Looks promising so far through 3 chapters. It came highly recommended.

Rayman had a good day. He only banged his shins once. And I think I can speak for both of us that the day was quite delightful though long and a bit laborious. For the record, I banged my head. And maple syrup oozed out in the refrigerator so I had to clean that up. But that ain’t bad as RV trips go. Heck. It didn’t snow so that’s good.

The wind is howling here but it’s a warm “mariah”. The RV park is minimal but functional. It’s better than Santa Barbara’s. I’ll say that. The railroad train tracks are close and 5 trains have pasted so far. Really, Boron is a tumbleweed sort of town. No good housing. One restaurant. One grocery store. Lots of pitbulls in chained yards. Poor and barren. But, they had Ben and Jerry’s in the grocery store so there you have it.

Tomorrow, day 2, takes us to Overton, Nevada. On the shore of Lake Mead. Why there? Didn’t want to stay in Vegas. And we wanted someplace we had never been before so we are planning on driving a bit out of way to experience a new place on earth. And with that, it’s over and out.