“Diary of a Glad Scout Rider”
By the First Lady, Janis Graber
Day 1- Sunday, Oct. 3rd, 2004
Dear Diary…today was the first leg of our Death Valley adventure. As
usual, I had previously asked my beloved husband what our ETD (estimated time
of departure) would be and as always he paused and firmly announced 8:30 a.m….
“Out the door”. So, I do what I always
do… I calculated the minutes I need to be “out the door” and I totaled 50
minutes. I showered, loaded my bags in the truck, packed the coolers, and
grabbed the morning paper for the 5-hour road trip ahead of us. I was ready… 50 minutes; “out the door”…Timmy
hadn’t even taken his shower yet! He has
an uncanny way of beginning a project or working on something important on his
computer that simply can’t wait until later. From now on, when Timmy gives me
the ETD, I will automatically tack on an additional 30 minutes, which will now
be called ATD. (Actual Time of Departure)
Not
only is this a better choice of words, but will allow me 30 more minutes of
sleep in the morning.
We then picked up our favorite “trouble
truck” gal, Malinda Hall on our way out of town and we were on our way. The next 5 hours were spent programming my
husband’s new toy, an XM radio, which for most of us who are not high tech
people; I think it’s just another fancy name for Satellite Radio. After about an hour of Timmy instructing us
on pushing, holding, flipping, and setting an array of buttons we realized we
might be better off reading the instructions.
After another hour had passed, Timmy took the remote from us and decided
he would start pushing, holding, flipping, and setting himself; all the while
driving at least 90 mph. (I know this for a fact, as I could see the
speedometer). At this point, something had to give; Malinda read the first page
of the instructions aloud…”Do not program this radio while driving, as this can
be hazardous to your health.” Luckily,
we needed fuel, so our lives were spared and Malinda and I worked feverishly
once again to program the XM while Timmy was pumping diesel. We did not give him back the remote; instead,
we took complete control of the situation and completed the programming 3 hours
later, just outside Beatty, Nevada, which was our destination for the day.
Upon arrival we met Craig Dillman and his
lovely friend Irma along with another SoCal rider, Ken King. As we were
unloading, I witnessed the most horrific and shocking thing in my life. My husband was delivering some parts for
someone and he had decided to use my Grandma’s handmade quilt to protect and
transport them! I first screamed at the
sight, and then after I awoke from my fainting spell, (still feeling somewhat
nauseous) I proceeded to explain my sentiment.
You see, my dear grandmother who just passed away not too long ago at
the age of 100 hand-quilted this for me… and my dear mother; who passed away a
few years ago, hand stitched this for me.
Needless to say, I was just a little upset. This would be like me taking a bunch of
tools out of the tool box, (which are usually hand selected and collected
through the years) and stirring a freshly opened can of paint with them, and
then putting them back in the tool box… but then, it really wouldn’t be… unless
your father or grandfather actually hand made and engraved the tools!
After
the commotion, and after everyone was unpacked we decided to tour the wonderful
town of Beatty. The boys on
their bikes, the girls following behind in the trouble truck. I must say, it
really is a joy to watch these guys cruising around like little boys hoping to
find a great new discovery… and the XM Radio playing “Born to be Wild” was the
perfect accompaniment. Had a great
dinner at the Stagecoach hotel. Jacuzzied for a nightcap, and then an hour of
gambling. We all called it a night with
thoughts of our next adventure to follow the next day. On to Furnace
Creek. It was a good day.
Good
night diary.
Day 2- Monday, Oct. 4th, 2004
Dear Diary, We all met for breakfast and
Craig was nice enough to point out one more antique store we had missed. We all enjoyed a little more shopping and
found some treasures we could not live without, …and then it was “down the
highway”. Our drive to Furnace Creek was
another nice adventure, as the boys rode their machines, and we followed with
the trouble trucks. I drove “THE DODGE” while Malinda drove Ken’s blue van and
Craig drove Irma. Our first stop leaving
Beatty was more of an inquisitive stop, at the local brothel. We drove in just far enough to see the bubble
gum pink house at the end of the lane.
We all took a few minutes to read the billboard out front which reminded
me more of a drive-up menu at A&W.
To be quite honest I had to ask what some of it meant?!! As the guys rode off laughing, us girls drove
off disgusted.
From there, we stopped at the old ghost
town of Rhyolite, and although we didn’t see any ghosts, it was really quite
interesting. We arrived at Furnace Creek
around 3:00 and got settled in. Met up
with some friends, and you could feel the energy, excitement, and anticipation
for the next days ride. We had dinner at
the restaurant and we were all quite satisfied. With full bellies, and the
evening still young, we all decided to go on a midnight run. (I still
don’t know why they call it this, as it was really only 9:30) There were just a
handful of us, Craig and Irma, Frank Colver, Ken King, Timmy and myself. Bob
Clift got a late start and took a wrong turn (we think his new night-vision
goggles he was sporting might have had something to do with it). Timmy took my scout and I tucked a pillow on
the back fender for padding, as long as Frank stayed behind us, we were fine.
Timmy had conveniently forgotten to tell me that the last person who “borrowed”
my scout had lost the key which meant that he
could no longer turn on the
headlamp; No Problemo!! Unless,
of course, you have somewhat of a spirited husband who likes to race,
regardless of weather or not he can see the road! After my poking and nudging from the back,
Timmy slowed down enough for Franks’ lights to be our guide. And I would just like to take this
opportunity to personally thank Frank for extending my life a few more
years. Thank you Frank! We made it back safe and sound and enjoyed
the thrill of it all. I am riding my trusty scout to Scotty’s Castle tomorrow
so I am turning in early tonight. It was
a good day. Good night Diary.
Day 3- Tues., Oct. 5th, 2004
Dear Diary, I awoke to that old familiar
sound of about 10 motorcycles revving and raring to go. Although our ETD was 9:00 a.m., I guess these
guys still need to check things out at 6:30 a.m. in case they might need gas or
something. I was already awake and in a
cold sweat from a bad dream of Timmy polishing his motorcycle
with Grandma’s quilt, so I quickly jumped out of bed, happy and relieved it was
just a dream.
We had a wonderful ride to Scotty’s Castle
and we enjoyed the official tour highlighting the history and how it came to
be. A few of us rode on to Ubehebe
Crater (I like to call it HeebeeJeeBee), and we were once again amazed at the
beauty before us. The ride home was the most enjoyable ride I’ve ever had on my
trusty 101, and we all knew the mineral springs swimming pool awaited us at the
end of our ride. (total mileage 110)
After a few wrinkled bodies in the pool later, we decided 2 hours in the
pool was enough and it was time to get ready for dinner. As we were leaving, Max (in his little red
Speedo) was just arriving at the pool. All I can say is, …”It takes a real man
to wear a Speedo”
We had another great dinner in the restaurant,
and decided at 9:30 to take another “Midnight Run”. We had met some great fellow riders in the
pool that day and one of them was riding a bike with a sidecar. His name was Mark, but to all of us he was
the “side car guy”. He offered to take
the trouble truck gal (Malinda) for the midnight run, so from that point, she was the “Sidecar girl”. We started out with the same group as before
but in a matter of minutes, our midnight run group was expanding. As the
guys were firing up their machines, I couldn’t help but notice a young man
admiring the old machines. In a
neighborly fashion, I asked him if he wanted to join the ride and he sadly
admitted he didn’t have a bike. I responded…”Well, do you have a car? And if
you do, is it a convertible…at that point we had another midnight rider and we called him the “Car Guy”. To add even more characters, we
also met 3 interesting motorcycle enthusiasts while eating dinner in the
restaurant. Max and his family were also
in the restaurant, and when the enthusiasts (Indian motocycle types) figured out who Max was, you would have
thought the President of the United States was there. They were riding new bikes but the Midnight Run does not discriminate. One of them was from Argentina alias the “Argentina Man”, a young woman from France alias the “French girl” and the other guy was from California. As we saddled
up we had the “car guy” following from behind. We lost Bob Clift (Cyclops guy)
again as we departed. He was saddled up and ready to go but apparently his night time goggles still
seemed to be causing a directional problem.
We only rode a few miles but you would
have thought we had ridden to the moon!
Timmy was the first to lie down and stretch out, and a few minutes later
we all followed suit. There we were,
about 15 people, all laying down, gazing up at the stars. No sound, no engines, no talking, it was
really beautiful and almost overwhelming.
The silence was broken a few minutes later, as we could hear the rumble
of a motorcycle approaching. We were
hoping it was Bob Clift and we flashed a few of our headlight to signal our
whereabouts. It was Jim
Christianson and his friend from Central California. Jim is kind of a big guy, and his attire of khaki
shorts and hiking boots, sporty as they were, led us all to call him “Paul
Bunyon”. (His sidekick didn’t much care
to be called “Babe”, but we had fun teasing them anyway).
Car guy was nice enough to transport some
beverages for us and supplied some great tunes from his convertible BMW. I’m guessing 2 hours passed before any of us
even considered heading back, and I’m sure if we all had sleeping bags, we
would have spent the night under the stars. As we headed back, I couldn’t help
thinking how young I felt, and I wondered if everyone else felt as special and
privileged as I. We all made it back safely, and called it a night, with the
last image of “Paul Bunyon” walking to his cabin, saying “C’mon Babe,… it’s
time to go home”. We laughed
hysterically and we all went to bed. It
was a good day. Good night diary.
Day 4- Wed., Oct. 6th, 2004
Dear Diary, Today, I will drive the
trouble truck and give our favorite trouble truck gal a day off. She can ride
with sidecar guy and enjoy a great ride herself!! With all the details handled, coolers filled,
and the XM in the trouble truck programmed, I was ready!
We split up as half of the group chose to
take the road less traveled (gravel x 2 miles).
I was pleasantly surprised that my husband chose the other. Just a nice, easy, comfortable ride. We had lunch in Panamint Springs, which
basically consisted of the restaurant and a gas station that didn’t look like
it had been open for a while. We sat on
the veranda, eating our lunch and the view before us was absolutely incredible.
We saw a familiar 39 Ford Pick-Up Truck drive by that turned around and came
back. It was Tom Hart! I knew I
recognized that truck!! He had just decided to take 10 hours out of his day and
drive out for the Saturday night BBQ. He
and I followed the bikes home and enjoyed the scenic ride home once again. We all met up in the pool again, and savored
another hour of pool time before the BBQ-awards picnic. The BBQ was nice, the
food was great, and of course Max and his son, Lon put on a great affair.
I think everyone was pretty tuckered
out. We had all talked about another Midnight Run, but the thought of trying to recreate the night
before seemed almost impossible. We all concurred, and met for a few more
drinks at the bar. I was the first party
pooper (if you can believe that?) and walked quietly back to my cabin alone. I
think I was asleep before I got my cowboy hat off. It was a good day. Good night Diary.
Day 5- Thursday, Oct. 7th, 2004
Dear Diary, I am writing my entry before
we leave Furnace Creek as I know when we get home I’ll collapse from too much
fun. We are loading up now, and many
people have already left. My plan for
the ride home is to crawl in the back seat and stretch out. As I do ... I will
fall asleep… and dream of the stars we shared, the laughter we shared and the
friendships shared…and I will sleep knowing everything is good, snuggled up… in
my Grandma’s quilt.