DOM Desert Riders

I finally got around to participating in Carmi's Thematic Photograph theme. This week's theme is "Poignant", and for me, this picture of my wife and daughter looking over a dry lake bed in the Mojave Desert fits the theme:

This was taken on May 23, 2008, when the three of us were riding our quads in the area of Camp "C" - an open area for off road vehicle riding - northeast of California City, California. The dry lake bed has soda ash on it's surface, which gives it the look of being covered with white shinny dust. You can clearly see the trails on the face of the hill in the foreground where quads and motorcycles have left their mark. The mountains in the distance are the Sierra Nevada's. Not the ones on the other side of the dry lake; the ones to the left that blend into the clouds. One of the things I enjoy the most about being in this spot is how quite it can be. When there are no riders nearby, the only sound you hear is the wind blowing.

Labels: Annual

After Saturday's race events, Nina and Laura were hungry for lunch. Afterall, all that riding makes you hungry. Laura and I wanted to BBQ some hamburgers, but Nina wanted taquitos.

Somehow, I ended up feeding more than just my wife and daughter. Two other little ones came along to play with Nina, and stayed for lunch. No worries, there were plenty of hamburgers and taquitos to go around.
Here's the one that I dropped as I was flipping it. You can see that it needed to be cooked more. I hate wasting food.

This group of pros would never waste food. These folks know how to BBQ. L-R are Pablo, Butch and Queen Leslie:

To close out this post, here's a random photo taken at the Annual. For no apparent reason I took this picture of this cone:

Labels: Annual

One of the best things about the D.O.M. club is the campfire. People gather around to talk and enjoy each other's company. It's always a good time. We've tried to capture that fun in some pictures. At this year's Annual, the weather was a little colder than normal for Memorial Day Weekend. The way people are bundled up in jackets and sweaters, one would think that these are from a ride during the winter. Here's Billy and Gaye smilin' for the camera:

Here are party-girls Patty and Laura:

Pictured here left-to-right are: Jimmy, Butch, Terry and me

Laura met a new friend at this year's Annual, Amanda. They both enjoy the same type of music and decided to bust out some dance moves:

People do silly things when they've been drinking. Case in point: Jack thought that he could sit on Claire's lap while she was sitting on a folding chair. The problem was that the chair wasn't designed to hold that much weight, and it collapsed. Claire and Jack fell to the ground. Laura tried to capture a picture of this "incident" while the two were on the ground, but the shutter didn't snap fast enough and King Dan stepped in to help them up. Sorry, all you can see is Dan's backside and part of Jack on the ground.

This is what was left of the chair after the "incident". You can also see evidence of the alcohol that caused this tragedy.

Well that's enough for this time. I still have more pictures to post, so do check back in a week or so.  Thanks, Dan.

Labels: Annual

I'm back with more pictures. This time they're of people other than my kids, my wife, or me. Well that's only part true. There's a couple with Brady and his friends. Let's start with one of the hardest working members of our club around Annual time: Ray. Here he is waving the victory flag for one of the younger kids whom just finished a scrambles race event. He's also checking his stopwatch for their time:

Ray has also helped set up the Scrambles race track for several years in a row. Ray, for all that you do, THANK YOU! Below we have David, Haley, Joey and Brady. Unfortunately, Haley is wearing a helmet and goggles, so you can't see this beautiful young lady surrounded by these handsome young gentlemen.

Here's our club King Dan ordering his subjects to bring him more beer. Excuse me your Royal Highness, but you haven't finished the beer that you're drinking.

Carol decided to take her grandson through the slalom course. What's not pictured below, but took place moments before this shot, was when Carol fell face down and the stroller fell backwards. Grandmother and Grandson are doing fine.

Joey, Jena, Nicole and Brady pose for another picture on this beautiful day:
And that concludes this post of pictures. I have a few more, so please check back later. Thanks for stopping by, Dan.

Labels: Annual

As I promised in my last post, here are some pictures of the actual race events that were held at the Annual. These are just of Brady and Nina. I'll post pictures that I took of other people next time. Here's Nina in her first event - the Slalom. Nina placed 3rd in her class (the Brats class) in this event.

Here's Brady in his first event - the Slalom. Brady also placed 3rd in his class (the Boys class) in this event.

Here's Nina in her second event - the Barrel Race. Nina placed 2nd in her class in this event.

Here's Brady racing to the finish line during his second event - the Barrel Race. Coincidentally, Brady also placed 2nd in his class in this event.

Here's Nina lining up for her third event - the Blow and Go. I didn't get a picture of her crossing the finish line because I had to help spot one the winners. Nina took 3rd place in her class in this event.

Here's Brady lining up for his third event - the Blow and Go. Same thing, no finishing picture, but Brady didn't actually place in one of the top three positions anyway. Something scary did happen to him though. Brady popped back onto his two rear wheels at the start of the race. He almost fell backwards. Later during this same event, but in the Men's Quad class, one of our members, Don, did just that: fell on his butt after he popped back onto his two rear wheels. When his quad came back down, it was still in gear and rolled forward several yards as if it were running the race un-manned.
That's it for this post. Thanks again for stopping by. My offer still stands for any club members who want me to post any of their pictures on this blog.

Labels: Annual

Well it took a bit longer than I planned, but I finally got around to posting some pictures of the D.O.M. Annual, which took place over the recent Memorial Day Weekend. The delay in getting these posted is not due to me being lazy; it’s because I’ve had to wait my turn to use the family computer. Brady had been working on a big project for school and needed to use it much of the time over the past few weeks. His homework project turned out great!

This might sound selfish, but the first batch of pictures is just of our family. In the next post I'll have pictures of other club members and their family and friends. I didn’t realize until I started downloading the 100+ pictures from our camera, but we didn’t take a single picture of all four of us. So all I can do is show you two or three of us at a time.

This first picture is of Brady and Nina. I don't know when it was taken, but the open area that you can see in the background is nearby to where the field events were held.

This next one was taken on Saturday morning, and the field events were definitely taking place right behind us. You can see the spectator's area to the left.

This one was taken right after Nina finished one of her races.

This one was taken on Sunday morning. The area right behind Laura and Nina is the small scrambles track where the younger kids run their race.

Laura and I love Brady's smile in this one, but I'm sure Laura will give me grief for posting it. It was taken Sunday night at the campfire when we were having some fun. I have more pictures of the Sunday night campfire, but I'll post them all together as a group.

Well I hope you enjoyed this batch. In my next post I’ll show some pictures of some of the racing events that took place at the Annual

Labels: Annual

Continuing from my last post, here are the high points winners for this year's Annual. All persons listed were awarded a trophy:

Labels: Annual

Well I hope I don't upset anyone, but I decided to scoop the D.O.M. newsletter and post the results of the races from this year's Annual. I figure that in this day and age with the Internet and e-mail and all; why wait for a paper newsletter to be sent via mail? Maybe next year I'll try to post using my cell phone. Oh wait, I couldn't get reception out at Camp C. Never mind. Here are this year's race results: (please excuse any mis-spelled names)

Pee Wee class

Slalom event
1st = Trevor Barron
2nd = Christopher Ayala
3rd = Mayleena Ayala

Barrel Race event
1st = Christopher Ayala
2nd = Trevor Barron
3rd = Mayleena Ayala

Blow & Go event
1st = Christopher Ayala
2nd = Trevor Barron
3rd = Mayleena Ayala

Scrambles Race event
1st = Christopher Ayala
2nd = Mayleena Ayala
3rd = ?? (I can't explain why no one was awarded 3rd place. I thought at least 3 participants raced. I watched the race, but no one was named during the awards ceremonies)

Brats class

Slalom event
1st = Scotty Barron
2nd = Michael Disario
3rd = Nina Aguirre (yes, that's my daughter)

Barrel Race event
1st = Scotty Barron
2nd = Nina Aguirre
3rd = Ty Weir

Blow & Go event
1st = Michael Disario
2nd = Scotty Barron
3rd = Nina Aguirre

Scrambles Race event
1st = Scotty Barron
2nd = Nina Aguirre
3rd = Michael Disario

Brats class participant ribbons were also awarded to:
Elija Lancaster & Angela Weir

Girls class

Slalom event
1st = Katlin Ingram
2nd = Amanda See
3rd = Jena Quiros

Barrel Race event
1st = Katlin Ingram
2nd = Amanda See
3rd = Jena Quiros

Blow & Go event
1st = Amanda See
2nd = Katlin Ingram
3rd = Jena Quiros

Scrambles Race event
1st = Katlin Ingram
2nd = Amanda See
3rd = Jena Quiros

A participant ribbon for the Girls class was awarded to Kylie Ayala

Boys class

Slalom event
1st = Steven Disario
2nd = Chris Warren
3rd = Brady Aguirre (yes, that's my son)

Barrel Race event
1st = Steven Disario
2nd = Brady Aguirre
3rd = Joey Fitzjerrells

Blow & Go event
1st = Steven Disario
2nd = Joey Fitzjerrells
3rd = Chris Warren

Scrambles Race event
1st = Steven Disario
2nd = Brady Aguirre
3rd = Chris Warren

A participant ribbon for the Boys class was awarded to Braxton Lancaster

Women's Quad class

Slalom event
1st = Casey Ingram
2nd = Rene Ayala
3rd = Claire Baeskens

Barrel Race event
1st = Lisa Ingram
2nd = Haley Warren
3rd = Jessica Andres

Blow & Go event
1st = Jessica Andres
2nd = Rene Ayala
3rd = Nicole Ingram

Scrambles Race event
1st = Lisa Ingram
2nd = Haley Warren
3rd = Nicole Ingram

Men's Quad class

Slalom event
1st = Dan McGhee
2nd = Don Gallego
3rd = Dan Weir

Barrel Race event
1st = Dan Weir
2nd = Brandon Murray
3rd = Kenny Ingram

Blow & Go event
1st = Kenny Ingram
2nd = Dan Weir
3rd = Dan McGhee

Scrambles Race event
1st = Dan Weir
2nd = Kenny Ingram
3rd = Dan McGhee

AA class

Slalom event
1st = Dan Weir
2nd = Nick Bisari
3rd = Tim Weir

Barrel Race event
1st = Tim Weir
2nd = Dan Weir
3rd = Ian Aten

Spin & Drag Race event
(note: this was the only class that raced this version of this event instead of the "Blow & Go" that all other classes raced)
1st = Tim Weir
2nd = Nick Bisari
3rd = Ian Aten

Scrambles Race event
1st = Tim Weir
2nd = David Perez
3rd = Ian Aten

Rhino class

Slalom event
1st = Fred Weir
2nd = Vernon Martin
3rd = Kenny Ingram

Barrel Race event
1st = Kenny Ingram
2nd = Vernon Martin
3rd = Rusty Warren

Blow & Go event
1st = Pablo Hernandez
2nd = Rusty Warren
3rd = Kenny Ingram

Scrambles Race event
1st = Vernon Martin
2nd = Fred Weir
3rd = Kenny Ingram


Blind Man Race
(note: this race is run exactly like the "Barrel Race" except that there are two people = a driver with a blindfold, and a navigator who can only use voice commands to direct the driver through the race course)
1st = Kenny Ingram & Dan Aguirre (yes, that's me)
2nd = Haley Warren & Crystal Warren
3rd = Don Gallego & Sherry Gallego


In my next post I will tell you who wins the High Points trophies and other special awards given out during the ceremony, and I will announce the new D.O.M. club King & Queen for 2008-09. In the posts to follow, I will be sharing the many pictures that Laura and I took over this past Memorial Day weekend. I hope that all readers - DOMers or not - enjoy my pictures and stories. Thanks for stopping by to visit. All my best, Dan

Labels: Annual

Well I guess I have more things to do than I thought. I'll probably need more time on Thursday. How convenient! My wife has a must-attend meeting that begins at my estimated departure time (7:30 p.m.).

So here's what my things-to-do list looks like: I'll start my day tomorrow morning by waking up at the same time as if I was going to get ready for work - 4:30 a.m. (yeah, it does suck. But I'm a morning person). I'll start by doing some last minute laundry, and then cleaning up the inside of the trailer. You know, the quick once-over that I referred to in my last post. Then, after the wife has gone to work and the kids have gone to school, I'll run to the gas station to fill the extra gas cans, and top off the tank in the truck.

Then to the store for all the grocery shopping. After returning home to put away the groceries, I'll go to the tire shop and get the truck tires rotated. After that, to U-Haul to get my propane tanks filled. Then to the RV supply store to get some toilet paper (yes, RV's take special toilet paper).

Then I have an errand to do that is not related to our weekend plans. After that, I'll go to the trophy store to pick up the trophies for the awards night of the Annual. Side note: the last night of the D.O.M. Annual is awards night and guess what? Trophies are handed out to the kids who win their divisions. For several years, my wife and I have coordinated the effort of collecting old trophies at garage sales, and having them personalized at the trophy store for club purposes.

Then I have to go back home and cut up some fire wood. I'm still working on the left-overs of my property fence that was replaced last summer. When I say working on, I mean that I take old wood slats and haul them to the desert for fire wood. The slats - as is - are too big for the fire pit, so I have to cut them in half.

Finally, I have to disassemble a table that we take with us (and re-assemble it in the desert) to eat outside the trailer. Nothing like a picnic in the desert.

After I do all of that, I can connect the truck to the trailer, and load all of the equipment, clothes, food, ice chests (then load the ice chests), and do everything else I forgot to do (and mention here). By then, my wife will be home from her meeting. We'll get a good night's sleep, and then leave for the desert on Friday morning at about 5:00 a.m.

That's the plan, and I'll let you know if it changes.

Labels: Annual

No silly, not Christmastime. It's time for the D.O.M. Annual! In just 3 more evenings, we will be leaving for the desert to join our club at their annual outing: The D.O.M. Annual Field Events. I've lost track of which anniversary - something like the 36th annual. I, personally, have been to the last 10 or so.

Anyway, as with every year, I have to prepare several things before we can go. The quads, the truck, the trailer, and the stuff we will need to take. Considering that we haven't been out to the desert since Thanksgiving weekend, there wasn't too much to do. Awhile back I changed the oil in two of the quads. The other two don't really need it, as they haven't been used too much.

The truck just needs it's tires rotated, which I meant to do yesterday. However, other more important things changed my plans, so I'll have to squeeze that in on Thursday morning. (I will be taking Thurs. as a vacation day for last minute packing and preparation) The only other truck thing to do will be to air up the tires, and gas up the truck and extra tanks.

The trailer isn't too dirty. Just over a month ago, it was used as a hotel room for my sister and her family. They were here from Oregon for my grandmother's funeral. So it is relatively clean enough for use this weekend, with just a quick once-over. I can do this Thurs. too. I do need to fill up one of the propane tanks, which I can also do on Thurs. morning.

As far as the stuff goes, well this is were most of the work needs to be done. I've been washing clothes like a mofo. I still need to make sure all of the other equipment is ready to go, and we will need to do tons of shopping for food, snacks, drinks, and sundries.

In terms of weather, I've checked out the forecast and found out that it looks good. This past weekend in the Los Angeles area, it was unseasonably hot. Some local records fell. The forecast for the Cal City area is as follows: Fri. 76, Sat. 69, Sun. 76, and Mon. 84. This is really good news as far as I'm concerned. I remember one year where the highs were in the upper 90's / low 100's all weekend long. And just two years ago it was unseasonably cold. Click here for the beginning of the series of posts I wrote and photographed.

One last note. As I was writing this, my son informed me about a text message that he just received. Our good friends Butch and Patty, and their kids Joey and Amanda, will be coming out to the Annual. I don't think they've ever been to an Annual. They usually go to the rides from Nov. to April. We really enjoy their company, and have missed them.

Labels: Annual

Monday, May 28th - Memorial Day. We (strike that) I got up early and started packing. It helped that I started the night before by getting as many things ready as possible. That included hooking up the truck to the trailer. So amazingly, we were ready to leave at 9:00 a.m. I've never left an Annual so early. But considering that I had a 4-hour drive ahead of me, and I wasn't going to be off on Tuesday (another way of putting that is I would have to work the following day), it was the best possible thing to do; leave early. Laura had to work the following day too, so our plan was to leave early, get home early, unpack, clean the trailer, and then relax in the late afternoon / early evening.

Everything went as planned. We left Camp "C" at 9:00 a.m., we got to the McDonald's in Cal City before 10:00 a.m. (while they were still serving breakfast) and away we went. We passed the Carl's Jr. in Mojave (where we spent Thursday night) before 11:00 a.m., and we continued rolling down highway 14 just as scheduled. Then around 11:45 a.m. as we were beginning to climb the hill leaving Palmdale - Bang! That old familiar sound of a blow out. This time I had to drive about a quarter mile in order to pull into a turn out.

Everything changed. There we sat waiting for the guys from Town and Country Tire (yes, the same guys that came out on Thurs. night to replace the blown tire on the way to the Annual). I actually gave the name and number of Town and Country to Triple A. The only problem this time is that the spare tire I was carrying when I first left home is what was replaced on my trailer on the way to the Annual. So now Town and Country had to stop and buy a tire for me before coming out and replacing the blown tire.

As the hours passed, I saw several of our own club members, whom we left behind at Camp "C", pass me by as I was stuck on the side of the road. Now let me paint this picture for you. Imagine yourself driving slowly up hill on a freeway, and you notice a large trailer parked on the side of the road. You recognize the logo on the back of the trailer as the club that you're also a member of. You drive right by and don't even honk or wave.

Trust me, with as much driving as all of us DOMers do to get from our homes to our rides, and back; there is NO way you would miss what I just described. For those three or four members that drove right by without helping a fellow member in need . . . . . F You. For the other members who stopped while driving up hill and pulling your own heavy trailers and trying to get home after a long weekend . . . . Thank You!

Yes, thank you Joe and Diana, that was very thoughtful of you to stop to see if we were okay and if we needed help. (at this point in time I had already been there 2+ hours and was just waiting for the tire guys to arrive) And yes, thank you Steve and Lynn for stopping too. (Steve actually didn't recognize the back of my trailer with the logo on it because it was blocked by the tire repair truck, who by this time was on site. I saw Steve's trailer and waved at him as he drove by). Steve walked 1/4 mile down hill from where he was able to pull over to make sure we were okay. Thanks, that was really appreciated.

After the Town and Country guys were done fixing me up we gave Steve a ride back to his trailer, and off we all went. We wasted 3+ hours thanks to that tire blow out. On the plus side, there was no traffic whatsoever. I was convinced that by the time I reached the San Fernando Valley (now at about 3:30 p.m.) I would hit traffic. I was wrong. By the time we got home (about 5:00 p.m.) we were tired and hungry. Lucky for us, our next door neighbors (Laura's grandparents) made us dinner.

We didn't have a chance to clean the trailer and quads like we planned, but oh well. They're not going anywhere. So that's it. Trip over. Another year, another Annual. I'll post the final results of the field events when I receive our newsletter. Until then, have a good summer and God Bless.

Labels: Annual

Continuing with my story of this year's Annual . . . Sunday night is when the ribbons and trophies are presented to the people who won the race events. I'm still waiting for my newsletter which will re-cap for me all the winners in all the classes. I'll publish that just like I did last year. I'll just cover my family in this post.

Labels: Annual

Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend is the first of two days of the Annual when field events are held. I will not go into detail about the various race events, as I've written about these before. What I will say is that this year was Nina's first time to compete in the Annual events. Here she is right before she starts her first event, the slalom race. Laura took video of this event, as well as the other two: the barrel race, and the blow and go.



Ty loves to hang around Nina, and I have a cute picture of them playing inside our trailer at last year's annual. If you want to see that click here.

Here's another picture taken during some of the races while Nina and Brady watched others compete as they waited for their turn.
The younger kids are so fun to watch. Nina has come along way in just a few months. It was only in January of this year when she rode for the first time on her quad, and now it doesn't go fast enough for her. Fortunately with the help of Steve Keller, we were able to alter Nina's quad to make it go faster than it did during Saturday's events.

Here's Brady at the start of his scrambles race. This race was held on the big track, and in his class there were only two others. They were on motorcycles. I didn't get to watch this race from the start / finish line. As a matter of fact, I didn't get to watch any of the races on the big track: I was on the race course with a warning flag keeping other people off the track.

Labels: Annual

Continuing from my first post about the '07 Annual . . . Things did in fact get better. The journey to get to Cal City continued on Fri. morning of Memorial Day Weekend at 5:00 a.m. when I woke up after less than 4 hours of sleep. I got out of my comfortable bed (the passenger seat of our pick up truck) and went into the trailer to wake Laura. I wanted to warn her that I was going to continue driving. She barely woke long enough to acknowledge. So off I drove to complete the last leg of the journey - from Mojave to Cal City.

This was a relatively short drive, as the two cities are only about 15 miles away from each other. However, the part of Cal City we camp at is called Camp C, and is about 20 miles deeper into the desert. Half of that is hard packed dirt road; the bumpy and sometimes washboard type that is nearly impossible to sleep through.

It was exactly 6:30 a.m. when I finally reached the bottom of the hill and rolled into Camp C. To my surprise there was hardly anyone there. I recognized the Weir's trailer (traditionally the first arrivals), the Woldridge's trailer, the McGee's trailer (our club King and Queen), the Wonnell's motorhome, and the Perez's diesel pusher. I would have thought a few more people would have arrived by now. Oh well, I made it and still had all day long to be with my family and friends, ride my quad, drink my beer, and not deal with work.

So I began to unpack the quads and equipment while Laura and the kids slept. Nina eventually woke up to "help". After all the work was finally done - it was time to play. Time to go on a family ride; a putt-putt as I call it, because a real ride would have been a much longer trip covering a lot more distance, usually with a destination to reach (and then return from). So Laura, Nina and I went on a little ride. I don't remember why Brady didn't join us, maybe he wanted to hang with some friends who had since arrived.

So finally, without further delay, some pictures. Let me point out that I was not in charge of photography this year. Last year Laura had to stay at home due to work, and I took many pictures with our old Minolta that used a four-letter word: film. This year we had a digital camera that Laura and I bought each other for our anniversary? Or was it for Christmas? Hell, I don't remember; I never get to use it. The neat thing about it is that it also takes video, which I can't show you here. So you get a handful of pictures to look at.

First up is me and Laura, taken by Laura herself. (It only took about four attempts to get this shot, as the first three chopped my forehead in half)
Now when I hold the camera and take the picture - we're in the center of the frame. One attempt; one successful shot. That's right, one time baby. One time!

Okay, that's all for this post. The next post will cover day one of our annual field events.

Labels: Annual

Labels: Annual

Our journey began on Thurs. night, May 24. We planned and prepared for weeks, but despite all of this we didn't leave as scheduled. Originally we were going to leave early Thurs. morning, even if it meant taking the kids out of school for two days. But a week or so before the Annual our son Brady found out something was going on at school that he just couldn't miss. Just as well. With everything else going on we weren't as prepared for the ride as we would have liked to have been.

Laura was spending a lot of time preparing for Nina's softball awards banquet. As team mom, Laura had many duties including organizing the banquet. She was also preparing for Brady's middle school graduation party, which was set for the Saturday after Memorial Day Weekend. So these efforts were cutting into the time needed to prepare for the ride.

Back to the journey. With Brady in school that Thurs., we decided to keep Nina in school too. Laura decided to work that day, and I spent the day getting ready for the ride. I had just filled the many spare gas tanks we bring along in order to fuel our quads, and finished filling the truck up with diesel fuel when the first problem occurred. I backed up from the fuel pumps at the gas station and positioned the truck next to the air pump in order to air up my tires. Having done this successfully, I got ready to drive back home - when the truck wouldn't start.

To this day I have no idea why, but the truck would not start. I tried again and again, but it wouldn't start. It was clearly not a battery problem; everything the battery powered was working. The truck just wouldn't start. Did I mention this is a new truck? Purchased in Oct. '06, and only used by Laura to drive to and from work (about a total of 4 miles per day), and by me to tow our trailer on rides - it had about 4,000 miles on it by this point in time. Hardly enough time for the battery to die.

So I called Triple A. Lucky for me, the local tow truck company was based nearby and arrived right away. They couldn't get it started either. The truck that came to help was too small to tow our pick up, so they had to dispatch a second one; a flat bed. Lucky for me, the dealer we bought the truck from was located nearby, so I was there right away. The salesperson I bought it from was beside himself and made sure I was given priority service. A few hours later, after they checked everything thoroughly, they couldn't explain why the truck wouldn't start for me. It started fine for them - over and over again, even when I came to pick it up. Go figure. At least there was no charge by the dealer (or AAA).

Back to the journey. because of that major inconvenience I was now several hours behind schedule. There was no way I would be able to leave when Laura got home from work, which was the new target time for departure. That was just as well because traffic would have been a nightmare. So I (and later the kids and Laura) continued getting ready by loading the food and provisions into the trailer. We even ate dinner.

With traffic no longer a factor that evening, we departed at 8:00 p.m. It takes about 4 to 4 1/2 hours to get to California City from La Habra (without traffic), so I figured I would pull in at around midnight. I was up for it! After all, I would be riding my quad in the morning. The feeling of anticipation is akin to a gambler willing to drive to Las Vegas after working all day long, and then knowing that he'd be up all night gambling.

Back to the journey. So we're driving along with no traffic on the 5 freeway through the San Fernando Valley. That's when the second problem occurred. I saw one of those freeway message boards warning of an accident ahead with two lanes blocked. At first I didn't think it would cause too much of a delay - that is until I saw the break lights about 4 miles before the location of the accident. Do you have any idea how screwed up traffic is in Los Angeles when 2 lanes are blocked on a major freeway? We reached the accident site at 9:00 p.m. just as they were clearing the overturned big rig.

Back to the journey. So now we resumed driving along at full speed and reached the other end of the Valley. We headed north on the 14 freeway towards Palmdale / Lancaster. Everything seemed fine until the third problem occurred. All of a sudden we heard that all-too-familiar sound of a tire blowing. A trailer tire blowing - just like 4 other times before! Lucky for us we were at the beginning of an exit from the freeway. I pulled off the freeway safely and found myself in the middle of nowhere. Dark, alone (as far as other vehicles) and not having a clue as to where I was.

Lucky for me Brady saw the sign on the freeway exit: Agua Dulce. Sweet! (no pun intended) I was half way to Palmdale from Santa Clarita. I really was in the middle of nowhere! The people at Triple A were very caring and professional, and I was really impressed about how they helped find a roadside service to come out to help. It only took an hour and a half for them to get there and help put my spare tire on my trailer. That was not bad considering the time of night the distance they were traveling to get to me.

It was a quiet and uneventful wait; no cars stopped to help, no creepy people or zombies walked by, and no animals attacked us. We did see several people exit the freeway, but most of them turned to the opposite side of the freeway from where we were parked. A few passed us without stopping. So the guys from Town and Country Tire fixed me up and so the journey continued.

It was now 11:30 p.m., and I knew it would be really late by the time I reached Cal City. I pushed on and made it to Mojave without further incident. It was about 1:00 a.m. when I pulled in to the Carl's Jr. There I was greeted by a construction worker who was waving me off to tell me the restaurant was closed. I waived back and mouthed we're just parking. Laura and the kids had fallen asleep awhile back, and I was getting tired. We agreed to spend the night there.

Now this posed a small problem. Our cargo area is also the bedroom area for the kids. This was off limits as there were 4 quads, a lot of equipment, and assorted supplies stored there. That left our bed (that is, the one Laura and I sleep in). So Laura, Brady and Nina slept there - safe inside the trailer. I slept in the passenger seat of the truck. At least I tried to sleep. Between the trains that roared by (accross the main street from Carl's), the construction going on all night at Carl's, and the creepy people and zombies that were walking the streets of Mojave; I didn't get much sleep.

Things get better, but you'll have to stay tuned.

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