Wednesday, October 30
It’s a beautiful day at our camp near Lone Pine, California.
The Perfect Tow Vehicle needs an oil change.
Lone Pine doesn’t offer a lot of choices in garages. The crew and I motor into town and I stop at Casey’s Automotive. It’s a small shop. I notice a county fire rescue vehicle is there for service.
I inquire about an oil change and the man says he can take care of it today at 2:30. I ask him how much it will cost and he says sixty dollars.
“What does that include?” I ask.
“Change the oil filter, add oil, check the tire rotation and the brakes.”
“I don’t need the tire rotation because I just had new tires put on, and the brakes are good.”
“Well,” he replies. “It’ll be twenty dollars plus the cost of the oil.”
We have about an hour and a half to kill.
I drive back up the Whitney Portal Road and turn onto Movie Road to go into the Alabama Hills. The crew and I need some exercise and we haven’t climbed the boulders since camping here.
I park the PTV. Bridget and Spike come out the side door like they’re shot from guns. I wonder if they remember climbing the rocks last year. We had a great time together.
I walk them on-leash in the direction I want to go, and then I set them free. Spike and Bridget love this.
I let them walk ahead of me and choose the paths we take.
Paths wind around the boulders and up and over knolls. There are acres and acres of boulder piles.
Very few people are here in the middle of the week. I don’t see any tourists climbing rocks.
RVs were scattered all around this Bureau of Land Management land, tucked behind rocks along side roads, during the weekend of the annual film festival. It’s an easy place to find a level, dispersed campsite.
Gee, it will be good to have that oil change taken care of.
We make a big loop through the boulder piles. I check my cell phone . . . 2:15. I’m always a person who shows up early. It’s a lifelong habit.
“Time to go!” Bridget and I cut off Spike before he trots off to a destination only he knows. Together we walk back to the PTV.
I park the PTV at Casey’s Auto.
I set out a bowl of water for the crew, and once they’ve had a good drink, we take off down the main street of Lone Pine. A lady remarks, “What cute dogs!”
I’m proud of the crew’s sidewalk manners.
They walk alongside me, their shoulders side-by-side. Spike lifts his leg on a whiskey-barrel planter in front of a restaurant, but I manage to whisk him away from it before he sprays.
We pause for a few minutes at the skateboard park and watch boys having fun. It disappoints me that there are no girls.
We mosey on back to the auto shop and find a seat outside.
Bridget and Spike are always good in this type of situation. They’ve had exercise and a drink, so they’re happy to lie down and rest quietly.
The bill is as follows . . . oil filter $4.11 . . . 6 quarts of oil, $25.50 . . . hazardous waste disposal, $5.00 . . . labor, $20.00 . . . sales tax, $2.37 . . . for a total of $56.98.
I’m hungry!
No wonder. It’s after three o’clock and I haven’t had lunch. A few blocks away I pull into McDonald’s. It’s been ages since I’ve had some fast food. I think the last time I ate at McDonald’s was in 2011 when we lived in Georgia.
The fish sandwich and fries are good. I look out the window at the passing motorists. Tomorrow we’ll break camp and head further south. Goodbye, Alabama Hills and Lone Pine . . . .
rvsue
THANKS FOR SHOPPING AMAZON HERE!
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The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays: 140 Recipes for Simple, Scrumptious Celebrations
“REAR VIEW MIRROR”
December 15, 2012 the crew and I are camped at Borrego Springs, California. I drive to an ARCO station to get propane and meet a hopeful fellow who is turning his life around.
