Since we have traveled most of this route before, I didn't make separate map entries, but just noted what happened along the way.
April 30th - We had one last thing to do before we left LA and that was to see the Jay Leno Show. In order to get tickets, you have to write and have them mailed or arrive early at the Customer Service window the day of the show and wait in line. Even then, you’re not guaranteed seating depending on how many people show up. But we found a better way. By going to Universal Studios, you can pick up first come, first served tickets for that week at Jay Leno. The second time we went to Universal, we hightailed it to the ticket booth and were rewarded with guaranteed tickets.
We got there early
 Jay Leno |
 Waiting in line |
Jeff was in his wheelchair since we had quite a long way to walk from where we parked, and we didn't know how long we might have to wait in line. That actually worked in our favor as we were seated on the floor right next to Kevin Eubanks. When Jay came out at the beginning of the show, he walked right over to our area to shake hands first. It was a lot of fun to see the show, but I wish we could have waited one day and gotten tickets for May 1st since Robin Williams was slated for that show.
Jeff's CSI NY was on, but if you didn't know where he was, you wouldn't have seen him. We were able to pause the DVR and get a glimpse of his face, but only because he knew where he was in the scene. One shot that he just knew would have a good one of him wound up on the cutting room floor as they say because they transitioned to another scene of a reporter's PDA just when Jeff would have been shown.
May 1-2 - we pulled away from our spot at the Birmingham RV park where we had been for the last two months - the longest we have ever stayed anywhere. Our goal was to get to our traditional stopover - Twin Lakes. We almost made it before we heard a noise and a rumbling just a few miles outside of Barstow. A trailer tire on the passenger side had blown out doing some body damage to the side and underbelly of the Airstream. Since we were so close to Barstow, we didn't have to wait long until the road service came out and changed the flat. We followed him into town in order to buy another tire and wound up arriving at Twin Lakes a few hours later than we had planned. That's why it's so nice to only travel 150-200 per day. If you have road trouble, you may still be able to get to your next destination without driving late. We enjoyed the peace and quiet of Twin Lakes except for the fact that we filled up the gas tank with $4.25 a gallon gas. Yuuuucckkkk!
The Grey's Anatomy that I shot was on May 1st, but like Jeff's CSI, I wasn't shown. In fact, you couldn't even see me if you paused it. I was eagerly awaiting the Numb3rs episode that the Assistant Director had told me I was "all over." But the cutting room floor struck again. Although I can be seen in the beginning at the church (particularly if you have pause ability), the big screen in the FBI room that I was supposed to be featured on, obviously used a different angle. The good news is that you get paid just the same whether they use you or not. My only two claims to fame are now the HBO series "True Blood" and the movie "I Love you, Man" although I don't expect much out of the movie.
May 3-5 - When we pull away from Twin Lakes, we are listening for every little sound hoping that another blow out does not occur since all those tires are the same age (not quite two years old) and mileage. Things are going well however. We planned to drive into Kingman, AZ, but as we neared Needles, I noticed on the map that we could drive up to Laughlin instead and spend a couple of days there. We decided to do that and spent three days at the Riverside Casino RV park. We could have boondocked, but it's starting to get warm and I didn't want to stay anywhere we couldn't use the AC. We had a good time at penny slots again and ate at way too many buffets, but we had fun. We were also able to replace our water heater control board which had gone out.
May 6th - Last night as we were coming in from our last night on the town, we noticed that the truck turn signals were not working. Jeff checked the fuses, but they were good. We hitched up the trailer this morning and noticed that not only were the turn signals not working on the truck, but also on the trailer. In addition, the brake lights were not functional on the trailer although they were working on the truck. Laughlin didn't have a Chevy dealership, so we decided to drive into Kingman and see what was wrong. We dropped the trailer at an RV park in Kingman and took the truck to the Chevy house. Unfortunately, it was something called the multi-function switch. It controls the turn signals, the windshield wipers, the cruise control . . . as you can guess, it was VERY expensive to replace. The good news was that it was going to be fixed that day, so we could be on our way the next morning.
May 7th - Our goal today was to get to Flagstaff where my Aunt Kaki was going to drive in to see us from where she summers at Paige Springs. We stayed at Black Bart's RV which is convenient but overpriced. Kaki came in with one of her friends and we had a nice lunch together. The weather was really nice, just cool enough during the day to be comfortable with a jacket. Also since we were in the mountains and forests, the air had such a good clean smell.
May 9th - We broke our trip at the USA RV park in Gallup NM. I had read some really horrible things about this park and the way the owner treated people traveling with dogs, but I had also read that they had new management who seemed to be somewhat sane, so we chanced it. It was a good overnight spot, no problem with dogs, but somewhat overpriced.
May 10-12 - We previously had stayed at the Hidden Valley RV just to the east of Albuquerque, so pulled in there again for a few nights. Madison had really liked it because of all the wild rabbits which came out very close to our campsite. However, we started calling it Hidden Bunny since we didn't see any for the first day or so. Finally they did show up. Madison had a great time smelling them and trying to chase them. The weather started getting hot while we were there. Not looking forward to getting back to the heat.
May 13th - We drove into Tucumcari today. I don't think I have ever stopped there before, but there was a Passport America park right on historic Route 66, so we spent one night. It is a very clean city with wide streets. Important for pulling a trailer through. Tomorrow we will get to Palo Duro State Park.
