Nice ride again yesterday putting on about 100 miles running north and east of Yuma. Drove past the Army Proving Grounds and got a little extra entertainment as they were running parachute drills so I stopped and got a chance to watch 6 pro’s drop from the sky. It was cool seeing them maneuver and then land in what looked, from my view point, as perfect formation. Each one standing at attention as the next one dropped next to them.
I then headed to I believe it was called Fishers Landing. It’s a little oasis in the middle of the desert. Nice lake with a community built around it with everything from junk houseboats barely floating to fabulous home all mixed into this unique little setting. I really am interested in learning more about this place.
Next I got a chance to put my old dirt bike skills to work as one of the roads I traveled turned from tar into what we back home would call a minimum maintenance grave road. Only here it looks like they just drop the blade on a grader and plow themselves a road by leveling the sand, rock and anything else that is in the way of progress.
I stopped for a drink when I found a little shade and took a picture of the bike with some of the road showing so you can get an idea of what I am talking about. And get this, although this road transformed into “gravel” that seemed to go on forever it did have a stop sign at the end.
Also while taking the break I could hear something in the swamp brush behind the bike. It almost sounded like a deer snorting but yet different. As the sound got closer it became obvious what I was hearing were the sounds from two separate animals . I gave a quick scan to make sure my jacket lay in reach should I need something in the inside picket but then I heard brush trashing and the sound went away.
There are a lot of Mule Deer and Burros in the area judging by the scant alongside the road. So it is obvious you need to pay attention to your route of travel. And if you have room, two large bottles of water, instead of just one, is a good idea as the temp when I got home was 97 deg.
On another note my buddy Crazy Larry is back down from Oregon. He is a 74 year old homeless panhandler that works the outlet at Walmart where I park my truck. We have become acquaintances as he likes to call our relationship. He refuses to call me a friend and tells me that if we had to spend more than a few hours together he would tell me to leave. I can understand that as he has been living alone in his vehicle for more than 15 years now.
Well the big question is, what is he doing down here panhandling when it is so hot? Turns out he is dead, someone stole his identity and claimed he died to collect the $2000 death payoff thru Social Security. He found out after not receiving his monthly check from Social Security or the VA and when he went in the VA told him he was dead.
After you pass the irony of the situation you still have to deal with Crazy Larry’s problems. He had to go to Tucson with all his paperwork to prove he was alive. The kicker is the cadaver that was turned in was not fingerprinted before being cremated so they are having problems with identification needs to be done in order to correct the issue he had nothing to do with. So he will have to wait about 2 months to get a check again.
Now they did offer him a place to stay while this gets corrected. But Larry, proving his nickname is appropriate, told them they had stuck him in hell holes before and he was not interested in doing that again. So now you get why I dubbed him “Crazy Larry”!
I bought him lunch, he likes the lemon chicken bowl at Panda but he did not eat it right away as he stated he still had some meat left over from a hind quarter of road kill mule deer. Don’t ask as you don’t want to know how that came about. Trust Me! Larry is harmless but Crazy!
It’s Always and Adventure!
