California day 10

August 10

I started the day searching the Internet for contacts in the Phoenix, Arizona area, hoping to put together a nice visit there with relatives from both sides of my family tree. I understood that the van would be delivered to me today, so tomorrow I should be able to leave California and get on with the next phase of my loosely planned itinerary. I called Tony at the Dodge repair garage because Razelle and I did not have the same information about whether the van would, in fact, be ready today as opposed to tomorrow. Tony confirmed that it would indeed be ready later today – between 4:30 and 5:00 PM. I spoke with Pam about reaching her in Phoenix early enough tomorrow morning, before her own travel plans put her out of reach. Theoretically, if we were to leave town in the dark, we'd be able to reach Phoenix before we missed seeing Pam, but night driving across breathtaking but un-seen vistas in the dark did not appeal to me. I tried calling some of the more promising phone numbers I turned up, but all I got were answering machines. I left messages.

Denise invited Razelle and me to go with her to a Zoomba dance group in Indio for some fun and exercise. At first Razelle was interested, but without the proper clothing in her suitcase and out of concern that this would be too vigorous for her knees to bear, Razelle demurred. Any excuse for me to explore another part of the Palm Springs area was good enough for me. I accepted Denise's offer, but only to watch; not to dance with them. It took a while to get out to the Zoomba studio, but I got to see communities (through the car window) to the east of Palm Desert that I had not seen before.

The Zoomba instructor had a lot of energy and the group of women following her moves were doing a good job keeping up with her, but, after a bit of watching, I became preoccupied with making more calls to Phoenix in anticipation of actually arriving there. I sat on a curb outside to make these calls. Still no one answered.

Denise had other errands to do on the way back, so I gladly tagged along. She took me to the Shields Date Garden gift shop along the way. Their specialty is a "date shake" – a milkshake incorporating blended dates. (Such concoctions are sold in Beer Sheva, made with different choices of fresh sliced fruit in a blender; here, only dates are involved.)

We then drove to a doctor's office to pick up a prescription, followed by a visit to Target to get the prescription filled. While in Target, I asked about a gadget that plugs into a 120-volt wall socket and has a 12-volt dashboard output socket. This can be used to charge dashboard devices from wall outlets. I brought along a sample that Denise owns. They didn'y have the item in stock. One of my concerns in not being able to keep all my devices charged up. I've already left two adaptors behind somehow for one of the cell-phones. Fortunately it wasn't hard to buy another when that happened.

While in the pharmacy, I called Tony – he said the van was ready. We drove over there and I was handed the paperwork and the key. The work that had been done included installation of a new radiator and replacement of a fan clutch. The steering issue wasn't addressed, which both Tony and I lamented, but neither of us had any say in Chris's decision on this matter. I slipped in behind the steering wheel of the van and drove it into traffic with Denise following me, in case.... Well, I guess this round-the-world trip can now lurch forward one more notch. With our "wheels" back, we can now go on with our "adventures," as advertised by "Adventures on Wheels." I only hope our coming adventures are no longer of the vehicular kind.

Bev invited us to experience one more pleasure before we left her fair city – a meal at the "Cheesecake Factory." Razelle and I took the van and were pleased that its air-conditioning worked fine. This was a promising sign. We parked the van near a Border's Book Store and saw that it was going out of business. Everything was being sold off, including the furniture. Razelle made a mental note to go in there after our meal.

The Cheesecake Factory was too much of a good thing. The portion sizes were obscenely large. Razelle ordered fish and chips and received many more and larger pieces of fish than what we were generously served in Fiji when we ordered the same thing there. We couldn't help but compare the hedonism (sinful gluttony?) that restaurants insipidly promote and Americans swallow whole without blinking. Why has American society allowed this to happen? What pleasure do they get from so much excess? I only ordered a key-lime cheesecake and a glass of iced tea, but even here the iced-tea could have been refilled over and over again, but the glass was so tall I couldn't imagine needing more than one such serving.

Times are changing and bookstores are suffering these changes. We have read about this, but this evening we experienced this first-hand for the first time. Border's was selling so many good books at such low prices that ironically it was doing good business this evening. We had to wait in line for a cashier. We took away an armful of books that Razelle will read and redistribute as we travel. I bought one book; that's all. As much as I would have liked to help Border's, I couldn't see myself lugging these books from place to place. I'm finding it hard enough to set aside time to write this blog (a book in its own right); I won't have the luxury of sitting and reading books until this trip is over.

When we returned to Bev's it was clear in my mind that hitting the road before sunrise was not a good idea. We may have received a working van, but what if the repairs weren't adequate? I didn't want to be stuck in a remote area in the dark and I didn't want to push the van hard to meet a schedule if it risked more setbacks than the one we'd just had. We made the best of being "marooned" in Palm Springs (sounds like an idyllic place to be marooned if ever that had to happen, doesn't it?) and I am so grateful that the down time could have been spent with Bev, Denise and Sue. As much as I wanted Razelle and I to have – and planned so far in advance to make possible – a reunion with Pam and her husband in Scottsdale, I had to call her and tell her we would not get there before she left on her own trip. In the meantime, the calls I had made earlier in the day paid off. My cousin David, also in Scottsdale, called me and emailed me to say he would be able to take us in when we got there. It pleased me to know we had an address to go to and family to meet us when we got there. I started organizing all our possessions again for stowage in the van. Tomorrow (barring anything unforeseen) we will sleep in Arizona.