A trip in the desert

Perhaps it is the time of year, perhaps it is the temperature. I am not getting out of the house today, the temperature hasn't gone above 32 yet and it is mid-afternoon. So, I've scanned pictures, played Christmas music and watched some football. I am struck by memories. I went back and scanned in some photo albums we have filled with pictures taken before we had digital cameras.

Exactly sixteen years ago Terry and I were on a one week trek to Las Vegas. I had purchased a statewide distributorship for Sno Biz shaved ice. They marketed the flavors and provided you with some support. It was a new company. Their first convention of distributors from around the country was to be in Las Vegas. A little manufacturing company I was part owner of in Newport, AR built a vending cart that would be touted to be used in the Wal*Mart program. Wal*Mart signed an agreement with Sno Biz to allow their retailers to set up outside Wal*Mart stores and sell shaved ice products. A business partner and I had a stand in Paragould.

The memory isn't of the business, it failed. The memory is of a hectic driving schedule to Las Vegas and back. Terry was working at Sunbeam at the time. We had been married just over a year. We started out on Friday, December 4. We were going to start early in the day so we could have some leeway in our travel plans. However due to delays in producing the cart we were taking to the show we did not get underway until late afternoon. We spent the first night in Amarillo, TX. Our cart covering did not hold up well in the wind, so we had to stop in Oklahoma City and find a Sam's Club that had some heavy tarps and fasteners. We recovered the grill and had a secure package so off we went.

Our routine was to get up at 6 AM, have breakfast and be on the road by 7 AM. We would drive all day stopping for gas, food and an occasional break. We would stop someplace for dinner about 5 PM then drive till 10 PM and get a room. Up again at 6 and on the road. We made it to Vegas in three days pulling in to the Dunes Hotel late the afternoon of 7th. The convention ran Tuesday to Thursday evening then we packed up and repeated the driving schedule back to Arkansas.

The convention was a bust, although we met some nice people. I played golf at the Dunes and won a gym bag that I still use. I played 18 holes while Terry took a nap and piddled around the hotel. However, I was not ready for the sun and contracted a pretty bad sunburn on my arms and face. We had a banquet that night and attended that, but after it wrapped up I got a terrible headache and was sick. Terry and I were in bed by 8 PM. Being early risers I woke up at 3 AM and so did T. So we got up, got dressed and took a long walk along the strip.

There was not much foot traffic. I called to a duck swimming in a pool at one of the resorts and damn if it didn't come after us and followed Terry and I for some distance as the duck and I called softly back and forth.

We went into a McDonald's and were amazed at the cost of the food, and the fact that they had slot machines all over the place. We walked for perhaps two to three hours. Finally tired, full of coffee and ready for the day we came back to the Dunes and participated in the day's events.

I believe it was Friday morning when we left. We stopped at Hoover Dam and took pictures and walked around for about an hour. Then south to Kingman, AZ and picked up east I-40. As we approached Flagstaff, AZ we realized we were following a snow system. The desert had snow which made for a beautiful scene. We spent the night in Flagstaff and thoroughly enjoyed that experience. There are two high mountains just on the edge of Flagstaff and we drove by Northern Arizona University, which I now look out for on the football and basketball scores. It was really pretty, snow on the streets, pines covered with snow, and that crunch of frozen snow under foot.

The next day we were off early, still following the snow system. Driving was nice, we did not run into snow flurries, just the accumulation on the side of the road. I think the next night we spent in Tucumcari, NM which is the city my Dad and I stayed in when I got out of the army in 1971. I had mustered out in El Paso, TX in September of 1971 and my Dad had flown down to drive back with me as my wife and kids had flown home a couple of weeks earlier. I didn't get away from El Paso until later in the day so we got as far as Tucumcari and spent the night in a Best Western that had a special on suites for the price of a room.

Anyway, Terry and I stayed in Tucumcari and were on the road early the next morning. We made Amarillo, TX still following the snow storm and spent the night there. It was an easy drive home the next day and life returned to normal. But for a week, it was a fast paced trip with many miles put on the new truck I had. I had purchased a new Ford F-150 pick up truck in August, 1992 and in December we put a great deal of mileage on it. It is 2008 as I write this remembrance and that same truck is parked out in my driveway. It has been a good truck.

It was a tough trip, it was not successful. However, Terry and I saw land we probably never would've seen, nor will we probably ever see again. It was worth it.