Part 3 The TRAGIC TALE: Where trailers and dreams go to die.

We left off last time in a Dahlin wild adventure that includes a billion wild children, a nickle, a Popsicle, a reporter, a small diner, the sulfer-smelling Salton Sea Marina, a dented Dodge, a cover up, a cheeseburger... an old couple and a high speed, Highway Patrol chase.

I apologize  that my window for writing is is short today... so let's see how far we can get - it will probably not get as far as the infamous chase scene...hence: The Fast and the Furious

Did you know that at Salton Sea in the 40's they dropped prototypes of the atomic bomb that they were secretly developing for the "Manhattan Project"? Neither did I?  It was probably those unarmed bomb casings that were stuck in the mud that tore off the lower half of several of our outboard motors. Enough for trivia, but things seemed to come to Salton Sea to die: trailers, cars, boats, ambitions and dreams (even bombs, I guess).

Even at my ripe tender age, I noticed that the people at Salton Sea seemed to move at a much slower pace... they shuffled as they walked... the sparkle in their eye was lost!  This had become a home for nomads with no real destination in mind, as though they had been sentenced to wander in the hot desolation of this desert place - this was Purgatory.  This is where you would go to pay for your sins...

BUT IT WAS FREE...and there we were!




Me flexing in the background




Are we having fun yet? 

The car was full and I had ridden in the trailer with mom, my two sisters and a guy my dad called Kleghorn (who lived in one of our third story bedrooms), a couple of leaky motorcycles and all the camping gear.


"Shake Rattle and Roll"  Riding in that trailer is where that expression came from.







Anyway my dad liked to sing and that old trailer inspired him to knock out a rendition of "Trailers for sale or rent." 






There we were, cooking in our our deep-fry batter of (pumice-mud) 50 sunscreen and my dad is singing - as if our lives were the fodder for a desperate country-western.

Next thing on the menu: steak and lobster.  I'm not sure if that's what the Blasers were eating at the restaurant at Kings River Resort... but you can bet your bippy that steak and lobster or some kind of tropical fruit salad was out of the question on this rugged excursion. 

For dinner we snacked on crackers and a block of cheddar cheese that had begun to yellow and harden at the edges... If anyone ever dared to mention anything about the condition of the cheese, dad would say "Well, @#$%&#@ in the finest restaurants you eat aged beef and aged cheese.. this is a delicacy!" Then he would slice pieces of that old cheese and hand it out as we came through the assembly line with our Saltines crackers or stale Triscuts.  My dad was also a genius he knew how to feed 15 people for an entire weekend for about $6.42. Pshaw, Blasers and Lennons were probably paying that for every meal. Not us!  My frugal, Staff-sergeant of a dad, had trained us up to be low maintenance. Look at how skinny we were in that picture up above - it worked. 

Gas for the car - twenty-eight cents a gallon, (10 miles a gallon x 400 miles = 40 gals)   $11.20

                                                                                Food for fifteen                              6.42

                                                                                Camping fees                                    -0-

                                                                                Gas for motorcycles                        1.16

                                                                                Popsicles for 15                                .75

                                                            Total cost for fabulous weekend retreat            $19.53 

                                                Another Dahlin adventure PRICELESS!

Yes Sir, my dad was the "King of the Road," the consummate "man of means-  by no means" 

I've found that life is more often like a roller-coaster ride than it is a straight drive down a two lane highway. There always seems to bumps and unexpected curves. We always seem to think that the grass is greener at the Blasers (well it was, but I'm speaking in terms of human nature). "My life would be better at Kings River eating cheeseburgers with my best friend Tommy Blaser." "If only this and if only that." "The grass always seem to be greener on the other side of the fence."  I say, if it's not green where you are, then as soon as you move to the new place, who says your not going to kill the lush green grass that you moved to.  

It took me a long time to figure this out, but "Wherever you go, there you are!"  If you take your bad attitude along with you for a ride on this wonderful journey called life, then odds are that you'll ruin the grass when you get there. Bitterness, anger, resentment, jealousy are cancers that don't just harm us...but also does harm and damage to those near and dear to us. Bitterness and unforgiveness is like drinking poison thinking it will harm the other person. 

I guess the first thing to do would be to take a look inside...stop blaming and take some responsibly for the things we can control - our responses.  

Gotta go, but we're getting there!  In the meantime: Live as one who is Loved and season your responses with grace...because odds are... we'll need grace sooner or later - when we least deserve it!