NEXT DAY PART 19

I woke up with worries; I thought about my rather severe and shocking trip to the bar with Bob.  Now, I regretted it.  I wondered if he had told his folks and how they felt about it.  Time would tell; if they were angry, I would know about it.  Dad would either contact me or they all would just leave me alone.  I felt it best to lay low until they contacted me.  I decided to take an extended trip back to Oklahoma where I was born.  It was 1952 and the old mother road had not been plowed under yet and there were no massive chains of motels or restaurants.  I packed the Hudson, withdrew a thousand dollars from my bank account and took off that very day.  That Hudson was a great road car.  Circular Track Racers loved Hudsons because they were fast and had a very low center of gravity. Around Barstow, I saw my first desert warning sign.  DANGER..300 MILES OF DESERT AHEAD.  A skull and cross bones for added comfort.  It was true it was a very hot stretch of road with temps reaching 120 deg in the shade.  A wonderful opportunity for selling Desert Water Bags to hang on front bumper, buy chests filled with ice, and get your car back flushed.  That was where they force fed water through radiator and engine, but flowing the wrong way.  As a kid, back flushes always troubled me....the car's grille work seemed to have expressions like smiles or grimmaces.  I would see them backed into a garage, hood up, steam and water flying every where, and the car grimacing with pain.  It reminded me of a colonic irrigation.  As a kid, I was paranoid about getting sick.  I was always getting nauseous and was afraid I would throw up,  I imagined myself sick many times, I really felt sick.  I also read medical manuals to see if I could find symptoms that would fit.  I read about the Mayo clinic in Minnesota, and one time I saw the big Mayo Hotel Sign in Tulsa and felt squeemish.  I was so afraid of throwing up.   I continued on old U.S. 66....through Needles, the hottest place on 66.....through Kingman, and then began to climb to high country.  The dry scrub got bigger and greener and soon a few trees started to appear.  Finally, I was at Williams where the Pines were and it was cool.  I absolutely had to eat at Rod's steak house where we ate as a family many times.  Suddenly, the time warp brought something to mind;  in several months, Bob and his parents would be travelling through here on their way to Oklahoma.  I had adjusted to time travel pretty well, but once in awhile, it hit me with a great dis-orientation and I almost felt a panic attack coming.  I continued on to Flagstaff, the highest point on 66.  I was very tempted to spend the night in "Flag" because of the stars....the sky looked like it had been white washed with the Milky Way.  It got chilly at night in Flag even in the Summer.  I wanted to experience an old Mom and Pop motel with the damp, musty air coming out of the water cooler.  I wanted to hear the sound of gravel crunching beneith tires from the late arrivers...hear the trunk lid slam down and then silence.  I wanted a motel that had a circular drive with a big green lawn in the middle...trees. tables and chairs, magazines flapping in the breeze.  I wanted to find a post magazine with a full page picture of a little girl staring straight at me....like the one I saw on a trip in 1949.  I was smitten with her.  There was the strangest word underneith her picture..'EPILIPSY"  I found such a place outside of Holbrook.  In fact, it was the very one we stayed at in 1949 !   I checked in,  unpacked my bags, played with the water cooler, and went to bed.  I heard the gravel beneith tires a few times and heard the old dusty venitian blinds banging against the window from an errant breeze.  saw the distant lightning playing over a pre-historic and very eerie land....Tomorrow will soon be here....(yawn)   good night....Hello Latvia...welcome (to be continued)