Thoughts and concerns about the show woke me up before my alarm so I got started and did fairly well with me time use this morning.
It was quite obvious from the get-go that today was going to be much warmer than any day we'd experienced in a while.
I joined up with my business partner and friend Mike Lyons at my storage unit about noon and we hit the road about a quarter after noon.
From Atascadero we took US101 north to Paso Robles for a change (we usually take Highway 58 when headed east but felt antsy to get to Lancaster ASAP given we weren't going to have all day to set up.
From Paso we headed east on Highway 46 with surprisingly heavy traffic but we were fortunate enough not to get stuck behind any slower traffic.
I hardly ever take Highway 46 between Paso Robles and Shandon as I usually stick to the more scenic and slow Highway 41 to go between Atascadero and Shandon.
Consequently today was my first day in quite awhile to see that stretch of the road and I was shocked at how much development has taken place along the highway in Northeastern Paso Robles all the way out to Estrella.
Where there is not commercial or residential development there is agricultural development (read as "viticultural").
The net effect of all of this is to make the area look less like its former true self and more like a pretentious, forced-funky and spiritually hollow (did any of these people read "Bobbit"?) attempt at hip, slick, and coolness in a Napa Valley wine-sip sort of way.
I found it rather alarming how fast this year's thick, luxuriant crop of grasses are turning brown with the flowers now noticeably on the ebb.
So much for April showers bring May flowers this year: more like December into January showers bring March into April flowers.
There were cool dust devils out in the San Joaquin Valley which was cool as I love 'em.
Just east of Blackwell's Corner (James Dean's purported LAST STOP per the signage there) we hit a fairly vigorous dust storm blowing off a recently disked field.
This brought to my mind the incident a few years ago when there were terrible Spring dust storms out that way that on at least one occasion helped to trigger a series of vehicle accidents along the stretch of road between I-5 and the Kern/SLO County Line.
We stopped and took a break at a little gas station/market in Wasco (between I-5 and the 99 Freeway on Highway 46.
I've used this establisment many times in the past and its always worked out well.
The first time was when I went fire-watching the McNally Fire in the Sequoia National Forest in July, 2002, and drove through Wasco several times over the course of the fire while going back and forth between Atascadero and Tulare County.
Anywho, I had their pre-prepared tuna sandwich and hoped I didn't pick up food poisoning as I don't trust food items prepared in some factory in Vernon, CA, or the like.
A bit east of there on Highway 46 we reached the 99 Freeway and unbeknownst to us at the time that was the halfway point in today's drive.
From there we took the 99 south to Bakersfield and picked up the 58 Freeway eastbound.
In eastern Bakersfield we came upon what appeared to be a recently terminated pursuit situation with three CHP units behind a nice sports car parked in the broad median area.
As I drove by it appeared to be over whatever it was the driver appeared to be putting something back in her purse (probably her DL proof of insurance and DMV registration.
She appeared to be nicely dressed and in her Middle Age.
The entire scene struck me as funny and wacky as it suggsted an older woman in a luxary sporty-looking foriegn car was being pursued at some point by three CHP units.
A bit further east of Bakersfield I drove past those impressively large citrus grove and was overwhelmed by the fragrant odor of the citrus blossoms which gave me a flashback to my childhood experiences in my maternal grandparent's back yard filled with many different types of citrus trees all of which programmed me to feel warm and fuzzy inside smelling that wonderful natural fragrance again.
I was concerned how the load in the back of my pickup would effect my pickup going over the Tehachipis but it turned out to be no problem whatsoever.
It cooled off quickly as we gained elevation and there was till snow in the mountains south of and overshadowing the Tehachipi Valley.
When we came down into the Mojave Desert from the Tehachipi Pass it warmed right up again and the winds weren't too shabby, either.
We got off the 58 Freeway at the first exit at Mojave in order to follow the original Highway 58 route as closely as possible.
We took Business Route 58 right into town and met up with southbound Highway 14 and took it right down into the Antelope Valley and into Lancaster where we exited Avenue J and took it west to 32nd Street West and right up into Lancaster High School.
We got there five minutes before they said we could start going inside and found a bit of confusion and chaos as the event organizers were doing their best to get the show rolling desite school having just let out and the school having just let the show people start coming on the premises.
Despite the hurdles that needed to be jumped the club pulled it off and we dealers got going with our set-ups.
I was surprised at how hot it was despite the fact we were experiencing a mild Santa Ana which usually makes it hot in the canyons and coastal valleys of Southern California but with no compressional heating at work in the Antelope Valley (well I reckon you could say there was compressional heating due high pressure but that related to terrain.
I really did think it would be cooler than it turned out to be today.
This weekend will be much warmer even still and I thank God we are indoors under the circumstances.
Of note today was the tragic shark attack at Solana Beach by a great white shark upon a 66 year-old retired vet and animal-lover who was training for a triathlon.
Apparently, he was in the middle of the group of swimmers and the shark came up under him and pushed him up out of the water and bit him fatally on the legs and left him to die which he soon did die due to hemorrhaging from his two main arteries in his legs being severed.
Another item of note is dealer Andy (NOT DeLong) damaged part of the school grounds trying to squeeze his pickup into an aperature too small for it to effectively pass through which caused Dealer Chairperson Vicky to have a blood vessel burst (figurately of course). ;-p
We got most of our set-up completed but decided to call it a night and head to a motel room for the night.
We had originally planned on camping on-sight but after realizing we would't be able to shower there decided to throw in the towel and spend $56 for two beds for the night.
I sprang for $2.95 for the wifi signal to post this report.
It seemed worth it to me as I avoided having to drive around looking for such a signal. ;-p
By the way, the host club (Antelope Valley Gem and Mineral Club) was nice enough to host us for a potluck which was really nice of then to do.
I hope to see as many of you as possible this weekend at the show.
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