Saturday, May 2, 2009

Day One From The Road

CLICK HEAR Podcast 02

May 1, 2009

My brother, Peter and Annie the Australian Shepherd and I boarded the Big Yellow Truck, a 1965 GMC pickup truck to start our drive From Santa Barbara, CA to PEI, Canada. We thought we'd start by taking a picture of the truck on Stearns Wharf, then off we went down the 101.

We headed south toward LA and then east toward the Mojave Desert. It was cloudy most of the day but it was really warm. And the further east we went the warmer and dryer it got. By the time we got into the desert it was in the 90's. The truck has no air conditioning (but it does have floor vents you open with a massive metal lever). The Big Yellow Truck ran perfectly and gave us no major trouble...though the flaky gas gauge is a problem. Seems she wants to tell us that she's full all the time. Ayers Repairs in Santa Barbara got the truck ready for the trip...more on that later.

The video clip below was taken from the truck as we drove through the huge wind farms outside of Palm Springs. The image gives you a sense of scale. These suckers are huge. (We were listening to the Cowboy Junkies)



The bottom picture is a quick snapshot of a diner at a truckstop. Really just a freeway exit with a gas station and services for trucks in the middle of the desert. But a pretty typical bit of southwestern scenery. We arrived in Scottsdale AZ tonight. Tomorrow we're on the way to Tucumcari, New Mexico.

No comments: