Monday, December 08, 2008











On the Road Again

Ol’ Ran has been rather busy lately. Just about as busy as a cat with his tail on fire. Certainly, there has been little time to catch up with “Randy’s Rant Roost”. That’s somewhat lamentable given the fact that America has decided to commit social and cultural suicide by electing a president who has less experience leading and far less love for God and his country than any Eagle Scout. There’s no lack for things to write/rant about. Anyway….here’s my story.

Well….it’s like this. The computer biz has been blossoming. OK…so some of the blossoms are a bit late opening. But, during the episodic need for my excellent services, I was up to my lips in computer chips. I did need a break. What the heck; I worked up to about 42 cents per hour and could afford to take a few days off.

Then, an interesting event happened. My cousin, Joyce, from a small town near McKinney Texas, contacted me. Through her genealogical investigations, she managed to track me down (with a tad of help from another cousin, Danny Phillips, of Moore, OK whom I had met about a year ago). We had yet to meet but had managed to talk on the phone a bit. A week or so later she advised that she would be coming to AZ for a visit with her sisters in Bullhead City. It certainly crossed my mind that it would be nice to go see her/them.

About that time Tom and Jan Luke in Prescott Valley, AZ (Dewey, actually) had asked me to pray about coming down for a visit. Now, that’s the classic “two birds with one stone” deal that is hard for this frugal Scotsman to pass up. Sooooo...having peace about the matter, I arranged to visit Tom and Jan then, on the return trip, stop in Bullhead City.

The appointed time came and I departed dear Springville and leaving Connie to tend the farm (hopefully, it will be a ranch with a few animals on it). No computer stuff was pending so I could leave with a clear conscience.

However, there are 3 moles that have turned the front yard into downtown Beirut so I did feel bad about leaving the lawn in their charge. But, I figured that I could mount an all-out frontal assault as soon as I returned. So far it’s Moles 3 – Farmer Ran 2. I’m losing the battle but at least manage to occasionally roust a wet pissed-off mole from the ground from time to time. The dog did the honor of dispatching the latest varmint. I usually just molest the moles by maintaining a swampy environment. I try to shove a hose down the holes and make sure that there is a water flow and that the holes are not allowed to stay closed. It doesn’t always work but I feel better about it.

I’ve known Jan for about 4 or 5 years now but had yet to meet Tom. They have been married for about 3 years now. It was a great pleasure to get to meet him and see Jan again. And, he just happens to be a Ham radio operator so it was sort of like we had known each other for a long time. Other than having to suffer being treated like royalty, I had a grand time with them.

Activities included getting to minister in song at a local assisted care facility and attending church with them on Sunday morning. Jan and Tom also hauled me around to see the area around Prescott and Prescott Valley where they used to film old western movies. There was even time to just rest and relax a bit. We even got to go with some other (local) believers to a Gabriel Heyman’s (Fresh Fire) meeting in Phoenix! It was an excellent time of being ministered to and getting to minister to others.

And, of course, they fed me like I was a 30 pound pet Persian cat. We even knocked over a local favorite restaurant on one occasion. Then, they fired up the BBQ and cooked up the best parts of a fatted calf on another. It won’t take much prayer I suppose to determine whether or not to return. Heheh. And, they certainly did extend an invitation! I’m looking to a time when the Lord will allow yet another trip to that area for more fellowship and ministry.

As is well known, all good things must come to an end (and most bad things too, for that matter). After loading up and hugs and prayer all around, I herded the Freestar down the pike toward the north and back up to I-40.

In about 2.5 hours or so, I pulled into Bullhead City. It was right at dark so the lights presented themselves in a most glorious manner. I couldn’t help but wonder why so many people were so willing to throw their money in support of the electric bill for all of those flashy places. Over across the Colorado River in Laughlin was a huge casino that had the form of a side-wheeler riverboat. I learned later that many folks from Arizona work in Nevada or California. In fact, my cousin, Jeanie’s, son works in all three as a law enforcement official!

I found cousins James and Jeanie Yesford’s place without much ado and knocked on the door. I guess my 6’2” 240lb carcass with suspenders holding my blue jeans up didn’t intimidate or scare anyone so they invited me in. Come to find out, James was bigger than me so I wasn’t alone. Waiting also were cousins Joyce Phillips and her other sister, Donna, from Kilgore, TX. I’m not sure how many folks have heard of Kilgore but it’s between Dallas and Shreveport, LA. If you happen to be eastbound on I-20 and make a pit stop or just pull over to rest by making a right turn off the freeway, you probably were at Kilgore.I passed by there a year ago last November. I wish that I had known she lived there at the time.

I had called ahead so they waited for me to show up so that we could all go out for dinner together. And what a dinner it was! We did the Chinese Buffet thing. I like doing things that are “scriptural” don’tcha know. The Bible is quite clear that we are to “buffet” the flesh. So, I like to go to a Mexican Buffet, a Chinese Buffet, and Home Town Buffet when I can. We all ate until our feet complained then returned to the Yesford’s home.

After settling in and regaining the ability to breathe again, it didn’t take long for the “grilling” to begin. We had a great time swapping stories about relatives that only the others knew anything about. It didn’t take long until everyone’s brain was fuzzier than a beach bum from information overload. At least we did the best we could in filling in the gaps.

The mystery of the picture of the “movie star granddaughter” had also just been solved. My great-grandmother had a picture on her sewing machine that no one was allowed to touch. She referred to the attractive youthful lass as her “movie star granddaughter”. The picture was that of my aunt, Billie (nee Minnick) Mitchell. Billie had given her a high school picture during a visit when she was but 17 years old. Joyce and Billie had a chance to chat on the phone but the other ladies were just getting all of the numbers.

“Somehow”, the topic of “music” arose. Seems that music was seeded early on in our family. I dragged my Martin out and commenced to sing for my supper. We had a blast digging the old country songs. But, it was late and time to call it a day. We were all quite tired.

The new day found us gabbing again and sucking up some wonderfully black hot coffee. I threw some in my eyes, down my throat, and probably under both armpits and got things lubed up. By late morning we were on our way to a super treat. We were headed to Oatman, AZ.

I had seen Oatman on a TV documentary a few years ago and really wanted to make it there. I had driven near there on any number of occasions but simply didn’t have time to go. When I did have time, I had yet to hear about the place. Oatman is a small mining “ghost town” not unlike Calico, CA (owned and operated by Knottsberry Farm since about 1958). It is the classic “tourist trap” with loads of shops and what all.

As far as I was concerned, the real cookie in the hat was the free ranging donkeys. It was great to see three or four donkeys mugging the tourists for carrots. One lost his bag of popcorn because he wasn’t paying attention. The donkey snuck up from behind him and corn-jacked the poor guy on the spot. There were even a couple of new cute foals. No one bought all that much but we did take a ton of pictures. I hope to make a CD about our adventure for everyone before too long.

After a few hours of rummaging through everything and getting our fill of the place, we headed back toward town. On the way we took a section of the original Route 66. Man! It was difficult to imagine folks having to take such a desolate stretch of highway at all much less on horseback or in a notoriously unreliable early gas-powered vehicle.

We stopped at a super little burger joint in Golden Shores for lunch. But, the poor guy who owns the place had been swamped over the lunch period and simply had been overwhelmed. He shut the place down and hung out the “Closed” sign. So, we headed to Needles, CA to “Juicy’s”. After a great lunch, we headed back to Bullhead where we continued to chat about family stuff.

I hated to leave but needed to make it home due to pending business matters that had arisen after I departed. With hugs all around, we bid each other fare thee well and I headed out.

To make a long story longer….I made it home at 4 AM and was totally gonzo. I slept until the crack of noon then started the day in a fog. I was completely exhausted but had had a super time. I’m still recovering but am still waiting for the next time when we can all get together again.

Perhaps in the next posting I can bring everyone up to speed on the issue between my mother and I. Actually, there’s not a lot to report. She has denied that she acted in such an aberrant manner and left me hanging for two months thinking that she was still holding against me whatever transgression she had conjured up. There has never been an apology or even a squeak during the holiday season. I don’t quite get it but…so goes life. More later.








NOTE: I didn't have time to edit but a few pictures. I'll post more later. Thanks for understanding.



"It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere": - Voltaire - [François Marie Arouet] (1694-1778