So after a little R&R in #L.A. I was on my way to my new job! My #Co-PilotApp estimated a 3 hour drive but I should have known better… Debbie, the HR lady who hired me, told me there were some #mountains I had to get over, so expect to take some time getting here…
I was happy to get out of L.A… I am so over cities these days…Everything is so congested… people everywhere… Everyone rushing like their agenda is the most important thing on earth… I can’t believe I tolerated this for 8 years… Thank god I came to my senses and got out of dodge…
The drive was amazing… There’s some #RVers above enjoying a #CampGround… I saw a lot of these driving to my new job… Can’t wait to take advantage of these free #campgrounds once I get settled in…
The #desert definitely has a different vibe than other places… You feel tiny right away seeing the road ahead of you miles and miles away… I didn’t know there were so many mountains in the desert, then again, I think the desert is going to surprise me more than any other place…
The exciting part of this journey is that I don’t know anything about Death Valley… I have seen some nature shows showing the survival of creatures in Death Valley… And trust me, after watching that, you don’t want to visit here!
What’s ahead of me is a complete mystery… All I know is it gets really hot and I have decided to take that on as a challenge… I mean how hot could it really get? Other people live there, why not me? I survived military bootcamp so I should be able to adapt to this type of environment…
The mountains were getting closer as I left miles and miles of flat land behind me…
Well that looks promising… We are in a Valley of some sort… I guess that’s a good start… lol…
Want to know where some of our salt comes from…. There it is folks… A #SaltMine… That’s what I think they call it anyway…
I drove wondering what type of place I will be working at… What kind of people would I meet… I love to remember these curiosities and look back on them when I am settled in… Hopefully I look back on them fondly…
Up above you will see some flowers on the side of the road… Debbie told me they have been insanely busy due to the endless bloom this year… Everyone is coming out to see the flowers and the flowers are not going away because it keeps on raining in Death Valley…
I can’t wait to work in a busy place again, making money… Hopefully it’s well organized and not a complete shit show!
I started to make my way around and over some mountains… Nothing serious so far…. I had been driving for about 2 and half hours at this point… I should be arriving soon…
I couldn’t help but thinking about when I arrived at #TaylorPark in #Colorado… It’s kind of exciting not knowing what you are in for… I know nothing about this place and nothing about this area just like I didn’t when I traveled to Taylor Park… I remember sleeping in my rent a car and then driving up to Taylor Park in the morning… Little did I know how much Colorado and its mountains were going to change my life…
Folks, if anyone ever tries to suggest that the Desert is not beautiful, ignore them… The scenery out here is nothing short of breathless… I never expected to see so much life out here…
The roads twist and turn around and over theses mountains, making a beautiful drive as you twist and turn while new scenery reveals itself around every corner… Already I felt I was going to like it here….
You had to be careful around these turns because you make one major mistake, your going down… literally!
As I made these crazy turns, #TheMillenniumFalcon’s cruise control would accelerate and let go pushing up hills and coasting down others…
I finally hit flat land again but then the road became really shitty… At one point I was driving on actual gravel… I know what you’re thinking, “So What?” Trust me, you wouldn’t say that if you are driving The Millennium Falcon… When she hits rough roads it sounds and feels like she is going to fall apart… I had to literally go 20 MPH at one point… But I expect no less out in the middle of the desert…
There we are folks! #DeathValleyNationalPark! I ended up taking a wrong turn somewhere because I arrived at a little resort only to find out I was at the wrong one… Then they went ahead and told me I had another hour drive over the mountains… Little did I know that my trip was going to get a lot harder in a few minutes…
So, Debbie wasn’t kidding when she warned me about the mountains…
Luckily the sun was going down and it was a lot cooler because the mountains were so steep #TheFalcon could only go about 30 MPH with the pedal floored to the ground…
I had to pull over 3 times and let her rest out of fear of pushing her too hard… When that temperature needle came even close to the red, I would pull over and spark for about 15 minutes…
then I would get right back to it until that needle jumped again…
I can’t say I enjoyed this part of the drive considering all of the problems I have had in the past… I was probably being over cautious and over reactive but better safe than sorry… I never want to go through what I went through in #Kansas about 6 months ago…
I was really anxious to get to #StovepipeWellsVillage… I didn’t want to have to set my #RV up in the dark but it looked like that would be my only option…
I swear it was straight up hill for miles… Towards the end I was getting really aggravated… I would rub #OldMillie and talk to her as she putted up these mountains… I was so afraid something was going to go wrong… Sometimes I have to have a little more faith in my Falcon because she came through once again…
I was soon going downhill as I watched my temperature gauge go back to normal… I was so relieved I can’t even tell you… It looked like I was going to get to Death Valley in one piece with no problems… To think of what I have had to go through to get to this point and I was finally arriving…
By the time I arrived it was dark as hell… This is a picture of my RV site in the dark… I know, I know you can’t see anything! But that was basically what I was seeing… Here I had arrived and I still was clueless to what this place looked like…
I met the G.M. who bought me dinner at the bar and bought me two drinks… He told me to settle in for the next two days and that I would start on March 16th with orientation… He told me to put whatever food I got on this account…
Definitely not a bad reception at all… Mike, another manager, helped me get set up at my RV site… I ate and met two employees, Craig and Tracy… Craig seems to be a really outgoing guy which makes him perfect for bartending… Tracy was the waitress in the bar lounge where they have a pub menu… She seemed very sweet and has a really nice smile…
So… so far, so good… Probably one of the best first impressions I have ever had of a new job but always be weary when they are too kind… Can’t wait to see where I live tomorrow morning!!!
Good night!
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