August 09, 2015
Re: Letter 36 of 3
Dear Riley:
I'm writing this from a hotel room in California. The trip for Grandpa's funeral went fairly smoothly once we got off. You know the routine...Hour after hour past the planned departure time and we're finally leaving, knowing that under the best of circumstances we won't be getting in until 9:00 PM California time. The car made it and transported us in relative luxury once we addressed a few small but significant issues. Do you remember three years ago when we came out for Grandpa's 90th birthday and the heating and cooling blower fan started its intermittent high pitched singing? I decided that it shouldn't be a tough fix and either your Mother or I wanted to drive any distance listening to it, so undertook to address it myself Wednesday afternoon. Six hours later, a couple trips to various stores, and I was frustrated at being held hostage by a single impossible screw I couldn't see, but knew was back behind and by all accounts a "Bear" to get to. I knew I didn't have the time to spend the following day, so opted to have the shop finish it. We were fortunate to get in on the schedule and it took the better part of the day before it was done.
By the time we hit Las Vegas, it was clear that something was not quite right with the blower fan. As beads of sweat formed on my face and arms, I theorized that the fan hand been reassembled with the damper door in the wrong position. (This is a rotating door actuated by a highly geared down stepper motor allowing one to switch between recirculated and outside air. Assemble it in the wrong position and the fan won't blow correctly.) It was only 95 degrees outside and unbearable for the driver and front passenger. I didn't relish the prospect of driving through Death Valley without the full benefit of maximum cooling so took about 40 minutes to fix the problem at the closest Walmart. This was where the six hours on Wednesday paid off. Once we had found the store and purchased the correct tool, it only took 15 minutes to address the source of the problem and validate my theory. Then we were off in cooled luxury, unaware that it was 108 degrees outside until we got out at Baker to fuel up.
We arrived at Montery Park Inn around 10:00 PM. Aleah needed to translate into Chinese just to finalize check-in. We were exhausted, but not so tired that we weren't aware of the poor quality of the accommodations. I'll spare you the details but suffice it to say that third world standards abound right here in the U.S. Between the sheets was literally the only part of the room that felt clean. 45 hours later, and the contrast of what else is available in the area, and suddenly we're able to tolerate what was previously intolerable. Don't know what else is going on, but accommodations for a family our size are nearly impossible to come by. Chilling online reviews about filthy sheets, bedbugs, and other horrors made us feel that we were actually in a high class dive. No wonder this place has a "No Vacancy" sign in the window.
The funeral was nice and you could feel a good spirit. When they invited the grandchildren and great grandchildren up to sing I am a Child of God, we filled the stand. Grandpa left a wonderful legacy of faith and testimony. We feel blessed that our children were able to know him. I also came away with an increased appreciation for the gospel and its fruits. I'm used to funerals taking a certain amount of time in Utah, but the distances in California add considerably to the investment of time. It was an all day event. I felt for the Bishop as he and his wife served us at the luncheon which was just wraping up around 4:30 PM.
Well, tomorrow we head for San Diego and adventure. Beach, Sea World, Zoo...Aunt D has a good friend who filled us in on some of the other great things to do in the area. the next week should be fun. Take care and work hard. We are so extremely blessed by your labor. Got to run to Grandpa's house.
Love,
Dad
No comments:
Post a Comment