Desert Vacation with Bill Behl
by Gloria Ager
Day One (Friday)
We flew out of
we got into air space around
delay resulting in our missing our connecting flight from
Diego
on stand by arriving in
tried calling Justin several times and finally got a hold of him.
Justin met us at the airport and then the three of us took a shuttle to
the car rental agency and picked up the rental car and then drove back
to the airport to get Justin's truck.
The next thing we did was take a tour of Justin's ship, the John C.
Stennis. What a big ship. After the tour,
we went out to eat at a
favorite Mexican restaurant of Justins. We then went
to the hotel room
that Justin had reserved for us and laid around until
was time to head over to the airport to pick up Bill Behl
who was
supposed to fly in at
Bill and watched as the passengers all trouped by, the gates were closed
and still no Bill. Over the intercom, Roger and I were paged and told
to call a number in
called and made arrangements to pick him up in
following morning. Justin, Roger and I went back to the hotel and
went
to sleep.
Day Two (Saturday)
At 9:00 the next morning, we picked Bill up at the airport and then all
discussed what we wanted to do for the next couple of days. The first
thing Bill wanted to do was also have a tour of Justin's ship. After
the tour, we had a lot of trouble all agreeing on what to do. Finally we
agreed to go to the San Diego Zoo. That was a blast. We went and
saw
the Orangutang and one large male walked over to a
clump of grass and
began picking it up and we thought he was going to eat it, but instead
of eating it, he flung the large clump of grass and dirt over the rail
at us. A little later, he repeated the act. It was funny. A
woman
came up and thanked Bill Behl for making her child's
day as he was the
one who was antagonizing the ape.
After we left the zoo, we once again were faced with trying to decide
what to do. We decided to drive to
went back to the car rental place and had them fix a tail light that was
out and purchase Mexican car insurance for the next 24 hours. We asked
the people at the car rental place where the best place to go was as
they were almost all Mexicans. They told us to bypass
the next town, Rosarita instead which they said was
nicer and cleaner.
We arrived in Rosarita around
where to spend the night. We chose a hotel right on the strip that
seemed to be a really happening place and it was. We went out to eat
and went to several different bars and then went back to the hotel and
went to bed.
Day Three (Sunday)
The next a.m., we walked down to the beach and decided to take a horse
back ride up the beach. We then began to negotiate the price of this
transaction. The original asking price was $20 per hour. After
walking
away several times, we got the horses for $8.00 for 45 minutes. I'm
sure we all had visions of ourselves trotting along on Arabian stallions
and were sorely disappointed in the quality of our steeds; glue factory
rejects is more like it. Our mounts reluctantly started down the beach
only to stop every few feet and after much prodding would continue on at
a snails pace. After reaching a certain, probably predetermined, point
on the beach, the horses refused to go any further. So we turned them
around and headed them back to their owners. My horse which had been
dragging behind the whole way, now was the leader of
the pack. Joking
aside, it was a very relaxing way to start out our vacation. After
returning and paying for the horses, we found a fruit stand on the beach
and purchased corn on the cob and a fresh juicy pineapple for
breakfast. We then continued on our walking tour of the town. The
main
street of Rosarita was very glitzy and touristy, but
walking a few
blocks off main street, we had the opportunity to see
some real
It was a sunny, Sunday morning and most of the town's residents were
going into the catholic churches for mass. We were invited to join them
but declined. Walking behind the businesses on the other side of main
street, we found ourselves in the middle of a huge open air market
running the full length and width of the alley system. We each bought
several different things and had to constantly refuse to purchase
chiclets (gum) and necklaces from women and little
children trying to
sell them. We quickly discovered that every price is negotiable by
walking away after the initial price quote. The town was dusty and
dirty, but smelled of flame broiled meats being sold at the different
food stands up and down the streets. The people were laid back and very
friendly. We found another restaurant to have lunch in and checked out
of our hotel and headed back to
interesting place worthy of further exploration at another time. The
last few miles of
lanes of traffic heading towards the
traffic were Mexicans taking their last shot at selling something to the
Americans. The closer we got to the border, the more pitiful the
sellers became, the last stretch intermingled with people in wheel
chairs, using crutches, and women carrying babies. There was also a
large sign telling the Americans that giving money to these people would
only keep them on the street. Bill finally told me not to even make eye
contact with anyone.
Arriving back in
started getting ready to say our goodbyes. Unfortunately, part of our
preparations was to use the bathroom at the McDonald's on base. I went
in first and then came back out and sat in the car waiting for everyone
else with Bill. Roger came out next and hopped in the back seat and we
all waited for Justin to drive his truck over. While we were waiting
for Justin, the military police came out of McDonald's and were peering
around the dark parking lot. I heard one of them say, he was wearing a
camo hat and then they saw Roger sitting in the back
seat of our car and
said "There he is" and walked over to us and began questioning Roger
very intently about his trip to the bathroom. Basically, they wanted to
know why he had chosen the women's bathroom and what did he do while he
was in there. Apparently when Roger had gone into McDonald's and didn't
see a bathroom, he asked one woman where the bathroom was and she told
him, last door on the left and he went there. Those were the correct
directions for her, but not for him. Roger walked into the women's
bathroom and a woman came out of one of the stalls. Roger immediately
realized he was in the wrong bathroom and left. Apparently the woman
saw him and told the MP's he was in there. They seemed very hostile and
wanted to know if he had exchanged any words with her or what exactly
had he done while he was in there. I guess they were wondering if he
was some kind of pervert and seemed to have difficulty believing that he
wasn't. Justin, by then was back and was not happy with the MP's for
their unfriendly questions. We said our goodbyes to Justin and headed
north to
heading north on 127, stopping to camp in the desert. The desert was
cool after dark, maybe 35 to 40 degrees. We pitched our tent and gazed
up at the star filled desert sky then crawled into our sleeping bags and
fell asleep.
Day Four (Monday)
We awoke to a beautiful sunny day and headed to
up the road. Our first stop was in a little town, Shoshone, for a
delicious breakfast and a short walking tour of the town including a
gift shop, museum, and conversations with local residents advising us of
the must see places in Death Valley. The industry in this area was
borax and talc, mineral products from the desert in this area. We then
headed for the China Ranch date farm for a walk in an oasis and date
shakes. After that, we went to Tecopa for a
soak in their medicinal
springs
and one for women. Bathing suits were prohibited as well as co-ed
bathing. So, Gloria went into the women's bath house alone and had a
nice time visiting with the older women enjoying the
Meantime, on the men's side, Roger was enjoying diving and swimming in
the
sign that said, No Swimming or Diving. Roger said he had wondered why
all the old men were staring at him. All in all, this was a very
relaxing stop.
After our soak, we headed northwest into
place. When we first entered that park, we went to Dante's Peak
overlooking
difficult as Roger drove up the steep mountain with the parking brake
on. We discovered this fact when at the top of the mountain, we got out
of the car and smelled the very distinct odor of burning brakes and
observed our quickly plummeting gas gauge. From our observation point on
the peak, we looked down at the lowest point in the
extending 165 miles from one end to the other, the lowest point -282
feet below sea level at
we headed for the park headquarters at Furnace Creek, then down to the
lowest point at Bad Water where Roger and Bill of course had to try the
water. The lower areas in
creating the illusion of being a snow covered frozen lake. At sunset we
were in the
Then we headed back to Furnace Creek, pulled into a resort golf course
complex for supper and a couple games of pool. The restaurant and bar
were both nonsmoking, so after supper, Roger and I went outside to smoke
a cigarette. An older woman walked by and said "You're not allowed
to
smoke out here". Obediently, Roger and I said "O.K." and
started
heading to the car at which point the woman said, "Just kidding" and
started laughing. A few minutes later, she came out and joined us for a
cigarette. Her name was Sharon Sheppard and she told us she worked at
the largest, privately owned business in a national park. She told us
her husband was currently working at Denali N.P. in
nice lady and we enjoyed our visit and her sense of humor. After
leaving Furnace Creek, we headed north on 190 to Stove Pipe Wells where
we camped for the night. A coyote was the host of the campground and
hung around while we pitched our tent.
Day Five (Tuesday)
The next morning, we pulled down camp and headed into a canyon on a dead
end gravel road to make coffee and watch the sunrise. We opted not to
walk the trail deeper into the canyon and just enjoyed the view from the
parking lot. After sunrise, we decided to leave the Park and head for
Beatty, NV. On the way, we drove through a ghost town, an old mining
town called Ralston. There were primarily stone
foundations left of a
few buildings and then a couple buildings, such as the jail, were still
intact. There were also a lot of gopher holes made by miners scattered
over the hillsides. The gold they were after was either played out or
too hard to get at and so the town died. We looked into some of the
holes but they were fenced off and we were unable to go inside for a
better look. After leaving the ghost town, we continued on to Beatty
for breakfast at our first
cheap and on the way out we each threw a couple nickels in one of the
slot machines. Then we got on highway 95 for Vegas taking a detour on
160 south to Pahrump. There we gassed up and then headed for
highway 15
between Vegas and the
the car that was driven by Bonnie and
on display in the back of a large casino called the Gold Strike. We left
there and back tracked to
times as it was getting dark and Bill decided that we would need to
rearrange our plans and leave Las Vegas and head to Phoenix instead as
it was too windy for the outdoor shows that he had been hoping to see.
We drove the rest of the way to
apartment around 2 a.m.
apartment and Roger called her on the cell phone asking her if she
remembered him and telling her that Bill had told him if he ever needed
anything, to give her a call. Roger proceeded to tell her that we were
stranded with a bad water pump and could she either put us up for the
night or tell us where to go. She said we could either
come over and
sleep on the floor or she would tell us how to get to a hotel. She then
asked us where we were and we gave her the sign names of the
intersection she lived at. Bill and Roger schemed up this plan in order
to surprise Terry with Bill's unannounced visit. We went in and visited
for awhile and laid out our sleeping bags. Roger and I crawled in our
sleeping bags and Terry and Bill continued visiting until Roger said
"Can't you people have some consideration, I'm
trying to get some
sleep." After a good laugh, we all
went to sleep.
Day Six (Wednesday)
The next morning, Bill drove his sister Terry to work and then he came
back to the apartment. We all showered, did laundry,
and then discussed
what our plans for the day were going to be. Then we drove to the
furniture store where Terry's husband, Carl, works to see what local
attractions he thought we should see. We decided to go and see the
west on highway 10, then south on 85, then west on highway 8, then north
a few miles on the road to the Painted Rock site. Basically, it was a
pile of rocks with symbols and animals painted on them during
prehistoric times. There was also graffiti from the 1800's and peoples
names painted on some rocks. Then we headed back towards
to get to Casa Grande before sunset so that we could make it back to
ran out of time and had to bypass Casa Grande. We arrived at Terry's
job at about
pool league. Terry's husband Carl met us there and then we all went to
a Sports Bar for pizza. When we arrived at the bar, Carl started lining
up shots for everyone; Gloria declined hers, but Roger, Carl, and Bill
all had a plenty. Terry left shortly after eating supper so she could
get to bed early enough for work the next day. The rest of us all shot
pool for a while and also met some young men from the
One of the boys was a step brother to the husband of one of the women
Gloria works with. What a small world. Around
to head home. When we got into the car, Carl and Roger were sitting in
the back seat and Carl decided he wanted to wrestle with Roger. Roger
quickly put Carl in a head lock and the wrestling match was over. At
that point Carl decided to start picking on his new brother in law,
Bill, and quickly crossed the line of good taste and good fun. Bill let
Carl know he had crossed a line in no uncertain terms and after dropping
Carl off, we were without a place to stay for the night. Bill called
his sister Terry on the cell phone and she set all our
luggage outside
the door to avoid any further breakdown of family relationships. We
decided to start on our drive to the
camp on the way. We headed north on highway 15 towards
ended up setting up camp halfway to
night, about 22 degrees, brrr.
Day Seven (Thursday)
The next morning the boys both were nursing hangovers as Gloria
continued the drive to the Big Ditch. We stopped off on a side road to
see Montezuma's Castle, which was a cliff dwelling from the 12th
century. The cliff dwellings were very well preserved and we enjoyed
the short hike. We then continued on to
there. While in Flagstaff, we also went to Sam's Club and Bill bought a
sleeping pad for under his sleeping bag and we also bought ribeye
steaks
to grill somewhere on the road. The local residents made the correct
assumption that we were not from the area because of our light dress in
their cold winter temperatures. After
east on highway 40 or also known as the famous Route 66 to see the
noticed a sign that said "Meteor Crater - 5 miles south" so we took a
detour to go and see that. Gloria sat in the car while Bill and Roger
went in to see the second largest meteor crater in the world. It cost
$8.00 per person to get in and there was an excellent gift and rock
shop. Roger bought Gloria her Valentine present there, a heart shaped
pendant made out of petrified wood. The crater was one mile across,
three miles in diameter, 570 feet deep. To give you a better idea of
how big it was, picture 20 professional footballs games being played at
the same time on the flat area in the bottom of the crater; that's big.
The nickel iron meteor struck the earth 49,000 years ago with the impact
of the force of 20 million tons of TNT(I'm not exactly
sure of the
accuracy of this data. All life within a two mile radius was
obliterated. Back on highway 40 we continued on to the
entrance of the park. We visited the gift shop first and then drove
through the park admiring the giant stone logs lying in the desert. 225
million years ago, they were a live forest in this location. We saw
herds of prong horn antelope as we continued on north through the park;
gas gauge was getting low but made it to the north entrance just in time
to fill up before the park was closed at 5:00 and then watched the
sunset over the Painted Desert. It was a great ending to a long day.
We then drove back west on highway 40 to Winslow and went to a bar,
watched another pool league and played the Eagles song about this town
on the juke box. "Standin
on the corner in
leaving the bar, we went to a Safeway store so Bill could use the pay
phone as his cellular battery was out of the calling area. We wanted to
give Justin a call and try to see if he could meet us in
Bill wanted to call his sister and see if things had settled down with
his brother in law. When Bill came back to the car, he told us Justin
would not be able to meet us in Vegas, and everything was cool with his
sister and brother in law. In fact, his brother in law had been feeling
so remorseful for what he had done that he had phoned a friend in Vegas
and gotten us front row seats to Siegfried and Roy and also paid for a
full meal, drinks, appetizers, main course and dessert. Well, needless
to say, we were relieved that everything was okay with Carl and thrilled
to have tickets to the most popular show in Vegas, front row seats no
less. We told Bill he would have to beat his brother in law up again
next time we were all going to Vegas if there was a particular show we
wanted to see. We then started shopping around for a hotel. Bill,
stated that he was going to go into the hotel and try to get us a good
rate by claiming to be from "Corporate". Roger and I had a good
chuckle
in the car as we watched Bill, dressed in flip flops, a pair of black
shorts, and a cowboy hat walk into the hotel. Needless to say, he came
back unsuccessful in his attempt. We wondered if he had told them he
was from Bill's Bait Shop Corporation. We did finally find a hotel for
$25 a night and it was great to have a shower and bed to sleep in.
Day Eight (Friday)
The next morning we grabbed coffee at a convenience store and headed out
north on highway 87 toward the Navajo nation. We expected to see the
with rolling desert, an occasional isolated Navajo homes,
some
traditional hogans or round houses, no towns until we
hit the Hopi
Reservation when we came to second
and were given Pinon nuts and oranges for
breakfast. Bill bought some
super duper hot chili powder at the stand as well. The Hopi man running
the stand was very mellow and friendly and we enjoyed a short visit with
him. Back on the road, we started noticing agricultural fields with
last years squash and corn. We continued on through the Navajo
reservation and stopped at a couple of stands selling jewelry and crafts
made by the local natives. Roger and Gloria bought a beautiful
turquoise and carmalene (not sure if this is the
right word, but they
were small reddish translucent stones that
looked like
agates) and a necklace for Carissa made out of beads
and juniper
berries. We then took highway 160 out of
taking the final turn towards the south rim of the
highway 64. The first place we saw the canyon was from the
road that skirted the south rim. It was a spectacular sight that
supposedly can even be seen from the moon. We left the Canyon traveling
south on 180, then west on 40 to make Vegas by
We stopped to grill the ribeyes along the way just
before dark. They
were delicious. We ended up getting to Vegas a little ahead of time
arriving around
changed clothes while Bill called Carl's friend in Vegas to thank her
for the tickets. She told Bill the tickets were there waiting for him
and he'd better hurry up and come and get them if we were going to get
to the show on time. We were supposed to be at the Siegfried and Roy
show by
at the show at about
and settled back and enjoyed two hours of fast moving magic, dancing,
and light show. The show included probably 50 costumed dancers, a pride
of lions, three white tigers, a white leopard, a large mechanical fire
breathing dragon, and an elephant which they made disappear right on
stage. It was the most amazing production we had ever seen. Our
tickets went for $125 a piece and a waiter brought us two drinks a piece
included with the tickets. Next we went to the casino where our free
meal was waiting for us, then back to the hotel and
bed.
Day Nine (Saturday)
The next morning, we drove to the Hoover Dam and walked around and took
pictures. Then we went back to Vegas and drove over to see the woman
Carl had lined up the tickets with to let her know how much we enjoyed
the show. She was the manager at a private bar for casino employees and
locals only. When it started to get dark we left to go see the free
outdoor shows that Bill wanted us to see. The first place we went was
to the Bellagio, the newest and grandest hotel in
Vegas, to see their
water show. It was beautiful complete with a million dollar sound
system playing classical music during the water show. The water show
combined with the music had the feel of a ballet. Then we went to the
Mirage (same place as the Siegfried and Roy show) and watched the
volcano, which erupts every 15 minutes. After that, we went to the
Treasure Island Casino and watched the pirate show. That was pretty
cool. We all stood on a bridge over a stretch of water with a pirate
ship on one side. Then a British battleship comes around the bend on
the other side and the two ships start shooting canon balls at each
other with the crowd right in the middle of a battle at sea. I won't
tell you how the battle ends in case any of you get to Vegas and have
the opportunity to see it. Next, we went to
light show, saw a million dollars incased in plexiglass
(One hundred
$10,000 bills), and some huge gold nuggets at the Gold Nugget casino.
One of the gold nuggets was two feet high and about 10 inches wide. We
also did some gambling at these last few casinos and had a steak
dinner. All in all, Roger and I only lost about $50 so didn't have any
major gambling regrets. Bill turned out to be an excellent guide to
decided it was time to head to
he had not driven much since
seat and Bill dozed in the front seat, opening his eyes every 30 minutes
to make sure Roger was still awake. We arrived in
our luggage and cleaned out the car. We then drove to the airport and
checked Roger and Gloria's bags, then headed out to find a place to have
a relaxing cup of coffee and some bakery. After coffee, we drove the
car back to the rental place and returned it and then took the shuttle
to the airport, arriving at the airport Bill Behl
style - late. We all
ran through the airport and Roger and Gloria arrived at their gate 4
minutes before the scheduled take-off time. As Roger and Gloria sat
down in their seats, their only regret was that they had not been able
to say a proper goodbye to Bill as he had been left behind on the dash
through security because he was still carrying all of his
luggage. We
then sat out on the plane for 35 minutes as the little Cat that pushes
the plane away from the gate broke down and had to be fixed in order to
push the plane out towards the runway. After we took off and reached
cruising altitude, we still felt like there had been no closure so we
used the phone on the plane to call Bill and say our goodbyes.
Apparently, Justin was still on duty so was unable to pick Bill up. We
don't know what happened next with Bill, but we flew to
on to
then drove to
was extreme with high winds and sleet around the Inlet and blizzard
conditions through the pass. We arrived back at home at
crashed, happy to be in our own bed.