Healthy relationships require clear, open communication. Donna and I are pretty good at this and rarely have misunderstandings. Since we’ve been on the road, there is one activity where we sometimes become a little frustrated.

That can happen when I’m backing our coach into a site. Donna gets out and directs me as I back in. This is useful as I have many things to consider as I back a vehicle that’s 37 feet long and over 12 feet high. If I don’t drop the trailer, there’s another thing to think about as I reverse. I want to place the coach precisely in the site to facilitate the hook-ups and maximize our space.

Donna stands behind and off to the side of the coach. I use a combination of the rear view camera and side mirrors to watch her signals. Sometimes she isn’t in the right position and I’ll lose sight of her. When that happens, I have to open the driver’s side window and call out to her. She’s standing about 50 feet away and I have to call out loudly. Sometimes she feels like I’m yelling at her. Sometimes I get a little frustrated and maybe I am yelling.

We’ve talked about this several times and tried a few solutions. We’ll be hitting the road again soon and we will need to park the coach in various places. Last time we did this, we tried using cell phones. Donna got out and dialed my cell phone. I put her on the speaker and she could direct me. I could tell her what I was concerned with (a tree branch I didn’t want to be over the roof). This seemed like a great solution until the call dropped as I was telling her about the tree.

Last Friday I decided to try something else. I went online and found a handheld Cobra 40-channel CB radio at Amazon.com*. I opened an Amazon Prime account to get free, next-day shipping and ordered the radio. We have a mobile CB radio in our coach. With the handheld, Donna and I can communicate without me raising my voice. This should work!

It was scheduled to deliver on Monday. The FedEx guy stopped at our site about 9am and delivered a box from Amazon. When I opened it, I found another box wrapped in bubble wrap inside. This box was a cube and seemed to be too small and light for a handheld CB radio. I opened it and found a Snoopy coffee mug!

I don’t think this type of thing happens too often with Amazon. There weren’t any return instructions in the box. I  went online and found their customer service page. I filled out a form and submitted it. Within 30 minutes, I had an email with a return authorization and free shipping label. The replacement Cobra handheld CB radio is due to arrive today. I think that’s pretty good service. They stepped right up to correct the mistake.

Yesterday, my daughter Shauna left her car with us. She completed her last final exam on Saturday and has a break until the next semester starts in January. She and some of her law school classmates are rewarding themselves with a cruise from Long Beach to Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico. They will return Friday. Meanwhile, we have a car for the week. This is handy as I need to pick up a few bulky items before we pull out of here.

Sunday, I posted about visiting Jim Birditt’s dad, Lee. When we were young, Lee Birditt was one of the most feared dads in the neighborhood. We viewed him as being humorless and stern. But that was our perception as kids. If he was humorless and stern back then, he’s really mellowed with time. While we visited, he laughed and joked about some of the things Jim and the rest of us did when we were young. It was fun telling stories of days gone by. Donna always says that I’m a storyteller. I’ll tell a short one about an adventure Jim and I had.

In February 1976, Jim and I decided we should go and see the Grand Canyon. We thought we could hitch hike there with backpacks and sleeping bags. A week would be enough time to travel there and back again from San Diego.

On our return trip, we hitched a ride with a guy in an old sedan. He also had a large dog. We traveled west across Mohave County on Route 66. I don’t remember much about the guy’s car, other than it began to run poorly. It was losing power and started overheating. He nursed it along until we came to a small town called Peach Springs, Arizona.

He stopped at a gas station there and went inside to inquire about repairs. Jim and I were discussing our options when the guy returned. He said, “I’m with you guys now. I just sold this heap to guy in the station.” What? He was planning to hitchhike west with us? The chances of someone stopping for three guys and a large dog were slim and none.

It was late afternoon when we walked to the street corner and stuck our thumbs out. A couple of blocks away, we could see a baseball game was being played at a field. There was a noisy crowd in the bleachers. Peach Springs is located on the Hualapai Indian Reservation. I think we were the only white people on the street.

Just before sunset, a tribal police officer stopped at the curb. He got out and told us the ball game would be over soon. He didn’t think it would be a good idea for us to be on the street after dark. He suggested we get off the street and take a motel room for the night. We took his advice and pooled our money for a room.

Since Jim and I had sleeping bags, we told the guy he could have the bed and we would sleep on the floor. I was up at sunrise the next morning. I quietly woke Jim up. We grabbed our stuff and slipped out the door.

We walked a few blocks down to the edge of town and started hitchhiking. There wasn’t much traffic. A car would drive by every five minutes or so. I was worried about the guy waking up and joining us with his dog. A blue Ford Econoline van with New York plates approached. I held out my thumb as he drove on past and disappeared into the desert.

A few minutes later, the van returned. He made a U-turn in the road and told us he could take us as far as Barstow, California. We climbed in. I thanked him for coming back and giving us a ride. He said, “I don’t usually pick up hitch hikers…but I got to thinking, I bet they have pot.”

And that’s how we made it out of Peach Springs, Arizona.

We’re having another bout of summer-like weather with the temperature in the upper 70s. The forecast calls for cooler temperature and the possibility of rain by Thursday. Today, I’ll take care of a few errands while I have a car available. But I won’t be picking up any hitchhikers.

*Just so you know, if you decide to purchase one these through the Amazon link in this post, I’ll earn a small commission. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!