Bougiegrnk's Travels: As Willie Nelson would say, we are “back on the road again!”

We originally planned on heading out Sunday afternoon, but luckily our son Nick was staying until Monday morning and we didn’t want to cut short any possible time spent with him, Valerie or Karen. Haven driven often in the Sunday night southern California exodus from the Strip, Nick reminded us that what would be a 5 hour drive Monday morning could be as much as an 8 hour drive Sunday afternoon. With that thought looming, plans changed.

It turned out to be a good thing we left in the morning as setting out with new equipment will often pose problems. We learned that what Chevrolet openly advertises as a flat towable vehicle in the Equinox has some caveats – and one would have been a deal breaker had we known about it. In our Saturn we pulled a huge fuse in the under hood fuse box and never had an issue – ever. I went through the routine with the Equinox and learned you pulled a small fuse in the passenger compartment fuse box, and should tow with the key turned to the accessories position. The problem is that in the accessories position you can run the radio, but none of the 12 volt outlets in the vehicle are hot. We need a 12 volt outlet to run our supplemental braking system which physically applies the breaks in the towed vehicle when you hit the brakes in the motorhome – saves on wear and tear and slows braking distance. So, for now, the only thing I can think of is to tow the Equinox with the key in the “on” position. I could tell that in the 5 hour drive we had that the battery in the Equinox was a fair bit depleted, and on days when our trek time is longer we could be at risk of a dead battery on arrival. I will have to tackle that issue later.

We also learned that when Findlay RV set up the Equinox for towing with electrical and tow bar connections, they didn’t install the emergency disconnect switch for our supplemental braking system. In the event of a catastrophic tow bar failure – it just breaks away from Colectiva – our towed vehicle would go careening who knows where. A switch in the towing harness would cause the supplemental brakes to be applied in that event and hopefully bring the Equinox to a quick stop. I went to hook it up – not there! So we run naked for a bit.

Finally, hooked all else up and tried the turn signals to make sure they were working on the Equinox when we turned them on for Colectiva – nada! Then I remembered that our tech at Findlay said the ground from Colectiva’s chassis that completed the 12 volt direct current circuit to make everything work actually flowed through the tow bar. I unhooked the tow bar, turned it all directions in the ball mount and made sure to work every joint up and down and back and forth so hopefully a solid electrical connection could be assured. Voila! Brake lights and turn signals on line!

The drive to San Dimas just outside Pasadena CA was pleasant – well as any drive of a 55 foot long 11 ½ foot wide vehicle can be on California freeways. Although technically qualified to use the HOV lanes I chose not to. The locals get a fair bit grumpy when big ole motor homes exercise their God given rights. And the traffic - sheesh! I forgot what it is like driving pretty much any time of day - I had to go to Walgreens a mile from Colectiva as the crow flies - however, the only way Brenda knew about was taking the freeway - took me 40 minutes round trip to go a mile!

We are staying at Frank G. Bonelli Regional County Park, a Los Angeles County Park. The East Shore RV Park occupies the top of a hill overlooking Puddingstone Lake, a manmade lake formed by immense earthen dams at the base of natural ravine water run off area. The panoramic views of the San Bernardino Mountains and the adjacent valley are spectacular! Every other bump nearby has multi-million dollar homes occupying similar terrain – I can’t believe they were able to retain this gem as an RV park!

We are participating in lots of activities leading up to the 127^th Rose Parade. The first night we went to a tent located just outside the Rose Bowl Stadium and worked on a float sponsored by Singpoli, an Asian based world-wide real estate consulting and development company. Our mission was to build sections of what would be the scales on the neck of a massive fire-breathing dragon. We had sections of chicken wire in the shape the float builders wanted, boxes of fresh oranges cut in half, and spools of twist-tie type wire. We cut maybe 10 inch long pieces of wire. We then pushed 2 of them through the skin of the orange half and out the other side forming a cross through the orange. We placed the cut side of the orange against the chicken wire form with the twist-tie wire cross going through the chicken wire form, then tightly twisting the wire to secure the orange to the chicken wire form.

I know it is hard to imagine, but when the form was filled with orange halves and then secured to the neck of the dragon, it made perfectly believable sections of scales. I don’t know how the designers figure out what material to use to make these wonders, but it works. And we did learn by first-hand experience that every visible piece of these floats is made with organic material – flowers, fruit, seeds, nuts and grains – sometimes shredded or cut for effect, but everything is natural and organic.

We are told that the tradition goes back 127 years to the first Rose Parade. The local farmers and ranchers covered their wagons and equipment with crop material. They invited all their East Coast and Midwestern friends to come out and see how a New Year’s Day should be spent – in Southern California. The tradition carried on and became humongous for the next 126 years – well it will be the next 126 once we see the Parade in a couple days!

We also took in Equine Fest and the Los Angeles County Equine Grounds. Horses and horse teams are a huge part of the Rose Parade tradition, dating all the way back to the first ever when the wagons and equipment were horse drawn. Several days before the actual Parade, all the horses and teams gather at the Grounds and put on a private show for all luck enough to get tickets. Fortunately our caravan masters scored us tickets. The array of participants was stunning. The only remaining Marine Corp Mounted Color Guard out of Barstow CA opened the show to a standing ovation. The Mounted Guard has a tie to Nevada as well in that the Guard rides wild Mustangs that it acquires from the BLM managed herds in Nevada.

We saw Mexican Chaco teams, the Long Beach mounted patrol, and the Wells Fargo Stagecoach carrying all the Parade dignitaries. The woman was able to get a taste of horse culture and even got a chance to get up close and snugly with a few of the main attractions. While not as much interaction as she would chose if given the choice, she still was able to get her horse fix for a bit. Although, it seems that she didn’t really want to snuggle with the Budweiser Clydesdale team. I guess snuggling with horses so much bigger than her is not in her wheelhouse.