A Short Drive to see Elvis Live!

**A short, sweet trip aboard Big Blue…**

Day 1, Thursday, Oct. 5 Home to Clovis, CA via CA99, CA180, CA162: 120 miles

Fortunate as I am to have married my lovely Lavonne some 30 years ago, I have always played second fiddle to Elvis – or, more accurately, the memory of Elvis.

These days, Elvis is all too alive in the form of Jeremy “Elvis” Pearce. This popular Elvis impersonator was the star of Lavonne’s big 80th birthday bash back in February at our community’s clubhouse. He lives in Clovis, CA and performs three times monthly at a popular restaurant there.Big Blue has been parked in our RV lot most of this year due to the outrageous price of diesel fuel (presently averaging over $6 in our area).

I just can’t bring myself to spend $5 and $6 per gallon for fuel. I also find it difficult to permit the likes of our tax-happy and over-regulating politicians to influence my spending habits, but sadly, it seems that they have succeeded. I had to add a bit of fuel during this current trip, and for just 16 gallons, I paid $100!

Recently, Lavonne and I decided a short trip to Clovis would make for an entertaining time for both of us. Lavonne would take in a show by her beloved Elvis at a Clovis restaurant, and I would enjoy my simple pleasure of a couple nights and days aboard Big Blue.

**Here I tote my new pressure washer aboard my Schwinn pickup to the RV lot to prepare Big Blue for a couple nights and days on the road.**

I had to give the coach a good cleaning. Here in the Central Valley, our agricultural area where much farming stirs up dust and dirt all summer long, Big Blue was awfully dirty from simply sitting under her oversized carport. With the handy pressure washer, I was able to give her a good, soapy wash. She looked her beautiful self when I was done.

For a change, we were in no rush to leave early as Clovis is just 120 miles away, and the show wasn’t due to start ’til 1800 hours that evening. We wouldn’t have to leave ’till 1400 hours. Even so, I loaded the coach fairly early to beat the predicted heat – it was to be in the 90s on Day 1.

Click to enlarge photos and to read captions:

This old barn is a relic of years past. Such signs haven’t been painted since the 1960s, and the once familiar signs along two lane highways are now few and far between. This one sits along the east side of CA99.

Construction never ends along CA99. Here a bridge is under construction. It amuses me that the air compressor hanging from the big crane is stored that way during off hours to prevent vandalism and theft.

The traffic in the Fresno and Clovis area on a Thursday afternoon is very heavy.

One can see here the neglected condition of CA99. At least this section is now under construction to repair it.

We headed south on CA99 on that warm Thursday afternoon. Naturally, the highway was busy with lots of traffic, and there were construction zones one after the other along our drive.

Construction never seems to end along CA99 due to its very heavy traffic and neglect. In 2018, CA99 was named the most dangerous highway in America. It seems Caltrans is spending more than ever on improvements, but there is an awful lot of work that still needs to be done.

At any rate, we survived the drive and arrived at the Clovis Walmart store midafternoon. The high temperature in Clovis was 92° that afternoon, so as we spent a few hours aboard the coach we had the air conditioner running the whole time.

**As we waited for show time aboard Big Blue, it was time to enjoy some ice cream.**

I drove Lavonne over to the restaurant about 1800 hours. She would have dinner there and watch the show with a number of other ladies at her table that also loved the “Elvis” shows starring Jeremy Pearce. (Lavonne saw the real Elvis live four times back during his heyday.)

Click to enlarge and read the captions:

Elvis still rocks at DiCicco’s Restaurant in Clovis!

Elvis poses with his #1 fan after the show at DiCicco’s.

I returned to the Walmart and waited ’til about 0900 when I returned to pick up Lavonne. All went well, and she had a grand time with Elvis and his other admirers.

Back at the Walmart lot, we spent a comfortable night aboard Big Blue. The next day we planned to visit Lavonne’s cousin, Ramona, and husband Richard, who live in Exeter, a town about an hour south of Clovis, and the town where Lavonne was born and spent her childhood.

Day 2, Friday, October 6, Clovis, CA to Atwater, CA via CA162, CA180, CA99: 73 miles

We spent the night and morning very comfortably aboard the coach. We planned to visit Ramona and Richard about 1330 hours, so had several hours to spend in the coach that morning.

More to click:

Cousins Ramona and Lavonne, who grew up together in the small town of Exeter.

Big Blue parked at Richard and Ramona’s mobile home.

We drove to the home of Ramona and Richard in time to meet them before we headed for home. I hadn’t met them before, but they made us feel right at home during our visit. Lavonne and Ramona talked of family and friends during most of the visit, and I recognized a few names and places they mentioned during the visit. It was about 1500 hours that we began our drive home.

We didn’t plan to drive all the way home that afternoon, but we did drive to the town of Atwater, near Merced, CA, and spent the night at the local Walmart lot.

Big Blue parked at the Atwater Walmart for the night.

We again spent the time aboard the coach, and ran the air conditioner the entire afternoon ’til early evening when it cooled enough to be comfortable with just open windows.

Our evening and night aboard were comfortable, and we would drive home the next day.

Day 3, Saturday, October 7, Atwater, CA to home via CA99: 46 miles

Just 46 miles to home?! Well, yes, we could have easily made it home the prior day, but we’d have missed another night aboard Big Blue! That was reason enough for me, but for my dear Lavonne, the Friday evening traffic was torture! We had dealt with mostly slow and go traffic during the relatively short drive of the prior day, and we knew Saturday morning would present much lighter traffic. That was enough reason for us to overnight at the Atwater Walmart.

We pulled out of Atwater at 0745 hours, and drove through relatively light traffic all the way home – which was just an hour’s drive.

Once back home, we unloaded the coach and turned our house back on. Yep, we had shut off everything in the house since we planned to be away for two nights and almost three days.

**Once unloaded, I idled the coach down to our community’s RV lot and dumped the holding tanks. After filling the fresh water tank, I backed Big Blue into her oversize carport.**

I’m afraid she will likely sit idle there – perhaps ’til the following month of November when we’d likely drive to Craig’s to celebrate Thanksgiving with the family. Stay tuned!