I came to California in 1970, I was stationed at NAS Lemoore in the central valley, my first adventure was a trip to Disneyland in Southern California. A guy I had been in Memphis with and I hitchhiked there, the first ride we got was at the gate of the base. There were three guy's in the car, my friend and I made 5 total, they took us almost right up to our destination. Our first stop was Knott's Berry Farm, I remember the great fried chicken dinner we had on that Sunday, it was something else, I later found out it is their signature dish.
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| It's hard to beat a fried chicken dinner. |
We ended up spending the night in the park, sleeping amongst the trees, in those days it was not a big deal for young people to be seen sleeping in the open. We didn't really pack well at all, after all, we were 18 years old, it seems young now, especially after being around my grandson's. They are all good kids, but they just don't seem to be as worldly as we were in those days, but I imagine most generations think like that. I must say however there is a connection between grandfathers and grandkids that is hard to explain, it's not like my own kids. I sometimes think sons don't see eye to eye with their fathers, but I feel as if I have a meeting of the minds with my grandkids, it seems odd. They understand my jokes and how I think, my sons never did, I don't understand what it is. There is a certain amount of competition between fathers and sons that does not exist between me and my grandson's, none of the grandsons have ever tried to pick me up for instance. My oldest son always had to show me how strong he was, and to an extent he still does, the relationship brings out the competitiveness. The grandsons like to talk about all they learn when they are around me, although I did the same things with my sons, all of them have learned how to do "stuff", mostly mechanical and manual labor. It's a dynamic that is always changing, one grandson helped a friend of mine in his yard, the kid came home and told me "Mike wouldn't let me do anything, he did it all", well I told him that's the way old guys are.
We slept under the bushes and trees in a park somewhere near Knotts Berry Farm, and we froze like a pop cycle. I learned a very valuable lesson, perhaps it was the first and started my desire to become self-reliant and responsible for my actions. That lesson was, bring a jacket with you where ever you go in California, no matter the time of year. It is mostly desert here, getting hot during the day and it gets really cold at night.
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| When in the mountains we may very well end up next to an open fire to stay warm. |
If a person is traveling to Reno or Las Vegas, for instance, part of the trip will be through the mountains and the desert, in fact we know Las Vegas is in the desert. California is a foggy state, the "Tule Fog" projects a shroud over the entire center of the state, from the Sierras across the valley to the Diablo Range. I drove through that fog every day for 4 years, from Fresno to the tiny town of San Joaquin a distance of about 60 miles one way. I saw a lot of things happen in that time period, 4 way stops in the country confuse people. I was behind a line of cars in the fog, sane people don't pass, when we came to a 4 way stop, traffic was at a standstill. Not one driver at the intersection would move, it was crazy, finally, a man got out of one of the cars and started to direct traffic, he did so until everyone was through the intersection. (Link to how a 4 way stop works).
Bandits are on the road, they hide in the rows of grapes in the fog, one trick is they toss a board with spikes driven through it onto the road. An unsuspecting driver will run it over, in the fog, flatten one or more tires and pull over to the side, then the pirates come out of the fields and take what they can get. It never happened to me, however, I did hear about a California Highway Patrol that did exactly that, the crooks realized they had a hornets' nest on their hands and fled into the fields, never to be caught. It's a long stretch of straight road, Dickenson Grade, an old main road that stretches for 100 miles through the heart of the state, parallel to Interstate 5 to the west about 20 miles and highway 99 to the east about 50 miles, nowhere. That is a classic trip in the state of California, so how can a person make sure they will survive a breakdown or an extended period of time on the side of the road. My wife and I have a road emergency kit in the trunk of the car, it has a lot of equipment in it, lighting, a small stove, water, emergency radio, and blankets being a few of the items. I also carry a supply of the liquids a car may need, a quart of oil, 2 gallons of water for the motor, and I make sure I have a workable jack. I take along a complete set of clothes as well as jackets and a heavy shirt, extra shoes, socks, and undergarments.
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| Typical commercially available roadside emergency kit, purchase or put your own together, it's important just to have one in your trunk. |
I have in the kit a tube of hand cleaner, if I have to change a tire I don't have any desire to drive smelling rubber for a few hundred miles, of course, most of us have roadside assistance now, I still prepare my self to change a tire. The kit has candles in it, but it does not have a space heater, I keep a ceramic flower pot in the trunk, I can place the candle on the drip tray and put the pot over the candle making sure to leave an air space between the pot and the drip tray. That little heater will warm your vehicle to a liveable level, it works in the desert or the mountain snow regions. The kit has a small stove and a stainless steel cup, it's just enough to heat water and prepare a dehydrated meal or water for a hot beverage. There is a tent in the kit, I have spent the night in the middle of nowhere broken down, I stayed in the vehicle, I never had the need to erect a tent, it depends on where the breakdown occurs whether a tent is needed or not. I spent the night after a breakdown in the woods surrounding Truckee California, it wasn't too bad, I slept in my sleeping bag and wasn't bothered by the cold at all.
The water, of course, I harp on water constantly, I do it because it's so dang important, we keep a case of water in the car with us. We don't leave the water in the trunk or in the vehicle for any length of time, I have heard the plastic in the bottles leach a chemical compound into the water and it may be harmful. I'm not too concerned for my self (of course) but I do not want to compromise the health and safety of any of my grandkids. We have a new one, a little girl she is 1-1/2 years old, we have 10 grandsons, and 3 granddaughters, the little one makes 4 girls. The youngest of them is 8 years old so the new granddaughter may end up being pretty special. (What makes me think so.) The safety equipment in my trunk changes, what is described above will suffice for 60% of the trips I make in this state, Additional supplies must be considered when passing through the mountains or the desert.
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| There are some trees, and shade in most deserts, try to park under one or find one or two to erect a shade by tying a line between them and drop your tarp over it. |
The Desert, in addition to what I call the basic setup in my trunk when traveling through the southern interior of the state I add to it. The entire state of California is desert once a person is inland from the ocean or on one of the valley floors, the desert I am talking about now is the Coachella Valley, that's where Palm Springs and the Salton sea is. (Here is an article on how to pack for a desert trip Link.)
The biggest difference is the temperature, it can get as hot as 125 degrees Fahrenheit, I lived just south of Palm Springs for a few years and my wife and I decided to leave when it reached 126 F, hey we're northerners. I add water to the standard supplies, a lot of water, a case of drinking water and a 5-gallon container for everything else. This is where the tent comes in, we need shade in that hot dry environment, a sleeping bag, broad-brimmed hat and light clothing to cover up in for protection from the sun. Suntan lotion, chapstick, sunglasses and leather gloves are good to add to it as well. If the vehicle is parked in the sun, remove the spare tire from the trunk and place it in the shade or a good distance from the vehicle, I had one explode on me in the back of a Suburban I was driving, not only did it scare me half to death, it sounded like a bomb exploding, it tore the armrest and some of the seats apart, it can be dangerous. Then again, when the temperature reaches 120 degrees Fahrenheit no one wants to sit inside a car anyway. Don't leave your car, someone will eventually find you depending on how far out in the boonies you are, make certain you tell someone where you are going when you will be back and a contact number. Stay covered, drink lots of water, stay where you are unless it's a dangerous situation, and stay in the shade if possible, if not erect a tarp or tent.
The Mountains, all of the same basic equipment as the "flatlanders" setup mentioned first, but true to form we need to add more equipment, gear tuned to the cold. (Here is a Link to an article on preparing for a road trip through the mountains.)
The original kit is basic for a long interior trip, the desert kit is special due to the extreme temperatures and the mountain kit mimics the desert to the other end of the spectrum, gearing it for the cold. There are two passes that come to mind endangering travelers to unknown changes in the weather, (Donner pass and The Tejon pass or "The Grapevine") this past summer it snowed in the Sierras in July. I backpacked throughout the Sierras, there are times when it is not advisable to do so, spring and fall basically, it comes with experience when hiking. Driving through the mountains is entirely different, most people do not understand the mountains in the least amount, let alone heed to the dangers of passing during the winter, spring or fall. A lot of people drive to Nevada or the Ski Resorts around Tahoe, heading for the vacation of their lives, it is a lot of fun. In our excitement we don't always stop to think about the situations we may be facing, although it may be clear and bright in San Francisco, it may be deadly just 3 hours to the Northeast. Donner pass is up there and most of us have heard of that failed pioneer excursion. So what shall we add to our basic kit? In my kit there are emergency sleeping bags, when I go through the mountains I pack a sleeping bag good for zero degrees, I make sure I have a way to heat the car (the candle and flower pot work fine), extra candles, matches, and stove fuel. Warm gloves, long johns, a heavy coat, boots, and a stocking cap to keep your core temperature up. Instant coffee (I'm one of those people, gotta have it), a few freeze-dried meals, extra clothes. A small shovel, signal devices (they should be in the basic kit we add to), a gallon container of gasoline, and last but not least snow chains for the tires. Before leaving on the trip, become acquainted with all of the equipment you have packed in your life-saving kit, because it is just that, it can save your life. Be doubly sure you know how to install your snow chains if you are unable to install them yourself there are people available on the roadside that will install them for a fee.
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| Familiarize your self with your snow chains where it is a controlled environment, this is no place to figure it out. |
Regardless, know how they go on, the set we just purchased may be an oddball, that is re-engineered to the point no one can figure them out. I am recalling fall restraints when the company I worked for would get a new supply of the safety harnesses, sure enough, they were totally different than any we had prior to the new ones. In an emergency situation, we don't want to be on the side of a highway, in a blizzard, and trying to figure out how to install snow chains or any of the other equipment in the trunk. Keep your water liquid, don't let it freeze, with limited heat thawing it will take an enormous amount of time, and I want coffee, quickly. Just like in the desert, stay covered, use suntan lotion, don't leave your vehicle, stay warm, and don't sit in your car while it is running and the windows are rolled up tight, leave a window cracked. Check your exhaust pipe to make sure it is not buried in the snow, if it is it may cause backpressure allowing gases to leak into the vehicle compartment. As it snows use the shovel to keep the area in front of the vehicle clear of snow so when the time comes we can drive out, clear the snow from around the exhaust as well.
It's important to have survival equipment in your vehicles, and every bit as important (sometimes I think this is more important), is to think about what we are about to do. Read about the current conditions, decide to go or stay home prior to leaving. My sisters were driving here from Minnesota and turned around in Wyoming due to nasty weather and the prospect of being caught in the wildfires plaguing California during the past summer. Conditions change, we must stay informed on them, the entire trip may have to be reconsidered at any time.
Thank you for reading and sharing, I wrote this blog meant as a reminder that contrary to what we hear about the Golden State and the sunshine the land of fun which is true, it is also an extremely dangerous environment. There are many areas in this state that people have never been, ever, especially in the mountains and desert. Thanks again.
jacquesandkate emergencykitsplus.com
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