Desert Messenger

16 www.DesertMessenger.com July 12, 2017 FOND MEMORIES I have many fond memories of the 1976 Pace Arrow motorhome that took our family on quite a few adventures. It was about 20 years old at the time.Many of those memories center around endear- ing conversations shared with a spouse. "Watch out for that bus!" "Pull over, we're on fire!" "You're about to take out the gas pumps!" "Help me lift this tranny real quick." "Who left the keys on?" "What are you doing in the fast lane?!" Now all but one of these were his com- ments to me, which generally preceded a long period of silence on my part. But, that first one, "Watch out for that bus!" Those were my words. Not actu- ally to him. I was passionately yelling them inside my head as I watched him back out onto our busy street, only to come windshield to windshield with a big city bus. True, I had just given him the "all is clear" hand signal. But be- tween me giving the clear signal and him actually easing his way off the curb and maneuvering into the street usu- ally provided just the right amount of time for plenty of traffic to come flying down the hill. This time, it was a bus. But my silent pleas were successful and other than a couple of disgruntled driv- ers, there was a happy ending. "Pull over, we're on fire!" We were driv- ing through New Mexico on our way home from a multi-state trip that in- cluded multiple kids. Some started the trip with us, some we picked up along the way as we visited fam- ily. It was once again my turn to drive. The guy-in- the-garage had kicked all the kids out of the back sleeping/table area of the motorhome and was just settling down for a nap. Things seemed to be go- ing fine. I was handling all the lane closures and "road construction ahead" signs just fine. That is, un- til the guy-in-the-garage rushes to the front of the motorhome and yells "Pull over, I think we're on fire!" That sounded like an emergency to me. So I immediately yanked that steering wheel hard to the right. "Well, don't kill us, while you're doing it!" he yelled as he grabbed the fire extinguisher. He jumped out of the motorhome to circle it and find the problem, while the kids shared with me about all the smoke filling the back of the motorhome. When he came back in he eyed me sus- piciously and said, "Do you have the emergency brake on?" You can imagine how completely re- laxed I was behind the wheel after that, when I don't particularly care to drive this big thing while towing a trailer just as long. So naturally at the next gas stop, he kindly stopped me before I de- stroyed the whole gas station with the pleasantly loud comment, "You're about to take out the gas pumps!" Not all the memories involved driving. The mo- torhome was parked next to our house and I was ly- ing underneath the motorhome, as if I were a mechanic. I had been minding my own business working at the computer, when the guy- in-the-garage came into my office and said "Can you help me lift this tranny real quick?" I'm not sure he understands the mean- ing of "real quick." When I get out there, he looked at me and said, "You might want to change clothes." "Who left the keys on?" We had been in the desert for four windy, miserable days and we were finally ready to leave. Loading up was miserable. We were all tired and cranky. The guy-in-the-ga- rage took his seat behind the wheel to discover the keys were turned to "ac- cessory" and probably had been there for most of the trip. You guessed it, the battery was dead. Very dead He assumed it was one of the half dozen kids we had along on that trip, and believe me, it was so tempting to just keep quiet. But I confessed, much to the relief of all the kids. "What are you doing in the fast lane?!" I can assure you it was the last place I wanted to be, but with traffic surrounding me and the guy-in-the-garage a little cranky from being awakened from his nap by all the cars honking at me, it just wasn't the time to ex- plain that I had a very good reason for this latest predic- ament. We sold that old motorhome quite a few years ago, and al- though we had a decade of fun in it, I don't think I've ever missed it. Sherri Kukla is the editor and co-pub- lisher of S&S Off Road Magazine. She along with her husband, the guy-in- the-garage, are also the founders and directors of Thundering Trails off road camp for inner city kids in South- ern California. She can be reached at ssormag@gmail.com or www.ssorm.com. Sherri's Turn In Memoriam Joanne H. Robinson Joanne H. Robinson, 86, of Quartzsite, Arizona died on Saturday, July 8, 2017. Joann Joyce Hagen was born March 29, 1931 to Oscar and Dora Hagen (Germanson) of Clintonville, Wiscon- sin. She was named Katherine Marie Hagen after her two grandmothers. Her sister, Jeanne, who was eight years old at the time, did not like the name. So unbeknownst to their mother, Jeanne called the attending physician, Dr. Murphy and had the name changed to Joanne Joyce. What a surprise when the Hagens received the birth certificate in the mail! Joanne married D. Bruce Robinson on January 2, 1976 at the little glass church in Westchester, Califor- nia. Bruce preceded her in death on May 16, 2005. Joanne was also pre- ceded in death by her parents, sister Jeanne, and brother-in-law War- ren Snider. Joanne is survived by a niece, Mary Bratton of Los Angeles, California, nephews John Snider of Waupaca, Wisconsin and Tom Snider of Winneconne, Wisconsin, as well as grandnieces, grandnephews and many cousins in United States, Can- ada and Germany. Joanne led a most interesting and full life. It was said that Joanne could sing before she could talk and sing she did! When Joanne was twelve years old, she became the organist at the Methodist Church in Clintonville. Prior to that time, she sang at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, for the Morris B. Sachs Amateur Hour. Af- ter that she was invited back to sing at the Chicago Civic Opera House for a Soldiers' Benefit Show. After High School graduation in 1948, Joanne headed for the "big city" of Milwau- kee and sang every Sunday for a year on TV VARIETIES, WTMJ-TV. Then onto Washington,DC where she was employed by the Government at the Pentagon. Her adventures then took her to New York City, where she con- tinued her voice studies while work- ing at CalTex Oil Company on Fifth Avenue. Her dad told her that a roll- ing stone gathers no moss, but that didn't stop Joanne. She then moved to beautiful Connecticut where she sang with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. While in Connecticut, she also worked for Pratt & Whitney and United Aircraft. After a brief return to Clintonville, Joanne moved to sunny California where she met and married Bruce Robinson. After living at the beach when it was still "young" and before the influx of people flowed in faster than the waves from the ocean, Joanne and Bruce retired from Howard Hughes' Aircraft Company in 1986 and moved to a beautiful ranch in Hart Flat, Keene, California. What a won- derful experience with people who also appreciated the beauty and the kind of simple living it offered, and of course, horses, goats, mules, cats, doggies, etc. It was a life and a place that was exceptional and incompara- ble. After eleven years at the ranch, they realized they would soon have to give in to the fact that a smaller place was in order. So, in their RV travels, they found Quartzsite, Ari- zona! They sold the ranch and made Quartzsite their home. Prior to leaving the ranch, Joanne was able, after much advertising, to find and meet her German relatives in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany and in Canada. This was truly an event. Then, after seven years of Bible study while at the ranch, Joanne was bap- tized at Bakersfield, California in 1997 as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Joanne always thanked the Almighty God Jehovah for a most interesting and wonderful life. In her own words, "Oh, the memories, the happy ones and even the sad ones; how I look for- ward to the day when things will be even more wonderful because, as we learned and sang when we were chil- dren, "the Bible tells us so." Joanne has requested that after she leaves this world, and if you remem- ber her, don't put any flowers on her grave. Just give some food and water to a stray animal and treat it with ten- derness and love. And in lieu of flow- ers, donations be sent to an animal shelter of your own choosing. As her parents wished, Joanne will be buried next to them in Clinton- ville, WI. As a child she asked "Why, Mommy?" Her answer was, "Because I want to roll over and talk to you!"

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