On The Road Again Chapter Two
Okay everyone, your story today is about my travels this week through California and Arizona. After my last trip to dealers in Northern and Central California, there were some dealers in Bakersfield I wanted to meet with. From there I needed to meet with a dealer in Redlands. This took me within 10 miles of Los Angeles and closer than I wanted to be. Nothing so much against the town, but it’s the home of the Lakers and I am a diehard Boston Celtics fan. Although as a senior citizen, I do applaud their commitment to employ the elderly. (Carmelo Anthony 37, LeBron James 36, Marc Gasol 36, Trevor Ariza 36,, Dwight Howard 36) just to name a few. Don’t get me wrong. If anyone is in support of old guys playing basketball it is me. But it should be in a City League like the rest of us.
Where was I? Oh yeah, traveling to the dealer in Redlands. His location wasn’t the easiest to get to, but I was able to meet with some of his staff while he was in a meeting. They were all very friendly and were glad to have someone from the association stop to talk with them. After the owner finished his meeting, we had a very good conversation about the industry and the challenges dealers are facing. He told me this was the first time he can remember someone from the association stopping and talking with him and thanked me. These are the types of experiences that I truly enjoy about this job.
From there, I headed to Southern California to meet with some dealers. And when I say Southern California, I am talking within 5 miles of the Mexican border. After that, I made my way to Yuma and then headed to Scottsdale for a meeting on Thursday. I will tell you the drive from Yuma to Scottsdale was a little different scenery than my first trip through Northern California. There was a lot of desert, sand, and cactuses along the way, and not very many farms.
I made it to Scottsdale to check into the hotel. I looked at the outside temperature on the dashboard of the car and it said it was 115 degrees. I was a little apprehensive to get out of the air-conditioned vehicle into that kind of heat, so I decided I would try a little silent chant in my head to see if it would help. “But it’s a dry heat, But it’s a dry heat, But it’s a dry heat!” It didn’t help.
The meeting went very well, and I am excited with the direction and opportunities this job is providing me. My next trip will more than likely be through Colorado. I am eager to keep you posted on my travels just as much as I am sure you are eager to read about them. Thanks for reading.
Next week: The Salt Lake Express Surprise
P.S. As I drove through Southern Arizona, I found myself joyfully saying, “It’s still not Utah, It’s still not Utah, It’s still not Utah!”