Interstate 15 or Highway 395: How Did Mom & Dad Do It?

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Which way should we go? Which way should we go?

used Janet M. Nast Tom & I had to take a drive out to Ca this weekend to help my son’s friend with some computer problems. Last night when we were discussing the best route to take back, Tom suggested we go the “long” way via 395 thru Death Valley and blow by Scotty’s Castle. (Legend has it that it was built by Walter Scott, aka, “Death Valley Scotty,” with the money from his rich, secret gold mines. In reality it was built by his partner, Albert Mussey Johnson as a vacation home for his wife, Bessie.)

As fascinating as that all sounded to me, I nixed the idea right off the get go. Two reasons: it’s an hour or two longer, and we have no idea if there’s anywhere to stop to eat or use a bathroom.

We’d be driving wayyy out through the middle of nowhere for four to five hours and, I don’t know about you, but when I get really hungry, I get headaches sometimes and I get pretty damn mean (we affectionately refer to that as getting “hangry” now). On top of that, I’ve had two kids and I think it’s pretty common knowledge that after child birth, your bladder shrinks to the size of a pea (no pun intended ;-/ ). And yes, that would be me.

After all, it is a beautiful drive!

Janet M. Nast in Death Valley

But then I got to thinking about it again this morning. We just took a beautiful drive thru a small part of Death Valley last weekend and it was such a wonderful experience.

And then I got to remembering how we (Mom, Dad & my two brothers) used to drive cross country via Route 66 every two years back in the late 50’s and early 60’s. At that time there were stretches of road with nothing but a gas station every 1/2 day or so. Since I was under 7 years old on that last trip, I really have no idea how many miles that was. But I do know it was pretty rare to see any other cars or trucks either. Funny thing, when we did see one, we’d all wave at each other like we’d all just seen Santa in each other’s cars!

(The first picture shown above was taken in Beatty, NV, known as a "Gateway to Death Valley." Yes, those are rather friendly wild donkeys. Tom took the next one just as we were coming up out of the north end of the valley. The third picture, shown below, was taken in the ghost town of Rhyolite, a few miles outside of Beatty.)

So, how did Mom and Dad do it?

Either way, I was just thinking, so how did Mom & Dad do it? I mean those gas stations only had gas and sometimes a coke bottle machine out front. If you were lucky, you could use their bathroom and drinking fountain, and maybe buy a map. used Janet M. Nast Oh, and some had pay phones for a nickel or a dime. (Remember “collect calls?") No candy bars, no chips, no Subway Sandwiches or McDonalds, ha! Nothing! I’m not even sure McDonald’s was invented yet…maybe you can find that out.

Yeah, so I really had to think about how Mom and Dad did it way back then.

As I got to thinking about it, I remembered there were always “pull outs” along the 2-lane highway. A pull-out was a little moon-shaped, gravel patch about two car widths on the side of the road. They usually had a picnic table, a trash can and one shade tree just off on the edge. That was it. No BBQ’s or porta-potties. (I’ll explain our options for that in just a minute) But that’s where we would stop and have lunch.

It's called "being prepared for anything!"

Mom and Dad always packed fixings for sandwiches so we wouldn’t starve to death. I don’t remember exactly what kind, but I do remember Mom always liked to made egg salad, bologna and PB&J for lunches at home. So, I’m guessing that’s probably what we had.

used Janet M. Nast Occasionally we were allowed to buy a bottle of pop (aka “soda”) at the gas station but usually it was just water. And nope, no individual plastic bottles, it was Dad’s canteen. He would refill it at gas stations along the way and we’d all get a sip or two. Oh, I don’t remember any ice chests either; everything was either desert hot or lukewarm at best. Can you just imagine three kids, not seat-belted in, playing in a chest full of ice as we’re barreling down the highway? Ha – no way we would have lived to see the end of that trip!

Anyway, we always had apples too. No bananas or oranges or anything else, always apples. Mom said it was something we couldn’t fight over cuz we each got our own, they’re fairly tidy to eat, and we could throw the core out the window. Of course, that part always made me feel weird because we were taught from a very young age that littering was wrong: Dad would break our arm or the government would fine us a million dollars and throw us in jail if we got caught, right?! That’s what the signs always said! Actually, we were all more afraid of Dad. But he assured us that tossing an apple core out the window was ok because animals could eat it or it would eventually dissolve into the earth like any other old plant.

Especially the pit stops, hahaha!

Now the bathrooms... ha... that’s funny now that I think back on it. Dad and my brothers, well, it was pretty easy for them. But me and Mom, not so much. So, did I mention how talented my dad was regarding wood working? What he did for me and Mom was carve a wooden toilet seat! Polished and shellacked it so it was as smooth as a baby’s butt. And although there weren’t always “privacy” bushes along the road, Dad could at least find rocks. That way he could arrange a few rocks, set that seat on top and we were good to go. He’d just take my brothers for a long walk or keep them otherwise occupied while Mom and I took care of business crouched behind the car door. You couldn’t pay me to do that today, LOL!!!

As we wind on down the road...

Well after all that reminiscing on my part, Tom and I decided to go ahead and take the long route home via highway 395 that weekend. Turns out it was so worth it and I really didn’t have to “hold it” for more than a couple hours. We also packed a lunch before we left so I wouldn’t have to worry about getting hangry.

used Janet M. Nast On the way we found an interesting little town out in the middle of nowhere called “Trona.” Trona is actually located at the western edge of Searles Lake which is a dry lakebed from which they mine “trona.” That, in case you don’t know, is a pink colored sodium carbonate (salt). Look it up, it’s pretty interesting.

Then after having lunch, using their restroom, and picking out my traditional tourist t-shirt, we headed on down into Death Valley. (Check out the picture below where we dropped down into the valley.)

Next stop about 50 to 100 miles later (I’m guessing), was Furnace creek, with, yes, another bathroom and a quick looksie in the gift shop for me. Life is good!

We made this drive in about six hours rather than the three and a half it normally would have taken if we’d headed out highway 58 to Interstate 15. But it was so worth it to have the chance to see this beautiful and mostly untouched part of Southern California.

If you ever get the chance to do this drive, do it. And let me know…maybe when you get to Amargosa or Shoshone we could meet for a pop.

Warmest regards,

Jan

used Janet M. Nast
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17 Inches – Don’t Widen the Plate

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Opryland Hotel - 52nd Annual ABCA's Convention

John Scolinos - 17 inches-as told by Tom Gibbs and shared by Janet M. Nast

By Tom Gibbs

Twenty years ago, in Nashville, Tennessee, during the first week of January 1996, more than 4,000 baseball coaches descended upon the Opryland Hotel for the 52nd annual ABCA's convention.

While I waited in line to register with the hotel staff, I heard other more veteran coaches rumbling about the lineup of speakers scheduled to present during the weekend. One name kept resurfacing, always with the same sentiment — “John Scolinos is here? Oh, man, worth every penny of my airfare.”

Who is John Scolinos, I wondered? No matter: I was just happy to be there.

In 1996, Coach Scolinos was 78 years old, and five years retired from a college coaching career that began in 1948. He shuffled to the stage to an impressive standing ovation, wearing dark polyester pants, a light blue shirt, and a string around his neck from which home plate hung — a full-sized, stark-white home plate.

Seriously, I wondered, who is this guy?

Introducing John Scolinos

After speaking for twenty-five minutes, not once mentioning the prop hanging around his neck, Coach Scolinos appeared to notice the snickering among some of the coaches. Even those who knew Coach Scolinos had to wonder exactly where he was going with this, or if he had simply forgotten about home plate since he’d gotten on stage. Then, finally …

“You’re probably all wondering why I’m wearing home plate around my neck,” he said, his voice growing irascible. I laughed along with the others, acknowledging the possibility. “I may be old, but I’m not crazy. The reason I stand before you today is to share with you baseball people what I’ve learned in my life, what I’ve learned about home plate in my 78 years.”

How Wide is Home Plate?

Several hands went up when Scolinos asked how many Little League coaches were in the room.

“Do you know how wide home plate is in Little League?”

After a pause, someone offered, “Seventeen inches?”, more of a question than answer.

“That’s right,” he said. “How about in Babe Ruth’s day? Any Babe Ruth coaches in the house?”

Another long pause.

“Seventeen inches?” a guess from another reluctant coach.

That’s right,” said Scolinos. “Now, how many high school coaches do we have in the room?” Hundreds of hands shot up, as the pattern began to appear. “How wide is home plate in high school baseball?”

“Seventeen inches,” they said, sounding more confident.

“You’re right!” Scolinos barked. “And you college coaches, how wide is home plate in college?”

“Seventeen inches!” we said, in unison.

“Any Minor League coaches here? How wide is home plate in pro ball?”

“Seventeen inches!”

“RIGHT! And in the Major Leagues, how wide home plate is in the Major Leagues?”

“Seventeen inches!”

“SEV-EN-TEEN INCHES!” he confirmed, his voice bellowing off the walls. “And what do they do with a Big League pitcher who can’t throw the ball over seventeen inches?”

Pause.

“They send him to Pocatello!” he hollered, drawing raucous laughter.

“What they don’t do is this: they don’t say, ‘Ah, that’s okay, Jimmy. If you can’t hit a seventeen-inch target? We’ll make it eighteen inches or nineteen inches. We’ll make it twenty inches so you have a better chance of hitting it. If you can’t hit that, let us know so we can make it wider still, say twenty-five inches.'”

Pause.

“Coaches… what do we do when your best player shows up late to practice? Or when our team rules forbid facial hair and a guy shows up unshaven? What if he gets caught drinking? Do we hold him accountable? Or do we change the rules to fit him? Do we widen home plate?"

So What?

The chuckles gradually faded as four thousand coaches grew quiet, the fog lifting as the old coach’s message began to unfold. He turned the plate toward himself and, using a Sharpie, began to draw something. When he turned it toward the crowd, point up, a house was revealed, complete with a freshly drawn door and two windows.

“This is the problem in our homes today. With our marriages, with the way we parent our kids. With our discipline.

We don’t teach accountability to our kids, and there is no consequence for failing to meet standards. We just widen the plate!”

Pause.

Then, to the point at the top of the house he added a small American flag.

“This is the problem in our schools today. The quality of our education is going downhill fast and teachers have been stripped of the tools they need to be successful, and to educate and discipline our young people. We are allowing others to widen home plate! Where is that getting us?”

Silence.

He replaced the flag with a Cross.

“And this is the problem in the Church, where powerful people in positions of authority have taken advantage of young children, only to have such an atrocity swept under the rug for years. Our church leaders are widening home plate for themselves! And we allow it.”

“And the same is true with our government. Our so-called representatives make rules for us that don’t apply to themselves. They take bribes from lobbyists and foreign countries. They no longer serve us. And we allow them to widen home plate! We see our country falling into a dark abyss while we just watch.”

We Learned WHAT at a Baseball Convention?

I was amazed. At a baseball convention where I expected to learn something about curve balls and bunting and how to run better practices, I had learned something far more valuable.

From an old man with home plate strung around his neck, I had learned something about life, about myself, about my own weaknesses and about my responsibilities as a leader. I had to hold myself and others accountable to that which I knew to be right, lest our families, our faith, and our society continue down an undesirable path.

John Scolinos - 17 inches-as told by Tom Gibbs and shared by Janet M. Nast

“If I am lucky,” Coach Scolinos concluded, “you will remember one thing from this old coach today. It is this: If we fail to hold ourselves to a higher standard, a standard of what we know to be right; if we fail to hold our spouses and our children to the same standards, if we are unwilling or unable to provide a consequence when they do not meet the standard; and if our schools & churches & our government fail to hold themselves accountable to those they serve, there is but one thing to look forward to …”

With that, he held home plate in front of his chest, turned it around, and revealed its dark black backside, “…We have dark days ahead.”

Note: Coach Scolinos died in 2009 at the age of 91, but not before touching the lives of hundreds of players and coaches, including mine. Meeting him at my first ABCA convention kept me returning year after year, looking for similar wisdom and inspiration from other coaches. He is the best clinic speaker the ABCA has ever known because he was so much more than a baseball coach.

His message was clear: “Coaches, keep your players—no matter how good they are—your own children, your churches, your government, and most of all, keep yourself at seventeen inches."

And this my friends is what our country has become and what is wrong with it today, and now go out there and fix it!

"Don't widen the plate."

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Dealing with Roommates #2

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I've listed these suggestions in order of importance based on my experience with my kids as well as what I've heard from their friends.

Room mates and Janet M. Nast

In order to save on rent, you might want to consider sharing your home with friends, aka “roommates.” That way you can split the rent by the number of tenants.

The most important thing you should do in a roommate situation is to make sure everyone’s names and signatures are included on the lease or rental agreement. This ensures that all parties involved have made the commitment to be accountable for the rent as well as any terms included in the agreement, such as the condition of the home.

Here are a few things that should be discussed and agreed upon amongst roommates that are not talked about in a lease or rental agreement:

  • Who will sleep where?

  • What do everyone’s work, school, and sleep schedules look like? This will help everyone to be aware of when quiet time is needed.

  • What will the guidelines be regarding visitors? This discussion might include when visitors are welcome based on work, school and homework schedules. Talk about evenings, weekends and overnight stays. And while it should be understood that each person is responsible for the behavior of their visitors, it is worth talking about up front.

  • How will housework be split up? This might include discussions about keeping the common areas of the house clean such as the living room, bathroom, and kitchen. In regards to the kitchen, you should discuss meal preparation as well as the subsequent cleanup.

  • How will you handle grocery shopping? Will you share things such as milk, eggs, and cereal? This discussion might include where each persons’ groceries are to be stored.

  • How do you all feel about sharing personal items such as dishes, glasses, towels, silverware, pots and pans, toilet paper, soap, shampoo, laundry detergent, clothes, etc.?
Room mates and Janet M. Nast

Those are just a few topics you should discuss with potential roommates. You may also want to consider a Relationship Agreement so you don’t end up all kinds of pissed off at each other and losing good friends.

To learn more about the roommate experience, talk with your parents or other friends and see how their situations panned out. I’m sure everyone has a story!!!

Learn more about living on your own by adding this great resource to your Kindle app:

Shifting to the Business of Life
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