Re: AMERICA - in fact Trek America

Posted by SIMON ARMS on Jan 10, 2012; 10:27pm
URL: http://sundownersadventures.385.s1.nabble.com/AMERICA-in-fact-Trek-America-tp5133444p5135440.html

Vicar and I arrived at the new Staten Island location in early April and by mid May the neighbours were complaining about the amount of traffic and TA were forced to lease a garage where drivers could leave their vans and comute to the Mansion. A pain in the arse it was. The "clunker" solution just caused more frustration.
Paul was a problem from my point of view, he was very intelligent and had been with TA forever, he had a very good memory and he was just waiting for me to stuff up. Rumours were around that he actually checked my accounts personally and I would normally be able to pick my own Trek and group but Paul was out to make my life difficult and on one occassion he instructed the LA staff to send me on a Westerner with a group of 15 Germans of which one spoke english and two were females over sixty. The "Panzer" trek worked out OK although I got slightly sick of "we must go here...we must go there" but fortunately they liked a drink so I was able to revisit all my favourite bars. I over did the mileage for the Trek but fortunately Chris who was the LA manager though it was hugely funny and I got away with it. Paul was sure I was fiddling my accounts but he could never work out how, I am pleased to be able to report that I had a few wins on that score and I bet Paul is still trying to work out how I did it even now.
The LA crew were much easier to work with. On one occassion I had to tell Chris that I had lost a van somewhere around Hermosa Beach area of LA. I had met the owner of a very famous Hermosa bar while I was in Mexico some six months earlier and we had got on very well so when the first opportunity presented itself I went for a visit. I walked into this up market establishment and asked the if Walt was about and the Barman said "hello Simon, Walt said that if you ever came in you can have whatever you want for as long as you want". We had a party that lasted a couple of days with lots of different substances consumed and when it came time to go home I couldn't find the van. We did eventually find the van where I had left it in a car park and just in time as well because I was off to Alaska the next day.
My wife and I visited the new Head Quarters of TA in LA in 1992 with Tony Church incharge, Tony and I had been mates back in 1979/80 and he had organised Lou Hockel Jnr to be around so we could catch up. Lou was the only American driver I had time for and we had some unbelievale times together, he visited me in Albury NSW in 1983 and he now runs a Limousine Service at the Vegas Airport.
They were great days and a bit more relaxed than the Overland.