25 The Domes Today Coco had been in contact with 62mi99km of road surface, which
meant we had cycled a lot of miles this week. Because Sir I.
Ten made it so easy for us and despite the delay with the police we arrived where
Jimmie ended at one o’clock sharp. Five minutes later we were at a cross point
with on our right the Florence Boulevard and on our left the W. Giland Bend Hwy. Looking
left I saw a sign with the name Boots & Saddle Motel. With such an original
name there was no need to search any further, this would be the right Motel for
tonight. When entering
the motel, some Christmas decoration made me realize for the first time since I woke up this
morning that it was Christmas day. However, I was not in a Christmas spirit For me personally, Christmas was all about being
together with family and friends, which at the moment I was not. I first took a
long refreshing shower and relaxed a little by watching television. Yesterday I had
bought enough food and because I’d gone out with Dwayne yesterday I still had the
ingredients for this evenings diner. After a simple but nice meal I went to the reception
to ask whether there was a nice local pub not far from the motel. The receptionist told me that there was one, at
a two minutes’ drive from here. I ask him if it was possible to walk to the bar. “No problem, it’s only a ten-minute walk from
here,” he answered. “Take the W Pinal Avenue here at the cross point
and after a half mile you will see the bar on your left. It has a big sign in front
of it with the name ‘The Silver Bullet Bar’, you cannot miss it.” Just as the name of the motel did, this name
told me that I had to visit this bar. I left my room at around seven and fifteen minutes
later I was standing in front of a small, ugly, detached building. No light could
enter the building simply because there were no windows and the only one at the
front was blinded. In complete contradiction with the building, the
sign in front of it was impressive. At the roadside on a concrete pole high above the
building in blue neon lighting, I saw a neon champagne glass, even with neon cocktails
bubbles in red and white. Under this
cocktail glass, in neon lettering, I read the name ‘cocktail’ in a green color
and under this neon lettering I read on a black background ‘The Silver Bullet’. Under the
name of the bar on a white background I read ‘Package Good’. Under this last confusing text there was an
enormous neon arrow pointing at this little ugly building and the lights in the
arrow went on and off, moving in the direction of the bar. The contradiction between this impressive sign
and the building was almost funny. But the effect to me as a potential customer
was that I went in this unappealing building without hesitation. Inside
I looked around; it was a local bar to relax and unwind, definitely not the hottest
place in town. On the right side there was a 30ft9m long straight bar with around ten bar stools in line,
most of them occupied. In the
front you had the main
bar area with forty additional seats and
a number of tables. The tables were all pushed together so that the
locals could sit together. It all looked
very basic, a high living room feeling. Christmas was not abundantly present here either.
The locals focused
their gaze on the new guest, but after a blink the interest was already gone and
they went on with their conversations. I decided to
go to the bar and confiscate one of the few free bar stools. The bartender
was a hospitable rookie. With a lot of
personal attention, she served me a drink. The couple
next to me was certainly not from around here, but were probably also travelers
who visited the bar for a last drink. The
lady surprised me by telling me, without introduction, that I was the red cyclist
that arrived around 1:00pm13:00 at the Boots & Saddle
Motel. This was the start of a pleasant evening for
three. She was
around forty and introduced herself as Pamela. The man was Jack, about the same age, and a business partner
of hers. He was an architect
who was helping her to find a location for a new headquarters for her company. The last
month I had learned myself to give people who asked about my cycling trip, a reasonably
coherent story. I used the back page of my notebook, where I wrote down my stumbling
words, as reference. I noticed
in general that the people I met experienced my bad pronunciation and crooked phrases
not as annoying but as funny and disarming. When I finished
my story with my arrival in Casa Grande, I asked Pamela if this was also a stopover for them.
“No Peter, at the moment we are investigating
in the possibility to transfer the headquarter of my company to Casa Grande. We found
a piece of land a mile1.6km
south of Interstate 8 that would be perfect
for my plans. I have
lots of wild ideas and Jack is trying to translate them into a realistic plan.” “Wild ideas, about your product line or about
the plant?” I asked. “It’s about
the plant. The land
we found is an arid piece of desert just outside Casa Grande. It is at the end
of a paved road. I want to create a group of dome-like structures.
The main office has to look like a flying saucer.
The whole picture has to look surrealistic, from
the sky, but also from the ground, something like a small fleet of unidentified
objects landed on another planet. That is what
I want and that is what Jack will work out for me.” At that moment Jack took over and I was surprised
how serious they were telling me their ideas.
While listening to their story I was already thinking
about how to react in case they asked for my opinion. It had to be something that
mattered and that sounded sensible. Jack talked very enthusiastic about the practical
part of this project. “Pamela’s
wishes may sound very complex, but the plan can be realized in three months. Huge inflatable balloons has to be created in the form of each
of the domes. From inside,
the balloons will be held up by a steel construction. Three
inches concrete is poured over the balloons but first a layer of Styrofoam. After a few days the balloons and
steel can be removed and wat’s left is a large open space within each dome. I think the acoustics will probably be
astonishing. We are just discussing the formation of the
group shells. This is our favorite.” Jack showed me a drawing, and I asked them
if I could draw a sketch of their design in my notebook. Jack told me he was
curious about my opinion and asked me about my first impression. I was prepared. “I like the fact that you are creating a
building not out of practical efficiency but on the feeling. It creates a historic atmosphere and people
will love or hate it. But they certainly will talk about it. I am very interested in mysterious objects
and read a few books of the author Erich von Däniken.
In Dutch the title of the one I loved the most was ‘Waren
de Goden Kosmonauten? I do not know the English title, but the
literal translation is ’Were the Gods cosmonauts?’. In this book, Erich describes
mysterious objects and he tries to find the creator and the reason of the creation.
These
objects are found all around the world like for instance the monolithic statues
of Easter Island. Probably because of my interest in mysterious
objects I like the design of yours. The formations of the shells, it looks like a
mythological symbol. Is that done consciously? If so,
what is the meaning of this symbol?” “No, I don’t think so, and if so it’s a nice
accessory,” Pamela replied. “If I ever pass this area again I will certainly
visit the location to see whether your plans have become reality. “ Pamela told me it would take a while. “We first have to talk to the local authorities
for the required building permits. We also need to talk with the bank to finance
the project. But we are not
in a hurry. I think we probably
will start at the end of 81.“ We all left The Silver Bullet around 10:00pm22:00 and Pamela and Jack insisted to drive me back to the motel. When I entered my motel room, I was in a good
mood. I just had a pleasant evening with an interesting
lady who had a crazy imagination. Once between the
sheets I was not able to sleep immediately, Von Däniken was still telling me about
visitors of outer space. |