JPG

Gordon Pennington, with his father, owns a tire business in Essex, California, in the desert just west of Lake Havasu, Arizona. We met him out of necessity; we were running out of tires on our trailer; they kept popping with the 106 degree temperature and weight of the boat. He kept his distance at first but warmed up quickly. Essex didn't appear to have any people in town, except him, and that's just the way he likes it. His father, wife ("my old lady") and three or four dogs kept him company. A lot of "famous people" as he described them had come through Essex and stopped at his location. His business sits on Route 66 and the equipment in the yard and old filling station storefront obviously get plenty of attention.