We set out Monday on on two-nighter to really kick the tires on all the new equipment that we picked up online – the purchase of which I’m sure helped struggling billionaires make their rent this month.
New… lots of stuff… so we can make the one month voyage – the real biggie – next month. Not only was small stuff on trial but so was the Bus and, of course, me. (Mo and Michelle can be counted on to be extraordinary in every way. Mostly.)
Day/Night One was in Red Rock Canyon State Park which I have driven by many times and driven through but never stayed. Then, Night Two at my personal favorite, Kennedy Meadows (the Southern one, don’t get me started.)
We found a spot off to the far end at Red Rock which was handy because Michelle did Anxiety Opera for about six hours from our arrival at one o’clock till nearly dark. She has days like this but it did make me wonder if I was crazy to consider all this. Then, she slept like a baby for twelve hours and I woke up thinking I was a genius.
As I wandered around in the gloaming that night and she finally slept, I thought about the expansion or one’s zone of influence or lack thereof and how it’s connected to one’s perception of time. Yes, Joshua trees and lenticular clouds do this to me.
The next day was as delightfully peaceful as the previous one was not. But we were tackling the dreaded 9 Mile Road up the grade from Pearsonville to Kennedy Meadows. Many on FB sites had cautioned me not to do this in or to my Bus but I thought, “Hey, if it can’t make it on one 9 mile grade, how is it going to do 5000 miles and many grades? Let’s find out.” Like the horse in the movie Hidalgo, there is nothing wrong with that bus. Up and down, a dream. (Not sure if it’s proper to send flowers to a mechanic.)
We did boondock camping along the Kern River, after we ate in front of Grumpy Bear’s – Michelle can’t do the stairs – and had a long peaceful afternoon where I thought about absolutely nothing at all except that I’m inept with tents. (It blew over in Red Rock but remained standing at KM. I’m improving.)
Mo made more friends in two days than the average cat does in a lifetime. I love cats, btw. But he did find something swampy to wade in and that notched him down from perfect to stinky, which is a notch up on the dog world.
All this is to say, to confirm, that the jury is back after deliberations and we will be making the long journey into Midwest next month. Hope to meet some of you on the way.
