Tuesday, March 29
Five Palm Springs to Palo Verde
54 miles
I left my off road campsite just after the sun came up, rode most of the way down the sandy wash (where I’d walked the bike in yesterday), and was on the road by 7am. I made pretty good time to the Glamis store, where I met the leader of a supported cross-country ride, the Wandering Wheelers. (Supported means a truck is carrying their gear, unlike me.) He was riding a scooter ahead of the bikers, though he himself had ridden across the country 43 times! As his lead rider cruised in, I headed out, with an invitation to lunch with their group. Almost immediately, the wind kicked up and I slowed down. Dan, the lead rider, caught up with me pretty quickly, and we chatted for a bit, even though he had to practically pedal backwards to go at my pace.
We stopped when two self-supported (carrying gear) riders crossed the road to talk to us. Turns out they were also heading East, but had turned back because the headwind was so strong around the corner. They were heading back to the Glamis store to try to get a ride. When Ben and I rode from Boston to Seattle, we had a lot of headwinds. You just go really slow for a long time. It’s not the most fun, but it’s doable. Still, I asked those guys to stop and check on me if they came by with a ride. I didn’t see them again. I struggled for probably 15 miles against the wind, stopping occasionally to take pictures of the dramatic scenery. Well, stopping a lot for almost any reason, really, just to have a quick rest.
Glamis Dunes
Wandering Wheelers passed me throughout the day. I was thrilled to see their yellow truck at a corner and pulled off to have lunch with them. Their group was mostly in their 60′s or older. This was not the first time across the country for most of them. I look forward to that kind of activity at that age! Still, a rider like me carrying gear caused quite a stir among them. At lunch, I learned that one of them, Dean Welch, is from Jacksonville, Illinois, where my dad spends his summers. Then I found out that Mr. Welch and his wife Judy were on the Odyssey 2000 around the world ride with Ben! Such a small world!
Dean Welch and I at lunch
Parked at the welcoming support truck
After lunch, the headwind had mostly died down, but the damage was already done. It was another long 20 miles to the campground in Palo Verde, with a series of up and down hills. I had to walk to the top of two of them, but most were easy enough to get over. Most of the Wheelers were already ahead of me, but a few passed by. I enjoyed meeting Terry, who was from Arlington Heights, Illinois.
When I arrived in Palo Verde, the convenient store was closed, but I could see the Wheeler’s yellow support truck right off the road. I was glad they had invited me to camp with them, because it was at more of a mobile home park than a campground, so I didn’t have to worry about the organizing. Once again at dinner, I enjoyed being part of a group where we were all interested in the same crazy thing. We also had a good laugh over the pair that had turned back in the face of the headwinds earlier in the day. One of them had commented, “I’m 50 years old! I don’t want to have a heart attack!” This vibrant group, several in their 80′s, thought that was pretty rich.
Turns out, this is also the last coast to coast ride for this group, as Coach and his wife Marilyn, leaders of the Wheelers, are sort of retiring. They’ll still be running some shorter trips, but it was an honor to be a part of their last southern crossing!
Monday, Mar. 28
El Centro to Five Palms Hot Springs, outside of Glamis
30 flat miles
Fred’s mom, Elise, made me an awesome traveling breakfast of eggs and ham and toast. I realized later I should have taken a picture of it! Instead, we took pictures in front of the house. I tried to get one with all of their cars in it, because it reminds me of Fred. He had a collection of cars, including a Pinzgauer and a Halflinger, at one time, and now I know where he gets it from!
I’d planned to start at 7, but left about 8. Luckily, it’s not the hottest time of the year in the desert yet, so I’m not too worried about riding in the heat of the afternoon. But, the sun is still hot. I’ve been wearing my long sleeve jersey the last two days to protect me from the rays, and the temperature has been quite comfortable.
I left El Centro and made good time to Brawley. The road surface was so much nicer than the day before! After Brawley, there were only irrigated fields and desert on the way to the sand dunes at Glamis. I’d called the Ranger Station the day before to find out about camping in the area, and they suggested a hot springs about a mile off the road. It sounded findable, so that was my plan.
During the afternoon, I was taking a break by the side of the road, and an old man with a white beard and a beat up pickup truck pulled over just to tell me about the hot springs as well! He said bikers often went there, so I was sure that was the place. At about 29 miles, I came upon the turn off. I’d hoped it was more like 40 miles, but I had no other camping plan, so I turned off. It would mean adding those miles on the next day.
I walked and rode when I could down a sandy, scrubby road toward a stand of date palms. I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out in this cool oasis with a steady stream of rv’ers, dirt bikers, locals on the way home from work, and travelers, though no other bikers. The water was maybe in the low 90′s, so you could sit in it for a long time. One person I met there knows the friends I stayed with at the Desert Tower! Small world!
A red ant bit me on the butt at some point, and that stung for about two hours. Better a red ant than a scorpion or a snake, I guess!
I went to bed early to get up early for a 50 mile ride the next day.
My off-road campsite
Sat. March 26
Portrero to the Desert Tower at In Ko Pah Rd.
35 miles
Today there was a little more downhill, but I still had to walk some uphills. There were really no good places to stop and have a break. And it was cold! In the morning, I realized I had forgotten to pack any socks, and the only pair of shoes I have with are sandals. I met an Oregonian couple who had been kayaking in Baja for four months at the campground, and they gifted me a pair of socks!
One place I did stop was Wisteria Candy Cottage in Boulevard. It was great to have chocolates to nibble on for the rest of the day, but they didn’t have much space for me to stay out of the weather, so I moved on.
As the day wore on, I fantasized about calling Tyg, the friend I was planning to stay with this night, and having him pick me up and drive the rest of the way. But then the wind pushed me uphill for about the last 7 miles! Thank goodness it was going my way. Otherwise it would have stopped me.
Tyg gave me his tour of the Desert Tower. We Explored the caves and saw his side of the mountain. I had a relaxing bath, we watched Absolutely Fabulous, and it was great to talk with Tyg and his wife Alexa.
Sun. Mar. 27
Desert Tower to El Centro
25 miles riding
I had such a nice visit with Tyg and Alexa! I got to check out Tyg’s projects getting ready for the playa. An art car and a trailer! With the strong winds, Tyg and Alexa were a little worried I’d be blown off the road as descended down the 8. I’m still getting comfortable managing the fully loaded bike on screaming downhills, so I wasn’t to sad to accept a ride to Ocotoillo at the bottom of the hill.
Here’s my bike in the back of Tyg’s truck in front of the Desert Tower
The road surface on the S80 was rough!
This was a good section. Other than that, it was flat with little wind.
Today I fixed things! When I first started riding after getting my bike out of Tyg’s truck, my odometer wasn’t working, so I moved the sensor around to find the right spot! Later, I identified a noise and made it stop. It was the zipper pulls of my handlebar bag bouncing on the mounting bracket, so I moved them. Not rocket science, but it’s importoant to know what’s making noise on your bike, in case it’s something critical. Also, one of my water bottle cages jiggled loose on the bumpy road, and I tightened it back down. These are not the most major repairs by any means, but it’s just good to know I’ve been able to take care of what’s come up so far.
Plaster City on the way to El Centro sits idle and vacant.
I arrived in El Centro around 2:00 and got in touch with Elise and Phil Heald, parents of my friend Fred. They weren’t yet back from a weekend camping trip, so I found a great park about a block from their house to hang out in. It was such a treat to be able to stay with them! I did laundry and they took me out to dinner, even after I ate a plate of veggies and most of a box of crackers at the house. Biking makes me hungry!
It had also been nice to have a pretty short day. I haven’t been too sore so far, but am definitely feeling tired, but happy.
Or breakfast with good friends!
Friday, March 25, 2011
San Diego to Portrero, 47 miles
Friday morning I met Mara and Cheryl at the Mission. Then I went back to Sean and Chris’ house, loaded up the bike, and rolled out!
It rained as I left town. Drizzling at first, then more. I thought, it’s not raining that hard, it’s Southern California. I’ll just get wet and dry off as I ride. When my glasses were streaming, I knew it was time to get out the good raincoat. I had almost left it behind, thinking it was too warm. I finally decided to bring it when I realized I would be sad I didn’t have it if I ever had to set up camp in the rain. I was so happy to have the right gear today!
It’s hard to train for a cross-country trip. I think you have to ramp up as you go. That’s great in theory, but is pretty tricky when the first has possibly the most climbing of any day on this route. I had to remember to just take my time! I’ve got nothing else to do all day but bike.
I stopped and drank hot tea once I turned on to Jamacha Blvd. I had a PB and J under the awning of a scooter and lawnmower dealership to stay out of the rain. With 10 miles left, I stopped for tea at Barrett Springs Junction. It was becoming clear that those 10 miles were all uphill, and I was tired. I put out signals that I might like to find a ride up the hill, or maybe camp behind the restaurant. All I got was, yup, it’s a big hill, and, nope, there’s nothing between here and there. You made your bed, stupid biker, they all seemed to be saying, now lie in it.
Secretly wishing someone with pickup truck would pull over and take mercy on me, I headed up the hill, I biked, rested and walked my way up. I practically kissed the sign for Portrero County Campground. I did stop to take a picture, but my camera battery died right then and there. Of course the campground, another mile and a half off the main road, was at the top of a hill. I had to walk part way. But I had camp set up and showered before dark. Hot water and not riding at night. There’s not much more you can ask for. I’m having a power bar for dinner and another for breakfast to reduce weight. I’m carrying about 8 of them because they were on sale at the grocery store last week. Never again!
All day, I felt I was up to something special, but in the city, it seemed like no one wanted to know about it. People at bus stops wanly waved back as I sped by, yelling, “Good morning!” I rode past Oak Park Elementary, where I had taught for six years. Nobody knew. At my first tea, I got to tell two volunteer retired police officers I met in the parking lot what I was doing. Two odd older women at second tea were worried if I was warm enough, and wondered if I was scared by passing cars. But other than that, no one I met today was really interested in my cross-country trip. Just a reminder that this undertaking is for me, and not to please anyone else.
As I prepared to leave in the morning, Sean watched me struggle with attaching the panniers to the rack. Just like Ben a few days ago, he didn’t help, because I have to be able to do it on my own. In a few days, it will be a smooth operation. For tonight, I’ve left the panniers on the bike, so I don’t have to reattach them in the morning! Yay!
Or breakfast with good friends!
Friday morning I met Mara and Cheryl at the Mission. Then I went back to Sean and Chris’ house, loaded up the bike, and rolled out!
It rained as I left, drizzling, and then coming down harder. At first, I thought, it’s not raining that hard, it’s Southern California. I’ll just get wet and dry off as I ride. When my glasses were soaked, I knew it was time to get out the good raincoat. I had almost left it behind. I had finally decided to bring it thinking I would be sad I didn’t have it if I ever had to set up camp in the rain. I was so happy to have the right gear for the day! I was also glad to have the yellow rain flys on my panniers. It makes them extra visible and keeps my stuff dry.
It’s hard to train for a cross-country trip. I think you have to ramp up as you go. That’s great in theory, but is pretty tricky when the first has possibly the most climbing of any day on this route. I had to remember to just take my time! I’ve got nothing else to do all day but bike.
I stopped and drank hot tea once I turned on to Jamacha Blvd. I had a PB and J under the awning of a scooter and lawnmower dealership to stay out of the rain. With 10 miles left, I stopped for tea at Barrett Springs Junction. It was becoming clear that those 10 miles were all uphill, and I was tired. I put out signals that I might like to find a ride up the hill, or maybe camp behind the restaurant. All I got was, yup, it’s a big hill, and, nope, there’s nothing between here and there. You made your bed, stupid biker, they all seemed to be saying, now lie in it.
Secretly wishing someone with a pickup truck would pull over and take mercy on me, I headed up the hill. I biked, rested and walked my way up. I practically kissed the sign for Portrero County Campground. I did stop to take a picture, but my camera battery died right then and there. Of course the campground, another mile and a half off the main road, was at the top of a hill. I had to walk part way. But I had camp set up and showered before dark. Hot water and not riding at night. There’s not much more you can ask for. I had a power bar for dinner and another for breakfast to reduce weight. I’m carrying about 8 of them because they were on sale at the grocery store last week. Never again!
All day, I felt I was up to something special, but in the city, no one wanted to know about it. A my first tea, I got to tell two volunteer retired police officers what I was doing. They were impressed. Two odd older women at second tea were worried if I was warm enough, and wondered if I was scared by passing cars. But other than that, no one I met today was really interested in my cross-country trip. Just a reminder that this undertaking is for me, and not to please anyone else.
This morning, Sean had watched me struggle with attaching the panniers to the rack. Just like Ben a few days ago, he didn’t help, because I need to be able to do it on my own. In a few days, it will be a smooth operation. For tonight, I’ve left the panniers on the bike, so I don’t have to reattach them in the morning! Yay!
November 23 to December 8, 2010
It was hard to leave Reno! I loved staying with Nathan and Marie and their awesome kids, Maya and baby Nash! I loved it even though my room was unheated and in their garage. I had layers of cozy blankets and spent most of my time in the house. It was fun to feel like part of the family. I got to take Maya to gymnastics lessons and I had a great sewing set up in the office where I could craft while Marie worked, as long as I stopped the sewing machine while she was on the phone. There was never a shortage of whipped cream for our hot chocolate in the Gilbert household! I didn’t even mind having to get an ice scraper to keep in my car for the first time in thirteen or so years.
But, the point of traveling is not to permanently stop at the first place you go, so towards the end of November, it made sense to move on.
I made plans to spend Thanksgiving in San Diego. At first I felt a little silly, seeing as how it had barely been a month since I’d left. But I really was excited about visiting my friends. So I packed most everything back up in my Corolla and tried to leave Reno.
Unfortunately there was a dramatic snowstorm the day I planned to leave. As the afternoon wore on, the sky seemed to clear, so I thought I would take a chance. It seemed like if I headed east on the “spooky desert route,” I would stay out of the mountains until I was far enough south to clear the snow. Ten miles down the road, the snow had returned and redoubled, so I turned around and headed back to the Gilberts at ten miles an hour on the freeway. Luckily I got behind a big yellow school bus. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to see where I was going. When it got off at the exit before Nathan and Marie’s, I had to follow it. I parked at the gas station just off the freeway until it was clear enough for me to drive the last mile to their house.
The next day I left with chains on my tires. The storm had ended, but chains were still required as the first part of my trip took me up into the mountains and over Donner Pass. As all California school children know, no one wants to get stuck at Donner Pass! I crept along, ka-thunk, ka-thunk, ka-thunk, not going over 30 miles per hour, per the chain instructions, for about 50 miles over four hours, enviously eyeing the suv’s with 4-wheel drive and snow tires that sped past at normal speeds in the left lane.
As it turned out, the road was by and large clear of snow and ice, but the chain restriction remained in place. Worse than the road surface was the bright sun reflecting off my windshield, which got increasingly dirty as larger vehicles sped by and sprayed slush at me. It was still too cold out for my windshield wipers to work that well.
Finally, with relief, I pulled over behind a Subaru and some big rigs removing their chains. Chatting with the Subaru driver, we both concurred that, as far as we could tell from the signs and the radio, we were still supposed to have our chains on. But the roads had been clear for miles, and all the truckers were removing theirs, so we would too. I was thrilled to take off at normal speeds and drove ten more hours to San Diego so I would arrive in time for Thanksgiving. Whew! Thankfully, and surprisingly, there was no traffic through L.A.
I went to three Thanksgiving dinners, including one with a DJ, and got to see just about everyone I know in San Diego. Yay!
I turned around a few days later and headed north to the Bay Area with a co-pilot. My friend Mankx had several events he wanted to attend in San Francisco, including Santacon, on the same weekend I was signed up for an acroyoga workshop in Oakland. I was getting used to hours and hours of driving, but it sure was nice to have company for this stretch!
I had been to several of Jason and Chelsey’s (the Yogaslackers) workshops in Tucson, and it was exciting to be able to attend one in the Bay Area. Originally, I had heard that this workshop would review material from their Tucson events, introducing nothing new. I was really looking forward to this, because there’s no way I can remember everything after 16+ hours of hard acroyoga in one weekend. Their teaching pushes my limits, and I could have used the refresher.
Of course, they couldn’t resist throwing in some new material. So much for the review, but their creativity is part of what makes them great teachers. One thing they did differently this time was to work on progressions to prepare you for the “big” move. So if you couldn’t quite get the whole thing, you had something specific to practice that put you in the right direction.
For example, here they are showing a progression to prepare you for the London Spin.
video (I apologize. I am not able to post the video I would like to yet, though I am going to leave this here with the intention of figuring it out.)
Eventually, the London Spin rotates all the way around, with the base using no hands at all. Imagine this, but faster and without the base grabbing the flyer’s feet.
video (See above excuse.)
Sunday evening, after an exhausting weekend, Mankx flew back to San Diego. I got a good night’s sleep and drove back to Reno Monday morning to retrieve the rest of my stuff. (I had had to leave some things there, or there would have been no room for a passenger!)
Tuesday I drove to Eugene, Oregon, where I stayed with my friend Rita and her daughers, Hannah and Sabella. I got to join them for a choral concert at the girls’ school, but left early the next morning. I would have loved to stay longer, but I had to be in Seattle to start an acroyoga class on Wednesday evening.
So instead of leisurely exploring blue highways, (Sorry, Ellen!) I was rushing down the freeway to be somewhere on time again. That wasn’t what I expected from my travels. But I was excited about where I was going. Lux is an amazing acroyoga teacher, and I was going to be able to take his class for eight weeks!
As far as I could tell, I was missing a lot throughout Oregon and Washington, too. Everywhere looked beautiful! Trees, mountains, snow, rivers, and I was flying by. I’d have to find time to come back!
I did take the time to stop at the Mt. St. Helen’s Visitor’s Center. It was right off the freeway with a view of the volcano. I spent about an hour hiking around the bog there and practicing my artistic photography.
It was so nice to get out of the car and walk around, and I felt like I wasn’t completely ignoring all of the natural beauty between Eugene and Seattle.
This brings us to the evening of Wednesday, December 8, when I arrived in Seattle, in time to have a small dinner with the amazing Bernadette, who was going to let me stay at her house for two months, and to get to the first class of Lux’s 8-week Intermediate AcroYoga series at 7:30!
When I began to envision my travels, I did not at all expect I would be rushing around from deadline to deadline. It turns out I have no motivation to move on, really, until I have scheduled something in another place. And also that winter is not really the best time for exploring, even in the relatively mild weather of the west coast.
November, 2010
Doing acroyoga is a great way to travel. If there are acroyogis in town, it pretty much guarantees there will be like-minded people with whom I will enjoy spending time. And we’ll have something fun to do together!
It’s also interesting to see how acroyoga is a little bit different from place to place. For example, Anastasia’s classes in Reno often start with a wave asana warm up, where we have our mats in a circle and you don’t do the next move until it’s come around the circle to the person next to you. Like the wave. Mara does this often in San Diego, but in Reno they have really perfected the art of having some kind of noise to go with each pose, be it a clap, stomp or word. You’re not usually looking at the circle when doing yoga poses, so the audio cues really allow you to know when it’s your turn without craning your neck.
I loved going to classes in Reno and to impromptu morning jams. I was even able to go biking one day with an acroyogi and his son. I learned a lot from everyone, and enjoyed using what I know to help others work on their practice. I got a lot of practice basing!
Here are some pictures from a fun evening with Anastasia, Jacob and Jole. They worked together to teach the acro classes in Reno, and on this particular evening, no one else showed up for class besides me. So we played anyway!
Jole flying Jacob.
Jacob flying me.
Jacob flying Jole and Ana.
Jacob flying all of us, with Jole taking the picture as she flies!
Maya, the five-year-old daughter of the friends I stayed with, also loved doing acroyoga. I wish I had some pictures of Maya the circus star! Like all five year olds, she was tireless!
Thank you Reno acroyogis! Thank you Ana and Jacob and Jole and Jeff and Jennice and Lynn and Lara and everyone else! I so look forward to playing again! I miss you, Maya!
Monday November 15, 2010
Reno to Burney Falls State Park, CA and Cave Campground, Lassen National Forest
Now that I’m on the road, what do I do with my time? So far in Reno, I’ve started doing yoga on my own, I’ve biked around a bit to get to know the area, I’ve been to three acroyoga classes, read one novel, shopped for midweight base layers at the Patagonia outlet store sale, babysat a little, gone on two short hikes with Nathan and the kids, and been to one weird Burner rock opera.
Nathan and Marie and I have discussed taking the kids camping for the last two weekends, but between Nash having an ear infection and the general difficulty of carting a five year old and a ten month old a couple of hours away to sleep in a tent where it will probably be below freezing at night, we haven’t done it yet. But, it has given me so many great ideas about interesting places to visit. So yesterday, with the weather reports showing temperatures climbing back up to the low 60′s, I decided to take a couple of days to camp on my own, before rain and snow arrived later in the week.
I headed up north. First stop, hiking at Burney Falls.
Teddy Roosevelt purportedly called these the “eighth wonder of the world!” They are beautiful. The way the falls spread out wider than the creek they emerge from makes them look to me like falls you might find in Hawaii rather than Northern California.
I walked quietly down the creek, coming upon the lake, listening to birds of both the screeching and twittering varieties. There had been two couples at the falls overlook, but there was no one but me on the trail. I practiced my nature identification skills as my family describes me doing as a small child: “Moss, lichen, lichen, moss.” Moss covered rocks lined the hillsides. With no one else around, it seemed as if the fairies would come out of their homes at any minute!
Taking note of the nature trail signs, I looked out for Ponderosa Pines, with their puzzle piece bark, and the smaller incense cedar trees, with straighter, shaggier bark. I found one tiny maple tree with golden fall leaves. Many sections of the trail were also covered with oak leaves. Being used to the large oaks in the Midwest, these leaves looked miniature. I wandered past many clumps of Manzanita, with its smooth, red bark.
I had taken the Falls Loop to the Rim Trail, back through the campground to the Falls Overlook. It was a little more than three miles, according to a suggestion on the Internet, though things were rearranged a little with some construction on the trail near the base of the falls, and not every intersection was clearly marked.
At 2:30, I decided to do the Headwaters Trail, too. It was still a little too early to set up camp, and there wasn’t really anything else to do for miles around. The earlier walk had been more of a stroll. I stopped frequently to take in my surroundings. For this last bit, I decided to walk at a faster clip. I wasn’t so much paying attention to nature as seeing how fast my muscles could carry me. I certainly wasn’t running or anything. I love looking around, but it is also a great experience to just feel good moving around in the crisp air among the trees!
I made my way over to Cave Campground. Unfortunately, the actual cave across the street was closed for the season. Though this was the inaugural voyage of my new tent, I had set it up in Nathan and Marie’s living room to make sure all the pieces were there and functional to avoid a repeat of my last camping experience, so it was fine.
Once it gets dark, on a solo trip like this, there’s not much to do but curl up in your sleeping bag and go to sleep. I think I read by flashlight for a bit, but it’s hard to do that and keep all limbs inside a mummy sleeping bag, which I needed to do to stay warm. So I went to bed early, and I woke up with the sun. Which is one of the great things about camping, of course.
Though it’s not quite as great when most of the campground is in the shade and there’s frost on your tent. I jumped around in little spots of sun for a while, then gave up and ate breakfast in the car with the heater on. With so many hiking areas closed for the season, weather reports that it was only going to get colder, and it already taking so long for my fingers to warm up, I decided to call it a fabulous trip and head back to Reno instead of farther afield. Sometimes it’s challenging to spend time by yourself!
Packing up all your worldly belongings and deciding which to store, bring with, or get rid of, is no small feat. I mentioned this in an earlier post. Having survived camping in a broken tent that I had fully expected to be functional, I began to review what other unfinished business I knew I had packed up in my car or otherwise left hanging over my head. Thankfully, at this point I was only going as far as Reno, where they still have stores and internet access and everything.
Here is the list I came up with at the time, as well as my updates:
The Tent
Deciding setting it up with socks would not be an adequate long-term solution, I threw that one out. Of course, that was only after several weeks of agonizing over whether it was better to send a significantly broken tent to the thrift store or to the landfill. I found a great replacement at Sierra Trading Post for a good deal.
My bike needed new brake pads.
I rode around Reno for a few weeks a little worried every time I headed down hill. Then I took it to the Kiwanis bike workshop that Marie (the friend I stayed with in Reno) was associated with. They replaced them for free and showed me how to do it myself! The important part is making sure the pieces go on in the right order. I could maybe do it by myself in the future. I’ll have the chance to find out pretty soon, because free is great and all, but after three months I’m about ready for another set already.
Car Stereo
You may remember that my car stereo died the week before I was to leave and I was carrying one Ben had given me in a bag in my car, since I did not have time to get it replaced before I left San Diego. I really began to enjoy driving without the extra sensory input of the radio. It wasn’t quiet, exactly, because my car runs so loud, but it left space to be in the void, rather than filling it up with music and chatting I don’t like that much anyway. It was sort of contemplative and meditative. Like a long, though alert, savasana.
Eventually, I did go to Best Buy in Reno to have the old one checked out and to see about installing the other one. I explained to the technicians how I’d been keeping the faceplate off because otherwise it made a horrible buzzing noise. They asked me to put the faceplate back on so they could diagnose the noise. I did and the radio worked fine. The technicians congratulated each other on being able to fix things by just looking at them.
When I went back to San Diego for Thanksgiving, I dropped the newer stereo off with Ben. I didn’t need to spend any more money on the problem or send an old stereo to a landfill! By the time I got to San Francisco, the stereo was cutting out intermittently. Perhaps I should have replaced it after all. I’ve still got the old one, and it works sometimes. Sometimes I turn it off and give it a rest, and just enjoy the space.
Clothes
I packed too many. But it was the first time in years I’d have to dress regularly for really cold weather for more than two days in a row, and I was a little concerned about keeping myself warm enough. The first week I was in Reno, there was the annual half-off sale at the Patagonia factory store. I bought a few mid-weight wicking base layers, as well as a yoga top, which I promptly returned. After a month in cold Reno, I had a pile of stuff filtered out to put into storage when I returned to San Diego at Thanksgiving, as well as a few things to donate to Goodwill. In Seattle, I got rid of a few more things, and accumulated a few more as well. I still think I have too much with me. But the cold has not been a problem. And, I have had the opportunity to wear both the fancy clothes and the costume clothes I packed.
Address Changes
There are a few details that remain to be worked out with that.
Hiking Boots
I packed an old pair of hiking boots that I hadn’t worn in at least five years, because in San Diego I mostly hiked in my Chacos sandals. Maybe I would I need these boots in the winter! I wore them on one hike in Reno, found them uncomfortable, and got rid of them.
Two Purses
Both seriously needed to be cleaned out, so I just threw them in the car. Maybe there was something important in there! You never know! So far I’ve completely emptied one, thrown extra stuff in the the second, and bought a third, which I am using most of the time. I feel silly about this.
Two laptops and an iPad
I use one laptop and the iPad pretty regularly. I’d like to get it down to just the iPad. The other laptop is a project that I really should have just left in storage.
Sewing Stuff
I’m traveling with my sewing machine, two 71-quart (not small) bins of fabric, and two smaller cases of sewing notions. This is the bulk of the reason the backseat of my car is so full. It has been suggested that carrying that stuff is a little excessive. Well, I sewed in Reno, Seattle, and Bend! I made Christmas and birthday presents for people. In Bend, I even used my sewing machine to repair a few pieces of gear for the YogaSlackers as they prepared for the Patagonia race! It would be better if I had, say, only one bin of fabric with me, though I am working on using up fabric and have donated a small pile to the thrift store of some fabric I decided I did not want to use. In Bend, I did buy an iron, but I also realized I could use the base of my handstand blocks covered with a towel for a makeshift ironing board. Good traveling gear is multifunctional!
Traveling around with so much stuff stuffed in my car sometimes feels a little ridiculous, but it has allowed me to live my life in a way that I am comfortable with in several different places so far. It does make me question whether I really need the stuff. For now, I’m lucky to be able to travel with what I want, not just what I need. And, traveling with unfinished projects means I always have something to do!
That’s the sound of me backing up a few months. I was just now surprised to find out I didn’t start keeping a good day to day calendar until January, so I am backing up to approximately November 4th. Could be November 5th.
From previous, and more timely, blog posts, you might remember that I had left San Diego in a rather maudlin state of mind, but left LA a few days later feeling more exultant. I was on the road! I was on my own! I was not getting lost!
I planned to split the drive to Reno in to two days, and to camp off the 395, on the eastern side of the Sierras. I was glad I had done some internet research, as I found out that the majority of campgrounds in the area were closed for the winter, even though the weather was still in the 50’s or 60’s. So instead of finding the nearest campground to when I got tired, I had a goal of reaching Tuttle Creek campground, near Lone Pine.
The 395 is a pretty road, but I’ve been up and down it a number of times since I’ve lived in California, most recently at the end of August on the way to and from Burning Man, so I don’t have much to say about it. Tuttle Creek was about half way, but before Bishop, so I could plan to stop at Schat’s Bakery as I headed out again in the morning.
I pulled in to the nearly empty campground in the late afternoon, filled out the Forest Service envelope and dropped my payment down the requisite pole, and chose a site near the creek where I could just see my only neighbors, a toy hauler, through the trees. I called my mom to let her know I had stopped for the night. Even though she knew I was traveling alone, she was not thrilled by the actual details of that. I pulled out my gear and started to set up camp.
Ben and I had split up our camping gear just a few weeks ago, as I finished packing up all my stuff and preparing to travel. We had camped a lot together, and had car camping gear as well as more technical, lightweight gear we had used for bike touring. We had also somehow accumulated extra gear over the years, which we were happy to be able to loan out to friends if needed.
Traveling and camping had been a significant part of our life together, so I was kind of apprehensive about the divvying up process, but really, it was fine. Most items were pretty obvious to whom they belonged, like sleeping bags. For more collective use equipment, we weighed who had bought it vs. who was most likely to use it, and tried to make reasonable decisions. For example, I got the camp stove, for now. I made a case for taking the most lightweight tent (out of four), in case I were to include a bike trip in my travels. Ben felt very attached to that particular tent, as he had used on his around the world bike trip, so I went with the next best choice, a small, inexpensive tent Ben’s cousin Amanda had used when the three of us biked across Michigan. And it was also nice to think about all of the fun and amazing things we had done together.
So I pulled out this little tent, my home for this night and who knows how many nights of my travels from now on! (In retrospect, since I was headed north at the start of winter, I should have realized I would not be camping much in the near future.) I rolled it out in the flattest spot I could find and pulled the poles out of the bag. Two for the tent and one for the rain fly, a very simple set up. Except the stretchy cord inside one of the poles had snapped, and the pieces wouldn’t stay together.
Upon closer inspection, I also saw that, where the D-rings the poles hook into at the front corners of the tent were supposed to be, were just two sad bits of frayed webbing.
What the hell?!? When was the last time we used this tent? Did we back into it with a car? This is the kind of breaking one would think you would notice happening!
I called Ben. He couldn’t remember what we’d done with it or to whom we’d loaned it last either. Of course I didn’t check it before I left. We’d always taken good care of our stuff! No, I didn’t have any bungee cords, duct tape, or string. I reminded him that I had returned a small bin of bungee cords to him just a few days ago, as they had been in my trunk for years and I hadn’t used them.
Ben offered generously to rush and overnight one of the other three tents to Reno. Thanks, but hold off, I told him. I had just remembered that the Sierra Trading Post outlet store was in Reno! Maybe they would have a super lightweight backpacking tent on extra extra clearance! Besides, how would that help me tonight?
Well, he couldn’t get me out of this predicament. It was up to me. If worse came to worse, I could head up the road to Bishop and get a hotel room. Sleeping in my car was also technically possible. I’d originally hoped to pack my car in a way so that I could curl up in the back seat if needed, but it was full to the ceiling, and the passenger seat was also full, and there was not enough room for either front seat to recline. So if I wanted to sleep upright in the driver’s seat, I could. Or I could set up a broken tent.
If you can’t quite make it out, those are tie-dyed knee socks I used to tie the one good pole to the car top bike rack to hold up the top of the tent. One of the guys from the toy hauler wandered over to see if I was OK. By that time, I was set up as good as it was going to get. He seemed confused by my recounting of the tent story, and I didn’t feel like sitting around the campfire with strangers. So in my floppy little shelter, I passed a quiet night to the sounds of the gurgling creek and the flapping bugs trying to get in my lean-to.