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[hoyden]

One thing I noticed as my days passed is that I wrote less and has much less ennui. I was more invested in the immediate exploration, and the “where to camp tonight?” and “what to do tomorrow?” questions.

 

This first post is a bit dis-jointed, I realize. The later posts are more coherent. :-)

 

Oct 1 : The Pads, just East of Death Valley

 

Now I can say I’ve been to (through) Vegas. Had some awesome chicken BBQ there!

 

 

My love affair with road trips and traveling started in utero I'm sure. I was born on the road. Well not literally but almost. My folks were on their way to Seattle but their car broke down in Berkeley and I was born in that City because of a failed her trip. Or rather because of an adventure. A road trip is just getting from one destination to the other adventurers was something unexpected happens. On that road trip.

 

As I type this, U2s "but I still haven't found what I'm looking for" comes on the oldies radio station broadcasting out of Lake Havasu all the way to here outside of Hoover Dam – another man-made marvel of engineering and destruction.

 

Remember, no matter where you go there you are. I watched The Amazing Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai a dozen times but it wasn't until after my father's death that I understood what that phrase meant

 

I think I want wholly unfamiliar. Or the coast where the smells and intensity of the ocean take precedent over familiarity

 

When I was a teen on the road, I often felt that something was chasing me and that by driving I could stay a few steps ahead of it. That feeling of being chased was very tangible then. In retrospect, I wonder if it was the sense of mortality that we all inevitably feel that was chasing me?

 

It's never been about the where to. It's always been about far away from....

I want to be lost out here. So that my external World matches my internal world

 

The sun is setting on my first night out. I’m feeling very alone and not sure I’ll make it a month. I need people.

 

A friend of mine sent me a podcast. I'll play this game my next trip:

 

( http://dirtbagdiarie...s=roll the dice ) with this as the travel plans. Take a dice and roll it:

1 = go north.

2 = east

3 = south

4 = west

5 = stay put

6 = cross the nearest state border.

The only rule? No backtracking.

 

Pugsly just wants dinner

 

 

 

Argos seems pretty happy

 

 

 

 

I got a new point-and-shoot camera and this was my first attempt at a panorama. It didn’t seem to adjust well for the sunset light. Still, a beautiful location. 

 

 

Death Valley is very, very quiet. No night-time coyote howls, no evening cicadas. Just quiet.

Edited by hoyden, 28 October 2016 - 07:21 PM.

[craig333]

Never heard of the pads before. Born on the road now thats interesting!

[hoyden]

Oct 2 : Hwy 395

What have I learned so far on this trip? That people are rip-off artists. Everyone will charge a premium if they can get away with it. Ah, California.

I’m reading Steinbeck’s “Travels with Charley”. So far, it’s the best of all my travel-related books that is clicking with me.
Page 20 “I did not want to surrender to fierceness for a small gain in yardage.”
I kind of want to make that my motto.

Pg 62 “ In Spanish there is a word for which I can't find a counterword in English. It is the verb vacilar, present participle vacilando. It does not mean vacillating at all. If one is vacilando, he is going somewhere, but does not greatly care whether or not he gets there, although he has direction.”



Sunrise in Death Valley



Zabriskie Point in the morning



I love the textures



Death Valley is an area of surprises. There’s sand dunes in the middle!
And a group of people filming a video. What fun!



Pugsly and Argos thought the sand was fun too



This is outside of Death Valley, off highway 365 in California. Alabama Hills. It was only 10:30am, so I didn’t camp there – I wasn’t yet feeling relaxed and wanted to go, go, go. Next time I go that direction, I will stay at this amazing place



One of the many terrible things that our government has done to its people. Manzanar Relocation Center imprisoned over 10,000 Japanese Americans. Most were American citizens. These Americans were ‘relocated’ because of paranoia.



I stayed at a campground and my fears of bears was not assuaged. As a newbie to bears, I wasn’t sure what to put inside the box. I moved a few items of food back and forth a few times, before leaving just the open food items in the box. You might be pleased to know that a few days later, a very nice Park Ranger near Mono Lake made me feel much more confident about black bears. “just yell at them… they aren’t like Grizzlies!”

Edited by hoyden, 29 October 2016 - 01:16 AM.

[hoyden]

Never heard of the pads before. Born on the road now thats interesting!

 

craig333 :  36°20'19.8"N 116°35'58.4"W

 

I think I found about it on freecampsites.net ?

 

It seems to be a place that was started built out for an RV lot, but never got finished.

It's got all these...pads... level and just out there in the desert. 

I think technically it's private property, but from what I read, no-one gets hassled. 

[hoyden]

Oct 3 : Mono Lake and Buckeye Hot Springs

 

Mono Lake was the saving grace of highway 395 for me. It is otherworldly and worth a visit. The "Tufa" rock towers form when underwater springs rich in calcium mix with the waters of the lake, which are rich in carbonates. The resulting reaction forms limestone. Over time the buildup of limestone formed towers, and as the lake receded (been used up…) so much over the years we now have a small forest of these entities.

 

A nice young tourist took our photo. And then he walked away with a small piece of Tufa in his hoodie pocket. Boo.

 

 

 

It was grey and chilly when I pulled into Bridgeport, Ca. But I found this fun map of the area.

 

 

Someone had recommended “The Barn” as a reasonable place for a meal. It is a walk-up beach-style burger and Mexican food place. I got a (terrible) veggie burger and some comfort food tater-tots. I threw away most of the cold veggie burger, but the tater-tots hit the spot

 

 

It was a short dirt road drive and I set up camp near the best path to the hot springs and got a nice photo during a clearing of the clouds

 

 

The dogs were happy to get some sunshine too!

 

 

It was only a brief walk down to the hot springs, maybe a quarter-mile.

The frigid river runs parallel and the hot springs run off the rocks.

 

 

When I first arrived there was a man, in shorts, then an older man went al fresco and a woman showed up soon thereafter and stripped down. Clothing optional, but these young men weren’t quite ready for that. The ‘water falls’ vary greatly in temperature within a few feet, so the heavier flow is quite hot, while a foot to the left is more moderate. There are about five different "pools" at different temperatures. This is the largest and deepest one, and it feet great.

 

Edited by hoyden, 29 October 2016 - 01:17 AM.

[hoyden]

Oct 4 & morning of the 5^th - still at Buckeye hot springs

 

A veritable herd of FourWheelCamper (FWC) neighbors! THIS is what it’s about! We all camped together!

 

GroovyDad arrived late afternoon. Argos and his goofy 5 year old Golden, Dexter, ran and ran and ran and… after the dogs had their dinner, us people were standing around chatting and tail-gate snacking when Argos fell over! It looked like his front legs collapsed under him. He had the look of a toddler child who is trying to stay awake, but not being terribly successful. I picked him up and put him in the camper with Pugsly. He hopped into bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

 

A short while later, another FWC drove by our backwoods boondocking spot. I waved at them, and waved them over. The adventurers were none other than “Mule Hawk”, a young couple whom I’ve been following on Facebook! They quit their jobs, sold their house, and took a year off to travel. They set up camp with us and we all chatted outside between our three campers until it got too cold post-sunset.

 

 

 

 

Talking with the MuleHawks about their reasons for doing this adventure, got me thinking. There’s this idea – a prideful idea – that one’s work has to be significant - “cool”, that it is somehow part of your identity. But what if your life-style – your travel – is your identity and the work only exists to fuel and fund that part of ‘you’?

 

“What do you do?” is the ever-present question. You go to a party and that’s one of the first questions your new conversationalist asks. “Oh, I work in IT at a hospital” satisfies. But what if the answer is “I’m traveling around for a year… or more” THAT becomes the identity, not the job. I did that when I was younger, but somewhere along the line the societal requirements change and job-identity becomes more important than doing-identity.

 

“Oh, I’m a motorcyclist” But what do you do? “... er, I work in IT.” Ahhhh.

 

Originally, I was going to meet my GroovyDad at these hot springs on Oct 5^th but I arrived early. I could have left today and met at his place in Reno, then caravaned to a hot springs in NV, but I decided to just relax and stay another day and he took off a day early.  If I hadn't been relaxed about schedules I wouldn't have stayed at the hot springs another night and I would have missed meeting Luke and Annie of MuleHawk Adventures. And that would have been a major shame!

 

Steinbeck, “… in my own life I am not willing to trade quality for quantity”

and “…we find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.”

 

Rosh Hashana was the day I started this journey.

Very fitting, considering the holiday is a time for reflection and change.

Edited by hoyden, 01 November 2016 - 02:48 AM.

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Looks like you had a nice trip and the weather was good for you.

Thanks for sharing.

Frank

[ski3pin]

We like this! We really like this. Such a personal, reflective, insightful, and searching narrative. Please, more!

[hoyden]

Thanks!!!

 

I'll post more soon. I've got /a lot/ of photos (a month's worth) to sort through still! 

[hoyden]

Oct 5 : Reno, NV

 

The only time I had been in Reno was with my dad when I was around 17. Him, me, and my blue mohawk got kicked out of a few casinos because I was so young. We had a great time! I discarded my love of Volkswagen Beetles for a new-found love of the Lamborghini Countach I saw rotating in front of a casino.

 

GroovyDad was kind enough to let me tail him home for shower, laundry, and a great Thai dinner! Sometimes I greatly dislike all this technology cutting through daily relationships, but other times, it's an amazing enhancement. I have found so many great communities online, but it's only truly real when I get to meet folks in person. 

Edited by hoyden, 29 October 2016 - 01:17 AM.