“Just tell yourself, Duckie, you’re really quite lucky.”
― Dr. Seuss
Once again, the weather this week seemed to play a big role in how and where I spent my time. Monday was warm and sunny but so windy that we spent most of the day inside the van. We did manage a short walk, but the wind was brutal. I had some mail to pick up in Ehrenberg on Tuesday, and on the way, I met up with Beth, a woman who helped me change my water pump a year or so ago (The one under my sink, not the one under my van hood). She too has a Roadtrek that she lives in full-time, and she is staying right down the road. We went to a new Indian restaurant that just opened here in Quartzsite. The food was delicious and the service couldn’t have been better. We were treated like we were family or regular customers. Everyone was so nice. I see a lot of Indian food in my future.
After lunch, I drove to Ehrenberg and picked up my mail and then parked in my usual Ehrenberg spot overlooking the asphalt plant. I know how that sounds, but it is actually a HUGE spot where Cosmo can get out and play ball without any worries about neighbors or cars.
The quarry can be very loud if they are digging and sifting at night, but Tuesday, there was no night shift, so it was quiet and very peaceful.
In the morning, I drove into Blythe to the Post Office to get my passport renewed. What an ordeal. There were three women working behind the counter. Two were sorting and scanning registered mail. They were all very nice and joking with each other and customers, but only one was actually taking care of customers. When I got up to the window, she was unsure how to process a passport renewal, had to wait for someone else to take the photo, then that person had to check with another person to see if the photo was correct. The forms to be filled out were ridiculously complicated and redundant. They said it could take 10 to 12 weeks (Three months for a renewal?) but I could pay for it to be expedited. I did. But they needed a cashier’s check, and they wouldn’t take a credit card to pay for a cashier’s check, so I had to go out to the van and get my debit card, lose my place in line and wait again to get up to the window. Apparently, they don’t do passports very often and it took three people to review the application, make sure each page was put in a certain order, my picture was stapled in a particular way, the forms then folded in a certain way with my old passport stapled in an exact position. The whole thing took close to an hour and cost $250. Our government is so (what’s the politically correct term? Oh yes. FUCKED UP.) It still seems unlikely I’ll get it back before mine expires on January 4th of 2025. I hope I don’t need to leave the country before that.
I drove back to Q in the afternoon, and it was a beautiful day. I got my same spot (I’d left my pup tent and chair to mark the spot as “taken”) and then we went for a long walk. We met a neighbor who invited me over for a campfire that night. I went and had a nice time.
Thursday was another beautiful day in paradise, and I decided it was time to ride my bike. I’ve not ridden my new e-bike much because the conditions are never quite right. Here in the Magic Circle, there are many dirt roads, infrequently traveled by cars, and the cars that are coming and going drive slowly to keep the dust down. I rode around and got the feel for the bike. It’s shorter (both front to back and seat to ground) than a regular bicycle, and it takes some getting used to. It weighs 50 lbs., so it is quite different from riding a bicycle, which I haven’t done for about 35 years. I did well and drove about a mile or so down different roads within The Magic Circle. I came across a path that I was fairly certain would lead me back to my camping spot. It did, but on the way, there was quite a deep gully and a series of hairpin turns. I stopped pedaling and applied the brakes as I rounded one of the curves on a hill. The bike wheels slid out from under me, and I went crashing to the ground. It all happened so fast I’m not sure exactly what happened, but I suspect I reached out to brace for the fall. I injured both shoulders. The right one in particular throbbed the rest of the day and into the night. I couldn’t lift my hand above being parallel to the ground and I couldn’t lift any weight. I had to drink using two hands because my coffee mug was too heavy for me to lift. I dug in my first-aid box and found some Ben Gay, and some pain killers someone had given me that they got in Mexico. I took half a pill, and smelling of menthol, went to bed. I was in agony and thought sleep would never come. The pain killer finally kicked in and I slept until 3:00 a.m. I got up and took the other half of the pill and slept until almost sunrise.
Friday was a rough day. High winds again, so we spent the day mostly inside watching YouTube and searching Netflix for something good to occupy my time. I got up every hour or so and lifted my arms out to the sides a few times and then out to the front. My range of motion was improving but the pain level was still pretty high. You can bet it’s going to be awhile before I go biking again, and I’ll realize my limitations and stay off the trails.
Lessons From The Road: The first lesson of course, is that I’m an old man. I can no longer do the things, or take the risks I used to take when I was 30. It was a wake up call to fall off my e-bike. Pulled shoulder muscles are painful and very inconvenient, but a broken bone or anything needing a hospital would be devastating. I could not continue to live life as I do if I were in a cast. It will be extreme caution from now on.
The second thing is more of a realization than a lesson: The whole reason I bought a van instead of a tiny home is for mobility. If I don’t like where I am, I can just put the key in the ignition and move to a different location. I have met some people in different parts of the LTVA or even in different LTVA’s. (There are three different ones just in Quartzsite.) I don’t like packing up everything and moving, but when I am packing up to go into town anyway, I think I may consider coming back to a different spot. Meet different people. Explore different areas. If I don’t like it I can always go back to the old spot, or move to a different spot. On my recent e-bike adventure/catastrophe, I noticed several spots that looked very inviting. I may give them a try.