“The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.
Any fool can do it, there ain’t nothing to it.
Nobody knows how we got to the top of the hill.
But since we’re on our way down, we might as well enjoy the ride.”
~James Taylor
Long Beach was jam-packed, and action filled. I spent my final days there working out my bike rack situation. Actually, RICHARD spent my final days there working out my bike rack situation. I just sort of helped when I could, and took on the job of worrying about what could go wrong. In the end, we pieced together a rack, with a raised hitch so it wouldn’t scrape (as much) when I went over entrances of parking lots and got tie-down straps and bungie cords to hold everything in place.
We put the final touches on the rack, adjusted my back-up camera to compensate for the length of the rack in the back, and I headed out. I drove down the hill to the man who had been so helpful trying to find me a bike rack that would work with my van and e-bike. I bought a lock to keep it safe on the rack, and another smaller one to use if I traveled into a town and needed to lock the bike to a rack outside a store. I also bought a bell, because, well, because every bike should have a tricycle bell.
I headed to the grocery store and picked up a few things and then got on the road and headed northeast to Chino Hills State Park. The ride was bouncy and it took me some time to adjust to the extra weight of the bike on the back, but I drove slowly in the right lane. The farther I got out of town, the ore the traffic thinned, and the easier it seemed for people to just go around me when I wasn’t up to the speed they wanted me to be.
I arrived at the State Park early afternoon and got set up easily. I made lunch and sat outside at a picnic table and took in the view.
I love my friends in Long Beach and I especially appreciate Richard who was so patient in helping me get the bike set up, the pantry cupboard installed, my phone and new wireless router up and running and my bike rack safe and operational. That being said, I didn’t enjoy the traffic in Long Beach. I once drove hundreds of miles a week in this town and surrounding areas when I worked as a photographer there. Now a trip to the grocery store was traumatic for me. I was always aware of the constant city noises, from sirens and loud mufflers, to neighbors in nearby buildings shouting at night. It was nice to be back in wide open spaces hearing only the rustling of leaves in the breeze.
The days were easy. I had limited cell service and intermittent internet connection, so I couldn’t get distracted by YouTube, or surfing the internet. Instead I often sat and listened to music, or did minor chores that I’ve put off for a while. I repaired a small tear in the bottom of the screen of my back door. I hung spice holders on my newly installed pull-out cupboard. I re-arranged my “garage” in the back under my bed.
I also made time to test drive my new e-bike. I rode it briefly at Steve and Richard’s but didn’t feel confident enough to ride it on roads frequented by cars. At the campground, there was a large loop, that involved quite a steep climb on one side and quite a descent on the other. I unstrapped my bike from the rack and took it for a spin. Several spins actually. It will not only come in very handy, but it is pretty fun to ride around. I pedal it, and the motor assists me in getting up steep hills. I also can choose the option of turning the throttle and have it take me up the hill under its own power, but I haven’t yet become that lazy.
Friday I packed up and we moved to Wrightwood to stay the weekend with my friends Carol and Penney. We had a nice lunch in town, and then hung out and caught up in the afternoon. Saturday we took a ride and checked out the scenery.
It was a nice ride and an otherwise lazy afternoon.
Lessons From The Road: I felt like such a weenie during my visit to Long Beach. The list of things I wanted to accomplish was quite daunting, and it didn’t take me long to realize that I could not accomplish many of them by myself. Technology is slowly (or maybe NOT so slowly) passing me by. Things I used to be able to figure out on my own now seem just beyond my grasp. I needed help setting up my phone, my new router and connecting everything to my Google Home Mini. At 71, my body doesn’t move as easily or with as much strength as it once did. There was a time I could have easily lifted my new e-bike up onto the rack with one hand. Now, it was a struggle to get it up there using all my strength of both hands.
I find myself intimidated by things I used to do every day, like driving in traffic to places I’d never been before and taking multiple freeways to get there. In the city I often felt a fear that I never feel out in the middle of a desert or forest. I remember reading somewhere that bravery is being scared and doing it anyway, so I took some comfort in that.
I have been extremely “unplugged” here at Chino Hills Campground. I can get a cell signal occasionally while in my van at my site, but it is rare and limited. I sporadically get internet, but only enough to send and receive e-mails. I cannot connect to the internet, watch videos, or send and receive photos. I cannot connect to the weather channel, or Google Maps. I can’t make phone calls. I have found that if I want to play my morning NY Times’ games (I’m still a Wordle addict) I must go down the hill to get enough reception to do so. All this has been good for me. I spend more time outside, just taking in the beautiful scenery. I am once again finding that it is enough to just BE. I don’t have to always DO. When I find the need to DO, there are always small projects. I repaired a screen in my back window that was coming undone at the bottom edge. I cleaned out my junk drawer. I made sun tea in a mason jar, and I painted a pink dot on one of my new E-bike locks and its key…I have two locks, one for locking it to its rack and a smaller one for if I take it into town and need to lock it up when I go inside a store. The keys look nearly identical, but I always guess the wrong one when trying to unlock, so I put the dot on each so I know which key goes to which lock. Then I sit some more and watch the clouds, moving so slowly I try to guess which direction they are blowing. It’s good for me to decompress.