“I spent a long time trying to find my center until I looked closely one night and found that it had wheels and moved easily in the slightest breeze, so now I spend less time sitting and more time sailing.”
~ The Story People
It’s been a hot and lazy week. Tuesday morning, I got up early and drove to Winslow so I could get my chores done before it got unbearably hot. Unlike Flagstaff, Winslow is easy. I can get gas, potable water and propane at the Pilot truck stop. Then into town to the dollar store for snacks and right across the street is Walmart where I can get everything else I need. When I stay in Flagstaff, I need to go to U-Haul for propane, down the road to a campground for water, and yet farther down the road for gas. Then I drive another mile or two to Walmart–All through very congested roads. So I’m always glad when I stay in Two Guns to have Winslow as an option. We were done and home before noon.
When I got to Two Guns, I felt like I needed a change of scenery. I loved my spot overlooking the canyon, but wanted to change. Instead of going south after exiting I-40, I tried the dirt road to the north. I drove for 10 minutes (about a mile) and the road got very rugged. I decided I didn’t feel like playing around, turned back and headed to the tower in Two Guns. It’s familiar, it’s easy. I hadn’t seen another human for nearly 10 days, and being camped by the tower means a car or two pulls in each day having found Two Guns on the Route 66 map of tourist stops. Sometimes (often) they don’t even exit the vehicle. They stick their iPhone out the window, take a photo and drive on. That’s “Instagram America.” Spend less than 10 seconds in a spot and make a post claiming you’ve explored Two Guns. But now and then, someone(s) actually gets out, spends some time checking things out, and often Cosmo and I go out and chat. Sometimes for a minute, and a few times in the past, for a few days or a week, if they decided to stay. A couple minute chat is ideal for me. “Where are you from? Where are you going? Have you been down in the Apache Death Cave?” That’s enough to satisfy my curiosity about fellow humanoids for a few days. They leave and Cosmo and I go back to hermit life.
The heat has been atrocious most days. It’s blazing hot by 10:00 a.m. and unbearable by noon. Usually we get a thunderstorm in the afternoon that cools things off, and even if we get no rain, there are storms close by in every direction, and the wind blows the cool air through the van. If we can just survive the few hours between mid-morning and early afternoon, we’re good.
I sat outside several nights, enjoying the night sky and especially enjoyed the full moon and eclipse earlier in the week.
(Not a very good photo, but you get the idea.)
Cosmo and I usually take a long walk early in the morning, before the heat or storms make it unpleasant. I like to look at the ever-changing graffiti. New art appears weekly. I sometimes go back to photos from summers past to compare. This year, I have taken photos weekly and often see changes even though one never sees the people doing the changes.
Some of it seems quite post-apocalyptic, with blessings for wayward travelers.
And from the other side of this wall, we can see home off in the distance, giving an even stronger perception of isolation, even though to our backs, I-40 is only a couple of football fields away.
Lessons From The Road: Weather is always a primary consideration when living in a van. As I type this, heavy rain is beating down. The large drops hit different metal parts on the outside, and I have to smile at my “musical van.” When it rains it sounds like a mbira. It always makes me grin. Earlier in the day, the heat was inescapable. Cosmo likes to go outside and lay under the van in the shade. I guess it’s cooler under the van than it is inside the van. I’ve thought of moving back to Flagstaff where it is 15˚ cooler, but whenever I look west, there are always dark clouds and lots of rain. I’m sure the forest is a giant mud pit. I’d like to spend a couple of nights in Winslow by a creek where I’ve stayed before, but the temperature during the day often tops 100˚. I thought of biting the bullet and driving north about 3 hours to the Grand Canyon. Last I looked it was 107˚ there. So I stay put. I’m ready to move south for the winter, but the south is not ready for me. Extreme heat warnings, combined with flash flooding reminds me that I need to wait. So I stay put, biding my time, making the best of the conditions I am in and trying to enjoy the beautiful night skies and the sound the rain makes beating on my van.
And finally…My happy song of the week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9gCN_KaV0k&list=RDsWml5faCCY4&index=2
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zUI7ZmAI3qo
I think when the rains start up again, I’m going outside and will dance and sing along!
That’s all I’ve got.
Love you like a dog.
See you down the road,
Scott