“If you dip your toes into the deep wide rush of everything, you might discover all you really wanted is to swim.”
~The Story People
Happy Blue Moon! That happened early this morning, probably while you were sleeping.
Sunday afternoon the group that was up the hill from me packed up and went home with the pending thunderstorms predicted for that evening. They were the most interesting group to me, consisting of a half dozen folks I’d guess to be in their mid 30’s. They had a big bonfire every night and I thought about taking some wood and marshmallows and seeing if I could charm my way into their circle. But when I walked toward them on Saturday morning, I realized they had at least 3 big dogs, all off-leash. That’s a buzzkill for me. I hate when people let their dogs run free when there are other people or dogs around. They always say “Oh, they are friendly” but I’ve seen too often when dogs off leash function as a pack and get into it with another “outsider” dog. It’s not pretty. And the derelict dog owners usually just respond with “Oh. Sorry.” So I avoided them and was happy to see them packing up so Cosmo and I could once again take our morning walks along that path.
The second group that I could see from my site was quiet all weekend. They had small kids and so they all went to bed early. They packed up and left early Monday morning.
The last group, a group of extremely obnoxious Hispanic people, played loud Mexican music. Loud enough to rattle my windows. It wasn’t mariachi music, but (I’m guessing) much trendier Mexican music, with an intense baseline. Sometimes it could have been a bass guitar, but most of the time it sounded like tubas. The simple and repetitive bass resonated through the otherwise quiet forest as their unruly kids rode their OHV’s around and around, getting bolder with each circuit. Two kids in particular-young boys who couldn’t have been older than 10- slowed each time they passed by and barked, until Cosmo barked back and tried to chase them until he reached the end of his leash. After a half dozen passes, I went out to confront them, and the driver gave me the finger as they passed. I’d had it. When they came by the next time, I was standing in the middle of the road. They gulped visibly as they slowed down, unsure what to do…probably unsure what *I* was going to do. I turned into my father. I went up to them and shouted like the mean old man I can be and told them in no uncertain terms that they were not to tease my dog again. They didn’t make eye contact. I said, “I’m talking to you. LOOK AT ME.” They did, very sheepishly. I told them they could continue to ride by, but they were to slow down and not even look at my dog or campsite when they passed by. I said “Do you understand me?” They didn’t respond. I repeated myself, loud enough for anyone within half a mile to hear. “DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?” They both nodded with their heads down. And I said “You don’t want to fuck with me. Now get out of here.” It seemed pretty clear that they had never been spoken to in such a manner, and thus, their behavior. They drove off and never came by again. That group finally packed up and left before noon, and even though the thunderclouds rolled in and I had to take my awning down due to the wind, I looked out onto a pristine forest once again. Not any signs of other humans anywhere in sight. I was in bliss.
The early part of the week was cooler and windy. Cosmo and I did manage to take several walks each day, but my morning workout routine (freshly re-started) got derailed several mornings. On Wednesday, I realized I was going to run out of milk and dog treats before the weekend was over. I hate going into town on the weekend, so I made the decision to go into Flagstaff and get a few supplies. In several of my walks, I realized there was a really good spot, that was far away from other spots. I walked over to it. The cell service was much better than the spot I was in and the clearing was bigger so I could park facing in a way to get sun from early morning to late afternoon. So on Thursday morning, since I had to pack up anyway, I moved to that spot and set up my tent. I put some totes in it and set up some of my solar lights, my table, and chairs to make it look very occupied and I drove into town to get a few supplies. When I returned, I finished setting up camp and settled in, having everything I would need for the coming week.
Lessons From The Road: Living in a van in a forest is pretty much as easy as life can get. Well, at least most of the time. I literally stop at least once a day and actually laugh (or at least giggle or smile so hard it hurts) that I live alone in a forest, with no rent, no mortgage, no water or electric bills to pay. But Van Life does have some things that need to be dealt with differently than living in a permanent sticks and bricks dwelling. For one thing, I got a new credit card last week. (My old one was expiring.) It shipped to my friend Deborah who allows me to use her address for what few pieces of mail I receive throughout the year. My credit card providers, Verizon, Progressive and a few others all believe I live there. Most of what they send me just goes in the trash after Deborah sends me a photo of it, but a new credit card? It presents a challenge since I don’t have an address to send it to.
Likewise, my laptop, now 6 or 7 years old, has been gradually showing signs of eventual failure. This week the screen decided to start separating from the back and upon consulting my Tech friend Richard, he decided it could be an expanding battery and not only was it probably time for an upgrade, but it could actually be unsafe if the lithium battery overheated (which was probably what caused the expansion in the first place.) I told him my priorities for a new laptop. More storage, (at least 2TB) low power consumption,(I have a very complex electrical system in the van), a brighter screen (sometimes when watching a video, if there is an indoor scene or night scene, it is so dark I can’t decipher what is going on) and a slightly larger display since my laptop is not just my computer, but also my only source of “TV” watching (YouTube, Netflix, etc.)
The next day he sent me some recommendations. We decided on one and I ordered it, but Amazon would not ship it to any of the Amazon Lockers in the area, either due to the cost, or possibly the lithium batteries. So I ended up shipping it to Richard and he will ship it to the FedEx location in Flagstaff (they won’t accept an Amazon delivery, but they will accept a package from Richard.) It’s a convoluted way to get a package, but (we hope) a workable solution.
In the meantime, my new credit card was sitting at Deborah’s. I told her to hold it until I could figure out a place for her to send it. Today that place materialized. She mailed it to Richard, and he’ll include it in my care package to FedEx and I’ll pick everything up sometime this week. Some of the most difficult things in life disappear when you live in a van, and yet some of the simplest things can become quite complicated.
If you are reading this, then my old laptop has held out long enough for one or two final e-mails until I pick up the new one and Richard (St. Richard, patron saint of all things electronic) successfully walks me through getting everything transferred from my old laptop to the new one, and gets everything humming along.
It’s good to have friends who are willing and able to keep my life on track.
That’s all I got
Love you like a dog.
See you down the road,