“Merely to be alone, not to be beaten or questioned, to have enough to eat, and to be clean all over, was completely satisfying.”
~ George Orwell, 1984
I said farewell to Two Guns for another season on Monday morning and drove west to Flagstaff to get new tires. Mine still had a tiny bit of life to them, but the van was not driving great (swayed a LOT in the wind) and I was told that tires and especially tire air pressure was a factor. A fellow nomad in Two Guns told me of a wholesale tire place that had every tire imaginable, with great prices and fast service. I went to Golightly Tires in Flag and they did not disappoint. I’ve not driven on the interstate yet, but at 50 m.p.h. I can notice a difference in stability while driving. I should be set on tires for another 5 years.
I got a burrito at Filberto’s and drove to Marshall Lake. My favorite spot was occupied by a huge pull-behind, and my 2nd and 3rd choices were also occupied. I drove back toward Lake Mary and pulled off on a side road and found a spot in a meadow, still in walking distance to Marshall Lake (which is a dried meadow itself; It looks more like a football field than a lake.) It was my 4th choice of spots here, but I made it work for a couple of days.
I got settled in and ate my burrito. It was as delicious as always.
It was an uneventful 3 days, which is a good thing. I left Thursday and went into town and got my hair and beard trimmed. DJ took about an inch off my hair, getting rid of the dead ends and trimmed my beard all around so I look slightly less like a hobo. He did exactly what I asked for and I should be good for another 5 years. 😊 Here’s the before and after.
If you can’t tell the difference, then DJ earned his keep. As requested, he did his best to keep the length of both hair and beard. Doesn’t look a lot different, but it FEELS amazing to lose the ragged ends.
I’ve been forming a tentative itinerary for a few weeks now. I want to end up in Quartzsite in mid to late October. I have listed all the spots I want to stay in between as I only get to see each of them briefly in the spring and fall as I migrate between the seasons. I now know exactly the stops I’ll make on the way and in what order; the length of the stay will depend on the weather, not only where I am, but in places where I’m heading.
### ### ###
After my hair appointment on Thursday, I drove down to Camp Verde and stopped in to visit my friends at Krazy K RV park. They give me a good deal if I take the “remote parking spot” which no longer has a water connection. I don’t care because I have 32 gallons of water in my tank. The spot has electric, so I can save on propane by running my fridge on AC power. The “hardship” is that I’m 10 feet from the gated entrance to the pool and hot tub. I have never once been in either when there was anyone else I had to share with. On the other side of the pool is the gym, showers and laundry room. It’s like having my own private spa and I always enjoy the time to decompress in the hot tub. It’s become a ritual on my way from Quartzsite to Flagstaff in the spring and again on my return trip in the fall.
Lessons From The Road: I am once again back to a social media fast. I’ve decided to also extremely limit my intake of “news” from all sources. There were two catalysts:
I read an article in the N.Y. Times about Starbucks baristas not being happy with the new branding ideas of the current CEO. In an attempt to elevate their image, Starbuck’s CEO has instituted 3 new policies: 1) Greet each customer, making eye contact. 2) Make and deliver each order within 4 minutes. 3) Write a unique personal message on each cup before delivering it to the customer. The story went in depth about the laments of the baristas, and one in particular who said that the Strawberry Frappe had 6 ingredients, and to be expected to blend and deliver such a concoction within 4 minutes AND think of something clever to write on the cup was just too demanding. I read the first part of this story thinking it was serious. Then I looked at it again to make sure it wasn’t a story from The Onion. I thought “Geez. These poor baristas. How are they surviving such traumatic work conditions?” Then I wondered: With all that is going on in the world and especially in this country, who was more stupid? The baristas for complaining about the trials and tribulations of making a coffee drink or the New York Times for thinking this held any significance whatsoever?
The second catalyst was recalling a conversation I had with my friend David last year after the orange felon was elected. I was distraught and he pointed out to me that I was intentionally seeking out information that would keep me running around with my hair on fire. We argued a bit, but he won. His point was that we were not part of that country. We lived in the wild, far from most of the effects of politics and religion and “news.” We lived a much more basic life. We needed to know where to get propane and where the closest potable water could be found. Knowing what bullshit proclamations dear leader was signing today had absolutely zero effect on how we went about our day today unless we wanted it to. And he accused me (rightly so) of wanting it to. I backed off from most “news” from the outside world for a long time but gradually have allowed it to sneak back in and make me miserable.
So this week I’ve started “The Great Weaning” process. I look at NY Times headlines occasionally. I’m not allowing myself to click through to any story that is political or that will not benefit me or make me happy in some way. (Today I clicked through on one story about Cat Stevens/Yusef Islam and his new book. It made me happy and hopeful.) Likewise, I am not allowing myself to watch anything political on YouTube. I’ve found that my feed is getting much more full of music and comedians and that is way better for my mental health than watching some talking head tell me what they think about what some pseudo “news” channel hosts think about what J.D. Vance said.
It seems that for the time being, I have a choice of being informed or being happy. I have chosen to be happy.
And the next time I go into Starbucks (there is often one inside grocery stores I go to) I will order the Strawberry Frappe and time my barista. If he or she accomplishes the task in under 4 minutes AND writes something on my cup that pleases me,(without complaining) I will leave them a big tip.
That’s all I got
Love you like a dog
See you down the road,
Scott