Part 3.    The Vagrant.

Colorado Springs sky this morning

Bandon OR to Prescott AZ.

Tamale and I left Bandon early on a Friday morning at the end of June during what turned out to be the beginning of the first major heatwave in the Southwest.   I was a little nervous about the mini cooper driving through the heat going through the California central valley but I had committed to the departure and hoped for the best..

Tamale meowed for the entire first hour, but then eventually settled down on my lap for the duration of the entire day.   Not sleeping.  Not eating.  Not using the litter box the whole way.  Sort of in a suspended state.    

Went inland up rte 52 to Interstate 5 then spent almost the entire day on 5 heading south down towards Bakersfield.

Hot all day.  Over 100 degrees F all day all through the valley.   By 10pm we had reached Tehapachi (Te-HAH-cha-pee), about 800 miles for the day.   Found a dark, residential street and slept in the back of the car nestled inside a sleeping bag between the two soft luggage bags I had brought.    When I went to sleep Tamale sat on top of one of the bags standing guard and looking out on the street.    When I woke up at 5, she was still there in the same spot.  Same position as if never having moved, looking out on the street, eyes wide open.

Then we had a Small Adventure.  Went to a 25 hour gas station for some coffee and something to eat.    Put the gas pump in the car and walk in.   There was a group of teens travelling in a van next to me.   While I am inside, they come running in and ask me "Are you driving in the mini cooper?"   When I say yes, they say "There is gas all over your car!"

I go out and the pump ended up being busted.   Once the tank had filled, gas just kept pouring out and there is gas all around the car at this point.      The owner comes out and I say "I am not paying for all this gas" and he says "That's fine".    We turn off the gas and I suggest pouring water all over the place, and he being smarter than me says "No,  the gas will just float on top of the water.  I've got something special for this".    He goes in and comes out with what looks like a bucket of large sand granules, and he scatters it all over the gas around the car, and tells me its a special substance that neutralizes the gasoline.   He suggests I put the car in neutral so that he can push me away from the area, but the mini cooper won't go into neutral until I start the car for some reason, so in the end I just close my eyes and expect anything to happen with all the gasoline around me.  I close my eyes, say a small goodbye but the car starts, and I am still there, so I pull away a bit, then stop and clean up the outside of the car and rear left tire that had gas all over it with glass cleaner and paper towels from the gas station.

When I went to sleep at 10pm in Tehachapi, it was still over 100 degrees.   When we drove through the Mohave desert and then through Barstow at 6am it was still over 100 degrees.

We got to my sister Jill's house in Prescott about 11 am.  She and her husband Joe are retired after raising their 6 kids, and now live on top of a beautiful canyon on the NW side of Prescott AZ.

I got Tamale inside the house,  and started the first part of my summer in Prescott.

On Travelling and knowing where everything is

One of the weird quirky things I have noticed when I travel is that - no matter how well I pack and try to think ahead of where everything should go in my bags and daily walk around back pack -  that eventually after a week or two, and my life falls into a travelling rhythm, all of my travelling companion items eventually rearrange themselves into a more natural and workable order.   Things that I thought belonged in one bag eventually belong more naturally in another to suit my daily travelling needs.   I think this is because when travelling, I need to have things quickly at hand, and cannot spend a half hour looking for anything every time I have a need, so the whole effort takes on an air of  unconscious discipline.  

Everything eventually finds it's place.   You remove it when you need it, and you put it back right away in its same place so that you know where to find it again because that becomes the easiest way to get through the day.

I noticed this last time I did any major travelling when I was riding my bicycle down the Pacific coast in 2017.     I only had two pannier bags and a backpack on that trip.  After a week or so, I found that I had a committed place for each of my traveling items so I always knew where to grab something.  Toiletries, tools, food, clothing items, etc.     I could grab something in the dark or with my eyes closed if I had to.  Makes life easier in the end.   

Mostly what I remember from that bicycle trip is living with stiff legs every day.  When Michelle and I crossed the country in our 20s back in 1987 we could ride all day and into the night.      In 2017 and at the age of 60, I found I could get up at 6am and ride until only about 2pm until I felt done for the day.    Older legs.  The young european kids in their 20s enjoying their summer riding down the American Pacific coast would just smile and wave, and pass me by.    I was the older guy on a bike struggling up the endless hills, and wondering with a surreal astonishment on how quickly the 40 years between us had passed.