It has been an interesting trip. I planned in two days; Monday and Tuesday, and left Wednesday after golf with the Speed Queens, m’a girls. I put two foam mattresses, a plastic chest of drawers, a porta potty, a little food, my clothes, a lawn chair, and water in the van. I put my golf clubs and extra stuff in the rocket box. I was ready for weather between 20 and 100.
I knew approximately where I was going the first day because I was meeting Ed and mom in Twin falls, so I went that way. I didn’t have a place to stay, so I stayed at a truck stop. When I arrived, not being certain of homeless protocols, I inquired within as to the rules. I found the one woman working and asked her if I stayed in the parking lot if it was A) safe, and B) permissible. She assured me both were affirmative. I parked, covered all the windows, set up my camp, turned on my hotspot, turned on Netflix, poured myself a glass of wine, and settled in for the night. It was a bit loud, but I have ear plugs. It was fine. I think this is the adult equivalent of a blanket fort.
The next morning, I investigated Boise and enjoyed seeing all the sights, especially the historic homes on Warm Springs Road. After my wandering, I played golf at Warm Springs with Bob, Jeff, and Rick, retired golf buddies. Rick was my favorite of the three. He spent time in Portland and was a pretty hip dude. Jeff was quite serious and a pretty good golfer…. Until the 10th hole, when he fell apart and acted like a preteen, throwing his clubs and such. And Bob was kind of goofy and a follower. Our round was uneventful other than Jeff’s tantrums.
After the round, they invited me to a tavern. I accepted. When I arrived, I was fully expecting to be outside but there they were, inside. I joined, though since, I have decided I would and will decline all inside invitations moving forward.
The conversation started out nicely enough but as soon as Jeff learned that I was one of the “rioters in Portland” in his opinion, he wasn’t’ having it. I told him I was one of the moms and he took away, rioter. I explained that I have not been involved in any riots, only peaceful protesting and have been shot by rock salt, rubber bullets, and pepper spray. He said, “If you don’t like it, don’t go,” and he laughed. I tried to explain that our police force was using excessive force against the people of Portland and I was protesting that. It went back and forth. Quite frankly, I sat there and took it until I didn’t, at which point, I put Jeff in his place. He questioned my motives, who I was with (Antifa? WTAF?), why I wore riot gear, why I supported reform, etc. I shut him down explaining I am an American and it is my right. I have experienced protesting with each of my children over the summer and I will do it again unless things change. I told them how things did not get violent until the Police come, that many protesters work to stop fires, vandalism, and the throwing of projectiles. The crowds provide food, protective gear, medical care, etc. Jeff would not believe me because he had seen what was really happening on his news source. Gee, I wonder what that is?!? My firsthand experiences were nothing to him, he dismissed me and would not believe what I said. I was surprised how aggressive he was toward a single woman, traveling alone, who was his guest. I bet he’s a blast with his close friends. This conservative man, who claims he wants law and order, was, again, going off the rails. He showed me who he was on the golf course, this was not surprising. Bob went with Jeff, onaccounta, he’s a follower. Rick got disgusted with his friends and left. I think he’s surprised I didn’t storm out. I’m not afraid of a disagreement, or even a fight (at least in the safety of public).
That was a really good first interaction with people for me. I realized I needed to be a bit more incognito and protect myself a bit better. And, instead of saying I was from Portland, I decided to say I was from Oregon and quickly change the subject. This proved to be a better takt. Additionally, I asked way more questions than I answered. That is not always how I am, but I decided early on to make others defend their stance, be the offense. It’s safer, and I wanted to learn about people so this is how I moved forward as much as I could.
The next night I stayed at a KOA near Twin Falls because I had a 9am Tee time at Canyon Springs. It was AMAZING! I played alone, in 2 hours and 25 minutes, and shot a 92! Best round ever! I even hit one tree and lost one in the water. It was 28 degrees when I teed off and got up to 35. Thank goodness I planned for everything from the 20s to the 90s (no joke, and I ended up using almost all of it throughout the trip!)
I parked the van and put golf balls on the center console to assure that the van was level. I nailed two sets of the pieces together and set them in the van, slid the plywood on top and put golf balls on my platform…. they didn’t move. SUCCESS! I nailed the plywood onto the “legs”, reassembled my van and headed out. With the space under the platform I now had a “basement” for storage of things like my first aid kit, tools, umbrella, etc. HANDY!
After contacting mom and Ed, they were about an hour behind me, we decided to meet at the RV park instead of trying to stay together. It’s a good thing because I went a totally different way. I must have hit some setting on my device that sent me around Salt Lake (which is fine by me). It was a beautiful drive and a road I had not been on before. I saw the Devil’s Slide. Click it, it’s cool.
I made it to mom and Ed, we had a nice reunion, dinner, and I hit the sack, we were headed to Moab and I wanted to be ready.
We started out the next day together but decided we’d just touch base now and again so we weren’t driving each other crazy. It worked. We hit Arches. As always, it was beautiful. And, I didn’t realize they had not been there. As we headed out, mom informed me we weren’t staying, that we were pressing on. OK, no golf that day I guess. We went on through Monument Valley and stayed on the Navajo Nation. They were very serious about COVID and had check points going in and out. There were no services on the reservation except gas. No restaurants, no hotels, no stores, nothing if you’re not from there. We were good. Next stop, PHOENIX!
Mom and Ed had a RV place to stay in Phoenix, so I contacted my good high school buddy, Annette, who lives there, and she invited me with open arms. With COVID, it’s hard to know who is doing what. I was happy to stay in the driveway, but she insisted I stay in the house. It was Sunday and they do dinner with her parents every Sunday, so I was able to see and surprise Gary and Sveya. I’ve known them as long as I’ve known Annette. It seems strange that they were younger than we are now, then… nah, that can’t be. We had a nice time. Dinner, wine, lots of conversation (including race cars and politics. Gary is a Trump man), and plans. It was not too contentious because Gary is a good guy and just decided that we would agree to disagree, even on what was happening in Portland. Again, a conservative that would not believe what I have seen with my own eyes. The media is a powerful tool and the GOP has been using it against the people for political gain for years. It’s sad because it is straight manipulation. I have seen Portland in its glory and pain. Neither is reflected accurately by the press.
Gary and I dropped his race car off at the shop the next morning and teed off at 10am. We had a nice time, talked about golf, kids, cars (I want a race car), and old days. It was fun, I played mediocrely at best.
The next few days all blur together. My aunt Karen and I played golf with a strange dude who would not shut up. At one point he said to Karen, “You want to hit it…” and Karen shut him down (rightfully so), holding her hand up and saying, “I KNOW.” He stopped doing that. Annette and I played as well. She beat me by about 10 strokes but again, we had fun. We went out for an outdoor cocktail and appetizer afterward. I love being able to go to a place outside.
While I was there, I got to do laundry, reorganize the van, sleep in a real bed, shower, wash my hair, all the things you can do when you have a house. I was so grateful to have been able to spend time with Annette. It’s been a long time since it’s been just the two of us. The weather was perfect the whole time and I left with a full heart.
At this point, the plan was; mom and Karen were headed to Atlanta to Rick’s, Ed was headed to Indio, CA where he was going to camp out until mom got back. My plan was to loosely follow Ed just in case he needed help. I worry about him traveling alone especially with his health as it is. As it turns out, Ed did have a breakdown, but he had a plan that was able to get some guys to him to get him going. After that, he was good.
I headed toward Palm Springs which is just past Indio. I took my time and decided to veer through Joshua Tree. I purchased an America the Beautiful Pass (including Yo’ Semite!) in Arches so, why not? It was beautiful! The rocks are crazy. They look like regular rocks only they’re 40 feet tall. The weird thing is there are no small rocks around them. Just giant rocks, regular rocks about a foot and smaller, and sand. I believe they must have been cracked into large pieces and the wind wore them into stone looking bits. With the amount of geology I’ve had, I think I’m pretty close. It looked like Bedrock from the Flintstones, very cool. Then there are the cacti and trees….
I also got to use my mom skills and planning. I stopped to take a picture and a woman came off of a trail with two massive cactus needles in her finger and they were barbed. We all masked up before I came close. I had all the right stuff and the knowledge that the only way out, was the same way they went in. Luckily, they came out whole. I handed over first aid supplies (and backups, cause, hello, I’m a mom) and went. They were very grateful. POINTS FOR MOMS!
I ended up in Palm Springs at a Truck Stop after picking myself up some takeout from a local CalMex? Place. It was pretty good. I had a tee time at 7:30 so I was headed to bed early.
I got up, got ready, and headed out to Tahquitz Creek, the Resort Course. I smacked a few at the driving range and teed off. At the first green I realized I left my Sand Wedge at the driving range. I was trying to go to fast and turned, caught my foot on my golf cleats, and caught myself on my right side. I popped up and drove back to get my stuff. I kept moving around to make sure I was OK and other than a little sore, I was fine. By the 18th hole, I was not. Shit. I don’t know at this point if something is just pulled or broken but my right peck, side is killing me. Like laying on it hurts. I was able to finish the round. I went sight-seeing around Palm Springs as much as I could. Most of the neighborhoods are gated. I am not crazy about that. We have enough “us and them” division in our country without extra gates. Is crime really that bad in Palm Springs? I doubt it, and it isn’t because of the gates.
I talked to mom, who assured me Ed would be fine in the area on his own (they have friends there) and she would be back soon so I should go. I wanted to start heading home, I was missing my family.
I stayed at a convenience store in Ranco Mirage, got up at 6:30 and headed toward Indian Canyons. I got coffee and headed up the Canyon. I arrived right as the gates opened so there was no one there and it was 72 degrees. I hiked Andreas Canyon….alone. I loved every moment. Next I hit Palm Canyon. There were about 20 people there and the temps had jumped to 80. I hiked around and headed out toward the PACIFIC, destination, unknown, via I-10.
I drove through the desert, through the mountains, saw dinosaurs, saw Trump signs, saw Biden signs, lots of other signs who I don’t know. I was listening to NPR as I drove for about an hour and a half. It was the first time I had listened to the radio other than a five-minute, top of the hour, news flash in days. I found myself getting agitated. Four or five times that day, when I had started my car, Diana Krall’s S’Wonderful came on and I kept turning on the radio. When I noticed that I was getting agitated, I let it play. I didn’t fight it anymore. It was the right thing, and then two minutes later, I came around the corner in Ventura and BAM, there was the PACIFIC. It put a giant smile on my face, the whole thing. The fact that I was headed home, that I wanted to go home, that my phone turned on tunes for me at the right time for no reason, that the Pacific Ocean screams HOME to me.
I drove up the coast as my phone continued to play DJ. I don’t know what it’s playlist was but it included everything on my phone; kids’ books, my audio books, kids music, classical, rock, jazz, comedy, opera, RnB, pow wows, train noises, Gregorian chants, rap, go America music (for when that was fun for me), everything. Obviously, I skipped through most of it, but it was fun thinking about all the memories we made as I was adding all of that to my iPod(s), iPhones, etc.
At 10 minutes till sunset, I hit Pismo Beach and found Eldwayen Ocean Park. What an amazing view! So, I sat in my van, on my bed, and watched the sun dip into the Pacific Ocean. Same as it ever was but ever so spectacular. It’s one of those things that makes me feel small and insignificant, yet also, part of everything, all at the same time. Awesome in the true sense. Every time I watch a beautiful sunset, on the Pacific, I feel blessed to witness such beauty…again.
I pressed on to just outside of San Francisco. I knew it would be hard to find a place where I would feel really safe, so I decided for my splurge, to stay at a hotel. I tried Hotel Tonight and BINGO, I got an Aloft for $89 all taxes included and it was 2 miles from me.
The Van Princess upgraded to indoor plumbing and Hotel Queen for the night. It had a kitchenette and everything. I would have rented it as an apartment back in the day. I took a bath, shaved, watched some SNL and passed out.
Yesterday (we’re up to yesterday!), I headed toward San Francisco via a Hispanic outdoor market that I happened upon. Tacos for breakfast? Yes please!
I got a mango and a jicama for the road. A perfect picnic. I have learned a dinner of grapes and cherry tomatoes can be quite satisfying.
I drove the usual route through the city, I stopped and walked piers, little parks, bits of the Presidio, walked on the beach, dipped my toes in the ocean, went through the Golden Gate Park, got Won Ton Soup and ate it in the park, and generally scratched that itch. I drove through town and stopped twice to give food to some homeless people. Once guy I coaxed out of the street with some extra tacos. He came out of the street and seemed happy to have something to eat. He was pretty out of it. The next guy was carrying a lot of stuff and I said, “Hey brother, do you want some food?” He said, “Yes!” so I gave him a bag full of everything I had, including unopened peanut butter, beef jerky, almonds, pecans, etc. I will say, I noticed a lot less homeless people there. What has happened? I will follow up because something appears to be working, unless the problem is being pushed out of sight. I am curious.
I decided to head toward Sonoma to connect with my friend Ellen. She is working there on a project. I arrived in Sonoma and ah, there is nowhere to be homeless there and I knew she wouldn’t be there until the next day. I couldn’t find camping or anything. The cheapest hotel was $190…nah. I called Ellen, she gave me the address of the house she’s renting while she’s working there so I slept in front of it. It was soooo quiet compared to a parking lot… dude, seriously. I slept like a rock.
