8/14/13: Wednesday, August 14, Wha' Hoppen? For reasons I don't fully understand, I simply fell into a sort of deep torpor for about a month plus, hardly getting out of bed except to feed the cats, bathe, etc. I lay in bed or sat in a chair and read one book after another on my Kindle until it died on me! True, I met Cammy for lunch on July 5, but after that? Nada.
Was I so exhausted? Or dead lazy? Or just unhappy at being back in Oceanside? (I AM sick of Oceanside!) Hiding in my "girl cave" and reading is a great way to run away! But I need to manufacture some motivation to get up and get going, and I simply have none. Part of it was a reaction to a unfortunate combination of medications: because Metformin upsets my stomach so, I had recently started taking 2 Ranitidine with each Metformin, instead of 1 Ranitidine. Turns out that Ranitidine and Metformin can react to cause dizziness, sleepiness, space-y-ness, etc., which is just what I was experiencing. But cutting back on the Ranitidine hasn't helped much. I think I just want the hell out of here.
I want my mountains! To heck with the damn ocean! Same for the damn desert!
I'm at Sportsmobile today, getting some little repairs done, and Lynne, who works here and whom I had met before when I had the pneumatic penthouse-raising/lowering system installed, suggested I look into becoming a seasonal campground manager. I've also been considering going full-time as an RVer, with the cats, and moving up to a Sprinter-based van for more room and for a diesel engine. But the cost…! I'd need to sell the mobile home and my current Sportsmobile just to raise the down payment!
With this burning desire to spur me, I may find a way….
Meanwhile, from Fresno (where Sportsmobile West is), I'll spend 3 days at Cisco Grove before going on for a week at Tahoe's D.L. Bliss State Park, where I'll meet Shalle for a week of dayhiking and kayaking. Whee! Good stuff!
(Just found the perfect description of my torpor -- it's depression apparently untouched by the Lexapro -- at http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2013/05/depression-part-two.html. Now I hope I can find my dried corn-kernel to start me climbing out of it!)
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Aftermath
7/5/13: Friday, July 5: Aftermath: A Day to Snooze and Launder. Spoke with friends and relatives this morning, as well as with Pat Forest last night. Bob Lamia called this morning with an assumed voice and manner: "The Highway Patrol has determined that now that you are home, it is safe for everyone else to continue their journeys." The rat!
7/6/13, Saturday: Maybe I'll start a new blog, just for funny and interesting events from life around here. I could focus on one of my favorite "sports," accidentally reading signs and cards wrongly so that, for example, I initially misread a card sideways in a Trader Joe's rack: "CONGRATS YOU LATINOS," it said to me. That's nice, I thought, but what about the rest of us? Then I realized it really read, "CONGRAT YOU LATIONS." So I bought it for Sara's graduation.
7/6/13, Saturday: Maybe I'll start a new blog, just for funny and interesting events from life around here. I could focus on one of my favorite "sports," accidentally reading signs and cards wrongly so that, for example, I initially misread a card sideways in a Trader Joe's rack: "CONGRATS YOU LATINOS," it said to me. That's nice, I thought, but what about the rest of us? Then I realized it really read, "CONGRAT YOU LATIONS." So I bought it for Sara's graduation.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Independence and Return Day
7/4/13: Thursday, July 4, Independence Day: Home At Last? 9 PM, July 4, 2013: 7872.1 miles, and Maybelline and I are back in the carport at 148 Sherri Lane, Oceanside, CA. Soon, I hope to be in bed.
Gettysburg Reflections: (Skip this paragraph if you're not interested in the Battle of Gettysburg.) 150 years ago today, the great Battle of Gettysburg is over, each side limping away, leaving the dead behind and carrying their wounded. A true story I heard on one of the Gettysburg tours says that today or thereabouts 150 years ago, a family in a neighboring village, wishing to see the site of the great Union victory, packs a picnic and heads over there. The site is far from glorious: the family are appalled. The stench is overwhelming, not just of dead and perhaps still dying soldiers and of their amputated limbs, but of heaps of dead horses and mules, putrefying in the July heat. These mounds of animal flesh must be set afire; there is nothing else that can be done with them.
Said goodbye to the Velazquezes and to Bob and then headed for Oceanside.
It was a fabulous, scary, wonderful, bewildering, overwhelming experience that I have yet to fully digest. My great thanks to you who helped and who entertained me along the way.
Maybelline's CHECK ENGINE light is on. So is mine!
All cats present and well, thanks to Renai Landes and her team. Mister is turning brown; must figure out why.
Missed you all! Nice to be home!
Can't wait to hear what YOU'VE been up to!
Gettysburg Reflections: (Skip this paragraph if you're not interested in the Battle of Gettysburg.) 150 years ago today, the great Battle of Gettysburg is over, each side limping away, leaving the dead behind and carrying their wounded. A true story I heard on one of the Gettysburg tours says that today or thereabouts 150 years ago, a family in a neighboring village, wishing to see the site of the great Union victory, packs a picnic and heads over there. The site is far from glorious: the family are appalled. The stench is overwhelming, not just of dead and perhaps still dying soldiers and of their amputated limbs, but of heaps of dead horses and mules, putrefying in the July heat. These mounds of animal flesh must be set afire; there is nothing else that can be done with them.
Said goodbye to the Velazquezes and to Bob and then headed for Oceanside.
It was a fabulous, scary, wonderful, bewildering, overwhelming experience that I have yet to fully digest. My great thanks to you who helped and who entertained me along the way.
Maybelline's CHECK ENGINE light is on. So is mine!
All cats present and well, thanks to Renai Landes and her team. Mister is turning brown; must figure out why.
Missed you all! Nice to be home!
Can't wait to hear what YOU'VE been up to!
California, Here I Come!
7/3/13: Wednesday, July 3: The Ol' Stompin' Grounds: Looking back on yesterday, I marveled as I went at how lonely U.S. Highway 6 is through Nevada. I've seen U.S. Highway 50 called "The Loneliest Road," but it's hard for me to imagine that anything could be emptier than the Basin and Range province between Delta, UT, and Bishop, CA, where Highway 6 officially now ends. (I must get another photo of the sign outside Bishop to complement the ones I took outside Provincetown, MA.) Between Delta and Baker, NV, Baker and Ely, Ely and Tonopah, Tonopah and Bishop, there is NOTHING except dry mountain ranges separated by immense flat, mostly dry valleys. The breadth of the valleys makes it hard for me to appreciate the sheer number of mountain ranges, even though Nevada is the most mountainous state in the Union. So obviously, what this speaks to, is my underestimation of the sheer size of the state!
I cried when I crossed the border into California, and I cried again when the highway cleared the Benton Hills and I could see the Sierra Nevada at last. SO BEAUTIFUL! Nothing like them, not even the Rockies.
I couldn't find a garage to fix Maybelline today, so I saw friends in the valley and, luckily, Shirley Blumberg, who just happened to be coming down to Bishop today. She and I had a great lunch at Whiskey Creek, and she got me caught up on a lot of Mammoth news. Daniel stopped by the motel with Sam to confirm that it was okay to drive Maybelline home. This evening, I had dinner at Yamatani with Bob Lamia, and then we went for a lovely drive in the very pleasant evening -- I really enjoyed that!
Can't figure out why I'm so tired, except that maybe it's the stress of driving with the CHECK ENGINE light on over the past two days. Stress might also have something to do with a sudden rash in a place I won't disclose, a rash that was getting worse and not better until today!
I cried when I crossed the border into California, and I cried again when the highway cleared the Benton Hills and I could see the Sierra Nevada at last. SO BEAUTIFUL! Nothing like them, not even the Rockies.
I couldn't find a garage to fix Maybelline today, so I saw friends in the valley and, luckily, Shirley Blumberg, who just happened to be coming down to Bishop today. She and I had a great lunch at Whiskey Creek, and she got me caught up on a lot of Mammoth news. Daniel stopped by the motel with Sam to confirm that it was okay to drive Maybelline home. This evening, I had dinner at Yamatani with Bob Lamia, and then we went for a lovely drive in the very pleasant evening -- I really enjoyed that!
Can't figure out why I'm so tired, except that maybe it's the stress of driving with the CHECK ENGINE light on over the past two days. Stress might also have something to do with a sudden rash in a place I won't disclose, a rash that was getting worse and not better until today!
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
The Battle of Gettysburg Began 150 Years Ago
7/1-2/13: Monday and Tuesday: Scary, Hairy Days: One hundred fifty years ago on July 1, the Battle of Gettysburg began. Those of you not interested should skip the next 4 paragraphs.
Day One: The North had moved around the tiny town in force; the South (Robert E. Lee) had not expected the Union to be present in such numbers but had none of their usual information, Jeb Stuart, their "eyes" with his superb cavalry, being out "joyriding" and not available to provide that info. "Blind," the South blundered into the territory around Gettysburg. In spite of this, the South nearly won on Day 1. Meade for the North wanted to withdraw after Day 1, but Hancock talked him out of doing so. Chance, surprise, cold feet, missing info, plain old mistakes -- on such things do the fates of nations rest.
Day Two: One hundred fifty years ago Tuesday, 7/2, Col. Strong Vincent and Col. Joshua Chamberlain will defend Little Round Top against Confederate troops. When his men run out of ammunition, Col. Chamberlain will have them fix bayonets and charge downhill into the already-exhausted and now astonished Confederates, as part of the Battle of Little Round Top (part of the greater Battle of Gettysburg).
Day Three: One hundred fifty years ago Wednesday, 7/3, at Lee's insistence and against his subordinate General Longstreet's advice, Col. George Pickett will make his fatal charge up against the center of Meade's forces on Cemetery Ridge, and the Union forces will hold him off, inflicting huge losses not including Pickett himself. Robert E. Lee will never forgive himself; his subordinate, Longstreet, will blame Lee for the eventual loss of the war there at Gettysburg, though the end is almost two more bloody years away. Pickett will always blame Lee for the charge's failure, an exposed mile across rocky ground, into the teeth of the Union army's artillery as well as of its men and their repeating carbines. But these very weapons have made the massed charge obsolete, a lesson that will have to be re-learned in the carnage of World War I.
After the three days' battle, Meade declines to pursue the withdrawing Confederates. But the myth of Lee's invincibility suffers a fatal blow both North and South. Casualty numbers were similar: according to Wikipedia, 23,055 Union killed, wounded, and captured/missing; 23,231 Confederate killed, wounded, and captured/missing. Neither side could afford to lose so many, but the Confederate side had fewer such precious resources to spend in the first place and far less chance of replacing them than the Union side.
I loved the drive from Green River, UT, to Scipio, UT. First, the road climbed into and through the weird shapes and colors of the fantastic San Rafael Swell. Then it wound through redneck and forest country in the Fishlake Mountains. At last, it sank back to the high desert around Salina, UT, and then passed through pretty Delta, UT, a farming community. Rounding dry Sevier Lake, the land grew bleaker and the day hotter, as the road went up and down, and Maybelline began acting up. Poor Maybelline!
The CHECK ENGINE light came on, so I slowed down and turned off the A/C -- very hot and miserable in this fiery afternoon. That helped for a bit, but not for long. In a very short time -- very long for scared me -- I reached the Nevada border and pulled into a combination convenience store-gas station-motel-casino (spread across the border so that the casino was exclusively in Nevada). They kindly looked under Maybelline's hood, checked the oil, and opined that in the extreme heat of the day and the fact that the route had a lot of steep little hills coming into Nevada, Maybelline's oxygen sensors had gone bonkers and were making the gas-air mixture wrong for the engine.
So I tipped them and limped on to Baker, NV, where I turned off for Great Basin National Park, ending up in campsite 6 at Upper Lehman Campground. So montane, so pretty! I was charmed, but by this time, the CHECK ENGINE light was on all the time, and the gas fumes were so pervasive they set off the stowed CO-Smoke alarm. I flung the doors open, took the sensor and me out into the fresh air, and all was soon as well as it could be. How well and for how long, I don't know. I was shaking with adrenaline and, after attending an evening ranger talk about bats (GBNP is the home of Lehmann Caves, with a huge bat population), took a sleeping pill and slept well, thank goodness.
Last night in GBNP, there was an astronomy program after the bat program, but I was just too worn out. However, once I'd taken an alcohol bath and changed into my nightgown, I sat outside with my binoculars, enjoying the starry sky. According to the ranger, GBNP has the darkest night skies in the nation, owing to its being so very far from any urban areas (Baker boasts 68 people).
Good montane vegetation here: Lots of wild roses, biggest mountain mahoganies I've ever seen, aspens, junipers, pinyon pines, and lodgepole pines. I wish I could stay longer! Must come back. Site 3 looks like a good choice!
But I have great fears about driving today. Shall I stop in Baker to have the sensors replaced, if that's what they do? Or limp to Ely, where they might have more resources? Should I give up driving in the heat of the afternoon and wait to continue till the air temperature cools -- start doing most of my driving at night? No good choices here. How will this affect my getting home on time?
Well, there's nothing for it but to forge ahead as best I can today (7/2). Wish me luck!
So I forged, and there were no garages in Baker, just an unmanned gas station. At the McDonald's in Ely, I heard that there were no good mechanics in town, but those there were would keep your car for a couple of weeks and then charge you 2-3 times what anyone else would. I telephoned Bob Lamia for advice and told him the situation, thinking I'd try for a repair in Tonopah. Unbelievably, Bob insisted on driving to Tonopah (115 miles one-way for him) to meet me and to follow me all the way to Bishop, and so he did. Now, THAT is a real friend!
Tonight I'm in the Bishop Motel 6, and tomorrow I'll call Mr. K's and try to see if I can't get Maybelline in. If not there, I'll take her to the Ford dealer. She did behave very well today: no near-death by CO, at least, and the CHECK ENGINE light was again intermittent. But something's wrong: she slurps up the gas the way I slurp up smoothies.
Day One: The North had moved around the tiny town in force; the South (Robert E. Lee) had not expected the Union to be present in such numbers but had none of their usual information, Jeb Stuart, their "eyes" with his superb cavalry, being out "joyriding" and not available to provide that info. "Blind," the South blundered into the territory around Gettysburg. In spite of this, the South nearly won on Day 1. Meade for the North wanted to withdraw after Day 1, but Hancock talked him out of doing so. Chance, surprise, cold feet, missing info, plain old mistakes -- on such things do the fates of nations rest.
Day Two: One hundred fifty years ago Tuesday, 7/2, Col. Strong Vincent and Col. Joshua Chamberlain will defend Little Round Top against Confederate troops. When his men run out of ammunition, Col. Chamberlain will have them fix bayonets and charge downhill into the already-exhausted and now astonished Confederates, as part of the Battle of Little Round Top (part of the greater Battle of Gettysburg).
Day Three: One hundred fifty years ago Wednesday, 7/3, at Lee's insistence and against his subordinate General Longstreet's advice, Col. George Pickett will make his fatal charge up against the center of Meade's forces on Cemetery Ridge, and the Union forces will hold him off, inflicting huge losses not including Pickett himself. Robert E. Lee will never forgive himself; his subordinate, Longstreet, will blame Lee for the eventual loss of the war there at Gettysburg, though the end is almost two more bloody years away. Pickett will always blame Lee for the charge's failure, an exposed mile across rocky ground, into the teeth of the Union army's artillery as well as of its men and their repeating carbines. But these very weapons have made the massed charge obsolete, a lesson that will have to be re-learned in the carnage of World War I.
After the three days' battle, Meade declines to pursue the withdrawing Confederates. But the myth of Lee's invincibility suffers a fatal blow both North and South. Casualty numbers were similar: according to Wikipedia, 23,055 Union killed, wounded, and captured/missing; 23,231 Confederate killed, wounded, and captured/missing. Neither side could afford to lose so many, but the Confederate side had fewer such precious resources to spend in the first place and far less chance of replacing them than the Union side.
I loved the drive from Green River, UT, to Scipio, UT. First, the road climbed into and through the weird shapes and colors of the fantastic San Rafael Swell. Then it wound through redneck and forest country in the Fishlake Mountains. At last, it sank back to the high desert around Salina, UT, and then passed through pretty Delta, UT, a farming community. Rounding dry Sevier Lake, the land grew bleaker and the day hotter, as the road went up and down, and Maybelline began acting up. Poor Maybelline!
The CHECK ENGINE light came on, so I slowed down and turned off the A/C -- very hot and miserable in this fiery afternoon. That helped for a bit, but not for long. In a very short time -- very long for scared me -- I reached the Nevada border and pulled into a combination convenience store-gas station-motel-casino (spread across the border so that the casino was exclusively in Nevada). They kindly looked under Maybelline's hood, checked the oil, and opined that in the extreme heat of the day and the fact that the route had a lot of steep little hills coming into Nevada, Maybelline's oxygen sensors had gone bonkers and were making the gas-air mixture wrong for the engine.
So I tipped them and limped on to Baker, NV, where I turned off for Great Basin National Park, ending up in campsite 6 at Upper Lehman Campground. So montane, so pretty! I was charmed, but by this time, the CHECK ENGINE light was on all the time, and the gas fumes were so pervasive they set off the stowed CO-Smoke alarm. I flung the doors open, took the sensor and me out into the fresh air, and all was soon as well as it could be. How well and for how long, I don't know. I was shaking with adrenaline and, after attending an evening ranger talk about bats (GBNP is the home of Lehmann Caves, with a huge bat population), took a sleeping pill and slept well, thank goodness.
Last night in GBNP, there was an astronomy program after the bat program, but I was just too worn out. However, once I'd taken an alcohol bath and changed into my nightgown, I sat outside with my binoculars, enjoying the starry sky. According to the ranger, GBNP has the darkest night skies in the nation, owing to its being so very far from any urban areas (Baker boasts 68 people).
Good montane vegetation here: Lots of wild roses, biggest mountain mahoganies I've ever seen, aspens, junipers, pinyon pines, and lodgepole pines. I wish I could stay longer! Must come back. Site 3 looks like a good choice!
But I have great fears about driving today. Shall I stop in Baker to have the sensors replaced, if that's what they do? Or limp to Ely, where they might have more resources? Should I give up driving in the heat of the afternoon and wait to continue till the air temperature cools -- start doing most of my driving at night? No good choices here. How will this affect my getting home on time?
Well, there's nothing for it but to forge ahead as best I can today (7/2). Wish me luck!
So I forged, and there were no garages in Baker, just an unmanned gas station. At the McDonald's in Ely, I heard that there were no good mechanics in town, but those there were would keep your car for a couple of weeks and then charge you 2-3 times what anyone else would. I telephoned Bob Lamia for advice and told him the situation, thinking I'd try for a repair in Tonopah. Unbelievably, Bob insisted on driving to Tonopah (115 miles one-way for him) to meet me and to follow me all the way to Bishop, and so he did. Now, THAT is a real friend!
Tonight I'm in the Bishop Motel 6, and tomorrow I'll call Mr. K's and try to see if I can't get Maybelline in. If not there, I'll take her to the Ford dealer. She did behave very well today: no near-death by CO, at least, and the CHECK ENGINE light was again intermittent. But something's wrong: she slurps up the gas the way I slurp up smoothies.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
6/30/13: Sunday, June 30: Hail and Farewell to the Rockies -- For Now. See Ya Next Year, Guys! I have so thoroughly enjoyed being in the Rockies that I can't wait to come back next year! Stormy or not, yesterday's drive was marvelous, and I must see more of the park and HIKE the park! If I play my cards right, I can take 2 weeks, drive U.S. Highway 6, spend some time in Great Basin National Park along the way, and then spend at least a solid week in RMNP!
This morning is lovely, though puffy cumulus clouds are building over the park. I hate to leave; I've really enjoyed this campground, even though it has only a wi-fi hot spot. Ah, well, time to head west again.
The drive was much longer than I had thought it would be, in excess of 350 miles. The GPS unit took me to Granby and then through Kremmling before vectoring me down Colorado 9 to meet I-70 at Silverthorne. Grand Lake is lovely, with 3 lakes including those adjacent to nearby Granby. I think I'm ready to move there, too, or to Estes Park or Silverthorne or Breckenridge or….Mountains! I need mountains!
The landscape ranged from wonderfully scenic to pretty nice as far as, roughly, Glenwood Springs, though it had been growing lower and drier for some time. Beyond Glenwood Springs, the terrain grew drier and drier, the land became flatter, often distinguished by flat-topped mesas dissected by canyons of various sizes. I-70 crossed the Colorado River often. It was not to my taste!
Then came the Utah border and, finally, Green River and the KOA, where I hooked up quickly and then walked to the nearby restaurant. I'd had only one Medifast meal today, plus a chicken tostada (minus the shell) in Glenwood Springs.
Back at the van, I fell to studying the Rand-McNally atlas for a couple of hours, immersed in rehearsing where I have been, remembering the features that most struck me, feeling a sense of wonder that I have seen so much -- and yet so little. I really had had no sense for how immense the country is. It's truly beyond my grasp.
Tomorrow, I may not go to Ely, NV, but instead detour to camp in Great Basin National Park, where I've never been. Terra nova, terra icognita!
This morning is lovely, though puffy cumulus clouds are building over the park. I hate to leave; I've really enjoyed this campground, even though it has only a wi-fi hot spot. Ah, well, time to head west again.
The drive was much longer than I had thought it would be, in excess of 350 miles. The GPS unit took me to Granby and then through Kremmling before vectoring me down Colorado 9 to meet I-70 at Silverthorne. Grand Lake is lovely, with 3 lakes including those adjacent to nearby Granby. I think I'm ready to move there, too, or to Estes Park or Silverthorne or Breckenridge or….Mountains! I need mountains!
The landscape ranged from wonderfully scenic to pretty nice as far as, roughly, Glenwood Springs, though it had been growing lower and drier for some time. Beyond Glenwood Springs, the terrain grew drier and drier, the land became flatter, often distinguished by flat-topped mesas dissected by canyons of various sizes. I-70 crossed the Colorado River often. It was not to my taste!
Then came the Utah border and, finally, Green River and the KOA, where I hooked up quickly and then walked to the nearby restaurant. I'd had only one Medifast meal today, plus a chicken tostada (minus the shell) in Glenwood Springs.
Back at the van, I fell to studying the Rand-McNally atlas for a couple of hours, immersed in rehearsing where I have been, remembering the features that most struck me, feeling a sense of wonder that I have seen so much -- and yet so little. I really had had no sense for how immense the country is. It's truly beyond my grasp.
Tomorrow, I may not go to Ely, NV, but instead detour to camp in Great Basin National Park, where I've never been. Terra nova, terra icognita!
6/29/13, Saturday, June 29: The Big Mountain Drive Day! What a glorious day! No sleep last night for some reason, but I tanked up on coffee and Mountain Dew, and then I drove slowly through Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), savoring the scenery and rejoicing in the excellence of mountains, in spite of a thunderstorm that dropped lots of hail on those of us at higher elevations. I accidentally made the loop between paved roads out of Estes Park and then set out, retracing part of my steps, to follow Trail Ridge Road (Highway 34) through the park to Grand Lake. The road is primarily an east-west route, topping out at a viewpoint at 12,183 feet (3713 meters) of alpine tundra, bare rock, and snow-painted peaks. I took a photo there of a couple, and they reciprocated by snapping one of me with my camera. Not far beyond, the road turns principally south, crossing the Continental Divide. There was plenty of hail strewn on the ground as if it had snowed a bit.
There were a number of places along the road where people had stopped (though not in a designated pull-over-and-park area, naughty, naughty) to watch bighorn sheep, elk, moose, lightning, etc. This is verboten in RMNP, and rangers and volunteers materialized quickly at any such spot to organize the swift departure of the erring but enthusiastic tourists.
I stopped early on to enjoy a large alpine meadow on the east side, where I also photographed a group from Nebraska who've been to RMNP many times, the lucky dogs. The scenery reminded me so much of Tioga Road through Yosemite, I almost wept. I had some dark, self-pitying thoughts about the loss of my backpacking abilities, but I pulled myself back on track by pointing out to myself that I must focus on what I CAN do, not what I can't do, and who knows where the limit really lies until I try it? So I'll try it. The season isn't over yet.
I kept going in spite of the storm, because this was my one day to see the park. I confess I was pretty scared at times, especially on a high, wet road with a sheer drop on one side, no shoulder on the other, and hail coming down so hard it was bouncing high off Maybelline's hood and collecting a couple of inches deep at the bottom of her windshield.
At the high point, I felt a bit dizzy, so it was a relief when the dizziness quickly passed. I drove down out of the storm, through the park exit (rats!), and into Grand Lake, where I'd reserved an RV site at Elk Creek Park. Alas, there was someone already in that viewless site, and they looked pretty well established. The management assigned me another viewless site -- where someone had parked an extra car and then gone off and left it. I tried to be calm and cheery about it and wandered down the road to get a late lunch at Sloopy's while management figured out what to do. When I came back, they had assigned me yet another site, much better than the previous two: the new site has great views east of "Old Baldy," back into the park.
(Being cheerful, agreeable, and patient really pays off. I have learned that I can only control my temper if I never let it off the leash in the first place. It took me almost all my life to learn to do this, and boy, it's hard some times! It's all I can do to fight back against the boiling rage that would so easily consume me and the situation and lead to one of the disasters I've precipitated all my life until just recently. I wonder if being nice will ever be easy, come naturally? I always thought I was an anger addict until I realized that, with chemical help, it's a matter of choosing which habit to cultivate: throwing a fit, or smiling calmly and letting the situation resolve itself. Smiling calmly pays. Thank you, Zoloft and Lexapro.
(I haven't changed. I've just found a way, even if it's a hard one for now, to make what I am work better for me.)
There were a number of places along the road where people had stopped (though not in a designated pull-over-and-park area, naughty, naughty) to watch bighorn sheep, elk, moose, lightning, etc. This is verboten in RMNP, and rangers and volunteers materialized quickly at any such spot to organize the swift departure of the erring but enthusiastic tourists.
I stopped early on to enjoy a large alpine meadow on the east side, where I also photographed a group from Nebraska who've been to RMNP many times, the lucky dogs. The scenery reminded me so much of Tioga Road through Yosemite, I almost wept. I had some dark, self-pitying thoughts about the loss of my backpacking abilities, but I pulled myself back on track by pointing out to myself that I must focus on what I CAN do, not what I can't do, and who knows where the limit really lies until I try it? So I'll try it. The season isn't over yet.
I kept going in spite of the storm, because this was my one day to see the park. I confess I was pretty scared at times, especially on a high, wet road with a sheer drop on one side, no shoulder on the other, and hail coming down so hard it was bouncing high off Maybelline's hood and collecting a couple of inches deep at the bottom of her windshield.
At the high point, I felt a bit dizzy, so it was a relief when the dizziness quickly passed. I drove down out of the storm, through the park exit (rats!), and into Grand Lake, where I'd reserved an RV site at Elk Creek Park. Alas, there was someone already in that viewless site, and they looked pretty well established. The management assigned me another viewless site -- where someone had parked an extra car and then gone off and left it. I tried to be calm and cheery about it and wandered down the road to get a late lunch at Sloopy's while management figured out what to do. When I came back, they had assigned me yet another site, much better than the previous two: the new site has great views east of "Old Baldy," back into the park.
(Being cheerful, agreeable, and patient really pays off. I have learned that I can only control my temper if I never let it off the leash in the first place. It took me almost all my life to learn to do this, and boy, it's hard some times! It's all I can do to fight back against the boiling rage that would so easily consume me and the situation and lead to one of the disasters I've precipitated all my life until just recently. I wonder if being nice will ever be easy, come naturally? I always thought I was an anger addict until I realized that, with chemical help, it's a matter of choosing which habit to cultivate: throwing a fit, or smiling calmly and letting the situation resolve itself. Smiling calmly pays. Thank you, Zoloft and Lexapro.
(I haven't changed. I've just found a way, even if it's a hard one for now, to make what I am work better for me.)
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