fortune on the high desert

so we left our hero sitting in his car on the edge of the unknown. with no clear prospects of camping, he pushes on. darkness pervading, eyes getting heavier with each black and lonely mile.

it’s nigh on midnight now. i pass a dirt road in the darkness and then another. damn, it’s dark. my headlights are losing the battle. the peterbilts are barreling and will not allow me to slow at all. i’m falling asleep, and no amount of loud music is helping.

i let the semi pass and for a moment i am alone under the dark wyoming sky. i vow to take the next dirt road, no matter where it leads, and look for a place to bed down. a slight screech of tires as i almost miss the tiny brown path that deviates from the blacktop. the ‘dirt’ road is more rocks than dirt and my car is begging me to go slow. it curves from left to right until i no long no which way is which. up and over a small hill, tells me it’s time to stop. i can no longer see the string of red and white lights that pepper the night highway.

rabbits and prairie dogs dart across the road from one sagebrush to another. as if one side is better. a slice of prairie grass along the road looks flat. here i will make my home.

first the tarp, then the pad, finally the sleeping bag. lantern and knife within arms length. i ‘mark’ my territory for good measure. the ground is surprisingly comfortable, either that or i am really tired. with no lights, civilization, or anything around, it’s just me and the stars. i don’t even think the moon was there for company. whispering a silent prayer of thanks for my spot, i drift off.

morning comes quick. i wake before the sun has peaked above the hills. i stand barely clad, and look around at the bleak beauty and sunrising colors that stretch before me. i love my life.

drove across all of idaho. honestly not much to see. just stayed the night across the oregon border, in ontario. 9 hours of driving lay ahead of me. oh yeah, and my trunk broke this morn. "it's okay, we didn't need that part anyway, she'll fly without it."

i'll be back in that old familiar Pacific time zone again before i know it. unfortunately that puts me two hours from my girl, and many miles from Montana, the promised land.

oh, california, how i love and hate thee.

but, before i get ahead of myself...three cheers for Oregon...