17 Days

When I returned from my foray south and came back through Parker, I broke down once along the way. But don't worry, I won't bore you with another broken down story. This time, I got it running after only a few seconds of despair. But then I was like, okay...if Jesus wants me to break down here, then I'm here.

The only problem was that I needed to be in Flagstaff the very next day, January 22.

And I was. When I'd decided to get cozy and stay at my brokedown place on those cliffs by the river, I dug holes in the dirt on both sides, right in front of my back tires. (I was on a downward slope.) I put the thing in neutral and rolled it into the divots, thereby evening out the Godspeed...and jarring the whole gas line enough to burp up that vapor lock.

I wasn't going to tell you the story, but now I did. So there you have it.

On Jan 22, I did get to Flagstaff. I did get to the Greensky Bluegrass concert. And it was a blast! There was everything from a gospel song to some hearty fare from their playlist, to two psychedelic bluegrass pieces. I didn't know that could be done. Took me by surprise!

No Last Winter in the Copper Country, though. I found out they played that (and Past My Prime) in Phoenix the next night.

And I would have gone to that show, except I was working the shuttle schedule at the Grand Canyon. The day was chilly enough for a jacket at the South Rim, but the sun sure warmed the face.

BossMan and I measured the distances and times, while I showed him all the new stops along our South Kaibab Trailhead Shuttle route. I can't believe how much I love this job. This route we were timing is my design and is based on what I hear customers saying. I figured we could do this becuase of our new situation with the employee lot. So I asked him if we could, and here we are. This is why I don't mind starting work at 730 or 8 in the morning. It's fun.

Oh...I also got a new truck on this trip. BossMan handed me the keys to a 2024 F-150 with 2500 miles on it when I turned the key.

I never knew I needed a truck like that, but it is such a nice thing. I can go off road (responsibly...company truck). I can haul and tow stuff. And it rides like a dream.

So I drive that back to Havasu, leave it in Brenda's driveway, and take off in the RV to the desert. First, I visit the south desert to hang out with friend Don and his family, and then I go to the north desert to be alone, and hike, and write. I want to explore this mountain over here.

Not really a mountain. More like an elemental crustal plate that got pushed askew when the Good Lord broke up the fountains of the deep, and Noah rode upon the flood waters in an ark. I want to see where the earth broke apart.

It's all over out west. You can see it at every turn.

And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming of Jesus.

It's so far from the camp!

And there's a lady camped next to me who scares me. When I first parked out here, there was some yellow plastic tape -- DO NOT CROSS -- hanging between two creosote bushes. People leave desert trash out here all the time. TVs and solar panels are the worst. So are plastic bags of trash. Some people are slobs.

Now, generally, I don't pick up other people's trash. I got these OCDs about germs and bad vibes. I know I can pray over it and take care of it, but...I really don't want to. I don't want to touch it. I don't want to see it.

But I'm looking at this yellow tape, fluttering in the slight breeze. Every time it moves, my peripheral vision catches it, and I look up from my computer. I'm at work. I'm trying to work on the web pages.

Finally, I get up to stretch, walk over, and take it down. I stuff it into an old fire put that already has some plastic crap in the circle of rocks.

Inside, I scrub my hands real good and get back to work. I'm on a call with the web developer when I watch a white van roll up. Within five minutes--while I'm still on the phone--a chunky lady with short, grey hair and a round face is shaking her fist at me through the RV window, yellow streams of DO NOT CROSS cascade like waves with every shake of her chubby little fist.

I turned my attention back to the computer and bury myself in work.

Despite that incident and the work, work, work, I got back on schedule with exercise and writing.

Then I returned the RV back to Brenda's, picked up the truck, and went back to Flagstaff and Southern Utah. I needed some photography for our social accounts, and I needed to inventory vehicles. At the north rim of the Grand Canyon, there's snow, but it's too little snow for this time of year.

I stayed overnight at the Parry Lodge in Kanab. Stay there if you get the chance. The old Western movie stars used to stay there.

Then I got to drive Highway 12.

I got to see dear friends in Escalante.

But I was back in Havasu later that night.

The next day, I went to the desert. My spot was still available, so I built a campfire.