Author Archives: Jicky

Recovery Joplin – the right thing to do

I had planned on visiting Joplin on my last road trip back in 2007, but did not have enough time. This time Joplin again was on my itinerary. I just didn’t think I would be here under these circumstances. I was in northwestern Arkansas last Sunday when the tornado destroyed parts of Joplin. The news was grim and information about volunteering was not very straight forward in the beginning. I felt the need to do something and so I decided to drive the short drive from Arkansas to Joplin and to help out in any way, shape or form I could.
I had called the volunteer hotline (417.625-3543) to confirm that they needed basic laborer. I was told to come to the Missouri Southern States University Recreation Center on 3950 Newman Road to sign up. I found a campground only ten miles east of Joplin and was all set.
I arrived early afternoon on Friday and I was greeted by a heavy thunderstorm, lightning bolts shooting straight down from the skies. Fortunately, the storm was short lived.

E. 24th Street and Kansas Avenue

I didn’t know how I would react to so much devastation. I don’t have TV and I only heard the news reports on the radio and saw some photos on the internet. If you would only drive past Joplin on I-44 you wouldn’t even know that anything happened to the town. Many of the main drags are unharmed. It isn’t until you get west of highway 71 between E. 26th Street and E. 7th Street that you really get to see the devastation. That’s where the brunt of the tornado hit and destroyed home after home after home. A lot of trees were down, but it was really weird to see trees standing with absolutely no leaves left on them.

E. 24th Street and Kansas Avenue

After I filled out some basic paperwork a small group of volunteers and I where taken to Kansas Avenue. Our job was to clear the front yard of a home of building debris and fallen trees. I worked alongside a group of firefighters from St. Louis who had brought their chain saws and some women who didn’t even have gloves to pick-up the debris. There are a lot of people here who just want to help and there is plenty of work to be done.

E. 24th Street and Wisconsin Avenue

I am not sure how long I’ll stay, maybe a week, maybe longer, I don’t know yet.
I’ll try to blog while I am here, but given my track record and the circumstances, I don’t know how often that will be. I am taking some photos while I am out cleaning up, but my main focus is to clean-up.

Looters stay out!

I don’t believe in horoscopes, the one below is mine for today. It could not have been any more fitting.

“Today you might face a task that seems as workable as emptying the ocean with a teacup. But with help from others, you will not only be able to handle it but also produce exceptional results. Physically, you’re likely to feel full of strength and stamina, ready to move mountains. Don’t be too surprised if you actually manage to budge a few!”

Tornado warning

I just sat through three hours of tornado watches and warnings for northwestern Arkansas. I am about 10 miles west of Eureka Springs near Beaver Lake. It was no fun at all, actually quite scary, especially when the campground owner comes to your camper and tells you to go to the bathrooms when he blows the alarm. The bathrooms are made out of cinder blocks, the strongest structure around.
We were fortunate and only got hit by a big thunderstorm with lots of rain. I had been glued to the radio, map in front of me, following the reports and being very relieved that the likely tornado places where to the southwest of the campground. Still the rain has been banging on my roof.
Joplin, Missouri 100 miles to the north west, had just been hit by a tornado a few hours earlier today, a place on my route to Nebraska.
It was May 20th last year when I was glued to the radio in Alabama listening to the weather forecast hoping the storm and tornado would pass; very unsettling moments.

The rain stopped for awhile just to come back with a vengeance.
It is 11 PM and it seems to be finally quiet again.

What have we done to Mother Nature to piss her off so badly?

From New Mexico to Arkansas

I have covered a lot of ground since I left my friends’ place in Lemitar, New Mexico a three weeks ago, roughly 1,500 miles. That is a lot of different scenery. Instead of giving you a step by step detailed report, I will give you the highlights of the trip, including some random thoughts / observations.
I had heard a lot about Roswell, NM and people told me I should stop there to check out the International UFO Museum.

Mexican alien - how ironic

First off, I did not get abducted. Several blocks of downtown Roswell are all about aliens, green little guys. It doesn’t matter if it is the tax preparer or the gift store, everyone has an alien painted on the window, a little much if you ask me. I didn’t go into the museum, only to the gift store, I can only take so much. The story about Roswell is that in 1947 a UFO crashed in the area. It wasn’t until the late 70’s until conspiracy theories started to develop about a government cover-up as to what was recovered back in 1947. Was it a surveillance balloon or some spacecraft and its occupants? Will we ever know and do we really care? At least Roswell has been attracting visitors from all over the world.
The scenery changed from hilly grassland dotted with pine trees to pretty flat desert land, no more hills or mountains in the distance, and eventually into farmland once I hit highway 70 heading towards the Texas border. The Texas panhandle, especially the western part, is as flat as a pancake,

Flat enough for you?

nothing but fields all the way to the horizon and beyond. There are lot’s of feed lodges along hwy 60, pretty smelly in some areas.
My destination was the Palo Duro Canyon. I had been in the same area last June, but back then the Canyon was flooded and therefore closed. This time the weather was perfect. Palo Duro is the second largest canyon in the US, after the Grand Canyon. Have you ever heard of it? The canyon is 120 miles long, 20 miles wide and 800 feet deep. Only a relatively small area has been turned into a state park, the rest is owned privately and is inaccessible to the public.

The Lighthouse - Palo Duro Canyon. Yes, it's in Texas

The canyon is beautiful, lot’s and lot’s of green. Cottonwood trees along the creeks and juniper pines and mesquite trees throughout the canyon. The green makes a nice contrast to the red mud hills and mesas in the park. What is really nice is that you can drive to the bottom of the canyon. The campgrounds are also located at the bottom. Another neat feature is that you can hike and climb all over the place, as long as you are careful and don’t trample over plants. In contrast to the Grand Canyon, the hills and mesas in Palo Duro are mainly formed by mud and gypsum and not rock, less footing and more slipping. I got my hiking mojo back at Palo Duro. I went for two four hour plus hikes, climbed up Capitol Peak and

One of my "mountain" hikes

explored the mesa behind my campsite. What fun it was to be able to take advantage of all those climbing possibilities. I have to admit that I was a little more hesitant than I used to be and always took the easier way out. Palo Duro is not as intimidating as the Grand Canyon and at this time of year not nearly as crowded.
Please tell me why Texans have to let their car engines idle, no matter if they are in the car or not. What’s up with that? There is not even a law against idling in Texas. Idle more than three minutes in New York City and you run the risk of getting a ticket. While I am bitching, what’s up with putting up bright lights all around your camp site? Keep them on until you go to bed, but why all night? It is so hard to find a totally dark place

Who wouldn't like to wake up to this?

nowadays. So much light pollution comes from near, and not so nearby towns and cities that we should appreciate the darkness when we venture into nature. That’s at least why I like to get out of town. Don’t get me started on passing over double yellow lines, no passing zone…
From Palo Duro I went via farm roads and small highways to Dallas. I don’t like Dallas, but I have to admit that I found some interesting places this time around. And as long as you stay off the freeways, it’s not so bad. I didn’t come to Dallas to find interesting places, but to visit my friend Lynn. Thank you Lynn for letting me stay, not only the planned two nights, but three. I love visiting my friends; I hate to say good bye. I just never know when I’ll see anyone again.
Before I reached Dallas I drove through a lot of grassland, big ranches with cattle and horses. From time to time the earth opened up and all of a sudden there was a canyon, totally unexpected. Caprock Canyons State Park was one of those surprises, a small park but with nice hiking trails.
Not only have I crossed time zones moving east, but it seems also weather zones. When I left Nevada “way back” at the end of March the temperatures had already reached the 80s. New Mexico was not quite so warm (26F in the mountains over night) and the western part of Texas greeted me with 103 F, back into the 60s just a few days later. The West has been very dry and everywhere a fire ban has been in effect; a stark contrast to the East where it has been raining seemingly non-stop.
Besides visiting with Lynn in Dallas, I also took care of some errands. Once again, I was totally overwhelmed when I walked into one of the supermarkets. The produce section alone was larger than most of the supermarkets I had been shopping in; too bad that produce just don’t last very long.
Originally, I had planned on just driving east back to New York. If you have been following my travels you might have noticed that plans are meant to be changed. Since I still have two months to get back to New York, I decided that I would drive up to Nebraska. I once drove through Nebraska back in the late 90s on I-80. I remember liking the area and now I want to go back.
This post has taken me several attempts to complete and as I am writing this, I am sitting at Lake Ouachita (Wash-i-taw – don’t ask) in Arkansas. The drive from Dallas to Oklahoma and now Arkansas has been full of surprises.

Wild flowers and the Kiamichi Mountains

Again, I stayed on the smallest roads possible and I have been at awe at all the green and all the trees; oak, cottonwoods, maple, pine and many more. You have to remember that from mid December on I have not seen many trees or green grass. Yes, there was the Gila Forest, but that was mostly evergreens and in a relatively small area. But now just driving down a country road seeing all this lush greenery is just wonderful. The biggest surprise to me was Oklahoma. The only thing that came to mind was – dust bowl. But the south eastern corner is anything but. It is all GREEN, meadows with wildflowers framed by trees. The smell of morning dew on the grass, it just smells so fresh.
I have stayed at some state parks; they are nice, but often crowded and noisy. A ranger told me about a spot in the woods, two miles of the

My kind of spot

highway, no hook-up, no lights and no people. I crave solitude when I am out in nature, the quieter and further away from people the better. I prefer nature’s music at night, cicadas, crickets, frogs and the wind in the leaves is just fine with me. The moon was watching over me, not quite full yet.

Cicada, hatched after 13 years

Throughout my trip / journey I have traveled through many small towns (population 1,000 or less) and most of the time I have been saddened by

Main Street - small town Texas

their condition; storefronts boarded up, buildings falling apart or just a shell of a building standing. I don’t even like to take photos of these places anymore. The downturn does not necessarily stem from this recession. I spoke with a woman in one of those towns and she said that some of the stores had been empty for ten years! People just moved away to find jobs elsewhere. Arkansas seems not to fit that mold, at least the 100 miles I drove through so far. Even just the houses along side the road seemed to be in better condition than what I saw in the other direction over in Oklahoma. I drove through chicken country, many Tyson signs next to the farm’s name and many, many, many chicken houses, those long ones where the chicks get raised.

Paris to Detroit via Reno in less than an hour, only in Texas.

I have been hiking or walking in the woods in Oklahoma and Arkansas. As pretty as the trees are, I get a little bored walking through the forest. There is nothing to climb on; I need some rocks to climb over, a little challenge and fun.

Fourteen months on the road – 30,000 miles, but who is counting.

This post had been further delayed due to lack of internet connection.

Back to basics

It sounded really good on paper.
But first I would like to say thank you to Deb and Mark, my friends in Lemitar, New Mexico. Not only did I spend almost two weeks with them, but they were also kind enough to hire me to work on some house projects. So if you have a garage that needs to be organized or if you are in need of some help with your horse fence, give me a holler. Thank you, I enjoyed spending time with you and thank you for feeding me.
After driving through the Gila Forest coming from Arizona, I felt that I wanted to spend a little more time in the forest before continuing east. I had mapped out a loop trip through the forest which would take two or three days. I called the local ranger station to inquire about road conditions and closures. Good thing I did. The road I wanted to take was still closed for winter. The ranger suggested another route but she stressed that I should get a forest map. Since this trip would go through the forest and over dirt roads that require 4 wheel drive, I decided to leave the camper with my friends and just take my tent. On my last road trip a few years back I used to sleep in this tent all the time and I loved it. Let’s just say tenting in a campground with showers and running water is very different from tenting in the woods. I had forgotten how much stuff one has to pack when going on a trip. When I take the camper I don’t have to pack anything, everything is right there.
My route took me west on highway 60 through Magdalena, a small town with a handful of art galleries. The wind was blowing so hard sending tumbleweed and sand across the streets.
Further west is the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and the Very Large Array radio telescopes. Very cool stuff. I had seen them last July on my way to the West Coast. Back then the weather was not cooperating, totally cloudy. This time was not much better. The wind made it impossible to hold the camera still, even a tripod would not have helped.

Hillside with pine trees

The scenery was mainly grassland over rolling hills dotted with pinon pines which were moving closer to the road and then disappeared into the distance again. I was very glad that I left the camper at my friends’ place. The wind would have made this a very difficult trip. I like to coast downhill and usually I gain speed, but this time I slowed down, that’s how strong the wind was blowing.

San Francisco River - Gila Forest

I took a lunch break in the last town before the woods, Reserve. Nothing fancy, just a big mushroom/cheese omelet. When I looked for a seat a local waived me over to sit with him and so I did. Tuffy, his nick name, has lived in Reserve most of his life. Only the military had taken him to New Jersey and Alaska, now he bartends here in town. He left the restaurant before I did and when I asked for my check I was told that Tuffy had already taken care of it. I was floored, thanks.
I bought my forest map at the ranger station in town and asked for directions. I was told that everything was well marked. I was also told that not all roads are indicated on the map, but it should be fine for where I was going. We’ll see.
The campground I was hoping to reach that afternoon was only 50 miles away. The ranger had said it would take two hours to get there due to the nature of the road, a curvy washboard dirt road.
It was beautiful driving up the mountain overlooking parts of the San Francisco River.
I made it half way to the campground before I started to feel too tired to keep on driving. Setting up the tent took longer than I remembered, the wind didn’t help. I didn’t just park on the side of the road; there was a primitive campsite with a pit toilet which helped. Right next to my spot was a hillside that looked like a good place for a late afternoon hike. This was my first hike in almost a month, it felt good to be back exploring. The mountains around the Gila Forest are largely composed of volcanic rock. I made sure not to slip.

Gila Forest

When was the last time you wore a short sleeved t-shirt, a long sleeve t-shirt, a warm sweat shirt, thermal underwear, socks and a wool head – to bed?? It was supposed to get down to 32 F. I wrapped myself into my sleeping bag and two warm blankets and tried to go to sleep. Of course I had some dinner before hand. What I didn’t have was a book. I ended up reading the front pages of my trucking road atlas, not very exciting. Don’t forget your book when you go camping!

Tent camping - it sounded good

Unfortunately, I didn’t sleep well all night, just couldn’t find a comfortable position, got all tangled up in my blankets. At least I stayed warm.
I did wake up to some strange noises outside my tent. They didn’t sound threatening so I decided to unzip my door and look what was out there. Wow, how incredible a small herd of elk had been grazing around my truck / tent. I saw four elk run up the hillside and two or three more made it up to the road. Nice way to start the day. Now I just had to convince myself to get out of my warm sleeping bag. Did I mention that it was only 26 F (-3C) inside my tent?!?
If you thought this was enough of an adventure for one trip, just wait ‘til I tell you about the drive through the forest.

Grassland and rolling hills

The drive from my site to the Snow Lake campground was all on pretty well kept dirt roads, a little bumpy, but no big deal. The drive started to get more interesting once I started to drive on a primitive road. I had been told that the road might be washed out in places, but I was not prepared for what I would encounter. In the beginning I was driving through wide open grassland over volcanic rocks, very slowly at 5 mph. After bouncing around for some time I saw a fence in front of me, darn, did that mean I had to turn around, no way that I would drive back over those rocks. Luckily, it turned out to be a cattle gate that I had to open. At one point I came to an intersection without any signs, I made a right turn thinking I would get to a gravel road pretty soon.

Rock formations - Gila Forest

After a couple of miles I had the feeling that I was no longer on the road I was supposed to be on. Thanks to my compass I at least knew that I was going in the right direction. None of the intersecting numbered roads I passed were on the map, so much for the forest map. The road got very narrow; still a very rocky, washed out dirt road. Instead of driving through open grassland I was now in the middle of the woods. Branches were hanging so low that I had to stop and break them off (they were dead) or they would have scratched up the roof of the truck. The road was just wide enough for the truck, a little drop off on the driver’s side but nothing serious. The next thing I see is a big pine tree lying across the road. What now? Again, I was lucky, there was a little path around the tree, oops there was another one. This time there was no way around it, I had to drive over it. Fortunately, the tree was not too big. I wasn’t out of the woods yet, no pun intended, there were no more trees blocking the road, but I encountered more steep, rocky and washed out roads. Eventually I reached a gravel road. Surprisingly, I came across a ranch, a rancher and his wife who gave me directions. He warned me about the road ahead, “take your time” he said, but it was nothing like the last twenty miles. Just to give you an idea how bad the roads were; it took me six! hours to drive sixty miles.

Bare cottonwood tree

You have no idea how happy I was when I finally hit the asphalt again, finally driving at speeds faster than 5mph. Of course I had to get stuck behind a slow moving truck 🙁 . When I made it to the interstate I set the cruise control to 75 (legal speed) and made it back to my friends in no time. So, instead of a hiking experience it turned into a driving marathon, 200 miles in 9 ½ hours. I could have spent one more night in the woods, but I really didn’t feel like waking up to freezing temperatures again.

One month later

It has been a little over one month since my accident in the Mojave Preserve. The leg is pretty much healed. Now it is just a question of time for the scars to disappear.
I am on my way to Texas, heading further east…

Staple and staple remover

My leg one month later

Trees – the smell of pine

Wow, I am traveling again. I had been “home bound” for most of the week. I caught some kind of a bug in Tucson and stayed in bed for almost two days. Fortunately, I stayed at the house (backyard) of a friend of a friend of mine in Dragoon, ten points if you find it on the map. My good fortune didn’t end there. The friend was a retired WW II Navy nurse. So I had someone to look at my leg (it is slowly healing, but still oozing in some spots) and make sure that I had enough Echinacea tea to get me well. It was just nice not to be sick and alone. Never mind the great stories I got to listen to. Eva had traveled this country quite extensively, on her own!, by car and later in a Chinook, the precursor of the truck camper. Thank you Eva for taking care of me and for sharing your stories.

Historic Clifton, AZ

As you by now know, I don’t like to travel via the interstates. Sometimes they are hard to avoid and you just have to take a detour to get away from them. That’s exactly what I did. Instead of continuing east on I-10 into New Mexico, I headed north on hwy 191 toward Clifton, AZ.

Historic Clifton, AZ

The desert is a funny place, it never looks the same. On the drive east of Tucson it looked dull, no real colors, but once I hit 191 colors returned. Not the greens of Nevada, but the yellows / gold of California. Yellow grasses and yucca plants dominated the scenery, beautiful in its own way. I spent the night in Clifton, an old mining town of yesteryears. There is still some mining going on, but seemingly in a different capacity.
I had a pretty late start today and I knew I had a long drive through the mountains ahead of me. One hundred twenty miles don’t sound like much, but up mountains, plus a couple of photo stops, it took me five hours. It was so worth it. I took hwy 78 east, a narrow, winding one lane road through the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. I hadn’t seen trees in almost four months, except for the occasional palm tree or Joshua trees; the smell of pine was just wonderful. I love the unobstructed views you get out West, but there is something to be said for camping in the middle of the woods. Hopefully, the trees are tall enough to keep away the lights of any nearby city.
Once I left the mountains and forest behind I was greeted by endlessly rolling hills covered by yellow grasses and sprinkled with juniper trees, I just couldn’t stop starring, so beautiful. Sorry, but I can go gaga over the beauty and diversity of nature.

Rolling hills - Mule Creek

I didn’t get to Truth or Concequences as I had hoped, but I knew I shouldn’t push it. To my luck, only about thirty miles east of Silver City in the Gila (Hee-lah) Forest there was a sign for a campground right there in the woods. I found myself a nice spot and settled in. Hoping for a starry night, the moon is

Gila Nat'l Forest

almost full. I am going to treat myself tonight to a nice dinner, linguine with shrimp (frozen 🙁 ) in a tomato/zucchini sauce made from scratch, yummy. Who says camping has to be all about hot dogs? Actually, what I am doing should really not be considered camping.

Well, the night was very nice and quiet. I didn’t see many stars, but I could have read a book outside since the moon was so bright. Illuminated my site like a safety light.

Pain sucks

OK, it has been eleven days now since I cut my leg and I am sick and tired of being in pain. I pulled the staples out on Saturday. It wasn’t bad until I got to the last staple. If I had had any hard liquor in my fridge I would have had a drink or two (I don’t drink). Instead, I drove to the ER. You have to understand that my insurance will only cover ER visits or visits to doctors who are in their network. Since I am in Arizona there are no in-network doctors here. What is really stupid is that even if there are no hospitals around for 60 miles or more the insurance still won’t pay for an emergency visit to an out-of-network doctor.
Anyway, at the ER they took an x-ray of my leg and it turns out that some “foreign body”, sand, or the like got stuck inside the wound. This is probably what keeps the wound from healing and that’s why I was feeling so much pain when I pulled the last staple out. For now I am suppose to treat the wound only with antibiotic ointment. Let’s hope that that will do.
I am in Tucson and there are lots of great hiking places around here, and I can’t go. It is really frustrating to see all those great mountains and all I can do is look and keep on driving.
Sorry, that this is a bitching post, but I had to get it of my chest. This is the first time on this trip that I wish I wouldn’t be traveling on my own…

Driving east

Well, it had to happen sooner than later, I am driving east.
I left Palm Springs on Sunday (4/3) after spending Saturday at a pool party which was not anywhere as much fun as I had hoped. Hobbling around a pool party is never fun. Even the dinner at a nice restaurant was only half good. Why can’t restaurants prepare tuna correctly? If you order medium rare there should be red or at least pink in the middle of the piece and not brown. Never mind that it should not taste fishy. At least the restaurant didn’t charge me for the dinner.

Palm Springs street "camping"

I had been in the Palm Springs area around Thanksgiving and lots of places looked familiar, except the gas prices. Regular had gone up $1.04 per gallon in just over four months. California is just too expensive; $4.15 for regular was not even the highest. Glad I filled up for a mere $3.95.
Since I had been here before I chose to drive along the western instead the eastern side of the Salton Sea. Unfortunately, the sea and communities along its shores don’t look much better on this side either.

Salton City - dead palm trees

If you read my previous post about the Salton Sea you might remember all the dead fish on the beach. I didn’t see any dead fish this time, but lots of destroyed communities right at the edge of the sea. A little further inland you could find homes with nice front yards, but the whole area felt very depressing. Even the desert to the west of hwy 86 seemed not as alive as in other places.

Salton Sea Beach - remains of a home

As so many times before, things can change very quickly. Just a bit south around Westmorland, the desert was replaced by huge fields of green; wheat, lettuce and other produce. Along the northern parts of Alt-86 orange trees were full with oranges ready to be picked.
I stayed at the Wiest Lake campground. The smallest lake I have ever seen, but people still rode their big motorboats in tiny circles. What I hadn’t expected were the feeding lodges across the street. Between the aroma of cow manure and the flies, this was not the best camp spot, but it was quiet. It was a state park, there was no ranger, no pay box and no rates posted. Got to love these places. Office closed for the weekend. I hoped to see someone in the morning, no such luck. I left a note and money; I had only used water, no electric.

ATV at the Imperial Sand Dunes

In the morning I headed east on hwy 78. Passing the great Imperial Sand Dunes and than thru the desert, where some of the cacti have started to bloom, to the oh so wonderful interstate to Yuma, Arizona. I didn’t spent much time in Yuma, just gassing up and getting some groceries.
Since my leg is hurting too much when I walk, I can’t explore any of the places I pass through, which really stinks.

Blooming ocotillo and saguaro cacti

I dry camped near the town of Wellton between some fields. They are a little strict about parking campers on the street around Southern Arizona. There are too many snowbirds in the winter time and the place is just overrun with RVs.
I always try to avoid the interstates as much as possible and sometimes that leads me to some interesting dirt roads. Driving along cultivated fields, followed by desert, followed by areas covered in volcanic rock (my favorite 🙁 ) sprinkled with great saguaro cacti. You just never know what you might see.

I just found out that my tenant will stay until August, which means I’ll be on the road for an additional two months, yeah!

Hole in the Wall – my last hike

Desert tortoise

I had two choices how to drive through the Mojave; either, via the Kelso Depot, the straight line south or a slight detour to the east to the Hole-in-the-Wall. I had the feeling I would regret not going to the Hole-in-the-Wall since I was already so close.

Barrel and prickly pear cacti

Off I went down the dirt road and through the mountains. The Hole-in-the-Wall didn’t look like much, a rugged mesa and a smallish canyon. There is a trail around the mesa, but I decided it would be more fun and more interesting to climb over the mesa and take a look from up above at the canyon. It was great fun to climb over volcanic rock; I even saw a desert tortoise.

Banshee Canyon and Gold Valley

I had finished my little “cross country” hike when I ran into an older couple at the base of the mesa. They had just finished the trail and told me about the “Rings trail” at the end of the trail. Said that I should check it out and since I do listen when people make these suggestions, I went.

Jicky atop the Banshee Canyon (before)

I would like to start this part by saying that I am OK, of cause otherwise I wouldn’t be writing.
I followed the signs to the trail and made my way down on my butt from one rock to another. Unfortunately, my left foot did not land properly on the rock below and I slipped. I only remember a sinking feeling in my head or stomach. The rock below was just two feet away, no distance really. I envisioned myself falling on my head, an image I still can’t get out of my head. Fortunately, I only cut my left shin in the center, just to the right of the bone. The cut went through to the bone, almost two inches long. I managed to climb back up the rock and made my way to the ranger station several hundred feet away. At the station Julia, who was just restocking books in the visitor’s center, administered first aid. After scrambling for some first aid supplies, she cleaned the wound and with me holding the gash together put some band aids over the cut to keep the gash closed. Being in the desert, you are far away from anything. Miriam, the volunteer at the station, called the EMTs, but it would take 30 to 45 minutes for them to arrive. These were not EMTs from a hospital, but park rangers with EMT training. When they arrived they took my vitals and re-cleaned and re-bandaged the wound. It was clear that I would need stitches. Unfortunately, neither of the rangers (Erin or John) could sew me up. The nearest hospital is in Needles, 60 + miles to the east and in the opposite direction I was headed. I wanted to drive myself. The pain was not that bad, I am not exaggerating, it really didn’t hurt that much. John very strongly advised against it and called an ambulance. It would take another hour for the ambulance to arrive. In the meantime I had to figure out how to get back from Needles to my truck. Erin and John said that there might be a possibility that they could get me in the morning, not sure though when. Even Julia offered to either get me herself or arrange to have someone get me. I packed an overnight bag.
When the ambulance with Coy, Steven and Jeannie arrived I was ready to roll. First, my wound was one more time cleaned and re-bandaged. It wasn’t bleeding much at all. Then Coy said that I had two options, one: they could take me to the hospital or two: I could drive myself. I was apprehensive to just jump at option two right away. How would I feel once I was driving? For me it would be almost a two hour drive. I had been on that stretch of I-40 just last summer and remembered the up hill climbs. Erin and John, the rangers, offered to follow me to the interstate. If I would not feel comfortable driving they would call the ambulance again. Once I released the ambulance they had to drive back to the hospital and could not follow me.
So I drove to Needles. I only had a minor emotional breakdown along the way. It was 5:30 PM by the time I arrived at the ER of the Colorado River Medical Center. Nobody was sitting in the waiting area, but an ambulance had just pulled in. There was a sign on the wall: Wait time can be between 10 minutes and 3 hours or longer. Well, my luck, my wait time was longer. By now the pain had increased and I was very uncomfortable sitting with my leg elevated. My thigh started to cramp. I was told a bed would be available in 15 minutes, that turned into 30 minutes and than into a total wait time of 3 ½ hours. At that point I was aggravated and in pain. The receptionist had no information, “I am just a clerk they don’t tell me anything”, her answer to my question why is it taking so long. Another ambulance had arrived, but she didn’t share that with me.
Finally, I was called into the ER. Nurse Phil took my vitals and explained to me what would happen next. The doctor would either glue or staple the wound. I would also need a tetanus shot.
When Dr. Kidd walked in he asked me how bad the pain was from a scale of 1 (none) to 10 (really bad). When John had asked that same question, the answer was 2 or 3, now it was more like 5 or 6. And it would only get worse. Dr. Kidd said he would staple the wound, but would not inject any Novocain to numb the area since it would hurt more to stick a needle into the wound than just to put the staples in. Hell, f…ing shit that hurt. Five staples right into the shin, don’t try that at home. I don’t remember having been in so much pain before (in recent memory). Now the pain level had reached 8.
Next the tetanus shot. Before they can administer the shot they had to give me a bunch of papers to read and sign. Who’s idea was that, who can read and comprehend anything when you are in pain. The shot itself was not bad at all, but the after effect has been bad. For five days now has my upper left arm been hurting, can’t lie on it, can’t lift or move it without feeling pain (level 4). At 10 PM I was finally done and could go to my home. I was very happy that I didn’t have to stay in a motel. I parked over night in the hospital parking lot. I don’t take pain medication or any kind of medication for that matter. Since I was feeling so much pain in the leg I asked for two percocets which should be enough to get me through the rough time. The doctor also gave me a sleeping pill for a good nights rest. Well, not knowing what any of that stuff would do to me, I took ¼ pill of the percocet and no sleeping pill. Since I hadn’t had much food since breakfast, I made a big bowl of pasta with pesto sauce before going to sleep. I did manage to sleep and I left the parking lot the next morning before 10 AM heading to Palm Springs.
I haven’t been able to put much wait on the left leg. Moving around even in my small home is exhausting; there is a step into the bathroom and a step onto the bed. I am now sleeping fine and the pain in the leg has gone down a lot, at least at night. As soon as the leg moves from elevated to the walking position the skin just tightens and it hurts. I have taken of the bandage the hospital put on and so far the wound looks good, no infection. By April 10 the staples come out. How you ask, well nurse Phil gave me special pliers so that I can pull them out myself. Oh, how I am looking forward to that. I’ll save every darn staple as a souvenir from Southern California.
Thank you to all who helped me to get back on the road!
All this happened one week ago. I had to delay the post since I didn’t want my parents to read about it before I could talk to them.
A photo of the already stapled cut is only available by request. 🙂

Birds and coyotes

When one doors closes another one opens.

After almost three months in the same place I am finally back on the road. It was a bitter sweet good bye. I got a nice send off from my friends, including a very sweet care package from Sandy consisting of bananas, apples, some tuna and bread and most importantly my Milano Orange cookies. What would a road trip be without those? Henry and Tyann provided me with some yummy, yummy muffins. Thank you!!
The drive to the Mojave National Preserve took longer than anticipated, but somehow it didn’t surprise me, it always takes longer.
After having spent so much time hooked-up to water and electric it was time for some drying camping. My friend Brighid, a desert rat, told me about drying camping in the Mojave Preserve. It took me a little time to find the right spot, but I ended up with a beautiful spot in the middle of a whole bunch of Joshua trees; far, far away from pretty much anything. The desert here is very different from the one up in Nevada. The vegetation is richer, Joshua trees and yucca plants are the most visible ones. There were not many trees in the desert back in Overton, mainly sagebrush and creosote bushes. Also the soil is much softer and deeper covered by low growing plants.
When the sun started to set the mountains in the distance turned into a blue silhouette and the only sounds were the last songs from the birds and the hauling from the coyotes. I was treated to a beautiful sunset and I can’t wait to see the Milky Way later on. Waking up to the sun rising above the mountains should be spectacular as well; and all I have to do is turn my head on my pillow and look out the window.

OK, I missed the sunrise, but I was awake by the time the sun climbed over the mountains. It is just wonderful to see the desert come to life.
The night sky was filled with stars and some awful bright light to the north from Sin City (Las Vegas) some eighty miles north. You just can’t escape the big city. Still it was a beautiful night.