I want to say “what a long day” yet it seems like I’ve said that already! I was able to set up the tent in the dark last night to sleep and that was about it. I even went without my sleeping mattress, as I was too tired to look for it.
Today though, I had my work cut out for me. I slept well, and actually the hard ground felt good after a week of sleeping on motel memory foam mattresses. I laid in my tent for a while, my body to sore to move. Eventually, the thought of my morning tea got me moving.
Out of the tent, walking to the bathroom and back, finding the kettle, going to fetch water, light the camp stove, wait for it to boil.. at home, I hit the button in the electric kettle and that’s it. Today was comparative work to get my tea.
And that was the point of this part of the journey. Life was just too easy.. too easy to sit back and not do much. Camping though, is harder. I worked nonstop today, setting up my kitchen area, a washing area, my lean-to ham shack, 40’ mast & 2m antenna, solar panels and wired the inverter to power everything I need here.
As I write the list, it doesn’t sound like as much as it was, yet my body is telling me that it is at its max. And it feels good. It took me almost six weeks to cut my chains, sort, prepare, pack and finally leave. Five days of driving, and at least one more day to finish “setting up”, and in a day or two, I hope to be able to sit back and relax a bit.
As hard as today was, this is what I wanted. My body hurts, my leg has screamed at me for most of the day, yet it kept in stepping. Growing hurts, and I’ve got a lot of growing left to do.
Time to rest.