Not every day do I wake up feeling positive. It’s been much better in the last four months than the four before, or the four before that. Yet, on a scale of one to ten, how I do measure the dynamic range how how well I’ve been or not been any one of those given days? How, in the perspective of all that progress, is it possible to have such a bad morning?
Yet, a morning like that before might have left me in bed for hours, with the weather in Michigan right now, it may have kept me upstairs for days. Yet, this morning that wasn’t really a valid option. With, what I consider a healthy diet (and working making it better,) I’ve also developed a healthy morning routine. I knew I’d have to double check the gear on the car before driving even the mile up the restrooms and I did not want to get into a rushed situation.
Can you imagine anything to make a morning worse than that worse case scenario? In any case, glad I had woken up in a room, or a tent rather, yet enclosed in a space beyond my sleeping bag- as now I had set up the the four man tent, an eight foot by eight foot square dome tent. I was able to adjust myself, and crawl to the doorway before unzipping it to the world and set to the task of securing the load, so I could head up and unsecured the next one.
Also glad I the restrooms had a shower, it’s been a long two weeks with only the truck shop shower in between. I grabbed my things and headed up. There are another set of restrooms in the day use area little closer, yet no showers. The main campground shower house is one point one miles away. I’m not sure yet what the policies are on the annual camping pass, free primitive camping, though I know it certainly includes all the day use facilities during daytime hours.
I did meet one gentlemen briefly in the shower house, not so much to exchange names, yet rather small talk as he cleared the area from his shower and I prepared to entire for mine. Nice fellow I’d say, as I was looking far from my best and with a rather sore limp still that early in the morning. Yet my day brightened with his conversation. On the way back- and I’ll mention this campground- though full of RV’s, is rather sparse of people. I noticed something the caused me to stop a wonder. Apparent oil plumes on fire? I have no idea, yet this is still on the edge of oil field country, and not hearing any sirens I presume this is normal.
In any case, it continued all day in the south southeast from my campsite all day and into the night, see the featured photo for an apparent “dual sunset” image. Back to my site, I first considered laying down- I finally had a nice place I could lay down and I’ve been very cramped the last few days. The last two weeks since I left Mathis, I’ve essentially been car camping (is that the nice way to say living out of your car?)
I will say I did a rather nice job of of loading it when I left Lake Corpus Christi, and with the sorting, I nearly have my possessions memorized- and with the gentle packing, ah loading into the car, everything had found it’s place. Though, a bit tedious in the car, to get out or to put away each item or set of items as I need them, yet it’s more than doable. And although I have not slept in a Walmart parking lot yet, I may prefer one over the next BLM parking lot.
However, by then it had warmed up just a bit, and I really did feel good after a nice long hot shower. Knowing the weather coming for tomorrow – high winds – steady thirty to forty all day, gusting over sixty. With my balance issues, I may not be able to walk around outside, yet wanted to be more secure in the tent. Out came another tarp. For the “top layer” of my shelter, the camo tent (which works VERY nicely, as actual camo, as my camp cannot be seen at all coming down the road- even if you know right where to look. And also hides the mustang if I park on the far side of it.
With the shelter secured as best I could- using every last stake that I had (or did I see one more laying somewhere) I’m hoping the tarp holds. The winds will ramp up from nine am till cooking by noon, so I’ll have some time to evaluate. The worse of the winds later in the day will come from the west, my strong side, I think. The opening of my tent is to the south south east, and the tarp is stapled to the ground at every eyelet – same on the north side. To the south and the east, the fabric contorts around the tent to create my front awning area, keeping the sunset out of the tent- and out of my eyes when I sit in my chair (which has finally come out of it’s bag.)
Nothing left but to unload the camp bag and car fully. In Mathis, I was really living out of the campsites, slept in my tent, yet every waking moment was outside of tent, moseying about my site as best I could, or walking around it in some form of PT. The week at the beach was in my car, and tent some nights. Back Mathis again, I was living out the site again, yet I never really unpacked that time- at first it was only going to be a two day stay to recover from the beach- yet ending up being over three weeks? The one night that broke that last stay almost broke me.
It was cold packing that time, it was cold driving to the new site at mustang hollow, it was to dark and too cold to set up much more than my radio and prepared to sleep in my car. The next day was more wet and cold, dreary and sitting in my car that morning I thought I wanted to go home. Home being Michigan. I had to ask my self why? I wanted to be home, I wanted to be inside. I didn’t want to set up my tent and lay in my mummy bag, I wanted to be in a room. I also thought then, well get a motel room. Yet, I didn’t want a bed.
Man, I tell you, I am hard to argue with. Sometime I just want to give up and walk way from the discussion. Anyhow, a room with no bed, and that’s when I thought again about trying to wrap the picnic structure with the tarp, open to the south, and I could sit at the table to watch a fire, and pitch my tent inside the windbreak. At that is what I did, and that was good.
This, this is better. Much smaller, that at one hundred forty four square feet, this tent with only sixty four and if you count the ‘porch’ another forty two. Yet, everything I needed to come inside, has come inside and fits nicely. Yes, still a bit breezy with this tent design (great on a hot summer night.) It is easily able to contain the hear from my Mr. Heater “Little Buddy” Tonight is down to forty and tomorrow thirty two (and the wind still too) it will be chilly outside, yet I expect to be nice and warm.
Inside my cozy tent. How to make yourself happy about living in a four man tent? Live in a car or on a beach for a week, or campground with their wide variety of neighbors. This morning did not start positive at all, very self questioning. Yet now, by the end of it, I’m realizing – this is what I’ve been looking for. Solitude, no neighbors, no media, I need to worry about not much more than how much food and supplies I have and when I need to plan my next trip to Walmart- only fifteen minutes away.
Well, except tomorrow I also have to figure out cellphones, and internet and all kinds of things I don’t even want to thing about today. Today was good, today I have re-established a home base ready for a fourteen day stay. All the hard work of setting up camp is done, so now I can enjoy the next ten, free from the chains of daily vehicular movement. Well, except for movements.
I’ve discovered another chain in my life, one I hadn’t really thought about before (well, actually, yes but in a different context,) indoor plumbing. Because one truth of life is, you know it, Shit Happens.
Okay, time for me to finish for the day and begin planning for the next.
Time to rest.