2/21/23 - Laundry Day

I love laundry day. In the van, it usually means a stop in town at a laundromat.

Laundromats have the best names. If I have time, I’ll do my reasearch to see which laundromat will win my business based on name alone. After all, it doesn’t really matter, almost all coin operated laundromats are the same.

“Let’s see there’s The Soap Opera, The Washboard, The Suds N Such, and the Wishy Washy.” All great choices! I opted for the Soap Opera.

It’s a known fact that your clothes get 10% cleaner by going to a funny named laundromat.

Once a laundromat has been chosen, I gather my unmentionables, sheets, towels, anything that needs it, and haul it on in. I don’t have a basket, I just shove everything into a pillow case/laundry bag a friend made me.

I find a likeable washer, shove the jumbled mass in there (lots of shoving on laundy day) and shut the door. I put in the quarters, I love quarters - such a useful coin! Add the soap, set it to cold (think green) and push start.

Twenty five minutes later, i collect my wet clean clothes shoving them all back into the pillow case and exit.

Then I drive to the park I’m staying at, usually i do laundry as close as possible to my landing spot.

I get my site, I take a look at the clothesline options and set it up. It’s very useful to have a ladder on the van for clothesline purposes.

Sun and wind dried clothes smell, feel, and look better than any dryer dried clothes. Not only that, It’s fast! When I dry my clothes outside in the desert, they are done in about 20 minutes!

I take em off as they dry. I “fold” them before shoving them back into my wardrobe shelf, and get on with my life.

2/15/23 - Palo Duro Canyon - Where Jamaica And Texas Come Together

I would offer the predominant color of Palo Duro Canyon is red.

It’s an accessible red. The park trails wind past the coolest natural features of the place - from twisting creeks and juniper groves to hoodoos, towers, balanced stones, boulders, badlands, and layered striped high canyon walls.

The trails are open to bikers and hikers and hooves, whichever you prefer - though maybe not all at the same time.

As for me, I opted for wheels on the first day. I went for the big loop, some 26 miles worth of fun. Unfortunately, I wasn't riding my best. I bent my derailleur mid session when I bailed off a tricky section of lower Comanche. I was fine. My bike wasn't. But with a bit of trailside wrenching, I was able to pedal home. I left 13 miles hanging there. I hate leaving a trail unfinished.

The next day, I used my feet. A slower approach, sure, but a lot more interactive than pedal power. I did 11 miles, hiking out past the lighthouse rock. I was tempted to go off camber and find a way down to the dry wash below, but decided to stick to the beaten path. And what a great path! Im not often inspired to run when I can hike, but this landscape moved me. I'd love to coyote run it at sunset. Next time.

Throughout the day, high cirrus clouds were piling in from the west doing two things for me: They marked an incoming cold front, and they softened the light. It made the red vibrate beautifully.

“So what does Jamaica have to do with it?”

Given the geology of this place - with its penchant for red with white striped decor, I think Texas ought to adopt the Red Stripe Lager as it's park beer. Forgive me if someone has already thought of this, but after a long day of exploring the canyon, it would have been fitting and very well received to crack open an ice cold Red Stripe.

“Where Jamaica and Texas Come together.”

In fact, if they don’t, the camp store ought to stock some Red Stripes just for this purpose. You could make a killing on beer sales. Think about it, Texas…

Feb 12th 2023 - The Plain Transformation

I love the great plains. I love everything about them. The flatness, endless views, the driving monotony.

The only thing I don’t really like are the ubiquitous fences that keep stock, or crops off the road and me on the road.

I would love to walk out to the middle of one of these ranches and see nothing in any direction but grass.

Ninety seven percent of the time, the plains are either tan, brown, brownish tan, or tannish brown. The sky - a weak pale blue, or white with streaks of cloud cover.

But three percent of the time, they are transformed into an intense display of color and beauty. It’s fleeting. Your timing must be good to see it happen. When it does, the beauty of the plains is stunning.

Boom!

Feb 8th, 2023 - Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree was good to me. I scored a midweek campsite at Indian Cove. Changing to Pacific time zone has its perks - I woke up early ready to seize the day.

I hiked that ol’ Boy Scout trail from Indian Cove to the Willow Hole and back, some 18 miles. It was the longest I’ve hiked in a long time, but I'm embracing these challenges… After all, I’ve got this great body - What can I do with it?

I found I could still walk 18 (s)miles with a long day on the trail. I found I still loved scrambling around on the grippy granite. I found out how tired I can get. It got hot. The sun beat down as it does in the desert. My legs ached, but still I smiled.

By the end, I was cursing those “damn do gooder” boy scouts for making the trailhead so far away from the campground.. but really, I was just tired, and hungry, ready to be done. In all reality, I salute those boys for making a kick ass trail!

After unsaddling, I grabbed a cold beer and climbed a likeable rock to sit in the shade and listen to the silence of the stone.

Thank you Joshua Tree!

1/29/23 - Mountain Thoughts

“Mountains don’t care. They have better things to do.” - Me.

This was my profound thought of the day as I struggled up Baylor peak. I forgot how steep this trail is. As I paused to catch my breath that the west wind kept stealing, I looked out over the gorgeous rock stretched before me.

“Just Beautiful.” I gasped.

Then I turned back to the task at hand, and began slowly creeping up the mountain - barely faster than a banana slug.

Eventually, I summited. I rejoiced - then realized I needed to keep going as I had only reached the false summit.

True mountain peaks often try to break your spirit by hiding behind a false summit. I know better now, but as a younger man, these false summits left me disillusioned, and mistrustful of mountain peaks… But, as I've said, “Mountains don't care.”

The path to the true summit is often the most unkempt wild path, with boulders, rocks, and and in this case, cactus, to impede your progress.

But, Im a man who likes to suffer. Why else would I climb mountains? So I cheerfully scrambled my way up, held the cactus at bay with my walking stick, leaned into the heavy west wind and summited.

I sat in the lee of the summit cairn. I wrote a mountain haiku in the summit register, and cracked a summit beer. I looked again at the range to the south…

It seemed too close. A range this beautiful shouldn't be this easy to access… but it is.

Lucky me.

Im loving mountain energy right now.

Jan 20th, 2023 - On The Cusp

I drove just short of 400 miles to get to these dunes by sunset. It was worth the effort. Not that driving 400 miles is suffering, quite the opposite, but it does have an effect on one's psyche. I was a little loopy when I arrived.

I grabbed a beer and my new camera, and headed up into the sand.

I immediately saw the leading lines to great compositions. I love being on the cusp of shadow and light. Sand dunes in low angled glowing golden light are perfect.

Over the hour of golden light explosions, I found my compositions and regained my composure.

Ahhhhhh.

11/27/22 - Contentment. Lake Thunderbird, OK

Scenes of the day.

Did you ever have a day where you are extremely content with life, and your lot in it? That was today.

I was content to make breakfast. Eat it. Read. Go for a six mile run along the unexpected beach. I took a hot shower, getting clean. I ate snacks and watched the sunset over the lake.

I made homemade pizza for dinner, and now happily lying in my hammock drinking coffee and listening to Kurt Vonnegut's "Bluebeard.”