Escape from Red Dirt.

Safe and sound in Santa Fe.  Now that the trip is over, I can talk about it. 

The Escape From Red Dirt was something else.  I don't know if I can really convey what that was like without you being there.  I started with this...

Before I could even start I had to remove a fence from in front of the RV, from behind the RV and then through the intended plan of travel in the left of the above picture.  And all with temperatures in the mid 90's.  Once the fences were down, we came upon the second problem. 

The rains accompanying the last rounds of tornadoes washed away large swathes of the gravel that made up the RV pad.  So the truck was tilted nose down. booty up.  So I used rocks the kids had dug out of the ground and some pavers to lift the front end of the truck.  I had to get out and move the pavers and rocks every time I had to adjust so that the hitch would line up.  Eventually, we got hooked up.  Time for a break.

After a snack and some water, I started backing down the steep dirt hill.  We almost bottomed out in two places, but some quick shovel work fixed it.  It was a slow process of move two feet, get out and look, move two feet, get out and look.  But we got down.  Then we had to go up and weave through a few obstacles.  Eventually we got to the gate.  Continuing the theme of making us work for it, the angle to get out of the gate was acute enough that we couldn't make the turn.  So we had to drive out heading the wrong way, back back into the driveway and then exit again later...after another break.  All told, the exiting portion of the adventure took probably 4-5 hours.  Then we had to drive to the other RV park, set up and then drive back to Miche's to fix the fence.

A pain in the butt, but all told it was less work for us than for Miche.  I still can't believe she was nice enough to build an RV pad on her land and let us use it.  I mean, I can believe it because she is nice, but...I'll just stop talking.  Thanks Miche.

That was just the exit.  The next day the drive started.  sheesh.  More tomorrow. 

6-27-13

Wow, what a crazy couple of days. 

We accepted a contract in Santa Fe, N.M.  Of course this wasn't as easy as it sounded.  I had to update certifications, physicals, medical records, employment examinations and, this was a first, get my own respirator fit test. 

Then we had to leave.  That sucked.  I was looking forward to spending the summer in Oklahoma with family.  I wanted to hang out with my sister and the various relatives that would tromp through.  But, I also needed a paycheck, so we left.  The things we do for money.

None of this even starts to describe what I am now calling, The Escape From Red Dirt.  The process of getting the RV out of Michelle's property could possibly find its way into a Jackie Chan movie.  It was some stunt work.   That will need its own blog post some day.  And then another about the 106 degree temperatures today driving through the Texas panhandle.  But it will have to wait.  I am tired and we are getting up early tomorrow to attempt to beat the worst of the heat. 

For now we are safe, dry and cooling off to a human temperature in Vega, TX. 

6/23/13

It has been a while.  I think this is the longest stretch so far this year without a post.  I would say I have been taking it easy, and I have to some extent, but things are getting done.

I re-certified in TNCC (a trauma nursing course),took care of medical and dental checks, got a new phone for me, and may have found our next job.  We haven't signed, but have been offered Santa Fe, NM.  It would be great, but less than ideal.  We wanted to stay here in Oklahoma, but couldn't seem to get it done.  I expect one of the Oklahoma jobs will come through the day I sign the NM contract. 

Sigh.  Now I have to try to remember how to move this place around.

I want a word here on how awesome and generous and hospitable everyone has been lately.  It starts and ends with my sister Michelle who built this RV pad out on her property and watched our stuff while we were out to sea.  She even climbed on top of our RV during a tornado producing storm to cover a skylight that was broken by a hailstone.  She is gutsier than I.  She has been amazing. 

But everyone has been great.  Dad and Julia and Grandma and Papa have been brilliant as well.  They have opened their homes and arms when we came to visit.  Without their generosity not of this insanity could have been possible. 

Thank you guys. 

Sorry Miche, I really wanted this to work out so we could hang out this summer.  Maybe we can try again.  I did get my Oklahoma license, seems a shame never to use it. 

Open the pod bay doors HAL.

I'm sorry, I just can't do that. 

As a writer you play with language in an attempt to more accurately communicate an idea of feeling.  So, mentally I have been trying to explain why it is that I am really rather happy that I am not going back to the cruise ship life, even if that life could have taken me to fabulous places to see really cool things.

Now, we all saw the mess with the mountain metaphor from a few posts ago, so we can tell I still have some work so to.  Let's try this:

Once you have tasted freedom, it is really hard to go back into captivity. 

I had designed my life for as much freedom as I could shoehorn into it at my income level.  We had a choice of where we lived, what we ate, where we went, what we saw and on and on.  Then, on the cruise ship, it is almost like living back with your parents.  They were in charge of what I wore, where I went, where, when and to some degree what I ate.  I wasn't allowed to go certain places and talk to certain people.  Every time we went to a port I had a sharp curfew and it was usually way earlier than I wanted. 

Were I younger, I don't think I would feel it as acutely.  I also think having a family of four on board added quite a bit of pressure.  There were also financial issues that wouldn't have been as bad as a single person, but at the core, I wanted my freedom back.

And now I have it.  To a much greater degree anyway. 

So, it was good, it was interesting and I am glad we did it.  But, I'm not sad it's over. 

Let's move on shall we.

6-11-13

Got 4 pages written today on the non fiction side.  That is pretty good considering my recent pace of 0 pages per day. 

I am saving the fiction work for after the non fiction book rough draft is done.  With the non-fiction thing at 120 pages, it is probably 3/4 written.  Might even be editable into something worth reading. 

No surprise that the non fiction book is about our travels.  It's not like I am teasing anything here.  I think it will be pretty good.  Even if it doesn't sell, it will serve as a history for the kids.  A worthwhile project for sure. 

Now the fiction thing...that is kind of a secret. 

We will see if it lives.


What I was pondering tonight was this: What happened to those 10-15 page days?  Man, I used to feel so creative and enthusiastic about writing anything.  I loved it.  I was writing short stories for AFO and my own stories and going to school.  It was great.

Of course, I didn't have a job, Sarah was supporting me while I went to school.  And I didn't have kids. 

Well, I guess that answers that.  Still.  I have creative moments, they just don't often happen yet while I am sitting at the computer writing.  Instead they happen when there is little hope of getting them down.  Writing now is dragging prose, screaming and protesting from the dark corners of my brain.  I hope practice will make it better. 

A road trip tomorrow, so not much writing, but I will get something down. 

I have to, I promised me.

The Mountain

I picture writing in my head.  Throngs of people stand, milling about the base of a large cliff.  We are multitude wandering about, our shuffling feet stirring up large clouds of dust.  Each of us focused on the top.  Some steal glances and pretend to be checking the clouds, some stand back and measure with their thumbs and some just sit in meditation and unabashedly stare.  Most of us are in some stage of preparation for the climb.  We find gear, coil ropes and practice with our tools. 

Every once in a while, someone sets off.   Most take established routes with some sort of gear and even some training.  Occasionally some lunatic comes in screaming and just starts to climb with nothing but determination and fervor holding them fast to the sheer face of the crumbling rock. 

Almost everyone falls off.

Well, pretty much everyone falls off once or twice.  Some scream all the way down. Most are silent as they fall.  The graceful swan dives are fun to watch. The end result is the same, they crash to earth with a flat thud.  I am encouraged by their resilience.  They rise to try again.  Mostly.  Some leave smoking craters and are never heard from again.  Honestly though, unless you are looking right at them, you never see the climbs or the falls.  When you decide to go, with whatever preparation you find suitable, the mountain will challenge you in ways you can't imagine.  You will work, strive, fail, fall and return to keep climbing.  Every step you will somehow convince yourself that you have something special, a story or an idea so special it will propel you to the top of the mountain.  And one day, if you just keep climbing, keep working and never give up, you will come to that last lip and pull yourself over.  Where you will find yourself surrounded by a bunch of people milling about looking for mountains.  Turns out, a lot of people climbed this mountain.  Some had jacket made with little patches for each summit.  They have clubs and parties and what not.  A small amount get paid to climb, but I think most do it for fun, or for the challenge. 

I need to get climbing.  And after this post I also realize I need to work on my editing, it went on too long. 

Good to be writing something again though. 

6/2/13

Well, that's over.

It didn't end as well as I would like.  I won't go into it because it would seem petty and mean, but I have some issues with a fellow worker.  I tried to take the high road and, at the last minute, they took the low road and now I look really pretty bad.  I feel like the clueless contestant on Survivor.  I just had no idea that things were like that until it was way too late to do anything about it.  Hell, I thought I was being nice.

Oh well, get over it and move on.  There is plenty to do.  I think there will be a decisive shift in the blog for the next few weeks.  I am going to talk more about writing than travel as I shift gears in real life.  I will occasionally touch on travel and post some of the better backlog pictures too I suspect.  But I want to work on writing.  So, if you read this for travel pictures and adventure stories, see you in a couple months. 

If you are interested in writing at all, stick around.  And if you are here because you think I am just to clever or handsome...hey, do you do PR work?

Another day of rest before three days on the road and we will put this escapade in the books.  Back to Oklahoma and hopefully less tornados.