So, out in the desert...
I met this woman. She was amazing.
Not because of what she wore, or how tight her abs were, or who she was camped with. She was amazing because I've never met anyone like her before.
I don't know how to say it without sounding a little "I've been to all these places but I've never been to me..." but, damn it, I tapped into some reserves out there in the desert that I didn't know I had.
On Wednesday, there were a couple of really intense dust storms. The first one was a twister kind of thing, that I read somewhere was clocked at 80 mph. It destroyed the camp of some folks very near us. Sergio was resting, laying under the shade, and I looked up and see this wall of white moving towards us...I moved quickly into the tent, but the dust was already swirling inside. Sergio stayed outside. It passed quickly, and we watched as it moved off into the distance. We'd done a good job of staking things down, it seemed.
A bit later, maybe an hour, another wind storm kicked up. This one I stayed outside for. It was a little less intense, but longer lasting. The camp next to us had a portable car port for their shade, and we noticed that it was leaning and listing in our direction, and pulling up off its supports. We ran over (the residents were out and about) and held it down. It took all of my strength, and it was almost too much. Sergio yelled for me to unhook the bungie balls that kept the canvas attached to the supports so the wind could move through. I was on my tiptoes, trying to reach them all, and with each release, the burden was easier to bear. By the time they were unhooked, the wind had subsided a little bit and we could relax. The neighbors (who, as an aside, were having the worst luck throughout the whole trip) came back shortly thereafter, and witnessed this:
The blue-roofed shade on the right is ours, the mangled mess is what was remaining of the neighbor's shade. Fortunately (and largely because of our efforts) nothing was broken, and they were able to reassemble the next day.
My adrenaline was pumping. I felt invincible. I felt strong, capable and so very alive. That was the moment that this big camping trip made sense to me.
I could go through a typical travelogue, as I've been known to in the past, but, for now, this is what I wanted to share.
I met this woman in the desert. She was amazing.
Not because of what she wore, or how tight her abs were, or who she was camped with. She was amazing because I've never met anyone like her before.
I don't know how to say it without sounding a little "I've been to all these places but I've never been to me..." but, damn it, I tapped into some reserves out there in the desert that I didn't know I had.
On Wednesday, there were a couple of really intense dust storms. The first one was a twister kind of thing, that I read somewhere was clocked at 80 mph. It destroyed the camp of some folks very near us. Sergio was resting, laying under the shade, and I looked up and see this wall of white moving towards us...I moved quickly into the tent, but the dust was already swirling inside. Sergio stayed outside. It passed quickly, and we watched as it moved off into the distance. We'd done a good job of staking things down, it seemed.
A bit later, maybe an hour, another wind storm kicked up. This one I stayed outside for. It was a little less intense, but longer lasting. The camp next to us had a portable car port for their shade, and we noticed that it was leaning and listing in our direction, and pulling up off its supports. We ran over (the residents were out and about) and held it down. It took all of my strength, and it was almost too much. Sergio yelled for me to unhook the bungie balls that kept the canvas attached to the supports so the wind could move through. I was on my tiptoes, trying to reach them all, and with each release, the burden was easier to bear. By the time they were unhooked, the wind had subsided a little bit and we could relax. The neighbors (who, as an aside, were having the worst luck throughout the whole trip) came back shortly thereafter, and witnessed this:
The blue-roofed shade on the right is ours, the mangled mess is what was remaining of the neighbor's shade. Fortunately (and largely because of our efforts) nothing was broken, and they were able to reassemble the next day.
My adrenaline was pumping. I felt invincible. I felt strong, capable and so very alive. That was the moment that this big camping trip made sense to me.
I could go through a typical travelogue, as I've been known to in the past, but, for now, this is what I wanted to share.
I met this woman in the desert. She was amazing.