Tuesday January 16, 2007

I wake up around 10AM and it is still cold as a witch’s tit. (There is supposed to be a mountain in Germany that looks like a witches tit that is where the saying comes from.) Anyway, I digress.

Everyone else heads further south, but I can’t do that as I have no dry clothes other than the few that I have on. I sigh and put my stuff on the picnic table to start to drip. Little hope of it drying out in one day, especially since it is barely above freezing. Jeans, snowsuit, shirts, blue blanket, etc. At least I have caught a break and it isn’t raining.

Yesterday I couldn’t get the lighter to light so I didn’t get to eat. Today, the lighter works a little better and I light the propane stove. I immediately scarf down three packages of instant oatmeal, peaches and cream. I lay down in my tent and read, being ticked off that I have ruined my manicure.

To get some exercise, I walk around and gather some firewood, although I don’t think it will be warm enough for me to have a fire as the table is too far from the fire pit. I don’t have a chair to sit on that I could use to huddle up close to the fire.

I called Berta and she’s asleep. I have to keep my cell phone off, as I don’t have enough gas to just run to town to charge it up. My cell phone is pretty unusable here anyway. The only reception that I can get is really bad analogue. It took five calls before I could get the bank to talk to me. Things are better than I thought they were, but I still don’t have much gas and really don’t like the option b. I mentioned in the last post.

Gave up on my snowsuit getting dry outside and since there is no one else in the campground, I take it in the restroom and hang it up on the hook on the back of the door. Everything else is still dripping so I leave them hanging off the edge of the table.

I call Berta again and she has not one, but two checks for me. My heart starts to relax and I know that I at least will have money. I figure that I can go flag down a ranger the next day if that is the only answer I can think of. It is only 15 miles to the next town and that would only take less than half a gallon of gas. I wish that I knew that had it. There is less than a 20% chance that I have that much gas. I do however have the money in my pocket from yesterday. I try not to kick myself regarding the fact that I have money and not gas. (Gotta love that 20/20 hindsight)

As the day grows colder, I hang the rest of my clothes in the restroom. It’s not like I can go anywhere until they dry. As I sit around waiting for them to dry, I start to write to catch up on the blog posts that I am behind. I start a shopping list as I think of what I need to get for life to become livable for me. Livable is important.

I finish the book that I am reading and need to get another one. I have the book the clubhouse gave me. I am going to finish it and send it to Sue when I am done, as she will enjoy it also.

The rest of the campground is shut down. No one is anywhere around. One of the other restrooms is locked up tight. I decide to approach the ranger the next time I hear him about possibly getting a little bit of gas. It’s 6:45PM. I hear a camper come in and go up on the hill, drive around and then settle in where the van dweller was last night. I hope they don’t have to run the vehicle to charge the battery.

Around 7:30 I hear a vehicle and the other restroom door slam. I go outside and am trying to see if it is a ranger, when a nice looking older gentleman walks out of the men’s room. I grin, say Hi and start a conversation. He mentions that he had to travel to Natchez from Clinton and is just now returning.

We talk about how cold it is, and I mention that I had wanted to head farther south to get out of the cold, but couldn’t as my stuff had to dry out. We shared our names. He is Bill Fletcher from Clinton. He is such a nice guy. He’s a biker who has a Harley Davidson Ultra. (A kick ass bike that I can’t imagine owning.) I told him that I had a Kawasaki 500 that I felt good about it and was happy about it, except for the problem I had with the speedometer cable.

He didn’t want to leave me and for some reason he asked me if I had enough gas to ride out the next day. (I think he was turning over the problem with my not really knowing how far I had traveled.) I am not allowed to lie so I told him that I didn’t think so.

We shared some more words and he mentioned that he loves to ride out to Spokane, WA, but only rides in the summer and doesn’t camp. He had thought about getting a motorhome. Bill also mentioned that he likes to ride in the Rockies more than in the Appalachian Mountains because you can see farther. As I think about it I realize that he is right.

As he leaves, he asks me if I’ll be all right. I grin and say “yes” as that is the truth. He mentioned that he had seen all the clothes on the picnic table this morning and had been worried then, but was more worried now that he knew it was I. (I can’t complain, I am the type of woman who likes being treated like a queen and have the doors opened for me.)

He checked the temp in the restroom and told me to make sure that I drag my sleeping bag in there to sleep if I need to. I might need to as it is below freezing now.

When he leaves I head out to get my sleeping bag and pad when I realize that drying out my boots, gloves and sweatshirt is still going to be an all night job.

There are flecks of ice all over my tent that I hear crackle in the wind. I grab my backpack, as I need to dry my atlas also. (Need a bigger baggie.;-).

Ya know, whatever happens, happens. I will handle it. I’m actually pretty warm as I have managed to dry out a pair of long johns and in the morning my boots should be wearable as long as I wake up continually and stuff them with fresh paper towels. (I usually use newspaper, but currently have none.)

As I dry my clothes I realize that I need to stop doing campfires. My clothes reek of smoke. And I take the time to realize that life is pretty good. I could be stuck inside in an apartment.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring. I hope that it’s warmer. From 75* to below freezing. And they say that Michigan has changeable weather.

Happy trails. Marty