Believe me when I tell you it gets a little rough
Huey Lewis and the News
We work a little harder but it never is enough
I’m not afraid to say I’m a total loss
All I want is a couple days off
It’s not like my life is terrible. Far from it — it’s better than ever. I know I only just left Cottage Grove a week ago, but I’ve been doing some hard-core traveling ever since, both to get in and out of Crater Lake as well as to escape cold overnight temperatures. My original plan was to wait until I have a full non-working day today to make the 4.5-hour drive to Pahrump, but I think I’m going to stay at Walker Lake an extra day and make that trip on Sunday instead.
I forgot how warm the desert sun makes it feel. Though I ran the heater for a couple of hours early this morning, I didn’t need it as soon as I took down my window covers. The thermometer said it was only 57º out, but in the sun I was comfortable in just a t-shirt. Yesterday’s weather was beautiful, rather than Thursday’s chaos. As I type this, I don’t see a cloud in the sky. Today’s forecast is slightly warmer than yesterday. I have all the supplies I need for several days, which is good because there is nothing out here except for a few other camper vans. Also, if I find my Pahrump camp on Sunday, I’ll arrive after many of the weekenders have already left, so I’ll have a better selection.
Lister has definitely been enjoying himself. He’s gotten to roam all day, as well as chase lizards for exercise. I’ve seen many of them myself and they look harmless. They’re fast enough to get away from him, but it gives him some good exercise, both for his body and his brain. He seems very happy here, so I’m staying the extra day as much for him as for me.
I took a walk down to the shore, having established that the unexploded munitions are confined to the south end of the lake, and I’m on the western side. (I also saw a few cars drive down there yesterday, and they didn’t blow up…) There isn’t much to see. All the freshwater fish are gone because the lake is now half as salty as the ocean due to shrinking and agricultural runoff. It’s basically the same story as the Aral Sea on a much smaller scale. I still won’t be kayaking out there. Even though it’s warm enough now, I don’t want to get all those contaminants all over me or my kayak.
I had a few seconds of excitement as I began writing this. A fighter jet swooped in low over the lake, then turned and flew right over me no more than a few hundred feet high! It wasn’t painted like a standard USAF fighter. It was darker in color and had red markings. At first, I thought it might have been a Japanese F-2, strongly based on the F-16, with the red dot of Japan as its insignia. But some retired Air Force friends told me that the annual Red Flag event is happening right now in Las Vegas, not far away by air, where American and allied pilots train together against an aggressor squadron. Think Top Gun, but for the Air Force, and add pilots from friendly countries. The more I look at pictures, the more I think it was one of the aggressor F-16s like in this picture (not mine — the jet was in and out of here faster than I could grab my phone). Regardless of who or what this jet was, the pilot was obviously having fun and showing off for us. I could see a hotshot aggressor pilot pulling a harmless stunt like this more than a Japanese guest. Or, maybe his low pass across the lake was to evade detection by allied pilots during an exercise.
It was another quiet night. I ran the heater a little bit after dark, slept well, and didn’t need the heater this morning. I’ve been infested by flies again, worse than I ever have. They must be local because I haven’t seen any flies since leaving Cottage Grove, so I didn’t bring any with me. I’m using all of my countermeasures. I even have all the windows and doors open so that the light breeze will hopefully just blow them out of the van. They’re already inside, so closing things up will only trap the swarm in here.
Although I said I was taking time off, I really meant time off from the road, not from work. I’m still editing Ally’s next book. I’ve also had an article accepted by a major website I haven’t written for previously, which is pretty exciting. I’ll work on that, too. There’s really nothing to do here, which isn’t a bad thing for a short break. It could even help me focus on the writing and editing tasks at hand.
Smokey Da Van 