Yeah, six decades. The big day was approaching and I wasn’t looking forward to answering questions such as “how does it feel?” (How could it possibly feel, anyway, dude? Not any different than the a day earlier, right?) So, to minimize the fuzz around turning sixty, I set up a plan to be completely alone and offline from the day before to the day after. As it happened, my plan hit a couple of unexpected roadblocks. Not figurative ones, but literal ones: two of the roads I intended to use in Los Padres National Forest were closed due to recent storms, but that was not enough to derail my plan. I declare success: I got to spend the entirety of that special day all by myself!
Pinnacles National Park
Designated as a National Park just in 2013, Pinnacles is the newest of California National Parks. Most people rank it low when compared to other National Parks because they have all been spoiled by Yosemite, but it’s the closest one to home and it deserves our love all the same.
Laguna Mountain
Being mid-week and low season, at Laguna Mountain I had the entire campground to myself. As Charly Garcia said, “no necesito a nadie, nadie alrededor” (now, if someone could explain to me why that verse is preceded by “no voy en tren, voy en avión“, I’m all ears. My take: Charly García may be a great musician, but not a very sophisticated poet. Sorry, you probably have no idea what this old man is talking about.)
I hadn’t realized how much I like solitude. Absolute solitude. It feeds my soul. I’ll do this more often in my next sixty years. In fact, I’m doing it as I write this post. Stay tuned.
Bonus, previously unreleased material
In December, when I was still young, we drove to the Panamint Valley to experience the Geminids Meteor Shower. We had never prepared so well to maximize the count of shooting starts we’d see, setting up to spend the entire night under a moonless Milky Way, all warm and cozy in our sleeping bags. And we had never seen so few. (Okay, that’s not true in its literal sense, since, for instance, last night a saw zero, but I wasn’t trying and there was no shower; you know what I mean). Still, the trip and the scenery was well worth it.
Happy birthday, friend.
Gracias, amigo mío!
Hi Juan. I sure have enjoyed your travels and posts. Going from your cat now to a van. I sold my Revel last year, got a Ford Lightning and put on an RTT. Which hasn’t worked out, mainly to my 64 year old flexibility and lack of charging infrastructure for traveling with an EV. So now on to a Toyota Tacoma hybrid and some kind of a pop up camper. And maybe a road trip to Panama next winter. As much as I like EVs, they are not for traveling outside of main highway routes. So back to a gas guzzler! And interesting that you’re in the San Francisco area or near there. My bro lives in Aptos where I spend most of January to March this year, getting to know it better. I agree. Pinnacles is a treasure. And I’ve driven by laguna campground and always wanted to camp there.
And so true about being out alone at time.
Again, thanks for your posts. Jerv Swannaxk
Thank you, Jerv, for your kind words.
I hear you on the EVs. We have one, and range anxiety on long trips is a real thing. A road trip to Panama sounds amazing! I hope it materializes for you.
Feliz cumpleanos, tortuga !
Who knew?
You are the second Yang Wood Dragon I know.
Ram or Bull?
Sending love
And gratitude for you sharing your thoughts and images
🙏🏽💙😊
Thank you, my beautiful friend.
It makes me happy that you enjoy my ruminations.
Don’t know about ram vs bull. I’m tortuga, after all! 🐢