Yes Dear

"The grey roads on the map" a new friend explained her intriguing road trip strategy. She and her husband follow the "greys" scoping out new adventures. Sounds challenging, thought we might give it a spin, I just haven't mentioned it to Paul yet.

No GPS signal, armed with illegible directions scribbled on the edge of an old newspaper, I lead Paul down a rustic one lane country road in search of the highly acclaimed "tallest waterfall in the state of Oregon". The road narrows, deteriorates from gravel to dirt then to impassible craters. Finally, grudgingly we decide this cow path leads nowhere. We abandon the lunacy but can't back up on the winding narrow lane. Out of the truck, I direct inch by inch, back and forth, steep drops on either side, ankle deep potholes in the middle, twenty tense minutes later, the truck is turned around back down that lonely old road. 

I've reserved numerous campsites that were impossible to manuever a Volkswagen into. Paul hangs his front tires over the absolute edge of the bluff in our latest campsite debacle. Sharp left and he somehow squeezes our thirty feet of wriggling, stubborn home sweet home between trees around boulders, at last settling onto our tiny patch of heaven, looking ready for the cover of Trailer Life. We are golden.

I crash Paul's precious old Dodge tailgate into the RV kingpin. He only shakes his head, murmurs something I don't understand, sheds a few tears and years. We don't mention it for the remainder of the trip.

I've found the best deal on diesel that required two fine young gentlemen directing front and back of our caravan to avoid taking the gas pump down the road with us. Thanks guys.

There's a classic line from a great movie, Silver Linings. Just released from the psychiatric hospital, Bradley Cooper tells his parents, "I'm solid". He is clearly not. He is a neurotic mess, a real loon, but something about his eccentric madness seems familiar to me, maybe a touch of insanity explains my lack of direction. I blame genetics too.  Yes, I plead both insanity and genetics.

Not sure how or why, but I am still the navigator of this traveling circus. I got this Paul, I'm solid.

Yes, dear.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJune 10, 2022 at 7:31 PM

    I know Paul got this backing up thing now . No more pull thru for Paul. The way i see the map quest lady always turn right . that is what i would go with. maps are over rated. Safe travel and keep the four rubber dogs out of the ditches.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJune 10, 2022 at 8:17 PM

    Good job!

    ReplyDelete
  3. JaneJune 11, 2022 at 9:34 PM

    Wowzer! Yes, dear? Oh, dear!! You guys make some perilous, courageous moves for peeps, um, 'our age'. Kudos. Oregon is a grow legal state, so how high was this directions-lady and was she leading you to her plants by the 'highest' waterfall? Seriously tho, loving the blog and I truly envy the wanderlust, adventurous spirit you embody and bring to life in your journals, so thanks for your gift of sharing your amazing adventures. Reminders of how stunningly beautiful and sublime our homeland is. Just wondering, was Sinatra with you again or was Paul listening to Talking Heads "Road to Nowhere"'?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. P+M Hit The RoadJune 12, 2022 at 10:08 AM

      Can't touch the legal stuff, the illegal did enough damage back in the day.
      Sinatra wasn't with us this trip, only The Beatles Long and Winding Road.

      Delete

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