Saturday, January 23, 2016

Road Trip, I can't think of a pun

I had another week between wwoofing hosts. You know what that means: car camping road trip! This one was mostly seeing beautiful nature and beaches and things. I drove around the east cape. It was lovely. Here are some pictures and my best stories.
Waterfall!

A lion? 
I don't recall why I was angry. Or why I thought a selfie was appropriate.
East Cape Lighthouse






It's called Ocean Beach. How thoughtful.

I settled in to a campground. After setting up my tent, I put down my blanket and sat on it. I colored in a coloring book and wrote some letters. I drew my parents a terrible picture of the scenery around me, complete with labels explaining what was a tree and what was a fence; I'm very talented. After awhile it got dark. I didn't really think about it, but i stopped writing because I could no longer see the page. But it was peaceful and nice and I was in my own world, so I just continued to sit on my blanket. There were two guys camped nearby, but I hadn't really talked to them. One of them walked over with a short string of twinkle lights and asked if I needed light. Then I realized that I'd just been sitting in the dark for at least 10 minutes, like a weirdo.

I had also been working on a bottle of wine, so I offered him some and he joined my picnic. His friend came over as well and we all talked for awhile. They were two Germans, probably around 19 years old (this is a very common demographic of backpackers around here). At one point one of them said he had a question for me, but couldn't think of how to say it, so he was thinking about it. A minute later he asked his friend a question in German. He responded, quite quickly, 'Donald Trump'. I chimed in with, 'Agh, no. I don't want to talk about it. Have you seen the stars? They're really clear tonight.' They then admitted the question he had asked was something like, 'Who is that silly American politician?' Accurate. They then made fun of me for turning to the stars for a distraction. In my defense, they were really great. And Trump is not worth discussing. Overall they were pretty cool people. They were hitchhiking and I gave them a ride in the morning.

Late in the week I arrived at another campground and decided that I was sick of moving around and should stay put for a day. So the next day I had the luxury of not packing up camp. I moved slowly and packed my backpack for adventure. I left the campsite at around noon. There was a trailhead pretty much right behind my tent. I walked a little, then read for awhile (still Game of Thrones). Then walked and read, rinse, repeat. The hiking trail was a large loop up a few fills, around a lake, and ending back at the front of the campground. It is meant to take about 2 hours. I got back at around 7:30. And then I didn't bother to go back to my tent, but sat in a tree next to the lake and campground and continued to read.

At about 8:00 a man came up to me and asked if it was my tent and car on the other side of the campground. I said yes was concerned that a sheep was eating it or something. This is entirely possible. He was relieved and explained that the couple camping nearby was concerned that I had not returned and was asking about me. This was something I had not considered, but I did go for a two hour hike eight hours ago. He went to tell them I had been found; I followed shortly after. The couple was not at their tent, but soon the woman returned. I went over to thank her for her concern and let her know I was fine. She explained that her husband had gone looking for me and she'd gone calling for him, but he hadn't heard. So now I felt bad and was concerned. I was also a little mad that I was made to feel bad for other people's concern about me. In her defense, she wasn't concerned about him, but she did hope he would come back soon, before it got dark. So then I got my camp chair and took it over to her tent. Again I  said I was sorry for causing concern, and said it was fitting that now I was concerned for her husband. We sat and talked until he returned, just before dark. Then I stayed and talked to the both of them for awhile. They were very nice. They have daughters around my age, which further explains their concern. Although I was in a cycle of being a little upset and upset that I was upset, it was nice to know that people notice and care about me. Humanity. Sometimes I have hope.

got the oil changed in my car! Not really an exciting story, but I was proud. It's hard to remember that I still need to be a responsible adult. I need to eat vegetables and do laundry and take care of myself and take care of my belongings. It was a comforting situation. I sat outside the garage watching a man work. Oldies were playing on the radio. It smelled like grease and oil and real. I kind of wanted to stay after he was done with my car, but I didn't. 

Other things to note:

  • I drank an entire bottle of wine writing this. I regret nothing. (I would like it noted I'm no longer doing wine induced facebook meltdowns)
  • Cat Stevens singing 'The First Cut Is the Deepest' just played in my headphones. You know who you are.
  • Every time I get a chance to eat sushi I do. It's delicious. It's becoming a problem.
  • It got dark and I'm sitting in the middle of a field where I was running and rugby-ing. Now it's weird. Do I leave?
  • Today I realized it's ridiculous that I didn't have a rugby ball. It was amazing to go into the nearest sports store and buy one. I'm never leaving.
  • Now a wizard rock song is playing on my ipod. If you know what that is, I'm glad you're reading this.
  • I didn't move. I'm now sitting in the dark in a strange location.
  • This is who I am.

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