Epic Eclipse Adventure: Epilogue (Days 4 and 5)

September 15, 2017 by Galia in before the trip, eclipse

Last day of driving, and I’m struck by how beautiful California really is. After two days of flat nothingness, I’m able to see the mountains and pine trees with fresh eyes. We’re lucky to live here.

On our drive home, we reflected on the different lifestyle inherent in living in a place like Rexburg, particularly for the children. The kids (and adults) were so beautifully trusting of strangers, and had full access and ability to just roam freely. Even the surprisingly young ones were allowed to just pop into the ATV by themselves and ride it around wherever and whenever they wanted. The group of kids all rode their bikes down to the river to swim with free reign, and there was a beautiful freedom that just let them be kids. The mother of the family we stayed with remarked on what a great place it is to raise kids, but for one thing -- she wishes she had the ability to expose her kids to people who are different from them, and let them see the lives of people from different places and different backgrounds. So we wondered, is it possible to give your children both? A free range childhood full of trust and safety, and the experience of growing up around diversity, so they’re both safe and challenged? I hope so.

On our way back, we realized that our previous plan to park the RV in San Francisco is a bad one, for a few reasons. Mostly, we don’t want to have to worry about somebody breaking into it. But it’s also unclear what the laws even are about parking an RV in the city -- where it’s okay, how long it’s okay for, and whether it’s okay as long as you’re not living in it. So we decided to find a secure place to park it when we got home. We did some research online and found a perfect place nearby in Alameda, with covered parking and security.

We didn’t roll into the Bay Area until late, and we knew we wouldn’t be able to park it near our place, so we spent the night at the Golden Gate Bridge rest stop we stopped at during our hashtag van life tester weekend. In the morning, we called our perfect parking place, only to be told they don’t have any space for us. We took the RV to the apartment unload all our stuff, and spent two frantic hours Googling and calling places until we hit the parking jackpot. Our main concern was security, and the place we found happened to have one spot open up THAT DAY, and has TWO police officers living on-site. How’s that for security. There was still something strange about rolling up to the place and having a cop in full uniform there waiting to check us in… “Are you Mike?”

All in all, the four day whirlwind ended up being the best thing we could do for ourselves. All of our fears, hesitations, discomfort about the RV were forced out of us. We got a crash course in RV life, and learned lessons it probably would have taken us months to take us to learn otherwise. We still have some things to figure out, and I’m sure there are plenty more lessons to come, but for now, it already feels like home.

Photo by Bryan Goff on Unsplash — Photo by Bryan Goff on Unsplash

Epic Eclipse Adventure: Totality! (Day 3.5)

September 14, 2017 by Galia in eclipse, before the trip

I’m not sure how to successfully write about what a total eclipse is like, but maybe I can just leave it at the fact that it was TOTALLY worth the drive, and we immediately wanted to see another one. I think I can easily say it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced. And I say experienced, instead of seen, because what caught us off guard the most was this totally visceral, full-body rush that seemed to happen to everybody who saw it… like your body knows that it’s the middle of the day and it’s 15 degrees too cool and you shouldn’t be able to see stars and there’s a 360* sunset covering the entire horizon and oh my goodness there is a giant gilded black hole in the sky and it is just WRONG and AMAZING and fills you with awe and wonder and adrenaline and a connectedness to everything and everybody who’s ever seen one all at the same time. So uh… yeah. I recommend it.

We hung out in Rexburg with the family for a while after. We felt like we got adopted, and were invited in for hot dogs and brownies after the eclipse was over. One of the kids even introduced “Uncle Mike” to a neighbor. It made it that much more of an awesome experience to feel like we watched it with family, even though it wasn’t our own family. We took off late in the afternoon, and got stuck in what was probably the worst traffic Idaho Falls has ever seen.

(Interesting sidenote, since a lot of people don't seem to know: As the eclipse begins, you use your eclipse glasses to be able to stare at the sun without eye damage. When the totality hits, you can no longer see anything through the glasses -- it's pitch black -- because the entire sun is hidden. At that point, it's safe to take off the glasses and look directly at the big black hole in the sky without risk of damage until the totality is over.)

We ended up driving through Nevada in the pitch black middle of the night, where the emptiness on all sides made you feel like you were traveling through space. (Note from Mike: or Mario Kart's Rainbow Road.)

My naggy voice that was telling me I needed to be doing something went away quickly. Now, we’re struck by how far from bored we are, even after hours of driving through flat, treeless country. We don’t miss TV, or Reddit, or Facebook. We just get to be. I do have to admit, though, that after many many hours of driving in a straight line with nothing to look at, I was starting to look forward to civilization. Our drive through Butte, population 74, didn’t quite scratch that itch for me (though it did provide an unending supply of Butt jokes in the forthcoming hours). We also drove by a national preserve called Craters of the Moon, which was miles of black, rocky lava. Very cool to see, and we made a mental note to come back sometime and explore it. And our semi-spontaneous stop at Twin Falls on our way out of Idaho was strikingly beautiful.

We camped out overnight at an RV park in one of those small towns in Nevada that seems to only consist of a few casinos and nothing else. (Where do all the employees live? The RV parks, maybe.) One more day of driving after this.

Epic Eclipse Adventure: Day 2

September 12, 2017 by Galia in before the trip, eclipse

I woke up this morning so excited to go outside and meet Utah. As soon as Mike woke up, we went outside and checked the place out. The Panguitch KOA was small, adorable, and everything we needed. After taking his first KOA shower, though, Mike realized we have a lot of practicing to do to figure out best shower practices so we don’t come back into the RV carrying loads of wet things. We’ll pick up some shower baskets and shower shoes. It’ll be like the college dorms all over again (but hopefully cleaner).

I warmed up my cold brew coffee in our microwave, and then laugh about how we have a microwave. For lunch before we take off, I heat up canned chili in my coffee mug, which we realize is the only microwavable container we possess. And then laugh about how far we are from sticking our chili can right into a campfire. Microwaves in Paradise.

Before this trip, we had wondered aloud about what it would be like to not have a home base. I’ve always liked to travel, but there’s something comforting about having a Home to go back to when you’re done. How would it feel to have nowhere that’s yours? A place that’s familiar and comforting. A place full of all the stuff that fills your life. But now, even after just a day, we realize that this place will feel like having a home no matter where we are. It already feels like ours.

I’ll definitely need to get used to a slower pace, which I’m looking forward to (but doesn’t come naturally to me). Mike loves it immediately, but I can’t help but notice a small part of my brain going “You need to be DOING something right now!” I’m reminded of my summer-long backcountry camping trip in college, remembering reflecting on the fact that I used to be so busy all the time but not remembering what I actually did all day. We’re already deciding what our hobbies will be. Mike will bring his soldering iron (it’s a Tinker Trailer, after all). I want to re-learn the ukulele. And, of course, write.

Right now, I’ve got my laptop on my lap, in the passenger seat, while we’re flying through Utah. Mom was right -- for some reason, I haven’t gotten car sick in the RV, no matter what I’ve been doing… writing on my laptop, reading stuff on my phone, walking around the back. It’s strange, but awesome. Utah is beautiful. We knew it was beautiful, but it’s still different than expected. More desert shrubbery, more rolling hills, wide stretches of empty planes. Even the clouds seem more beautiful here. I can definitely see why people would want to live here. There are a gazillion RVs, most towing SUVs or ATVs, all of whom seem to be filled with people on nature adventures. The state does seem even more influenced by Mormon culture than I anticipated, which is interesting. We were looking for a local restaurant to eat dinner, but everything was closed on Sunday except Denny’s. Even the beehive highway signs, based on the state symbol, come from the Mormon history: apparently the Mormon settlers used the honeybee as a symbol of hard work and industriousness, and the beehive as a model for a properly run society. Pretty interesting!

Now we’re on our way to Rexburg, Idaho, where we booked an RV spot on AirBNB, with hookups, onsite at someone’s house (which presumably normally houses the family’s RV when there isn’t eclipse mania happening around the entire country). Looking forward to seeing more of the country.