Tonight I am staying in the desert in Palmdale, with a lovely family from warmshowers.org who is hosting me. They have found the easiest way into my heart, my stomach! They fed me well and I am very much looking forward to sleeping on this large bed from which I am posting this blog, 4 nights of sleeping on tiny air mattresses have been warming me up for this occasion :)
So what have I been doing?
Today I rode into Palmdale from the Angeles National Forest, a very easy ride with most of it downhill, much much easier than my previous rides. When I last updated the digiverse on my travels I was about to leave Orange, my first stop was San Bernadino.
Riding to San Bernadino pretty much sucked, I was so tired of the big cities and I had an added lethargy from spending so much time in Orange without traveling. The ride gifted me my first flat of the trip, which was certainly a sign, the flat came at the worst time possible. I was already sure it was a poor decision to jump on the freeway, but getting a flat 1/2 a mile reminded me to listen to common sense. Once I got to San Bernadino, I was still feeling low energy and needed a boost to keep my travel energy up. VEGAN is over! At least for that night it was, I found a good local-ish brand of eggs and cooked all 12 that night and the following morning, sharing some with my host. The eggs gave me the boost I needed and put me into a positive mood for my stay with couchsurfer Nathan.
After eating WAY too much, I started the trip the next day towards the San Bernadino mountains to the North. Advice; when you have to poop and you have the chance, ALWAYS DO IT. Anyways, I got lost a little bit, as usual, on my way towards the mountains but nothing was going to stop me from getting out of the city. By the time I hit the mountains I knew there was no way I would make it all the way to my original destination, so I stopped at a campground called Apple White, about halfway in between (I was already heavily considering an earlier destination the night before). Being in the mountains was AMAZZZING! The crisp air was so refreshing, and my stay the first night was miraculous and full of inspiration, although I did get chewed out for showering behind my tent, Oh my gosh a naked body, that's illegal, no nudity!! I met a beautiful soul that night, he repeated a phrase to me several times, one I had heard before, but he spoke it with such love, it felt more like he was the saying, "Enjoy your life". Thank you Rafael, for the vitamin and coconut water, and thank you for representing the natural essence of the mountains.
The following day I slowly rose and got on the road by about mid day, I headed straight up into the mountains. The day held about 6000ft of elevation gain, with my final destination being about 7500ft. The ride went surprisingly smooth, I didn't get lost once, although I did get chased away from my shady rest area by some very responsible guard dogs (it's always SO dang scary having dogs run right up to you!). The campground I stayed at was at the end of it's own road which seemed to go straight up from the peak of the Big Pine Highway. Here I met an amazing woman, one of the campground staff, who helped me figure out my situation of not having enough cash on me to pay for the nights stay. I was glad she understood that there was nooo way of me biking back into the town and then back up the super steep hill just to retrieve those oddly magical paper things that make shit happen...
I stayed at this campground for two nights, it was incredibly beautiful, with a view from the top of the Angeles mountains, the air so fresh from the millions of pine trees, and the moon reached a new level of beauty pushing me to understand that there is no limit to the charm of nature. There was some temporary awful generator humming, but it was outdone by the prettiest birdsong I have ever heard. I wanted to sample the chirping but the timing wasn't quite right, the sound cleverly eluded being recorded as I heard it again once all of my gear had been packed.
This trip into the mountains has been beyond incredible, in fact I need to start reading a dictionary to discover the correct words to describe my interactions with nature. The mountains gave me some much needed lucidity to help mull over all of the craziness that I've been experiencing the last two weeks. As my energy settled I found my artistic side start to flow a little. I've started working on a new art piece, which is a much newer realm for me than music, but I am loving it. I also started a new musical track, but it was really just to get a concept down, I plan on waiting for my next spurt of productive energy to really create a new piece, I know that if I am fresh and ready it will come out amazing, I have so much musical energy flowing right now!
Below I have linked a picture of me (the only time I had seen myself in a few days) relaxing at the campgrounds on top of the mountain, inside of the blue energy area is the piece I am working on. Out on the road and out in nature, I feel myself more and more losing my sense of image (of myself), which is a good thing, a wonderful thing. Being careless for what we look like allows us to focus on what we really are, an energy, a soul. In the grand scheme of things, all we really have to offer is our energy, leave desire behind and you will see everyone in a new way. The truly beautiful people have an energy that shines so bright, it might startle you, but do not be afraid, let their warmth become part of you, for it is pure connection that sets us in the right direction to get where we're going, wherever that is...
Eat well & poop well, be kind at all times, you will be glad for it
^~_~^
Stoney dillll, we're missing you but you sound like you're having straight up the time of your life. Text is when you get the chance.
ReplyDelete-Jake and Noah