Requiem

It's been quite a night...so much can change in the space of a few hours. As I sit here, the wind has come up. It's the first big wind we've faced in this new rig. It is performing well, feeling fairly stable. It required closing down the kitty window, despite Mike's efforts at creating a wind-proof kitty door. The wind is blowing straight from the side and the door was blowing open. Smitty was certain it would be fine, and so I opened the window for him to inspect. His excursion onto the catio lasted all of two seconds. I think he is now convinced of the foolhardiness of that idea, and he has taken up his position on his window perch.

We are leaving the Trona Pinnacles today, heading into one night of hook-ups at Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley National Park. Ordinarily, we camp in the national park campground, and we will again this time. Nevertheless, we've been without hook-ups for several days now, and we will be again. It seemed like we should spend at least a day doing some laundry and some other items best done when one has power. Tomorrow morning we will move to our usual spot at the Furnace Creek Campground, and we'll stay there until we get bored. Camping is cheap in the national parks. Seniors pay just $6 per night.

So let's back up to yesterday morning. It was a beautiful day...not too hot, nor too chilly. There was no wind, and so it was very nice in the sunshine. It's really our first opportunity at some extended sunshine since we left home. Smitty got out for a short walk...mainly, he wanted to roll in the dirt. He relishes a good dust bath. He didn't seem bothered by the rocks on his feet, but he does seem put off by the wide open spaces. He's more comfortable with a few bushes and trees around so that he can feel less conspicuous.

Our shadow selves came along. My shadow self donned a hat, while Smitty's wore his ears.

The ears came in handy as he did his "ear impression" of the Trona Pinnacles. (My apologies to Facebook and Instagram friends for having to endure my bad jokes more than once.)

After breakfast, we drove down closer to the pinnacles, read the informational signs, and did a little bit of hiking. First, the signs.

We walked up a short hill and came to the remnants of an old mining operation. With each visit to this area near Death Valley, we read a new story of some entrepreneur who had an idea to exploit the natural resources of the area, then invested quite a lot of money, only to have it go bust. The area is simply too harsh to carry on business, although many have tried.

This shaft extended into the hillside approximately ten feet where it dead-ended.

There isn't much to say about these next pictures. We just wandered around exploring and looking. The landscape is interesting with its shapes, colors, and its vast expanse in proximity to almost nothing related to humankind.

We parked in the main parking lot, and I took this panorama to give you some sense of the landscape.

Our rig is indicated in the image below. It appears far away, but it really wasn't. The picture is more a testament to the scale of the place. Just to the right of the arrow is a pit toilet...the only one available.

And then, we just walked around, taking picture after picture. Everywhere I looked was unique and interesting.

The image below is a close-up of one of the deposits, giving you some sense of the tiny ancient organisms that make up the tusa formations.

Above where I took that picture was this plaque.

Also, we found another pit where some mining had occurred. This was fenced off since it would have been possible to fall in.

We were accompanied on our walk by a pair of crows, although only one was willing to post for his picture.

In the image below, you can see the one other camper who has been here since we arrived. You can see the van toward the right and middle of the image.

When we got back to the RV, we were pleased to see that Mike's newly-installed solar panels were working. They charged our batteries to 100% in about two hours. While the sun was shining, we could operate small appliances without using the generator. During that time, we turned on the coffee maker, the toaster, and my hair dryer. You would have to be an RVer to understand the significance of running heat-generating appliances without a generator, and so I'll just say we were happy about this and leave it at that.

So we relaxed for most of the day. Later in the afternoon, some heavy equipment began moving in. It started with these two trucks. The one on the left was carrying lighting equipment. The one on the right was transporting about eight golf carts.

Also, they erected some signs along the way, clearly directing others to come along.

And...wait...Hungry Man? We started getting the idea they might be a film crew getting ready to film a commercial for Hungry Man TV dinners or chili or something. Who knows? And so I looked them up online. As it turns out, Hungry Man Productions is an independent production company. I've never heard of them, but they seem pretty busy, having done some filming for some well-known clients. Clearly, they're getting ready to do some filming here. It isn't surprising since this venue has been used many times to film a number of well-known productions, including the old television series Lost In Space, Star Trek V, Planet of the Apes, and many more.

Later in the evening an employee of the BLM stopped by and told us this venue is used approximately once per month for some film-making endeavor. Indeed, many more trucks have shown up since the first two. As I look across the dark expanse, there are megawatts of lights generating power now, and I expect they'll be getting to work at first light. It kind of makes me wonder if the wind is going to create problems for them.

Not to be outdone by some stupid professional film-makers, Mike decided it was a good time to fly his drone. You can see it circled in the image below.

I'm still nagging him to do something with the footage he has from our last trip. He's been missing a necessary adapter to take it from camera to laptop. I think this trip, he'll actually get it done.

But now, I'm afraid I must turn my attention to some news I received from my cousin yesterday evening. Rather than re-invent the wheel, I'm going to cut and paste a post from another venue. (Again, my apologies to those of you who have already read it.)

My thanks go to my cousin Ruth Nelson Schnoor, who this evening informed me that my father passed away yesterday afternoon. Thank you, Ruthie. I've not kept secret the fact that my father and I were estranged for the better part of nearly 25 years. I've been anticipating his death for some time, and I've been at peace with the prospect of losing him...the only member remaining from my family of birth.

My dad's 32-year career as a United States Marine made me proud, and I feel fortunate to have grown up the way I did...as a military brat. Our many relocations taught me to love travel, and my dad taught me to navigate and to read a map. Also, I enjoyed the many happy hours we spent together beekeeping. He took up beekeeping while we lived in Hawaii, and continued after we moved to Oceanside, California. I tended the hives for him during his deployments to Vietnam.

My dad also had a mean streak a mile wide. His words and his hands could hurt, and I was, at times, terrified of him. I saved a meme recently that sums up my feelings about my dad. If I could speak to him one more time, I would say, "My love for you is unconditional. My presence in your life is not."

These following pictures were taken of the evening's sunset. They seem a perfect coda to a father-daughter relationship that was at once loving and stormy. RIP, Daddy. I'm sorry I couldn't be the daughter you wanted me to be, and I am at peace with where we ended.

My friends have left many heartfelt and supportive comments, and I am appreciative. I am also truly at peace. I said my good-byes to my dad long ago, and I have forgiven him for the parts of our relationship that caused great pain. The sunset was so beautiful last night. It seemed a nice way to reflect on our loss...and by "our" loss, I mean the loss of our father-daughter relationship so many years ago...only just now truly ending with this final turn of the page. It was hard to choose my favorite among these, and so I'll just post them all and let you look.

Day is done. And so I say to my dad, I don't know if or when or where, but for what it's worth...I hope I see you on the other side.