take what the road gives

The morning after I picked damian up at the airport, he made me an offer no dirtbag could refuse – a coffee from starbucks. How could I resist? After I was coerced into a grande upsize, we walked back to the car to start the drive to Joshua tree. Over the last week, betsy was getting sluggish to start and this time she just wouldn’t turn over.

I couldn’t help but laugh at my luck. If the car is going to die, what better place to have it happen but with good company, a fresh coffee and in the middle of a city? “Welcome to my roadtrip.” I told damian. You just have to take what the road gives you and for his arrival, the road had given us a car that wouldn't start. I called for roadside assistance while damian retired to the patio with his coffee. When I joined him to deliver the good news that we barely had a 30 minute wait for a tow truck, I found he was chatting with a nicely dressed young man. They both inquired for a status update and the young man, named Jason, was kind enough to offer a jump start. I must admit that I was surprised… everywhere else that I’ve traveled I’ve been gracious to accept the kindness of strangers but for some reason in the big city I didn’t even want to ask anyone for help, and just called AAA right away.

I graciously accepted his offer, and he moved his car next to mine. We hooked up the jumper cables and tried to turn her over. No dice. This time it isn’t just a dead battery. After we gave up, we sat together and talked to him about the trip that I'm on and his dreams of travel. I can completely empathize with anyone who is torn between the lucrative income and possessions of the "real world" and the raw freedom that travelling provides.

Three hours later and betsy has a new starter. It was good to finally get her into a garage to have the problem looked at. It is because of this mechanical blip that the clock in the car is wrong. After having the starter replaced the clock was at least 2 hours off, and has now been that way for a week. I decided that it was a nice touch to not know exactly what time it is and have dubbed it BST – Betsy Standard Time. My car has its own time zone.

We’re driving out of Joshua Tree. I must admit I was a bit disappointed… Joshua tree was like a blind date with someone you’ve heard too much about and it just couldn’t live up to my expectations. The company was good and the climbing was fun, but I was expecting it to be a colossally spiritual place and it just didn’t affect me that way.

Here's hoping that Bishop is all that I've heard and more... I hear it's good quality bouldering surrounded by beautiful snow capped peaks. Fingers crossed that i find my inspiration there...