I Am Not a Happy Camper Part 2

I parked on the side of the road and waited. I knew that the person who had picked up the other half of the kitchen stuff would be coming by at some point and as she had been here before - she would know if I had been on the right road. She arrived sometime after 9:00 PM - and yes the road that my car could not make it up was the right road. I wished her well and decided I would spend the night there - hoping that someone else tomorrow morning would have room for the kitchen stuff and I could head south. It was dark by then - I admired the person's driving skill - I think she thought me a poor Rainbow indeed if I lacked the courage to bash my car along the road. But then as she said - she didn't care what happened to her car.

It was hard sleeping in the car. The back was so full that I could not adjust the front seats. I would adjust my body - get it to feel as if I was comfortable (after all I have slept on trains, buses and planes, how hard could this be?), almost fall asleep and then realize that I really wasn't comfortable and wake up again. I know I slept for a few hours because around 4:00 AM I was woken up by a terrible noise. I opened my eyes to see these two bright lights in a haze of fog shinning right at me but getting smaller at the same time. It took a few seconds before I realized that the log trucks were running. The two very bright lights were spot lights on the side of the trailer so that the driver could see his load, the fog was dust and I was in no danger. It was, however a rather abrupt awakening. The log trucks running in one direction full and the other empty continued until noon. There were also lots of pickup trucks running back and forth - A couple of them stopped to wait in my little parking area for a log truck to go by. When one of the drivers found where I wanted to go - he agreed that my car would never make it without being damaged.

I hung around that spot- moving only to stay in the shade until mid-afternoon. No one came by to get the kitchen stuff. Around 3:00 PM I slowly made my way down to the beginning of the road and found a good spot with a cool breeze and lots of shade. Finally after being on the logging road for 24 hours someone came by. We - and his 4 passengers chatted for a bit, moved some of the stuff in his truck around and made room for at least the food. We hid the rest of the stuff in some tall grass. I said I would hang around until dark but then I would head south. Someone else would have to come back and get it. Fifteen minutes after the first vehicle left, someone else came by and got the rest of the stuff. I headed south and was home by around 10:00 PM.

I arrived home feeling like a failure . While it was great to see some friends going in, it made fell even sadder. Being at the Gathering was/is important to me. Everyone else would make it. Perhaps I had wimped out. It was depressing. I did a brief post on the Family's Facebook site talking about being careful of the trucks etc. Two people posted that they had room for me in their vehicles on Friday and I could go up with them. But as I had to be back by Monday - I could not take a chance that I would not find a ride south.

Another post on Facebook talked about how the Gathering was coming together. I know in other times, when there is a bit of a journey to get there - it really brings people together. I miss being there - I can imagine how wonderful it feels.