Our first week out in nature
In April 1999, Pixar organized a jitterbug dance marathon in Hollywood to celebrate their movie “A bug’s life”. I danced for 16:40 -- all night long -- in that marathon with Heidi’s cousin, Robert. At that time in my life I went swing dancing for 3-5 hours every single night I could. I was in amazing shape and weighed about 97 pounds dripping wet. I was used to dancing all night so naturally I thought a marathon would be a pretty easy way to win $10,000.
A funny thing happened after the first song, when instead of saying, “Thank you” and moving on to another partner, I stayed with Robert and kept right on dancing. Well, today I have that same funny feeling. We just finished a week-long vacation at a favorite campground. That part was pretty normal. But now we aren’t going home. We are going to another campground instead.
We are on a vacation marathon!
This is a Jeffrey pine. The bark smells like butterscotch. The Jeffrey fishing in the background does not.
When you get down to it, we Driskill’s have been on a vacation marathon since March. I’ve been to see exactly 3 clients in 5 months. Jeff hasn’t been out of the house to make money since his last show “Frozen” at the Pantages. People. “Frozen” wrapped in early FEBRUARY. (He’s been recording a few things from home.)
So, we are used to vacation. So used to it that we are tired of it. I’m sorry to all of you out there who are zooming your asses off and trying to educate your 2nd graders with flash cards. But the four of us are all-vacationed-out.
This past week we were at Doc ‘n Al’s Resort where we have vacationed many times. Jeff’s been going there since at least 1776 when he and Jen watched an American bi-centennial parade in Bridgeport (population 505). We’ve always met friends there, or Grandma would come with us. And the kids were always little -- the ages where a pile of rocks or a couple bicycles will entertain you until dinner. Not this time, fans. This time we were alone and this time they were 15 and 16.
Let me tell you something else about Doc ‘n Al’s Resort. There’s no phone service there. Nor are there other teenagers. There’s no cable TV or free WiFi either, in case you were wondering. At least 3 Driskill family members really missed these amenities and one of us feels pretty strongly that Doc ‘n Al are misusing the term “resort”!
photo by Darla Mae
Yes, yes, we saw majestic mountains and swam in a lake formed by a glacier. Sure a deer came up after dinner to help me do the dishes. But what I really wanted was to check my Instagram and watch re-runs of “queer eye”. At least ONE NIGHT OF THE WEEK.
Instead we played scrabble everyday (I haven’t won yet) and sat around watching other RVers pack up their rigs to leave. This last activity took a while and gave Darla and Jeff a lot of material for a new reality show, “Competitive Camping” wherein Jeff does the play by play and Darla color commentates. Very funny. But the show will require a lot of editing because, like I said, it takes FOREEEEVERRRR. (Johnny V, I choose you to edit.)
My point is, quarantine is terrible. And the monotony of hanging out with the same 4 people 24/7 wasn’t cured by driving 340 miles north.
Be that as it may, today we are driving 250 more miles northwest to another RV park in another great fly-fishing destination, Hat Creek, California. We booked a spot there before realizing that what we really want is to see a new city or at least a town with people in it to talk to. ENOUGH WITH THE NATURE ALREADY!
Fun fact: Quarantine shopping prepared us well for living out of an RV for a week. So, that’s a plus. (pro tips: plan a meal for everyday and bring your detailed shopping list to the store) We made and ate delicious meals every day. There was no restaurant, not even a snack bar or store for 12 miles.
Other highlights included a drowned chipmunk floating in a camp toilet bowl, a few giant meteors on Tuesday night (Perseid meteor shower), and Jeff outsmarting a 2+ pound trout yesterday after fishing and studying the creek all week. (He caught tons of little trout every day.)
We (I) did an amazing job packing our rig (not surprising.) And Jeff did a miraculous job of making sure everything works in here (also no surprise.) Hopefully at our next spot we’ll meet some people and be able to text our friends back home. Email is always a good way to keep in touch. So, hit reply and tell me what you are up to.
I know each place we go will teach us something. Blah, blah, blah. But even if I get bored, at least I’m still in love with my dance partner for this marathon.
Doc 'n Al's is down in those trees to the right
The forest of Aspen where I go to read or listen to podcasts.
Thanks for reading.
Shannon and the team
PS- We don't know how long we'll be on the road. It depends on how we are enjoying things; when Jeff and I can get back to work; and how often our house gets rented out while we are gone.