Nyah nyah

Up until last week I would take the country back-roads to get home. From Concord to Manteca it was about 55 miles of 1 lane in each direction–and varying speed limits.

I would see 3 or 4 different highway patrol cars each trip. And someone would ALWAYS be pulled over, getting a ticket. I do not want a ticket. I can not afford the fines.

So I stay within 5 miles of the speed limit and come to complete stops at the stop signs. This invariably makes other drivers angry, so I pull over and let them pass me when it’s safe.

Last week, on one of my trips home, a mini-van and a drop-top BMW come SCREAMING up behind me. The mini-van is tailgating me. Then she turns on her brights, blinding me temporarily.

At this point in the road there is no shoulder, and therefore no safe place to pull over. I’m a little angry, but I’m not going to speed up–because I know about a mile or so ahead is a favorite place for the CHP to hide and wait for lawbreakers.

Well, they decide that they are going to pass me on the double-yellow line and floor it, disappearing into the distance. I exhale and relax, no one is behind me now–and forget about it since this happens to me all the time.

A few miles up the road I see blue and red lights flashing on the side of the road. As I get closer, I see my friends the mini-van and the drop-top BMW. The CHP officer is out of his cruiser and speaking to the driver of the BMW.

I slow down, look directly at the driver of the mini-van, smile and wave. She flips me off. I drive away.

So let me ask you this… was it wrong for me to gloat?

If so, I don’t care. It felt so fucking good.

Tales of Adventure

From time to time I lose my mind and become entralled with tales of adventure. I joined the Navy after high school on a whim. I enjoy playing adventure-ish video games entirely too much. I was once *this* close to joining the Peace Corps. Then it was the Long Way Round adventure with Ewan MacGregor and Charlie Boorman. Now it’s the Pacific Crest Trail.

The PCT is a system of hiking trails that stretches from the Mexican border to over 2,600 miles North to the Canadian Border, through California and Oregon and Nevada. Most hikers start the trail in April and finish in September. Some 300 hikers attempt the trip each year–about half will complete the journey.

With the blessings of technology, today’s hikers are more connected than ever. They are able to update their blogs while in range of cell towers, upload pictures, and share waypoints on a map via GPS. Some even share videos.

Here I am, each day, reading the tales of adventure from the PCT. I can see their progress on Google maps and see beautiful scenery that I know that I’ll never see in real life. I’m both happy and sad at the same time. Happy that I’m able to follow along through my web browser, and sad that the web browser is the closest I’m going to get to hiking this trail.

What dedication, what stamina, what… ahhh, I don’t know what… ?

My favorite hiker is a fellow who calls himself Diamond Dave. I particularly like him because he’s a big guy, like me, at 6’4″. He started the trail this year at over 300 pounds, and now, a month later, he’s dropped over 30 pounds. Good luck Dave! Ohhh, I hope you make it all the way.

A charming couple that I’m also pulling for are Cindy and Andy. Andy is a professional gambler (you know, like the World Series of Poker guys you watch on ESPN?) Cindy is a technowiz that maintains their website with journal updates, GPS waypoints, digital photos, and even podcasts. Their entire journey is being chronicled online. And she updates often (thank you sooo much, Cindy!)

Here’s the website of a Kiwi who completed the PCT in 2007. I’ve spent countless hours on his website absorbing every bit of info regarding his trip. I’ve read every blog entry, seen every picture, and watched every video he’s got up there.

These are truly amazing people. I admire them like no others.

I heart Manteca

Yum and I are having a great time in Manteca. We love how close this town is to the outdoors.

In mid-April we went swimming at Lake Camanche off highway 88.

Lake Camanche was nice and cool during that heat wave we had here in California. We finished off our evening with some gambling at Jackson Rancheria.

In late April we explored the Clark Fork of the Stanislaus River off highway 108.

Clark Fork was a nice surprise. I haven’t been up there since I was a kid. I loved all the smooth, bright granite rocks. There’s nothing like that High Sierra Yosemite-like scenery. I can’t wait to explore highway 108 some more!

That is, after the rest of road opens…