The lows and highs

Worst night ever

After crawling in bed to get warm and falling asleep, the rain started coming down about 0100. It wasn’t a pouring rain, as it has been, but a steady, constant rain. In about 20 minutes, the tent started leaking. I quickly put my sleeping bag in its dry bag. It was freezing so I put on all my clothes, then dressed in my waterproof riding gear to keep from getting wet. By now it was raining both inside and outside the tent.

I couldn’t find a place where water wasn’t dripping on my head, so I covered my head in my beanie with a plastic bag. I was wet and very cold with temps in the upper 30s. With nothing else to keep me warm and desperately needing a distraction from my misery, I started shopping for a tent to complete my trip.

Done

I had done a lot of research into tents before leaving, as I considered getting a new one. My BFG convinced me I didn’t need to spend the money and his old tent would work well. Admittedly, I have used this tent many, many times with no problems, but never in the rain. Neither one of us maintained the waterproofing on the tent, as in California and Arizona where we usually hike, there just isn’t any rain at the times we’re hiking.

I was so cold and miserable, I texted my BFG and told him I was done with the trip. I simply couldn’t take it anymore. There were none of the tents in which I was interested to be found within hundreds of miles of me and I couldn’t find one near home that I could have the family bring me.

I decided I could sell or ship Lucille home and fly out as soon as possible. My BFG asked me to hang on and he would go to REI in the morning and see what he could find. There were supposed to be at least 2, possibly 3 more nights of camping before I met up with them for the funeral service. With the current and predicted weather, there was no way I’d make it. I started to cry as he asked me to wait. The thought of being this cold and wet for 3 to 4 more days was more than I could take. He told me to stay in hotels, be warm and dry and he would tell me what he found tomorrow.

Stephen King

Due to the miserable conditions, I got an early start, determined to see Stephen King’s house. I knew he didn’t live on a dirt road and this would be one thing I would for sure see on this trip.

My phone was almost dead due to needing to protect the electronics from rain and when I tried to plug it in to Lucille, it gave me a water in the port warning, urgently telling me to unplug it. Of-freaking-course. At this rate, I probably wouldn’t be able to get any photos of Stephen King’s house!

I programed the navigator on Lucille to take me to his house and headed off in driving, cold rain. I would love to say the ride there was wonderful but it was absolutely miserable. At a gas stop, the woman cashier asked me to stay in her station until the horrible rain quit as she didn’t think it was safe for me to ride. Honestly, it probably wasn’t, but I just wanted to be where I needed to go.

I made it! I WAS AT STEPHEN KING’S HOUSE!!! I never expected to see him, but there was a small part of me that hoped he’d see the cold, miserable woman that came all the way from California on a motorcycle to see his house and invite me in for a coffee. It didn’t happen, but I had just enough juice in the phone to take these.

The great Stephen King’s house! 

He has an awesome gate, complete with bats and spiders. 

This totem pole in his yard was incredibly cool. 

Complete with a red balloon! Too bad it was deflated. 

Dead

At this point, my phone died. Dammit! Hopefully Lucille’s navigator would get me to a hotel in New Hampshire I’d found the night before.

My family has been tracking my whereabouts through my phone. When it died at Stephen King’s house, that’s where I appeared to be all day. They were quite excited for me, having the same thought I did, that I would get to meet him. Kinda funny that we both hoped for the same thing.

Dry

Shortly before I reached my hotel, the rain stopped. It was still in the low 50s, but at least I could see where I was going without the rain. Thank you Tommie (the woman I stayed with in Oklahoma) for the Rain-Ex soaked rag that helped keep my visor somewhat clear of water.

I got there about an hour early and asked if it was possible for me to check in early. The clerk said I looked cold and gave me a room early. She also gave me a cup of coffee which I gratefully drank in about 3.5 seconds, hoping it would begin to warm me. I unloaded Lucille and got into a very hot shower. It helped some, but truthfully it was a couple of hours before I actually felt any warmer.

Given the rain was not falling, I draped Lucille in wet gear and my room in more wet gear in the hopes it would dry. The tent, fly, and footprint I hung on Lucille actually did dry pretty quickly in the wind that was blowing. The stuff in the room, sleeping bag, mattress, pillow, and clothes, dried much more slowly.

Hotel

There was some sort of biker ride or rally going on and soon the hotel was full of Harleys. I guess I’d picked a good hotel for bikers!

Lucille in the foreground with the tent fly drying and a BUNCH of Harleys in the parking lot. 

These guys didn’t stay, just went into the lounge for a bit then took off. I talked to my BFG and although the REI website for the Roseville store said they didn’t have any of the particular tent I wanted, when he arrived in person, they had a single one that had come in the night before. He liked at it and told me it was a really nice tent. He picked it up on sale along with a footprint and would deliver it to me in Michigan. Only a few days to go!

Better

With a waterproof tent purchased, and finally getting a bit warmer, I felt better about the trip. I would at least get to Michigan. My BFG said his parents would love to have me stay a night at their house outside of Grand Rapids, MI. What a relief! I didn’t plan on so many hotels.

Someone I know from my many emergency deployments at work had offered to let me stay at her place before I left. I planned to use her house as a jumping off place to see Niagara Falls. She was now thinking it may not work, so I would have to wait and see what would happen there.

For right now, I was just happy to have a place where I wasn’t freezing and getting wet. Tomorrow was supposed to rain again, but I would deal with that tomorrow.