After Skooliepalooza, I needed to take a few days to myself before meeting back up with the group. I went over the border from Arizona into California, where I took a few days to clean, rest, and recharge.
After two days I went back to Arizona to meet up with a group at Dome Rock. I pulled up to a large campsite out in the desert where friends had been camping, and although we could see a few other rigs in the distance, our group was mostly secluded. There were about eight rigs, my group from Skalooliepalooza along with some additions, such as Sara and her three boys and 2 dogs, along with Jorrie and his dog. We all spent the night relaxing and talking, and went off to bed early.
The next morning when I stepped out of my bus, Jason invited me over for coffee in his and Liz’s bus. It was a slow, relaxing morning where we all drank coffee and hung out. Later, a few of us decided to go for a hike up Dome Rock. Maggie and Sophie came along, but Sophie disappeared halfway through. I called someone back at camp, and luckily she had made her way back there, but was very upset when she couldn’t find me. She sat there barking in the general direction she had last seen me, apparently filled with angst.
As we neared the top of Dome Rock, we stopped at a little flat area. In order to get to the top, there was a short but intense climb, and since Maggie was with me, I decided to skip that. Bobby decided to climb to the top while the rest of us hung out and enjoyed the view and looking at all the beautiful rocks. I had decided not to bring a backpack with me, thinking this would prevent me from collecting so many rocks, but I collected just as many, with my pockets ending up being full, and very heavy. Jorrie came over to show Liz and I a beautiful white rock with red veins that he had found. We were admiring it when all of a sudden Jorrie threw the rock back behind him off the cliff. Liz and I both gasped; he had thrown away such a treasure!! I figured it was a goner, but Liz set out to find it; a beauty like that could not be lost. After searching for a while she yelled out, “I found it!” And to my delight she even let me keep it.
When we got back, everyone was hanging out. I decided to work on making earrings to sell while some of the others played scrabble. I got about eight pairs done, which I thought was pretty good. To my excitement Liz even bought a pair.
Then everyone decided to play Pictionary, which is something this group of people was very passionate about. There were nine of us playing, so we broke up into groups of three, and I was on a team with Crystal and Sara. My team had the lead in a very intense game for a bit, but then Nelson’s team ended up winning. Nelson had been on a winning streak of Pictionary, and it seemed like he couldn’t lose. While we were playing, a man wandered into our camp. He said he had heard all the laughter as he was walking through the desert, and wanted to be around it. That warmed my heart. We ended the day circling up around a cozy little fire.
The next day mostly everyone left, headed to our next destination. I didn’t feel like I was ready to leave yet, and I wanted to climb to the very top of Dome Rock since I hadn’t the day before. Even though he had already done it the day before, Bobby said he would come along with me.
I had not noticed just how steep the cliff actually was. When we got close to the top, it was a free climb straight up.
It was a little tricky in some places, but we made it without incident. At the top of the cliff was a rock pile as tall as I was. And next to it was a little bin of treasures with a notepad, the idea was to take and leave something, I took a pretty crystal and Bobby replaced it with a small keychain.
We went down a different way than we came up, which ended up being slightly easier. We were also greeted by one single saguaro cactus along with little yellow and orange flowers.
Once we arrived back at camp, Bobby left to meet up with the rest of the group. Only Cami and I were left, and I was debating whether or not to stay another night. We set out for a walk through the desert with all of our dogs, which totaled four. Everything was going nicely until a panicked Sophie came sprinting towards me, covered in cactus thorns. They were all over her face, on her tongue, in three of her paws, and going up her legs. I tried to pull some out of her paws but her panic was out of control. We had to take her back to camp, and it was clear I would be staying another night. She was terrified and thrashed wildly if I went anywhere near the thorns to remove them. I spent hours waiting for Sophie to fall asleep, then pulled out a thorn, which woke her up and the whole process would start over, until each thorn was finally removed.
The next day I left to meet everyone else at Van Aid. Van Aid is a gathering of nomads helping nomads, people who need help and people who can help meet at a predetermined place and time. The idea is for it to mostly be free, and I think the whole thing is a beautiful concept.
I was one of the last from my group to arrive, but they saved me a little spot to squeeze into the circle. Although our little group had turned into a much larger group, it was just as amazing.
We did all the same things as at the last gathering: potlucks, art days, evening fires, howling as the sunset, coffee in the mornings, tea parties on the roof, all the little things I had grown to love. Even though there was an entire gathering going on, our neighborhood mostly stuck to ourselves.
I started spending more and more time in Jorrie’s bus, and one night we sat by the camp fire and talked for hours. Even after everyone else had gone to bed, we stayed up, lost in conversation. He even helped me fix some small things on my bus. My windshield wiper fluid wasn’t working, and I had a headlight that was out. After jiggling wires and tinkering around with fuses for a while, both problems went away, as if by magic. We had no idea how or why they were fixed, but all that mattered was that they now worked.
Oryn, a little boy within our camp, was having his sixth birthday. His mom was throwing a little party and everyone in our neighborhood was invited. They made food and a cake, which I couldn’t eat because of the gluten, but they gave me a cup of frosting and a banana instead, which was delicious, and I would rather have that than cake anyway. After cake, everyone circled up to watch him open his presents that his parents and some others from the group had gotten him. He got some new books, Spider-Man action figures and a few other toys.
After the cake he was surprised with a piñata that Nelson had bought him. We tied it up on a string between two buses. Each of the kids took turns using a wooden board to hit the piñata until it burst. When it did, it was a free for all; kids and adults alike rushed to collect the candy, I got a snickers, gummies and jolly ranchers, and was thrilled with the haul. The day wrapped up with a fire. It was the perfect birthday that everyone played a part in.
One thing I had been really wanting to do on my bus was to have my portable diesel heater permanently installed instead of having it sitting on my counter. It vented out the window, which worked fine, but it took up a lot of space, and was very inconvenient. Nelson had been wanting to help me, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.
The best spot for the heater seemed to be under my bed. We had to cut a hole in the floor to vent the exhaust out.
The heater wouldn’t fit right because there was one board in the way. It needed to be cut out, but the only tool we had was that circular saw, which was definitely the wrong tool. But Nelson took the time to use the saw to cut the board away bit by bit. It was all a stressful process for me, only because cutting into my bus was scary; but Nelson handled my fears well, and once everything was done I was thrilled with the results.
Bobby also helped me with a few bus repairs, one of which was my moon roof. I had forgotten to lock the latch as I was driving down the highway one time, which caused it to fly open, causing a thin crack across one side. If it rained, water would definitely get in. He used caulk and filled in the crack.
The last thing was epoxying my backdoor. When I bought the bus, there were gouges in the door, and I hadn’t gotten around to fixing them yet. Bobby filled in all the spots, and left me with sandpaper to smooth it out once it dried.
Valentine’s Day was coming up, which is something I like to celebrate because I love love. I celebrated most of it with Jorrie. First thing in the morning there was a knock on my door and he surprised me with fresh, gluten free pancakes for breakfast.
That night everyone in the group decided to have a Valentine’s Day potluck. Since it was a windy day, everyone cozied up in Nelson’s bus. It was a tight squeeze, but we made sure there was room for everyone. We went around the room sharing stores of love and heartbreak, and each couple told the story of how they met.
Each of my animals loved Van Aid. Sophie had her new best friend, Kyoshi, Jorrie's big dog, to play with. Thomas made friends with a cat named Monster, and a small dog named Neko. Maggie loves any event where there are lots of people, but as usual, wasn’t so impressed with all the dogs.
Toward the end of our time there, Tamara suggested we take a trip into town one night to get pizza. There were 16 of us that decided to go. We all rode in one vehicle together, which was Bobby’s ambulance. We got some funny looks as all of us piled out of an ambulance in the parking lot.
We played pool until the pizzas were ready. Jorrie and I were on a team against Nelson and Bobby, and they destroyed us. Once the pizza came out, everyone gathered around a giant table and we stuffed our faces. I shared a gluten free, barbecue pizza with Jorrie. It was the perfect way to end Van Aide as a group, because over the next few days, everyone slowly went their separate ways.
Thanks for reading!
If you would like you help me along on my travels,
my PayPal is:
my cash app is:
$TeaganDavis47
My Vemo is:
@TeaganDavis47
If you would like to subscribe to my blog there is a section where you can on my homepage. You can unsubscribe anytime and will only get emails when I post a new blog.
Comments