2005-07-09-1113Z


The first 10 miles or so were almost effortless, with my handtruck near-perfectly balanced. I set out much earlier than I'd planned, and after a brief but intense rain, the sun came out and I might have made it to my lot with evening twilight still in the sky... except. Damn my adventurousness. I just had to see if Hermanas Grade south of Coyote Road went through to Hermanas Road near Sunshine. It was somewhat overgrown, but there was evidence of recent vehicular traffic, and I figured there had to be a right-of-way where the telephone/power poles ran through. I figured wrong. After at least a half-mile in, the fucking rancheros had run a fence, blocking the rest of the way. By the time I got back to Coyote, I had at least one flat tire from the thorns, and daylight was fading fast. As more and more air went out of the tires (it turns out both had gotten thorns in them), the hand truck was harder and harder to pull. I slowed from about 3 MPH to .2 MPH. With 2.5 miles left to go, I'd be most of the night getting to my lot. And a couple of old guys in an SUV had already stopped to see what I was doing.

An hour or so later, one of the old guys came back: this time in a Homeland Security pickup truck. But he was friendly enough, since I wasn't no goddamn furriner: he gave me a ride the rest of the way, and offered to come back in the morning to refill my 5-gallon water bottle, since a gallon or so had leaked out due to the way I had the handtruck loaded into the back of the pickup. Nice guy, name is Gary or Gerry (hard 'G'). He lives at a quaint movie set up the road which I've passed many times, wondering what the heck goes on there.

I spent the night alternately sleeping, freezing, and working. It never got really cold at all, but while sleeping, of course, the body's vital processes all slow down and hypothermia occurs much easier. It's morning twilight as I type. Soon I'll try to get my Carpobrotus cuttings planted with at least one berm started, and be on my way to City of the Sun. Hoping the general store is open on Sunshine at Hwy. 11 so I can get water in a small bottle for the trip; I lost the water bottle I had before, probably on the bus. More later...

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