"It's the argument of a five-year-old: I was here before you, so this is mine." - Animal on the Israel/Palestine conflict
Dayhike saved me from logistical nightmare hell. Coming into Tahoe, I had assumed I could stay a few days and then bus my way north to the next stop, Sierra City, to rejoin the crew. But guess what. No buses to Sierra City. I panicked, but Dayhike reached out to his brother in Reno, and voila! Cory would be picking me up and then also helping me get back to the trail - I am so grateful!
So this morning, Boom headed out with "Daypack" (Dayhike + Jetpack), and I moved over to Spearhead's motel room because she was staying another day. I spent all day making edits on Vol. 3, although I did take a break to go to the post office, and surprise! They had only one box of two... just another 2 and half hours spent trying to get our resupply. Later I treated myself to Thai food and reveled in the ability to work uninterrupted.
The following morning, Cory arrived just as promised. He had made the hour drive from Reno JUST to pick me up and take me back to his house - what a nice guy. When we arrived, he gave me a tour of his home that consisted of "there's beer in this fridge" and "this is your room." Later I found out that the beer fridge in the garage was brand new, so I understand why it was a significant landmark in the tour.
I shut myself in and got to work; getting the magazine to print is time intensive. It means passing many drafts back and forth between Jen, the designer, and me until we get it just right.
[Volume Three cover, feet up]
As I worked, I could smell delicious aromas coming from the kitchen. Around 6, Cory knocked on the bedroom door, asking if I was hungry. I said, "yes," and he invited me to join them. Them consisted of his partner, Rachel, his dad, his dad's girlfriend who is visiting from Texas, and her two grandkids. So I guess I was crashing a family dinner. Regardless, they were the nicest, most welcoming family, and the food was delicious. Rachel is an esteemed vegetarian cook, at least according to Clint, and she did not disappoint! Later the whole family played bocce ball in the backyard, which is a little slice of paradise, complete with a bocce ball court (actually, it's "pitonk," the French version of the game).
The next two days passed quickly in the comfy bedroom as Jen and I hustled to perfect the magazine. On the third day, instead of taking me to the trail like we planned, everyone came to us! Boom, Dayhike, Jetpack, Animal Style, Woodstock, Hawkeye, and Skippy all made their way to Cory's for a big cook-out. Cory and Clint's dad, Curtis, prepared fajitas for the hungry hikers.
The following day Animal introduced us to In and Out, the famous California burger chain and his namesake, and it did not disappoint! We also spent way too long in REI even though no one really needed anything. When we returned to the house, my lovely mom had finished a final read-through of volume three, and Jen and I were able to upload it to the printer. Tequila shots were in order to celebrate!
In the morning, I woke to see that I had an article published on TIME's sub-site, Motto, and Cory had set out two dozen bagels for breakfast. Life is good. I spent the rest of the day following Animal with paper towels, and then Cory and Curtis drove us all back to Sierra City to continue our hike.
[cook-out, Animal and his mug, In and Out, running errands with too many people in the car, trying on clothes at REI just to get out of hiking clothes, serious came of bocce ball]