Make Time: Panhandling

I decided to take the longer route to Walla Walla (according to GPS) and it became so beautiful I had to pull over a few times to take pictures (below). About three hours into my seven hour journey I see a sign for a National Park campground - supposedly on a lake. I pass it but couldn't stop thinking about its possibility, especially in such beautiful country. So I make a u-turn through a junkyard and drive about ten miles off the main road, which slowly gets more and more remote and beautiful. Huge trees. A lake. A river. At around the 9th mile into this offshoot journey, the pavement turns into gravel. Ok. Getting out there now. Another mile or so and the gravel comes across the most amazingly simple railroad crossing. I'm mesmerized by it's remoteness and beauty. In front of me across the tracks is a sign: Meadow Creek Ghost Town. What? Random. Spooky. No one is around and no signs of humans anywhere. I jump out of the car. Its parked just after the railroad crossing, and I'm out on the tracks taking pictures. I love this setting. So much possibility. The sun is setting perfectly over the tree covered foreground. I sit and enjoy the moment and then jump in my car and follow a sign for the Meadow Creek Campground. The sign for the campground is the same National Parks signage, so I know it's gonna be legit. I drive for about a quarter mile and come up to a small park entrance sign, which says no one is on duty: everything you bring in - you bring out. Similar vibe from the night before in the snow of Glacier National Park. Desolate. This time the campground is in the thick of the trees, with a beautiful river going through one side. Apparently it's free to stay here tonight, so I drive around and see a few great spots before coming upon one other person in the entire grounds. It's an older dude charring a huge fire and watching the river from a lazy-boy-style chair. I dig on his style and then drive onward, checking out a few more sites before looping back to the beginning of the grounds and picking campsite twenty, which is right on the river. If the campground was full, this spot might not have been perfect, but it's not and this spot is most surely the best. There's a big opening in the trees above where I park the car, which is only twenty feet from the river's edge. I get out. Breathe deep. In that instant I knew I was going to stay here and enjoy an amazing and peaceful night. I sit along the river. I listen. I watch. I walk back to the car and get my bike out and make my bed for the night. I decide to jump on the bike and ride back up to the train tracks. It feels amazing riding up the gravel road. A rush of wind and freedom pass my face, and I quickly get up to the tracks, ditch my bike, and walk along them for a bit. No trains. No human sounds. The forest screams out for attention. I love the contrast of the railroad tracks and the surrounding sounds of the panhandle of Idaho. I didn't even know I was in Idaho again. Classic. After riding back down the gravel road to the campsite, I attempt and fail to make a fire. While the cheater-lame-fire-starter-kindling I had didn't light the big logs I found at the campsite, I was able to roast some quick marshmallows for a few smores. That was my dinner. Solid. Healthy. Balanced. I clean up and hang out by the river until the night comes, and then I fall asleep around 8:30pm - completely free of any concern. Well, I guess I did think about the fact I was in the perfect setting for an epic horror movie. That thought came and went very quickly though...

I woke up around 6am in the absolute freezing cold. Wow. Shit. I thought it might be warmer here than it was in Glacier the night before, but I was wrong. I turned the car on to heat up, and noticed the temperature was around 28 degrees. Yikes. I let the car warm up for a bit and clean up down by the river. Such a great way to wake up. The sun is just lighting things up, and I feel lucky to be here all alone. No words to describe. No sounds to pollute. Just freedom and peace. I start driving out of the campsite but stop first to do a quick hike, which is labeled "Overlook". Didn't have to walk too far to realize why they called it Overlook (pic below - no words to describe). I sit and enjoy my morning without words or worries. Eventually I jump in the car and head towards Walla Walla, Washington - apparently Washington's main wine country. The drive is beautiful, but I quickly notice that I'm out of the woods and now into farming country. The colors and topography change from green trees and mountains into brown rolling hills and farmers. Beautiful nonetheless. I just ate lunch at The Maple Counter Cafe and then hit up one of the biggest Goodwill's I have ever seen. What did I get? Two VHS tapes (O Brother Where Art Though, and Shag), and a left-handed golf driver from the 1980's. Marty McFly has a VHS player, and I'm gonna test out if it works with these new flicks. And I'm playing one of the nicest courses in the country next Friday with three friends, so I figured a left-handed driver contest would fit in nicely. After my purchasing spree of $3.00 I'm now eating some gelato and will be shoving off here soon. Not sure where I'm heading yet, but I'll end up in Seattle tomorrow at some point...

Video I made while hanging out on the train tracks