As much as I've loved my life as a full time RVer in the western states, hiking, bicycling and boondocking on public lands, it has become a sweet obsession of mine to beat the western Sun...
...the Dry Heat, the stickers and thorns, the harsh volcanic rocks and the ugly pine forests.
I don't get that much pleasure from looking at the brand-name scenic attractions of the West. I yearn for green hills covered with grass, and for the soft curves of a kindly feminine Earth, instead of the harsh, jagged, brutally masculine topographies of the West. I saw some recently near Gunnison, CO.
I've come to worship clouds and shade. After replacing my standard RV roof vent with a homemade vent of clear plexiglass and solar screen, the Southwestern sun no longer enters my house like a brawling bully. It is cheery and gentle. My little poodle can sleep right in the sunbeam on a warm day.
At Leadville the higher humidity isn't just moisture--it is medicine for the skin; the clouds are medicine for the eyes; and the non-volcanic rocks look smooth enough to sleep on. Today we went on a challenging hike up to a ridge of tundra at 12,000 feet. I didn't have to wear sunglasses. I can't even remember when that happened last.
And so, after a decade of scheming and whining, I've finally defeated the hateful Sun and the Dry Heat. Before becoming a full time RVer I had been scheming for a decade to escape the Rat Race, the Cubicle and the Money Pit.
Ironically it is easy to have mixed feelings about succeeding on a long term project. Life is so much more interesting with a dragon to slay. What should the next one be?
