Day 16: A zero in Forest Lakes Estates
There is nothing much in Forest Lakes.
Carrot and I wake in our motel room. It’s dim in there, kind of dingy and I alternate between hot and cold all night. There’s no place for laundry there, the front desk says we’ll have to hitch to Heber, 15 miles away. The lobby smells deeply of cat piss, but no one seems to notice.
Instead of hitching to Heber, we try the RV Park next door. At the RV park they do have laundry! They’re happy to let us use it! The kindly proprietor feeds long eared squirrels peanuts and gives us quarters in exchange for dollars and throws in some detergent for free. We ask to see the cabin they rent out for non RV visitors and it is.....incredible. High pitch wood beam ceilings, a cozy bedroom, a full kitchen. It costs ten dollars more then the dingy hotel next door and we can check in immediately. We take it and I am filled with excitement.
First thing, we make the most incredible convenience store lunch of all time. Giant salads with microwaved instant quinoa and chickpeas and hummus and chips. We split a mini watermelon. I drink a container of juice. I am happy and sleepy and then it’s time to write.
Our zero day passes like this:In the same bed, Carrot and I create our own little worlds. We work on our separate blogs, parallel between the sheets. It’s so silent you could hear a pin drop.
Intermittently, I call my bank to deal with more bank foibles, I talk around and around in circles and, with enough patience and enough fortitude to repeat myself over and over again, the trouble is fixed, at least for now. I sew the small hole in my sleeping bag, patching it with duck tape to secure. Carrot and I discuss the secrets of the universe: relationships, bodies, interpersonal dynamics, love, mental health, trauma and triggers, so many things. We touch each other in between our talks and you can probably guess where that went.
Eventually, we make dinner. More vegetables and rice and beans, things we won’t see for a few days. We organize our new food hall, cram things down as far as they’ll go, marvel at the height and weight of our packs, full and ready for a new section.At 8:30 PM we turn the lights out in our perfect little cabin, the place where we were so relaxed.Tomorrow, we hike.
The Mogollon Rim trail is on Yavapai, Western Apache, Hopi and Hohokum land. I am a grateful guest.