That interrupts the agenda quite a bit, but mom and dad are trying to make the best of it. That DOES mean that there is no more traveling back and forth for me! We'll all be living out here at the KOA: Mom, dad and Reed in the camper, with Steffen and I sleeping in the tent. Oh boy. I am really looking forward to living out here and having a vehicle. I think that will bring the stress down quite a few notches.
Here is a pictorial update of the place, of which I took yesterday:
Pa
Here you can see the corners of the house!
Sometimes things don't go as planned on the site:
Wildflowers
Steffen and I got a day together last Saturday, which was very much so needed. Actually, it's still really weird for me to say 'we got a day together'- because now I know we shouldn't take quality time for granted. It's just hard to get away from the camper because our van isn't out here.
Anywho, we were dropped off in Hot Springs by my brother on his way out to the job site. First stop: coffee. Finally found some decent drinks! I will have to say though, the lady at the hut was astonished at our order of 3 shots of espresso over ice, and once again, we both felt snobby. Second stop: Natural Foods Store! (Don't worry, you can keep reading on, as I promise I won't take you through each stop.) As we browsed, Steffen said that if we lived here that I would be a great worker for them...and I agree that I'd love to! As we moseyed through the next stores, we dreamed of owning a natural foods store in Lafayette, with a coffee shop inside and (of course) a recording studio in the basement.
We quickly realized that Hot Springs stores are filled with either tourist-y souveniers or odd assortments of thrift stores. One such, "Retro Thrift Store" was about the most jank place either of us had ever been in. There was hardly room to walk, the back of the room smelled highly of pot, a man and a lady stumbled out of the back as the lady was putting her dress on, and on our way out the owner of the store told us, "Thanks for stoppin in. I'm open every day until 6pm, most of the time." The rest of the afternoon we laughed and made up catch lines the owner of that store might have said.
And lastly, the climax of the day:
Reed or dad couldn't give us a ride home because they were still working. The taxi cab wanted $12 to take us back to our campsite. Naturally, we just decided to walk back to the RV- 6 miles. We started off and told ourselves it would be easy: like walking around Lake Calhoun twice. No big deal. I answered to Steffen a firm "no" when he asked me if he could put his thumb out in hopes of cars stopping for us, to which he said, "ok, but if someone stops for us, we're taking the ride home." With each car that came up behind us, I secretly hoped that an older couple in an RV would take pity on us and pull over to give us a ride. To our great suprise, someone pulled over for us within one mile! A nice Native American man offered us a ride back to the KOA! So we hopped in the back, my heart a-thumpin, and I quickly located my cell phone. (You know, I just had to 'feel' safer, for I was a bit nervous). The a/c felt wonderful and we were off to the campground. We found out that his name was Jerald and he was from Pine Ridge Indian Reservation here in SD, working as an electrician. When we reached the KOA and got out of the car, I was so relieved! Relived that we didn't have to walk home. Relieved that we made it safe. And really, I wish someone had gotten a picture of our faces as we got into the RV; we were grinning from ear to ear, realizing how awesome it was that we just experienced our first hitchhiked ride!
4 more miles!
Jerald himself:
That experience was on my mind for a while. Realizing that my mom would freak out when I told her, it just made me open up my eyes a bit more. I know that every hitchhiker doesn't always have a good experience, but oh! How I wish society would slow down. Slow down and take time to give rides. Knock on the neighbor's door to borrow a cup of sugar. Take a homeless person to lunch. Stop and smell the fresh mountain air. Bring a thermos of coffee with some friends and enjoy a sunrise. Hop on a horse's back and gallop down the gravel road. Bring a guitar to a campfire and have some friends over. I am more than aware that it's easy for me to say and do those things because I don't have a job, a house, or any real commitments. But even so, I hope with all my heart that when we move to Lafayette this summer, that I don't get into the daily grind of society so much that I miss opportunities in life that Jerald still has time for.
One of my favorite posts so far!
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