Today, I Woke Up in the Desert

Well, if life were a contest to see how remote I could live I might be winning. I don't know where I would have to go from here, though. Australia maybe? I would really like to try Alaska. But I'll alaskabout that later.

Last night I caught the flight out of Columbus to San Diego. I was suppose to leave the day before, but through a ticketing hiccup, I did not get on the flight and had to rebook for the next day. This as it turned out was fortuitous. US Airways flight 148 CMH to SAN, was the only evening flight that had not been canceled due to the ice storm that hit Columbus. On the 11:00PM news, however, there was a story about this flight. After waiting two hours on the runway, the plane could not be de-iced and the pilot decided it was unsafe to takeoff. I was glad that I did not get on.

The flight on Wednesday evening took off without an incident. I had planned a leisurely trip out so that I could spend the night at the Crown Plaza and see a couple museums in San Diego. When I did not fly out on Tuesday, I had to cancel both my plans and my reservations.

The plane got into San Diego late, about 9:45pm. When I looked at my rental car reservation, it had been made for 10:00am instead of 10:00pm. I called them about ten minutes before they closed. Though they had me listed in the computer as two consecutive no-shows, they stayed open until I got there and gave me a car for the week. I was very happy. The one thing I hate now about traveling is this period before I get a car and place to stay. It is by far the most stressful.

At about 11:00 I started the two-hour drive into the desert. Making the drive between Octotillo and San Diego is locally know as “going over the hill.” This is a drive going from sea level to 4055 feet to sea level. There is nothing except mountain and two casinos along the entire drive. About half way down the hill I passed four highway patrol cars, three dozen flares, and a white SUV that had flipped several times on the highway. Imperial County ranks 52nd out of 58 counties for fatal vehicle accidents.

A little after12:30am I arrived in Octotillo. This was about 3:30am to me. When my hotel plans got canceled I had decided that I would just stay in the trailers at the museum, or in a worst case scenario I would just stay in the car. Well, the trailers were locked.

Ok, I guess I had not thought through the actual worst case scenario. Last night was the coldest February 2nd on record in the Imperial Valley. In 1929 it had dipped to 29 degrees. Last night it was 26 degrees. I got out my luggage, put on three pairs of pants, the only sweatshirt I brought, and both sport coats. Every hour and a half I woke up freezing and ran the car until it warmed up. Then I fell asleep for another hour and a half.

You can see about 100 miles in all directions from the museum. At about 2:00am there were flashing lights and two cars pulled over on the freeway west. At about 4:00am there were flashing lights out in the desert to the south. At about 6:00am, when the sun the came up, I found coffee at a gas station down the road. Outside the gas station the Border Patrol was arresting four illegals who had evidently come across the border in the night. I spent the next two hours walking around museum property and watching the sun rise.

Everything's good. I found coffee.

Rebuilding

I have never really liked cars. I mean not like guys who "like" cars. I don't read about them. I don't now what new engines are being put in what new cars.

But this week I have found out something about myself. I love Jeeps.

Deneen and I had a Suzuki Samurai for eleven years. She bought it new in 1988 in Chicago. At our 20th high school reunion a friend came in a restored Samurai. I have been looking for one ever since. A new Samurai in 1988 cost $5,900.00. I just looked at a 1988 Suzuki Samurai for sale in Pasadena, California. It is $5,800.

We had to get a new car this week. After searching for what seemed like forever, we bought a new Jeep Wrangler.
I had a 1989 Jeep Wrangler on Provo that I drove for a little more than a year. This Jeep may have been the worst car on the island. The gas gauge did not work so you never knew how much gas you had, and if you drove more than 20 minutes at a time the brakes would overheat and gradually lock up until you had to stop. But I loved driving it.

In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan makes a statement that vitamins may not actually do anything for your health, but people who take vitamins are much healthier than people who don't. So, he says, be the "kind of person who takes vitamins."

Most people who drive a Jeep don't really need a Jeep. I think that we will actually need Jeeps in the Imperial Valley, but none the less, I have always wanted to be the "kind of person" who drives a Jeep.

Imperial Valley

Imperial Valley is the southern most county in Southern California. The county borders San Diego County, Arizona, and Mexico. The valley is mostly desert, but it is irrigated by diversions from the Colorado River and it is also has a history of agricultural.

The population is roughly 200,000. The county seat is the city of El Centro. The region is a blend of cultures straddling the Mexican-American border. The town of Mexicali lies across the border with a metropolis of a million people.

Agriculture and government are the major economic generators, but tourism is second. The area hosts numerous off road vehicular parks. Including the Heber Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area.

You may think you have never heard of the Imperial Valley or the sand dunes, but you would be wrong.

You see, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...the Jedi Returned here to save Han Solo from Jabba the Hut.

The New Adventure Begins

Well, after five months the day is here. I have just booked a flight and I will be leaving for a new adventure next Tuesday. I have been hired as the Executive Director of the the Imperial Valley Desert Museum. The museum constructed a new building in 2007 but never opened. I will be developing exhibits, programs, and staff and will be opening the museum in the next year.

Please stay tuned...

FINALLY SOMETHING TO BLOG ABOUT!

CRM Work

Ah, back in the field this week. My goal after all, is to be outstanding in the field.

Cultural Resource Management is the term given to the practice of managing historic, or potentially historic, sites and structures. Normally this is a term and process associated with government agencies and their management of property and permits. Any federal project or any project receiving federal funds or needing a federal permit must be evaluated for the project's impact to any historic building or archaeological site. There is a very detailed process for this. But...Basically, this means that any building fifty years old or older that is going to be affected by a government project has to be documented and evaluated. The same goes for archaeological sites.

When I talk about this, I say that the process is meant to insure that Lincoln's log cabin is not bulldozed for a new highway.

My first job after graduating with my architecture degree was working for a CRM company. All of the museum work I have done has had lots of components similar to CRM work. So, if you look at the blog, I have been doing CRM all month.

Anyway, this week I have been working on a large project evaluating 61 architectural sites which are mostly nineteenth century farmsteads. I like this work, but after about ten minutes out of the truck my hands get so cold that I can't sketch or write.

I have a goal, or a dream maybe. For the next ten years I want to work in an area that is a vacation destination. Then, everyday is like a vacation. Though there are hunting cabins and hunting stands everywhere we have been looking for historic structures this month, the woods of southern Ohio is not the recreational area that I am thinking about...

Why Oh Why Oh Did I Ever Leave Ohio

This week I am in Cambridge, Ohio, all week helping a friend of mine, Dr. Keener, with an archaeological survey of about 2500 acres for a coal mining permit. I have probably walked 6 to 8 miles a day. IN THE SNOW!


When I get back to the hotel every evening I have to take off all the cold weather gear and hang it over the room heating so that it will dry. This is just like hanging out a wetsuit to dry, with the exception that it is awful.

I had nothing but sandals when I returned to the US in September. Dave Horn begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting gave me a pair of tennis shoes so that I could do some roofing. I have been wearing these to work in everyday. Dr. Keener stopped on the way out here so I could buy a pair of boots. All this is great. But I think I would rather be somewhere where I only had to own sandals.

Oh, by the way. It is really cold in Ohio.

To Blog or not to Blog,That is the Question

I want to thank all the people who have read this blog over the last three years. I have been amazed how many friends I have run into that have said they read it regularly. I appreciate that so many of you have enjoyed the adventure. I only ever looked at the numbers during the first year, but was surprised to have had over 58,000 hits to the site. That is just crazy to me.

Since I have been back to Columbus, many people have asked about the blog and the fact that I am not writing anymore.

"Why can't you look for the adventure in everything you do and just keep writing?" asked my brother.

Thanksgiving weekend some friends from out of town came over to see us. They complained about there being no closure. Just a last blog three months ago that was not even that good.

The intention was to continue writing. And yes you can just find adventure in regular life. I have had many things happen in the last few weeks that I wrote blogs about in my mind. Actually, you would probably find some of my stories hard to believe. Every time I sit down at the computer, however, it just does not feel right.

I re-read the first dozen blog entries today. They seem like a lifetime ago. Grand Turk was such a new and different place. But our experience there over the last three years was so extreme that nowhere seems that different now. I had a discussion with Lucas and Stephanie this week about how your idea of normal can change. It is actually a floating bar based on widening your expreiences. I am holding on and would like to move the bar a little more. We will see what the future holds.

Heck, today I stood on the border of Mexico...and that's a whole other story.