Returning to the USA is always a bittersweet experience. SE Asia is fantastic, but there is no place in the world like the Bay Area. Driving through the streets of San Francisco, the incredible vistas, loved-ones, friends, family, and food make me long to come home so I spend my time here wisely. I arrived at the hotel, checked in and as I had some time turned on the television. CNN launched a full frontal assault on my common sense with “Know Your Enemy,” depicting some scruffy Arab in a turban and spewing all sorts of right wing pro-war propaganda. It was total crap that, interestingly, is not broadcast outside the United States. It made me wonder about the general quality of life, about how many people are choosing between food on the table or gas in the car. Somewhat distraught by that, I left the hotel and decided to stay in my hanger at the Marin County Airport. Sure, technically I should not spend the night at my little RV – but saving the company money seemed like a good idea and I wanted to take my off time there working on the plane and preparing for Burning Man. According to the esteemed writer, doctor, athlete, recluse, and hobo Dr. Bo Keely, such moves satisfy the wanderlust and appeal to my hobo sensibilities. It’s an accurate diagnosis.
Being a pilot, I make lots of checklists. The checklist for Burning Man includes inspecting the brakes on my truck and trailer; tire work, and other maintenance tasks. As my good friend and notable scientist Dr. Dirk Dreissig had stayed at the hanger for a number of weeks during the year – it was important to see that he didn’t break anything and leave it unreported. The plan was to take the trailer to the dump station, clean the tanks, check the tires and brakes, and return it to the hanger. To my great dismay, when I applied the brakes (with the trailer connected) the engine on the truck would quit. It would simply stall out, immediately, as if someone had pulled the plug on the engine. This forced a re-arrangement of priorities. I cleaned the tanks, and aside from discovering that Dirk must be on an all-peanut diet, everything looked good. As it was the middle of the night, I decided to risk a drive Wal-Mart in Santa Rosa as it was close to the RV dealer and the truck brakes alone should be enough for the short 45-minute drive.
The tow went fine, and I was soon at the Wal-Mart. Ignoring the no camping / no-overnight parking signs I found a place at the back of the lot. Wal-Mart is open late, until 11 PM, so I went in and bought some supplies. (Seemed like the right thing to do.) Being an avid RV enthusiast, I have camped all over the US, Canada and Mexico. I have stayed in many campgrounds, state parks, Wal-Mart parking lots and remote antenna sites. (Great as they are off the beaten path, easy to find at night, and often have accessible power outlets.) On the interstate, folks who are going for distance usually inhabit the Wal-Mart lots. They drive all day, pull in late at night, require no hookups (power, water, sewer) and are usually gone by sunrise. To my great surprise, I woke up in the middle of the night to find my rig surrounded by cars full of sleeping people. This is in Santa Rosa, which is a very nice area. There were 15 vehicles, most of them clearly had families in them, I could hear a baby crying in the distance. These weren’t transients, all the cars had California plates and one even had a Wal-Mart uniform covering a sleeping employee. It was sad – because while I had a nice shower, all the comforts of home, a great job, and friends to fall back on these people were truly down and out.
The next morning, Santa Rosa RV took a look at the truck and diagnosed the brake controller. It was good, and the wiring harness was correct. I have always had great service experiences at this RV dealer, though they aren’t known for good prices on their units. The next stop was Henry Curtis Ford in Petaluma where a technician tinkered with the electrical system all morning and finally replaced something called a cam sensor. From that point forward, all things seemed to be functioning properly. I was ready to head for Burning Man. I still couldn’t get the images of all the folks sleeping in their cars out of my head. At least they don’t have CNN filling their heads with garbage.
Boondocking is a term used by RV enthusiasts to describe places to camp (usually not campgrounds) that have no utility hookups...
