Diverge

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
—Green Day

Different needs and desires. Different agendas. These things are part of friendships and relationships. Our little band of three—Jo, Lou and I—went different directions today.

Jo wants to visit a friend in Scottsdale and take a bit of a rest from life on the road.

Lou is anxious to get to Oregon and start modifying his trailer.

I'll join Lou later to help out, but I don't want to be bumping up against lingering winter as I travel north. I'm going to hang around in lower latitudes a couple more weeks.

Sure, I've split off from Lou and Jo several times the past few months to chase after what I wanted. But I saw them as the gravitational center of our trio (whether they wanted to be or not). "I be back in a few days." And there they were, always welcoming.

So, I'm a lone wolf for a while. Today I'll be driving a half hour down the road to The Pads. From what I understand, it's a clean version of Slab City. It's at 3,000 feet, so it won't be as hot as down here below sea level. No cell service there, though. My plan is to head to Lake Mead. I'll see how that goes.