Truckin’

I thought it would get uncomfortably cold last night. Not only did I have my down quilt, I added my other blanket, just in case. I woke up sweating in the middle of the night and set the blanket aside. In the morning I was able to go out and admire the rising sun without needing a jacket.

That was good.

What wasn’t good were the big gravel trucks that kept driving by, making noise and throwing up dust. I got into a bit of a standoff with one of them while driving in. It was a narrow section of road right after a curve. There wasn’t room to pass even though I was way over to the right with the wheels off the hard packed dirt-gravel mix and and sort of in the ditch. I waited to see what he would do and he waited to see what I would do. He had me outmuscled, so I stared backing up. (Which is something I do badly in the Rolling Steel Tent. Good thing I wasn’t pulling a trailer.) Since I couldn’t see what was happening on the right very well, I moved to the left so I could stick my head out the window and see exactly where I was going and how much road I had. It was also the side of the road with a cut instead of a drop-off. Better to back into dirt and rock than air. I finally got far enough over for the truck to get by. And then another truck. I proceeded on my way only to encounter another three trucks a little farther along. Fortunately the road was wider there.

The view from the Rim is great, but I’d had my fill of trucks, noise and dust. I decided to leave while there was a gap in the convoy.

Rim Road isn’t too bad, as National Forest roads go. A little rough, occasional bumps, and a few sections of bad washboard. Good enough. But when I got back to the highway, man, it felt like I was on a flying carpet. So smo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oth. Just gli-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-ding along. No rattles or shakes. Pavement is good! Especially when it’s more than wide enough for vehicles to pass each other. The irony: It took a lot of gravel trucks to pave that highway.