Tuesday January 10, 2023
Waking up at RothCreek State Park at around 6:00am and 28 degrees...
Good Morning! Ok hold on....finger and toe check....yup! ...Still got 'em and can still feel 'em! Man I am so glad I didn't go head to head with a grizzly last night! Or heck even a chipmunk in the dark would make me run like a lil girl! But I definitely kicked frostbites' @ss! Actually, its kinda cozy inside these twelve layers I got on! Geez do I have to get out from under here? Lemme check the phone for outside temps... oh right...it seems like the Hotel wi-fi is still down-what? What am I paying for this place anyway!!? Ya think $20 a night would get you better service than this!!
But I did actually survived the WHOLE night! Feels great! Like I said it's not as if I had to fight off bears and raccoons and walk miles across the frozen tundra barefoot uphill both ways or something lol... all I really did was fall asleep! But man...I kinda feel good to be alive! That branch snap last night was freaky. But actually the biggest hazard I faced was just not falling off a ladder at 2:00am while trying to pee! Speaking of pee...man I have to go again already...what the? Must be because it's dang cold and my body is like dude...a lot of ducks fly south ya know? Did ya miss the memo?
As I got out of the sleeping bag and felt the chill I thought no way I'm going for a ride today - especially since I have no idea where I am! I walked down the 'stairs' and into the heated 'kitchen' to have some cereal inside the jeep with the motor running (you know...so the Cheerios wouldn't freeze, not because I was cold or anything : )
Cold Cheerios, no milk (actually I like 'em that way!) and heat. Life is good!
Fifteen minutes later I was folding the tent back up (surprisingly easy!) and I thought to myself...why not go for a ride? I had chalked it off cuz I was in the middle of the woods with no cell service or map of any kind. But I'm thinking...do I really need GPS and trail maps and all that safe logical stuff lol? The roads heading in last night were actually pretty hard packed gravel and that might be fun...so hey! Let's do this! I grabbed the matching Salsa from the back and headed out! About two miles in I came to a decision - right turn or go straight? I knew straight was the way-out of the woods and really didn't want that so a right turn it is! As I rounded the turn I committed to an easy navigating solution...all rights. Why not!? Heading back would be all lefts!! Genius!! I wonder if Magellan or one of those dudes had the same kind of choices to make in like -mid-ocean. All left's from here matey's!! Nah...I'm sure it was much easier to let Siri tell 'em which buoys to use!
This ride turned out to be an awesome climb as it had several switch backs on the way to the top of the mountain that I just spent the night on... By the time I reached the summit snow and ice was pretty prevalent. But wow what a view! I think Strava (which worked but maps didn't....?) pegged it at about 1700' of vertical in a few miles....fun! Five miles in and mostly downhill back sweet! Life is good.
Banged the downhill super cautiously as there was a lot of ice around, (Ducks on Ice! Was that a Disney thing? I think I took my kids to that one actually back around 2008? : )
I made all the lefts mostly - super easy...there's always that one turn where you go wait! Is that really a left cuz it's kinda straight if you look at it from over here... lol. But I popped out right where my five-star Orange Hotel was. Was glad to see it actually. Kind of like that feeling when you lost your phone or your wallet and you start searching everywhere while the heart rate elevates? Know that feeling? Then when you finally find it you're like ahhhh...thank you! Ya start breathing again lol? My life is back- all is good. After just seeing trees and ice for the last couple of hours it's so comforting to see 'home' again.
Threw the bike in the back of the mobile Jeep/Sag vehicle/hotel/refrigerator...and grabbed some Hammer protein meal recovery stuff to refuel myself and peeled outta there.
I drove away from the campsite without GPS also - which doesn't compare to Mr. Magellan crossing the Pacific using the Big Dipper and that protractor thing or whatever but man when you drive four miles into a dark camp the night before with your eyes peeled out for a campsite it's kinda hard to peg the right direction sometimes! I looked to see if I recognized things though that would help. Oh yeah! The fridge next to the boat on the porch! An old rusted out car with the seats in the grass next to it, and an old guy - oh wow that dude looks creepy! Don't make eye contact, don't make eye contact, just keep going! What the heck, somebody should check the water quality out here or something! It like eats through peoples teeth or something!? Thank God I busted out of the woods right then and so I headed for the town of State College...or probably just called Penn State since that is pretty much what drives the whole town. I drove around looking for a coffee shop figuring there has to be one (hundred : ) in a college town and also just looking for a place to park...what the heck!? It's like trying to park in midtown Manhattan here...cars and peoples everywhere! But college kid type peoples... it wasn't like NYC bad. Didn't see any Elmo's or people trying to wash my windows or taxicabs driving on sidewalks.
Oh sweet! There's a municipal lot perfect! Parked, walked across the street and what's that...Elixr! A coffee shop- perfecto! They had one seat that had an outlet next to it too...since my laptop was dead and so I grabbed it to figure out how to get this website loaded up! An iced Strawberry Oat Milk latte was on tap too...yum.
Two hours later had it up and almost running, left and walked thru downtown State College. Wow what a nice college vibe! I wonder if the tuition is more than like 3K a year? Ha! I had the thought that being a professor here wouldn't be a bad gig...I wonder if I could teach a course somewhere? Might be a pretty good idea? I'll chew on that. What would I teach? How to avoid getting eaten by a bear? Blogging 101? Ha!
Hoping to make my sisters house by late dinner time I left State College and hit the road around 3:00pm.
What's great about phone technology these days is that I can put notes on my phone about the day using Siri, listen to some really cool music and still drive all at the same time! So good. Yes mom all hands free. I went from listening to Jordan Davis into Wheeland Brothers at some point. I forgot how listening to an entire album can be cool...really get to know an artist and their work...
Inside
Seems like I want to write about -
Fear.
Amazing what it can do if we let it take hold!
Lucky for us most fears we face these days is in our heads...it's not like we're facing that grizzly face to face kind of fear every day lol. More like the 'thought' of facing that bear face to face. Two totally different things.
Psychological fear is way different than a fear based on present moment realities.
And in my view way more dangerous! If left unchecked, psychological fear can control your life! They are based on projections of what we think may happen...not what really is happening. But to the body...it reacts as if it were happening!
The thought of a bear, or freezing in the night or in more day to day things like, what if this person shows up, or how am I gonna look when I make that presentation are all based on just thoughts about what may happen in the future. Just an awareness of this can help snap us back to reality. A lil prayer of gratefulness for the safety of a tent atop a jeep and warm blankets instantly puts us back into reality and calms the nervous system. There is so much chatter about 'my anxiety' in the world today - but does anyone really bother to take a look at what the root cause of it is? So much easier to just label it and say this is who I am and live with it rather than face it head on...and take a look at it. Fear's of a bear are easy...ones about a self image in front of other people may take a lil' further probing to find the root cause but man...a journey oh so worth taking...
Outside
Like wow! Need I say more other than a snowy winter mountain bike ride 1700' up?
The views, the cold crisp air filtering thru the nose... the silence of the woods broken only by the steady inhales and exhales of a lone rider? There is nothing like feeling those lungs expand and feel the air fill 'em up! There is something about conquering a climb that stokes my little duck brain. (Duckpond post next maybe? : )
The trees that stand tall against the elements. The animals that brave the wintry weather. Such fine examples for us to be brave against any challenge we may face. And man one look out over the world from even just this little height on top of this mountain gives the mind more space...gorgeous!
Seeing the college students between classes was awesome too...a post-covid realization of the life that is on campus now and it feels good to see the world moving around!
Upside
The cold morning...the beautiful ride on handpicked gravel, the climb up 1700 feet, the view, the ability to embrace nature no matter what it throws at you.... and to live in harmony with it rather than oppose it! Such an upside! To first wake up and chalk off a ride due to the chill... and then flipped that around and conquer it is just awesome. Perhaps...If you're still seeing something in your life as a negative, maybe a little time spent looking at it, asking the right questions will help you gain a lil insight and perspective on it. Might even turn into an upside...
downside
No cell service... or room service. No mint on the pillow. No slippers next to the bed with turned down sheets. Cable was out and it seemed like the HVAC was stuck in AC mode all night! Definitely leaving a yelp review.
Every which way but east!
Traveled from RothCreek State Park to State College town and then west to Painesville Ohio to visit with my mom, sister and her family!
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