An Adventure, Indeed!

May 2, 2021

A couple of months ago, my youngest daughter and I decided to co-invest in what I like to call a 'project van'.  Danielle is really excited to design and create an ideal travel space to go out and do some exploring now that she's graduating from college; I am really excited to have a relatively comfortable and inexpensive way to hit the beach or chase waterfalls for a weekend here or there.  This weekend my sister Lisa and I decided to take my Adventure Beast traveling van out for her maiden voyage.  Even though the van still needs to have a little work done to shore it up (it's definitely seen its share of miles with its previous owner), I wanted to drive it and get a sense of what problems might present themselves so I could report back to my mechanic when I take it in.  

On the whole, the Adventure Beast did beautifully.  We picked a weekend when the weather couldn't have been better.  The van was a champion driving up to Sequoia and we set up camp Friday evening, cooking dinner on the firepit and then settling in the van to sleep for the night.  It was pretty convenient not to have to pitch a tent; the back seat lies flat for one bed, and the center chairs are taken out so that we can lay down a foam mattress for a second bed.  I will say that my sister and I fit perfectly, though I'm not sure anyone much taller than the two of us would fit quite as comfortably.

Saturday was our big hiking day.  We had intended to hike up to Morro rock, but the signage indicated that the hike would have been a much longer one than what we had seen when we looked it up online.  We still had a great hike and saw the rock from a distance before changing plans and turning around.  

Lisa knows that pretty much the only reason for me to hike is to find waterfalls or rivers, so our second hike was about finding a beautiful water source.  As we were heading up to our next scheduled destination, the Adventure Beast protested--the only time on the trip it did.  The elevation, combined with the air conditioning, got the best of the vehicle and it started to overheat.  We pulled over to the side of the road and decided to take a lunch break while we gave the van a chance to cool down.

We had just finished up our lunch and were idly relaxing--me sitting in the passenger seat with my feet dangling out the open door, and Lisa standing outside nearby.  Suddenly, nearly simultaneously, I heard an incredibly loud CRRRAAAACKKK!!!! and Lisa yelling "Look out!!!" and she dove toward me.  Just out in the near distance in the forest, a tree split about two-thirds of the way up its approximately 80-foot trunk and the top crashed thunderously and dramatically to the ground, just inches away from the back of the van.  The impact of the tree hitting the ground shattered the wood into sizable logs and shards of lumber that littered the area.  On the way down the tree hit a huge metal sign, which no doubt changed the trajectory of the falling tree just enough to avoid us and the van.  We were really very lucky, but it definitely got our adrenaline going! I don't know many people who have been up close and personal with a tree falling in the forest, but I can't say I recommend it.

After looking around incredulously and calming ourselves down a little, we decided to get back on the road and find the calming serenity of the waterfalls.  We actually decided to change courses and go back downhill instead of continuing up in elevation because of the Adventure Beast's seeming reluctance.  Fortunately, we happened on not just one but two beautiful spaces to hike to waterfalls.  Both were well worth the journey.

After heading back to camp, we set out to cook a delicious campfire meal, which we ate while gazing up at the multitude of stars in the sky.  It was a peaceful way to end quite an adventurous day.

All in all, despite the quite unexpected tree nearly crushing us, it was exactly the weekend we hoped for.  There are still some mechanical issues that need to be addressed with the van, but this trip showed me that it's going to serve exactly the purpose I had hoped for it.  I'm looking forward to many more adventures ahead.