This is the hardest time so far in Ann's life; even harder than living in the mountains with Bruce. It is the greatest test of her strength and love.
THE GOD GAMES: Heaven & Hell...Chapter 35
We spent September 2004 to February 2005 on the road, usually in campsites; renting rooms when Ed would get really ill. He had been comped many rooms at several casinos in San Diego and Las Vegas so we used these comped rooms in between camping outdoors. As I look back now, whatever were two semi-elderly folk doing out in the rain and damp of fall and winter, particularly when Ed was so often sick. We felt backed into a wall. Ed was sure that if we could just get to Lone Pine or Bishop that we could find a place to rent, but we had sent for the Bishop newspaper before we left our apartment and there was nothing listed there for renting so in the end he hesitated to have us try it. We were going through our money each month just surviving and we knew that we had to be some place at the first of the month in order to have a chance to have money to get into another apartment. January and February of 2005 found us in Death Valley at a camping spot five miles from Scotty's Castle.
It was beautiful in Death Valley. In the mornings it was glorious as the sun rose and warmed everything up, and in the evening there were billions of stars to see in the sky. We spent the day finding pictures in the walls of the valley, and in the clouds. Ed slept most of the time but would get up and go on walks and soak up the warmth of the day. On the weekends, people would come and fill the campground around us, but during the week we were blessedly alone. The coyotes were very friendly and the park rangers would warn everyone not to feed them or to go near them. They said that if you fed the wild animals they would lose their ability to find food on their own.
We had an experience with the coyotes on our first day at the camp. We had been so tired when we had come into camp that we just put up the tent and went to bed. When we got up in the morning we found that our truck had been raided. We had left everything in the bed of the truck and not worried about it, but the coyotes had had a field day with our food supplies. They had actually jumped high enough to look into the bed of the truck and grab whatever was in reaching distance. We found a five pound can of coffee two fields over; rice and oatmeal in a gully about 100 feet away; honey over everything, and just a jumble of confusion with the rest of the supplies. It took us about half a day to gather everything and wash everything up. We didn't really lose too much but we really learned a lesson to tarp the back of the truck and weight the tarp down with boulders at night,
We stayed the longest time at Death Valley and really had a good time. Ed seemed to perk up and we went on several driving trips to see all of the Valley and the surrounding areas. We seemed to gravitate towards Scotty's Castle everyday to make phone calls or just to take our lunch in the gardens around the castle. I went to the top of the hill behind the castle and sat and watched the sky change colors as the day passed, and reminisced about the possible adventures of the men who had built the castle and the outbuildings. There was much that I was familiar with as it had been a gold mining operation when it had been built.
When we left our camp we would leave the tent set up but took all of our belongings with us. One day we took a trip to Beatty, Nevada the next closest town for supplies. We had a really good time that day and we considered living in Beatty. On our drive I kept seeing patches of what looked like salt on the sides of the road; being curious, I had to get out of the truck and taste it to see if it were indeed salt. It tasted salty at first but then had some metalic taste to it that wouldn't leave my mouth. We wondered what it could possibly be.
By the time we left Beatty to go back to our camp it was getting dark and the wind seemed to have blown up pretty good, we wondered in what condition we would find our tent. When we got about 20 miles from our camp the wind was blowing about 50 or 60 miles an hour and the visibility was just a few feet. When we got to the camp there were no people around; it was totally deserted. Our tent was no longer standing but had blown into a gully about 200 feet from where it had started. We finally found it and wrestled it back into camp. It seemed to have its poles sticking out in every direction. For a half hour we wrestled with that tent trying to get it to set up properly but one of the poles had been broken in half and we could make nothing of it. Ed said, "Ann, get out of there, (I was inside the tent trying to hold it up from inside-we were crazy), we've got to get into the truck!" So we dropped everything and got back in the truck. I had rescued some of our blankets as I ran, but could not get the air mattresses. We sat in the truck for a short while, but the sand seeped through the cracks in the cab and Ed thought we might be safer inside the adobe brick bathrooms. He had me take some blankets and we ran for the restroom. There were no doors on the restrooms but Ed put a trash can in front of the door to hold back some of the blowing sand. Then he had me lay down on a blanket and covered me with blankets and lay down on top of me to shield me from the sand. We lay there for a long while all the time Ed breathing in the sand and trying to save my life. I could see what was happening to him and insisted that we had better try something else. By this time something was making me very groggy, but Ed acted like a man on a mission. We made another run for the truck and Ed tucked me in with the blankets and told me that he was going to drive us back to Beatty. I fell asleep on the ride but Ed used all of his strength trying to drive through the sand storm and stay on the road. I woke up about ten miles out of Beatty and Ed told me that he was very ill and really needed to get into a motel. He had me place a call to Larry on our cell phone and ask Larry to pay for the motel room as we did not have any money left until the first of the month. Larry saved our lives again, and when Ed pulled the truck into the motel he got right out and went into the motel and had Larry talk to the proprietors. Larry paid for us to stay there for four days. (In case you are wondering, the cell phone could not reach out of Death Valley so we could not use it to call for help.)
Tomorrow Ed is very ill so we head for Bishop, California. Will we get there in time?
THE GOD GAMES: Heaven & Hell...Chapter 35
We spent September 2004 to February 2005 on the road, usually in campsites; renting rooms when Ed would get really ill. He had been comped many rooms at several casinos in San Diego and Las Vegas so we used these comped rooms in between camping outdoors. As I look back now, whatever were two semi-elderly folk doing out in the rain and damp of fall and winter, particularly when Ed was so often sick. We felt backed into a wall. Ed was sure that if we could just get to Lone Pine or Bishop that we could find a place to rent, but we had sent for the Bishop newspaper before we left our apartment and there was nothing listed there for renting so in the end he hesitated to have us try it. We were going through our money each month just surviving and we knew that we had to be some place at the first of the month in order to have a chance to have money to get into another apartment. January and February of 2005 found us in Death Valley at a camping spot five miles from Scotty's Castle.
It was beautiful in Death Valley. In the mornings it was glorious as the sun rose and warmed everything up, and in the evening there were billions of stars to see in the sky. We spent the day finding pictures in the walls of the valley, and in the clouds. Ed slept most of the time but would get up and go on walks and soak up the warmth of the day. On the weekends, people would come and fill the campground around us, but during the week we were blessedly alone. The coyotes were very friendly and the park rangers would warn everyone not to feed them or to go near them. They said that if you fed the wild animals they would lose their ability to find food on their own.
We had an experience with the coyotes on our first day at the camp. We had been so tired when we had come into camp that we just put up the tent and went to bed. When we got up in the morning we found that our truck had been raided. We had left everything in the bed of the truck and not worried about it, but the coyotes had had a field day with our food supplies. They had actually jumped high enough to look into the bed of the truck and grab whatever was in reaching distance. We found a five pound can of coffee two fields over; rice and oatmeal in a gully about 100 feet away; honey over everything, and just a jumble of confusion with the rest of the supplies. It took us about half a day to gather everything and wash everything up. We didn't really lose too much but we really learned a lesson to tarp the back of the truck and weight the tarp down with boulders at night,
We stayed the longest time at Death Valley and really had a good time. Ed seemed to perk up and we went on several driving trips to see all of the Valley and the surrounding areas. We seemed to gravitate towards Scotty's Castle everyday to make phone calls or just to take our lunch in the gardens around the castle. I went to the top of the hill behind the castle and sat and watched the sky change colors as the day passed, and reminisced about the possible adventures of the men who had built the castle and the outbuildings. There was much that I was familiar with as it had been a gold mining operation when it had been built.
When we left our camp we would leave the tent set up but took all of our belongings with us. One day we took a trip to Beatty, Nevada the next closest town for supplies. We had a really good time that day and we considered living in Beatty. On our drive I kept seeing patches of what looked like salt on the sides of the road; being curious, I had to get out of the truck and taste it to see if it were indeed salt. It tasted salty at first but then had some metalic taste to it that wouldn't leave my mouth. We wondered what it could possibly be.
By the time we left Beatty to go back to our camp it was getting dark and the wind seemed to have blown up pretty good, we wondered in what condition we would find our tent. When we got about 20 miles from our camp the wind was blowing about 50 or 60 miles an hour and the visibility was just a few feet. When we got to the camp there were no people around; it was totally deserted. Our tent was no longer standing but had blown into a gully about 200 feet from where it had started. We finally found it and wrestled it back into camp. It seemed to have its poles sticking out in every direction. For a half hour we wrestled with that tent trying to get it to set up properly but one of the poles had been broken in half and we could make nothing of it. Ed said, "Ann, get out of there, (I was inside the tent trying to hold it up from inside-we were crazy), we've got to get into the truck!" So we dropped everything and got back in the truck. I had rescued some of our blankets as I ran, but could not get the air mattresses. We sat in the truck for a short while, but the sand seeped through the cracks in the cab and Ed thought we might be safer inside the adobe brick bathrooms. He had me take some blankets and we ran for the restroom. There were no doors on the restrooms but Ed put a trash can in front of the door to hold back some of the blowing sand. Then he had me lay down on a blanket and covered me with blankets and lay down on top of me to shield me from the sand. We lay there for a long while all the time Ed breathing in the sand and trying to save my life. I could see what was happening to him and insisted that we had better try something else. By this time something was making me very groggy, but Ed acted like a man on a mission. We made another run for the truck and Ed tucked me in with the blankets and told me that he was going to drive us back to Beatty. I fell asleep on the ride but Ed used all of his strength trying to drive through the sand storm and stay on the road. I woke up about ten miles out of Beatty and Ed told me that he was very ill and really needed to get into a motel. He had me place a call to Larry on our cell phone and ask Larry to pay for the motel room as we did not have any money left until the first of the month. Larry saved our lives again, and when Ed pulled the truck into the motel he got right out and went into the motel and had Larry talk to the proprietors. Larry paid for us to stay there for four days. (In case you are wondering, the cell phone could not reach out of Death Valley so we could not use it to call for help.)
Tomorrow Ed is very ill so we head for Bishop, California. Will we get there in time?
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