A Trip to Go and Do Nothing

It’s a little over two years since my last blog post and I just spent the last 20 min reading over a couple of them. The post about my Dad’s 73rd (would have been 73) birthday really put me in a melancholy state. At the same time, it got me in the mood to write. Isn’t weird that the best art comes from pain and struggle. What is it about hurt that inspires so many great artists?

Pain has now also, motivated a great movement within the country. 2020 has certainly been a very interesting year. A year that a lot of people want to cancel and just write off. While many of the world has been quarantined at home doing nothing, a lot has also happened. 1 - COVID and 2 - George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter Protest happening all around the world. I truly believe that if it wasn’t for COVID, the protest around the world wouldn’t have been as impactful. It would have just been another sad moment in history where no real change happens for the Black Community.

A midst of everything going on, one can only take so much. One really has to take care of their mental state and one really has to disengage to recover from all the negativity. With that said, that is what myself and two of my friends did, including Dash (my friends dog). We wanted to find a place to stay in the mountains and just relax. Originally we searched for places in Ojai, Big Bear, and other mountains north of L.A. We found some great cabins via AirBnB but quickly learned how expensive some of the cleaning fees were, $200! Crazy. Our search finally ended when we switched gears and saw a listing for a camper on top of a mountain in San Diego County. It was perfect. Middle of nowhere with views for days. Simple…that’s all we needed.

Camper booked; 2 days and 2 nights.

On Friday, late afternoon around 6 pm, we proceeded south to Alpine and arrived around 9 pm. The place was surely off of the beaten path. The map showed that the final destination had no formal road, it was great. We bounced up the dirt road drive way in a Suburban and approached the home of the owner. We were greeted by a sweet lady and her dog named Dude, a handsome Golden Retriever. The owner and the retriever told us to drive a little way up and the camper would be on the right. We parked, got out, made small talk, and she showed us around the camper. We unpacked the car (which we overpacked) and stocked the fridge. Grabbed our drinks and hung out under the canopy outside. We hung out until we came in because it got cold and not too long after, we went to sleep.

The next morning, for me, started at 7 am. I made a cup of coffee and went outside to do a little exploring and reading. I was able to see the entirety of the property where there was two other small sites. One was a mini cabin and the other was a huge Tee-Pee tent. In front of our site were two horses. The whole place was just perfect.

As everyone started to wake up, we sat outside and discussed our plans for the day. Really, all we wanted to do was go for a hike, which we did, but not as much as we though we would. Although the short hike that we did do was definitely no easy hike. It was down a steep hill with tumultuous terrain down to a large pond and the climb back up was no small feat either; but was challenging and fun (for me).

The rest of the day included a whole bunch of nothing which was absolutely perfect. Just sitting around, talking, playing cards, meandering around the site, and countless calls for Dash to come back. The next morning after breakfast, we packed up the car, said by to the sweet lady and her two dogs, and set out for a small mining town called, Julian.

The drive to Julian was full of scenery and when we arrived, we were greeted by a bustling street full of visitors and tourists, or are we all tourists at that point? Either way, we walked around, did a little window shopping and sat down at a restaurant where they had outdoor seating. Julian is apparently known for their apple pie and anyone that knows me knows how much I love apple pie! It was clear I had to try it, and it was certainly good.

After shopping and perusing, our day had a moment, a moment that spoke to what is currently happening in our Country…racism. My friend and I were sitting on some steps with Dash, while our other friend was in the store looking around. All of us were wearing mask and so were I would say 90% of the people out that day. This white lady walks by and says, “take off your masks, we’re in America.” I was in shock! I remained calm, and just stared at her. Mind you, I was wearing a straw cowboy hat, glasses and my mask, so the lady couldn’t see my facial expression. She just saw my head follow her as she continued walking, in which she added “yea, that’s right, and we’re lead by a white dictatorship.”

….Shit like that saddens and angers me so much. We’ve come so far as a nation and yet have so much further to go. Clearly, our weekend could have done without that, but our weekend was still successful.