Marshall Statue
It sometimes amazes me how addicted I am to technology. I will pass up a beautiful campsite in the forest for a parking lot where I can charge my battery and get on the internet. Even the bloggers I read, always preaching solitude and enjoying the quiet of nature, are lost without their data signal. I know a lot of them make money through their readers, but I’m sure their interactions with followers are therapeutic on lonely nights.
I guess we all strive for stimulation of some kind. For the adventurer like me it is the anticipation and satisfaction of seeing what’s over the next hill, relishing in the freedom to go where I want and do what I want. But when I’m parked late at night on a dark forest road, deep in the mountains, isolated miles from another human being, it wouldn’t hurt if I could pick up a couple of TV stations.
I have been camping at a beautiful little wilderness campsite, near the Silver Fork River, in the Eldorado National Forest. This is gold country so I have been doing a little gold panning. The water is too cold to keep my hands in for very long so my hobby only lasts about an hour a day. I have found a few flakes to add to my collection.
Last week I went to the James Marshall Gold Discovery State Park to see where it all happened in 1848. It was quite interesting to read and learn about the history of the famous California Gold Rush and see how they lived back then. They will let you pan in the American River where the first nugget was found but I thought that sounded silly – the area has been mined to death.
I need to head south soon. The days are still nice and warm and I have been riding my motorcycle exploring the roads, but the nights are chilly with occasional frost on the ground in the morning. It may be harder to find free camping as I get near the metropolitan areas south of here, but I may know someone that lives near LA where I can park for the night…
Yep. That’s why we keep our satellite internet connection even though it costs quite a bit and we don’t use it much. There are still times when we cannot get 4G connectivity and satellite is faster than 3G or none at all.
And when you leave LA for warmer sites, you know where you can find shelter with running water and flush toilets.
I know someplace you can park in LA for as long as you need.
Are you in LA LA land?