2,300 Miles Later

I have just yesterday arrived back from my great Northwest road-trip adventure- I spent two weeks in Oregon and Washington camping, staying with acquaintences, friends and relatives, meeting people, discussing electric car stuff, reading and thinking about the problems and projects in my life.

It was a big trip- many days and many miles, but I am very happy I made it. Getting out of the house and the routine is an absolutely helpful way to break the ruts and routines of daily life, being out and on the road helped me focus on things I’ve let slide. I read John DeLorean’s book about GM- On A Clear Day You Can See General Motors and Matthew Crawford’s new book Shop Class as Soul Craft – both of which were interesting perspectives on the life story/making the best of one’s individual situation, life and times.

I spent two nights in Crater Lake N.P., camping. I love Crater Lake very much, it’s a favorite spot of mine. I attempted to take a panoramic photo of the lake from a nearby mountaintop, it remains to be seen whether I came up with anything usable. I then spent four nights in Corvallis, staying at Otmar E.’s house- he’s the guy who designed and built the Zilla controller. I was very glad to be able to meet him and hear about the route he took through the last thirty years or so, getting to where he is, being who he is. It is very helpful in my thinking about college/projects/life to hear about others’ experiences and reflections.

I spent Friday night in Portland, in John Wayland’s back yard after the friday night Wayland Invitational EV drags at PIR- PIR’s regular weekend night drags- plus a healthy bonus showing of EVs of all sorts. The drags were really great. I hadn’t seen drag racing in person before- it’s quite a spectacle. Some of the EVs there are really impressive- the KillaCycle steals the show, it’s just mind-bendingly fast.

Saturday night after the drags I hopped back on I-5 heading north in search of a motel- but as time marched on I decided instead to just crash in a rest stop until the sun came up. I spent three hours between 2:30 AM and 5:30 AM sleeping in the back of the car, then got back on the road to get to my aunt’s house on Whidbey Island. I got there at about noon and then showered and crashed- spent the next week there with my aunt and her partner, then drove back over two days, Saturday and Sunday.

Now that I’m back home I need to again find my momentum and resolve- being on the road with the constant stress of being away from home wards off the lazyness and torpor that I have already been fighting upon arriving back here. It’s great to have the conveniences of home, and I am happy to be reunited with my sister, am looking forward to my parents return, but it’s very easy to get diffused and distracted by the convenience of home. I have a great list of short term and medium-term tasks and projects to do, as well as restoring and cleaning out the car to its pre-roadtrip state, and writing a couple posts up for this site— and even just today have found myself distracted and ineffectual. I’m not disparing, I have all kinds of confidence- I just need to shake off this heavy lazy blanket that decends down on me automatically…

So, tomorrow’s another day, and will be better. Of course I’ve already sort of screwed it up by having stayed up here to 3:30 AM, but it’s OK, it’s all OK.