Oh, the people you'll meet...

We have now been on the road for almost 40 (!) days, and I sheepishly realize that I have not posted a single blog entry since Day 15. I will try to make up for it now at least a little bit...

One of the things that has struck me the most about our time on the road is all of the interesting people we've met along the way. For some reason, people seem to be on their very best behavior when they are camping. Perhaps it's the fact that we're all sharing limited resources in a condensed space, or that people know how frustrating it is to arrive at a campsite that has been left sullied by the previous inhabitants, or maybe people are just in a better mood when they have the chance to experience the outdoors fully and for a longer period of time. Whatever it is, it seems to us that us that the folks we've encountered while camping are some of the most pleasant and friendly folk that we've ever met. No matter how short a time you may stay at any given campsite, you are part of that intimate community from the minute you pull into the park, and people seem to recognize strongly & immediately the importance of the Golden Rule.

Here are some of our favorite people we've met in the past few weeks...

The little girl (probably around 8 years old) who came up to me while I was washing dishes at the shared outdoor sink at our Bryce Canyon campsite. Her hands were covered in dirt from playing, and I turned the water on for her so she could wash them. "This place is fun," she stated enthusiastically. "It is," I replied. "It's beautiful." I love the way kids can be so open and friendly in a way that reminds you what it is like to be uninhibited and constantly appreciative of all of the wonder around you.

George and Karen, a couple I guessed to be in their early seventies, whose pickup truck camper was parked at the site next to ours at Bryce. When they saw Willie, they came over right away so that they could pet her. They loved dogs, they told us, but their lifestyle wasn't really conducive to having one. They had been "off the grid" since 1994, when they gave up their permanent home and took to the road. George said that his favorite part about being on the road was all of the people they met, and he agreed that everyone seemed to be on their best behavior while camping. Their license plate read "Montana", but I quickly learned that they had family in Utah, a little mobile home they parked on the beach in San Diego, and a little place in Mexico, and it seemed that they were always on the move. George and Karen were familiar with Chicago--he had studied engineering in Waukegan back in the late 1950s, and he and Karen used to have a small yacht that they sailed around the Great Lakes in the summers. I told him about our involvement with theatre and how we had planned for quite awhile to take this big trip, and he was absolutely thrilled that we were doing it. At one point, Karen had come over to our campsite with some fresh watermelon they had obtained on a recent boat trip with their grandkids. I loved that she said "How would you two like to help us out by eating some of this watermelon?", as though we were doing them this huge favor as opposed to the other way around. I later thanked them for the watermelon and told George it had been fun camping next to them. "Oh, we're not camping," he said. "What you two are doing is real camping." As he and Karen pulled out of the site on their way to Zion National Park, George spotted Aaron, put his hand out the window in a sort of salute/wave, and said one word--"Good". We had their approval and their blessing, and although we had only camped next to them for two nights, this oddly meant a great deal.

Igor, Wendi, & their beautiful 18-moth-old son Zlad, a lovely family from Paris who was in the states for only 9 days to explore more of the National Parks (they had previously visited Yosemite). Igor walked over from his campsite to our adjoining one at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon to retrieve little Zlad, who had wandered over to our site as his parents were setting up their tent. Igor had a thick French accent, but his English was strong and we chatted for a bit. Aaron give him basic directions to Lake Mead, an area we both planned on heading to the next day. We agreed that the Grand Canyon was much more crowded than we thought it would be--with all of the shops, lodges, grocery store, and even a post office, "Grand Canyon Village" was no misnomer. Before they left the next morning to try to sell their unused second night before they headed out, Igor made sure to bring his family over to say goodbye.

Then there are the people you don't actually meet but who you love to observe...

While camping at Capitol Reef, we encountered a family of hippies (mom, dad, & two teenage sons) who Aaron was convinced were utterly and completely tripping on acid. When we arrived at the rather crowded site, the four of them were lying in the grass together, one or two trying to read and the others apparently napping. We set up our camp and were in the middle of eating the delicious dinner Aaron had prepared when the family decided to take a very slow walk together around the perimeter of the site, during which they observed their surroundings very carefully and yet seemed to notice nothing. After this little stroll, the family I dubbed "The Trippy McBallsersons" attempted the arduous task of setting up their tent. One would begin setting it up while another would just sort of zone out and watch, and then that person would eventually ease into the movement required to attach one tent pole to another. It appeared that the task (which took about 20 minutes when all was said and done) was just a bit too much for the father of the family, who continued to meander around the park. "Who needs a tent when you have skin?" I quipped in my best impression of someone who was tripping balls on acid. We continued to laugh quietly as the totally oblivious Ranger Len approached the Trippy McBallsersons to try to recruit their attendance to his evening program at the nearby amphitheater.

At Zion, we camped next to an interesting trio of people that we never really had the chance to talk to but about whom we decided to invent a backstory based on clues from what we'd observed. The three of them arrived at camp in a Lexus SUV with a California license plate--a tall dark & handsome lad we named "Todd", ballerina thin brunette "Evelyn" (but who we decided went by "Evie"), and dorky curly-haired Jeremy. As far as we could figure, Todd & Evie had been dating for about six months, and he had invited her to go camping for the weekend. Evie's friend Jeremy had been having a rough time lately, and she had invited him along (much to Todd's dismay). Because he liked Evie so much, Todd had relented and allowed Jeremy to tag along, but he was far from happy about it. As he set up the intimate two-person tent he had picked out especially for the romantically rustic tryst he had planned with Evie, Todd begrudgingly eyed Jeremy, who meticulously arranged his sleeping bag on his outdoor cot. Jeremy had brought a single burner backpacker's stove as his contribution to the group's camping supplies, but Todd insisted that they go buy firewood and then cook their dinner over the fire pit. Todd had purposefully arranged the two camp chairs he brought for himself and Evie a few feet away from the picnic bench where Jeremy would have to sit to eat his dinner and sat in the chair closest to it so that Evie would have to sit as far away from Jeremy as possible. But Evie didn't want Jeremy to feel excluded, so she sat on the bench next to him between him and Todd. After dinner while Todd & Evie finished washing dishes, Jeremy glumly and carefully packed up his little stove and stored it in the back of the Lexus. The trio played cards for a bit, and Todd finally began to loosen up a little. The next morning, he even shot a half-smile and a "hi" to the happy-looking couple at the site next to them, whom he had tried to ignore the evening before if only to hide his jealously. Evie had insisted on waiting to hear Jeremy's snores, but she had at least gone through with his plans for their "tent activities." As they piled into the Lexus to head home, Todd swore to book a hotel room next time he wanted a weekend away with Evie.

And then there are the folk that you already know, but who brighten your journey along the way. Many thanks to the Rooses (Jeff, Valerie, Greg, Adam, Don, & Amy), the Snooks (Richard, Marilyn, & Amy), the IWU folk (Megan, Jon, Jeff, Kelly, Wendy, Sarah, & Brooke), and Andrew (aka George Harrison) for sharing a bit of their time & lives with us over the last few weeks.

We have truly had an amazing adventure thus far, and I am very excited to see what the next few months will hold, and the incredible people we will undoubtedly meet.