On Monday, Carla left San Diego at 6am and I promptly lost my wallet. Sometime between saying goodbye and lunch - my wallet had grown legs and walked off into the ether. I was distraught, to say the least. Every single one of my cards - debit and credit - were in my wallet (perhaps a note for later when I decide to hide one or two credit cards in my damn truck). My Id. My National Parks pass. The only way to exist I had to my name - poof. Gone.
I cleared out the tent. Twice. I cleared out the truck, bit by bit. I called Carla - it wasn't in her car.
I texted the JTree troupe and told them I couldn't make it back on Wednesday, which had been our plan. I was to return, go to Open Mic Night with Shay. I told them I had to stay in San Diego and recoup my losses so I could order new cards, locate my passport or some other form of ID until I figured out a solution. I could use my phone's wallet to get gas where that was accepted, at least to get back to Arizona. I felt safe there, had an address there, and had friends that could potentially foot the bill to at least get me where I needed to go. I received no response from them and figured they did not hold their breath waiting for Sarah to return. No hard done, no long-lasting friendship made. They had their own shit, and I had my obvious problems. I was sad, not even so much of a Hope it works out or something, but such was vanlife. People come and go quicker than exit signs on the freeway. Not everyone you meet is destined to meet you again along your journey. But I digress..back to the issue at hand!
I gave up on finding it in my campsite or truck - it was missing. I went to the campground office and store - no one had turned it in. They took down my information and said if anyone did turn it in, it would be given back to me in some way. Comforting.
I had a mini panic attach and Carla texted me good vibes, good thoughts, manifest finding it.
I cried instead.
I pulled myself up by the proverbial boot straps and began to tear down camp. Again. Somewhere in all of my useless shit would Have to be my wallet. I had to be there.
Three more hours later. A tent torn to pieces and folded away. Bags, turned inside out and strewn across the campsite. Blankets hung from car doors. Clothes cluttered the table and grass. The truck doors open and sagging in defeat. Alas - in a bag I had put under my front seat, where all useless bags when, held my dearest lifeline. My wallet was found!
Here's me cool as a cucumber that day.
I was over and done with San Diego at that point. I had a sour taste in my mouth and my camp was already torn down - I left Tuesday morning instead of Wednesday and headed back to Phoenix.
A cool thing about Carla visiting - Carla was coming down off a cold and had been miserable the week before. Apparently, it hadn't fully left her before jumping into my misery. I was sneezing and coughing a little bit while I was tossing about my tent and truck. I thought nothing of it. I had drank the night before, had a gummy. Coughing the next morning to clear out the old pipes was normal, right?
Incorrect.
I was miserably and terribly down with the sickness. I had Carla's cold. I coughed and sneezed and blew my shnoz the entire way through California and into Arizona. I coughed and blew from the coast, to Goodyear to Chandler to Mesa. I coughed and blew my nose and GODDAMNIT bled because it also had to be my time of the month. COULD ANYTHING ELSE GO WRONG HERE? *apologies if that is too much information. I'm just trying to paint a very miserable, yet very accurate, picture of my journey back east.
I slept in a Cracker Barrel parking lot and decided I'd start fresh the next day. I woke up at five, promptly had to urinate, but stayed in bed for two more hours. I couldn't wait any longer and kept sniffling myself into a migraine, so I got up. Carla texted me to check on me and I delivered the bad news - Sarah, miserable, sickly, disappointed. Being the responsible party - I mean, being the saint that she is, she told me to just come back up to Flagstaff, stay with her, and get better.
So I headed back up to Flag and got a sofabed, fed at least two meals a day, hung out with Spider the grey kitten, and got a few more days with my Arizona besties. Thursday night, we went to Trivia with Ben and his friends. I was glad to see him one last time before Maine (that's a fun update! Did you miss it?) It was fun, I was intoxicated, but I was breathing during most of it. I thought I'd gotten through it. Woot woot.
Lo and behold - Friday morning was a dreadful, painful morning of sniffling, coughing, migraines. But I had to get back to Phoenix. I had to get the rest of my mail from Mesa and my hope was that I'd relax at the KOA pool Friday and be better by Saturday. Hopefully, my aunt Flo would be gone as well.
So Saturday, I was feeling better, thank the gods. (This is the part of the blog post where it's happier and less angry and uptight, I promise). The plan was brunch with Jessica, then napping and probably laundry, and then we'd go out on the town later that night. Being the naiive babies that we are, we started with brunch and just never left downtown Tempe. Oh, and I'd met Jessica on an outsiders Facebook group post where she asked whether anyone was in the area and I said I would be in March, so we exchanged info and here we were.
We'd hung out a couple of times previously, and each time, we were kindred spirits. She gets me and I can be myself entirely. We hopped several bars for brunch, shopped in the hidden walkways between stores, and ended up having dinner and pre-rave drinks on an almost-rooftop. I had given up around 8:30pm. I'd been up since 5 or 6am and I am not a late-night kind of gal. I do not do late night partying/drinking well. She walked me back to my truck and we bid our goodbyes and promised to stay in touch. She was from New Hampshire, and I'd be living in Maine for 6 months, after all. I had a blast.
Jessica and I, I believe it was drink #6
I got back to the KOA, watched Jurassic Park and passed out. Sunday morning, I drove to the Saguaro National Park in Tucson, Arizona and it was wiiiild. There were millions of the cacti all over and they were taller than some houses. I renewed my parks pass, watched a short film about how they came to be, and drove the winding road out of town toward New Mexico.
Now, I'm sitting in my tent in another KOA in Las Cruses, New Mexico, about to probably watch Jurassic Park to fall asleep because I have a problem and it's repetition when it comes to movies. Tomorrow, I'll pack up and head to White Sands National Park nearby before heading through Texas, Arkansas, Indiana, and then back to ole Ohio to see my lovely friends. I cannot wait, but I'm also very excited about the White Sands. I'm told its like a sea of white and I'm usually against that much white. *joke*
See y'all next weekend, where I'll be writing from Ohio with fresh ink! I'll share, don't worry :)
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