Off to a good start

In a way, my trip started yesterday.  Monday has been my departure date from the onset, but I needed to pick up guns and ammo from the house in Arrowhead.  My sister's family was up at the cabin so I decided to make the run up there Sunday night - sort of get a jump on gettin outta dodge.

12 PB&J sandwiches, 3 apples, 3 bananas, 4 carrots, an orange and a
bottle of scotch

I slept in my car last night while it was parked on the driveway, just 30 feet from 5 beds, a fireplace, large TV, full kitchen and all the blankets you could ask for.  It's OK though, I thought it wise to test the new sleeping platform in my truck at the house rather than 300 miles away from home and tools.  I went to bed a bit drunk and didn't realize the car was parked about as unlevel (word??) as it could be which resulted in a restless night fighting gravity pulling me into the door panel.  I was warm though.  And nothing broke and Chui and I, overall, were fine.

Shot over my shoulder while driving

It was all I-15 North today - through Vegas, Mesquite Arizona and finally into St. George Utah.  I left at the end of everyone else' vacation, while they were heading home with hangovers, empty bank accounts and dread for Tuesday I was just getting started - the best part is that I had NO traffic!  I made the 336 miles to St. George in about 5 hours with several stops to give Chui (and me) a chance to pee.  Speaking of Chui, I've never seen a dog travel as comfortably as he is with the new sleeping platform.  I was worried that he'd be freaked out but it's quite the opposite, he's totally comfy and slept the whole day.

Yes, those are houses in the background :(

When I got into St. George my plan was to stop by the BL:M field office to get some guidance on where I could camp - on BLM land, not a campsite.  See, there are different classifications of BLM land (Open, Wilderness, etc.) - Open is the one I want, that's the type where you can do what you want, how you want and when you want - within reason.  Anyway, it was a holiday and hte BLM office was closed.  I started calling hiking and "outdoors" shops and asking for advice.  A nice guy said "Check out Green Valley Gap.  I did, and while it's not nearly as remote as I'm accustomed to it was beautiful and I have 3G service which means I can type this story and get the jump on some work emails and other tasks.

As I type this with a headlamp on so I can see the keyboard, a (too large) glass of scotch and a fire warming my shins I can't help but realize that this is a pretty good start.  My technology works, my scheduled end point was reached, I had a 1 hour hike through a gulch and watch guys rock climb and I just realized I'm sleeping 300 yards from the trail head I had planned to mountain bike in the morning.  Time for dinner.