Travels with Charley--The Book

"What good is the warmth of summer,
without the cold of winter to give it
sweetness."  --- John Steinbeck,
Travels with Charley: In Search of America 

I awoke this morning to the pitter patter of a light rain on my roof and awning.  As you can imagine, it is universally regarded as a most delightful and comforting sound; that is, until it becomes a natural disaster as happens in many parts of our country and the world.  For as many times as weeks I've been here, it's rained twice.  The drizzle at 6:00 am became a steady rain by 11 and now, at 2:45 pm a it's rather healthy on and off downpour that has provoked the "Flood Watch Warning" from the NWS for Westchester County. 

The first things that flew through my mind were:  make hot coffee, blog yesterday's trip to SHU while it's still fresh, then use the warmth of Winnie to write and read your book.  I'm about two-thirds through and am enjoying each page.  The descriptive narrative painting of sights, people, and conditions Steinbeck has placed upon the pages of his book have conjured images I have been relating to throughout.

“I saw in their eyes something I was to see over and over in every part of the nation- a burning desire to go, to move, to get under way, anyplace, away from any Here. They spoke quietly of how they wanted to go someday, to move about, free and unanchored, not toward something but away from something. I saw this look and heard this yearning everywhere in every states I visited. Nearly every American hungers to move.” 

― John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America

Have I ever said or thought this?  Not exactly.  Did I ever have a desire to "get away" from "Here"?  Not exactly.  I have always had a desire to be able to spontaneously "get up and go."  My prior camping experiences, contained in a log book I'm still keeping, speaks to those memories and why I am where I am doing what I'm doing now.   To date, my camping travels alphabetically include:  CT-4, MA-1, ME-1, NC-1, NJ-1, NY-14, PA-5, RI- 1, SC-2, VA-2, VT-1.  So from Maine to South Carolina, I've enjoyed 34 trips with family and friends.

 After reading his two short chapters about the majesty and awesomeness of the redwoods, (pages 188-193), the desire to go see is once again real and doable:

“The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always. No one has ever successfully painted or photographed a redwood tree. The feeling they produce is not transferable. From them comes silence and awe. It's not only their unbelievable stature, nor the color which seems to shift and vary under your eyes, no, they are not like any trees we know, they are ambassadors from another time.” 
― John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America











  The imagery of traveling in Rocinante...

Steinbeck & Charley

...along with his description of outfitting it, preparing and making sure he packed everything he needed for the journey struck close to home.  I chuckled when he wrote: "I judge now that I carried about four times too much of everything."  Yup, it's true.  Any RVer will tell you the same.

How cozy is this?

      

Because the last post of today's entry inadvertently published, I've returned to provide and update and to conclude my thoughts.  The sun finally poked its head out from between thickened clouds around 5:00 and the rest of the evening, though damp, was pleasant enough for us to sit around my picnic table and enjoy a take out meal from Samurai right here in Croton.  The day has flown by again and I've yet to return to reading my book.  Blink, Blink, tomorrow, Sunday is our last day here in Croton.  Hopefully the sun will dry my awning for packing Monday morning when Winnie will be driven to storage in Cross River once again until October 22nd and our next adventure.  Good night.

For more quotes from Steinbeck's book, click this link:  Travels with Charley Quotes.