Flashback

Charlottesville

June 20, 2025

It is 930 PM, and it is hot outside. That sticky, humidity laden heat. I would have sworn it is at least 85 degrees but the weather app says I exaggerate. It is one of those evenings where just being outside you feel the humidity on your warm skin.

On my wanderabout, I slept in Hi Ho Silver on such nights. I can’t believe I did — I like to be cool when I sleep. I remember one night in the National Forest outside of Bend, Oregon. There was a “heat dome” and no breeze. I had a micro-sized fan (thanks, Coach Harris) that ran off my Jackery battery. It was of no use that night. I would have checked into a hotel but rooms were $400 per night. I recall not sleeping much that night parked along a dirt forest road.

I also remember actually more cold nights where ice formed on the inside of Hi Ho’s windows. I recall sleeping in a dirt truck parking lot behind a gas station in Valentine, Nebraska. The low that night was 12 degrees. I survived by sleeping in my clothes with a stocking hat, gloves and two sleeping bags. The worst part of the night was having to pee at 3 AM!

I’ve gotten soft again. I wonder now how the heck I survived being rather uncomfortable more than a handful of nights. There were mosquitoes in the Upper Pennisula, rain storms in Northern California and snow storms in Arizona and Nevada in addition to the hot and cold. And I’m not even mentioning the stress of finding places to park and sleep overnight!