road trip and camping

http://picasaweb.google.com/meenal18/SequoiaParkTrip

'A' and I went on a road trip last week end. We went to the sequoia national park in CA, which is about 4 hours from where we stay. But we had many adventures and so it took considerably longer. Firstly we had to pick up some friends from Berkeley, so we took a detour and then we landed up in San Francisco because we could not quite follow the GPS. Anyhow we made it to Berkeley and picked up this couple (D, S’s brother and his wife) and their 4 year old daughter. Then we headed towards sequoia park. The original plan had been to go to Yosemite, but because of the fire the air there is rather unclean at the moment, so we switched destination to kings canyon national park and sequoia. Meanwhile our friends from San Diego, (S & C and another friend of theirs), who were to meet us there were having major adventures of their own. Somehow things were not going right and they had to wait 7 hours to get a van. D and co. were going back with them to san diego, hence they needed a large vehicle to accomodate all the people and the camping gear and food they were carrying.

We arrived at lemon grove, which was rather dry and not very attractive, near sequoia and the lemon grove camping ground around five pm. Since most of the camping gear was with S and co. we decided to go into the park and see some giant old sequoias till they arrived. The park is rather large and on mountainous terrain so it took us another couple of hours of driving to reach the sequoias. I was doing all the driving as I was the only licensed driver in that company. Meanwhile we also found out that there was place available at the some camping grounds inside the park and near the forest. So there was some back and forth communicating with S to decide where to stay. To complicate matters we were also meant to catch up with N, S’s cousin, and her hubby and bro, who had arrived there the day before and stayed in a motel. But they were to camp with us and they were waiting for us at some parking lot in the park near one of the ‘sight seeing spots’. They had been told we would be reaching latest around four or so and it was around seven by the time we arrived at this place. We had not managed to communicate with each other, since there are no mobile signals in the higher reaches of the park !

Luckily N and co. were there and we spotted them and they us and all was well on that front. We also met the sequoias there (General Sherman is considred the largest living tree in the world. It is neither the tallest, nor the broadest, and not even the oldest. but it qualifies as the largest since the density of the wood in the tree is the greatest. so folks it is the substance that counts!). The Sequoias are very beautiful although part of the redwood clan they are quite different in terms of texture and even feel. The bark feels rather soft and non-solidish to touch, like soft board. they can be very tall and very broad too.

Now we needed to decide where to put up for the night. So we went up to the camp site, which was another 1 and ½ hours away from where we were then. Boy did I get my fill of driving that day! After some back and forth-ing there in terms of booking a camp site, we found two spots and set up the tents that we had. Most of the serious food was with S and co. so we waited for our dinners too. Anyhow finally around 10.30 pm or so, they made it to the camp sites and we were all reunited and happy and the party started. :)

The next day we got into our respective cars and did some sight seeing (general grant the national christmas tree and moro rock) around the park, had a latish lunch and departed. 'N and co' and 'A and I' left for our respective homes, while S and D and co stayed on for another night of camping. The trip back was yet another adventure, which I will relate in another post or perhaps i had better continue.

We started at 3 pm and reached home at 11 pm, though officially it should have taken us 4 hrs and 15 mins. Even with a few breaks we ought to have made it by 8 to 8.30. But in between we managed to lock ourselves out of the car! Luckily it happened in a town and we were able to ask people for help and make calls to the locksmiths from a store. It being post office hours on a Sunday, we struck it rich on the fourth or fifth call. The guy who came to help us kept shaking his head as though the problem were unsolvable, while he tried this, that and the other way of trying to break in! Finally he did manage though and we shelled out the $75 gratefully and only a trifle reluctantly.

The rest of the drive was a test of patience and will and resolve, since by this time I was dead tired and rather sleepy. A night in a tent is not where I get any reasonably good sleep. i had had a couple of hours of sleep at best. We did consider putting up at a motel and driving the rest of the way in the morning, but having just paid 75 dollars over a mistake we were reluctant to shell out more dough. Anyhow I managed, though by the end of it I was testy and sulky and snappish. Just for a moment towards the end, my eyes closed involuntarily and I woke up with a start. That kept me awake and alert for some time and also roused A out of his mental musings and wanderings to be present with me. However, latent resentment soon seeped in, and I was back to struggling with the situation.

But we did make it back and all in one piece and can live to tell the tale. And some day will be able to laugh over it all!

I was all the more appreciative of how smooth and easy my trip with my cousin Medha had been after this experience. I am amazed by how the energies between people reflect in the experiences they have and in how they percieve these experiences. With A my relationship is rather tense, fraught with conflict, power games and ego battles. He reflects to me my shadow self and all my inner struggles get played out with him. When we pretend to have a good time, they soon make their way out into the wider world and we are confronted by situations that test us and bring us back to our inner stories. It is a causal relationship and learning the lesson that this relationship offers will liberate me through and through. perhaps the lesson is forgiveness.

"What we give to others, we give to ourselves. What we withhold from others, we withhold from ourselves. In any moment when we choose fear instead of love, we deny ourselves the experience of freedom. To the extent that we abandon love, to that extent we will feel it has abandoned us." from http://www.acim.org/