We put the green beans in the Dutch oven as the shadows were growing long, set the cast iron pot over the fire and waited for the darkness to envelop us as we reflected on the first leg of Man vs Machine VII. We left Pasadena the day before and covered 800 miles, up the I-5 and through the blistering heat of the Central Valley. It was mercifully cooler than our past sojourns through the desert but the heat still takes a toll on both man and machine. On the afternoon of day one I had to release some air from the tires because they were bouncing all over the road like an over-inflated basketball. The heat of the asphalt combined with 75mph driving was just too much for tires meant more for aesthetics than performance. The right turn signal had stuck in the “on” position just north of Stockton, but it was just a minor adjustment to the linkage. Otherwise, we completed the first major leg of the test without incident.
Man vs Machine VII was off to a substantially better start than our last outing and it felt good. After last year, I wanted to take a temporary hiatus but with the virus raging and being cooped up at home since March, it seemed like camping was the only form of travel that made sense. And if we were going to be camping...
We plotted the course in early May, selecting a route that would take us north to Crater Lake and on to Mt. Hood before turning east to Yellowstone and finally Bryce Canyon before returning home. It would take us two weeks to cover 3,000 miles with roughly three nights in each location. It was more ground than I had wanted to cover but it seemed like everyone else had the same idea; the itinerary was the best I could come up with given the limited availability.
I pulled the beans off the fire and ladled them onto each of our plates. They had a hint of smoke and they paired beautifully with the glass of scotch I’d been nursing. Parker only ate half of his plate before he broke out the marshmallows, so I gladly finished his and cleaned up dinner while he polished off his s’mores and brushed his teeth, spitting the foam into the fire to watch it sizzle.
Parker fell asleep early and Samantha and I sat by the fire for a while listening to ghost stories from a podcast called Spooked! About ten o’clock the heavens opened up and Samantha and I ducked into the Pontiac while the rain tapped on the roof and beads of rain streamed down the windshield. It was only the second time on all of our travels that we had been rained on but we didn’t mind. The warm glow of light from the 60 year old dashboard made the stories much, much spookier.
Samantha and Parker pose by the entrance to Crater Lake National Park. iPhone XR, portrait mode.
Green beans cook in a Dutch oven over our campfire at Crater Lake National Park. iPhone XR.
The old Indian rests peacefully backed into our campsite at Mazama Village in Crater Lake National Park. iPhone XR.