Noelle here:

I’m enjoying being Steve’s roadie! It’s an interesting perspective.

After Steve left Hiker Town the other day, I went back to the Neenach Market to get propane and gas. Also I spun the Pokémon Stop to get a “gift” for my sister, Trish. We trade Poke gifts pretty much daily (when I have reception). It’s a fun way to connect and see where each other have been. A small touch of home! ❤️

Neenach Cafe

I went off down the road, heading for the morning meeting spot with Steve. The word “road” should not be taken too literally.

Sketchy dirt road

I took my time, shook a few items to the floor and got closer to Steve. Right up until I couldn’t.

Sketchy and flooded!

I got out and walked it to see if I could drive around on the left but it was not to be. Too much rain lately.

I went back to the store and they told me a different route. Off I went. But it turned out I was behind Steve. I called him and he could see me way back in the distance. I did get to see the aqueduct so that was neat.

LA Aqueduct

Off I went again! I tried several routes to get ahead of the washed out section and finally did it! I drove along and in between fields upon fields of solar panels, surprised that no one cared I was there. The roads took all my concentration so no pics. I felt nervous and stressed out!

Finally I came to this gem of a road and was able to meet Steve.

Dusty road

I guess that’s actually a picture of when I dropped him back off so he could start his night hike.

Anyway, once I picked him up, then together we found a way to get to the wind farm where I planned to go in the evening and then hike back towards him.

We passed a boat.

In the middle of the dang desert!

A boat.

Abandoned boat

And then we just laid around in the van trying to stay cool. We ran the newly fixed generator so we could have air conditioning for a few minutes. It was heavenly.

Once the day cooled down, I drove Steve back to where I’d picked him up, dropped him off and then drove back to the wind farm.

Steve is ready to hike again

It was about 8:30 when I began walking towards him.

Sun is starting to set

I mostly kept my headlamp off, enjoying the stars and the windmills lighting up.

Lit up wind turbines

It seemed like whenever I turned the light on, I saw huge field mice scurry by, which was pretty fun.

I turned my headlamp to the red light because it didn’t interfere as much with my night vision. Turns out it does interfere with the feelings of security for hikers coming towards me though! Two guys about blinded me with their lights when they were trying to figure out if they were seeing animal eyes 👀. Hahaha. That amused me A LOT!

It was exciting to finally see a single headlamp coming towards me, high enough in the air that I knew it must be Steve! We chatted all the way back to the van about what we’d each seen.

After a stressful morning trying to get to him and then the evening drop off back along all those wretched dirt roads, it was such a good feeling to simply walk alongside my best friend. In the dark. With a sky full of stars. Surrounded by flashing windmills. Atop the aqueduct. Crazy wind pressing against us.

A great ending to this roadie’s day!