In 2001, as my wife and I prepared to go to Mexico for 9 months, we put our car in storage in a rural Arizona storage lot. Being a cheapskate, I didn't want to pay for security cameras, gate codes, and razor wire. We ended up finding a storage lot on the edge of town. It was, in all respects, a bare-bones operation. There was a guy in a trailer living in an ocean of old boats, cars on blocks, and rv's. The land was unimproved, with sloping desert terrain and brush growing up everywhere. To gain access to the lot, you parked on a nearby cross street, walked up to the chainlink fence and screamed, "Ed!" If Ed didn't hear you, you just had to walk along the fence shouting his name repeatedly until he did show up. After most of a year in Mexico where things like Ed's lot aren't unusual, we returned to the secret garden of automobiles and shouted his name once more. He had to think for a second about where our car was, but finally remembered and found a way to get the gate open. After having been parked for 9 months in the open desert, our gray and red 1989 Chevy Corsica looked like a military vehicle prepped for Iraq. The entire car was a solid sheet of sand.
Last night, in Phoenix, we had a dust storm that was so ferocious, an entire city was coated within minutes as if everything in this capital had just spent a year on Ed's lot. As I went for an 8-mile run this morning, I jogged across a small city park on my way to the Arizona State University campus. When my foot hit the manicured lawn, plumes of dust-smoke billowed from the blades of grass. There was a heavy layer of dirt on everything in a city of 1.5 million people. The Lotus, Maserati, and Ferrari dealership down the street from me, which always boasted the shiniest lot, suddenly looked like the target of nuclear fallout. This must be a hint of what something like Katrina was like, except this was a flood of dust. And it can be washed away, doesn't cause mold, and life goes on after a good workout with a garden hose.
Still, it reminds me of what could await next week as I cross Nevada. We were safe and clean inside our house as the storm raged on. The windows and doors mostly sealed out the storm creating patterns of dust on our bbq grill and patio. In a tent in Nevada, I won't likely be so lucky. But at the same time, I look forward to experiencing such weather, without the safety of home. At last report, the snowpack in the Nevada mountains was melting so fast that high clearance vehicles were sinking up to their axles in the runoff. That will be fun to run through, I think.
Bring it on! My family is packing and moving from Phoenix to Tucson tomorrow, then next Wednesday, I fly to Vegas to begin experiencing weather, basin and range topography, and the limits of my body. Sounds pretty great.
Last night, in Phoenix, we had a dust storm that was so ferocious, an entire city was coated within minutes as if everything in this capital had just spent a year on Ed's lot. As I went for an 8-mile run this morning, I jogged across a small city park on my way to the Arizona State University campus. When my foot hit the manicured lawn, plumes of dust-smoke billowed from the blades of grass. There was a heavy layer of dirt on everything in a city of 1.5 million people. The Lotus, Maserati, and Ferrari dealership down the street from me, which always boasted the shiniest lot, suddenly looked like the target of nuclear fallout. This must be a hint of what something like Katrina was like, except this was a flood of dust. And it can be washed away, doesn't cause mold, and life goes on after a good workout with a garden hose.
Still, it reminds me of what could await next week as I cross Nevada. We were safe and clean inside our house as the storm raged on. The windows and doors mostly sealed out the storm creating patterns of dust on our bbq grill and patio. In a tent in Nevada, I won't likely be so lucky. But at the same time, I look forward to experiencing such weather, without the safety of home. At last report, the snowpack in the Nevada mountains was melting so fast that high clearance vehicles were sinking up to their axles in the runoff. That will be fun to run through, I think.
Bring it on! My family is packing and moving from Phoenix to Tucson tomorrow, then next Wednesday, I fly to Vegas to begin experiencing weather, basin and range topography, and the limits of my body. Sounds pretty great.
I just read about you in the Nevada Appeal. This is going to be a great running experience! What is your route, and what day do you start? Will you provide daily blog and/or Twitter updates?
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