SPONTANEOUS

There was no plan. Just some map coordinates and an invitation. It started with a text sent after we understood that social media connection was no connection at all, an illusion, and bullshit. None of us knew what others had been doing, seeing and feeling, or creating and it was time to correct that so we all packed our cars and hit out.

Some came from the south, and further west. We drove the opposite direction, along infrequently traveled roads, through the Nevada wastelands. We gained one hour on the way but lost it once the sun set and the final approach became more complicated.

The map was unclear and the first dirt road we tried got too steep and too snowy to pass. Without proper recovery gear or cell service, on our own, at night, the risk of pushing it was too much. I backed down a few hundred feet then made a 12 point turn to get facing the opposite direction and we drove back to the pavement.

Another nine miles west we tried again and this road was better, with minimal washboarding, until we missed a turn and the map tried to reroute us but without service it stalled and we were blind. The car has a compass and Michael had taken a screenshot of the last known route so we knew we were heading in the right direction and forged ahead. Through a dry canyon along dead river, past Joshua Trees and burnt-out grass, deeper into the night.

When we hit a T intersection there was only one correct choice — left toward our friends and whatever adventure awaited or right and back to the comfort of the too-well-known which was what we had been fleeing in the first place. Our decision was obvious, and made the day before yesterday.

We came in hot behind overly-bright driving lights and kicking up dust. I was ready to quit the stress and relax with a beer so when we recognized Staley's Forerunner and Bané's Ford sedan we eased to a halt. The fire was dying down because — without any contact since they lost cell service ten hours earlier — they dint know if we were coming. It was a glorious reunion, overwriting months of COVID isolation and lockdown, away from our respective cities, and over a year since we had seen each other.

That beer tasted mighty fine.

We drove 19 hours round trip to spend 36 hours together on the ground and it was worth every minute.