Elephants and Sailboats

MOSES LAKE, Washington -- Getting back into the driver's seat of the Heart of Gold has rekindled an internal debate I've been wrestling with since we started this trip.

Is driving this six-wheel, 30-foot-long, 10-foot-4-inches-tall, home-on-wheels more like driving an elephant or a sailboat?

Having never actually driven either, my answer is of course purely conjecture. But I have been on both, so I may perhaps surmise a bit.

Elephants, few would argue, are an undeniable presence on whatever path they happen to be on. Things tend to get out of an elephant's way. They also posses a certain lumbering quality. They are not fast, nor are they particularly agile, but they have strength and staying power and, in the end, can get you where you need to go. Well taken care of, they tend to be loyal and true. Hannibal went to Rome on the back of an elephant.

All of which could also be said of the Heart of Gold (except that last bit about going to Rome.)

On the other hand, sailboats conjure the very essence of adventure and can stir both the body and soul with wind-blown passion. You can live aboard a sailboat. Sailboats are also at the mercy of nature. Strong gusts can move sailboats in sudden, unexpected directions. And bigger boats don't really care if the captain of a particular sailboat is new and still getting his sea legs and really would prefer to go 60 mph, not 85 mph, thank you very much. You don't really have to know exactly what you're doing to pilot a sailboat, but it sure helps. Hannibal ended up losing to the Romans because he didn't have enough sailboats.

Again, all of which could be said of the Heart of Gold (and, again, except that last bit about Hannibal.)

Anyone who has stood on the side of a highway as an 18-wheeler zooms by knows they are a force of nature unto themselves. I was unprepared, however, for the micro hurricane-like effect they have had on the Heart of Gold. As they pass there is this surge of wind that literally moves me -- us, the whole shebang -- several feet to the right. This is not an occasional thing. It happens every time.

I have become Pavlov's dog at the wheel of our RV. Every time I hear the sound of a Big Rig coming alongside, my mouth begins to salivate as I grip the wheel in anticipation of the correction I know must soon come. It's like playing with two positively charged magnets, how one can push the other around. It's like that. Only on a much bigger scale. And I'm the one getting pushed around. In my big, many ton, fast moving, RV.

And then, of course, there are the actual gusts of wind. I have grown to dread the signs. "Strong Winds Next 50 Miles" or "Gusting Winds Possible." One sign in the high deserts of Utah, I swear, actually had a wind sock on top of it, just you could see they weren't kidding.

The worst winds so far, though were in Oregon. I got my first taste just as we crossed the state line from Idaho, which as it happens is the Snake River. Trundling over the bridge, a quick gust picked us up and moved us into the other lane. At least it felt like it picked us up. We were suddenly in the left lane, at any rate, and I hadn't done a thing except instantaneously crap my pants.

There were some winds again like that today, invoking pretty much the same result.

So, elephant or sailboat? I'm still not sure, but in the meantime I need to do some laundry.

We have arrived tonight at Moses Lake, about an hour shy of Spokane. The picture above is the sun setting just as we were arriving. If you look closely there's a line of more than a dozen young geese making their way across the lake, parting it if you will.

Anyway, not bad for a 4 pm start out of our campsite. I will not say it was a late start, however. We left when were were good and ready, when we felt rested and ready to go, not rushed out the door trying to beat the clock as we did from Denver. I may be be a dumbass, but at least I learn my lessons.

Oddly, that reminds me of a line from the Jungle Book...something about an elephant and never forgetting. And what's that other line, from Seuss... about an elephant being faithful, 100 percent.

Yeah, I think I'm going to go with elephant.