Day 1, Saturday, September 22th, zero miles so far: OTR-9 begins, at last!

I just finished closing down my condo and the grueling task of loading the Defender. Donner, believing that his not letting me out of his sight these past two weeks worked, is happily and comfortably settled into his front seat, quite satisfied with himself. The Defender is fired up, and it's time to get on the road.

 

Two years ago starting, as those who followed the OTR-8 blog know, stranded in the cold, snowy Yukon for five weeks after the Defender's engine failed on the ALCAN 220 miles from the nearest garage, 4500 miles from home, in Scarlet O'Hara fashion I stood alone – except for the grizzly bear- on the highway, looked to the heavens, raised my fist in the air and vowed, not to never be hungry again, but to drive the Defender home and on the road again for another journey.  Today celebrates the fulfillment of the second half of that vow.  Of course,  there  is no guarantee that it will not suffer another setback, as anything can happen on these trips with a 24-year old vehicle, something I have learned several times. But if we shied away from doing things because of what might happen, nothing would happen.

 

If there is to be one big difference on this trip from two years ago it will be with Donner.  Two years ago, a couple of dog professionals told me that Donner would never play with another dog in his life, based on his rather anxious reaction when he saw a dog within 200 feet, a reaction he perfected after spending his first four years chained in several L.A. backyards.  So, for that 2016 trip, I had him on the recommended pincher and electronic collars, and Prozac to boot, and kept him away from all dogs.  Then, last November, he had the good fortune to meet a German shepherd puppy named Abby and, well, they got along just fine. Then he met Kiko, and they also got along just fine. And then Bertha, and Pasha, and Squirrel, and Vito, and Mouchy, etc., etc., etc., and they all got along just fine. I figure in the last 11 months he has met at least two dogs a day, about 200 in all, not counting repeats. As it turns out, his anxiety was simply his way of expressing his desire to meet other dogs, a unique behavior honed over those first four years of his. Since then, he gets to meet just about every dog he sees and is one happy dog now. So much for professional advice. The only way to know what is going on in a dog's mind is to be a dog yourself. So, if there is to be only one goal for this trip besides the three of us making it home safely, it is to make up for 2016's trip with Donner. So, expect a lot of dog photos on this blog.

 

As I wrote, our plan today is to make it to Coopers Rock State Forest in West Virginia, about 175 miles from DC.  From there, I hope to travel no more than 300 miles a day and to stay over at some campgrounds for more than one day.  Since reading time is a luxury on these trips, I am taking along only one book instead of the well-stocked library I usually lugged around, always returning with them barely touched.  But this one book -The History of New York to 1989- is 1300 pages so it should last the entire trip and then some.

 

I will try to post on my blog every day. As usual, please bear with the typos and garbled postings that will undoubtedly appear each day.  I update the blog late at night in my cramped, cold, dark tent and often do not have time, energy or desire to fully proof my entries.

 

These road trips -the kind that I take, anyway- are not exactly easy to pull together alone. A lot of people helped, whether they knew it or not. Outside of Travis's crew  in the Yuon's, and Dean here in town, the Defender's capable mechanics, the biggest contribution was made by those who inquired about my trips and listened to my stories about them, often in excruciating detail. To all who helped out, many thanks.

 

It's time to call up Pete Seger's This Land is Your Land, a ritual I start off each day's drive with, and get on the road. Country road, take me home, to the place where I belong, West Virginia…

 

ED and DONNER

 

Photo – Donner in his front seat bed