Day 1

Another year has come and gone. It seem the gap between The Escapes are growing shorter and shorter.  In that time, as I described last year, I started a new job.  It was a necessary evil.  The reset was nice, but as is usually the case, there is the good and the bad.  For the past year, I have worked primarily in a smaller town North of my old job.  It is a town that is full of poverty and despair and all of the problems that go along with that.  It is a stopover for most.  Many live there, but many do not call it home.
This environment makes for an interesting job in the ER.  It is quite a thing to provide compassion and care for those who provide none for themselves.  Do do this job properly, truly correctly, one must dedicate a part of their soul to the Light.  To deal with the Darkness that comes from such an environment of costs some of your Light with every encounter with it.  "Compassion Fatigue" I am told it is called.  I suppose that's what it is, although I am not much for labels.   Nonetheless it is difficult to sustain such an environment long term, while avoiding self and mental destruction in the process.
I am to move to a different hospital in August.  Perhaps, the change will again help.  I suspect I am nearing my shelf life in this thing and have begun to think of an exit strategy.    The annual mental reset of our adventures only grows more important year after year.

The Endeavor

The families vessel for our adventures of rebirth and self discovery was dubbed "The Endeavor" last year after Cpt.  James Cook's famous vessel.  Separately she is a Toyota Seqoia and a travel trailer, but once lashed together as a unit she constitutes "The Endeavor".
She has aged quite a bit, and this will likely be her last ship.  I often ponder fitting way to put an end to her.  I daydreamed about setting her afire, as if that would in some way be fitting.  A homage of sorts to the scuttling of a ship once she is no longer useful. She will likely be sold off and used for parts.
In preparation for the trip and the annual refitting, she required extensive work.  Hatches and pipes had dry rotted and crumbled, and seamed and studs gap and leak.  I studied the living quarters extensively noting the aged appearance of the aluminum, years of use leaving scars and pits, wounds from strikes from hundreds of tiny rocks.  The powerplant, of the ship stands at 264,000 miles.  Hard earned work in which she performed admirably.   As I went over the powerplant studying each wire and hose, studying the fluids, I smiled gently and asked her for one more trip.  As we set out, The Endeavor groaned and roared, feeling the weight of what was once an effortless job.  But she still pulls,  as the powerplant roars, God she still pulls.

The Trip

We attempted to pack lighter this year.  It will be a shorter trip and we plan to save on some weight for the engine.  We loaded up as usual, batteries charged and tanks filled.
My nephew is joining us on the trip this year.  He and Nate are three months apart and almost function as brothers.  Surely some extra fighting, but hopefully not too much.
The usual route carried us through the familiar Central Texas terrain.  Interestingly, there seems to be much for green vegetation this time around. I suppose there has been good rainfall.  The children behaved well on this leg.  They have discovered the age old wonder that is Mad Libs. Amy and I chuckled to ourselves as the children laughed hysterically at the often obscene and absurd concoctions of a story.  We stopped for lunch at the city park in Sweetwwater Tx as is usually the case.  It was slightly cooler and breezier than usual.  After some playground time, we loaded up and made the long and barren drive to Amarillo.
The first stop was Pablo Douro canyon.  We arrived early in the afternoon, arrived and checked in.  We made the winding descent into the canyon only to find our assigned campsite was already occupied.  We had to drive all the way back up for a new campsite.  Thankfully, the new site ended up in a better spot.  We noticed wild turkeys marching through the campground and a nice shaded picnic table.
We set up and Grant noticed another boy in the campsite across the road.  They made fast acquaintances and began to play, throwing a football and telling each other stories.  Meanwhile, Amy got dinner prepared in the electric pressure cooked.  Lentil tacos were on the menu.  I finished setting up the trailer and we went for a short hike along a creek that skirted the campground.  We returned and Grant asked to go and make s'mores with his new friend.  As we ate, the boy ran back over and invited the whole family to make s'mores. We finished dinner and made our way over.  They were a nice couple from Midland with two children.  I suspect he or perhaps both of them were a firefighters as she was wearing a fire department sweatshirt and he had the handlebar mouse ache common among firemen.  They offered the younger children marshmallows and s'mores and we traded stories about camping trips, past, present, and future.
We thanked them for their kindness and headed back to the trailer to put the children to bed.  There was only moderate fighting over the sleeping arrangements.  It was a long day, but tomorrow brings the mountains.