Pandemic Springs

 3rd dawn of the trip, somewhere near Death Valley in Southern Nevada -

After a staccato beginning,  we spent the first night of the journey in Cora up outside of our friends' cabin at Lake of the Woods. We drove out to the highway through packed snow and have enjoyed dry, sunny roads ever since.   We found two springs that day, the first only a 3 1/2 hour drive from Ashland,  Eagleville Hot Springs. A solo Portlander shared the hotter of the two pools with us, but there was plenty of room for social distancing,  and the lower pool was sufficiently warm if we had chosen solitude.

 Another 2 1/2 hr drive found us at one of the more unusual springs I've ever been in: Trego Hot Springs,  on the edge of the Black Rock playa. It was a warm creek, 2-4' deep, several feet wide, with steep banks and a silty bottom that I sank as much as a foot down into. The temperatures alternated between scalding and slightly chilly,  so an arm egg-beater motion helped make it bearable...mostly. After sleeping out under a meteor-filled sky, we drove a few hours down to Spencer,  one of my favorites. 3 pools, each with handmade benches and hot enough to enjoy. Of course,  though,  several others wanted to as well, so after a 30 min soak, we headed south in front of a snowstorm and spent the night on a side road south of Goldfield, Nevada. 

Morning dawned cloudy and ominous,  so we continued skedaddling south through Lost Wages and into Arizona, where we now sit after a rousing game of margarita bocce and an outdoor shower in the desert sunshine. 

Cora has been cruising at 14+ mpg, and we are all beginning to understand each other in this warm, comfortable,  confined space. 

So much for logic and information. Poetry and insight to follow in the upcoming days of our journey. Be well and happy, my fellow travelers, both real and vicarious.