Wind Farms, Hills, Tehachapi

Today the companion was awesome! He woke up at 7am, got the bike ready to go, had breakfast, and got moving before 9am!

The goodness of the start changed. The companion couldn’t seem to get going this morning. I couldn’t get any speed even on flat or declines. Then he looked at the back break and realized that it was holding the wheel. So today turned into a struggle for the companion.

He did it without complaint and I was happy for him.

We passed by these huge wind farms. These big huge massive windmills. They line the mountain side in Mojave, CA. And in Tehachapi too. The companion loves them. He thinks they are like giants that silently guard everyone. But as we got closer we noticed they sometimes make a Woooshing sound Woooosh! Wooooosh! Woooooosh! Kind of nice though. The companion’s thoughts needed a distraction from his struggle to pedal today.


He turned to me and said: “When you focus on the struggle, you struggle more, and time goes by slowly.”

We were told by another man on a bike that we would go up hill for about 20 miles then head downward. The road was heading up and the companion was doing well. But then it went down. He turns to me and said: “No way we’ve gone 20 miles. Could it be that that guy was wrong?”

I didn’t think the man was wrong and neither did the companion And he wasn’t. The road turned up and went up for a long long time. It was so steep the trucks were having trouble going up them. So he pushed up the steep hills, and told me what he was dreaming for his life.

“I’d like to go visit mom and dad once a year, at least. I’d like to have a job. I’d like to teach college again, or even try writing for a small town newspaper. I’d like to live in a small town, or a medium sized town. Just a place to live where I can grow some tomatoes this summer. Oh look there’s a Joshua Tree. (I did not bite him as I promised I would.) This is the biggest one we’ve seen. Tomato plants, that’s one of my goals for this year: have some tomato plants! I’d like to be published.”

Then he got quiet for a little. Then said: “I just want to find us a home, and be happy.”

It’s the high desert. The desert does things to you when you are in it for days.

Then we headed down hill, for miles! The companion kept yelling: looking you go flying girl.

He was making fun of my ears.

Well we reached Tehachapi and took a break. The town is really cute and if we didn’t want to get to Bakersfield tonight, we would have stayed.

So we are in Bakersfield, CA now. And the companion has announced: we are now out of the high desert! Well thank goodness! I don’t know how much more introspection I can take! I need smells!