Day 15

Nov. 20, 2017
Woke up at 5am
So last night was terrible. Not only was it uncomfortable, but also extremely hot. I had two choices; 1) I can open the windows to let in some air and invite in the mosquitos, or 2) I can turn on the car and hit the AC for as long as possible.
I chose option two.

But just as I was about to fall asleep around 11pm something happened that I will never forget.  I was laid back in the driver seat with my right arm along the back side of the passenger seat headrest when I felt something start to crawl along my arm up toward my shoulder. I had no idea what it was, but I immediately swatted it away without thinking. My first thought was that it could have been one of my little lizard friends and I started to feel a bit sad for swatting it so hard in my half-awake half-asleep state of mind.  Well, I was wrong. So completely wrong.  I found out later that the perpetrator was, in fact, a giant cockroach, that had stowed away with some surplus lumber I had picked up earlier that day. After that sleep was no longer an option for me.

So today was a bit of a rough go for me after that. I did manage to set up the tent but had a few snags along the way. My main problem is that the ground is actually lava rock under the mud so I can’t hammer in the spikes to keep the tent nailed down. My solution was to move the mini-fridge, suitcases and air mattress into the corners of the inside of the tent to hold everything in place.  I used some rocks and tree branches from nearby to hold out the tie strings for the canopy top. I quickly found out that if these are not put outward the rain comes directly into the tent. Once that was complete I headed into town and bought a little table, an ice chest and small single burner in order to cook meals while I am camping out.