Sure enough, my sturdy table was now a three-legged wobbly construction and our stuff was strewn over the ground. Thanks Cleo! After a sweet sleep in with the door open, watching and listening to the gentle lap of small waves, I got straight to work mending it while Dan got a fire going for breakfast. Both of us didn’t really have anywhere to be so we weren’t in any sort of hurry. We had a couple of fishing neighbours that surprised us, but they kept their distance from camp and it looked like they didn’t have much success.

Dan had a semi-shower in the creek and I decided to do the same once our neighbours had retreated. At one spot, the depth of the water just dropped away a foot from the bank so I nuded up and got right in. It was refreshing! Once in, I spotted a donkey on the opposite bank so swam out to investigate. The water was so clear and deep, it was a nice feeling wading along towards the nearby island. The donkey was just grazing, doing his thing. I got out, dried myself off, feeling clean as a whistle. Not long after, we broke camp.

Dan went into the city to get his flat tyre fixed and stop in at home while I drove north towards Flagstaff where we planned to meet up for camp. The highways between Phoenix and Flag are quickly becoming familiar to me. My only planned activity for the day was to find a café with decent Wifi so I could watch the Aussie Grand Prix. I’d so far managed to avoid seeing the result so was excited to sit down and find out what happened. Sticking to what I knew, I decided to stop at the café in Camp Verde where Kevin and I had been twice during our trip. After driving an hour to get there, I found the regular girl wasn’t working and the outdoor sitting was closed because they were resurfacing the carpark, but I was happy to find a very comfy couch inside to set up shop. I ordered a mango smoothie to justify my being there, sunk into the couch and got qualifying going.

F1 Summary: it was a disaster for Daniel (the only Aussie in the field) who crashed out in qualifying, busting his gearbox and rendering him to the pit lane for the race start before he retired. Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel outsmarted and outdrove Mercedes for the win.

Somewhere during the last part of qualifying, I awoke to find I’d been asleep! The couch was doing such a good job of keeping me warm and comfy I’d dozed off. I don’t know how long I was out, but qualifying had ended so I had to rewatch a bit. The owners thankfully didn’t seem to mind me passing out. Once I’d got through the race, the owner came and told me the men outside were about to resurface the other half of the carpark so I had to move my car. It was perfect timing since I was leaving anyway. I’d killed nearly three hours sipping on my smoothie and melting into the couch. I filled up with petrol in Camp Verde, then drove on up to Flagstaff.

Just as I was getting in, Dan told me he was a couple of hours away so I was on camp patrol. I checked out all the National Forest spots around the Snowbowl, but unfortunately all the roads were closed. After driving around one of the “CLOSED” signs for a bit, then feeling guilty and turning around, I eventually found a parking area just outside a closed gate near a pond and with a fire ring. Done! It was around 6:30pm so just about getting dark so timing was perfect. I also had the place to myself.

I did a round of firewood collection, built a little tepee then cooked my dinner while talking to Dad. Once my turkey pasta in white sauce was done, I got my fire going and was in my comfy chair eating dinner. The fire was a bit of a challenge since most of the wood was wet at the core thanks to being covered in snow but I eventually got it roaring. I was zen as I caught up on some blogging before Dan showed up in Air Force One. I’d had one visitor come before him and I thought it was a bit early for him to show up and sure enough, it was a different car and they’d just turned around.

Dan had managed to achieve all that he wanted to in the day, but not without drama. He’d been home and gutted his van of a couple of seats so it had more of an apartment feel, then managed to get himself a ticket for running a stop sign. Not a surprise since it was nearing the end of the month and the police officers must make their monthly quota. His troubles behind him, we cracked some beers and sat by the fire, performing our normal ritual of listening to music and chatting away incessantly. We even shared a bit of birthday cake left over from a cousin’s birthday. It was all icing and no flavour so we didn’t get through it all. When we ran out of beer we switched to vodka and sprite until the fire dwindled. Apart from Dan’s small internal coughing fit, it was a smooth night. Cleo didn’t join us at the fire, instead opting to snuggle into the covers on my bed and watch us from there.

At around 2am, I asked Dan what it felt like to be thirty; it was his birthday. When we played cards, I let him win since it was his special day. It was a bloody long game so we conked out as soon as we all crashed in the Astro, Cleo getting front seat honours.