We Didn't Start The Fire

Freedom at last!
Inasmuch as I enjoyed the free money that came with having someone crashing on my couch for a few hours a night, I loved having my place to myself. I stayed alone for a bit after Brian moved out.

Calvin had to have a medical procedure one day. I happened to be around, so, I went along. In fact, I drove him to the doctor's. He told me to park the car and go in with him. I was flattered that he wanted me to be around for that, and, at the same time, cringed inside. I didn't know how scary it was going to be but I wanted to be there. It was as hot as heck outside, I found a spot across the street from the doctor's and went in to find Cal. Calvin was already with the doctor, they called me in when it was ok for me to go in. I was so nervous! I kept telling myself, relax, all's well!

The nurses were nice, doctor was ok. Calvin didn't seem nervous at all, so  I tried to hide my nerves. The actual procedure took no time at all, but there's all the paperwork that had to be done and stuff. When we got done, I drove us back home. Calvin had a few days off, doctor's orders, then it was going to be the weekend. He suggested we head for the desert. It was my first time out there and our second trip together. This was much further, 3 hours away. I didn't know what to expect. I had seen the outside from pictures Calvin took for me whenever he would go there with his dad.

We packed firewood, sleeping bags and all kinds of fun stuff. Calvin had said that we might go camping in death valley or somewhere in the mountains while out there. I was game! I'm always game!

We left around 2pm, just like last time when we went to Orange County. I drove, it was a nice drive, soon as we left LA, the road was clear. It always amazes me the difference in traffic just outside LA. Worlds apart!

The temperatures were much lower in the desert than in LA. We arrived at the house, I got a tour. It's a 3 bedroom house with living room and a big open plan kitchen with giant island in the center. I really like the setup. It has two bathrooms, one ensuite the main bedroom. It was a bit dusty because nobody lives there. As a result of the dust and not feeling like spring cleaning I took out the sleeping bags and told Calv we would sleep in them. I had brought pillows for us, in case we went camping. Those came in handy too!

The living room with eclectic throws and our thick ass red sleeping bags

After off loading the car, we went out to dinner. Calvin drove. I was pooped by then! It was my first time letting him drive my car. I don't generally let anyone drive my car. Interesting, because everybody lets me drive their cars. I don't ask, they usually do and, you know me, I don't say no! Anyway, he drove it very carefully, which  I appreciated. I turned on the A/C and heated the seats, it was so cold! Population in that town is  500, 5 minutes or so from Cal's family home, there's a bigger city with 15000 population. These are very small towns, as you can tell, especially where we were staying. There are no tall buildings and I think that adds up to how cold it is,because it's open.

We came across this ride full of people, they told us it used to look just like mine before they "worked" on it

See how open it is behind us? The town is somewhere in the peripheral view, small

We went to a steakhouse for dinner. It wasn't far, less than 10 minutes drive. Plus side for being in such a small town, with zero population? No traffic! We parked right outside the restaurant. There were a bunch of people inside, the waiter was nice, the food was meh. We had Ribs. I wished they were warm, it was so cold! There are a bunch of TV's in the restaurant and pool tables, it looked like a sports bar to me. The servings were so huge! We ordered one meal and shared and couldn't even finish it.

Dinner, giant ribs, okra, cornbread and sweet potato fried

 As soon as we were done eating, we got the heck out of there. Calvin drove back. We got home,  I helped start the fire outside.

Feeding the already well fed fire

 I stuffed in so much wood in there, the fire looked like a house on fire. It was great! I hadn't started a fire in forever but I grew up in the farm, some things you never forget.

Look at that!

We sat outside and enjoyed the fire while Calvin played Sam Cooke on his cellphone. We had brought his portable speaker with him. He bought me one as well when he got that one. He got me a pink one. Perfection! It was a fun time! We sang along, danced, enjoyed the heat. It was already late by then. I eventually got tired and went inside, made my bed. They have these really big sectionals in the living room. I got on one of them in my sleeping bag, Calvin took the longer side because he is taller. Interesting that we slept in the living room in an unoccupied three bedroom house. Calvin did suggest we sleep in his dad's room. I didn't think it was appropriate.

Parked outside the desert house

The following morning, we went shooting. We had brought all kinds of guns. We went to an open spot with mountains around it.

 Nobody lives there, we had also brought targets, we bought them on our way to the desert. Calvin set up the whole thing, he was the first one to shoot, I took pictures.

Gearing up

We started with the small gun, I don't know names, ok? He showed me how to load it, I did so, took a stance and BAM! I hit the target y'all! First time around! I was so psyched! Calvin caught it all on camera, thankfully!

Aiming ... and... BAM!

My immediate reaction after hitting the target the first shot