Paul and Patti loved traveling together. In fact, they loved doing everything when they were together. That's not to say they had perfect lives. They did not. They each functioned very well alone. Paul had problems. Patti had problems, but they worked on and solved those problems together so that as a couple they had nothing left of those mere inconvenient circumstances.
It was a rare relationship, but it hadn't come easy over the years. Their relationship had evolved over their married lives from their initial traditionally male/female roles to that of a single entity -- the couple. They each did what needed done when it needed to be done without regard for "whose job" it was. They knew each other so well that communications between them was almost assumed in advance -- what others might call intuitive second-guessing with nearly one-hundred percent accuracy. Their relatives and friends were all confused and envious of their symbiotic relationship.
They had long heard about the historic U.S. highway called Route 66 and wanted to travel it before it was all gone. They read that it was once the best route to take from Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California. So far, their journey had been a wonderful excursion back in time with just enough modern Interstate Highway to keep them grounded in this time. They traveled light, meaning that they took very little with them in their RV that they didn't need. They were adequately comfortable. They knew very well the drawbacks and costs of materialism because they had played that bankers' game. Nobody wins that game except Wall Street. They didn't have to play it anymore.
Normally, Paul didn't drive at night. Instead, he would pull into a previously reserved RV Camp sometime before 4:30 pm so he could still get registered and park the rig before it got too dark to hook up without a flashlight. It was just part of the routine of traveling. Tonight, will be different. Tonight, they wanted to sleep together in the desert -- like the 1970s The Eagles song said - "I want to sleep with you in the desert tonight with a million stars all around." This had been their dream for quite a long time. The song was popular when they were in their twenties, but they are much older now. Somehow, their love within them still grew as it had from the beginning and tonight was their wedding anniversary.
The night skies promised to be cloudless and dark under the first New Moon of summer. They had planned to get off the beaten path of the highway system and take a back road and decided on their perfect spot to boondock for a couple of nights. Boon-docking is a term used by RV travelers to describe using only the resources of your RV and not being connected to any other power source, water supply or sewer connection. With their solar power and gasoline generators, full water tanks and empty sewer tanks, they could conceivably stay anywhere from two to fourteen days if they were conservative with their resources. They had a full freezer and refrigerator that ran on liquid propane, so they were totally self-contained. They had no intentions to stay the maximum, but planning wasn't in their itinerary. They loved to be spontaneous and planned only when they had to.
Paul pulled the rig around so that it paralleled the rising sun on the driver's side of the rig and the setting sun on the passenger side. That allowed them to put out the awning strategically for the afternoon sun while setting out the folding patio chairs from the undercarriage storage to face the western sun as it sank below the horizon casting into shadow the cactus and plants of the desert floor while colorfully illuminating the sides of the mountains to the south and north of their campsite. Any highway noise was about a half mile back behind them.
The sun began to set as Patti set aside the last of the supper dishes to air dry on the counter. Wiping her hands on a dish towel, she peeked out the screened door to see what Paul had been doing. He already had the Tiki-Torches out and the chairs set-up to watch the sunset comfortably. He had also cleared a spot, laid out a heavy-duty furniture pad and laid down the double-wide sleeping bag and pillows on top of that. It was conveniently located near the motor home in the even they had to get inside quickly for some reason. The wine and glasses were sitting on the folding table near the chairs and the small campfire he built was burning well. As the sun went down, the fire would be a welcome heat source. He had just enough firewood set out for a peaceful, easy evening.
"My, but you have been busy. Haven't you?" Patti queried.
"Yes, indeed. I want this to be a special night for us. No visible moon and the Milky Way will be spectacular. I want to be ready for anything."
With a wink, he pulled up his t-shirt to show her the 9 mm semi-automatic pistol holstered at his waist that he legally kept for security purposes. It gets cold in the desert at night. Cold-blooded creatures seek warmth anywhere they can find it. The pistol was just in case they got too close. He pulled the cork on the Cabernet bottle and filled the two glasses on the table, then lit the beeswax candle in the sand-filled, reed-wrapped Chianti bottle they had been saving since their very early, college days beginnings together and dragged it out each anniversary with a fresh candle.
Patti stepped out of the RV and walked to the area that Paul prepared for an unobstructed view of tonight's sunset show. The high cirrus clouds overhead reflected the glowing red sunset reflecting through the atmosphere. Nature was putting on a special light show, just for them. Paul handed her a glass and looked deeply into Patti's eyes. Together, they took a nice big sip of the relatively expensive wine they bought at one of their Vineyard Tour tasting rooms they had visited along the way.
"Mmm!" they commented in unison at the taste of their choice of the reds, smiling into each other.
The desert was eerily quiet. Paul could only hear his own pulse in his ears. "Let's have some music. Shall we?" Paul asked.
"Put on some Indian Sitar music. Would you play the Anoushka Shankar playlist?" asked Patti.
