Can you hear that?

Neither can I, and it's totally freaking me out.

Thanks for the sassy swimsuit, Andrew Ox!

After spending a blistering week at the Burning Man festival, trying to sleep through the nonstop thump-thump-thumping of house music, I thought I'd relish a little peace and quiet. Instead, I found myself wide awake as only one of two campers at Lake Lahontan, Nevada. Coyotes and owls exchanged calls outside and, wait... Was that footsteps? After convincing myself that Ralgh would alert me to any interlopers, I was able to fall asleep, but I kept one eye open and my good ear tuned.

Lake Lahontan

At three in the morning. I woke to movement. Someone was trying to open my door! I grabbed my flashlight, shined it out the window and called firmly, in my most deep and intimidating voice, "What are you doing!?" As I emerged, heart pounding, from my sleep, it became clear that the noise of someone breaking in was not actually an intruder, but came from inside my van. Ralgh! I redirected my light toward the floor and found him perched on top of the toilet, back arched like a black Halloween cat, shaking like a belly dancer in Antarctica. No one had tried to break in, but Ralgh must have heard or seen something. I crawled down from my bunk, coaxed Ralgh off the toilet, and we prayed for morning until we fell asleep huddled together on the seat.

Tonight we're sleeping in Austin, Nevada in the Toiyabe National forest campground, which is occupied by two other RVs. It's getting dark. I'm trying to keep my cool, but with the fading of the light comes the fading of my fearlessness. Why does it have to be so damn quiet!? I imagine if I actually was attacked, the perpetrator would say something like, "scream all you want; no one can hear you now! Mwah ha ha!"

I think after a few nights of this, we'll get used to sleeping out here. Until then, we'll welcome the mornings.

On another note, Internet is scarce in these parts, and while I can post using iPhone, it sucks to type a whole blog on that little touch keyboard. So, I'll try to keep it regular, but my entries will probable be short and/or sporadic. Don't worry, though. I'm still out here.