Planning and Plotting
When planning a vacation, planet Earth offers a
myriad of options, but when selecting an ultimate destination, most people would
select a penultimate travel destinations: Paris, Disneyland,
the Grand Canyon. Yet the jewel in my
empty-nest crown revolved around a spectacular vacation, ninety percent of
which became secondary to the ultimate destination. As I began planning my latest expedition, one
that my boss entitled my “Fuck The World” vacation, I spent a ridiculously
short amount of time evaluating where I would voyage. And then I added additional locations that
most travelers would find at the top of their itinerary: Death Valley, the
Great Salt Lake, Yosemite; all beautiful, of course, but none of which were my priority.
Looking at my beloved atlas (see “Traveling With
Boys,” November 2011), I plot the general area in which I feel my main character
would travel. From there, I began
planning the peripheral expeditions which others might consider primary
destinations. I book a B&B on the western
shore after circumnavigating Lake Tahoe. I spend an artful
night in Yosemite Valley, outside the majestic waterfalls (a destination at
which I arrives having just missing the closing of Tioga Pass by less than
forty-eight hours due to an early-season snowfall). I reach Donner Pass, likewise covered in multiple inches of snow, dining on a more mild diet
of cheese sticks and breakfast bars. I descend
thousands of feet to sea level to Stovepipe Wells in the core of Death Valley
National Park. Yet in this crib of
spectacular natural vistas, I seek a location so secluded, so distant, so
ignored by the world that an author finds both inspiration and desolation. I stop along US Highway 93 in the Steptoe
Valley where signs warn of lengthy durations without petrol services and I find
the cubbies, the coves, and the open caverns where I can allow my character to
escape unnoticed in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.
When planning a vacation, planet Earth offers a
myriad of options, but when selecting an ultimate destination, most people would
select a penultimate travel destinations: Paris, Disneyland,
the Grand Canyon. Yet the jewel in my
empty-nest crown revolved around a spectacular vacation, ninety percent of
which became secondary to the ultimate destination. As I began planning my latest expedition, one
that my boss entitled my “Fuck The World” vacation, I spent a ridiculously
short amount of time evaluating where I would voyage. And then I added additional locations that
most travelers would find at the top of their itinerary: Death Valley, the
Great Salt Lake, Yosemite; all beautiful, of course, but none of which were my priority.
I wanted to find the ideal location for my work of fiction that had been tumbling about in my brain for the past decade. Over a plate of sushi and teriyaki, my friend recommended I succumb to my darkening world and embrace the midlife crisis hovering in my baffles. While sitting in silence later that night contemplating the vastness of locations to which I could plot my escape, the perfect place for my vacation became the future site of my protagonist’s climax. I mapped out a route through some of the most
remote roads in America – northern Nevada, eastern California, northeastern
Utah. I wanted to drive The Loneliest Road in America, I
wanted to see the buffalo on Antelope Island, cross
Donner Pass, and get away from everything remotely related to tourism,
familiarity, and people. I made my vacation my own work of fiction. The key elements of my story (plot, theme,
characters, conflict, and setting) become the purpose for my exodus: I began
with the setting.
Pull Over
Looking at my beloved atlas (see “Traveling With
Boys,” November 2011), I plot the general area in which I feel my main character
would travel. From there, I began
planning the peripheral expeditions which others might consider primary
destinations. I book a B&B on the western
shore after circumnavigating Lake Tahoe. I spend an artful
night in Yosemite Valley, outside the majestic waterfalls (a destination at
which I arrives having just missing the closing of Tioga Pass by less than
forty-eight hours due to an early-season snowfall). I reach Donner Pass, likewise covered in multiple inches of snow, dining on a more mild diet
of cheese sticks and breakfast bars. I descend
thousands of feet to sea level to Stovepipe Wells in the core of Death Valley
National Park. Yet in this crib of
spectacular natural vistas, I seek a location so secluded, so distant, so
ignored by the world that an author finds both inspiration and desolation. I stop along US Highway 93 in the Steptoe
Valley where signs warn of lengthy durations without petrol services and I find
the cubbies, the coves, and the open caverns where I can allow my character to
escape unnoticed in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.
I pull off the road and spend nearly thirty
minutes capturing the scene on celluloid.
Dirty cliffs, sage brush cover, nooks in which an entire vehicle might
steal away unnoticed create the perfect ambiance for my character. For all the beautiful sights I witness over
six full days, from the granite cliffs to the layered canyons, to the monstrous,
towering creatures of the Mariposa Grove, these desolate, hidden crevices entice
and enthrall me. Few trees stand in the
distance. Even the wild mustangs avoid
these hills bordering the dry, salt flats of western Utah. More plant life than a moonscape, while
slightly less fragrant than springtime jasmine, the brown, barren environment summons me and serves as the pinnacle of my escape. Perhaps it becomes fitting that the Idiot
Tree (see “The Idiot Tree” from December 2011) stands just ahead around a few
mild curves in the road. I’m in my
favorite corner of the world and I am enveloped in inspiration, and here the story begins.
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