:MOMENT
March 14, 2022
A gravel pull-off above Cannon Beach, Oregon

:INFO
The first night
I parked just after dark, killed the engine, and listened. No hum of a furnace, no neighbours, just the wind off the Pacific working at the solar panels I had bolted on the week before. I had built the bed three days earlier and was not sure it would hold. It did. I lay there fully dressed under two blankets, watching my breath, certain I had made a terrible, wonderful mistake. Around two in the morning the wind dropped and it went completely silent. That was the moment it clicked. Nobody knew where I was, nothing was scheduled, and for the first time in years I had nowhere to be but right here.


:QUOTE [quotetype:plain, subtitle:Jake Mercer]
I was cold, a little scared, and happier than I had been in a decade.


:NOTE
What the first night taught me
Pack warmer than you think. Park level. And do not wait until the build is finished, because it never is. The first night is the whole point.


:LINK
https://slatesource.com/@steph/jake-s-rig
See the full build