One Last Bataan Story

My van looks quite a bit like this one, only with more dirt:

The night sky in the desert looks quite a bit like this at 4:15am:

I parked my van (see picture of van above) at 4:15am (see night sky photo above for reference as to the visibility). After walking 26.2 miles and feeling pretty good, I had the pleasure of walking an extra few miles while trying to find where on God's brown, desert Earth I parked that van, now that it was daylight and absolutely nothing looked the same.

I sat Brishen on a curb and searched. And searched. And searched.

I walked up and down Parking Lot A.

Several times.

I walked up and down Parking Lot B.

Several times.

I decided to walk up and down them both again because none of the clues were adding up quite right. I even walked up and down Parking Lot C, knowing full well that I hadn't parked in a paved area, but willing to give about anything a shot at this point.


I passed others just as confused as I was and felt a little better but really just wanted this nightmare to be over so I could STOP WALKING ALREADY.

Finally I noticed, way, way off in the distance a Parking Lot D. Did I mention it was really far away? I gathered my son from his seat on the curb (his muscles had now seized and had given up working all together--I have video). We trekked to the far off parking lot and found the van that matches the above picture and that had our tell-tale they-won't-waste-money-at-a-carwash dirt all over it. We rejoiced. It looked a little more like sitting down and taking our shoes off with much relief, but, trust me, it was rejoicing.

And for clarification, signs that say "Parking Lot D" look a lot like this at 4:15am:

For further clarification, what seems like a short jaunt from your car to the starting line at 4:15am, is a REALLY, REALLY LONG WALK after a marathon through the desert and another 5-10K of searching for a lost van.