Road Tripping Pt. 19

Readers, this a fictional road story set in the 1980's, before cell phones and the internet as we know it today. There is pot smoking and use of "Magic Mushrooms" in this story. All sexualized characters are fictional and over 18. This is part nineteen of a many part series. I hope all have enjoyed it so far. Any constructive feedback is appreciated, Thank You S. L.

It was still a thick fog and a light rain they awakened to a few unknown hours later. They crawled out of their tent to see Andromeda parked as how it had come back after their late-night trip. Joe had a grill going and some hot water on, and both took a hot tea with them on the way to the bathroom with deep gratitude. It had been a long night and both Lou and Molly had a deep brain fog early after all they had done the night before.

Ed and Val were up early and had packed up by the time Lou and Molly got out of the tent to run to the bathroom and showers. Ed looked over and shook his head, swearing to himself the white station wagon was parked the other way when they went to bed. He said nothing when he saw Lou look at the tires and saw no tracks in the wet ground. He didn't talk about it to anyone but Val, after they had left. It was not the first strange occurrence they had witnessed.

Star saw Molly soon after they came back and shared a secret smile as she led her two daughters to the bathrooms. Lou was looking in the back of the car for an empty glass jar he had put in the side panel for safe keeping and a screwdriver.

Joe asked no questions when Lou had Molly move the car forward six inches and Lou went and scraped some different looking dirt from the treads of the four tires, seal the jar, write on the white tape HD 150706 d, and put it back in a way so it would not get broken.

If they went on the journey Joe suspected they had been on like some he and Star had been on, then he understood what Lou had in mind. He was not sure what Lou would do with the soil from "elsewhere", but he understood his curiosity.

Lou did not know either, but he saw a unique opportunity and he decided some discreet investigation was worth it. Molly understood his reasoning also, although she was unsure what he planned to do with the soil. Lou did mention he had an old microscope at his apartment, and she figured this would be a starting point. At most he had gathered an ounce of soil and hardly coated the bottom of the jar.

Molly asked Star and Joe what their plans were for the next few days ahead and they told them of their plan to go see the redwoods in the nearby national park and camp for a few days. "We both need some quiet time to think on what we have seen and learned last night. It was very profound and, in many ways, and we have much to learn. Would you like to join us for a few days camping out there. It could be fun, and I would like some time to talk more with you and I think Lou needs more time and education from you and Gina. There are questions we need to ask and those we cannot and must learn the answers on our own Star. You understand."

"I do Molly and I can tell you all went on a profound journey last night." She touched Andromeda's beak as they leaned on the car. Molly smiled too and looked down at their car, in a slightly new light today.

"Joe and I had no real plans for the next few days and camping in the Redwoods would be a great place to relax and learn some more. What we have experienced has been profound for all of us and I do agree we need to talk and there is much that both Lou, you, and our newest student, Celesta, need to learn of."

Molly looked surprised at the inclusion of Star's nine-year-old daughter, but she surprised Molly even more with what she told her.

"Celesta has begun to have deep dreams of the past like you and me. She, in her dreams was at a great ceremony I have seen in mine, and there are more things you will learn. I suspect she is also being taught for reasons we do not know yet. She did draw a beautiful picture of what she was wearing, and I have seen some of the lovely pictures she takes with your polaroid when you loan it to her."

"She is a good natural photographer Star, and April gave me the camera and a bunch of film. We have found ten more cartridges on sale cheap so it's easy to let her make her art. If we see another on sale or used, I'll get one for her."

Thinking again for a moment Molly asked. "When is her birthday Star?"

"It's June 20th. She will be ten. She is young for all of this and there is much she cannot participate in until she is of age."

Molly nodded her head in agreement.

"But if we do not educate her NOW, she could be overwhelmed by the images and other things she is already experiencing without any help from pot and mushrooms. She is whip smart and can be a bit sneaky when she wants to be, but I would know if she was high or had been into anything else. She had been around these things since she was young and has been told these things were for adults. We both know she will smoke pot before she is eighteen, just like we both did but more powerful things can be very dangerous in too young a mind.

"I agree Star. If we honestly educate children they will be smarter and better humans in the long run. April was very honest with me and my sisters about the important things and she helped all of us turn out good so far."

"If you like Star, I can teach her some of the basic self-defense moves I learned in the Girl Scouts and I taught Sara and some of my friends in the past. They do work for getting you out of a bad situation sometimes and could even save her life someday."

"Sara told me you had shown her how to throw Lou who has to be more than twice her weight, even with what he has lost out her, like you Molly. I bet the both of you have lost at least ten pounds since I met you two."

Molly smile at the complement knowing it was easily true for both of them and they felt healthier too, despite a rough night.

"She did throw him, and Celesta should be able to throw someone about a hundred and twenty pounds and I will show her the more disabling pressure points on males. She is young to have to learn these things, but for her own safety and possibly her brothers and sisters this could help her."

"I agree. It has gotten busier and more crowded on the road and there are a lot of new faces. I have been keeping her closer and have told her why. When we go for our little shopping walks, we will have to bring her so she can see things but be a little more watched and I will ask Gina, Larry, and Bob to let her tag along when they can and are walking around at the shows."

"I will let her use the camera at times when we do this and like I said I will keep an eye out for one for her, for her birthday if not before."

The women told everyone of the idea of all camping together in the redwoods and there was a quick agreement with Gina following her daughters' eyes about some deeper meanings that needed to be talked about by many. She had talked with Star a little of what had happened last night with her, and Joe and Gina were told Lou and Molly had been asked to begin a task for the good of all last night in the storm.

Lou had been looking over the literature he had gotten in Sequoia and found what looked to be a good and isolated sight in amongst the giant trees. Katy had told them who to contact about site reservations and he went with Molly to the campground office to use the payphone and called and got the ok for three vehicles with two families to use two sites for at least two nights, and he paid with his credit card and National Park gold pass over the phone, so everything was all set. Katy's friend said it was a good place with many big trees in the site and the recent rain now allowed small campfires.

Within an hour they had packed up their wet tents and gear as best they could and after a stop breakfast for ten and the grocery store for two plus days supplies the three vehicles were on their way to the National Park.

Around lunch time they reached the entrance and got good directions to their site and an hour later all the tents were back up to try and dry in the remainder of the day and Molly and Larry were manning the three grills going. Lou, Joe and Barny were gathering twigs to go with some firewood they got from the park store.

After lunch, Star and Europa went to take a long nap, after a late night for mom. Molly and Lou went for a walk along one of the trails for a couple hours just to relax and eventually find a quiet spot to sit and talk some more about what they had experienced the night before.

It had been too crazy in the night or the morning to write down what they had seen and experienced in the night. Both took an hour to write down first alone and then they compared what they wrote and added even more that they remembered from three of the four journeys' the night before.

The journey they took in Andromeda was only written as,

HD 150706 d / Talk with Andromeda!

They talked about having noticed that on that trip, they were themselves, not in someone else's body. They were who they were today, and they both wondered if this was a sign it could be them who would travel there someday??

As they got up to go back to the campsite, Lou mentioned to her. "One thing was proved to us last night Molly. Faster than light speed travel is possible. I have no idea of how, but we were not on Earth for a time as far as we can tell and were a very long way from here. I will try and find out more about how far away that star is. It will take some research at a real good library, or we can maybe ask at one of the observatories that are open to the public or at one of the planetariums in some of the cities we have visited already. Chicago and LA have good ones I know of."

Molly was quiet for the next ten minutes of their walk while her mind deeply thought, and she argued with herself about what Lou had just said After a mile walking, with her eyebrow raised she simply answered. "I agree with you Lou. Last night had to prove it. Unless we were completely mind controlled it had to be!"

"FUCKIN WOW!!!" She shouted to the mute giants surrounding them.

They got back to camp just as Star came out from her rest and soon Molly, Star, Celesta, and Gina had sent all the others away from the grills, while they prepared a great meal for all.

Lou took Barny and Europa on a Redwood seed cone hunt. Barny said he was going to ask Grandpa Bob if he could plant Redwoods on some of the land, he had recently bought cheap because much had been hit by a forest fire.

He explained to Lou. "The trees like the fog and I can see the valley near home in Vermont, where I would plant them, and it has fog in it almost every morning so they might live there. I will start them in one of the greenhouses and plant them in a year or two. I got a paper on the trees when we were at the ranger building when we got here and got the idea for the foggy, burned valley."

It took some hunting, and cones were quite large but soon they had two dozen in their hands and an old pillowcase and were on their way back to the campsite. Barny saw Bob and went running up to him talking a mile minute about his idea for the Valley he had acquired last spring and still looked blackened.

"I tell you what Barny, he said. If you can get them to start and up to about a foot tall, I will set aside what we figure is the best acre for them and we will plant them there and see if we can start a Vermont Redwood grove of our own."

"First, we have to get the seeds out of these cones, so we don't have to carry this much with us Bob added, as Europa took one cone in hand and said this was hers and asked, they not break it, to which Bob smiled and spoke. Yes, you can keep that one dear, it will look good in your room back home."

Barny told them that they needed fire to get the cones to open and soon they were roasting one of the cones until it opened, and they were able to get the seeds out. By the time they were done they had hundreds in a small paper bag with surprisingly small seeds for such massive trees. Molly kept a few to send to her mother to try and grow and on a later walk, her and Lou found a small clearing and planted one of the seeds themselves, hoping for the best.

All had a great time around the low campfires and a grill left on for more tea, coffee, and snacks while marshmallows were toasted and stories were told at the fire for a few hours, until shortly after dark when the kids were herded off to bed and all most of the adults had a beer and passed some joints and Lou's pipe around a few times before everyone began to get ready for bed.

Lou and Molly went for the showers and within thirty minutes were saying a final goodnight to all. They figured they were lucky if they had gotten four hours of real sleep last night and this morning and were both exhausted and yawning at the campfires as soon as the sun had set.

"I want to sleep for a bit, and we can fool around if we wake up in the middle of the night Lou."

I totally agree with you Molly. I am tired and still feel a bit drained from last night. I will see you for the three AM run to the bathroom and we will see then."

I Love You Lou and I will see you in the night or in my dreams again."

"I Love you Molly and each day with you is a waking dream to me."

They snuggled in together and were asleep in only minutes in the quiet and peaceful campsite. They awoke at two AM and were both half zombies on the way to the bathrooms. They returned for a brief sleepy kiss and were asleep in seconds for another five hours.

They awoke around seven to a thick fog and were the first awake and got the water heating and began to warm up the griddle Molly had for her camping stove in hopes of making some pancakes and bacon for all as they awoke. Over the next hour and a half all got fed, and enough caffeine to get the day started along with some juices and milk for the young ones. Joe took the cleanup this round and they went for a morning shower to clean up after all of the cooking.

When they got back Star called everyone around the fire and asked to talk to all. "Molly and Celesta, I would like you to join me and Gina to go for a little walk and talk in the woods. Sorry guys this one will have to be just us women but later Lou, I would like you to come with us."

Europa was unaware she was left behind by the other women for a while and hung out with the guys who kept a good eye on her and Barny. Lou took some time to get out his book and read for a while and let his mind settle some more after all he had seen while tripping and more with Molly. He kept thinking more about his light speed statement to Molly and could not find any flaws in his reasoning other than a deep hallucination or some kind of strong mind control.

Lou did not think it was either of these things and what they had seen was very real. Both were now had done these and other types of mushrooms recently and could tell that what they had experienced in their "trip in Andromeda", was not an effect of the pot and Hallucinogens. It was too real!

The four women found a couple of tables to sit at in a quiet grove of the huge trees and talk for a while. For over three hours they talked about what had taken place over the last three days, Celesta, most of all, needed to be educated about what she had dreamed about, why it was so vivid and a beginning of an understanding of it meanings and who was influencing these dreams and the images Molly had seen with Lou.

Celesta, needed to have things explained to her about what had happened and how real what she had seen was and how long ago it was. Molly said Lou had some specific questions he wanted to ask Star and anyone else who knew more of this.

"He will be included in our next discussion, and we know he needs more education and has many questions. It is important that Celesta feels no restraint in what she has to say, and at times like this it is best men are not present, same as Joe and others will talk with Lou at times privately." Gina told her, leading the conversation.

"At times we may ask you not to discuss some of what is said with him for a time, but like all people we have to keep secrets for a time for good, like birthday presents. Lou will know all that is talked about here someday same as Joe, Larry and Bob will all know when the time is right."

"There are times when we cannot talk of things, and all of us are under some kind of restrictions like that except for you Celesta, unless you have been told in your dreams to not speak of some things. Has this happened to you or you Molly?

Celesta spoke up first. "No Grandma, only Mom asked me not to talk of my dreams until she said it was ok, like now with all of you. I still will not talk to anyone else about this, unless you think it is ok?"

"For now, it is best to keep these dreams among us four women for now. Men and women do dream differently as does every person, but it is for the best you only talk of your dreams with us for now." How about you Molly. I see you have your notebook with you, and that you and Lou went to write together. Do you want to talk of what you saw and felt.

"I can talk of some of it and there are things I was told not to talk of. I am also concerned about what I have to say around Celesta because of her age and what we were doing.

"I understand. Celesta. Gina said with a kind yet authoritative voice. You know Molly and Lou are in love and together and they were making love during all of this. You will learn more of these things another time since you are too young, but you will begin to learn more soon. Some for your own safety. Not all men are good and honorable like the four men with us here."

Molly then told them of what she saw in the first two journeys with Lou, avoiding graphic sexual references, into their past and both the joy they saw in the other in all times and the pain of what those lives had in them. The first was two who found love for the first time in a world where humans were just barely above the animals in the struggle for daily survival.

The second one brought all four women to tears as she described what she had seen war do to Lou of the past with the partially healed bullet hole in his shoulder and the flashbacks caused by his living through the great battle he was injured in. She next told them of the signs she saw that this was a last meeting of them in that life before he was to go back to war and Molly more than suspected he was fated to die in the upcoming great battle, now carrying his twins she felt.

"It was so real and painful for both of us, and I made Lou swear he would never volunteer to go to war after that journey. Something inside tells me he is one of those souls who had died almost every time he goes to war. It has left a little cold fear inside of me ever since, like the dream we share Star, of the fire.

Gina understood most of all, silently remembering friends and family she had lost in three wars during her fifty-nine years on this violent planet.

Molly had been leafing through her notebook as she recalled her dreams and even made some more notes and showing them how her and Lou talked and made an even more complete record of their combined memories. Then she turned the page to the next and it was blank except for the

HD150706 d / Talk with Andromeda!

Gina and Star looked at the page and each other. They had no idea what the first part meant and the second made less sense. Before Molly could speak Celesta looking over, sitting next to her, said "Molly, is that a number for a star? I learned that in an astronomy book I read last month."

"Yes, it is dear, and we were asked not to discuss the events in that one with anyone."

Star looked up at Molly, almost biting her tongue with the questions she wanted to ask her after Celesta noticed it was a designation for another Sun. This did not answer any of her questions she knew she could not ask and made the second part of the entry even more cryptic.