As an artist, and as a traveler, one of the most important things I've learned is that plans can be made, but there is no universal guarantee that such plans are going to work out as written. Looking back at the end of 2025, and even through the beginning of 2026, I have had a particular run of bad luck that offered some unique challenges to say the least. Beyond the normal slew of rejection emails that every artist receives, below are some tales of woe that befell me and what good became of them.
1. Ruby Dome Hike
The Trail
This is a hike I've wanted to do for three years and never seemed to have the time. I finally decided to make time and invited a friend over for a long weekend for a leisurely backpacking trip up to the highest point in the Ruby Mountains. The weather had been clear for weeks despite the unusually cool summer and I'd recently procured a new backpacking tent to replace the one I'd had since college. Eager to try it out, we hit the trail early and made good progress until we were about an hour in.
Then the weather had other ideas.
Thunderstorms are no joke when you're ten thousand feet in the air. We bailed off to the side of the trail as thick grey clouds swirled overhead, booms of thunder echoing down the narrow canyon. We sat and gave it forty minutes or so, hoping the storm would pass. Alas, the clouds merely became worse, the thunder growing closer and louder the longer we waited.
So, we turned around and headed back down.
More Thunderheads From Across the Valley
Was I disappointed? Absolutely. I'm not one to turn around easily, and not completing a goal doesn't sit well with me either. However, not getting struck by lightening is always a plus, and I was forced to recognize that there would be other hiking days. This aborted weekend taught me the lesson of acceptance, realizing that sometimes, events occur that are out of our control.
2. Gerlach Mural
Fast forward a few months from Ruby Dome and I was on the road back to the Black Rock to complete a mural in Gerlach for a private client. It was early October, though you wouldn't know it from the weather. I was expecting nothing but a nice weekend camped on the playa with the added bonus of painting in town. Unfortunately, my Kia had other ideas. I own two Kia vehicles, the first an ancient 2006 Optima that is held together with tape and dirt, the other, a well maintained 2011 Sportage that I take on all my mural and travel adventures. I'd never had a problem with either.
Until I did.
Coming into Gerlach, the check engine light popped on like the eye of Sauron, abruptly throwing the vehicle into limp mode. I could go a whopping 7 miles an hour and Gerlach is about an two hours away from anywhere. Thankfully, I got into town to the one gas station, realizing I was well and truly stranded. And, that I wasn't going to be trying out my new backpacking tent on this trip either.
Sunset from the gas station in Gerlach, NV
As it was almost dark, I was resigned to spending the night in the only motel in town, hopeful that the next day I could wrangle up a mechanic with a code reader and hopefully get some answers. My best friend who lived two hours away in Sparks, offered to play rescue party the next day, and if worse came to worse, I'd beg someone with a golf cart to haul my paint across town so I could get going on the mural in the morning.
Although I'd eaten at Bruno's before, I'd never stayed in the hotel portion of the establishment. After being handed an actual key to the room, I was delighted to find the place was stuck in the 1970s, complete with wheezing climate control and odd knocking noises that came from the hallway at all hours of the night. I loved it.
My Room
The next morning saw me accosting the poor mechanic who arrived at the station about 8am. He managed to clear the code on my car, despite worrying that a 2011 was too new for any of the equipment in Gerlach. Praying it would make the trek back to Reno, my rescue party and I loaded supplies into her car and knocked out a Sonoran Desert inspired mural across town.
Mural in Progress
While the weekend wasn't as smooth as I had imagined, I ended up with a good travel story and the knowledge that I am perfectly capable of handling myself in a crisis. I was also reminded of the goodness of people who helped me out, friends, family and strangers alike. Special shoutout to the Gerlach mechanic and his code reader.
Unfortunately, my car decided that since it was fixed, it would remain fixed. Despite visiting several mechanics, no one could tell me why the engine light had come on in the first place. Or, if it would make a reappearance anytime soon.
With no other choice, I kept driving my car, hoping it wouldn't happen again.
3. Tempe Blooms
Flower Display at Tempe Blooms
Tempe Blooms was a new event for me, kicking off 2026 with both an art event and a planned backpacking trip in the Superstition Mountains. Alas, with the unexpected death of a family member, I ended up canceling the majority of the trip, my ten day vacation condensed into 4 days, long enough to make the eleven hour drive to Tempe, participate in Tempe Blooms as a muralist, then make the eleven hour return journey.
Yet again, my new backpacking tent was not going to get used. I now honestly believe it is cursed.
Arizona in the winter is not a bad place to be, despite the fact that Elko had barely had a winter in 2026. Still, I enjoy the desert, especially the cactus and succulent plants that are a staple of the Phoenix area. I was particularly happy to have driven and fully intended my car to be packed with citrus fruit and cacti cuttings on my way home.
My Favorite Landscape Plant of the Trip
My painting itself went off without a hitch, turning out to be one of the best pieces I've completed so far. The theme for the year was "Growth in Bloom" and I pulled inspiration from my life, honoring the nature of life and death that had played out around me in real time.
Tempe Blooms was spread out over blocks and blocks of downtown, with 10 live muralists, dozens of vendors and massive flower displays. I definitely got my steps in looking at all of it and bought a four foot tall cactus cutting because I have no self control.
.
The Mural Taking Form
Soon enough, it was time for the return trip. I left at 3am, wanting to get back with enough time to get my life together before work the next day. I was somewhere between Kingman and Las Vegas, in the middle of passing a semi, when my car decided it would throw the dreaded engine code once more.
The code I'd tried to get to come on for MONTHS.
This time however, I had brought a code reader of my own and I hooked the sucker up, cleared the code and kept on going, Unfortunately for me, the problem seemed to have gotten worse. I managed to hit Henderson before the light popped back on again. Rush hour traffic, still six hours from home, and a car I couldn't drive.
I made it to a Kia dealer only for them to tell me the check engine light had to be on in order for them to diagnose the problem. Unhelpful seeing as when the light was on, I couldn't drive it. Cue me driving around Las Vegas trying to get the light to come back on.
It didn't.
Screw it, I thought. I'll just try to make it home. I wasn't even out of town before it did it again.
Could I have waited on the side of the freeway and had the car towed in to a shop? Probably. But that's expensive and I am cheap to a fault. Clearing the code again, I turned around and ended up at another Kia dealer. I had to work the next day, so my plan was to beg them to let me leave the car there while I rented one to get me back. I'd hook up a trailer, bring my truck and haul my sick Kia back to Elko.
And then to my surprise, I actually found someone willing to look at my car, light on or no.
So began seven hours of sitting and waiting.
Stuck at the Kia dealership, wondering about trade in valve. The Ferrari dealer was across the street.
Miracle of miracles, the guys at Findley Kia managed to find the problem using just the code I had provided without needed the check engine light on. Apparently, I needed an entirely new gas pedal of all things. Even more astounding, they managed to get a hold of the ONE available pedal in all of Las Vegas.
I can't say enough good things about them. They're the best.
I was back on the road just before 4pm.
I didn't get home until almost midnight and the drive back had me eating an entire bag of lime chips and another bag of Reese's cups just to stay awake. I'd managed to turn an eleven hour drive into a twenty hour drive and had done the majority of it in the dark. Work the next day was hell and I wasn't entirely sure what day it was or what time zone I was in.
This trip, from most perspectives, was an utter disaster. Most of it was cancelled before it even began and I was out a thousand dollars in car repair in addition to being exhausted. However, I choose to look at it a different way. The ongoing saga of the check engine light was over. Someone had finally taken the time to look at the car. I'd been to three other Kia dealerships and not one of them had even taken the time to look at my vehicle, let alone fit me in to a packed schedule and fix said vehicle.
Sometimes in life, the right people cross your path at the right time, and sometimes, your car decides to break down exactly when it should.