Coming on home!

Once we'd visited the UP it was time to head back south and west.  On the last day of September we made the fairly long trek down to a campground near Grand Rapids, MI.  My wife almost always picks our campground from the various clubs we belong to:  Good Sam, Escapees or Passport America.  I don't know what was going on but we kept finding these places that were intended for locals rather than visitors.  This one was on a beautiful river and it was a nice enough site but there were no other visitors and most of the rigs were permanent.  Even though the park was closing on October 15; the rigs would just spend the winter there.  Interesting.

Anyway, the next day (a Sunday) we hopped up and drove down to Grand Rapids to see the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum.  It turns out that we were in the middle of a Art Prize celebration and traffic downtown was AWFUL!  Of course the fact that we are driving a 4x4 extended cab pickup with an 8 foot bed doesn't make things easier.  The Art Prize thing had taken over all parking for the museum.  We found a parking garage a couple blocks away that claimed to have empty spaces and headed into it.  At the last possible moment I decided we wouldn't fit and stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.  I was afraid that there wasn't enough headroom for us.  I get out of the cab and sure enough, we were at least 4 inches too tall.  So my wife grabbed her walkie talkie and walked out into the street and stopped the two lanes of traffic so I could back out.  Now that is something!  She managed it and I backed into the street, she hopped in and we took off.  Now all we wanted to do was to get out of Grand Rapids!

In the end we found an excellent pizza place called Mitten Pizza and Brewing Co.  Had a lovely pizza for lunch (and beer!) and went back to the rig.  I found someone from the office and told them we would be staying another night.  We met a local guy and he suggested we might also like to visit the Maijer Gardens so we added that to the itinary for the next day. The next morning we hopped up and flipped on the tv to learn that the previous night a very strange man had opened fire on a bunch of concert goers in Las Vegas.  My God!  It is beyond strange.  I want to talk about all that in another post so for now I'll only say we were just shocked.

We went into the city and this time found some off street parking that was at least tall enough for our truck.  We were sticking out in front of all the cars but there was room enough.  The Ford museum was interesting as they all are.  I'm getting the distinct impression that we don't know much about the people we elect President.  For example, Ford is the name of his mother's second husband; the President's real father was named King.  Part of the Art show was inside the museum so there was no charge to visit the museum on this day.  A certain number of people were there simply for the art but the museum was more crowded than many that we have visited.

After the museum we headed off for the Maijer Gardens and were very happy that we did.  It turns out there are several conservatories full of plants and a huge outdoor area in which larger sculptures are shown.  We took a tram tour of the outside which we later decided was kind of a waste.  They wanted to tell us way more about some of the pieces that we wanted to know!  We did enjoy the experience however. 

This horse was tall enough that I could walk under his belly!

They also have a large Japanese garden which we enjoyed touring.


Having sampled Grand Rapids we were intent on heading south.  Since we were thinking of driving home on I-40 we had decided to go almost directly south and stop in Little Rock, AR to see the Clinton Museum!  We'd been finding places claiming wifi but then they either didn't have it or it wasn't working.  We are both addicts so not having internet was putting a dent in our fun!  I talked my wife into trying a KOA.  At least they had wifi!  We were happy enough with the KOA experience to go to another one in Little Rock.

The Clinton Museum is part of a complex that includes the library, museum and educational activities that are of interest to the Clintons.  They claim there are more exhibits than in any other Presidential library.  I wouldn't be surprised because there was a huge amount of detail:  like the President's plan for every day!  I mean you could look up what the President was supposed to be doing at 10:00 on July 29, 1995.  There was a reasonable discussion of his impeachment proceedings but oddly Monica Lewinski was pretty much invisible.  My wife used the word 'slick' to describe the museum and I cannot think of a better one.  About a third of the floor-space was devoted to a biography of Nelson Mandela.  Apparently he and the President became quite good friends.  The displays showed quite a lot about his younger days; his long years in jail and finally his freedom.  It was pretty good if totally unexpected. 

As an aside, the Clinton Museum was the only place we've seen since the Las Vegas tragedy that wasn't flying the flag at half staff. 

Downtown Little Rock has quite a bit of park area on both sides of the river.  They converted this old railway bridge into a pedestrian bridge.  As an aside, on the day of our visit there was an Autism Walk so all the parking was taken just as in Grand Rapids!  Happily we were able to find a place to park just a few blocks away.


After leaving Little Rock we were headed for Oklahoma City.  My wife had never set foot in Oklahoma so it was kind of fun that driving across on I-40 is actually very pretty.  Once we get well started on our way home sometimes we get in a state where all we want to do is get home.  For example, when returning from Florida in 2016 we didn't unhook the trailer from the truck for 6 days.  That's our record; I'm not proud of it but we have been known to take off home like that. 

After Oklahoma City we headed for Amarillo.  It was nice country but this was one of the windy days.  The wind came out of the north at 28 mph (45 kph) with gusts to 40 mph (65 kph).  That makes for a tough day of driving.  And in both Oklahoma and Texas there were road repairs; mostly to bridges.  Traffic was funneled into one lane and slowed to 55 mph (88 kph) which still seemed awfully fast to me.  Still, it worked.  It was going to be cold so we didn't deploy the slideout.  Keeping it in reduces our square footage by probably 40 sq ft (9 sq. m) so the rig is much easier to heat. 

After Amarillo the large city is Albuquerque however the Balloon Fiesta is on so places to park are non-existent - not just expensive but not there!  So we went on to the small town of Grants, New Mexico.  We found a park called Lavaland in Grants.  It had received some poor ratings but sounded like it might be ok.   As a matter of fact, it was just fine.  The office and common rooms are being re-modeled but is seems to be in turn-around mode.  There were people living in their rigs there but everyone was friendly and helpful.  The site wasn't quite level but we can deal with that.  As a bonus, the wifi was excellent! 

We needed one more stop and decided to check out Meteor Crater, AZ.  The crater is on privately owned land and these folks opened an RV park right next to I-40.  So you are renting from the owners of the crater; to see the crater you have to pay more.  But, what the heck, we went to check it out.  There were actually quite a few people there.  It is just one of those things.  If you want to see it, you have to pay.  If you don't care, well, it is just a big hole in the desert floor.  We liked it but it is BIG!  My 18mm lens on my DSLR doesn't open enough to get the entire crater in one photo. 

Down in the bottom there are remains from early explorations.  People thought there was a meteor down there somewhere so dug down looking for it.  Now we know the meteor just turned into tiny fragments that rained all over the place. 

So after that excitement, all that was left was to go along I-40 to Kingman and cut up US 93 to Las Vegas.  It is funny country, you see a bunch of ramshackle buildings off in the distance then come to a road with half a dozen mailboxes for those buildings.  I've no idea how those folks live.  We stopped for a night in Las Vegas to see our daughter and empty the tanks.  It was a good stop but we were sure glad to get home. 

Thanks for stopping by.  I'll be working on my rant about Charlottesville, Las Vegas, Weinstein and, of course, our Twitter-in-Chief.  Fair warning; you may want to avoid it!  Have a good one.

Interesting stuff

Well, not all that interesting!  Mostly we've been thanking the air conditioner for keeping us cool!  It is either 9 or 10 days in a row of over 110F (43C).  Not all that much fun outside!  There is something in the paper practically every day about some idiot leaving either a kid or a dog in their car while shopping.  Jeez!  And they vote!

I did get up to Amargosa Valley for another deal with the Nevada Test Site's citizen's board.  It is kind of remote up there. 

They are probably the first who would get radioactivity in their groundwater from the tests done back in the day.  The Department of Energy does a lot of testing and there is next to no chance anything will ever leave government owned land.  The test site is nearly surrounded by the Nevada Test and Training Range which is run by the U.S. Air Force.  It gives any groundwater a heck of a long way to travel before it reaches land that is used by the public much less owned by individuals.  Plus the water is moving only about a foot a year!  We were up there to help people understand that there is no real danger.  Happily most folks already are on board and know they won't be turning green anytime soon.

One of the things we have a lot of around here is dirt.  Overnight the wind really picked up and, though you can't really smell it, the air is full of dust.  Here's a photo I took on our walk this morning - that's the sun not the moon!

That was taken about 06:30.  Sunrise was about 05:45 so it's not like the sun was on the horizon.  This time of year we walk as soon as we get up.  Even at that hour the sun feels hot but not today.  Even now at 4 pm I can't see the mountain though it is clearer.  

This week has been 'donation' week.  First we made our monthly trip to the supermarket for food for the VFW Food Bank.  The guy working there says they help feed 35-40 families every week and another 5-7 individuals - and they are only open 4 hours a week!  Two hours on Wednesday and two hours on Friday is all they can do.  In the winter when the snowbirds are down here they have more donations so are open two more hours on Monday.  Today was the day for school supplies.  There are lots of kids whose parents can't afford to buy them all the stuff they need for school.  So our local electricity co-op runs a drive every fall to help.  Every year we ask the volunteers if they are short of something special.  Last year it was backpacks, this year it was antibacterial wipes.  Who knows?  But it gives us a starting point and we can go from there.

Well, that's all the news that's fit to print.  Thanks for stopping by.  Take care.

Summer Time!

We've got summer time here in all it's glory; even technically now that the solstice is past.  Our Las Vegas weathercasters are talking between 108F (42C) and 113F (45C) for the next 7 days; tonight they are talking a low of 93F (34C).  This is a bit warm even for here!  Still, this is the time for it.

One of the changes we make based on the season is when we walk.  In the winter, mid-afternoon sounds good but these days, the earlier the better.  This a.m. we were out before sunrise.  Walking is the exercise we are best at for sure.  It's been a staple since we moved here in 2008.  Of course there have been pauses; like after my surgery.  We started walking again about a week after I had my surgery.  Then we were doing the short walk which is about a mile (1.6km).  Now we have worked ourselves up to the 'long walk' which is a bit over 2.25 miles(3.6km).  At first the short walk had me resting for an hour or so but now we are pretty much back to normal.  Also last Friday was three weeks since the surgery and the day my doctor anointed as the day I could start driving again.  Wow, was that a relief!  My wife is actually a very good driver and she enjoys driving but laying back in that passenger seat is pretty unusual for me.  I've been susceptible to motion sickness for as long as I can remember so riding with others is something I really avoid.  Making it to Las Vegas for the followup appointment with my doctor is the farthest I've ridden with anyone else for quite some time.  Back on 2004 my knee went out while we were on a trailer trip to the midwest.  My wife got to drive something like 1,400 miles (2,250km) that time! 

We have noticed that this summer seems to be a year for rabbits.  Believe me when I say I know nothing about rabbit populations but here in the valley the population seems to run in cycles.  This is a lots-o-rabbits year.  I think they come around every three or four years but don't really know.  Year before last we could take our walk and see maybe two rabbits; this year we are seeing twenty or thirty plus a few jack rabbits.  I keep telling myself that it's just the year for them.  Maybe later in the summer we'll start seeing coyotes and then the year-of-the-rabbit will come to a rapid end.  What we haven't seen is quail.  No idea why but I don't believe we've seen one all year.

Anyway, that's a summer morning around here.  The other good news is that we are up for the sunrise on the mountains. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a good one!

Orlando North

Warning:  Another grumpy post!  Stop reading if you aren't up for more gloom.

Just another weekend in Chicago.   "A 5-year-old girl was among forty people shot in Chicago over the weekend, seven of which were fatal."  Racist, hate crimes, drivebys - does it matter?  You are still dead.  I've got to agree that AK-47 type weapons don't belong in civilian life but clearly people are more than willing to kill each other.

I hope it doesn't come as a surprise to anyone but people are not always the way we would like them to be.  They get mad, crazy mad, and do things that another day they would never consider.  They get fascinated by ideas or philosophies and bury themselves in twisted thoughts to the point they lose their common humanity.  They are simply careless and do stupid things.  It's all part of being human.  It isn't pretty but we really are closely related to the other members of the animal kingdom.  We put our minds to it and bring animal violence to a whole new level.   

I personally believe that some of the blame needs to go to all the violence we see on television and in movies.  Maybe I'm totally wrong but if you watch a couple hours of tv it's easy to see five or six people be shot.  If they are 'bad guys' they probably don't get up again.  If they are 'good guys' they are walking around with their arm in a sling by the next day aka the end of the show.  What kind of shit is that?  In the army I had careful instruction in using weapons to kill others.  I was lucky and never had to put that knowledge to work but I have it still. 

Of course, if Orlando hadn't enough trouble this week, there is the story of the 2 year old taken by an alligator in front of his parents!  Talk about something that would blow your mind.  I really feel for those people.  How the hell are they supposed to get through something like that?  We lived just outside Orlando for a few years in the 1980's.  There are LOTS of alligators in Florida.  People don't realize it but there is a gator in practically every body of water.  They were in the 'manufactured' lake by the office, in the natural lake in our sub-division, in the ponds by the side of the freeway.  And they get hungry.  Even I can't blame that on television.

Ok, I'm done.  I'll take a cheerful pill and be back to normal soon.  I promise.  In the mean time, thanks for stopping by and try to have a good one!

YES! MRI

After much fooling around I did finally manage to get my MRI.  (See this Wikipedia article about MRI's if you are uncertain what they are.)  If you haven't had one it's not too strenuous but it isn't that much fun either.  Conventional MRI machines are built in a cylinder form and you are placed on a sort of plank and are slid into the machine.  I had an MRI in a machine like that many years ago and I discovered I'm kind of claustrophobic.  That makes it a very unpleasant experience.  Since then I've required what is called an 'open' MRI.  It's better but not great.  Here's a photo I took of the machine.

You lie down on the surface on the right.  It is raised up and you are slid into the main portion of the machine.  I told my wife it is like you are the meat in a hamburger and the machine is the bun.  So you are in this thing but can see with your peripheral vision and, not a small thing, there is better air flow than in the conventional machines.  Then it starts up making all kinds of bangs and clangs; it is just part of the process.  I was told it would take 19 minutes - I guess so.  I was certainly happy for it to end! 

Then Monday I got to meet with my specialist who told me I have a problem with the C6-C7 vertebrae.  I'm told I have three options:  live with it; get a cortisone shot that relieves the pain for about 6 months or surgery to remove the disk.  Hmmm.  So I'm headed for the operating room one of these days.  It will probably be a while but I'm sure you'll be hearing about it after it happens!

Back at the ranch, the cactus are happy.  We've been getting rain, more than usual, so the desert is perky.  We even had a rainbow - kind of.

Our cactus plants are happy.  These photos were taken a couple days apart.

The cactus flowers will be disappearing soon though.  Our 'spring' is definitely ending with temps expected to be in the high 90's (35C give or take) in the next few days.  Well, that's why we have those expensive air conditioners!  It is also why we don't have trees and lawns.  It's just not the right part of the world for those things.

IKEA is opening a new store in Las Vegas next week.  It is big news for locals, our Fox channel has a reporter out there this morning!  Don't get me wrong, I buy things at IKEA, I enjoy going to IKEA.  In the Netherlands I went there quite often for little things for our home.  I'm sure we'll be visiting the new store before it's a month old.  But putting it on the 'news'?  Really? 

Well, that's the news from this corner of the planet.  Take care and thanks for stopping by.

Florida trip part 2

So I left off last time in Livingston, TX.  Driving across central Texas on these state and federal highways (as distinct from the Interstate) was really a lot of fun.  Traffic was not heavy and you get to go through towns along the way.  Also you get to see the farms and ranches which I, as an old country boy, enjoy.  One thing I notice especially in Texas is that most ranches will have an elaborate gate where one leaves the road and enters the property.  It doesn't matter if the house is 100 feet off the road or half a mile, there is a big gate usually with a bar over the top with the name of the property.  Funny, I don't notice it in any other state but Texas.

The other thing we really noticed was the number of goats!  I imagine everyone has this vision of Texas as being filled with cattle.  Well, not the part between Austin and the Louisanna border.  That's goat country!  But all good things come to an end, even the almost 900 miles (1,400 km) across Texas and we finally made it to Louisanna.  We wanted to spend a little more time in Louisanna this trip but were planning on doing it on the way home so while Eastbound we just kept 'the pedal to the metal'.  A contributing factor was that the weather was just crappy:  rainy and chilly.  We stopped for the night in Breaux Bridge, LA at the Cajun Palms RV park; with something over 300 sites.  The sites and interior roads are all concrete; they have swimming pools and all that jazz.  They also have a semi-captive restaurant next door - Crawfish Town USA.  We ate there and my wife had to try the childs portion of crawfish - a mere 2 pounds!  (Yeah, almost a kilo.)  She thought they were ok but a lot of work for little meat and she definitely was not up for sucking out the head as our server suggested.

The next day we managed to make it part of the way across Alabama.  It was a pretty quiet park and I don't even remember the name!  Then it was off to Florida.  We decided to drop down to highway 98 along the Gulf Coast so drove through Panama City and along the coast to Carrabelle, Fl where we stopped for the night.  Our park was across the road from the gulf but the weather was still not cooperating.  We went into town for dinner at a place recommended by the camp manager:  The Fisherman's Wife.  Well, that was a disaster.  They served my wife peel-and-eat shrimp that were just nasty.  Then the owner came around to tell us the shrimp were 'moulting' and that's the way they are.  Ha!  They were either overcooked; over frozen or something but they were lousy.  They did finally find some shrimp that were breaded - they were twice the size of the peel-and-eat and actually good.  Still, bad seafood in Florida?  Nah.

Who would want to stroll that beach?  Not me!  So we hit the road again.  We stopped for lunch in Perry, FL at a place called Goodman's BBQ.  The parking lot was full and we had to park the rv in a dirt field next door but the food was excellent!  We switched to US 19 and headed south in Perry.  It is not very heavily traveled because it roughly parallels I-75 however we did find two state patrol officers checking for speeders!  We never speed because I'd just feel too foolish getting pulled over towing this huge trailer but I'm sure those guys were out there for a reason.

We pulled in to our relative's house about 16:00 and spent the next few days visiting them and many of the local restaurants!  We also got to visit the Homosassa Wildlife State Park.  That was fun!    The place started as a commercial park and they had all kinds of animals.  Then it was taken over by the state and turned into a native Florida park where all the plants and animals had to be native to the state.  Well, for some reason they couldn't get rid of their hippo, Lucifer.  So the state legislature made him an honorary resident!

He's a big guy!  They also have gators, snakes, a Florida panther, black bears and LOTS of birds.

It was a good time as always but we had places to go!  We used to live in Palm Harbor, Fl which is a suburb in the Tampa-St. Pete area so that was our next stop.  We managed to hook up with the folks who were our next door neighbors and had a great evening with them.  But South Florida was still calling!

We made it to the Outdoor Resorts campground on Chokoloskee Island in the Everglades.  It is a condo park where the sites are owned by individuals and their rigs just sit there.  It was a nice enough place but the manager was far from friendly and the actual park was pretty tight for travelers.  There were many turns that were too tight for even moderate sized rigs.  For $80 a night it was not great but at least they had wifi!

This is what I would call the western side of the glades but the park service calls it the Gulf Coast.  And we had a great time checking out the park.  One of the things you can do is take a tour through some of the Ten Thousand Islands area.  We enjoyed our tour even though the dolphins were pretty shy.

There were plenty of birds around including this flock that just couldn't be close enough to the rest of the guys!

Honestly we really enjoyed just being out on the boat.  It's a rare treat for us desert dwellers.  We wore our jackets though! Florida maybe but a long way from being warm!  It was about now that we started seeing about visiting the Keys.  We were soon disabused of any idea of visiting Key West or anywhere near it!  RV parks were all full so our visions of Key West and the Dry Tortugas went away.  Instead we headed for other side of the Everglades.  We found a spot outside Homestead, Fl and headed for it.  On the way we thought we might check out Shark Valley, Miami entrance to the park.  Well, for starters it's nowhere near Miami!  Secondly it is TINY!  They have a very small parking area as well and when it gets crowded they have a plan:  you can't go into the parking area until someone else comes out!  Well, shit!  Now we are in the line of cars towing a 30+ foot trailer. No way can we turn around; we just had to wait until enough people came out then drive through the lot and get on our way.  They did have maybe two spots for RVs but that was it.  Not the way we wanted to spend our time!

So it was off to the country park.  This place is in the middle of an agricultural area west of Miami; tons of gardens, nurseries, etc.  It made for a long drive to anywhere but it was nice and quiet!  In fact we ended up spending four nights.  The eastern entrance to the Everglades park was pretty quiet but it was rainy the first time we went so that was pretty disappointing.  The second time it was nice, still wearing jackets, and we got to do a couple hikes.  Here we found a trail built up over the swamp.  Again there were tons of birds including this guy who liked to walk across the plants; he barely got his feet wet!

We also got to see this guy.

That was taken from about 6 feet away (2 M) and behind a fence.  There were some folks over to my left trying to get a nice toothy portrait of him.  What were they thinking?  He may have been in a national park but no one told him about not being a wild animal!  It is a wonder that there aren't more tourists attacked. 

Another day we decided to drive down into the Keys and just have lunch somewhere.  Traffic was pretty heavy and we started thinking we were lucky not to have gotten a space down there.  We went as far as Islamorada and found a place for lunch around Mile Marker 85.  Still a long way from Key West and MM 0!  The restaurant was called "Yahoo's" and we ate outside on the deck.  Yes, we had to wear our coats but at least we got a nice view!  Really though, wearing your coat in the Florida Keys.  There is just something so very wrong about that.

Gotta keep trying to get that boat fix! 

I'm thinking this has gone on long enough.  This is as far south as we got so next time we'll be on the way home with a few stops along the way.

What can one say?

I had a thought or two that I was going to share this morning but after the shooting in Connecticut, what else can I say but Oh My God, all those little children dead.  The photos of the parents who have found their children; the photos of the parents who have not; it is just heartbreaking.  The news that is coming out is so contradictory.  I suppose in a couple of weeks we will have a better idea of what happened and why.  Not that I expect it will help the parents of the children or the husbands and wives of the school workers.  Maybe it will help the survivors, a little.

Needless to say all the gun control people will be howling.  They seem to misunderstand that people who want to kill will manage it regardless of the laws.  Don't you have to be 21 to purchase a gun?  The kid identified as the shooter was only 20.  Laws don't protect people, they can only punish people who get caught.

I don't break speeding laws much but there are plenty who do.  Maybe we should build cars that know the speed limits and won't break them.  Surely the technology is there.  Our GPS knows the speed limits on most streets and highways; it would be trivial to tie the GPS into the car computer system and have it just say 'no' when you want to speed.  That and a car that won't start if the driver has been drinking would save thousands of lives.  Laws are only the answer if people obey them and some people just don't.

On a happier note, we got half an inch of rain (1.3 cm) yesterday and a bit more today.  For a place where four inches (10 cm) is the average, that's good news!  It means we have lots of clouds around the mountains as well.  Very pretty.  The ski resort over on the Las Vegas side of the mountain is pretty darned happy too.  Let me close with yet another photo of the mountains I look at as I sit here; this from yesterday afternoon.  Have a good one!

Back to normal

After all the excitement of the election it’s good to return to normal stuff:  like watching the birds.  In the fall we get a ton of these little gold finches.  There are rose finches as well but the golden guys really go for thistle seed.  There is an ongoing fight to see who gets the best spots on the sock. 

We also had a rainbow yesterday.  No rain but the rainbow was nice.  There is a big storm coming our way from California so we are getting wind; perhaps rain over the weekend.  

On the CBS news this morning I saw a segment called  “Note To Self”; it was a man’s advice to his much younger self on the eve of going to war in Iraq.  The link is here – it is very highly recommended.  The guy, Alex Horton, works at the VA.  I cannot help thinking we will be hearing more from this guy.

Short post today.  Just wanted to share the ‘normal’ thing in life.  Have a good one.

Rain!

Had a bunch of thunder, lightning and a bit of rain yesterday afternoon.  The drama and beauty of thunderstorms is so cool!  I should build a glass room on top of the house so I could sit there (in air conditioned comfort, of course) and get a panoramic view of the storm.  Wow, that would really be something.  Of course, 360 days of the year it would be hot enough to bake bread.

It's Sunday during the F1 racing season so later this morning we'll be sitting down to breakfast in front of the tv watching the Singapore Grand Prix.  I've been following F1 since the days of Jimmy Clark in the 1960's.  When my wife and I got together, I managed to infect her with the disease - F1-itis.  You start recognizing the names of people unknown to about 90% of Americans but who are super-stars in other countries.  The venues are amazing.  Some, like Monza, have been around for many, many years.  Others, like Singapore, are new but very exciting all the same.  Monza is a race track and as been nothing else it's entire life.  Singapore is a temporary circuit carved out of the streets of the city.  There is even Silverstone in England that was a WWII airfield before it was modified for racing.  Can you tell I love it?

Gotta go cook then see the race.  Have a good one!

Cactus Central

We've made a conscious decision to only have things in our yard that don't need watering.  There are plenty of people in the valley trying to make their yard look like Florida; somewhere with about 50 inches of rain a year.  Not us!  It's a desert out there and we know it. 

Last year we bought 4 cacti at the Springs Preserve plant show.  One didn't make it through the winter; guess it was just too cold here.  One, a staghorn, is apparently ok but isn't doing anything.  The other two are happy and that makes us happy!  Here's the prickly pear.

You can see he didn't have a very happy winter either.  Of course our transplanting technique pretty much stinks!  But now that spring has come, we've got a new leaf!  Makes us happy.

This other guy is some relative of the first but he's a bit on the purple side.  The new growth is green though.  We'll have to wait and see if it turns color as it ages or if we've got a bi-color plant.
 

As you can tell, I am not exactly a gardener.  Maybe that's why we have so much rock in our yard!

Have a good one.

Not a Daily; not yet!

I'm sure not doing daily blog these days but I must say they are busy days.  In-laws and son and his girlfriend are our guests now; they are pretty easy to deal with but having six people in the house rather than two does up the stress level.  We are eating out more than usual because it's easy and it gets us all out of the house.  The animals are pretty weird-ed out too.  Of course, they have no idea why they have all this extra excitement but they are putting up with it pretty well. 

The young people like gambling so they have something to do while we older folk sit around watching the Master's Golf Tournament.  They have been here two days and have as many 'points' from gambling as my wife and I have accumulated in the two years we've been here!  Normally we wouldn't watch the golf but it's something we can all do and the in-laws really enjoy it.  I understand they aren't bad golfers for folks around eighty years of age.  Augusta is such a beautiful course too.   

Tomorrow we take the in-laws to Vegas and put them on the plane for home.  Then we will be down to just the kids who are staying until Saturday.  This hosting thing is getting easier and easier.  Started at eight visitors, then six, then two; pretty soon we'll be back to our quiet home in the desert.  Yep, I'm looking forward to it even though I do love all these people.

Today we are getting one of our wind storms.  From reading blogs I get the idea it's covering almost the entire Southwest.  It makes me want to check out the weatherstripping on the windows and doors before summer really hits.  I can feel a breeze when I'm near the window and it is definitely noisy.  There is quite a bit of dust in the air as well; we are all complaining of a dry feeling in the throat. 

I've left this post late so need to quit.  Time to run off and feed our faces.  Here's hoping I haven't gained too much weight this week!  Have a good one.

Fits and Starts

I find I often work in fits and starts.  The garage will obsess me for a few days, then I won't go near the place for weeks.  I'll be reading nothing on the internet except investing information; then I'll stop completely.  I'll visit about a hundred blogs; then ignore them.  You get the idea.  Are other people like that?  Are you?  Or am I as strange in this as I am in various other things?

Does anyone do programming for pc's any more?  Back about a thousand years ago I had a Pascal compiler for my pc.  (Well, the late 80's anyway.)  I wrote some neat little programs for that thing.  I'm going to see if I can't find another one.  HTML is interesting but I'm not sure it will do the things I'm looking at doing.  I guess that shows the depth of my ignorance of newer languages.  Hell, I even gave away my HTML book when we left Florida.  Guess I'll be checking out the library.

We did finally get a bird bath to go with the feeder. It doesn't seem to popular at the moment but the birds seem to take a few days to get used to things.  We decided to go with a conventional bath rather than a solar powered job for two reasons:  money and weight.  This one was under $40 AND heavy.  Even so it wobbles a bit in the wind gusts.  If I get wild and crazy I'll add a pump-solar cell arrangement later.  So far I think it scares more birds off than it attracts.

Talked to some folks having a garage sale today.  Boy, were they depressing.  They are certain that the world is in the hands of some group who are trying to end the world as we know it.  People start off on a rant about President Obama; I'm just not going to argue with them.  I agree he's screwed up some things but he inherited a huge pile of shit from Presidents Bush, Clinton & the rest going back at least 40 years.  Anyway, living here it's easy to laugh off any criticism of  the national government; I just point out that our local government is so lousy that I don't have time to worry about the nation.  It's not true that I don't worry, of course, but almost everyone will agree about our local pols!

Guess I'll go watch the news and get completely depressed.  Hope you are having a good one.

Valley of Fire

Yesterday we took a day off from doing whatever it is we usually do and piled into the car (with the dog) and visited Valley of Fire State Park.  It was really cool.

As you can see, it was a rather gray sort of day but it was comfortably cool and we got to see some really interesting rock formations.  It was Red Rock Canyon on steroids.  Really I think Red Rock has taller formations but Valley of Fire has a lot more of that startling red rock.  There was a small visitor center where you could learn a few things about the geology of the place, some of the plants and animals common to the desert, and a tiny bit of the history of people in this area.  It's about 35 miles (55km) north of Las Vegas if you hop on I-15 Northbound.  Highly recommended.

Coming home we drove on a couple back roads that were almost completely without traffic.  It was really odd to come down this road that was empty except for us down into North Las Vegas.  We struggled through traffic for quite a while finding our way out of town.  We had almost made it when we heard on the radio that there were two accidents currently being worked:  we had passed both of them!  It just wasn't a day for speed.

I've been reading a site about self-defense called No Nonsense Self Defense.  I like the site.  The people seem to know what they are talking about.  They are NOT about judo or carrying a knife or gun; they are trying to teach the reader about using his/her head to recognize and avoid dangerous situations.  Give it a shot.

Have a good one.

Fall!

Fall has arrived in Pahrump.  It was 49 degrees (F) this a.m.  That's 9C for all you linear thinkers in the rest of the world.  We aren't expecting it to last long; it has been so slow in coming we expect it to be wintery pretty soon.  When we took our morning walk I needed a sweatshirt. And I got a little more exercise that I was expecting; we collected some largish rocks, about the size of a loaf of bread.

As I've said before, our yard is entirely rock with only 4 small cacti.  The fact is though that all rock is not created equal.  There is driveway rock and decorative rock; many different decorative rocks in fact.  The driveway rock has some clay mixed in with it causing it to compact really well so it can support being driven on better than just decorative rock.  Our problem is that people can't tell the difference easily so they are driving on the decorative rock which pushes the rock down in the dirt and it will just go away.  So we've decided to line the driveway with large rock so people will know where to drive.  The thing is that walking 2.5 miles is not too difficult but carrying large rocks in your hands for the last half makes it a lot more daunting!  I'm going to have one hellova handshake by the time we get the drive lined.  We are also outlining the different kinds of decorative rock with medium sized rock (fist size) but those aren't nearly as difficult as the driveway markers.

We had rain the other night.  It rained hard for about 10 minutes then it was gone but the smell remained for a couple of days.  It's funny how there is a smell to rain.  You don't notice it in most places but it is very obvious in the desert.  The next morning it was dry enough that we could take our usual walk out in the desert.  (We go a block on our street then we are out on a dirt track across the desert.)  The dirt was all loose; no longer packed down by traffic it was like we were explorers in a new world.  Then the next day it was fun to follow our own tracks.  The dog gets a big kick out of ranging far and wide at first but by the time we are headed home she is tired and comes to heel without being told.

My only other news is that I'm having a colonoscopy tomorrow morning.  Today is the day for laxatives; what fun!  Here's hoping the doctor doesn't find anything nasty and I get turned loose for another five years.  I was careful to weigh myself this morning so I can find exactly how full of it I am really.  I MAY share that news or not. 

Have a good one!

Duh, just special stuff

It's just a great day here in the world.  Here's a link to some idiot who thought there was easy money to be had in day trading without any knowledge whatsoever.  Jeez, this idiot is certainly going to get off the hook but why?  Ignorance is just ignorance and this guy is way too dim to procreate!  At least the government should cut off his balls.

Tiger Wood's wife has finally dumped him.  Why should this be news to anyone?  Jeez!  He is such an idiot!  Granted she was way idealistic but don't we all want to expect the best from our spouse? 

Went into Vegas yesterday to get a tire replaced on the truck.  We were driving along in Oregon when we had a choice:  either every road we were traveling over was total crap or we had something wrong with the truck.  After some discussion with my BIL, we actually looked at the tire and you could see a bulge in the sidewall.  NOT GOOD!  We put the spare on.  Many miles later, the guy at the dealership just took a quick look and started finding me a new tire.  It took all afternoon but I have to say he managed it.  Good on you Gaudin Ford!

That Mexican weather I was grouching about is finally about to dissipate.  We have clouds and 20% humidity, a chance of rain (not likely!) and the weekend is forecast to be in the 90's (~36C)!  Ok!  Works for me!  Here's what our sky looked like tonight.

 
Hmmm, we might make it through this summer after all!  Have a good one.

FIRE!

Our news today is mostly concerned with two wildfires in the Las Vegas area.  One, near a tiny town called Moapa, has destroyed homes and other structures.  The other, on Mt. Charleston, is in the forest.  That fire was started by an illegal campfire, the fire service hasn't given any information of the start of the other.  (Fires are banned from April through November in the area.)  Right now the fires are reasonably small but you have to feel for the firefighters.  We are looking at another 105F (40+C) day with 15-25 mph (24-40 kph) winds.  It has to make a tough job much worse and they certainly will not get them put out today.  Go here or here for photos.

Personally we are just continuing to get ready for our trip.  Today I'm off to buy carpet protector material; we are tired of cleaning the carpet in the trailer!  We can't really shave the dog & cat so we are going to try protecting the carpet with plastic.  At least it will give us a fighting chance.  Tomorrow I'll do most of the loading.  We need warm weather clothes for the first couple days then cool weather stuff for Washington; they are supposed to have a high of 63F (17C) today.  It will be quite a change for us!

Have a good one.

"For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go.  I travel for travel's sake.  The great affair is to move."  Robert Louis Stevenson

Good timing!

Yesterday we took the trailer over for service; it was a very sunny 60 degree day. The rig will need to stay there a while until the maker can tell the dealer what they intend to do about the damaged floor.  They will either be able to patch it or they will have to replace the whole thing. Either way will work for us as long as it looks good when they are done.

This morning I woke to find snow here in the valley floor. Chains or snowtires were required for the pass between us and Vegas so I'm pretty happy about our trip being yesterday! My timing isn't always that good.  I'm originally from Iowa so I can drive in the snow but the combination of the pass, the idiots driving the other cars and towing a big trailer would keep me home.

The photo is of the house across the street and was taken about 08:30 this morning.  The snow sure looks nasty doesn't it.  Of course, by noon the snow was all gone and now the sun is out warming things up.  It will be muddy for a few days though.  Hope you are having a good one.

"And now there came both mist and snow,
And it grew wondrous cold:"
Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Nuttin Much

Got all cleaned up and dressed up for jury duty only to find that the person had plea-bargained and there wasn't going to be a trial. Oh well, it actually worked well for me. Got a few errands done early.

Have an appointment to take the trailer in (much later) for service. Have to get the slide fixed and we'll see what they propose for the floor. We are flexible but want the thing to look good. Heartland is supposed to be a good company and our dealer, Johnie Walker a good dealer, so we are hopeful.

It's been raining again in the desert; I fell asleep about 21:00 last night and my wife says it was really raining when she took the dog out. I've put two gallons of weedkiller down; probably only about 15 gallons to go! The clouds today were great. First they were in little layers around the mountains; then swooping down on the desert floor; then encompassing the mountain tops. Just nature putting on a show for us.

(Hmm, wanted to insert a photo here but Blogger has changed something. I'll have to figure that out again.) Have a good one!


"The only solid piece of scientific truth about which I feel totally confident is that we are profoundly ignorant about nature..." Lewis Thomas

It almost makes me believe.....

It's a glorious morning in the desert!  Woke about 06:30 and took the dog out.  The sun was not yet up; hidden by the mountains to the east.  In the west, above the rocky mountain, there was a layer of deep blue with a layer of pink above it.  Most unusual.  In the eastern sky light, whispy clouds formed a shape kind of like a human hand in an even lighter shade of pink.  Gradually, as the sun rose, the clouds became white.  The very top peaks of the rocky western mountains became pink; then, slowly, the color seeped down their slopes until they were totally pink.  Finally, the sun rose in the eastern sky turning the pink mountains into yellow ones.  In an hour, they will return to their brown, rocky state but in the morning they are magical.

"The sunshine is a glorious birth"  William Wordsworth

Home at last

Made it home on Thursday afternoon. Backed the trailer into it's spot and parked the truck in the garage. It's good to be home though we did have a great trip.

I've decided to call the latter portion of this trip the Volcano Tour; we visited Mt. St. Helens; Crater Lake and Lava Beds National Monument. It was not without it's drama.

Mt. St. Helens was clouded over so there wasn't much to see. We had a good time checking out the visitor's center and such. Things have sure grown over in the almost 30 years since the eruption.

We visited Crater Lake coming in from the North; the road was on the side of the mountain and there was no guardrail; NOT a fun trip. I can't imagine how that situation has come to be but it's nasty! The lake itself is amazing but there were tons-o-tourists too. Couldn't find a parking space at the main lodge so went to a place on the edge of the park for lunch - $9 hamburgers and $2.50 cokes. We were hungry enough that it sounded ok to us!



We were parked in the Escapee park in Sumerlin, OR and made Crater Lake a day trip. That worked ok but it was quite a long day. The park was nice but we really didn't meet anyone. There were tons of deer around and I got this photo from out the back window of our rig.



Lava Beds NM was kind of an impulse thing. It is northern CA. The local mountain blew up long ago and left lava deposits that are really quite impressive. I didn't get any photos because it just didn't seem to lend itself to photos. They have some lava tubes that you can explore as you might a natural cave. We checked out the one that is lit and left the other to people who like that kind of thing. Neither of us cares for crawling around in the dark!

We were staying at the fairgrounds in Tulelake, CA. It was kind of a weird place with several sites available but no one around except another group campers (3 guys) who had an rv, tents and several bbq's. Have no idea what they were about! The grounds keepers were watering the grass like crazy; the county fair is in early September and I guess they wanted the green grass award. Seemed like a terrible waste to me; at the fair when I was a kid I remember the grass being worn to nothing in about a day.

From Lava Beds we were only two days from home. So we hit the road. Stopped overnight in Fallon, NV; just outside Reno. Another town that is there because of irrigation; add enough water and the desert will bloom. Aside from having FOUR separate people try to pass us when they didn't have enough room, causing us to have to slow violently, driving home was pretty uneventful.

For me it had all the earmarks of a great trip: I was looking forward to it; I am happy to be home; had fun; nothing awful happened. What more can you ask! Next week we'll be conferring with the dealer about the little things we found in the trailer. That should be illuminating. ;)

Take care; it's still dangerous out there!