Tag Archives: snow

Day 159 – Thursday – Eureka Elks

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It’s been a long harrowing day on Highway 101. We left Willits around 1000 and made our first stop in town at the local Les Schwab to have the RV tires first pumped up a little. Actually, they needed to be pumped a lot. Most tires had 65-70 psi, and we needed them to be 90. My assigned Les Schwab tire jockey fixed us right up in about 5 minutes, then we were on our way.

It was raining when we started but it quickly turned to snow mixed with rain. As we progressed, the mixture of snow to rain turned to mostly snow, then only snow. Thankfully, the roads remained clear so there was no problem on the road. I kept the speed at 55 because 101 is a wiggly road so even though the speed limit for most of the trip was 65, but I stuck with 55 anyway. That made both Diane and me happy.

Putting more air in the tires made a big difference in how the bus handled. Steering was much easier and we didn’t jump around as much as it has up to this point in time. Should have done that years ago.

We got to Eureka around 1432 hours and parked in space #1. After getting it all hooked up, I went in and paid for 2 nights as directed. When I got back to the bus Diane told me that she’d made a big mistake because she already had a reservation for Tugman State Park for the 8th. That means I would have had to drive nearly 5 hours on Saturday. So, we reverted to 1 night and plan to spend tomorrow night in Harris State Park in Brookings. That was the original plan.

We’re staying home this evening. Diane thought about getting dinner at KFC but the one she found only got 2 stars and she won’t eat at anyplace that has 3.5 or lower. We have food so will cook this evening. I think it’s going to be ham, baked potatoes, and some sort of vegetable. Probably beans.

Here’s Max keeping an eye out for you.

Day 150 – Tuesday – North to Tehachapi

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Tehachapi, California is only about 93 miles from Barstow and is the home of two of the largest wind farms in the country. I know that’s true because I believe everything I read on the internet. You can confirm this claim by checking the above link.

It is currently 0800s hours and the base bugle has alerted everyone that it’s time to get to work. Thinking about that made me realize that I don’t believe I’ve ever mentioned the bugle calls that echo off the buildings and hills surrounding every military base we’ve inhabited. It’s so routine that I never considered it interesting. For those of you who have never been on a military base when the bugler is at work, perhaps you might enjoy this bit of news.

The most common bugle calls are Reveille, Retreat, and Taps. These calls are broadcast electronically on the base so everyone can hear them. In a nutshell, reveille gets you up in the morning at sunrise, retreat signals sunset, and taps signals the end of the day at 2100 hours. Please check the link for specifics about each call, if you wish. It’s quite a tradition. One that’s hard to forget.

The drive to Tehachapi on Highway 58 was uneventful and we easily found our new campground. All we had to do was follow the instructions provided by our handy dandy GPS. It new exactly where to go.

It’s a small park and we were the 4th unit to arrive. We’ve been here a few hours now and only two other units have checked in. So, it’s almost like we’re here alone. There is no sewer, so I hooked up just the power (50 amp) and called it good. We found it interesting that there is a lot of snow all around us. The elevation is just under 4500 feet so I probably shouldn’t be surprised. We’re in a small valley and in the distance, on the snow-covered hills there are dozens of windmills spinning for our evening enjoyment. Not true, of course. They are spinning to churn out megawatts of power for the masses. I may have stated in a previous post that there are two wind farms in this area that are the largest in the country. As we got closer to our destination, the wind farm revealed itself.

We drove around in front of the farm you can see, then wound up going through farm to the other side.

Once we made it around the hill on our right, our campground was very close. When we got parked, the other side of the hill became the view from the RV.

I expanded the above photo so you can get a better look at the other side.

The dark strips running across the field are runways for an airport that’s off to the right. Just little planes. When we checked in, the young lady (London) who greeted us said to go all the way to the back, but don’t drive in the field because that’s our runway. So, I didn’t drive in the field. But, when I took Max for a walk out there after getting things settled, he promptly pooped demonstrating how unimpressed he is about snow. He’s seen snow before. Once. He wasn’t impressed the first time, either. I would love to find a snowbank big enough to toss him in and see how unimpressed that makes him. We talked about his ho hum response so far and think once he experiences it in his own back yard it will be more fun.

I’m sitting on the sofa facing the starboard windows and saw this as the sun was going down.

I know. It’s a little repetitious, but still worth another look.

Now we rest. We’re here just one night then it’s on to NAS Lemoore.

Cheers.

Day 66 – Tuesday – Mt. Lemmon

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Yes, that’s a real mountain. I looked it up and know it’s true. To prove it, we packed a couple of sandwiches and took a drive in that direction. It’s only about 20 miles away and we can see it from our home in space 261.

That’s it. the one with the snow on it. The news told us that during the rainstorm we had a couple days ago the mountain got 5-8″ of snow. Yup. Right here in Tucson. Well, not in, but nearby.

Diane had the mountain on our list of places to go and today seemed like the one, so we went. On our way out of the back gate, we saw a meeting of the minds warming their tiny little feet on the powerlines.

Since today is Get Out and Vote Day, we thought perhaps they were discussing what life might be like with a new president. Then I saw the lone bird below the others and thought maybe this was choir practice and the loner was the leader. Perhaps he was tutoring the alto/tenor section when we drove by. We didn’t have time to stop and listen because we had a destination.

On the way up the very curvy road, we were fascinated by the rock formations.

As we neared the top, around the 8,000′ level, we encountered snow. We got out to investigate and to see what Max thought about it.

He wasn’t sure about it at first, then he did some zoomies as far as his leash would allow. He had fun and seemed to be fascinated with the white stuff but got over it quickly.

Diane was attempting to get Max still for his photo op.

Just below this area is a village of many cabins and a cabin hotel. The cabins were quite impressive as was the hotel that lined the street.

This next photo is looking out into the valley to where all the Tucsonians live.

Here’s a snap of the information provided for one of the stops. It came out pretty good, showing the very crooked road we took today.

On the way down we ran into a little bit of snow, and I asked Max if he’d like to stop and take a walk. This is what he gave us …

I took that as a “nope”.

When we got back to the saguaro cactus fields, we were amazed at how these guys can grow in such desolate conditions. Pretty amazing.

As soon as we got back to the RV, I took Max for his walk, because he was such a good little guy, and took another photo of the airplanes that live on the other side of the fence from the RV park.

Now it’s time for Max’s evening walk. I’ll see you tomorrow.

Snow in Connecticut

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Yesterday I talked with a resident of Windsor Locks, Connecticut and learned she has over 30″ of snow in her back yard. No one was going anywhere, she was alone, and she still had power. I didn’t ask if she had enough food to last through the storm, but suspect she does. I’ve seen the insides of her various freezers and don’t think she’ll run out for a while. Of course, the last time I looked in them was last summer so she may have depleted those supplies some. Plus, she has kids running in and out of the house most every day so they may have been depleted a lot.

We hope our East Coast Family (ECF) weathers the storm with no ill effects or incidents.

I asked Diane if she wished she were in Connecticut, in all that snow, instead of here in all this sunshine, and she said “Yes”. I found that interesting until the truth came out that it would be fun to see all that snow coming down but she wouldn’t want to necessarily live in it. That was a relief because I thought for a moment that I was going to have to hire a lawyer and get a divorce. That, of course, wasn’t part of our conversation on this matter but she’s familiar with the threat. It seems to either keep her in line, or she’s just ignoring me. I choose to believe my threats contain enough weight that she knows what’s good for her.

I would never divorce her, though, and she knows this is true. It boils down to simple math. I don’t have enough money to make it worth the effort. So, we just stick to the status quo. Also, since she’s been so sick with the shingles I’ve proven to be a very valuable asset.

And I make really good omelettes, any time she wants.

That makes me a keeper.

I think …