Tuesday, August 9, 2016
My humans are letting me out to sniff things. I like to eat the grass and then throw
up. That is always fun. Then I like to... wait! What is that?
PTSD flashback - RUN for cover!
Oh I am stuck, pull hard! ACK! I am free!
Ow, that hurts... RUN for more cover!
I am scared! Here comes my
paternal human. I will put my
feline-ness on the side and let him capture me.
DADDY SAVE ME FROM THE SPOOK!
Rudy was pretty perturbed last night, but by the time we
went to bed, he was back to purring after his ordeal outside. He was interested in going outside again, so
we gave him a little time, holding the leash the entire time.
The night was not as cold as it has been, so with the
morning, I put on shorts for my walk.
Spouse joined me. When it is
cool, he does better with keeping up with me.
We walked up to the road, which is a pretty, piney road. We crossed the creek and saw a trail leading
up the mountain, so we took it for a while.
It is a soft composted trail following the creek. We can see Hannah across the way. The trail goes on for miles, but we head back
after about 25 minutes one way.
When we got here yesterday, we were only going to stay for
one day and move on. So, to fit in our
space, Spouse cocked the truck at a weird angle so that we did not have to
disconnect the truck from Hannah. But,
as I thought about things, I suggested we disconnect from Hannah and go to the
Hell's Canyon Dam from here. Sounds easy
right? We learned one thing: do NOT try and disconnect when your truck is
at a severe angle... Fortunately, we
learned it before any damage was done.
So, we had to sort of prep Hannah as if she was leaving, pull forward,
then back up again so we could get the truck straight. It was a bit of a hemorrhoid, and Rudy - who was
inside Hannah while we moved her around - was not amused. After his episode yesterday with the spooky
newspaper, he is a little bit sensitive!
With Hannah set up again, we left Rudy behind and headed to
Oxbow. Just in case, we brought bathing
suits, towels, I brought some capris.
Although it seemed like it might be a warm day, there are clouds
beckoning rain and it is cool. But, we
hear Hell's Canyon is routinely in the 90s in the summer, so it just may be
where we are... Off we go back down rt.
39, then turn east. Follow the mountain
canyon. From here, we cross into Idaho
and follow the road along the Snake River 23 miles to the dam. The road was carved out of a rugged
mountainside. It is quite windy and
somewhat narrow. We are glad we don't
have Hannah with us. Within a couple of
miles, any semblance of civilization is behind us - not that there was much
civilization, but we did see a post office and an RV park. It is a beautiful drive, reminiscent of the
north side of Lake Mohave once you get in the canyon. This is definitely big horn sheep country as
well as mountain goat. We are alone on
the road. We cross the dam and go in to
the visitor center. It is cold, about 65
degrees. I switch from shorts to
capris. Why didn't I bring a jacket? Spouse did!
The ranger told us it has been unseasonably cool all summer.
We watch some folks get their kayaks in the water. (News flash:
you are gonna freeze in that tank top!) The first exit point is about 32
miles downriver, the next more than 70.
There is a boating concession but we see nobody. A boat had just left. So we turn around to head back. My turn to drive.
'Spouse, are those bears on the hill there?'
'Let me get my binocs.
They are cows laying down.'
'Spouse, cows don't stand up! That's a black bear and her baby!'
'Yeah it is'.
The baby was from this season and had the cutest ears! I am sure it will grow into its ears! Where Spouse got this cow thing is beyond
me...
Oh, look at the wild turkeys crossing the road! You would think the navigator would be ready with the camera, but noooo, leave it to the driver...
We get back to Hannah, make ourselves lunch (nowhere to eat
on the road, no cell access, no internet that we saw), then head out to the
Hell's Canyon overlook. It is still cold
so I bring a jacket. Spouse changes into
jeans. I can't bring myself to change
into pants because I am sure it is going to warm up. So off we go up 39 about 12 miles then up
another road for some sweeping views of the canyon. You cannot see the Snake River from here, but
it is beautiful nonetheless. And then it
starts to rain... a cold rain... I have my jacket on, but it is not my gortex
jacket. It is supposed to be 90 degrees,
why would I need that? The fleece jacket
is warmer... except in rain. So, I trot
back to the truck. We wait it out and
look some more. The temperature is down
to 50. My sandals are not keeping my
feet warm!
Then we got this brilliant idea! We saw a 4wd trail right off the
lookout. Let's do it! The rain would make for no dust! It could also make for a lot of floods and
stuff, but it isn't raining too hard.
And we don't have Hannah sooooo, off we go down this tiny one lane road. I am glad I am wearing a bra as we bounce
along the ridge through the trees.
Slowly we crawl. The road is
lined with yellow and orange ground flowers and the views are stunning. We stop for a picture - darn it is cold!
And the rain is really cold! Down to 48 now... Spouse bought a topo map so we can see where
we are going, kind of. When we get to
the fork in the road, we turn to where I think it would take us back to
39. Spouse is looking at his GPS and he
says it will take us to I84. NOT A
CHANCE! Back to 39 we arrive in time for
a deluge!
Heading back it rains till about 2 miles from home. It is totally dry, but still cold. I get inside, put on some fleece sweats and a
good sweatshirt, and some shoes and socks.
I am tired of being cold! I walk
outside and the sun comes out.
Dammit! I take of my
sweatshirt... I am leaving the rest of
this heavy cloth on. I will have a vodka
tonic to cool me off!
Spouse lights the fire.
As with remote controls, one never messes with a man and his fire pit. The kindling goes in just so. The logs are tilted at just the right
angle. Once the fire is going, only HE
can poke it the way it needs. It is his
inner pyromaniac! It is 9:30 and not
totally dark. We are seeing a few stars
through the tree canopy. If we want to
watch the meteor showers, we would need to wait another couple of hours... not
gonna happen!
Hannah's batteries are low. Will need to go to an RV park with hookups to charge her up.
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