Snow falls on the mountains.
I neglected to turn on the Wave 3 heater before going to bed. This morning the crew and I wake to a very cold house! The Perfect Tow Vehicle lives up to her name by coming to our rescue.
I run outside with keys in hand.
The crew takes care of morning potty. I turn on the PTV’s engine and put the heater on high before returning to the Best Little Trailer. Quickly I light the burner for the percolator and crawl under the quilts with Bridget and Spike.
After a few minutes I ferry the nut cakes individually to the warm PTV. I go back and grab my mug of hot coffee before joining them in front of the PTV’s heater vents. Ooh, that heat feels good! Bridget climbs up into my lap and Spike goes back to sleep.
I turn on the radio and listen to the local news, weather and music while holding Bridget close and sipping coffee. Not a bad start to the day, after all!
The photos today are dimly lit.
That’s because they were taken either at dawn or at dusk. I want to show you how it looks when snow falls on the mountains but not on the desert. This is the best kind of snowfall — over there and not here.
The crew and I must have arrived here just in time to see the last hurrah of cottonwood color. The brilliant yellow-gold is turning brown, a sign that November is soon here.
As the setting sun throws light against the Inyo Mountains, Spike tries to sneak off into the desert for another exploration before I lock us inside for the night.
He makes the mistake of looking back. When he realizes I see what he’s planning, he knows it’s pointless to continue.
“Come back here, little boy. You’ve had your last walk of the day. Time to go in.”
I don’t know why I talk to him all the time.
He can’t hear me, although the message does get through and he aborts his mission.
Nina stops by!
She and Paul of Wheeling It blog are making their own southerly trek on Route 395. Whenever Nina visits, she pours a lot of love on the crew. Bridget adores her, wiggling around and getting all happy and excited. Even Spike warms up to her attentions. Usually he tries to get away from that mushy stuff.
Then when the love fest with Nina ends, Spike yells at me to pour out his kibble for supper. You think I’m kidding? I’m not. Just ask Nina. She heard him and laughed. Gosh, is that all I am to you, Spike? A meal ticket?
rvsue
CANINE CORNER: “Spike holds a grudge” by Bridget and Spike
“Isn’t Nina great, Spike? I love her. She’s so sweet and gentle, and she always pays attention to us.”
“Yeah, she’s cool. Ya’ know sumpthin’, Bridge? I bet she wouldn’t make me come inside as soon as it’s dark. Like I’m a baby.”
“Oh, Spike. Are you still holding that against RVSue? She’s only trying to protect you. Coyotes live around here.”
“So? I can lick any coyote. I bite coyotes in the rear and tear their tails off.”
“Whatever (rolls eyes). . . But you ought to be more appreciative of all that RVSue does for us. We have a pretty exciting life.
“Like going to bed at SEVEN o’clock is exciting. Hmmpff.”
“What about the rotisserie chicken? What about that, Spike? And all those soaks . . . You’re being awfully grumpy today.”
“Am not.”
“Yes, you are. Spike! Come back here! I’m talking to you!”
THANK YOU, RVSUE SHOPPERS!
Here are some recent Amazon purchases made by readers of this blog:
Wireless Internet Radio Adapter Featuring Pandora, NPR and SIRIUS
Schwinn Recumbent Exercise Bike
Grateful Dead Vibrating Bear Bandana
Goal Zero LightALife LED Lantern
Nine Stars Trash Can/Recycler with Infrared Touchless Automatic Motion Sensor Lid
“REAR VIEW MIRROR”
March 13, 2013, the crew and I return to a favorite desert camp. I grill some chicken much to the delight of the crew.
“The green, green grass of home at Congress BLM campsite in central Arizona”
Beautiful country you are enjoying, great pictures you have taken!!!
Good to hear all is going well with Rusty and Timber too.
Thank goodness for the PTV to get you warmed up 😉
We have snow on our surrounding mountains, it’s threatening to reach the valley floor so say the weather guessers for tonight’s forecast, definitely not summer anymore with temps in the low 40’s… Change is good 🙂
Enjoy…
T~
And what valley floor is that, Twanda?
‘Salt Lake’ where we had the hottest summer on record 🙂
T~
Oh, right! You told me that! Sorry… My memory fails me.
Ha! Love “dog language” and you know it’s true! Thanks Sue for that and the beautiful shots of the falling snow. Take Care.
You’re welcome, Diane.
“The best kind of snowfall”, I have to agree. Great to look at & I don’t have to deal with it!
Just a note, it’s always an interesting collection of things bought from Amazon.
Hi, Rob,
Yeah, I enjoy seeing what readers buy through my links. I appreciate the feedback.
I was thinking the same thing! I enjoy seeing what people purchase.
Love the shot of the BLT with the mountains and snow skies!
get SOUTH woman!!!!
Hi, Geri,
The snow is on the mountains. By 10 a.m. it’s sunny and warm at our campsite. The nighttime lows will be higher by the weekend.
You’re a good mom!
That’s what Bridget tries to tell Spike! 🙂
Spike, I go to bed at 7:00 and the only coyotes I deal with are the two legged variety–middle schoolers! Great post, Sue.
Hi, DeAnne,
And those coyotes run in packs! Yikes!
And those coyotes eat anything and everything in their path, especially at their 3 pm feeding!
Hi Sue,
I ordered a book thru your Blog. I clicked on “click here to shop Amazon”. Is this all I have to do to send credit your way? I do a lot of Christmas shopping thru Amazon.
Enjoying your beautiful pictures of the Owens Valley.
Pat/Central Texas & raised in Bishop!
That’s all you have to do, Pat.
Any link on my blog that takes you to Amazon — no matter what you end up ordering — will give me credit. Thanks for caring enough to ask and for the book purchase. Shop on, dear lady! 🙂
Bishop is your hometown! No wonder you’re enjoying my photos . . .
Love the crew! So nice to see Nina came by to give them some loving:)
Yep, Nina came by to love the crew. I happened to be here. Haha!
Love the pictures but for the life of me, I couldn’t stay in the desert. But that is why they make chocolate and vanilla. Love the picture of Spike looking back at you. Such sweeties….
Love you
Hi, Pauline,
The desert is wonderful! One thing — a very important thing — about the desert that I love is the air. It cannot be described.
Love you, too.
I would think your Wave3 could heat the BLT up pretty quickly….not so? Love the shot of Spike walking away! lol
Hi, Jeff,
It won’t heat up the BLT fast (as fast as we wanted it) once all these hard surfaces are cold. The PTV is faster in a situation like that.
Glad you like Spike’s departure pic… I see his back-end moving away more than I like!
Re Spike’s departure picture, reminds me of my son at 14 years old, strolling out the front door, looking over his shoulder and saying: “I’m smart enough to live on my own, you know.” LOL
At 14, all teenagers are smart enough to do anything… 🙂
Gorgeous photos of the desert & distant snow, Sue. Love the Canine Corner! I think our dog & cat converse when we’re not around & I talk to the two of them all the time! They love it & so do I–super stress buster! Stay warm!
Hi, Dawn,
I spend so much time with the nut cakes, talking with them throughout the day, every day, that it’s not surprising that I hear them answering and talking between themselves.
“I think our dog & cat converse when we’re not around.” Yeah, I know what you mean. Bridget and Spike probably talk behind my back all the time. You know how you come into a room and you get the feeling you were the topic of conversation? I get that a lot.
Hi RVSue,
I like the Canine Corner with Spike and Bridget. They have a way with words to bring out the laughter and joy. Our pets do have their own unique personality. My pet is a three year old Maltipoo. And, no she is not spoiled…lol.
I know what you mean about liking the desert. I lived in the Kingman and Bull Head City area of northwest Arizona for about a year, and really liked it there both in the winter and summer. There is something about the desert that makes a person feel alive and vibrant.
I like your pictures very much. The single fencepost from a couple days age was beautiful and very thought provoking, or for just pondering. Keep up the photography.
Clayton, TX
Hi, Clayton,
I’m happy you enjoy Canine Corner. Sometimes I feel like my readers would rather I turn this blog over to Bridget and Spike and let me write in “RVSUE’s CORNER.”
I like your description of the effect one gets from the desert.
Thanks for stopping by. I enjoyed your comment, especially the compliments. 🙂
Broken link should be http://wheelingit.wordpress.com/
Always enjoy reading your blog (and also enjoy “wheelingit” blog). I can’t explain why I get such a kick out of Bridget and Spike’s point-of-view entries–appeals to the kid in me, I guess 🙂
Thanks, Geri, for letting me know about the broken link and for posting a good link to Wheeling It. I went back and fixed the link.
You aren’t the only one who likes to hear what the crew has to say. When I started this blog I made it clear I was not going to have talking dogs. How cutesy! Yuck! Now look at what it’s come to . . .
Nice to hear from you!
Your snow pictures are beautiful. And Nina posted a lovely picture of Bridget on her blog. I think it’s the best face-on shot I have seen of her.
Stay warm.
Hi, Page,
Thanks on the photos.
Are you kidding me? You must not have seen all my previous posts. Nina takes great photos but that is one weird expression on Bridget’s face. LOL
Since there are at least two of us….lol…I’ll sign in with my state. Anyway..thank you for the photo of the snow falling. That’s really interesting. Sort of like watching a rain storm far out on the Great Lakes.
I talk to my dog all the time and sometimes she even writes my blog. I swear she’s funnier than I am.
You’re welcome, Dawn, on the photo. I appreciate you putting your location next to your name. I’m interested where my readers are writing from, as well as keeping you straight in my mind.
Dogs are the best listeners, so talk on!
Sue, I am loving the pictures you are getting with this new camera. You have a natural eye for composition. Good job! What a thrilling experience it must be to see the snow fall on those mountains while sitting high and dry (or low and dry as the case may be) on the desert floor. Just how far away and how high are those mountains? It’s hard to tell from pictures.
Hi, Cherie,
Thanks for the compliment. Well, Lone Pine Peak, which is the tallest in my pics, is 12,943 feet. Its neighbors are taller… over 13,000 to Mt. Whitney’s 14,494.
Mt.Williamson, which appears in the photos taken when the crew and I went down the Manzanar Reward Road, is 14,375 feet (according to my CA Benchmark atlas).
As to how far away the mountains are in my photos of our camp? I’m a very poor judge of distance. Even though I’ve driven up the Whitney Portal Road close to its base, I couldn’t tell you how far that is. You can bet it’s further… a lot further . . . than it looks in photos.
My little Casita sits awaiting my retirement and departure in 273 days. After the evening I had at work yesterday, (RN in a very busy birth center) I wonder….can I make it 273 more days? And can I really do the vagabond lifestyle? Can I overcome the ‘other’ obstacles in my life? Then I look at your pictures this morning, and they are absolutely the most beautiful things I can imagine. This is what my heart longs for…to be a part of the wild and beautiful places! I WILL survive my 273 days, and the dogs and I WILL go. Mind over matter. Thanks for posting Sue, you are helping to keep me sane. 🙂
Micky in Monterey
Hi, Micky,
If the vagabond life is what your “heart longs for,” you’ll have the determination to overcome the obstacles and to make it happen. Those 273 days will tick off and then you’ll be on your way! I wish you well (and sane) as you plan and transition to a new way of life.
You ask yourself “Can I really do the vagabond lifestyle?” I asked myself that same question many times before I picked up the BLT and headed out to new places. It came down to this: I have to try it or I’ll never know!
So glad I did. 🙂 Nice to hear from you, Micky.
Micky, having Gypsy Feet is soooo much fun! I started out in a slide in camper on the back of my pickup truck! Lived in it and travelled the southwest for 6 years! JUST DO IT!
Canine corner had me laughing out loud today! Sure did enjoy seeing the crew and you and yes…I can confirm that Spike did indeed yell at you. That boy was not mincing words LOL.
Nina
From now on, I’ll always think of the crew as ‘wiggly butts’! 🙂
And that was a minor yelling episode! I meant to tell you… I saw your site and it’s a good ‘un. . . great location in the Hills and off the tourist path. Have a great time… I left today for FF. 🙂
And another little bit of fun for your day. Turns out putting “RV Sue” in my blog title gets me aaaalmost as many hits as putting “naked” in my blog title LOL. Not quite as many, but almost. You carry some clout girl!
Nina
Gee, next post put “naked RVSue” and see what you get! LOL!
LOL LOL LOL !!!!
By the way I was trying to see if there’s any good BLM camping around Ridgecrest, CA on the way south and I found a couple of potential options….
This looks decent for a overnighter:
http://www.rv-boondocking-adventure.com/short-canyon-ridgecrest-california.html
This is just past Fossil Falls and looks nice for a few night:
http://www.rv-boondocking-adventure.com/fossil-falls-ridgecrest-california.html
Just a few extra ideas for that long, dry stretch to Barstow 🙂
Nina
Nina… Great links!
Without telling too much of my next post…. We’ve already found our site and it isn’t far from what the second link suggests.
Thanks for sharing!
My anti-virus (Webroot) told me not to visit those websites??
Huh? I did and didn’t get a warning from McAfee.
Me neither…no warning. Hmmm…hoping the links are ok!
Beautiful pictures once again!
The hoops we all jump through to keep the “kids” comfy! Spike hears you just fine!! Meh thinks it’s selective hearing. Just like Bridget know tone of voice!
Canine corner was hilarious! I laughed at the photo of Spike’s butt!
I too browse at your amazon posts. Stay warm!
Hi, Cinandjules,
I’ve chased after that butt more times than I can remember. I still love the sight of it though. Good to know the Corner gave you some laughs.
You’re such a loyal commenter. Love hearing from you . . . Have a wonderful day.
TeeeHeeee!
I ‘see’ Spike in my mind walkin’ down the road with his little napsack of puppy treats (red bandana of course)… and Bridget snuggling under the covers with you sayin’ “oh RVSue, you KNOW I am the better puppy and you love me best of all”. 🙂 Poor old Spike.
Gorgeous places, and so fun to feel the adventure!
Off to grab my own java before I start a group…
Hugs from Hoquiam, where the rain finally came back…
Barb
Hi, Barb,
Spike heading down the road with a red bandana sack tied to a stick… I can see that as a children’s book illustration, although it might give kids the same idea.
You could write the Canine Corner… You nailed the personalities of the crew!
Glad you’re with us on the “adventure!”
I love the picture of the BLT and Wilson cell antenna silhouetted against the Sierra Mountains. WoW, what a turn-on!!!
Hi, Mick,
That antenna on a stick made this camp possible for me and the crew. I wouldn’t have any signal at all without it, and we all know I have to get online! I, too, love the way it looks on the BLT, my little space capsule . . .
That’s right, now that your hitting some of the places that you were at last year you get to see how much the antenna helps. I know it was close to Christmas when you got it installed.
You expecting any Trick or Treaters?
Not one. In fact, at our new site, I don’t even expect to see another human being. Life is good.
I think I have a new favorite photo – this time it’s the one of your BLT surrounded by the mountains. Second place – the 5th one down, showing the rear of the BLT with the mountains in the distance. And your description of the crew’s actions had me laughing out loud. Each one has their own definite personality, and I love them both!
I’ve been fighting a cold and cough for about a week, so I finally went to the doctor yesterday, and I’ve been diagnosed with bronchitis. Same thing happened in November of last year, I hope this is not becoming a trend. I’ve got an inhaler now (never used one before, but it’s working) along with some antibiotics. I’m usually in great health, so this is really annoying, especially since I have to be outside working. Oh, well, could be worse, I know. I need some of that dry desert air! 🙂
Hi Cari,
When I was working, I developed bronchitis every year in late Jan. or early Feb. I accepted it as a chronic condition. Since I retired and hit the road, no sign of bronchitis. No even a sore throat. I hope you can get rid of yours.
It’s great to read you got some laughs from the crew. Thanks for telling me.