Leave It to a Computer to Screw Up Our Launch Day!

We woke up Tuesday morning in the Camping World parking lot. The adhesive on the windshield rubber needed to cure, so instead of going back to the storage lot, we just stayed there. At 105 degrees at 5 PM on Monday, we were glad to have at least 30 amp power and be tucked up against the service bays where the shade helped a little. Still, we couldn't wait to get out of town and head for Morro Bay!

After getting the rig washed on Sunday it came as no surprise to hear rain on the roof when we got up :-)  So what, let's go!

Pulled out just after 9 AM with Bill driving the Jeep until we got fuel and had more room to maneuver (CW is packed!). I look down and have zero fuel. And the Check Engine light is on!

I knew we hadn't run our fuel out, but was so hopeful that both lights would go out when we filled up.

Nope, instead we got a new one on the data screen.! No J1939 Data. What the hell does that mean? Is it important? More than just the gauges being wanky? Is it more important than J1938 data?

Nooooo!

I'm now officially done. My heart is in my throat and I can't find the happy. Bill follows me back to CW where I just sit there. He has to talk with them, I can't move from the driver's seat.

He's back quickly. They don't work on engines. I vaguely remember it's a Freightliner thing, and they've given Bill the number of the closest shop. Oxnard. 45 miles away.

Someone actually answers when he calls, and we get directions. As long as the Stop Engine light isn't on we can just drive it there. We agree keeping the Jeep separate continues to be a good idea, and we head out.

I start getting used to the ever present reminder that we have another problem, and just try to enjoy the drive. At least we're headed in the right direction!

Velocity Truck Center is a nice, big, clean, friendly place. It is not where we want to be. 

Our new first stop

Over lunch we decide that being out of the heat makes all the difference. We're at the beach.  Bill used to live just up the road and can show me cool stuff if we're going to be here a while. I'm definitely feeling better. We make a quick stop for him to visit with an old friend, and then we go back and hang out in the service lounge. We all three doze off listening to the rain on the roof. This crap is exhausting!

If we have to wait.......

At three o'clock we get the news we're expecting. Not going anywhere tonight. I call and let the campground know not to cancel our space. We ARE going to get there!

After saying they don't allow people to stay in their rig on site, they do let us stay in the driveway just outside the gate. It's level, there's room for the slides, the Jeep fits too. We're asleep before dark.

The gate opens at 7:00 this morning and I move the rig back to the first bay door at 7:01. Debbie at the counter introduces a technician to Tessa. She laughs and has to ask my name. I'm used to it :-)

We have a wonderful morning. Breakfast at a little local café where we can sit outside. A quick walk on the beach (no dogs after 9 AM), and then a beautiful drive through Old Town Ventura up the back roads toward Ojai. We even find a cool little campground at Foster County Park with full hookups and spaces that would fit our 35 feet.

A nice spot to enjoy breakfast

If you're going to be stranded somewhere.....

So much better than a parking lot!
 

Because bikinis are not for swimming

Foster County Park in the old oaks
 

A rainbow fairy passes over and we learn the rig is ready!

At 10 AM Bill calls Debbie. Half Shell is on a test drive, but looks like we're ready to go! We waste no time getting back :-)  Bill takes care of all the paperwork and we hook up the Jeep to finally head North.

So what was all that nonsense about? The on-board computer :-(  Our rig was "missing" the last nine updates. Okie dokie.

It didn't cost us anything, and I hope it cost Thor a bucket load for the five hours of time it took for the techs to sort it out! I'm so grateful that they just kept at it, and made the calls necessary to figure it out in that time. Geeez!

So how happy were we to have the Jeep hooked up and be heading for Morro Bay?  You guessed it - VERY, VERY, VERY!!!  There might have been some giggling and bouncing up and down.

The drive was incident free, with the rig handling like a dream even in the winds that picked up in a couple places. One of the places I've been working with to get us in over the weekend called to say they couldn't get us in until Sunday. Since we had to leave our spot in Morro Bay on Friday morning I was going to have to scramble when we got set up.

But our day continues to improve. When I check in at Morro Dunes the lady gets a cancellation and we're in until Sunday morning :-) And they didn't charge us for last night's missed reservation :-)))))

Morro Dunes with the Rock behind us

We're all tucked in with Morro Rock within walking distance and nice ocean breezes. Now we can really say we're on the road........

 

Awwwwe....home.

 

 

We're Free!

The parts arrived at last!  It was like hearing we had an offer on the house, or that the RV loan was approved. Although neither of those things took this long :-(

No time for sour grapes, we met with our Camping World tech Friday afternoon to confirm what needed done, and are scheduled for first thing this morning (no installers on weekends). They're good folks there, but don't you know they're as ready for us to be done as we are?!

With a "go" date back on the calendar we wanted to wrap up a couple last things before leaving familiar ground. A trip to Home Depot was all Bill needed to fix the storage bin to better hold some longer pieces. We made sure the washer and dryer worked (neither did without additional steps), and got the exterior of the rig washed without having to move it anywhere. We'll see all the boys for hugs to last nine months sometime today.

Most critical task was reservations. In June. Along the California coast. Yeeha!

Yes, we decided to bypass Hwy 395 with the temps already in the 90's, and head up Hwy 101. We've spent time in several places along this route, but not in our home, in our own bed, for multiple days at each stop. And there's just so much to see!!  It means spending more money than we planned, although the delay of 8 days with free moochdocking gave us a little wiggle room in the budget. And it means staying in "not our first choice" places in some areas. We'll survive.

We've also booked a couple stops through our Harvest Hosts membership. One is a vineyard and one is at a taproom (part of a small brewery). I think it will be fun, and again, free is good!

July we'll mosey through Oregon and if I can't reschedule our dates in Forks, WA, we'll pick up the pace to make the ones we have the first week in August.

Our reroute means seeing our friends in Spokane and Nevada later in the year, and traveling Hwy 395 in the Fall. Both sound great to us.  We're back here in November for Nick's wedding.

So that's the new plan and we're more than excited to finally head out tomorrow morning in this big, new, adventurous life! 

Thunderstorms in the forecast for tomorrow......word's out that we washed the rig!

Rock and Roll Reptiles

Everybody names their rig, right? Most, but not all, are a specific gender.

I don't know why. I always called the place I lived "the house" or "the apartment". I never said I was going back to get my purse from Bertha or The Fortress.

Maybe it's because they move. Unlike a stix and brix, these homes go with us. They "see" what we do. They are part of the adventure. In that way they are much more like vehicles and boats, which people do tend to name.

We take it personally when our rig isn't working right. We talk to them, encourage them, curse them. We have a definite love-hate relationship with them!

Bill and I enjoy a lot of the same things. Two of those are music and critters. We are particularly fond of reptiles and amphibians - and rock-and-roll.

We started looking for a "toad" to take on our travels. Called it that before we bought it, as many do. So we started looking at toad "names".

When we made the decision to go with a motorhome, and told others our home would now be on wheels, we envisioned a turtle or tortoise whose home is on its back. So we started looking at turtle "names".

A natural resource for us is music - bands and songs provide a huge database of potential names.

Bill introduced me to a SoCal band with minimal popularity and one song that I had heard. They are included in one of the playlists we listen to on road trips. Not a lot of people will make the connection, and we kind of like that too. We tried other names but kept coming back to them.

My kids grew up with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and until one of our last garage sales those gazillion action figures have made every move with us. We know all the words to the theme song. Bill has boys the same age and is very familiar with TMNT as well. Unlike the kids, we didn't have a favorite character, and we didn't really want a famous painter name anyway. So Bill came up with the song reference and it stuck.

As far as gender, we seldom make the reference, but it seems that our toad is male, and our turtle is a female. Why? Who knows. Some things just "are".

Half Shell, our turtle

          Wet Sprocket, our toad (Toad the Wet Sprocket is the band)

If you see us on the road (we are going to get there) give us a wave and a honk!

Living the Dream But Failure to Launch

The youngest graduates!

Richie graduated last night as planned. We attended with 2000 others to witness and celebrate the graduation of 500+ Seniors from Hart High School. I was dreading the anticipated length of time for that many graduates, and also the discomfort of hot sun and hard arena seating. Not only was it entertaining, well organized, and moving, but we sat on the side already in the shade when we arrived, and once things got started our butts stop noticing their location. Met Richie and his brothers on the field for hugs and congrats afterwards, picked up Tessa from Brian and Shalise, and went home.

That's a LOT of names to call!

Class of 2015

Thousands celebrate with their graduates

Proud Dad celebrates with his graduate

Home. It is wonderful to say that and mean the motorhome. Where it is definitely home. We moved in as planned on Sunday, and started unloading and finding a place for most everything. As expected, we got rid of even more stuff as we configured our new space.

Unfortunately it was not an altogether smooth day as Bill discovered a lake under the rig about 20 minutes after hooking up to city water. Damn.  Nothing for it after 5:00, so with everything turned off and no longer gushing, we just settled in for the night. Spent half the day on Monday trying to reach our folks at Camping World, and putting away more stuff. Once we made contact things moved quickly and we had an appointment for 9:30 Tuesday morning. Picked up some jugs of water and spent our second night "camping".

It was in the 90's so really we're glad that if there had to be a "system" malfunction we were very happy it wasn't the electric. With 30 amp power and our MCD shades we stayed very comfortable.

Yesterday morning we were at CW as planned and they got us right in. Had a nice breakfast and then cleaned the apartment for our move out on Thursday. Less than three hours of that task, another quick stop at Goodwill, lunch at a favorite outdoor spot, and we picked up the rig around 1:00. Spent some time attempting to pin down a date when our warranty parts will finally arrive, and although we left feeling very grateful they squeezed us in to fix our water line so quickly, we still have no idea other than "soon" on the parts.

So today our planned departure day has come, and will go without a departure. We have a failure to launch. 

Are we happy about that? Of course not. Are we angry or letting it ruin the reality that we are living fulltime in our new home. Of course not.

We are fortunate in so many ways. One is the support of family and friends. Including a quiet, safe and free spot to park with full hookups. It's a crushed asphalt lot in the middle of an industrial complex with no trees, no view, no anything. It's great. Every day we moochdock gives us more to spend on campsite fees for the rest of the month.



Not how we pictured our first stop :-)

And since we've completely changed the route we're taking when we do head out we're going to need that extra to pay for places we might otherwise avoid just to get a spot in June!

Where are we going now?  That's for the next post.

Down to the Wire While Wrapping Up Life in the Stix-and-Brix

Over two years of preparation comes down to this final week. Our targeted launch date is June 3.

We are sorting the last things here at the apartment for what the kids are taking, what our friend is picking up, what goes to charity, and finally what we're taking in the motorhome. Seems like there's a lot in the last pile that can't possibly all fit, but we'll make adjustments if we have to.

Got all our last appointments done - dentist, optometrist, vet, bank, lab-work, DMV, Tessa's groomer, my groomer. All done. 

Good-bye-for-now visits with family and friends enjoyed. Paperless accounts set up. Address changed. Utility, cable and internet cancellations scheduled.

But naturally there are unexpected "issues". Everything has gone so smoothly for us that we really shouldn't be surprised. And while the timing on one end is frustrating, it's a blessing we were still "home".

The day after we returned from Lake Tahoe Bill was having trouble breathing. Urgent Care on Monday confirmed a potentially serious health problem, and he was sent home with new meds and a referral to cardiology.

Time to get serious about some lifestyle changes we have been "going to start" for far too long. By Thursday morning he was feeling 100% better and has had no symptoms since. We see the doctor tomorrow for any further instructions, but we're feeling pretty confident that there will be no delays in our launch as a result of this wake-up call.

In addition, our motorhome is waiting for one last part to complete the warranty work. Seriously, how boring would it be if it were already done?  Just sitting there ready to go? Where's the excitement in that?

Regardless of these last minute challenges, we are moving into Half-Shell on Sunday. Partly because all our furniture is getting picked up that day, but mostly because we don't want to wait any longer! We'll clean the apartment on June 1, and turn in the keys.

We will officially be full-timers :-)))))))))

The work to complete on the rig doesn't keep us from being able to drive it. It doesn't have to wait at Camping World. We also have a spot to mooch-dock at a friend's lot with full-hookups here in town.

So of course we're "down to the wire" with important things pending in our last scheduled week. But we aren't letting that spoil the excitement of recognizing the dream is just around the corner. We have no reservations until July 4 in Idaho. Lots of plans in between, but when, where and how long is still flexible. 

Guess I'll have to update the description at the top of the blog.......

Family in Tahoe and Driving the Eastern Sierras

Even before the motorhome went in for service, we planned to drive the Jeep to Lake Tahoe for our nephew's wedding. Not knowing much about the venue, and with possible snow in the forecast, we arranged for Tessa to stay with doggie daycare.

Amazingly little to pack for two put us on the road early Thursday morning. Thunder storms and snow were threatening throughout the Sierras so we opted for the boring but quick Interstate 5 to cover the distance. Traffic was light, we hit very small cells of precipitation, and after a couple fast stops we picked up Hwy 50 in just over five hours. Definitely a "destination and not the journey" travel day! 

Half way up the mountain we hit rain that turned into light snow flurries off and on. Temps dropped to freezing but the road remained free of ice and none of the snow made it to the ground or even the car hood. Both of us have been to South Lake Tahoe, but it has been many years. I was surprised at how "developed" it is. The weather made it gray and mono-chromatic, but still beautiful.

We were most looking forward to seeing extended family and the informal gathering at the hotel's conference room was a wonderful start. Lots of hugs and laughs and catching up.

The morning looked a bit different and it was very cold.

After breakfast with our sister-in-law Marilynn, we returned to the hotel to get ready for the big event.

Fortunately the couple had moved the venue from beach front to a lovely lodge overlooking the lake, and although the skies were overcast there was no rain or snow to dampen the wedding.

The couple requested that no photos be uploaded on the Internet so you'll just have to take my word for how beautiful it was :-)  David is Wayne's only son, and it was very important for Bill to be there for David after his father's passing last year. It was bittersweet for all of us to be together again.

We wrapped up our family visiting with bbq and brews at a house one of the kids rented , and of course more hugs and catching up!! 

Saturday morning was bright and sunny so we continued northeast on Hwy 50 rather than backtracking. When we launch in a couple weeks we are heading up Hwy 395 so we thought this would be a good chance to check out the route, a couple campgrounds, and the condition of the road.

I've only been to Carson Valley once and have always thought I could live there. Seeing it from above furthered that opinion - what a beautiful place!  It has everything you need, yet Gardnerville still maintains that small town feel. Breakfast at a wonderful local café in Minden, and we headed south on Hwy 395.

Love the mountains on all sides of town

The Cowboy Café in Minden, cute and tasty

The Eastern Sierras never disappoint, but with the addition of new snow all around the drive was especially beautiful. I probably said "Wow!" at least a couple dozen times.

We stopped and took some pics at the Fremont historic marker at Devil's Gate, made a pit stop at the June Lake cutoff, and checked out a couple campgrounds in Bishop.

My favorite kind of snow - off the highway

At the Fremont marker, Devil's Gate

Mono Lake

With a layer of clouds resting on top of the entire range, it was difficult to make out Mt Whitney as the highest. But when we stopped for lunch in Lone Pine there it was right behind the Totem Café. Actually it's "right behind" all of Lone Pine.

Miles of beautiful

Lunch was very good and the people watching was just as good. From the three young filmmakers editing on their laptop next to us, to the backpackers and horseback riders on the main street, Lone Pine is a very active little town.

Mt Whitney just hanging out in the back

Horses instead of skateboards for the locals

 The rest of the trip saw a decrease of visual interest and an increase in wind. By the time we reached the Antelope Valley we were back to flat and brown, and the winds were gusting at 35 mph. It will be so nice to cover this same route and have 10 days to do it!

Random bump of red

Coming to the end of the mountains

It was good to get out of the Jeep, it was good to see Richie and Tessa, and it was good knowing it's the last time we'll return to the apartment from a trip :-))))

18 more days.

Have a Nice Weekend????

Like the happy of a birthday and the merry of a Christmas, one wishes a nice weekend to recognize a special time. Something that you've looked forward to. Likely counted the days to.

 

During school years (both ours and our children's) the weekend was a big deal. Whether it was just Saturday morning cartoons, or playing at the river with friends, those two days at the "end" of the week couldn't get here fast enough.

When you start working you love having your own money, making new friends, honing your skills, but still Monday is the dreaded beginning to another countdown. Even if your weekend isn't Saturday and Sunday, those days off are a big deal.

With the exception of a few jobs in college, I was fortunate to have  "regular" weekends off. In those jobs that put me in contact with the public, every Friday was full of "Have a nice weekend."  At the end of the day co-workers all shared the same sentiment on their way to all those plans that had taken another dragging five days to arrive.

Looking back I think of how much time I wished away. How few Mondays (non-three-day-weekend-holiday-Mondays) were enjoyed. How many days slipped past while only looking forward to days yet to come.  I don't think I'm different than most people. At least most of us had a weekend, unlike many generations before us.

Now that we are both retired the weekend is so different! Partly because we don't know when it is, and mostly because they are no longer the best days of the week.

With the exception of planning things with our kids who all work or (1) are in school, the weekend no longer holds the allure of our working years. In fact the opposite is true.

Living in an apartment complex of families, college students and working couples, the weekdays are pretty much all ours. No trolling the parking lot for a space. No constant running of little feet overhead. No joggers passing by our windows all day long. No other dogs "sharing" the green space.

Weekends?  The opposite. By a lot!

And just going to the grocery store at 10 AM on a Tuesday is like entering an alternate universe - one with fully stocked shelves and no other carts to navigate. No waiting at the meat counter, the deli or at check out. Your life is rarely at risk crossing the parking lot.

It's the same with getting other errands done as well. Not only are there less people, there are less people in a hurry.  There are more moms with babies and toddlers, but give me a screaming child over a bunch of teenagers and adults impatiently rushing through their day (and mine) any time!  I've been both - I know what they're capable of :-)

Restaurants and movie theatres, parks and walking paths, beaches and lakes - more entertaining, more relaxing, more enjoyable when not visited on the weekend.

Right now we can stay home on weekends and avoid the crowds, but when we are on the road the crowds will come to us.

I've avoided Friday arrivals and Sunday departures, and included a couple weekdays around each weekend for the few reservations I made on our first route. We're prepared to be good neighbors when the parks are crowded, hoping to be entertained rather than annoyed by the antics of others. After all, we get to do every day what others have to pack into their weekend.

It's a big lifestyle change, one I didn't give much thought to before. I still wish most people a nice weekend, because they're still looking forward to them! But what about other retirees? They likely don't know when the weekend is.

And if they do, they're probably looking forward to it being over.......

Have a nice every day!

One Month Til Launch - OMG!

Yesterday I paid rent on the apartment and the RV storage. Included with each check was our notice to vacate on June 3. It was a pretty big deal!

We dropped the motorhome at Camping World with a list of 11 fixes. They're all small except the windshield gasket, but warranty work will take longer so we expect they'll have it for a few weeks. They told me about a couple specials they're having next month - but we won't be here!

Fun side story while at Camping World: The service reps were all busy when we arrived so Bill, Tessa and I went to the waiting room. The finance manager came in immediately to see Tessa. After petting and doggie kisses, she took her back to the offices where she made the rounds. While we were waiting, a couple more employees came in for Tessa visits. It looked like it was going to take a while so Bill took her to go pick up some breakfast. The service rep came to get me and asked if I had an appointment. I said yes, at 10. Looking at his computer screen he says there's no appointment but it's okay, he'll write it up. I assure him I called yesterday to confirm the appointment and that the work order was already written up. The receptionist hears and tells him it's on the schedule, line 2. At this point he takes a deep breath and drops his head a bit. He looks at me and says "The dog's name is Tessa, that's not your last name."  He had been hearing everyone saying "Tessa is in the waiting room, they have an appointment this morning, go say hi." He felt stupid, but I thought it was hysterical and it made for a great story all over the shop.  When we finished up he said "Just sign it 'Tessa's mom' "!

Back to our last month....

We have a good friend who is moving into a bigger home on June 1 so she is coming to pick up the last of our furniture at the end of the month.  It is a great solution for both of us!  We have one more antique trunk that will hold a few photo albums and a couple other items we're adding to our son's storage, and Richie will take his furniture with him to his mom's.

Our medical, eye and dental appointments are wrapping up, with all of our providers working with us and our new lifestyle. Tessa's vet is putting together a packet for us including salves and information on ticks and other "critters" she may encounter. Both the vet and our medical provider have all records available electronically as well.

Finally, we have started changing our address on everything. As soon as our new checks arrive at our friends' house (our new domicile), we'll go pick them up and get in one last visit with them.

We've been preparing for over two years, and still I worry that we're forgetting something important. We have at least three different lists that we're checking off, and have a couple more events to attend. But is that everything?

We'd still prefer to be on the road already, enjoying the beautiful Spring weather, but OMG! - we only have a month left!!!

Our Ghost (Home) Town for Day Five Photo Challenge

Ghost towns are a great subject for black and white photos. When one thinks of a ghost town, images of old saloons and boardwalks and jails come to mind. You think of gun-slingers and pioneer women and large families of bare-foot children.  A time long gone.

The town where I went to high school, where Bill lived from fifth grade through graduation, is a ghost town. Complete with tumbleweeds and building ruins.

At one time the town of Eagle Mountain, CA, was a very active community of Kaiser Steel employees, those who ran the support businesses like grocery store, café and gas station, medical and school personnel, and all their families. When the mine closed in 1985 the population moved away and the ghosts started moving in.

Metropolitan Water District has five pumping stations between the Colorado River and Riverside, CA. My father worked at the Iron Mountain station about 45 miles away and I rode the bus to Eagle Mountain for school. Still, Eagle Mountain was the closest thing I had to a "home town", and it's demise impacts me as much as those who lived there.

In some ways I think it's better that the ghosts of our time have taken it over, rather than it being turned into some place completely different by others. Selfishly, I'm okay with the deteriorating high school lockers around the senior quad and the single goal post standing watch over a flat piece of desert where Bill once set high school football records. Even in it's absence, it is OUR school, OUR town.

There are fences and locks and other layers of security surrounding the mine and its town, but occasionally one or some of "us" are granted access.

These photos are from a couple of those visits. They seem appropriate in black and white, and wrap up the B&W photo challenge for me.

No more lawns and trees and tricycles

No more events at the school amphitheater

No more scores in the gym

 

No more field or bleachers or games

Regardless of its current state, we will always remember our home town in full and living color.

Dearly Departed Desert Dogs

Two of them weren't desert dogs at all, and the others only spent a couple years there, but when trying to find a good spot for playing in the afterlife, I decided the wide open space of Joshua Tree, CA, was a pretty sweet spot.

We took a day trip to the high desert north of Palm Springs yesterday to mark another item off our pre-launch list. We needed to spread the ashes of four sweet and wonderful doggies who passed over the last few years. Don't ask why I waited so long on a couple of them. When it's not the right time, it's not the right time. Definitely don't ask about my mom.......

My boys and I lived in Joshua Tree for a couple years with our two dogs, Squeakie and Nokomis. We'd had Squeakie for years and Nokomis was only a year old. Although we had three fenced acres of desert at the house, the exact same desert on the other side was much better and the two of them were always digging out. They would spend a few hours doing dog stuff, and always return. Our property was at the end of a dirt road with lots and lots of room to run in all directions.

When we moved to the city I rescued two older German Shepherds, Max and Murphy, who lived their last happy and spoiled years with us. We never took them to play in the desert but I'm sure they would have loved it.

We lost Nokomis in November of 2012, just before I retired.

I have kept their ashes and dog collars with me, but downsizing moved the decision of where to "leave" them to the list of must-dos. One day it dawned on me that Squeakie and Nokomis would love the miles of open desert, and those old boys would have a ball chasing them around.

My old house is still there, and it's still the last one at the end of the dirt road. Nothing but desert for miles, with views of snow on San Gorgonio and the ruggedness of the mountains bordering Joshua Tree National Park. We drove the Jeep off the road a bit to find a spot.

After spreading them in the wind and burying a little of each of them together with their collars by a bush so they would always be able to find one another, I knew this was the perfect place. Never felt sad, just remembered all their silly faces and said good-bye.

So much room to play

Meet back here

With our mission accomplished we headed over to check out the Joshua Tree Lake RV Park. Lake? I definitely didn't remember that. Sure enough, there's a cute little park out Sunfair Road with FHUs and a pond (lake is truly an exaggeration). Very clean, large spaces, great views - it would be a great place to spend a week for those whose rig won't fit in the national park campgrounds (like us).  We just may be back to share the area with the pups!

We also checked out the boondocking location on the big dry lake. Pretty rough access road, but definitely lots of hard, flat desert to camp on for free.

After a yummy lunch in Yucca Valley we headed for home. In the morning we had noticed lots of RVs headed West, like dozens and dozens of motorhomes and 5ers fighting the high winds. There was actually "traffic" with one or two lanes going very slow. Bill thought maybe the music event, Stagecoach, had been last weekend. On our return trip they were all gone, but we passed a van with "Stagecoach carpool caravan" on the window and Bill's guess was confirmed. We were lucky to miss the earlier jam and made it home without any delays.

So the doggies have their forever place now, and I can already close my eyes and see the four of them chasing around the greasewood and scaring up a lizard or two, having a grand ol' time.