I'm reading Lethal Legacy: an Alexandra Cooper novel, by Linda Fairstein. It's a police procedural. I've read a few in this series before and they were okay, but I'm really enjoying this one as the murder victim is a rare books conservator, affiliated with the NY Public Library. So there's lots of discussion about rare books, rare maps, conservation, breakers, thieves (usually dealers; they don't use x-acto knives anymore -- dental floss is the latest thing), etc. Lots of fun.
I miss working with books. Maybe I should go back to Tucson and get a job at Bookman's.
Found a "Jeopardy" rerun. Final Jeopardy category is "Big Books." Answer: When they began in 1879 the creators of this thought they'd finish in 5 years. Five years later, they reached "ant."
Ha! I know this -- it's the OED!
I've been in despair, despair, I say, at the level of ignorance displayed on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? One guy (with two master's) answered the question "From whom did the US buy Alaska?" with "France." I mean -- France!?
Of course, I regularly despair at the grammar and syntax so common these days. Yesterday, I heard a guy say "she had went . . ." Shudder. Even more common is the construction "if I would have . . ." What's happened to the word "had"? If you use "if" you don't need "would" -- they're both conditional.
Watched the Wanda Sykes Show last night. Penn Jillette was one of the guests. The sight of the two of them together just cracked me up. She's tiny, he's huge. She's precise, he lumbers. She speaks sharply, he booms. I really like him -- would like to get cable just to watch the Penn & Teller show "Bullshit."
Been thinking a lot about whether to become an indexer. In some ways, it's a really good fit for me -- work with books and the like, apply logic, do anywhere. On the other hand, it's not an easy business to get started in and slow to make any money. Also, it's very solitary and I've come to realize that I'm only a loner when I'm among people; otherwise, I need a certain amount of socializing. That's one of the reasons typesetting lost its interest for me -- the work is carried on alone and I got tired of being alone all the time.
I think being a cataloguer would be of more interest, especially if it were for a company or a library (private or otherwise). Of course, I don't have the proper degrees so that sort of job probably won't happen. Maybe I'll see about a part-time work at a public library somewhere. Hmmm.
Have pretty much decided not to take the beet harvest job. Yes, the money is good but I just don't think I have the stamina to work 12-hr shifts every day. I foresee one knee or the other swelling up overnight so I can't bend it or stand on it -- and when that happens, it takes days for it to go back down, and that's only with rest, which I wouldn't be getting.
I will be calling the carnival this week for their decision. I'm not sanguine about the outcome; if they wanted me, they'd have called me, right? But I'll keep letting them know I'm interested. And I've applied for a part-time job in a gallery in Cloudcroft, 20 miles up the mountain from here, at 9000 ft. It would be for July-Sept., would fit with the job here at Bowlin, and in Sept. I could quit Bowlin too and go to the Livorno H.S. reunion to be held in Scottsdale AZ in early Oct., which I would really like to do.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Today
Glad the virtual tour was of interest. And here -- a call to the Universe I just placed:
NO more winter for B (which probably means the rest of us will get it all).
Working on the back rack yesterday and discovered the little bin was cracked and falling apart. So today I got a replacement. Am at the Rustic Cafe now, having the "trashed browns" with sunnyside up eggs and red sauce.
Then I'm off to the pistachio statue store to get some of that pistachio coffee for Deborah. They loved the bag I sent them and she wants to give some to her family.
The only chore left is laundry, which I'll do tomorrow. And finish the rack sort.
Back to work Monday.
Am considering working the beet harvest in, I think, Nebraska. Two weeks of hell -- 12-hr shifts every day, industrial setting, hardhats, goggles, earplugs, outdoors, sorting and piling beets. Definitely wouldn't be fun but the money's good. $10.40 for the 1st 8 hrs Mon-Fri, x 1.5 for the other 4 hrs and all day Sat. Sunday is double time. So I'd come out of hell with about $2000. What I don't know is whether I have the stamina or endurance to physically do it. I'll think long and hard about it.
NO more winter for B (which probably means the rest of us will get it all).
Working on the back rack yesterday and discovered the little bin was cracked and falling apart. So today I got a replacement. Am at the Rustic Cafe now, having the "trashed browns" with sunnyside up eggs and red sauce.
Then I'm off to the pistachio statue store to get some of that pistachio coffee for Deborah. They loved the bag I sent them and she wants to give some to her family.
The only chore left is laundry, which I'll do tomorrow. And finish the rack sort.
Back to work Monday.
Am considering working the beet harvest in, I think, Nebraska. Two weeks of hell -- 12-hr shifts every day, industrial setting, hardhats, goggles, earplugs, outdoors, sorting and piling beets. Definitely wouldn't be fun but the money's good. $10.40 for the 1st 8 hrs Mon-Fri, x 1.5 for the other 4 hrs and all day Sat. Sunday is double time. So I'd come out of hell with about $2000. What I don't know is whether I have the stamina or endurance to physically do it. I'll think long and hard about it.
January RIPs
I forgot to note some newly dead people, of note to me, if no-one else.
Donald Westlake.
I actually can't remember whether I noted him in an earlier post. Anyhow, the critics all rave about his Dortmunder series, which I can't stand, but I do love his comic novels (especially the one about the Pope/Vatican but can't remember its name) (wait, it's The Road to Gandolfo), and his grim and noir Parker series, under a pseudonym I also can't remember (wait, it's Richard Stark). Oh no, it's early dementia or maybe Alzheimer's. Nah. Any other time, the info would roll trippingly off the tongue -- just not today (but it all came to me later).
J.D. Salinger.
Not that I think he's a great writer, and I personally couldn't stand Holden Caulfield, but The Catcher in the Rye became an instant classic because it captured the parent-child conflict so well and it came out when familial and social ties were loosening all over and our society became youth-oriented.
Les Paul.
An amazingly inventive man for such a modest demeanor. What would rock and roll be without the solid-body electric guitar? And didn't he have a most distinctive style of playing? I watched the Grammy Awards last Sunday and they did a tribute to him -- a 40s-style singer doing How High the Moon and, on guitar -- wait for it -- Jeff Beck! He did a fine job of playing at breakneck speed in Les Paul's signature style and yet being an interpreter, not just a copier. Great stuff.
Donald Westlake.
I actually can't remember whether I noted him in an earlier post. Anyhow, the critics all rave about his Dortmunder series, which I can't stand, but I do love his comic novels (especially the one about the Pope/Vatican but can't remember its name) (wait, it's The Road to Gandolfo), and his grim and noir Parker series, under a pseudonym I also can't remember (wait, it's Richard Stark). Oh no, it's early dementia or maybe Alzheimer's. Nah. Any other time, the info would roll trippingly off the tongue -- just not today (but it all came to me later).
J.D. Salinger.
Not that I think he's a great writer, and I personally couldn't stand Holden Caulfield, but The Catcher in the Rye became an instant classic because it captured the parent-child conflict so well and it came out when familial and social ties were loosening all over and our society became youth-oriented.
Les Paul.
An amazingly inventive man for such a modest demeanor. What would rock and roll be without the solid-body electric guitar? And didn't he have a most distinctive style of playing? I watched the Grammy Awards last Sunday and they did a tribute to him -- a 40s-style singer doing How High the Moon and, on guitar -- wait for it -- Jeff Beck! He did a fine job of playing at breakneck speed in Les Paul's signature style and yet being an interpreter, not just a copier. Great stuff.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Virtual Tour
Okay, you asked for it (well, a few of you did). So here's a bunch of photos of the inside of my rig, with annotations. Don't forget--you can click on any image and it'll blow up very large so you can study the details (if you're an obsessive type).
The first pic is the living area from the rear (fridge is bottom right). The curtain leads to the driving cab, the bins are books, the red is my bedcover, the stool gets me up to the bed (no vaulting up for me).
The next
is a closeup of the couchend. The two bottom bins have about 40-50 paperbacks each; the top bin is hardcovers; and the top is my bedside table.
Then we have a view of the bins on the front dinette seat. The wicker case holds all cables and cords for appliances. The lower part is my "coffee table," misc. daily stuff. This also shows my TV viewing angle. The larger back bin is the Games/Crafts bin, with the Books Read bin on top of it. The closer 2-bin stack is Perm.Lib. pbs on bottom, and the TBR bin on top. I can just lift the whole top off without removing the stuff, lay it on the bed, choose a book, replace the life and snap it on -- easy peasy.
Next image is the rear dinette seat, which used to have bins on it, too, but now holds the plant
and computer and phone and camera and binoculars, etc. The plant travels in the kitchen sink.
Here's a view of the cabover, showing my almost-twin bed with
two very large bins (clothes and linens) beyond; in the middle is a medium bin (shoes) and a small bin on top (office supplies and book cleaning stuff) -- note the fancy pillow! Got that at the Wild Cats Park in Oregon last fall.
Now we're seeing the rear of the rig, showing the kitchen
with the fridge on the left and the shoe rack hanging on the closet door. The striped curtain is where the bathroom cum pantry is. And here's the cabinet on top of the fridge
where I put canned goods and seasonings.
Last but certainly not least is the bathroom
which is visible from the door, so I try to keep the curtain pulled. Note the long hanging clothes and jackets -- these obscure 
the actual pantry, but I've pulled back the clothes so you can see it. It's a five drawer unit, so it's taller than it seems here. The bungee cord attaches to one coming up from the milk crate the pantry sits on and keeps the drawers and the unit in place when on the move.
So there ya go. Now you can picture me sitting on the couch, with my lapdesk on my knees, playing computer solitaire and gazing out the window, OR with my feet up on the couch, leaning back on my pillow, watching Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? or So You Think You Can Dance or some old movie. OR maybe napping under my red coverlet. Hope you enjoyed the tour.
The first pic is the living area from the rear (fridge is bottom right). The curtain leads to the driving cab, the bins are books, the red is my bedcover, the stool gets me up to the bed (no vaulting up for me).
The next
is a closeup of the couchend. The two bottom bins have about 40-50 paperbacks each; the top bin is hardcovers; and the top is my bedside table.Then we have a view of the bins on the front dinette seat. The wicker case holds all cables and cords for appliances. The lower part is my "coffee table," misc. daily stuff. This also shows my TV viewing angle. The larger back bin is the Games/Crafts bin, with the Books Read bin on top of it. The closer 2-bin stack is Perm.Lib. pbs on bottom, and the TBR bin on top. I can just lift the whole top off without removing the stuff, lay it on the bed, choose a book, replace the life and snap it on -- easy peasy.
Next image is the rear dinette seat, which used to have bins on it, too, but now holds the plant
and computer and phone and camera and binoculars, etc. The plant travels in the kitchen sink.Here's a view of the cabover, showing my almost-twin bed with
two very large bins (clothes and linens) beyond; in the middle is a medium bin (shoes) and a small bin on top (office supplies and book cleaning stuff) -- note the fancy pillow! Got that at the Wild Cats Park in Oregon last fall.Now we're seeing the rear of the rig, showing the kitchen
with the fridge on the left and the shoe rack hanging on the closet door. The striped curtain is where the bathroom cum pantry is. And here's the cabinet on top of the fridge
where I put canned goods and seasonings.Last but certainly not least is the bathroom
which is visible from the door, so I try to keep the curtain pulled. Note the long hanging clothes and jackets -- these obscure 
the actual pantry, but I've pulled back the clothes so you can see it. It's a five drawer unit, so it's taller than it seems here. The bungee cord attaches to one coming up from the milk crate the pantry sits on and keeps the drawers and the unit in place when on the move.So there ya go. Now you can picture me sitting on the couch, with my lapdesk on my knees, playing computer solitaire and gazing out the window, OR with my feet up on the couch, leaning back on my pillow, watching Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? or So You Think You Can Dance or some old movie. OR maybe napping under my red coverlet. Hope you enjoyed the tour.
Thursday 4 Feb
Thursday 2/4
6.30 am The rain seems to have stopped. Cloudcroft up at 9000 ft was supposed to get a foot of snow. I wonder if I'm going to be able to motivate myself today to do some chores, you know, like spray the mud off the rig (wheel wells, tank handles, etc) so I can do a dump & flush, take a shower, go grocery shopping. Stuff like that.
One of the drawbacks to not stocking up is that when you're out, you're out, and now you must go to town. It's not that I don't have food; I do; it's just not the perishable stuff like bread and meat and salad. And I have a day's worth of coffee left.
So I guess I'm going to town. Sequence of events is to clean the rig so I can do the dump, then take a shower, then go to town, grocery shop, go to cafe for a meal and a few hours on the computer, then home.
Last big project on my list is to sort the bins on the back rack, one big and one small. I've discovered that there's room between the big bin and the rig for my chair (folded up in its carrying sleeve), which is great as I don't have to carry it inside anymore. Whoever put the big bin on the rack did it very oddly to my mind.
It's about 3ft wide x 2ft deep x 3ft tall (is that 18 cubic ft?). The bottom has been cut off and it's bolted onto wood pieces that are bolted to the rack itself, thus raising the bin so there's about 3 inches of open space at the bottom. Why was that done? Drainage? The lid fits tightly over the lip so it doesn't get wet inside, so that doesn't make sense. And the open space means that road dirt and wet can get inside! It makes it tricky to keep things from slithering out the bottom (like extension cords). Also, the hinged top doesn't open all the way as it hits the rig, so it has to be propped open somehow. Not a good design. It'd be better to have a lift-off lid -- at least you'd be able to get into the whole thing with both hands.
And then there's the little bin (sitting underneath where the license plate is) -- it's just a regular snap-lid bin like the ones I have inside. It has to be small so as not to obscure the license, and it has to be bungeed to the rack.
If they were going to the trouble of putting on a custom rack, why didn't they build a custom bin for it, instead of jerry-rigging these store-bought bins?
The rack makes backing up tricky, too, as it can't be seen in the mirrors, so it's easy to run into things. I think I'll put little bitty red plastic flags on the corners -- I should be able to see them fluttering.
Bitch bitch bitch.
7.30 am Clouds packed in, raining again.
Crossword clue: Ingenious
Answer: DAEDAL
Has anybody heard of this word? Is it related to Daedalus, the wax wings guy?
I was pleased with myself for knowing the answer to: PageMaker parent
Aldus (though I think few would connect it to the 16th(?) century Venetian printer)
6.30 am The rain seems to have stopped. Cloudcroft up at 9000 ft was supposed to get a foot of snow. I wonder if I'm going to be able to motivate myself today to do some chores, you know, like spray the mud off the rig (wheel wells, tank handles, etc) so I can do a dump & flush, take a shower, go grocery shopping. Stuff like that.
One of the drawbacks to not stocking up is that when you're out, you're out, and now you must go to town. It's not that I don't have food; I do; it's just not the perishable stuff like bread and meat and salad. And I have a day's worth of coffee left.
So I guess I'm going to town. Sequence of events is to clean the rig so I can do the dump, then take a shower, then go to town, grocery shop, go to cafe for a meal and a few hours on the computer, then home.
Last big project on my list is to sort the bins on the back rack, one big and one small. I've discovered that there's room between the big bin and the rig for my chair (folded up in its carrying sleeve), which is great as I don't have to carry it inside anymore. Whoever put the big bin on the rack did it very oddly to my mind.
It's about 3ft wide x 2ft deep x 3ft tall (is that 18 cubic ft?). The bottom has been cut off and it's bolted onto wood pieces that are bolted to the rack itself, thus raising the bin so there's about 3 inches of open space at the bottom. Why was that done? Drainage? The lid fits tightly over the lip so it doesn't get wet inside, so that doesn't make sense. And the open space means that road dirt and wet can get inside! It makes it tricky to keep things from slithering out the bottom (like extension cords). Also, the hinged top doesn't open all the way as it hits the rig, so it has to be propped open somehow. Not a good design. It'd be better to have a lift-off lid -- at least you'd be able to get into the whole thing with both hands.
And then there's the little bin (sitting underneath where the license plate is) -- it's just a regular snap-lid bin like the ones I have inside. It has to be small so as not to obscure the license, and it has to be bungeed to the rack.
If they were going to the trouble of putting on a custom rack, why didn't they build a custom bin for it, instead of jerry-rigging these store-bought bins?
The rack makes backing up tricky, too, as it can't be seen in the mirrors, so it's easy to run into things. I think I'll put little bitty red plastic flags on the corners -- I should be able to see them fluttering.
Bitch bitch bitch.
7.30 am Clouds packed in, raining again.
Crossword clue: Ingenious
Answer: DAEDAL
Has anybody heard of this word? Is it related to Daedalus, the wax wings guy?
I was pleased with myself for knowing the answer to: PageMaker parent
Aldus (though I think few would connect it to the 16th(?) century Venetian printer)
Wednesday 3 Feb
Wednesday 2/3
It's been raining all day, a "female rain" the Navajo would say, no thunder or lightning, just a good soaker. It was a good day for doing nothing (except feeding the cats) and my knee has repaid the rest by going back to normal. Yah!
I've just finished reading "Madame Bovary's Ovaries: a Darwinian Look at Literature," by Barash & Barash, 2005. Quite enjoyable. Though it didn't necessarily expand my knowledge of Darwin, it did a good job of showing how literature through the ages has explicated his theories. Beyond the introductory and epilogue material, the chapter titles are quite informative:
Othello and other angry fellows (male sexual jealousy)
The key to Jane Austen's heart (what women want and why)
How to make Rhett give a damn (what men want and why)
Madame Bovary's ovaries (biology of adultery)
Wisdom from "The Godfather" (kin selection, being family)
The Cinderella syndrome (stepchildren struggles)
On the complaints of Portnoy, Caulfield, and others (parent-offspring conflict)
Of "Musketeers" and "Mice and Men" and "Wrath" (reciprocity and friendship)
Now it goes in the Books Read bin and eventually will get traded or sold.
There are three books on my "bedside table" in various states of being read, usually according to mood:
Snake Agent: a Detective Inspecor Chen novel; by Liz Williams (2005; on p.69). Set in a future cloned Singapore. The ghost of a murdered girl fails to arrive in Heaven as expected. The demon from Hell's police force is assigned to drag her to hell while Insp. Chen is set to get her to Heaven. Conflict ensues. Conspiracies are uncovered. Lots of fun. Witty, too.
How to Wash a Cat, by Rebecca M. Hale (2008). Mystery, first in a new series. I'm not sure I'm going to like this. I read the first chapter one night and put it down. I'm going to give it another try. Deb read it while we were in Tucson and liked it a lot until the end.
Confessions of a Demon, by S.L. Wright (2009; on p.21). Our heroine is a human-demon amalgam, the only one. Her food is human emotion and her name is Allay (ironic, no?). The writing is decent so far and we'll see how the plot works out. Seems to me that this author has written something else but it's not mentioned.
It's been raining all day, a "female rain" the Navajo would say, no thunder or lightning, just a good soaker. It was a good day for doing nothing (except feeding the cats) and my knee has repaid the rest by going back to normal. Yah!
I've just finished reading "Madame Bovary's Ovaries: a Darwinian Look at Literature," by Barash & Barash, 2005. Quite enjoyable. Though it didn't necessarily expand my knowledge of Darwin, it did a good job of showing how literature through the ages has explicated his theories. Beyond the introductory and epilogue material, the chapter titles are quite informative:
Othello and other angry fellows (male sexual jealousy)
The key to Jane Austen's heart (what women want and why)
How to make Rhett give a damn (what men want and why)
Madame Bovary's ovaries (biology of adultery)
Wisdom from "The Godfather" (kin selection, being family)
The Cinderella syndrome (stepchildren struggles)
On the complaints of Portnoy, Caulfield, and others (parent-offspring conflict)
Of "Musketeers" and "Mice and Men" and "Wrath" (reciprocity and friendship)
Now it goes in the Books Read bin and eventually will get traded or sold.
There are three books on my "bedside table" in various states of being read, usually according to mood:
Snake Agent: a Detective Inspecor Chen novel; by Liz Williams (2005; on p.69). Set in a future cloned Singapore. The ghost of a murdered girl fails to arrive in Heaven as expected. The demon from Hell's police force is assigned to drag her to hell while Insp. Chen is set to get her to Heaven. Conflict ensues. Conspiracies are uncovered. Lots of fun. Witty, too.
How to Wash a Cat, by Rebecca M. Hale (2008). Mystery, first in a new series. I'm not sure I'm going to like this. I read the first chapter one night and put it down. I'm going to give it another try. Deb read it while we were in Tucson and liked it a lot until the end.
Confessions of a Demon, by S.L. Wright (2009; on p.21). Our heroine is a human-demon amalgam, the only one. Her food is human emotion and her name is Allay (ironic, no?). The writing is decent so far and we'll see how the plot works out. Seems to me that this author has written something else but it's not mentioned.
Tucson Trip
Wednesday 1/27 through Sunday 1/31
Started out about 10am into the teeth of an oncoming storm. Reached Lordsburg NM about 2.30. It was so dark at that point that it was like night. So I stopped at the Flying J, along with many many others. Spent the night there, rained all night, left about 9am. It was still raining but I was driving away from most of it and it lightened considerably along the way. Still overcast and spitting.
Reached Tucson about 1pm and went straight to the Barnes & Noble on Ina Rd. (to indulge in a little fuel). Had talked to my brother who was on his way and would call when he was about 10 miles out. So we arrived at the land at the same time (gated). Now you remember the rain? Well, the mile-long dirt road leading to the land was not only muddy but heavily washboarded. So Ghibli and I got tossed up and down and sideways. And the potholes the front tires missed would get caught by the duallies -- that's how many actual holes there were; no missing them entirely.
Now, the thing about washboarded roads is that you can either (1) drive very fast so it kinds of smoothes itself out, or (2) drive very slowly so it kind of undulates under you. Unfortunately, RVs don't lend themselves to #1 and their configuration is such that even #2 doesn't work out so well. So -- bounce bounce jolt jolt sway sway ad infinitum ad nauseaum.
Tinnee and Craig, owners of the land, didn't arrive until 2am Sunday morning. So we were boondocking for three nights. Of course, H & Deb's rig (a Class A) had a generator so they had heat and lights etc. I didn't but my new fluorescent lights were usable as they draw so little power from the house battery. No heat, though I was warm enough in my flannel pjs and sleeping bag (about 30 at night)
Because we were 20 miles north of downtown and Tucson's traffic is horrendous, it made the most sense to drive my rig. So I got to drive the nasty road out, then 20 miles to town, 20 miles back, and the nasty road back. We went into downtown Tucson on Friday so they could prowl a small part of the Tucson Gem/Mineral/Fossil Show (biggest in the world). I sat in the rig and read.
Saturday we drove the nasty road (now mostly dry but still bumpy) 30 miles to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum out in Oro Valley west of downtown. We took the steep road over Gates Pass and came back up Oro Valley into Avra Valley through the Saguaro Natl. Park. This is a pic of Deborah and Harland in Gates Pass, showing Old Tucson Movie Studio in the valley -- it was really windy.
At the Desert Museum, we split up as they wanted to see everything. I puttered around a while, took a nice pic of some heron statutes in the Riparian Corridor.
The live animals don't cooperate nearly as well. They were finally done about 4.30. Return trip.
If you ever go to Tucson, do go to the Desert Museum; it's really great. Here's a pic of H & D at Gates Pass with the Old Tucson Movie Studio in the background (you've seen this western town in nine million westerns). And here's the herons.
Sunday, I left at 9am. Stopped downtown and got gas (at $2.22/gal!) and headed out on I-10. Reached Alamogordo and was hooked up about 6.30pm. Long damn day (it's 370 miles from here to Marana AZ).
It was great to see my brother and Deb, and I would have liked to stay a few more days and get ferried around by Tinnee (who has a photo exhibit in the Gem Show -- she's a professional jewelry photographer). I just hadn't planned on doing so much driving while there.
Let's not talk about my right knee.
Started out about 10am into the teeth of an oncoming storm. Reached Lordsburg NM about 2.30. It was so dark at that point that it was like night. So I stopped at the Flying J, along with many many others. Spent the night there, rained all night, left about 9am. It was still raining but I was driving away from most of it and it lightened considerably along the way. Still overcast and spitting.
Reached Tucson about 1pm and went straight to the Barnes & Noble on Ina Rd. (to indulge in a little fuel). Had talked to my brother who was on his way and would call when he was about 10 miles out. So we arrived at the land at the same time (gated). Now you remember the rain? Well, the mile-long dirt road leading to the land was not only muddy but heavily washboarded. So Ghibli and I got tossed up and down and sideways. And the potholes the front tires missed would get caught by the duallies -- that's how many actual holes there were; no missing them entirely.
Now, the thing about washboarded roads is that you can either (1) drive very fast so it kinds of smoothes itself out, or (2) drive very slowly so it kind of undulates under you. Unfortunately, RVs don't lend themselves to #1 and their configuration is such that even #2 doesn't work out so well. So -- bounce bounce jolt jolt sway sway ad infinitum ad nauseaum.
Tinnee and Craig, owners of the land, didn't arrive until 2am Sunday morning. So we were boondocking for three nights. Of course, H & Deb's rig (a Class A) had a generator so they had heat and lights etc. I didn't but my new fluorescent lights were usable as they draw so little power from the house battery. No heat, though I was warm enough in my flannel pjs and sleeping bag (about 30 at night)
Because we were 20 miles north of downtown and Tucson's traffic is horrendous, it made the most sense to drive my rig. So I got to drive the nasty road out, then 20 miles to town, 20 miles back, and the nasty road back. We went into downtown Tucson on Friday so they could prowl a small part of the Tucson Gem/Mineral/Fossil Show (biggest in the world). I sat in the rig and read.
Saturday we drove the nasty road (now mostly dry but still bumpy) 30 miles to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum out in Oro Valley west of downtown. We took the steep road over Gates Pass and came back up Oro Valley into Avra Valley through the Saguaro Natl. Park. This is a pic of Deborah and Harland in Gates Pass, showing Old Tucson Movie Studio in the valley -- it was really windy.
At the Desert Museum, we split up as they wanted to see everything. I puttered around a while, took a nice pic of some heron statutes in the Riparian Corridor.
The live animals don't cooperate nearly as well. They were finally done about 4.30. Return trip.If you ever go to Tucson, do go to the Desert Museum; it's really great. Here's a pic of H & D at Gates Pass with the Old Tucson Movie Studio in the background (you've seen this western town in nine million westerns). And here's the herons.
Sunday, I left at 9am. Stopped downtown and got gas (at $2.22/gal!) and headed out on I-10. Reached Alamogordo and was hooked up about 6.30pm. Long damn day (it's 370 miles from here to Marana AZ).
It was great to see my brother and Deb, and I would have liked to stay a few more days and get ferried around by Tinnee (who has a photo exhibit in the Gem Show -- she's a professional jewelry photographer). I just hadn't planned on doing so much driving while there.
Let's not talk about my right knee.
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