Right on schedule. Tomorrow, Amarillo.
Travel day
Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we’re headed off for Denver. We have a date with a motorhome.
There is no limit
There is no limit to what we can learn, my Grandson Conner and I. Conner learned on *three* separate occasions not to run through the nettles or he’d have to pay the price later. Me, I’m way beyond that with wearing shorts and walking through tall wet grass in search of birds in deep south Texas. The grass is not a problem. The chiggers are. Little bugs you can’t see or feel climb onto your legs and make bites that turn into bumps and welts itching way beyond what a mosquito can produce. With mosquitoes you get the occasional satisfaction of being able to smack one and sent it to an untimely end. Chiggers? No revenge. Nothing to swat. I do have evidence they were here though. This is a lesson I won’t forget. The day after the next time I go walking through tall wet grass in south Texas, I’ll remember this itching episode just like I now remember the last one.
Sometimes we drive on two-lanes
No matter what vehicle we’re driving, or what speed we are going, there is always someone who wants to go faster. When we’re driving the Jeep it is relatively easy for someone to go around, and I am always happy to let them by. If nothing else, I’d rather they speed off to annoy someone else than ride my bumper. In the motorhome, I don’t usually drive faster than 65mph, so we’re caught from behind more often than we are in the Jeep. We’re a lot longer going down the highway in the motorhome, 60 feet altogether, including the tow-car. That’s a lot more for a passing car to get by than the 15 feet of the Jeep. So I help when I can. I slide to the right a little when it’s clear, so they can see that it is. I blink my running lights, but not everyone seems tuned in to that universal signal. You can’t really blame people for being hesitant to pass. We’re a lot to take on all at once, and besides, you never know what kind of attitude you’re encountering behind the wheel of the other vehicle. That person may be in an unfriendly unhelpful mood. I find myself wishing I had a sign on the back of the coach I could flash that said “Go ahead and pass. I’ll help”.
Along the way
Saw a ring tailed cat while walking in the desert outside Palmdale. It was fast; charging across an open space and disappearing into a creosote. Its bushy tail was as long as its body. I didn’t get a picture, but here is what they look like:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring-tailed_Cat