Summer in the Desert (07-22-15)

What is the desert like in the heat of the summer?  Well, since I don’t expect anyone in their right minds will be experiencing it any time soon, I will tell you.



It’s Hot.  Always. This is not photo shopped. Trust me.  The heat is so intense you can literally feel it burning your skin.

There is a constant hum in the background- and when it’s missing, you notice it, look at the thermometer and realize that the temperature has, indeed, dropped below 90*, and both air conditioners have shut off (this is a rare occurrence).

Usually when this happens, you are asleep, because the temperature usually only drops that low at about 2 am.

For anyone working outside, the work day starts at 5 am.  That includes the crew working across the lane from us, unfortunately. By 2 pm, you do NOT want to be outside working.  In fact, with a UV index of 11, you don’t even want to be outside swimming in the (very warm) pool in the afternoon.

There are creatures that are around in the summer time that aren’t really noticeable in the winter.  I have not seen a scorpion yet, nor a rattlesnake, but Paul saw a rattlesnake that had had an unfortunate accident with the automatic gate to the RV park.

Many of Paul’s projects lately have been related to summer heat.

To help our air conditioners keep up with the heat, he built sun shades to keep the sun from directly hitting the side of the trailer- this also helps the refrigerator.

On the other side of the trailer, in addition to sunshade, we also have misters that we run- although- since it by 10 pm it has usually only cooled off to 100*, the only time we sat outside was the day it rained and the temperature went down to 82!

The roof of the Jeep used to be black. When Paul tested to see how hot it was, it was  about 160*.  Painting it white dropped the temperature about 40 degrees. He also added insulation on the interior of the roof.

We keep our shades drawn (think “cave”) and fans circulating the air.  We bought “pillows” to put in the ceiling vents to keep the heat out.  At this point, the air conditioners have managed to mostly keep up, so as long as neither of them break down, we should be OK.

Whenever I talk about how hot it is with someone, they are happy, it seems, to inform me that I “ain’t seen nothin yet”.  They always say “just wait till August- when the heat is still unbearable, and the humidity spikes.” Oh Joy.  Something to look forward to!

Summer is Monsoon, or “rainy” season. I made Paul back up so I could get this priceless picture.

  

All kidding aside, there ARE some serious storms that blow through this area.  Just 3 days ago there was a storm that took out a bridge on Rte 10, a major interstate.  Luckily no one was hurt, but the bridge is still out.

 

Whenever it looks like rain, we get the cameras ready and try to figure out where the best show will be, here at the RV park, or up at the house.  (Yes, I cheated to get these pictures. I took a movie, and then took stills from it )

Our new neighbors assure us that we will have the best seats in town to watch the storms rolling in

(we didn’t bother to tell them we won’t be here in the summer).

 
Of course, we try to escape here as often as we can, in the camper, and will continue to do that.  Unfortunately, the heat is such that we don’t dare leave any thing that could be susceptible to heat  in the camper, so all that stuff “lives” in a bin on the couch.  Can’t leave cat food, toothpaste, cooking oil, or even cleaners, since we don’t know how they’d react in extreme temperatures. 






 

Leaving a bin full of stuff on the couch is a small price to pay though, since it gets us that much closer to escaping to reasonable temperatures whenever we have the opportunity.

House Update

Wow, once the start gun went off, the crew has been going like gangbusters!

The frames for the exterior walls were built, but not put up for a few days because a storm was in the forecast. Once the weather cleared, they seemed to go up in the blink of an eye.

This one gives you an idea of how big the RV garage will be- 65’ long, 18’ wide.

Next came the interior walls.  This is the walk-in pantry in the kitchen.

When they had just finished the cement, Paul and I thought the house looked way too small, but now that the walls are going up, it seems to be growing.  This is the rear of the house.

Today was the day for the trusses.  The crane showed up before 6 AM to start lifting those massive pieces up to the roof.

These guys are like a well oiled machine, and the trusses went up in no time!

Of course, the neighbors have all been curious, and many of them have come over to introduce themselves and see what’s going on. We’ve met quite a few of our neighbors already, and hope they keep coming over to say hi!

The Back Side of Yosemite (07-11-15)

In theory, we headed to Fresno CA  through Yosemite because we really love the area and wanted to spend more time there.  In reality, our visit was almost literally a “drive by”.  Its quite a long drive and we didn’t have much time (or good enough weather) to hike.



Our route took us around the “backside” of the park, and our first major stop was Mono Lake.










Mono Lake is 2.5 times saltier than an ocean. There are calcium rich springs under it and when the calcium combines with the carbonate in the water, it forms a type of limestone, called Tufa. 











 

The Tufa only actually grows under water, which begs the question- why is so much of it on land then?  Well, many years ago, the city of Los Angeles diverted the rivers that feed the lake, seriously lowering the water level and drastically increasing the salinity.

The lake has been protected since the 1980s, and the water level is very slowly recovering.
There is a one mile long interpretive trail that we walked- but we almost had to run.  The skies were very threatening, with loud thunder and lightning nearby.  We didn’t dally too long, and we still got rained on!





I have never driven on Tioga Road in Yosemite- its a beautiful drive but it sits at an elevation of almost 10,000 feet, so its closed a good portion of the year.

In fact, we spent the night at a campground along the road, and found out afterwards that the road had actually closed after we traveled it.

By the time we got on the road the next morning, it was 37 degrees out, and half sleeting, half raining.  I felt really bad for the tent campers.  It had rained most of the night.

There was plenty of leftover evidence of the cold temperatures mixed with precipitation!

We stopped for lunch in the shadow of the massive formation known as El Capitan.

The views are amazing, but  no hiking for us this time around- with all the rain, the trails were a mess, and it was still darn chilly!

Fresno was a brief stop, on our way to Kirk and Karen’s cabin by Shaver Lake, in the Sierras.

We spent a couple of days catching up on everyone’s news…

And going for walks.  The rules say dogs must be on a leash- they don’t say that the dog shouldn’t be the one holding the other end!

Of course the guys had to find a few projects to work on, so the heater was pulled apart, examined, fixed, and put back together….

Eating is always high on our list of “must do”s when we’re with friends and we had some extra special treats this time:




Bill and Nancy own a farm so we had buckets of peaches, tomatoes and almonds.

and Kevin volunteered to make Aebleskivers for breakfast.  They are a Danish pancake, and way too yummy!

We always have a great time with Paul’s fraternity brothers and look forward to being within a day’s drive of them!

House Update 

All of the cement has been poured…

and the wood has arrived.  At 5 am tomorrow, they start building.

 

Ronald Reagan and Jess (07-09-15)

We had one day to spend with our daughter Jess, and we elected to torture her by taking her someplace we’ve always wanted to go- The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.









The library website mentioned “timed entry”- in other words, they only let in so many people each hour.  We didn’t know when we would arrive, so we winged it- and got right in.

After an hour or so I understood why they have the timed entry.  There are many interactive exhibits, and the crowds were sometimes so large, you couldn’t really access them well.  

Jess surprised me by how well she did on the interactive “etiquette” quiz.  She got all but one of the questions correct!

There was an area where you could sit in front of a green screen and read  one of several scripts that had been read by Ronald Reagan (announcing a football game, a Presidential speech, etc) and then you could watch the finished product on a TV as if you were performing it. 














That was too crowded, but we did check out the Presidential podium, where the teleprompter was real, so you could give a speech to the crowd.













Some of the exhibits brought back some vivid memories for me.  The indoor Berlin wall exhibit showcased the history of the wall and East and West Germany, with film footage and a simulated wall that you could climb through.  A large piece of the real wall sits outside the museum.





 


















There was an exhibit detailing the day in 1981 When President Reagan was shot.  His suit coat is on display and the television news footage from throughout that day- from the shooting to scenes from the hospital, played on nearby televisions.  The docent for that area was very knowledgeable and shared even more information, describing more of the emotions that Nancy and Ronald Reagan felt during that time. 


His initial words to Nancy, when they first spoke after the shooting, were “ I forgot to duck.”

A more serious quote from his diary was more indicative of his real feelings about that day  “ Whatever happens now, I owe my life to God, and I will try to serve Him in every way I can”.

A temporary exhibit in the museum is dedicated to football. From autographed jerseys to signed footballs and a display of the evolution of helmets, there are a ton of artifacts. 


There is a fair amount of information detailing the history of the game, with one display showing the weight difference between a pre ”forward passing” heavy football to the lighter ball that came into play after the forward pass became legal in 1906, after a particularly violent 1905, when there were 18 football fatalities nationwide.

I was surprised to see the display with two footballs, one inflated to 10.5 psi and the other to the regulation 12.5 psi.  After giving it a good test, Jess wasn’t sure she could tell the difference ( and the docent was quick to point out that they have to re-inflate both balls every morning, to the correct pressure.).

There were pretty standard displays showing the Oval Office as it looked when Ronald Reagan occupied it, as well as a lot of information about Nancy (Just say No) and their lives together.

Air Force One- the actual plane- is housed in the museum as well.  You can walk through it, but you can’t take pictures.

I was in my early 20s when Ronald Reagan was elected president, and he was one of my favorites.  There is a reason why he was called the Great Communicator, and I was not immune to his charm.








I really enjoyed the museum overall, but there were some areas that had multiple televisions blaring different messages which caused all the messages to be lost, and even with the timed entry, it was pretty crowded. 



When we’d had our fill of the museum, we went back to Jess’s apartment and taught her how to play Rummikub while we waited for Kellan to be done working for the day.  Once he arrived, we went to their favorite bar for some dinner and local beer.






We took an Uber to the restaurant- mine and Paul’s first time using this new form of “taxi”.  It worked out really well.  The car arrived less than 2 minutes after Kellan requested it.


Somewhere along the way we made the decision that it wasn’t worth going back to Havasu for just a day or two, so we decided to head to Fresno, CA by way of Yosemite National Park.