Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024

Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024
Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Cold - Windy - Snow! -- Sat., Mar. 31

Sparks, NV:

Our outside temperature at noon was 60 degrees F. Winds have been gusting up to 55 mph. It's 5:30 p.m. and the temperature has dropped to 45 degrees. AND on top of that, we have snow. Brrrrrrrrrrr. Oh wait, the sun came back out. Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevada is supposed to get a foot of snow tonight and 3-5" tomorrow. We should head south for the spring. Oh wait, we are!

Let me back up to this morning. At 10:00 a.m., the kitties had an appointment with the vet for their rabies and distemper vaccinations. Also at 10:00 a.m., Bob had an appointment to take the 5er in for new tires. Division of labor: I took cats to vet; Bob took 5er in for tires.

We got up "early" so we could "batten down the hatches" and get the 5er ready to move. Getting ready to move entails taking down pictures, clock, barometer, outside thermometer, unhooking the utilities, raising the front and back supports, closing the slides--you get the picture.

I put the cats in their respective carriers and proceeded to take care of the inside tasks. I heard Bowie clawing frantically at his carrier. Next thing I knew, he was free! Yikes, kitty escape artist. Turns out on the cage door there are some grooves that little flaps are supposed to clip into, but I hadn't clipped them. I captured Bowie, put him back in the cage, and faced the door of the cage toward a cupboard.

When I finished preparing the inside of the rig, I put the cats in the back of my car (in their carriers). Bob finished up on the outside, hooked up the truck and both of us pulled out. I noticed that one of the 5er's brake lights is out. One more small repair to do before our trip.

The vet visit went well. Kitties are vaccinated and Sunnie now has his microchip. We went back to the RV park to wait for Bob to return. No Bob, no 5er. I let the kitties out of their carriers so they could roam around the car. Luckily, we put a kitty litter box in the back. We were without our home for an hour and 20 minutes. During that time, I had two cats in my lap, crawling under the front seat to get to the backseat, under the gas and brake pedals, in and out of the litter box, rubbing on me, settling down, moving around, in general REALLY getting to know the layout of the car. We were all very happy when Bob returned.

We put the cats in the 5er and took off to go look at a bike for me. On craigslist Bob found a nice Schwinn mountain bike with a gel seat, water bottle holder with water bottle, comfort handlebars and a zippered pouch. As we were driving to look at the bike we saw a duststorm in the general direction we were headed. I got to test drive the bike with a very strong wind which I could barely pedal against. When I turned the bike around I didn't need to pedal because the wind blew me down the street. All I had to do was use the brakes.

Bob is looking for a mountain bike as well. When we returned to the 5er after purchasing my bike, I noticed that a big pile of CDs and DVDs had fallen out of an overhead cupboard. We had tied the cupboard doors closed with twine, but the twine broke. Cleaned up the mess. Another item to take care of before the road trip--buy a piece of plywood to wedge in the cupboard to keep things from falling out. Buy zip ties to hold cupboards closed.

Bob took a nap, then went to work out. When he left, he said, "I'll see you in a few hours." I guess he has a long workout planned.

Life is good (except for being cold!). We'll remedy that soon enough with our Texas trip...I think we'll be in temps from 77-100 degrees in south Texas. Big change coming.

In one of my recent blogs, I posted that Sparks Marina RV Park is filling up, but that the travelers would probably stay a night and move on. Wrong! It's spring break and there are lots of families with kids who are most likely here for a week. They've been outside playing football, riding bikes and scooters, and I think a few families went fishing today. I can tell you it was not a pleasant day for fishing. Sparks Marina Lake, for example, was angry with waves and whitecaps. We saw the fishing families return around 1:30 p.m. when it was snowing lightly.

Enjoy your journeys. Travel Bug out.


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