Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
Senior Member
Joined: 10/29/2004
View Profile
 Offline
|
Getting out of our area was challenging, as we had to choose roads that weren't flooded or damaged from flooding. Then as we drove upstate, only 4-5 creeks we crossed were not filled with water. Lakes that have been bone dry for years are quickly filling up. Saw one where the docks were sunk into the mud/dirt and the water was rising up to them. Hope the docks rise out of the ground with the water, or things could be even messier...
Got to Mom's on Tuesday. RV wasn't ready yet, so we did chores for her. Took a day trip to the nearest Camping World (two hour drive, but they were the only ones who had it in stock) to get a new inverter/battery charger, since L'Andante's old one died the night before the roof was gone with the wind. Stopped by a cousin's house and wound up trapped there for several more hours, as that town doesn't believe in storm drains. Instead, the streets are the drains. They had a lake in the backyard and a river in the front for several hours. We finally got out in between bands of rain. The interstate at one point had been built right in the middle of an old playa, and when it filled up, it covered the right lanes both north and south.
L'Andante was ready Friday. The repair shop glassed the new fiberglass roof to the underlayment, so it's not gonna come off again. Looks great.
We're halfway home today, staying in an RV park that's only 18 months old and not well known. Real nice folks, 100+ foot long level drive-throughs, good WiFi. We're happy.
When we passed the playa, a crew was pumping the water off the road to about a half mile away. Unfortunately, it was not draining down to the gully I think they were aiming for, so they'll have to pump the water off the access road down there. Again.
Tomorrow will be a challenge getting home. Seems about every RV safe road into our area is or has been flooded, and there are flash flood watches all along the way. But we do need to get home: WLToo didn't bring enough medication. Gonna be right interesting.
At least today and tonight we've not needed the air conditioner, which helped with the gas mileage. For a good bit today, we were getting almost 9 mpg - amazing how such a little thing becomes so important, eh? Probably will need the A/C tomorrow, and as we get back into the hills, the mpg will drop. Well, it was nice today...
Haven't heard from the vet, so we assume Alex and Spotacus are fine. Looking forward to quality kitty time first thing Monday morning, and I'm betting MDL will have a fawn for us to fawn over. Heh.
Bedtime. Later, y'all.
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." -- Mahatma Gandhi
Czarny, black cat
Rainbow Bridge: Spotacus, Alexander the Grrreat, and so very many more
|
magnusfide
On the Road Again and Again and Again...
Senior Member
Joined: 10/30/2009
View Profile
|
Glad to know you all are safe. ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/cool.gif "cool")
"The only time you should fear cast iron is if your wife is fixin' to hit you with it."-Kent Rollins
First law of science: don't spit into the wind.
Magnus
|
kokosfriend
Nashville, TN
Senior Member
Joined: 09/06/2004
View Profile
|
This is a scary time down there - glad you are OK
Barb, Jane, Willow, Lily and forever Rosie now!!
Barb and the 4 chocolates
|
Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
Senior Member
Joined: 10/29/2004
View Profile
Offline
|
Had a lovely drive home today, no issues at all. Arrived to find MDL had her fawn today. She promptly brought it to the porch for us to admire. It's smaller than Leoghaire was last year, less than a foot high. Here are a couple of photos as it wobbled through our grass that hasn't been cut in a couple of weeks.
![[image]](http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l188/Expatriate9666/DSC_0614_zpsofpevgey.jpg)
![[image]](http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l188/Expatriate9666/DSC_0621_zpskfehc6cr.jpg)
|
Stephany
Brier, WA (just north of Seattle)
Full Member
Joined: 12/03/2002
View Profile
Offline
|
What a very special thing to come home to and what a beautiful fawn. Can't wait to see what you call her!
Stephany
Stephany & Wally Schneider + 2 grown kids, a ball-obsessed beagle, and a camping cat
2004 Sunnybrook 2850SL
2002 GMC 2500HD Duramax crew cab short bed
|
|
|
CA POPPY
Santa Clarita, CA, USA
Senior Member
Joined: 07/07/2003
View Profile
|
What a gorgeous little baby! Do you think it's small enough that there could have been a twin? MDL is like clockwork, isn't she? May 31st is her day!
Judy & Bud (Judy usually the one talking here)
Darcy the Min Pin
2004 Pleasure-Way Excel TD
California poppies in the background
|
Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
Senior Member
Joined: 10/29/2004
View Profile
Offline
|
I wondered about that myself, Judy. But considering MDL's age, and the fact that she really didn't bulge much at all in this pregnancy, I think it's just a single tiny fawn.
She brought it up yesterday while we were sitting on the porch. Walked it right across the pool deck about 3 feet away from us. I guess she's showing the fawn that we're no threat.
MDL ran Leoghaire away from the porch just before sundown. About 10 minutes later, I saw Leoghaire laying in the grass by the porch.
Every day now, Leoghaire, MDL (sometimes with fawn), Gimpy, and Gimpy's 2014 fawn hang around our porch for a good while. MDL walks right up to the door and leaves muzzle marks on it, while the others peer into the windows without coming on the porch. It's very entertaining from inside the house, not so much when we're sitting out there.
I was reading and totally lost in the story, when MDL quietly slipped up behind me and sniffed my neck. I jumped right out of my skin and she vanished. Deer snot on my neck -- blech. I learned to keep one ear open, listening for deer movement.
Spotacus decided it was too hot for outside, and spent the day on the bed. Alex followed us around while we were inside, then stared out the windows while we did some concrete repairs and then took a couple of long swims. They both are pinning me under the covers at night. I think Alex is chilled, but he flatly refuses to get under the covers to warm up. Spotacus just wants to snuggle with me.
We have water views in more directions, now that the lake is 18' above full pool. Nice. The river below is closed to all but kayaks and six-man rafts, and we've not seen many of them, as the flow is really, really fast, and will be for some time to come.
The downside is we actually have mosquitoes, so we can't spend all our time on the porch. About 6:00 pm, the buggers start flying, and stay at it until full dark. Not risking West Nile virus, so we go back inside.
Alex just showed up in my lap. He knows it's pill time, followed by treats, so best get to it.
Later, y'all.
|
Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
Senior Member
Joined: 10/29/2004
View Profile
Offline
|
So far, running a fan on the porch has kept the skeeters from attacking too much, so we're back on the porch, in between dips in the pool because it gets into the low 90s already.
Gimpy brought her 2015 fawn up to the porch a bit ago. Also a single tiny one. We're not sure how old Gimpy is, but she had twins last year and the year before, so I guess she's reached an age where she'll just have one each year.
WLToo finally decided we should start amassing all the materials for the garden shed. Early in the morning now, we'll be out leveling the building site and placing the concrete blocks. Then we'll go get the floor, and so on until we've got it built. I'm quite looking forward to having maneuver space in the garage.
Spotacus found a few new favorite places to lay. We have WLToo's grandmother's rocking chair on the south porch, which is way too uncomfortable for us to sit in, but Spotacus likes it. Then he moves to under my cousin's pickup, which we're storing for cousin until he gets back, or under my pickup. If our friends get back before cousin returns, we'll have a Ford pickup parking lot... Anyway, when we don't see Spotacus on/under any of those, we look under L'Andante, and that's usually where he is.
Lake level is slowly coming down to normal, but that means the river is still roaring at far too high a velocity for safe tubing. Guess we won't be inflating the tubes anytime soon.
Leoghaire just came up. Time to go visit.
Later, y'all.
|
CA POPPY
Santa Clarita, CA, USA
Senior Member
Joined: 07/07/2003
View Profile
|
So cute how the does bring their new babies by for your approval. The garden shed will be a fun project and yes, every time we have driven through Texas. I-10 looked like a huge Ford dealership. ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/biggrin.gif "biggrin")
|
Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
Senior Member
Joined: 10/29/2004
View Profile
Offline
|
Both does and both fawns gathered on the porch this morning. Well, the does were on the porch. The fawns stayed in the grass, staring intently at us staring at them (from inside the house). Both fawns look very nearly identical, except MDL's is larger. MDL's fawn appears to be another buck, judging from what I didn't see when it stood for a while with its tail all the way up.
MDL's 2010 twins, Han and Spooky, came by yesterday. Han has a rather nice eight point rack going this year, and Spooky has four. Both of them would make good breeding bucks, if they survive the local poachers, who have methodically killed every single good-looking buck in the immediate area. The stupid notion of killing for racks instead of for breed strength is going to destroy the local deer population. OK, rant over.
I did quip to WLToo that I saw some really nice bucks a couple miles from here, but just couldn't see us roping one, putting him into the pickup, and releasing him here for breed improvement. Too many stories abound about that bad idea put into action...
Back to MDL: she is hanging out on our porch, or making a regular circuit around the house. Don't know if she wants us to come out and hang with her, or what. She has taken to eating a little bit of corn at a time, then coming back for more. Well, she is older and like all us older types, can't eat so much at one time...
Spotacus and Alex are in their summer mode. They wake one of us at first light, wanting either breakfast or to be let outside (or both). Then they sleep on the bed, on top of the remaining human occupant if one is still there. Mid-morning, they get up, pester/play with the humans for a while, then take another nap until lunchtime, when Alex becomes very pesty and quite vocal. Feed 'em, and outside they go for about a half hour, before coming back inside to sleep away the afternoon. Dinnertime, then Spotacus goes outside to sleep on the porch until we bring him inside for the night. Alex moves from one lap to another until he decides we need to go to bed. Then he becomes a pest again. So he gets his evening pill, both get treats, and we all crash.
Short Friend said she wants to come back in another life as one of our cats. I had to disappoint her, told her that we have spectacularly bad luck with female cats.
We have an increase in resident hummingbirds. Last year, only two were resident. We have six or eight this year. Makes the feeder antics quite interesting, and the number of fighting hummers thrown into the windows is up to one or two per day. Luckily, so far none have been injured.
We got rain dumped on us again yesterday and the day before. Then Tropical Storm Bill made landfall, and we have heavy thunderstorms forecast through the weekend. Corps of Engineers had to lower the lake release to keep from overwhelming the downriver locations that Bill saturated, but the river is still running too fast for safe tubing. When it's safe downriver, CoE will increase releases again to get the lake below flood pool storage. This will negatively impact all the river oriented businesses until way into July, I do believe -- not to mention so many of the lake boat ramps and parks are closed due to that high water. But those are the breaks when one runs a business in a water-oriented resort: too little water hurts, too much water hurts.
Baby barn swallows hatched this morning in one nest. Can't tell how many yet. I do love those little birds.
Time to get ready to work at the library. Later, y'all.
|
|
|
|
