No update last week, I went dark. And by that, I mean actually cut off from the big Internet world for a full week. (OK, I did hike to the nearest wifi once a day and clear out my emails real quick.) We went on a vacation in the motor home with our co-owners to Yosemite Park, which is roughly 3 hours from home. The trip really came down to the wire; We had reservations at two different parks, (the other being in the Russian River area,) and the day before we left both were intolerably smoky. We nearly called off the whole thing, because what’s the fun of camping if you can’t even go outside? Well, after probably way-too-much reading and researching, it looked like it would be at least trending better at the Yosemite park, so we headed out for that option on Friday. Things worked out well for once. Indeed, it was a little hazy and there was a noticeable smoke smell in the air, but no worse than at home. It cleared up a little more each day, and by Tuesday of the following week the weather was fantastic. Our friends took off for home Wednesday morning, while Donette and I stayed until Saturday. The original plan was to work Thursday and Friday from the motorhome, and enjoy our evenings. That got effectively derailed when we showed up and there wasn’t cell coverage anywhere in the area. There was a shaky wifi signal outside the clubhouse (inside was closed for the covid,) but it was horribly slow and I couldn’t see myself sitting on a bench all day working. So, I just burned a few more vacation days and enjoyed the time off. There’s worse options. The park was great, maybe even better than our visit last year. Either because of the visitor restrictions (covid) or the off season (school being in session,) the park was nearly deserted. Maybe a combination of both, who knows. We weren’t asking questions, just enjoyed it. The downside of it was, most shops and restaurants were closed up. That’s OK; I’ll take the uncrowded trails and attractions over a pizza dinner.

That was our entire week, so that much rounds out the update. Since we stayed on at the park a few extra days, that also meant we had to drive the motor home back by ourselves. First time I’ve driven it. I think “absolutely terrifying” sums up that experience. Navigating that thing down the narrow, winding mountain roads was just not my idea of a good time. We made it though, with nary a scrape. (Sheesh, those rocks sure looked close…) The rest of the weekend was spent clicking through all the videos the security cameras caught at the house while we were gone. And while they are supposed to be “security cams” (Arlo) I really use them more for wildlife. (And Amazon deliveries of course.) I have a lot of cool videos of random animals cruising through the yard, but haven’t yet figured out how to post them here. Youtube is easy enough, but I hate those stupid ads. Anyway, we had all the usual suspects; Lots of deer, squirrels, birds, lizards, maybe even a rat. (Could have done without that one.) One newcomer was a pretty sizeable bobcat. Now THAT one makes me a little nervous. I think Quinn’s yapping, annoying voice would scare off most any animal, but Nacho is another story. Haven’t come up with a good answer for that one yet…