Afternoon Walk

Unmaintained dirt roads are my idea of a wonderful place to walk with my dogs. Traffic is sparse to non-existent except for the occasional snake, antelope, or deer and the dirt is easy on my joints. Hot sun made this afternoon's two mile stroll down the unmaintained road adjacent to Pet Pals Inc.'s shelter cheery, and we startled a couple of antelope grazing on the winter wheat, always a treat to see them, as well as the little wooly bear worms crossing the road that are a good 2 1/2" long this year. The past few years they've only been about 1" long. Probably was a good year for them because the plentiful moisture kept things green all summer.

Tonight the clouds are moving in from the south and east obscuring the moon and the evening breeze has a bit of a chill in it. Tomorrow is to be a 50% chance of some rain and highs only 45ish. Lows tonight are only to be 35 which is ten degrees warmer than last night. These chilly fall evenings call for the furnace. I like to set the thermostat to about 75, that way the temperature falls only to about 70 before the furnace cycles on again. Very comfortable. I think it's time for a batch of popcorn made the old fashioned way in my 50 year old corn popper with oil! The packaged microwave popcorn just doesn't taste like real popcorn to me and it is waaaay too salty.

October Beauty

Fall is beautiful in Southeastern Wyoming. Some trees are starting to turn north of Torrington. Trees are still green south at Hawk Springs. Must be the longer days since I am 20 miles south. Just a slight breeze and barely any clouds in the sky this afternoon. Sun is warm and the temperature is 55 as I post this. The photo above is of Sixy-Six Mountain. The painting is of the Jenny Lake, Wyoming, fishing path.

Hello Hawk Springs!

Balloon-like the full moon liesurely ascended in the cloudless late afternoon sky above 66 Mountain Wyoming. The landscape is definitely 3D out here south of Hawk Springs, only 20 miles south of Torrington, Wyoming, where I am parked at dear friends, Linda and Larry York's Pet Pals Inc. animal rescue. It is my privilege to help work on some bookkeeping for them on a volunteer basis. Really a beautiful area.

There is free RV camping behind the Long Branch Saloon and Steak House in Hawk Springs and also at Hawk Springs reservoir where you can also fish. The last time I was over the road to the reservoir it was very rough so take care if you are hauling an expensive RV out there.

66 Mountain and Bear Mountain are part of a chain of Bluffs that run from Bridgeport Nebraska, forming such notable landmarks as Court House and Jail House rocks, Chimney Rock near Bayard, Nebraska, Scotts Bluff and Mitchell Pass, the Shepherd's Crook line of Bluffs all south of Gering, Nebraska that go west into Eastern Wyoming and eventually form 66 Mountain and Bear Mountain that bracket Highway 85 north of Cheyenne.

At the base of Scotts Bluff south of Gering, Nebraska, lie some badlands. As a boy my dad and a friend of his found a petrified turtle half buried in the sandstone there. He said they worked and chipped at that turtle for many days but could never dislodge it. Wonder if it was ever dug out of there. Just more proof of Noah's flood! I love to look at these incredible sandstone bluffs and imagine just how God used the receding water to sculpt them.

Our move today went rather swimmingly, too. Only took me six hours from tear down to set up. Of course in between I had to fill up with diesel, air up the tires, dump tanks, buy propane.... Before I started any of it I had bagels and tea with Sandy before I left their place. Great neighbors I will miss. Thanks a million for all of your help, support, and encouragement through times of great loss and sadness Sandy and Joe.

Am thrilled to report the lubricant on the hitch did the trick and it worked like a charm. Love that lubrication disk I put on the kingpin, too. Takes all the dread out of hitching and unhitching the 5th wheel. Thank you Hitches Galore of Scottsbluff, Nebraska.

The winds were only blowing 35 mph today and temperatures were in 50's! Tonight it is to get down to 25. It is already 37 as I post this and the furnace is on in the 5th wheel.

Windy Wyoming

Temperatures were cool, skies blustery, winds gusting to 65 mph today. Thought you might like to see my RV and truck as I get ready to leave the wide open spaces north of Torrington. Tonight the temperatures are already down to 45 and we are cozy inside our mobile cabin.

The painting is of Crowheart Butte on the Wind River Indian Reservation, not far from my old hometown of Riverton, WY. The legend of Crowheart Butte is that Chief Washakie, great chief of the Shoshone and the Crow Chief climbed this butte and did battle on its summit to decide a war between the two tribes. Chief Washakie prevailed, killed the Crow Chief and ate his heart there. Thus the name of this butte.

Hitch Gets the Grease

Took the truck in to have the 5th wheel hitch serviced. The verdict at Hitches Galore of Scottsbluff, NE was it needed a lube job. Rust and no lubrication was causing the hitch to bind to the extent that it would not release the kingpin. They kindly showed me how to take apart and lubricate the hitch with NAPA Power Lube spray and Lithium Grease on the cradle parts. A mechanic I'm not but I think this I can do. Love working with the RV. Sure is a lot more fun than keeping books for a living if you ask me. In addition they recommended using a 5th wheel lube plate on the kingpin. Even I can install it. Good feeling to be ready to roll once again. It is a frustrating feeling not to be able to unhitch the trailer from the truck.

Will be ready to head out for Bear Mountain and 66 Mountain territory south of Torrington, WY by Friday. Tomorrow is to be blustery so will finish organizing the RV while staying cozy inside. 66 Mountain was named for the legend that a troup of 66 Cavalrymen was masacred on its summit during the Indian Wars. Bear Mountain was so named because there used to be bears in the vicinity. Of course we've had at least one bear north of Torrington in the last few years. My neighbors' horses were chased by a cougar that lives in the area.

Wind is blowing colder tonight but the moon is making the mostly clear night sky silvery here north of Torrington. Need a hooded sweatshirt jacket outside tonight.

Tonight's painting is of Grand Teton from the banks of Pilgrim Creek.

Houseless for 1 1/2 weeks.

I gave up this interior sticks and bricks living space for the space of my 29 ft. Prairie Schooner 5th Wheel just a little over a week and a half ago (Ok, I was going to wait and add a picture here of the 5th wheel's living room as soon as I got everything put away, but what the heck you might as well see the reality that until I get everything stowed and organized it is messy) and so far have no regrets. Enjoy the compactness and mobility of my new home and the promise of new freedom to paint at will. Hope you enjoy seeing some of my paintings in these posts. It has been a real challenge to get everything organized in the RV so that I can retrieve everything when I need it. Have successfully stowed an entire artist studio on board along with everything else I, as well as my feather and fluff kids, need. Incredibly comfortable in the RV in spite of the present mess of disorganization.

You might have noticed some of my shades are torn. One tip for dog owners. Don't try to hitch or unhitch your 5th wheel with a hyper young male labrador retriever loose inside. Jake panicked when I was hitching and tried to get out by chewing holes in some of the shades and shredding some screens. Have replaced the screens and repaired one of the shades myself. Still have 4 shades to go. All in good time. Fun comes in all sorts of sizes.

Crazy you say? Maybe. All I know is after watching both my beloved parents die, by comparison lots of things are pure enjoyment now including some of the challenges and adversities that come with stepping from a conventional lifestyle to a fulltime RV lifestyle.

Tomorrow am taking the truck in to have her hitch looked at. The 20,000 lb. Reese hitch has a reluctance to release the kingpin on my 5th wheel without a lot of finegling of the truck into just the perfect position. Took me an hour to unhitch it last time. Maybe it just needs some grease.

Can't sign off without describing the beautiful balmy, moonlit eastern Wyoming evening we are enjoying. Great for moon gazing as the coyotes howl and a coal train whistle sounds in the distance. Saw a young bullsnake cross the road in front of us this afternoon as I walked the doggies past the old homestead. Tomorrow evening there's a possibility of some snow. Today it was in the 80's. Tomorrow will be cooler. Have had a couple of frosts and sunflowers have all withered.

No Regrets! Stuff is ALL GONE!

Auction is over. All the stuff is gone now for over a week. It is a feeling of relief to be free of the burden of having all that stuff. Got some cash for it and that is terrific. Hope somebody else gets some good out of it. Just have a small pile of stuff to sort out and see if I really need it in the 5th wheel. With the going of the stuff a lot of the melancholy feelings attached to letting it go are gone as well. That is a good thing. The house is also gone as we (buyer and seller) decided we could close early. It is starting to sink in that I am finally free. No more yard work, no more real estate taxes, no more huge utility bills, no more home maintenance bills, no more mortgage payments, no more.... Am parked at my dear neighbors' home for the time being while I sort out the small remainders and prepare to head off into the sunset. The dogs kind of go crazy every time we walk past the old homestead and see strange cars and dog in "their" house. But it doesn't seem strange at all to me to see others in the house that was once mine. It is a good thing and I hope they are happy and blessed in that lovely house. The most frequent question I get is where will you go? My answer is always wherever I want to go. That seems to be a strange concept for people to grasp. I guess it was hard for me to grasp, too. It is a thrill to think the dream of being footloose and fancy free is become reality thanks to the Good Lord. He gets the credit for working everything out. I truly could not have done it on my own. The weather is chilly, grey and blustery today. It is so nice to be able to walk the dogs during the daylight hours. Why am I doing this comes to mind. I'm tired of working at a 9-5 job. I just want to paint and see if I can exercise my creative muscles. Maybe the creative juices will begin to flow as my life is less burdened by maintaining all that stuff and begin enjoying life instead. As the RV becomes more and more organized I feel a real sense of satisfaction. What a compact little house it is. I am definitely at home in it. By the way. The Casio piano keyboard is stowed in the rear of the 5th wheel. How much room can a keyboard take up after all?

Tonight's painting is of the Tetons from Jenny Lake.