Excuses.

We made it home a week ago Sunday, but we've had problems getting a signal to stick while we're at our favorite campground. I spend more time restarting the computer than surfing... and retrieving the email is a real adventure. So, in case you were wondering where we dropped out to... that's our story.

Soon I'll post another story. About the toilet. You won't want to miss that one.. guaranteed to elicit a comment or two from Santa Anna, TX. Also look for the final report on the long trip.

Fun For a Couple More Days

Olympics are almost over, but this was too much fun to pass up! Check back as it'll change daily.

12 Years Ago This Morning...

...Randir, (Leelanau Mithrandir) was whelped in my basement in Jackson, MI. Today, like most days, he's sacked out on the bed. But he was chasing jackrabbits last Winter, and I expect he'll sprint out (briefly!) after them again next Winter. We send out birthday wishes to his two surviving sisters, Hillary and Morgan.

"...may you stay forever young." - Bob Dylan

It's Over.

5469 Miles.

Details to follow...

Local Travel Alert!

We know from the tracking and counting aids we have on the Express blog, that we have readers from a little pocket of towns in southwest South Dakota.. Custer, Hot Springs, Buffalo Gap. Don't know who you are, but we wanted to let interested parties know we will be ducking into the state, briefly, on Friday to renew our driver's licenses. We picked the office in Hot Springs to be the most convenient for our schedule.

If anyone's interested in meeting us, and more importantly, the hounds ;o) , please get hold of us by email, or phone. (Phone number is listed at http://shotonsite.us ).

Donner Pass. (Insert tastless joke here.)

We're on our way home at last. Only 250 miles in the log today, but we could have had more. It was just so damned hot after we left the cool breezes of Hollister, we decided that we'd spend a much cooler night at 5000 feet, high in the Sierra Nevadas. We're not really at Donner Pass- that's just a few miles south of where we're parked, which is called the "Donner Summit Rest Area". It's very cool.. both literally and figuratively. There's a trail that takes you to the Pacific Crest Trail.. the Appalachian Trail of the West.

*****

Meanwhile, here's a teaser.. well, no... it's not a teaser, it's the best shot I got at the Pinnacles National Monument. If you can't click it to enlarge, you'll have to take my word for it: That's an endangered California Condor. More on our condor-watching and high-altitude hiking in a future post.

Last Stop.

Alpaugh, CA sunset.

We made it to Hollister today, the last stop (event-wise) on the California trip. They have larger-than-normal entries for Sunday, and possibly Saturday as well. Is it the "Shot On Site Effect"? We'd like to think so.

Anyway, there's a lot of activity behind us that still needs to be reported. Maybe on the way East, we'll stop at a WiFi-equipped campground for an day or two and get caught up.

Here's a partial list of some of the highlights you should look for:

• Restaurants


• Wine tastings


• Sandia and Fanny at the beach


• Hunting with Dr. John Burchard... (chasing, actually)


• Herb's Jackrabbit portfolio- Stunning!


• Los Tres Amigos


• Granite Construction tour of the big hole


• and, hummingbirds.

Mileage now stands at 2,900 miles..... exactly!

The future? Reno, Salt Lake, Medicine Bow, Badlands... and more.

We'll Leave the ATM Open For Ya'

"Motel 96", Paso Robles, California.

Yeah, But it's a Dry Heat.

August 3rd, 4:44PM, Alpaugh, California. Glad I'm indoors.........

Margaret Spends Our Gas Money.

The spoils of our Thursday Wine and Olive excursion. We may be broke, but we'll be smilin'.

So That's What They Look Like...

...when it's too late to eat 'em...
...or too soon.

Sideways.

I have lots and lots to write, but a signal barely exists up here in the hills overlooking Paso Robles.

Yesterday, we went wine and olive tasting. The above signboard is in the lot of our first (and best) stop, Vista del Rey. Trying to pick 3 or 4 wineries from the more than 200 (!) in the Paso Robles area was a challenge best handled by Margaret's cousin, Mary, who's lived here for more than 30 years.

When we get a better signal, I'll try and cover more details on our tour. Today, we're taking Sandia to run on the shore. Meanwhile, here's the view from our lodgings...

I have a couple other "mystery" images to post shortly. Stay tuned.

Lemonade.

For 3 days we've been trying to recover the Scottish Deerhound "ribbon" images from the AKC lure trial. No luck. We've tried the SanDisk recovery software that came with the flash cards. We downloaded GetDataBack, with which we had significant success a couple of years ago- recovering 5 trials worth of images from a crashed external drive. Nada. I Googled a couple of other options, but they just aren't to be had.

On Saturday, we decided to take some pictures of the lure coursing judge, Denise Como..

(All you trial secretaries out there can now put a face to the name that appears on all your trial premiums!).

We had her hold all the appropriate ribbons, and Voila!

That's why we say, "when life gives you lemons...

...there's Photoshop!" (Elements).

That's More Like It!

For all you suffering in unbearable heat and humidity back east? The "extended forecast" looks just like the current 5-day, and the previous week was identical as well. I suppose if you look back over the last 30 days, and ahead 30 days there will be little change. However, we're not bored yet. I could see how boredom could set in, though...... BAAAhaaahahaahaahah! NOT!

*****

The perfect weather notwithstanding, the Scottish Deerhound portion of the reason we drove the 2500 miles to California was pretty much a disaster. We missed two events due to breakdowns, and the one event we did shoot- the AKC trial- "we" lost the win pictures. Perhaps our luck will change now.

We've got two weeks before the next event, up in Hollister. Our schedule is starting to fall together as to how we will spend that time.

When we leave Santa Maria, we'll head up the coast to Paso Robles, where we will park for a day or three at Margaret's cousins. She thinks she remembers that her cousin's husband is a good cook. There's that "food theme" again!

Then we have some options. We've been invited by a total stranger- but one who is familiar with this blog, and knows someone who knows Dutch Salmon, and therefore we're all friends (I like that logic)- to stop and spend time in Coalinga.

Or.. we may drive from Paso Robles to Alpaugh and spend time with Dr. John Burchard, whom I haven't seen in 8 or 9 years, and his cohorts, George Bell, and Herb Wells, (another photographer whose open field coursing images many of you may be familiar with). There's a better than even chance we could go scare a few jackrabbits.

We may do both! And probably will.

That should get us near to where we have to be in Hollister, which I've been told is only about 25 miles from where we might get a chance to photograph one of these guys:

Stand by for that! For a Hollister weather image, just add 1-2 degrees to the above ;0)

Long range plans- beyond the Hollister trials- call for a return on Interstate 80, through Wyoming, where we may veer north to Medicine Bow and, you guessed it, kick up a few more jacks. White tails, in this case. Then up to I-90 so we can see the sites of our adopted state: Badlands, Rushmore, Crazy Horse. Then we need to get our driver's licenses renewed while we're there.

And finally, back to Michigan. Whew!

I've got to talk about our dinner here in Santa Maria the other night, but I'll save that for another post. I'm still processing that.. literally, as well as figuratively.

Time to feed the crew.

Oh by the Way...

Lest you think we're still stuck in Needles, rest assured that we got away before the really hot weather hit ;0)

We arrived in time for the Deerhound AKC trial, and have been hard at work all week long. We'll try and get some details up when we get a chance to rest. Good eats abound!

Meanwhile, male readers should check out this interesting archery post on Patrick the Terrierman's blog...

Help Us Spike!

We left Flagstaff around 11 this morning. The problem with the motorhome fixed, with a $22 part, and 4 hours or research labor. What was the problem, you ask? I don't want to talk about it. Let's just say it involved a part that I mentioned on the very first post on our trip.

Besides.. we have bigger problems now than some old K&N filter with too much oil on it.

We travelled 235 miles today, to roughly 25 miles west of Needles, California. We were into our second climbing stage out of the Colorado River basin when there was a loud noise, and it only took a second to realize that while the engine was still running, we didn't have any power steering. Cataclysmic destruction of the serpentine belt.

So, here we're parked, behind the Colorado River Cheverolet Dealership in Needles, waiting for them to open in the morning, so we can get the damn belt replaced, and not miss more than two deerhound events.. (LGRA, ASFA Lure Coursing).

You know you've heard of Needles if you watch your local weathercasts: "And the hottest place in the nation again was Needles, CA at 107 degrees". Fortunately, we'll be gone before Wednesday, when it will get really hot.

Oh.. and gas here? $4.99/gal. Yeah.. we could live here. It's hot... but it's a dry heat.

*****

Talk about a vertical profile! That trip down Oak Creek Canyon was nothing. In 4 hours today, we went from around 7000', cool-ish temps, at Flagstaff, to the California border at the Colorado River: 326' and 102 degrees. A shock to the system.

*****

And who is this "Spike"? You know. Click on the title.

*****

Decent little Chinese place here.... right up on the corner. Dinner specials packaged like lunch specials, including rice, soup, and soft noodles. Hmmm, noodles in Needles.

See Ya.

"That's it then...we're all going to die."- Arthur Dent.

Another Perspective.

This is the vertical profile from the GPS track of our 113.1 mile "Saturday Joy Ride". We lost a lot of altitude in that first 25 miles, didn't we? That's the drop into the canyon, which included those incredible switchbacks in yesterday's photo. The higher portion there at the 50 mile marker is Sedona; the lowest elevation was where we picked up I-17 to return to Flagstaff. First time under 4000' in over a week!

*****

We had Fanny and Sandia with us. We can now add Afghan Hound, Wolfhound, and...... Whippet(!) to the list of things they've been called.. as in: "Is that a......?"

Sedona Road Trip

It's unusual that we have an opportunity to visit a place neither of us have evern been before. Today was that day.

We started by hopping off Interstate 17 at US Hwy 89A... the "alternate" route. That took us down, down, down through Oak Creek Canyon. Did I say around and around and around, as well?

...Count 'em...

The canyon ends at the city limits of Sedona. We took a look, and drove right on through, having no current need for any crystals, T-shirts, cappucino, palm readings or anything else on the main drag marketplaces.

We wanted to see Red Rock Canyon. And we did.

This is Cathedral Rock. Just one of the hundreds of amazing rock formations in the Red Rock area. We took lots of pictures. Lots. We'll put up a slide show when we have a better signal. We haven't had a slide show here in quite a while.

Robert Earl Keen Said...

"...the road goes on forever, and the party never ends." We think this unique sculpture was in Gallup, NM, but we can't be sure. It's all a blur any more.