Tow-er or Toad?

I could tell from VSO's voice on the phone that something was wrong.  She explained where she was—about 20 miles from home—and what she was doing—getting gas.  I waited impatiently for the problem:  "When I got back in the car after pumping gas and put it in DRIVE, it made a loud scraping sound."

By the time I got there with the Chev, the car had been pushed away from the gas pump and none of the gears were working.  Not even PARK.  "Do you want to be the tow-er," I asked her, "or the towed?"  She wanted to be the toad.  (Based on appearance alone, it should have been me.)  We towed it 20 miles.  All the way to the NAPA repair shop just down the street from The Homestead.  They promised to look at it on Monday.  I hope that wasn't the Vue's last ride.

Washington's B-day

When I got up this morning, I found a heavy rime of ice on everything:  On the stove, on the Chev, on the coffee tub.  I tried to start the camper furnace to help the girls get up.  It wouldn't ignite.  The battery was too low.  So, I started the truck, scraped the windshield, and moved the stove off the tail-gate.  I pulled over to the camper and jump-started the furnace.  After that, the sun came out for a few minutes and the hot coffee and bagels got us going:  EDO to challenge the slick-rock and VSO to paint it.

Don't Touch My Hat

EDO likes to wear a cowboy hat given to her by VSO.  The only problem is that it doesn't stay on in the wind.  We've had a lot of wind lately, so EDO is more of a hat carrier than a hat wearer.  Here she is on a little ridge at the north end of the valley.

Weird Weather

First we had the cold winter.  Then we had the warm spring (albeit two months early).  Finally, we had the rain (I guess California was washed away).  This is what the Escalante Desert looked like before the deluge arrived yesterday.