Moving Day...

Yes, again.

We signed up for another week at Hart Ranch.  Looking at the forecast 10 days out, it had the makings of a crap weather day today.  As we got closer, the forecast didn't improve.  A high today of 59ª, occasional rain, and windy: gusts out of the northwest to 50 mph or more.  This wouldn't be a good day to be on the road, especially in a motorhome.

They are good here at the Hart Ranch reservations desk: when I extended our time here a few days ago, they told me I could move onto the next site anytime I saw it empty.  Moving from site to site here is a process: first we (I) take the scoots over one at a time and walk back; it is about a 4 block walk, so that constitutes my morning walk.  While I was doing that, Joan got the inside of the coach ready to roll.  Then, we pick up around our site and put our "outdoor stuff" into the cargo trailer, hook it to the CR-V and move that to the new site.  Get the outdoor stuff out of the trailer and move the scoots back in.  At this point, the ugly forecast wind hadn't kicked up, but the sky looked like rain.

Back to the previous site with the car, then fire up the motorhome for its big move.  As soon as I put it in gear, Rufus hopped on on his tower (where he usually rides when we're going down the road).  Did I mention: he's a good boy!  Digressing.

Not a lot of occupied sites where we were, but the sites where we are going are more full.  As people get to the end of their 21/9 days, reservation folks are moving everyone closer to the lodge so then can close down the further out sites.  We are moving from "the suburbs to in-town."  It feels like the sites in this area are just a bit closer together... maybe because we haven't had any "next door" neighbors for a week or so?

I backed the motorhome onto the site, put on the parking brake, and put down the leveling jacks.  Not much leveling needed here because the sites are well done, but the jacks make the coach feel more solid when parked.  The first of the wind gusts started.  While I did the outdoor utilities, Joan put the slides out and got the interior back to living (instead of driving).  As I was finishing up outside, the first rain spits started.  Glad we got an early start on this; I took the first scoot to the site at 9:15, and we were settled in at 10:45.

I took off my jacket and shoes... and Rufus wanted to go outside.  The rain spits had stopped, so I put on my shoes and jacket and took him out.  He was a bit hesitant looking around... we had no close neighbors where we were and now we have potential "cat killers" in reasonably close proximity.  He was pretty happy to discover we have a tree on this site... new smells since there have likely been a slew of dogs who peed on that tree.  The spitty rain started again, so Rufus cut his walk short (I have a rain jacket).

A look around this site...

We are on this site for a week - after today, the weather looks to be nice; there should be a few more good rides to be had.  Fall is coming; today is a preview of that.  The local news people are talking about "the percentage of fall color change," with the height of that predicted to be in about 10 days or so.  Spearfish Canyon is a big draw for this... we drove through there a couple days ago... didn't see much in the way of fall colors.  Hopefully, this big wind the area is getting today doesn't mess with that.  No doubt, there will be some slow-moving "peepers" on some of our favorite rides in the week ahead.

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Regarding Rufus's new sweater: out for lunch today, Joan swapped sweater sizes.  Rufus now has a sweater that fits...

Yes, he is OK with it.  A pretty chilly day today, but... the boy does have a lot of fur.  He is taking a nap in the photo immediately above, so it is clear the sweater isn't a hindrance.  ;-)

You may recall that he did get a cat-hoodie last year, not long after we got him.  Yeah, he outgrew that in no time.

Photo from 2018.  Back when he was just a kid.  ;-)

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Joan took these photos of Rufus and me out for a walk.  This is what Joan sees...

I said, "Hey, I'm out here, too.  Get a photo with us in our gray outerwear."