Envy...

 

I am generally not an envious person.  This morning, I felt a bit of that creep in.

We were sitting out under our awning.  Joan made us fruit smoothies (it's how I get my morning fruit) after I got back from a bicycle ride.  Contrary to what some had surmised, I wasn't feeling any aches from the sudden stop yesterday.  Rufus was sitting out with us...

 You might notice that I said "under our awning" and not "out on the patio."  One of my favorite things about Hart Ranch is the double-wide paved pads in the sites.  Except when you are doing your "9 days out," and are in the Meadows.  Where you have a single width gravel site.  The front of our site could use more gravel, so with the rain we've had the past couple weekends, it is a bit of a mud-hole.

While out there this morning, we watched a beautiful Prevost motorcoach pulling out.  No, I was not envious of the their coach... they get to go back to the main part of the resort... with paved pads, lush grass, level sites, and no dust (from the gravel road here).  They are so lucky.  ;-)

Our site here isn't bad - we've certainly stayed in worse and paid more for it...

... it's just that you get used to how nice the resort is.  Before you have to "do your time" here in Purgatory Flats.  Yep, next Wednesday, it will be our turn.  In the meantime, as each RV pulls out, you can tell which is heading for home (all packed up) vs who is heading to one of the nice sites (some, like us, just roll down the windshield cover instead of taking it off).

I did check on the Vespa this morning, while it is in the cargo trailer: no evidence of any leaking brake fluid up front, all the connections look good, the front tire has stayed fully inflated.  The poor thing just looks... odd.  That front tire that looks wide and powerful under the fender, appears a bit less so when it's just hanging out there by itself.

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Just got off the phone, speaking with a Progressive agent who called. It was clear she was reading from a script and had no understanding of what a Vespa might be. I recorded my statement, then she asked some questions. One of which was "Did you get a photo of the deer?"

It took great self-restraint to NOT say, "Yeah, we took a couple selfies before Bambi bounded off into the woods." Instead, I said, "I was more concerned with getting myself off a narrow two lane road before I got run down, but my wife said she saw the deer run off."

When asking about the photos I took, she asked, "Did you take pacific photos?"

"Pacific?" I asked.

"Yes, from pacific angles?"

Again, great restraint to keep from saying, "Well, we are 1,500 miles from the ocean..."   I took a breath and asked, "Did you mean photos from specific angles?"

"Yes, from pacific angles."

My wife reminded me that finding good staff is tough these days. I assume they will reimburse me if I have to ride this scoot to the West Coast to get photos? 

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I took Rufus for a walk this evening.  It has been a gray, occasionally spitty rain kinda day, with the occasional sun break.  Like much of the country, we have been experiencing smoke in the air, from the fires in the west.  This is what the sun looked like around 7:00...

 A few minutes later, the sun disappeared behind a heavy overcast.  Rufus and I had a nice visit with a couple from Oklahoma who came by on their golf cart.  I saw them coming towards us, homing in on us as their eyes locked on Ruf.  They have been away from home for almost three weeks (it's that 21 day thing here at Hart Ranch) and left their cat at home with a neighbor boy taking care of it.  It was clear they missed their fur boy.  I asked, "Why don't you bring him with you?"

"Oh, he would not be a good traveler, and sure wouldn't walk on a leash like Rufus."

"It took a while to get him used to the leash, but he is good with the traveling part, too," I told them.  Gave them something to consider on their 9 days out (going back to Oklahoma) before their next 21 days here.

Rufus is a good ambassador for traveling cats.  ;-)