Terri and Peter's RV Adventures

We awoke to a magical morning. Yes, it was a cold 41 degrees but that wasn’t what took our breath away. It was the spectacular scenery out our front and back windows, beckoning to don winter coats over PJs and venture out to experience this magical morning.

The lake was placid save for the mini waves created by Franklin’s Gulls, Gadwalls, Killdeers, and Mallards. Birdsong floated through the quiet morning air: Red-winged Blackbirds, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Song Sparrows while Caspian Terns, Canadian Geese and California Gulls soared overhead, contrasting images against the pale blue early morning sky. Don’t get the idea that I know all these birds by sight and sound. I have the Merlin app to make me sound informed. I can’t say I’ve ever pulled up ten birds in a matter of minutes of sound recording.

We took our sweet time enjoying our “day off” between long drives, reading and meditating outside, where the weather actually allowed for outdoor living, finally. And after a spell, we walked toward the jetty and boat docks, knowing Lily was about to reignite her water-loving lab DNA. We ran into a huge gathering of police and their K-9 companions, mostly Malinois Shepherds, training for narcotics searches. Had a great chat with them (the benefit of being older and not drinking or drugging) and got an update on the drug scene these days. They said, “You’re probably in the safest place in all of Utah right now” considering we were in the midst of this gathering of patrol officers and their dogs.

Heading down the dock, I’m sure there were signs saying “no swimming” and “no dogs in the lake” but I chose to look the other way and began throwing balls into the water, away from any birds, and Lily was “crazed with delight” as Peter described it. That’s a fair assessment. Definitely crazed.

Unfortunately, we had regular life to attend to and spent a few hours at Costco and Trader Joes but rushed back as soon as possible to enjoy the rest of the late afternoon and evening. Oh, and we filed a claim with our insurance company so let’s see if we get lucky and have some measure of reimbursement.

Sorry for the political disruption, but these bumper stickers were on the truck next to us at the Costco parking lot. (Anyone know what the dog is doing there and what it is?) It’s a whole different world here….between these stickers and many very large families with young mothers who are on a trajectory to have 8 or more kids, it’s a reminder of the diversity of this country. How’s that for being “woke”?

Tomorrow we head off early (hopefully): destination Laredo, Wyoming. The camping options are quite limited there but it fell within the 400 mile maximum distance we hope to drive each day and even that limit is pushing it. I’m bracing myself for the contrast in campground locations given that one reviewer in their comments about the place we expect to say said in his review, “We ended up staying in the Walmart parking lot.” Gulp. The joys of travel.