Hokey Pokey
This week was celebrated by a trip to Petaluma for an archery shoot. I don’t normally do competitions as I’m just not very competitive. I went to spend time with people and see what the fun was they talk about. It was in fact, quite fun. They had novelty shoots like trying to hit a target from almost 100 yards out, speed rounds of attempting to fire as many arrows as accurately as possible in a 20 second time period, and a golf course for archery. The courses were broken into three sets of 20 targets each, with two sets completed on one day and the final set on the third day. That translated to a LOT of walking up and down the hills behind Petaluma. But we made fun of each other and joked our way through the 9.3 miles on the first day and about half that the next.
Where was Cardiff while I was out shooting my mouth off? She spent time with her Grandma, and laid the foundations for “shake”. We’re still working on it. The environment wasn’t very hospitable for doggos, with burrs, foxtails, ticks, and thistle everywhere (see images below). She had a much better time wrestling with her friend Gracie.
I brought the Casita, and spent two nights in it. I’ve decided the mattress is really not working; just too thin and uncomfortable. Everything else worked out well, and I’m getting better at figuring out how to pack and what to bring.
I definitely won’t do a wine bottle opener like this again. No one’s fault but my own: I’m apparently incapable of using this type of bottle opener. I shoved the cork down into the bottle and sprayed red wine over myself and the inside of the trailer. I was not amused.
Still splootin’
This week has been pretty active. The neighborhood walks have continued - typically twice a day - and we’ve met everyone in a 100 mile radius that isn’t inside while we’re out and about. Cardiff keeps meeting her best friend around every corner. Also, now that they’re both fully vaccinated, she was able to get a play date with my niece’s puppy that is two weeks older, and they had a blast. Add that to the ontgoing wrestling matches with my mom and dad’s dog, and it’s starting to look like ongoing doggo-friends.
I had kind of the opposite effect on my neighbors because I’m getting rid of my old lawnmower, and it must have no gas in it for the city to pick it up. I jury-rigged the safety to allow the thing to run until the gas was gone without me holding it, and had people looking out of windows and walking by frowning at my bad form for wasting fossil fuels. It wasn’t like I was just pouring gas in the street, but I did have the thing running in my driveway for over 10 minutes. I swear there was only a slight liquid sheen down at the bottom of the the tank when I started it, but that sucker just kept going.
This week I found myself in the backyard trying to deal with the very small nettles which constitute the joke of a lawn, and have resorted to vacuuming them up. Seriously. Vacuum. I borrowed my dad’s shop vac and am sucking up all the burrs that are constantly invading the house via Cardiff’s fur. It feels really silly. Kind of like rinsing stuff to be recycled, or as Jim Gaffigan calls it: “washing the garbage”.
I’ve looked at several different spots to travel to next. Still in the state, and not more than a few hours away. It’s a lot harder to determine the right place as I learn more about the process and the type of campground people and environment we’ll be enjoying. Does it look like a parking lot with no grass? Is the majority of the clientele looking to “git drunk and nekkid” on their boat or next to the lake? Is the place decorated in a theme like ‘western’ or ‘surfer’? Do they allow dogs?
ON a totally different topic, I was finally able to install some AI software for art generation on my computer, and boy is it fun. It runs so much faster than the last version I played with. I created images of everything from super villains to statues to D&D characters. Check out some samples if you’re interested.
Lastly, my mom supplied Cardiff with a kerchief to help her be my chick-magnet, but she wasn’t having any of it. You see her below exclaming “I can’t breathe!” and re-enacting the death scene from Over the Hedge. What’s a little air compared to my future happiness? She’s so selfish.
We be rollin’
Cardiff and I took our first trip, spending the night in Morro Bay as a shakedown run. Close enough that forgotten items weren’t critical, but far enough that we had to drive and deal with the trailer. It went well, but I can’t really recommend the RV park we stayed it. It was beautifully located, literally across the street from the beach, but just a different group of people looking for something different than how I would like to enjoy the trailer. My vision is something more remote, with fewer amenities and people, with more access to nature. This was basically a parking lot filled with people and vehicles of all kinds looking to get their drunk on.
We made do, and had a good trip. First visit to the beach for Cardiff. Unfortunately our film crew didn’t show up so I was the only one able to hold the leash, which meant I couldn’t really get any pictures of the frolicking. The rules in the park were very clear: I couldn’t have her off leash (no more than 6’ long) and couldn’t leave her alone at the site. So she came along everywhere, including the bathroom which had a sign on the door saying “no animals”. Hmmm, someone didn’t think that through. We both went in, and no fights ensued.
You can see where I stopped to pick up lunch on the way in (good burrito!), a tired puppy trying to nap after running in the sand and surf, going out to the harbor and seeing boats and birds, and driftwood structures on the misty beach early in the morning of our second day.
