Anna's Moth Incident

April 22th 2013 Monday

by Anna

I am going to tell an amazing incident that includes two totally different places.

One at ‘Hole in the wall’’ and one at ‘Kelso dunes’. The only thing these places have in common is they both are in California!



purple salvia

My brother Leland, Mom and I were going for a walk and Salvia bushes were everywhere. In one Salvia bush there was the most beautiful moth I had ever seen.

It had a pink stripe on either side of its wings and a little brown, white and black stripe pattern on the back.

We stopped in our tracks not daring to speak; it was Mom who broke the spell, she said with excitement, “Look at that!!” Leland managed to say, “WOW!” We watched it for about four or five minutes, then I said, “I am going to go and get the camera!” “Do you know where it is?” Mom asked me, “Yes! It is at the camper. I can run and get it and run back.” “Okay, if you want to.” Mom says. “You guys stay here so I know where the moth is.” I say as I start running to the camper.

You are probably wondering if I made it to the camper, well, I did, but when I got back something happened. I was running to my Mom and Leland, and I just tuned the camera on when the darn thing flue a way right then!

You know it was only one moth that time. But why waste time not hearing about the “Kelso dunes”.

One evening we were eating supper, when Rusty barked at something. Dad went to say be quite it to him, when he saw an amazing site. It was five or six of these moths flying everywhere! They were going to these Desert Primrose flowers that were just blooming! There was lots of ooooos and ahhhhhhs for a long time.

 

This time I got lots and lots of pictures. We watched them for about an hour. It was quite a site.

I hope you enjoyed my story. J

P.S.  We found out the moth’s we saw were called a ‘White Lined Sphinx Moth.’

 

Kelso Dunes

- by Leland

Me and Anna and Mom and Rusty went up to the top of a sand dune.   It was ginormous.  Me and Dad had hiked up the top the day before and watching Dad running down the sand dunes is what inspired me to go again.   We didn't have the camera at the time but if we did you would have seen a picture of Dad running down the dunes.   Me and Anna and Mom discovered that Rusty could get tired.  There are a bunch of beetle tracks in the sand and it was really cool to see how far up they went.    

We saw lots of burrows and tracks on the way up the dune.  Lizards and road runner tracks.  I was absolutely fascinated by the sand and the way it moved through my fingers and across my body.  Unfortunately this fascination caused me to come back with three cups of sand in every nook and cranny possible.  I found my pockets full of sand too late after I took my pants off in my bed-  it was extremely uncomfortable that night.  

 

Running down the sand dunes was extremely fun- it made me feel like the Flash.

 

 

 

It was really funny watching Anna run down. 

 

 

The Mojave Desert

When we started talking about this trip one goal (almost the only concrete one) was to see the desert bloom.   So we headed to the Mojave National Preserve which is between Las Vegas and LA.    Our good friend Sandra recommended it because she knows how much we like places without many people.  So we got here April 7th and really had no information and no detailed map and just spent a night at the side of the road and went for an amazing walk that turned out to be the main area of Joshua trees in the preserve. 



The yuccas and Joshua Trees were blooming there were cactus and prickles everywhere- spiders and holes and burrows, flowers and prickly trees and sand and rocks and big, big sky-  we had gone to a foreign world.   One of my favourite quotes for the day was from Leland,  "The earth is amazing from a different perspective..."   Yes my son it is.  
 

 

 

And did I mention the prickles?

lesson

Do laundry any time the opportunity presents itself.   I will be getting myself a roll of quarters....

Creston South

So to all of you who were worried about us crossing the border.....we crossed on April 1st with a few questions, a brief look in our trailer and we were good to go.   Not an issue which is great.  We took a week to drive south- first afternoon was  Kooteny Falls where Tilly was a very brave animal on the stairs....

Kooteny Falls in Idaho



We took our time with stops for groceries, RV repair parts, walks, and sleeping.   We met an awesome young man named Rob in Pocatello, Idaho,  who helped (above and beyond actually)  us with a charge controller for the solar panel so now we can charge the batteries with the sun. 

 

We also learned that diesel in the States is the green handled pump not the yellow- good to know that, on advice from a trucker, if by chance someone put in a bit of gas by accident that you can add engine oil to counteract it.   Big white is fine- heart rates are back to normal.  There was a loose clamp on the air intake of the truck- causes loud bang and loss of power- now fixed.   Greg has his handy ratchet set at the ready and is teaching Leland and Anna too. 

 

Stopped north of Salt Lake City at a place called Willard Bay that is a large irrigation reservoir.   Also a major bird sanctuary under the main migratory fly way.    The sky is big here!  Saw some cool birds, amazing landscape and were inside a hatch of midges. (they don't bite).

 

Everywhere we go people are generally nice, helpful and kind.   We had our first real boondocking (legally camping in an undeveloped spot)  experience between Salt Lake City and Vegas when we drove to a state park that wasn't open yet....so we found a spot off the road where there was a fire pit and pulled off. We have our house with us- propane, water, stove, fridge, food, us, dog food- all right there wherever we stop.     Had a fire, roasted hot dogs, and paid by cleaning up the garbage that was left behind by others.  We've decide we need to stop driving for a bit and so put in a long day to bolt straight through Las Vegas- do not pass go, do not collect $200.    We are headed for the Mojave Desert.  

 

The Trailer Pukes

We made it as far as Creston, BC.   The grass is green, the sun is shining,  we are exhausted.   Spending some time at my sister's to rest, regroup, use a decent speed of internet, and yes puke all the stuff out of the trailer onto the lawn and repack.   It's amazing really that there wasn't a bag meant for the dumpster that mistakenly got packed.   At the end we were so pushed for time that things got thrown in bags, boxes and bins and chucked in.  So I have reorganized the trailer for the first of many times.  

 

Soon everyone will know where their own stuff is and then can put it back there!   The good news is that there are a limited number of places something can be.    Also because the temperatures are above zero- yes even at night, we dewinterized the water system and it seems to be working! 

 

We went for a walk yesterday to the Creston Valley Wildlife Refuge and saw lots of ducks and geese, tree swallows, frogs, a swimming snake, a swarming ant hill, a willow tree full of honey bees, and were surrounded by the calls of red wing blackbirds.     It feels like part of the plan to begin this family journey just as the earth starts to renew with another spring.   New growth, sun on my face and the great unknown ahead.  

 

 

 

Packing!!!????

Eleven years in one place is way too long a time to collect a lot of shit.   And I do mean shit.  Really?  A good friend was here today and saw some of our dirty little secrets- found one of those insulated "shoe boxes"  that our beneficial insects used to come in for the greenhouse- hiding on a shelf in the cold room- well really you never know when you might need one.   Wow.   Anyone coming over tomorrow will be scoring some very healthy food as a goody bag on their way home too!  Must be the squirrel genes- one can really never have enough dried beans in storage.   I am shaking my head at myself.   We are mostly packed except for what will theoretically fit in our trailer.   We shall see.  

How we roll.

I just had to stop and take this picture.   That green thing in the upper left of the very classy stock trailer is - yes it really is a canoe. 


Count down.....three point five days until lift off or blow up- which ever comes first.
Next post will hopefully include some desert blooms, sun and rock.