Travels with The Rayman

But I digress.

We have just spent a week in the Sierras with our friends, the Donnellys.  We were all disappointed at the air quality of the region.  The Carr fire’s smoke blows in over the mountains as I imagine it rides some type of jet stream and the smoke has enveloped the area for the entire week.  So, today, we decided to leave early pleading our case that Rayman was having issues of breathing, sore throat etc.  We were actually booked for another week. 

The other reason we blazed, if you will pardon the pun, is that we are buying a house in Portland and the lack of good wifi signals makes the process very difficult.  Wiring funds, making appointments for walk thrus, are exceedingly difficult under the circumstances.

The final reason we packed up and left is that my golf game sucks. 

But I digress.

The most interesting thing that happened today on the road was our encounters with cows.  So, as you can see, my title was not a typo as much as a play on words.  We were heading north on highway 139 when Daisy the cow escaped her pasture…and she was very confused, bewildered, scared.  She kept crossing the road not sure which way to go so I stopped the Dog House in the middle of the road and we stared at each other.  She was a delight except for her ear tag…that made me sad.  But she seemed to be imploring us for some help.  Luckily there were no cars in sight.  So, we sat there.  Finally, she ran across the road down the sloping shoulder of the road and trotted in the grassy area aside the barbed wire fence.  So I started forward.  Then she ran up the shoulder and hit the road again.  When she reached the other side of the road, she turned and regarded us.  We regarded her.  This happened several times.  My concern was that she would run right in front of us as I tried to pass to end the impasse.  Finally I honked the horn.  This startled her and she ran across the road again.  She was probably saying to herself, “What do they want me to do?  Why did I break through the fence?  What was I thinking?  Now I’m in a real mess of my own creation.  Moo.”

She scooted down the shoulder again and we managed to pass.  But this is not the end of the story.  I was very concerned about her getting in an altercation with a car.  So, we spotted a ranch house and turned down the long driveway with the idea we should alert Daisy’s owner.  No one was there except two dogs that constituted the welcoming committee.  Beau was oblivious to all that was happening.  So, Rayman got back in the Dog House and away we went.  Sure hope Daisy got home okay. 

Our other encowter happened after we arrived at Hawk’s Nest RV Park.  We took Beau for a walk and while ambling down the road, I caught movement on the left of the road under a tree…Holy moly, I thought it was a black bear.  It was big and it was in the shade of a tree so it was hard to discern.  Before I took off like a jack rabbit, Rayman informed me that it was a bull.  A great big bull.  It stood up, stood it’s ground and stared at us the entire time we walked down the road and back with doggie.   Again, Beau was oblivious.  The only thing Beau noticed was a squished snake in the middle of the road.  I’m thinking baby rattler.  Who knows.  It had been there a while, all dried out and dead. 

So, that was the day with the bovines in our lives.   The encowters were much more interesting than trying to buy gas by squeezing into a Shell station that sorely lacked much space for maneuvering a 33 ft. RV, and the car that was being hauled behind it.  Took about 5 minutes to squeeze between the pump and a pole on the sidewalk.  Rayman was outside directing me and he was a sight…flailing his arms, pointing furtively, gesturing wildly.  I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. 

The bovines were definitely more interesting than that.  Just sayin.