It’s mid-June here in Mesquite, Nevada and it’s f’ing HOT!
Our temperatures have been well over 100 degrees for most of the past two weeks. Yesterday and the day before, hit 112. Eeeeeeck! This is why we skedaddle north to the Oregon coast in the summer.
Not much going on around here, at least outside. Our friend Lloyd is staying with us right now, plotting his next life adventure. There is a possibility that he will relocate to South Africa to be with his on-again, off-again girlfriend Juanita. I think he already pays some of her expenses so maybe if he moves there he can get some return on investment. His house in the Yucatan, near the beach, was nice but not enough to entice Juanita, I guess. I hope he finds some happiness soon: he’s a good guy.
Lloyd, Mac (a neighbor) and I hiked up on the Arizona Strip yesterday morning. The Strip is an area of land that is right where Arizona, Nevada, and Utah borders come together. We hiked in a fairly nondescript mountainous area that was around 5,000 feet in elevation, plus or minus. What with the Megadrought affecting all flora and fauna in the area, we saw a few lizards, a chipmunk, one bird, a lot of very dry sagebrush, and many parched Juniper and Pine trees. No snakes, no deer, and only a few coyote footprints. There’s lean pickins out there right now for native wildlife.
The area that we hiked is traditionally a free-range cattle location. However, no cattle are there now because there is no water and no grass of any kind. It reminds me of the desolate Australian outback in one of those Mel Gibson dystopian Road Warrior movies.
You wouldn’t think that there would be many flies out there (no moisture of any kind!), but you’d be wrong. I had to make an emergency potty stop en route and deposited a nice, fresh turd in an arroyo. Before I could get my pants zipped up, there were about 500 flies that had come in from the surrounding area to feast on the steaming pile. “Spill on Aisle 4!!! Free picnic!!!” A humanitarian effort on my part; always thinking of the not-so-fortunate.
You’re welcome, my friends!
We stopped after our 2-1/2 hour hike to roast some hot dogs and tell war stories. Lots of fun until the air started reaching 90 degrees; then we hopped into the air-conditioned car and headed 70 miles back to my scorching property in Mesquite.
Lloyd and I are going to do something stupid tomorrow afternoon: golf. I have a free pass for two at Conestoga Golf Course and it expires in August. This week will be my last chance to use the freebie, so we’ll go out into the 100-degree heat and wind tomorrow and roast ourselves. I last played more than a month ago and have only played twice in 2022. Conestoga is a tough layout, so I’ll be lucky to shoot in the low 90’s. Lloyd hasn’t played in a year, so the two of us are going to go through a few golf balls. (We will also be near death when we finish the 18th hole at around 4 p.m.)
Charlie, Lloyd and I have been playing a lot of cards and Spinner dominoes lately in the cool confines of our dining room. It’s fun, we enjoy adult beverages, and many four-letter words are thrown about during the games. I’ve been on a winning streak lately; Charlie and Lloyd hate me.
By the way, Charlie recently got a photo of her long-lost biological father from some of his relatives back in New York.
I’ve got a date with a tattoo artist this coming week. He’s going to squeeze in a photo of Vinnie on my left bicep to go with the other dog tats that I have on that left upper arm.
And then, that’s it: no more dog tats. In fact, no more dogs. We have plenty (and we love all three of them).
I got the RV back from Freightliner in Hurricane, Utah last week. Everything seems to be in running order, all set for our 1,700-mile jaunt beginning on June 29th.
I started a letter-writing campaign with the local water district General Manager. Not that it will make a difference, but I want he and his Board to know that they are irresponsible tools (of the big housing developers), mining the underground aquifer that we residents depend upon for survival. The G.M. assures everyone that the District has lots of “water rights” to take care of everyone now and in the future. The only problem is that there hasn’t been a study of what those water rights actually contain (like underground water) since 1968. It’s like the 22-year megadrought that we’re currently in has not been brought to their attention.
In the desert, actual water, not water rights, is what determines life or death.
We are ready to get the heck out of this oven. I like Oregon: lots of water and green living things.
(Update: Lloyd and I participated in the golf death march at Conestoga on Tuesday. Actually, it was only about 102 degrees with the wind blowing at 15 to 20 mph when we teed off… so it cooled us a bit. We were quite rusty and didn’t play that well for the first 9 holes. Then, Lloyd wanted to get “serious” about the scoring, thinking that he could beat me. I told him that I would play the back nine with only a 6 iron, tee to cup, while he could use all clubs.
He didn’t beat me.
We had a great time and we survived. Maybe we’ll try the Jack Nicklaus course before the 29th.)