Year: 2008

I arrived home yesterday evening – yeah! I think my bone marrow may be thawed out in a few days.

The difference that one day of sunshine makes is enormous and amazing. The snow melts, the water soaks into the sand, tractors come out to make repairs, the work crews start burning the sagebrush, and the the world is much brighter and WARMER!

I received several gift cards for my favorite camera store here for Christmas so I ventured out to browse the goodies only to find that someone broke into their store and ripped off just about every dog gone item I was considering cashing the cards in on. What a bummer, somewhere there is thousands of dollars of stolen lens etc I hope the a holes get caught!

I visited my next favorite store and blew money I do not really have (read VISA) and satisfied my gimme want me mood with the purchase of the Nikkor 50mm f1.4D I have been drolling over. Next some of met at the nature center to shot some pics giving me the opportunity to try out the new lens. It is going to take a bit to get used to how fast it is compared to my other lens that I am used to and how the depth of field plays out.

The snow is melting yeah! Did you know that underneath all the beautiful white flakes lurks what I can only describe as frozen sand and boobt trapped mud holes? Ha ha I seem to have a nack for finding them.

This morning the main road ( mud ) became an amusment. As vehicles tried sometimes unsuccesfully to navigate out to the main road (paved). First casualtiy, one F350 4×4 as its wheels got stuck in someone elses mud groove slide slowely and helplessly into the ditch. It was fun watching to see who made it and who did not. By the time I went to brave the nasty back roadway to the bus stop I found out that the extra money for the mud/rock guards on my pre runner two wheel drive were not a bad thing. As I started sliding about the roadway and headed toward the brush and rocks I had a thought that wow like duh I can make my own pathway and bypass the large mud and water filled holes covered with a crust of melting ice running across the roadway. Coolness, this California chicken made their own roadway over rocks and brush.

Then the dare, why not drive the main road? Ugh ah no I say, then the words – I dare yah! Ok, not the sharpest tack on the block here I can not resist the temptation of trying to make it down the road, the one others have failed to make in 4×4’s – yeah I know – dumb – but a dare was tossed out – so . … not only did my little two wheel drive truck make it but I had the joy a passing by some peeps that are known – to put it politly- the kind of folks that you see on a television special about the neighboors from hell. Yep there they were with their big white 4×4 in the ditch along the roadway to the left sides sitting on a now very bent sign post. Then I see that another truck has parked itself ( same said folk’s relations) in the middle of the muddy goo road. Would they move? Nope, they just pointed and laughed at us. I have learned enough driving around the property here to no that if one stops one sinks. Stopping not an option I pick a path to the right of the truck and try to squeeze through while the tires are spinning and sliding. I ended up passing them all with the truck nose pointing toward them and my rear bumper inches from a white fence to the right – kind of sideways I made it by. Never stopping until hitting the hard pack of the edge of the highway. Woo hoo, was it fun to see the, as I call em ” stupids” standing there with the most baffled looks upon their faces.

Todays count  the stupids – zero – the little Toyota two wheel drive the winner! My first real attempt at driving through inches deep goo and I made it. Now my truck is very dirty, my ego way to large, and the “stupids” well they are still- what they are.

Hopefully I will make it one more time so I can make it to Dayton and then over the pass into California and home again jig ity jig.

The (me) chicken is staying put here in Nevada for a bit. I feel bad that I will miss my photo groups meetup but . … I so do not do icey roads.

Today I recieved a brief lesson in driving in inches of snow layed atop of muddy sand. Woo hoo I made circles in the yard sounds dumb but frozen icy snow covered mud is not something I have experience driving on. Later in the afternoon I actually made it to the school bus stop, got turned around in the snow and picked up the boys. It was an epic type adventure for this old lady. Imagine how the air was let out from under my wings when I watched the school bus charge in turn around and let the kids off as if it was just a ho hum deal. Wow, here I thought I was super for making it down there to be out done by a big yellow bus LOL.

Earlier I went out to warm up my truck and found my doors frozen shut. I pulled and jerked finally getting the passengers side front door unstuck. Crawling through to the drivers side only to hear my enging labor to start – I guess it is a valley girl too. Twenty mins later the temp gauge was near normal and the doors finally came unstuck. I then got out and got the wipers unstuck from the windshield and my lesson started.

Later this evening the boys and I used our feet to draw our names in the snow, creating ten foot tall letters. So if you are flying over Stagecoach and look out toward the country in the middle of no where till the next round of flakes slowely erases our efforts  you will see our names in desert snow .

And, yes, it is still cold.

I will admit that I am the world biggest chicken when it comes to driving in really bad snow storms. Nuff said. Over the hill I came to Nevada to return the kid home. Ugh, yeah, we knew the storms were coming in but a fifteen year old has to attend school so, off we go.

The Sierra storms cut off Calif from Nevada – when the weather service says chains required I interpret it as meaning – stay home it is nasty out there. When the storm warnings say life threatening I hide under my blankets. Now here I sit, in a place called Stagecoach, NV. on a computer that has normal dial-up look speedy typing days later after I ventured over the mountains.

I do not “do” snow flakes as large as silver dollars well, I so do not “do” inches of snow, high winds, zero visability, and frozen mud holes. Ummm…

I actually made it way out to the horse coral and watched as ice was bashed from the water toughs. The hoses are frozen – I think to myself – like DUH what did you expect? So now we have to string hose after hose all the way from the house to the back corals. Freezing cold nasty hoses. One hose short we have to fill up a garbage barrel with water and pour it over a fence to the dogs water container that just happens to be oh so not conviently wired to the fence. Burr, then drain all the water from said hoses by walking and dragging them over my shoulders to help it drain out one end. Did you know that I can blow water out of a 50 ft hose with my old lungs – yup – I learned what back flush does too LOL.

Now the Truckee river canal broke flooding homes futher in the valley and the snow keeps coming and the temperatures keep going down. My poor little two wheeled truck I fear will not make it out the frozen snow covered ice mud driveway out to the main mud/snow/muk/ road to get to the highway area where the mailboxes are. I am a chicken. Will I be able to get the dang truck to the highway and if I do will the pass at Donner and Truckee be driveable?

Dang it is COLD here – my coffee is never hot LOL and my feet either.

Hope to make it to California when the sun comes up and the snow and ice go away . … till then – it is COLD here did I mention that?