Raccoon's and Skunks dine together on cat food . . . And . . . Is that a train in my bedroom?

Today as Mark and I were on hour number five of straight driving, I thought of our friends, the Paplows, who flew back to Minnesota yesterday. They probably got home, threw their dirty clothes into their washer, possibly soaked in a hot bath and then crawled into their large, king size bed. I found myself feeling tired and wanting to go home.

Moments like that are becoming farther apart. Being full-time RV’rs is not all caviar and gorgeous sunsets. But people tend to think our life is one, endless vacation. It is really just a frequent change of venue for our tiny home on wheels.

We are adapting. . . I still have trouble with what day of the week it is, or what town we are in at any given time, but other than that, this rig feels like home. 

It is an odd sort of life, traveling place to place like nomads, no roots in the ground. But I find normalcy in our routines when we ‘bug out’ and when we ‘set up’. Even Cotye knows what is expected. He has been known to move his own bed from in between the two front seats, to his special spot by the couch, if we take too long to do so.

I no longer knock on the doors of friends/family when we arrive for a visit, with a bath towel slung around my neck, bubble bath in one hand, and shampoo in the other, asking if I can use the tub, instead of the loo after a long drive. Showers aren't so bad.

Heading back to LA and looking at the hazy brown hills in front of us, we realize we have gotten used to looking at life without our smog-colored glasses.

I need to be back for a couple follow-up appointments with some specialists, then we can hit the road again and actually do some real meandering, as in; no laid out plans, no RV Park reservations, driving as little or as much as we want; staying longer in a spot we like if we wish, etc.  Eventually we will land in Tucson for the majority of the winter.

Okay, regarding getting you the rest of the pics I promised from our canyon tours, I have sorted them into Parks/areas, now I just need to choose a few from each spot to share, as well as give you a little background on the individual locations. I should be able to get those to you by Monday or Tuesday night. 

Again, I so wish these photos were in 3D so you could see the sheer depth and magnitude of the size and colors truly involved.

When you are out, away from towns and cities, the stars shine so bright, it is as if the sun had burst into a gazillion little pieces that covered the night sky.

Then there are the sounds, such as the stark silence at night when you are camping in the wild. In Kodachrome it was so quiet it sounded loud; an amazing, strange phenomenon.

The cicadas in Lo Lo Mai Springs were so loud, they sounded like a million rattle snakes shaking their tails simultaneously. Somehow they kept their songs in unison; loud to soft and back to loud again. Or they would all stop at the same time. Incredible! Is there one little cicada with a baton who leads them all? How are they so precise?

In Zion, the coyotes yipping at night sounded scary close, yet their voices were coming from the low hills that were miles away. Or so I was told.

In Williams, AZ the campground was right next to the railroad track. Fortunately it only ran late on one of the nights we stayed. I sprung up, fearing for my life, expecting to see a runaway train pass (or plow over) my shaking bed. At that point, I longed for the loud sound of silence at Kodachrome!

Even the smells were new and exciting. Cotye’s nose was on constant twitch-mode; so many different critters and foliage to take in. We were surprised that he did not bark or chase the wildlife he encountered. He went nose-to-nose with deer, alpaca, horses, lizards, even skunks and raccoon's. However, those chipmunks still rung his bell and the chase was on. We will continue to work on that one. <sigh>

I just realized today that we are coming to the end of our fifth month in the RV. Must have driven through a wormhole in time, (or do those only exist in space?) It can’t possibly be that long already!

I will sign off for the night with a couple of my favorite pictures. This is a family of skunks and a family of raccoon's, sharing dinner at the same log . . . they are wild, not tame. And this is not an enclosure, but in the woods. It was one of the highlights of my trip!

The raccoon's tended to hang toward the top of the log, whereas

the skunks stayed on the ground . . . 

. . . yet they did mingle when they found a food source.

At Lo Lo Mai, just outside of Sedona, AZ, the Park owner would go to the same place every night and put dry cat food inside and around this log. The critters had come to expect this and would arrive around dark for their dinner. This was not an advertised event. One of our friends stumbled upon them by sheer luck. 

The owner taught us about both animals and their behaviors. Good to know, as being sprayed was not on our agenda. 

Speaking of our agenda, tomorrow is a "bug out" morning. I had better get to bed. ZZZzzz