Leaving the Desert

It was kind of sad, waking up that last morning in the desert, and knowing that we'd have to cut our time there short so we could meet up with the tow truck in Hillbilly-ville.

Fortunately, someone in one of the other suites needed to get up early, and made a horrible racket, so I was up and awake before the sky got too light. I wasn't going to let the time go to waste by laying around in bed (even though it was a wonderfully comfortable bed with an amazing duvet...)

So out I went, and I got to see the sun rise.

Unfortunately, the animals don't really get going until a little while after sunrise, so I didn't see much activity. But there were hummingbirds.

Catching the first morning rays. It was cool (ish) that morning. Still in the high 60s. Very unusual, but I'll take the break, and get exercise before things get hot.

This little guy nearly landed on my outstretched hand. That would've been quite the Dr. Doolittle moment for me, I'm sure.

The sun rises quickly, and it was already getting quite warm by the time I returned to our place and started packing up.

The only other wildlife I saw was our friendly neighbourhood Cheerio-hunting duck, waiting at our front door.

And then it was time for us to drive. Drive. Drive. Drive.

We made it back to the rendezvous place with 2 minutes to spare (I like being on time), and then got a call from the tow truck driver that he would be a little later. So we headed off to find a place to wait, as I didn't want a repeat of my encounter outside the seedy bar.

We found a little park up the road in the outskirts of Frazier Park. A pond, some shade, and some ducks. Nothing fancy, but it was a nice way to while away the time.

Just as a little historic aside here: Back when I was a kid, my mom became a huge fan of the "Stretch-n-Sew" movement. This was a make-your-own t-shirts and other stretchy-clothing crafting offshoot out of the local sewing stores, and she embraced it with open arms. I can't count the number of matchy-matchy stretchy-shirts and stretchy-short outfits that my mother made for my younger brother and I to wear (together!), and I swore that I would NEVER dress my kids the same way.

case in point:

Faux-V-neck t-shirts. I think Skip and I had them in green, blue, and brown. I am wearing the 'matching' shorts, while Skip is probably on his second or third set of shorts for the day.

Anyways, I went here because I found it scarring as a child, to be dressed in the same clothes as my brother, and I didn't want my kids to have the same experience.

Unfortunately, when your kids dress themselves, and they CHOOSE to wear matching outfits, you're kind of between a rock and a hard place as a parent. I guess it's just not that big of a deal to kids these days.

Anyways, just a kind of creepy deja-vu. Moving on...

This goose was REALLY polite. I was expecting a honking madman that was going to try to peck our eyes out, but he was a complete gentleman. Don't know what kind of goose he is, though. Lovely creature.

The Tow truck eventually came, and we got settled.

And then we drove...

In the tow truck...

Sharing a seatbelt in the back seat...

for SEVEN HOURS.

The driver was really nice. He had been 'surprised' by this assignment when he got to work that morning. I hope he didn't have plans in the evening, because after driving for 13 hours, he probably didn't want to have to do anything else for the rest of the day.

At least it was a nice drive.

But it was good to get home.