An open letter from Raven and Gordon
Reguarding travels to Mexico (and more)
Last installment

In a sense we had been homeward bound ever since turning North from Land's End in Cabo San Lucas at the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula. (photo)

We DID get the wreck business resolved as previously mentioned on our web page. Gordon got a large chunk of cash which is probably not enough to cover simply turning the truck into a body shop in Bend, but might cover having the bumper pounded out, everything else too, with no replacement parts and then have it repainted. Better than a stick in the eye!

So we left Cabo with great relief and lingering disgust, but also with excitement as we pointed the red truck and dragged the trailer north to our next destination, Todos Santos. We had very much been looking forward to our time there, as it is a well known artist's community. However, Raven assumed it would be Mexican artists until one day she asked Gordon and he said, "No, European/American artists." Oh!

Todos Santos is on the Pacific Coast of Baja. We frequently hopped from one coast to the other, quite interesting as they were always so different. The Pacific Coast tends to be much cooler than the Sea of Cortez and has real ocean-sized waves. It was amazing in that the color of the waters are similar. They were very clear where not turbulent and ranged from colorless to turquoise to navy blue with increasing depth. Both are salt water, the Sea at least ten degrees warmer than the Pacific, probably more like 15 to 20 degrees warmer. Air temps about 10 degrees cooler on the Pacific side. Vegetation was much the same - cactus, spiny bushes, grabby bushes, prickly bushes, sticker bushes, dead, stiff bushes, not the kind of place to bushwhack...and in inhabited areas, bougainvillea, hibiscus, mango trees, PALM trees of course, something that may have been crepe myrtle, and many more flowering and aromatic (ahCHOO) species. (photo) Wish we knew the vegetation better so we could tell you what there WAS, but they are all foreign species to us.

After a short drive of maybe an hour and a half from Cabo, NOT up Mex 1 for once (Mex 19 this time), we saw the turn to our RV park, drove in about a mile to a nearly deserted, very large park - wide open, small, young palm trees with the Pacific roaring in the background (photo) and immediately bordering the park. WOW! NO one else was there, except for a few long-term folks on the very edge of the parking area. There were rows upon rows of empty RV spaces, with bright white sand substrate. (photo) We could see the translucent, teal, huge waves breaking from our camp. The roar was powerful. All night long! We took a long walk on the beach that evening. Difficult walking, loose, deep, soft sand on a fairly steep beach but we were rewarded by not another human being and we found the dancing waves, where the out wash met the next incoming wave and squirted plumes of water and froth up to 10 feet in the air. FUN! A few pretty rocks and shells too.

The next day we drove the truck sans trailer the 4 miles to Todos Santos to play tourist. We got there kinda late the day, saw some nice artwork, oils and acrylic canvases and the usual tourista junk stores but found many galleries closed as it was after 3 PM. Some very interesting work though in the ones which were open, some paintings reminiscent of Miro. Others included somewhat impressionistic wide brush landscapes and "Mexican women" themes. We then cruised (all by foot) for a restaurant por comida (for dinner). There were many choices in the small, quiet town of Todos Santos for dinner spots (unfortunately we lost all digital photos we took in town due to operator error). We had an OK dinner. Raven had an interesting quesadilla dish with a strange cheese she can't remember the name of, and something that looked like ground olives or maybe those were the squash blossoms, but no salsa. Unheard of! We heard the restaurante is run buy a Euro. Non native. But NO salsa? Gordon had curried chicken flautas that were excellent. Eating out is always guesswork it seems without specific recommendations from previous diners. We wished we had another day there to try the tiny fish restaurant we did NOT chose but we were anxious to get back to the warmer Sea of Cortez and more hospitable (though not more beautiful) beaches and fishing!!! We could have tried to fish there on the Pacific but it would have been a VERY rugged experience with up to 8 foot breakers. The surfers were having a great time (and wearing full wet suits).

So after two nights on the Pacific we continued north. We pulled into La Paz mid-morning and headed for the harbor. It seems that a lot of Americans with large boats spend the winters here, so most of the folks we encountered at the harbor spoke English. We asked about finding somewhere to purchase a used 8 horse outboard motor. Nobody had a lead on a shop to check out but a couple of "yachties" suggested that we check the "net". Being land lubbers we assumed that they meant INTERnet until one guy pointed at what looked like a radio attached to a wall. "The 'net', you know, channel 21 on the marine radio. You can use that radio for free." He explained that most of the activity on the radio happens at about 8 in the morning when everyone checks in for the days announcements. So we asked, "What do we do, just pick up the microphone and ask if anyone has an 8 horse outboard for sale?" The old salt straightened up a little and with just a slight sound of alarm in his voice he said "NO! Don't ask if anyone wants to SELL a motor, you have to ask if anyone has a motor 'to trade'!" He explained that non-natives can get in serious trouble selling things like motors in Mexico. We were a little unsure on how to use the radio so the guy we were talking to offered to make the announcement. "Anyone have an 8 horse motor for trade? We're at the clubhouse.". We stayed and listened for a while, there were no replies. "Eight o'clock in the morning is the best time." he said. We thanked him and headed off to a couple of marine supply shops nearby in hope that they might have something. They didn't. We decided not to remain in La Paz for the night on the outside chance that someone on the net might have a used motor that they wanted to "trade" for numerous small portraits of Andrew Jackson.

We continued north toward the previously visited destination of Mag(delene) Bay stopping again at Manfred's RV Park in Ciudad Constitution for the night with the roar of Mex 1 in the background. Just one night. If we couldn't find a motor we couldn't fish Mag Bay. The next morning we asked Manfred and the guy at the gas station about any place in Ciudad Constitution (the second largest town in Baja) that might have a small used outboard motor and checked out two different businesses but with no luck. So our last chance for a new, used outboard would be in Loreto, the next town.

We somehow picked our next camping beach to be El Juncalito, on the Sea of Cortez (photo) (more pics once Raven gets her slides developed). It had a mix of cobble and sand beach, a little bay all by itself with rock cliffs on both ends. Our home for the next 5 days. It is only 15 miles south of the town Loreto so we could park the trailer and Gordon could run into Loreto for the last gasp motor search.

At El Juncalito one of the main attractions was the palm grove you could camp in/under. Probably very nice in hotter weather. It's a HUGE grove, probably 50 trees nicely spaced with lots of room for tents, trailers, etc. But *Raven* wanted to be ON the beach, so she could watch for fish, of course. We drove onto the firm, rocky beach, looked around and picked a spot. We parked and leveled with some difficulty (it took both the Raven leveling technique of digging sand and rocks out from under the tires AND the Gordon-board-under-the-tires attack on the other side to get it level). But finally there we were with a view of the Sea for the duration. Only one other trailer there, with Montana license plates, looking like they had been there awhile. You could always tell, somehow, when an RV was "dug in".

As soon as we were settled, Gordon took off to Loreto to contact Alfredo (Bob G.'s friend) do email, look for a motor etc. Raven grabbed her fishing gear and walked down to the southern end of the beach, waded out into the crystal clear water about waist deep and cast along the rocky point. Wham! Cornetfish, her fave!!!! And another and another and another. BIG ones, well, maybe 30 inches or so. Biggest yet anyway, big enough to pull out some line. Raven caught about a dozen before she quit. That end of the beach was simply divine. Away from all the other campers, all beige sand, clear, shallow, warmer water and fish right there. It became the only place Raven actually laid out in the sun for hours during the entire trip. Nothing in the world like laying out in the warm sun (WITH sunscreen), only the sound of gently waves lapping the shore and nothing else. Ahhhhhhhhhhh.

The next night at about 6 PM both Gordon and Raven went out for the evening "rise" hoping there would be some sort of feeding event like we had at Los Frailes. Raven had seen nothing fishy the night before, no evidence of feeding fish that is. That night when we went out, sure enough, there were jumping baitfish. We knew what to do! We cast and cast and cast out in the warm water about crotch deep and backed up closer to shore into even more shallow water as the feeding event came closer in, as light waned. We never did see what was feeding until Gordon hooked the first one. "What is it!!?? What is it?!!" Raven yelled. "I don't know! It's something DIFFERENT! WOW! It's a ROOSTERFISH!!!" saith the Gordon. So we caught roosterfish that night. Our first! Quite a few, all small, but right off the beach. Pretty little things and good fighters too. Another species on our list! (Slide photo from Raven one of these days)

That was about it for fishing though. The next day we had new neighbors, a native family. The next day another dozen came in. The following day another flock of Euros came and went and so it got busier and busier everyday and we knew we were seeing the onslaught we had been warned about. Easter in Baja. Much like Spring Break in the U.S. except ALL the schools are out and apparently every Mexican family in Baja heads for the beach. It looked pretty interesting though, really. The people are SO nice. It could have been quite fun to be part of, rather than separate from, the indigenous culture. But the weather had been pretty bad after the first couple of days, very windy and almost cool, the fishing even worse (nonexistent with 3 foot waves breaking on the beach) and our holding tanks were FULL, so we decided it was time to head for town on the Wednesday before Easter. More and more vacationers were bound to come in through the rest of the week so we got out while we still could. We had heard one story of an American RV being totally surrounded by vacationing locals while the owners were in town shopping so that when they returned to their camp they couldn't have gotten their RV out if they had wanted to! But it really was our grey and black water tanks that made the decision for us to move along.

Back in Loreto again on the 11th of April. Did laundry (thrilling news we know) at the Loreto Shores RV Park. It WAS wonderful to hang out all the laundry to dry in the onshore breezes. Less expensive too. Funny that RV Park was almost deserted and our favorite one was CLOSED. Don't know if it had something to do with the Easter holiday or what. Very strange especially since there were several RV's from Juncalito headed to Loreto and we had found NONE of them there. The Baja Triangle? Poof! Oh well.

It was not exactly a quiet spot. Few RV Parks are. And the natives were partying, next door to the RV Park. It was another windy, cloudy day. Checked email and the weather in Bend. YECH! Were sure glad we were not home then! 43 degrees F. UGH. Even on that "coolish" day in Loreto, at 2 PM it was 72 degrees F. Beautiful Baja Sur. But the highlight of that last visit to Loreto for Raven was the ICE CREAM VAN! This was the Mexican version of the Good Humor Man (photo). You could hear this guy's loud speaker system from what must have been a mile away! SHEESH! But it WAS effective. The ice cream from the vendors in Baja was quite different from ours, seemed to have very low fat/dairy content much more like ice milk, and not real sweet but very refreshing. It seemed to always come in several colors, all with the same flavor. THIS one was vaguely pina colada flavored, or maybe coconut, or maybe pineapple, or as Gordon accurately names it, "mystery fruit". (photo)

We spent three nights in Loreto then moved on a couple of hours North to Mulege, one of several towns we had skipped on the way down and the one that was Raven's favorite when she did Baja on The Green Tortoise in 1984(?). A very picturesque, small, oasis kind of town, groves of palm trees, an actual river through town and beachfront property.

On the way north to Mulege we kept our eyes peeled for possible beach camps that were not inundated with Easter vacationers. In particular we were interested to see if El Requison (a very nice campsite that we used on our way south) was available. As we rounded a curve in the highway and the camp first came into view Raven said, "Oh! Only a few campers!!" As we went a little farther the rest of the beach came into view. The "few" that we first saw were camped on a part of the sand spit that can only be driven to at very low tide. The remainder of the beach was densely populated. ALL of the rest of the camping beaches that we passed on our way to Mulege were equally packed.

We stayed in Mulege two days, until Monday, walked the town on Sunday. Raven was NOT feeling well, nothing in particular but most likely it was a GIANT attack of the Mexican pollens! Argh! ACHOO! The beach was not very inviting in Mulege, rocky and dirty, and we fished one night with no success. The RV Park was messy and noisy, apparently populated with Easter Vacation overflow from the chock-full beaches, which looked a LOT like Fort Lauderdale during Spring Break. But we still sat out the last two days of what we hoped would be the vacation crowds and decided on our next destination, San Lucas Cove, still on the Sea of Cortez, a shallow, sheltered bay area where the fishing is supposed to be always good.

And the cactus that we thought were saguaro, had been in bloom for several weeks. (2photos)

On Monday we easily found the RV Park with intentions to look for a "coyote camp" the next day. The RV park was basically a dry camp (no hookups but you could fill with water and dump) with 2 other motorhomes from Oregon (have we told you how many Oregonians we met and saw in Baja? Geez!), and the other motorhome from Arizona driven by a guy with a VERy heavy German accent who looked like an aged California hippie. Nice people. They all left a day and a half later. Was it something we said? We HAD bathed in the last few days...

So there we were on a white sand "pad" with new palapas (thatched palm-frond shade thingies) all by ourselves (photo). The RV Park was brand new and spotlessly clean with huge concrete (the material of choice in Baja) shower stalls and water warmed by a propane heater. No shade trees though for the trailer. Quiet, right on the water. Refreshing after Mulege. And Raven fished. And we both fished. Raven fished in the morning. Raven fished in the evening. Raven fished low tide. Raven fished high tide. Raven foul hooked one small stingray (eeeeeeek!) and several shapeless formless gooey icky things that may have been nudibranch over three days of fishng. And the water was disturbingly warm, which made Raven think of leeches (none in salt water, that we know of) and we went and looked at the other beaches and just were very uninspired. So...after the temperature hit nearly 90 degrees one day we decided to leave the next day and headed NORTE to cool off, and possibly to the Pacific Coast for additional cooling. Without a functioning motor for the boat, San Lucas Cove had not panned out. We were feeling pretty discouraged with the fishing and couldn't get excited about stopping anywhere else just for the fishing, sooooo we headed for the desert, north, instead of the Pacific beaches.

Halfway along our route we stopped on the Pacific Coast for the first of several "searches" by the Mexican government "Federales" and it was COLD! REALLY COLD! The wind was howling, we were all standing around hunched up saying, "Muy frio! Muy frio!" From 90 degrees F to a wind chill of about 40F in a couple of hours. We then continued far, FAR north arriving at our destination in the desert of central northern Baja about an hour before sunset but only after discovering that our depended upon gas stop had NO functioning gas stations when our guide book said there were TWO!

Coincidentally, we had just stopped to give a stranded Mexican the gas from our 5 gallon can on our way north. He even paid for it. Turned out however that there were several locals selling gas from 5 gallon cans in front of the defunct Pemex station. And what was MOST interesting was they didn't SCALP and they sure could have. It was about 50 miles to the next gas station. They barely charged more than the going rate, just enough to make a little profit. I don't think Americans would have been so generous.

Where we stopped that night was MARVELOUS. Catavina, one of the most photographed areas of Baja, with huge wind polished granite boulders on rolling hills, arroyos of sand and palm trees, cactus of various species, many bushes and flowers in bloom, a few rattlesnakes...Big field with a few trees to camp in, no one near, beautiful quiet night a mile off Mex One (photo). We hiked a little that evening as the sun set and again at sunrise and took LOTS of pictures. Raven saw a gorgeous rattlesnake in the evening, very docile, about 3 feet long (photo). It was WARM in that valley, pretty close to the center of the peninsula, probably had been 90 that day so we were glad we got in late and were leaving early and still had some time to explore and enjoy the beauty of the area. (4 photos).

We left early the next day headed for our last camp in Baja, another pretty spot where we parked the trailer in a tunnel of orange trees in blossom, palms towering overhead and the smell of crushed grapes wafting by. We were on the edge of a large winery.

Our journey north was curious in that we never really said, "Let's get out of Mexico" we just did it. On the third day after leaving San Lucas Cove we crossed the border into California. We crossed at Tecate, which was a breeze. Fast! The US Customs only wanted to see what fruit and veggies we had, took our Mexican eggs and, amazingly, that was all. We decided then, since we were a few days ahead of schedule that we would fulfill our Grand Canyon fantasy and WENT FOR IT! Drove as far as we could the day we crossed the border until it started getting late and Raven started getting the urge to pull off into the desert. No more &##@*&!%$ RV Parks for HER! Found a great place, Gordon was hard to convince, but he actually started to get INto it! The beautiful Arizona desert (3 photos). Not hot, just barely warm, a little windy, lovely sunset and sunrise, surprising amount of traffic on a dirt road in a wilderness area, but a great stay. On Raven's evening hike on the desert pavement (a soil surface feature), among the saguaro cactus and what she has been calling "crown of thorns", in bloom, she almost stepped on a couple of iguanas, and found a few prickly pear with the last of their huge fuchsia colors blossoms still open. (photo) It was HOME, in a way. At least we were in a familiar country now.

Off again early in the morning. Closer and closer to the Grand Canyon. The weather wasn't good and we were gaining in elevation. It was getting COLD. HEY it's SNOWING! Oh geez! Is it sticking to the road?! NOW it's HAILING! Criminies! We pulled over for gas and to take a break from driving. Raven was ready to quit because of the weather. But we continued, the snow, hail etc. continued also but the roads never became slick and then the weather improved as we turned toward the GC with only another 50 miles to go. We were going to MAKE IT! We found a campground IN the park and discovered that the only reason we got a camping space at all was that everyone had left that morning when it started to snow. Good planning on our part! We parked the trailer and decided to make a run for the rim of the canyon out in the setting-sun-with-clouds kind of evening to view the gorge (remember neither of us had EVER seen it). We drove the truck to the nearest viewpoint, parked, got out to join everyone else, walked over to the railing at the edge, and, well, what came out of Raven's mouth at first glance of this Wonder of the World was, "GOOD GRIEF!" It really truly is AWEsome. Tremendous in scope and depth and relief and variety and color and shapes. It IS inspiring and, very strongly spiritual. People would be standing around looking and talking and then all of a sudden everyone would be quiet, just soaking it in, and perhaps watching the colors and shadows change as the sun set. And it was COLD!!! Couldn't stand out there indefinitely but we persevered through the sunset and were SO glad we had gone out that evening instead of waiting for morning. Took LOTS of pictures too! (2 photos)

Somewhere in here we decided to do Zion National Park since it was basically on our way home if we just went around the east end of the GC (Oregon is to the West) and that's what we did the next morning. We stopped at GC viewpoints along our drive out of the park, and later stopped at another along the Little Colorado River which was pretty spectacular too, (photo) and MUCH warmer as we had dropped considerably in elevation coming down from the GC Park. Then we plugged on to Zion.

Getting late, another long long day. We got up at dawn nearly every day for two months. It would be dark in a couple of hours, we were not going to make it to Zion before dark...But look! UTAH desert!!! (Did Arizona desert already) Raven found a road, Gordon even liked it. We parked in a very remote area off a recently muddy road, no people, no RVs, no traffic. Raven went for a hike, and found a couple of remnant artifacts and some cool rocks. (Yes, the trailer was distinctly heavier on the way home with several pounds of rocks from her hikes.) Up early the next morning in a 24 degree trailer, let's get to ZION! (photo)

The east entry to Zion is more interesting than the west. We came in from the east, left through the west. From the east you must pass through two tunnels, one built in the 1930's WAY before RV's were invented. Read: ROAD NOT WIDE ENOUGH FOR TWO RV'S to pass in opposite directions. So the park officials stop all the traffic and let your RV go through right down the middle of the tunnel. There were actually three of us RVers in a row that day. "Shoot! This tunnel is as wide as Mex 1!" we both said as we passed through. "We could fit us AND a semi through THIS thing!" Piece of cake. Headed directly for the Visitor's Center. Parked. Decided to take the FULL TOUR, free shuttle buses that take you up to the main scenic attractions, an area where only park vehicles are allowed. We took 6 hours, several hikes and many pictures. It was LOVELY. All the gorges were filled with fully leafed out trees and bushes glowing in that first-of-spring bright green, nearly luminescent! And towering overhead were sheer cliffs of red and orange, and yellow, black, beige and white. (2 photos) We were very glad we took the time to do the tour. Then it was back in the saddle again and on the road toward home at about 3 PM. All we had to do was get out of Utah, which was only a hundred miles or so, get across Nevada and half of Oregon to be home.

It took us two days to get across Nevada. It is a LARGE state. Happily, the incredible navigator (Raven) found another stellar camp spot the night after Zion. It is a Nevada State Park called Cathedral Gorge, home of fascinating and fun mud/sand formations. (2 photos) A very small park, very quiet, nearly full. Excellent weather. In the morning we spent an hour exploring the towers and canyons of mud, not unlike sand castles formed by wet sand dripped from your fingertips, except that these pillars were hard and you could walk between them wayyy back into narrowing canyons to dead ends and stop and look straight up through the slit between walls, 60 feet or so straight up to the bright blue Western sky. And then we continued north and west toward Oregon

Raven's friend Sky, who had recently spent a year in a tiny little town called Austin, Nevada recommended their burgers and had given Raven a few messages to deliver to friends if we passed through, and so we did. Sky also told us about a good campground at the base of the Toyabe Mountains near Austin. We could see the Toyabes from about 50 miles away as we approached them from the east. MAGNIFICENT. Nevada seems to be range after range after range of mountains, UP and down and UP and down, at least if you are traveling east to west as we were. Beautiful. Lots of snow still on the higher peaks, some as lofty as 13,000 feet in elevation. We hit camp at about 4 PM after burgers at the International Cafe. No problem on the 12 miles into the campground since the 12 inches of snow they had received 2 days ago was gone and the dirt roads already dry. We thought though that we'd probably freeze our proverbial butts off since the elevation HAD to be near 7,000 feet at the campground (everything in Nevada is very VERY high!) but it turned out to be downright balmy, about 70 degrees F when we arrived and only about 50 degrees that night. Raven caught a little brown trout too, in the creek. Another peaceful night even with the generator of the only other camper running half the night. (photo)

One more camp and we'd be home. Off to the north now, through Winnemucca, which Raven really liked (UHoh!), and toward a possible gas and fishing license stop at Denio Junction. They DID have gasoline. The place had recently closed, been sold and bought and reopened, a good thing since it is the only gas for about 70 miles in any direction. We were prepared this time however, a full 5 gallon gas can in the back and we had NOT stopped for any stranded Mexicans along the way. Filled up, tried to get a fishing license but no one sold them, not even in the "town" of Denio. Hmmmm.

Raven had kept our final camp destination both a secret and a last minute choice. One possibility was a spring fed lake that had at times had excellent fishing. But now, without a Nevada fishing license, the other choice was looking better. That "other" place is out in the middle of nowhere Nevada. Well, actually EVERYthing in Nevada is out in the middle of nowhere. You drive in on a dirt road through a wildlife refuge, past several ponds (photo), past a BLM station, and nearly into the front yard of a ranch house when you see some very old stone buildings. And some more ponds. But there is something particularly fishy about one of the ponds. It apparently used to be a swimming pool. You feel the water. It is perfect bath temperature and then you see movement in the water and, "WHAT THE????!!!" realize that the swimming pool of full of guppies. Probably a million of them, knowing guppies. They are in their perfect water temperature too. Next to the pool is one of the small, old stone buildings which looks to be from pioneer days. On the heavy wooden door is a sign that reads, "Unoccupied". You open the door to the sound of gushing water, adjust your eyes to the dim light (no electricity) and see that the entire building is filled by water gushing out of a fixed shower head, and slotted wooden floors It is that same flow of PERFECT bath temperature water coming out of the showerhead. You can stand under it as long as you want and never run out of hot water, a REAL treat when you've been "dry camping" in the desert for many days. Oh yeah, and it's all FREE. Raven calls this place "Guppy Hot Springs".

This time however something had changed. Gordon saw something LARGE moving in the pool. BIG fish! Yes, now there is anOTHER species in there too, big enough to be dinner for two. Not sure what they were, sort of looked like bass, but also like, what are those amazon fish that our appearing as "cuisine" at your favorite restaurant? Tilapia? They may have been THOSE! (nope, just looked 'em up on the Internet) We imagined they had been put in there to control the guppy population. Good idea. NOT a good idea, at least in Raven's mind, was the "No Fishing" sign. Darn!. The next morning we headed for home.

Last beat. Back across the border into Oregon at about 6,300 feet in elevation, sage covered hills, no trees, patches of snow. Down into the wetlands at Adel, Oregon where we searched for signs of the Oregon drought we had heard about while in Baja. It looked like the ponds and fields were not quite as full/wet as they should be. Up to Lakeview, or sidestepped it actually, through some forested, green country with for sale signs (!), HIGH country, lots of water in the creeks, then back through well known territory, Summer Lake, Silver Lake, Ana Reservoir, Ana River, La Pine (CIVILIZATION Hooooo!) and UGH Highway 97. No escaping now the presence of good old Central Oregon traffic and population.

Nothing else exciting, made store, post office and phone booth stops and we were home.

Bert, the cat, was pretty interesting. It took us *9* days of nearly continual driving to get home from the middle of Baja. He whined a little, but usually settled down into napping on the center console of the truck (photo). What a goooooooood cat! However, about 3 days before we got home there was an increase in complaining, yowling, etc. "Go lay down!" Raven would state firmly, and he would. 5 minutes later he's back at her passenger window complaining again. "MEOW!" "Go lay down!" ad infinitum. Then suddenly the last day - quiet. It (the cat) would sit bolt upright on the "console" in the truck and watch the landscape whizz by. Not a peep. Did he know we were on the last leg (in more ways than one)? Did it actually KNOW where we were while still 300 miles from home? Did he actually remember (in some vague feline brain way) places he had been before, years ago? Ahhhh who knows. The silence was blessed relief however and lasted until home.

The first morning Raven was home it was back to the old routine however, "MEOW! Get UP, Mom! The sun is almost up!" at 5 AM kinda thing. You all with cats understand all too well. But now we know that we really ARE home...

Tienen cuidado mis amigos.
Hasta luego!

From Raven and Gordon in Central Oregon
"MEOW!" Oh yes, and Bert, too.