We worked on unpacking the RV today. We still have some stuff to put away in the house, but it's mostly done any taken care of.
The blog will be pretty quiet now since we'll be home and basically just working.
Oh, and here are the photos I promised.
-Miranda
Julie and Emma in the caves at the Lava Beds.
Emma coming through one of many tight spots in the Catacombs. Unfortunately it's fuzzy because the lens was fogged up. I didn't get any decent photos of her after I cleaned off the moisture. :(
Craters of the Moon National Monument. So many cool formations. This is just a view of the landscape.
Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River.
A very neat area in one of the Geyser Basins in Yellowstone.
A steamy part of Yellowstone.
An amusing sign by all the trails that go by hot springs and geysers.
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We apparently decided to keep with the theme of adventure, so on Wed. we headed out for a hike from the campground towards Schonchin Butte. Schonchin has a hike to the top of it and a lookout tower. We bushwhacked through behind the campground a bit seeing if we could find any caves. This landscape was impossible to get lost in, but we still brought extra stuff with us just to be safe.
We ended up walking about 10 miles. It was fun, but tiring.
On Thursday, we took a break in the morning, but in the afternoon we headed to the cave loop and did a few caves. Once we got to the end of the loop, Joe's knee started acting up, so we headed back to the RV.
On Friday, Julie and Emma showed up. We took them in a bunch of the easier caves. They had lots of fun. The plan was to leave on Sat. but we wanted to do the Catacombs with them. So, Sat. morning, we got up, got ready to go and headed up to the Catacombs. Wow it was tiring. There was so much more belly crawling and just plain crawling than I remembered. We all made it to the very end and signed the book! After we finished, we headed back to camp and packed up and made lunch. Julie and Emma headed back home. Joe and I headed south and east.
We did stop in the National Forest south of the park. We let the cats out for an hour, then headed out. We were going to stay longer, but then Curly wondered off farther than we were comfortable with, so we gathered them up and headed out.
I'll try to get photos up from the lava beds once I get them uploaded.
-Miranda
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We spent a week hanging out, working and relaxing in Ashland,OR with cousin Emma Durbin. It was a good time. Ashland is pretty cool for small population. 20k? 2 indian buffets, 3+ Sushi joints, great coop.
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My husband and I travel quite a bit. We're slightly nuts as we decided to bring our 4 cats with us on our cross country RV trip. Because the cats are confined to a small area, we try our best to get to National Forest where it is legal to park off the road for up to 14 days. There, we let them out during the middle of the day so they can run around and explore. They don't stray far and always come back for dinner. We have been to national forests all over the country and have never had a problem with hunters or people in general.
On September 22nd, we arrived in Happy Camp. We drove past it and up a National Forest road where we found a great place to park. The cats were having a blast. We stayed for a few nights. Unfortunately, on Saturday, we were sitting in the RV and heard a rattlesnake nearby. We ran outside to see two of our cats within a couple feet of it. We rescued the one, Zoe, who was not the focus of the snake's attention. Joe grabbed a bat to put between the snake and Lucy, the other cat. Both came out without being bitten, but we decided not to take anymore chances (Joe had seen a different rattler just 2 days before). We left that afternoon and headed back into Happy Camp. We had pizza at the Pizza House and were quite impressed with the small community. That night we stayed at the Elk River Campground. Again, we were impressed with the area.
The next day we wanted to try our luck out in the forest again. We headed back out and found another road to try. We eventually found an amazing spot. It was far enough off the main road (about 150 yards) that the cats shouldn't wander onto it, and we could have some privacy. We were paranoid about the rattlesnakes, so we spent a good hour walking around the area looking. We even found two scorpions, took the time to identify them and discovered they weren't poisonous before we ever dared to let the cats out. We finally did though and they ran around having fun exploring. We went outside every hour or two to check on them and they were always not too far from the RV.
At around 6:15 on September 26, Joe and I were in the RV when we heard a shot. Joe jumped up and ran to the door. He yelled "Stop! There are people here!" He then looked out the door to see Zoe, our two year old, long haired, black cat approximately 100 yards from the RV, running as fast as she could towards us. Joe quickly yelled "Stop! That's our cat!" There was another shot and Zoe tumbled. We both ran to her. The man that shot her was able to give no explanation when asked what he was shooting at. What did he think she was? Why would he shoot a cat? He had a handgun on his hip.
This man was in his 40's or 50's and he shot my baby. My young, beautiful Zoe, with a handgun. As I knelt next to her watching her die, all he could do was beg and apologize but offer no explanation as to what he was doing shooting at such a small animal that looked nothing like anything found in the wild. My husband asked him to back off and give us some space. A couple minutes later, he drove away in his tan pickup. We buried Zoe there and left, wanting to get away from the area we had thought was 'happy'.
We had more respect for people and hunters. We hoped people that carried guns actually made sure they identified what they were shooting at before pulling the trigger. We were apparently wrong. We were slightly concerned that we could possibly get shot since it was deer season. It never crossed our minds that someone would ever shoot a long haired, black cat.
Zoe was just starting to mature. She no longer scratched at the door. She commonly sat by me while I was working. She would come up to Joe and me and rub her head against us wanting attention. She had an adorable old lady meow. It sounded like she was losing her voice. She sounded like that since she was a kitten. She was Curly's best buddy. They gave each other baths all the time. She would often purr and knead my clothes before lying down to take a nap. She will be greatly missed.
-Miranda
Zoe.
Photo taken a few days earlier at the other site. She loved to roll around and get really dirty.
RIP Zoe
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Joe and I were sitting inside working and he heard a rattlesnake nearby. We ran outside and found Zoe behind it about 3 or so feet, so I went to grab her and put her in the RV where Pickles and Curly already were. Lucy was sitting, staring straight at it, about 1-2 feet in front of it. Joe had the bat we have with, so he put it between Lucy and the snake. He got Lucy, so all the cats are inside now. We're really hoping Lucy wasn't bit. We checked for bites, but don't think we can find any. She's acting freaked out, but not like she's in pain. I guess we'll find out soon enough.
I really liked this spot.... I guess we'll be leaving soon though. Can't let the cats out now without worrying like crazy.
UPDATE: Lucy is fine. No one was bit, fortunately. We did leave the area though and are now staying at a campground/RV park for the night.
-Miranda
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