It's hot. Dog Daze Hot. This is to be expected in summer. But that doesn't mean I have to like it! Thank goodness the Dog Days end today ... sigh, just not the broiling heat. Anything that needs doing outside should be done early, the earlier the better. This month we've seen the weather service post heat advisories many days in a row. Stay hydrated, they say, which we do. Especially since we can't seem to "observe" the early morning caution, and I'm not sure why since we're up early. Go figure.
Here you see Kane Springs Rest Area near Hole 'N the Rock, Utah (south of Moab). I had quite a few unseen gorgeous red rock country photos from our New Mexico trip home a month ago, but too late to post 'em; we've moved on. So, I picked just this one because I think it looks like a movie set.
I can show you one more. On the left is Flatbud Prickly Poppy along Hwy 50 in Nevada, and Desert Willow from the above rest area at right. New posies for me.
We've been busy since our return. Yard work takes lots of time. NorCal hasn't had measurable rainfall in a long time (two months?), so everything is dry dry dry. Spring flower stalks had to be trimmed, a small Pacific Dogwood lost its life and had to be cut down, weed-eating, etc. You know, yard stuff.
In between, we've trod our dusty Cascade Canal trail as often as possible (usually early) and we've been on our bikes locally several times. Fun days with cards, dinners out with friends, a band concert in Pioneer Park, The Odyssey at our Onyx Theater (have you seen it?) Plus, the usual dentist and medical appointments.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, July 19th, Matt and Evie, and Jimmy and I, attended the California State Fair at Sacramento's Cal Expo. Sure, it was HOT, but the four of us had a grand time. We rode a few rides (yeehaw!), visited a couple of exhibit halls, ate some gnarly fair food, walked our little feets off, and plain ol' sweat buckets. Jimmy is standing on his tiptoes in the above pic, trying to gain height, but not enough to catch the three behind us on stilts! (How DO they do that?)
We took very few pictures and only these two survived. Look at Evie! She's at the age where smiling at the camera is boring, making faces is cool. 😉
All of us have the Nevada County Fair to look forward to this week, from Wednesday to Sunday! We'll be there! (Trust me, it'll be hot, broiling hot, it always is for Fair week.)
Wishing for a change of pace, one (late!) morning Jimmy and I hiked the Independence Trail East, high above the Yuba River. We put in four-and-a-half/five miles and one of us overheated (oops, me). We won't do this trail again till winter! Hard to see in the pic, but people are on the rocks and in the river.
Here we go again! On the trail, my strongman, Jimmy,
holding up this huge boulder! Good job!
First time I've seen this one -- California Sweetshrub in bloom.
Also, along the trail.
Well, now, a bunch of time was spent on this -- it's a crappy subject, but Imma tell it anyway. After 14 years of living in our house, we decided it might be time to pump out our septic tank. "Everybody" said we should do it. We scheduled Navo and Sons. They arrived with their big (sh*t wagon) truck, below, top left. They poked around the dirt, dug down and found the lid, top right pic (red x in the hole). THEN it was determined the other lid was beneath the sidewalk! (red ? on sidewalk, same pic).
Jimmy and his friend, Cliff, tried to figure out a way to cut the cement themselves, but in the end (sorry), they said to call in a professional. Days later (above), you see Mr Cement Man cutting the sidewalk, and in the picture next to that is a red x where we're guessing the second lid is.
We moved into our house in 2012 and in 2018 we had sidewalks poured all the way around the house. Who knew the sidewalk was poured right over the septic tank lid? Septic tanks have two compartments with two lids. Both have to be pumped. Don't poo-poo all this valuable information.
So, Navo and Sons returned, the guys aghast at having to lift two VERY HEAVY slabs of cement before searching for the second lid. They were troupers, though. Got 'er done. Pumped the crap outa it, so to speak! It took three fellas to replace the sidewalk slabs, and we'll eventually have to tweak them to get them set properly. All done! The three red x's show the sidewalk cuts in the last pic. Whew. We don't plan to ever do this again!
In between times, remember it's summer and that means picking and canning! Marlene and I canned 18 pints of peaches one morning and I canned 9 pints of plum jam/sauce on a different day (Jimmy helped). First time making fig jam today! (Figs from our friend, Laurie's, tree.) And, of course, tomato season is around the corner.
We're hoping ongoing road construction on Hwy 20 -- our gateway to the freeway -- and on I-80 itself is finished, as we'd love to take the bikes to the high country without major delays. We haven't been up to Truckee or Lake Tahoe in a long time!
Last week we received a brochure in the mail from OAT. They'd really reduced prices on 2026 trips and one of them sang the siren song: Chile & Argentina | Land Adventure | Overseas Adventure Travel. We booked it for Oct 8th-26th and then threw in the (optional) Iguassu Falls post trip. Our return home is Oct 30th. Want to join us?
