It has been a year since we really did hauling. Last time we only went across the county for our break. So, we weren’t really ready for the long long drives. We had busy rush hour traffic on CA 52 and Interstate 15 for the first 150 miles; then US 395 the rest of the way North. That road varies from 4 to 2 lanes and winds its way to the top of the Eastern side of the Sierras. Traffic is reasonable and only gets “crowded” near the larger of the small towns on the route.
We eventually crossed into Nevada for a few miles and then back into California about 80 miles from Quincy, which is in the high Sierras about midway between the Eastern and Western sides of the mountains.
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Mushroom Attack - Santee, CA
On her morning walk with Ruthi, Karma freaked out and jumped sideways when she was attacked by a mushroom. The mushroom must have been dropping spores and Karma unexpectedly got a whiff and was surprised. She literally jumped up and away from the mushroom seen below.
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Army Rangers / Navy Seals / Marine Ground Troops - Santee, CA
This isn’t about the 2 young women that have recently qualified for military combat forces. Though that is a great story in and of it self. As a pacifist / feminist I am torn. But that’s another story.
What this is about is the invasion of ANTS that we are experiencing. April we were in a different site and had no ANTS. We have been on this site since May 1st and experienced an ANTS -free existence until early August. Then they decided that we were fair game and things really got interesting.
Boots and Ruthi began with an ecologically safe indoor spray to attack them within the rig. This spray is not harmful for Karma and other living creatures you want to keep around: birds, squirrels, spiders (though Ruthi disagrees with keeping any spiders), etc. This seemed to work “ok”; in that the ANTS numbers were diminished and we seemed to be making a positive impact to the invasion.
Then the ANTS regrouped and began an amazing invasion. They began dropping from the ceiling. Parachuting down to anything they could grab. Really, Ruthi was attacking a battalion on the edge of the kitchen floor when she saw the teeny tiny shadows of falling ANTS and then the ANTS themselves. They would hit the floor similarly to army parachute jumpers (which they are of sorts) – sort of bouncing and running along with the parachute dragging behind except the ANTS didn’t have parachutes.
Then they sent in the seals – really we had ANTS crawling out of the toilet – you know where the water comes out to flush away the deposits. ANTS were streaming out of the shower head which was hanging by the hose down to the shower floor. They were coming out of the overflow opening on the bathroom sink by the hundreds. Yep, somehow they had held their breath or got oxygen from the water itself as they traversed from the hose connected to outside water source to the toilet and shower head and bathroom sinks (for some reason they did not use this approach in the kitchen). ANTS everywhere everywhere everywhere!
So, we went to the next step using a stronger more potent spray outside on all of the ANT trails around the site and rig. Ruthi took a couple of days to ensure that each and every possible track was sprayed into oblivion. This chemical is more dangerous to living beings. Supposedly, after it dries – really only a few seconds – it is safe for dogs, etc but will attack the ANTS for a month. Keeping with truth in advertising the spray was not as effective as we had hoped. Every couple of days Ruthi would again scan the site for telltale marks of ANTS grouping into companies for invasions.
Inside, we reverted to Windex with vinegar as a replacement for the seemingly ineffective but safe indoor spray. It was much cheaper and seemed to kill on contact and after wiping it off left a perfectly clean and safe surface.
Then a neighbor returned from their summer on the Oregon coast and picked up their chairs and fire pit that we had been watching for them. The neighbor, Larry, said he had already worked his magic on the ANTS in his space as soon as they had pulled in. He offered to help us get started using his approach.
At this point, we really had no other options because the ANTS continued to re-group and attack morning, noon, and night. You just never knew when one or 10 would singularly drop from the ceiling, climb up the wall of side of anything, or run across the surfaces. So, Larry placed pieces of paper (regular 8 ½ x 11 sheets) on the group near where we were sure there were nests (at the base of trees, under a edge of rocks). He put a half of a dozen drops of this potent magical poison on the paper.
Within minutes there were hundreds of ANTS on the paper sucking up the poison to take back to their nests and kill their entire families. It was like petals on a flower the way the ANTS crowded around each drop of poison “shoulder to shoulder” sort of. So, we went nuclear and put out paper at 3 or 4 spots and then at a 5th location when we saw ANTS coming out of another tree heading right towards our rig. Every day or so, Ruthi adds some more drops to the papers and later checks to see if any ANTS are gathered and they usually are.
So, can we say we are finally ANT free? No they are still dropping and magically popping up at the strangest places. In fact, while I have been typing this entry, 3-5 have dropped or suddenly appeared on the computer, desk or my hand. We think of them as scouts for the regiments waiting to attack. But there aren’t the hordes of ANTS coming out of crevices, faucets, and openings anywhere in the rig. We aren’t giving up and I am going out again as soon as I finish this to put some more drops out!!!!!
What this is about is the invasion of ANTS that we are experiencing. April we were in a different site and had no ANTS. We have been on this site since May 1st and experienced an ANTS -free existence until early August. Then they decided that we were fair game and things really got interesting.
Boots and Ruthi began with an ecologically safe indoor spray to attack them within the rig. This spray is not harmful for Karma and other living creatures you want to keep around: birds, squirrels, spiders (though Ruthi disagrees with keeping any spiders), etc. This seemed to work “ok”; in that the ANTS numbers were diminished and we seemed to be making a positive impact to the invasion.
Then the ANTS regrouped and began an amazing invasion. They began dropping from the ceiling. Parachuting down to anything they could grab. Really, Ruthi was attacking a battalion on the edge of the kitchen floor when she saw the teeny tiny shadows of falling ANTS and then the ANTS themselves. They would hit the floor similarly to army parachute jumpers (which they are of sorts) – sort of bouncing and running along with the parachute dragging behind except the ANTS didn’t have parachutes.
Then they sent in the seals – really we had ANTS crawling out of the toilet – you know where the water comes out to flush away the deposits. ANTS were streaming out of the shower head which was hanging by the hose down to the shower floor. They were coming out of the overflow opening on the bathroom sink by the hundreds. Yep, somehow they had held their breath or got oxygen from the water itself as they traversed from the hose connected to outside water source to the toilet and shower head and bathroom sinks (for some reason they did not use this approach in the kitchen). ANTS everywhere everywhere everywhere!
So, we went to the next step using a stronger more potent spray outside on all of the ANT trails around the site and rig. Ruthi took a couple of days to ensure that each and every possible track was sprayed into oblivion. This chemical is more dangerous to living beings. Supposedly, after it dries – really only a few seconds – it is safe for dogs, etc but will attack the ANTS for a month. Keeping with truth in advertising the spray was not as effective as we had hoped. Every couple of days Ruthi would again scan the site for telltale marks of ANTS grouping into companies for invasions.
Inside, we reverted to Windex with vinegar as a replacement for the seemingly ineffective but safe indoor spray. It was much cheaper and seemed to kill on contact and after wiping it off left a perfectly clean and safe surface.
Then a neighbor returned from their summer on the Oregon coast and picked up their chairs and fire pit that we had been watching for them. The neighbor, Larry, said he had already worked his magic on the ANTS in his space as soon as they had pulled in. He offered to help us get started using his approach.
At this point, we really had no other options because the ANTS continued to re-group and attack morning, noon, and night. You just never knew when one or 10 would singularly drop from the ceiling, climb up the wall of side of anything, or run across the surfaces. So, Larry placed pieces of paper (regular 8 ½ x 11 sheets) on the group near where we were sure there were nests (at the base of trees, under a edge of rocks). He put a half of a dozen drops of this potent magical poison on the paper.
Within minutes there were hundreds of ANTS on the paper sucking up the poison to take back to their nests and kill their entire families. It was like petals on a flower the way the ANTS crowded around each drop of poison “shoulder to shoulder” sort of. So, we went nuclear and put out paper at 3 or 4 spots and then at a 5th location when we saw ANTS coming out of another tree heading right towards our rig. Every day or so, Ruthi adds some more drops to the papers and later checks to see if any ANTS are gathered and they usually are.
So, can we say we are finally ANT free? No they are still dropping and magically popping up at the strangest places. In fact, while I have been typing this entry, 3-5 have dropped or suddenly appeared on the computer, desk or my hand. We think of them as scouts for the regiments waiting to attack. But there aren’t the hordes of ANTS coming out of crevices, faucets, and openings anywhere in the rig. We aren’t giving up and I am going out again as soon as I finish this to put some more drops out!!!!!
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