Yeaa Richard the RV guy! It's cold at night here. Forty degrees. Cold
enough to use the furnace. We've messed around and messed around with the
rear furnace, trying to get it to work as well as the front furnace does.
Between these last two trips, Richard fixed it. He changed a limit switch,
but more importantly found a vent that wasn't set up properly, so the rear
furnace was overheating itself and shutting off before it could heat the
back half of the motorhome properly. Now we get any temperature we want in
the back too. The front furnace continues to work flawlessly.
Work during the day. Explore in the Jeep after work. Lots of birds around
the office. Starlings, finches, and sparrows. A flock of Cedar Waxwings
demolishing the ripe apples on the tree outside. Western Scrub Jays in the
campground in the morning. A wandering gang of Pinyon Jays at lunch. Black
capped and mountain chickadees. Back roads to explore. Wilson's warbler.
Townsend's warbler. Hermit thrush. Close-up with a Cooper's hawk in an
empty campground up Cottonwood Pass. Gulls in the high country. Ducks.
Ring billed duck. Cassin's finch.
There don't seem to be nearly as many bears here as there were at Ruedi
Reservoir on our last trip. We got there and set up right at dark. There
were bear warnings posted all over. By the time I went for my run, it was
totally dark. There was no moon to light the way. There were plenty of
stars. The Milky Way was brilliant, but that didn't translate to a lighted
path for me. I couldn't see any star shadows, so I had to run with a
flashlight. I never want to run with a flashlight. I'd rather make do with
available light, but without it, I couldn't find the trail.
Off I went, out of the campground and down the road, through the uninhabited
forest. The forest was uninhabited, except for the bears. I heard noises.
Not exactly bear noises. Not growling or anything like that. Just noises.
Leaves. Branches. Noises in the night. I could hear the bears all around
me. Surprisingly, I never saw any. I used the flashlight to look for them.
Nothing. I'd shine the light right at my feet while I ran, then spray the
forest with light to surprise them. It never worked. I never saw them. It
was not a comfortable run. I am happy to report that I've run at night
here, and never heard a single bear.
