Thursday, December 30/2010

Well, we made it through the night despite the fury of nature and although there was snow in the forcast, we saw none of it last night. It is still chilly out but not all that bad. I did note that it was -23C with a lousy cold wind at home, so I imagine it is in the -30 range with the windchill. I think I will be happy it is only "chilly" here.

Larry and Ariane headed into town to see the sites of Wickenburg, John headed into the bay to finish the installation of the new inverter and Hogan and I headed up the hill to see how Ben managed through last night's rain and wind storm.

Although the camp was in general disarray, the tent and shower were still standing!! Ben said the wind was absolutely incredible and the noise from it was even worse. He ended up spending the night in his truck and truly did not expect to see his tent standing in the morning. He looked ragged and weary and almost all done in. He had gone into town earlier today and told me that he was going to stay in a motel tonight just to relax, get warm and sleep in a bed where he didn't have to worry about whether or not he was going to blow away. I was glad to hear this. He was taking Grace with him and I told him I would take Rizzo (his friend's dog - a little chihuaua he has been babysitting while his friend is in Puerto Rico ) for the night and take care of him while he was away. Together, Ben and I secured his camp with rope, bungee cords and rocks so that if the wind came up again tonight, nothing would blow away.

John finally got the inverter in and working and together we did a happy dance and celebrated with a cold beer!! Another one of life's little victories !! Now the generator can take a vacation and the campsite will be much quieter!!

Ben came down the hill, headed into town for the night and dropped Rizzo off. John gave me one of "those" looks and I gave him one of my "shut your face" looks and Ben drove off into town. Rizzo, who suffers from "small dog" syndrome immediately put Hogan in his place and for a very brief moment I wondered - What have I just done!!

As it turned out, Hogan and Rizzo did get along - eventually and John actually allowed the little rat up on his knee. I can't believe anything that small is a dog!! I moved Rizzo OUT of Hogan's chair (it was attempted hostile take over) and he spent the night snuggled into the blanket on my chair and Hogan spent the night in his usual spot!! God, sometimes they are worse than kids!!