Back in Texas

Yes, it is hot in Texas.  High temperatures in mid-90s with heat indexes of 103 to 108 create suffocating conditions.  This is our third attempt to get out of the heat of Texas in the summertime and have not been successful yet.  Maybe next year?

Even though we cannot leave yet, we have found some interesting things to share.  This morning, one of our neighbors from the RV Park pulled out.  When we first arrived, we wondered why someone from South Dakota was in Texas this time of year.  We found out they were customizing the truck they use to haul their fifth wheel at a local establishment and were waiting for the finished product.

Today they took off for Memphis, TN.  This is one of the largest fifth wheels we have seen in our travels.  They use a smart car for running errands around town and then a large truck tractor to haul everything down the road.  That is the smart car behind the cab of the truck and in-between the truck and the fifth wheel.  Quite an arrangement is it not?  David says I am jealous of that air horn.  And I am!

Just goes to show you, there are things to see everywhere you go, even in good ol’ hot Texas.  But that is not the only thing happening right now.

We have used the time here to get all of our Doctor visits caught up.  So we are good for awhile now.  Speaking of doctors, I had to tell my physician that I took up for his honesty and integrity on our latest adventure.

It happened one day when temps in Camp Verde were going to exceed 100 degrees.  We decided to cool off by traveling north one hour to Flagstaff where high temps were expected to only be upper 80s.  While there, we decided to look for this squirrel my doctor told me about when he found out we were going to visit the Grand Canyon.  According to him, this squirrel is in the Kaibab National Forest and is named the Kaibab squirrel.  At the time that is all I knew.  So off we drove westward from Flagstaff in search of the Kaibab squirrel that day.

By the end of the 2 hour long search, which proved futile, my traveling crew was trying to convince me the doc was pulling my leg and there he was laughing about the prank he pulled on me.  Of course, I gallantly stood my ground defending his honor, but inside the doubt was creeping into my spirit.  For you see, he does love a practical joke.  I just could not bring myself to believe he would do that to me; one of his most loyal, long-time patients and up to that time, I considered myself a friend too.

The story does have a happy ending.  A few weeks later we were camped in the Kaibab National Forest next to Lake Kaibab eating dinner outside.  When all of a sudden, David peering past me, says “hey look, there goes a rabbit.”  Turning around, I see a Kaibab squirrel!  Eureka, they do exist!  As you can tell in the picture below, they are a rabbit wannabee with their long tufted ears.  And if you could see the underside of the tail, you would see it is almost snow white.

Closer View

At my appointment last week, I related the above story to my physician.  He smiled and let me in on a terrible family secret.  His wife about 9 years earlier was the only one in their family to actually see a Kaibab squirrel and had suffered mercilessly (supposedly from the kids) because no one else saw the squirrel and kept mocking her claim to have seen one.  He assures me he will pass along the sighting to his wife in order to vindicate her claim.

That’s not all the hot air to tell about but the rest will just have to wait until the next post.