Reptilian Canine

This little dog loves the desert. Rudy could not be happier to be back in NM and hanging back in the old hood.

Tired, tired, tired from work this weekend.... a sleepy photo of the hall at night and I am off to dreamland.

Rudy Sees a Seal Ghost? Senses a Great White?

Yesterday was a gorgeous, fabulous day. The sort of day that makes you feel like spinning around Julie Andrews "The Sound of Music" style, shouting out about how grand life is and laughing gleefully like you have not got a care in the world. Yeah... it was that nice. SO we decided to hop on down to the beach here in Sconset to hang out, soak up some sun and let Rudy peel out for awhile. Rudy loves to spend the afternoon on the beach. If there aren't any other people around we can just let him wander around to his hearts content sniffing, digging and lavishing his fur with pungent odors in the patented stink roll as seen here...


He can usually keep himself occupied for hours. Every now and then he will come back to us and dig a bunker next to one of our chairs and crawl in to watch for birds to ambush. No worries for the birds. They always get away. As an aside let me just tell you that last week we were walking him off leash down the beach and he spied a seagull up ahead and took off after it. I watched in horror as I realized that the gull could not fly or even run away for that matter because it was injured. It was sort of washing back and forth in the surf at the waters edge. I started screaming at Rudy to "Leave It!" (this is what we say if we need him to drop some gnarly crap he is snacking on found on the ground, etc.) but he rushed right up to the thing and my mind was swirling with images of him ripping the thing up while it jabbed at his eyeballs with it's pointy seagull beak. So he ran up to it and then stopped a foot or so away and just stood there looking at it. He followed it as it washed up and down in the surf and sort of just puzzled at it. Billy made it to them first and he gently led Rudy away telling him what a "good boy" he was for leaving the seagull be. Every day since then of course Billy has scoffed at Rudy saying things like "You think you're a tough guy? You can't even kill a sick seagull!" This is their relationship. Billy and Rudy try to one up each other and make the other one look bad all the time. Like brothers. Like boys. Anyway... back to the original story.

We were sitting on the beach reading and sort of gazing out at the water watching a couple of fishing boats that were tooling around way out by the sandbar (there were no other people on the beach for at least a quarter of a mile on either side of us) and Rudy was laying in his bunker next to my chair facing the ocean. All the sudden he exploded up out of his hole barking and snarling. All the hair was up on his back and he was really, really on the defense. We both whirled around to see what was coming or who was around and.... nothing. There was nothing. Rudy continued to slowly advance toward the water barking like he was getting ready to fight for his life or defend ours. It was nuts how freaked out he was. And there was NOTHING out there. We tried to distract him and bring him back to our seats but he was in full blown attack mode. This went on for a good 3 to 4 minutes until Billy finally dragged him away and made him sit facing away from the water. Rudy still tried to turn his head to look back and was whining and crying in worry. Eventually we calmed him down and went back to reading for a couple minutes when he suddenly went off again. This time we ended up having to leave because he would not cool his jets. Ok. Sooooo WTF, right? Either we have a delusional, neurotic terrier or there was an 18 foot great white trolling for seals twenty feet off the beach? Or perhaps Moby Dick's evil cousin was communicating telepathically with Rudy from the briny deep? It really makes ya wonder. It was a sunny, calm day with nothing going on. Either this dog has a wicked imagination and is a great play actor or some creepy shit was slinkin' around in the water not too far off. We will never know. It's not the first time The Rudester has faced off against the mighty Atlantic with a bit of an attitude. When hurricane Earl was peelin' through he was downright surly about it. Please do click through on this photo to see the look on his face.




What a majestic beast, right? I'll let ya know if we end up having to get him set up on anti psychotic drugs. Or if Sconset gets wiped out by a giant sea monster.

Smokin' Hot

Every now and then we get a hankerin' for some wickedly hot, spicy food. Today was one of those days. I scored three old issues of Vegetarian Times at the thrift today for free and it just so happened that one of them had a recipe for Chipotle-Bean Burgers with Cilantro Sauce in it. We whipped them up for dinner tonight along with some fresh salsa and served them on corn tortillas. They were kind of a pain in the ass to make in the trailer because it is one of those meals that requires little bowls of prep stuff to be made in small batches and set aside and stuff has to chill in the fridge, etc. so it got kind of ridiculous in here for about an hour. But in the end it was worth it. They were SO GOOD! And they were also SO FLIPPING HOT! It was the hottest food I have eaten since leaving New Mexico a year ago. HERE is the recipe from the Veg Times website. I modified the cilantro sauce a bit by using a jalapeno cheddar bread and a red pepper in mine. So my sauce was orangey red instead of green. We had a hunk of smoked sharp cheddar that was a perfect compliment to the chipotle flavor in the burgers.

Billy cooked the burgers out on the grill....




I supervised... (but don't tell Billy I said so) whoever is wearing the apron is the boss in my book.



The only thing I would say to someone making these is make sure you cook the burger mixture down til it's good and dry and then don't skimp on the time in the fridge to set the patties. They are tough to flip on the grill if they are too wet or not chilled well enough.




I don't know if we ran in to a particularly rare and fierce batch of chipotle but holy hell it was hot.
It's a good thing we had bought a bottle of Sailor Jerry's Spiced Rum to make Pina Colada's with otherwise dinner could have been tragic. Instead it was deeeelicious.



I am now impatiently waiting for a new tray of ice cubes to freeze so I can have another pina colada. Dammit. It's gonna take a lot longer than I am happy to wait.

For anyone following the Rudy Foxy Foot Saga (outside of the blog) he is doing OK. I neglected to post that there indeed WAS and possibly still IS a foxtail in his paw. The day after the initial vet visit everything went downhill and his foot developed a big blister on top of it so back to the vet we went. It was an awful experience... Rudy got "probed" and I nearly passed out as a result. They found nothing and put him on an antibiotic and sent us home to watch and wait. A few days later his foot seems to be getting a bit better. We have no idea if the intruding grass seed has come out or if it is still in there. I spoke to the vet and she agreed to wait a few days to see what developed before we bring him back in for a check up. Meanwhile we have to soak his paw in Epsom salts and he hates it. I wish I could soak my damn paws in Epsom salts. The little dude just needs to realize he is getting a sort of spa treatment and then maybe his attitude could change. I guess a gaping, sore, open wound may not feel as neat in salty water as what I am talking about though. Hmm. Anyway... we took his little ass to the dog park today and he caroused with three other dogs there for awhile without a problem so I would say he is on the mend for sure. Thanks to all who have sent him get well soon wishes.

Now... to go check on those ice cubes.

Sluggish

Hey YO people! Wassup? How is everyone out in their little corner of the world? I am starting to feel pretty tucked away from reality here in Mendocino. Or at least my reality is not relative to most other realities for the time being. Reality here is comprised of banana slugs, wildflowers, giant crashing waves and really expensive groceries and gas.

I think my head may implode with the sheer weight of images I have swirling around in it from photos I have taken in the past week. I can't stop. I guess I shouldn't stop either. Why should I? If you can think of a good reason lay it on me. Anyway... here are a few of my favorites from the past few days....

Off the Headlands at Russian Gulch State Park on St. Patty's Day late afternoon....



Thirsty tree roots reaching down to the tidal river for a drink...



Gorgeous flowers along the pathway to the beach at Russian Gulch....



Since I have so many images I guess I will go ahead and make this a pictures post. Also... it is about all my mashy brains are capable of right at the moment. I am having a really low key day for mental activity. I am officially under the radar. Anyway... We have been wandering around exploring the beaches and trails within a few miles of our camp and the results have been more than we could have hoped for so close by.

Here's Billy and Rudy looking very much the part of explorers on the rocks at the beach near camp...



A cool abstract shot of waves crashing on the headlands...



These are called Common Horsetail, they are growing everywhere in the woods here...



Jenny who is our manager of sorts at The Ford House Museum has said that she would like to teach me what she knows about the local flora. I hope she can find time to do it because I would love to know what all this cool stuff is that we keep coming across on our walks!

I know this first yellow plant is called "Footsteps of Spring" and it supposedly really sucks if you step on one barefoot...


I have yet to find out what this showstopper is called...



We busted out our grill yesterday for the first time in months and had quite a feast. I made fresh salsa and Billy cooked up everything from smashed new potatoes to plantains on the grill. We had left over grilled veggies so I am going to improvise a pasta dish with them tonight. Billy has been flashing around with big talk of making mint crepes with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. To that I say... Dear Universe.... Thank you for providing me with access to Billy McLane. Love, Bethany

For anyone needing a Rudy fix I will not disappoint you. He has really been making an effort this past week to outdo himself in the photo department. He is getting good... good at featuring the bottom canine, good at his Dirty Harry mean face, good at getting as filthy dirty as possible every single day.

The Return

Whew! Annnnnnd we are back. Sorry for the gaping chasm of non posting there. Between saying goodbye to family and friends, driving 2500 miles and dealing with the laptop switcheroo I just dropped the bloggie ball there for awhile.

We had a nice farewell dinner with my parents and Gram. Here is the requisite family in front of the fireplace photo. You know you all have a series of these yourselves....



I am unsure why I forcibly shoved my Mother's head off to the side with my own huge head but she dealt with it very gracefully. I also have to share this one with you because I love the way my Mom is cupping Rudy's butt. You know somebody loves you when they cup you butt as seen here.... and also, you may enjoy seeing me looking toothier than a barracuda.




We let Rudy have one last romp in the frozen back yard. There's a cornfield out back and it was always full of Canada Geese. I am glad we made it through our stay without incident between dog and goose. I think we owe that to the fact that there was a polar ice shelf separating us from the field.




Our drive back west was without incident beside the fact that we had a dead battery when we went to pull out of my parents driveway to leave. That was funny timing. We had a tearful embrace with my Mom... did the wild waving goodbye from the driveway and climbed in, I then turned the key to the sound of a stone cold dead truck. We sat there stunned for a minute thinking that maybe our starter had gone out or that something major was wrong then we gradually realized it was just a dead battery. We charged it up and were on our way.

Let me tell ya... it is a long drive from Northern Illinois to the bay area of California via the southern route. You don't get any instant gratification anywhere along the route. Every state feels enormous. Well, maybe not Oklahoma.... but the rest are so wide open and vast that it really blows your mind. One highlight (funny word) of the drive was staying at The Big Texan Motel in Amarillo, Texas. You may have heard of the place on The Food Network or in a roadside attractions guide. They are famed for their 72 oz steak challenge. If you can finish the 4 pound slab of dead cow along with all the side items (baked potato etc) in under an hour you get the meal free and a cheesy certificate that commemorates your pinnacle moment as a pig. We were not interested in their steak dinners but more so the kitchy motel accommodations. Our room was made of rough wood paneling with not much to spruce it up besides a picture of a steer here and there and there was a Texas flag shower curtain in the weird little bathroom. We scored an old Bogart flick (Key Largo) on the TV and watched it until we konked out.



Just outside of Amarillo to the west you can pull off on the service road and walk out to see The Cadillac Ranch... or Car Henge. I have always wanted to stop and this time we did. We walked out and grabbed a few shots of the spray painted caddy's against the big old blue Texas sky.



We detoured up to Santa Fe for one day so we could visit with Michelle. We stayed right on our old street at Casa del Toro which is a bed and breakfast right down town. They have great rates and the rooms feel like you are staying in someones house. I highly recommend it for anyone traveling to Santa Fe. You can rent a small room on a frugal budget or a fancy decked out house from them and they are great people to deal with. It felt really funny to suddenly be back in the neighborhood we left behind seven months ago to hit the road in the Airstream again. We walked around downtown and ate at a few of our favorite old haunts. I do have to express my disappointment in the Plaza Diner for changing their cherry pie. It was formally on my list of favorite things in the whole wide world to eat and this time it sucked eggs. The food overall was not great.... what gives Plaza Diner? Anyway... we had a fun visit with Chelle. We got to see her new house and stop in at her husband's coffee shop and soak up some rays. I soaked up enough to burn the living crap out of my face.



At Downtown Subscription... two mean customers.



After Santa Fe we had to just haul ass back to Cali. We made it all the way to Needles, CA on the next day of driving and then all the way up Hwy 5 (boring, boring, boring drive) to Fairfield where the trailer was waiting for us yesterday. We arrived after dark and were totally fried from driving. We had to open the trailer door with our fingers and toes crossed that it was not going to be a mold festival inside. It wasn't. Our anti mold set up worked. I can now fully endorse those little humidity soaker upper things they sell at Walmart. We had about six of them in here along with baking soda in the fridge and freezer and it did the trick. Just to be on the safe side we cleaned everything again yesterday.... all the areas that had been a problem before. Billy even climbed up top and cleaned the fan hoods.



We are going to order a dehumidifier and run it at night in Mendocino just to be sure we keep on top of things. I am hoping that once we get up above the mid forties at night condensation will be less of a problem.

So we are glad to be back in California where spring is in full swing. We saw some fabulous displays of wildflowers along the highway yesterday....


Rudy is happy to be back in warmer temps (he did not love the cold in Illinois.) Although he did love eating popcorn and cheese with my Mom. One thing balances out the other.



I am so looking forward to Mendocino. We head up there this Thursday. We are unsure if we will be able to get online from our campsite but I will be posting pics as soon as I can! I am hoping the flowers are in bloom there just like this gorgeous rosemary bush here at the ranch.

Eatin' and Drinkin'

What do we do when we come to visit my family in Illinois? We eat. We eat and eat. It's winter and we are Midwesterners and we like food. This past week has been laden with good eats such as my homemade garlic hummus, tofu blintzes, grilled chili lime salmon, fresh hand made salsa with from scratch refried beans, veggie curry, felafel's etc., etc.

On the night we had felafel Billy made his famous Green Lantern drinks. They are made with Tanqueray, parsley and lime juice and they are really freakin' good. They are also amazing to gaze upon and live up to their name....




Billy and my Dad have been hittin' the bottle on a nightly basis since my Dad is off work for a week. They have been drinking Manhattans (yuck), martinis and mojitos. It's pretty ridiculous... especially if you know Billy and his inability to drink. Last night my Mom busted out with a bottle of riesling that looked like a baseball bat to drink with the grilled salmon they made. I had some with my faux chicken fixin's (I don't eat fish) and it was darned tasty. My Mom will skin me alive when she see's that I am posting this pic but deal with it sister... It's funny. Please note the knowing look on Rose Orbison's face... it's all about the wine baby.



Through this whole week Rudy has been trying to hypnotize us with his Houdini meets Spock mind meld stare to get table scraps. He has been wildly unsuccessful.




Tonight we had my Gram over and ordered take away Indian food. Even though it was pretty seriously spicy she tore it up. You have to admit it is a feat for a southern babe in her 80's to be peeling out on some spicy Indian fare. She is fierce.



I made a bittersweet chocolate pear cake for dessert. I know that sounds like it has nothing to do with Indian food but I wanted to make it so I did. I got the recipe (as usual) off Smitten Kitchen. It was quite good, not too sweet. It's made with a brown butter cake batter. Nothin' wrong with that.



Billy and I are going to Chicago on Tuesday. I will be sure to take loads of pics in the city. Rudy is staying home with his Grandma Rose so there should be some stories to be told at the end of that day.

News from the Silver Tube Dwellers

Sometimes I lay awake at night considering the fact that Billy, Rudy and I live inside of a smallish aluminum tube on wheels. This tube has a fridge, microwave, gas stovetop and oven, shower, sink, toilet etc. And then there is the fact that we have lots of stuff in here with us. Random stuff. We have a sock monkey, loads of yarn (for crocheting), books, magazines, a coffee maker, various other kitchen gadgetry, everything Billy needs to create oil paintings, dog toys, I have about 42 pairs of shoes, tons of clothing, etc., etc., etc. It's incredible. This tube is jammed full. And then we live in here too. We drag this thing all over the country. Again... amazing. It is weird how a space like this can become so comfortable. I mean obviously we have become intimately aquainted with every nook and cranny in here. But the weirdest thing which is hard to convey is that this space has become a sanctuary that is mobile. Even if it is parked in a noisy parking lot where we have pulled off the highway to rest and grab a bite to eat it is protection and sanctuary from the bizarro world outside. Thin aluminum walls is all it takes. Billy has suggested that the next step would be to see if we could find comfort and sanctuary living in a cardboard box. I am only game for that if the box is in Tahiti andcomes equippedwith a servant that brings me exotic food, umbrella drinks and reads me to sleep at night while birds of paradise fan me with their tail feathers. Until such a thing can be arranged I will stick with tube livin'.

I thought I would take a portrait today of what we are currently looking like to the world at large. Us with our tube on wheels. I find that we look oddly threatening. Like tiny circus clowns in a hyper realistic nightmare. Well, Billy does not look like a clown... but I most certainly do. I come by it naturally.



We decided to stay home today and rest. I have not been feeling my best for the past few days so it seemed a good idea. I have spent the day reading, working with photos and wasting enormous amounts of time creating my own radio stations on Pandora.

Here are a few more pics from the past few days out here at Point Reyes. We went for a drive yesterday as far north as the town of Tomales and walked the beach there. It was freezing cold and windy but beautiful. We also walked the beach out on Point Reyes and caught a sunset from up on one of the hilltops as we were on our way out of the park.



Rudy and I had a very serious discussion about life and death on the beach when we discovered the skeletal remains of a coyote. He cried a little in disbelief and I assured it him would eventually happen to us all. He said... "Fuck that." Rudy still has a lot of growing up to do.



He then immediately went back to chasing tennis balls and having vast amounts of fun.



Billy observed that my head is many times larger and more powerful than the moon. And so are my sunglasses and teeth.



And finally a couple of views of sunset from the ridge line...




We discovered an area of massive amounts of rolling hills and ranch land covered with thousands of sheep and lambs. It was like cuteoverload come to life before my very eyes. The lambs were doing what lambs do best which is to run, jump and cry in their bleaty little voices. They are the goofiest, sweetest little creatures I can imagine. Besides kittens. Anyway... here are some lambs. These pics were taken just past sundown so they are a bit dark...




If I had my tripod I could have taken a few more but it was getting too dark. And lambs have a very strict bedtime. I did not want to get anyone in trouble.

I am already in a panic that we are leaving this area on Sunday. I wish we could stay for a month or so. I really love this place.

Huh? Wha?

Yeah. I am feelin' kind of spaced out and thinkie all at the same time. Anybody else ever feel like this? It's a weird way to be feeling. I don't know if I mentioned it at all in the past few weeks but I got all adult like and found myself a real live doctor here in Carmel and went in even though there was nothing acutely wrong with me and got a real live check up. They ran a full panel of blood tests and I went in yesterday to get the results. As it turns out I seem to have hypothyroidism. This does not surprise me all that much seeing as how I have been feeling really tired for ooohhhhhh, about the past 24 years. So today I started on meds to combat this problem. The meds are coming from a source that makes my brains turn inside out with disgust and horror but the alternative is a synthetic med that research shows to not be as effective in treating this particular problem. The pills I am taking are made of ground up pig thyroid. B-A-R-F. It makes me feel like I have a tennis ball made of pure dread stuck in my throat to think about it. But I dutifully swallowed down my pig gut pill this morning anyway. I guess it takes weeks and weeks for any results to be felt in the course of taking these pills (they actually call them "grains". ) And I may have to take them for the rest of my life. It's like the old questions... how many grains of sand in the desert? Except mine will be... how many grains of pig thyroid choking my soul? Whatever. If I feel like I can leap buildings in a single bound without needing a nappie afterward 6 weeks from now I guess it will all be worth it.

The doc also gave me some samples of tryptophan to help me sleep at night. I have been battling insomnia for a few weeks (months, years) on and off. I took two (even though I was told to take three) last night and THAT is not happening again. I was still slurring and teetering around at 1 o'clock this afternoon like 14 hours after I had taken the things. Just bizarre. I will continue to fly the night skies on my own weird personal ride of wakeful sleeping in lieu of a stupefying tryptophan slow boat to nowhere. I still woke up for about three hours of doped out sleeplessness last night... so they really did me no good whatsoever. Any one else out there had a different experience with these? Do tell!

Other than all this B.S. that is totally boring and self indulgent for me to be writing about... not a whole lotta lotta is going on. We took Rudy down to Dog City by the Sea Beach today and he ran his fannie off with numerous glamorous Carmel pooches. We forgot the camera this time so I have no evidence. Also... Rudy almost pooped in a coffee shop. It was sort of an accident. A poop emergency that snuck up on him. It wasn't like he was maliciously pooping to ruin any one's day. I was paying at the counter and Billy was trying to get coffee over at the self service counter and suddenly Rudy was twisting and curling around on the floor mat trying to deal with a rogue dingleberry that had emerged secretly from his derriere. Billy (thankfully) realized what was playing out and abandoned his coffee errand to whisk Rudy out on to the sidewalk to extricate the nugget. Are you not glad that I share these gems of info with you all?

So there you have it. Have a lovely Tuesday night folks.

True Grit

So tomorrow Rudy's poop will be full of sand. It can't really be good the amount of sand he seems to swallow every time we take him to the beach. He just gets his mouth totally full of it. He goes crazy. I don't know.... maybe it is the ultimate fiber experience or something. He loves it.

Today was our last day in Carmel so we went to the town beach for a good long while. Rudy is doing better with coming when called and staying when told to stay. I thought it would never happen. Usually if he even lays eyes on another dog (and it does not matter if said dog is 3/4 of a mile away) he rips off straight for them. Carmel's beach is a totally dog friendly place and dogs are allowed to be off lead but I personally think we look like assholes if we let him run like a nut way far away from us. So we have been battling this habit and it seems that we are finally making headway and coming to a place where everyone can be happy. We had fun today because we were not screaming "RUDY...NO! NO! Rudy COME!" every 6 seconds.

We dig holes...


We people watch (and dog watch)



And generally just hang out...



There are of course still moments when he reverts to demon like behavior. I think it will always be this way. He is dog... he is dirty. It does make for some super funny photos, that's for sure. Sometimes I think he is part terrier and part swamp thing... if there is a dirty, muddy pond to dive into he is there every time.




And for the next 5 minutes after getting wet he rips around growling and snarling. It's quite entertaining. It's all fun and games until the next morning you look over and see this happening...



Those are my pillows. Where I lay my CLEAN FACE at night to go to sleep. Sigh. Oh well... my immune system is probably the stuff of legend now that it is dealing with that dirt on a daily basis.


I think that will finish it for today. Have a great week peeps and I will report in from Big Sur once we get set up down there.