Category: 2018 Daily Life

I caught my first buck this evening and I wasn’t even hunting. As I was going past a neighbors yard, I noticed several deer munching on grass and trees. Then I saw where one of the bucks had rope or twine wrapped around his antlers. Then I saw where it was a very long rope.  So I managed to step on the end of it and wrap it around a metal water faucet/pipe to stop the deer from running away with all that wrapped around his antlers and trailing behind him.

The deer realized he was caught and tried to get loose but then calmed down.

I tried calling our homeowner office but they were closed and didn’t have a number for the safety department as an option. So I called another friend to see if she could call safety for me. Dan was at her house so the two of them came in a golf cart from one side of where the deer was waiting. Bad timing…another couple came up on the other side of the deer in their golf cart. The poor deer was freaking out.

The guy in the other cart pulled out a pocket knife and cut the deer loose. 

It turns out the “rope” was actually the electric deer fence wire from up along the runway. By the time it was all over, the wire was more of a mess around the buck’s antlers and he still had a long tail to pull behind him. Unfortunately there’s nothing more we can do.

If stands stiff in a poor man’s pocket. If there hadn’t been so much going on when Dan arrived, I think just the two of us might have had a chance of cutting the wire a lot shorter and even getting it all untangled from the antlers because it wasn’t all that twisted up until everyone came and scared the poor animal.  Sigh

I made a special trip to Oakdale today to meet up with some folks from the Stanislaus Bike Club that I’d met last week when riding in their area. I left my phone and the route sheets I’d printed from their website on the kitchen counter. Of course I realized this after I was about 30 minutes into the hour plus drive. Too late to go back.

I arrived at the start location at 8:20. This was good since it was advertised as an 8:30 ride. So, if they normally start the ride at 8:30, I was early enough to be ready to go. If they don’t actually meet until 8:30, I was gold.

It was very quiet at the house where we were meeting. OK, they must meet at 8:30 and actually start riding later. 8:30 came and still no activity. Do I knock on the door? Am I at the right house? Eventually I went to the door. Packages by the door. Doesn’t look good.  No one answered the doorbell. Maybe it is the wrong house.

Got back in the car and drove up and down the street looking for bicycles and people in Lycra. Nope. As I went by the house, I noticed a bicycle wheel by the mailbox. Right house.

Lesson learned-call, text, or email the leader ahead of time.

Plan B – parked at Knights Ferry and rode into Oakdale. Stopped at Starbucks just as a tour group came in. Sounded like they were Russian or from that part of the world. Got my tea and scone and relaxed outside in the nice weather.

Returned to Knights Ferry but took a little detour. Passed another cyclist who looked like he was wearing Stanislaus Bike Club gear so I turned around and chased him down. Turns out the ride leader had to be away today so a group had met early for a ride. We missed each other by a few minutes. 

So I rode solo but enjoyed the ride and was glad I met one of the Stanislaus Bike Club members. Good day.

Yesterday was too nice to forget. It began with a flight in our Mooney to Auburn for breakfast with my niece and her family. Barrett had spent the night with his high school students “locked in” at the school playing games all night. So, he was a little rummy from lack of sleep. We also got to meet Berenize who is staying with Chelle and Barrett for awhile.

After a wonderful, fun time visiting and eating, Chelle asked if they could see our plane. That resulted in a flight for all three.

After they took off, a couple of men who were wandering around looking at planes asked why I wasn’t flying too. I told them my husband said I had a thumb.

Dan took the group flying over Folsom before returning. He also had them experience weightlessness, of course, without warning anyone what he was about to do. There’s a price for flying with Dan.

As we flew home, I was thinking about what to do with the rest of the day. Apparently Dan was too. So, after a bit, we decided to go for a motorcycle ride. The day was calling us to be out of the house. 

Although we’d been to Evergreen Lodge just last week, we decided to head that way again. While we didn’t go to the Lodge, we did take the same roads. I was surprised at the changes in the plants. The ceanothus had filled in and some were blooming. There were more lupine with some harlequin that weren’t there the week before. There still aren’t as many varieties of wildflowers as I would expect for this time of year but our weather’s been so wonky, I’m not surprised the plants don’t know what to do.

Having an intercom on the helmets so we can speak to each other while riding is nice. Sometimes we communicate better when we’re riding since there are no distractions. Hmmm, maybe we should wear the helmets all the time.

We ended up at Hetch Hetch in Yosemite.

We completely forgot about the aviation meeting but got a reminder call so did go. Interesting presentation by our neighbor who is an aircraft accident investigator. This time he told us about a towboat/barge allision (yes that’s a real word). 

And that was our day.

Stopped at the Stanislaus Groveland Ranger Station and noticed several trucks for various fire departments. After a quick stop to refill my water, I was on my way. Not too long after I got back onto the highway, the trucks started passing me.

When I arrived at Rim of the World, I saw the trucks again. As the men (yes, no women) walked by, I asked a few if they were there to honor Eva Marie. One said yes.  Eva Marie Schicke lost her life fighting a wildfire in the Stanislaus Forest. A portion of Hwy 120 is designated the Eva Marie Schicke Memorial Highway.

I happened by this same location a year or so ago when the fighters were there again to honor the men and women who gave their lives fighting wildfires. 

From Rim of the World:

Leaving Rim of the World, I returned to the ranger station. Who should I see but Bob, the same Bob that rode with me a couple days ago! 

A couple stops on Ferretti Road resulted in more photos:

Before I got home, a car with a bike on the back came toward me. It was Dwight! Not a good place to stop so a quick greeting was all we could share.

Instead of getting warmer as the day went on, the temperature dropped, the wind came up and the sky started getting darker. After I got back to the house, we actually had a few drops of rain.