I love how they turned the cat-bed-on-the-seat into a doubledecker cat bed. They’re still doing it now that we’re home, too.
On the way to Battlemoor, I’d noticed, off to one side of Wolf Creek Pass, a bunch of RVs tucked into the woods along a creek. I made a note of it as a possible nice boondocking spot, & on the way home, I set out to find it again.
I had to drive up the mostly-dirt road about seven miles before I found a good spot that wasn’t already taken (seems Monday isn’t the time to go; most of the spots were empty when I went back past them the next day) but WOW, am I glad I went that far. I found a nice mostly-shaded spot next to a HUGE meadow with a crisp mountain stream running through it.
(I also found a LOT of mosquitos, since about half the meadow was flooded, but I had bug spray, so that wasn’t TOO bad.)
But. C’mon. LOOK AT THIS.
![A green meadow dotted with mostly-yellow wildflowers. A dirt road stretches along the left side, & behind that, & in the background, are steep slopes with tall evergreen trees.](https://www.thevagabondtabby.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/P_20190715_115347_vHDR_On.jpg)
PLUS I got to spread out my nice new carpet to dry, which meant I could sit & generally sprawl without getting pine needles (or sap!) on my butt.
Loiosh, ignoring the view. (LOOK AT THE VIEW.)
![The same view as above, but Loiosh is sitting on carpet in the foregreound, chewing on one forepaw, which probably has pine sap stuck to it already.](https://www.thevagabondtabby.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/P_20190715_115533_vHDR_On.jpg)
I just let them all run around without leashes. They never went too far, which I’ve always worried about, & came back when I shook the treats. Course if I was gonna be in the van for a while they hadda come in, too.
![A view with the back of the van to one side & tall trees to the other; near the center Hades sits, overlooking a break in the trees that gives a view of the dirt road & more trees.](https://www.thevagabondtabby.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/P_20190715_115603_vHDR_On.jpg)
![It's nearly the same as the last picture, except that this time it's Loiosh overlooking the view, & he's standing up.](https://www.thevagabondtabby.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/P_20190715_120113_vHDR_On.jpg)
![Major Tom, sitting facing away, over green meadows with evergreen trees in the background. Above it all stretched deep blue sky with perfect puffy white clouds.](https://www.thevagabondtabby.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/P_20190715_120223_vHDR_On.jpg)
MOM this is AWESOME
![The same spot as before, except that Tom's turned to face the camera, & he's kinda wide-eyed & looking pretty pleased with it all.](https://www.thevagabondtabby.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/P_20190715_120215_vHDR_On.jpg)
We napped & sprawled around & explored a little bit (which is how me & Loiosh discovered how much of the meadow is flooded) & generally did a whole lot of not much. It was AWESOME, & a really nice way to start relaxing again after Battlemoor.
At one point a guy came wandering along the creek with his dog. He was fly fishing, whch I’ve heard about (my brother-in-law is into it) but never seen done, so I wandered down to say hi & meet his dog. Of course Loiosh wandered after me & almost got a noseful of overly-licky dog, but the guy called his dog back AND the dog listened, which isn’t always the case with Loiosh around. I was impressed.
I also took the second-fastest bath of my life, & by ‘bath’ I mean ‘hell YEAH I went in the creek, & hell YEAH I went in nekkid’, but DAMN was it cold.
![A wide spot in a mountain stream -- the water's deeper in the middle, but there are rocks visible close to the edge. The creek's lined with more of that green meadow, & a folded towel lies next to the creek.](https://www.thevagabondtabby.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/P_20190715_124551_vHDR_On.jpg)
I’d say that Loiosh was concerned, except that he was distracted by probably a butterfly or something.
![The view's from in the creek -- there's just a bit of the bank at the bottom of the picture. Loiosh stands in the bank, tail caught mid-lash, looking off to the left. Beside him is a pile of discarded clothing.](https://www.thevagabondtabby.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/P_20190715_124821_vHDR_On.jpg)
Anyway I woke up Tuesday morning after probably 18 hours of combined napping & sleep, ready to go. The rest of the drive was MUCH better for the rest break, & the cats were MUCH calmer after getting to actually run around some. So much so that Hades … well, no, he’s like this all the time.
![Hades, seen face-on & pretty close up. His expression is serene except that most of his tongue is sticking out, because he forgets to put it away.](https://www.thevagabondtabby.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/P_20190716_115423_vHDR_On.jpg)
*facepalm* *siiiiiiiiiiiigh*
![Hades, seen from the side this time, but his tongue is still doing that thing. He's just ridiculous is what.](https://www.thevagabondtabby.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/P_20190716_115441_vHDR_On.jpg)
This was posted originally to my Patreon, a little over a week ago.
If you want to see these posts sooner, & not incidentally help support me & my cats in our travels & such, the way to do that is to sign up as one of my Patrons for as little as a buck a month.
I’d REALLY like that.