We made it out of Steamboat as the temperatures dropped into the teens and the flurries began, we were hopeful that Etta was over the hump with her ….um …illness.
We were wrong……..VERY wrong……..we felt so bad for our poor little girl as we pulled over for the 8th time so she could try and go. I’ll say it again, parents of human children are way tougher than me……. I thought I was gonna need some kinda therapy watching Etta ………..Karen and I just wished we could fix it.
We rolled into Grand Junction….into our friends home……..who left town on us! They apparently went to the Latin American Maraca Organization (LAMO) “camp”. LAMO is apparently a widely know and respected organization that nurtures aficionados of the art of maraca playing….The intricacies of shaking a dried out gord are just about endless from what I understand. Many of the membership are well respected pillars of the community with much in common….like having mastered Dungeons And Dragons and Grand Theft Auto in their parents basement in just 5 years as they toiled away pursuing their dream of a Associate of Arts degree.
They are wonderful friends who were kind enough to give us the run of the house and let us beach the Mc5er in their front yard just like ..
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….we no sooner got the truck doors open when Etta ran to the mailbox by the street and deposited her now “normal” pancake…..this wouldn’t have been sooo bad had the neighbor not been walking little “Bubbles” the dishrag dog
The neighbor looked slightly familiar ……maybe Bisbee Arizona last year?
He came complete with a condescending smirk……..I noticed his pinky ring was adorned with the LAMO crest……wonder why he missed “camp”?
Anyway……..we found a local Brew pub with great burgers and better beer for dinner and retired early as we knew Etta would have us up every few hours throughout the night for pancake call….poor baby!!!
Grand Junction is wonderful town located in what is known as high desert ….temperatures are normally very comfortable….unless we show up with a fifth wheel full of water just dying for a chance to freeze and rupture the plumbing system….the folks in the neighborhood walking their dogs increased the next morning, and I suspect some were just walking by to check out us heathen Squatters as they didn’t even have dogs!!!
The pancakes are much easier to pick up in 17 degree weather…….and Etta had left plenty…..down side to liquified dog poo….be it fluid or frozen…is it’s hard to pick up without disturbing the homeowners landscaping efforts…..in High Desert climates….rocks are the preferred yard along with foliage that appears dead to this observer…but what do I know Ive never even played Grand Theft Auto. As you can imagine the frozen poo was much easier to police than the warmer variety ….but the rocks stuck to the platter! Each pile lead to a fairly significant reduction in our friends (perhaps former friends now) once pristine landscaping.
We mulled our options as more foul weather was forecast and decided to strike out in the am even though we got a nice invitation from the HOA people tucked under our wiper blade. They apparently wanted to “meet” with us and we figured that was Grand Junction speak for a kinda of potluck welcome to the neighborhood meet and greet thing. These High Desert folks are the true bosom of western Americana!
I felt bad about the yard as we pulled away in the darkness that next morning ….but we agreed that our friends would be so excited about their recent LAMO experience that they’d not even notice the “holes”in the yard.
As we made the turn I noticed the HOA in my mirror gathering down block for our pot luck!!!!!!true salt of the earth those HOA folks!!!!
As a disclaimer almost all of this was made up…..and I was just poking fun at our wonderful friends, they didn’t really go to any camp for LA MO’s
It was a Trekkie convention
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Live long and prosper!!!
Round the bend 