MADDOGS

MONDAY--Since the MADDOGS got back from their latest adventure around the west Yosemite region, Jude has been picking boysenberries every morning. She only does this in the cool of the morning before the sun can heat her up to a sweat. Today's take is 20 cups. She freezes them in 1 cup increments, then uses them for oatmeal topping, shakes, and jam.  

MONDAY--Jude discovered a hummingbird nest at the place where she's housesitting. The nest is built on top of a windchime. The nesters scavenged spiderwebs to secure the chime so it wouldn't twist in the wind. Ben tells me that a hummingbird's nest is so small it can't be constructed by weaving natural materials, so the hummingbirds construct it with layers of spiderwebs.  

TUESDAY--OK, so this is the deal. When The Adventure Crew doesn't post on the exact day of the adventure, the posts come out in reverse of what we wanted. That means from now on Jude will have to do the posts backwards (from her point of view--oh no! That sounds like writing!), beginning from the end and ending at the beginning.

Can this MADDOG learn a new trick? We shall see. The Nomad is taking bets--and right now the odds are running against Jude.

SUNDAY, MAY 23, 2004--Early this morning at campbreak, we saw a buck, still with his furry antlers, picking his way across our camp on his way to Heavenly Creek.

In trying to get off the mountain, The Adventure Crew took a wrong turn (or several wrong turns) and ended up many mountains to the northwest and far, far away from where we had to pick up Heather the next morning.

So we spent part of the day driving back to where we needed to be. We stopped at the vista point at Don Pedro Lake. Jude ate lunch, read a book and took a nap. Then we went back to the general location where we'd Night Camped on Friday and found another good spot to sleep.

Night Camp at Heavenly Creek--Can you see The Nomad peeking through the trees?

Adam, the nice young man (who will be eating trout for dinner), is 31, and lives in Tuolumne County. He has been a house painter (inside and outside) since he was 17. Three weeks ago, he quit working for a company and went into business for himself. In these three weeks, he’s lined up $20,000 worth of jobs, so he figure’s he’ll do fine. He was at Lake Cherry fishing with his younger brothers, Frank who is in the Air Force and will be going to Pakistan in two weeks, and Jeremy.

As it ended up, I camped not far from where they were camped. That night they invited me over for trout and steak. I declined. What they didn't need was someone their mother's age hanging around while they were trying to get drunk.

If the MADDOGS ever make it to Cherry Lake again, we will think of Adam and wish him well.  

Another view of Heavenly Creek. 

Heavenly Creek--Since there are no signs in this wilderness area, Jude named the creek. 

Another view of Cherry Lake. 

SATURDAY, MAY 22, 2004--Cherry Lake--a senic, hairpin-windy mountain drive (about 30 miles and across the whitewater Tuolumne River) brought us to this place. Notice the fisherman's head in this photo? That's Adam.

Jude met a nice, young fisherman named Adam, who told her where to find a place to camp tonight. We followed his directions, including driving across a creek, and are now Night Camped. As soon as we chose our spot, we heard water. So Jude and Ms. Pixie went looking and found a heavenly creek about half a mile from camp. 

SATURDAY, MAY 22, 2004--Those of you who are writers know about the weight of the chains around your ankles and can hear the crack of the whip urging you on. You are familiar with the sting of leather to make your fingers keep pounding that keyboard, because the Master demands his quota, and he ALWAYS gets what he desires.

Those of you who aren't writers will just have to use your imagination.

Unless you are of the “freaky” sort—and you know exactly who I am referring to.

But in any event, isn’t my office great?
 

SATURDAY—May 22, 2004
Jude finally got up around 7 a.m. and we drove up a ‘day use’ road to make Day Camp. We were the only ones there—we never even heard another car all day long. A sign was posted about BEARS in the area, but Jude felt no need to sing the “Don’t-Eat-Me-Brother-Bear” song.

Jude went for a hike and crossed into the Yosemite Wilderness Area. She saw a hawk dive from the sky and land on a red squirrel, clutching it in a death grip. The hawk didn’t fly off with its catch, but immediately started pecking at the squirrel’s head and eating it on the spot. Jude figured that was so the squirrel wouldn’t get a chance to bite the hawk and maybe get away. This all happened about 15-20 feet from where Jude was sitting quietly.

FRIDAY—May 21, 2004
The Adventure Crew and Heather were lost—correction, read that wandering—for about 2 hours while we tried to follow some bogus directions to Groveland. Went an hour up a wrong road, then had to turn around, and call for directions (which Jude couldn’t make sense of—things like “backtrack”—and since we’d been up and down this road more than once, which way was backtrack; the way we’d just come, or the way we’d come to get there?)

We finally, finally made it with the help of a local gas station attendant—who happened to give us the opposite directions of the people who originally gave us the directions in the first place—and her directions worked!

The only thing the MADDOGS have to say about this is: Since we never know where we’re going, it is impossible for us to be lost.

Dropped Heather off at her friend’s, then The Adventure Crew held a meeting and decided to see what the entrance to Yosemite looked like. It looked like a string of too many cars, which were driving too fast, bumper-to-bumper, maniacs racing to get in the park.

The Adventure Crew backed off (this is definitely not our idea of pleasure) and The Nomad chose a side road that ran behind some pines. In a clearing we saw 9 deer—females and yearlings. We'd found the perfect spot for Night Camp.

FRIDAY--This afternoon, Jude will take Heather to weekend with a friend near Yosemite. The Adventure Crew will spend the weekend writing, exploring, and generally being MADDOGS, then pick up Heather on Monday morning and head back to the stick house.

We have already recieved the prerequisite spiel about gangs in Modesto, gangs in Stockton, muggers, and backwoods crazies that will kidnap us and chop our heads off (oh wait, I think that man is in jail), and how traveling outside of particular streets in our stick house town should be avoided at all costs.

To be honest, Jude will admit to being careful all the time. Even though The Nomad is a van, we don't park next to vans in parking lots, we are aware of our suroundings, walk to The Nomad with keys in hand, and keep an eye on people and things around us. That said, the times Jude has been in trouble were ALL when she was a paperboy. Ran into men with guns, house burglaries, and chased by two men in a pickup who would have killed her, if they had caught her. Although Jude doesn't have the kind of "proof" that would hold up in court, ie, she wasn't killed, she was certain of their intent.

When The Adventure Crew travels, we Day Camp. Pick a beautiful spot to spend the day. Sometimes on the beach or a bluff; a side road, dirt road or logging road; next to a park; by a meadow or lake or stream; basically where ever we want. We have NEVER been hasseled or felt like we were in danger. Most of the time, we are by ourselves. Sometimes other people are around, like at a public beach or tourist town. Then we engage people in conversation and collect their stories. Jude finds it amazing how much can be gleaned from just listening, and never has any problem getting people to talk. And everyone has a story to tell.

Some places we Day Camp in close at sunset. Then we find a place to cook dinner. This might be a road in the mountains or a grocery store parking lot, or street parking in a business district or next to a public park. After dinner we watch a movie or read a book until about 9 or 10pm. Then we will find a place to Night Camp.

If we are in or near a city, our Night Camp will be in a residental area. We try to find a place that is inconspicious, like by a corner house that has a fence or where we won't be in anyone's way. We also try to choose a quiet street without any direct street lights to keep us awake. The only thing we do at Night Camp is sleep. If we aren't by a city, we choose an out of the way dirt road. We have NEVER been hasseled or felt unsafe. We are up and gone by 6 or 7 a.m. and cook breakfast somewhere else.

Not wandering and having adventures is NOT an option, so we try to be aware and safe wherever we are.

WEDNESDAY--Late yesterday afternoon it finally dawned on me to look up the turtle in my Field Guide. It was an adult Western Pond Turtle, a species that is indigenous to the Sacramento Region. It was definately a turtle caught in the wild, and not purchased for a pet.

Ben has a creek by his place that he can hike to and release the turtle far away from any roads. We decided that was the best. So I hauled the turtle over to Melody's, as Tuesday is group night, and Ben met me there to pick the turtle up. For the record, this is not the first turtle rescue we've done.

Melody kept wondering where the turtle came from, as I don't live very to close to any body of water. She thought maybe someone caught it and was going to eat it.

BLING-BLING! The light goes on. Our neighbors are Mongs, and there is a long record of them eating dogs (The City says that is OK because the dogs belonged to them and the City hadn't recieved any complaints of missing dogs in our neighborhood), and slaughtering livestock in their backyard to cook for celebrations.

It just fits. The turtle had escaped, probably by digging under the fence, and came knocking on my door for help. Ben and I were glad to help him escape the soup pot. Now the turtle can go back to digging in the mud at the bottom of the creek, sunning on the rocks, and doing whatever it is that turtles do. Hopefully, this turtle won't have any more run-ins with people. I gave him my cell number, just in case.

TUESDAY--We have a visitor. So there Jude is, chained to Master (one of her favorite positions, although this must remain a secret because she insists it is "work") and there is this Tap-Tap-Tapping at the back door. A visitor has come to call and he is quite desperate to come inside for a cup of Lettuce Tea. Now granted, Jude might harbor illusions of grandeur (like becoming as famous and morbid as Poe), but a turtle for a muse--instead of a raven--Jude can't be that crazy. Can she?

What are we going to do with a turtle? Can't put it in the pond, or the fish will become sushi in the snap-snapping of turtle jaws (Jude already had to manuver her fingers away from the deadly bite of the turtle). Can't put it in the swimming pool or some toes might get nibbled at. Can't let it run (figuratively speaking) around the yard or the Shadow Dog might disappear.

The Solution: Call Ben. He'll always take on another amphibian or reptile or spider or worm or cricket. If he isn't up to a turtle rescue today, The Adventure Crew will make a trek down to a nice, quite slough and start the turtle on a new adventure. 

These cormorants were drying off after a morning of fishing in Pumphouse Slough. It was in the mid 70s today, and crazy windy, which made Jude sneeze to the max. It's a wonder there were any birds around within a three-mile radius.

After doing the word count with Master, Jude worked on the seals around the front doors of The Nomad, getting them super-bonded in the places where they were coming loose.

The Adventure Crew is looking forward to the upcoming Road Trip this summer. We don't know what adventures await, but we are ready for them. 

Sunrise at my 'Writing Place' on the Sacramento River. I found this place a few months back. There's room to park in the shade and usually I have the site to myself. Occassionally there's a fisherman lurking around, but they are more interested in hacking up bait, drinking beer, and sniffing fish than wondering what a MADDOG is doing on a keyboard. If they only knew. . . Going to the river allows me to 'get away' without having to leave town.