No idea how the mouse got in there except maybe the cap didn't get screwed on before it was put away.

Reading the weather headlines/warning re heatwave. Are you staying through that or getting out of dodge for the duration?

I'd like to get out of Dodge - well, really I'd like to head towards Dodge since it's about 10 degrees cooler than we are.

The dogs and I are maintaining - though 'maintaining' means that we all sleep during the hottest part of the day (14:00 - 17:00) or at least they do, I normally catch an hour or so.  We need the rain and we got a decent shower last evening (my tanks still aren't full so it wasn't much) the combination of desperately needed rain producing higher humidity levels and the already higher temperatures make it unbearable for man and beast. Speaking for myself, I'm generally good up to 100° as long as the humidity level is low (read 15% or less), but I have two fans that I turned on last month that haven't been turned off. The pups just look for the coolest piece of tile they can find - want nothing to do with a fan even if the breeze would help. At 09:00 it's a nice 80 (heading to 101 - we might break 100) but the humidity is 49%. That'll drop as the day goes on but not far enough to make a comfortable 100, it'll be a muggy 100 and that's miserable! For some reason the breeze (5-10MPH) that's a norm on the desert have been saving themselves during the day and coming in at 30+ just before sundown. 105° with 10% humidity and a light breeze is nicely bearable.

I wanted to make a trip north (Jefferson county New York) this summer but of course just before I was ready to go I had to put about $1600 into the Jeep which meant my available funds for said trip were limited. Add to that I spent another $1800 for two LiFePo batteries for my electrical system and my funds were more than limited. (( oops Sky is telling me she wants back in - she literally bounces off the sliding glass doors )) Add to that the price of gas - we're at about the $5.00 mark - and that makes any travel expensive.

From what I'm seeing of the weather I'd have been going from the oven to the ice-box (at least ice-box for me!) highs in the 70's might be nice but cool overnight in the 50's would be downright chilly!

I've tried various 'cooling' techniques for the pups but they turn their noses up at them. I got a cooling pad - that they both ignored. I've tried ice in their water - they wait till it melts. Damp/wet towels - got ignored. Wetting them down - Sky tolerates getting wet, Avalanche literally runs if I reach for a hose!

Both of them are spending their days inside - don't blame them a bit - they want out in the morning to take care of necessities then it's "Let me in!" 'course my front porch is on the east side of the house and the sun, even early, is pretty intense. Sunset's about 21:00 - but the temp doesn't drop significantly till after midnight then we get a few hours of good cool (well, 85 is cool compared to 105) temps.

I have all the gear to camp with but I'm really wondering if *I'm* ready to camp. It's been 8-10 years since I've lived in a tent. I used to 'KOA' my way around when I wanted to get out but it's amazing to me the number of KOA's who have become dog UNfriendly - never ran into that before. I checked to see what the campgrounds were like between here and NY and it seemed about half of them didn't want dogs on the premises.

It's still early and I'm rambling ...

Cool overnights? How about today's high of 62⁰? Pool liner surprised to be replaced next week. Weather permitting hopefully all goes well. Holding my breath they don't tell me the pool is too far gone. Is like to keep the pool at least until my youngest grandchild flies the nest. And I can noon longer get in or out...

We had some crappy koa experiences so moved to camping at military bases. And ours mostly had to do with dog reasons also. Me and squirt have been prepping to go out to the la garita caldera. Really its an overnight hike but due to missing people and whispers around the valley, jerry doesnt want me going alone overnight so i need to prep for 16 miles plus exploring in 1 day.

Gas went up 20 cents overnight here. Jeep needs $2300 of work, anything that costs money is out right now.

Its been miserably hot for 8400 ft but nothing compared to south of here or west of here. Squirt came from the santa ana Navajo rez splinter was from Albuquerque shadow is from sante fe and they run from the sun and the heat like vampires.

Ok guys - don't hate me. But - last 2 nights had to use electric blanket. Even with blanket and heavy down comforter, hubby woke up shivering 2 nights ago. And this morning? Welp - I have sweat pants, a long sleeve fleece shirt, wool socks and a vest lined with thinsulate and micro fleece. By noon, finally up to 65⁰ outside. May be able to shed a layer...

@Amymeme did you move to Siberia just to make the dogs a 'normal home' or maybe up to Nunivut? I look at the weather map of the US and have to wonder if we're all really in the same country...

The southwest dry, hot, drought conditions over almost all of it; the northeast rainy, wet, cold ... swampy ... nope, these have to be two different countries that are worlds apart.

65!!! I'd have on more than the sweat pants and fleece lined shirt that I don't have!!!!

Here's really wishing there were some way to trade some of the wet, cool for our dry and hot...

These stupid pups of mine are gonna drive me to drink!

I'd been working out back with the back patio doors open and came in the front and let the dogs in at the same time.  Needless to say they came in the front door and immediately went out the back ... well scheize!  The (not so) funny part is that it was in the early afternoon when we'd only gotten to about 95° and they were back at the front door in about 10 minutes!  Guess they decided that it was too warm for a romp.

On the other hand, I've left Sasha's crate set up in the living room (it makes the perfect side table to collect miscellaneous crap), I used it for my last cat when she needed a safe place that wasn't out of the crowd so the 'fleece cushion' wasn't the cleanest thing in my house.  Now since Avalanche has been taking Sky place in her crate I figured I wash the cushion so Avalanche would have a place of his own.  Put the cushion down in the crate, took Avalanche over to it and guided him in ... so he turns around and walks right back out.  Threw a treat into it last night and he goes in, gets the treat and comes back out ... lotta good it did me to wash the pad, he apparently wants nothing to do with that crate ... wonder what's going through his mind???

I ask myself what's going through his mind every time Kye waits until he is desperate to pee to ask to go out and then he pees on the porch. I'm about to the point where I'm going to put diapers on this dog. He makes me so angry. The dog has a bladder that can apparently hold multiple gallons of water and he has next to no control over it once he starts walking.

65 sounds like perfect weather for swimming and outdoor stuff tho id prefer it in the 50s if im not getting wet. But it hit 92 earlier and im wondering how long exactly is safe to leave a 7 yr old in the car with the windows up. And not a dog but the kid i babaysit is in my jeep with my tablet and im wondering how long until he comes inside. Current temp of 81 and not sunny. Should be ok

NO!!!!  81 - even a not sunny 81 can turn into well over 100 in 15 minutes!  With the windows up, even faster.

A 7 year old may not notice how hot it's getting, especially if they're occupied until they keel over.  Kids don't recognize "HOT" the way an adult would because they haven't been taught that it's dangerous, they just figure it's hot.  Please don't do that ....

In NY, you would be arrested leaving child alone in car let alone in car with closed windows! It is not safe.

Doors were unlocked in the shade in his driveway and ac had just been on. I wouldnt trust leaving him in the car anywhere else regardless of temp. He has adhd and odd so he might not be there when i got back. Hes like a husky that speaks English. I was periodically checking him and at one point he opened the door. I made him come inside at 7 for dinner.

Last year he got his ass chewed by the del norte chief of police for calling 911 repeatedly and they threatened to arrest him. Then there was a 911 call about an attempted kidnapping at the park because he threw a fit about leaving and per his mothers instructions, i picked him up. Phone call to her resolved it in 5 seconds. So sometimes when hes behaving. It much easier to leave him alone. 2 hours of minecraft was more then enough. I call him spiders soul mate.

But really if you swapped kid with dog throwing a tantrum about leaving a park you've just described half of the youtube and tictok vids of huskies.

@aljones how you and the dogs handing the heat. We had a heat advisory today then a thunderstorm. This southwest/west heat wave is insane.

You had a heat advisory yesterday - well, gee, I feel left out!!  We didn't have one yesterday or today - not sure why we don't have one today, the temp's predicted to be around 100 with 25% humidity (that's high humidity for here) and that's dangerous territory for the dumb tourists.

Most of our tourists fall into the dumb category. They get here when the temp's around 90 with single digit humidity and figure that that's not bad ('course the low humidity level means that anything you sweat out evaporates immediately so you feel cooler) then they take off across the desert with no water ( 'cause they're not sweating up a storm ) and an hour into a hike they suddenly realize that the 90 has turned into 100 and it's hot and they're thirsty. Haven't lost anyone yet this year but it's not for want of their trying.

The dogs and I hibernate during the day, they're crashed in their respective corners at the moment and they'll stay there until about 19:00 (an hour late for supper but it's their call) with occasional visits to the water bowl. We've been running hot this year with most days at / around 100 but most days we've had low humidity so it's tolerable. 'Course I'm closed in after letting the house cool overnight, I'll open the sliding doors when the sun gets low (about 19:00) and see if I can get some of the breeze before the winds kick in.
Beside the higher temps this year and last that's been an oddity, we've normally had a breeze during the day that dies off at night ... this year we haven't had much of a daytime breeze but it kicks up into a dust storm with 30+ MPH winds for an hour or so before sundown.

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If you'd given the circumstances about kid in truck? it would have made a world of difference in my response. Setting in the shade in the driveway - he's gotten away from everyone and has his "privacy", good place for the youngster.

Are these dumb tourists from Colorado? There is scientific proof that the higher the elevation you grow up in, the lower your iq is. Here they go out thinking its nice and beautiful and then the sun goes down and up higher its still going below freezing at night. Maybe people just dont understand desert regions or maybe most pople are stupid. Or they bring matches and set the national forest in fire.

As to yesterday's heat advisory, between hitting 93 and the smoke they were telling everyone get inside in ac. The offgridders mostly cant power ac, alot of folks that have normal electricity dont have an ac, or cant afford to run it anyway.

Today is supposed to be nice temp wise for what its been lately but 79 is more like end of july temps and the wind before the monsoon is abnormal. But even windy season isn't normally 45 mph sustained winds.

Dogs started flipping out at 3am and i heard what sounded like thunder and went back to sleep. I guess we had a really deep earthquake in the aquifer because there is orange dirt in the water. Happens every once and awhile but means hot water tank, pressure tank, and all the plumbing has to get flushed. Our unused irrigation well ran orange for about a min before the pipe cleared. Dormant volcanoes especially dormant super volcanoes give you some warning when they start waking up (i hope).

I'm working on heat acclimation for cycling currently. Went out and did a quick jaunt (25 miles) on the bike last thursday and saw a thermometer board read 101 while out. We have been sitting around 60% humidity on any given day. It was a miserable ride and definitely pushed the limits of my heat tolerance. I'm prepping for a 75 mile bike event in August that will have a lot (for around here anyway) elevation gain so have been going out a couple times a week in the afternoon/evening to ride in prep. The humidity here usually gets tourists woed up before they get themselves in too much trouble heat-wise. Now if they could just learn to drive.

@twisterII what type of tourists.. the "slow down and enjoy the scenery ones", the "im scared to drive my rig the speed limit" ones or the "i have an out of state license plate so traffic laws dont apply" type. Oh and then we have the "wind/snow/weather is scary" type.

Lots of people on bikes lately here.  All the power to them for riding on the side of the highway. Too many cyclists intentionally hit by cars in Colorado.

@lostmaniac the slow down and enjoy the scenery type's don't bug me too much, it's the one who just cross a hill and decide that "This is so beautiful, I want a picture!" types. Coming down the highway at 75, crest a hill and have to try not to hit them! Surprisingly, few of them ever do get rear ended ...

Every year someone stops in the rockslide avalanche zone to take a picture of this really beautiful waterfall and gets taken out by something. Lots of funny tourists getting vehicles totaled, but not usually rear ended. Lots of accidents involve cows or bighorn sheep. Gotta love the "but i was going the speed limit" as if deer and cows can read highway signs.

I never realized how big a bison is until one was next to my jeep this afternoon. Kinda funny to see them wandering in del norte today walking down main st. Looks like someone had left a gate open on their field.

Well, it's the eve of the Fourth of July and while fireworks are mostly banned both in Alpine and the county there'll be some idiots going out and firing off their guns about midnight on both the third and fourth.  Poor Avalanche is so frightened by thunder and gunfire that I know I'll have him hiding under my chair.

So, on that note, I'm hoping you all have a good Fourth and no one loses any pets over the holiday.

@lostmaniac our animals that take out cars are the good old peccary and deer ...

South fork does this huge july 3rd thing because thats the date of the town incorporating. Skipped the rodeo and the catfish fry but we took spider and splinter into town to see the fireworks. Spider amazes me by what doesnt faze her. Normal things will send her into a panic atrack, like a walk in a new place but fireworks she watches the same way as the tv. Splinter was more concerned with all the people to bark at. Squirt and the boys got used to bombs going off when they were younger and i wonder ifbthem not reacting rubbed off on spider.

On a side note we got some really nasty glares when spider decided to howl along to the national anthem.

How was your 4th

Aw, this place has been way too quiet.  So I think I'll become a Rambler for a while and see if I can Nash my teeth a little.  Looks like our Ambassador in those Metropolitan areas may being enjoying some sun for a while, but the cold shoulder may get him to consider moving to Healey just for the warm weather.

Okay, if anyone gets that play on words, I'm sorry ... well, not really.  It's been hot ... not, it's been  HOT here, again, still ... we cooled off in to the mid 90's for a couple of days but we're back in the triple digits again and it's going to keep getting warmer till at least the middle of the week - this can stop NOW!!!

Stupid plants ... even with all the water I keep drowning my fig tree in, it's not getting any fruit with any decent size ... they're ripening at about nickel size. Ate one today, the flavour was good but it was a little leathery - needs more water?

Tomato and green pepper are flowering but I guess the bees have taken a vacation. All I'm getting are some flower and nothing sets ... argh!! Now would someone tell me where horned tomato bugs come from ... I've pulled off three and killed them but no one anywhere near close has a garden. Are they a moth or ???

I went to bed late last night, about midnight and the dogs got me up at about 3 and then again about 5 ... I've no idea what ti was they were getting excited about. *I* saw nothing ....

Hornworms are a very big moth. Not quite hand sized but like palm of hand sized moth sometimes.

So with figs I keep them basically sitting in a little saucer of water for the early part of the growing season. This seems to do decent to make sure they have good moisture when they are growing the figs out. End of June here we snip the ends of the growing branches off so they will start ripening rather than growing foliage. You may not need to do this where you are but we don't have a long enough season here for them to naturally ripen everything. When they are of proper size or near it then you taper water off so that the sugar can form and the fruit's flavor isn't diluted by excess moisture.

When I was riding my bike last week one of the thermometer boards I went by said 103. Standard air temperature only ticked around 96 that day but this board seems to give a pretty accurate read for if you are out in the sun in town. We've been downing water and electrolytes like crazy on rides. We've had a couple nice mornings at least where we've dropped into the low 70s, upper 60s, which hadn't been happening. i've let the dogs out at 3am before the last couple weeks and it's still been in the 80s which is just miserable.

I wont mention our heat wave because by most of the country standards its not that hot. Still in the low 40s in the am. Crazy mountain monsoon temp fluctuations.

I met the biggest most gorgeous agouti husky the other day when he escaped his yard and jumped my fence and walked in my house. Gotta love people that put phone numbers on thier dogs. Makes life easier.

I am fighting fungus gnats this year again. I almost think its the happy frog soil. My strawberries are doing nothing raspberries doing nothing. My lilac bush has no flowers. Consolidation prize is the war of the hummingbird feeder. One little orange one guards it and attacks the others. One made a nest in my wedding cake plant. I also found a 10 lined june bug on the same plant. It was crazy looking.

Tourist season is going strong

@twisterii I've been soaking my figs in the evening, I may add a morning soaking and see if that helps ("may" because I am definitely not a morning person!) Obviously I'm giving them enough water to keep the bush alive and the fruit hasn't been dropping - just not filling out. At the worst this is MUCH better than last year.

Horned bug - I think I'd have seen a moth that big but I haven't. They must be nocturnal? The good thing here is that after killing three I haven't seen any more (or evidence of any). The pepper is putting on branches and leaves again after having gotten stripped! But nothing is doing anything except budding out and then nothing!! Ramasfragit!!!!

@lostmaniac Heat? I'd freeze if it were 40 but I think I'd enjoy it for the morning at least. 4:AM and it's still 77/78 (keeps bouncing back and forth) but the breeze coming in the door feels cool (at least compared to 103 yesterday!) I really feel for the continent, it's way above their normal temps and with no air that's got to be bad; several hundred people dead from the heat - I presume because they don't how to handle it but that's still BAD!!
Generally I've been lucky ... our predictions are for 103-106 but we haven't broken 100 for a few days, thank the gods for small favours!

Tourist? What's a tourist? We normally slow down during the summer but this year we don't have enough tourists to cover the cost of keeping the store or 'restaurants' open (made up for by an active 'local' business.) I run a scanner most of the time and our EMS hasn't had a call to rescue a tourist yet this summer - GOOD! because with our heat 'rescue' all too often become 'recovery'; no tourists, no stupid tourists - this is good.

And I'm rambling and it's after 4:AM so I'm gonna get Avalanche back in and go back to bed!

Lately our rescues have been temp related but not heat related. Well maybe the heat has something to do with it. Lately its east texans (i lived in houston and is houston really even texas) they go out when its hot and don't understand our 50 degree temp fluctuations, and how cold it gets once it starts getting dark. But everyone here full-time is trying to figure out how to install an ac themselves (no ac repair people) or swapping unopenable windows for ones that open which poses a heating issue when it hits -30 in winter at night.

Really doesnt help that the great sand dunes made leisure magazine last winter. Lots of not actually lost elderly people this year who have family members that dont understand the lack of cell coverage and report people missing that are just camping in areas with no cell service.

I find it sad that people come here just to destroy what they come to see. But i also dont see why someone would think its appropriate to either feed a bear and rub its belly or chase it with a chainsaw. Or feeding bread to bucks from your car window. If you came to see wildlife and do that and then post it on the internet, cpw shoots the animal. We have lost 2 town bears to this in the last 3 months. I only got the rundown because cpw showed up at 715am today because some tourist from Alabama saw spider from a distance and called to report a wolf in my yard. Some days she is a wolfdog other days she is a badly bred husky but she is very far from being 100% wolf. Its all this talk of wolf reintroduction is causing husky and malumute owners to get visits from cpw. Funny thing is that the red wolves do sometimes move up this way but they are convinced those are coyotes and huskies are actually wolves. Thats Hollywood's fault for using huskies or low content wolf dogs to play wolves on tv. One of the staged alaska shows the "wolves" they heard were audio recordings and the "wolves" that ran through the camp were actually pure sibes borrowed from a sledding kennel.