DonTom

[DonTom]

That sign is right before the entry road crosses the creek and refers to a non-poisonous snake that can only be found in a few places. In 6 months there I never saw one.

The "endangered" snake there is the ugly Narrow-Headed Garter Snake. NOT the beautiful San Francisco Garter Snake shown on their signs.

-Don- Auburn, CA

 

[Old_Crow]

The "endangered" snake there is the ugly Narrow-Headed Garter Snake. NOT the beautiful San Francisco Garter Snake shown on their signs.

-Don- Auburn, CA

That's actually a different sign than the one that was there in '20. The one that was there was badly weathered so I can understand the replacement.

 

[DonTom]

That's actually a different sign than the one that was there in '20. The one that was there was badly weathered so I can understand the replacement.

Yes, a smaller sign, they had those when I was there last, too. Perhaps since then, they got the new signs from San Mateo County, where they have the SF Garter snake.

Maybe I can see for myself, as I will probably be driving by there during this trip.

-Don- Turlock, CA

 

[DonTom]

That sign is right before the entry road crosses the creek and refers to a non-poisonous snake that can only be found in a few places. In 6 months there I never saw one.
Cave Springs was one of the campgrounds I managed in 2020 when the company sent us to Sedona for the (covid) season. That is a nice campground, but the dude I had managing it for me was a nightmare. He didn't get a second season, and I'm one who prefers the same people come back every year if I can make it happen.
Here's a pic of an Arizona Black Tail rattlesnake that I had to remove from a swimming area at Crescent Moon Ranch.
View attachment 1940539View attachment 1940540

What did you do with that Blacktail?

BTW, I have discovered the best way to ID rattlesnake species is by the tail just above the rattle. For a good example, the Mojave & Western Diamondback look the same to most people until the tail is checked. And their range overlaps in many places, but the venom is VERY different and requires a different antivenom. The Mojave often has clearer diamonds on its back than the Diamondback, so we cannot use that! But the Mojave is mostly white above the rattle. The DB is 50-50, black and white bands of the same size. On the Mojave RS, the white bands are usually three times the width (or more, and could even be missing any black) of its black bands. But always plenty of white. Much the opposite of your blacktail.

-Don- Turlock, CA

 

[Old_Crow]

What did you do with that Blacktail?
.

Moved him away from the public part of the park. Crescent Moon Ranch used to be an operating cattle ranch so there's a lot of property that's off limits to the public.
He was, however, laying right in the middle of the path to the swimming hole on Oak Creek and had to go.

 

[DonTom]

I am going to stay here for a few nights:

-Don- Tehachapi, CA

 

[DonTom]

I am set up to stay here at the Mtn View RV Park for five nights. I will ride up to the RV Camp here in Tehachapi a bit later and see if I can stay there for a few nights after here.

-Don- Tehachapi, CA

 

[DonTom]

I think this forum needs a section for meetings and meals with other forum memers. I know some other forums that have a "meets & eats" section.

Anyway, below is Brian (bigbAZ) on the left, his wife Paige in the center, and me, Don (DonTom), on the right, from lunch today at the Karichimaka Mexican Restaurant, which is 12 miles south of here (Gilbert Ray Camp in Tucson, AZ) :

 

[Jackiemac]

That would be the Rallies section Don. You can see several mini rallies in there.

Hope you had a great time.

 

[ziplock]

Merry Christmas @DonTom

Hubby and I have been missing in action, but wanted to get on here and say HI to you.

The weather out there in California is scary, but I guess it is not bad where your house is? How is the Reno house? I thought you might be getting some snow there for Christmas?

I saw you are in Brisbee. Not sure what weather you are getting there.

I need to catch up with the forum.

I made Christmas dinner for my tiny family today.

They went home. Hubby and I cleaned up, and now we are on the forum for the first time in months.

Waving at @Jackiemac also.

 

[DonTom]

Merry Christmas @DonTom

Hubby and I have been missing in action, but wanted to get on here and say HI to you.

The weather out there in California is scary, but I guess it is not bad where your house is? How is the Reno house? I thought you might be getting some snow there for Christmas?

I saw you are in Brisbee. Not sure what weather you are getting there.

I need to catch up with the forum.

I made Christmas dinner for my tiny family today.

They went home. Hubby and I cleaned up, and now we are on the forum for the first time in months.

Waving at @Jackiemac also.

Welcome back! Merry Christmas!

Here it was a 75°F Christmas, sunny, clear sky. Right in the middle between Bisbee and Douglas, AZ, at the Twin Buttes RV Park.

-Don- Douglas, AZ

 

[DonTom]

The weather out there in California is scary, but I guess it is not bad where your house is? How is the Reno house? I thought you might be getting some snow there for Christmas.

When I checked my Reno house cameras this morning all was fine there just wet.

When I went to check Auburn, I was on the PowerWall, house was running on battery because of a power outage but I could not check the cameras becase the web went down for Auburn. So it sounds like Auburn was hit hard.

I will check again right now, so hold on, don't go away . . .

Web still down at the far end, IOW, the web problem is not at my house. I can tell because of my thermostats that work a differnt way (Greenhouse is Reno, TreeHouse is Auburn):

So I do not know for sure is my Auburn house is still standing or not. But obviosly, the area has been hit hard. Let me check to see if it now has AC power (I need to check my Tesla PowerWall APP--hold on again . . .as I check . . . ).

House has NO AC power from the grid. But my battery is at 95% SOC, solar charged it up 2.1KWH today, which was only 30% of the power. 70% came from the grid. It looks like the power grid has been going off and on today, but is off right now. The house is drawing 300 watts right now. 95% of 13.5 KWH (powerwall at 100%)=12.825 KWH. 12,825WH divided by 300 watts=42.75 hours before I lose all power at my Auburn house, if the AC power does not come back on.

Again, the web problem is at a different location than at my Auburn house. More evicence Auburn was hit hard, no internet, no AC power. And no way can I veiw it from here until the web comes back.

-Don- Douglas, AZ

 

[DonTom]

Time to reactivate my favorite thread!

I usually do my RV travel with very loose plans, if any at all.

Anyway, as I got near Austin, NV, I decided to take Hwy 376 south. Very scenic, down the "Big Smokey Valley". Extra scenic today because all of the mountains on each side are snow capped.

I am now at Kingston Campground. 7'100' elevation and it is snowing here now but wasn't snowing when I got here. So I got all set up in time, motorcycle off and covered, ready to ride for tomorrow.

There is a public john here, and a picnic table, nothing else. I am the only one here. To get here, I had to take an unpaved road for a few miles which would be better suited for my Y2K RV. Also hit some low bushes that my Y2K would not hit (not as tall as this Class A). I probably got few new small scratches

No cell service here, no trace, it is deep in a canyon and I am surprised I was able to even get my Starlink to work. High cliff to the north. Having mine 100% portable helps me get a good spot. I have the HFT power station as well as the Startlink on the picnic table. I have a towel over each to help keep the stuff dry in this snow.

Tomorrow should be much better weather and I will probably be on my motorcycle and take a ride.

-Don- Kingston Campground, NV

 

[Chef Duane]

¡Ten cuidado, jefe! Prime skinwalker, chupacabra, and Bigfoot country.

 

[DonTom]

¡Ten cuidado, jefe! Prime skinwalker, chupacabra, and Bigfoot country.

I am quite used to being alone these days at various places, even with all that scary stuff around!

Probably the animals to fear the most while camping are the bears. But according to range maps, there are none in this area, But it looks like a perfect place for them here. Very nice boonie area.

I will post some photo later.

-Don- Kingston Camp, NV