Rudy, aka Rudebaker, aka El Vampiro, is an energetic dog who needs his exercise.  Toward that end, we have acquired several devices.  One is the green plastic rod (Woof Cycle Bike Trotter) seen above which attaches at one end to my bicycle and the other end to Rudy’s collar.  When the rod isn’t being used to tether Rudy, it flips up out of the way.  I only need to check on him once in a while to make sure that I’m not dragging him in the dust.

When he looks like he needs a break, I put him in the plastic bin on the front of my bike and he’s quite content to ride along taking in the sights and smells:


Not a whole lot going on here.  Not that we’re complaining.  We’re still content to just be out of the frigid cold in Chelan where we hear it’s in the single digits.  Sixties and seventies here and mostly sunny although this morning was cloudy.  

A typical day for me includes a long morning walk with Rudy out through the desert and an afternoon ride on my bicycle.   Mary cleans house and reads and takes a shorter walk to the garbage dumpster.  Two days ago I rode a 25-miler into Yuma where I joined Mary at the laundromat.  The route took me through the irrigated fields along the Colorado River where they grow a s—load of lettuce – thousands of acres.  Peaceful country roads. They were picking and I stopped to watch:

The lettuce in the foreground is the waste!

There are many places in the middle of nowhere where small groves of orange trees are seemingly abandoned.  I suspect they are the remnants of former large groves.   Farmhouses often have several citrus trees.  The point is, no one bothers to pick the fruit!  The oranges eventually drop and rot.  I guess they don’t deem it worth the trouble.  Out of nothing more than compassion, I stopped and filled my saddlebags.  Such plenty.

In a few days we’ll mosey north to Quartzsite where the annual RV jamboree is held.  If nothing else, it’s fun to see the latest RV technology and extravagances.