Roadtrip 2025

 (Tried to update the blog a few days ago, but forgot that Livewriter will not talk to Blogger at present.  Tried to cut and paste the whole post, but that was a miserable failure.  Finally copied the text over but had to add all the photos again manually, and the formatting options are pathetic.  Might be time to end the blog if the hassles keep up?)

For the entire month of December, we were pretty much stuck in Fort Mohave, Az, making regular, constant trips to the vet to try and get control of all the issues suddenly ailing Ms Hailey.  She is now being fed only through a tube into her neck, and various other issues seemed to arise and disappear without rhyme or reason.
Most of her medications were obtained from the vet clinic, but some of them where only available by prescription at a pharmacy.  When picking up one, they asked for her date of birth (!) for their records! So … even though born at an unknown date in a barn, she was now ‘officially’ born on March 15, 2010.  I didn’t have to guess the time or produce a birth certificate.
Eventually, things seemed to settle down and at least be a bit more consistent, so we took a chance and moved out.  Our first stop was into the desert near Bouse, where elusive ex-blogger Wandering Willy was hanging out.

  








With regular feedings every couple of hours, there was not a lot of time for other activities.  But we did make at least a quick trip into Quartzsite for some propane parts that WW needed.  Even though not feeling very well, Hailey liked to get outside and ‘hunt’ for a while each day, weather permitting.

She requires very special and expensive food that can be liquefied and injected through her neck tube.  It is available only through vet clinics, by prescription.  I was not able to find a vet in Parker, so had to do a long day-trip into Lake Havasu one day to find food for her, and pick up a few other essentials.
We had to head back up to Ft Mohave in the middle of the month for another vet consultation. She doesn’t play well with strangers, so she stayed in the truck while I talked to the vet, describing all her symptoms, and showing photos and videos.  In the morning were back again and this time they took samples to be sent off and cultured to try for some definitive answers and treatments.
After that we risked a trip down to southern California, just outside San Diego.  Friends of mine who I used to work with were on tour with their band, and I was able to hook up with them for one of their shows in the area.
http://thewardensmusic.com/

I think they are on their third or fourth album now.  Check them out on Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChXVdhGP3A9aZQ49zAYCjPQ

Managed to get up into the hills a bit on the Sunrise Highway (S1), with a distant view out over the Blair Valley near Borrego Springs and the Marshall South homesite.



 
 Hailey catching some rays in a parking lot after a partial bath.

 Once the concert was over we dumped in both our spare cans of fuel in an attempt to avoid another California fuel-up and get back to better deals in Arizona.  On the way back, the big GM turned over 400,000 km (almost 250,000 miles).  So I guess that officially ends the ‘break-in’ period, and we can start using the truck for real now!

 

You can just make out the sea level mark on this tank on the way past El Centro.  Too bad the photo is not level like the sea!
 


 We crossed the line into the Yuma area and set up on Az State Trust land – with a $15 annual permit, good for 14 days at a time.  Finally got the results back from Hailey’s tests and ran down to the pharmacy to pick up one medication, and had another had to be shipped in from Omaha!  She’s been on those for a few days, but it’s too soon to tell if they are going to work or not.  All I know is that she turned up her nose at fresh food and milk again this morning as she has done for about 6 weeks now.
I did manage to sneak away between feedings and make it up to Telegraph Pass on the east side of Yuma.    I did it a couple of times last year, and it’s a steep one all right.

 Camp is somewhere out there in the background.

 Hailey started out this trip with a bag of food, a few cans, and some treats.  This is just a partial collection of where we are at now.  At least she doesn’t need dishes – for now .

  

 We’ll be visiting some relatives and some friends for a bit here in Yuma, and hopefully get some work done on the rig, so no idea where or when we’ll be on the road next.