February 15-28, 2017 Life in the desert.

Another post .... I'm way behind (right, I'm doing a post on late Feb. on June 4!) so there won't be a lot of commentary on the photos ... sorry!

This is a public rifle range a few miles outside of Overton, NV.  Nothing fancy, just a place to shoot.  We took the four-wheelers and my "modern" inline muzzle loading rifle out for some fun and testing.

The target is out there about 100 yards.

I'm shooting some different loads (trying different bullet/sabot combinations and two kinds of propellant) to check for point of impact of the different combinations and accuracy.  I used to look through binoculars or a spotting scope but now I take a photo after every shot and keep a notebook for what combinations were used for that shot.  It works much better for me.  It helps to have a good telephoto lens (I do).  This one is about 50X.  That's three, three-shot "groups."  

Meanwhile Scott was busy gathering up stuff for his own projects.

This is a "robot" he put together out of range trash.  Kind of makes you think people should be more diligent about picking up after themselves.

We put quite a few miles on 4-wheelers.  I believe this (and the next two photos) was a run on up the canyon we were in while shooting.

This is on Morman Mesa outside of Overton.

Our favorite hot spring.

Scott entertaining himself by climbing on the tailgate of the trailer.

We just got this bike trailer.  I had assembled it and I'm now putting the hitch on my bike.

Scott is playing in the box!

Vehicles, vehicles, vehicles!  I spent most of my life working on cars professionally and I hate working on our own.  But sometimes it can't be avoided.  This is the transmission tag on our camper van.  The vacuum modulator was leaking and having the transmission tag information makes it much easier to get the right part for it.

Yuch!  The big motor home died upon reaching our camping area.  I thought it was the fuel pump so we had a friend tow it on over to our camp site.  Turned out it wasn't the fuel pump but a faulty gas gauge that was causing problems. (It was out of gas!)

We took the camper van up to a new area to scout out a new camping spot.  We needed to see if the road was good enough to get back there with our trailer hauling the 4-wheelers. (It was!)

This is another of our favorite spots.  It's called "Redstone" and while it was named after the sandstone rock formations there are a lot of other types of rocks there too.

Scott loves climbing around on the rocks and we're early enough in the season that the snakes are still hibernating.

It's a beautiful and fun place to play in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

Lake mead shoreline.  The water is up a few feet from last year.

More four-wheeling with a friend.

Everyone has had a lot of problems with mice this year.  We had one that actually chewed through the lid on the peanut butter jar.  We used the peanut butter for bait and caught him the next night.

Scott in church during the worship service.

This is something we don't get to see in Montana in February!  Kind of hard to plant a garden when the snow's four-feet deep.

Gotta love things you find on the internet!  An ad on how to block ads!

One of the things we like most in this area are the spectacular sunsets and sunrises!

February 8-14, 2017 We're out of here!

Snow, snow and more snow ...  This was one of the snowiest winters on record for our county.  It was probably the most snow we've had in the 14 or so years we've been here.

The view east from our porch.

The view looking south toward the garden area.

The snow level is above the trampoline (which we shovel off since Scott likes to play on it even in winter).

Raking snow off the roof of our wood shed.  I'm wearing snowshoes.

Our little gray car parked at the end of the driveway.  The drive has been shoveled several times already.

The cabin.

Our road after the last storm before we left.  We'd been snowed in about four days when this photo was taken.  The snow is about 12 to 18 inches deep in the center and it's a warm, wet snow.  Pretty much 4X4 with tire chains only at this point.

We shoveled out the car to get it out of the way when we get plowed out.

He's driving a skid-steer (Bobcat) with a blade on the front.  He has to take a sweeping motion (like using a scythe) and lift the blade to push the snow up and away over the edges.  The problem with this much snow is that there's nowhere a regular plow can push it to get it off the roadway.  The road keeps getting narrower and narrower until they can't push it out of the road anymore.

Our daughter and son left their cars down the hill west of us.  The car is the mound in the photo.  Her Land Cruiser is buried up to the hood.

Our newly cleared road.

We almost beat the the guy who plowed the road out!  We had been packed up and ready to go for days prior to this.

The highway had been cleared pretty well.  Snow packed in places but overall good driving.

Walmart parking lot in Kalispell.

The old Court House in Kalispell.

One reason we were so late was because we stayed for the birth of our grandson.  This was actually before the photos above. 

Scott holding his newest baby brother.

The motel has good rates and a pool and hot tub which makes it our favorite in Kalispell.

Scott had the pool to himself (okay, he shared it with Susan and me).

The hot tub was a little cooler that normal so Scott played in it awhile.

Susan and the grandkids.

Scott's little brother playing with the face mask and snorkel.  He hasn't quite gotten the hang of the snorkel yet.

Scott holding his newest baby brother.

Scott watching his tablet (probably a you-tube video) prior to going to bed.

Sleep time ... finally!

Breakfast in the lobby.  normally I go then Susan goes then Scott wakes up and we take him.  We're heading south today so we got Scott up with us.

Sunrise over Flathead Lake.

The Idaho border.

We were part way through Idaho when it got dark and we noticed the trailer light weren't working.  We pulled off at an exit and I tried fixing them. We ended up staying at a motel in the next town for the night.

Day two ... entering Utah!

Getting close to our destination.  Notice the lack of snow!

Palm trees!  That's what we've been looking for!

A stop at Walmart in Mesquite for a bicycle for Scott.

And we pull into Overton in the late evening.

We normally use the camping area at the Overton Wildlife Refuge as a staging area when we arrive and when we leave.  It's free (8 day limit) and close to town so if we need parts or supplies it's easy to get them.

Next stop was the storage lot where we keep our motor home.  We pick it up and drive the half-mile or so to our camp site at the Refuge.  There we can clean it up and get it ready for use.  We have to put things in plastic storage bins to get it ready to store in the spring then we have to take everything out and put it in it's proper place when getting ready to use it in the winter.  I takes a couple of hours.  We usually store the kayaks inside it during the winter.

All set up and taking a break in the shade.

Scott taking his bike for a spin.

Bad hair day?!

Lego day at the library.  One of Scott's favorite events.

The finished products are put on display in a glass fronted cabinet until the next week when they are replaced with the newest creations.

Playing at the park.

Bed time in the motor home.  Scott calls it his "sand camper."  Our place up north is the "snow house."

Biscuits and gravy!

The local hardware store had rabbits for sale.  At $29.99 we didn't buy any!

Sunsets are always beautiful around Lake Mead!