High overcast this morning when we woke up. The plan today was to fix a couple of maintenance issues in the trailer.
After breakfast I did a little work on the TV / Audio system. The electric lift that raises the TV from behind the fire kept stalling on the way up, the system needed a good clean and then some lubrication. Job 1 done. Next was repairing a video cable that had got damaged when the lifting system pinched it. Last job was to work on the kitchen sink taps, there was a build up of mineral deposits inside the housing which stopped the tap body from rotating (tap = faucet).
After lunch we headed south to take a trip along the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway. Shortly after leaving we ran through a heavy rain / sleet shower, why didn’t we go on the trip this morning? We were originally going to do the route from south to north, i.e. the scenic part on the way home, but having got clear of the squall we decided to reverse the route. This was a good move.
The route lived up to its name, it was scenic. Initially it was pine woods, but then opened up into meadows and farmland. The first stop was at the Upper Mesa Falls, the weather was holding it was dry and warm(ish). I’ll let the pictures tell the story.
Perched on top of the rock above was a bird enjoying a snack, any idea what the bird is?
Sorry about the rain drops above!
The orange patches above were caused by a volcanic explosion may thousands of years ago, the magma was expelled at such a speed it took on the consistency of dust, when it landed on the rock face it solidified.
We then drove a couple of miles down the road to the Lower Mesa Falls
This time we were high above the falls rather than level with them. As we walked back to the truck the heavens opened up again, another short sharp shower. We continued to the end of the route, passing acres of potato fields. At the end of the route was the town of Ashton where we stopped for a coffee before heading back up to the campground. Once on the main road, the rain started again. This time it was heavy enough to force a reduction in speed, and lasted most of the way home. Had we done the route as we had originally intended we would either have seen nothing or got soaked to the skin (and probably have seen very little due to the poor visibility).
Back at the campground the rain had eased, and the camp ground had filled up with a lot more trailers. Unfortunately we have lost our mountain view from the dining table as we now have neighbours. This is the memorial day weekend in the States which seems to be the unofficial start of summer and the camping season.