[ Loiosh, an orange tabby wearing a green harness, walks across a rough dirt parking lot. Behind him are tall radio antennae & a small green maintenance building. ]
After we got down from the lookout tower (or at least the paved area around it) I headed back to the van but the boys wanted to explore more. I really didn’t think they’d be interested in the big antennae — even I can hear/feel the hum — but they wanted to walk over there & check things out, so we did.
… y’all, these things are BIG.
[ The same area, seen from a higher vantage point — some of the antennae are about as high as the point of view, but a couple tower far higher into the blue sky. ]
Tom pretty much skulked around the bases, in true Down Cat fashion, but Loiosh wanted to get higher.
[ Loiosh peeks around the side of the base of one of the towers. In front of him are the bolts connecting a metal column to the concrete base — the bolts are three inches across, at least, held in place with nuts the size of my fist. ]
Apparently there’s a lot of cool smells involved? Also a rock.
[ He’s standing on the concrete base, in the sun. The wind is ruffling up his fur. He’s looking down at a chunk of what’s probably some kind of quartz with a lot of yellow-gold inclusions. ]
The wind really was whipping, though, & that’s about when they decided to head back to the van. I was not reluctant — the sun was getting low, & I still had to drive down that entire terrible road.
It wasn’t fun. I kept the van in first gear & still had to use the brakes a lot. I stopped twice to give them a chance to cool down — taking a moment at the first stop to google ‘how long brakes cool down’ — but apparently it only takes five minutes or so! So that’s nice.
The second place I stopped was past the worst part of the road, a nice little cul-de-sac off to the side that would make a really lovely camping spot. I’m hoping I can get back there sometime in the spring with Tyrava, spend a couple days there with the boys.
Loiosh, making sure the brakes are doing okay. They didn’t smell like burning to me, but I’ve only got the crappy standard-issue human nose.
[ My van, a big grey beast, seen from the front, both front doors open. Loiosh’s back half is just visible behind the front right tire. ]
We spent probably twenty minutes there, & I would happily have hung out for longer, but the sun set just about then & it was time to go.
[ Loiosh is standing on ground thickly covered in pine needles at the base of a ponderosa, looking glumly over his shoulder at the van. ]
… not before Loiosh found treasure, though.
[ He’s sniffing at a couple of leg bones, mostly bare but still connected at the knee. They’re big — cow? elk? ]
“You had BEST not be licking that!” I told him. Fortunately he wasn’t.
[ He’s got his nose right up to the end of one of the bones & looks fascinated but his tongue is in his mouth where it belongs. ]
… at least not when I was looking.
