It's not all Rainbows and Unicorns

In which Moominmama deals with setbacks, scares and repairs ...

There won't be as many photos in today's post because Moominmama had to put her efforts into keeping the Moominhouse operational. I intended to spend a few days at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area outside Las Vegas hiking, but instead, I'm in the city looking for parts, making calls and troubleshooting.

It seems like a close call happens at least once per travel season. This time it wasn't a tornado, but the Moominhouse got sideswiped by an 18-wheeler that moved into her lane before she was out of it! Imagine my surprise!

I thought it was just a close call at the time and only discovered we'd bumped when I arrived at my next stop. There, I discovered a window scraped and cracked in one corner. (See photo: fairly minor.) Later, I would find a couple other problems on the same side of the trailer: a fan that helped cool the fridge stopped working, and a storage compartment hinge has cracked. The last two may be unrelated, but the vent cover for the fridge also was scraped, and that may have shaken loose a connection for the fan.

I consider myself very lucky. But the damage required phone calls and texts to an RV dealer in Canada that works on my brand of trailer. Fortunately, I had a routine appointment set for later this summer. Now they are ordering multiple parts on my behalf, and hopefully everything hangs together 'til I get there! 

Unrelated, except that when-it-rains-it-pours, my sewer hose tore open, fortunately after I'd emptied the black tank, not before! And on top of that, a couple hours later, a newly filled propane tank started leaking when I reconnected it. Something had broken in the connector. Tank got shut down, but that's not a long-term solution when I need it to cool the fridge, cook my meals or heat the trailer.

Instead of hiking, I have been driving around Las Vegas getting parts. I've got two new "pigtails" installed -- the hoses that run from the propane regulator to each of the two tanks. I've got a new sewer hose. And I've got clear tape over the broken window.

One other troublesome event, more mental than physical: last week in the middle of the Mohave National Preserve, five large white SUVs tore into our remote campground going way too fast. They had license plates that read "CA exempt" and no other labels. The "CA exempt" is for government vehicles, not just California but also federal. Which has me wondering, were they looking for someone at the campground? 

They roared through and roared back out, so whatever (or whoever) they were looking for, they left empty handed. One possibility is that they were Homeland Security looking for an immigrant. What else did they think they would find in a family campground?

Whatever the reason, I have a new paranoia now. I meet many foreign visitors in our national parks and preserves (had a lovely chat with two Swedes recently), and I hope they stay safe. As much as the stock market and tariffs have dominated headlines, it is the presence of these secret police who feel free to grab legal or illegal alike that worries me more than the status of my retirement funds!

But it's not all been bad. I'm pleased the propane leak was easy to fix. I found a public pool where I can both swim laps and shower for $1. While looking for a new wristwatch battery, I stumbled on a German bakery and got myself a wonderful loaf of sourdough rye with sunflower seeds.

And I did get to spend a day hiking in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, where I snapped the picture at the top and a few others as well.

The canyons here trap water coming off the Spring Mountains, so there's more greenery than I've seen in a while. This flowering jojoba bush really charmed me!

I am still in the Mohave desert, but in an area full of sandstone in colors of dark red, pink and tan. Some of the features remind me of Utah's red sandstone. I still love how the sandstone erodes. But each park is unique in its own way.

I did a challenging hike into Icebox canyon, which requires scrambling up a gully full of boulders. The reward is getting out of the hot sun into the shade of these stones! 

I found petroglyphs and flowering Western Redbud with its fuscia-colored blooms. And there are still a few Joshua trees near the campground.

Next up, Death Valley where highs will be in the low to mid 90s for the next few days, but dropping to the 80s before I leave. I'm at the tail end of the tourist season for this area as of mid-April. But after Death Valley, I head to higher elevations and presumably, cooler temperatures.

My final desert this spring will be the Great Basin Desert, including some stops in Utah to enjoy more of its fabulous sandstone. Here's a water-sculpted basin in Red Rock, not only demonstrating how it eroded to trap life-giving water but revealing the lovely natural sculpture created in the stone.