Forest Fires

     Guess where we are.  We are relaxing and doing very little today.  It feels good.  The morning began rather suddenly.  We are parked facing toward the southwest (more on that later).  Because of the comfortable air, I opened the window by the head of the bed on my side. Knowledge of our floor plan would tell you that that window faces northeast.  When the sun came up, it had a clear shot at both of our faces.  It was bright!  That curtain is now closed.  A couple of hours later we were awakened for the second time by the single engine, propeller-driven "tugs" that were towing a flotilla of sailplanes to a release altitude from which they can continue their flights.  On some of the flights they carry oxygen as they can ride those mountain thermals to above 30 thousand feet.
     After taking care of the dog I drove up to the Community Center to buy a newspaper.  Yeah, we still do that.  There wasn't a cloud in the sky, but there was a thin, smoky haze between me and the many mountain landmarks.  They were still very visible, but the so-called "Colorado Sky" that is so crisp, sharp and blue was not there.  There is a large and dangerous wild fire about fifty miles north of us.  It is west of Fort Collins.  It has burned 73 square miles and caused at least one fatality.  Even fifty miles south the smoke is making its presence known.  Durelle, of course, can smell it.
    More about being parked facing southwest...  This campground has an abundance of Ponderosa Pines.  In order to insure satellite reception, I turned on the in-motion, King Dome satellite dish on the front of the roof so that I could monitor the signal strength as I maneuvered.  Guess what happened as I pulled further and further into the assigned spot?  The signal strength dropped from 72 to zero.  That would not do.  After all, the US Open starts today.  I unhooked the Jeep, drove the bus around until I could enter my site from the "wrong" direction.  Fellow motorhomers know where this story is headed.  All RV sites are set up with the utilities (water, sewer, and electric power) on the driver's side.  This meant that I had to use all available length as well as find a way to thread those lines under the bus.  It was an unpleasant chore after a fairly intense day of mountain driving.  All's well that ends well.  A good martini makes a pretty fair muscle relaxer.