Monday October 2nd 2017

The day started with the news about the tragic shooting in Las Vegas. The heavy TV news coverage drew me in and delayed the active part of my day. It doesn’t take long to learn the basic known facts from the TV coverage, but the anchors and commentators continue to talk. The more they talk the more I’m entertained and appalled at the contradictions and mistakes that come out of their mouths. I think a two to five minute interrupt at the top or bottom of the hour to provide an update is all they really need. That would give them more time to think and get their facts straight.

Lake Pleasant

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I’ve been to Las Vegas many times over the last twenty years and have even been considering spending a couple of months there this winter. Every time I have been there I’ve considered the tempting target it would make for terrorists. It hasn’t deterred me in the past and won’t going forward. You can be in the wrong place at the wrong time anywhere. Being aware of your surroundings and the location of the exits is good, but it wouldn’t have made much difference in this situation.

After the TV coverage slowed down I got outside and finished up my unpacking from yesterday. Specifically, I took my bicycle off the rack and locked it to the ladder on the back of the RV. The picnic table is my normal choice for locking the bicycle, but the one on this site is not conveniently located. I also took the bike rack off the car and stowed it under the motorhome. At that point the car was ready to travel, but I didn’t have anywhere in mind to go.

A couple of ordinary saguaro

Old cactus with lots of branches

Later in the day I took a walk around the campgrounds here at Lake Pleasant Regional Park. There are not many people here this week. I suspect it will fill up toward the weekend. The lake level is low. This is normal for this time of year. It is at its highest level in the late spring. There is still enough water that many people were enjoying the lake in boats and jet skis. The lake and the saguaro cactus are the two most prominent features that I saw on my walk.