Monday January 8th 2018

I woke up this morning to the sound of pattering on the roof. After a record 116 days without rain in Las Vegas, the tide turned. It was raining. A gentle light rain fell intermittently throughout the day. With no wind to move the water the rain fell straight down. Any areas protected by an overhang were not impacted.

It was enough rain to turn the local roads into slip and slides. The local news was reporting fender benders all over town. Not only do people forget how to drive in rain, but the long accumulation of oil, tar and rubber buildup on the roads gets activated by the rain. Concern about this was a contributing factor to my staying home all day. I didn’t have any place I had to be and the rain had a depressing impact far greater than a cloudy day. My last full-on rainy day was last June in Butte Montana.

After raining off and on for a few hours the rain still hadn’t spread under my car.

Tonight and tomorrow the rain is forecast to increase in intensity. There is a winter storm warning out. More than twelve inches of snow is expected at altitudes above seven thousand feet. Las Vegas is only around two thousand feet so it isn’t going to snow here. The last significant snow in Las Vegas was in December of 2008. Today’s high temperature and tomorrows forecast is in the mid fifties. By late tomorrow the wet weather is expected to move on to the east.

Most of my day was spent with the TV and the Internet. I continued to research my travel plans for the year. I’m trying to find better places to stay. This year I usually took the easy way out and found a commercial campground at the last minute. To stay in the more interesting and secluded public parks I need to plan and act well ahead of time. I prefer being in nature to being in a dense packed RV parks.

I didn’t even get a walk around the RV park into today’s activities. The rain picked up during both of my attempts. I gave a little thought to getting the rain gear out, but it was only a little thought.