a land of dreams-- big, little and sometimes broken

by Rain Trueax

I wanted to write about the quail, with what I've observed and learned; but I want to do it when I have time to do the subject justice. We are getting our Tucson house ready to leave and packing the trailer for the long trek back north. I always hate leaving here but I also love Oregon. I wish the places I loved were closer together, but I have so many of them. 

To go north, our 26' travel trailer will mostly stick to freeways as the shortest route is through California. We don't have time for recreation with the four cats not liking their limited range. They can't go out, although i have had cats where I could use a leash-- not these four though. We do keep our driving days relatively short for their sake and ours with finding nice little RV parks each afternoon-- and hoping they'll be quiet ones.

I always hate leaving Arizona. This year it's  especially hard when I hope the babies do well with no one supplementing their diet, but haying season is almost here, sheep have to be shorn-- if the shearer ever gets the time for a small flock. So northward we must head and leaving this house well-secured, fortunately with neighbors who look out for it when we're not here.

In putting off the quail until I am back in Oregon, I happened across some photos from 2008, when we had a wonderful trip through Montana, Yellowstone, and Idaho. Choosing only a few is tough. It's a big country with a lot of variety in scenery. Loving the American West, which has been inspiration for some of my books, I can't say I have just one place that is better than the rest. Life for me would be simpler if I had one such place,

On these photos, I am not labeling where these are. They are not in any particular order. They represent to me so much of what I love about the Rockies and the American West. You can find places all across the West that look liked them. It's big country.