New Bohemians | The Life Adventures and Creative Works of Bob and Claire Rogers

Lucky’s Blog (A true tale of one panda’s adventures in serial form)

Lucky Learns to Ride a Bicycle
Hi again. I’m Lucky and this is my third blog since Bob and Claire Rogers rescued me from certain death on a remote road in Arizona. We’ve been traveling in their motorhome, Turtle in Colorado. They have hinted that I will be going with them to China to ride their tandem bicycle, Zippy. First they say I need to learn a little about riding a bicycle. We’ve been practicing. They breathe hard a lot, and go scary fast sometimes. They helped me make this video to show you. Do you think this looks like fun?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSXQJK57tus

Lucky’s Blog (A True Tale of One Panda’s Adventures, In Serial Form)

Bob Says Writer's Block is Normal

Hi big people, and maybe some little ones. This is Lucky again. Did you see my first blog? Bob and Claire rescued me from the middle of a remote highway. I don’t remember how I got there. I hope my memory comes back. Bob took a fake picture of me in the road and was caught by the flashing lights guys. Claire laughed herself sick. I think Bob is good at making a fool of himself.

Bob and Claire told me my life with them would be adventurous. The next day they began to show me how to ride a bicycle. Something about China and bicycles seems to go get them all excited, and it looks like I might be a part of what they have planned.

I wish she'd look where she's going!

Riding in Bob's Olympic Peninsula Bicyclists Jersey

Yikes, Too Fast!

We went to a high place called Lizard Head. It was cold. It was even colder coming back down in Claire’s pocket. I’m not too sure about this bicycling stuff. I heard Claire say it would be a lot more of a high place in China and even colder.

Me at Lizard Pass

Brrrrrr

I think they want us to do a lot more of this high and cold places as practice for China. At least they promised some other fun stuff in between.

Last night it got so cold in the motorhome that the skylight was all frosty and it was cold inside. I wish they would invite me into their bed on cold nights. But there are already three other pandas there, and they have seniority. Maybe later.

Frosty Morning

When I landed on my head in the road I think it made me all funny. Now I think all the time. I didn’t used to think. And I listen to Bob and Claire and wonder how humans think, and what makes them do the things they do. I get hints that Bob and Claire might not be like lots of humans. Like the three pandas they talk to and sleep with, and all that hard breathing and sore muscles they get from those bicycles. They laugh a lot too, and they just snuggle closer when it gets cold. I think they have some stories to tell me. But for now I think we’re just supposed to have fun, and get ready for China.

Last night I heard them whispering about a China place. I thought they said, “Shangri-La.” But I can’t be sure. It might have been my imagination.

Lucky’s Blog (A True Story Told In Serial Form – Stay Tuned)

Lucky on Turtle's dashboard

My name is Lucky. At least that is what my new human caretakers call me. Bob says I need to have my very own blog. I don’t know what a blog is, but I have one, and this is it. He says I should just live my new life as it unfolds, and tell all of you about it. He says my life with he and Claire will be adventurous. I’m not sure what that means. Bob will take pictures of me, and Claire seems to be pretty set on keeping me clean.

I think I know why they named me Lucky. I woke up in the middle of a very busy, highway on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. There were big trucks and motorhomes and fast cars flying inches on either side of me. I knew I was going to be squished flat at any moment, but I couldn’t get away. You see I am a stuffed animal, and we can’t move very far without the help of a human, usually little ones. It must have been a little human that dropped me on the road, but I don’t remember.

Anyway, Claire saw me there as she and Bob sped past in Turtle, that’s their motorhome’s name, and she announced that a bear rescue was required. Bob and Turtle reponded with a fast U-Turn and the next thing I knew, I was looking out Turtle’s windshield and feeling safe.

Where they found me

Last night we parked among the big trucks in a truckstop. Since there wasn’t time for Bob to get a picture as he was scooping me up off the road, he wanted to do a sort of fake picture and he took me out to the highway while Claire watched from Turtle.

Just as he finished and was standing in the middle of the road with me in one hand and a camera in the other, a rescue vehicle appeared with lots of flashing lights. “Are you alright, sir?” said the man with a serious look.

“You’re not going to believe this,” said Bob. “But, I was just taking a picture of my bear on the center line.”

“I see,” said the man, who now had a funny little smile on his face. “You’d better be careful, there are a lot of crazy people out here.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you,” said Bob as he scurried off to Turtle.

Claire Being Supportive

This is what Claire looked like when we got back. It took her a long time to recover.

After that excitement, Claire decided I needed a bath to clean all the red dust from lying on the road twice in one day. I didn’t like the bath, but since she’d saved me, I didn’t protest.

The Bath

This picture is me getting my bath.

After my bath, I learned from Claire, who could tell from the tag on my butt, that I was from China. Then Claire and Bob looked at each other and both said at the same time, “We’re going to China!” I don’t know exactly what that means, but I think it might mean that adventure thing Bob mentioned.

I’ll tell you more when I know more.

Oh, Bob says to tell your friends about my blog. There might even be videos later, whatever that is. He says I will have such an interesting life that my blog should go viral. I don’t know if that sounds good or not…

zai jian, (that means good-bye in Chinese)

Lucky

The Wave, and Beyond

It took us three days of lottery entries at the BLM Visitor Contact Station, but we got a permit to hike into The Wave in the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness on the border between Utah and Arizona. The Trailhead is in Utah, and The Wave and environs are in Arizona.

Bob and Claire Rogers' lunch spot high overlooking The Wave

We had to drive our motorhome, Turtle about nine miles on a rough road, an adventure to tell at a later time. We leveled up and had wonderful evening light a great dinner and all the comforts of home; another million dollar view, for free.

The morning of our permit we awoke in darkness, ate a quick breakfast, were on the trail at first light, and had hiked two of the three miles to The Wave by sunrise, with lots of stops along the way for photos.

Chasm near The Wave

We spend most of the day scrambling all over the drainage that contains The Wave, which is itself quite small, and added another couple of tough steep miles. There is a small arch high on a cliff above The Wave, and we determined to get to it for our lunch spot. After a few dicey moves and an hour or more of climbing, and pausing for photos, we made it. The view of The Wave from the arch was spectacular. It appeared to get little use because of the difficulty in getting there. We took a second, slightly easier route back that led us to the Second Wave, and a spectacular chasm, nither of which most permit holders find, but we were able to pinpoint them from our raven’s roost high in the arch.

Claire on Steep Slickrock Backwards!

Strange Mars Like Formations Near The Wave

On the hike out in mid afternoon, we took a difficult slickrock side canyon high to some amazing fragile sandstone formations. I don’t have a name for them now, but will before I do the full post of this adventure in or new Turtle Chronicles, in the works.

How old is this tree?

No Motorhome Road!

These posts are meant to keep our readers informed of our travels, but of necessity must be short; we have been a week without Internet or cell signal. For each adventure you see here there have been three we haven’t been able to share yet.

Stay tuned.