I keep saying the trailer (The Box) is nearly ready, but then we keep finding small things to do. This week we have:
Filled the water tank. Turned on the water pump and tested all water lines. Fired up and tested the hot water heater. (Hot water really is hot.) Flushed the toilet. Acquired a used weight-distribution hitch. Bought trailer mirrors from eBay. (Hope they get here soon.) Tested all the outside running lights. Bought a high-pressure tire gauge and checked / inflated all the tires to 65 psi. Cleaned and sealed all battery connections. Hooked the trailer to the F150 and took a short drive to check the electric brakes. (They work fine.) Pam started putting together a food kit to leave in the trailer. I replaced a broken door stop. Tested the stove top burners. Had the empty propane tank filled. (The other is about 2/3 – 3/4 full so we left it alone.)
The last two things to be checked are the furnace and making sure the refrigerator runs on propane. The refrigerator has been tested on electric and works fine. Add a few clothing items, a bit of food for us and some dog supplies, and we will be ready for our first outing.
The plan is to pull the trailer to the lot next week, set it up, then return for a longer stay over Memorial Day weekend. I figure getting the trailer positioned, leveled, and set up will take an hour or so. After that we will enjoy the lot for a few hours before we head home.
Yesterday we drove over to the lot to plant our 30 Douglas Fir tree starts and determine where we want the trailer to sit. I had not been to the lot since the drive was put in and Pam hadn’t been there since last fall.
The tree planting went OK. Twelve of the starts went in along the driveway, beginning at the entrance of the lot and moving inward. The remainder went into the upper end of the drive into the slope created by the driveway install. We hope these trees, if they survive, put down roots and keep the slope from eroding. Over time we think native grasses will take root -we’re actually counting on the native grasses more than the trees.
I didn’t take many photos of this outing, but Pam did take this snap of me balancing on the slope and planting one of the Doug Firs::
Jerry planting a Douglas Fir start.
Closer to home, we have a large Cottonwood tree in our front yard. Pam had seen a couple birds fly into the tree on a regular basis but couldn’t initially see a nest. Surprise for us: the tree has a hole in it apparently suitable for a nest. Blondie, our oldest dog, finds this very interesting and frequently looks up to watch the birds fly in and out. Here is a short video of the parent birds at work:
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That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s two cents worth:
A big ole thunderstorm rolled in just as we were finishing our tree planting in the high country. The booms of thunder echoed across South Park quite loudly and scared Bru (who has storm anxiety) quite a bit. Storms rolling in across both the Collegiate Peaks range and the Mosquito range — quite an impressive sight. On our way home, there was snow in the air all the way to and over Vail Pass. Snow on May 18th. Bummer.
A bunch of stuff, all small, seems to have happened this past week. It was the first week were we didn’t have below-freezing temperatures at night. However, South Park received 16 inches of snow in the last 2 days. It looks like our tree planting – 30 Douglas Fir starts – will have to wait a while longer.
30 Doug Fir waiting to be planted
I got the truck into the garage! I had to use a prop to hold the door open, and the radio antenna bent just a bit when I backed in but, due to it’s built-in flexing, straightened right out.. Man, that truck is big. There is little room either in front of or behind to walk, but the Ford is now inside and we can get the Honda in and out with no problems.
F-150 in garage!
I have been in contact with the Elkhorn Ranch Owner’s Association Treasurer, Mr. David Drake, and we are working out details on getting a key to the dump station. Turns out the station is not that far away which will be convenient. When we pull the trailer over to empty the holding tanks we will be able to replenish fresh water, eliminating the need to haul water from De Beque. That will be a help.
Now the question becomes one of timing; when will we be able to pull the trailer up to the lot? We still have a couple things that need to be done before that can happen.
A brake controller was purchased through eBay and installed this weekend. The trailer has electrically-controlled brakes, but you need a controller in the towing vehicle to apply the power proportionally to the braking need. Pam spent a few hours cleaning the trailer’s bathroom – not a fun afternoon – and put paper liners in the bathroom drawers. Still to be done: test the water systems, get the other propane tank filled, (One was filled this weekend) and add whatever food and clothing items we plan to keep in the trailer. Not all that much, really, but until the South Park snow melts we don’t have to hurry.
Our lilacs and iris are blooming. Daffodils and tulips are just about done. I’ve mowed the lawn a couple of times. Spring is here.
Lilacs in bloom.
Going through some of my old video footage, hoping to find something of interest, I came across this clip of our cat Soot playing with a grocery bag:
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We helped our newest neighbors remove a couple dead trees from around their house. Their lot looks better and we were able to get some firewood for The Street Cat Coalition run by our friend Kathy Hall. She’ll use the wood next winter to heat her shelter building. I used the truck to haul the smaller branches to the town’s burn pile so it has already come in handy.
This will be just a quick post featuring some photos of our “new” 2005 Ford F150 pick-up truck. I brought it home yesterday (Saturday) and will be getting used to it over the next few weeks. Ford does have an Owner’s Manual on-line which I read and found a few interesting details, such as the rear window is a power window that can be opened to let a whole lot of air flow through the cab.
Pam has not yet named the truck (the trailer is now “The Box”) so I’ll just refer to it as the F150. I’ll start with a walk-around of the outside:
Side view – F150
Front view – F150
Rear quarter-view – F150
rear view – F150
The interior is as pictured in my previous post, but here are a couple additional photos:
Rear seating area – dogs will ride in comfort.
Driver’s side of cab. Very comfortable.
I will have a few things to check out on the truck, such as making sure the spare tire carrier (which cranks up and down) works OK and check all the fluid levels. Now that there are no below-freezing temps in the extended forecast we will be provisioning the trailer and hope to pull it up to the lot before the end of the month.
One problem…the F150 will not fit through the garage door! The truck is too tall. I never expected that. Now we will have to figure out how / where to park it so we don’t have to move it every time we want to take the Honda out of the garage. Always something!
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s two cents worth:
Can’t you just picture a cool “other color” on the bottom side panels of the truck and around the wheel wells, with some jazzy graphics dancing across the doors? If we leave the thing plain white, I’ll never be able to find it in parking lots…I need something distinctive to identify my parked ride. Such are the problems of aging.
Big news for this post is that we bought a truck. The Dodge I had mentioned in my April 7 post had been sold — so Pam and I were out shopping when I noticed this 2005 Ford F-150 (Lariat edition) at the dealership where we bought the Subaru. We had test-driven a couple of Dodge Ram 1500 trucks previously so we had some basis for comparison. The Ford seems to ride a bit better and the rear seating area, where the dogs will ride, seemed a bit larger. While a bit more expensive than the comparable Dodge trucks, the Ford seemed to be a good fit and we made a deal on it.
This meant trading off the 2010 Subaru Forester we had purchased in 2009. While I like the Forester, there is no doubt our current needs of pulling the trailer and hauling materials to the lot would be better filled with a truck. Now we can go ahead with plans to move the trailer and get on with other activities.
** Boring Notice ** (Truck details follows.)
The Lariat version is Ford’s upscale trim package. It includes power heated leather seats, 6-CD changer, climate control, and other higher-end finishes. Engine is a 5.4 liter V-8 Triton engine. These are noted for durability but fuel economy is 14 – 18 mpg. We won’t be taking pleasure cruises in it! The truck does have a factory-installed tow package including the 7-blade connector that our trailer uses so there will be no problems hooking up and pulling the trailer around. The bed is short, 5′ 6″, due to the extra space in the cab, but does have 4 factory tie-downs and rails along the top of the bed for additional tie-downs. Longer items will be transported on our 5′ x 12′ aluminum trailer.
Biggest drawback is the truck body color is white. Pam did not want a white truck due to the association between white trucks and the energy industry workers. We have begun to look for colored decals to put on the truck to make it appear a bit “different” than the local yocals. Pam is looking for side panel decals in purple or purple/gold since purple/white was the color of both her high school (Go Hilltoppers!) and college (University of Wisconsin Whitewater) teams. We may have located some decals that are suitable and the price isn’t bad. As for other accessories, some kind of tonneau cover will be in the works before next winter sets in.
** End of Boring Notice **
* Note on Photos * These photos are from the Edmunds site and do not link to a larger photo.
A white 2005 Ford F-150
Truck interior
Dash board
Back seating area
More photos of the truck after I bring it home this Saturday. Yes, it does have the same interior pictured above.
Moving on to other news:
Going back to work after a vacation is always a drag, but it seems harder to do so when the weather is good. Well, it was below freezing again last night, but it will be warming up and the sky is sunny. Hard to sit in an office when you know it is so nice outside.
I received my first retirement check from the State of Wisconsin. Nice to know that is now set. Makes me feel older, though.
We picked up our 30 trees from the Forest Service and had planned to go to the lot and plant them this weekend, but the weather at altitude calls for a high in the low 40s and a rain/snow mix. Nighttime temps are well below freezing and are in the “teens” range. Not good for tree planting. We will wait and see what the next weekend holds.
The trailer is nearly done. Pam has been cleaning and I have fixed the bathroom blower and re-attached the towel rack. We still need to get the propane tanks filled. The last big project is cleaning the bathroom, probably a several hour job. During the Boise trip we stopped at a Camping World and picked up a few items for the trailer, including some drawer dividers, slide-out stabilizer jacks, paring knives, garbage can hold-downs, and a couple other odds and ends. Now if the weather would stop dropping below freezing we could finish testing the water system.
Last week Pam and I drove to Boise, Idaho, to visit with Felicity and listen to her group, Northwest Harmony, sing at the regional Sweet Adeline convention. Some sight-seeing time was scheduled since there were only certain times we would be able to meet with Felicity; her schedule revolved around practice, meetings, and event-related activities.
We had all three dogs with us. Pam had made reservations at a Motel 6 in Meridian, Idaho (about 10 miles west of Boise) as they were advertising as dog-friendly (no extra charges/elevator to the second floor) and had reasonable rates. Three nights, with all taxes, came to a bit over $200. This Motel 6 had a very good dog walking area and turned out to be very well-situated for all our travels, was near eateries and a dog park, and a Winco food store was – literally – across the road. (Winco is a warehouse-type grocery store. We bought breakfast food and fruit from them + great muffins. They also have killer salads for about $3.18.)
In more or less chronological order: packed up to head out. (Lime green rectangle is doggie crate.)
Car packed up for trip. Grey case is a cooler.
We arrived in Meridian, Idaho after a 12-hour drive, checked in, then relaxed. Next morning (Friday) we found a local dog park and let the dogs run off-leash, giving them some much-needed exercise.
Pam, calling for Bru, is trying to get the dogs to drink some water.
After lunch we picked up Felicity at her downtown Boise hotel, The Grove, and drove over to a local park to talk, catch up on family news, and enjoy the beautiful day.
Jer, Felicity, Pam and the dogs enjoy a few hours in the park.
The park was great. It had geese, squirrels, plenty of places to sit, and good bathrooms. We spent several hours there, had lunch, and were able to catch up with Felicity’s news and generally had a good visit. We hadn’t seen each other face-to-face since January 2012.
During one of our walks around the park we came on this scene:
Duck boats in Boise city park.
You don’t see duck (and pelican) boats like this very often anymore!
The next day (Saturday) was the “Big Sing” for Felicity. We made arrangements to be at the venue mid-afternoon and meet Felicity after she completed her part of the competition. (Felicity stayed at the venue, The Boise Center, for all the judging and post-competition festivities but Pam and I stopped at the competition only briefly to see Felicity perform.) This left us with some unscheduled time Saturday morning to fill so we decided to take a trip out to the Snake River Canyon.
We made two stops, the first at Dedication Point which is in the middle of a raptor refuge. While we didn’t see any raptors, the walk and educational signage (and view!) made this a nice stop.
The second stop was at the first hydroelectric plant on the Snake River, Swan Falls. This was a green oasis, a swath of park along the river where the dogs could run and I could walk around the plant. While the original plant was decommissioned in 1994, a newer facility built at one end of the dam continues to supply power today.
Swan Falls power plant on the Snake River
Here is a photo of Pam and the dogs taking a break on the steps of an old four square house located in the small park-like green space along the river. We hope the authorities who own this house take steps to preserve it. Right now it looks somewhat bedraggled; it would be sad to loose this old place. Pam loved the “grandma house” feel of it.
Pam and dogs taking a break from walking around the Swan Falls power plant grounds
Many switchbacks out of the Snake River Canyon – and a light lunch – later, we headed into Boise to listen to the Sweet Adeline groups sing, including Felicity’s group, Northwest Harmony.
The singing was great. Since this was a competition and not a concert, each group sang only 2 songs – one slow, one up beat. We listened to several groups and enjoyed some pretty amazing musical renditions. Felicity’s group placed 3rd over-all, not bad considering there were 18 groups and the competition was close.
Here are Felicity and Pam sitting in the hall after Felicity was done singing. Felicity calls this her “clown in drag” make-up, with false eyelashes, bun hairdo, and lots of foundation.
Felicity in makeup sits with Pam.
I had planned to record Felicity singing, but found the Sweet Adeline organization would not allow either recording or digital pictures to be taken in the hall! I was very disappointed, but I should have guessed the competition was being professionally recorded (with multiple cameras and sophisticated sound equipment). Still I would have liked to be able to have a clip of Felicity singing — that will have to wait for another time.
Felicity introduced “her parents” to several members of the Northwest Harmony group. Their age demographic is more our generation, all very nice people with only good comments about Felicity. The most unusual event occurred when we went to get our tickets. A man and a woman were at the ticket desk, and the woman looked at Pam and said ” You must be Felicity’s mother.” Pam was a little taken aback, but acknowledged the relationship. Considering the number of attendees, we thought this was sort of cool. We later learned the lady was one of the event organizers who had worked closely with Felicity’s group over the last couple years and knew Felicity as a member of Northwest Harmony. (The family resemblance must be stronger than I thought.)
We left Felicity to enjoy the remainder of the competition and took off on our scenic ride up the Payette River Canyon. This drive follows the river and gets progressively higher and into more timbered country. It was a very pleasant, if not spectacular, drive. We were running out of daylight (which lasts until 8:30 p.m. – yes) which necessitated a return to our Motel 6, dinner, and time to hit the sack.
Sunday we packed the car, checked out, picked up Felicity at her hotel in Boise, found a Denny’s for breakfast, then dropped Felicity off at the Boise Airport. We headed east and arrived back home at about 1:00 AM Monday morning.
Overall this road trip was better than anticipated. We were able to spend some time with Felicity, see some scenic Idaho country (that wasn’t interstate), listen to some good music, and enjoy some splendid Spring weather.
I am going to close with a short (1:35) video clip. This clip ends abruptly as I had intended to have a video of Felicity singing as the ending. Still, it is what it is…
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That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s 2 cents worth:
If I was wondering why a young chicky-poo [during the trip] gave me the senior discount without me requesting it, the photo of me with Felicity tells the story. I look just like my godmother, Aunt Angela, during her later years. Geez.
For a look at what Sweet Adelines can do, search on “Pride of Portland Hallelujah” to see/hear the Hallelujah Chorus as you have never seen/heard it.
All photos were taken by Jerry or Pam unless noted. Click on photos to bring up a larger version in a new window. Close that window to return to the post.
Clicking on the enlarged photos will zoom in on the cursor location. (Most browsers.) This gives you the opportunity to see additional detail that might not be apparent in the smaller photo.
I hope you enjoy reading this blog and looking at these momentos!
~ Jerry
