Author: admin (Page 46 of 66)

I had mentioned that we had some soggy days  toward the end of April. Here are a couple photos I took on the way to work (over a 2-week period) of storm systems breaking up:

Colorado River, April 26th

Roan Plateau, April 19th

Our commute is long but does give us an opportunity to view changing weather conditions.  We can observe the weather and check on a couple of eagle nests as we drive back and forth as well.

Daughter Felicity is now out of France and heading for a cruise, departing from New Orleans and going to the Bahamas. After that, she will be back in Portland (Oregon) before heading to Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada) where she will be trading some web site programming time for a place to stay. Quite the nomadic life.

Pam connected with son Toby to find out how his waiter job is progressing.  (I  know, Toby a waiter, boggles the mind.) Toby has also started part-time umpire duties for the summer ball season in South Bend.

I finished sealing the underside of The Box in an attempt to keep rodents from entering. A good cleaning and restocking and it will be ready to roll.

New tires were put on the Honda – all season Michelin Defenders – not cheap at $576.00 for the set of 4 but they do carry a 95,000 mile tread-life guarantee. I will check on their performance over time.

Temps hit 80 this past week but a cool-off is in the works, down to our normal average in the low 60s. OK by me; I have not yet put our swamp cooler into summer operating mode. That will be an after-work project for later this week.

All the normal spring tasks are getting done; lawn mowing, weed whacking, dandelion digging (I don’t like using a lot of chemicals with all the animals running around) and cleaning. Pam is going through “kid” boxes we took out of storage and I am cleaning the garage. Both of us are getting restless to get up to The Lot and get going on our summer projects, as well as starting to look at more properties that might suit as a retirement home.

We filled out the application to refinance this place and I will be going in this week to talk to the mortgage lady. It will be nice to secure a lower interest rate but it also means some costs to refinance. When we bought this place we qualified for a no-interest 2nd mortgage that will have to be paid off, which is where most of the re-finance cost will come in. We can afford the expense, but it will put a hit on our savings — worth it in the long run for the lower interest rate, but a short-time hit none the less.

Pam has a “spa day” set up for the dogs; they will be getting their summer “buzz cut” trims later this month. Blondie, with her short hair, always looks pretty much the same but Bru and Jo really benefit from a complete trim.

Our lilacs are beginning to bloom, tulips, peonies, flax, and iris are blooming, and other flowers are starting to show colors. The lawn is very green from the recent rains. It looks like our columbine will pop in the next week or two. The lilies are growing every day. It is pretty obvious we are transplanted Midwesterners!

Blue flax flowers on front lawn

Lilacs beginning to show colors

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Day trips to potential retirement locales this month may include Durango, CO and Alamosa, CO.  Watch this space.

Happy Trails.

I had taken a day off this past Friday to drive to Sanderling and meet a well driller on The Lot. This did not go as I had hoped. The driller would not offer any opinions as to where we might drill to get the best water; his attitude was “Tell us where you want the well and we will drill it.” I can understand the liability issues involved, but the guy has been working in the area for 40+ years and must have some idea of what constitutes a good place to drill.

Pam and I are still hesitant to risk $10k or more on a well without some reassurance of getting good water. And, for resale value, I learned from our original realtor that generally you do not recover the cost of a well and septic unless you also build a house. (Recovery  without a house is roughly 60%.) So, after weighing the options, we have a new Plan B.

In essence, we have two problems to deal with. The first is having an adequate supply of fresh water for cleaning and cooking. (We generally use bottled water for drinking.) Water could be supplied by a cistern, either above or below ground.  At around a nickel a gallon, 200 gallons of water, enough for several weekends, would run about $10.00. In Colorado it is very common to see trucks running around with water tanks which are used to provide household water. Glenwood Springs even has a self-serve, coin operated, water station for filling these tanks. A tank could be our solution for water.

Typical water tanks. (Web photo.)

The bigger issue is holding capacity for the toilet, sinks, and shower. I want to get away from having to pull The Box down to the local dump station every few weeks. There are always issues with packing up The Box, getting it off its jacks, hauling it out and back, then resetting everything. A solution may be to get a trailer-mounted honey wagon such as this Phelps unit:

Phelps Honey Wagon. (Photo by Phelps.)

The concept is to drain The Box’s holding tanks into this trailer-mounted rig then take the trailer to the dump station. The Phelps unit has adapters to hook it directly to an RV’s drain system.

These solutions would not be cheap but would probably be less than the $10k we had budgeted for a well. Not at all elegant, and an increase in the amount of manual labor required to make everything work, but given the seasonal nature of our use of The Lot and The Box this may be a practical solution to our problem. Pam suggested making money (on the side, during retirement) by providing disposal services to other RV owners; we see quite a few RVs parked on lots around the area. I am not too warm to this idea (can’t quite picture myself operating “Jerry’s Honeywagon”) but who knows?

Speaking of The Lot, here is a photo taken on this latest trip; most of the snow is gone but the trees have not yet begun to bud out.

The Lot, Friday, April 24.

In other news….

Weather has been soggy for several days, unusual in this part of the country that normally receives around 8 inches of rain per year. The moisture sure has helped the lawn but it has put back working on The Box. I still need to get underneath and complete my rodent-proofing job.

We dropped a bunch of money on the Honda this week in suspension repairs. I installed a new upper control arm and a shop replaced both lower ball joints and gave the car 4-wheel alignment. This next Friday, pay day, a new set of tires will replace the current set. With the new axles I installed  earlier this month, the total repair bill (with the new tires) will come in just over $1,400.00.  The ball joints, axles, and control arm are the first repairs the Honda has needed; everything else has been routine maintenance. Well, except for the two times we have hit a deer; one incident required some body work and the other a replacement head light. Not a bad record for 361,000 + miles. Now our goal is to hit 500k miles and at the rate we are going we will probably get there in 3 years or less.

Brother-in-law Craig and his wife Dianne are starting construction on their Midwest lakeside retirement home. We are following those developments with great interest and wish them smooth sailing and no issues.

In family news, my favorite uncle passed away last Wednesday. Uncle Emil was 90 I believe, and had the best sense of humor of any of my uncles. I remember visiting their place at Christmas – Aunt Shirley always had a great looking tree – and we spend several 4th of Julys on the farm as well. He and my father were good friends, more than just relatives, and Uncle Emil will be missed.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

In the course of my working life as a transcript evaluator for the local community college, I read course descriptions from the scientific areas of Geology and Hydrology frequently.  While I am by no means an expert, I do know there is a science to locating water in an area that involves sampling the types of rock where catch basins occur etc.  No matter how nice and well meaning the local driller with 40+ years of experience may be, “pick a spot and we’ll keep drilling till we hit water” doesn’t strike me as scientific.  And never being lucky at gambling in the past, just how lucky do Fields and I feel about hitting water at 300 feet/$10,000?  Drilling “till you hit water” could go down 400-600 feet/$20,000.

I am not adverse to spending money on improvements to the Sanderling lot, but I want to have a bit more control over the outcome.  I’d rather spend $10,000 (might even be more than that when all is said and done) on a cistern, honey wagon, better dog fencing, driveway extension into the “saddle” area of the lot, more gravel for the driveway, a portable carport. Since we have long-since concluded our use of Sanderling will be recreational and not as a permanent home, the new Plan B needs to take that into account.

This whole situation was created by Park County regulations dictating a well must be put in first, before a septic.  We can haul water from the hand pump provided by the homeowners association.  Never thought I’d appreciate the day when an outhouse (now illegal) was the logical option.

Happy Trails.

I’ve mentioned my bike riding a few times; here are a few photos of the bike path I normally ride during my lunch time outings.

Path runs along the Roaring Fork River

My route covers 5.6 miles and generally takes about 32 minutes to complete. It is mostly uphill on the way out and downhill on the way back, but there are a few ups and downs along the way.

Nice downhill on way out, a pull on the way back!

Part of the route is along city side streets and, in spring, is a pleasant ride.

City streets form part of route

In other news, the local weather the last few days has been more typical spring; we received a rain and snow mix that’s very beneficial to our lawn and helps reduce fire danger. (Plus, the local irrigation water system for the town has been turned on – finally.) Up in the mountains, The Lot looks to be covered in white according to webcams in the area. I had made an appointment to meet the well driller on-site next week to discuss possible well locations; that appointment may have to be postponed as snow is a high country possibility for the next 3 days. The moisture, a record .73 inches (in Grand Junction) for the date, is very welcome so we can’t complain about it too much. It does, however, curtail outdoor activities for this weekend.  I’ll be upgrading some photo galleries instead.

We are looking into refinancing the house to save on the monthly payment. Paperwork is daunting, but we may be able to lower our current interest rate of 5.5% down to 3.75% or so, worth the effort, but it remains to be seen how much it will cost to make this happen. I’m working with an independent mortgage company (based in Wisconsin, as it happens) and have another appointment for next week. As a result of the recession plus local economic factors, purchasing our current property has turned out to be a really bad investment.  A refinance should mitigate the impact on our budget somewhat, but we’re not building equity here.

It looks like the Honda needs some additional work; it has a worn upper control arm in the front suspension and new lower ball joints should be installed. We have not had to do much repair over the years, but at 360,000+ miles things are just wearing out. I can do some of the repairs myself but I don’t have the specialized tools (shop press and ball joint remover) to change ball joints, so a local shop will do that work at a cost of around $600.00. Then another $550.00 for new tires and the Honda will be set (going for another 100,000 miles with a future tire replacement?) — I hope!

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

My passport has arrived.

Happy Trails.

Not every week can be exciting. Our lives are made up of mostly small details and projects, worked in as time permits in the hours left to us after commuting and holding down full-time jobs.

So it has been with us this week. Although we always seems to be busy, not much is newsworthy. For example, one of my weekend projects was to replace the LP tank cover on The Box. Not exciting stuff!

The old cover looked like this:

Old LP tank cover

The new one looks like this:

New LP tank cover on The Box

Some assembly required. Not a big job, just one of many that get done on a typical weekend. Pam also has projects; this one involved cleaning up some of Toby’s old sandbox trucks that are going to be shipped to a family member. Blondie and JoJo had to come up from time to time and check on Pam’s progress.

Pam wire brushing old Tonka toys

I replaced the other front axle on the Honda then washed the car. Took a short motorcycle ride. Walked the recycles over to the recycle dumpster located a few blocks away. Pam started cleaning the inside of The Box, and ironed work clothes in the evening. We both did some yard work. All stuff that keeps a person busy and makes up everyday life.

Today I replaced the skylight on The Box as I did not get this done last fall before the weather turned cold. After that I will begin to check the underside to make it rodent-proof; we don’t want mice getting in this year. Later this week I should receive an adapter cable I ordered; it will form a link between the generator and The Box. (RV trailers take an unusual 3-bladed plug known as a TT-30  which is standard for trailer parks but is not used anywhere else.) Our goal is to get The Box up to the Sanderling lot by about the first week in May (depending on weather).

Old skylight, left, and new skylight, right

Jerry on the roof of The Box, replacing skylight

April Taxes – We paid taxes this last week, federal and state. I wouldn’t mind if I thought we were getting our money’s worth, but I don’t think that’s the case. We don’t have “enough” federal tax withheld (hard to believe after paying thousands already). Pam prefers to keep some tax money throughout the year, which means we always end up paying a chunk to the feds at tax time. We expect to pay additional state taxes annually, as my small pension from the State of Wisconsin (where I worked for 11 years) does not withhold Colorado state taxes, so something is always owed to Colorado at tax time. (Next year there is some discussion of “pot tax monies” being distributed to Colorado residents.) Oh well…done for this year.

Small projects, small details, the stuff that makes up a pretty normal life.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

A most interesting discussion around here involves an exploration of possibilities.  If we decide to limit development up at Sanderling, then, where to live in the State of Colorado during our retirement?  Always with the proviso of considering our budget.  This week I’ve done internet searches that turned up potential properties in the Vallecito Lake area near Durango (also a campground for sale right on the water – not in our price range sadly).  I also happened upon a gated community built by Steve Forbes near the Colorado/New Mexico border with pretty spectacular views of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains and within driving distance to Taos.  I found the cutest “Grandma house” along the I-70 corridor in Silver Plume, just outside Denver.  And I located a [rather dumpy] cabin on the Peak-To-Peak Highway on the road to Estes Park/Rocky Mountain National Park.

As my bro Larry observes, in Colorado a person is always driving.  And so it is with the properties we like.  It always seems to be at least a half hour drive to shopping, medical, services, vet.  Any more, we just accept at least 30 minutes commuting distance as a given.  Since I don’t need to factor in proximity to employment, however, the range of possibilities expands each week.  I pour myself a glass of white wine, pull up realtor.com or FSBO (for sale by owner) and just cruise.

Happy Trails.

Happy Easter to all. Hope you are enjoying the day.  (Nice Spring temps for later today, a rhubarb pie in the oven for us.)

The past week was quiet but weekend is busy, a common pattern for us. Here is a bit of what’s going on…

I have upped my game on riding my bicycle, expanding my 2.5 mile route to 5.6 miles (round trip) for a lunchtime ride. It still takes me about half an hour to complete the trip.  These distances are measured by an electronic speedometer I had added to the bike a few weeks back.

Bike speedometer measures my distance traveled.

A few people, including Pam, have asked if I feel better or notice a difference in energy since I started treating my diabetes. The answer is — not really. I can go up and down stairs (at work) with a bit more energy, and I can feel the difference when riding the bike, but for the most part I don’t feel much healthier overall than I did before my diagnosis. I suspect the true test will come when we start working on The Lot again this year and my level of physical activity is pushed to the limit.

The health discussion led into a question about happiness. Pam asked me if I was happy. The answer is generally yes; my definition of happiness is enjoying the passage of time. Yes, it would be nice to have more money and have a higher level of financial security and the ability to retire and pursue other hobbies and interests, but while you can plan to make that happen, happiness (not euphoria) can be realized at whatever level you happen to be at.

So I enjoy a good song, talking with friends, reading a good book, or working on photos and this blog. I enjoy working on The Lot, riding my motorcycle and ATV, sharing a joke with Pam, and accomplishing tasks I set out to do.

Speaking of tasks, we had a day full of them yesterday. I started out doing some yard maintenance (digging dandelions, running the weed-wacker, and some mowing) on our very dry lawn. Irrigation water won’t be available until mid-month, and the lack of rain so far has the lawn looking pretty brown. Pam has been hand-watering some of the trees and plants to help them make it through until irrigation begins. (A gallon or two a week applied directly to trees works wonders in this climate).

After that the fun really started. Pam initiated a project to go through some of the kid’s boxes that were in storage above the garage. Boxes of games, toys, costumes, and general “stuff'” were taken out and tagged for more thorough examination. Most of the boxes have been put in Pam’s bedroom, the master bath, and in the 3rd bedroom. Pam will go through these boxes in the next few weeks and ask the kids what they would like to keep, what can be donated, and what can be thrown away. It is time to start cleaning out some of this stuff and moving it along.  Plenty more “kids stuff” still in above-garage storage, for future sorting.

A few of the many boxes we took out of storage

Some of Felicity’s 3-D puzzles from storage

Then it was RV time. I installed the new batteries in The Box and moved it from our neighbor’s yard, where it has spent the winter, back to our yard, parking it along our driveway. I opened the windows, doors, and vents to start the airing out process. We will begin cleaning and replenishing over the next few weeks with an eye to getting it back to The Lot in early May.  Probably still some mousie turds to seek and destroy, hopefully no mousies.

One decision I had made about The Lot and The Box was to locate a larger generator, which would power The Box and could be used during construction of a cabin on The Lot. I wanted a unit with enough power to operate a well pump until we could  install an off-grid system.  This would take an output of around 3,500 – 4,000 watts. Looking at new and used units it looked like I would have to spend $500.00 – $700.00 for such a unit. Then I came across a Craigslist ad from Grand Junction; a guy had a non-running 4,000 watt Generac generator (Generac is based out of Jefferson, Wisconsin) up for sale at $100.00. I did some research and found this unit to be out of production but highly rated by users and consumers, so I decided to take a chance on it. I picked it up last Sunday.

The older guy who had the generator said it had quit running and he didn’t have the time or interest in repairing it. A quick look, after I had it home, revealed that one of the valves had a problem; a “valve keeper” had broken and the intake valve was not opening. Generac had changed the design of this part and the only option for repair was to install an upgrade kit. Price of the kit and a few necessary gaskets (with shipping) came to $40.40.

I spent a couple of hours installing the kit, which involved removing the head from the generator’s motor. However, once I had everything back together (no leftover parts after assembly, always a good thing), the generator started on the 2nd pull. I was delighted. We now have a unit that can power The Box’s microwave oven and quickly recharge the batteries, and have power for future needs. I will take the generator up to The Lot and store it in the shed when we don’t need the extra power.

Generac 4000XL generator, now running

Saturday was a busy day, covering lawn work, storage work, RV work, and generator work. We knocked off and had dinner (Pam made turkey tacos) well after 7:00 PM. However, we did get a great deal done!

Today it is tax time, car cleaning, and maybe an ATV ride this afternoon.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

What to do with handmade Halloween costumes of various sizes, collected over the years?  One of my co-workers has two kiddos under the age of ten, she’ll take some costumes for her dress-up  area.  The rest will, I guess, go to the Boy Scout yard sale.  A real trip down Memory Lane, looking through the Halloween boxes.

A comment on Fields’ expertise with small engine repair: Is it possible I could actually use the microwave in The Box for the first time in two years?  (At the moment, it provides mouse-proof food storage.)  Technology marches on.

The philosophical discussion of happiness in the blog today… h-m-m-m.  Being a rather more “glass half empty” sort, I think maybe not a topic to which I care to contribute.

Happy Trails.

Trips and traveling seem to be the theme for the past week. Spring is here in the high desert, a good time to get out and about to enjoy almost perfect temperatures.

Last Sunday, after I wrote my post, I took the motorcycle for a spin and to see what the snow levels were like in the higher elevations. I rode up to the top of Grand Mesa, elevation 10,000 + feet, to remind myself that winter still controls the high country.

Grand Mesa on March 22nd

Yesterday we (Pam, Jo the dog and I) took a lengthy day trip to the Cripple Creek – Victor area, after stopping to check on The Lot near Como. (The two other dogs – Blondie and Bru – stayed home where the neighbor let them in and out all day).  We wanted to look at some properties that were listed for sale in those small mountain gold mining communities near Colorado Springs, in the general area of Pikes Peak.

It was a beautiful day in the mountains. We were surprised to see how little snow was left in the South Park area and on The Lot; we were able to drive up the entire length of our driveway to the top of the circle and found it was shirt sleeve temperature in the sun.

Pam and JoJo on the lot

Jerry on his bench

We didn’t have much time to stay, with many miles to go in our planned day’s activities, but it was hard leaving Sanderling.  It often feels that way – so much organization and  time driving to get to the mountains, too little time to enjoy being there.

One of the reasons we are looking at “for sale” properties is to come to a decision; do we proceed with our plans to further develop and build on The Lot, or would we be better off looking for a house that is ready (or nearly so) to live in? Budget is always the determining factor; we are looking in the $150K range and lower.

We found a few “interesting” places.  Pam tends toward historic “grandma” houses with distinctive architectural features.  I need lots of inside/outside storage and preferably a few trees.

Cripple Creek home (1895) had brick exterior, needed  some work. What a paint job!  Hot pink/orange accents.

For Sale by Owner in Cripple Creek  (year?) – no price posted, rated over-the-top on the distinctive architectural scale.

Small Goldfield house (1898): large fenced lot + garage + workshop + view of the Sangre de Cristo Mtns + mud roads.

Victor house (1900) had small yard, garage, some mountain views — but needed new roof, new windows, new stairwell.

The reality is there is not much in our preferred price range that is ready to live in, or is not so remote as to be impractical as a retirement home. The Lot is also remote, but for about the same price we could build something new, energy efficient, and with a design that fits our wishes/needs. We have decided to hold off putting in the well at Sanderling for a few months, and will continue to check on properties that come on the market, before we proceed with high country development.

Still, it was a great day (albeit long – 13 hours) to be traveling in the high country. Perfect blue skies, comfortable temperature, and country we had not been to in a long time. Throw in some history and a few “finds” — a splendid day to live and travel in beautiful Colorado.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

I like houses similar to what Nicole on the “Rehab Addict” TV show restores, houses that cry “Make me pretty again!” Sadly, I’m not as young or mechanically-oriented as Nicole, so [probably] fixer-uppers are not the best fit for our skill set any more.

On a different note, I haven’t been to the little mountain town of Victor in over three decades. I was pleasantly surprised at the positive changes tourism, continued gold mining and gambling in that area have made.  Some of the 1898 to 1910-era buildings on Main Street that were previously abandoned/falling apart are now being restored.  “Retail” Victor has a kind of Bohemian-vibe going for it.  “Residential” Victor features steep dirt streets and lots of tiny homes wedged close to each other that are past redemption/need to be demolished.  And one thing that can’t be changed – Victor is located on the back side of beyond.

Happy Trails.

This past Tuesday I had my first check-up since I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes back in December. This was a significant check-up as I needed to find out what my A1C level was doing. A blood draw was required and the results came back on Friday.

“For someone with diabetes, experts disagree somewhat on what the A1C target should be. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends an A1C target of less than or equal to 7%. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists recommends a level of 6.5% or below.”

My test came back at 6.4%. 🙂

This is very good news as it indicates my diabetes is under control. My doctor recommended I cut my medication in half. My goal is to get off medication completely so this is a good step in the right direction.

Another positive was a drop in my triglyceride level from a spike of 1814 to 210. While 210 is still high this again shows movement in the right direction. “Normal” is 150 for most people. 1814 is usually a “you are going to drop dead” level so my doctor is very pleased with this test result.

With warmer weather I have returned to riding my bicycle during my lunch hour. (I had been walking through the winter months but on a shorter route.) My bike route covers about 2.5 miles or so and takes me about half an hour to complete. I can feel the strain in my legs but riding a bike burns more calories than walking so I plan to stick with the bike when I can.

My bike is a Raleigh C40 (Web photo)

I guess giving up the ice cream and cookies has paid off in good test results, but I still miss my Pepsi.

Honda updates:

The air bag inflater and a defective component in the SRS (airbag) system were replaced by the Honda dealer, at no charge, this past Wednesday. The warning light has stayed off and now the airbags will deploy if needed. That’s a Good Thing.

I replaced the passenger side front axle on Saturday and that went OK. Replacement axle was about $85.00 from NAPA and the local shop had one in stock. The job took about 1.5 hours; most of the time was spent getting the suspension pieces apart. More than a little hammering was needed. Reassembly went quickly and a test drive revealed no more vibration in the steering wheel and no more “clunking” noises on left-hand turns. That is another Good Thing.

Old axle coming out of the Honda

Around the yard, I spent some the digging dandelions and started the lawn mower for the first time this season. Some of our grass is “clumpy” and pretty coarse but it grows fast. I even took the time to take the snow blade off the John Deere and put on the mower deck. I guess spring is here.

Blade off, mower deck going on

Before putting on the deck I cleaned it, greased the blade spindles, and sharpened the blades. This all takes a little time so the swap is not just substituting one attachment for the other…life could not be that easy!

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Passport application completed and mailed this week.  In the passport picture I looked like my Aunt Angela – made me do a double take.

Continuing conversations with Fields on mountain property development.  Do we really want to go through the hassle of building something on such a remote site?

Happy Trails.

Most of us have some things we would like to do; ever since the movie of the same name these items have become known as a Bucket List. I had a chance to accomplish one of my goals this past Sunday.

My father had operated Caterpillar tractors in logging operations in northern California during the late ’30s and early ’40s. I grew up listening to his stories of “cat skinning” (as it was then known) of his time working in the woods.

Bear with me…this does go somewhere.

Last Sunday I had taken my motorcycle out for a ride. Going down a side road I spotted some crawler tractors that date to the ’30s. I went up to the house, introduced myself, and ended up speaking to a guy who had been collecting crawler tractors for several decades.

He gave me a tour of his collection, which includes gear going back to 1918. The collection included Caterpillar, Cletrac, and Oliver brands and numbered more than 3 dozen models. Toward the end of the tour I mentioned I had never actually run a dozer. He offered to let me run one of his D2 Caterpillars.

The D2 was Caterpillar’s first diesel tractor. Originally, Caterpillar produced crawler tractors for agricultural use. These were powered by gasoline engines. Later on, when the interstate system began to be built, Caterpillar changed over to diesel-powered construction equipment, the image most of us have of Caterpillar products today. The D2 series (1938 – 1957) bridged the two worlds by means of various accessories that could make the crawler suitable for bulldozing, running agricultural equipment, moving material, and running other equipment by means of hydraulic power.

I accepted his offer. We walked over to the Cat, went through the involved starting process, and I jumped into the driver’s seat. I raised the blade, put the Cat in gear, and off I went. (We were in a large open area in an old orchard, safe for novice drivers.)

A note on starting an old Cat. Electric starters were not up to the task of starting a diesel engine in those days so Caterpillar tractors had small gasoline-powered starting engines known as pony engines. You start this engine (rope wrapped around the flywheel then pull the rope to spin the pony) then, once the pony is running,  pull a couple of levers to have it spin over the main engine. The main engine turns until it has built up oil and fuel pressure. Turn on fuel to the main engine and hope it starts. Once the main engine does start you disengage the pony engine and shut it down. Starting the Cat thus takes 5 – 10 minutes and is a job in itself. (Later Cats had an electric start pony engine, and by the ’50s the pony was replaced with a heavy-duty electric starter.)

Steering is done by means of two hand operated levers. Pull back the right lever and the Cat turns right. Pull back the left and the Cat turns left. The trick is to learn how much the Cat responds to different amounts of lever travel.

Driving the dozer was a hoot. It didn’t take long for me to be able to turn, back up, raise and lower the blade, and get used to running the machine. I had not taken my camera with me so have no photos of this, but I was invited back to take pictures at a later date. I promised to give the guy copies of the photos I plan to take.

Here is a photo, from the web, of a D2 cat:

D2 Caterpillar tractor

So I had a chance to complete a Bucket List item, running a Caterpillar dozer. It was a good day.

Around the house, we took off the winter mulch from the flower beds, dug out some blooming dandelions, and sat by a fire in the fire pit. It feels like spring is here but, as it is only mid-March, I am anticipating some cold/bad weather before spring fully arrives. There is still snow on the slopes we pass on our daily commute.

Pam let KitCat out of her garage pen, so KitCat is now an outside cat here. The barn home Pam had originally planned is located outside of Glenwood in the higher elevations, where the weather is still too cold for relocation.  Rather than keep the poor kitten penned for another month, Pam decided to go with Plan B – forget the barn home and just let her out.  KitCat is staying around the house and garage and seems to like coming up to the deck and sitting under the fire pit. So far she is doing OK but seems frustrated the other cats (mainly the indoor/outdoor boys) will not play with her.

The Honda goes in for work on the airbag system, covered under warranty, this next Tuesday. The dealer will replace the airbag and some sensor hardware. Next weekend I plan to replace the passenger-front axle as it is making some noise indicating the flexible u-joint is worn out. At 357,000 miles this is not entirely unexpected but is still a pain.  The driver’s side axle appears to be OK, at least for now. Always something!

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

I’ll be renewing my passport this week.  Prices have gone up.

Both of my brothers retire in the next six weeks; both are then relocating.  Congratulations to them! Wish we were doing the same, but it will be some years yet.  Plans for the future are in the works [that will take time to come to fruition] for us.  In the meantime, it’s the weekday 8:00 – 5:00 grind and commute.

Happy Trails.

Yesterday Pam and I traveled to the annual Home Improvement Show at Two Rivers Convention Center in Grand Junction. We were open to building and decorating ideas we might incorporate into our house plan for The Lot. It was interesting and informative. And, both of us were eligible for the “Senior” admission discount!

One of the items we identified as potentially useful was this “rimless” sink, which appears to have no seams at all between the bowl and counter top.

Rimless sink caught our eye

Pam pointed out how easy it would be to clean around this with no rim to catch dirt and debris. The sink is available in many different styles and finishes. We’ve seen under-mount and vessel sinks, nothing quite like this fabricated fiberglass model.

We spoke to window manufacturers, tankless hot water heater vendors, solar vendors and strolled around the hall, looking at the latest local products. Most were aimed at renovation and not new construction, but we came home with several new ideas to consider. (All it takes is money!) One of them deals with home heating; we are now considering the advantages of zone rather than whole-house heating systems.

Zone heating systems are catching on

We spoke to a couple of solar system vendors and found there are many new products hitting the market, along with new technology. By the time we get ready to move on a power system we should have quite a few choices.

One company we saw specialized in refinishing tubs and showers. We got a kick out of their flagship refinished tub:

Bronco tub

Detail work was very good.

Bronco claw-foot tub foot was well done

The guys in the booth said they receive quite a few requests to sell this item, or one like it, to people from all over the state. (Other team colors on request, Packer fans!)

Great to get out-and-about on a pleasant afternoon, and we came away with ideas and some pricing information as well. At some point we will sit down and incorporate what we saw into a house plan. (Again, all it takes is money…)

On to other topics.

The weather has moderated and temps for next week are going to be approaching 60 degrees or higher, even a couple of above-freezing nights later in the week. The warmth feels good.  Sorry, folks who are dealing with colder-than-normal temps.  We’ve had our years like that out here too.

Our oldest cat, London, was sitting in the sun the other day so I decided to snap his photo.  “Lon” is eleven now, our oldest cat, and is moving a bit more slowly these days.

London the cat sitting in the sun

Artsy photo moment: I was walking (exercise prescribed by new diabetes regimen) and the sun was coming up behind cat tails that grow in the ditches and along the creek.

Cat tail plants along my walking route

In a few weeks I will move the RV trailer back onto our driveway and start getting it ready for the summer season.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

I draw the line at color coordinating any bathroom around an obscenely orange Bronco tub. A person has to have some decorating standards.

Happy Trails.

Our youngest dog, Jo, had a birthday this past week; she is now 4 years old. Here she is with her birthday present, Mr. Snake.

Jo on her 4th birthday

That snake is kind of disturbing to me in some ways, but Jo seems to really like it. I have added a new photo gallery named Dogs to my Galleries page. It features photos of Blondie, Bru, and Jo from puppyhood to now.

Weather has been really strange. The snow we were expecting last week never materialized, although higher elevations received plenty. More snow is in the forecast but we won’t get much, perhaps an inch all told, but right now it is pretty nice for the 1st of March.

In fact, I started a fire in the fire pit this morning and enjoyed a cup of tea in front of it.

Tea by fire pit…nice way to start the day

Fire is just about the right size for a chilly morning

In other miscellaneous notes, we finished moving stuff from the old wicker sideboard into the new sideboard/dresser I mentioned in my last post. (Took a few minutes to throw out some dated items – who knew that junk was even in there…)  The wicker unit is now awaiting disposal; every spring the town brings in a large dumpster for clean-up days and the old sideboard will be put in it.

I wired up my old Bose 301 speakers in the garage, and they sound good. The mounts I fabricated are pretty dismal but they work OK.

Garage speaker mounts are suspended from ceiling

Getting the wires run from the amplifier to the speakers was the worst part of the job as I had to crawl along the rafters way out to the walls to get the wires in the right place. It was great having music going while I did my weekly auto check (oil levels, washer fluid, coolant, tire pressure) on both the Honda and the F-150, well worth the effort.

The well permit came from the state, so once the snow clears we can get started on getting a well drilled. This should happen late April or early May if the weather cooperates.  Every property development direction is dependent on the depth and production of the well.

I bought new batteries for the RV. Cabellas had them on sale at 25% off, saving $50.00 per battery. (The RV takes two.) These are high-end batteries of the AGM type. Sealed, no maintenance needed, vibration resistant and designed for continuous duty rather than just starting power. I hope they do a good job as I was getting tired of getting up in the middle of cold nights to start the generator needed to keep the old batteries charged and thus keep the furnace running. I’ll see how these new batteries work when we take the RV back to the lot later this spring.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

By age, the dogs aren’t pups any more.  But, Jo has the Spaniel mentality of a young pup.  She probably always will.

Happy Trails.