No big events to report on this time. We have been raking leaves and doing fall cleanup yard work. Pam completed another phase of her house update by finishing a major painting project, the living room floor. Other than adding another rug and a few other bits and pieces of furniture, that project is nearly ended. We will be looking at flooring material, probably bamboo, for part of the living room but will wait until we see a good sale before going ahead. Still looking for a side board but the ones we have seen at second-hand stores are too long; we have a 50 inch space and most units we have seen are 60 – 64 inches in length. The search continues.
No snow on the ground as the bit we did get a couple weeks ago has melted off. In short, we are doing typical fall activities and having normal weather. I did get one last lawn-mowing done last weekend then cleaned up the mower ad put it away.
I fired up the Ford 8N tractor and used it to take a small load of grass and weeds to the local ‘organic material’ dump site provided by the town. This is the same spot where I dump leaves, branches, and cut grass as needed. Gives me an excuse to exercise the tractor from time to time.
We had driven up to the lot on Halloween day – both of us took time off – and cleared a path where we plan to extend the driveway. This involved cutting a few more trees and making a decision on where the drive will go. I prefer a little farther up on the hillside and Pam prefers it be a little lower down. We will get with the contractor and use him as the tie-breaking vote. Extending the drive is a priority for next year.
Gas prices have dropped to around $3.20 a gallon (unleaded regular) which helps us a bit. Normally we go through 30 – 33 gallons a week, less at this time of the year due to fewer trips to the lot and fewer ATV outings. Price reduction saves us nearly $100.00 per month.
Mary Hayes sent along this photo of the two party girls drinking/eating at the Irish pub in Grand Junction last weekend:
Mary and Pam at the Irish pub. Photo by Mary Hayes.
Mary arrived back in Florida, after a lay-over in Denver, without incident. We certainly enjoyed her visit.
I have some recent video of Ebony’s kittens playing on the waterbed. The kittens are about 8 weeks old now.
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The kittens will be with us for several weeks yet as they need to start getting their shots and spay /neuter operations before being returned to the shelter and put up for adoption.
Not much else to say in this post. Pam is preparing the grocery list, I have more leaves to clean up, the bath tub drain needs to be cleaned , weather stripping needs to be added along the main door – blah, blah, blah…the every-day details of life continue.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Two Cents Worth:
Yesterday, with a small fire burning in the fire pit, the smell of raked leaves was mixed with wood smoke and the entire scene was set against a deeply overcast sky. I was struck by how typically Fall it all was.
We are home this weekend taking care of chores and finishing small projects. Here is what we have been up to.
Last Friday night we delivered our last big load of firewood to Kathy Hall. While we will probably be up to the lot a couple more times this fall we probably won’t be bringing home loads of wood, just some wood in the back of the truck, so this is the last major load of the year.
Load of wood in the truck
Fully loaded trailer
Pam came up with the idea to put vertical pieces of wood around the perimeter to increase the load capacity of the trailer — else we would have had to make two trips. Over-all we delivered between 2 and 3 cords of wood to Kathy this year. This wood will help keep the kitties warm in their rescue building.
A home visit by a potential kitten adopter late in the summer led Pam to formulate a “home upgrade” plan for this fall, as she realized the place was embarrassing and dumpy looking. So far she has purchased a new hallway runner, a couple of rugs, a new cover for the couch, and yesterday I picked up a fire pit from Tractor Supply (upgrades the deck?). A few more purchases are planned, and coupled with a major re-arrangment of existing furniture, the house will have a new look for fall.
New fire pit
We also bought a Keurig (K-cup) brewer. I have had one at work for years courtesy of the company, but Pam thought it was time to have one at home as well. We are not coffee drinkers but like to have tea, hot cider, and hot chocolate on hand. I think we will get a lot of use out of this purchase.
Otherwise it is more of the mundane. I winterized the swamp cooler, went to Walmart to pick up cat supplies, washed the truck by hand, did the normal auto routine (oil levels, washer fluid, tire pressure checks), put away the fans and brought the heaters down from the garage attic. I spread the last of the grub killer and lawn fertilizer before I put the spreader away. Today I need to change the Honda oil and filter, clean the mower decks, and paint the snow plow blade that is mounted on my little red Gilson lawn tractor. (The paint is a super-slippery type designed for snow blades.) Maybe I’ll even get back on the roof and replace several shingles lost in one of the summer storms.
Ebony’s kittens have their eyes open and are just starting to move around a bit. I’ll have a few photos of them in my next post.
Sinbad the Cat has gone missing, along with another adolescent kitten that was living in our garage. We know a couple other cats are missing – flyers in the Post Office and people out looking for their cats – and suspect foul play but have no proof. It could be Sinbad was picked up to be a house cat as he certainly was friendly enough. We hope that was the case. Not knowing what happened is hard for Pam.
There has been snow around us but so far none down at our level. Below freezing temps at night are now pretty common. Weather people say we are having below average temperatures and the extended forecast shows this trend continuing. We are not ready for winter and keep hoping for a spell of Indian Summer. Pam has been covering some of the flowers and plants to try and keep some color around the house. How much longer this will be feasible is in doubt, but it’s nice to still have some Mums and other flowers still giving us some color.
Leaves are beginning to fall and I suspect I’ll have to start raking and mulching in the upcoming weeks. Our neighbors have already left for their place in Arizona (which they do every year), and I take care of their leaves as well. It’s a busy time of year.
Our son Toby had plans to be out for a visit near the end of the month, near the date of his birthday. He and I would attend the Notre Dame – Air Force football game in Colorado Springs, but we haven’t heard if Toby has firmed up these tentative plans. We’ll have to wait and see what transpires in that story.
The truck had been running poorly and the engine light had been coming on. I bought one of those code readers and eventually found one of the O2 sensors had come unplugged. Fixed that and the truck is again running fine. Code reader was $18.00 from Amazon; the local Ford dealer wanted $118.00 (1 hour of labor) to hook the truck up to their system and trouble-shoot the problem, so I figured I saved $100.00 by doing the work myself.
So, life goes on. Pam is entering a slower part of the college calendar as far as transcript evaluations are concerned, and I just finished a major project of getting our Rifle Sheriff’s Office Annex wired with fiber-optic cabling to our internet provider. (Connection went from 4.5 mb to 500 mb.) Now I can get started with other projects that were dependent on getting the high-speed connection in place, but those can wait a week or so. So, for both of us, there is a lull in the action. It won’t last long, but we hope to enjoy it while we can.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Two Cents Worth:
When the Habitat Recycle store has better furnishings than anything in your house, it’s time to upgrade a bit. What with puppies and kittens running around the place the last 5-6 years, I’ve been letting “style” slide. The mobile is clean (wet mopped with Pine-Sol every other week) but shabby. And not shabby chic. So I decided just because we live in a mole-on-the-bum-of-Mesa-County type town doesn’t mean we need to descend to being low-lifes ourselves. The refurbishing is greatly overdue and, in the scheme of things, won’t cost as much as mountain land, an RV, or a truck.
There is a lot to blog about this time. On September 14th I made a one-day solo trip over to the lot and did more work. The next week I was on vacation from work for three days and took an extended ATV trip in the Ouray (pronounced you-Ray) area on two of those days. Finally, Pam and I went over to Sanderling to stage more wood for removal. Last Wednesday new kittens arrived, Pam’s 24th foster litter. Mom cat’s name is Ebony and her kittens are all black just like her.
That’s a lot of ground to cover.
Trips to the lot are now falling into a pattern of getting loads of brush and slash over to the burn pit and getting some firewood home. My solo trip was no exception, except Pam requested I bring home some rocks to be used in our berms. So, after a long day’s work, I finished by picking up 10 rocks to bring home. Pam was delighted. I was tired.
I had driven over on a Friday night. Saturday morning was overcast and cloudy so I went up to Pavilion Point and made this video. (Running time is 2:31.)
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Not much else to report from that trip. Our last trip, this past Friday afternoon – Saturday, was more of the same. (I did find the key to unlock the 2-wheel cart.) We returned via Boreas Pass – Pam had not been on the pass this year – and we stopped to take this photo of aspen along the road turning color:
Boreas Pass, September 2013
Jumping back a few days… I had traveled to Ouray (pronounced you-Ray) Colorado for a two-day (Sept 18 and 19) ATV outing. I wanted to ride the Alpine Loop which consists of Engineer Pass and Cinnamon Pass. I had ATV’d part of Engineer Pass last year but had not completed the loop. Both pass trails start from Highway 550 south of Ouray and end in Lake City, Colorado.
The first day was overcast and had late afternoon rain, not the best travel conditions but not bad enough to prevent the trip. Thursday was much better, partly cloudy and dry. I enjoyed my trips on both days.
Rather than including a gallery of still photos I am including this long (12:36) video that covers parts of both Engineer and Cinnamon passes.
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It was a good outing and I enjoyed both day’s travel. There are many more ATV trips in the Ouray – Silverton area that I hope to get to next year.
One or two more photos not including in the video:
Aspen turning color, Engineer Pass, Sept. 18
Jerry with old mine hoist, Mineral Point area, Sept. 19
Ebony’s kittens:
Ebony and her kittens
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
P.S.
We are not in the flood zone that has made national news. Here in the western part of the state we have had a lot of rain, and flash-flooding at one point closed I-70 a few miles from home, but nothing like they had on the eastern part of the state. Thanks to all who called or e-mailed to check on us!
Pam’s Two Cents Worth:
I am ready for the wood cutting summer to be over. Too many “pulls” on my time and energy – full-time job (I’d prefer to work part-time again), all these pregnant cats with kittens, and four-hour-each-way drives to the Sanderling property. Jer can’t really be safely left on the lot solo with the chain saw. There is no one in shouting distance if he injures himself, and cell phone coverage is spotty up there. Staging wood and slash one weekend when I (and the dogs) accompany Jer, then the next weekend he takes the solo trip with the truck and trailer to haul slash to the pit and wood home – that routine seems to be working.
One kitten from the previous litter died this weekend at the vet (the fuzzy white Siamese-mix), and one that was adopted from that same litter is sick but hanging in there (the long-haired orange one). A bacterial infection – it could have been picked up from Izzy, from the animal shelter, who knows – is the cause of the distress. Such sadness when the little ones cross the rainbow bridge so soon.
Ebony’s newborn kittens are Mink, Mole, Sable and Seal. I think there are three boys and one girl. Ebony knows exactly what to do, this is her second litter this year.
We did fit in the Mountain Laurie/Boreas Pass visit, as you can see by the photo from the Boreas Pass Road. Some years Mom’s presence is felt at the location where her ashes are scattered, some years not so much. A beautiful day on Boreas, but the spirit of Mountain Laurie seemed to visit me at Sanderling in the form of a hummingbird earlier this summer. If you believe in such things…
So I am sitting here trying to find a way to make this post a bit fresher and more personal than is my norm. How about a day-by day commentary? OK…let’s give it a try.
Friday: I had taken the day off. Thursday night one of my gold crowns came off. First stop on Friday is the dentist. He was able to work me in between appointments so I didn’t have to wait long, maybe 20 minutes or so. He re-glued the crown back in place. Went shopping after that for groceries and supplies. The ventilator fan in the bathroom had died and I stopped at three different stores looking for a replacement. Didn’t find one, the original is round and all the stores had were square units. Suggestion from Home Depot: Look on-line. Great. Until I can find one the bathroom will get a little steamy when we shower. Not showering is not an option… 🙂
Returned home, had lunch, then packed up the truck and headed up to the lot. Packing can be time consuming as I need to load and strap down the ATV, pack the ramps, load all the “stuff” needed for that trip, hook up the trailer, and make sure I have everything else I normally take such as my camera gear and a full water bottle. Then it’s off to face the holiday traffic. Pam normally has most of the “stuff” organized for me otherwise we probably would not have clean linens or food to eat when we get to Sanderling.
Arrived at lot, opened up trailer, transferred all the “stuff” from the truck into the right places. Trailer is a bit “closed in” but the cool mountain air soon cleared out the stale air. Unloaded the ATV and got the trailer set for the next morning’s work, then dinner and into bed for a night’s rest.
Saturday: I get up, have breakfast, hop on the ATV and hook up the trailer. Drive down to the spot where we had piled up brush to be taken to the burn pit. Load the trailer. Go back up the lot and attempt to get the 2-wheel cart into service. The last time out we had decided to work on cleaning up the higher parts of the lot. No way to get the 5 foot by 12 foot aluminum trailer higher into the lot. Plan of attack: Use the 2-wheel cart to haul stuff down to the trailer. I don’t know what it is with me and keys, but I did not have the key for the padlock I had used to secure the 2-wheel cart. Crap. Loaded more slash by hand into the trailer until I had a respectable load and took it to the burn pit.
Ever had an “it was meant to happen” moment? I had gone back to the RV to get a 2nd bottle of water as the day was beginning to get warm. Coming out of the burn pit I stopped to thank the volunteers who man the gate. One lady asks me if I have any extra water so I hand over the spare bottle. Turns out she had lived near Grand Junction and knew where De Beque was. Who knew? Back to the trailer to start on Plan B.
Plan B: cut a road through the edge of the aspen grove that will be wide enough to handle the ATV pulling the trailer. I got started on this and was working away when Pam arrived. I decided to cut this path for two reasons; first is that I could not get the 2-wheel cart in service, but mainly I decided I didn’t want to have to handle everything twice more, first into the cart than out again and into the trailer. Loading directly into the trailer made much more sense and will be well worth the loss of a few aspen for a road cut. The other advantage is being able to get the trailer closer to both slash and firewood, eliminating trips back and forth that using the 2-wheel cart would have entailed. I hope this new arrangement works out well. If not then there will be another Plan B.
Wilderness Road
We proceeded to cut standing dead wood and small green trees in order to clear our “road through the wilderness.” Attention was paid to clearing dead wood from near the saddle area. I used the ATV to skid the salvageable wood down to the trailer. (See 44 second clip below.) We had a respectable load of wood by the time we were done for the day.
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Pam had opted to come to the property on Saturday for a very good reason: Two of Izzy’s kittens were going to be adopted. Pam had been in contact with a lady from Glenwood Springs who was looking for a pair of kittens. The potential adopter had seen photos of the kittens, had viewed the kitten video I posted a few weeks back, and visited De Beque to see the litter. She decided to take the Siamese-looking kitten, Freedom, and the gold/orange kitten, Liberty, as kittens tend to do better when they have a playmate about their own age. Since the adoption is through the Friends Of Rifle Animal Shelter, Pam made arrangements to deliver all 5 kittens to that facility on Saturday morning before heading up to Sanderling with the dogs. The shelter will arrange the adoption after proper vetting has occurred. We are delighted to get these first two adopted and hope the other 3 will quickly share the same fate.
Izzy’s kitten Liberty
Izzy’s kitten Freedom
By the time the road was done on Saturday afternoon and all the firewood retrieved, we were beat. Pam made a nice hot dinner of corned beef and potatoes accompanied by fresh fruit and home-made chocolate chip cookies. Then it was time to relax, talk, plan the next day’s activities, shower, then off to bed.
Sunday: The clouds had started gathering and we knew that by afternoon rain would set in. After a few hours of work on the road -widening it – we knocked off for the morning. Back in The Box, the propane tank had been used up and I switched to the other tank. After a good lunch of eggs and left-over corn beef and potatoes, washed down with hot tea, I drove to Fairplay to get the propane tank refilled. Turns out my tank has not been “re-certified” recently – has to be done every 5 years or so – and no vendor in Fairplay would fill my propane tank. Great. I’ll have to find a place that will do a re-certification before I can get the tank filled. Not going to happen on a Sunday or Labor Day so the tank will come home with me.
By the time I returned to the RV Pam had pretty well completed getting stuff ready to return home. We took a walk up to Pavilion Point, let the dogs out for a last run before their 4-hour trip, and managed to get everything loaded into the car. Pam started for home with the dogs just as the raindrops were beginning to fall.
It rained sheets, accompanied by thunder and lightning. I stayed inside. Rain kept up for about half an hour then stopped. I began filling the fresh water tank to replace the water we had used during the last two visits. Over to the community hand pump to get water. I filled the tank then made another trip to fill my empty water jugs. Sixteen extra gallons are now sitting at the rear of the RV ready to use the next time we visit. As I was doing this the rain began again, but no thunder and lightning this time, just a nice moderate rain that kept up for a few hours.
Realizing my work day was over I made myself a hot dinner (tuna and cheese on toast) and had a cranberry-orange muffin for desert. After doing dishes and getting cleaned up I called it a night.
Monday: I slept in until 7:30! Nice. Then it was breakfast and begin packing the truck and shutting down the RV. I loaded the ATV, found a place to carry the propane tank, and hooked up the aluminum trailer. Plan for the day was to get in an ATV ride before getting home. Was not going to happen.
I am in the truck heading for Breckenridge when the phone rings. It’s Pam. “The Honda won’t start, it’s dead in the driveway.” ATV trip goes away and I head straight for home. Arrive in De Beque in early afternoon. Battery in the Honda is dead and won’t take a charge. Off to Grand Junction and Walmart for a new battery. Since I am making the trip anyway I might as well do some other shopping. Get home, unload everything, put new battery in the car. Honda fires right up with the new battery installed. I fry up some hamburgers for dinner then check my e-mail. Nothing major except a note from my sister Kitt who has some computer questions. I answer as best I can then shower and head for bed. I am very tired.
And that was my Labor Day weekend.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Two Cents Worth:
All I can say is, thank goodness I drove straight through from Sanderling to De Beque without stopping, or that dead Honda battery could easily have halted my return trip. Not fun, with three dogs in tow.
Izzy is still with us, waiting for her milk to dry up before she can be spayed and returned to our garage colony. Ebony, the petite black preggo who’s been showing up at the garage feeder, has now come into the house for the duration of her pregnancy. Foster litter #24 is in the hopper.
This past Sunday I was able to spend a couple hours riding the Middle Fork of the Swan River. (The last time I was in this area I rode the Georgia Pass [South Fork] and North Fork of the Swan River ATV trails.) This ride, plus updates on the lot and Izzy’s kittens, are the subject of today’s post.
I’ll begin with a few lot updates. Pam and I have been clearing dead wood and cutting up firewood. Pam was stung/bitten twice during our last outing as it appears that, with fall coming, some of the more aggressive insects are building nests low to the ground and under some of the dead wood we are planning to remove. We have to take a bit more care now and have armed ourselves with hornet and wasp killer in spray cans. We’ve made the decison to work higher ground on the theory that the bugs prefer the wetter areas of the lot and the higher, drier parts will have fewer nests. As such we will begin working the saddle area and upper parts of the lot.
This plan has some issues as there is not a good pathway to get the aluminum trailer into the saddle. Plan B…cut a small trail large enough for the 2-wheel dump cart to use and ferry the wood down to the driveway where we can load it into the trailer.
Our last load of wood was the largest single load we have brought home so far. Two evenings of labor and we had the logs cut into firewood, delivery scheduled for this upcoming weekend. A long Labor Day holiday will allow us to get more brush taken to the burn pit and stage more firewood to bring home. Temps have dropped into the upper 40 degree range already in the high country, a reminder cold comes to the higher elevations early in the fall, and at least one ski area reported a snowfall already. (Snow only lasted a day or so.) We need to get our wood out without wasting much time.
Load of logs from lot became firewood
Firewood ready to load and deliver
I bought a new chain saw to help the work go faster. My old (30+ years) Craftsman has problems and parts are not available to do the repairs, so Pam let me buy a new Jonsered 2245 saw. It has proven to be a nice upgrade.
I was at Sanderling this past weekend (solo visit) and put the new solar charger in place. I hope this fixes the problems with the solar panels not keeping the battery charged but we’ll take the generator with us on the next trip as backup. On my solo visit I hauled the trailer over to the dump site, emptied the grey and blackwater holding tanks, and topped off the fresh water tank. We should be good to go for a long Labor Day weekend visit.
Subject 2: Izzy’s kittens.
Izzy’s 5 kittens are at the “really cute” stage, exploring their world, wrestling with each other, and developing distinct personalities. All are very friendly with people and will attack shoe laces and pants cuffs if given a chance. We will try to get individual photos soon but here is a short (2:46) video clip of some play time:
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After finishing the “trailer chores” on Saturday, Sunday I took an ATV ride up the Middle Fork of the Swan River. The last time I was in this area (Georgia Pass) I had ridden the North Fork of the Swan River and had enjoyed the outing a great deal. I had seen moose, mountain goats, and some great scenery.
This trip was not quite as exciting (no moose) but I did see a few more mountain goats and lots of high country scenery. Afternoon rain cut my trip a bit short; I had no rain gear with me and above tree line elevations (pockets of snow were below me) getting wet means getting cold in a hurry. I headed back down the trail and received only minor showers until after I made it back to the truck and had the ATV loaded. I ran into pockets of hard rain on my way home. I’ll need to add a poncho to my ATV gear.
Here are a few photos of this outing:
Lower end of the Middle Fork of the Swan River
Cabin marks the Swandyke town site
Middle Fork, Swan River
Above timberline where snow often stays all year, about 12,600 feet
Big views from top of trail, looking west
End point for today but trail continues on
Mountain goats frequent the area
Side road #258 leads back to old mine
Highlight of the day was, again, seeing mountain goats up close. Here is a quick video (2:34 running time) featuring 3 mountain goats. Note how one is still shedding its coat while the other two animals look neat and sleek.
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Next big outing will be Labor Day weekend at the lot.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
P.S.
I have created a gallery for my California 2013 motorcycle trip. If you would like to view it the address is:
Kittens are their absolute cutest, for me, at 5 weeks of age. This litter just turned six weeks old, and are starting to be little s-h-i-t-s. The Rifle Shelter may be coming to my “rescue” and finding a foster for the current litter until they are old enough to be altered (male kittens must be 2.0 pounds to be neutered, female kittens 2.5 pounds to be spayed). I may need the assistance because it appears I have another preggo mom cat at the garage feeder. Yippee.
“Six Days On The Road and I’m a gonna make it home tonight…” Dave Dudley, Trucker Classics
Actually it was 8 days on the road this time. I left on July 24 and returned August 1. Destination: Santa Margarita, California (near San Louis Obispo) to meet up with other members of my motorcycle group, the XS11 Owner’s Association. Headquarters for this rally was a KOA located a few miles out of Santa Margarita.
I try to take one longer motorcycle trip every year. (Last year it was to eastern Ohio.) I’ve made the trip to California before as rallies have been held near Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, and Santa Margarita. I know many of people who attend these rallies and looked forwarded to seeing them again.
This post will be in two parts, as I took over 200 photos and several video clips. Due to wind and lack of a tripod some of the video is unusable and some of the photos are near-duplicates of each other. It’s going to take a while to go through everything and come up with a video montage and gallery. This post will have a few highlight photos; video will come in a later post.
The only thing I will say about the trip out is — it was hot. I stayed in Las Vegas the first night, and from there I rode through Bakersfield where I picked up Highway 58 which ends in Santa Margarita. I went through 160 ounces of Gator-Aid the second day. That is 5 each of the 32 ounce bottles. I travel with a small cooler strapped to the luggage rack. The cooler will hold 2 of the 32 ounce bottles and 8 – 9 pounds of ice. (I get ice every morning before I get on the road.) I generally start the day with 2 more bottles in a saddlebag. When I finish one out of the cooler, another takes its place. That’s the only way to make it across the hot stretches…hydration is everything.
It was a different story along the California coast. After I arrived and set up my camp I headed for Morro Bay…the forecast high was 58! An on-shore breeze coupled with heavy overcast made for cool temps. Felt good to me!
By Friday night another 15 people had arrived, including the rally host. Here is a photo of the gathering:
Friday night at the KOA Photo by Ray Matteis.
Not everyone who arrived planned to join the group ride; some were on other trips and had scheduled a stop-in to say hello and meet other club members.
Saturday morning was the ‘group ride’ and we headed for the coast. We stopped in Cambria for lunch and Ray Matteis took this photo in the restaurant:
Lunch at Cambria. L to R: Ed, Tom, Scott, Me, Tkat, Mike. Photo by Ray Matteis.
Here are a couple of “bike” photos from various stops on the ride:
Bikes at KOA
Stop along the California coast
With the overcast conditions it was hard to get good scenic shots, but I did get some animal photos. Seagulls, elephant seals, sea lions, pelicans, and other wildlife all came under the lens.
Seagull, Morro Bay
Elephant Seal males can weight up to 1,500 pounds
Sea lions north of Ragged Point
Pelican in flight
When the overcast occasionally lifted I could get a couple of scenic shots:
Pacific Coast Highway (Hwy 1) along the California coast
Wind surfer, California coast
After a weekend of riding, talking, and eating with club members, it was time to start for home. I had decided to return through Yosemite National Park and, if possible, spend at least one night there.
I came in through the southern entrance which is north of Fresno. Riding through the park is a great experience, but I also needed a place to stay for the night. One of the campgrounds had a few tent spaces left so I claimed a spot, registered, set up camp, then took off for Glacier Point. This scenic viewpoint is very popular with tourists and is a great place to see some of the park’s major features.
Half-Dome (Center) with Vernal and Nevada Falls to the right
The next morning I was able to drive across the park and make it to Ely, Nevada where I spent my last night on the road. I arrived home a bit after 5:00 PM on the 31st. It was quite the trip!
A few statistics:
2,920 miles total. 77.4 gallons of gas. Highest price for fuel: Lee Vinning, California: $4.90 per gallon of regular. Average price for fuel was $4.11 per gallon.
I did have a few problems with my trailer. I broke 2 fender braces at different points in the trip. These did not stop me but I had to rig up temporary fixes to continue. I had 1 flat tire, $10.00 to fix, in Barstow, California, and had to replace a part of the hitch when getting ready to leave Santa Margarita. That repair set me back about 2 hours, time which came out of my Yosemite stay. Still, nothing major, just irritating.
My next post will have – hopefully – some video clips taken during the trip and a link to a gallery that will have more photos for those who are interested.
Pam says I cannot close without including some video of Izzy’s kittens. At 4-5 weeks, they are starting to move around and are quite entertaining! (Running time is 1:54.)
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That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
I’ll start with a little more news about the lot. I found this aerial view on Google Maps, and have tried to outline our lot perimeter in red:
Our lot perimeters, in red. More or less.
This area is known as Link Spring Ridge. The road name, Sanderling, refers to a type of waterbird. This is in keeping with the other roads in the area having bird names. We plan to make a trip over this weekend to haul some more brush to the burn pit and bring home some firewood.
As I mentioned in my last post, snow was in the forecast for the high country last week and kept us from visiting the lot. Here is a “snow” photo I took this past Sunday on Grand Mesa after the storm passed:
Snow on Grand Mesa, October 14, 2012
Not only was there measurable snow, but enough to bring out the plows to clear the road. This is at an elevation of 10,836 feet, about 1,000 feet higher than our lot, but the snow persisted, with lower amounts, down to about 8,000 feet. We are not quite sure what we will find on out next trip.
* Warning: Boring topic ahead. *
I now have working brakes on one side of the tractor. Two weeks ago I put in my new parts, used brake rod, and “special” Ford bolts. I thought I was done until I tried to use the brake and found the brake pedal had been bent to the point where it hit the running board without activating the brakes. I don’t know what Dad hit that bent this hefty assembly, but here is a photo of the old blue rod and the replacment I took from my parts tractor:
Blue original brake pedal is really bent!
I tried to draw a line from the place where the clamp bolt sits to the end of the pedal, and you can see the blue pedal is bent down at a significant angle. After I replaced the blue pedal with the red one I could re-install the right-side running board and actually use the right brake. I’m getting really good at removing the tractor tire and taking apart the brake assembly, as to replace the pedal I had to disassemble the brakes again. Hopefully this experience will stand me in good stead when I start working on the left brakes!
My nose continues to heal, but I am still putting Band-Aids on it to avoid scaring little children and co-workers. Actually it is looking better and I hope to discontinue covering it by next Monday.
We (the Royal We) have taken on 3 new foster kittens. They are a couple of months old, but have respiratory issues and were generally not thriving at the animal shelter. The shelter folks gave Pam a call and asked if she could foster them until they were again healthy, and Pam agreed to take them on.
They are good kittens. All will purr at the drop of a hat, are very well socialized, and they enjoy human interaction. Typical tabby cats, 2 have very clear markings but the third is mostly black. Named the “Q” group, their names are Quinn, Quentin, and Quirky. We will probably not have them long, but it is sort of fun to have kittens in the house again. I’ll try to have photos for my next post.
What a segue…here are a couple more pictures of our cats:
Soot stretched out on the couch.
Mira giving me the hairy eyeball from the floor.
I think I have recent photos now of all the household pets. Eli likes to see them, and it is a good idea to get some current shots to add to each animal’s photo folder.
We took the Subaru in for routine maintenance, consisting of fluid changes and a tune-up. Looks like a new battery is in the works, as the original is putting out less power than it’s rated for, and a rear strut appears to be leaking and should be replaced. Always something with the cars. Tune-up was $617.00, and struts – which have to be replaced as a pair – will run another $600.00. Something else to work into our budget.
The last trip to the dermatologist resulted in a session of “dermal abrasion” to smooth the edges of the skin graft and – eventually – blend the graft and skin color into the rest of the nose. It hurt like heck. Not the abrasion itself, but the needles used to inject the local anesthetic. The nose did not feel all that great after the anesthetic wore off, either. I hope this is the last session I need!
For what it’s worth, the tool used by the doctor looks like an engraving bit used in a Dremel tool. It looked something like this, but a little rougher:
(The doctor did the work by hand, just in case you were wondering.)
We had planned a trip over to the lot this weekend, but the forecast of 4 – 6 inches of snow above 8,000 feet means it would be a poor couple of days to travel and work, so we are staying home. I’m working on this post instead!
We heard from Toby. He is settling in and starting to look for work. His bedroom is under the eves of an old house and he says he can’t stand fully upright in the shower, but he will just have to get by. Living and kitchen are on the main floor and are OK if not exactly spacious. Laundry is in the basement, which means trips up and down a very steep stairs. Ah, the joys of being single and young.
I’ve taken a few more photos of our cats and will be adding them to the cat slide show. Here are a few of them:
Antonio (Tony the Tiger)
London cleaning out a can of Friskies
5 of our cats: (L to R) London, Antonio, Sunny, Cirrus, and Soot. Missing are Velvet and Mira, the 2 girls.
Well, I am running out of things to write about, so it must be time to quit.
Last week Pam delivered our 6 kittens to the facility that sponsored the foster, The Friends of Rifle Animal Shelter. Over the weekend a pair of these kittens was adopted by a family.
Yesterday the shelter manager, Heather, took the remaining 4 kittens to a local PetCo store where they could be seen as available for adoption. Normally the shelter lists available cats and dogs on Petfinder.com, so we were not sure how putting the kittens in a retail store would work out. Pam planned to stop at PetCo on her way home from work, check on the kittens, and get some needed dog food. When she arrived and asked where the kittens were, she was informed they had all been adopted that day! Two went as a pair to one home and the other two were adopted individually.
All 6 adopted within a week, and 4 in 1 day. That is a record for getting a batch adopted and we are delighted the kittens are now in homes of their own. The store person who spoke to Pam said people just fell in love with these well-marked and personable tabby cats and they could have adopted more.
The shelter, who has nearly $200.00 tied up in each cat by the time they are adopted, charges only $35.00 per animal. Considering the cats have been spayed or neutered, had shots and medical examinations, and are micro-chipped for identification, $35.00 is a bargain! The rest of the cost is made up by grants, contributions, and money from the shelter’s annual budget. As fosters, we pay for the food, litter, toys, and transport of the animals while they are under our care. Pam administers any medications that might be necessary for things that do not require a vet or vet-tech’s attention.
This past litter was the 20th Pam has taken in, and I must say it was a very successful foster!
Time to bring the blog up to date. I have a few different topics to catch up with, so let’s begin. (As usual, clicking on a photo will bring up a larger image.)
Kittens
The shelter Pam does the foster care for called the other day to let us know they had room in the “cat house” for the 6 kittens we have been fostering. Pam dropped them off at the shelter this past Wednesday. This was a good bunch, and I hope they get adopted quickly.
3 kittens from the last foster.
Pam had let the kittens out of the master bath into our adjoining bedroom. At night we put them back in the bathroom. The kittens sure enjoyed the additional space, and particularly enjoyed the water bed!
Kitten faces sure are cute.
We will miss this batch. They were very healthy, personable, and generally a lot of fun. In a couple weeks we will take the mother cat, Precious, in to get her spay operation, then we will put her up for adoption as well.
Land Hunt
The search continues. We looked at 4 or 5 properties the last trip over. Some were interesting, some less so. A couple lots had decent views but you had to look over a neighbor’s house to see them. This is not really what we are after.
One place had an old cabin on it. I found this place moderately interesting, but it had one unusual feature:
Grave on Longbow property
That’s right…a grave. We don’t know if human or animal. Colorado is trying to pass a law that says burials on private land must be registered with the state, then recorded on the land deed. That might be interesting!
The cabin looks like this:
Longbow Way cabin
The main problem with this place is the incredible amount of garbage lying around, including what looked like bits of a broken car windshield. There is a lean-to at the left of the cabin that is a complete tear-down, and another building that could serve as a garage with some work. Views were OK, nothing dramatic. Cabin is not habitable, and it is a better than even chance that it would have to be torn down as well. We decided it would take too much work for us to seriously consider this place, but if the price drops, it may be a possibility.
Tractor
Arriving home with the 8N
I have not taken any close-up photos yet of the tractor, (gee, what a disappointment!) though I have done some work on it. If anything, this poor old beast is in worse shape than I originally thought. For example, it has floorboards, and the right one is just hanging down from one bolt as the rear bracket is broken. I took a close look, and found that someone had tried to weld the bracket, but had only succeeded in welding the bracket to one of the bolts that holds it in place. It took me about a half-hour with a grinder, Vice-Grips, and a socket just to remove the broken bracket. This tractor is going to take a long time to fix up.
I took the front tire that always goes flat in to be fixed, and two different shops refused to work on it due to rust around the tire valve. A new rim is on the list of parts to buy or get. Most parts are available from restoration shops, but that is an expensive way to go. The front rim, without a tire and tube, lists for around $122.00. Oh well. Pam says I am an expensive date.
Gossip
Our neighbor lady is breaking up with her boyfriend. Not amicably, either. We like her better than him, (it is her house and property) but are trying to stay out of this as much as possible. The only reason I mention it here is that it affects our privacy fence. We put enough up to get to the corner of a shed that he had put in her back yard. Well, yesterday he pulled the shed out of the yard! Now our back privacy fence covers only half the property line and we will need to add another 2 sections to fully “privatize” our back yard. And here I thought we were done with the construction phase.
Miscellaneous
Pam will be working a little more from home the next few weeks, as construction on a building across the alley from her office is going to enter the pile driving stage. Her office is below grade, so stands to take the brunt of dust, dirt, noise, and vibration this process will generate. Much, but not all, of Pam’s job involves checking college catalogs on-line, which she can do from home as well as from work. She has the blessing from her department head to take work home and avoid the construction hassle, at least this part of it. She will have to go in for some tasks, but hopes in-office time will only be 2 days a week.
Like most places, we are setting record warm temperatures. No fires (yet) in our part of the state, but the fire danger is extreme. No rain in the forecast for at least the next 10 days. It is highly unlikely we will escape the summer without fires in the area.
Tomorrow is Father’s Day, and this will be the first one where Pam’s father and my dad are both gone, leaving us “fatherless” for the first time. This really brings the transitions of the generations home to us.
I need to mention Becky’s Blog. Becky is Pam’s sister, and Becky has her own blog that we enjoy following. Keep it up, Becky! (http://www.becali-brownmandm.blogspot.com/)
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
