Category: General (Page 42 of 61)

The last segment of my trip, which had begun on August 11th, included a visit to central Wisconsin to see my mother and family members.

I arrived in Greenwood, where my mother lives, late in the day on Monday, August 17th. The drive down from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula was a bit rainy and cold, but I did work in a stop at another waterfall. Notice how grey the sky is, an indication of the intermittent rain falling on this Monday morning.

Agate Falls

The old railroad trestle is now part of a recreational trail for both summer and winter use. Must be interesting to ride a snowmobile over it! The primitive trail down to the bottom of the falls is almost non-existent and it took a bit of work to get this shot.

The visit with my mother and sister Sienna was quiet. We talked a lot, watched a little TV, and I walked part of the land where I grew up. It is different now, after 4 decades, particularly where open fields have grown over with large trees and tall grasses.

On Wednesday I drove to Bloomer to visit with Pam’s brother Craig and his wife Dianne, who just moved into their newly-built lakeside retirement home. While there is still work to do, the house is very well built and quite attractive. Both Craig and Dianne are glad to be out of their small rental, occupied while the house was under construction. They still have a lot of boxes to go through, still need to sort out storage places for their stuff, but both are retired and are looking forward to settling into their new place.

Craig and Dianne outside their new house

After a very good visit with relatives on Pam’s side, I headed back to Greenwood, stopping to see my father’s brother Frank and his sister Gina, my aunt and uncle. Both live near Chippewa Falls. Aunt Gina is 94 and is still as sharp as ever. Uncle Frank is 88 and looks terrific. They took me out to eat at a China Buffet and we were able to talk for quite a while over dinner and later back at Aunt Gina’s house. It was very good to see both of them.

The next morning, the 19th, I started back to Colorado with the intent on making it as far as Lincoln, Nebraska that evening. On the way I passed a sign advertising the Iowa Aviation Museum. Who knew? So, just on the spur of the moment, I decided to visit the museum.

The museum is small but growing and has a collection of some ’20s and ’30s aircraft as well as a few newer planes.

1929 Stearman

A-7 Corsair

I had arrived late in the day and could not stay long at the museum, but it was an interesting place to visit! Later that day I arrived in Lincoln and settled in for the night.

The next day it was back on the road again. Previously I had mentioned I’d stopped in North Platte during the initial days of this trip to buy a used tire, and at that time had been quoted $180.00 per tire for a set of “take off” tires. (The story is that a guy had purchased a new truck but wanted “monster truck” tires installed so traded these in. Supposedly the tires, Michelin light truck tires, had only about 400 miles on them.) I decided to offer the dealer $150.00 per tire, about $92.00 each off the price of a new tire, and they said OK if they could keep the old tires to resell. So I stopped in North Platte and had a “new” set of tires installed! The old tires, on the truck since we bought it, were nearing the end of their service life and Pam and I had talked about replacing them this fall, so I just accelerated the timing a bit. The Michelins seem to ride very well and are quieter than the tires they replaced. I just hope they last a long time.

That night, Friday, I made it as far as our Sanderling lot in Colorado and stayed in The Box, our RV trailer. Saturday morning I did a few chores (such as loading the firewood I had cut previously), walked around the lot a bit, and just sat for a while enjoying the morning while drinking a hot cup of tea. After I did get going I stopped to look at a couple of For Sale houses Pam had seen during an on-line search; my last leg home was unhurried with a few side stops.

Over all it was a good trip. I saw some new country, reconnected with some old acquaintances, met some new people, and visited family. I had the opportunity to visit Craig and Dianne’s new home plus walk the property where I grew up.  I ate some good food and drank some good beer and learned a bit of history along the way.  Then I had to go back to work… 🙁

My next post will have a few statistics and a movie clip, mostly waterfalls but presenting a few other topics as well.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Convincing Fields to drive the truck and trailer the cycle was a good move.  He also did well watching his diet and practicing moderation to control his diabetes during his first major trip since his diagnosis.

Happy Trails.

Saturday was the “Big Ride” day. After a good breakfast we headed north out of Houghton into the Upper Peninsula. (Da UP.)

One stop was at the ruins of the Calumet Brewery, once one of the largest breweries in the state. (1899 – 1919.) Prohibition put an end to this and many other breweries in the country. The remains of the building are impressive but are being taken over by vegetation.

Jerry at ruins of Calumet Brewery

We made a few other stops, then took off for a ride around the south side of the peninsula, going through the town of Gay. Of course, we had to stop at the Gay Bar for refreshment and to take photos.

Our group at the Gay Bar

A scenic stop was part of the Brockway Mountain drive, with views out over the town of Copper Harbor and Lake Superior.

Brockway Mountain overlook

After a 200+ mile day we ate dinner at the Red Jacket Brewery in Calumet. The room was a bit warm but the locally-brewed beer (I had the Downtown Brown) served with the broiled lake trout was excellent. The trout, fresh caught, was delicious.

Our motorcycles lined up in Calumet

After dinner it was back to the hotel to clean up, talk, and relax after the long day.

Sunday was short ride day as some of the guys had to start home. Erik led us out to the end of the shipping canal, dredged to open a natural passage though the peninsula for ships to pass through instead of having to go around. With the decline in copper and coal mining the canal does not see a lot of use but large freighters occasionally pass through. The lift bridge in Houghton goes up for ship passage then down for auto travel. In winter the bridge drops to it’s lowest position so snowmobiles can use the bottom level to cross the canal.

Lift bridge over shipping canal in Houghton

After lunch we returned to the motel and another fellow (Brent) and I decided to ride some local roads we had not been on before. Part of the afternoon was spent sitting under a pavilion overlooking the lake, watching the lake traffic and swapping stories about riding motorcycles. Later we rode some back roads and returned to the motel just in time to hook up with several other guys for dinner. We ate at Joey’s Fish Market in Houghton. Advice: Don’t order the 3 piece cod dinner unless you are very hungry!

Brent has a fondness for cigars

Back to the motel where farewells were said as all of us would be heading out our separate ways on Monday morning. It had been a good gathering with nice roads to ride, stops that combined a mix of history and scenery, and good company.

Next post: Visiting family in Wisconsin and the trip home.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

While Fields was cycling da UP, I was driving back and forth to work with not-totally-healed bursitis.  Ouch.

Happy Trails.

This is going to be a long post; I will split it up into three segments.

The first and second parts will cover the “Lost in Da UP” motorcycle rally I attended August 14, 15, and 16. The third part will cover my Wisconsin visit and trip home.

This narrative will be in chronological order, starting with my departure on August 11th. I left from work early with the goal of making it to North Platte, Nebraska the first night. A nail in a tire slowed me down a bit as I had to run into Sterling, Colorado, and find a tire shop who could make the repair. However, I did make it to North Platte.

The next morning, still in North Platte, I had another flat tire. The local tire shop said the damage could not be repaired so I ended up buying a used tire. The shop also had a barely-used set of Michelin truck tires in the size I needed, but I decided to pass. After a long day’s drive, I stayed the night just south of Minneapolis.

Thursday I made it to Houghton, Michigan, and my motel, Julie’s Motor Inn.

Base Camp for rally

The motel is right out of the ’50s but the A/C worked. (Temps were in the high 80s and low 90s.)

Motel office

I checked in, got my gear into the room, unloaded the bike, then went for a ride. I ended up getting a burger in a local steak house, then it was back to Julie’s for a night’s rest.

The rally didn’t officially begin until Friday evening, so Friday morning I took off on a ride of my own. I enjoyed the many icons of small-town America are in this area, as large cities are few and far between. Here are a few  examples:

Typical General Store

Well-kept rural church

This one made me laugh – decorated hay bales

Waysides had a mix of scenic views and historical information,

View of Lake Superior from Chassell Cliff roadside park

Reynold-Corliss steam engine was in service from 1912 to 1968.

And, it turns out, there are waterfalls in the area.

Bond Falls

Water views are always an attraction, and this ride got me close to Lake Superior on a few occasions.

North side of Upper Peninsula has many small beaches

After a ride of about 235 miles I returned to Julie’s Motor Inn where Erik, the rally organizer, was setting up the meet-and-greet cookout.

Erik (The Red) sets up Friday evening cookout

I am going to jump ahead just a bit and include this photo of the nine rally attendees:

Arlan, Greg, Harry, James, Brent, Ian, Erik, Todd, and Jerry

That’s it for now. More rally and trip commentary in my next post. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

While Fields was on his Midwest junket, I carried on here at home.  I did visit the eye glasses folks to order new spectacles; they’ve arrived since.  When I’m stylin’ the new frames, a person faintly resembling my Uncle Don looks back at me from the mirror.  So much for going “retro” with the new glasses.

I’m going on my annual extended motorcycle trip beginning next Tuesday; the Upper Peninsula of Michigan  (Houghton) is calling me. The rally is being held on August 14, 15, and 16th. I’ll attend the rally, then head to central Wisconsin on the 17th, see my mother for a few days, and get to Bloomer to see Craig and Dianne’s new home.

I won’t be posting from on the road so there will be a break in the action. Check back in a couple of weeks!

There is some news to report from this past Saturday. I drove to the mountain property Friday night with a list of items to accomplish on Saturday. Everything was to be done on Saturday, as I had arrived too late on Friday to get any real work done. Except for checking the mousetraps. (Yes, one mouse in one trap – again.)

Saturday arrived. First of all, I took the last of the landscape blocks out of the bed of the truck  and put them in place along the driveway. I re-arranged some of the existing railroad ties for better appearance and function as part of the landscape block project. Next, I cut up the small aspen we had removed from the carport area. Finally, I pumped water and filled the RV’s fresh water tank. In my spare time, I took a load of wood to the burn pit. Checking off all the items on my Sanderling list, I drove past a couple of For Sale properties in the Fairplay area before returning home around dark Saturday night.

Here is a short clip – 2:38 – of me cutting the firewood. The action is a bit repetitive due to the nature of the job, but I have not posted any video for a while so thought I would throw this one in.

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When I am cutting small aspen, this method is faster and safer than using the chainsaw. It is only possible with a working generator, another reason I’m glad to have the generator fixed.

Today I installed the motorcycle wheel chock on the trailer, changed oil in the Honda and checked all Honda fluid levels (for Pam’s use while I’m away), and began preparing for my upcoming trip. I will be taking the truck and trailering the bike; this is the first time ever that I will be trailering instead of riding the full distance. But I ask you: How many times riding a cycle across Nebraska is enough? I am looking forward to the trip with the truck.

Bike loaded on trailer and ready to go

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

While Fields drives across the middle of the U.S. and back, I will be enjoying a few days of annual leave here-and-there myself while he’s gone.  Eating when I want, watching my programs on the living room TV – pretty much a vacation for me too.

Happy Trails.

Since my last post, a bit has happened regarding the Sanderling lot. Here is an update.

The maiden voyage of the cistern trailer went very well. It pulls behind the truck better than the aluminum trailer. I have not yet used it for hauling the cistern or honey wagon tanks, but below is a photo of it loaded with slash wood to be taken to the fire pit.

New trailer loaded with burn pit wood

I have decided to add stake bed sides and a motorcycle wheel chock to make the trailer more of an all-purpose utility platform.

I did get my generator fixed (about $70.00) and I took it to The Lot this past weekend. It now runs just like new, and I was able to use it to power the honey wagon pump and empty The Box’s holding tanks. (I put the honey wagon tank in the back of the truck.) This means we no longer have to pull The Box over to the nearest dump station, the goal we were hoping for when we embarked on this project. Below is a photo (Pam says it is gross) of the honey wagon system in use:

Honey wagon kit working as advertised

I still need to work on getting the cistern tank and associated systems functioning, but that is a lower priority as I can still pump water by hand when needed. Still, the cistern project is progressing — I received some fittings I needed and ordered on-line and fitted them to (and tested) my pump. Not a lot of progress, but some.

This is the second trip to The Lot with some of my landscaping blocks in the truck. The blocks have been put in a few spots along The Lot’s driveway, a lot of work considering I have to dig out dirt and gravel  to get the blocks in place. So far, 132 in, 32 more still to transport and place. The blocks look like this:

Landscape blocks in place – upper drive

Landscape blocks along lower drive

We relocated the front half of the dog run in order to make way for another project, a car port. This is prep work; the car port itself will probably not get installed until next spring but could happen sooner. We had to remove quite a few trees, mostly very small aspen, to make a 12 foot by 24 foot opening along the driveway. Now we will have to level it off and get some gravel down before the port can be assembled. It is nice to have an off-driveway parking spot for the trailer; we were getting tired of having to maneuver around it when going to or from The Box.

Car port will be the newly cleared area left of trailer

I had one disagreeable task; the last time I was up alone the furnace kicked on and a bad smell came out of it—burned mouse hair. This trip I had to remove a grill, plus the front cover of the furnace burner, and scrape out the charred remains of a mouse that had – somehow – found its way into the furnace and died. Ba-a-a-a-d smell, and it took me a while to scrape the remains off the furnace burner. I did not turn the furnace on this trip; it was warm enough at night not to need it, but on my next solo trip I will turn the furnace on with the windows open and see how good a job I did. No photos of this particular task… 🙂

There was much to get done this past weekend, and we actually accomplished everything! Dog pen reconfigured, car port preparations started, landscape blocks placed, and holding tanks emptied. I have some trees to cut into firewood next trip, and a load of stuff to take to the burn pit. The generator runs like a champ. We returned home very tired but very pleased with what was accomplished. Now if we could just keep the mice out of The Box….

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

These darned mice. Mother Nature laughs at the family, with over a dozen domesticated + feral cats, that has mice in their RV.

I was pleased this weekend; my ailing hip allowed me some measure of mobility around the property. Still not 100%, but health improvement.

Happy Trails.

This is a one-issue post: The Cistern trailer is ready to roll. Here are a few photos:

Cistern trailer, early days

Spare tire dominates the front end

Plywood deck is 3/4 inches thick

Profile shows off black frame and red fenders

Total investment is now approaching $300.00 with a bit more to come.

The ‘shakedown run’ will be tomorrow (Friday) when I take a day of vacation and head for The Lot. I hope to get started on mounting the tanks and plumbing and get a list of the other bits and pieces I will need to make the tailer work as intended; a platform for the cistern tank and honey wagon tank. More to come!

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

What Fields didn’t mention is the generator is still at the repair shop.  Without the generator, the honey wagon is a no-go (so to speak).

Happy Trails.

This is an at-home weekend so there’s not a lot of activity to report on. I’ve decided to post a few comments and photos that cover various topics that haven’t fit into past posts.

First, it continues to be a wetter than normal year for Colorado. The plants are loving it. New growth on the pine trees at Sanderling is spectacular, especially for this generally arid state:

New growth evident on pine trees

Pine cone production is way up

Flowers and other plants have also benefitted; we have seen more wildflowers (quantity) than we can remember. The colors are also very bright:

Bright wildflowers dot the countryside

Parrot’s Beak is a cheery white landscape accent

In our travels we have seen a newer poppy plant, more watermelon in color than red. These seem to be gaining in popularity and are often found near the red variety.

“Watermelon” poppies along a rock wall

The above photo was taken in Silver Plume when we were looking at houses. Another photo from the same trip  features a sign that seemed a little out of place for the town:

Silver Plume has a tea room?

In my last post I mentioned I had won some landscape blocks in an auction. Supposedly there were about 120 blocks. I counted them as I unloaded the trailer; I actually have 166 blocks! This puts the cost at about 20 cents each. About half of them are currently stacked up near our back porch, awaiting transport to The Lot. The rest are still in the back of the truck.

Landscape blocks are awaiting transport to The Lot

There is progress on the cistern trailer; I welded a broken bracket, finished painting the frame, added the first 2 (of 8) tie-down points, added the needed cross-frame supports, painted the spare tire and fixed its mount, and began painting the fenders. Still to be done: paint the decking and install it and finish painting the fenders and re-install them. I hope to finish these tasks in the next few days, but it’s raining gently at the moment so painting may be out for today. My goal is to have the trailer ready to roll by next weekend – the next trip to The Lot.

Cistern trailer under construction

In geriatric medical news, Pam’s bursitis is still bothering her hip but she has a bit more mobility, a good thing. She recently received a TENS machine she ordered and she’ll see if that helps reduce the discomfort.  My blood sugar level average has dropped a few more points and is currently about 102 – 104 for the 14 and 30 day averages, a good sign my diabetes is under control. (70 – 130 is considered normal.) Getting old is not much fun.

Thats it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

I have some odds-and-ends myself, so this week you’ll be getting “Pam’s Ten Cents Worth.”  First, a shout-out to Roz and Phil Hill in Shropshire, England; she occasionally checks in on this blog, and I check in on hers (umpteenthings.wordpress.com) for the latest “poultry raising” news.  She’s a hoot! Her hubby Phil is much like Fields, always working on some project with “reclaimed” materials (I’m not allowed to call it junk anymore). Hi Roz!

This week, I contacted a realtor in Vallecito Lake to ask some preliminary questions about the area – snow load, internet connectivity, that sort of thing.  The listings for this real estate company are consistently the properties we seem to be drawn to; it may be a good match.  Our downpayment funds aren’t going to be available until 2016, so we have time to ponder the possibilities.  Fields and I both think the Vallecito Lake area (17-20 miles from Durango, CO) could very well be our retirement location. (Mentally, I’m living there already some days.)

Bursitis update: Having completed the initial phase of treatment (meds and cold packs), I am now on to gentle exercise (an “Aging Backwards” DVD series), a herbal supplement (Turmeric), and the TENS machine (interacts with the muscles and nervous system to control pain).  Healing is a slow and ponderous thing at this point in life. (Dealing with pain may be why my stance resembles Grandma Ida, sister Becky.)

I ordered new guitar books – Gord’s Gold  and Best of James Taylor – and amazed myself that I could already play a few of the songs.  Musically, I’m pretty much stuck in the “Golden Age” of folk and early rock.  Why didn’t I start guitar playing in high school?  Guess I had too many guitar players at-the-ready then (flashback to Bro Lar and that amplifier in the garage).  Still playing and singing for myself, the sometimes discordant practice sessions don’t sit too well with Fields. (I’ll never be the level of his cousin Louise…)

Happy Trails.

(and…I can now play the Roy Rogers’ “Happy Trails” song too! I downloaded it from the internet.)

This past week seemed to have more thn it’s share of bad news.

We received word that our good friend Elinor Tourtillot passed away last Tuesday, July 7th. Her husband, Henry (aka Hank) called to let us know. Ellie was 95 and had been in poor health for several years. Hank and Ellie lived in Casa Grand, Arizona, and we had visited them a few times.

Both of our children have middle names to honor these two, Elinor for Felicity and Henry for Toby. We were neighbors when we bought our first Colorado home back in 1980 or so and we have kept in touch the last 35 years. Ellie was feisty and will be missed. We have a lot of good memories of Hank and Ellie and our mountain home.

A motorcycle-riding friend of mine had an accident and had to undergo surgery to repair his wrist and pelvis. He will be in the hospital for a while, though his vital signs look good. A girl turned her truck right in front of the riders (he was one of a pair) then fled the scene. She has since been picked up on a felony warrant, and it turns out she has a history of DUI and other moving violations. The other guy, also a friend, managed to hit the median and avoid the truck so was not injured.

And last, though not in the same league as above, my generator is now in the shop awaiting diagnosis on why it is not putting out any electrical power. I am disappointed; it looks like it won’t be the bargain I thought it would be. This has an impact on our visits to The Lot since I need the generator to operate the honey wagon pump; I may have to tow the RV to the dump station, something I had hoped to avoid.

Speaking of The Lot, I made a solo trip this past weekend, going up on Saturday morning and returning Sunday afternoon. It was a short but busy and memorable trip.

I saw a badger, the first one ever in Colorado. Pam looked on-line and badgers do, in fact, range in Colorado. I didn’t get any good photos as the badger headed out as soon as he saw my truck, but I am sure of what I saw. Here is the best of the poor photos I was able to get:

Badger in South Park

I managed to get two loads of wood over to the burn pit. Here is a photo of 2015’s first load of burn pit wood:

First load of burn pit wood, 2015

I’ve been adding hooks and shelves inside the storage shed and it is starting to look a bit more organized. Work is progressing on the cistern trailer, with fenders mounted, light brackets made and lights installed, safety chains added, and a general clean-up has it looking nearly ready to go. I hope to finish it this week.

Auctions are fun…sometimes. I bid on a lot of cement retaining wall blocks and ended up with the top bid so now I have about 120+ 16-pound blocks split between the back of the truck and our aluminum trailer. The blocks will be used to build some retaining walls in places where the drive on The Lot is tending to wash down a bit. Weighing in at just abut a ton, it will be an interesting trip to get the blocks over to the lot.

My landscaping blocks

I also won a 12-volt water pump which I plan to incorporate into the cistern project. There just isn’t a place where we can park the cistern and depend on gravity flow to work well, so Plan B is now in effect: pump the water from the cistern into the trailer. More work to do before this becomes a reality. I just need more time to work on stuff!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

This will be the summer of mountain land projects, most of them requiring Jer’s expertise.  There are improvements to the driveway in the discussion phase – an additional arc to add to the circle swing and more gravel on areas where there has been some erosion.

Somewhere along the way, there will be some wood removal as well.  But probably not until closer to Labor Day.

Happy Trails.

Pam and I had taken July 2nd off as vacation days, and since both of our organizations gave us July 3rd as a paid holiday, we had a long weekend to do “stuff.”

Our arrival at our Sanderling mountain lot Thursday afternoon had one hitch — found out the Honda needs a new radiator cap. More bad news: a mouse somehow found its way into the RV trailer, leaving a few turds. I don’t know how it got in. We never did see or trap it, and it’s possible it left after finding nothing of interest. I set a couple of traps set in case the animal makes a return visit.

Pam is still quite bothered by an inflamed bursitis in her right hip and this limits her mobility. We had not planned to work on any major projects but she did get several smaller tasks done, including transplanting some shrubs and a small tree into the circle in the middle of the driveway loop.

Rain made its appearance in the early evening, a shower that lasted for more than an hour. We are happy to get the moisture up there, but it brings out mosquitos, something we have not had to deal with in previous visits. I guess you have to take the bad with the good.

Friday was a road trip day to view at some for sale houses Pam had seen on line in high country towns along I-70. We visited Idaho Springs, Silver Plume, Empire, and Central City. These towns are all within about 30 miles of each other; most of the driving was to get from The Lot back out to the interstate near Frisco, driving time is about 90 minutes for that leg of the trip.

The houses were a mixed bag. All these towns are old mining communities and the houses are on small lots and close together. One place, in Silver Plume, was Pam’s preferred “grandma house,” with frontage on Clear Creek, but had a heavy dose of mosquitos outside and dropped ceilings and dark paneling inside. Not to mention the constant drone of interstate noise…

Silver Plume house

Blondie checks out the yard.

This road noise from the interstate, which is just across the creek to the left of the house, is a huge drawback.  (Did I mention the clouds of mosquitoes?  Haven’t seem them that dense since living in the Midwest.)

A nicer structure, also in Silver Plume, was this house on Madison Street:

Madison Street home

It is a cute place, a bit further from the interstate and no creek frontage, but no garage and no place to put one. This seems to be a common problem with most of the properties we looked at, not surprising given the nature of the towns, but a negative for me.

However, later in the day in Central City we looked at a place that originally had a carriage house:

House on Spring Street

Carriage House on Spring Street

The carriage house would take care of our storage needs for sure!  The owners of the two structures, the Central City Opera House Association, are trying to sell the two separately which would put this arrangement out of our price point.

Pam liked the porch entrance of this Central City house:

1800s Central City house upper level

Lower level of the 1800s house

This house typifies Pam’s “grandma house” standard – bay window, ornate porch, eave treatment with shingles and/or lace-like filigree.  This particular house is a duplex; we ended up talking to the older gent who lives in the bottom half of the property. He gave us much information on Central City’s current services offered to residents (such as they are).

We looked at a number of properties and I will not get into a description of all of them. Suffice to saw we made a day out of poking around in all of the communities mentioned above. The weather was high country beautiful and, as is usual in summer, we had another shower on the way back to Sanderling.  We also saw some beautiful flowers and scenery. One place, an old mining claim, had a brilliant mix of red, blue, and white columbine blooming along side the driveway.

Columbine in three colors blooming in Empire

The blue columbine is Colorado’s state flower so I am partial to the species in general. The day was a successful outing as a scenic day out, not so successful in thinking about finding a house in one of the mining towns.  Generally, the streets are narrow and/or in poor repair, the residential homes are extremely close together, and the prices have shot up dramatically since our last visit to these areas some decades ago.  Services are limited, and that includes a decent mountain medical clinic and hospital.  In some places, like Central City, historic district overlays make it nearly impossible to even so much as take down a “historic” outhouse if one remains on your home site.

That evening, back at Sanderling, we had a nice sunset with clouds over South Park.  Rain continued later that evening and into the night hours.

Sunset, July 3rd

Saturday morning was a work half-day around the lot, cutting trees and getting piles of wood staged. (One pile for disposal at the burn pit, the other to be salvaged and cut into firewood.) I mapped out and cleared a trail for the ATV and trailer to navigate on a future trip when we will be able to load up the burn pit wood and get rid of it. The work was enough to bring out a sweat but, as we have seen in the past, worth the effort.

We had planned to come home Saturday afternoon to avoid the heavy Sunday traffic, so after a meal of bratwurst, (cooked over an open fire) potatoes, and fruit we cleaned up, shut the trailer down, and headed home. Per usual, it was difficult to leave the high country, but another round of showers was headed our way so off we went.  Just past where the Sanderling road connects with a state road, we made a quick detour and drove through an upscale housing development – Silverheels Ranch – which is very close to Fairplay, for a look-see.

Today (Sunday) we will work on all of our “normal” weekend chores and relax a bit before the work week begins again.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

The search continues.  I could live in a smaller house, Fields needs quite a bit of outside storage.  The small populations in the mountain communities don’t support many services.  Living close to the interstate puts services within driving reach, but the noise of the traffic is a constant background irritant.  Old houses, while charming, all pretty much need immediate maintenance.  What is with “renovations” of dropped ceilings and dark paneling circa 1970?  Those “upgrades” destroyed many an old house we have viewed.  For us, it would be a strip down job back to the wall studs and “begin again” to make the house reflect the period it was built.  Do we have a major renovation still in us at this point in life?  Unknown.

Happy Trails.

Last week was hot…triple-degree days that are not unknown but don’t often come this early in the year. We decided to escape the heat for a bit by visiting our Sanderling lot.

After packing the dogs and other gear we started on our way and arrived by early afternoon. Pam’s right hip has been causing her some pain (inflamed bursitis) so we didn’t plan to do much, but that didn’t stop us from doing some clean-up of over 30 dead small aspen and work on salvaging some of the pine branches that had snapped out of trees during a recent wind storm. The aspen are piled up to be cut into firewood and a pile of ‘burn pit’ wood has begun to take shape. A few other tasks were accomplished such as using the power pruner to clean up a few more trees and refilling the hummingbird feeders.

We did get a few smatters of rain, just enough to make sitting under the awning a good way to relax. That was nice; we are so used to working while we are there that we sometimes have to remember to take time to just enjoy being in the high country.

We met the couple that bought the lot next to us; their names are Blair and Spence. A younger couple, in their early 30s perhaps, and they plan to develop their lot through a plan similar to ours. A driveway will go in this fall and they have an RV that will be parked on their land (over a ridge and not within eye sight of us). It was nice to finally meet them — we will watch their progress with some interest.

Back in De Beque, work continues on the cistern trailer. I’ve been doing some clean-up work and painting the frame, a task that will take me more than a few evenings. (I am using RustOleum paint from a can and brushes, not spray paint.) Now that the honey wagon tank and gear has arrived I need to finish the trailer so we can try out our plans for water supply and septic disposal. In the interim, I did pump water by hand in the high county and put water (around 22 gallons) into The Box’s fresh water tank, a job I hope the cistern will make easier in the future. The holding tanks will need to be emptied soon as well.

Cistern trailer under construction

Jerry putting water in The Box

Another new toy was purchased, a chain saw chain sharpening kit. For the past several years I have been sharpening my chains by hand, a slow and somewhat imprecise procedure. Given the volume of wood to be cut I figured a better approach to sharpening would be in order. I found an Italian-built unit, less expensive than most I had seen, and ordered it. Last night I sharpened the chains on both saws after practicing on an old chain I had near my workbench. Now I am curious to see how well the saws cut.

Chain saw sharpening tool (Mfg photo)

We will be going up to the lot this weekend, but plan to take some time off to look at a few potential retirement houses that Pam has identified through on-line searches. This means that actual work time while we are at The Lot will be fairly minimal. Still, I will have some time to try out my chain saw sharpening  job. I have high hopes but we will see what happens in real life.

I did have one disappointment; my generator does not put out any power! I’ll have to bring it home and start checking out circuitry to see if I can find where the problem is and get the repairs done. Bummer. We need the generator to power the septic pump, part of the honey wagon system. I may need to take up my older and smaller generator and see if it puts out enough power to run the pump; the generator had been used primarily to run a batter charger to recharge the RV’s batteries, not a task that takes a lot of power. The pump motor may require more than the small generator can put out. Always something…

Flowers blooming around the house include daisies, lillies, and hollyhocks.

lillies in bloom

Hollyhocks and daiseys in front flower bed

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Hot.  Busy. Limping slowly around. Reading books.