Category: General (Page 53 of 61)

Pam and I had decided to spend Father’s Day weekend at the lot. Goals for this trip: More lot clean up and set the posts for the gate. All the materials had been hauled over previously so we loaded up the Honda for the trip:

Loaded for the lot

Pam began cleaning the aspen grove by starting a pile of dead wood and trees that she hauled out of the grove. The pile was located where we could get to it with the ATV and trailer when we come up for a longer work session over the 4th of July weekend. Here is a shot of Pam hauling some of the stuff she collected:

Pam cleaning dead wood out of the aspen grove

By Sunday afternoon, when we had to leave to come back home, we had a couple of wood piles started. The first is small stuff to be taken to the burn pit and the other is stuff suitable to be cut into fire wood:

Slash wood to go to the burn pit.

This “salvageable stuff” will be cut into firewood.

By Sunday morning the work was having an impact; here is a shot of the cleaned area:

Cleaned area of aspen grove.

You can actually walk around now without tripping over the dead wood!

While Pam was cleaning I went to work on digging the holes to set the gate posts. We plan to have a gate across the driveway which consits of a right-hand and left-hand gate sections and each requires a post to act as the pivot point.

I knew this was going to be a job as I don’t have a jackhammer to break up the rock that I knew I was going to find. So, armed with a maul and some steel bits and pieces I proceeded to try to dig the first post hole.

What a job — 2 hours into the first post and I called it good enough. The hole was not as deep as I would like but I hope it is deep enough to do the job. With QuickCrete mixed up in a bucket I set the post in place.

The second hole was worse but I eventually ended up with a usable excavation and set that post in place as well. Below is a photo of Pam watching an incoming storm but note the two posts, one on either side of the driveway.

Pam watching incoming storm. Note the two gate posts.

All in all, not a bad bit of work for an “overnighter.” We plan a long 4th of July stay and hope to get the gate up (it’s in 2 sections) and haul the slash pile to the burn pit. After that there will be railroad ties to fasten together along the driveway, then more lot cleaning to be done.

One problem…we ran out of battery power. This meant the weekend was a little more “camping” than we had planned. Heating hot water over the stove, no shower…but we survived. I pulled the batteries and took them home with us. The batteries where checked and recharged at the local NAPA shop and did not have to be replaced; they just are not recharging from the solar panels. Work needed there….

Cats and Dogs:

Sinbad the Kitten is doing well, and apparently loves to be petted and held. He had his shots today but it is still a little early for his neuter operation. We hope to get him adopted into a home.

The dogs do OK at the lot, though most of their time is spent sleeping in the trailer. Definitely not outdoor dogs by choice. Here is a shot of Blondie and Bru in the aspen grove:

Blondie and Bru in the aspen grove

Postscript:

I took the truck over to the lot this last Saturday. I reinstalled our now fully charged batteries, did some work on the electrical system, and pulled the trailer over to the dump station to empty the holding tanks. After that I topped off the fresh water tank. This trip also saw me taking our small generator along and leaving it at the trailer. It will be used to charge the batteries in the event the solar panels don’t do the trick. We wanted everything to be ready for the 4th of July long weekend, and now it is.  Headed home over Boreas Pass, approaching from the Como side.  (Hello Mountain Laurie…) I was amazed at the variety of flowers blooming at this time of year. I really enjoyed taking this route home.

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

We should have our first high country guests on July 5th.  We’ll be “entertaining,” whoo-hoo.

It’s been a quiet week. I am using this lull to catch up on some miscellaneous stuff. Here are a couple of left-over photos that didn’t get used elsewhere. The first shows where Park County is in relation to the rest of the state:

Park County is right in the middle of the state. Map courtesy of Park County.

Park County has the highest average elevation of any of Colorado’s counties, well over 9,000 feet. Our property is located near the top of the left-hand ‘bump’ in the county profile. This is about 100 miles (more or less) outside Denver.

This photo gives a closer look at the county of South Park. Fairplay is just below and to the left of the letter “S” and our place is about 23 miles south-east of  that.

Park County map courtesy of the Park County web site.

Back to the lot itself, our Doug Fir starts are showing signs of stress due to the transplant. The trees along the edge of the driveway, not the slope, are doing OK though. The soil here has more organic material in it and should help  these trees take root.   Pam had made, by hand, about a dozen tree guards to protect these starts from grazing (open range) animals.

Pam’s tree guards protecting young Doug Fir

I’ve mentioned a few of my toys; here is a photo of  few of them on the lot. This was taken over Memorial Day weekend.

Jer’s toys include this ATV, dump cart, and truck

Note the few extra tools in the truck including a chain saw and 2-wheel hand cart.

Our next trip to the lot will probably be over Father’s Day, with another long weekend planned over the 4th of July. Getting the gate posts in and set will be the next big project. I am not looking forward to digging those holes as it will require breaking up a lot of rock to make them deep enough.

I did have a bit of a treat last weekend; my good friend and former college roommate, Jon Bjornson, flew into Denver. He was heading for a job interview in Casper, Wyoming, and we arranged to meet for lunch on Monday the 10th. I went over as far as the Sanderling lot on Sunday the 9th (by motorcycle) and stayed overnight in the RV.  Monday morning I rode into Denver and met with Jon at our agreed-upon lunch spot. We had a good chat (but not as in-depth as Pam would have liked). At any rate, here is a photo of the motorcycle at the lot plus a picture of Jon and me at lunch:

Bike with trailer on our lot.

Jon and myself at lunch in Denver

Jon later reported the interview seemed to go well. Now the wait to see if a job offer materializes.

Pam has trapped a kitten in our garage and named him Sinbad. He’s a cute little tyke but it remains to be seen if he can be domesticated enough to be adopted as a house cat, or if he will become another of the outside cats that use our garage as a base of operations.

Sinbad the Kitten

You can see his ears and nose are still pretty dirty, but his markings are already well-pronounced.  He won’t let Pam touch him yet, he really needs to be cleaned up.

I used to work on these posts on Sunday mornings but that just isn’t working out with our summer activities, so check back in any time during the week and you may see a new post.

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

This will be just  a quick post featuring some photos of our “new” 2005 Ford F150 pick-up truck. I brought it home yesterday (Saturday) and will be getting used to it over the next few weeks. Ford does have an Owner’s Manual on-line which I read and found a few interesting details, such as the rear window is a power window that can be opened to let a whole lot of air flow through the cab.

Pam has not yet named the truck (the trailer is now “The Box”) so I’ll just refer to it as the F150. I’ll start with a walk-around of the outside:

Side view – F150

Front view – F150

Rear quarter-view – F150

rear view – F150

The interior is as pictured in my previous post, but here are a couple additional photos:

Rear seating area – dogs will ride in comfort.

Driver’s side of cab. Very comfortable.

I will have a few things to check out on the truck, such as making sure the spare tire carrier (which cranks up and down) works OK and check all the fluid levels. Now that there are no below-freezing temps in the extended forecast we will be provisioning the trailer and hope to pull it up to the lot before the end of the month.

One problem…the F150 will not fit through the garage door! The truck is too tall. I never expected that. Now we will have to figure out how / where to park it so we don’t have to move it every time we want to take the Honda out of the garage. Always something!

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

Pam’s two cents worth:

Can’t you just picture a cool “other color” on the bottom side panels of the truck and around the wheel wells, with some jazzy graphics dancing across the doors?  If we leave the thing plain white, I’ll never be able to find it in parking lots…I need something distinctive to identify my parked ride.  Such are the problems of aging.

Big news for this post is that we bought a truck. The Dodge I had mentioned in my April 7 post had been sold — so Pam and I were out shopping when I noticed this 2005 Ford F-150 (Lariat edition) at the dealership where we bought the Subaru. We had test-driven a couple of Dodge Ram 1500 trucks previously so we had some basis for comparison. The Ford seems to ride a bit better and the rear seating area, where the dogs will ride, seemed a bit larger. While a bit more expensive than the comparable Dodge trucks, the Ford seemed to be a good fit and we made a deal on it.

This meant trading off the 2010 Subaru Forester we had purchased in 2009. While I like the Forester, there is no doubt our current needs of pulling the trailer and hauling materials to the lot would be better filled with a truck. Now we can go ahead with plans to move the trailer and get on with other activities.

** Boring Notice ** (Truck details follows.)

The Lariat version is Ford’s upscale trim package. It includes power heated leather seats, 6-CD changer, climate control, and other higher-end finishes. Engine is a 5.4 liter V-8 Triton engine. These are noted for durability but fuel economy is 14 – 18 mpg. We won’t be taking pleasure cruises in it! The truck does have a factory-installed tow package including the 7-blade connector that our trailer uses so there will be no problems hooking up and pulling the trailer around. The bed is short, 5′ 6″, due to the extra space in the cab, but does have 4 factory tie-downs and rails along the top of the bed for additional tie-downs. Longer items will be transported on our 5′ x 12′ aluminum trailer.

Biggest drawback is the truck body color is white. Pam did not want a white truck due to the association between white trucks and the energy industry workers. We have begun to look for colored decals to put on the truck to make it appear a bit “different” than the local yocals. Pam is looking for side panel decals in purple or purple/gold since purple/white was the color of both her high school (Go Hilltoppers!) and college (University of Wisconsin Whitewater) teams. We may have located some decals that are suitable and the price isn’t bad. As for other accessories, some kind of tonneau cover will be in the works before next winter sets in.

** End of Boring Notice **

* Note on Photos * These photos are from the Edmunds site and do not link to a larger photo.

A white 2005 Ford F-150

Truck interior

Dash board

Back seating area

More photos of the truck after  I bring it  home this Saturday. Yes, it does have the same interior pictured above.

Moving on to other news:

Going back to work after a vacation is always a drag, but it seems harder to do so when the weather is good. Well, it was below freezing again last night, but it will be warming up and the sky is sunny. Hard to sit in an office when you know it is so nice outside.

I received my first retirement check from the State of Wisconsin. Nice to know that is now set. Makes me feel older, though.

We picked up our 30 trees from the Forest Service and had planned to go to the lot and plant them this weekend, but the weather at altitude  calls for a high in the low 40s and a rain/snow mix. Nighttime temps are well below freezing and are in the “teens” range. Not good for tree planting. We will wait and see what the next weekend holds.

The trailer is nearly done. Pam has been cleaning and I have fixed the bathroom blower and re-attached the towel rack. We still need to get the propane tanks filled. The last big project is cleaning the bathroom, probably a several hour job. During the Boise trip we stopped at a Camping World and picked up a few items for the trailer, including some drawer dividers, slide-out stabilizer jacks, paring knives, garbage can hold-downs, and a couple other odds and ends. Now if the weather would stop dropping below freezing we could finish testing the water system.

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

Last week Pam and I drove to Boise, Idaho, to visit with Felicity and listen to her group, Northwest Harmony, sing at the regional Sweet Adeline convention. Some sight-seeing time was scheduled since there were only certain times we would be able to meet with Felicity; her schedule revolved around practice, meetings, and event-related activities.

We had all three dogs with us. Pam had made reservations at a Motel 6 in Meridian, Idaho (about 10 miles west of Boise) as they were advertising as dog-friendly (no extra charges/elevator to the second floor) and had reasonable rates. Three nights, with all taxes, came to a bit over $200. This Motel 6  had a very good dog walking area and turned out to be very well-situated for all our travels, was near eateries and a dog park, and a Winco food store was – literally – across the road. (Winco is a warehouse-type grocery store.  We bought breakfast food and  fruit from them + great muffins. They also have killer salads for about $3.18.)

In more or less  chronological order: packed up to head out.  (Lime green rectangle is doggie crate.)

Car packed up for trip. Grey case is a cooler.

We arrived in Meridian, Idaho after a 12-hour drive, checked in, then relaxed. Next morning (Friday) we found a local dog park and let the dogs run off-leash, giving them some much-needed exercise.

Pam, calling for Bru, is trying to get the dogs to drink some water.

After lunch we picked up Felicity at her downtown Boise hotel, The Grove, and drove over to a local park to talk, catch up on family news, and enjoy the beautiful day.

Jer, Felicity, Pam and the dogs enjoy a few hours in the park.

The park was great. It had geese, squirrels, plenty of places to sit, and good bathrooms. We spent several hours there, had lunch, and were able to catch up with Felicity’s news and generally had a good visit.  We hadn’t seen each other face-to-face since January 2012.

During one of our walks around the park we came on this scene:

Duck boats in Boise city park.

You don’t see duck (and pelican) boats like this very often anymore!

The next day (Saturday) was the “Big Sing” for Felicity. We made arrangements to be at the venue mid-afternoon and meet Felicity after she completed her part of the competition. (Felicity stayed at the venue, The Boise Center, for all the judging and post-competition festivities but Pam and I stopped at the competition only briefly to see Felicity perform.) This left us with some unscheduled time Saturday morning to fill so we decided to take a trip out to the Snake River Canyon.

We made two stops, the first at Dedication Point which is in the middle of a raptor refuge. While we didn’t see any raptors, the walk and educational signage (and view!) made this a nice stop.

The second stop was at the first hydroelectric plant on the Snake River, Swan Falls. This was a green oasis, a swath of  park along the river where the dogs could run and I could walk around the plant.  While the original plant was decommissioned in 1994, a newer facility built at one end of the dam continues to supply power today.

Swan Falls power plant on the Snake River

Here is a photo of Pam and the dogs taking a break on the steps of an old four square house located in the small park-like green space along the river. We hope the authorities who own this house take steps to preserve it. Right now it looks somewhat bedraggled; it would be sad to loose this old place.  Pam loved the “grandma house” feel of it.

Pam and dogs taking a break from walking around the Swan Falls power plant grounds

Many switchbacks out of the Snake River Canyon – and a light lunch – later, we headed into Boise to listen to the Sweet Adeline groups sing, including Felicity’s group, Northwest Harmony.

The singing was great. Since this was a competition and not a concert, each group sang only 2 songs – one slow, one up beat. We listened to several groups and enjoyed some pretty amazing musical renditions. Felicity’s group placed 3rd over-all, not bad considering there were 18 groups and the competition was close.

Here are Felicity and Pam sitting in the hall after Felicity was done singing.  Felicity calls this her “clown in drag” make-up, with false eyelashes, bun hairdo, and lots of foundation.

Felicity in makeup sits with Pam.

I had planned to record Felicity singing, but found the Sweet Adeline organization would not allow either recording or digital pictures to be taken in the hall! I was very disappointed, but I should have guessed the  competition was being professionally recorded (with multiple cameras and sophisticated sound equipment). Still I would have liked to be able to have a clip of Felicity singing —  that will have to wait for another time.

Felicity introduced “her parents” to several members of the Northwest Harmony group. Their age demographic is more our generation, all very nice people with only good comments about Felicity. The most unusual event occurred when we went to get our tickets. A man and a woman were at the ticket desk, and the woman looked at Pam and said ” You must be Felicity’s mother.” Pam was a little taken aback, but acknowledged the relationship. Considering the number of attendees, we thought this was sort of cool. We later learned the lady was one of the event organizers who had worked closely with Felicity’s group over the last couple years and knew Felicity as a member of Northwest Harmony. (The family resemblance must be stronger than I thought.)

We left Felicity to enjoy the remainder of the competition and took off on our scenic ride up the Payette River Canyon. This drive follows the river and gets progressively higher and into more timbered country. It was a very pleasant, if not spectacular, drive.  We were running out of daylight (which lasts until 8:30 p.m. – yes) which necessitated a return to our Motel 6, dinner, and time to hit the sack.

Sunday we packed the car, checked out, picked up Felicity at her hotel in Boise, found a Denny’s for breakfast, then dropped Felicity off at the Boise Airport. We headed east and arrived back home at about 1:00 AM Monday morning.

Overall this road trip was better than anticipated. We were able to spend some time with Felicity, see some scenic Idaho country (that wasn’t interstate), listen to some good music, and enjoy some splendid Spring weather.

I am going to close with a short (1:35) video clip. This clip ends abruptly as I had intended to have a video of Felicity singing as the ending. Still, it is what it is…

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

Pam’s 2 cents worth:

If I was wondering why a young chicky-poo [during the trip] gave me the senior discount without me requesting it, the photo of me with Felicity tells the story.  I look just like my godmother, Aunt Angela, during her later years.  Geez.

For a look at what Sweet Adelines can do, search on “Pride of Portland Hallelujah” to see/hear the Hallelujah Chorus as you have never seen/heard it.

Yes, Eli, we are still alive.  It was a busy week.

A recent comment by sister-in-law Becky got me thinking: What do Pam and I  have in our garage attic?

Quite a bit.

First, an anecdote. Remember microfiche? When Pam first proposed working from home a couple days a week the question of microfiche came up as many of the records Pam works with are on them. “No Problemo,” says Pam to her boss. “Jer has a microfiche reader in the garage attic.” This statment was greeted with a silence. After all, why would anyone have a microfiche reader in their attic? “Jer used to get his service manuals on microfiche and bought a reader to use them.” So now Pam can, and often does, use microfiche at home.

So what else do we have?

• Old Macintosh computers and printers. At least 3 computers, including a IIFX, the most expensive Macintosh that Apple ever produced. My first Mac with a built-in hard drive, a Mac SE-30, in it’s orginal box. (1986.)
• Christmas decorations.
• Spare propane tank regulator.
• Old books, mostly Macintosh related.
• Lamps, including a banker’s lamp and a floor lamp. Baker’s lamp needs a new shade. (“I’ll get around to it…”)
• Toys. Felicity’s and Toby both have “someday we’ll give them” collections, which include metal trucks, 3-d puzzles, Pound Puppies, logos, posters, and games of various types.
• Doll collections. Pam’s Barbies and some of Felicity’s collection.
• High-schood yearbooks and momentos. Pam and I both have some of this stuff.
• My 35mm slides, negatives, Super-8 film, projector, and other camera and photography gear. Several boxes worth, including several Kodak Carousel trays and a front-silvered mirror. (Not familiar with front-silvered mirors?  Thats what the internet is for…)
• Computer accessories. 3.5 inc h computer disks, various cables, and SCSI hard drives. (Antiques!)
• Motorcycle parts and pieces such as saddlebags and windshields.
• A 5-gallon water tank from an old trailer. (?)
• Fans in the winter, electric heaters in the summer.
• A roll of foam, used at one point under a sleeping bag.
• Guitar case with no guitar in it. (?)
• An IBM Selectric typewriter. Works fine.
• The storage compartment screen from the Subaru.
• An extra kitchen table from myAunt Gina. (Toby used it in his apartment until he moved.)
• Old clothing patterns.
• Kid’s costumes. At least 6 boxes worth.
• An antenna pole. The kind you would put next to a house to put a TV antenna up.
• Two Coleman coolers and a traveling refigerator. Refrigerator plugs into a 12v outlet and keeps food cool. (Pam uses it to keep canned dog food fresh on long trips.)
• Luggage, knap sacks, other travel bags including a couple old backpacks.
• Flooring left over from doing the master bedroom floor. (That was 7 years ago.)
• Old child’s sled, now considered a Christmas ornament.
• An old steel bed frame. No headboard, just the frame.
• Until recently, 3 boxes of fabric and 2 boxes of Blueware.
• Myron and Lorraine (Pam’s parents)  memorabelia.
• A couple of storm windows.
• My collection of ’60s Hot Rod and other car-related magazines.
• Miscellaneous “stuff.” (Quite a bit of it.)

The above list is not complete and certainly does not give a good idea of the volume of stuff we’ve kept. I managed to get a couple  photos to give some scale to this collection.

West end of the garage attic. Bed frame is at bottom left.

East end of attic. End of kitchen table (brown) visible at left.

We have to clean our attic.

Pam has already floated the idea of grabbing a bunch of stuff  and moving it along, either through yard sales, donations, or  trips to the dump. Anyone need a spare propane tank regulator?

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