Overnighter: July 19 – 20

We had an “overnighter” at the lot this past weekend. Pam and I went up with the truck on the evening of Friday the 19th. Plan was, as has become normal for us, take a load of slash to the burn pit, check on the plantings, and get more firewood home. (We had cut and delivered the July 6th load the previous weekend.) Nothing new or particularly noteworthy in that plan.

But…we also wanted to stop and see a house for sale in Como, listed at $35,000. We thought it might be a candidate to move up to the lot if it were solid enough, and might provide storage in the short term. Pam had checked on-line and found that Como has a pretty extensive cemetery that dates back to the 1800s and we wanted to visit it as well. These side trips were planned for Saturday as we were heading home.

The house proved to be a disappointment as far as either storage or potentially moving it. Two additions, poorly done, and a rubble foundation led us to believe the house would not stand another move. (It had been moved once from a mine site to its current site.) If one had a lot of money and the willingness to take on a project the house could be made cute, but it has no water – hand dug well no longer produces – and no septic system, only a holding tank, so is only marginally habitable as it sits and would have  drawbacks even if remodeled.

House for sale in Como – 27 Park Street

The  cemetery, however, was a bit different. Managed now by Park County, it is pretty much left in a natural state with very little maintenance but not really deserted. We saw one headstone from 2011 so there have been some more recent burials. Most  headstones date from 1he 1880s or so and quite a few commemorate infant deaths.

Como cemetery gate

We asked a local lady, who was out walking, for directions.  We had passed the unmarked road on previous trips – I guess locals don’t want a lot people visiting the cemetery. We found the spot with no problems once we knew where to look.

There is something very peaceful about the place. It is not regimented and is heavily treed, mostly aspen but some pine, and a bit disorganized. Still it has an appeal to us and may be the spot we pick for our final resting place. I have to check with the County to see how one qualifies to be buried here.

Grave sites are scattered beneath the aspen.

This one site, with the headstone indicating it was a child’s grave, caught Pam’s eye as there are blooming columbine flowers in it, the only columbine we saw this trip.

Child’s grave with blooming columbine.

We were glad we stopped here and saw the place. So were the dogs; since the place  was fenced Pam let two of the dogs, Bru and Jo, run free for a time. It is a nice spot and would not be a bad place to spend eternity.

Not much else from this trip. In addition to the lot clean-up I did get the output from the solar panel charger routed directly to the batteries and will see if the batteries charge while we are gone. If not the next step will be to replace the charger unit.

A couple notes regarding  my July 7th Georgia Pass trip.

My return was delayed by a Jeep with a flat tire. The driver has stopped in the middle of a tight spot in the trail, effectively closing the tail to traffic. These people were not ready to be out 4-wheeling; they could not figure out how to use the factory jack, having never changed a tire on this vehicle. One lady who, like me, was waiting to get past the Jeep called them the “biggest idiots” she had ever seen on a trail.

I walked down to give them a hand figuring this would be the fastest way to re-open the trail. I jacked up the Jeep and the driver was able to put on the spare. His wife / girlfriend and he thanked me profusely for the help. I was just glad to be able to get moving again.

People unprepared for back-road travel are a real problem out here. Most of these areas do not have cell phone coverage, which surprises a lot of city folks, and they are unprepared for any event. No extra water, clothing, sun screen, or appropriate footwear (the wife / girlfriend was wearing flip-flops.) I don’t have much respect for these people; they put themselves and others at risk by not preparing themselves or their equipment for off-road trips.

This next bit is for Hank and Ellie who are familiar with the area around Jefferson Lake. (Jeferson Lake is in the same area as Georgia Pass.) This lake, like Crater Lake in Oregon, is an old volcano caldera that has filled with water. I was going to visit the lake but it is now a “special management area” and there is a $6.00 per day fee to enter. Annual pass is $45.00 and is good only at this site, it is not a state park. Since I was mainly interested in Georgia Pass I passed on driving  in to see the lake this time. Maybe some time in the future I will visit as I am told it is a very nice spot.

I have created an on-line photo gallery for the Georgia Pass trip. It includes the same video as in my last post along with  additional photos I took along the way. The link is http://www.appleattic.net/Galleries/georgia.html. The gallery can also be reached through the Galleries tab on our AppleAttic home page,  http://www.appleattic.net. Be aware this gallery, like my other galleries, requires a free download of Adobe Flash Player to view. The download is available from http://www.adobe.com

Sinbad the kitten is now an outside cat. He was “failing to thrive” in the house, had stopped eating, and was generally misearable. Pam put him outside and he immediatly began to eat, play with other cats, and generally improve. He has had his first set of shots and will go in for a neuter operation next month, but we won’t try to adopt him out as a house cat. He can be picked up and petted so is not completely reverted to being wild.  He had a great time playing on the trailer when it had the firewood logs in it. Sinbad and another kitten – who is definitely wild – played pounce, hide-and-seek, and other kitten games on the trailer for days before we cut the wood. I was almost sad to take away their playground.

Izzy’s kittens will finish opening their eyes this week. Up to now they haven’t been moving around much but that will shortly change!

With a trip to California planned next week – motorcycle rally in Santa Margarita – it will be a couple weeks before my next post. I know — the anticipation will be unbearable. 🙂

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