Warming Up

It has been warm for a change. All the snow on the roads has melted and small puddles of water dot our emerging lawn. It is a different story in the high country, though.

Yesterday (Saturday) I took the truck and drove up to our Sanderling lot to check on the trailer and check things out. Last March we were able to start putting in the driveway and we hoped to get an early start on the extension this year. It doesn’t look like that will happen this Spring!

Here is a through-the-windshield shot of me going up Red Hill Pass east of Fairplay:

Heading east up Red Hill Pass

The wind was blowing and snow was flying. I had no idea what I would find on the lot,which is about 20 miles from this point.

Elkhorn Road, the main road to the lot, was much better:

Elkhorn Road (Co Rd 15) south of Como

The gravel part of the road was mostly dry as well, but there were some muddy places. I still did not know what I would find at the lot.

I was relieved to find Sanderling Court fully plowed out. Our driveway was a different story, but after several tries (and some shoveling in the deepest snow) I made it up to the RV. Here is a shot of the driveway looking back toward Sanderling Court:

Looking back down driveway, 2-15-14.

Note the section in the middle of the photo where the undercarriage dragged. 4-wheel drive was required!

The trailer was OK, but the snow  deeper than I had anticipated. In fact there’s more snow than at any time we have visited up to this point. It looks like our hopes for beginning projects in March may be doomed as there is a lot of Winter left and more snow is certain to accumulate.

Pam asked me to bring home some of the small aspen we had set aside at Sanderling last year (we thought they might be used as posts for a dog run). Instead, the small tree trunks will now be used to reinforce the bottom edge of the skirting around the mobile, which has started to show signs of developing a few gaps. I had brought along my snowmobile boots but even so the snow, in places, was up to just below my knees. The snow melt later will be great for the alpine flowers and trees, but walking and dragging those aspen trees down to the truck was real work. 

After getting the wood in the truck I ate my lunch (it was about 46 degrees inside the RV) and took a short break before heading home. As in my previous trip I had the generator going to charge the batteries and had been on the roof to clear the snow off the solar panels. I could see a snow storm coming in over the Mosquito Range and wanted to get back on the road home before 3:00 PM.

Storm from the Mosquito Range heading for South Park

There were no real problems getting home, though the north side of Hoosier Pass was fairly slippery:

Light snow on Hoosier Pass made for slow travel

I made it home by around 7:00 PM, pretty much as I had planned. I was glad I had made the trip – it has been nearly 2 months since the last visit – and it was good to be on the lot again.

Today we tackled a problem that will need a more permanent fix later this spring. A gap in the skirting  allowed cats to get under the trailer this Winter. We removed a couple panels and reinforced the skirting base inside with some of the wood I brought from the lot. We also spread three bales of cedar shavings under the trailer after spraying a couple containers of Out pet deodorizer under the dark, grungy space. We replaced all panels but one and just outside of that panel Pam has set up one of her cat cages. The idea is to make sure all the cats are out from underneath the trailer before sealing the skirting up again. Sure hope this works!

So it was a long and busy weekend, as there were the “normal” chores of grocery shopping, a Walmart run, and getting fuel for the cars. It was warm enough to warrant taking both the truck and the Honda to a local U-Spray car wash to try to get the layers of road dirt and road grime off them. Weather outlook for the next week is seasonable but no major rain or snow predicted so the cars should stay clean for a week or two.

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

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

No good deed goes unpunished.  Rescuing De Beque cats frequently causes problems, this time it’s the skirting needing repair after the little beasts clawed their way under.  Gr-r-r-r-r.

Happy Trails.