I hiked the D3 trail in the Devil’s Canyon area and went through some sort of warped space thing. I took my GPS with me and the trip out-bound was 1.8 miles. The trip back on the very same trail was 2.4 miles. There is probably a reasonable explanation* for the discrepancy but I prefer the paranormal vortex explanation
Me fending the boys off of my Sausage-stuffed date wrapped in bacon
My camp-host neighbors cooked up some tasty sausage-stuffed dates wrapped in bacon and smoked with apple-wood in their smoker/ BBQ. I had to defend my plate from the boys. They were super-interested in the tastiness
Like it says on the tin
It’s been raining for most of the past week so I’m a little bored and have some cabin fever. To break out of the doldrums I bought a new rice cooker and have been reading The Feed Zone Cookbook by Biju Thomas and Allen Lim. I’m inspired! Not enough to cook most of what’s in the cookbook, but enough to get a rice cooker and some vegetables
Cooking rice in the 21st centuryOne of the dinners from The Feed Zone CookbookTook one of the boys to the vet because he banged his chin. Saw this illustration of a very unhappy kitty. Luckily none of my boys acts like that
* My GPS was made in 1998 and in April 2019 there was a GPS clock roll-over that likely screwed it up
As you may recall I cut a hole in the ceiling to install a skylight a few months back and what I found was a bunch of wires in the way of my grand scheme. After a loooong and fruitless search for an affordable port light with a trim ring I decided to give up and go all high-tech
The new skylight system collects photons from the sun via a roof-mounted collector and converts them to electrons. It then beams them through the roof to an emitter which changes the electrons back into photons and spreads them out in the kitchen area
New light installedInstalled a piece of 7mm ply to back up the light and give a place for screws to go
Okay, so it’s really just a solar panel powering an LED light but I tried
Got the light installed over the test hole I made last winter
The long-time summer camp host returned to the park this week and bumped us out of our super camp spot. The boys had a couple months of playing in their own little patch of rabbit brush and now we are next to a smaller patch of brush and closer to a busy road. Gotta train them to stay off the road and watch for cars
Up the creek to the wildJust a little sore – I’ll be fineMe at the cabin on the D3 trail
I finally made it up Devils canyon to the cabin. The maps I saw said it’s 5 miles round trip, my GPS said it was 3.4, and my watch said it took me four hours. I suspect it’s more like 7 miles since I was walking 2.2 miles per hour. Whatever distance it was it was about an hour too far for comfort. My feets hurt
The view from one of the Devil’s Canyon trails (D3 I think)
Next day Peter and I went out to West Water Utah and rode some amazing trails including parts of the Kokopelli. We did 18 miles which made the rest of my body hurt. Tomorrow I might manage a ride into Fruita to hang at the big bike festival.
Wild flowers are blooming
I made it into town for the big fat tire festival. Beer, bands, pizza, and friends. Fruita closes the street for a couple blocks so that’s nice. We walked around looking at stuff we didn’t buy then went over to the Hot Tomato to eat and listen to the music
After 14 years I think I’ve worn out my cycling shoes. I’ve nursed them along with gorilla tape and new holes for the laces for the past few years and now they are heading into retirement. I bought the same brand and size (EU 43) to replace them, but the shoes are nowhere near the same size. I ended up going two sizes larger (EU 45) to find a pair that fit. Seems like the EU is shrinking*
I also semi-retired my old hydration pack which has lasted 15 years so far. The main compartment zipper had a work related injury about 5 years ago and never recovered. The other zippers are getting hard to zip so when I found a new pack on sale/ closeout I ordered it. Converting to the new pack was harder than I thought it should be. Finding a place for tools and other goo-gaws was tough. The pack needs more small pockets
Another grand day on the bike! This time the new Wrangler trail
There is a new trail in the Loma area. They completed work on the Wrangler trail from the upper trail head to the Kokopelli trail head and it’s nice. I rode up Mary’s and down Wrangler as a fellow rider suggested and it worked out. I don’t think I have the strength to climb it from the bottom up, but if you do then it would be fun that way too. They also added a half-mile to Steve’s and it’s a great addition to an already great trail!
Definitive proof that Space-Time is 4-dimensional and measures 24x16x6x1
I made a science discovery this week. I found proof that Space-Time is four-dimensional! 24x16x6x1 to be exact. Take that large hadron collider! Also in the news this week was the first picture of a black hole
I went riding with some people I met in the camp ground. I like riding with people I meet here. Anyway we had a great ride except for the part where Jen fell and broke a bone in her thumb and snapped the ligament. YIKES!
Even with a broken thumb she was way faster on a bike than me
A mocha colored stream on tan rocks is hard to photographDelightful stream in the Devil’s Canyon areaThe hills are turning green, the river is turning brownPulled into the trail head and there are 13 new porta potties – not a good omen
(*) It’s a Brexit joke. As I write this Britain is busy shooting itself in the economic foot just because they don’t want any more foreigners on their island. Stupid British government
After a few weeks of fixing things in the shop and cleaning up after the campers the big excitement was getting a parcel delivered to my door! Over the winter one of the other hosts trained the UPS and FedEx drivers to bring parcels to the host camp site. The plus for them is they get to drop the package and don’t have to come back because the office is closed. The plus for us is ToYs!
Home Delivery
Since I’m not spending $500 a month on fuel I can afford to splurge on some things. Nice I bought new boots to hike in and new shoes to mtn bike in plus some shorts without holes worn in them. Gettin’ fancy around here. The kids are still barefoot though so not too fancy
Helped Peter take out a window,And install a sliding doorA Honda Africa Adventure Bike. I’m planning to get on this and ride it for four days without any practice on it beforehand. Once you learn you never forget – right??
I also put down a deposit on a rental-bike for a trip this July. Planning to ride with my friend from Tennessee when he comes to Colorado to Adventure Bike in the mountains. Hope I don’t get wet!
The first signs of spring are in the air. The water is back on at the camp sites, two days of riding in shorts, and campers in the park. (Later that same week) The temperature dropped to 25*, the water got turned off again, and it started raining and snowing. Mud season!
PFFeeww – Whirrrrrrrr Damage control to the bridge! We suffered a failure in our primary Dihydrogen Oxide containment system. Luckily I was in an adjacent compartment when the line blew and I heard it go PFFFffffffew, then the pump came on. I jumped into action and shut the pump off then cleaned up the mess in the storage compartment.
An increased pressure in the heating tanks caused the compression fitting to let go of the PEX tube in my handy-dandy shower hot water re-circulation system. I likely didn’t get it tight enough the first time. I corrected that oversight during the repair phase
Friend is in from out of town so we meet up in Glenwood Springs and made faces at the camera
Lets cut that open and see what’s inside!
These are Zurn water hammers. They gave their all for the cause and we cut one open to see what is inside. Turns out it has a bellows in it. Fancy
Bomb Cyclone just sounds cool. It’s one of the better weather-words. It ranks right up there with Polar Vortex.
Anyway as I’m writing this a Bomb Cyclone is laying waste to the country from Denver to Dallas and parts east. Roads closed, flights canceled, planes damaged, etc.
Here in Fruita we’ve been getting a lot of rain and winds gusting to 35 mph. Nothing damaging but it’s keeping me off the bike and the boys in the house
Got a few things fixed and out the doorThe burner on the Hotsy stopped working after a few tanks of fuel
I have been busy in the shop this week. Since the Park is getting geared up to greet visitors we have been using equipment to clean the Park and it has been breaking. So far I have resurrected two snow machines from a mouse-infested shed, fixed reverse in a Kawasaki Mule, and changed out 700-pounds of batteries. It seems every time I fix something and get it out of the shop two more things come in to replace it.
Fresh tape on the filler pocket
I have done a little work on Truck 2.0. The fuel filler pocket I fixed with epoxy 20 years ago finally fell apart so I taped it back together with Gorilla Tape (the filler pocket is the space behind the fuel door where the fuel cap is)
I did come here to keep busy so I guess the prophesy has been fulfilled
2018 was our big year on the road. We visited friends and saw the sights. We toured from southern Arizona all the way to Canada. From Texas to California and back to Colorado. All told about 16,900 miles, more than 300 hours of crate-time for the boys. That’s enough hours to get a commercial pilot’s license! Too bad they were sleeping and not studying
2019 will be a year of sitting quietly, working on Park stuffs, and maybe some Repairs & Modifications (Like a sky light!)
I’ll post the interesting happenings as the spring turns to summer, then to fall once again
