We got us a flood advisory this week.
The river is up about 12 feet since I got here in March. All that snow in the high country is melting and washing all manner of strange and nasty stuff down past our park
After the spring rains we washed the silt off the boat ramp
Now the boat ramp is under 12 feet of rushing water heading toward Moab at about 10 miles per hour
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It’s been an interesting few days. Saturday was the big Fruita celebration honoring a botched bird execution. 21st annual celebration of the time some guy tried to chop a head off a chicken and missed. The chicken’s name was Mike and he lost his face, eyes, beak, etc. Mike managed to live another 18 months before expiring. Sad times
We went in to town to listen to the “good” band play Saturday night at 7:30, but it turns out the actually good band played Friday night and we missed it. Just like Forest Gump’s box of chocolates
On the plus side more plants are sending up their reproductive parts for the pollinators. It’s been a long, wet, mild spring here and all the growing things are happy about that.
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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
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
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
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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
Okay, so it’s really just a solar panel powering an LED light but I tried
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
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
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.
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
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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
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!
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
(*) 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
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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!
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
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!
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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
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
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