RV Boondocking the Good Life

I'd guess some might consider me to be cookin' up a 'mental stew'... others would probably call it mush! :-)

It seems like we've been working at finding a way around our RV Boondocking Roadblock for as long as my feeble memory can record! :-)

I get around one thing and it's like Greek Mythology... two more pop up... good thing it only comes in two's and three's... I can't count much higher than that!

and then...

The way the economy has gone has caught me a lil' bit off guard... I kind of expected it to take a downturn... and have been planning for that, all along... it's just gone a lil' bit deeper/faster than I expected... probably just the result of wishful thinkin' on my part... I suppose some might call that; 'Living in denial'? :-)

Not catastrophic or nuthin', but it has caused making a 'modification' in my thinkin' a necessary deal.

Lookin' at things... we're (Heidi and me) thinkin' we'll need to do a little bit more 'working' along the way than we'd initially planned on... Combined, of course, with the 'slowing down' of our mileage.

I figure, once we are ... finally... loose... I know that'll come... just not soon enough! :-) ... we'll do our travling maybe about 'half fast'... We'll spend maybe two or three months in a 'region' ... rather than a few weeks...

So... in there we'll be doin' some 'Work'...

Heidi has got into 'Dog Agility' big time... and bein' the competitive sort... she goes after it with a vengeance... the Lady cannot stand to lose. :-) ... now, she's not the vicious, sell-your-momma-for-a-win sort of a competitor... but she'll lay awake at night tryin' to figure out where she 'goofed' on a run...

The point of all that is... every week or so... she's goin' to another trial... at all these 'trials' ... there are small time vendors, hawkin' their goods...

I don't think any of 'em are gettin' rich with their enterprises... but that ain't my goal anyway... all we'll need is to supplement the dollars in the kitty a bit...

Like... if you could do something relaxed, enjoyable, sustainable - yadda, yadda, yadda... that in effect... erased your fuel bill... that would be a pretty solid contribution wouldn't it? and if that 'thing'... was just a couple weekends a month... that leaves a whole lot of month for fishing, hiking, wandering and LIVING!

Well... that's what I'm whittlin' on these days... while we exercise the 'patience' our 'Real Estate Agent' keeps beggin' us to exercise... hmmm... what's that I've been doin' for like... a year and a half? :-) ... I'm calculatin' the necessities of a lil' vendor setup for those 'Agility Trials'.

If we're gonna be there anyway... I might as well be doin' something 'productive'... while herself is off beatin' down the competition... right?

Just another 'angle' you might consider if you're in the same boat... If there might be some acitvity that sparks your interest... there might be some sort of a small, vendor opportunity for you that could carry the burden of your fuel bill... or your grocery bill... or your parking bill... or your beer bill! :-) ...

The benefit of such a thing would be that you ain't tied down to a time clock... workin' for an employer. You can still, for the most part, go where you want... when you want... You just have to plan your route, by way of the 'events' that have captured your imagination... whatever they might be.

... Quilting shows? Dog Shows? Hot Rod Shows? Art Shows? Craft Fairs? ... well... that's five... and you all know that's about twice as high as I can count anyway!

Back to my drawin' board... to keep on figurin'.

Take Good Care
Brian

July 2, 2008 06:26 - Bambi gets another one...

I've watched this same, identical, thing since I was a little boy...

People leave the movie theater... after having watched the Lion King be... Oh so gentle and compassionate!... and want to 'Have a relationship' with wild critters....

GEEZ!... Guess what? THEY don't want a 'relationship' with you! ... in fact... they don't want you anywhere around 'em!

What part of - DO NOT APPROACH WILDLIFE - do people not understand? In 2008, with all the Television stories, the newspaper articles, the magazine stories, park flyers, general conversation... and the OTHER VISITORS yelling at them to back off... how can anyone remain so gol darned, unadulterated, double rectified, genuinely, empty headed stupid?!

How can they claim in any sort of a credible way, to be ignorant of the EXTREME danger of approaching BUFFALO BULLS!

GEEZ!... and GEEZ! again!

What kind of an idiot tells their 12 year old kid to: "Go stand next to that Buffalo so I can Take your picture honey!"?... or takes him and stands with him?

I've always been taught... and thought... that Cowboys were just about the dumbest critters on earth... slightly brighter than a Hereford cow... Well folks... I, and the fellas teaching me that were wrong...

Some bubble headed two legged, dingleberry, that apparently lives somewhere in Pennsylvania, is the current holder of the the dumbest organism on earth Trophy.

I wonder if it ain't time to quit sayin': "You were lucky this time" ... and start sayin': "We're citing you for reckless endangerment and child abuse!"

Come on folks... ONE OR TWO FEET!... away from a BULL BUFFALO? What planet have these genius's been suckin' their thumbs on?

Whew! ... I get cranked up some times when confronted by such dispays of willfull... um... Heck.... I'm not real certain sure what to call it! It's sure gone way past plain ol' stupidity. When your brainless action gets your kid chunked 10 feet in the air, like a rag doll... don't that qualify as some sort of 'Criminal Negligence'?

Looky here.... once again, here's the deal... In spite of what good Ol' Walt told you about Bambi... it ain't so! Those critters out there... from the chipmunks to the Grizzly bears, live in an 'Eat or be Eaten' world.

They don't want a 'Relationship' with you... no matter how much sweetness and light Opra tries to sell you. They see you in two ways... and two ways ONLY.

1. You are something THEY EAT.

or

2. You are something that EATS THEM!... and so must be defended against.

Either way... it's awful hard on your hide, to get involved in a tap dance with a Bull Buffalo... or ELk... or Moose... or even a danged Ol' Little Yodel dog!

I'll bet both my kidneys and half my liver that should you do it... that Bull is gonna wanna lead! and I'm here to tell you... when he steps on your foot... or other places... it leaves a mark!

So listen when those fancy lookin' Ranger fellas tell you to keep your distance... or that slow witted Cowboy... He may not be any sort of a wizard... but if he knows anything... it invovles keepin' a goodly distance away from Bull Buffaloes!

Take Good Care
Brian

July 3, 2008 06:57 - Keeping my fingers crossed... while my mind wanders...

A cool, foggy morning... and welcome! It's been kinda warm! ... and me and the weeds have been doin' battle... I'm winnin'... but it's a fight!

Brought in some of my Stihl 'Special Forces' yesterday... finally got my old weed whacker runnin' ... and equipped with some new kevlar reenforced cutter line, it and I went to rippin', cuttin' and whackin'!

It's a good thing the place looks a LOT better when the wild weeds are tamed some... otherwise I'd not be inclined to train 'em!

I'm crossin' my fingers, hopin' to get Slick home today... it'll be a horse race... If he don't make it... I got a hassle... it's comin' up on a weekend and so... of course... Heidi is off to another Agility Trial... With only the truck and the bike... the bike in the shop... and the truck in Denver... I'll be hitchhikin' tryin' to get to work! :-)

Yamaha is waitin' on parts that are supposed to be delivered early today... then they're closed tomorrow...

How many folks do ya figure will stop for a puss gut, bald headed, bowlegged, grumpy, Ol' buster... thumbin' on the side of the road? :-) ... I better get that Motorcycle home!

As you can see., Heidi goes to a LOT of Agility Trials these days...

I'll admit... I'm the drivin' force behind us tryin' to go full-time... which hasn't worked out so good... yet! But... she is hard core into doin' her Agility Trials... and since they're not here in the yard... that involves travelin'... hmmm.... convenient ain't it? :-)

So... as I conjure up my latest scheme to get on the road... I'm carving out an idea to make it a part time thing... takin' advantage of her lust for Dog Agility Trials.

...If we can't sell this place... all I need do is figger a way to take off on circles when the urge pushes me to need one... which is pretty much every other day.

I'm lookin' hard at goin' back to the future... makin' a list of all the sorts of things my Old Leather Shop could produce that would fit into the Agility Market... seems like a good fit... but then... I think I'm purty... so what I think ain't always right on target! :-)

... and then also... I keep thinkin'... to haul an 'Agility Trial Vendor Show' around I need a bigger rig... to haul the EZ Up/Tent for the booth and all the goods... while still keepin' Slick on board... or a Bigger Bike! :-) but then I think... a 'Big Rig' keeps us out of a lot of the little places we like to tuck into... and I start spinnin' in place like a kids toy top... or chasin' my tail like a Beagle!

Modify the Truck and Eagle some more? ... a bigger Truck (MDT?)... Diesel Pusher? ... spin - spin - spin!

Whooo!... this schemin' can make a fella dizzy!... 'specially when he starts out a mite off center in the first place...

Anyhoo... I keep chippin' away at the 'problem'... adding in the ideas that seem to fit and chuckin' the ones that are just too 'grandiose', costly or just don't fit my personality... OK... Knock it off! .... Yes, in fact... I DO have a personality!

When it's all said and done... if all we can do is circle out from our home place for a few weeks at a time... that ain't so bad is it? :-) I'm just not willing to sacrifice the years of work we've put into puttin' the place together... 'cause folks looking to buy are really looking to 'steal'...

Geeze... sounds like a helicopter around here... got to lookin' around and realized that was the noise of all the wheels spinnin' inside my head. :-) .... ya know... a lot of things can be said about me... one thing for sure and for certain...

I may get tired and 'down' once in a while... but give it a lil' time and I'm back at it... comin' up with new ways around whatever's blockin' my road...

I can easily claim the title of: "The second most stubborn critter on earth"... I'm married to the first! :-)

Take Good Care
Brian

July 5, 2008 05:55 - This Fourth of July had a Rocky start!

Nawww....

I ain't whinin' again.... I... was up in Rocky! :-) ... or almost...

Had a real busy day... ended up bein' another 300 plus, miler.

I needed to go meet Heidi at her Agility Trial... and take her some 'possibles' she forgot... Decided I should go to Brighton, by way of Rocky Mountain National Park... again! ... I need little incentive to run up there.

So... I climbed on Slick and headed out... about 6am.

Hit Thompson Canyon about 6:30 and found that it's a perfect time to roll through there in the middle of the summer... until you hit the rocks of course...

Rolled around a bend to find some traffic dead stopped... bunch of rocks in the road... they were waiting for a car from the other direction to pass so they could go around...

Did anyone climb out and move the rocks? Not a chance... until yours truly... yep... genuine Western Hero! :-)

The reason those rocks were there... was a bunch of Bighorn Sheep had come down to the river... and knocked 'em loose climbing back up the bank... a half dozen or so.... only got a pic of this young guy... the others were shy and mostly behind rocks and bushes...

Like I said, it's a pretty time of day in the Canyon... and little traffic... cool, quiet... more of my 'Shinin' times'! Would of liked to been back here later in the day... it got sizzlin' pretty good down in the 'Valley'.

Not a bad time to go through Estes Park either... This may be the only time you ever see Estes like this...

There was hardly another person up and around... just after seven in the morning...

The Ranger at the gate kind of gave me a look... when I handed her my 'cripple card' for my entrance... I like my 'Golden Access' card for sure and for certain... but she wondered I think: " A cripple? ... on a motorcycle?" ... she ain't seen me walk! :-)

One of the first areas you come to as you head west into that Rocky Mountain Jewel is Horsehoe park... Just around the first bend... entering Horsehoe, a couple of photographers, with lenses a foot and a half long, had their lenses focused on a dirt bank, not more than 30 feet distant... I pulled up to see what the big deal was...

... and found this little demolition expert hard at work...

There was a second Badger as well... but... he/she seemed more shy... and took off up the mountainside... I only caught a quick... sideways snapshot of that one...

This morning... I decided I should also take a short hike... didin't have time, having to get to the Agility Trial... to go far... but any walk in the park is a good one...

So I headed up the Bierstadt Lake trail a short ways...

The trail starts out switchbacking it's way up the mountain for the first mile or so... I went maybe 3/4 of a mile to capture this view...

... a view you can't get from the road!

Climbing back on the bike... I stowed my helmet and jacket in and on my saddlebags... just too nice a day for that 'stuff'... and goin' easy, in the park... I'll take my chances, without that brain bucket! ... I know... I can hear you... but... sometimes a man has to do.... what just don't make any sense to a lot of people! :-)

Climbing higher and higher.. the warming morning was a joy!...

Found these girls... some with new calves... and a few 'hangers on' boyfriends after breaking out above Timberline...

Made my stop in the coffee/gift shop up on top for a cup of coffee... looking out the windows at the always beautiful Alpine view...

Sittin' in the shop... enjoyin' the view... I got to evesdroppin' conversations... some folks grousin' about this trivial bit of junk or that... and just started grinnin'! ... folks must of thought: " Look at that goofy old geezer!... just sittin' there grinnin' like an idiot!"... fact was... It hit me what I must sound like when I get to whinin'... and it struck me as funny!

To be in - This Place - ... on... -This Day- was... well... it's a gift!

Wish I had a button... Just mount it on the back of my hand... an' whenever my day gets cloudy and I start feelin' cruddy... grousin' at my misfortune... I could just give that button a push... and this place would replay in my head... Hmmm...

... I suppose, if I think I'm purty... I could THINK... just as easily... that I had the BUTTON! :-)

But... all good things must end... so I started back down to the rest of the world... capturing this view on the way...

Just before I pulled out... a man was walking across the parking lot with his daughter... a tiny lil' thing... maybe two feet tall... 4... maybe 5 years old?

She looked at me with kind of a perplexed look on her face: "Daddy... he doesn't have his helmet on!" ( it was tied on my saddlebags)... "Why doesn't he have his helmet on!... Why, doesn't he have his helmet on?!" ... it reeeeeeally bothered her...

I leaned over my handle bars... looked her square in the eye and told her: " 'cause he's dumb!" :-)

Her Ol' Dad cracked up... it was a 'moment'... :-) Like I said... sometimes a man has to do things that make no sense at all to other folks :-)

When I got back down to the plains... they had got hot! Had to roll all the way to my Daughters in Denver to catch up with the Boss Lady... who was already done for the day by the time I got there... my brain cookin' in that Plastic Bucket I'd put back on for 'Busy' ridin'.

Then was time to roll home up I-25... racin' traffic at 80+! :-) ... sure is nice not worryin' about fuel consumption ... much... on the bike!

Funny... in the truck... I'm pokey Joe!... but... climb on the scooter... and I'm a 19 year old Punk again... "I feel the need... the need for speed!: :-)

It's a Good Life!

I'm hopin' your Fourth of July was as Shiny... and I'm hopin' you gave some thought to those Serving our Freedom... and ESPECIALLY to those Elite... Who will NEVER come home again... We owe a huge part, of the Joy of our lives... To THEIR Sacrifices.

... but now... on the 5th... I got to go sell some more 'stuff'... and make my Boss richer! :-)

Take Good Care
Brian

July 7, 2008 05:45 - The Rig is gonna be busy for a while.

The next few weeks are gonna start to be a bit of a hustle...

Wednessday I have to haul the Eagle to Loveland... hopefully, only for a few hours... have an appointment there to get the awning fixed... and we're hopefull it will only take a repair and not a replacement... A year or more ago, the awning started bein' kinda tough to retract... I think the spring anchor slipped and released the tension in it...

I could get by but it was a hassle... then it got worse and we quit usin' the thing... so it's time to take care of it...

If I'm lucky... the RV Tech I'm goin' to can retension it... and lock it down... Thought of doin' it myself... and then said: " NAAAA... that spring slips loose, when I got a bunch of tension on it... and I ain't gonna enjoy doin' an imitation of a windmill!"

So that's Wednessday... Sunday night I'm haulin' the rig up to Laramie for a week... Heidi is goin' to Agility Camp... sounds like a school girl don't it?

I'll commute back to Fort Collins for work on Monday... probably on Slick.. and then spend the weekdays up in Laramie. While she's doin' her agility camp/seminar thing... I can ride the mountains and plains around Laramie...

As soon as we come back from there... Big Red goes in for his surgery to repair the 'incident' damage. :-) Still keepin' our fingers crossed that they'll not find anything catastrophic... he's still drivin' OK... tires scrubbin' a mite... but with alignment... all the cosmetic stuff... as well as the structural repair... they promise a good prognosis... so we'll see!

Then... when Red comes back... that next week... we take off for about two weeks in Utah. Herself has two trials scheduled just south of Salt Lake City.

We'll go do the trial thing on the weekends, and then pull up into the mountains for the weekdays. She gets her Agility Trials... I get my mountian boondocking!

The week after we come back from Utah, we go back to Laramie for a trial... Not sure if it will be 'we' though... mostly I'll just run the rig up for her... I still have to sell my Ranch Stuff Saturday-Monday...

In amongst all of these lil' runs... I'm working on my next 'website' projects... I have three or four planned... have the 'site' paid for... just haven't been able to 'get off the dime' on which one should be first! :-) ... gettin' indecisive with age I guess!

... and in amongst that... we're whittlin' on the 'outline' of some sort of an enterprise tied into all the Agility Trials she/we run to... pieces are falling into place here and there... one careful step at a time and I'm hopin' I won't fall down and hurt myself!

I've pretty much come to the conclusion... that we're gonna need to wait out this real estate market... and that might take 2 or 3 years for the 'cycle' to turn... which I'm unwilling to wait on... just sittin' here, waitin'... So... if we can put together some collection of 'enterprises' that will allow us to take off ... pretty much at will... that will shine for me!

As long as we get to do our yondering... havin' this place to come back to between runs might just be pretty good itself... so that's the way we're runnin'.

The trick is going to be hangin' all the goods of that 'collection of enterprises' on the rig :-) ... we're likely to look like some 'Depression Time Okies' rollin' down the road with our mattress on the roof! :-)

What the heck... you only live once right? ... so why not run down the road makin' people look and say: "Did you see that!?" :-)

'bout time to head out... better go get ready.

Take Good Care
Brian

July 8, 2008 07:18 - House cleaning day

The Plan is to spend the day doin' all sorts of house cleaning...

Need to get the rig all shined up for Laramie... and the awning repairs tomorrow! :-) give it a bath, clean the carpet, scrub the floor... sure is a lot faster when you're cleaning 230 sq. feet than a couple thousand! :-)

Also... Chuck and Ayn let me know the 'General Store' is screwed up a bit... ARRRRGGGHHH! ... the problem is really NOT the General Store... the PROBLEM is with MICROSOFT.

It happens every once in a while... Internet Explorer just can't read very well... it's why I use Firefox for my browser... and since it's a FREE download... not much of a risk! Actually, no risk at all... it's got better security... and it can read! :-)

I'll try and get that 'Internet Explorer' glitch fixed in the next few days... it's kind of a hassle though... BOO HOO... usually, the only thing that can fix it...is to delete the whole page... and rebuild it... Thanks a Lot, Microsoft!...

The easiest fix of course... is for everybody to simply use the better browser... FIREFOX! :-)

I'm looking forward to next week... We'll be staying at the Hanson Arena... part of the Universities Livestock setup in Laramie.

While Heidi pursues her Dog Agility Studies :-) ... I'm going to pursue miles of mountains on Slick! Hohnholz Lakes, Woods landing, more of the Snowy Range... Maybe even a circle up around Elk Mountain... no shortage of great country to ride...

A good motorcycle is a perfect RV Toad in my eyes! Lighter than a car... and you don't get any bugs or rain sittin' in a car! How can stayin' clean and dry be any fun? :-)

Rollin' along through Rocky Mountain National Park last week was a pure joy on a motorcycle... it's a whole different sensation than sittin' on the seat of a Buick! You're somehow 'IN' the mountains on a bike... in a car... it's more like you're in a TV... :-)

And me... bein' the way I am... ain't got a windshield... or a fairing...

My buddy Mike is forever hasslin' me about that... I just tell him, when he says his Venture, with it's windshield, fairing, radios, intercom, foot boards, gps, and all the other foo fer aw, is more comfortable; "That ain't a bike!... it's a car with a couple of wheels missin'!" :-)

I guess I'd have to say... that if comfort was the motivatin' thing for me... I'd probably not have cowboyed for near as long! ... I sure don't remember a windshield on any of them horses!... or a seat warmer!

Anyhoo... I better get after it if I'm to be ready to go when it's time!

Take Good Care
Brian

July 9, 2008 18:32 - Awning all better now!

Geez!

That was easy... If I'd known that... I would have gotten it taken care of a long time ago!

The thing has been acting kind of lazy for quite a while... I'd contacted Carefree a good long while ago, and they emailed me a diagram of how to do it...

All I could see was the dang thing slippin'... and me gettin' wrapped up like a cowboy buritto!... so I put it off...

That and I just figured, they'd get in there and say... "Oh, heck, the whole dang thing is busted up... better to just replace it all!... and we've got a special this week! Just $995.95!

Didn't work out that way... I pulled in to DM RV Repair in Loveland, Colorado a few minutes early for my 1 p.m. appointment... by 1:30 ... I was back on the road! Sweet! ... and... only $47 lighter... a half hour shop charge... didin't need a single part...

If you look sharp in the lil' picture you can see Red's punched in nose... don't look so bad does it?... especially when you consider the impact across that front end was at about 50mph! Was a miracle... and a split second that kept things from bein' a whole lot different.

You ought to see the 'other' guy! That Ol' Dodge pretty much took out the right side of the van... from front bumper to rear wheel... Whew!

That's what makes it such a 'twister'... the cosmetic damage on Red is negligible... and easily fixed... the part you can't see, from an 'outside' superficial look is the tweaked frame...

We'll find out the 21st... or shortly thereafter... how tweaked... and where... keepin' my fingers crossed :-)

But... back to the Awning...Tim ... one of their techs... only had to pull the awning apart, inspect the interior gizmo and reassemble with the proper torque on things...

Better him than me! This next pic is just after the part I was afeared of... Watching him unwind the dang thing let me know, I was right... to let somebody else do the deed!... when the 'lady' of the place checked his hands, when he was done... counting his fingers and thumbs... and they had a good laugh about it... I knew for sure and for certain I'd made the right choice. :-)

They seem to be 'on the ball' in this shop... with a steady roll of business clicking through the short time I was there... They've got a mobile service as well... if needed...

So... if you're RV is in need of repairs... and you're livin' in or travelin' through Northern Colorado... or Southern Wyoming... DM RV Repair 970-461-2424, did me a good job... right on time, quick... and far as I'm concerned... cheap! :-)

Now... If it can only go as smoothly with Big Reds repairs next week! :-)

I'm off to go water some more weeds!

Take Good Care
Brian

July 10, 2008 07:17 - Fixing things Left and Right!

Awning fixed yesterday... General Store fixed this morning... Irrigation System fixed... Sometime today... I Hope! ;-)

I was notified the other day by some long time readers that my General Store was all jacked up... but only on Internet Explorer... Me bein' who I am... I couldn't find the problem...

Lookin' at HTML for computers... is sort of like tracking a cow through a swamp... there might be some sign in there somewhere... but everything just starts swimmin' in front of my eyes... and I can't find nothin'!

Thank the Boss for SBI! -The folks who built the system that lets a fella like me... build a good site like this :-)

I sent them an email yesterday morning... and they quick found what I'd done wrong and pulled my bacon out of the fire!... so... between my readers lettin' me know when I screw up... and SBI! lettin' me know exactly what the screwups are... I've got a heck of a lot of support!

Many Thanks! :-)

... and that's a good thing... cuz I'm startin' off on a new writin' project... I've had such a good time building this site... that I've decided it's time to expand my 'publishing' empire! :-)

One of my many passions... and many... is an accurate description... though some might call it a short attention span... is Motorcycling...

Before Slick came to live here I'd been... for several reasons... without a bike for 15 years or better... not exactly sure what it is about it ... but if I'm really on a 'downer'... if I go climb on that scooter... and take a nice ride up through the twisties... it straightens out my perspective a good bit... for me... that's a whole lot more pleasant than medication! :-)

That and Motorcycling fits into RV Boondocking right well... so ... the next project is going to be a Motorcycle Touring site with a focus on doing that... from an RV base...

For me it's not about RVing... It's about LIVING. The RV is not the end... it's the means. It provides us the 'relatively' low cost quarters... in some of the most glorious country the Boss has created on the face of the earth.

The 'end' for me... is Hiking, Photography and Motorcycling... among others... RVing provides the best (for me) foundation to let me do all them others!

Thanks to the Eagle, very much! for his support! :-)

My list of chores remains long and growing... so I better get after it... since I also have to get the rig ready to pull for Laramie on Sunday... and I have to 'work' an extra day at the ranch store this week... (to make up for some of the days I'll lose next month on the Utah trip)
... and the irrigation system still waits...

Take Good Care
Brian

July 12, 2008 06:12 - Tyin' to stir up Real Estate and Gettin' Ready to hit the road for some circles

I'll have to load the Yamaha when I get home from the ranch store tonight... 'cause my motorcycle carrier, the way I have it designed, takes two to load... and my 'New' design that will allow me to load Slick by by own self... ain't been built yet :-)

... and Heidi leaves with a friend... for Laramie, in the morning.

When I get home tomorrow night... I'll hitch up and pull for Laramie, meeting them there... Unload Slick when I get there... so I can ride back to Fort Collins for my Monday shift ... then... all next week I get to ride the Snowies and where ever, while Heidi does her Dog Agility seminar/camp.

Don't know if Slick knows it yet... but he's got a whole lot of runnin' he's gonna be doin'! :-) Sweet!

When we come back from there... that next Monday, Red goes under the knife to fix his boo boos... and just about as soon as we can get him home we pull out for Utah, on the 31st. We'll be runnin' around that country until the 14th or so... Like I said before... Agility Competitions on the two weekends... and the Mountains during the weeks... should be a very fine time...

I expect it to be pretty warm there in 'town'... but just what the Doctor ordered... up in those hills... Either the Uinta National Forest... or the Manti-La Sal National Forest... Won't have to go very far I think... for some nice country.

Made a little change with the realtor yesterday, trying to tickle some activity... offering a heavy subsidy on building a garage... that's about the only criticism of the place we've heard... no garage... I'd built a 1000 sq foot shop and a 34X48 barn... but no garage... :-) ... I suppose if I'd built the garage instead, they'd want the shop and barn right? :-)

They tell me... July is supposed to be a slow month for 'lookers'... vacations and all... what ever... one foot in front of the other...

anyhoo... still bangin' away at the wall... can't hardly see any chips in it... but bein' the second most stubborn person on earth... I ain't quittin' yet!

My buddy Mike has been teasin' me with all the good bikes at the Yamaha Dealership he uses... up in Spearfish... tryin' to get me droolin'... well, that's not much of a challenge...

We're (I am) considerin' a bigger scooter... as the Boss Lady has indicated she 'might' ride with me some... I prefer... sort of... the size I've got... it's a bit more nimble than the 'Big Guys' ... but it's really too little for much two up ridin'...

I guess if you're 20, you don't mind settin' on that postage stamp pillion seat out back... but at her 'improved' age... it sure wouldn't be comfortable for any length of time... which pretty much excludes any 'long' trips... so... I'll compromise... someday not too far off... and get a bike with twice the horsepower and displacement... and a lot better passenger accomodations...

I suppose I can suffer through that :-)

I'm off to do my chores...

Take Good Care
Brian

July 14, 2008 05:24 - On the Road Again... sort of...

We're parked at the Hanson Arena Just outside of Laramie, Wyoming... part of the University of Wyoming.

Heidi will start her Dog Agility Seminar today... 'bout 6am I'll pull out with Red... rollin' back to Fort Collins to do my shift today... then back here for a base for the next three days...

Pulled in here just after 9 last night... plumb wore out... think I've got some sort of a bug draggin' at me... or I'm just agin' faster than I thought. :-) Really didin't have the ambition to unload Slick in the dark... so I claimed 'wisdom'... and I'll put him on the ground when I get back this afternoon/evening...

There's some occassional road noise... but otherwise... it's COOL! ... Sweetly so! Back down there in FC it's been HOT! Up in the 90's... this morning... climbin' out from under the covers... it was down right chilly... jumped back under pretty quick... and snuggled another few minutes... Nice way to start a day...

But... it's got me runnin' late... so I better go scrape my face and get ready to roll... if I'm to be back to the 'dungeon' on time to do my days work...

Then... tomorrow... it's roll that Yamaha for the Snowies, just off there to the west a few miles...

Take Good Care
Brian

July 15, 2008 06:19 - This will be an easy day for catchin' up

Hmmm... either a 'bug' is chasin' me or old age accelerating? ... Well... yesterday the 'mystery' got partially solved... the 'Bug' caught up! 'Bout noon time I got to feelin' pretty much like that goo you have to scrape off your shoes at the dog park! :-)

Kept expectin' the folks at the ranch store to put me in a box and throw dirt in my face!

I finally gave in and went to the sawbones late yesterday afternoon... waitin' on the results of his tests to find out if I'll live or not... :-)

So... though I'd planned on goin' for a ride today... I believe I'll just mostly lay around 'camp' and catch up on some chores... That's the nice thing about this RVin'/Boondocking life... there's no place you have to be... something comes up... no big deal... you just shift gears and get on with it... or ... put it in neutral and sit in the shade!

It's a curious thing to me... how much more content and happy I am, in the rig, than I am back at that big house. Every time we get back in the rig that feeling is renewed. Being on the road, traveling easy, for me, is a joy. It scratches that insatiable gypsy itch, with which I am afflicted.

Another thing I quickly relearn with every trip, is how much I like this aging rig. I guess it's aging... seven years old I think this month. It's far from fancy... It don't measure up to the bells and whistles the 'system' sure pushes you to run after... But it's an old friend.

When we're back at the house... and I'm lookin' at things... and thinkin'... I can get some goofy ideas of changin' up... bigger this... fancier that... and then I can get to feelin' low cause I know... in the end... the dollars are just not there to do it...

It'd be nice I suppose to run one of those flashy, Diesel Pushers... But sometimes a fella has to face up to reality. A bunch of years makin' $800 a month and 'found' didn't build a wallet set up to endure the weight of such a rig! :-)

...and... when I think about it.. again... for me... such fanciness us just more stuff I'd have to worry about and support... just like bein' back in that house!

... 'less of course you're talkin' about Fancy Trucks and Motorcycles! :-) Then I'm all over chrome and sexy paint! :-) ... even if I still can't afford it! :-)

and talk about simplifyin'... I forgot to take the lil' two cup Mr. Coffee that I swap back and forth between the rig and the house... so I'm back to usin' the old, aluminum, camp percolator on the stove... I'd guess that a lot of people would choke on my coffee... but ... what the hell... It gets my Heart a pumpin' in the morning...

Well... time to get movin' a mite... If I get the few chores done that I've got stacked up... and I'm still feelin' human... I may still get in a short ride... or even a drive in Red off west here a bit... Those Snowy Mountains keep callin' to me... OHHHHH BRIIIIIIIIIAN! .... even if I do feel like a pair of old jeans this morning...

... you know... soft and limp... all washed out... with a couple of holes rubbed through? :-)

Till next time...

Take Good Care
Brian

July 16, 2008 06:47 - Chores yesterday... Ride the Snowies some today

Got my chores done... Finally got Slick unloaded... just felt puny the other night when I got here... didn't feel like wrestling with a 520 lb motorcycle in the dark... and sick as a dog... but rather than calling it wimpy... I like to think of it as wisdom! :-)

Hmmm... I guess I better be more careful about what I write! A week or so ago, on my last Rocky Mountain National Park ride I mentioned I had really wanted to go up Fall River Road... well, CID69, a regular reader of this blog... was inspired by my rambling to do just that...

... and got out of the Denver confusion... to drive right into a traffic jam on a one lane, dirt road, high in the Colorado Rockies!... OOPS!

Heidi and I thought about it this morning... and can't remember... ever... seeing more than 3 or 4 cars on the whole dang thing! I don't know... it may be the time of day... seems we always drive the thing fairly late in the day... figuring a little better opportunity for the Elk to be moving around...

... either that... or we're just lazy enough... that by the time we get there... it's late in the day! :-)

anyhoo... Sorry about that! :-)

The one thing I can say is that it is fairly easy to get away from the heavy crowds... even in a Crown Jewel like Rocky... 'bout all a fella need do... or fellerette! ... is get out and walk... there are a few high use short trails that are pretty busy... but the most of them... as soon as you get a half mile away from the parking lot... the crowds are gone.

We're a nation of 'Windshield Tourists' I believe... too bad for them... great for me! :-)

I don't worry too much about changing that here... even if I got a few thousand people to get out and walk a bit... spread out over all the places to walk... I don't think I'll be adding to 'Trail Conjestion' much... and I suppose a 'few thousand' is juuuuuust a bit optomistic about my ability to influence folks. :-)

Mostly... they just wave their hands in front of their faces, wincing and asking; "what the hell was that?" ... as I walk by... :-)

... and then... something that reeeeeeallly cramps up my jealousy muscle is a fella uses the moniker Gummy. Also a regular around here... he's, right now, where I've been struggling for years to get... ALASKA!.... ARRRRRGGGGHHHH! .... Lucky Bugger! The pictures he's posting on his blog just make me ache for that country...

If 'tribulations' make you appreciate your destination more... that Alaskan Road is sure going to be a jewel in my memory once I finally climb over all the obstacles that keep jumping up... and get there! :-)

One of the chores was to go get the rig dumped... we're conservative enough that we just don't fill things up too quick... still had partial tanks from our last trip... too little to dump then... so I waited and of course... ran out of grey water room yesterday morning...

Well! It just so happens that right there on the west side of Laramie Wyoming... along interstate 80, sits the Wyoming Territorial Prison Park, and they've got a dump set up with water to boot... so if you're runnin' down I-80 and need a dump... there's one with easy access, even for big rigs at the Territorial Park in Laramie!

... appropriate... don't you think... you dump your sewage... and take on fresh water... at the prison?... sort of a... "the bad goes in... and the good comes out" sort of a deal? :-) ... too bad prisons don't seem to work that way, huh?

Then back to The Hansen Livestock Teaching Arena where we're parked... if you look real close... you can see the Eagle... it's the white thing just to the right of the big arena building... Exciting ain't it? :-)

Oh yeah... I got to be a 'Western Hero' again too!... One of the gals at the seminar couldn't use her microwave... Disaster! :-) seems she was at another trial a few weeks ago and there was a storm... knocked out the power pedestal she was hooked up to... said she had some 'fuses' that were bad and she hadn't got it into the RV place yet for repair...

RV shop for fuses? ... "Let me look at it!" I said... puffin' out my chest... "I'll save you!"

Well... the 'fuses' turned out to be a double circuit breaker that was cooked apparently by a big spike... so I pulled it out... picked up a new one at the Ace Hardware in Laramie... and had her microwaving in no time... without the $95 an hour shop time to plug in a new breaker!

Seems her husband don't "Do Electrical"... ? ... but that don't stop me!... 'specially on somebody else's rig! :-)

Spent the afternoon banging the keyboard on my newest project... my second site! will be sort of an off shoot of this one... focused on Motorcycle Touring... but from an RVer perspective... sort of a Motorcycle RV Toad! ... like I needed more outlets to vent my gas! :-)

Mostly sittin' around yesterday and chokin' down the lil' white pills the sawbones gave me, has me feelin' tolerable this morning... so I'm planning on climbin' on Slick shortly and rollin' west up into the Snowies...

In spite of what I just wrote about walkin'... don't believe I've got the energy today to do much of that... but I believe, just rollin' through the High Country is about as good for my carcass as those lil' white pills!

So if I'm goin'... I better get to gittin'!

Take Good Care
Brian

July 17, 2008 07:41 - Just wandering around in Wyoming

Took off on Slick, heading west toward Woods Landing...

The road Turns up into the Snowies right there at Woods Landing... pretty good grade up through some nice tight twisties... at least they're tight at 65 mph! :-)

It was right fine fun... right up to the point I caught up to the semi grinding up the mountain... :-) but that didn't last long, and as soon as he dragged hisself up to a place long enough for me to see around that V twin wound up and we zoomed on by!

That is a pretty piece of road... but hard to photograph for some reason... I think maybe it's something about a picture being only a small piece... and in this case you need the 'whole thing' to get the effect... or is it affect? heck I never know! :-)

I stopped at what is normally a campground just a bit East of Wycolo Lodge... I say normally 'cause the campground itself is closed for a while... I guess we better get used to seeing this quite a bit across the west...

The campground is closed... but the Trail head that leads out from it remains accessible...

So... I took a short walk... still feeling a little puny... on what used to be an old railroad grade... I guess they had a road that ran through here going down to a coal mine area in Northern Colorado... ran for quite a while... and now it makes for a pretty fine trail for tired Ol' geezers to stoll along gettin' a mountain fix.

All sorts of Lupines and Wild Rose along the old right-of-way... I was there at the wrong time of day, to be honest, for the best pictures... but still... any time of day where all you can smell is the Aspens, the Pines, the Wild Roses and the fresh breeze that hasn't gone through fourteen other sets of lungs already is a pretty fair time of day... don't you think?

... and when you can just stroll along without a care... would have been finer with herself along... but... she's down there stretchin' her brain and laborin' at Agility School! :-)

That Aspen is providing a pretty lil' nursery for the Pines and the Lupines don't you think? Not sure others would agree... but I kind of like this picture... It's actually a 'crop' from a lot bigger picture... but in this case... if you cut out all that other 'stuff' it makes a lot nicer picture... leastways I think so!

The Lupines were hard to photograph along here... They're all over... but the sun was too strong... and the color was all washed out... the big problem with photography at the wrong time of day. :-) Oh well... I got to SEE it first hand!

After that little walk... Slick took me on past Wycolo where I figure to get lunch... only I was too early... by about a half hour... so I went on past to where the road dips back into Colorado a mite... and spotted a large herd of Elk cows a ways from the two lane... maybe 75 Head or so...

Again, not a great picture.... but a story telling one... if you think about it...

What's the story? ... Well... If you look past the Elk, at all those dead, Beetle Killed trees... that's your clue....

... The Elk are one bunch that are sure going to profit from all the graze that's going to come up in all those areas opened up by the wholesale die off of timber... basically, millions of acres of grass and browse are going to support a greatly increased Elk and deer herd.

I'd expect the same result that they saw after the Yellowstone fires in '88. The Elk and Buffalo herds pretty much exploded from the huge increase in forage for them... maybe the 'Silver Lining' inside the sadness of the Beetle Epidemic?

One thing that was pretty cool was that all these Elk Cows and their calves were 'Talking' to each other... I could easily hear their calls ringing and echoing across the meadow... I got a short video with that flashy new Nikon P80 of mine and you can hear the calls plain on it...

I really need to learn how to put those onto you-tube so I can link to 'em... 'sigh'... I always seem to come up with more work for myself! :-) Too bad I'm so lazy!

Well... all the excitement made me hungry... so I climbed back on Slick... where I'd stashed him just about in the bar ditch... That's the nice thing about a motorcycle... you can stop just about any darn where! :-) It don't take much room to park one!

... Climbed back on, and rolled back to Wycolo Lodge for a very good Buffalo burger and soda for lunch.

This little place used to be one of my and Heidi's favorite spots. When we were still on the ranch... and poor... about the only thing we could afford for entertainment was a drive through the mountains... 'course this was back when fuel was about a buck a gallon... and we still thought that was high! :-)

We'd drive the forest roads... looking for Moose and just enjoying the scenery and then stop here for lunch.

Now... one more time... I hesitate to talk up food... I don't seem to notice until it's REALLY bad! :-) but... that said... I think the food here is pretty decent! ... and while I was sitting there, enjoying my Buffalo... there was another guy spouting about his fried chicken... "This is REALLY GOOD!... and I don't even LIKE chicken!"... so eat at your own risk ... but at least two of us thought it good!

Got back to the rig in early afternoon... put the newly repaired awning down to shade the wall... and find out that somewhere along the line. one of the legs of the awning got bowed slightly... and won't extend... so I got on the phone and got one ordered... just in time to take a nap! ...this feeling puny kinda sucks!

Heidi and her gals came back to the rig a few hours later and decided that we should run over to Centennial for supper... so we piled into a subaru and jingled over to the Old Corral in Centennial...

Had a Buffalo Burger there too! To compare... Hmmm... both good! It's a horserace!

Trying to figure out where I might ride today... we have to load up this afternoon... these short runs are too short! ... so I can't go real far... but I'll get somewhere...

Take Good Care
Brian

July 18, 2008 13:47 - The Last Day in Wyoming for this Circle...

...Was maybe the best!

Lagged around our 'camp' till almost mid morning 'fore I started rolling... had to pick up some go juice in Laramie and then ran out Hwy 130 toward Centennial... where we'd ate supper the night before...

The day was overcast... and thought I might get rained on... still feeling kind of 'off' so that didn't excite me much... this time!

Nothing real spectacular... 'tween Laramie and Centennial... outside of the clear air of the High Plains... a man can take a full breath and not feel like he's cheatin' on somebody doin' it! :-)

Passed cattle all fat and sassy... calves playin' on the cool day... rolled through the lil' town and started climbing toward Snowy Range Pass. Was but a few minutes leanin' through the twisties that I passed the turnoff to our campsite of a couple months ago... but kept rollin' higher...

Everything up there is cool and green! 'Course this year, this whole area of Wyoming is still green... they seem to be having a fine year... back on the front range in Colorado... we're workin' on another dry summer... maybe make it to the top of the list for dry years...

Was almost to the top of the pass... up past the switch back twisties that are just above Snowy Mountain Lodge (more about that place later!) and a lil' lake caught my eye off to my left... so I locked up the binders, spun Ol' Slick around, pulled him off in a little widespot... and shut 'er down.

There's something about a High Mountain Lake that just sparkles... even on a cloudy day. This little lake is tucked down in a meadow up in the pass... and actually... when you turn around and look around the point you climb down... is probably three times what you see here...

I don't know that this is the only stream feeding it... I expect not... but if it has more than this pretty lil' waterfall... it's been surely blessed!

With all the water, timber, and it's location in the High Up and Lonesome... you'd think the place couldn't have any more for you... but when you look around... everywhere... are flowers... White, Purple, Blue, Yellow... The Boss looked down on this spot and decided to let everyone have just a little taste of Heaven... right here on Earth...

Columbines... everywhere!... and this Ol' Cowboy does truly admire, Columbines!

No idea what these lil' things are... but my ignorance don't make 'em any less pretty for fillin' a mountain meadow!

... and the last flower I 'captured'... is another one I haven't got a name for... but by God! it's a pretty thing!

Up there, at 10,000 feet or so... this time of year... with all the water... there's only one fault... SKEETERS! Great big 4 pounders!

They got stingers... look like daggers! I believe they'd punch holes in Kevlar... Why I remember one pack we were on... up in Yellowstone country... more'n thirty years ago... picketed the horses about 7 in the evening... when we come back in the morning all that was left was the skin!... them Skeeters had deflated 'em overnight!

That same trip... voices woke me up one night... about 2 in the morning... spooked me... I couldn't move... there was a weight on my feet.

I looked down and could see two fellers sittin' on my feet! Silhouetted against the canvas by the full moon. Before I could tell 'em to git off... one started talkin'. "Well, whadaya think?"

The other fella replied: "I think we oughta just eat 'im here... we try an take 'im home... them BIG Skeeters 'll take 'im away from us!"

Why... I nearly jumped outa my underwear... grabbed a pistol... but 'afore I could let fly they knocked me over in their escape and flew out the tent door!

You have got to be careful in Wyoming... Texas ain't got nothin' on them for BIG! :-)

Well... the Skeeters finally talked me into leavin' that lake and Slick took me back through the switchbacks to the Snowy Mountain Lodge. I was a little chilled and thought... if they've got some hot coffee and a sweet roll, that would be just about right...

You can't miss the place... Heidi and I had meant to stop in when we were up before... but just hadn't ever got it done... Our Mistake!

From the outside... it's nothing spectacular... just the classic log lodge...

... But inside... it's got... that Classic, Log Lodge atmosphere! :-) Sitting in the dining room of the cafe' ... it's all varnished logs... a Moose Mount at one end... a Buffalo at the other... my seat was by a window... with the creek flowing past and a Rufous Humingbird bullying all intruders on HIS feeder! :-) ... that was hangin' just outside.

Don't know if the rest of their food is as good... but the coffee and the cinamon roll I had to warm up, was as good as I could ask for... made better by the... your-at-home-and-all-is-right feel to the place. Heck... they even had a cap to add to my collection!

One last look at the lake... and I gotta get off the Mountain...

Couldn't take all the time I would have liked... had to load up and haul home... dang I could sure do without the end of circles!

But... no other choices just now... so head home we did... only to spend a good hour... sittin' on I-25... while they cleaned up a big wreck... and watch all the bozos stackin' up behind us... jumpin' the median... to pull out in front of semi's rollin' north at 75mph... so they could jump the east side median over to the frontage road... 'cause they were in such an all fired hurry to get down the road....

My bet is... it was the same sort of idiot that started the big wreck that had us stopped in the first place... there was... one more bumper bender in the stacked up line... caused by some other tailgaitin' parnelli... in a hurry to get nowhere... guess some things will just never change...

Now... today... down here on the Colorado High Plains... bakin' in the Dry Sun we've got these days... as I finish up this long post... I think of the last glimpse I took... as I turned away from that High Mountain Lake... to start back down...

... and all the other trivial junk just fades away...

Take Good Care
Brian

July 22, 2008 06:15 - Rambling like usual... Lot's of little things...

... have me goin' nine oh... and not real sure of direction! :-)

Another one of those 'scattered' times... where my 'split' personalities can come in handy! :-)

Big Red went in the shop yesterday to have his 'bent' nose repaired... Gettin' Ready to head out for two weeks or so in Utah... We'll pull out on the 31st.

I'm bangin' away at the 'engineering' on website #2.. Those early stages of such a project seem to take forever... with little visible progress... and then BANG! You're off! ... So it's fun... but a little 'Nervy' at the same time... 'cause once again... when you hang your ideas out there for folks to take their shots at...

... some of those shots can sting! :-) ... but most times... it's just fun! So I just hang on for the ride!

I'm hoping to have some part of it built and 'Live' in the next week or so... I work hard to not be in a hurry... but my nature is impatience... so it's kind of interesting to watch... Kind of like a fella throwin' up his hands in Wyoming and ordering the wind to stop! Not a whole lot of opportunity for success there :-) ... but I 'keep Trying'... to not be in a hurry!

...Then... since I have so much 'Free' time... I'm workin' at restarting my Old Leather Shop... only this time... there won't be anything that hs to 'FIT' somebody!... It'll be strictly a Custom, Art-Grade, Carved, Photo/Scrapbook Album, Journal, Picture Frame etc. 'One Off' Line of pieces...

The idea... with these two 'enterprises' (three, if you add in this site) is to divide my 'eggs' into a couple of different baskets... my thinkin' is... if all three found modest success... it'd open up the opportunity to take off wandering... a whole dang lot! ... whether the House was sold or not...

My two 'sites' and my leather... add up to what I'm workin' out for my own, individual solution to the common question of; "What can I do, to make some income, on the road, so that we can travel... NOW?" ... ever'body's solution is gonna be different... you just have to keep workin' at it until you get it done... I like the idea of it coming from several different places... That way... if one dumps on you... there's still something comin' in from the 'other' places... and you can put a little more effort into those 'other' efforts if needs be... to make up the difference...

... and then... in amongst all that... I'm workin' at Re-working/simplifying the 'Home Place' to make maintaining it easier/quicker... to allow us to do our traveling... at least part-time... without worrying about how much work is stackin' up while we're gone...

Since 'Selling out' and heading out... doesn't seem to be a workable option just now... I know... it's been a while!... What can I say... I'm a slow learner... and stubborn... but... eventually... I usually get the message! :-)

We're just about at that 'Final Decision' point to pull the plug on trying to sell for a while... maybe a year or two? the combination of a lousy market and a series of Realtors that are just 'listers' and have little to no, real intention, of actually working to sell a place... (they just want to 'list' it and let someone else do the work) has left us wore out from the constant 'Limbo' we've been living in for the last couple years...

So... I believe... what we'll do is simply... take a deep breath... cool out... and go on about LIVING... plan and make as many 'Circles' as we can... and work at re-organizing our 'affairs' to make part-time Yondering a bit easier...

When the time seems to be right... once the market runs through it's normal 'cycle' and makes a turn for the better, some time down the road... we'll put the place back on the block... and go full-time then... but for now (actually... toward the end of August... when the contract is just about run out) ... we'll just back off and relax for a while... Focus on LIVING... and let those 'obstacles' keep their own company!

So... that's the 'Wind' for today! How's that for 'Rambling? :-)

Hope you're keepin' it 'in the wind' :-)

I'll talk at you later!... 'till then

Take Good Care
Brian

July 23, 2008 07:16 - Spent the day scattering seeds...

... picked a little good stuff... ended the day wadin' in the weeds! :-)

Went by the Body Shop to visit Big Red first thing in the morning... they had most of his hide pulled back... and some fancy gauging hardware hung underneath... The good news there is that they really can't find anything bent behind the 'nose'... so... it looks pretty cosmetic at this point... THAT... is a good thing.

It would appear that pieces and parts are just knocked around on their mounts... Cooper Auto Body has the best reputation of anybody in this area... so... once past my initial 'paranoia' ... it's looking pretty good for Red.

When I left there... Out of curiosity... and some little bit of schemin'... I took a run down to RV America... to look at Pull Trailers... I've got this wild Idea to radically rework our rig to fit the changing 'geography'... (Fuel/real estate/ motorcycles) would be a pretty fine 'winter' project... to get ready for next year!

It makes the Boss Lady Crazy... actually... she looks at me... rolls her eyes and utters a string of profanity that is ... MOST... un-lady-like! :-)

I have this problem... No matter how well I might put something together... I pretty quickly see how I could have done it better... and then I have this insatiable 'itch' to do it... and see if I'm right! :-)

It's not really that I'm dissatisfied... just that I really enjoy the tinkering and scheming!... Good thing the Boss Lady ain't much in to tuggin' on her own hair... or It'd make her bald as me!

Anyhoo... I've got this idea... since I think I've got her thinkin' she'll ride with me... If I maintain a mite of sedentary behavior with my right hand... that's the throttle hand on a scooter :-) ... We'll need a bigger motorcycle..

Slick is a good bike... but he's really built for one... just too light for carryin' a passenger very far...

Putting Slick on the tail of the Eagle was pushing the envelope a bit... hanging a bike that's 200 lbs heavier back there would require a LOT of engineering and modification... doable... but I've got 'other' ideas!

Hmmmm... If I pulled the factory bed... and built a 'Motorcycle Garage' on Big Red... and swapped out to a pull type trailer... since I'd no longer be able to hook up a fiver... I'd actually get quite a few other advantages as well...

Like... a lighter, lower rig... would pull easier... with less wind resistance... and we'd get even better fuel economy than we enjoy now... With a good size 'shell' built on the truck we'd have a lot more 'storage'... could even add a canoe rack on the roof... and ... Loading a big Bike would be much easier... a good thing as I get older... and more defensive of my purty features!

There's plenty of 'Big' Rigs that would haul it just fine... and with Style! ... and we've looked at those a lot... from gently used Diesel Pushers... to MDT's... and everything you can imagine...

The biggest problem, for me, with the bigger outfits... is that their length, height, and weight... whittle down the places we can go with 'em... along with the Boss Lady just can't get past their 'visual' size... no matter how much 'talking' I do...

To be honest... Any rig much bigger than what we've got, would've made gettng into that Medicine Bow camp a month or so ago pretty tight... I'm more into making things easier and a mite more relaxing these days... not more challenging! :-) ... unless of course you're talkin' motocycles...

Then it's "90 miles an hour down a dead end street!" :-) ... act my age? ... Not A Chance! :-)

And... on top of it all... I've been a 'pickup man' for so dang long... it's what I'm comfortable in... so I always end up circling back to a pickup setup...

So... no telling where this road leads... the only thing for sure is... I'll always be schemin' and tinkering! :-) ... and hopefully not shoppin' for wigs... for the Boss Lady to cover the 'Damage' !

I guess, the underlying thing is... it's not about the destination for me... RVing has never been that for me. Fact is, I don't really like it when we GET somewhere... For me... it's the Trip... the goin' that toots my whistle... I like the figurin' and the schemin' that takes you down the road... The 'What ifs'.

When you Get There... the trip is pretty much over! :-) ... ummm.... I must admit that, gettin' to Yellowstone don't bother me too awful much... :-)

I've been draggin' this rig around for seven years... I think I've developed an 'itch' for more 'What ifs'. :-) ... I think Heidi calls it... AADD
(Adult Attention Deficit Disorder) :-)

The 'Weed Patch' at the end of the day... was trying to build a large new page on the site... I may have picked the wrong way to do it... and the software doesn't like it... spent several hours button punching... only to have the machinery tell me NO! and crash everything I'd built... arrrrrgggghhhh!

Well... Today... whether it likes it or not... It's gonna let me build that page! :-)

I better go get my delusional, wandering self to work on todays chores!

Take Good Care!
Brian

July 24, 2008 06:59 - Actually Made some progress yesterday...

Breathed in and out... put one foot in front of the other... sorted some 'things' out in my empty Ol' noggin'... and got REAL DANG JEALOUS... Again... :-) ... Lookin' at Ol' Gummy's pics from Seward, Alaska.

That country up there is just so glorious it makes your soul ache just lookin' at pictures of it... and knowin' that some 'other' lucky bugger is gettin' to take 'em! :-) ... gives me an 'Itch' that raises a rash you could sand furniture with!

Guess for now... I can soothe my rash, suffering along with local scenery... and toward that end...

Managed to get that big 'Rocky Mountain National Park' page built finally... had to go back and re-do some of the parts the 'software' didin't like... guess my 'wind' was takin' up too much space! :-)

Those of you who have been around here a while have probably seen most of the pictures... but some of the info might be of use if you're wanderin' through there...

We may be runnin' that way today... managed to align the stars and get a day 'off' together... gonna do a day trip... just don't really know where yet...

Also... got the home page for 'Motorcycle Touring Freedom Road' built yesterday too! Big time publisher now! Two Sites! Yes Sir! good thing I bought that new cap up in the Snowies the other day... what with my head swellin' up again! :-) ... probably take another day for the site to show up... guess it takes a good while to work through the 'net' the first time...

Hoping to get Red back... as early as late this afternoon... then... get things on the rig tuned up this weekend... for leaving for Utah next Thursday...

Have to do the 'tuning' in the evening... I have to work six days straight! Boo Hoo! ... it ain't right!... a disabled Vet ain't supposed to have to work so hard! :-) .... 'specially one as pretty as I am!

I need to clean carpet... sanitize the fresh tank... the usual misc. maintenance stuff...

Also have to decide if I'm going to bother loading Slick for this trip... had a little didoe with the carrier unloading from the Laramie trip... the dang Hi lift jack let go when the Bike was only about 1/2 way down.... BANG! ... came down juuuuust a mite faster than I engineered it to... good thing I'm careful about not bein' where falling objects can dent my hide! ...

... anyhoo... I'm not real inclined to buy a new jack... since this one is almost new... but I just don't trust the gol' durn thing... and since I 'might' be changin' everything up anyway... I may just let Slick sit this one out... while I ponder... maybe a lil' more 'Cowboy' engineering! :-)

... sniff... sniff... sniff... do you smell anything? ... Is that smoke? :-)

... now... one last word... Mike notified me that he don't like me using the terms/words ... 'electrical' and 'engineering'... Seems it makes him dizzy... gives him the grasping quivers... thinkin' of those words... and me... in the same sentence!

So... I promised him... that from now on they'd only be used with the 'Cowboy' pre-fix! :-) as in... Cowboy electrical and Cowboy Engineering... I guess he just wants ever'body to know what they're gettin' into... with a 'proper warning'... :-)

... a last word... for real... sketching out a quick Motorcycle Touring circle through Yellowstone/Bear Tooth Pass Country with that whiner Mike... no electrical or engineering involved :-) ... as soon as Heidi and I roll back from Utah...

I figure it won't happen, just thinkin' about it... 'less you make it... so I'll set about doin' what I've heard others say... 'Live your life the way you want it!"

Take Good Care
Brian

July 25, 2008 07:56 - Another Day in Our Local Crown Jewel... ROCKY!

:-) .... What can I say? ... I love the place... and this day it was as 'New Colt' Gorgeous as I've ever seen it.

Truth is... we have seemed to go up, most of the time, either early or late season... missing a few of the crowds...

Today... the snow is 'just' gone... and the grass and flowers were 'Irish' green... I don't believe I've ever seen it as green. I've been up here more times this year than any other I think... This website is REALLY proving to be a benefit to me! :-)

Having a 'Need' for more 'writing' material is giving me all sorts of 'excuses' for wandering! :-)

About a week ago CID69 wrote that he left the traffic in Denver to get caught in a traffic jam on Fall River Road... so... since we'd never got caught in such a thing up there... we just had to go that way... and check it out in 'High' season...

I think his mistake was, maybe, going too early in the morning. Like I've said before... by the time we get to going anywhere... it's generally quite a bit later. :-) After we got done checking on when the truck would be done... and a used riding lawn mower... yadda yadda yadda... it was after lunch time by the time we hit the end of the pavement, at the start of the Fall River Road.

You can get a little guide book from a post on the side of the road there, for $2. Seems worth it to me. Lots of info and pretty well done... Kind of an 'Honor' system... You can just take the book if you wanted... I paid my $2 :-)

One of the first things you 'notice' on this road... is that it's not very wide! and there are a 'few' switchbacks...

Not to worry! I've been up this Ol' road a dozen times... many with a big pickup... and I never fell off once! Just take your time... swing wide enough to make the turns and you'll be OK... If you're driving a lil' car like the 'rental' we took today... while the truck is in the shop... you shouldn't have any issues!

Not long after you start up is a pull out at a place called "Chasm Falls"... pretty little spot...

Can you see the gal peeking over the rock up on the right?... wouldn't you have liked to sneak up behind her and give her a 'goose'... as she's peekin' over? :-) ... yeah I know... I'm bad...

There, near the top of the falls... is the definition of stubborn... I ain't got nuthin' on these guys!

I'd say growin' out of solid rock is stubborn... wouldn't you?

I always cause trouble, runnin' up this canyon... every six feet I want to stop and take a picture... but... it's not like there's an over abundance of places to pull over and park... so ever'body behind me gets slowed down... 'till I can find a place to pull over and let 'em by... which I do reg'lar...

... so I can have clear road behind me... so I can just stop when I feel the 'need'!

Somewhere along in there, at a pull out... you can look back to see Horsehoe Park... Where the Fall River Road started... another one of those places I could just sit for quite some while...

Way up... just at the edge of Timberline... there's a switchback... with a wide enough place to stop... and a pipe across a lil' road leading back into the trees...

It's one of our favorite spots up in Rocky... have you ever seen a better spot for a Pic Nik?

While we were sitting there... almost done with 'lunch'... we heard a siren! ... way up there... 10,000 feet plus... sitting in the 'wilderness' we hear a siren! Geez!

A few minutes later... back in the car and finishing the run to the top... we passed the source of the noise... I asked the Ranger; "Somebody get lost"...

Reply: "Nope... Somebody havin' a heart attack!"

Bad day for that fella... I expect... though I ain't been able to verify... it was most likely someone from out of the area... comin' up high... fast... goin' to far too fast... and gettin' nailed by the altitude... I keep warnin' folks... give it some time... you gotta get acclimated to the altitude in the High Country!

Anyhoo.... our day was a good one... nearing the top you get a look at the Alpine visitor center sitting up on the high ridge... actually... you can see it in the Pic Nik picture too... if you look up on the ridge in the center... right by the 'snow'...

Can you imagine back in the twenties... when this was a 'Two Direction' Road? :-) and to think... the majority of this road... the first vehicle road to the top was built between 1913 and 1920, mostly by 38 prison inmates... maybe we ought to give the ones we have now some useful work? :-)

and the obligatory High Peaks shot in Rocky Mountain National Park... taken at one of the big pullouts... just after we met up with Trail Ridge Road... up at the Alpine Visitor Center...

Sorry CID69! ... no traffic jams for us... a small string... the last mile as we got to the top... but otherwise... clear sailing! :-)

Then it was down the mountain... trying to get back in time to pick up Big Red at the body shop... He's gonna be pissed... we were 20 minutes late and couldn't get him... So he'll get picked up Friday... OOPS! ('course... I'm writing this tomorrow... which is now today... which is Friday...) ... :-)

Take Good Care
Brian

July 26, 2008 06:23 - Big Red is Home...

Heidi picked up the truck yesterday... we dinked around on the mountain too long and couldn't get there in time Thursday... OOPS!

Looks good... along with doing the repairs, Cooper Auto Body pretty much detailed the rig.... Heidi said; "It's almost worth wrecking it once a year so they can clean it up!"... to which I repied... "Yeah... wellllll.... NO!" :-)

So far... she's keepin' on that schedule though... fender last year... nose this year... don't know if the rig can hold up to her methods for 'Detailing' :-)

The Tech says that the alignment numbers for the rig are claiming to be a bit better than 'most' trucks straight off the assembly line. Coopers has the BEST reputation of anyone around... I've dealt with 'em a few times in the past and have confindence in 'em... so it looks like... in spite of my 'paranoia' and cynicism on 'frame repair'... we might have just 'dodged' a bullet in this deal! :-)

Appropriate don't you think? ... Dodge a bullet... with a Dodge? ... OK... OK... I'll keep my day job...

Not much else to yak about this morning... have to be in to the ranch store early... it's the National "Day of the Cowboy" today... by Congressional Decree! :-) ... they're putting on a big 'Do' at the store... and talked me into doing a "Leather Carving Demonstration"...

Not sure I like the idea.... sitting at my bench and Carving is one thing... having a bunch of folks standing there staring at you is something else... But... I guess... it's better than some of the possible alternatives I can think of... so... a carving I will go...

The good thing is... it kind of kicks me in the pants to get that work started again anyway... which I need to do... so... I't gets me motivated to get to work... and gives me something 'fresh' to grouse about at the same time! How great is that? :-)

... and the last little thing... the 'net' is bein' real slow about recognizing the new motorcycle site I'm working on... or there's some glitch in the software... so what else is new? :-) ... waiting an extra day or two... see if it corrects itself 'fore I contact my support fellers to see if they can straighten it out...

... not a real problem since I have to spend the next several days at the 'day job' preparing for our Utah trip...

So... if I'm to get to that 'Day Job' I better get to gittin'.

Take Good Care
Brian

July 28, 2008 05:45 - Ready to Roll...

The Carpet is as clean as it'll be... the tank is sanitized... most all the other chores are done... just have to wait till it's time that I'm allowed to roll out... but then... I'm gettin' fairly good at... waiting! :-)

As little planning as I do regardin' direction and places... all I've got is the 'plan' to roll to Flaming Gorge for the first night... That should be an easy 1/2 day roll from here... with a pretty short trip from there into Pleasant Grove on Friday. The first Agility Trial will start up on Saturday morning...

So... Lookin' good for now.

I believe I'll leave Slick in the Shop for this trip... That little di doe with the jack a couple weeks ago just ain't settin' well with me... in fact... I've got a total re-design of the carrier layed out that I think is pretty darn sweet!... Truth is... I wish I'd had this idea back at the start...

I guess you can't get down the road... unless you make a couple turns here and there... right?

Along with the 'New' motorcycle carrier design... I'm layin' out a major re-work of the fifth-wheel suspension... I want a bigger 'Slick' for us... and that requires either... a bunch of dinero to swap out the rig ... or ... a not-as-much-but-still-a-lot of dinero to make modifications to the good Ol' rig that's served us well, to raise it's capability to do the job...

That's had me a little un-confident... but I believe I've come up with a clean design that'll do the job in high style... while preserving my limited means in the process... it'll still leave a mark... so it'll be a little while to get it done... unless something with the house should happen while I'm building up the 'remodeling' bank. :-)

I haven't been to Flaming Gorge in I believe, almost thirty years... If I remember correctly, it was in the first year of wedded bliss... went through there in a big rig... (semi)... The only part I've got to decide is how to get there....

Probably won't know till about noon on Thursday... when I look back and see which way I came...

The options are... the quickest... which would be to run up to Cheyenne, catch I-80 and roll west...

or...

Just go west from here... through Poudre Canyon and west through Steamboat Springs, Craig, past the Dinosaur Monument...

The southern route would be more relaxing and scenic for sure... but probably two or three more hours for the same distance... Hmmm... seems like a time to consider my own... "Slow down and enjoy the trip" words... Don't it?

Stay tuned... and find out if I'm bright enough to listen to myself! :-)

Take Good Care
Brian

July 30, 2008 06:14 - Still Ready!

:-) ...

My hot coffee is in my cup... Lonesome Dove on my Ipod in my ears... a cool breeze washin' over the Eagle... We're all ready for some time on the road... but ... they won't let me leave till tomorrow...

itch... itch ... itch....

Don't it feel good when you get to scratch it though?

Did some 'remodeling' with the logo yesterday afternoon... I kind of like it... what do ya think?... There is one lil' problem with it on the 'Blog' page... you may have noticed... It's OK on the rest of the site... on the 'Blog' it's stretched a bit... one more time when this 'blog' software has poked me...

... it may have poked me one time too many!... I'm thinkin' of settin' up a different system for the blog... something I think would function a lil' better... but... I'm sure it'll take me a good while to sort it out in the unused space keepin' my ears apart... so I wouldn't guess it'll get done too quick :-)

I've been offloading bits and pieces the past week or two... decided I had 'stuff' we were carryin' that really doesn't need to come along... That's something ever'body oughta do ever' once in a while... go through the rig and dump the baggage that just doesn't get used...

I don't know if the stuff breeds or what... but it sure seems to grow... In a rig, where you gotta buy diesel to haul it... just makes sense to cull out what you don't need... probably not a bad idea for house livin' as well...

Heidi and I have been livin' in two rooms in the house now since November... well... three if you count the bathroom! The rest of the place remains empty... and will... until some sort of decision is made concerning... where we're goin' with this deal.

'This Deal' of course bein' our 'real estate' obstacle...

After bein' in the Eagle for half of last year... we're just more comfortable in the smaller space! :-) Would tend to indicate we're likely candidates for full-timers huh? :-) ...

As much as I keep tryin' to just accept how things are... with sellin' the house and all... I admire the travelin' life so dang much... I just can't bring myself to abandon the dream... just because we haven't succeeded in 'divesting' the house... yet! :-)

I'll chill... I'll wander when we can... for as long as we can... and count my blessings that I can do that... but when it's all said an' done... I don't believe you'll see me just accept what I don't want... I'll keep on bangin' on that concrete barricade blockin' my road. It may take me dang near forever, one chip at a time...

... but that sucker is comin' down! :-)

While that lil' demolition job continues... for as long as it continues... we'll keep spinnin' the odometer on Big Red... on our circles and journeys...

Speakin' of which I gotta say now, after several days... the Truck seems to be in fine shape after it's 'ordeal'... Kind of wierd though... Never had it happen before... I swear, the thing seems to run and handle better'n it ever did before! ... I mean like maybe a 1/2 mile or so better fuel economy... and just driving...

... Now... I don't want to say that you should go out and run down a '97 Econoline to improve your Cummins... :-) ... but... In spite of my paranoia that the rig was ruined... I have to eat some feathers here... and I hate Crow!... The truck seems to be the best it's ever been!

The moral of that story is, I suppose, "when things are lookin' kinda lousy... you may want to brush up on your Crow cookin' recipes... 'cause if you say too much... you may just be bakin' some!" :-)

See you on the road... Tomorrow!

Take Good Care
Brian

July 31, 2008 06:36 - RV Boondocking again!

We'll be on the road shortly... heading today, for Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area...

The next post will be with a wide grin on my face... somewhere west of here!

But I can't get there unless I leave... so... Me, the Boss Lady, Lily, Buck... The Demon Rat Killer and the Eagle are all about to get drug down the road by that Big Red Dodge...

I will see you on the Mountain!

Take Good Care
Brian