The Daily News: Friday Morning Edition

We're 27 days away from heading north. As usual, we always wonder where the winter went. We moved up our departure to April 17, a Thursday. If all goes according to plan, we ought to be on the road by mid-morning and arrive in Vermilion Cliffs by late afternoon.

On April 22nd, we will be heading to Bryce Canyon once again. This year, we hope to stay in The Sunset Campground at Bryce until Saturday morning. Then we drive to Provo to stay near Utah Lake at the private Riverside RV Park. That will allow us the distinct luxury of driving through the 100-mile gauntlet of The Wasatch Front on Sunday morning when there is no traffic.

The countdown clock you see at left is a semi-annual tradition. It helps us keep an eye on the declining time left to get everything done and packed. Being The Type A Type, we also use a multi-page spreadsheet with colored cells to help us keep track of all our pending chores and duties. Migrating back and forth twice a year is not a simple proposition. It takes a lot of preparation, thought and planning, plus work and money. The process makes us wonder often how The Native Cultures prepared for their migrations.

This is a somewhat short Morning Edition primarily because we're feeling very lazy. We've had to be up early to hit the ground running since Monday and will have to do so once again on Saturday, leaving the house no later than 7:15 am.

Here's a look at the precipitation expected in the next seven days. The lime green color you see in Arizona typically depicts less than a tenth of an inch which is almost the same as nothing. This forecast graphic takes us out to 5 pm next Friday. Unfortunately, there appears to be no hope of any moisture coming to Arizona this season. The four forecast time periods (6 to 10 day; 8 to 14 day; one month and three month) show "Below Normal" chances of precipitation for Arizona. Meanwhile, the storm track is well north of the parched Southwest. It's essentially bone dry here after April 1st so "Below Normal" of zero is really, really DRY!
Chances are, the Arizona forest fire season is going to start earlier than normal, be more severe than normal and continue for longer than normal. If you are wanting to enjoy your National Forests, get out early and often this spring while they are still somewhat "green."

Here's a nice article from The San Francisco Chronicle about a posisble El Nino next winter:

http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Thirsty-California-pins-hopes-on-El-Ni-o-s-return-5336354.php

The Salt Lake paper carried an article about wildernesses today. The article includes mention of Idaho's Boulder-White Clouds. As you know, we are trying to keep up-to-date on the evolving tug-of-war over whether the BWCs will or will not become a National Monument.

Here's the article:

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/57707543-90/wilderness-bills-conservation-report.html.csp

And here's a great Op-Ed piece found and shared by Natalie N.W.

http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/whose-monument/Content?oid=3073219

Yes, that's a boat traveling upstream.

The Law of Unintended Consequences took place this morning. After reading the Salt Lake article on the BWCs we Googled BWC to get an image of the Boulder-White Clouds. Lo and behold, searching for BWC brings up Bohnenkamp's Whitewater Customs, a maker of really, really "out there" jet boats. If you're looking for a Friday morning adrenalin rush, look no farther.

First, check out the promo video on their main website:

http://www.bwcboats.com/

Then check out the 8 minute video of their Niagara Gorge uprun last year.

http://youtu.be/lc7xoXkECwc

Here is a great quote from a great article about the uprun:

"One of the biggest things for me was, you know, 'The Factor,' " said Value, referring to the TV show "The Fear Factor." "We come out here and we're talking to people as we we're deciding what to do. We walked ... talking to people, and they told us, 'There's no way. Nobody's ever done this; nobody can do (it); any (one) who ever attempted it ... died.'

http://www.wnypapers.com/news/article/featured/2013/04/30/110775/jetboat-operators-do-the-impossible-in-lower-niagara-gorge

There's LOTS more Fun Stuff with LOTS for videos. Just Google BWC as I did and you can entertain yourself all morning.

Oh, those Thrill Seeking Teens, What WILL we ever do about them?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/03/20/291999532/thrill-seeking-teen-sneaks-to-top-of-1-world-trade-center

Well, well, well...we all knew it was The First Day of Spring. And we all knew it was The International Day of Happiness. But who knew is was Daffodil Day? Certainly not me, myself and I!

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/slideshow/Spreading-spring-smiles-with-Daffodil-Day-82359/photo-6048640.php

Speaking of giving away flowers, I'd like to tell you a little story if I may. Let's jump into the Way Back Time Machine and return to the Famous Sixties, like 1969. In my prowlings and roaming hither and yon into the little known hinterlands of Tippecanoe County Indiana, I discovered a commercial rose growing operation. Yep, lots of greenhouses turning out seemingly vast quantities of roses to be shipped to florists around the Midwest. I immediately spotted "The Rose Heap." There lay more good looking roses than I could count. So, I went inside the office and inquired as to the fate of the flowers lying on The Rose Heap. I was given a lesson in floral economics.

It seems roses must have a certain shelf life. Roses are expensive. So, you can't buy them and take them home only to have them wilt on Day 1. Or Day 2. Or Day 3. Wilting by Day 4 is acceptable. So, the rose growers must anticipate this economic reality and ship roses to florists when they know those blooms will last the requisite time period.

The roses lying on The Rose Heap didn't have enough life left in them to ship to florists. However, ALL of the roses on top of The Rose Heap had at least 2-3 days of life left. So, I asked if I could take the roses and they were quite agreeable. I would load up my old 1939 Chevy two-door sedan with as many roses as would fit inside. Then I would drive to the Purdue University campus and park next to the institution's signature mall. And then I would gather an armload of roses and walk around and give them out one at a time, mostly to females. Back then a guy giving a rose to another guy was frowned upon. I did give roses to guys who came up and asked for one or more to give to their Sweetie.

Most women really loved getting a random rose. A few females were spooked and wondered if there was a string attached to the rose or some hidden agenda or whatever. However, it was an overwhelming success--an activity I repeated often that spring. I even got my photo in the newspaper giving the roses away. Eventually, the rose grower decided it wasn't a good idea to let me do that and they shut down my supply of roses. I suspect after I got my picture in the paper, a local florist complained and poof, there went that gig.

It sure was fun while it lasted. If you ever want to have some genuine fun, just start giving away flowers. Man, it's AWESOME Fun!