A Busy Day

Seems like each day since Susun departed has been extraordinarily busy.  Hum....why is that?  Oh, well, we will leave it to the Karmic Prognosticators to read their tea leaves and discern a reasonable answer.

Meanwhile, I am busier than the proverbial one-armed paper hanger.  Today was a Gang-Busters Day!  WOW!

Anyone who knows what our garage looks like during the summer will be able to immediately tell a Hurricane Swept through the garage and whooshed all our camping gear down to the basement where it will reside in Peace (and pieces) all winter long.  WOW!

When the cat dragged the Suzuki home, one domino led to another domino and, well, you know how that goes.  I had to be able to get the Zuki inside the garage to work on it.  But I couldn't download the Camp Warehouse to the basement unless I rearranged our whole storage plan there.  That meant converting the Old Coal Room Workshop to a Boat Room.  But before I could do that, I had to pull everything off the east wall and paint it white.  Then I had to rip into the whole storage arrangement and just totally roto root everything.  Well, that's taken two days.

Meanwhile, I had to totally rearrange the cook shack to absorb tons of stuff and then rearrange the workshop to absorb MORE tons of stuff and, finally, haul everything every which way including LOOSE!  It took forever to empty the Camp Warehouse.  I thought it was never going to end.  I lost track of how many hours I spent on it.  Finally, I was able to pull the new Zuki into the garage sometime this evening, I didn't even glance at my watch.

Everything's real stable here now--there's no flotsam or jetsam showing outside the house or the cook shack.  Nobody would know what mayhem took place here today.  Whew.

Meanwhile, I had to mow the yard because it was long in the tooth and then water all of Susun's flowers and then set a sprinkler for the front yard and then change the goldfish water and then put on a pork roast in El Turco and, well, what can I say, it's been a wild and crazy day and that's after playing a round of golf and visiting three local thrift stores!

I'm sure looking forward to a peaceful slumber this evening.  How 'bout you?

Have a great night & Cheers, jp

PS--Before I "retire" for the evening (Gee, I thought retired March 5th!) I PROMISE to post Stasea's photos that she sent yesterday.  PROMISE!

Back online

We have been offline for about 30 hours.  A fiber optic cable was accidentally cut here in Idaho Falls and thousands of local people were without service from their internet providers.  Most people had their service restored this morning.  I was one of the unlucky ones.  I finally got it back up and running about 12:40 pm today.  Turns out that the interruption of service scrambled my modem's brains.  The tech Guy had to access the modem by remote control and reset all of its settings.  It was a very unpleasant and frustrating experience.

I couldn't get through to the tech service center yesterday because "all circuits were busy."  So I tried at 2 am and was on hold 45 minutes before my cell phone battery went dead.  I got up determined to sever ties with the cable company and go back to Qwest.  The first person at Qwest I called couldn't find Idaho Falls in her database and told me Idaho Falls didn't exist.  I hung up and figured I had reached an airhead and would give them a second chance.  After the second CSR told me she, too, couldn't find Idaho Falls, I asked to speak to the Manager.  That's when the second CSR really got my dander up.  She asked for my zip code.  I told her "How do you expect me to have a Zip Code if you tell me my town doesn't exist?"  I tried to turn it into a positive with the manager by suggesting that Qwest place hard copy printed Rand McNally maps of their service areas inside each person's cubicle.  Well, the Manager couldn't find Idaho Falls either.  That's when I told then they had lost me as a customer for life, wished her a nice day and politely hung up.  I called Houn' Dawg right away and he had me laughing about it in no time.  Thanks, Jef!

In the meantime, I got various things done that I probably wouldn't have done if I had been able to hang out on the internet.  I even played the Sand Creek short course with Terry M. this morning.  He shot 27 and I shot 30.  We both had a great time for our $3.25 and agreed to do it again sometime soon.

Stasea sent some photos yesterday and I don't have time to post them up right now.  I will do that later.

Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Cheers, jp

Wednesday in The Pokey

Well, not exactly.  Pokey is what folks in these parts call Pocatello.  I have an eye appt. down there at 10 am and then am delivering some studded snow tires to a buyer at Idaho State University at noon.  He's chipping in on gas so he doesn't have to come up here to pick up the tires.  I will visit the Pokey Deseret Industries and also the COSTCO there so it's probably going to be a fairly full day "in The Pokey."  Gotta leave here within 30 minutes so not much else to report today.  Have a great day & Cheers!  jp

What a day!

It's so wonderful being back in Idaho today! You have no idea how wonderful it is unless you live here. It's even MORE wonderful being back in Idaho after you have been through Utah's Salt Lake traffic gauntlet twice in one day. Trust me, Utah is a Beautiful and Wonderful State but the drivers in the Salt Lake metroplex are totally crazy and it's like completely off the wall there. WOW!

Anyway, I did the "sleep test" on the Zuki and decided to buy it. So, I started packing at 6 am. I thought of all the contingencies and so forth and packed WAY too much stuff. Three tool boxes. A total camp rig. A cooler full of food and beverages. The Snack Box. The laptop. Cameras, chargers, you name it, I packed it.
By and by, I was able to leave the house about 8:15 am and go on I-15 at 8:27 am. Who knew there was such I-15 mayhem between here and Pokey? WOW! The Bingham County People are totally nutso--they drive like race car drivers.  They are not as bad as Salt Lake driver but close. I felt lucky to survive my drive this morning and I hadn't even entered Utah yet. After Pocatello, the craziness disappears and life is good. I really didn't have much angst about traffic until the I-215 loop rejoined I-15 south of the airport. That's when people really amped it up again. Geeze. Here's this 24 mile long construction zone and the speed limit is CLEARLY posted 55 mph with many signs saying fines are DOUBLE for speeding. DOH. Nobody paid a speck of attention to these signs and they were speeding like you wouldn't believe. Well, I didn't want to get a ticket so I kinda kept it "close" to the posted limit, driving 60-62 most of the time. That really annoyed the Salt Lake drivers and I was tailgate bait Big Time. It was real annoying but what can I say? I try to obey the posted laws.

Meanwhile, I showed up @ 1:05 pm at the seller's mini-mansion in a very valuable niche neighborhood of Springville. Who knew Springville harbored an enclave of such high dollar houses? This guy had it all--quads every which way, wave runners, a 30-foot cabin cruiser, Harleys here and there, and various trucks and Jeeps draped about the property. Luckily, he was a very nice person and quite helpful.

He confided in me that I was "right," he should had priced the Zuki at least $500 higher. That's what I told him the previous evening. Fortunately, he honored his word to sell it it to us for the posted price.  He said he was doing so because he knew we would treat it the way it should be treated. He sure had that part right.

Once I was all paid up, title-equipped and hitched we headed off for the Wild Blue slight after two. After refueling, I hit the mano-y-mano Fast Lanes of I-15 at 2:20 pm. What can I say about I-15 in the SLC Metroplex? It's basically a NASCAR race. I really felt today like "tradin' paint" with some of the other drivers I was racing with. Geeze! Even the semi truck drivers seem to lose all common sense when they drive I-15. I looked back in the mirror once and a semi was six inches from my left side. Oh, doesn't that send a warm and fuzzy feeling through thy body and spirit? I had this one Yahoo driver who was simply enjoying the pleasure of DRAFTING my rig. As nearly as I could tell, he hung out a few inches behind the Zuki and merrily cruised along in his beat up old pickup.

The funny thing about the Salt Lake area is that the people there (and throughout Utah) are very nice and polite when they are not in their vehicles.  We really enjoy the people and places of Utah--it's a great state.  Somehow, though, when people who live in the Salt Lake Basin get behind the wheel of a vehicle things change dramatically.  It's a real Jekyll-Hyde thing.

I was able to exhale, as usual, when I finally passed Mile Post 357 at Willard Bay. Yes, the traffic is still substantial but it seems to lack the sense of random craziness that the traffic south of there has. After Tremonton, all was OK. I encountered a nice thunderstorm from Malad to McCammon. Lightning was spiking down on the mountains and the rain came in vertical sheets. It was delightful and refreshing and very fitting for re-entry to Idaho. Oh, how good it feels to be back in The Gem State. Say what you will about Idaho but it is a very SANE place to live, traffic-wise. The greatest value of Salt Lake traffic is that it makes Idaho traffic look sedate and sane! Thanks, SLC Drivers!

Well, here's some photos. They are pretty self explanatory. Maybe I will add some descriptive comments tomorrow morning. I've driven 560 miles, 100 miles more than the distance from Flagstaff to Los Angeles (464). And half of those miles were TOWING something. Yikes! I'm tired. Have a great night & Cheers! jp

PS, I finished editing (sic) this post and looked up at the clock and it's precisely 24 hours (9:15) since I "discovered" the listing on KSL Cars for the Red Zuki.  My, my, what a lot of stuff can transpire in a mere 24 hours!

Bolt Out of The Blue!

WOW--we just made a deal to buy this vehicle sight unseen tomorrow and I have to drive a 550 miles round trip to pick it up! Can you believe that? I'm not sure I can. It kind of makes me dizzy thinking about it. It's in Springville, Utah.
Click here for the KSL Cars listing. More on this story as it unfolds.

Maggie's Garage Sale

Dear Friend & LBR Maggie (and Steve, et al) had a Garage Sale last weekend. I've been hearing notes from Maggie that it was a real experience in more ways than one. I encouraged Maggie to write a story about it and, much to my surprise, she did. She put a title to it, to wit: "The Garage Sale, A Novella." I am printing her story unedited and unformatted  in its entirety. It's a Total Classic in every sense of the word "classic." It's just totally classic, what can I say? If Maggie wants it to disappear, of course, it will at her beck and call. If not, it's here for posterity.  Thanks, Maggie, this is totally awesome. Ya dun good!

Enjoy & Cheers! jp
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The Garage Sale, A Novella 

Up bright and early Saturday to move things from the garage into the driveway for the big sale.  As usual, Steve was uber-organized and had tables arranged and items placed by category.  Sometimes it's just best to let him do his thing rather than try to figure out what you can do, because he's got it under control.  Cool, calm, collected.  Cool hand Steve.  We started at 6 a.m. or so with an advertised start time of 8.  The first sale-or (or sailor?) arrived just before 8.  He was an obvious GSP (garage sale pro) and immediately selected the few "antique" type things we had: Steve's grandma's old leather tool kit in an old case, an old iron triangle dinner gong type thing, some old chains or some sort (a guy thing), and something else. He also snatched up my Cabela's fisherman's sunglasses with a magnifying insert that cost a pretty penny at Cabela's but got replaced with my Maui Jims.  Steve had some old forestry textbooks, having decided he could finally part with them.  This GSP asked, "you in forestry".  Steve said, yup.  Turns out they knew each other, of course.  Steve told me that this man along with another retiree have their garages and basements stuffed to the gills with STUFF.  Lots and lots of stuff.  Our friend came by later and he said he thinks this particular GSP has some vested interested in a second hand shop here in Flagstaff, which would explain the items he chose as they were probably things they could put in the shop.  

Holding a garage sale is definitely entertaining.  In fact, maybe we should have one once a month, just for the entertainment value.  A married couple in their 60's, I would guess, showed up.  He would pick something up and she would tell them why they didn't need it.  She would pick something up and he would do the same.  When we started up a conversation, the two of them started talking simultaneously to us and just talked over each other.  The entire time.  Talking at the same time.  In their Rhode Island, Fran Drescher accents.  They never quit. I'd hate to go to a party at their house, that's for sure.  Steve dipped into the "free box" and pulled out a whooppee cushion (the flattened, balloon looking thing) and said, "here, you need this."  Well, the man exclaimed, "this was made in the town I come from"!  "We have to have this."  Unbelievable.  He also bought a depth finder off Steve's old boat.  The wife tried to talk him out of this, but for $3, he would not be deterred.  The man asked if we had the instruction manual.  At first Steve said no, but then he stopped and said, "well, wait a minute."  Sure enough, he came back with the manual.  Steve said it didn't sound like the man did much fishing, but it would most likely be put on the boat that sits in the driveway.  

The first runner ups had to be two women who walked up.  They looked like they could be sisters.  Probably in their 60's, tall, trim, somewhat earthy, gray hair, friendly, but just a bit odd.  They looked around a lot.  They looked at my books and said, "your books are in such good condition!"  I thought, well duh, I read them once and put them on the shelf.  How should they look?  They were most interested, however, in an old scrabble game.  This game was one either Steve or I used as kids.  Like from the 50's.  They said, incredulously, "why are so many people selling Scrabble???"  I told them that we had two and that we were selling one.  They said, "why did you choose the one you did to keep?"  I told them that it was older and in better condition.  Well, they asked, "can we see it?  We don't want to buy it, we just want to look at it."  So, I went inside and brought it out.  The games were more than likely the same age, but the one we were keeping was slightly better.  They obsessed on and on and on and on about Scrabble.  How often they play it.  How everyone should play it.  Asking us if we play it.  Why don't we play it.  They couldn't decide if they should buy ours or not.  One can never own too many Scrabble boards, I guess.  Then they asked, "are all the pieces there".  Hmm.  We didn't really know.  We had to open up the board to see how many pieces of each letter there are in a set and came up with a total of 101 pieces.  They laid the tiles out in the lid to the Scrabble box in 8 rows of 10 and were dismayed to find out that it was not a complete set.  Disheartened, they could no longer buy the game.  This did, however, prompt us, once they left, to be sure that the game we were keeping was a complete set.

The ladies then returned to the book boxes.  They pulled out a copy of The Joy Of Sex.  Steve said he received this as a gift when he got married the first time.  They thumbed through it a bit and put it back.  They paid for their other purchases, a couple of books and other what not and off they went.  

About ten minutes later, here they come again!  They came back to the box of books and danged if they didn't pull out The Joy Of Sex.  She opened the cover to find an inscription inside the cover.  "Oh, no", she said, "it has writing in it."  The other woman said, "well, that's OK".  This woman lamented, "but it belonged to someone else."  Then she said, "well I could just put something over it."  Then she noticed a small spot on the cover and was again dejected only to happily state "I could make a cover for it!"  They paid for it and off they went.

The next morning, Steve told me he lay awake in the middle of the night and wondered if they went home and were reading the book.  I told him I didn't really want a picture in my head of them and that book.

The first place prize went to a sweet little family.  At noon, we started packing things up.  Steve put one of the plywood tables out on the street with a sign that said "FREE".  NExt to the table, we had about 20 round concrete stepping stones.  This family was taking a walk up our street.  Mom, dad, 5 year old boy, 3 year old girl, and 1 year old girl in a stroller.  They asked about the stepping stones and wondered if we could set them aside, as they'd be back with money after their walk.  We said, sure.  They carefully looked at some of the other items.  I directed them to the Children's Books and showed them two that would definitely appeal to their son.  It was obvious that money was tight for this family of five.  They gathered up a few other things, I put them in a small box and said we'd hold onto them.  Steve had an old microscope -- like we used in high school chemistry.  They got that for their boy.  I told them that we figured no one would want it, as you can see all that stuff on the computer.  She said that the kids don't use a computer and that he is quite the investigator and he would love it.  Their entire box totaled about $10.

Around 2 o'clock, they came back and Steve went out to help them put the stones into their vehicle.  One of the tables that had been out in the driveway had 5 dolls each about 16 inches tall, standing up in metal stands.  They all have pretty outfits and curling hair and ceramic faces.  These got packed into a box when we were putting things back into the garage.  I went out through the garage and saw their adorable, blue eyed blonde, 3 year old looking in the box with the dolls.  She picked up one and was trying to pull another one out from underneath.  As they are just a bit fragile, I discouraged her from digging through the box.  She kept picking up the top doll to get deeper into the box, so I picked up the top doll and she picked up a different one.  She looked at me and said, "what's this?"  It was the stand that is attached to the doll around the waist.  I told her it helped the doll stand up.  She sweetly said, "I want it off."  So, I took it off.  They she hugged that doll so tightly.  I turned to her mom and said, "can I give her this D-O-L-L"?  The young mom appreciatively said, "oh - that would be wonderful."  The doll she chose had red hair.  It was the first doll in Kelli's collection that her grandma had purchased for her because of it's red hair.  It was then that I realized that this little girl's mom was also a redhead.  The doll went to the best possible home after years of being in a box.  I can't think of anything better.  That little girl just loved that doll.

Eat More Chikin

We totally agree with the EMC Motto--Eat More Chickin!

Here's tonight's Chicken all dressed up and nowhere to go! We bought a hot rod air pan today and it took 110 minutes to get this Chicken up to 175 degrees. Not only did we dress this chicken for The Show, but we also put a whole bunch of rubbed sage, Italian herbs and garlic cloves in the Secret Hidden Cavity! YUM! This chicken is ready to Rock and Roll!

Day #3

Well, Stasea sent some photos pretty late in the day.  There's only four of them.  Three of them are kinda blurry.  That reflects the frenzy of work they undertook today.  When Sarah & Peter acquired their new-to-them home the dining room was painted R-E-D!  Can you believe that?  No way, I can't.  But it was true.  Maybe it was somebody else's Feng Shui.  Who knows?  Anyway, today was D-Day to destroy the red and get ready for a dining room makeover.  From what I can gather, it was a real hustle, bust anatomy day for S & S & S.  I think the blurry aspect of the photos conveys what their day was all about--ACTION!  The picture of The Boys was taken on a walk before all the knock down hand-to-hand combat began.  I put up The Boys picture firsrt, of course.  The next picture is a "BEFORE" picture.  Ugh!  And then there's Stasea and Susun showing their energetic selves doing what they love to do--help Family & Friends!  As Shania Twain would say, "Let's GO, Girls!"

First glimpse of a finished bench

This is the first finished Greenbelt Art Bench I've been able to see (via photo, of course).  Carrie sent the photo just a few minutes ago.  We both thought this bench would be a winner but it easily surpasses even our high hopes for it.  I sent Carrie back an email entitled "Very alluring."  Then I asked her how many people she thought would use such an easy pun for this bench.  WOW--this bench ROX!

Cheers, jp

Monday Morning

Somehow this morning my thoughts began to wander to that old tune by the ancient Pre-Cambrian group called Peter, Paul and Mary.  I put their photo here to remind us all what a rock group looked like in 1966.  Well, maybe they weren't a rock group but, whatever, they were at least avant garde.  You know, kind of maybe beatnik-ish.  Patrons of those scandalous places called COFFEE HOUSES probably listened to them!  Eeee-gads!  Well, as some of you older folks know, PPM had a tune called "Monday Morning."  I dug up the lyrics for it but it's not at all what I thought it was about.  It's actually about some Sweet Sixteen lass who wants to get married.  It has nothing whatsoever in the lyrics that would be relevant to my high esteem for the uselessness of Mondays in general.  But it's been fun to roam the dust bin of 1960's music history.  Gee, PPM look positively conservative by today's standards.  They could be playing at church picnics now. (You can click on the small photo to see the full screen capture I did from one of their music videos, such as it was.)

Well, anyway, it's Monday once again.  Another day, another carbohydrate, eh?  Today's going to be fairly busy at least for this Old Codger.  We have the monthly Parks & Recreation Commission meeting at high noon over near the airport.  I'm on the agenda at the top of the batting order to give a rather lengthy report on the Greenbelt Art Bench Project. Carrie had an unfortunate mishap--her mare kicked her and broke her elbow.  She's slated for one her many medical followup appts. today, so that means I am winging it alone on the topic.  Carrie's done some pretty amazing stuff on this project.  The benches are scheduled to be installed in a media event the day Susun gets back from San Diego, September 21.  There will no doubt be a lot of city dignitaries (such as they are) on hand to smile for the cameras and maybe some speeches and so forth.  Today is the day we update the P&R Commission members on  all aspects of this project and forthcoming events and plans.  That means I have to be at the top of my game today and 3+ hours seems a bit short to prep for all this stuff.  Ah, well, at least it will keep this Old Energizer Bunny hopping.

Yesterday, we actually logged a few hours of manual labor.  We typically avoid manual labor at this point in our lives, unless it involves rigging or derigging a campsite or maybe paddling 21 miles in a day.  But good Ol' Manual caught up with us yesterday.  We eliminated ALL of our hollyhocks from their anointed resting place.
If you've ever messed around with mature hollyhocks, you can sympathize with this task.  It took a big chunk out of the day and prevented me from goofing off at the golf course or paddling John's Hole or riding a bicycle someplace.  It was Little Johnny versus the Holly Hocks.  Well, they are all gone now and the area has been raked and cleaned and only a discerning eye would know they were ever there.  Their stalks and seed heads are now securely tied up in four large bundles awaiting trash pickup tomorrow morning.  Those plants are pretty to look at all summer but someone has to pay the price to deal with them before their seed heads shatter and spew forth yet MORE holly hocks.  They are prolific, tenacious and invasive.

We also went on a quest to find more lawn fertilizer.  You would think it would be readily available but Noooo.  You would be wrong.  Everyone theoretically needs to lay down some fertilizer on their lawns while they are still growing before the dormant season sets in.  This helps prep the grass roots for the rigors of winter survival.  So, you'd think lawn fertilizer would be everywhere right now.  You'd be wrong.  Luckily, they still had a few bags left at the local farm store.  We had already put down a light fertilizer before the Jenny Lake trip but the backyard didn't seem to respond so we gave it another, heavier dose yesterday.  Today we will mow the front yard, too, and continue giving everything a really deep soaking for the cold months ahead.  The dormant season can come early here--one never knows.  During our first winter here 3 years ago, it hit with a real bang on October 4th.  So, lessons such as the 2007 storm stick in our brain and we get after this stuff early now.

OK, what's on tap out in the Courtyard Grill?  We'll be baking that fat chicken today and we'll probably roam the groceries for other stuff to smoke, saute or bake, too.  You can bet we'll post up a pic of the chick(en) when it's coming out of El Turco.

The other big project for the day is to begin to put a new roof on my cookshack (AKA: Guy Cave).  As the less hospitable weather approaches, it behooves an outdoor cook to tend to his safety zone--the cook shack.  There's no point in cooking inside that small shack when the weather is nice, but, trust me, when the going gets tough, a cook shack is a mighty handy place to hang out.  You can be dry and it can be blowing 30-40 mph and you don't care because you're inside your little cook shack.   It will probably take all week to get a new roof on the tiny structure. Below (left) is the "before" photo.  The photo at right is a closer view of the straw knife that Goatherder bought in Pine, Arizona, and presented to us in 1994 when our straw house was nearing completion.  Thanks, GH, that's a Life Legacy Artifact and we will treasure it always.  Some more comments appear below the photos.

In closing, we want to thank Stasea again for her sending photos of herself, The Boys, Mom Sarah and GrandMa Susun.  We look forward to creating the "Day #3" blog post later this fine Monday.  Keep 'em coming, Stasea!

Cheers, jp

PS--The P&R meeting went great.  I passed around copies of a 3 page report that had a narrative, a spreadsheet and a print of that artist's comment which we put on this blog a week or so ago.  Everyone was very supportive and I was pleased.  Now, the next event is the September 21 installation and dedication.  

Pizza? Or Chicken? Hum..what about pizza + chicken?

I bought a real nice 4 pound chicken today.  Man, it's a good looking chicken.  I was planning on roasting this bird to perfection tonight.  It's a skill I have--I actually CAN roast a chicken to perfection.  Thank the Grill Gawds and The Chicken Gawds for that Gift.  I'd be worthless without the Many Blessings of the Grill & Chicken Gawds.

But, whatever, I digress.  Anyway, I was planning on roasting a chicken but somehow I had a change of heart.  I decided to dive into pizza once again.  Afterall, I had a LOT of sliced and diced grilled chicken already sitting right smack dab in the fridge.  So, I decided to combine pizza AND chicken.  It wasn't real difficult.  First I had to make the dough.  At first I was perplexed.  Where could I find a warm place to let it rise a full hour?  Ah, The Zuki!  I put it in the little Zuki and the temp inside there had to be in the 90's and, sure enough, the dough doubled in 50 minutes.

Then I really greased my hands and my pans and let 'er rip as far as stretching that dough thinner than a dime.  I even used some cornmeal mix to put between the dough and the greased pan.  Then, I spread out the meanest pizza sauce you ever saw.  It was half a can of tomato paste, a lot of extra virgin olive oil, a single chipotle pepper (with no adobo sauce), a clove of garlic and a LOT of pizza seasoning and some specially seasoned black pepper grind.  I added enough water to make this all work and blended the heck out it it.  WHOA, Nellie, it was the best pizza sauce I ever made!

Once I got the dough spread thinner than thin inside an 8-inch diameter pan, I spread out the sauce and then layered on chopped red pepper, chopped red onion, sliced baby bella mushrooms and then a nice layer of the grilled chicken before finally topping it with a generous layer of pizza cheese (shredded Romano & mozzarella).  I baked it just right and the bottom of the crust as perfect both times.  The smell of this pizza was divine.  It's the same smell I hope to whiff when I get to the Pearly Gates!  It would prove to me that Saint Pete and Gawd love pizza, too!

Cheers, jp

Day #2--There's FIVE New Photos! Stasea ROX!

The Fun Continues in Vista, California. (l-r)Gage, Sarah, Van, and Susun. (iPhone photo by Stasea)

In our morning talk, Susun reported the First Birthday was a real hit. About 30 people attended, including 10 children mostly under the age of 3-4. Susun said she was really delighted with the event. We will post whatever photos Stasea sends each day in addition to our regular blog ramblings. Thanks Stasea, please keep 'em coming! If Stasea sends more photos today, they will be put into this blog post. So check back to "Day #2" now and then to see if Stasea sent more pictures.

Cheers, jp

Here's teh Five new photos below.  The email title said "Beach City Burrito and VG Donuts."  The ttext of the email said, "2 of our favorites!! Yum."  Looks like the photos are self explanatory.  WAY TO GO, Stasea!  THANKS!

PCO

What's a PCO?  Well, it's an acronym for "project, challenge and opportunity."  I guess you could say we are always on the prowl for PCO's.  When one PCO is finished, we start looking for another one.  That's pretty much the way it is.  The trick with successful PCO's is to look way far out in the future and cultivate a wide range of PCO's.  Try to tackle PCO's that are actually "doable."  If you tilt against a windmill too tall, you're probably not going to succeed in completion of your PCO.  We try to tilt against small windmills.  We're more successful that way.

Well, one of our latest potential PCO's was spawned yesterday.  We're pondering a project to build one or more earth ovens down at our place at Montezuma Well.  We're even lobbying Goatherder into becoming a collaborate and co-conspirator in this PCO.  It's actually not as daunting of a PCO as it might seem to be at first blush.  There's no need to reinvent the wheel here--this type of Project dates back 10,000 years and has untold thousands of ardent devotees, many of whom share their plans online for free.  Check this link to see what we mean.

So, the project is pretty straightforward.  The challenge would be to see how quickly we could get a workable oven into production.  The opportunities here are wide and diverse.  In the first place, this PCO is rife with Happy Hour opportunities.  The opportunity to stand around with beverage in hand while pondering the next move is a very endearing and enticing opportunity.  The opportunity for social networking is vast.
Think of the near endless entertainment opportunities of such a PCO!  And think of the food that would issue forth from an earth oven.  WOW!

The photo of the earth oven used in this blog post came from this link.  Search Google's Images using the phrase "earth oven" and/or "construction of earth oven" to see the incredible range of styles and techniques used in this arcane but popular culinary architectural practice.  Goatherder sent along this Sunset magazine plan for an earth oven.  He reminded me that he and I had talked about this PCO years ago but it went nowhere.  Maybe it's time has come this winter!  Thanks, GH.

Well, one thing has led to another and now we have a new acronym--the PCO has become the EOP!  And, naturally, it now has its own dedicated blog, too.  You can click here to read all about it.

Cheers, jp

Let The Party Begin!

YEA! It's a Happy First Birthday for Van! That's Sarah & Van at top and Here's Susun and Stasea beginning the Huge Celebration in Vista, California. Thank You So Much Stasea for sending these photos from your iPhone. PLEASE send more. Remember: "Too Much Is NOT Enough!"  Below is the First Birthday Table.

Up early

We both arose at 4:30 am.  Susun's Salt Lake Express shuttle leaves at 5:40 am so we generally get up an hour earlier when she's heading to the airport.  Yes, there's a nice airport here in Idaho Falls with regular jet service to Salt Lake City.  Trouble is that it costs a fortune to fly to SLC whereas the shuttle is only $82 round trip.  Susun enjoys the four hour drive time so it's a good deal for us.  She will get into the airport about 9:30 this morning and then fly out about 11:15 and arrive in San Diego a couple of hours later.  Since the California time is different, she gets in there a little after noon.  Sarah, Gage, Van and Stasea will greet her at the airport and the Good Times will commence.  It's Van's very first birthday and the family will throw a big party for him tonight.  You can bet your digital bippy that Susun will return with a boatload of photos of smiling faces and Happy Babies!  Susun's been progressively more bubbly as this trip has approached.  In hindsight, the bad weather in the Tetons did us a favor.  She really needed an extra day to prepare for departure this morning.  She was so focused on her trip prep yesterday she didn't even leave the house once.  That's downright rare and unusual.  Susun's promised to send digital photos via Sarah's iPhone during this trip.  Hopefully, we will post up a series of such photos here on the blog.  Maybe she will even send an email or two.

While she's away, I have a long list of projects to commence.  Also, we will be putting far more detail in each blog post than what's been normal lately.  Why?  Well, Susun like to know what I've been doing and it's a whole lot easier for her to read about it on Stasea's iPhone than for me to repeat it over the telephone.

Let's switch gears here.  We have a real neat story to tell this morning.  It involves our Dear Friends Goatherder, Kate and Josh down in the Verde Valley, Arizona.  Goatherder is also an LBR.  Well, Josh has been working for a couple of years at a small retreat-style place's restaurant near their home.  Josh is a Senior in high school now and you know how important cash flow is to teenagers.  Anyway, Josh decided he wanted to upgrade his cash flow so he applied to be a bus boy at a kinda upscale burger place in Old Town Cottonwood.  He was accepted there and the employer told him, "I'll call ya when I need ya."  Well, time passed and no call came.  Josh became a wee bit antsy about the lack of a call.  Meanwhile, Kate was dining in an upscale bistro in an area of Sedona called Village of Oak Creek. It's near where we get our mail when we're in Arizona.  She got wind of an opening in the kitchen there and told the chef about her son's situation.  The chef said, "Send him right over."  He hired Josh on the spot and offered him a chance to actualyl becoem a Sous Chef the following day.  However, he said, "You have to get you own set of knives."  You know how upscale chef's can be about such things.  So, Josh rushes home to share his plight with his Dad, Goatherder.  Meanwhile, of course, Goatherder was deeply involved in the upscale restaurant industry in the Phoenix area and nearly became a full time restaurateur before deciding on a career as a teacher.  Goatherder smiled and pointed out to Josh the large collection of vintage chef's knives on the wall.  Problem solved.  Here's the neat part:  Goatherder actually let Josh use the very same knife that Goatherder himself had begun his own restaurant career with over 30 years ago!  Like Father, Like Son, eh?  Anyway, Josh is now immersed in the "backshop" part of fine dining and undoubtedly having a ball.  I joked with Goatherder yesterday that Josh is probably the only entry level employee who shows up to work in his own Mercedes!  You can click here to visit the restaurant.  And if you want to read reams of glowing reviews, simply Google "Fork in The Road Bistro Sedona."  Way to go, Josh--we're proud of you! (Below are Goatherder (left) and Josh.)

An inch

That's what we missed yesterday--an inch of cold, wet rain.  Yep, that much-bally-hooed Big Storm was The Real Deal and when it blew in early, we flew out early.  We could easily see and feel it coming our way Thursday morning.  So, in a real no-brainer decision, we decided to pack up and skee-daddle away from Jenny Lake as fast as we could.  We drove away from Site #36 at 9:50 am and it started raining at 10 am. 

During our drive home yesterday it rained hard south of Jackson and all the way through the Snake River Canyon.  Between Alpine and Irwin, we could see the tops of various peaks painted in pure white.  Meanwhile, it was raining here in Idaho Falls upon our arrival at 1:05 pm and it continued to rain off and on throughout the day and into the evening.  A major high school football rivalry game was even canceled last night because of the persistent lightning.  We sat warm and cozy inside our little house happy to be dry. 

This morning, we glanced at the data from the Moose weather site.  Total rainfall yesterday was about an inch.  Meanwhile, it rained nonstop over there from 6 pm to about 3 am this morning before it finally let up.  Ugh.  It's 38 degrees over there as we write this so, obviously the Tetons are draped in white and that would be a spectacular sight.  However, at this point, we're happy to have foregone such a sight to wake up nice and dry here at home.

When we started camping in Mid-May it was because of that NVUM gig.  We really didn't have any choice as to whether or not we would be camping. If we wanted the NVUM gig, we had to camp at the appointed times and places of the interviews.  Well, this trip was different.  We had the flexibility to heed some guidance from our Dear Friend, Prudence.  Luckily, Prudence spoke loudly and clearly to both of us and we took her sage advice.  Thanks, Prudence!

The Y2Ten Jenny Lake Trip, although shortened by a day, was everything we wanted it to be and more.  Our 2010 Summer Camping Season has now come to an official end.  It was quite a ride--perhaps the best and most diverse camping season we've ever had.  We spent more nights in a tent in 2002-2003 (roughly 120 nights each of those summers) but the bulk of those were at Huntley Campground along the Rogue River in Gold Beach, Oregon.  Frankly, back in those summers, we both grew very tired of living in a tent for so long.  This summer it was truly delightful to be able to return often to our home in a place we both love--Idaho Falls.  The coming and going back and forth created a summer whose time flew by in a blink.  However, we enjoyed a great kaleidoscope of people, places and pleasant experiences.  With all that said, we're both really glad the camping season is over.   We need a great, big, long break from camping before either one of us is remotely interested in setting up a tent any day soon again.  We have a trip booked for mid-October down to The City of Rocks and, hopefully, we will be back in the "camping mood" by then.  Right now, it's time to relax at home (or San Diego for Susun between 9/11-9/21) and savor the memories of the summer gone by.  Whew, what a ride!

More soon, Cheers, jp

Bookends

We started our camping season in the snow and rain and it sure looks like we are going to end it that way as well.  here's the Riverton, Wyoming, NWS comment this morning:


LINGERING SHOWERS WILL CONVERT TO SNOWFALL ACROSS THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS THURSDAY EVENING...WITH SNOWFALL POSSIBLE DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. THIS IS ANTICIPATED TO IMPACT YELLOWSTONE AND GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARKS.

So, it looks like we're gonna wake up Friday morning to wet, cold and maybe even snowy conditions.
How fitting for a bookend to this camping season?

Cheers, jp

PS--We're moving the Twitter back to the top and will Tweet now and then.  Have a great week!

Art Bench Magic

Woke up this morning and checked Ye Ol' Inbox about 5:15 am. Late last night, one of the selected artists for the Greenbelt Art Bench Project sent out the email below. It is self-explanatory. It sure makes us feel great to know that we played a unique role in getting this project "over the hump" back in February-March. We've always had a feeling that the final sum of this project would be greater than the total of the parts. When an email like this shows up, it brings a real special glow to hearts in these parts
-------------------
Dear Art Bench Judges~

Thank you so very much for having selected my bench design of Groovy Melody, (which has since been re-named, I Love Life) for The Greenbelt. When I learned it was to be 'In Memory of Miles Willard', it was very important to me that the bench reflect both he and Virginia in some way. I never knew him, nor did I know who Virginia was, but I asked Carrie if it might be possible to speak with Virginia to find out if there was a particular song that the two of them shared as one of their favorites. When Virginia called me and told me the story behind their song entitled I Love Life, the design of the bench took on a whole new meaning and look, to not just include words and musical notes from their song, but to convey an overall feeling of things Virginia had expressed to me about her and Miles. The bench has turned out beautiful and I am anxious for you all to see it.

I could never thank you enough for this amazing opportunity. It has truly been an amazing adventure and I am very grateful to have been a part of it.

Sincerely~ (The Artist)

Cheers, jp

A Phase shift in departure

For most of our camping trips this summer, we left progressively later each day. I seem to recall we left near or even after 3 pm on our last trip to Ellis. That's LATE! We were bone tired by the time we got to camp at 6:30 pm that night and still faced a two hours rigging. I think we finally went to sleep about 10 pm that night. Give us a chance to procrastinate and we will.

Now along comes Jenny, Lake, that is. The campground is tiny in proportion to the usage of the Grand Teton National Park. It's a fly speck of a campground. It's first-come, first-served and in the summer people line up in the dark to get first chance at a vacancy. That's why we go the day after Labor Day. In our first two trips using this paradigm, we scored a site right away.

Here's the trick: Leave as early as you can get behind the wheel even if it's at or before 6 am. It takes about 3 hours to get to the campground entrance. Most campers generally start leaving right around 9 am and they peak of campers exiting generally occurs around 10 am. There may be some stragglers leaving after 10 am but you sure can't count on it at a campground like Jenny Lake.

Soooo....time has been on our side all summer--we've had the luxury to procrastinate at will and, well, we did. We even got good at it. Now, we don't have that luxury any more. We're forced into leaving at some ridiculous early hour of the morning if we hope to have a prayer of getting a campsite at Jenny Lake. That's just the way it is.

Anyway, when we go to bed tonight, everything will be fully rigged and ready to roll. The coolers will be packed tonight, bikes strapped in, you name it. All we have to do is carry our coffee over to the truck and rocket out of here, hopefully at 6 am.

It's a strange game this camping game.

The slideshow above is of our Jenny Lake Trip last year in 2009. Chances are whatever slideshow we put together this year will look just like last year's. The slide show below is of Menor's Ferry near Dornan's. The bottom slideshow does nto have captions. Some of you can't see these slide shows because you can't seem to get Adobe Flash to work. Click here for the 2009 camping trip photo album. And click here for the Menor's Ferry photos. Flash is not required when you click either or both of those links.

Cheers, jp

Brrrr.....

They said it was gonna be COLD and they got it right! It's 40 here at home this AM and lookee over at Moose, Wyoming--WOW--it's 25 degrees over there right now! Moose is slightly warmer than the Jenny Lake Campground. I'd guess it would probably be 20-23 degrees at the campground right now. That's low enough to freeze water in a bucket. Brrrrr...... You can bet the reality of that temperature level will definitely affect how we finish packing today. Uh, huh.

Moving On

Well, sooner or later we're gonna get this blog thing figured out.  This evening I decided to take down the two blog posts about the BYU Cougars.  Instead of cluttering up this blog with narrowly focused football topics, I created the page entitled "BYU Courages" above this blog.  You can see the link next to the Glossary.  I will put everything and anything I care to write and print about BYU football there instead of here.  Football is kinda close to politics, if you get my drift.  Some people can get as passionate about their football teams as some people do about their politicians and parties (the political kind, of course).  So, since football is simply politics of another kind, it's been banished into a little niche all its own.  I can't possibly imagine anyone would EVER want to go there to read anything I write about the Cougs and that's OK since I am writing this stuff for my own edification and entertainment.  Simply put, it's fun for me or I wouldn't be doing it.

We've had a great couple of days here so far this weekend.  Jeff (AKA: Houn Dawg) and Suzanne came to visit this morning and stayed a couple of hours.  We're trying to start a tradition whereby we get together for brunch on teh Sundays of the Summer Holiday Trilogy: Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day.  We baked a perfect cornbread, bacon, eggs and potatoes O'Brien.  We all enjoyed ourselves and vowed to renew the tradition on the last Sunday of May next year.

Meanwhile, we donned our little Utah Beehive Hat and have been busy little worker bees for two days.  We're scurrying about like the neighborhood squirrels getting ready for the Jenny Lake trip.  Unlike the local squirrels I haven't had to climb any tall trees or walk the high wire powerlines in order to rig for this trip--we're just doing the "scurry" part, not the climbing part.

The wind blew like crazy here for many hours today just like the Wonky NWS Pokemon said it would.  The peak gust appears to have been 52 mph sometime between 3 and 4 pm.  For six full hours from noon to six, gusts were mostly above 40 mph.  It was a real corker!  The winds have laid down now and it's eerie calm outside.  It feels like the wind exhausted itself.

Our Associate Carrie who's leading the charge for the Greenebelt Art Benches had an unfortunate accident Friday.  Her horse kicked her in the elbow and fractured that joint.  Carrie had to spend two days in the hospital this weekend.  Ouch!

Well, it's a pretty lazy weekend, not much to report.  I'm entertaining myself preparing some other articles about the BYU Cougars.  However, I PROMISE I won't mention them here in this blog-0-space.

Have a great evening and Many Cheers, jp

Holiday Ahoy?

Labor Day is one of contrived holidays that really don't seem "holiday worthy."  Yeah, I suppose maybe there ought to be a holiday to mark the official end of summer and Labor Day just kind of fit the bill.  Maybe it's a holiday that marks return to work.  Um...that would be a dubious distinction.  Whenever I wish anyone a "happy holiday weekend" it always rings rather hollow.  Sometimes I even get quizzical looks from people when I say "Have a Happy Holiday Weekend."  For most people this is just another weekend, albeit a 3-day weekend.
Columbus Day and President's Day are also three day weekend but they aren't really considered "holidays" in the same sense that Labor Day is.  Well, enough ruminating on Labor Day.  It's here.  We'll deal with it.  With that in mind, what's in store for Susun & John this weekend?

Susun's on a great exercise routine.  She's now doing two walking sessions each day.  Way to GO, Girl!  I imagine she will really max out the exercise regime this weekend.  Snake River Landing (SRL) is having their Harvest Days gig today.  Yep, it's pretty early for Harvest Days, you got that right.  But if they wait until the normal time to have a Harvest Days Festival the weather will be crummy and no one will come.  So, give SRL's marketing gals and guys an A+ for perking up a normally dull Labor Day Saturday.  Early September is the peak of produce at the local Farmers Markets.  Down on Ol' Airy Zonie, Verde Valley sweet corn comes on about July 4th.  Here it's Labor Day--local sweet corn is available on many street corners right now.  The Farmers Markets will be full of it, too.  Corn, that is.

OK, I know LBRs are sick of this four letter word but we might even play a little golf.  The key word here is "little."  Yesterday, we actually ventured out all by lonesome little self and played the Sand Creek Short Course (AKA: The Kiddie Course.)  It's six holes.  Total yardage is 553.  The longest hole is 128 yards and the shortest is 58.  Sand Creek itself was packed--the packed lot was perhaps 3/4ths full.  As I suspected, teh Kiddie Course was completely vacant, nary a soul in sight.  And it stayed vacant for the entire 60+ minutes that I goofed off there.  It was the most fun I've had for $3.25 in a long time.  Three dollars and twenty five cents really doesn't buy much any more.  Back in the day, it once would buy a six pack but those days are long gone!  It probably would buy a medium decent cuppa coffee.  Maybe, maybe not.  It won't even buy a Subway sandwich.  It buys a a little more than a gallon of gas.  Well, I has a real gas with my $3.25 out on that deserted kiddie course yesterday.  Heck, it was so deserted I even cheated--repeatedly.
Instead of teeing off just one ball like you're supposed to do, I hit four balls off each tee.  I played out each ball and then took my "best ball" score to write down on the little kiddie golf card.  The holes are so short, you only need an 8 and 9 iron, a wedge and a putter.  Anything taller than an 8 iron is overkill.  It was great no having anyone looking over my shoulder or waiting impatiently for me to play ball.  Who knows?  We might even go do it again today.  Today's the last chance for to enjoy such stuff as kiddie golf. 

Why's that?

Well, Da Weather's falling apart on us beginning tonight.  Here's the Wonky Talk from the NWS Pokemon:
LOOK FOR STRONG WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS OF 20 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS OF 35 TO 40 MPH BEHIND THE THE FRONT SUNDAY AFTERNOON INTO EARLY EVENING. LOOK FOR SUNDAY DAY TIME HIGHS TO DROP 20 TO 25 DEGREES FROM SATURDAY HIGHS.

Jeff & Suzanne are slated to come for Sunday Brunch tomorrow morning.  It will be interesting to see if conditions are favorable for outside dining or if we have to huddle indoors while chattering our teeth about the wind and cold. 

As you might expect, through this weekend, we will continue packing for the Jenny Lake trip.  We made good strides yesterday but much remains to be done. It's really ironic that the past two Labor Day weekend have been very similar to the forecast for this one.  The bad weather peaked each of the last two years on Labor day itself and then the skies parted and we had beautiful weather for our Jenny Lake trips.  It looks like the same exact thing will happen this year.  Monday's weather is progged to be pretty crummy but Tuesday looks like another glorious Blue Bird Day.  Go figure.

Hey, here's a story for ya.  One of our Dear Friends is a fella named Bill Cook.  If you ever met Bill, you'd never furrgit him.  To say Bill is a "character" is one colossal understatement of intergalactic magnitude.  Yep, when Bill goes through the Pearly Gates, St. Peter is gonna pull him aside and say, "Stay right here, Bill, I need some entertainment!"  Bill is the proverbial Jack of All Trades.  You name it, Bill has either done it, is doing it or plans to do it soon.  Our life paths were once very heavily intertwined.  When we sold our Arizona property, contact with Bill became far less frequent and now it's been maybe two years since we've heard Bill's rip-roarin' WHA-WHOO voice on a telephone.  When we moved to Idaho, Bill moved his road show way out yonder in Duncan, Arizona.  Where the h*** is Duncan, you ask?  You'll have to use Mapquest or Google Maps to answer that question.  It's somewhere in the Far East (of Arizona, that is).

Well, this morning, I was curious as to how many Virgo People we know and I was consulting our Birthday Book.  Debby D and Susun's brother Roger were born on the 2nd.  Lo and behold, Cookie (AKA: Bill Cook) is celebrating his birthday today.  That's what got me thinking about Bill. (Other Virgos are: Jim Bishop (9/6), Betty Martin (9/11) Richard Hyde (9/12) and The Goatherder (9/19).

OK, so I got to wondering whazzup with Ol' Bill and I figgered no task is too tall or too arcane for the Google search engines.  Afterall, as gregarious as Bill is, he should show up someplace in Cyberspace.  Sure enough, it didn't even take me 60 second to pin him down.  He's got hisself right up front and center with the Duncan Farmers Market.  Yep, Ol' Bill shore is dependable, ain't he?  Pull yer mouse up, sonny, and click right here to see Ol' Bill.  Just scroll right down yonder webpage to see his grinning face and a pickup load o' produce, too.  (Heck, I decided to blow up that little tiny thumbnail and put it atop this post.  The picture is blurry because the original was the size of a postage stamp. That's what happens when you blown up stamps.) Wouldn't ya know it, Ol' Bill even put his phone number right smack dab on teh page, too.  So, now, we'll get to call him and sing Happy Birthday.  Man, ya gotta LUV Google's search engines!

Have a great day and Cheers!  jp

Golfing, sort of

Houn Dawg and I went out to Sand Creek about 3:30 pm yesterday and stayed until 5:30.  We had a ball (pun intended).  We each rented a $3.50 BIG bucket of golf balls and spent most of our time firing away on the spacious, unpopulated driving range.  Much to my abject surprise, after 45 years I can still hit a golf ball straight, true and actually for some decent distance, too.  Believe it or not, I actually mustered a few 100 yard shots with a nine iron! I didn't do so well with the woods or the lower numbered irons.  It was great fun.

Houn Dawg himself is quite a proficient hitter and it's easy to see he's a power golfer.  After smacking all of our golf balls out yonder, we spent a lot of time on the free chipping and putting areas.  Once again, I surprised myself with surprising accuracy on 30-50 foot putts.  No, none of those 30-50 putts actually dropped but they came close enough for me to "two-putt" the practice green.

Sand Creek is a delightful place with a nice easy-going mix of people of all ages, styles of dress and gender.  Most of the people goofing off at the driving range were wearing old blue jeans and faded shirts--no style hawks there!  The only people I saw dressed in "typical" golf clothes were older generation duffers.  None of the younger generation adhered to anything resembling mainstream "golf style."  After we both tired of chipping and putting, we relaxed in the bar and grill.  Houn Dawg had a boutique bottled beer for three bucks and I enjoyed nice cold free water.  It's a fun place.  Thanks, Houn Dawg!

My total capital outlay for golf equipment (to date) rose from $40 to $59.  The expenditures included: two putters at a buck each, a sand wedge for $5, some wiffle balls for $2.50, a cool little metal thermos that fits in the golf bag for $2, two miscellaneous miscellaneous small bags to help organize stuff ($3.50)and, finally, an NRS 3-foot strap to hold the bottom of the golf bag in the cart ($4).

The owner of the local whitewater store was highly amused that I was buying an NRS strap to use in a golf context.  He said "that's a first in this store" and laughed heartily.  He even provided me with a free NRS sticker to place on the golf cart.  It's looks real spiff.

At this point, I've got about everything needed and the capital outlay portion of this gig has come to an end.  People are getting a real chuckle out of the fact that 100% of everything I've purchased (except for the wiffle balls) has been used and found in a thrift store or a pile of cast off clubs.  I'm guessing the retail value of the stuff I've accumulated for $57.50 would run perhaps $300 or more.




Susun is busy preparing for her upcoming San Diego trip.  Since she won't have any time to prep and pack upon our return from Jenny Lake, she has to do it all this week.  She's been a real dynamo each day, once again showing that she clearly inherited her Mom's nickname--"Turbo Tutu."  She's been doing long, fast-paced Greenbelt walks while carrying handweights. She's been doing the ultra low carb scene and has foregone Happy Hour this week.  She's proud of the fact she's lost four pounds!  She had her hair done yesterday and, yes verily, she sure looks real spiff and buff.

Today kicks off Labor Day weekend.  Maybe it technically started yesterday.  It's the Summer Season's Last Hurrah.  Weekend Warriors and their families will try to squeeze in once some final frenzied fun before settling in for the long fall-winter-spring seasons ahead.

We're looking forward to enjoying a nice long weekend here at home.  If past holidays are any guide, the city will feel deserted and the stores all practically empty.

Have a great day & Cheers!  jp

PS, here's the weekly site stats (Totals are from June 19 through yesterday)

-- Site Summary ---                     
          Visits

            Total ........................ 1,279            
            Average per Day ................. 21            
            Average Visit Length .......... 3:59            
            This Week ...................... 150            

          Page Views

            Total ........................ 2,388            
            Average per Day ................. 37            
            Average per Visit .............. 1.7            
            This Week ...................... 262

Arizona Snowbird Blog back up and running

Our Arizona Snowbird blog has been in hibernation since early spring.  Today, it yawned and stretched and came out of its hibernation cave with a great, big, long, rambling post.  We've once again started paying closer attention to Arizona and Verde Valley news.  We decided to comment on some news items and provide links to the "rest of the story," as a famous newscaster always intoned.

You can click here to read the newly awakened blog: http://azsnowbird.blogspot.com/

Today's weather dawned more user friendly than the previous few days.  Even though the chilly temps were in the mid-40's, it's great to see a clear blue sky and bright sunlight. It appears there's no wind.  Yesterday's wind blew like a banshee for 10 full hours, routinely gusting well into the 30's all day.  No wonder they are putting up some many wind turbines on that ridge to the west of here.

Hey, let's talk camping gear instead of golf stuff, OK?  Yesterday we pretty much finished our new "motel rig."  It's really spiff.  It has a coffee maker, a little hotplate, a kit of utensils, extension cords and all the stuff to make a meal in a motel room.  It's so spiffy we will probably take some photos of it to post up here later today.  

Now we have set our sights on putting together a completely new rig for the approaching Jenny Lake trip.  It's going to be a lot leaner and lighter than our Big Rig that we take to places like Ellis or Baumgartner, etc.  Hopefully, we will never again have to cannibalize any one of each of the rigs to take a different style trip.  It sure does make it easy having three thrift stores in town.  If I need something as esoteric as four butter knives, I know I will have no trouble finding them...and cheap, too.

Our plans have probably changed as far as going to The City of Rocks in mid-October.  There appears to be a scheduling issue with Dear Friend Marti Lu (AKA Spudboater) so we shall see.  We also messed up in our scheduling because we have to be back in Salmon for a week right around that time frame.  My, my, how these things sometime unravel.

Well, the flames are dying down about our golf gig.  We sure do enjoy the flame comments and hope more of them are forthcoming.  This is way too much fun so keep 'em coming!

Since we spent more than an hour messing with the Snowbird blog that's it for now here @ y2ten.  C-YA.  Cheers, jp

Happy September!

September's finally here.  "Oh, boy", as Hank The Cowdog would say.

It's a little after 6 pm here in Eye-Dee-Hoe and we just checked Ye Ol' Inbox.  Here's a plaintive note from Maggie:

"Have you been at the golf course all day?  Have the aliens that invaded your body taken you off in their space vehicle?  You have no posts today!"

Sorry, Maggie, no alien abduction....yet.  And, nope, we only spent 15 minutes at the golf course...but more on that later.

Today's been a blurry mish-mash of mixed metaphors.  A little bit of this and a little bit of that--a veritable potpourri!  LBRs will be happy to know we did not buy any more golf stuff today but Susun did.  OH, NO!
Don't worry, she only spent a dollar on a novelty item "just for grins."

We both LOVED the negatory comments rec'd about our new madcap golf goofiness.  Keep 'em coming, LBRs, you're our ONLY Hope!

Well, our erstwhile city operates 3 municipal courses and is projected in the next fiscal year to generate a $1,837,000 income solely from those three properties.  (Click here to see the full city budget.) Being on the city's Parks & Recreation Commission, I get to hear the insider details on the operation of this business.  It's a giant undertaking that employs one heck of a lot of people.  The city is very conservative so the golf courses always operate pretty much in the black every year.  The upcoming year is projected to be a $45,000 deficit. Normally, whatever tiny profits they might make are rolled back into the either capital outlay or O&M. The cool, wet spring put them behind the 8-ball this year.  It's quite  a fascinating process, actually.  I'm not exactly on the Board of Directors of a golf corporation but it's close enough to feel like the real thing.

Each of the three courses has quite an interesting pedigree.  The oldest dates to 1936 and is rated the top municipal course in Idaho and one of the top city courses in the Intermountain West.  Sand Creek was finished 30 years ago and it's out in a dune field south of the city.  Sage Lakes is the newest one and it's way out north of the city.  I've never been there.  We've cross country skied Sand Creek but I've not been there during the golf season until today.  It was a very interesting visit. (Click here for the city website that describes its courses.)

Green fees at all three courses are $18 for 18 holes.  You can buy a bucket of balls for $3.50 at Sand Creek but their putting and chipping areas are free to all.  Meanwhile, Sand Creek operates a six hole "juniors course."  Get this--the fee for this course is a mere $3.25.  Whoever thought to add the 25 cents must be a real bean counter.  I am obviously not now and probably never going to be in any condition or shape or skill to play a real golf course.  Nor would I have the attention span to do so.  But the juniors course has really caught my attention.  Why?  Well, after school starts there's NO ONE on it.  I mean NO ONE.  Meanwhile, there's no scorecards, no pars, no nothing.  It's just a great place to go goof off.  The little "holes," such as they are, are maybe each 75-100 yards long.  It's kind of like expanded miniature golf without anyone waiting behind you or looking over your shoulder.  Meanwhile, there's a great bar and grill on the course and a real laid back pro shop, too.

Sand Creek is precisely 4.5 miles from our house so one round trip in the Zuki would cost about a dollar in gasoline.  To be able to go goof off knocking a small white sphere around some green grass for a couple of hours for about five bucks strikes me as a really good deal.

Now, let's talk about water.  Water here is SOOO plentiful it's unreal.  No one in the City of Idaho Falls has a water meter.  You pay $21 a month and you get ALL the water you care to use.  If you feel like running all your hoses 24/7, nobody cares and nobody minds.  Why?  Because we are at the head of the Snake River with incredible water rights and incredible water resources.  The nice thing to know is that ALL the water that's used in this city is returned almost immediately to the Snake River aquifer.  In affect, we are simply borrowing the water for a little while as it continues its downstream journey to the Pacific to complete and renew the vaunted Water Cycle.

Even though water is so plentiful and cheap here, the city has been very diligent in reducing its consumption and reducing things like evapotranspiration and so forth.  They are really smart irrigators and use computers and all manner of high tech stuff to maximize the water's efficiency.  Ditto the chemicals they use and all of the rest of the equation. The more I have learned about the "innards" of how the city manages its turf grass, the more impressed I have become with this place.  There are some smart, caring people in at the wheel of this ship and they have my total confidence and respect.

Before I moved to Idaho Falls, my image of golf was one of rampant wastefulness and one of utter disregard for the lower classes.  Golf was a rich man's sport and the snobs that built the courses priced "everyman" right out of the picture.  I mean can you imagine some developer in Arizona maintaining a juniors course with a $3.25 green fee?  Come on, get real, that wouldn't happen in 1,000 years or more.  But here, it's just the way it is.  This is a Family City and they pay extra to do stuff to help parents entertain their kids.  You would be amazed at the stuff this city has for its children.  It's awesome and "almost" makes me wanna be a kid again.  Oh, well, people say we are Big Kids anyway, so what's the difference?

I checked today and it's legal and welcome for me to play the kid's course at Sand Creek.  For a Big Kid like me, that's pretty danged good news.  I can hardly wait!  No scorecard, no pars, no nothing!  No people, just me.  How good is that?  Very good.  (Photos described below them.)

The photo above the blog post is self-explanatory. it shows the view of Sand Creek from the parking lot. The next picture is looking from the tee box for Hole #1 of the kids course at Sand Creek. The next shows the chipping area with the bar & grill on left and the pro shop on right. The next shows the free putting green and the final one shows the driving range.

To have this type of resource a mere 4.5 miles from our front door really begs to use it. I mean $3.25 for six short holes? And $3.50 for a bucket of balls? Geeze. Who wouldn't want to enjoy themselves with sweeping views of Mount Taylor and the Snake Highlands out on the ancestral  dunes of  the Snake River Plain in a place like this?

Cheers, jp