When I'm 64

'Tis true!  One of the fun things about turning 64 is that we get to enjoy the Beatles tune.  (Lyrics below.)  Susun turned 64 back on Ground Hog Day.  Now we both get to be 64 until she joins the Medicare Generation next February. 

Nothing special is planned for today.  We had a lot of outside plans but it's drizzling outside so the outdoor stuff might not work.  It's probably going to be an inside day.

We moved pretty slowly yesterday after the high speed whirlwind Valley Visit.  We did manage to get a little work area set up in our well house.  Now we've organized all our spent cartridge casings and are all set up to tumble and polish them to a bright and shiny luster. That took most of the day.

Afterward, we then went over to Cottonwood to buy 16 of the 8x8x16 concrete blocks to make the base for the earth oven project.  The little Nissan couldn't possibly carry all 40 blocks needed for the job.  We originally thought we were going to build the base out of 32 blocks but now we realize we need 40. 

We arrived back at 2CR just in the nick of time to get a fire up and running before the sun hit the horizon.  Then we carried over our Patio Caddie grill and began the process to determine the orientation of the oven.  What's an oven orientation?  Well, the earth oven will have an opening into which you place wood for a fire and then food to cook.  Who ever is operating the oven will spend a pretty fair amount of time standing around the this opening.  So, we might as well "orient" the position of the oven to maximize the view.  You'd think this would be an easy process but, hey, it takes time, thought, and mucho vino to get the correct view going!  I mean we take this oven orientation stuff seriously, ya know?

While in Cottonwood, we bought ourselves a decadent birthday present.  A cheap-o rice cooker.  You've seen this little buggers--they are typically found in dorm rooms and cheap-o apartments where starving students live.  We can't eat much rice because the carbohydrate content is off the charts.  Bet you didn't know that rice is so full of carbs it's ridiculous.  Whatever.  Anyway, I love the most worthless kind of rice--plain long grain white rice--the stuff that's been stripped of all known nutrients except for boatloads of carbs.  I love a steaming bowl of really hot white rice all covered with butter and salt and pepper.  To me that's real decadent--a forbidden food, so to speak.  Anyway, so what's Little Yonni buy for his birthday?  A cheap-o $13 rice cooker.  Cheap thrills, huh? Then Little Yonni comes in from the campfire and cooks up a pot of sinful white rice and purrs like a kitten while slurping it down with fresh roasted green chiles and cheese on the side.  YUM-O-YUM!  Better than Thanksgiving dinner.  Heck, I shoulda bought a can of Spam to really make the meal complete.

Today, we're prolly gonna go back to Cottonwood to buy the rest of the blocks.  It had been our goal to build the base today--there's something vaguely poetic about building an earth oven base on the day we turn 64.  Who knows? Maybe the weather will clear up and we can "git 'er dun."

And without further ado, may we present one of The Beatles' finest tunes:

When I get older losing my hair,
Many years from now.
Will you still be sending me a valentine
Birthday greetings bottle of wine.

If I'd been out till quarter to three
Would you lock the door,
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four.

You'll be older too,
And if you say the word,
I could stay with you.

I could be handy, mending a fuse
When your lights have gone.
You can knit a sweater by the fireside
Sunday mornings go for a ride.

Doing the garden, digging the weeds,
Who could ask for more.
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four.

Every summer we can rent a cottage,
In the Isle of Wight, if it's not too dear
We shall scrimp and save
Grandchildren on your knee
Vera, Chuck & Dave

Send me a postcard, drop me a line,
Stating point of view
Indicate precisely what you mean to say
Yours sincerely, wasting away

Give me your answer, fill in a form
Mine for evermore
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four.

Mema

Happy Campers: Gage, Mema and Van.

Sunday Greetings

The last few days have been a typical whirlwind warp.  Thursday and and went in a pleasant blur.  Friday was likewise.  We lost count of the various places we went for various reasons. (One of the places ALWAYS visit in Mesa is Bass Pro Shops--above--it's kind of a mecca for outdoors people.)  Yesterday was about as rush-rush, go-go as it could possibly be.

The blog author left Roger's Place before 7 am, grabbed a breakfast burro at the Pro Ranch Market and made it over to the north flank of South Mountain well before 8 am.  The IDPA Club there commenced shooting their Saturday match shortly thereafter.  We will describe that experience over on the shooting blog.  Meanwhile, the match wrapped up at 10:30 am and we hotfooted it back to Mesa to commence helping Miss Susun prepare for her departure.  We left Roger's Place at 1 pm and got Our Sweetie to the airport about two hours in advance of her flight.

We're certain she's having a wonderful time hugging her daughters and grand sons.  We're also certain we will soon start receiving texts, Facebook photos and more.  We're so happy she's visiting with her girls and grand kids again.

After leaving Sky Harbor, we went back south into West Mesa once again to meet Justin W. for a firearm transaction.  THANKS, Justin!  Then it was off into Tempe to meet Chris D. to pick up some brass.  And then we headed up the 101 into Paradise Valley to meet David S. to buy a holster.  After that we hustled back to Rimrock and rustled up a campfire before the sun dipped below the horizon.  Gary came for a brief visit before spending most of the night in a Search & Rescue exercise in the use of maps and GPS at night.  Those guys never stop training.

We kept the campfire going well past its normal "burn down" time and enjoyed thinking of Miss Susun having a wonderful time in San Diego as well as the blur of events of the day.

OK, now that we are "batching" it again here at Second Chance Ranch, whazzup?  The top priority will be to begin building the earth oven.  We might even start on that project today.  It's time to stop talking about it and get down and dirty and DO something.  Wouldn't you agree?

If the past is an indicator, this week will go flying by and we won't even tackle half the tasks we hope to tussle.

Have a great day & Many Cheers!  jp

PS--One of the really cool features of Bass Pro is their aquarium.  It contains all the game fish typically caught in Arizona.  The kiddies love it.  The waterfall is pretty cool, too.  Bass Pro Shops ROX over Cabela's and it makes Sportman's Warehouse look like a Circkel K.

Down in the Desert

We took the backroad down to Mesa yesterday.  It takes an extra hour and costs a little more in gas but it's some much nicer than traveling I-17.  The scenery is superb and we arrived relaxed and stress free.  We stopped for lunch at the East Verde River.  The nearest Food City had a Mexican kiddie carnival set up in their parking lot.  We spent a couple hours shopping (see "Jackpot" below) and Susun served up a great din-din of spiral sliced ham, baked yams, potatoes and fresh green beans.  Yesterday's high temperature as 79 degrees here.  Yea, verily, that feels HOT! It's fun to be back down the land of cactus and palm trees.

Jackpot

Well, we hit the jackpot at the Mesa Deseret Industries store yesterday afternoon.  For a mere buck, we have a new favorite hat.  This is SWEET!

Dexter Allen Day

Today was Dexter Allen Day.  It was an incredibly Special Day for a lot of people, but most of all for DEX, as he is known by all his admiring Fans.  Dex got a Big Time National Award from the Forest Service.  He was honored as one of the Nation's top Wild & Scenic River managers.Normally he would have been sent to Washington, D.C. to receive the award but, as you know, budgets are tight in Fed Land and so they kind of downsized his award presentation event.  That turned out to be a Good Thing.  It meant that Dexter's Dear Wife, Jodi, as well as Dexter's Mom and Dad and his Friends could attend the award presentation.

It was a Genuine Real Big Deal, as far as these things go.  The District Ranger, Heather Provencio, scheduled the presentation to coincide with a weekly Staff Meeting.  That meant that ALL of Dexter's Peers were in attendance.  It also meant that each and any of them that wanted to stand up and say something had the chance to do so in front of their peers.  As far as events like these go, it turned out really, really well. Dex even got officially promoted right up to another Federal Pay Grade.  Dex is doing an awesome and incredible job at manager of the Wild & Scenic Verde River.  On top of that, he's pretty much the point man for the Fossil Creek Wild & Scenic area as well and that's a huge challenge.  Dex takes it all in stride and is making a tremendous positive difference on behalf of both the Verde and Fossil.

All-in-all is was a very impressive event.  I didn't speak at the event as I would have been far too emotional.  I tried to speak at the Verde NRCD meeting Monday morning about Dexter's award but I choked up and could barely talk.  A local news reporter called me today to talk about Dexter's award and I danged near broke into tears on the phone about it. We are so proud of Dexter and we celebrate Jodi and Dexter and the whole Family!

There are nine photos below.  I don't have the emotion tonight to put captions of them.  Perhaps we will do that tomorrow.  Anyway, here they are.

Congratulations, Dexter! 

In praise of envelopes

It's a rainy Sunday morning here.  Whoever said it was going to be warm and dry here is full of "hooey."  Oddly, the NWS keeps insisting it's going to be warm and dry here.  Apparently, they don't bother to look out of their office windows.  It's chilly and definitely wet.

Yesterday was a real nice day.  We spent about 5 hours in Cottonwood doing all the typical stuff people from Rimrock do in Cottonwood.  Susun did huge amounts of laundry.  The blog author went to the semi-annual gun show at the Fairgrounds.  We shopped at waaay too many stores.  Susun filled up our drinking water bottles, we gassed the vehicle and then upon our arrival back in Rimrock, we spent the remainder of the afternoon unpacking all the booty we acquired in Cottonwood.  It takes a full day to deal with Cottonwood.  We won't be spending another day there like yesterday until Susun returns from San Diego the weekend after Thanksgiving.

OK, so whazzup with envelopes?  Well, the coolest thing about an envelope is not that it can be used to mail stuff.  Nope, the back of an envelope is our "go to" place to make a list.  What would life be without the classic "back of an envelope" shopping list?  Who knows how many businesses have started out with a Number 2 pencil sketch on the back of an envelope?  When the going gets tough, we reach for an envelope and make a list.  In our experience a list rendered on the back of an envelope is a REAL List and the stuff on that list actually gets DONE.  We are lifelong list makers.  We've made lists on every thing of paper object you can imagine, from paper plates to napkins to cash register receipts.  But the lowly envelope tops them all in utility, efficiency and effectiveness.  There's something about an envelope that gives it some much more substance than anything else.  Besides, an envelope fits in a jeans pocket so much better and feels like it belongs there.  For some reason, envelopes don't get lost like mere scraps of note paper do.  Plus, you can put coupons in an envelope.  Try that with a Post-It Note.

Envelopes also look really righteous.  They hark to a long tradition of list making usage.  When we are slogging through yet another grocery store, we dutifully pull out our envelope and studiously examine the back of the envelope for pearls of wisdom in what to buy next.  We would be lost without envelopes.  No doubt about it.  Some days are so busy they require a full #10 envelope.  Others, such as today, will easily fit on the No. 6 3/4 Security envelope.  Rarely do we need a large manila envelope for a REALLY busy days!  A staid old #10 will generally cover just about any type of day.  The bottom line is that you can generally accomplish all the stuff you put on the back of an envelope.  There's great satisfaction in looking at your envelope at the end of the day to see everything properly crossed off or lined through.

We often wonder if the phrase "pushing the edge of the envelope" actually evolved from making lists on them.
We push our envelope's edge all the time, especially when we're running out of room for the last couple of items on our "to do" list for the day.  That's when we are forced to write really small or use obscure abbreviations or notations to make something fit before the push the edge of the envelope.

Take today, for example, we ran out of room to write the word "Target" (the store not a shooting target).  So, we just drew a tiny little target icon right at the very tippy, tiny edge of the envelope and, hey, that's works for us.

We suspect every one who reads this blog has used or actually still continues to use envelopes for list making.  If perhaps you have fallen out of the habit of using envelopes for such a high and noble purpose, we urge you to reconnect with your Inner Envelope.  You will find it to be an especially satisfying experience.  Besides, it's nice to know you can push the edge of your own envelope and not get in any trouble!

Well, enough with envelopes already, OK?  When newspapers write about ridiculous stuff, readers yawn and mumble, "Must be a slow news day."  Well, it's a slow news day here at The Daily News so that's why we're stuffing envelopes this morning.

OK, what's on the envelope today? Looks like Little Yonni is heading down to the north edge of Phoenix to facilitate a transaction. While he's down there, he will engage is a mini-frenzy of errand running at stores which don't exist here in the hinterlands.  Susun might go hiking but it's doubtful with the weather being what it is.

Tomorrow, most of the day is taken up with the Verde NRCD meeting.  Tuesday morning see the weekly Target Shoot.  Wednesday we go early to the Red Rock Ranger District to witness Dexter Allen getting a National Award from the Forest Service.  Thursday we head down to Mesa.  Saturday Susun flies out to San Diego.  That's about as far out to the edge of our envelope as we can see right now.

Spudboater is a bit blue this morning.  Her beloved Boise State Broncos lost to TCU by a point last night.  We sure know how that stings Spud Buddy.  Sorry 'bout that.

Wayne Ranney put up a new blog post not long ago.  Something about rats and dams. You can click here to read it.  Kirsty's Momedy blog continues to showcase the cutest baby photos we've seen in a really long time.  Now, yes, I know that Mom Sarah officially sends the cutest photos of Gage and Van but check Momedy and I think you will agree Kirsty's photos are totally awesome.  Dear Friend & Neighbor Gary is down in the bottom of the Grand Canyon this morning.  He hiked down to Phantom yesterday.  Believe it or not, he has been meeting with a group of friends there each mid-November for 30 years.  This is his 24th participation in an annual tradition.  That's quite the place to have a gathering of friends.

We are mentoring Joshua W. on becoming a river guide.  This week we asked for some advice from one of Flagstaff's outdoor legends, George Bain.  It took awhile for George to focus on my request but he finally delivered last night.  Believe it or not, there is a program called the "Native American River Guide Training Program" at NAU where Josh is now a freshman.  You can click here to check it out.  It's offered under the auspices of something called the Landsward Institute. Ironically, Karan English is the Director.  Dear Friends who can go into the Way Back Time Machine with us will get a chuckle out of the irony of that connection.  HA!  Anyway, it's going to be fun seeing how Joshua interfaces with this unique training and developmental opportunity.

Well, this is about all the words we can to line up sort of in a row.  Have a great day and Many Cheers!  jp

Fitting Friday Fire

 Who knows how many scores or even 100's of photos we've taken of our campfires.  We don't put too many on this blog because they quickly get old and boring and trite. In fact, three's too trite today, eh?  We DO love our campfires.  The weather hasn't been real conducive to campfires lately.  Last night conditions were perfect for a campfire.  No wind, decent temps in the low 50's.  Yippie!  It's always so nice to see the campfire from a distance and, of course, up close, too.

 Campfires are an endless source of enjoyment for both of us.  It gets us out of the house in the evening when we would probably just be sitting inside staring at the computer.  It keeps us from being labeled fuddy duddies.  The fire draws over our neighbor, Gary, almost every time we light one up.  The fire is always a special highlight whenever friends gather here.

When you are actually watching the flickering flames, your eyes can't really see what those gaseous tentrils are really doing.  Perhaps that's why we take so many fire photos.  The pictures help us see a few of the awesome beauty of the flames themselves.  The art show put on by those flames is created and then disappears in a nano-second, always changing, ever renewing.

We have been in a bit of a mini-dither the past week.  Firewood prices have skyrocketed and supply has shrunk down to next to nothing.  Normally, firewood sellers are almost at every intersection.  This year?  Not so much.  The absolute cheapest we've seen any type of firewood is $200 a cord and those are pitifully short cords at that,--usually padded with undesirable wood of dubious origin.  We went into Camp Verde late yesterday afternoon and were surprised to see a trailer load of really good looking shaggy bark juniper--our favorite campfire wood.  Shaggy bark emits a fabulous scent into the air that can't be described.  It's the smell of a juniper fire and is one of the great icons of the Southwest Experience.  The aroma of burning juniper is downright almost intoxicating to those who have grown to know and love that olfactory delight.  Unfortunately, shaggy bark is nearly impossible to find this fall and one seller quoted me $275 a cord (same as oak) simply because it's in such short supply.  I fully expected to be quoted a high price for the trailer load I found last night.  I was downright shocked when they said it was $200.  Well, I figured I'd stretch them out a little bit and say I had to ahve the wood delivered at 7 am Saturday morning.  And, guess what?  Three burly bubbas showed up shortly after 7 am and the four of us made short order of unloading what sure looks like a full cord of shaggy bark.  Yippee, Skippie!  We've now gone from rationing our meager supply of alligator juniper to staring at a winter's worth of really fine, seasoned shaggy bark.  Life is good, indeed.  Campfires R Us!

Have a great day & Many Cheers!  jp

Sunset for 11-11-11

We will talk about this sunset tomorrow.  Just wanted to put up the photos tonight.

11-11-11

On again, off again, on again. That's how it went with Kate Blevins Birthday today.  Kate, Susun and Jodi cooked up a plan last night and it all came together like clockwork this morning.  Everyone showed up at the Montezuma Well National Monument parking lot just before 11 am.  We all hot-footed it down to the Well Outlet and were able to line up and smile just in time for 11:11 am on 11-11-11.  YEA! (Naturally, Susun made the signs.)  Meanwhile, a group of meditators were doing their ritual nearby.  We were invited to join in and it was a fitting and powerful experience.  Everyone fell totally silent--so quiet you could hear a sycamore leaf falling to the ground.  Someone played a flute with impeccable beauty and all our Spirits soared.  Later, Kate climbed atop a charismatic rock and read us a wonderful poem.  Afterwards, we dutifully trooped up to the Well itself.  It was one of those special days at the Well--not a hint of wind or even air movement.  The water in the Well was so still, you could see the reflection of one of the ancient ruins.  (Look closely, it's there.)   Finally, everyone adjourned to a nearby Mexican restaurant to enjoy a festive lunch together.  It was a truly memorable way to observe the uniqueness of 11-11-11.  Happy Birthday & THANKS, Kate!

Forgot The Camera

Yep, Susun had a Dear Diary Day Wednesday but left home without her camera so there's no photos to show this morning.  She spent four hours with Betty and enjoyed a great lunch at the new Sedona Airport Cafe.  Later they were to visit Bob M. in Betty's former home.  Betty has been living at Sedona Winds since August 2007 and loves the place.  The care facility has plenty of options for the residents but Betty loves traveling around with Susun.  Call it Driving Miss Betty.  Susun is already planning a plethora of adventures with Betty this season.  We're already lobbying Bob to take the four of us over to the In N Out in Prescott.  Betty LOVES In N Out!
Susun left here mid-morning and didn't return until 5 pm.  She also managed to get in a visit with Kate and Brock at Verde Earthworks. 

Coincidentally, Goatherder might be poised to do some driving for Verde Earthworks running some of their recycling routes around the valley.  GH spent yesterday morning learning the ropes from Pedro who is about the age of GH's son, Josh.  There was some talk of a big birthday party for Kate on 11-11-11 but she's decided she doesn't want have a hoop-dee-doo celebration.

A week from today we will be taking off for Mesa to spend a couple of night with Roger and Nancy before Susun flies off to San Diego for a Happy Thanksgiving week with Sarah, her grandsons and Stasea, too.  She better not forget her camera for that trip!

The blog author laid low yesterday.  He woke up with a really painful knee and could barely hobble around the straw house.  The pain didn't begin to subside until mid-afternoon.  It feels somewhat better this morning so perhaps we will be able to do some weed whacking before the next storm is due to arrive over the weekend.  Luckily, it's progged to be a weak storm with little rainfall.  We have been truly soaked and hosed here this past week.  At times it looked like the straw house was sitting on an island in a large large.  Hey, maybe it was a  mini-Gilligan's Island, eh, Spudboater?

After the knee became less lame later yesterday, we were able to get a few things done around here, including the final unpacking of our remaining stuff.  My shed--The Guy Shed--is now organized and tidy once again.  There's not much on tap in our upcoming calendar.  We're taking a well-deserved social break.  No lunches, dinners, parties or other appointments lie ahead.

That's all the news there is this morning.  Have a great day & Many Cheers,jp

Wednesday wrapup

Yes, it's true, we are very remiss in blogging.  Sorry 'bout that.  This blog post of more of a photo album than a regular narrative.  You will find some commentary below each photo.

One of the highlights of our return ti Ol' Airy Zonie was the delivery of Joshua's new OBB Sunday afternoon.  He was delighted to receive the boat.  Pa Goatherder put together an awesome lunch as only GH knows how to do.  Josh, Katie and GH are Family here and it's great to be back enjoying their Happy Spirits.

The entire Sunshine Family made the migration with us this year.  We didn't leave any of them to freeze through the dark winter in our Idaho basement.  They were very appreciative, of course, and have been filling the straw house with much merriment.

Each branch of The Sunshine Family Tree, such as they are, has their own little area to stretch their legs and tend to the young 'uns.

Grand Pa and Grand Ma Sunshine are definitely poised to rock around the clock.

Yesterday morning we enjoyed the first of many fun Tuesday Target Shoots.  Everyone there welcomed us back with smiles and hugs and happy handshakes. We shot our "new" 93-year-old Colt M1917 .45 ACP revolver for the very first time yesterday.  What a cannon!  It's great.  After the Tuesday shoot, we spent three hours with the group above out on the Montezuma Well National Monument, our neighbor.  That's local celebrity Bill Cowan at right waving.

Bill and NPS Archaeologist Matt Guebard did a lot of head and beard scratching Tuesday trying to match old photos with the current "lay of the land."

This is the autumn view looking downstream along Wet Beaver Creek.

It's quite the typical fall riot of color in the lush riparian area here.  The photo above looks down over the Monument's picnic grounds.

Pa Goatherder was the very first to greet us upon our arrival November 3rd.  He drove over his new ride.  We insisted on doing a "family portrait" of a Man and His Truck.

Although quite late, here's a shot of our very first campfire the night we arrived back home here.  We've onyl managed to light 3 campfires out of seven potential nights.  The weather has been real wet.  We've received over an inch and a half of rainfall.  Last night, we hosted Dear Friends & Neighbors Gary and Robin for dinner.  It was Robin's birthday so we sang Happy Birthday and lit a campfire to serve as her campfire.  The high humidity put a chill in the air that the campfire really couldn't dispel so we skee-daddled inside soon to enjoy another wonderful Miss Susun dinner.

Hopefully, we will get back in the groove with blogging.  Thanks for reading & Many Cheers, jp

So long, Dean

 Our Dear Neighbor Dean Despain passed on to the Happy Hunting Grounds September 2, 2011.  He was born in Jerome January 9th, 1940, so he was 71 years of age.  Dean was a very Wise Man, even wiser beyond his 71 years.  It seemed that Dean had done everything, been everywhere, knew everything, caught everything, hunted everything, and even owned everything.  Dean was not only a Jack of All Trades, he was a true Master of All Trades.  There was no task, challenge or mountain too tall for him to tackle.  He looked life square in the eye and went mano y mano with anything and everything that life threw in his face.  It's really hard to believe that something finally quieted his bright and shining Spirit.

Dean was one of those guys who seldom come around in this day and age.  He was a throwback to the Old School.  I often thought Dean was a reincarnated Mountain Man who drove a beat up old Ford Bronco instead of riding a sturdy trail horse.  Dean's hunting and fishing stories were without peer in my experience.  He could easily top anyone's outdoor stories and he always did so with great gentlemanly class and style.  Dean wasn't one to brag about his exploits or survivor skills.  He told his stories always in the most matter-of-fact manner as casually as he would have described a trip to Camp Verde for groceries.  Dean lived through more narrow escapes than the proverbial cat with nine lives.  We always figured he would land on his feet no matter how high, hard and far he was dropped from the Tree of Life.  Floods, fires, car wrecks: you name it, Dean took it all in stride as if it was just another day at the office.

Dean and his Forever Loving wife, Joanne, raised a large family of incredibly smart kids who have gone on to really distinguish themselves.  One's a high ranking military officer, another is a DPS officer, one's a nurse and all the others are likewise very remarkable and successful.  Dean doted on his many grand kids and I often told those kids and him to his face that he was The World's Best Grand Pa.  NOBODY could hold a candle to what Dean did for his grand kids.  He was the ultimate Grand Pa of every little kid's dreams.

Dean was the penultimate sportsman--a real Man's Man.  There wasn't any game species he feared, from the biggest, wildest African mammals to the largest creatures in the deep, deep sea.  One of my favorite of Dean's portfolio of fishing stories was about the time he was in the Sea of Cortez off Old Mexico when his boat was surrounded by a big pod of huge whales.  I don't recall if they were killer whales or gray whales.  Anyway, they are almost as big as semitrailer trucks and they circled his boat and swam under it.  They could have flipped his boat with a mere flick of their mighty tails.  So the whales started singing under his boat.  Heck, maybe they were paying tribute to The One who was a Prince of the Outdoors!  Anyway, as Dean told it, their singing was so close and so loud it vibrated the floor of his aluminum boat so badly it put his feet to sleep.  He said their singing was so loud he wished he had ear protection.  Dean wasn't above a little story teller's license.

As his son, Critter, said in a eulogy at Dean's Memorial Service,

"Everyone here has a “Dean” story. The funny thing is that every single one of dad’s stories had some truth behind it. Some stories were just stretched a little further than others--that’s all, and in every one of his stories there is an adventure. I would like to put an observation out there for all of you. Most people in the world live their lives looking for that adventure of a lifetime. Dad didn’t have to look......he had a lifetime of adventure and chose to share that with everyone. With dad, even a simple trip to the grocery store could turn into an adventure!"

One day I saw Dean sitting in front of his garage over an old Coleman stove. Intrigued, I went over to find out "whazzup."  Dean was melting lead in a pot and pouring the molten metal into giant sinker molds.  The lead fumes were coming right up in his face.  I said, "Dean, aren't you worried about those lead fumes?"  He just laughed his great Dean laugh and said, "It's gonna take a lot more lead than these fumes to kill me."  That was years ago so I guess he was right.  Anyway, Dean and his grand kids went to an old shooting range to dig up and scavenge used lead bullets.  He melted them down to make the giant sinkers.  He told me they were as good as gold in Old Mexico.  Apparently, lead is tough to get down there because of the restrictions on guns and bullets and so forth.  The Mexican fishermen coveted lead sinkers and would trade just about anything for giant sinkers for their nets and lines.  Dean said he used the sinkers as currency on his many trips to fish the Sea of Cortez.

Oddly, I have been searching online for a "right and proper" obituary for Dean Despain.  His obit doesn't exist.  Perhaps the Family didn't want one published.  Who knows?  We'd certainly love to tell you about his incredible life.  Dean was an amazing Man.  One day he did me a great favor.  It was back in the year 2000 when I was considering retiring for the first time.  I was really worried about it because we had none of the so-called per-requisites that the experts say you should have to retire.  No real assets.  No real income.  Nothing, really.  Anyway, Dean sat me down and gave me one of those Old School Man-to-Man talks.  He told me it didn't matter.  It was totally OK to retire with nothing.  He said there was some strange Law of The Universe that would take care of me and Susun.  He said everything we needed would be provided for.  As long as we didn't consume ourselves with hand-wringing and worry, all of our needs would be met and we would never want for anything.  He said everything would come around just like magic right when we needed it.  He smiled and his eyes twinkled and he said, "Just give it a try, you'll see how it works right from the git go."  Well, you know what?  Dean was right on.  He was so right on that it worked like magic right from the git go just like he said.  We will always be forever indebted to Dean for those priceless and timeless words of wisdom.  We've already attempted to pass them on to many others and will continue to honor Dean with the repetition of those kind words.

Dean loved many things: his wife, Joanne, his children, his grand kids, his boats, his guns, his books--the list is long.  Perhaps one of the things Dean loved the most was his Old Bronco.  He bought it brand new off the lot in Flagstaff.  The Bronco and Dean were a truly "matched pair."  They were born to be together.  Dean got the Old Bronco fired up last April this year for one last trip around the neighborhood.  He brought one of his grandsons, Christian, down Memory Lane to say "Howdy."  It was the last time we saw Dean and we shall always cherish our final glimpse of this Great Gentleman.

We have absolutely no doubt that Dean is now regaling God and Saint Peter and all the Angels with many a great tale from Dean's exploits down here on Earth.  We can imagine God and Saint Pete scratching their flowing beards and saying things like, "Why, Holy Tarnation, I've never heard the likes of that one before, did you, Pete?"  Meanwhile, Dean laughs that Great Dean Laugh and his Spirit echos through the Halls of Heaven.

So Long, Dean, we'll miss ya, Buddy.  Fish ON!

Howdy from Second Chance Ranch

Greetings!  It's great to be back to bloggin' again.  As of lunch time today, we will have been here for two full days.  As usual, the first couple of days are entirely devoted to unpacking and making the straw house tidy and cozy again.  Susun likes to call our arrival here a "re-entry."  She has said numerous times already, "This was our easiest re-entry ever."

The drive south was easily the best ever.  Getting off I-15 at Nephi was a great idea.  We're scratching our heads wondering why we never do so before.  Spending the first night at Bryan's and second at Lone Rock campground near Page made the trip so much more relaxing and fun.  The drive along the Sevier River from I-70 to its headwaters between Panguitch and Kanab is truly beautiful this time of year.  They don't call that area "Color Country" for nothing, ya know.

The drive from Page to Rimrock seemed downright casual.  We arrived at our place at 12:30 pm.  Normally, we arrive much later in the afternoon and then have to rush as fast as we can.  Thursday was different.  it was fun.  We had the house unboarded, the electricity on and water pumped a mere 45 minutes after we drove up.  Within a couple of hours we were mostly settled in.  After a full day unpacking yesterday, it feels like we've been forever.  Only our sheds remain to be organized.

Turns out that our internet connection was really, truly dead.  A phone installed "robbed" our DSL jumper thingie from one of the upstream switch boxes.  Our connection is functioning just fine now, thank you.  We didn't post up yesterday because we were in constant motion messing with our stuff.  We did take time for one quick trip to the Camp Verde Basha's.  Our timing on that trip sure was right as the very first person we saw inside the store was Wes G.  What a fun chance encounter that was.

We enjoyed a great campfire our first night here and didn't expect to have one last night.  The weather forecast was for really high winds--like in the 50 mph range.  The wind did definitely howl most of the day--blowing tumbleweeds hither and yon.  Oddly, however, the wind laid down right at Happy Hour and, poof, quick as a wink, we had a fire up and running.  We were able to enjoy about an hour of campfire ambiance before the thunder, lightning and rain came.  It was pretty spectacular seeing a big thunderstorm here.

During the night, it really rained hard.  We're guessing at least a half inch fell, maybe more. (It was an inch!) It will be days before the weeds dry out enough to tackle with the weedwhacker and torch.

This afternoon, we're gonna go visit Jodi & Dex in Camp Verde. At six pm today we will be over at Bob Rothrock's house in Old Town Cottonwood for his hoop-de-doo 60th birthday party.  Their little place will be packed with people.  Tomorrow, we hope to get together with Pa Goatherder, Katie and son Joshua.  That's when we'll Josh' "new" kayak.  Nah, it ain't really new--it's an OBB, as we are fond of saying.  OBB=Old Beater Boat.  Hopefully, it will serve Josh well.  Monday, Susun heads off to breakfast with Betty while Wes and I mess with painting stripes at the shooting range.  The Winter Social Season has begun!

Everything is going very smoothly so far.  We're pulling in off-the-air TV better than ever before. Our mail is being forwarded properly. The trash people left our collection bin.  Only the delivery of the morning newspaper remains undone.  That one always seems to take awhile--no matter how early and often we call to remind the newspaper people about it.  Oh, well.

That's about all we can say as far as The Daily News goes this morning.  We're glad to be here.  Life is good.

Have a great day & Many Cheers, jp

Howdy from Salt Lake City

Bryan graciously allowed us to use him computer.  We arose at 5 am and everyone else is still slumbering.  Yesterday was an a nice travel day.  Idaho Falls received no precipitation whatsoever overnight so at 530 am we decided to make a "go" of it.  We proceed to pack by flashlight and essentially put everything together before dawn.  The city's water guy came around right after 8 am and turned off the water at the street valve.  We spent the next 90 minutes blowing out the water pipes and putting anti-freeze in the drain traps.  We left about 9:45 on a nice and dry interstate highway with lots of blue sky and sunshine.

We talked to Ogden Bob and he said it was raining in Ogden.  Bryan said it was snowing hard in Salt Lake City.  Somehow, we felt the front would move east by the time we arrived in the Salt Lake Basin.  It was a happy moment to crest over the hill at Tremonton and be able to see 40-50 miles south with nary a speck of rain or snow in sight.  It was easy to find Ogden Bob's place, we completed our errand there and then began hurrying to get to Bryan's place before the early part of rush hour set in.  Salt Lake City rush hour generally begins about 3 pm and peaks about 5 pm before tapering off around 6 pm.  The drivers here are nuts.  Luckily, we had no problems running the maze of highways to get to Bryan's place over by the University of Utah, arriving at 3 pm.

We wishes we would have had time to visit the Browning Museum but doing so would have put up smack into the middle of rush hour, a MAJOR no-no in these parts. Not long after we arrived at Bryan's place, it started snowing and continued off and on for the remainder of the evening.  We were able to sneak into this storm system without being affected by it.  Sweet!

We visited with Bryan until about 8 pm.  He's such a delightful friend and a real gracious host as well.  He bought some fresh Alaskan salmon that had just been flown into Salt Lake earlier in the day.  He complimented the fish with perfectly done baked yams and streamed broccoli.  It was a great dinner there at his classic1924 home between Yale and Harvard Streets in Salt Lake City's historic university district.

On Bryan's advice, we plan to depart about 9:15 am.  He says there's a magical sweet seam that opens up in the southbound lanes right about that time.  He expects we can scurry out the south end of this gauntlet within an hour is we leave then.

Everything is functioning well with the vehicles.  We traveled slower than usual because we knew we wer driving into a storm.  As a result, Susun's Nissan got 28 miles per gallon, the highest fuel efficiency it has recorded in years.  Meanwhile, the big truck logged over 14 mpg, which is very good considering is has a loaded camper and is towing a loaded Samurai.  There's no particular hurry today to cover our planned 400 miles.  We're taking the "flat" route so we expect to continue to get really decent fuel efficiency today, too.

Looks like there's another, stronger storm sweeping in Friday so we will be able to get to Rimrock ahead of it.  Nothing much else to report. n Life is good.

Have a great day & Many Cheers, jp

PS--The Twitter account seems to be working well.  Of course, there's a strong cell signal along any given interstate highway.  We don't expect much in the way of cell signals this afternoon since we will be on a lesser traveled route.  We will Tweet now and then when we have a strong cell signal.

Below is today's morning Flagstaff NWS Forecast Discussion.  The little graphic inset is a cropped snippet from the screen of today's QPF forecast.  It shows the amount of precip we're likely to get between not and Monday morning.  Good thing we're getting in ahead of it!

WINDS ALOFT CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN THURSDAY NIGHT AHEAD OF THE 
  TROUGH WITH LOCALIZED GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH POSSIBLE AT MOUNTAIN 
  TOP LEVEL AS WELL AS AREAS DOWNSTREAM OF HIGH TERRAIN FEATURES. 
  STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL SPREAD ACROSS ALL OF NORTHERN AZ DURING 
  THE DAY FRIDAY AS STRONGER WINDS ALOFT MIX TO THE SURFACE. 
  WIDESPREAD WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 40 TO 45 MPH ARE 
  EXPECTED AND WIND ADVISORIES WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED. THE STRONGEST 
  WINDS WILL LIKELY BE ALONG THE LITTLE CO RIVER VALLEY WHERE GUSTS IN 
  EXCESS OF 50 TO 55 MPH ARE POSSIBLE. BLOWING DUST WILL BE POSSIBLE 
  OVER THE LITTLE CO RIVER VALLEY AND LOWER ELEVATIONS OF NORTHEAST AZ.

 
  IN ADDITION TO THE STRONG WINDS FRIDAY...SHOWERS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS 
  NORTHWEST AZ IN THE AFTERNOON AND WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE STATE 
  FRIDAY NIGHT AS A STRONG COLD FRONT PUSHES EASTWARD. THE PERIOD OF 
  HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH EARLY 
  SATURDAY. SNOW LEVELS WILL BE DROPPING RAPIDLY BEHIND THE FRONT TO 
  4500-5500 FEET. A FEW INCHES OF NEW SNOW ARE POSSIBLE GENERALLY 
  ABOVE THE 6500 FOOT LEVEL WITH LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS ABOVE 5500 FEET 
  POSSIBLE. SHOWERS WILL TAPER OFF SATURDAY BUT VERY COLD TEMPERATURES 
  WILL SETTLE IN AS COLD AIR POURS INTO THE REGION. SATURDAYS HIGHS 
  WILL BE THE COLDEST WE`VE SEEN THIS SEASON AND THE COLDEST NIGHT OF 
  THE SEASON WILL LIKELY FOLLOW SATURDAY NIGHT UNDER MOSTLY CLEAR 
  SKIES AND LIGHT WINDS.
-------------

50-50

Still looks like it could go either way on us tomorrow.  We're going to act like we're leaving tomorrow morning and return our cable modem this afternoon.  That means "no mo net."  That's why we've moved our Road Trip Twitter up to the top of yonder left hand column.  We will use our cell phone to Tweet there frequently this week.  It may be late Thursday or Friday before we get back online.  If we stay at Bryan's Place in Salt Lake, maybe we will do a blog post from there.  Have a great day, Happy Trails & Many Cheers, J&S

Delayed departure?

The weather forecast ebbs and flows.  Who knows which way the weather will go.  On the one hand, it might be snowing from here to Salt Lake tomorrow.  Or it might be raining.  Or maybe neither one of the above.  Odds seems to favor a pretty dicey driving day tomorrow so we are in a quasi-holding pattern right now.  We've put our water and power disconnect on "hold" until 8 am tomorrow when we will re-evaluate the situation.  If travel conditions look good, we will take off but it will definitely be later than the 9 am target time.  If travel conditions are truly terrible, then we will leave on Wednesday.  Every LBR knows how much we loathe driving in Salt Lake City traffic.  Throws wet or even icy roads into the mix and that gauntlet becomes a nightmare.  There's no point in driving through a mess like that if we don't have to.  And we don't.  So, we will just wait and see and leave when it's safe to do so.

This morning we took a nice "sanity break" and went to the Museum of Idaho to view a splendid exhibit on World War Two.  It's a one time exhibit and everything on display was garnered from military collectors in just four states: Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and Montana.  It was really well worth the time to go see it all.

Yesterday's sanity break came when Houn Dawg called and begged to try to win his five dollars back.  So, we got together at 2pm and played a really spirited round of short course golf.  HD and I were tied after two holes but he took a two shot lead on Hole #3.  That's tough to make up with just three holes remaining.  I gained a stroke on Hole #4 and it came right down to the very last putt on Hole #6 when I tied him up at 27 each.  On our first overtime hole, we tied once again.  That  put us into the second overtime hole.  HD was sitting in position to record a four on the hole.  I had a really long putt to make a par 3.  It was a very tough putt because of the tricky sideslope.  Luckily, the putt was perfect and curved right into the hole.  HD graciously forked over another five dollar bill.  We told him we hoped he would have won but, in the meantime, we played to win.  Isn't that what you're supposed to do when you play for money?  THANKS, HD, you are a Great Golfer and a wonderful Mentor.

We're pretty well packed up and simply running last minute errands today.  Joshua's kayak now decorates the top of the Nissan.  All we can do it kick back and wait and see how the weather shakes out.

In the meantime, let's all have a wonderful day & Many Cheers, jp

New Habitat Home Dedicated

Here's five photos from the many Susun took yesterday at the dedication of a really fine new Habitat For Humanity twin home.