A Circle Thanksgiving

The full Circle got together yesterday to celebrate Thanksgiving. Since our house is physically located between Guitar & Pic-E’s and Too Tall-Two Timing & K’s The Bride and I acted as host and hostess. The ladies made sure that we six (and The Emmer and Too Tall’s daughter, Jennie) and half the Chinese army wouldn’t go hungry. I seem to remember two or three different types of dressing, two different mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, rolls, several different desserts, countless other dishes and…oh yeah, some wine and some champagne. Instead of turkey, this year we had prime rib and even though it took a while to get it cooked enough it was wonderful.

When I was younger, Thanksgiving was a nice holiday in which the family got together but I don’t think I really, really appreciated the “Thanks” part the way I do now. Losing my parents and seeing my oldest daughter get married in the past few years has really given me a down and dirty appreciation for the things in life that I have to be thankful for. I’m one lucky guy and every day I realize this even more.

After our dinner we watched the last part of the Denver Bronco’s football game and I had one more thing to be thankful for….a win.

Finally I’m thankful for the gorgeous day today…sunny and temps in the 60’s. It was so nice that I spent most of the morning in the back yard trying to clean up fall leaves which I hadn’t gotten to earlier because of a surprise snow storm in October. There’s still a little snow in the yard so I didn’t get them all and tomorrow the weather is supposed to turn cold again with snow flurries.

I have more news on preparing for the arrival of the new fifth wheel trailer but I’ll save that for a separate post.

 

Thanks for visiting.

The Colonel Must Be Smiling

My Dad was an avid sportsman and loved to hunt and fish. He was also a man of modest means. Like any sportsman he drooled at the latest in rods, reels, lures and firearms but supporting a family of a wife and four boys didn’t leave him much in the way of discretionary cash.

In 1956, he was a Major in the Army and stationed in Livorno, Italy. I have mentioned before that this was a great time to be in Europe. Not only were Americans worshiped but the dollar was strong. For my Dad it must have been like getting a 100% raise. We all lived pretty well for the three years he was stationed there, and my Dad was able to treat himself to a Franchi over and under shotgun with a hand tooled Italian leather case. It was one of his prized possessions.

Shortly before my parents moved from their home of 30 years in Upatoi, GA to a retirement center in Columbus, GA, my brother, #1, gathered up all Dad’s guns for safe-keeping. About a year ago I expressed an interest in the shotgun. I gave up hunting after being discharged from the Army but I always admired the beauty of the gun so #1 sent it to me. It was my intention to hang it on the wall in my basement next to my Dad’s cavalry horse bridle.

I had to work on the “beauty” a little as my Dad had, in a fit of security consciousness, engraved his Social Security number across the receiver (the metal portion of the gun just above the trigger housing). To fix this I had a gunsmith file off the number and put two brass plaques over the area with my Dad’s name and life dates. You can see one of the plaques in the picture above.

Enter my daughter, Cajenn. A little over a year ago she married a wonderful guy, Cajon, and he also is an avid sportsman and hunts and fishes at every opportunity. The more I looked at the shotgun in the basement, the more I thought that The Colonel would be pleased if someone would use and enjoy the gun as he did….

This past summer The Bride and I visited with Cajenn and Cajon in California and I brought the shotgun to him as a gift. This past weekend he used it hunting for the first time and Cajenn went with him….and trusty Lab, Shylo, on a hunt. The picture above and below show him in action with the shotgun. The pictures, sent by my daughter, brought a tear to my eye.

Good hunting Cajon, and God Bless.

The Colonel must be smiling!

Thanks for visiting.

I’m Having Hot Flashes!

I could have used that title to describe the fluctuation in weather we’ve been having. It was gorgeous last week until Saturday when it began to snow off and on throughout the day, at nightfall it really picked up and by Sunday morning we had 10'”-13” of wet snow. This morning it is bitter cold but the forecast is that by early afternoon it will be in the upper 40’s and will be in the mid 50’s by Wednesday. That is not why I chose the title, however.

This will give you a good laugh at my expense. I’m rich in some of my miscues so don’t feel bad, laugh!

For quite a number of years now I have been taking a number of vitamin supplements every morning. I generally put the pills into one of those plastic containers that are partitioned off into 7 little compartments and are designed for this purpose. Just before we left on our cruise I had a routine eye exam and because I have a history of macular degeneration, it was recommended that I take an additional supplement for eye health…no problem…I bought some and added it to the mix.

Yesterday my little “week of pills” box was empty so I refilled and this morning I took my allotted portion. About fifteen minutes after taking the pills I started having severe hot flashes and my forehead and arms felt like severe prickly heat. I was stunned, confused and a little worried. I went upstairs to talk to The Bride and after a little while we discovered that my eye supplement pills and the niacin pills she was taking for cholesterol control looked almost exactly the same. So close were they that I had inadvertently loaded my “week of pills” box with niacin instead of the benign eye supplements.

It seems as if niacin has a common side effect known as the “niacin flush”. It is described as very similar to the hot flashes a woman in menopause experiences! Unfortunately, I now have had that experience…..so I guess the next time a woman says to me that I just don’t know how a woman feels, I can dispute the statement!

It didn’t take me long to get to my little “week of pills” box and rectify the situation and The Bride got a good laugh out of the situation because she had stopped taking the niacin for the very same reason and has since relied on diet and exercise to control her cholesterol.

The morals of the story are twofold. First, don’t assume that the opposite sex has no idea how you feel physically. Modern chemistry can make the dividing line in feelings very faint. Second, even with over the counter vitamins, be very careful! Make sure you know what you are ingesting or you too could have hot flashes….or worse.

Thanks for visiting.

Mojitos To Mountains

“Ten days on the road and I’m gonna’ make it home tonight…” I can hear the lyrics in my mind but for the life of me I can’t remember the title of the song? Even Google didn’t help with this one. Anyway, it was ten days on the road and we did make it home. We had a great time and it was good for The Bride and her mother Ladder Lady to spend quality time together.

Disembarkation in San Juan on Sunday was a little dicey because our “servants”, our “employees”…the ICE…Immigration & Customs Enforcement decided to send a total of three….count em’ 3…officers to screen about 3,000 passengers that were trying to get to their land hotels or flights back to the mainland. In the end they pretty much let everyone through by just flashing an ID card of some type and not inspecting any baggage….Feel safe now America?

Fortunately I had built in time at both the beginning and the end of the trip. After disembarkation we went to the fabulous resort hotel, El San Juan for a night of de-pressurization before making the last leg of the journey. I had stayed at the El San Juan on business, many years ago and always fantasized that it would be great to show this place to The Bride. It took about 20 years but I did make the fantasy come true.  The ladies were suitably impressed and even commented that they would have considered spending ten days there rather than on the cruise. Little did they know that it was about three times more expensive per day that to “cruise”.

The trip back was “payback” and the only way to survive is to put yourself into a catatonic state…which I did for the day of waiting, lines, and inconsiderate people. We arrived home at about 8 pm on Monday evening. Just in time to watch the Bronco’s lose the Monday night football game…..just more payback for having a great 10 days.

The remaining part of this week will be filled with all the inglorious details of coming home…laundry, restocking the fridge, paying bills, etc. Fortunately, the weather is not a total shock, with temps in the 60’s for a few more days until colder weather sets in.

Now I have to reset my mental latitude and get back to thinking of the new trailer, getting a fifth wheel hitch, doing all the small details so that in about 30 days I can start on the next adventure.

Thanks for visiting.

Life Is Good

Posted from Tortolla, BVI….havin’ fun.

Shut My Mouth!

In my last post I said “let it snow” because tomorrow we leave for a Caribbean cruise…..I hope! Seems as if the snow storm that started Tuesday, will hang around for another day, stopping tonight. Before it departs the weather shaman says we’ll get and additional seven inches of snow. So far I estimate we gotten about 36” of snow here at the house

I have already shoveled the driveway twice and used the snow blower on it three times. I’ve had to shovel a portion of the back yard so that Molly Dog can do her “business” because without that she would have to be Mole Dog instead of Molly Dog.  I’ve even shoveled the deck one time because I was afraid of the weight of the snow on it. Keep that in mind when you look at the picture of the deck. When I shoveled it, the snow was about as high as it is in the picture. Picture twice as much snow.

Yesterday afternoon I had to go help The Emmer get out of the parking lot where she works because the snow and snow plows had her pretty much walled in.

This morning it was bad enough that I decided that I would just drive her to work so at 3pm I’ll have to go back and get her. In the meantime I have to take Molly Dog to the kennel where she will stay while we are gone. In between all that I’ll probably have to shovel the driveway at least one more time.

We will leave here at about 4:30 am tomorrow morning and head to the airport. God, I hope they do a good job on the roads today!

I will be grateful for a change in latitude!

Thanks for visiting.

Take Me To The Caribbean

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect! The picture above is the weather shaman’s guesstimate of how much white stuff we could have by Thursday afternoon. It will begin snowing tonight and continue off and on until mid day Thursday.

I say “let it snow” because bright and early Friday morning The Bride and I and The Emmer head to the airport to fly to San Juan, PR and get on a Princess cruise ship for the Caribbean. The snow on the ground at that time will just make the transition to the Caribbean that much sweeter. Our ports of call on this cruise include St. Thomas, Tortola, Antigua, Barbados and St. Lucia. We will meet Ladder Lady in Atlanta and then all fly together to San Juan, spend two nights there in Old San Juan before boarding the ship on Sunday morning.

On the practical side of things, I moved the snow blower up to the front of the garage today and made sure it had gas….and would start. I will probably have to use it tomorrow. We’re also finishing up doing some interior painting at the house. The painters started Monday and should finish up tomorrow. This is something that was on our “to do” list for some time but this week is the first time that the painter and us could agree on a schedule. Between all the furniture that has been moved around and suitcases being packed the house looks like it’s been turned upside down. I hope the painting will be done tomorrow so that I can put the house back together on Thursday before we leave.

I will be bringing my computer with me on the trip but don’t know if I’ll have time…or connections, to use it, so this may be the last post for about 10 days.

Thanks for visiting.

It Must Have Been An “Arctic” Front

Yesterday morning it began to snow. A wet, early season snow. The temps were so close to freezing in the morning that some of the precipitation was more like white rain. As the day progressed it got colder and by late afternoon we had about two inches of snow on the ground. By the time the system blew out of the area early this morning we had gotten about four inches of snow.

There’s something about the first snow of the season. It seems non threatening, and because it’s been so long (going on 5 months now) since the last snow, it’s a novelty and something to be enjoyed. With that in mind, yesterday morning, I headed for the local State Park hoping to stumble on some good photo opportunities.

My premise was good but my timing was not so good as the clouds and snow kept the visibility down to a minimum. Add to that, the very slushy conditions and I didn’t spend a whole lot of time seeking the perfect pic. It was pretty though, and I was the only one in the park besides the rangers….and they were hunkered down in their office.

Back at home in the afternoon, I commenced studying other “Arctic” things…..stay with me here, there’s a point….the quotation marks are there for a purpose.

I have been chronicling my search for a fifth wheel trailer on this blog since the beginning of September. I’ve spent a lot of time, and mileage, searching for that one fifth wheel that was perfect for The Bride and I. It’s a difficult task because The Bride and I both have different expectations and wish lists. In the last few days I have almost bought three different trailers, only to reconsider and change my mind.

One of the brands on the list was Arctic Fox…..get it now? Yesterday was a perfect time to review all of the pluses and minuses of this particular trailer. By the time I was done reviewing I had decided that this was the trailer for me. This morning I called and placed an order for my new Arctic Fox 27-5L fifth wheel trailer.

This unit is really head and shoulders above the rest of the trailers I was looking at. That was one of my problems. I wasn’t sure whether I wanted something that much better that the rest of my candidates because  you do pay for “better”. After thinking about it for the day however I know I made the right decision and I am “pumped”.

This trailer is a true four season trailer. It has superior insulation, thermo pane windows and even an electric blanket that is wrapped around the water and waste tanks to keep them from freezing in cold weather. It is also solidly built and weights a bit more than the other units I was considering.

It is not as long, and consequently doesn’t have as much living space inside as some of the other units I was considering but the other longer units wouldn’t have worked at most of the Forest Service gigs I did this summer….Life is a trade-off.

The bad news is that because I had a specific list of things I wanted with it, I couldn’t find one already built that way so I have to order it from the factory. The build date is scheduled for the second week in December and I expect it will be mid January before it is delivered to the dealer in Colorado Springs.

Tomorrow I drive down to Colorado Springs and give the dealer a deposit to make things official….I won’t be a motherless child for too much longer!

Thanks for visiting.

A Weekend In The Mountains

This is true Colorado weather. After a very chilly week (see my last post), things warmed up considerably. The Bride and I headed out on Friday morning to spend the weekend in the ski resort, Keystone, about a hour west of the Denver metro area. The weather was absolutely perfect, 60’s daytime with brilliant blue skies.

Before the ascent, I took The Bride to three different RV dealers to look at new fifth wheels. We have both agreed on several parameters and those choices narrow the range of trailers to look at. Of all the different units we have looked at we are down to three models that we now need to choose from…that is providing that something unknown doesn’t pop up before a decision is made. Looking is fun but there are so many variables that it can be confusing at times. Each unit has pluses and minuses but it seems like no one unit has it all so we have to make choices.

The RV search lasted until noon and after a quick lunch we headed into the mountains. The weather could not have been more perfect and it was soul soothing to get into the high country under these conditions. Our destination was the Ski Tip Lodge. This quaint little lodge is an old 1880’s stage stop that was converted into a ski lodge in the 1940’s and then acquired by the ski resort in the 1970’s. Throughout the years it was remodeled and added on to numerous times but it still only has nine rooms. It would never be able to live up to today’s building codes because of the narrow winding hallways, frequent step ups and downs and other eccentricities of the add on building style. That is however one of the reasons it is so charming. It also has a fabulous restaurant in the lodge itself.

Saturday morning we decided to go into the resort area of Keystone. We were surprised to find that we were there in the slowest time of the year, after the leaf peeping but before the ski crowd arrived.  It was absolutely deserted! The picture above was taken at 9:30 in the morning and if you look closely you can see one, count ‘em, one person in the middle of the retail area (I marked him with an arrow). Most of the shops and restaurants were closed until the snow falls.

That was a bummer to The Bride as shopping is ALWAYS a big part of any get away. Fortunately, Breckenridge is only a short drive from Keystone so Saturday afternoon was spent browsing around another ski town. There was much more activity in Breckenridge and all the stores were open and doing a brisk business.

This morning after a leisurely breakfast we headed back to the Denver area. We avoided I-70 for a while and took the Loveland Pass road which goes right by Arapahoe Ski Basin. This ski area is always one of the first to open for skiing and it’s not uncommon for it to be open as late as June at the end of the season. Sure enough there were quite a number of “early bird” skiers on the slope.

By the time we made it back into the Denver area (45 minutes) the temperature was up to 75 degrees. That change in temperature is appropriate as in two weeks, The Bride, The Emmer and I leave for a Caribbean cruise. We will fly from here to San Juan on the 29th and return to the Denver area on the 9th of November. More about that in a later post.

Thanks for visiting

Brrrrr…..

Last week I had a post with the title “Fall Has Fallen”. Well in the last couple of days it had done more than that, it has turned to winter!

On Thursday I decided to take my new truck and drive it to Colorado Springs to look at an Arctic Fox fifth wheel camper. The day was cloudy and chilly. By the time I got down to the Springs the temps had sunk to 30 degrees and there were periods of light snow.

The trailer was very nice. About 28 feet long and a quality build. It was a true four season trailer as it had upgraded insulation, thermo-pane windows and heating blankets for the waste tanks to keep them from freezing. On the down side there wasn’t a whole lot of storage area. A lot of the basement area normally used for storage was taken up by an onboard propane generator, something I don’t need since I have a little portable Honda generator. After looking at the trailer I decided to do something I had been thinking about for several years.

I went to high school in Colorado Springs in the early 60’s. My Dad, The Colonel, was stationed at NORAD at the time. I started at Wasson High School in 1962 and graduated in 1965. Two weeks after graduation the family moved to Ft. Benning, GA and I have never been back to the school for reunions or even just to look. This day I decided to take a trip down memory lane and visit the high school I graduated from 44 years ago.

I wasn’t sure I would be allowed to even look as a lot of schools these days have pretty tight security. I was surprised when after explaining what I wanted to do in the school office they said, no problem, just sign in and help yourself. Their one caution was to make sure I didn’t get trampled when the bell sounded for the period change! Some things never change.

I spent about a half hour wandering around and was amazed I remembered as much as I did. Wasson HS was opened in 1960 so it was very new when I attended. At the time it was “state of the art” with a great auditorium/theater, state of the art labs, several gyms, a pool, and other amenities that made it THE place to be when I attended. It’s now 50 years old but it has been well taken care of. I don’t have the connection to the high school that I do to my college alma mater but I’m still glad I went to visit. It brought back some pleasant memories.

Saturday The Bride and I had a number of chores to do including checking out a kennel that we were thinking of leaving Molly Dog at when we take our cruise and driving up to Ft. Collins to retrieve my little Suzuki that I left at the dealership when I bought the truck last week. Along the way we also stopped to look at some more trailers.

The weather had turned even more wintery on Friday night with some snow and ice on the roads. We probably saw 20 accidents on the interstate between the south side of Denver and Ft. Collins. At one point I was reconsidering driving up to Ft. Collins and just waiting until Sunday but I pressed on. We arrived in Ft. Collins about noon, picked up the car and had lunch at a local Olive Garden. By the time we headed back to Denver the roads had returned to normal.

This week I’m planning on visiting a few more RV places to continue the hunt for a fifth wheel. On Friday, The Bride and I are leaving town for Keystone, CO, a ski resort about half way between Denver and Vail. We have reservations at the Ski Tip Lodge for the weekend. In addition to being a great place to stay, they have a very nice restaurant in the lodge. We are both looking forward to it.

Thanks for visiting.

One Step Closer

After over a month of searching I finally found a truck to pull the fifth wheel I have yet to buy. It was a tough search because I knew exactly what I wanted and there weren’t that many used trucks like that, in good condition, at a fair price.

I had mentioned in a previous post that I was looking for a Dodge Ram 2500 diesel pickup. More exact, I was looking for a 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 diesel pickup. I wanted a 2006 model because that was the last year in which Dodge used the 5.9 liter diesel. Starting in 2007 Dodge used a 6.7 liter diesel and that engine has had a few problems and gets a lot less gas mileage than the older 5.9 liter. After searching the internet diligently for the past month I finally found one in a dealership in Ft. Collins, CO, about 75 miles north of where I live.

Yesterday morning I drove up to Ft. Collins with fairly low expectations. I had been disappointed several time in the last few weeks. This time however, everything was as advertised. The truck was clean, low miles for a diesel (54,000) and had everything except running boards…us short guys need help getting into something this high off the ground! Without all the gamesmanship normally attached to a vehicle purchase, a deal was struck and I drove the truck home the same afternoon.

Even though this is a short bed truck it’s still a whole lot of metal and it’s long. So long, that it will not fit in the garage with my other two vehicles so for the time being it will have to live out of doors.

The next step is to find a fifth wheel hitch and get The Bride to start looking at trailers. Saturday I plan to take her to a local RV place to see one of the models I have “prescreened”. Once again I know pretty much what I want and the supply of units for The Bride to look at is limited. The good news is that I will probably buy a new unit this time and I can get the manufacturer to make exactly what I want….I don’t like feeling like a motherless child and the quicker this get’s done, the better I will like it!

Thanks for visiting.

Fall Has Fallen…

With all my travels of the past few weeks, I haven’t had a chance to enjoy fall in the high country so Sunday Guitar and I headed up through Kenosha Pass to the Fairplay and Alma area to do a little leaf peeping. I didn’t have big expectations since we’re at the beginning of October and it was a good thing. There was still some color at lower elevations but once we got to the summit of Kenosha Pass the leaves were totally gone. Not only were the leaves gone at higher elevations but a lot of the peaks were showing a dusting of recent snow.

The top of Kenosha Pass gives you a wonderful view of South Park and the many high peaks that surround this beautiful area. On this day we could see wintery clouds and snow squalls covering the entire area.

Plan B was to head up to the timber line outside Alma, CO and visit with the 1000+ year old bristlecone pines in an area called Windy Ridge. These amazing trees are among the oldest living things on the planet. One tree in California is 4900 years old! The Windy Ridge trees are young in comparison to that but they are still pretty spectacular.

It wasn’t the best day to take a 4WD trail above timberline but this would almost certainly be the last chance we had until next June when the snow finally retreats from this area so up we went. Aside from the cold and wind…on Windy Ridge, go figure…it wasn’t too bad. We had a few snow showers blow by but nothing serious. It was however, cold enough to keep me from doing all the photography I had planned on doing.

After a couple of hours of visiting and exploring we headed back down to the little old mining town of Alma and lunch at the South Park Saloon. The saloon is one of about two places in town to get a bite to eat and despite it’s “rustic” look the burgers were quite good.

We were back home in time to see most of the Denver Bronco football game….yes, winter is just around the corner.

Thanks for visiting.

Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child

Especially on days like today. Today, for the first time in many years I do not own an RV. That’s right, last night I sold my Holiday Rambler Class A RV in preparation for getting a fifth wheel trailer. The timing isn’t exactly what I would like it to be but in the world of buying and selling RVs you kind of have to go with the flow.

Because of the economy, I thought it might take a while to sell my RV and I really didn’t want to “trade it in” when buying my new rig. Trade in values on RV are notoriously low, so, I decided to try to sell it through craigslist. I did my homework and priced it fairly but aggressively on Wednesday.

I got a couple of calls and emails on Thursday but nothing that I thought would turn out as a sale. Friday morning I got a number of calls and had one couple look at it at about noon time. At about 2 pm the same couple called again and asked if they could see it again with their son. About the time they arrived for the second viewing, I got a call from a man with whom I had traded several emails earlier in the day.  When I told him I had to call him back because some was looking at it right then, he offered to buy it sight unseen…he would drive about 50 miles after he got off work and pay for it in cash and drive it home! I accepted his offer and went to tell the people that were then looking at the rig. Before I could tell them I sold it, they said that they had decided that they would buy it.

Early in my work a day career I was a salesman and it was music to my ears to hear someone say they wanted to buy what I was selling. Telling someone that I couldn’t sell them what I had and what they wanted is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me….but I only had one RV.

The guy on the phone was true to his word and appeared at my doorstep at about 8:30 pm with his wife. He did a brief inspection….in the dark, with a flashlight on the outside and a little closer inspection on the inside..with lights. He said it was as advertised and handed me cash money!

So, here I sit, RV-less, without a truck to pull the fifth wheel that I have yet to buy. I guess this is a better condition to be in that to have the truck, fifth wheel and my old RV and not be able to sell the old RV.

I only had this RV for about two years but I certainly used it and enjoyed it. I figure that I slept in that RV around 100 nights over that time. I summit-ed just about every major pass in Colorado with it and travelled a lot of back roads in New Mexico and Arizona sitting in it’s driver’s seat.

So now the pressure is on to find a replacement to take me to new adventures. Before I leave this chapter however, I’d like to echo that old trail song of yore….Goodbye Old Paint ! Here’s some more pictures of good times had…

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for visiting.

Catching Up and Searching

This week has been one of catching up on all sorts of things after being on the road for two weeks. Early in the week it was catching up on clean clothes and cleaning out the RV. Mid week it was catching up on normal chores like mowing the lawn…hopefully I’ll only have to do it once or twice more before the weather impedes it’s growth.

The weather has definitely turned more fall like. A front swept through yesterday with strong winds and today the high is in the 50’s with more wind. I am enjoying the cooler weather. Nothing is better than a crisp day, cool enough to have to wear a vest or light jacket, the colors of autumn and that cobalt blue Colorado sky. The only down side is that it doesn’t last long and winter is next. They are actually calling for snow (4”-8”) at some of the ski areas tonight!

I’ve also been catching up on my search for a truck. I have searched car dealerships, want ads and craigslist. The other day I spotted one that met all my needs and traded several emails and phone calls with the owner, who lived in Cheyenne, WY. The owner agreed to drive the truck to Denver and if my inspection verified his description of the vehicle, I would buy it. The owner also said that someone else had expressed interest but had offered him a lowball price. About an hour ago I got a call from the owner and he said that the other party had called back and offered his asking price and was going to meet the owner on the north side of Denver for the inspection….I live on the south side of Denver, so I lose out due to a couple of interstate exits.

The owner is a young man and I told him that I was disappointed that I was treated this way especially since I contacted him first about the vehicle. I am disappointed and somewhat… peeved, but on the other hand if the young man didn’t have the integrity to honor my first offer, he may not have the integrity to be totally honest about the condition of the vehicle? So, it’s back in the hunt….

In the meantime I’m going to try and take a trip into the mountains this weekend. The leaves have already peaked at higher elevations but there’s plenty of lower altitude areas that should be just as spectacular.

Thanks for visiting.

P.S. The picture at the top of this post was taken at the Old Agency Forest Service Work Center, two weeks ago.

Cimmaron Canyon PIT

I’m finally back from the archaeological survey project in the Comanche National Grasslands. It was a good time but the weather really did a number on us for a couple of days. I arrived at the Carrizo Creek picnic area on Sunday afternoon and it was hot…in the 80’s with little wind. I slept that night with all the windows in the RV open and even took blankets off the bed.

On Monday all the windows were closed and blankets were back on the bed! Temps dropped into the 40’s with rain and strong winds. We actually tried to do some surveying in the rain but conditions were miserable. We located one site and flagged 10 or 15 artifacts. We finally gave up and went back to camp. It was so windy and cold that by the time our cook, Tina, put the hot food out, it was cold. We ate under a picnic shelter but the wind blew rain everywhere. It was just miserable.

Tuesday, the rain became sporadic but it was still windy and cold. We went back to the site we tried to record on Monday and ended up flagging 50 or more artifacts. It wasn’t surprising to me that we could find more stuff when it wasn’t raining. Wednesday was a little better and we actually got to see the sun some of the time.

By Thursday the temperature warmed up,  the winds died down and it was perfect weather for hiking and discovering.

Discover we did. On Thursday we found 4 rock shelters that had stone flakes and tools in them. We also discovered 6 panels of rock art on a couple of boulders at the base of a cliff. This was somewhat unusual because most of the time rock art is found higher up on the canyon walls. I also discovered an electronic wildlife tracking collar and the skull of a Bighorn Sheep.

 

 

 

 

Friday morning we surveyed close to our campground and found a large site that had over 300 artifacts. It took most of the morning to flag and record all of the items. Only a few of the items were collected and most of the stuff was left right where we found it.

 

 

 

 

 

Another “fun” thing we had to watch out for was the tarantulas. That’s right the big hairy spiders. It seems as if this is the mating season for them and they were unusually active during the day. At one spot we put our packs down and when we retrieved them later on we discovered a tarantula had crawled under one of them.

All in all it was a great week and I got to see some territory that most people will never see. I still haven’t found my “holy grail”, a complete stone point so I guess I’ll just have to sign up for more of these next summer. This was the last of the PITs for this year so I need to get busy and find some other activity to pursue this winter.

Thanks for visiting.