“The best mirror is an old friend.” – George Herbert
Thursday, October 02, 2014
Cabin Trip 2014 - Last Days
It is now Thursday, just after noon. This will likely be my last entry for this trip.
Monday night we had leftover lasagne for dinner. It is a great recipe and warms up well.
Tuesday was an exciting day for a couple of reasons, but let's tackle food first (one of the reasons). We actually went out to dinner! We and some neighbors drove to Woods Landing for dinner. Woods landing consists of a gas station with store, a bar and a restaurant. Although the restaurant started out as, and now doubles as a dance hall with occasional live entertainment. It was a slow night for the restaurant, but we enjoyed both the idea of "going out" and the food. Lynne had a burger, I had a steak. We started with an appetizer of Rocky Mountain Oysters. All was delicious. It is about a half-hour drive over dirt (and often muddy roads). Now the truck looks like it belongs in Colorado.
The other exciting news from Tuesday is the herd of elk that came through the meadow. It was early morning, with the sun just creeping into the meadow when Lynne spotted a couple of elk entering the meadow. Soon it was four, then eight, and then obvious a whole herd! Of course, at this time of year a herd of elk cows probably means a bull is close by. And, sure enough, he showed up, too! Altogether there were probably 35 to 40 elk in the herd.
The bull was what is called a Royal Crown elk because he had at least 7 points on each side of his antler rack.
Lynne has more photos, including some stunning photos after they left the meadow, on her site. Just click here to see her thorough post.
Wednesday morning early we headed into Laramie to do laundry and pick up a few items at the grocery and K-Mart. Lynne also got a pair of awesome dressy cowgirl boots. You can see a photo on her site. It was nice to get all the laundry done. That way we have clean clothes, towels, sheets, etc. the next time we come. We had a burger at MacDonalds, then headed home around noon. We drove through drizzle, then rain, the full-out snow. By the time we got to the cabin the snow was sticking to the ground. We got about 3" total. That was a good excuse to build fires and just be lazy in our cozy cabin.
Today is prep day. It is cold and windy outside, so we are not inclined to do much outdoors. Target practice and some additional trail clearing will need to wait till next year. Instead, we've started working down the list of things that need to be done so we can leave early tomorrow morning.
We have: collected all perishable food (beyond the "pigs in a blanket" dinner we expect to have tonight) and delivered that to the neighbors; replaced the air filter in the heater; put Stabil in all the fresh gas we have stored in the shed; replaced the batteries in the weather station (outside and in); separated what we need for the trip home from what we can pack and forget until we get there. There is still more we can do today, including loading some things in the truck. Then, there is a checklist for tomorrow before we leave:
Close fireplace flues; unplug all electrical devices; turn the thermostat down to 45°; turn the hot water heater to its pilot light setting; turn off the water, drain all pipes, pour in some RV anti-freeze; pull out the stove and refrigerator and turn off their propane; clean out the fridge and leave the doors open; bring the huge, heavy box with the wind turbine in it back inside from the front porch; close and lock all window, put up the shutters; stop the clocks; make sure everything is loaded in the truck, including Bella, Hailey and eBay; lock the doors; head home...
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 10/02/2014 at 12:41 PM
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