“The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work.” – Richard Bach
Sunday, September 06, 2009
The Dogs Remember
It is very clear that the animals remember the cabin. They immediately fall into old habits and behaviors. They remember the daily “routine”. (Except their internal clocks are still on Eastern time, so they wake us up at 4:00 a.m.) They remember where we set their food bowls. They remember that we take a long walk each morning after breakfast and a shorter walk in the evening before dinner—and they remind us if we forget. They remember the trails in the woods and all the places we normally stop to gather everyone together and give them a treat. (A way of keeping them close on walks that we train into them from pups.)
What about Bella? Well, she “owns” this place—at least in her mind. She shows no fear. She leads us down every trail. Today, she went swimming in the pond. She is really good at following the game trails—which we also use for our walks. She runs and jumps and swims—not having any problem with the adjustment. See Lynne’s blog for photos.
The cats have settled into their routine also and seem very much at home.
So, the animals are all well and happy. As are we!
Posted under: Cabin News • Dog Stuff • Cat Stuff • by Rick on 09/06/2009 at 05:19 PM
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Saturday, September 05, 2009
Day 1
Well, this is really a summary of the day we arrived (Friday) and the next day (Saturday). After an hour of shopping at Safeway in Laramie, we stopped at the local feed store to buy a Halti collar for Bella. She was so excited on the trip here that when we stopped at a rest stop for a pee break, she would pull so hard to get to the next smell that she would either slip her collar (not a good thing next to a busy Interstate) or pull Lynne or me behind, sometimes on slippery grass or mud. With hope, the Halti will make the trip home easier and safer.
After that a 40 minute drive over moderately washboarded dirt roads and we were here.
The first thing we notice are the dead trees. Colorado is in the midst of a pine beetle infestation unlike anything ever seen before. All the pine forests from West to East are being attacked. We knew it was coming from the condition of some of the trees last year, but we were surprised that probably 1/2 of the evergreen trees on the land are now an orange-rust color—dead with their needles still on them. It would be pretty if it were Fall color, but soon the needles will drop and all that will stand are dead trees. Luckily, we have a lot of Aspen to fill in the gaps.
I think I’ve gone through the stages of mourning—anger, denial, bargaining, finally acceptance. It is what it is. And, in a way it is interesting to see what will happen over the next many years. What trees will start to grow? What will happen to the dead ones? How will the scenery look in 5 years? 10 years?
For sure, we’ll have to deal with some of the dead trees as they are very close to the cabin and create a huge fire hazard.
The next thing I noticed was the altitude. At 8600 feet we are 8000 feet higher than our home in New Jersey. And, for the first time this trip, I really notice it. I huff and puff a little more than I’d like.
Other news? Bella is in season. We sort of figured it would happen. She started bleeding a little our last day on the road. So, now she is wearing her “pants” (with a pad inside). Alex knows what is going on, but is waiting for her peak period to start being the butthead he will become—probably about the time we start the drive home. That will be fun.
We had Sloppy Joes and boxed Macaroni and Cheese last night. Easy to make on our first night here. Tonight we had steaks, baked potatoes and sweet corn.
The furnace doesn’t work. Pretty much everything else at the cabin is in good shape. But, this morning, early—around 4:00 a.m.—the furnace which was set to come on at 65 degrees, kicked on. It has a startup cycle that begins with a small fan blowing. I’m not sure of the purpose, but I think it is to flush the system, build the right pressures of intake and outflow, etc. It kicked on and ran and ran and ran without the burner ever coming on along with the main fan. So, I got up to turn it off. There is a strong smell of dead mouse/rat (something that we are familiar with up here) and I’m suspecting a critter has crawled into the furnace somehow/somewhere and is clogging up the works. I took a look myself, but I can’t figure out the problem so we’ll bring in professional help next week.
Meantime, we still have the wood burning stove (which Lynne fired up nicely this morning)—and lots of dead wood.
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 09/05/2009 at 07:49 PM
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Thursday, September 03, 2009
Second Day on the Road
Did well over 700 miles again today and pushed all the way to Grand Island, Nebraska, arriving around 6:30 p.m. (Our usual stop is in Lincoln.) That puts us an hour closer to the cabin and only a little over 400 miles away. We are staying at a Rodeway Inn that “gladly” accepted pets as long as we left a credit card number to be charged in case of damage. It is a very nice place. We have a room that looks out over a small lake. There is even a BBQ grill that we could use to cook our dinner. However, it is raining—sometimes hard and with a little lightning and thunder. It has been raining since we crossed the MIssouri.
Dogs and cats are settled into the room. All but Bella have made this trip before and know the routing. Bella is getting better at it and should be a champ by the time we get home.
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 09/03/2009 at 05:11 PM
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Wednesday, September 02, 2009
1st Day On the Road
Today is our first day on the road to the cabin. We did a bit North of 700 miles today—ending up in Elkhart, Indiana. We love to stay at the Ramada on the South side of I80 at exit 92. They take the dogs, there is a phenomenal dog-walking area, and there is a Bennigan’s on site. So, it is easy for us to get off the Interstate, check in, unload the cats and get them fed and watered and kitty-boxed (after all, they spent about 12 hours in their crates), walk the dogs, settle into the room, order dinner from Bennigan’s, relax, walk the dogs again (please poop! pleeeaaase poop!), and get a good night’s sleep.
The weather was beautiful with no wind and no rain. Filled up with gas once in Clarion, PA. About 15 mpg is not bad for the Suburban with the Yakima pod and a huge cooler on top. We’ll need gas here before we leave in the morning.
Someone tried to call my cell three times today, but no message. If you want to contact us, please leave a message because our cell phone coverage is spotty! (Although this is being sent via a cell phone connection….)
More tomorrow….
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 09/02/2009 at 06:50 PM
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Wednesday, August 26, 2009
One Week and Counting
One week from today we leave on our 3-week vacation to our remote cabin in Colorado. There is so much to be done!
We will leave NJ on Wednesday morning, as early as possible and drive with 3 dogs and 2 cats as far as the Mississippi. That is our strategy—MIssissippi, Missouri, then Cabin! Our goal each day is to make a major river—with the last one being Bart’s Creek on our land. The cabin is about 20-odd miles directly south of Laramie, Wyoming, but in Colorado. No electricity, no post-office, no phone service, just a log cabin in the woods, 3 dogs and 2 cats—assuming we all make it across the two major rivers.
We’ve been working on “security” given some surprising discoveries about how our house and property is used in our absence. So, the web cams are running, the alarm system is tested. House sitters are lined up, the pool guy will be here every day to add toxic chemicals to the water, and the police will be doing a “house check”, assuming we get the forms back to them soon. Should keep all but the most tenacious or most stupid away from the house.
But, there is so much more to do! We need to work on our first week’s meal plan because as we drive through Laramie on our way to the cabin (the 3rd day on the road), we’ll stop in Safeway and stock up on food (and wine) for a week. So, we are negotiating meal plans, picking recipes and creating detailed shopping lists. You do not want to end up at the cabin and not have a key ingredient because it is a minimum 40 minute drive to the first 7-11.
The dogs are getting groomed so they don’t smell too bad in the truck on the way there. And, to minimize the dog hair. We just know that Bella will come into season on the day we leave and be in season the entire trip. Oh well, we’ve done it before, we can do it again.
I need to wash the truck. I like to start the trip with a clean truck. We’ll do an oil change in Laramie. It is about 1700 miles and very uncomplicated. Just drive about 10 mile south to I80, then about 1670 miles West to Laramie, then 20 miles South to “home”.
We have our favorite motels along the way—the ones that will take a dog. LIttle do they know that we don’t really walk our dog 3 times each evening and that each walk is a different dog! The cats like to sit in the window and watch the other people walk their dogs too.
I hope to post each day along the way and maybe even while we are there. Yes, we are “off the grid’ but thanks to solar panels, inverters, satellite dishes, and laptop computers, we’ll try to stay in touch.
After all, we need to check out the web cams often and watch the time-lapse movies of the pool activity, and ...
Posted under: Cabin News • Dog Stuff • Cat Stuff • Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 08/26/2009 at 06:57 PM
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