“The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country” – George W Bush
Friday, September 30, 2011
Days 15 & 16, 2011 Cabin Trip
Day 15 was actually yesterday, and today is our last day at the cabin, so I’ll combine a couple of blog posts.
Yesterday, Thursday, we took the dogs for a walk “around” first thing. As soon as we got home we had a visit from Larry and Donna. We had a nice long chat after which we had a bite of lunch. Then, we saw Ed on the road and chatted with him for a while.
I did a couple of chores including adding water to the batteries as well as blocking the places in the crawlspace where mice could get in.
In the mid-afternoon we took a long drive around Sand Creek Park to see the Aspen trees as well as the rest of the countryside which is full of variety and beauty. This took a couple of hours and by the time we got back we needed to feed the dogs and start on dinner—Chicken Pot Pie (which was delicious!)
Here is a photo from our drive:
“Just turn left at the cowboy boot.”
We had a pretty lazy evening and went to bed early after watching some TV.
The heater ran a couple of times overnight, so we know it is turning the corner to fall and winter.
On Friday, after some breakfast of pastries that Donna brought us, we took the dogs for a long walk to Egger’s Pond where Bella swam for a while. It is far enough that we are all exhausted when we get back. But, we did stop along the way and fill a big bag with pine cones as a gift for Donna. She uses them for fire starters, and also waxes nice ones.
When we got home, Sam had trapped a mouse (could probably not find a way out any more) and he played with it for a while. Finally, I got it from him and took it outside. He is still stalking around looking for another one—keeps him occupied.
Lunch was corn dogs and a Snickers bar 
Now, we start the process of getting ready to head home early tomorrow morning. Lynne has already sorted the refrigerator into things to give away, throw away or take home. She is now doing the same with clothing.
We will start the process of loading the truck with the stuff we won’t need before leaving. It is a process: store anything that will fit under the back seats that we won’t need until we get home. That allows us to put down the seats and load the crates. Once the crates are in, I’ll put shades over them. We’ll pack stuff in the pod that we won’t need like dirty clothes, etc. Tomorrow morning we’ll load the stuff we will need along the way (clothes, toiletries, a cooler) and the dogs and cats, of course. It won’t take long.
Our goal will be to leave here around 7:30 a.m. (or earlier) and head to Laramie where we will dump trash and recyclables, get gas, breakfast at MacDonalds and then try to be on I80 by 8:30 to 8:45. Our overnight goal is the Days Inn at Council Bluffs, Iowa which we should see around 6:30 p.m.
Okay, enough for now. I need to go help Lynne. And, later we’ll have Buffalo Chicken Sliders for dinner.
I’ll leave you with a couple of animal photos:
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 09/30/2011 at 01:16 PM
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Thursday, September 29, 2011
Day Fourteen, Wednesday
This morning we skipped breakfast and drove into Laramie to meet with a great friend, Sally. We met at a local cafe called the Prairie Rose (and if you ever get there, order the Breakfast Burrito!). It is on Second Street in the old-town part of Laramie—an area we should explore more sometime. There are a lot of quaint looking shops and the old Western architecture is great.
We got home around 1:00 p.m. and I did a couple of small chores including fixing some of the mortar on the fireplace chimney that was chipped away by the pack rat. I also replaced the air filter in the heater system and went on the roof to inspect the solar panels and rack. I sure don’t want anything loose up there given we are likely to get more wind now that the wind break created by the pine trees is disappearing.
It was a warm day. We took the dogs for a short walk, then took it easy around the cabin. We had “Chicken in a Pot” for dinner with a plan to use leftovers to make Chicken Pot Pie on Thursday.
We watched Survivor on TV and then headed to bed to read. A simple day.
Here is a photo of the cabin through some trees and you can see the PV panels on the roof:
A couple of views from our short walk, looking up Sand Creek Pass:
And, finally, what dogs with cabin fever do:
Posted under: Cabin News • Dog Stuff • by Rick on 09/29/2011 at 12:32 PM
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Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Day Thirteen, Tuesday
Last night was interesting. Two people and two dogs extra in the cabin. Our cats were “off” their routine, but the dogs did well. We all slept pretty well, perhaps because of the wonderful food, conversation, wine and poetry from the night before.
Once on our feet, we took a walk to the pond where Bella had her usual swim and the Golden “Tricksie” (help me out with the spelling, Linda) had her inaugural swim. They were cute. Bella is a bit of a bully, wanting to chase and play but not realizing that she outweighs the Golden by two times.
Lunch was “Adult Hot Dogs”. Phil and Linda left around 1:00 and we did a few chores then tackled what turned out to be a relatively easy jig-saw puzzle.
I guess my post from a few days ago about the potential waste of land-owner money by grading roads that never get used was noticed by some landowners. I’m flattered that they read my blog. I’m a bit surprised by the response, because I got a visit from a board member wanting to know more specifically what I was talking about and wanting to explain why the grading took place. I think this is a bit of overreaction to a minor point in by blog post, but the board seems to be extremely sensitive to any kind of adverse comments or feedback—and, I don’t blame them, they get a lot of criticism and it would be a hard job trying to keep everyone happy.
Even after an explanation, which made no sense to me (something about in order to maintain access to certain association properties from forest roads they need to grade the interior roads on my property, even if they were in perfectly good shape?), I still don’t think the work needed to be done. But, hey, if it was sanctioned and approved by the association membership at an annual meeting, go for it. I now have wonderfully graded roads on my land.
I can still have my personal opinion. (I think. I hope.)
Since this is my personal blog, I have no problem writing about my personal feelings, opinions and ideas and am really surprised by the emotional response it evoked.
Anyway, local petty politics aside, here are some photos from the day that reflect the real reason we love it up here and wish it could always remain this beautiful:
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 09/27/2011 at 09:07 PM
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Day Twelve, Monday
Today, we are expecting some dear friends from Centennial, Colorado for a visit. They have committed to the 3+ hour drive to come and see us for an overnight stay. And, we hope they bring some dogs! They have Berners and Goldens. In fact, “Sunny” is Alex’s sister.
So, we cleaned the cabin a bit. I washed the windows (smeared with dead fly stuff), and we were ready when they arrived a bit after noon. We had a lunch of mushroom tarts on a flaky crust that was delicious, then took a walk to the bottom (we’ll do the pond tomorrow.)
Lynne cooked her delicious cabin lasagna for dinner and Linda brought some greens from her garden for a wonderful salad. We drank some wine. Okay, we drank too much wine. Built a fire. And, I read some cowboy poetry to which our guests fell asleep—not sure if it is my reading or the wine and the hour
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 09/27/2011 at 08:24 PM
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Monday, September 26, 2011
Day Eleven 2011 Cabin Trip (Sunday)
Today was “pasta day”. More on that later.
We started the day with a walk to the UFO landing site where Lynne collected little green rocks, probably left behind by little green men (or possibly copper rich rocks that have colored green.) This is a good walk for the dogs and the views from the top of the hill are beautiful. You can see forever.
We drove over and visited Larry and Donna for while. Then home for a lunch of leftover Memom’s Macaroni (pasta!) After that we did some cleaning and chores then worked on the puzzle and finally finished it. It was a hard one, but we persevered. I’m sure Lynne will post photos.
An early evening drive rewarded us with beautiful views of the changing Aspen trees as well as a buck antelope and a beaver. Here are some photos. For a photo of the beaver, see Lynne’s blog. (A better way of saying what I first came up with.)
And the sunset was very nice. Clouds of virga to the east and sunset to the west:
After the drive, we made 3-Cheese Macaroni & Cheese (pasta!), and watched some TV before retiring around 10:00—pretty late for us at the cabin.
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 09/26/2011 at 11:09 AM
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