Rick's Ramblings

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Day Six 2011 Cabin Trip

Each day, it seems like we do a lot. Then, at the end of the day, when I reflect back and write what we’ve done, my mind goes blank.

This morning we took the dogs for a nice walk up “poop hill” to the UFO landing site and back down along Wapiti Way to the cabin. Poop hill is aptly named. Not only do the dogs like to use it as a place to poop while on a walk, but the slow incline up the hill to about 9000 feet poops us out. We took some pictures and had a nice leisurely stroll.

The UFO landing site is a place in the midst of the high prairie and sage that has nothing growing on it. It is a round space about 4 feet in diameter that is just small granite rocks. Some of them seem to have a lot of copper in them because they turn green. And, each year there are new green stones on the site.

After the walk we washed some clothes. We bought a small hand-operated washer into which you put a couple of quarts of water, some soap and some bleach (if you want). Then you add the dirty clothes, seal them in tight with a lid, and then turn the crank to rotate the washing drum about one time each second. After a couple of minutes, you drain the soapy water. Repeat a couple of time with cold rinse water and, voila, clean clothes. Ringing them out well is a challenge, but they dry after a few hours on the line outside in the sun and dry air.

We had hot wings for lunch. Then, Lynne and I took a walk by ourselves on the north property. My old trail that I had cut and lovingly maintained for years is now hard to follow because of downed trees and overgrowth. Still, we made our way through the bottom then up over the hill and out onto the road. It was a nice walk sans dogs.

Dinner was leftover Chuckwagon Sandwiches and Mac & Cheese. After dinner we planned to take a drive around Sand Creek Park to see the sites and maybe even a moose or elk. We got the dogs into the truck (Bella does not like to go without her crate and is a pain to coax into the truck), and when I started it I knew right away that I’d just destroyed a pack rat. Sure enough a rat was in the engine compartment and when I started the truck I killed the rat, but in the process threw the serpentine belt off. What a pain!

We all piled out of the truck and I began the process of trying to figure out how to get the belt back onto the 6 different pulleys while avoiding rat guts. There is a drawing under the hood of the truck, but it is going to be a real challenge to get it back on by myself. I messed with it as long as there was some light. And, Lynne was helping with a flashlight. But, the most we got done was a basic understanding of how the routing goes and a very clear understanding this was not going to be simple.

I found a video on YouTube that may show me how to do it, so I am downloading that video while I write this blog post. I’ll keep you informed.

The good news is there is one less pack rat around tonight.

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