Mountain flowers

The other day when we did the Ice Cave hike, I was in a picture taking mood.  In fact, Rex even asked me if I was taking after Aunt Kathy!  The truth is I was seeing so many cool things, I wish I could have videoed the whole thing.  Of course I wish I could take better pictures too.

Anyway after writing the other blog I ended up with quite a few pictures of the flowers we saw along the way, so decided to just put them up separately.   Here they are!

It is truly  amazing the variety of plants and flowers to be found in the forest.  I am very privileged to be able to see all of beautiful stuff!

Ice Cave

I got to thinking the other day that our vacation was winding down-damn, damn, double damn.  But it is the truth even though it does make me sad.  I had been working on my wood working project that I hadn’t noticed that we had done very few “vacation things” this week.

 

We decided to do a hike and  left home at 7:00 AM to do the Ice Cave hike which according to the sign is 2 miles, 4 miles round trip.

 

 The trail goes by the Porter Mountain Stables and these beautiful horses.  I love the smell of horses, I even like the smell of horse shit!!

 

 

 The trail is rocky so you have to be careful where you put your feet….don’t need any twisted ankles!!  Along the trail you get so you can read some of the signs……

 

 I detect equestrian use!

 I spotted this lonely prickly pear among the pines.  (I have got to learn how to take pictures better-my shadow ruins this pic!)

 See that blue diamond on that tree??  The TrailSystem group put those on various trees along the trail so you don’t get off the trail and lost.  It can happen easily in the forest.  We got off trail in Lake Tahoe once and ended up crab walking on a very shear rock face.  It was NOT fun and was very scary!!  So I truly appreciate these blue diamonds.

 

 Rex is pointing to a white diamond.  These are something new and the number on it indicates where you are.  If you should fall and need assistance these numbers tell emergency personnel where to find you.  

 I would call this a lake but the trail guides identifies this body of water as Scott Reservoir.  We did see some ducks and a couple of guys fishing out of a boat here too.

 

 Natures trail side cross.  Was cool to come across.

 

 You see the coolest stuff in the forest.  Somebody spent some time putting together this teepee.

 Another interesting piece of natures sculpture.  I really need to learn how to take pictures, it just pisses me off to see how badly I messed up these beautiful images.

Well we made it to the cave!!  The cave is really a lava tube.  The name, “Ice Cave” comes from the constant flow of 52 degree air that leaves the cave.  What you can’t see from this picture is the big fence that closes the cave off for protection and preservation.  

OK, now lets go back 2 miles to the car.  The trail guide that we have rates the hiking difficulty of the hike as moderate, I think I would rate it as moderate plus.  Totally doable but I would not attempt it without hiking poles and plenty of water.  There was also quite a stretch that was very buggy which I didn’t much care for.  Will I do this hike again??  Hell yes!!

Updates

I have a couple of updates to previous blogs.

TV blog…..the same television has acquired another irritating habit.  Some, not all,  programs have started broadcasting with ongoing narration.  I find it quite annoying.  I have never come across a TV before with so many bad habits.  What gives?  The best thing I can say about it is that the price was right.  Oh well…

 

SuperFocus blog……I love, love, love the idea of these glasses.  But they just weren’t for me.  I think I expected to see great distances with them and was disappointed that I didn’t see any further with them than I did with my other ones.  And I still couldn’t read the back of  an aspirin bottle.  I could read smaller print than with my other glasses but not to the extent that I expected.  So they went back to the factory.  Guess I just didn’t want the ugly look either.  Oh well……

MUSHROOM HUNTING

WE ALL KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE MORAL MUSHROOMS, LORD KNOWS I’VE BLOGGED ABOUT THEM MANY TIMES OVER THE YEARS. SO WHEN MY NEIGHBOR OFFERED TO TAKE ME OUT INTO THE FOREST OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS MUSHROOM HUNTING, I JUMPED AT THE CHANCE.

THE MUSHROOMS WE WERE HUNTING HAVE A REDISH BROWN TOP AND THE SECRET TO FINDING THEM IS TO FIND A PLACE WHERE THE PONDEROSA PINES AND THE ASPEN TREES GROW TOGETHER.

 

WE WERE OUT IN THE FORREST FOR 5 HOURS AND I ENJOYED THE SCENERY AS MUCH AS THE MUSHROOM HUNTING.  THIS MOUNTAIN MEADOW IS AT AN ALTITUDE OF 9,100 FEET JUST ABOVE GREER, AZ.

THIS IS WHAT WE WERE HUNTING.

 

LIKE THE MORALS OF THE MIDWEST, THEY LIKE TO HIDE.

 

WE ENDED UP WITH A HALF A BUCKET FULL.

 

OF COURSE CLEANING AND SLICING WAS NEXT.

 

A FOIL PACK WITH SALT, PEPPER, AND BUTTER, THEN A NICE HOT GRILL.

 

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM……………

 

AT 9100 FEET: “SUNNY & 72”

AT 6400 FEET, IN CAMP: “SUNNY AND 80”

Dave And Cindy

On Nov. 1, 1978, I started working in a freight office in La Crosse.  It was a new company to La Crosse so there wasn’t many people working there.  The office staff consisted of Dave and me.  We had a salesman too, but he wasn’t actually in the office that often.  Of course that means we weren’t very busy at first.  I got lucky cuz Dave is a very inventive person. 

We did the craziest things to keep busy.  I remember making lead sinkers one day.  That was actually pretty interesting.  How about batter frying walleye Dave caught on his lunch hour (our office was close to the Mississippi).  That’s just a couple of some of the fun things we did, of course, that didn’t last long because we did get busy with actual work pretty quickly but it sure was fun while it lasted. 

At any rate Dave moved on from there to Iowa, then on to Arizona with that same company.  And I moved on to other jobs.   But I also ended up in AZ so this past week end, Dave and his wife, Cindy, came to visit us on “The Mountain”.  I do believe they really enjoyed getting out of the heat of the Phoenix area. We had so much fun reminiscing and getting caught up on kids and grandkids and everything else you can think of.    

 

 

 Dave and Cindy….38 years and counting.  They both still have great smiles!!

 

 

 

 

Dave and Cindy brought their beagle, Sally, to visit with “AZ”.  And quite frankly, I guess we were having so much fun gabbing we forgot to take more pictures.  Imagine that!!

Did You Know About This??

For the last 15 years I have lived in a camper, well make that 3 different campers, but a camper none the less.  Before I met Rex my idea of “roughing it” was a hotel without a restaurant.  Good thing he is such a great guy.

Now on the topic of today’s blog-TOILETS!  Toilets in a camper are not directly hooked up to a sewer, there is a step in between.  Waste (ya this is what you think it is) is collected in a holding tank which is emptied, in our case, on Saturday’s. (Totally Rex’s job).  Because of this you have to use a type of toilet paper that breaks down quickly.  Not a soft and cushiony one, more like a hard, thin, and scratchy brand.   Although I do have to say that it has improved greatly over the last 15 years.  

 Now comes the next part, cleaning the toilet.  Because of the holding tank you can’t use any chemical toilet cleaning product that might react adversely with the chemicals that are in the holding tank.  Believe me I don’t want to do  anything that would create holding tank problems.  Trust me on that. 

Now fast forward to “The Mountain” and our park model.  Park models have real toilets directly hooked up to city sewer!!! Yea!!

This opens up cleaning options to me that I quite honestly didn’t realize existed. 

 

 The bald guy came up with the one that appealed to me….why you ask???  TOTALLY hands free!!!  Love it!!  And look it came with a $3.00 rebate.

 

 Look a this little beauty…..nice clean lines, neat, and tidy!  And did I mention that it is hands free??   Note the actual toilet in the background.

 

It even has a storage compartment for the magic eraser pads that attach, hands free, on the nice long handle.  What a great invention….love it!

Just goes to show…it’s the little things that make us happy.

PAINT BOOTH

TODAY THE CAT CAGE OUT IN THE SIDE YARD BECAME A SPRAY PAINT BOOTH FOR ONE OF MARY’S WOOD WORKING PROJECTS.

 

TURNS OUT THE CURTAIN IS A GRAY GARBAGE BAG, WHICH JUST HAPPENS TO BE THE SAME COLOR MARY IS SPRAY PAINTING .

 

THE WHITE CIRCLE IS AROUND  THE SQUARE OBJECT SHE IS PAINTING. CAN YOU SEE IT?  SHE IS ALSO HOLDING A SMALLER ONE IN HER HAND.

 

THE ITEMS SHE IS SPRAY PAINTING ARE SUSPENDED BY FISH LINE SO THAT SHE CAN PAINT THE WHOLE BLOCK AT ONCE.  THE COOL PART IS THAT THE PAINT LOOKS LIKE GRANITE STONE.

 

   “SUNNY & 76”

CANYON CAMP

IT WAS ONE OF THOSE PERFECT AUGUST DAYS THAT JUST FELT LIKE ONE OF THOSE SUMMER DAYS AT CANYON CAMP.

MARY WAS BUSY OUT BACK IN THE SHED WORKING ON HER WOODWORKING MERIT BADGE.

 

REX WAS BUSY LINEING UP THE DUTCH OVEN TO TEACH COOKING TO A GROUP OF SECOND CLASS SCOUTS.

 

NOTHING HAS CHANGED SINCE THOSE DAYS UNDER A GREEN DINING FLY.  OVENS ARE STILL CAST IRON, CHARCOAL ARE STILL BLACK, THE COOKING METHODS HAVEN’T CHANGED A BIT……

 

….AND THE FOOD STILL TASTES THE BEST COOKED OUTSIDE……

AS THE SUN SETS OVER THE LIP OF THE WOODED CANYON AND THE PARADE GROUND, I CAN ALMOST HEAR THE STAFF’S BUGLER PLAYING RETREAT…..

HAIL, HAIL, THE GANG’S ALL HERE !!!

AFTER SPENDING FIVE YEARS ON THE LOWER DESERT WE’VE FORGOTTEN ABOUT MOUNTAIN WEATHER.  WE WERE SURPRISED WHEN OUR USUAL AFTERNOON RAIN SHOWER TURNED INTO A POUNDING HAIL STORM.

THE HAIL WASN’T BIG ENOUGH TO DO ANY DAMAGE, BUT IT SURE MADE A LOT OF NOISE ON THE METAL PORCH ROOF.

 

SURE GLAD THE SCOOTER IS COVERED FOR WEATHER LIKE THIS.

GUESS IT MIGHT BE AN HOUR OR TWO BEFORE WE CAN HAVE COCKTAILS ON THE PATIO TODAY.

“NOT-SUNNY & 80”

SuperFocus

I have been having a lot of problems with my eyes the last couple of years.  So much so that I have gotten new lenses twice in the last year.  The second lenses were better but I am still having problems

Being a life long reader, it has been very frustrating to not be able to read like I used to.  My eyes became tired after reading only a page or two. I  had to start getting large print books from the library.  I also have been having trouble reading traffic signs until I was practically on top of them.  Not only is it not safe but it really, really pisses me off. 

While standing on dead games at the casino, I started seeing commercials for SuperFocus glasses.  The first few times I saw this commercial, I thought is was like an infommercial but  decided to check it out online just for the hell of it.

SuperFocus glasses are a new technology that  has double lenses one set in front of the other.  On the top of the bridge is a wheel that you turn to adjust the lenses.  The outer lenses are the distance prescription, the inner lenses are the close prescription.  Depending on what you are doing you adjust the wheel.  Your vision field is the entire lens, in other words-no bifocals or trifocals.

I became interested and decided to Google reviews of them.  All the reviews I could find, and they included a lot of videos put up by users, were favorable so I decided to give them a try.

The manual which you need to read first. Ya, ya, ya.

Because of the technology of these glasses, the lenses have to be perfectly round.  Think  Harry Potter, Teddy Roosevelt, Ben Franklin, or John Lennon.  Oh my, there isn’t any women on that list.  I think I know why!

 

Yes they really are that ugly.  The only frame choices you have are these or a an even uglier  silver one.

You get a 30 day trial so I am giving them a try.  My initial reaction is that they are front heavy, which only makes sense as they have 4 lenses. So far, adjusting the lens wheel to see near or far is not any big deal, and I do like being able to read smaller print.  I just got them yesterday and haven’t done any night driving yet so am anxious to see if the “halo” around headlight and street lights is less.  Hopefully yes.

The jury is still out,  I’ll let you know the final verdict when I know.

Just a parting bit of information, when you order these glasses  they give you  coupons.  If you refer someone,  you give them one of these coupons and they get 10% off.  Oh and I would get the same 10%.  Win-win.