Fixing Snowmobiles

By Uncle Hans

It's that time of year for riding snowmobiles, and that means fixing snowmobiles.  The snow is marginal and that means the wear rods wear out fast.  Replacing them is always a chore.....

 

......I no more than got that fixed and........ WHAM!! ............I caught a ski tip on some strapping steel buried under the snow and frozen into the ground.  that snapped this piece holding the ski onto the tie rod. ............

 

 

..............................now the girls are all ready for this weekend when Garrett and his friends are coming up to run the snowmobiles.  I have never spent such a little amount on a snowmobile part, only $40.........

By Uncle Hans

FARMER’S MARKET

YA RIGHT !!! THAT’S WHAT I’M THINKING, HOW DO YOU HAVE A FARMER’S MARKET IN FEBRUARY, AND ON THE LOWER MOHAVE DESERT?

 

JUST WHAT I THOUGHT! ARTSEY-FARTSEY STUFF…

 

GEEES…. IT’S 9AM AND THERE’S A LIVE BAND?

I WONDER IF THERE WILL BE A BEER TENT AT 9AM?

WAIT WAIT, WHAT’S THAT MARY HAS IN HER HANDS?

 

OMG, LOOK AT THE CALIFORNIA STRAWBERRIES…

AND WHEN WE GOT HOME MARY PULLED THIS PILE OUT OF THE TRUNK…

I HAD TO SEE IT TO BELIEVE IT, A FARMER’S MARKET ON THE MOHAVE DESERT…….

THE BLOG

BLOGGING REGULARLY IS TUFF. OUR LIVES DAY TO DAY ARE MUCH LIKE YOURS, WHERE WE DO THE SAME THINGS OVER AND OVER, NOT ONLY DAILY, BUT MONTHLY, AND ANNUALLY. THE BLOG CAN GET RATHER BORING IF I BLOG EVERYTIME I RIDE MY SCOOTER 25 MILES TO MY FAVORITE BAR FOR A $1 CAN OF BEER.

IT SEEMS THAT ONCE YOU BLOG ABOUT AN EVENT OR TRIP ONCE IT DOESN’T MAKE GOOD BLOG MATERIAL THE NEXT MONTH OR YEAR WHEN WE DO THE SAME TRIP OR EVENT AGAIN.

I’D LIKE TO BLOG EVERY OTHER DAY TO KEEP MY READERS ENTERTAINED AND INFORMED, BUT END UP BLOGGING ONLY WHEN THERE IS SOMETHING BLOG-WORTHY.

 

STATS

* WE HAVE BEEN WRITING THIS BLOG FOR NINE YEARS

* WE HAVE POSTED A TOTAL OF 2,005 BLOGS

*280 OF THOSE BLOGS WERE WRITTEN BY UNCLE HANS

* OUR TOTAL PAGE VIEWS OVER THE 9 YEARS IS 273,165 CLICKS

* MONEY GENERATED FROM GOOGLE ADS HAS BEEN $180.

* THERE ARE  10,140 PICTURES POSTED ON THE BLOG

 

THE BLOG’S FUTURE

THERE ARE NO CHANGES PLANNED. WE WILL CONTINUE TO BLOG WHEN THERE IS SOMETHING WORTH BLOGGING. I AM NOT A FACEBOOK POSTER. I DO READ FACEBOOK DAILY TO KEEP UP WITH THE FAMILY, BUT I USE THE BLOG TO POST MY STORIES AND PICTURES.

I’D LIKE TO THANK OUR FAITHFUL BLOG READERS FOR CHECKING US OUT.

THE AMY VISIT COMES TO A CLOSE

AIM AND I JUST HUNG AROUND CAMP ON SUNDAY WATCHING OLD MOVIES, READING OUR KINDLES, AND FIRED UP THE DEVIL’S EGG FOR ONE LAST CAMP MEAL.

MONDAY WE WENT TO VEGAS AND STAYED DOWNTOWN ON FREEMONT STREET WHERE WE HAD DINNER AND A WALK-ABOUT. WE HIT THE HAY EARLY AND WERE ON THE ROAD HEADED FOR THE AIRPORT AT 4 AM FOR HER 6:35 AM FLIGHT BACK TO SNOWY DAYTON,OH.

THANKS FOR COMING AIM, AND I ENJOYED OUR “SUNNY & 80” WEEK CAMPED ON THE LOWER MOHAVE DESERT.

ZYDECO MUSIC

TODAY AIM AND I HEADED UP TO LAUGHLIN TO CHECKOUT THE MARDI GRAS CELEBRATION ON THE RIVERWALK IN FRONT OF THE CASINOS. THEY ARE FEATURING ZYDECO MUSIC, WHICH TURNS OUT TO BE A FANCY NAME FOR CAJUN MUSIC WITH AN ACCORDIAN AND A SCRUB BOARD. THE MUSICIAN WEARS THE SCRUBBOARD LIKE A VEST.

AHH…. IT DIDN’T TAKE US TOO LONG TO CHECKOUT THIS BAND……

 

AND HERE’S AIM REACHING IN HER POCKETBOOK FOR SLOT MACHINE MONEY…..

 

THE BEST PART OF THE DAY?

  “SUNNY & 80”

OUT TO THE DESERT

MARY’S DAYS OFF ARE OVER AND WHILE SHE WENT BACK TO WORK, AIM AND I HEADED OUT ON THE DESERT GEOCACHING. WE TRAVELLED WEST ON OLD ROUTE 66 AND FOUND 5 OUT OF 8.

WE DID SOME ROCK SCAMBLING IN THE EFFORT.

YUP, SHE FOUND IT UP IN THAT HOLE.

AFTER SEVERAL HOURS IN THE DESERT WE ENDED UP AT THE SILVER DOLLAR SALOON IN TOPOC WHERE THEY SELL THE BEAST FOR $1.25/CAN.

BESIDES THE BEER WE SPLIT AN ORDER OF PIG WINGS.

SINCE AMY HAS NEVER BEEN TO CALIFORNIA, WE SLID DOWN TO THE I-40 AND MADE OUR WAY WEST TO NEEDLES, CA. A STOP AT THE MEXICAN CARNICERIA IN THE LOWER MOHAVE VALLEY AND BACK TO CAMP.

    “SUNNY & 80”

TOWN RUN

AIM AND I JOINED MARY FOR HER RUN TO TOWN ON HER DAY OFF. WE MADE ALL THE USUAL STOPS WALMART, SAFEWAY, ROSS, AND PETSMART. WE ALSO CHECKED OUT THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WHERE THEY HAD 55 VENDORS SET UP, AND THIS STATUE OF A TORTOISE STANDS.

 

A BEER CAN CHICKEN ON THE DEVIL’S EGG GRILL COMPLETED THE DAY.

FAMILY PIC

NOT VERY OFTEN YOU GET A PICTURE WITH THESE THREE PEOPLE.

 

AIM IS IN NEVADA VISITING HER BROTHER AND DAD THIS WEEK. WE HAD PIZZA OUT OF THE “DEVIL’S EGG” AND ENJOYED OUR VISIT VERY MUCH.

   “SUNNY & 80”

Hannah’s Horses

By Uncle Hans

It's a long story, but Hannah has taken up the care of two miniature horses.  The pictures tell some of the story and I will let the blog reader make up the rest.

 

  (no horses were harmed in making up this story)

By Uncle Hans

TOPOCK CAR SHOW

TOPOCK MAKES FOR A NICE 60 MILE ROUND TRIP SCOOTER RIDE, AND THE WEATHER TODAY WAS SO WARM….. I MADE THE RIDE IN SHORTS AND T-SHIRT. I JUST LOVE “SUNNY & 80”!!!

THE CARS WERE VERY NICE, BUT FOR SOME REASON I WAS MORE INTERESTED IN THIS NEW SLINGSHOT BY POLARIS SITTING IN THE PARKING LOT.

BOWLING

THE RV PARK HAS A BOWLING TEAM, AND THEY PLAY ON THURSDAY AFTERNOONS, BUT THEY PRACTICE ON MONDAYS. SO LAST MONDAY I MET THEM UP IN LAUGHLIN TO PRACTICE. IT MAKES A NICE 50 MILE ROUND TRIP ON THE SCOOTER.

IT’S BEEN OVER 20 YEARS SINCE I PICKED UP A BOWLING BALL. IN FACT THE LAST TIME I BOWLED WAS IN SPARTA, WISCONSIN AFTER THE RECHSTEINER’S THANKSGIVING DAY MEAL.  YOU FAMILY MEMBERS WON’T REMEMBER BOWLING, BUT I’M SURE YOU’LL REMEMBER THAT NIGHT BECAUSE THAT WAS THE TRIP TO FRANKVILLE FOR “CHICKEN AND FRIES”. I BET IT WAS THE FIRST TIME SARA TENDED BAR!

I’M NOT BOWLING TEAM MATERIAL, BUT I COULD STILL DO IT. ONE OF THE GUYS PRACTICING WITH US THREW SEVEN STRIKES IN HIS FIRST SEVEN FRAMES.

NO BULLSHIT, HERE ARE MY SCORES.

Sausage

By Uncle Hans

It seems like lots of families have holiday traditions, fun family activities to do together so they don't kill one another while stuffed into one house for hours to days.  Some families make sausage, like Renee's.  It starts with some barley cooking

and cutting up onions.

Renee's family lives all over and so Hannah and I have to stand in as "Honorary Carlsons"

 

.....it messes up the entire kitchen.  You add the barley and onions to the ground pork and ground beef.....

 

......while one Carlson mixes,

the other Carlson can prepare the sausage casing, which is the lining of animal intestines, of course.....

 

  .......Then you load the stuffing machine and load the casing on the outlet.......

 

  .....then the sausage is stuffed into the casing by the machine.  A meal sized sausage is sealed off and tied with store string.......

 

......it is easy to see which of the Carlsons the other Carlsons would be killing if it were not for this merry holiday tradition!!

By Uncle Hans

GEOCACHING

I WAS GEOCACHING LAST WEEK AND WENT 0 FOR 3 AT ROTARY PARK. IN MY DEFENCE THEY WERE ALL MICRO CACHES. I JUST CAN’T FIND THOSE LITTLE SUCKERS.

I DON’T KNOW IF MARY WAS FEELING SORRY FOR ME OR THOUGHT SHE WAS MISSING TOO MUCH FUN, BUT ON HER DAY OFF SHE SUGGESTED A GEOCACHING RUN.

SO OUT TO DESERT WE HEADED, GPS IN HAND. THIS CACHE WAS CALLED “YELLOWSTONE”.

THE CACHE WAS BETWEEN THE YELLOW ROCKS.

 

HERE IS WHAT A TYPICAL CACHE LOOKS LIKE.

THE GAME IS TO FIND IT, SIGN THE LOG, TAKE SOMETHING, AND LEAVE SOMETHING.

THE NEXT ONE WAS ANOTHER MOUNTAIN CLIMB.

 

THE LAST ONE WAS HIDDEN PRETTY GOOD, BUT WE FOUND IT.

 

AMY SAID IN AN E-MAIL THAT SHE’S NEVER BEEN GEOCACHING AND WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO TRYING IT ON HER UPCOMING VISIT.

ALSO IF YOU HAVE ONE OF THOSE SMART PHONES, THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT, SO YOU CAN GIVE IT A TRY WITHOUT BUYING A HAND HELD GPS UNIT.

TODAY WE WENT 4 FOR 4, A LOT BETTER WHEN MARY’S ALONG TO HELP.

GOOD LUCK TREASURE HUNTING !!!