Archive for ‘November, 2014’

South Fork to Cortez, CO: Return trip Day 1

Wolf Creek Pass, Canyonlands/Arches, Utah, Idaho, MT was the winner in my personal route lottery.

After topping propane and gas, I went off route to a nice rest stop for a late morning walk with Bear and an early lunch to allow Wolf Creek Pass to be dry versus “Icy spots”.

It was dry.

It was beautiful!

Because of the grade, it was a slow-go but not much traffic and good road conditions…my third RV trip over Wolf Creek Pass was great.

Later…along the way.

Beautiful!

Parked in Cortez. There is a local tuxedo cat that is attracting the attention of Auggie and Bear.

Alpenglow from the RV park.

Gorgeous color and a jet trail to the west.

South Fork to Cortez.

A beautiful day on the road, but bittersweet as I miss my Mama, Bill, Barely, L.B., Miss Dixie Lee and Louis (the cat!).

Tomorrow, a short day to Moab, UT is planned. Short in mileage but I hope to dally along the way and see/photograph the scenery. The Moab RV park is an RV resort and I might just sit there…work and explore. I’ll take a look at weather and work situation in the morning.

Snippets from the weekend

My mom and I made Meyer Lemon-Huckleberry Marmalade Saturday late morning…progress photos on Instagram.

We think it has been 50 years since we jammed together! I was not a fan of the process 50 years ago, when I was 9. It involved picking fruit in hot and humid Northwest Ohio and then the canning process was also hot and humid.

The nice thing about citrus marmalades is that citrus is in season in Winter. Just after leaving Montana (Oct 24), I received notice from Lemon Ladies Orchard that Meyer Lemons were ready for shipping. I ordered some to be delivered to my folks. I had frozen huckleberries along so we were set!

Jams, jellies and marmalades take some experience and maybe a good bit of luck, I think. The variation in the amount of sugar in fruit and juice … it can be tricky getting consistent consistency. Between us, we adjusted things and ultimately got both consistency and flavor that we are both very happy with. It was iffy for awhile so a lot of fun when all came together as we hoped.

I enjoyed the results on Sunday morning.

Bear and I walked. I did a little work. We all watched some sports together. We ate wonderful food.

It was a nice, quiet weekend of good things.

I’m writing this Monday morning as I wait for it to warm up. It is 8F this morning – the coldest night so far on this trip. The rv plumbing stayed warm. Bear, Auggie and I were not toasty, but warm enough. The sun is rising in a clear sky so things should warm quickly.

I haven’t decided on the route yet, but this morning after going back and forth about 6 times yesterday, am leaning toward heading west over Wolf Creek Pass to Cortez, then through Moab brushing Arches National Park and North through Utah. It would be nice to return a different and also slightly warmer route.

Later, from the road, but meanwhile a few more snippets from the weekend:

Friday

We woke to snow.

I opened the door to take Bear out, noticed that the steps did not look right…Oh, snow!

It melted during the day and then late afternoon, the sky clouded and it started a rain/snow mix.

I had thought to start back toward home tomorrow (Saturday), but looking at weather, the new plan is to start on Monday. It looks to be warmer all along the route next week.

My alternate heating plan is working very well (see comment on “Boys will be boys) – in fact, it has been more comfortable and quieter overnight than with the furnace.

But, I’m tired. My folks are tired. In addition to being and having guests, there has just been a lot of little things and the time change and I don’t know…we are all dragging a bit.

Bear and Auggie are starting to get a bit of cabin fever.

It is time for all of us to get back to our “normal” routines.

But, meanwhile, we do what we can to have fun!

Friday!

Boys will be boys

So, between the normal juggle of work, rv stuff (heat not fixed), pets and family visiting (plus some local politicking)…YIKES!! It has been somewhat non-stop.

But, FUN!!

This morning…

… amongst the local herd, two bucks had words.

But, it was a bit half-hearted.

It appeared they were just going through the motions.

The does ignored the entire thing.

Srsly – it was funny!

Auggie watched.

So did Bear.

Boys will be boys!

Sunday sunrise

This photo was yesterday’s sunrise. Managing heat overnight without my furnace has meant I’ve been up and down and yesterday (Sunday), it caught up with me. I ran out of steam late afternoon, retreated to Wild Thing, put on my jammies, made tea, made ginger syrup, had crackers for supper, walked Bear and went to bed. It was dark, but sunset is early.

It was warmer last night so I skipped the middle of the night heat up and feel more rested this morning. I have an appointment to get the furnace looked at on Wednesday – hopefully something easy.