Nah, this ain't no baseball game--but we are indeed safe at home.
We left Nephi at 7:40 am and arrived at Exit 118 in Idaho Falls at 1:10 pm for a 5.5 hour elapsed time.
We took a tour of The Eagles and The Falls and 11th Street and arrived home at 1:30 pm sharp. It was great to see our little bungalow sitting all covered with frosty snow.
Thanks to Jeff S. our place was intact. Jeff came over many times while we were gone and kept the two oil-filled electric heaters trimmed out just right. The house was 55 degrees when we arrived! The coldest part of the basement was only 41 degrees.
THANK YOU JEFF!
We immediately set about checking the pipes. We did have two frozen ones but Thank God they weren't frozen to the point of bursting. They are the two pipes that feed the kitchen faucet. Luckily, Jeff had opened the cabinet doors and positioned the heater nearby. If he hadn't done that, we would have been totally out of luck. We would have undoubtedly had two burst pipes and therefore no water in the rest of the house. Whew, we dodged a real big bullet on that one.
Well, anyway, we got a trickle going out of both hot and cold water and soon the flowing water thawed out the ice blockage and full flow returned. What a break, eh?
Then it was off to the Post Office to get our mail. Turned out to be two full USPS crates full of mail. Quite the ton of stuff. Next, I rushed off to WINCO and spent $75 to restock our totally depleted larder. I bought some goodies, too like shrimp and deli roast beef and some blue cheese and fresh salsa, etc. I also got some great poblano turkey sausages.
Then we returned home to fire up the snowblower and plow out a place to park the big truck as well as attack our driveway. We feared our 1994 Nissan would be stranded in the garage as it appeared the door was permanently iced shut. Luckily, there was a layer of leaves beneath the glacier and we could therefore pry off the ice blocks and free the Nissan. We salted the sidewalks and stowed out gear and finished all this mayhem at 5:10 pm.
Of course, we then had to take a breather and, gee, it's now almost 6 pm. How flies time, eh?
The drive north was mostly uneventful except I took a wrong turn on I-215 and so we had to eddy out and backtrack. Actually, that was a good thing since we needed to clean the windshield. On the 13 mile Legacy Parkway, there were fewer than a dozen cars in the northbound lanes for all 13 miles. What a great piece of civil engineering!
We did do the obligatory stop at Harbor Freight in Pocatello and loaded up on tools that we left in Arizona. About a hundred bucks later, we headed north to our Idahome.
We're really glad to be back--three of the neighbors stopped to give us a warm and hearty welcome. Chuck, the retired Coast Guard guy kept our walks snowblowed. He's going to play his bagpipes at midnight tonight. He's so cool. Jana ran into 12th Street oblivious of traffic to give Susun a great big hug. Kenton was delighted to see us and invited us for a toddy soon.
We are very happy to be tucked back into our little niche here. We love this place! I will post some photos later on--maybe tomorrow morning. Just wanted our loyal readers to know today's situation. Thank you for reading and Happy New Year and Cheers. J&S
PS--We suspect a trip like the one we just had ends on a note like this just once in a Blue Moon, eh?
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Ready to leave Nephi
Above is a 27 photo online album of some Nephi scenes. Many of them are historic photos that are hanging in the hallway of City Hall. Our camera has a nifty "super macro feature that allows us to take a photo of an old photo and it pretty much looks just like a scanner did it.
We took a tour of the Nephi DUP Museum yesterday afternoon. We learned a couple of great stories and we will tell them pretty quickly as we have to git crackin' here to git ready to go.
So there was this guy named Broadhead who came to the area back in the late 1800's.
Probably the 1880'sa judging from the clothing and equipment in the photo. So he decides to file claim on a ridgeline between Nephi and nearby Levan. He says he's going to dry farm wheat and doesn't need irrigation. Well, the local locos thought he had lost his mind. The authorities actually jailed him for perjury! Somehow, he got out of jail and proceeded to dry farm wheat there and was wildly successful and now everyone dry farms wheat. For many years, locals called his place, "The Perjury farm."
Meanwhile, back in Nephi, Brigham Young told the locals to protect themselves during the 1854 Ute Indian War called "The Walker War." So the Nephites deciddes to wall themselves in. Turns out it wasn' no small wall--it contained NINE CITY BLOCKS! The wall was TWELVE FEET high and six feet thick at the bottom and two feet thick at the top. It one gate on the middle of each side. Supposedly it was 420 rods long on each side. A rod is 16.5 feet so I doubt that accuracy of that claim. In any case, it was HUGE! OK, they finished in late summer 1854 and they liked it so much they lived in it for 5.5 years! Yep, and they enforced a curfew. Everyone had to be inside the wall at 5 pm when the gates closed. They sealed themselfs up! Some guy built a scale model of it for the museum, complete with all of the houses and outbuilding that were inside the wall. Even the trees are to scale. VERY impressive!
Well, we have to run along now. Have a great day and we will see you when we get back to our Idahome.
Hasta, pasta! J&S
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Nephi-Juab County Seat
We visited City Hall and the Library. Each Utah county has its own definitive history book. You can go to any Utah library and ask to see a copy of the "county history" and the librarians know right away what you are talking about and they produce it instantly. The Utah Legislature paid each county to produce these books back for the state centennial in the 1990's. They are truly awesome and amazing and no other of the 49 states has anything like it. Hooray, Utah!
Well, anyway, I sat down and pretty much skimmed the whole history of Juab County and got the geology, pre-history, Native Americans, Spanish, mountain man, Mark Twain, Mormon, Pony Express, militarym, railroad, mining, agriculture and current day synopsis of the place. It's a lot more diverse here in Juab that I realized and there's a few places that we like to call "come back spots."
We now realize that the Safari would make a great "base" for exploring Juab County, especially the lonely western parts. Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge is DEFINITELY a come back spot. The Rockwell Natural Area of the Little Sahara Sand Dunes is yet another. The old mining town of Eureka in the Tintic Mining District is already calling us.
Back on Memorial Day weekend, when we were Secret Shoppers for the Forest Service, we got to stay near Utah Lake at Provo for 9 days. One of our official trips was up and over the Mount Nebo Loop down to Nephi and then return to Provo. we actually got paid mileage for that trip! Anyway, we learned today that federal stimulus money has rebuilt the campgrounds up on that loop--they really needed a facelift, that's for sure. We're looking forward to a camping trip up there one of these years.
We went into the NAPA store and bought two cans of windshield de-icer. You can' buy that stuff in Arizona! It was great to find them and the price was good, too.
Meanwhile, back at the motel, I had to move the truck so they could plow the parking lot. That turned into a real adventure as teh side streets here are slicker than snot. I almost got stuck trying to make a u-turn and had to go a few blocks out of my way to avoid getting stuck. Meanwhile, I almost pulled out in front of a local loco. He was purposely doing four-wheel side slides down one of the streets. You know how to do that? You turn the vehicle and hit the brakes and commence to slide sideways for awhile, then you countersteer and do it on the other side. He was on the thin edge of losing control and narrowly missed me as I waited unsuspecting at the stop sign while he flew by. WHEW! I guess that's what they do for fun here in the Juab County seat.
Our next trip out will be in the truck as the Main Street is very clear--UDOT has been back and forth seemingly countless times --I even got hit by a flying glob of snow from one of the plows--luckily it didn't hit me in the face--I really felt it on my arm! Walk at your own risk here.
We will post up more on Nephi later today. Gotta go do some more exploring.
Cheers, J&S
Snow bound - by choice
We're snowbound in Nephi. Most people get snowbound when they don't have a choice. They are stuck. Well, we have a choice--we could actually leave and head north today but we're not going to do that. Nope, we choosing to snow bind ourselves here in Nephi and enjoy another night of $47 ambiance in The Safari Motel.
Why are we doing this? OK, let's review the circumstances. First and foremost, we are south of the infamous and legendary 100-mile Salt Lake City metroplex. Even on the best of days, driving this gauntlet is harrowing and hazardous. The only really good time to drive this ridiculous stretch of madcap mayhem is on a summer Sunday morning. All other times it is risky business to drive the Salt Lake stretch. I can't even remember how many trips where we purposely timed our travel to camp on the edge of the nightmare Saturday night and "make a run for it" on Sunday morning.
The opening of The Legacy Parkway has helped ease fear and loathing--somewhat--but the no matter how you slice it, no matter how you dice it, it's STILL the infamous Salt Lake City I-15 corridor.
Yesterday--Tuesday, there were 204 accidents in Salt Lake & Utah Counties. There were 17 accidents just in the I-80/I-15 spahgetti bowl interchange! Currently, there is an official Winter Storm Warning for the entire I-15 corridor from roughly Cedar City to Idaho. It's likely that 4 inches will fall during the day. That's not much snow in normal circumstances. Here in Salt Lake--it's a recipe for 100's more accidents today. For some unknown reason, Salt Lake City area driver never seem to slow down. The State Patrol is pleading with people to slow down but their pleas are falling on deaf ears.
I've looked at the UDOT hotrod website that shows traffic conditions and virtually the entire metroplex is showing 30 mph driving conditions with lots of red squiggly lines. The red lines mean traffic is stopped because of an accident. It might take all day just to get through the Salt Lake corridor and one of those vehicles involved in an accident could be our own beloved truck.
Meanwhile, that same beloved truck sits peacefully outside out window, enjoying the snowfall that is accumulating on its windshield. No risk of getting totaled here!
The weather tomorrow promises to be clear. The wreckage from all the accidents will have been cleared and the UDOT trucks will have done their duty and made the roads relatively safe for passage. If we leave on the far shoulder of the morning drive time, we should be OK.
This room here at the Safari is one of the best rooms we've had in a long time--excepting a major chain motel, of course. The room itself is large enough to be a spacious house in a 3rd world country.
We opened up our Blizzard Boxes this morning and have been happily rummaging through our heavy duty winter clothing. We had a "hat contest." We tied. We each have six warm hats. I think I beat Susun on the glove count--I have 7 pair, she has six. She has a new pair of Sorel boots to wear this morning and I have my trusty Yak-Trax. Our walking sticks are out in the truck so we can safely so for a snowfall stroll later this morning.
It's a good thing to be here. Susun just walked back from teh office and they dropped the price a few dollars for our second night and gave us a real coffee maker with Starbucks coffee. Ah, small town perks, eh?
Susun was also delighted to discover they opened a movie house here a mere 3 months ago. Nephi has less than 5000 souls here so that's interesting someone decided to invest in a movie house. Susun is a movie fanatic so I suspect I will get roped into a movie today.
It's nice to be marooned by choice here in Nephi. I get a real day of relaxation--can't work on NOTHING! YEA! Meanwhile, I get to organize all my winter clothes and gear and actually go outside and see if it's correctly configured. This is clearly turning out to be a win-win situation.
So, I guess it'll be a once in a Blue Moon travel day tomorrow as we transit from the Heart of Utah into Tater Nation once again. I can hardly wait to have an audience with the Nation's potentate--King Tot.
More soon--thanks for reading--Cheers, J&S
Why are we doing this? OK, let's review the circumstances. First and foremost, we are south of the infamous and legendary 100-mile Salt Lake City metroplex. Even on the best of days, driving this gauntlet is harrowing and hazardous. The only really good time to drive this ridiculous stretch of madcap mayhem is on a summer Sunday morning. All other times it is risky business to drive the Salt Lake stretch. I can't even remember how many trips where we purposely timed our travel to camp on the edge of the nightmare Saturday night and "make a run for it" on Sunday morning.
The opening of The Legacy Parkway has helped ease fear and loathing--somewhat--but the no matter how you slice it, no matter how you dice it, it's STILL the infamous Salt Lake City I-15 corridor.
Yesterday--Tuesday, there were 204 accidents in Salt Lake & Utah Counties. There were 17 accidents just in the I-80/I-15 spahgetti bowl interchange! Currently, there is an official Winter Storm Warning for the entire I-15 corridor from roughly Cedar City to Idaho. It's likely that 4 inches will fall during the day. That's not much snow in normal circumstances. Here in Salt Lake--it's a recipe for 100's more accidents today. For some unknown reason, Salt Lake City area driver never seem to slow down. The State Patrol is pleading with people to slow down but their pleas are falling on deaf ears.
I've looked at the UDOT hotrod website that shows traffic conditions and virtually the entire metroplex is showing 30 mph driving conditions with lots of red squiggly lines. The red lines mean traffic is stopped because of an accident. It might take all day just to get through the Salt Lake corridor and one of those vehicles involved in an accident could be our own beloved truck.
Meanwhile, that same beloved truck sits peacefully outside out window, enjoying the snowfall that is accumulating on its windshield. No risk of getting totaled here!
The weather tomorrow promises to be clear. The wreckage from all the accidents will have been cleared and the UDOT trucks will have done their duty and made the roads relatively safe for passage. If we leave on the far shoulder of the morning drive time, we should be OK.
This room here at the Safari is one of the best rooms we've had in a long time--excepting a major chain motel, of course. The room itself is large enough to be a spacious house in a 3rd world country.
We opened up our Blizzard Boxes this morning and have been happily rummaging through our heavy duty winter clothing. We had a "hat contest." We tied. We each have six warm hats. I think I beat Susun on the glove count--I have 7 pair, she has six. She has a new pair of Sorel boots to wear this morning and I have my trusty Yak-Trax. Our walking sticks are out in the truck so we can safely so for a snowfall stroll later this morning.
It's a good thing to be here. Susun just walked back from teh office and they dropped the price a few dollars for our second night and gave us a real coffee maker with Starbucks coffee. Ah, small town perks, eh?
Susun was also delighted to discover they opened a movie house here a mere 3 months ago. Nephi has less than 5000 souls here so that's interesting someone decided to invest in a movie house. Susun is a movie fanatic so I suspect I will get roped into a movie today.
It's nice to be marooned by choice here in Nephi. I get a real day of relaxation--can't work on NOTHING! YEA! Meanwhile, I get to organize all my winter clothes and gear and actually go outside and see if it's correctly configured. This is clearly turning out to be a win-win situation.
So, I guess it'll be a once in a Blue Moon travel day tomorrow as we transit from the Heart of Utah into Tater Nation once again. I can hardly wait to have an audience with the Nation's potentate--King Tot.
More soon--thanks for reading--Cheers, J&S
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
What next?
We're sitting here reading the Salt Lake & Pocatello NWS Discussions. It's like trying to read tea leaves or tarot cards or maybe someone's palm. For days, the NWS Staffers insisted this system would be well to the south of the Salt Lake Valley. HA! It doesn't take much snow to cause trouble on I-15 through the 100-mile metro corridor. Listen to this snippet from the NWS Discussion tonight
THOUGH THE SNOW WAS LIGHT...THE COLD ROADWAYS (LOWER 20S) CAUSED NUMEROUS INCIDENTS.
ROAD TEMPERATURES HAVE WARMED INTO THE UPPER 20S...
WITH REPORTS INDICATING THAT TREATMENT IS IMPROVING DRIVING CONDITIONS AT LEAST FOR THE AFTERNOON HOURS. THE SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT FOR SLICK ROADS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING COMMUTE.
OK, the forecast for tomorrow is 2-4 inches in teh Salt Lake Valley with locally higher amounts.
The forecast for SE Idaho is about the same. The timing is the key. When will the snowfall arrive?
Early in the day? Late in the day? We might have a window to skee-daddled north tomorrow--and we might not.
Anyway, we will keep you posted.
500 mile day
Well, we finally made it out of Ol' Arizona and now we're in Nephi, Utah, Milepost 222 plus a few.
Our odometer sez we've driven 497 miles so it's close enough to call it 500. It was 9.5 hours of drive time so you can do the math--averaged a whisker over 50 mph.
It was a mixed bag of driving conditions--the typical good, bad and ugly. Beautiful snow covering everything out by Cameron and then a great picnic overlooking Marble Canyon. Swirling clouds, stunning light, classic Thomas Moran painting. North of Page conditions were pretty good. We were both so tired we didn't think we could get past Kanab but a cuppa joe did the trick and we got shot out of the cannon yet again.
Snow started falling in earnest a few miles south of Panguitch. The 7920 summit of Utah Hwy. 20 was real dicey--the truck almost slid off the road and we had to crawl along at 10 mph for awhile.
We thought I-15 would be better. HA! No way. In fact, it got a lot worse on I-15 and it was 30-40-50 mph driving for awhile. The road cleared for awhile at Scipio but then got real sloppy again just south of Nephi. That's when we decided to call it quits.
It's still really coming down--looks like movie snow and the parked truck is already covered. We're staying at The Safari Motel. They have billboards plastered all up and down I-15. It's $47 a night including tax. We have two huge double beds, full bath with a tub, fridge, nice TV and free WIFI. The room is huge. There's a nice desk for me to use the computer and the WIFI is password protected. Rich stuff.
We brought in a lot of stuff from the truck--both Blizzard Boxes, our suit cases, two coolers and lots of flotsam and jetsam.
WHEW--it was one long day of driving and I'm really glad to be off the road.
Tomorrow is going to be real dicey--the only way we can make it home with daylight left to to navigate Salt Lake during the morning "drive-time." Plus, it's probably going to be pea soup fog with a typical SLC inversion. What fun, huh?
Anyway, we're roughly 300 miles from home. Nephi is the classic Fibonacci Ratio in action--62.8% of our trip is done and 38.2% remains! Ying yang, feng shui and all of that with a sprinkle of Type A seasoning thrown in for good measure.
The coolest vignette of the day was our noon picnic looking out over Marble Canyon into the low swirling clouds. WOW! We had guacamole on Wasa crackers--YUM! There is a LOT of snow in southern Utah. A LOT! Way, way more than I had been led to believe. Some of the roofs still have over 18 inches on them. We saw some deer that were danged near up to their bellies in snow!
Well, that's about it--we will take some pix (maybe) later and post them up while we are waiting tomorrow morning for the roads to clear.
Thanks for reading & cheers! J&S
Our odometer sez we've driven 497 miles so it's close enough to call it 500. It was 9.5 hours of drive time so you can do the math--averaged a whisker over 50 mph.
It was a mixed bag of driving conditions--the typical good, bad and ugly. Beautiful snow covering everything out by Cameron and then a great picnic overlooking Marble Canyon. Swirling clouds, stunning light, classic Thomas Moran painting. North of Page conditions were pretty good. We were both so tired we didn't think we could get past Kanab but a cuppa joe did the trick and we got shot out of the cannon yet again.
Snow started falling in earnest a few miles south of Panguitch. The 7920 summit of Utah Hwy. 20 was real dicey--the truck almost slid off the road and we had to crawl along at 10 mph for awhile.
We thought I-15 would be better. HA! No way. In fact, it got a lot worse on I-15 and it was 30-40-50 mph driving for awhile. The road cleared for awhile at Scipio but then got real sloppy again just south of Nephi. That's when we decided to call it quits.
It's still really coming down--looks like movie snow and the parked truck is already covered. We're staying at The Safari Motel. They have billboards plastered all up and down I-15. It's $47 a night including tax. We have two huge double beds, full bath with a tub, fridge, nice TV and free WIFI. The room is huge. There's a nice desk for me to use the computer and the WIFI is password protected. Rich stuff.
We brought in a lot of stuff from the truck--both Blizzard Boxes, our suit cases, two coolers and lots of flotsam and jetsam.
WHEW--it was one long day of driving and I'm really glad to be off the road.
Tomorrow is going to be real dicey--the only way we can make it home with daylight left to to navigate Salt Lake during the morning "drive-time." Plus, it's probably going to be pea soup fog with a typical SLC inversion. What fun, huh?
Anyway, we're roughly 300 miles from home. Nephi is the classic Fibonacci Ratio in action--62.8% of our trip is done and 38.2% remains! Ying yang, feng shui and all of that with a sprinkle of Type A seasoning thrown in for good measure.
The coolest vignette of the day was our noon picnic looking out over Marble Canyon into the low swirling clouds. WOW! We had guacamole on Wasa crackers--YUM! There is a LOT of snow in southern Utah. A LOT! Way, way more than I had been led to believe. Some of the roofs still have over 18 inches on them. We saw some deer that were danged near up to their bellies in snow!
Well, that's about it--we will take some pix (maybe) later and post them up while we are waiting tomorrow morning for the roads to clear.
Thanks for reading & cheers! J&S
Friday, December 11, 2009
Online!
Howdy, hello and HI! Can you believe it? We are actually online here in our humble little Arizona home. Who'd a thunk it possible? Certainly not us. But, yea verily, tis true.
Obviously, we figured out how to fix our computer, too. It's still "acting up" as computers are sometimes wont to do. But at least we have the rudiments of an online connection.
We've been with reliable internet access since we left home in Idaho Falls. It's the longest online access drought we've experienced in many years. We gave up on using the local Beaver Creek Library. The laundromat turned out to be a dud in the suds. Basically, we've just done without and that's been a very "trying" experience.
The story of our getting online would be a very long story--perhaps I will try to tell it in a separate blog spot. It's quite the "jury-rigged" connection. The cable is still lying on top of the frozen ground. We finalized the details with the installer while standing around a mesquite campfire in the darkness last night. Our modem was mis-delivered by UPS and a
neighbor brought it by late last evening. Luckily, we had a VERY good tech support guy who talked us through the step-by-step procedure of getting over the final hurdles. Viola, here we are.
We have a very busy day ahead and no time to write more in this or other blog posts. However, you can bet your antique bippy that we will be writing more stuff at every opportunity. Thanks for your patience and thanks for reading!
Obviously, we figured out how to fix our computer, too. It's still "acting up" as computers are sometimes wont to do. But at least we have the rudiments of an online connection.
We've been with reliable internet access since we left home in Idaho Falls. It's the longest online access drought we've experienced in many years. We gave up on using the local Beaver Creek Library. The laundromat turned out to be a dud in the suds. Basically, we've just done without and that's been a very "trying" experience.
The story of our getting online would be a very long story--perhaps I will try to tell it in a separate blog spot. It's quite the "jury-rigged" connection. The cable is still lying on top of the frozen ground. We finalized the details with the installer while standing around a mesquite campfire in the darkness last night. Our modem was mis-delivered by UPS and a
neighbor brought it by late last evening. Luckily, we had a VERY good tech support guy who talked us through the step-by-step procedure of getting over the final hurdles. Viola, here we are.
We have a very busy day ahead and no time to write more in this or other blog posts. However, you can bet your antique bippy that we will be writing more stuff at every opportunity. Thanks for your patience and thanks for reading!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
What A Week!
Greetings! It seems like forever since we've been online. Actually, it's been MORE than a week. That's practically an eternity to someone who practically lives online.
I am actually typing this blog post in our straw house. If it made it onto the blog, it's because I was able to get online at a little tiny library in Rimrock, Arizona. I will take a photo of this pipsqueak facility and post it later. The library is in a room that's shared with a Kiwanis Club used clothing operation. There are clothes strewn everywhere! What a strange juxtaposition. However, internet access is internet access and we take what we can get. Honestly, though, in our 10+ years of finding and using little nooks and crannies that provide internet access, this is easily the strangest of them all!
We arrived here in the Verde Valley at 10:30 am a week ago today. What a wild week it has been. Truly amazing. We set up "shop" in our straw house with the vandalized broken windows and did a lot of quick work last Saturday to make a marginally acceptable place to spend the night.
Sunday was a lazy day and we left a little after one pm to go to Brad, Kate & Joshua's for a fabulous dinner. When we returned about 5 pm, more broken glass was strewn everywhere. The vandal(s) had returned Sunday afternoon and threw another rock through an already broken window! I'd estimate the glass dispersal covered about 150 square feet. They really gave that stone a heave.
The 2nd vandalism really changed our attitude about this place. We decided to sell it and get the heck outta here! Monday we took off for Cottonwood and brought home a truck load of various lumber and electrical stuff. Then we busily boarded up the remaining windows AND the gables. This make the house pitch black dark inside. Luckily, we were able to bring electricity--yes, REAL grid power--into the house so that we weren't walking around in the dark.
Late that afternoon, we picked up a trailer and prepared to head out early Tuesday AM.
We left shortly after 6:30 am and arrived at the hogans about 10 am that morning. we spent the next few hours packing up our stuff that was dropped off there in early 2006. We left a little before 1 pm and arrived back at the straw house a little after 4 pm. The total RT mileage was 390 miles. Tuesday evening we hurriedly set up the dining table and chairs and collapsed to sleep after dinner.
Wednesday morning, a prospective buyer for the house showed up at 8 am and we reached a tentative deal on price, down pymt. and terms. The buyer returned about 11 am and we finalized additional details. Then we hurriedly took off for Cottonwood again to open an escrow acct. at the title company. Lo and behold, Arizona law had changed since early 2006 and we realized we faced a HUGE, major stumbling block to the potential sale of the place. We returned to the Straw house totally dejected and depressed.
Thursday morning, we took off again at 7:30 to get to Cottonwood as early as possible to go to the Yavapai COunty offices to try to determine how we might salvage the prospective sale.
Once we received the paperwork from the county, we realized there was absolutely no way to proceed with the escrow process and subsequent sale.
We then decided once again to keep the house and "make the best of it." We spent nearly 5 hours in Cottonwood, returning in the early afternoon. We busied ourselves with various pressing chores for the remainder of the day. While running an errand we noticed that the truck had sprung a leak of coolant. We took it to Pat's repair shop and he pronounced that it was a bad water pump.
Luckily, Pat could schedule us the next morning. We delivered the truck there at 9 am and picked it up about 2 pm. For a mere $200, it is good as new again. Pat's repair shop is one of the things we miss when we are not here in Arizona. What an awesome community service he runs with his shop. Of course, his rates aren't cheap, by any means, but you simply can't find that level of service in very many other places.
Friday was a very long day of chores and tasks. We rehabilitated the broken ramada, repaired a shed roof, and built a great fire ring. We gathered all of the stuff left by the former buyer's sister-in-law. She and the buyer's wife came buy in the morning to take away most of their stuff. It brought some closure to the process we are going through here.
Meanwhile, we've cleaned and organized all three sheds and are quite happy with them.
Susun put a four pound pork roast in the crock pot we brought back from the hogans. It was so tender for dinner, you could cut it with your fork. We are eating quite well here!
We had a ceremonial first fire Friday night and each made a speech about how we need to heal the negative energy that has built up in the neighborhood since our departure. We need to bring back some very positive energy to this place and restore its balance once again. Luckily, we met two very positive-minded new neighbors and that level of positive energy will help us synergize our own energies as well. While some of the Old Timers here have taken a negative path, we refuse to walk that route. We wish them well on their journey and carry only fond memories of their once awesome positive energy.
The prospective buyer of the place is, of course, very bummed out that he won't be able to buy the place. However, on the other hand, it's time for us to put some heart back into this place and bring it back to the golden glow it once enjoyed. The past 3.5 years since we sold it have been very tough on the place. It shows and we can feel it. Little by little we feel we have already made a difference in the place. It feels much better than it did a week ago when we arrived.
We are confident that our positive energy will continue to work its magic on the house, the land, the neighborhood and even some of our crotchity neighbors. There is much to be thankful about and blessings abound. There are some awesome new opportunities for positive growth here and we are confident that we will very quickly vanquish those vestiges of negativity that we have encountered during this long and turbulent week nehind us.
Today, we finally plan to get to go hiking--a circumnavigation of that time-honored, popular walk about the Bell Rock and Cathedral Rock vortexes. There truly is healing power in the Red Rocks. We've been nurtured by it in the past and we look forward to a warm dose of their positive energy during the remainder of our visit here.
It's been trying to rain yesterday and this morning. So far, it's been a slight sprinkle that's not quite enough to settle the dust. However, everyone says it's the first "rain" in months. Maybe it's Nature's way of helping us wash away some of the energues of the past.
We'll take whatever help we can get!
We aren't certain when our next foray online will be. Clearly, it's going to be "hit & miss" as to getting online. We hope that the twitter updates have been helpful for our friends and family. Yes, they are sometimes cryptic and a tad clipped but that is unavoidable under the circumstances and especially considering Twitter's 140 character limits. It's the best we can do with what we have.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for caring. Please beam some positive energy and maybe even a few prayers our way. We need and will use all the help we can get here. THANK YOU!
I am actually typing this blog post in our straw house. If it made it onto the blog, it's because I was able to get online at a little tiny library in Rimrock, Arizona. I will take a photo of this pipsqueak facility and post it later. The library is in a room that's shared with a Kiwanis Club used clothing operation. There are clothes strewn everywhere! What a strange juxtaposition. However, internet access is internet access and we take what we can get. Honestly, though, in our 10+ years of finding and using little nooks and crannies that provide internet access, this is easily the strangest of them all!
We arrived here in the Verde Valley at 10:30 am a week ago today. What a wild week it has been. Truly amazing. We set up "shop" in our straw house with the vandalized broken windows and did a lot of quick work last Saturday to make a marginally acceptable place to spend the night.
Sunday was a lazy day and we left a little after one pm to go to Brad, Kate & Joshua's for a fabulous dinner. When we returned about 5 pm, more broken glass was strewn everywhere. The vandal(s) had returned Sunday afternoon and threw another rock through an already broken window! I'd estimate the glass dispersal covered about 150 square feet. They really gave that stone a heave.
The 2nd vandalism really changed our attitude about this place. We decided to sell it and get the heck outta here! Monday we took off for Cottonwood and brought home a truck load of various lumber and electrical stuff. Then we busily boarded up the remaining windows AND the gables. This make the house pitch black dark inside. Luckily, we were able to bring electricity--yes, REAL grid power--into the house so that we weren't walking around in the dark.
Late that afternoon, we picked up a trailer and prepared to head out early Tuesday AM.
We left shortly after 6:30 am and arrived at the hogans about 10 am that morning. we spent the next few hours packing up our stuff that was dropped off there in early 2006. We left a little before 1 pm and arrived back at the straw house a little after 4 pm. The total RT mileage was 390 miles. Tuesday evening we hurriedly set up the dining table and chairs and collapsed to sleep after dinner.
Wednesday morning, a prospective buyer for the house showed up at 8 am and we reached a tentative deal on price, down pymt. and terms. The buyer returned about 11 am and we finalized additional details. Then we hurriedly took off for Cottonwood again to open an escrow acct. at the title company. Lo and behold, Arizona law had changed since early 2006 and we realized we faced a HUGE, major stumbling block to the potential sale of the place. We returned to the Straw house totally dejected and depressed.
Thursday morning, we took off again at 7:30 to get to Cottonwood as early as possible to go to the Yavapai COunty offices to try to determine how we might salvage the prospective sale.
Once we received the paperwork from the county, we realized there was absolutely no way to proceed with the escrow process and subsequent sale.
We then decided once again to keep the house and "make the best of it." We spent nearly 5 hours in Cottonwood, returning in the early afternoon. We busied ourselves with various pressing chores for the remainder of the day. While running an errand we noticed that the truck had sprung a leak of coolant. We took it to Pat's repair shop and he pronounced that it was a bad water pump.
Luckily, Pat could schedule us the next morning. We delivered the truck there at 9 am and picked it up about 2 pm. For a mere $200, it is good as new again. Pat's repair shop is one of the things we miss when we are not here in Arizona. What an awesome community service he runs with his shop. Of course, his rates aren't cheap, by any means, but you simply can't find that level of service in very many other places.
Friday was a very long day of chores and tasks. We rehabilitated the broken ramada, repaired a shed roof, and built a great fire ring. We gathered all of the stuff left by the former buyer's sister-in-law. She and the buyer's wife came buy in the morning to take away most of their stuff. It brought some closure to the process we are going through here.
Meanwhile, we've cleaned and organized all three sheds and are quite happy with them.
Susun put a four pound pork roast in the crock pot we brought back from the hogans. It was so tender for dinner, you could cut it with your fork. We are eating quite well here!
We had a ceremonial first fire Friday night and each made a speech about how we need to heal the negative energy that has built up in the neighborhood since our departure. We need to bring back some very positive energy to this place and restore its balance once again. Luckily, we met two very positive-minded new neighbors and that level of positive energy will help us synergize our own energies as well. While some of the Old Timers here have taken a negative path, we refuse to walk that route. We wish them well on their journey and carry only fond memories of their once awesome positive energy.
The prospective buyer of the place is, of course, very bummed out that he won't be able to buy the place. However, on the other hand, it's time for us to put some heart back into this place and bring it back to the golden glow it once enjoyed. The past 3.5 years since we sold it have been very tough on the place. It shows and we can feel it. Little by little we feel we have already made a difference in the place. It feels much better than it did a week ago when we arrived.
We are confident that our positive energy will continue to work its magic on the house, the land, the neighborhood and even some of our crotchity neighbors. There is much to be thankful about and blessings abound. There are some awesome new opportunities for positive growth here and we are confident that we will very quickly vanquish those vestiges of negativity that we have encountered during this long and turbulent week nehind us.
Today, we finally plan to get to go hiking--a circumnavigation of that time-honored, popular walk about the Bell Rock and Cathedral Rock vortexes. There truly is healing power in the Red Rocks. We've been nurtured by it in the past and we look forward to a warm dose of their positive energy during the remainder of our visit here.
It's been trying to rain yesterday and this morning. So far, it's been a slight sprinkle that's not quite enough to settle the dust. However, everyone says it's the first "rain" in months. Maybe it's Nature's way of helping us wash away some of the energues of the past.
We'll take whatever help we can get!
We aren't certain when our next foray online will be. Clearly, it's going to be "hit & miss" as to getting online. We hope that the twitter updates have been helpful for our friends and family. Yes, they are sometimes cryptic and a tad clipped but that is unavoidable under the circumstances and especially considering Twitter's 140 character limits. It's the best we can do with what we have.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for caring. Please beam some positive energy and maybe even a few prayers our way. We need and will use all the help we can get here. THANK YOU!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Low temps leave me scratching my head
OK, so we're sitting here about 530 in the AM and I'm looking at weather. It's 32 in Kanab, 21 on the South Rim and supposedly 19 degrees in Flagstaff. Meanwhile, I take a look up north and it's 41 in Idaho Falls. Now, folks, that don't make no sense! Like none! That is totally against Snowbird Rule #101. Snowbird rule #101 says "ALL temperatures to the south of Idaho are warmer than Idaho." So, somebody's in violation here and due for a ticket and maybe even an arrest. The Weather Police need to restore order here!
Click here if you want to see all of the regional observations for the Northern Arizona area.
Click here if you want to see all of the regional observations for Eastern Idaho.
We look like we're on track for a 6 am departure. It was a restless sleep last night but I think we both got enough shut eye to complete our trip and then stumble around down in The Verde.
Yep, our little tweeter is recharged and ready to twitter once again.
Click here if you want to see all of the regional observations for the Northern Arizona area.
Click here if you want to see all of the regional observations for Eastern Idaho.
We look like we're on track for a 6 am departure. It was a restless sleep last night but I think we both got enough shut eye to complete our trip and then stumble around down in The Verde.
Yep, our little tweeter is recharged and ready to twitter once again.
Friday, November 6, 2009
The day in recap
Do people recap days like they recap tires? I've always wondering that. If you recap a day, do you get to relive it again like Bill Murray does in Groundhog Day? If you know the answer, let me know, too.
Here is today's recap--due to our extreme diligence packing weeks ahead of time, we escaped Idaho Falls at a VERY early time--it was slightly before 7:30 am when we pulled away from teh house and 7:39 when we got on the interstate. That's very early for us these days. we didn't eat breakfast--that helped.
Susun fried some pork chops last night and we decided to have porkchops in Porkcatello. They really hit the spot, especially with half a fresh orange to chase them down the hatch. Our pit stops were pretty evenly distributed--upwards of a 100 miles tops for each one. We had two gas stops and took on a precise total of 30 gallons--right to the 100th of a gallon!
Stopped at Cabela's for lunch--the idiots didn't have the handwarmer fluid. Who does? That's what I would like to know. I've been trying to buy the fluid for almost one full year. Geeze.
Cabela's is NOT run by smart, savvy outdoorsmen. Cabela's is staffed by the same yokels you encounter in Target, wal-Mart or any other retail store. They all have a blank look in their eyes--you know the type. I noticed they do their hiring at a computer kiosk down by the front door--tjat ought to tell ya something.
we only had one close encounter of the collision kind in the Salt Lake corridor. They don't call people who live there U-Tards for nothing. This driver was an idiot and skillful NASCAR manuvering on my part avoided a potential trip-ending accident. I only cussed and fumed for a little less than 5 minutes. That's not too bad in a 600 minute drive-time-day--it's less than 1%!
In that sense, the trip was 99% cuss free, a pretty good batting average.
The air was really good except around Fillmore. It cleared up south of Fillmore again until Panguitch. The air was probably the best we've ever seen in the Salt Lake Basin.
Our favorite SLC billboard was the one that had huge, giant letters--HUGE letter that said, "WE SUCK!" No kidding, it was an ad for liposuction. Ya gotta hand it to those SLC billboard writers, they really get after it. We saw some other good ones but we've already forgot them. How can you forget "WE SUCK!?"
We got caught in one total traffic stoppage on I-15. Some state cop came out in front of us and started weaving wildly back and forth across all five lanes of traffic until he got everyone's attention and then took over a mile to gradually slow us down to a total stop. Everyone sat for about 10 minutes while some workers did something in the middle of the highway. They would have all died if the State Cop hadn't protected them like he did. it was a neat thing to see, something brand new.
I had a question nag me all day. Here it is: "Are ALL farm machines doomed to wind up rusting in somebody's barnyard?" It doesn't seem to matter what kind of agricultural technology comes along--pretty soon it's obsolete and gets parked and then rusts into oblivion. Does that mean the $250,000 rigs we see on the implement lot today will meet the same fate in some distant tomorrow? it's a very nagging question.
Also, I had a very insane question come into my mind. Do black cows have higher body temperatures than lighter colorer cows? What if you wore black all day in the sun--wouldn't you bake your buns off? How come they don't get dehydrated faster when they are black. And, finally, is meat from a black cow tastier than a lighter cow's meat because it's been pre-seared?
Ah, the joys of travel.
We didn't stop at IKEA because we had just been stopped in that traffic thing I described above and I wanted to boogies to Cabela's. By the way, we didn't spend a dime in cabela's and it's not the first time we've walked in and out with our cash intact. The stuff in that store is grossly overpriced!
A lady bug came into the car someplace in the urban wilderness of Salt Lake. I had Susun capture it and we carried it out to the Young Living Lavender Farms south of Payson. She then got out and let it go in really wonderful habitat. Fly, Lady Bug, Fly!
I-15 seemed very busy today, much more so than we would have guessed. I'm talking about the far rural portions of it where the traffic has to be "distance travelers" and not bumpkins going one of hayseed spit of a town to the next hayseed spit of a city. No, all of the traffic was clearly "going someplace." we were driving 70 and were the slowest vehicle in I-15. Many of the vehicles were doing probably 85 or more and some passed us like we were standing still. Normally I-15 isn't that busy. Yes, I know it's a friday but, so what? Bottom line is that we both think the increased traffic we're seeing up on I-15 near Idaho Falls and especially the traffic we saw today is an indicator of an economy that's healing to a point where people are willing to get out and spend money traveling. In other words, it's a good thing, as Martha would say.
well, that's about all. I'm gonna shut 'er down now and get some shut eye myself. Ain't that what they call it here with them Western Legends cowpokes? "Well, pard, time for some shut eye."
Adios, amigo & muy margaritas, too!
Here is today's recap--due to our extreme diligence packing weeks ahead of time, we escaped Idaho Falls at a VERY early time--it was slightly before 7:30 am when we pulled away from teh house and 7:39 when we got on the interstate. That's very early for us these days. we didn't eat breakfast--that helped.
Susun fried some pork chops last night and we decided to have porkchops in Porkcatello. They really hit the spot, especially with half a fresh orange to chase them down the hatch. Our pit stops were pretty evenly distributed--upwards of a 100 miles tops for each one. We had two gas stops and took on a precise total of 30 gallons--right to the 100th of a gallon!
Stopped at Cabela's for lunch--the idiots didn't have the handwarmer fluid. Who does? That's what I would like to know. I've been trying to buy the fluid for almost one full year. Geeze.
Cabela's is NOT run by smart, savvy outdoorsmen. Cabela's is staffed by the same yokels you encounter in Target, wal-Mart or any other retail store. They all have a blank look in their eyes--you know the type. I noticed they do their hiring at a computer kiosk down by the front door--tjat ought to tell ya something.
we only had one close encounter of the collision kind in the Salt Lake corridor. They don't call people who live there U-Tards for nothing. This driver was an idiot and skillful NASCAR manuvering on my part avoided a potential trip-ending accident. I only cussed and fumed for a little less than 5 minutes. That's not too bad in a 600 minute drive-time-day--it's less than 1%!
In that sense, the trip was 99% cuss free, a pretty good batting average.
The air was really good except around Fillmore. It cleared up south of Fillmore again until Panguitch. The air was probably the best we've ever seen in the Salt Lake Basin.
Our favorite SLC billboard was the one that had huge, giant letters--HUGE letter that said, "WE SUCK!" No kidding, it was an ad for liposuction. Ya gotta hand it to those SLC billboard writers, they really get after it. We saw some other good ones but we've already forgot them. How can you forget "WE SUCK!?"
We got caught in one total traffic stoppage on I-15. Some state cop came out in front of us and started weaving wildly back and forth across all five lanes of traffic until he got everyone's attention and then took over a mile to gradually slow us down to a total stop. Everyone sat for about 10 minutes while some workers did something in the middle of the highway. They would have all died if the State Cop hadn't protected them like he did. it was a neat thing to see, something brand new.
I had a question nag me all day. Here it is: "Are ALL farm machines doomed to wind up rusting in somebody's barnyard?" It doesn't seem to matter what kind of agricultural technology comes along--pretty soon it's obsolete and gets parked and then rusts into oblivion. Does that mean the $250,000 rigs we see on the implement lot today will meet the same fate in some distant tomorrow? it's a very nagging question.
Also, I had a very insane question come into my mind. Do black cows have higher body temperatures than lighter colorer cows? What if you wore black all day in the sun--wouldn't you bake your buns off? How come they don't get dehydrated faster when they are black. And, finally, is meat from a black cow tastier than a lighter cow's meat because it's been pre-seared?
Ah, the joys of travel.
We didn't stop at IKEA because we had just been stopped in that traffic thing I described above and I wanted to boogies to Cabela's. By the way, we didn't spend a dime in cabela's and it's not the first time we've walked in and out with our cash intact. The stuff in that store is grossly overpriced!
A lady bug came into the car someplace in the urban wilderness of Salt Lake. I had Susun capture it and we carried it out to the Young Living Lavender Farms south of Payson. She then got out and let it go in really wonderful habitat. Fly, Lady Bug, Fly!
I-15 seemed very busy today, much more so than we would have guessed. I'm talking about the far rural portions of it where the traffic has to be "distance travelers" and not bumpkins going one of hayseed spit of a town to the next hayseed spit of a city. No, all of the traffic was clearly "going someplace." we were driving 70 and were the slowest vehicle in I-15. Many of the vehicles were doing probably 85 or more and some passed us like we were standing still. Normally I-15 isn't that busy. Yes, I know it's a friday but, so what? Bottom line is that we both think the increased traffic we're seeing up on I-15 near Idaho Falls and especially the traffic we saw today is an indicator of an economy that's healing to a point where people are willing to get out and spend money traveling. In other words, it's a good thing, as Martha would say.
well, that's about all. I'm gonna shut 'er down now and get some shut eye myself. Ain't that what they call it here with them Western Legends cowpokes? "Well, pard, time for some shut eye."
Adios, amigo & muy margaritas, too!
It's NOT Bon-Bon--it's BOB-BON
well, when you are tired, your eyes play tricks on ya. You know how that goes. So, we pulled into this place and I thought it was the Bon-Bon Inn. I even mentioned the name to the owner. he gave me a weird look but everyone in Kay-Nab does that so I didn't think anything about it. Well, I was getting ready to do this blog post and I thought, "Gee, let's see if the Bon-Bon Inn has a website!" So, Good Ol' Google corrects me and says ,"Did you mean Bob-Bon Inn?" well, DUH, yeah, I guess so.
Anyway, you can click here to see the place that Bob & Bonnie built in 1990. They have it up for sale now--good luck! Buying a lodging establishment in Kay-Nab in the recession doesn't look like a real smart thing to do. Bob said his wife, Bonnie, in charge of the "Western Legends Roundup." Since its inception about 10 years ago, it's grown into a MAJOR event for Kay-Nab. Click here for it's website. They have all these movie star photos in the small lobby and they have a bunch of western kitsch scattered about the grounds. It's an endearing little place run by real Americans who are heavily involved in thier community. Ain't no curry cooking Asians here!
We're definitely coming back to this place!
Anyway, you can click here to see the place that Bob & Bonnie built in 1990. They have it up for sale now--good luck! Buying a lodging establishment in Kay-Nab in the recession doesn't look like a real smart thing to do. Bob said his wife, Bonnie, in charge of the "Western Legends Roundup." Since its inception about 10 years ago, it's grown into a MAJOR event for Kay-Nab. Click here for it's website. They have all these movie star photos in the small lobby and they have a bunch of western kitsch scattered about the grounds. It's an endearing little place run by real Americans who are heavily involved in thier community. Ain't no curry cooking Asians here!
We're definitely coming back to this place!
13 Tweets Today
we weren't counting so it was with great curiosity that I went to see how we did. The typos are atrocious but the meaning of the messages "came through" OK. There were 13 total posts, or Tweets as they are called by other dittoheads who use this crazy medium. I posted the first two and then Susun got on my case about the safety issues of me posting the tweets. So, I said, "Well, then YOU are going to have to do it!" As you know, Susun's a technophobe and she didn't exactly freak out but anyone could tell she was nervous about the whole deal--learning a whole new trade "on the fly," so to speak. I was very proud of her, she jumped right in and decided to tackle the task with great tenacity and style. Before you know it, BAM--she was a texting fool! She really got into it and I would dictate the content and she would text it. She called me her "dictator." I dunno if that was a compliment or what.
She even texted one of her daughters and got a reply and then replied to the reply. WOW, this was like the day Marconi radioed over to Europe or Edison discovered light bulbs or Morse cracked his own code--it was awesome! I did do a few when we were stopped but she carried the weight of those 13 tweets. It was great. Pretty soon, she was talking about getting an iPhone! Now, THAT's progress.
I thought the use of Twitter in this application worked pretty well. Granted, no one is particularly interested in two old snowbirds driving down an interstate highway. But it's the principle that counts here. This is a "proof of concept" exercise. Let's say we were doing something really important like returning library books or feeding the neighbor's cat, we just KNOW there would be untold millions out there who would hang breathlessly on our every step!
Well, we will continue to use this tool through the trip. The frequency of Tweets will most likely become fewer as time passes. Doing 13 in one day is a LOT of Twittering. Time will tell.
Stay tuned.
She even texted one of her daughters and got a reply and then replied to the reply. WOW, this was like the day Marconi radioed over to Europe or Edison discovered light bulbs or Morse cracked his own code--it was awesome! I did do a few when we were stopped but she carried the weight of those 13 tweets. It was great. Pretty soon, she was talking about getting an iPhone! Now, THAT's progress.
I thought the use of Twitter in this application worked pretty well. Granted, no one is particularly interested in two old snowbirds driving down an interstate highway. But it's the principle that counts here. This is a "proof of concept" exercise. Let's say we were doing something really important like returning library books or feeding the neighbor's cat, we just KNOW there would be untold millions out there who would hang breathlessly on our every step!
Well, we will continue to use this tool through the trip. The frequency of Tweets will most likely become fewer as time passes. Doing 13 in one day is a LOT of Twittering. Time will tell.
Stay tuned.
Settled into Little Hollywood
Yeah, it's not only Little Hollywood, they claim it's "The Greatest Earth on Show." These people down here in Kanab are shameless in their pursuit of tourist dollars. We decided to blow right through Panguitch for a five reasons:
a) It was insanely early when we arrived--4 pm. Even after goofing off while gassing up the truck, it was only 4:15 when we left. As we've noted, there is NOTHING to do in Panguitch and we might have died of terminal boredom.
b) There was a controlled burn on the Markagunt Plateau. A third grader could tell you the smoke was going to settle overnight into Panguitch. I'd bet the place has near zero visibility tomorrow before sunrise--the smoke will be choking! There is practically no air movement in Panguitch unless one helluva storm front moves through. That's why it gets colder than cold there in the winter--all the cold air settles in and has literally no place to go. Uh, huh, we learned that from our 4.5 months nearby in 2001. Fire smoke upwind goes straight to Panguitch!
c) We wanted to see the sunset light up the Elk Heart Cliffs. There's a giant sculpted rampart of Navajo Sandstone draped gloriously along the east side of Hwy 89 between roughly Orderville and a zone south of the Mt. Carmel Junction. This cliff line is spectacular in almost any light. However, it truly comes alive with the low angle western light. WOW. We timed our arrival perfectly and, yea verily, it was one of them "Greatest Earth on Show" episodes they brag about in Kay-Nab.
d) Reason # four is that it was nearing "deer time." Deer Time ain't no picnic--that's when Bambi & Friends leap out of the forest and commit suicide on the front of cars and trucks. Highway 89 between Kanab & Panguitch is a graveyard of road kill deer. So, we boogied as fast as we could for Kanab to get ahead of prime Deer Time. We have on other deer gauntlet to run tomorrow up on the Kaibab Monocline. That ridge is FAMOUS for deer collisions. Many deer spend their whole lives dreaming of dying on the front of a Peterbilt. It oughta be interesting.
e) The final reason is that we wanted to gain an hour on our drive time tomorrow. it's now only going to be five hours instead of six. With a little luck and a very short pit stop in Page, we might be able to get to the VOC Post Office before they close at noon. We're hoping to leave at 6 am--any later and there's no chance of making the noon deadline. Who knows whether we will arise and leave that early?
When we arrived in Kay-Nab a little before 5:30 pm, we skimmed the appearance of the motels on the "northbound" side of town. We spotted one that said "All rooms $49" but a homey looking one toward the edge of town had caught my eye. Susun is the "Price Commando." She can get a best price out of anyone. Must be her smile and blue eyes. Anyway, she got $39 plus $4.47 tax outta the guy for Room #7. I will proc some pix later. We got unpacked and settled in before 6 pm. The guy's WIFI rox and it's a nice room. Whew, 540 miles in 10 hours for a 54 mph average including stops and so forth. That's flying, folks--balls to the walls and all of that. I feel real good to be here.
well, we will post other stuff later--time to relax, eat and shuffle around, fluffing our feathers and preening like two snowbirds in a Kanab motel room.
a) It was insanely early when we arrived--4 pm. Even after goofing off while gassing up the truck, it was only 4:15 when we left. As we've noted, there is NOTHING to do in Panguitch and we might have died of terminal boredom.
b) There was a controlled burn on the Markagunt Plateau. A third grader could tell you the smoke was going to settle overnight into Panguitch. I'd bet the place has near zero visibility tomorrow before sunrise--the smoke will be choking! There is practically no air movement in Panguitch unless one helluva storm front moves through. That's why it gets colder than cold there in the winter--all the cold air settles in and has literally no place to go. Uh, huh, we learned that from our 4.5 months nearby in 2001. Fire smoke upwind goes straight to Panguitch!
d) Reason # four is that it was nearing "deer time." Deer Time ain't no picnic--that's when Bambi & Friends leap out of the forest and commit suicide on the front of cars and trucks. Highway 89 between Kanab & Panguitch is a graveyard of road kill deer. So, we boogied as fast as we could for Kanab to get ahead of prime Deer Time. We have on other deer gauntlet to run tomorrow up on the Kaibab Monocline. That ridge is FAMOUS for deer collisions. Many deer spend their whole lives dreaming of dying on the front of a Peterbilt. It oughta be interesting.
e) The final reason is that we wanted to gain an hour on our drive time tomorrow. it's now only going to be five hours instead of six. With a little luck and a very short pit stop in Page, we might be able to get to the VOC Post Office before they close at noon. We're hoping to leave at 6 am--any later and there's no chance of making the noon deadline. Who knows whether we will arise and leave that early?
When we arrived in Kay-Nab a little before 5:30 pm, we skimmed the appearance of the motels on the "northbound" side of town. We spotted one that said "All rooms $49" but a homey looking one toward the edge of town had caught my eye. Susun is the "Price Commando." She can get a best price out of anyone. Must be her smile and blue eyes. Anyway, she got $39 plus $4.47 tax outta the guy for Room #7. I will proc some pix later. We got unpacked and settled in before 6 pm. The guy's WIFI rox and it's a nice room. Whew, 540 miles in 10 hours for a 54 mph average including stops and so forth. That's flying, folks--balls to the walls and all of that. I feel real good to be here.
well, we will post other stuff later--time to relax, eat and shuffle around, fluffing our feathers and preening like two snowbirds in a Kanab motel room.
Downleg gas prices
What a legacy!
I'm always surprised by how few people up here know about Utah's Legacy Parkway. It's made the drive through Salt Lake enjoyable. Click here to read about it. We really love this piece of highway--it's everything an urban expressway should be. Instead of dreading the 100-mile Salt Lake metroplex madness, we know look forward to it, primarily because of this mere 14-mile stretch of artistic concrete. Technically that's only 14% of the gauntlet but, wow, what a difference it makes.
One of the Sights
Lake Bonnevile was freaking HUGE--lots of glaciers melted and the runoff had nowhere to go. A huge lake formed in west central Utah. Finally, the water rose high enough that it breached a weak spot in the shoreline near what's now Red Rock Pass. A biblical flood of epic proportions then took place. A trip south on I-15 takes you right up the gut of this flood south of Pocatello and then you go over the Malad Summit and drop right into the belly of the lake. For about 100 miles you can scan the eastern foothills looking for lake-carved shorelines and terraces.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
48 hours
It's amazing what can happen in 48 hours. Tuesday afternoon, I was feeling fine and about 4 pm I got whacked flat my some strange medical issue. I was down for nearly 36 of the past 48 hours. Luckily, I rallied up and am ready to rock and roll again.
I think it was case of severe dehydration. Man, ya just gotta drink water, drink water--repeat after me--drink water. Got that?
Luckily, we started packing for this trip a long time ago. If we had waited until the last minute (AKA last weekend) we would have never made it. We're leaving early because our house in Arizona was vandalized last weekend. I'd guess the true damage estimate would be $4000-$5000. It remains to be seen what we do about it when we arrive.
Today was the last big grunt packing the truck. Luckily, it all fit in perfect "swiss watch" style. So far, I haven't seen anything unusual about the packing rig--except that the back of the truck is plumb full to the max. This is a hybrid trip--we're totally rigged for camping but we also have to rig for housekeeping AND rig for damage control due to the vandalism. So, we have all of our tools: hand tools, power tools, long-handled tools, etc. That makes a real mess when you are packing the back of a pickup truck.
There's really not much left to do--My "TO DO" list is down to a single page and the main item on it is "pack mroe socks." So, you can see there isn't much left to do. I also plan to find a plce to rat-hole some sodas and canned V-8 juice. Other than that, it's time to clear camera cards and get teh electronics stashed properly. Susun has been a "Cleaning Fool" today and this house is spotless. She really likes to return home to a clean house--wow, she really outdid herself today! THANK YOU, Susun!
Gee, I even had time for a haircut today--at a real hair place even. Susun can do my hair but it's worth $11 to get it done F-A-S-T!
We're planning on leaving before 8 a.m. but we're really not in a hurry. Does that makes sense? Probably not. Mainly because we're only going to the Blue Pine Motel in Panguitch, Utah Friday night. we don't want to get there TOO early as there isn't much to do in Panguitch--unless you know the right people. We're going to stop at Cabela's and probably IKEA, too. That will definitely burn up some travel time.
Well, not much else to report. we're excited about using the new cell phone to update our Twitter account. This is opening up a whole new era of travel for us.
Hopefully, Sarah, Stasea and others will be able to follow our trip progress pretty much as it unfolds.
Thanks for reading. We probably won't have a chance to update this blog in Panguitch. Maybe they have WI-FI and maybe they don't. If they do, we will update it. otherwise, I am not certain when we will update it. The best thing to watch is the Twitter account:
http://twitter.com/thesnowbirds
Have a great day & Cheers!
I think it was case of severe dehydration. Man, ya just gotta drink water, drink water--repeat after me--drink water. Got that?
Luckily, we started packing for this trip a long time ago. If we had waited until the last minute (AKA last weekend) we would have never made it. We're leaving early because our house in Arizona was vandalized last weekend. I'd guess the true damage estimate would be $4000-$5000. It remains to be seen what we do about it when we arrive.
Today was the last big grunt packing the truck. Luckily, it all fit in perfect "swiss watch" style. So far, I haven't seen anything unusual about the packing rig--except that the back of the truck is plumb full to the max. This is a hybrid trip--we're totally rigged for camping but we also have to rig for housekeeping AND rig for damage control due to the vandalism. So, we have all of our tools: hand tools, power tools, long-handled tools, etc. That makes a real mess when you are packing the back of a pickup truck.
There's really not much left to do--My "TO DO" list is down to a single page and the main item on it is "pack mroe socks." So, you can see there isn't much left to do. I also plan to find a plce to rat-hole some sodas and canned V-8 juice. Other than that, it's time to clear camera cards and get teh electronics stashed properly. Susun has been a "Cleaning Fool" today and this house is spotless. She really likes to return home to a clean house--wow, she really outdid herself today! THANK YOU, Susun!
Gee, I even had time for a haircut today--at a real hair place even. Susun can do my hair but it's worth $11 to get it done F-A-S-T!
We're planning on leaving before 8 a.m. but we're really not in a hurry. Does that makes sense? Probably not. Mainly because we're only going to the Blue Pine Motel in Panguitch, Utah Friday night. we don't want to get there TOO early as there isn't much to do in Panguitch--unless you know the right people. We're going to stop at Cabela's and probably IKEA, too. That will definitely burn up some travel time.
Well, not much else to report. we're excited about using the new cell phone to update our Twitter account. This is opening up a whole new era of travel for us.
Hopefully, Sarah, Stasea and others will be able to follow our trip progress pretty much as it unfolds.
Thanks for reading. We probably won't have a chance to update this blog in Panguitch. Maybe they have WI-FI and maybe they don't. If they do, we will update it. otherwise, I am not certain when we will update it. The best thing to watch is the Twitter account:
http://twitter.com/thesnowbirds
Have a great day & Cheers!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Online suite
In conjunction with making the "Official Snowbird" business cards described below, I needed to flesh out our online resources. I created a new gmail account, this blog and a twitter account. Obviously, the blog is self-explanatory as you are reading it.
I also listed an old website on the business card. time will tell if I can renovate that website to host various materials that don't really fit into the scope and purpose of a blog and a twitter. I don't like Facebook so I'm not going there.
Why bother with all of this stuff? Simple--it's a matter of Identity and Self-Esteem.
Why be a faceless grain of sand on the snowbird shores? Why not put a little sparkle in our sand grain? Why not stand out a little from all the other trillions of sand grains? That's what personality is all about. We're happy to call ourselves snowbirds and we're happier to celebrate the fact and provide our family and friends with ways to follow in our snowbirds steps.
I also listed an old website on the business card. time will tell if I can renovate that website to host various materials that don't really fit into the scope and purpose of a blog and a twitter. I don't like Facebook so I'm not going there.
Why bother with all of this stuff? Simple--it's a matter of Identity and Self-Esteem.
Why be a faceless grain of sand on the snowbird shores? Why not put a little sparkle in our sand grain? Why not stand out a little from all the other trillions of sand grains? That's what personality is all about. We're happy to call ourselves snowbirds and we're happier to celebrate the fact and provide our family and friends with ways to follow in our snowbirds steps.
Official Snowbird
After getting the PO BOX described below, I set about making up our "OFFICIAL SNOWBIRD" business cards. They are really spiff and I will post up a picture of them here later today. The wonder colored title makes everyone smiles and it's true--we are now actually "Official Snowbirds!"
Postal magic
We are "Serial Post Office Box Renters." I'm pretty sure we've had about 20 post office boxes in our lifetime, including three that were PO BOX #1. (Dove Creek, Colorado, Clayton, Idaho, and Sula, Montana)
SOmeday we're going to make a list of every place we've had PO boxes. Well, you can add yet another city to that list after yesterday voodoo: Sedona.
Yep, we now have PO 21583 in what's locally known as The Village of Oak Creek (VOC). The scions of the Post Office Ivory Tower wouldn't let VOC be called "VOC," it simply MUST be Sedona. Well, it's not really Sedona, but it sure looks like it on a letterhead or business card.
How in the heck did I get a PO BOX there while I'm still up in Idaho Falls. Hey, all this post office box rental obsession has got to be good for something. It turns out that anyone can rent a PO BOX anywhere by going online and jumping a bunch of hoops. Be sure to have a printer enabled and connected when you do this.
Anyway, I rented a PO BOX at VOC for $22 including the key deposit. I put it on a credit card. I waited a short time and then called the post office there. Luckily, the clerk was actually looking at my online scripts when I called. What a coincidence. So, I politely asked her to assign the number and she did so on the spot. Hence, we can now use the number to prep business cards and letterheads BEFORE we get to Arizona. This is a huge time saver.
We decided to forego Rimrock as our postal base--we had PO #3 there forever but the morons that run the Rimrock Post Office are as unfriendly as I've ever seen. I have zero tolerance for those types of people these days. Also, we've decided to do our shopping in "The Village" as VOC is called. There's a nice independent store there called "Weber's." It will sure beat traveling to Cottonwood to shop. I couldn't care less what they charge at Weber's, the lack of aggravation will be worth the extra price. Anyway, we can check our PO Box when we go grocery shopping.
SOmeday we're going to make a list of every place we've had PO boxes. Well, you can add yet another city to that list after yesterday voodoo: Sedona.
Yep, we now have PO 21583 in what's locally known as The Village of Oak Creek (VOC). The scions of the Post Office Ivory Tower wouldn't let VOC be called "VOC," it simply MUST be Sedona. Well, it's not really Sedona, but it sure looks like it on a letterhead or business card.
How in the heck did I get a PO BOX there while I'm still up in Idaho Falls. Hey, all this post office box rental obsession has got to be good for something. It turns out that anyone can rent a PO BOX anywhere by going online and jumping a bunch of hoops. Be sure to have a printer enabled and connected when you do this.
Anyway, I rented a PO BOX at VOC for $22 including the key deposit. I put it on a credit card. I waited a short time and then called the post office there. Luckily, the clerk was actually looking at my online scripts when I called. What a coincidence. So, I politely asked her to assign the number and she did so on the spot. Hence, we can now use the number to prep business cards and letterheads BEFORE we get to Arizona. This is a huge time saver.
We decided to forego Rimrock as our postal base--we had PO #3 there forever but the morons that run the Rimrock Post Office are as unfriendly as I've ever seen. I have zero tolerance for those types of people these days. Also, we've decided to do our shopping in "The Village" as VOC is called. There's a nice independent store there called "Weber's." It will sure beat traveling to Cottonwood to shop. I couldn't care less what they charge at Weber's, the lack of aggravation will be worth the extra price. Anyway, we can check our PO Box when we go grocery shopping.
Caught in the clutches
Before every major trip* we always have the vehicle "gone through." In this case, it's been a genuine process--a process that's still not complete.
The first step was to take the vehicle to Oswald's and have it inspected. We also specifically asked for a new serpentine belt--the old one has survived for 8 years. Time for a new one. Everything checked out and the total bill as $106.
We had Oswald's lube the truck but we change the oil and filters ourselves. The cost of materials was about $30.
We then had the tires rotated and their air pressure checked. We learned one wheel was bent but usable with extra weights to balance it. We will try to find one in Arizona. We bought and installed new wipers for $17.
Next we took the truck to Clutch World to have it checked. The guy there delivered the bad news--it needed a new clutch. Yesterday we took it in and got it back just before his closing time. The clutch was in really bad shape and it was a minor miracle that the truck was functional. It probably would not have made the round trip to Arizona without a new clutch. Cost: $519.
Next up is the fuel pump. We forgot to have Oswald's replace it last week. Normally, we replace it every spring but have forgotten for the past 2-3 years. It's a critical component of a Big Block 454 Chevy.
We have added Lucas fuel stabilizer to the gas tank and will top it off today or tomorrow. We will also wash up the vehicle. we've gone through every nook and cranny of the front compartment pulling out old worthless stuff so we can replace it with new (presumably worthwhile) stuff.
We will have well over $700 invested in the truck to prepare for this trip. However, teh stuff we've had done will last a long time, well through next year's summer driving season. It's not really an expense that can only be tagged for this particular trip. However, it's important to do these things prior to a major trip*.
*What's a 'major trip'? Well, anything that's only for a few days in your local vicinity is a local trip. A major trip is in excess of 2000 miles and traverses at least 2-3 states while lasting at least 1-2 weeks or months or more.
The first step was to take the vehicle to Oswald's and have it inspected. We also specifically asked for a new serpentine belt--the old one has survived for 8 years. Time for a new one. Everything checked out and the total bill as $106.
We had Oswald's lube the truck but we change the oil and filters ourselves. The cost of materials was about $30.
We then had the tires rotated and their air pressure checked. We learned one wheel was bent but usable with extra weights to balance it. We will try to find one in Arizona. We bought and installed new wipers for $17.
Next we took the truck to Clutch World to have it checked. The guy there delivered the bad news--it needed a new clutch. Yesterday we took it in and got it back just before his closing time. The clutch was in really bad shape and it was a minor miracle that the truck was functional. It probably would not have made the round trip to Arizona without a new clutch. Cost: $519.
Next up is the fuel pump. We forgot to have Oswald's replace it last week. Normally, we replace it every spring but have forgotten for the past 2-3 years. It's a critical component of a Big Block 454 Chevy.
We have added Lucas fuel stabilizer to the gas tank and will top it off today or tomorrow. We will also wash up the vehicle. we've gone through every nook and cranny of the front compartment pulling out old worthless stuff so we can replace it with new (presumably worthwhile) stuff.
We will have well over $700 invested in the truck to prepare for this trip. However, teh stuff we've had done will last a long time, well through next year's summer driving season. It's not really an expense that can only be tagged for this particular trip. However, it's important to do these things prior to a major trip*.
*What's a 'major trip'? Well, anything that's only for a few days in your local vicinity is a local trip. A major trip is in excess of 2000 miles and traverses at least 2-3 states while lasting at least 1-2 weeks or months or more.
A Twittering we will go
Yesterday was a milestone day. I finally figgered how to jigger a cell phone into talking with Twitter. It's quite a story and worth telling here at Snowbird Central.
Below you can read about the new wal-Mart cell phone and Google Voice. The Straight Talk cell phone prepaid card includes 1000 free text messages. Well, why not actually USE those text messages? Novel idea, eh?
Last night was T-Day for storming the beaches of the texting frontier. I must admit, it wasn't easy--it took me quite some time to figger out. But, I conquered the foe and now I can text to other people's cell phone and, most importantly to Twitter.
To learn how I feel about this milestone, I reprint here an email I sent to a friend last night explaining this giant leap forward.
---------------------(Begin quoted email)---------------
Well, I once knew how to text from a Tracfone but I've long since forgotten. When I realized that this Straight Talk phone has 1000 free text messages, I suddenly became interested once again. On the old Tracfone, everytime I texted, it took a half minute away from my service--hence the texts were expensive so I didn't bother. Plus, who really cares anyway?
Well, you know, Twitter is on the scene now and it definitely has various degrees of usefulness. I have been using it for very esoteric reasons that have only to do with enhancing Google search results. I have had GREAT success with this pursuit. However, I haven't remotely cared about the "other" more mainstream uses for Twitter. "WHO cares?" has been my mantra.
Well, suddenly tonight I realized that it's ME, myself and EYE who should care. Yep, it's amazing what one thousand free texts will do to an old codger. After some degree of cornfusion, I was able to activate the Wal-Mart ST phone into my new twitter account (the one that is NOT work-related) and then I practiced for awhile sending to the account. I have got it down, my man! DOWN, I say, absolutely wired up!
So, what does this mean in the real world? Well, actually a lot. Now, I can actually use Twitter for the stupid purpose for which it was intended--to tell people what I am doing RIGHT FREAKING NOW! What that means is that on this upcoming trip, we can actually post updates on our progress and wherabouts and so forth in real time from the road via the cell phone and Twitter. We don't need to place a lot of phone calls to various people and we don't need to be sitting in front of a computer--nope, we simply send one update to teh Twitter and then anyone who cares enough to wonder what the heck we are doing can go to Twitter and see the sequential messages all laid out in their stupid glory. In this case, it's a totally suitable and right and proper usage of Twitter. We can say stuff like "Passing Pocatello," or "Making time at Malad," or "OMG, we almost into teh SLC mayhem madness" or "We're alive in Spanish Fork." You get the picture. A simple SMS will tell a significant story to whomever might be interested in our whereabouts.
All this time, I thought Twitter was worthless. Who knew? I've finally found a marginally worthwhile usage of the stupid thing. WHA--WHOOO!
---------------(End of quoted email)-----------------
Here is the Twitter Account that is linked to this cell phone:
http://twitter.com/thesnowbirds
Below you can read about the new wal-Mart cell phone and Google Voice. The Straight Talk cell phone prepaid card includes 1000 free text messages. Well, why not actually USE those text messages? Novel idea, eh?
Last night was T-Day for storming the beaches of the texting frontier. I must admit, it wasn't easy--it took me quite some time to figger out. But, I conquered the foe and now I can text to other people's cell phone and, most importantly to Twitter.
To learn how I feel about this milestone, I reprint here an email I sent to a friend last night explaining this giant leap forward.
---------------------(Begin quoted email)---------------
Well, I once knew how to text from a Tracfone but I've long since forgotten. When I realized that this Straight Talk phone has 1000 free text messages, I suddenly became interested once again. On the old Tracfone, everytime I texted, it took a half minute away from my service--hence the texts were expensive so I didn't bother. Plus, who really cares anyway?
Well, you know, Twitter is on the scene now and it definitely has various degrees of usefulness. I have been using it for very esoteric reasons that have only to do with enhancing Google search results. I have had GREAT success with this pursuit. However, I haven't remotely cared about the "other" more mainstream uses for Twitter. "WHO cares?" has been my mantra.
Well, suddenly tonight I realized that it's ME, myself and EYE who should care. Yep, it's amazing what one thousand free texts will do to an old codger. After some degree of cornfusion, I was able to activate the Wal-Mart ST phone into my new twitter account (the one that is NOT work-related) and then I practiced for awhile sending to the account. I have got it down, my man! DOWN, I say, absolutely wired up!
So, what does this mean in the real world? Well, actually a lot. Now, I can actually use Twitter for the stupid purpose for which it was intended--to tell people what I am doing RIGHT FREAKING NOW! What that means is that on this upcoming trip, we can actually post updates on our progress and wherabouts and so forth in real time from the road via the cell phone and Twitter. We don't need to place a lot of phone calls to various people and we don't need to be sitting in front of a computer--nope, we simply send one update to teh Twitter and then anyone who cares enough to wonder what the heck we are doing can go to Twitter and see the sequential messages all laid out in their stupid glory. In this case, it's a totally suitable and right and proper usage of Twitter. We can say stuff like "Passing Pocatello," or "Making time at Malad," or "OMG, we almost into teh SLC mayhem madness" or "We're alive in Spanish Fork." You get the picture. A simple SMS will tell a significant story to whomever might be interested in our whereabouts.
All this time, I thought Twitter was worthless. Who knew? I've finally found a marginally worthwhile usage of the stupid thing. WHA--WHOOO!
---------------(End of quoted email)-----------------
Here is the Twitter Account that is linked to this cell phone:
http://twitter.com/thesnowbirds
Cell phone success
For obvious reasons, I cant' really use my cell phone from the office while on a snowbird soiree. As you know, the cell phone industry is a jungle of competing plans, programs, promotions, offers, counter offers and outright scams. To be safe, I wanted to get a prepaid so I wouldn't be locked into any contracts.
However, the trouble with prepaids is that I and others who have used them generally switch prepaid phone providers on a regular basis. I've used two prepaid providers in the past and can't remember either phone number assigned to those units. Therein lies one of the many problems.
Luckily, we discovered Wal-Mart's "Straight Talk" cell phone. It's almost as if this phone was invented just for us and arrived in stock at the perfect time for us. The timing of our discovery of this phone is amazing.
Basically, it cost us $72 and that includes 30 days of service including 1000 talk minutes, 1000 text messages, unlimited calls to 411 and 30 megabytes of web access.
The next thing that happened is really, truly "off the charts." We discovered Google Voice. This esoteric feature of Google giant stable of widgets is perfect for snowbirds.
We now have one single Google Voice number 208-557-9630. We can now link ANY cell phone or landline to this number! So, that means that I don't have to even bother trying to remember the Straight Talk phone's number. I simply linked it to Google Voice and now I can give out the Google Voice number. It doesn't matter one iota if we keep the Straight Talk phone or get another one or whatever. From now on, I can give out a single number and be done with it. No more confusion about changing cell phone numbers!
However, the trouble with prepaids is that I and others who have used them generally switch prepaid phone providers on a regular basis. I've used two prepaid providers in the past and can't remember either phone number assigned to those units. Therein lies one of the many problems.
Luckily, we discovered Wal-Mart's "Straight Talk" cell phone. It's almost as if this phone was invented just for us and arrived in stock at the perfect time for us. The timing of our discovery of this phone is amazing.
Basically, it cost us $72 and that includes 30 days of service including 1000 talk minutes, 1000 text messages, unlimited calls to 411 and 30 megabytes of web access.
The next thing that happened is really, truly "off the charts." We discovered Google Voice. This esoteric feature of Google giant stable of widgets is perfect for snowbirds.
We now have one single Google Voice number 208-557-9630. We can now link ANY cell phone or landline to this number! So, that means that I don't have to even bother trying to remember the Straight Talk phone's number. I simply linked it to Google Voice and now I can give out the Google Voice number. It doesn't matter one iota if we keep the Straight Talk phone or get another one or whatever. From now on, I can give out a single number and be done with it. No more confusion about changing cell phone numbers!
Gearing up to go
It's about 6 am Tuesday, November 3rd--election day here in Idaho Falls. It's a good thing to hang around long enough to vote--snowbirds should never abandon ship until they vote--it's their patriotic and civic duty, especially in a hotly contested city council election. Afterall, the two incumbents are very "pro" Greenbelt and that thing strip of magic is one of the reasons we moved here. Gawd forbid that they lose to the heathens that are running against them.
We've already notified the Post Office to hold mail--a Snowbird ritual exceeded only by the coveted "forward mail" process. You're really only a true snowbird when you actual spend long enough down south to have your mail forwarded to a private address.
We will be stopping the newspaper soon. We won't be gone long enough to put DISH TV, Cable ONE internet and the city services into hibernation. Afterall, this is a test run. We have, however, investigated the costs of all of the above and they are either free or very reasonable.
We spent most of the past two weekends packing like squirrels preparing for winter.
This Sunday was a final orgy of stuffing stuff into the back of the truck to see if it would all fit. Luckily, our vision of how to pack for this trip converts well to reality and we will have no problem. We had to sacrifice two normal essentials: A) the ability to see out the back window of the truck and B) a second cooler.
I know we will miss the second cooler but, alas, there simply isn't room--not when you're taking the chain saw, too.
We've already notified the Post Office to hold mail--a Snowbird ritual exceeded only by the coveted "forward mail" process. You're really only a true snowbird when you actual spend long enough down south to have your mail forwarded to a private address.
We will be stopping the newspaper soon. We won't be gone long enough to put DISH TV, Cable ONE internet and the city services into hibernation. Afterall, this is a test run. We have, however, investigated the costs of all of the above and they are either free or very reasonable.
We spent most of the past two weekends packing like squirrels preparing for winter.
This Sunday was a final orgy of stuffing stuff into the back of the truck to see if it would all fit. Luckily, our vision of how to pack for this trip converts well to reality and we will have no problem. We had to sacrifice two normal essentials: A) the ability to see out the back window of the truck and B) a second cooler.
I know we will miss the second cooler but, alas, there simply isn't room--not when you're taking the chain saw, too.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Why we promote Harry's Hideaway
We can't say for certain but we think that Harry's is making more innovative use of social media than any other Verde Valley/Sedona restaurant and possibly of any other VV/Sedona commercial enterprise period. It's inspirational to see the lengths to which this guy will go to put in a plug for his boutique restaurant. We think he's actually becoming a de facto role model for successful use of social media in promoting a small commercial enterprise. Let's face it, how else could a teeny business in tiny Cornville reach the outside world? By positioning himself on the leading face of the emerging social media tsunami, Harry's is creating a superb chance to surf to success!
That's why we are relentless promoters of this guy's enterprise and entrepreneurship. We've never even met him and his wife, much less visited their place. Afterall, we're in Idaho, not Cornville. Heck, we've never even talked with him on the phone either and we've had only one email interchange. So why the "rep?" Simple. Cornville and the other backwater rural nooks of Arizona need all the help this can get in this dicey, touch-and-go economy. It takes a lot of moxie to dare to open any kind of new business these days, let alone a small restaurant that's seemingly too small to attract a much broader audience, especially when it's smack dab next to the Nose Bleed Seats of High Dollar Sedona's so-called "culinary arts" houses.
We admire evolving stories such as this one and we want to do what we can to help. That's what is at the heart of social media networking. Afterall, despite the bells and whistles of internet technology, we're still all in this together, just as we were long before anybody even heard of something called the internet. Remember something called "Word-of-mouth" that was wildly popular back before the internet and email and text messages and Facebook and Twitter? Well, that's how we see our usage of social media to promote a place like Harry's. It's all about "buzz!"
If people step aside from their own personal interests once in awhile and put in a plug for somebody else's struggles for success, we all stand to enjoy a much brighter future. That's the way it's always worked and that's the way it always will work no matter what tools we use or how we use them.
Ya gotta love some Chicago Dude who dresses up as Elvis to cook in his own restaurant and makes funky YouTube videos about cilantro pesto and hummus and stuff like that. And ya gotta love his relentless use of Twitter and a WordPress blog. This is genuine Horatio Alger Stuff morphed for the 21st Century!
We don't have any pecuniary interest in Harry's and don't stand to gain a dime by plugging his place. Anybody who knows us personally knows simply that we will always root for the underdog and go the extra mile to help people who are trying to help themselves by helping others.
If you're reading this from some other far flung corner of our Nation or Globe, we heartily recommend that you, too, look around and see who you can help in your own context. Maybe it's a cause of some sort, perhaps as simple as your "no-kill" animal shelter or maybe it's a friend with an at-home business.
The social media tools now offer one of the best ways to promote other people without ever even leaving home! Put 'em to work and lend a hand--you'll be glad you did.
Cheers! jp
http://harryshideaway.com/
http://twitter.com/harrys_hideaway
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