A Bit of Everything

Slow Cooker Mix

We were perusing the grocery aisles and ran across a line of Campbell's mixes ready to use for crock pot meals. We've learned it is not a good idea to go grocery shopping while hungry, but these looked good so we gave it a chance.

We were not disappointed as the resultant pork roast turned out great.

Other Flavors available also

Castle Trucks

Every so often you run across something on the internet that makes you happy people with these kinds of talent exist. I subscribe to a newsletter for Tiny Houses. There is something about designing living spaces that are very small that appeals to me. Anything along those lines is of interest which might explain our going on tours of submarines, yachts, RV's, space capsules and every other kind of small living space we can find. The Tiny House newsletter is full of links to interesting small living spaces.

This couple in New Zealand has raised the bar on getting the most amount of living in a road-able vehicle while keeping the design theme of a castle. Watch for the video near the end of the link...

http://tinyhousetalk.com/solar-off-grid-transforming-castle-house-truck/


Lubed for Life

I was searching for an All Wheel Drive (AWD) vehicle that would be a good grocery getter for use in snow country. A search on Craigslist brought up an older Jaguar X-Type which has AWD as standard equipment. The car was priced right and is now part of the fleet.

One of the 'features' is the car came from the factory 'lubricated for life' which is the term meaning there is no easy way to change lubricating fluids. Fortunately the Jaguar owners club has come up with all kinds of techniques for accomplishing fluid changes in a car not designed to easily have them.

Our local body shop also does mechanical work so the Jag spent a day on the lift getting new fluids installed. Hopefully this will greatly extend the life of the vehicle.

Jaguar getting fluids changed

Big Lots

My Dad was a big fan of going to his local Big Lots store and seeing what goodies arrived on the truck for that week. Going there was a regular part of his retirement and it was a rare trip to visit him in which we didn't make the trek to see what he had found.

Today we were eating lunch and I looked up and saw there was a Big Lots across the street. This brought back a lot of memories so we ended up checking the place out. I can see why Dad liked the store as there were several goodies that will find their way under the tree.

We thought this had the right style for our tastes

Back in Kansas

We journeyed back to Kansas to spend time with family for the holidays and get caught up on projects around the house.

We went to Kansas City to spend time with Betsy, Blake and family. Had a great time at their place. Betsy took me to see her classroom and told me all about her school. That was enjoyable as a parent to see our daughters vocation up close.

Betsy in her nicely decorated class room

Betsy enjoys teaching third grade

Over the Holidays we watched movies with the little ones finding space where ever possible. Bennett found a soft lap.

Bennett, Julie and Dieter watching 'The Incredibles'

Some toys continue to be timeless and fun to assemble.

Made a trip to IKEA - first time at the new one in Kansas City.

Betsy and Julie checking out the new IKEA store.

The IKEA tent/fabric castle was a big hit with the boys and the cat. The latter seemed to think it was his personal cat cave...

Bennett checking out the fabric castle

The construction of raised bed garden structures required a trip to the lumber yard for supplies. The boys did a great job of helping select and stack wood.

Getting the boys exposed to the wonders of the lumber yard

The raised beds are ready for spring planting.

Raised beds await spring planting

The movie 'Frozen' is a hit with the grandsons.
 

Focused on watching 'Frozen'

Trailers and Switchbacks

The amount of snow is unusual for this early in the season. We've never had any issues with getting our RV off the mountain and down the switchbacks before Thanksgiving. This year is different. The snows resulted in snow packed steep mountain switchbacks making travel with the RV very 'iffy'. The alternative is to have left the unit in place on the mountain and hope the weight of the snows did no damage to the roof of the RV.

Trailer and truck in the snow

Pretty lighting as we prepared to leave

We decided to take the risk of getting the trailer down the mountain using chains on the truck AND the trailer and go VERY slow.

Chains of the rear of the 2WD pickup

Chains on the front axle of the RV

The deer were very interested in our preparing to head down the mountain

We took two hours to go 10 miles with stops several times to throw snow on the brakes to cool them down from the constant braking. We used the trailer brakes to lock up the wheels in the packed snow and let off periodically to let the truck brakes take over. It was a balancing act all the way down the switchbacks.

Letting the brakes cool

We started near the top of the mountain in the background

Julie was glad to be off the hill

I'm glad we got the RV off the mountain, but don't expect to ever do that kind of adventure again.

Snow

The weather here got a lot colder than normal much earlier than usual resulting in LOTS of snow.

Julie clearing snow from the pickup

Having a black roof helps the sun warm the snow and let it drip into rather incredible ice sickles.

We purchased a tractor to use for clearing snow and it arrived just in time. The delivery truck  and trailer got stuck at the bottom of the driveway and we had to unload the tractor and clear the road so the delivery guy could get out.

We've had three days of snow which allowed the tractor to get lots of use clearing snow and me learning how best to do so.

                            

Plowing the drive 

We keep track of the weather with a digital thermometer and a barometer using an old aircraft altimeter. It is interesting to watch the altitude change as the pressure changes. Readjusting the altitude to our location allows us to read the barometric pressure on the little window at the 3 o'clock position on the dial.

Altimeter and temperature help us track weather changes.

Tractor Shopping

We are exploring the tractor market and learning a lot. One thing we have found is how tractors come shipped to the dealerships...

Shipping frame protects the tractor in transit...

We've been driving all over looking at various brands. The nice part of that is the scenery is fabulous! Both of these images are taken at the rest stop on Highway 24 overlooking South Park, Colorado.

South Park History

This view of the Elk mountains  includes the Collegiate Mountains with peaks named Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Yale and Oxford 

Can't make a trip to the Front Range without going to eat at IKEA and doing some shopping.

Julie enjoying lunch at IKEA

Must have been a big one

We have a bird feeder mounted on the corner of the deck. It seems to keep the various birds and one squirrel happy, but no more.  We came home from Denver and found something had gotten on the deck and pretty well destroyed the feeder. Broke the plastic pipe holding it in place and shattered the bottom.

I'm on the watch now to figure out how that happened...

Critters

Lots of animals around here! The deer are almost like pets and are very comfortable with having us around, to the point they come up and inspect you rather closely.

Open range includes sheep and cattle and there is the usual assortment of birds, squirrels, chipmunks, grouse and elk.

This deer comes up and sniffs you sometimes...

One of the herd checking Julie

The sheep run down the middle of the road and only reluctantly let you by.

Spreading Gravel

Today was the day to spread gravel on the driveways surrounding the cottage. The driveways encircle the house mostly to support easy movement of vehicles around the place, but they are also recommended by the forest service as a fire break should the worst happen.

We rented a Kioti CK35 4WD tractor with a loader on the front and a box blade on the back to assist with moving and spreading gravel. We ended up with four loads of gravel and just about got all of them spread in one day.

The gravel truck driver did a great job of dropping the gravel in confined spaces and the Kioti was the right size for moving it around and leveling.

Julie used the ATV and a homemade pallet spreader to do the final leveling.

While we have the tractor we are doing some other chores such as moving firewood and rocks for the retaining walls.

Dumping  gravel in tight spots

Moving Firewood

Julie leveling gravel

Great day to be working

About ready to call it a day

Octopus?

We stopped in for lunch at the brewery in Ouray and found this bit of graffiti on the backside of the restroom door. Somebody has a good imagination...

Drunk Octopus or coat hook? You decide...

What a Rainbow!

I went outside after a brief rain shower and found this rainbow. I can't remember the last time I saw a full arch rainbow in such brilliant color.

A full arch rainbow

Didn't have time to look for the pot of gold at either end...

Packer Mania

Lake City is a bit infamous for the part of it's history involving Alferd Packer. Decades ago Mr. Packer ventured into the Colorado winter wilderness and survived only by consuming his travelling companions.

The spot where this took place is on the outskirts of Lake City. Quite a bit of lore exists due to this bit of history. This includes naming a sports bar/saloon after Mr. Packer. This is made all the more interesting as this is the local watering hole for watching football, including the Green Bay Packers.

We heard their Reuben sandwich was first class so we went to try it out. We were not disappointed - it was very good.

Packer Saloon - home of a great Reuben sandwich

You've got to love a place that has an image of Alferd Packer in a football jersey throwing a skull as its sign.

Steep Climb

We were looking at a detailed map showing Jeep trails and found one going to a radio tower above Lake City, Colorado. The day was nice so we thought we'd explore this and see what we found.

Turns out to be a good trail with lots of switchbacks but is really steep in places. I wouldn't advise taking this much later in the season as there is already snow and ice in spots near the top on the north side of the trail.

The views were well worth the trip.

Map with Jeep Trail to radio tower

View up near the tower

Julie overlooking the Slumgullion slide

One of the wetter parts of the trail

Overlooking the San Juan's

 We capped the day by trout fishing in Lake San Cristobal. No luck but a great place to watch the sun set.