Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Cabin Visit 2010 - Day 12
Today, we decided to make another short trip into Laramie. We needed cat food, wanted a supply of “special” bones for the dogs (for Christmas), I wanted a file to sharpen the chain saw, and we needed to make our annual trip to the West Laramie Fly Shop to buy a commemorative T-shirt. But, rather than go straight to town, we decided to take a long-cut over Sand Creek Pass down to the Laramie River Valley, up along the river to Woods Landing, then into Laramie. It was a nice drive, we got our shopping done quickly, and we headed home, arriving around noon. (Oh yeah, and we filled up with cheap gas.)
We had the 24-hour, 7-layer salad for lunch. Then, we spent the afternoon cleaning the cabin and Lynne prepared her wonderful porcini mushroom lasagna.
Dave and Sally came over and we took a hike “around” since they had never seen the parcel we are on in detail. After that we talked while dinner cooked. We have some shared experiences with expatriate assignments at Hewlett Packard, and there is never a shortage of conversation. Dinner was great as was the frozen pie Lynne made for dessert.
I think it was close to 10:00 before we headed for bed and then I read for an hour to finish the second book in a trilogy I am reading.
It is hard to believe we have only two more days here. There are a lot of chores I have not done yet, and now wonder if they will ever get done on this trip.
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Monday, September 27, 2010
Cabin Visit 2010 - Day 11
I slept in a bit this morning. Lynne got up and fed the dogs. I got up and had some coffee but was so groggy I laid back down for a while. Must have been the cognac 
Two dogs joined me and we had a nice early morning nap.
Once I was up we took the dogs for a walk “around” so Lynne could see the work I’d done to groom the trail. Of course, the better job I do, the less noticeable it should be. She did comment that I did *not* cut a path through a large Aspen tree that has fallen close to picnic rock. Maybe I’ll give that a shot later. It will be a big job since the log is big and is laying in a way that it has tension on it.
After our walk, it was chore time! We replaced a rail on the fence by the entry, I washed all the windows in and out. I got the small chain saw running by replacing the gas with fresh. I took down some wires we had running to antennae on the roof—we don’t need them any more and one was broken anyway.
Corn dogs for lunch.
After all the chores in the morning, it was a lazy afternoon. Lynne made a dessert for Tuesday night when we will have company as well as a 24-hour Layered Salad which we’ll have for lunch for the rest of our stay.
I read for a while and then Larry & Donna came over to chat. Donna brought us some pastries she makes—I can’t spell the name—but they are like a donut and are delicious. So, that is breakfast tomorrow.
We had hamburgers for dinner again, and they were just as delicious as last week. There is something about the quality and flavor of the ground beef here that is superior to New Jersey (who gets the edge on seafood!)
After dinner we took a short drive looking for moose or elk. No moose, but we did see a herd of 21 elk down by Sand Creek in the pasture around Jack’s Cabin. It was getting pretty dark by then, so I don’t know if Lynne got good photos. And, the elk were very spooky (who wouldn’t be as we enter hunting season), so they ran down to the shelter of the creek after a minute. Still, it was great seeing some wild life (other than Ed) up here.
I watched the new “Robin Hood” movie on DirecTV, while Lynne napped on the couch and we were off to bed around 10:30.
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Cabin Visit 2010 - Day 10
Day 10 was another shopping day in Laramie. We were about to head out about 8:15 or so when a neighbor came by to give us some fresh tomatoes and basil. We’ll put that to good use! Then, the 40 minute drive to Laramie. We needed some stuff from the farm supply store, Walmart, Albertson’s (grocery), the hardware store, and the feed store. The feed store was closed, but we go everything else accomplished. The birds even got some human grade peanuts since would could not buy them at the feed store.
We had lunch at Shari’s (a family restaurant in town) with Sally—a long time and dear friend from Fort Collins. It was great to catch up with her and her family and we enjoyed our time together very much. (Better than we enjoyed the food which sat heavy on us the rest of the day.) After leaving lunch we headed back to the cabin, arriving around 2:30. A long day in town.
Didn’t do much after getting home. I’m reserving tomorrow for chores 
For dinner we had Salt & Pepper Shrimp, an Asian-inspired shrimp dish that usually has mango juice and mangoes in it. But, we could not find any jarred or canned mangoes in Laramie, so we substituted chunky pineapple (and a little sugar) and it worked great. It was a “different” dish with the pineapple sauce and flavor, but equally as good as the original. I made brownies a couple of days ago, and that was dessert—along with a shot of cognac.
No TV. Just reading and talking and eventually off to bed.
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Sunday, September 26, 2010
Cabin Visit 2010 - Day 9
Breakfast burritos for breakfast this morning. Then a walk “around” during which we gave Bella some time to swim. The east side of the trail had a few fallen trees across it. So, after we got back to the cabin and I had some time to rest, I took off with the chain saw and did what I could to groom the trail and make it easier to walk.
Big day.
We finished a puzzle. I played a game on my iPad for a couple of hours.
Dinner was Chipotle Chicken Salad, a new recipe that was really good. We watched some episodes of “Chopped” on TV and went to bed and read.
Like I said, Big Day!
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Saturday, September 25, 2010
Cabin Visit 2010 - Day 8
We arrived a week ago today. Time is warped up here. When we first arrive after a day or two I think that the time will pass so slow and it really is a long time in the future before we have to leave. Then, each day ticks by and before you know it, we are halfway through the visit, time is flying by and it will only be a few days before we have to pack up and leave.
Had muffins for breakfast and then took the dogs on a long walk up “poop hill”—repeating what we’d done the day before since Lynne had lost a lens cap from her camera and we thought maybe we’d find it if we took the same path. The wind was blowing pretty hard, but that did not stop us or the dogs. And, we did find the lens cap!
It was too windy to do much outside, so we stayed in most of the day. Lynne did some laundry and washed undies (they dry really fast on the line with the sun and wind). We worked on the puzzle some. Read some. Leftover chicken and potato salad for lunch.
MId-afternoon we went over to the Willets’ place to see how it is coming along. It will be very nice and we can tell they are proud of it. They have wonderful 360 degree views and a comfortable cabin. We look forward to seeing them again before we go.
I slow-cooked baby back ribs for dinner, so we ate kind of late. But, they were delicious. Lynne made some cole slaw and deviled eggs. And, for dessert we had some gooey brownies that I had made earlier in the day.
It was cool enough to have a fire in the fireplace. And, even if it wasn’t, we were determined to have a fire. We sat and watched the fire for a long time and then around 10:00 we went to bed. I love to lay in bed and watch the firelight flickering on the logs of the cabin.
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