Rick Robinson :: Personal Web Site

Immature Bald Eagle

On our walk the other day, I shot this picture of an immature bald eagle.

The Big Snow

It doesn’t have a name like “Irene”, but the Big Snow of October, 2011 deserves one and I can’t put it on this blog and keep it family-friendly. The Big Snow actually happened while we were away on a couple of days of vacation in New Mexico. We came home the day after the Big Snow, and had no problems with flights or getting to the house. But, we came home to a massive power failure. By the time we got home the electricity had been off for almost 24 hours. There was 15 or so inches of snow on the ground. Trees were down everywhere. The first action Lynne took once we got home, to her credit, was to locate the fire extinguishers. I guess she knew that we’d be turning our kitchen into the equivalent of a bomb factory within minutes. I found the two butane camp burners we have, and I managed to create a small butane explosion within a few minutes, singeing the hair on my hands. And, I carefully filled the oil lamps which could be turned over with the swish of a dog tail. Still, we managed to successfully cook some spaghetti for dinner and lived through it. We picked up the dogs on Monday morning and did some minimal shopping. Most shops were without electricity and closed. I learned that there are three things that sell out immediately: D-cell batteries (for flashlights and lamps, I assume), matches, and jugs of water. There may be others, but those are the ones we needed and had trouble finding. Luckily, from our preparations for Irene, we still had about 15 gallons of fresh water stored and had located lamps, lanterns and flashlights as well as candles. The only thing we had used up was the Gentleman Jack. Water is an issue. We need water to occasionally flush the toilets, and for drinking, cooking and cleanup. We did manage to buy about 8 gallons of fresh water and we are melting snow into buckets, so we should be good for a few days. It is cold in the house, but we have a nice fire going continuously in the wood stove and we have a kettle of water on top of it for hot water. Sleeping under a double layer of covers and next to a dog and cat helps us keep warm at night. Of course, living without electricity is a pain. We have to manually open the garage doors, there is no heat, no light, etc. And, we had to buy a percolator for coffee as well as ground coffee (we usually grind beans). Thanks to those of you who have inquired about us. We are surviving. It took a while this morning, but I did make it to work where it is warm, I can recharge the mobile appliances, and I even was able to take a nice hot shower (poor Lynne.) We are expected to have electricity between Wednesday and Friday. We can see the down line on the street below the house (but, that might not be the only one.) Lynne has photos on her site.

Hanging Out in the Drug Store

The other day I needed to fill a prescription. On my way home I drove by our local RiteAid and got that process started. I don’t often hang out in drug stores, and as I waited I was fascinated by all the products they sell to help people deal with ailments (real or imagined). The array of diet products was amazing. They had things to kill pain and other things that looked like they would inflict pain. They had stuff to help you pee and help you not pee. Fascinating! But, the display that I studied the most was a rack of about six shelves, near the pharmacy checkout. The top couple of shelves contained personal lubricant products. There were products for guys and products for women. Some were meant to stimulate, others to kill stimulation. Strawberry, edible, jars, bottles and squeeze tubes. They came in colors ranging from gray to purple. There were “jellys” and there were “oils”. Just under that display were the condoms. I have not spent time studying the condom selection in a drug store since I was in college and things have not changed too much. Still, way too much choice in my opinion. They come in every color you can imagine. Flavored, ribbed, even large and x-large (none were advertised as “small”.) Boxes with three and boxes with three dozen. I’m hoping they don’t expire. And, just under that were two shelves of birth control test kits.

Heading Home

On Saturday morning we were up at 6:00 and had everything and everyone packed and in the truck by 7:30. The final checklist was done: flues, heat, water, propane, rat traps We stayed at our regular “trip home” place in Council Bluffs, Iowa on Friday night. There is a Hardy’s there where we can eat 2000 calories in one sitting.Up at 6:00 on Sunday and on the road by 7:15 or so. We had gassed up the night before, so a coffee and breakfast sandwich at MacDonalds got us launched.Tonight we are just inside Ohio and also gassed up and ready to take off in the morning. We are waiting on a delivery pizza from Tano’s. It is always comforting to stay in the same places and even eat the same things as we travel. Takes away some of the stress. We even stop at the same rest stops for dog pees.We’ll be out of here around 7:00 tomorrow and home around 4:30.No real news from here, just wanted to finish these series of posts with a final summary.- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Days 15 & 16, 2011 Cabin Trip

Day 15 was actually yesterday, and today is our last day at the cabin, so I’ll combine a couple of blog posts. Yesterday, Thursday, we took the dogs for a walk “around” first thing. As soon as we got home we had a visit from Larry and Donna. We had a nice long chat after which we had a bite of lunch. Then, we saw Ed on the road and chatted with him for a while. I did a couple of chores including adding water to the batteries as well as blocking the places in the crawlspace where mice could get in. In the mid-afternoon we took a long drive around Sand Creek Park to see the Aspen trees as well as the rest of the countryside which is full of variety and beauty. This took a couple of hours and by the time we got back we needed to feed the dogs and start on dinner—Chicken Pot Pie (which was delicious!) Here is a photo from our drive: “Just turn left at the cowboy boot.” We had a pretty lazy evening and went to bed early after watching some TV. The heater ran a couple of times overnight, so we know it is turning the corner to fall and winter. On Friday, after some breakfast of pastries that Donna brought us, we took the dogs for a long walk to Egger’s Pond where Bella swam for a while. It is far enough that we are all exhausted when we get back. But, we did stop along the way and fill a big bag with pine cones as a gift for Donna. She uses them for fire starters, and also waxes nice ones. When we got home, Sam had trapped a mouse (could probably not find a way out any more) and he played with it for a while. Finally, I got it from him and took it outside. He is still stalking around looking for another one—keeps him occupied. Lunch was corn dogs and a Snickers bar Now, we start the process of getting ready to head home early tomorrow morning. Lynne has already sorted the refrigerator into things to give away, throw away or take home. She is now doing the same with clothing. We will start the process of loading the truck with the stuff we won’t need before leaving. It is a process: store anything that will fit under the back seats that we won’t need until we get home. That allows us to put down the seats and load the crates. Once the crates are in, I’ll put shades over them. We’ll pack stuff in the pod that we won’t need like dirty clothes, etc. Tomorrow morning we’ll load the stuff we will need along the way (clothes, toiletries, a cooler) and the dogs and cats, of course. It won’t take long. Our goal will be to leave here around 7:30 a.m. (or earlier) and head to Laramie where we will dump trash and recyclables, get gas, breakfast at MacDonalds and then try to be on I80 by 8:30 to 8:45. Our overnight goal is the Days Inn at Council Bluffs, Iowa which we should see around 6:30 p.m. Okay, enough for now. I need to go help Lynne. And, later we’ll have Buffalo Chicken Sliders for dinner. I’ll leave you with a couple of animal photos:

Day Fourteen, Wednesday

This morning we skipped breakfast and drove into Laramie to meet with a great friend, Sally. We met at a local cafe called the Prairie Rose (and if you ever get there, order the Breakfast Burrito!). It is on Second Street in the old-town part of Laramie—an area we should explore more sometime. There are a lot of quaint looking shops and the old Western architecture is great. We got home around 1:00 p.m. and I did a couple of small chores including fixing some of the mortar on the fireplace chimney that was chipped away by the pack rat. I also replaced the air filter in the heater system and went on the roof to inspect the solar panels and rack. I sure don’t want anything loose up there given we are likely to get more wind now that the wind break created by the pine trees is disappearing. It was a warm day. We took the dogs for a short walk, then took it easy around the cabin. We had “Chicken in a Pot” for dinner with a plan to use leftovers to make Chicken Pot Pie on Thursday. We watched Survivor on TV and then headed to bed to read. A simple day. Here is a photo of the cabin through some trees and you can see the PV panels on the roof: A couple of views from our short walk, looking up Sand Creek Pass: And, finally, what dogs with cabin fever do:

Day Thirteen, Tuesday

Last night was interesting. Two people and two dogs extra in the cabin. Our cats were “off” their routine, but the dogs did well. We all slept pretty well, perhaps because of the wonderful food, conversation, wine and poetry from the night before. Once on our feet, we took a walk to the pond where Bella had her usual swim and the Golden “Tricksie” (help me out with the spelling, Linda) had her inaugural swim. They were cute. Bella is a bit of a bully, wanting to chase and play but not realizing that she outweighs the Golden by two times. Lunch was “Adult Hot Dogs”. Phil and Linda left around 1:00 and we did a few chores then tackled what turned out to be a relatively easy jig-saw puzzle. I guess my post from a few days ago about the potential waste of land-owner money by grading roads that never get used was noticed by some landowners. I’m flattered that they read my blog. I’m a bit surprised by the response, because I got a visit from a board member wanting to know more specifically what I was talking about and wanting to explain why the grading took place. I think this is a bit of overreaction to a minor point in by blog post, but the board seems to be extremely sensitive to any kind of adverse comments or feedback—and, I don’t blame them, they get a lot of criticism and it would be a hard job trying to keep everyone happy. Even after an explanation, which made no sense to me (something about in order to maintain access to certain association properties from forest roads they need to grade the interior roads on my property, even if they were in perfectly good shape?), I still don’t think the work needed to be done. But, hey, if it was sanctioned and approved by the association membership at an annual meeting, go for it. I now have wonderfully graded roads on my land. I can still have my personal opinion. (I think. I hope.) Since this is my personal blog, I have no problem writing about my personal feelings, opinions and ideas and am really surprised by the emotional response it evoked. Anyway, local petty politics aside, here are some photos from the day that reflect the real reason we love it up here and wish it could always remain this beautiful:

Day Twelve, Monday

Today, we are expecting some dear friends from Centennial, Colorado for a visit. They have committed to the 3+ hour drive to come and see us for an overnight stay. And, we hope they bring some dogs! They have Berners and Goldens. In fact, “Sunny” is Alex’s sister. So, we cleaned the cabin a bit. I washed the windows (smeared with dead fly stuff), and we were ready when they arrived a bit after noon. We had a lunch of mushroom tarts on a flaky crust that was delicious, then took a walk to the bottom (we’ll do the pond tomorrow.) Lynne cooked her delicious cabin lasagna for dinner and Linda brought some greens from her garden for a wonderful salad. We drank some wine. Okay, we drank too much wine. Built a fire. And, I read some cowboy poetry to which our guests fell asleep—not sure if it is my reading or the wine and the hour

Day Eleven 2011 Cabin Trip (Sunday)

Today was “pasta day”. More on that later. We started the day with a walk to the UFO landing site where Lynne collected little green rocks, probably left behind by little green men (or possibly copper rich rocks that have colored green.) This is a good walk for the dogs and the views from the top of the hill are beautiful. You can see forever. We drove over and visited Larry and Donna for while. Then home for a lunch of leftover Memom’s Macaroni (pasta!) After that we did some cleaning and chores then worked on the puzzle and finally finished it. It was a hard one, but we persevered. I’m sure Lynne will post photos. An early evening drive rewarded us with beautiful views of the changing Aspen trees as well as a buck antelope and a beaver. Here are some photos. For a photo of the beaver, see Lynne’s blog. (A better way of saying what I first came up with.) And the sunset was very nice. Clouds of virga to the east and sunset to the west: After the drive, we made 3-Cheese Macaroni & Cheese (pasta!), and watched some TV before retiring around 10:00—pretty late for us at the cabin.

Day 10

OMG. It is really the tenth day of this annual visit? Today was a lazy day. We had a small omelette for breakfast. Then, an nice walk “around” with the dogs. We did some laundry and vacuumed the rugs. Corn dogs for lunch. Worked on the puzzle some. And, never left the place. We are having Onion Tart for dinner. This is one of our favorite meals, but we seem to only make it at the cabin. (Country music is going in the background.) Here are some photos of our walk this morning. Dick the tree… (Notice two trunks for one tree. Weird.) Lynne taking picture of the dogs at the pond. Aspens are finally changing some. Alex is pooped at the end of the walk.