Chilly morning

It was 17 here at 2nd Chance Ranch; 22 at the Lake Montezuma NWS monitoring site and 27 up in Idaho Falls. We often start out real cold in the morning but by afternoon we will be enjoying mid-60's.  Idaho falls?  Not so much.

Yesterday was Laundry Day which mandates a trip to Cottonwood.  We made it back home by 1:30 pm.
Made a date to pick up a canoe from The Max Factor today so we will be back in Cottonwood for the 3rd day in a row.  Hope it's not habit forming.

Have you ever heard of a Restore?  If not, they should be on your radar.  A Restore is basically a thrift store for building supplies operated by Habitat for Humanity (HFH).  Builders, contractors, hardware stores and private home owners donate building supplies of all types to HFH.  All of the donations then go to the Restore and are sold to raise funds for HFH's home-building program.  Cottonwood has a righteous Restore jam packed with cool stuff.  The HFH is very aggressive in the Verde Valley having built 9 houses already, including some here in Rimrock.  We think the local Restore could play a role in that success as its obvious people are buying a lot of materials there.

Monday in Mesa, we priced out some of the stuff needed for RV electrical hookups here at 2nd Chance Ranch.  After nearly fainting from sticker stock, we headed north and forgot about that idea.  Yesterday at the Restore we found a 50 amp plug, box and waterproof cover for $3.50 total.  Now THAT'S more like it!  We're back in the RV electrical game!  Anyway, if you have a Restore nearby, be sure to patronize them--not only will you maybe find a great deal on stuff you actually NEED but you money goes directly to HFH's worthy programs.

Hey, here's a blowback to the distant past.  Forty years ago about this time I was driving cross country from Indiana to Seattle.  For some unknown reason long lost in the dim fog of antiquity, I had decided I to wanted to live in Seattle.  I received my degree from Purdue in December 1970 and met up with some rag-tag hippies who also were smitten by Seattle and off we went in some old road roach station wagon.  There were a two scenes from that trip that have stayed in mind ever since.  Both were in Colorado long before the interstate highway was built.  It was the absolute middle of a dark night and we were out on the plains someplace driving into a fierce headwind.  The tumbleweeds were sailing across the road fully airborne, many of them clearing the roof of the car by several feet.  Highway bridges were often jammed shut with tumbleweeds and we would blast into the pile at full speed, scattering them every which way.  One of the hippies was sleeping lightly in the middle back seat.  Apparently, she must have opened her eyes and spied these MONSTER round brown things pelting the side of the rumbling wagon.  She awoke with a blood curdling scream  the likes of which only Hollywood special effects people can replicate.   And then she lunged over the driver's shoulder and grabbed the steering wheel shrieking repeatedly, "We're ALL GONNA DIE!"  Well, duh, with a stunt like that it was fast becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy.  As the driver fought for control of the wheel, the wagon fishtailed on wailing tires all over that desolate dark highway.   Since I was sitting in the shotgun seat, I joined the fray and pulled mightily at her hair while someone else in back clawed at her back.  Finally, her grip broke free and she was pinned down in the bench seat until her panic attack subsided.  It's a surreal scene that simply won't leave my memory banks.

OK, fast forward to the next morning.  After the fiasco above we had pulled into the little city of La Junta, Colorado, and passed out from fatigue and the after affects of the adrenalin rush from detailed described above.  The next morning, I awoke to find a classic Old School 1960's Thrift Store within view of our station wagon.  Naturally, I sauntered over there and scored a pristine three-piece pure white linen 1920's Great Gatsby Palm Beach Suit in my size.  Now you have to realize that most people out on the windswept Great Plains wouldn't give a diddly about a Palm Beach Suit in January 1971 so they had priced the whole shooting match at a mere two bucks.  Heck, if I hadn't bought it, the beautiful thing would probably wound up as a shop towel for some cretin working on an old broke down 57 Chevy or something.

I'll never forget the perplexed looks from my fellow hippies when I lugged this suit back to the wagon.  Well, somehow that suit stayed with me and I wound up getting married in it in 1973. It fit the tenor of the times during those disco days perfectly.  Later, when the union fell apart, I wore it into divorce court on Saint Patrick's Day 1978 to officially end the marriage.  Ah, memories.  (More on the Seattle Escapade in upcoming days.)

SuziQ is finally ready for Prime Time.  Yep, today's the day we're going to take our first official backcountry road trip in her--precisely one month to the day from when we purchased her!

A Blog Backlog Blurb (BBB):  No, we haven't forgotten Susun's photos and video from her recent San Diego trip.  She captured some great moments in still and motion.  We're hoping to get them processed and posted SOON!

Cheers, jp