Weekend

TBH is almost done.

Friday passed without any conflicts (thank goodness!).  Mike came in for a few hours to help Jerri with the budget.  He gets tired easily because of the medication he's one.

On the way home I stopped at the car wash and got the outside of the truck cleaned up.  This was a touch-less car wash, and although the water jets were strong, they still did not get the bird crap off of the hood.  A 20-minute drive back to Powell had it completely dry.

After our dinner of parmesan onion pork chops and greens, we watered the plants.  We have a couple more cilantro plants sprouting.  The basil is doing very well now.  The tomatoes are growing taller, and I have to keep pinching the suckers off of them.  We have five potato plants sprouting.  I am going to sew lettuce seeds this afternoon.

With the plants watered, we took Buddy for his evening walk.  When we got home the sun was getting low in the sky and the truck was completely shaded.  So I  got some rags, dampened them, wiped the dust off of the truck, and proceeded to wax it.  This is the first waxing it's gotten in about a year.  Hopefully the bugs will pop off easier now!

This morning we had scrambled eggs with sauteed peppers and onions, and turkey bacon.  After breakfast we went to the garage and worked a little more on the hive project.  I put a bead of caulking under the steel ridge cover and nailed it down to the roof.  Then we put draw latches on to hold the roof down to the body if there are high winds.  All we have to do now is get some corks to close up the 5/8" openings, making some more hive furniture, put beeswax on the comb guides, and make a winter floor for it.

In the afternoon we are driving to Cody to browse the public library, go out for dinner, and then go to the rodeo.  Tonight they are having Xtreme Bulls - a bullriding show with 40 riders taking a shot at a $50,000 purse..  I am charging the batteries up for the camera so we can be sure to get some good pictures and video.

Powell, WY

Last night was nice and cool.  I switched the bedroom window fan from "Exhaust" to "Fresh Air", pulling cool air from outside directly into the bedroom.  It became nice and cool in the room during the night and I slept very well!

Today was cooler than yesterday.  It was still a sunny day with a little bit of breeze.  My tomato plants really love the sun!

Jerri has decided that the grumpy 80-year-old man who is furious that we changed his polling place from  Grace Baptist Church to Southfork Fire Station is going to be picked up by one of the veterans in our office in his uniform and driven to the fire station to cast his ballot.

She can't make me do that, can she?  If she can, how in the hell am I going to fit into my old uniform?!

Molly really has an axe to grind with Eric now.  Every time the Clerks come over and ask for help with shredding or scanning, Molly dispatches Eric for the job.  This afternoon she found a record with voter's name misspelled "Pasty" instead "Patsy" - they way it is supposed to be.  She immediately assumed that Eric made the mistake and ran to get Jerri.

 I pulled the hard card from the file and saw that the registration was originally entered by Mike Demoney and I showed this to Molly and Jerri.

Molly said that she is just so worried for the election. Jerri agreed and said that not only is she worried that one of these elections could be ruled invalid, but it would later affect her chances in the 2014 election.

Jerri asked Molly, "So what do you want to do?"  Molly said, "You KNOW what I want to do, but I don't think we can."  Eric is running for mayor, and he would go to the papers and tell them he was terminated because of his mayoral contest.  Jerri told Molly to go ahead, contact Wyoming Workforce, and interview for a third person in the office.

We are about to start getting very busy next week, and here I am wishing the election was over already!

Powell, WY

I dropped Bobby off at Dr. Bischoff's office this morning so he could pay the bill for Buddy's check-up.  Bob walked home after paying the $25 bill.

When I got to the office Molly said, "Hey Vince, you know, I passed Bob walking on the street.  I  thought about stopping and giving him a ride, but I was already running late for work."

Today we conducted a test of the optical scanner voting equipment.  This test was advertised in the paper and open to the public.  At 12:55, an old man came in and asked if this was where we would be doing the test.  We took him over to the old jail, explained everything to him, and even let him feed the first set of ballots into the first machine.  He was kind of strange, and it did not seem like he was completely there.

At 2:00 PM he announced, "I have to go to lunch,"  and he left.  About 15 minutes later Molly called on Eric's cellphone, "Eric, the old man is back.  Come over here right now!"  Well, we just assumed it was the old man who came to witness the voting machine test.  Oh no.  No, this was the disgruntled Korean War vet who is pissed that we moved his polling place from Grace Baptist Church to Southfork Fire Station.

Well, they took him to talk to Jerri again.  Jerri was upset because she thought we had this resolved.  He said that if he was not satisfied, he would call the radio station.  Jerri said, "But didn't you already do that?"  He quietly replied, "Did I?"  Yeah, seems like some early onset dementia.  Jerri offered him an absentee ballot, but he yelled out, "Look, I fought for my right to vote!!"  Jerri offered to drive him to the polls on Election Day.  I don't think anything is going to placate him.

The other old man returned around 3:00 PM to continue watching us test the voting machines.  He left about 20 minutes later to go home and "check on my water".  I think he was watering the lawn in front of his trailer.

After reviewing four drafts of the August ballot, we placed our order for ballots today.  Those should arrive next week.

Later, back in the office, we were sitting around making jokes.  An old man was passing our office and we smiled and nodded at him.  Well, in he came.  "Do you have a hammer?" He said as he put his hand over the counter as if to show it to me.  "Well, go get it and hit this!"  His hand was full of  arthritis and he had a big long scar running up his forearm. 

Eric joked that hitting the hand would make him forget the pain from the steel rod in his arm. 

The old man just kept yammering on and on.... "I made one phone call, because this was 11 o’clock at night, and the boss and his wife had to get up and come out to the barn. And all 3 of us took off, down the walkway. Like 3 hours later, we were done. You get done with the last one, and you start over again! And you want to hear the real kicker? It paid $240/month! In Minnesota, there was a job I interviewed for – hospital administrator – paid $245,000/year! You know why I didn’t get the job? I was overqualified and they couldn’t’ afford to pay me what I was worth! MMMMMM! That was the worst one ever."

I swear, sometimes I think our office is a freak magnet.

I texted Matt McKnight several times today, and spoke with him on the phone.  It seems that he and Reese are all scheduled up until next week and won't be coming to see us before Monday.  I don't think I really care.  I don't care to be somebody's "If We Don't Have Anything Else To Do Visit", and besides, he's on his honeymoon!  I am just going to ignore future texts.

We had a nice cool cleansing salad for dinner.  Then we watered our plants and took Buddy for his evening walk.  Temperatures are lower today with winds out of the northwest.  I am guessing winds will be coming out of the north soon.  Hopefully I will sleep well tonight with the cooler air.

Powell, WY

Bob with our free stove.

I rode to work with Molly yesterday so that Bob could take Buddy to the vet in the truck without having to walk in the oppressive heat.  Thank goodness it's a dry heat!

The vet said that Buddy is very healthy.  He weighs 50 - 51 pounds and isn't showing any sign of a health problem.

We asked to get an order of Revolution anti-parasite medicine ordered for Buddy.  The vet told us that we did not have to pay him until the order came in.  As it turns out, the vet would have to order a whole case of it, so they are requesting that we order it from 1-800-pet-meds.  It's not cheap - $55 for three months supply, but the good thing is, in the winter, we can take him off of it because he will not encounter insects in the winter here.

Matthew and Reese McKnight were married yesterday.  They are flying to Jackson Hole for their honeymoon.  I got a phone message from them today attempting to meet, but I don't think Matt realizes how far he's asking us to drive.  If we drove down there through the parks (the shortest route) it would still take over 4 hours to drive, and we would have to pay admission to Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks.  If we take the route around the parks, we would have to drive for over 7 hours.  I just see a few obstacles to meeting them this time.

I stopped on the way home and picked up another bag of Dog Fuel for Buddy.  This will be his third bag since we moved here! 

Bob made Curried Chicken with a cucumber salad for dinner.  It was good!  Then we watered our tomato plants.  Now we are just waiting for it to cool off sufficiently to walk the dog.  He just has to accept that we are going to walk him later on summer evenings.

Sunday

We managed to sleep in until 7:00 AM without the dog crying too badly.  We got up and harnessed the dog.  Bob took him for the morning walk while I prepared a breakfast of coffee, bacon, and scrambled eggs mixed with sauteed onions and diced tomatillos.

Later, around 10:00 AM, Johnny came to the door to get us and show us the way down to his 5 acre property in Big Horn County.  This site is between Burlington and Otto.   We drove south out of Powell across some badlands to Emblem, then to Burlington and finally  to Johnny's place 4 miles out of Otto.

The problem with Johnny is that you can't get him to stop talking.  He gave us the grand tour of the place.  He told us the story about each and every piece of junk on the property, then he walked us through the house to show us what he's done, how bad it was when he found it, and what he's still going to do.  He made some good improvements that will raise the property value, but he still has a way to go.

He took us out to his very large shop and showed us a bunch of junk out there too.  The one thing we were interested in was a wood-burning stove that I figured we could use in our garage if it was in good enough condition.  This stove is trapezoid shaped in plan and is very heavy - it's lined with fire bricks.  The hearth has bi-fold glass doors and a screen.  The fire burns on pipes that exhaust heat back out of the front of the stove above the hearth.  Below the hearth there are two little doors that you open to reveal the ash pan.

This stove is very heavy and it took all three of us to get it up on the bed of my truck.

Despite our best efforts to get out of there politely, Johnny kept yammering on for another two hours.

The wind picked up, but it only blew a very hot dry blast.  It quickly dried your skin and you didn't feel any perspiration, but it was hot all the same.

Finally at 4:00 we pulled out.  We headed east past Otto (population:  50) to Basin, the county seat of Big Horn County.  We stopped at a convenience for cold water, then continued north of US 310 through Greybull and up to Lovell.  At Lovell we turned west on US 14A and returned to Powell around 5:00 PM.

Getting the big stove down from the truck was tricky.  I put a 4-foot-long 2x8 up against the tail gate and got the back of the stove on to it.  As we slowly lowered it down the board, Bob lifted up the front to get it onto the board and we lowered it down the incline to the ground.  On the ground I put it onto a hand truck and rolled it into the garage.

We will work on cleaning up the stove over the next week or so and then we will put it in the alley and light a fire of scrap in it to see how well it works.

For dinner I made a Caprese salad with beefsteak tomatoes, salt, pepper, basil, olive oil, and sliced fresh mozzarella cheese.  This was a tasty and cool meal for us.

It's hard to know just how hot it was today, but the weather said 103°F.  The temperature inside the house is 84°F.  I dunno.  Maybe we will sleep in the basement tonight.

Weekend

We made it through another week!  I got paid on Friday morning and I was glad for that.  I paid $100 each to Lowe's and my car insurance. 

I called Dr. Bischoff's office and made a 1:30 PM appointment for Buddy on Monday, June 25.  I have to get some money out of the ATM and give it to Bob for this.  Bob will walk Buddy to the vet office from here.

Today we drove to Billings after a breakfast at Pepe's.  We went to Sam's Club and got a membership.  Because I used a debit card and the total was over $100, they gave me a $40 gift card.  We picked up toilet paper, OxyClean, canning jars, a big jar of pork rinds, and a case of 101-ounce cans of green beans.  The beans were only $2.89 a can!

After this we drove downtown to the Tandy Leather store.  Here I  got a checkbook kit to make in tooling leather.  This is an interesting store.  Everything you see in the catalog is in the store.

Next we went to Greer's Fireplace store, but they seem to be closed on Saturday, so we went to The Fireplace Company  to look at wood stoves.  We found a top-loader similar to the Jotul model we were interested in.  It costs about $2200. 

Right after we left the stove store, we were surprised to see a hydroponics store almost next door!  We popped in here and got some feeding solution and some Hydroton clay balls to get our lettuce crop started.

For lunch we stopped in Laurel, MT and got salads at Subway.  This was a very warm day and the salads were good.  After lunch we started the hour-long drive back to Powell.  The round trip consumed about 1/2 tank of gas.

When we got home we carried our loot inside.  Then we took Buddy for his walk.  It was still rather hot outside and I think the dog was glad to come home.

After this I trimmed the juniper bush away from the front of the house to spare the gutters and roof.  Also, with this bush trimmed back, we can unroll the aluminum awning and shade the big front window.  Next we mowed the yard and ran the grass whip.

Now the plants have been watered, and we've enjoyed a light dinner of frozen blue berries mixed with plain Greek yogurt.

Tomorrow I am going to run the vacuum cleaner, then Johnny next door has invited us down to Otto to look at an old wood stove he's giving away.  Plus there might be something else there that we might want.  He's getting stuff out of this place so he can get it ready to sell.

Powell, WY

Well, it seems like we are having a quiet week here, but a few things have happened so far...

On Monday the cable guy came and installed our internet service.  Now we are using our desktop computers.  The laptop has been put away.  Good thing too; because it seems that the laptop is about on its last legs.

Jerri hired another clerk for the other side of the office.  Eric was upset about it.  "I thought we were supposed to get first pick when a job opened up over there!"  I told him that he was hired to run an election and Jerri could not wait until the election was over.

It's not like Jerri was going to hire Eric on permanently anyway.  Molly and Eric got into it again.  This time I was checking a ballot to be used for voting machine testing.  There were several errors in it as I checked his counting.  Molly blew up, "Why are there always mistakes in everything you do?  Ever since you filed for mayor you've been messing stuff up!!"  I just sat there and continued counting, even when Molly asked me for more examples of stuff he's messed up on.

Yesterday there were two bank robberies in Cody.  The robber is still at large and the Cody PD has brought in the FBI to help.  Also, a mountain lion was sighted in Cody.

We also had the Park County Flag Contest awards ceremony yesterday morning on the courthouse lawn.  Prizes were given out to the young student contestants, and the new county flag was unveiled.  A copy was hoisted up the flag pole too.

Eric and I had to help set this up.  There were cookies and lemonade for the parents and guests too.

Today we downloaded forms from the county to apply for building permit, septic tank permit, and address.  The county engineer will not approve an address until approved septic and building permits are in hand.  So, I guess after the well is drilled, we will start looking for a contractor.

The septic permit is $50, the building permit is $25, and the address application is $150.  The septic and building permits are valid for one year after the approval date.

We are continuing to make progress on the bee hive.  This evening we applied another coat of varnish to the roof and I cut the entrance holes with a 5/8" forstner bit.  We are going to plug the extra entrances with corks.  The designer originally called for 1" entrance holes, but I guess it was later discovered that the bees can better defend the hive with smaller entrances.

My tomatoes are continuing to do well.  I now have carrots sprouting too.

Weekend

After walking Buddy and eating breakfast, I took a shower and asked Bob to clean the bugs off of the truck windshield.  Bob did this very well - the windshield was very clear!

 We drove out to Clark to meet another well driller.  We were there a little early, so we had time to walk around the land until he came.

This driller is from Worland, but he keeps two trucks in Powell and Cody.  We showed him where we wanted to put the house and he began dowsing the site.  He selected a spot just a few feet from where we want to put the house!  I told him that I would be as pleased as punch if we get a good well in that spot.

He said that he drilled a well just over the hill last year and hit water at 80 feet.  That water was not good - 4,000 PPM Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), so they kept drilling.  At 120 feet they got lots of good water.  So he's hoping he can do the same for us.

The Beartooth Pinnacles.

We gave him the legal description for our site and he said that he would file the application for us.  He expects to have the application back in a couple of weeks.  Bob said that he will likely have it back quickly because he is on the state well water board.

After marking the drill spot we left and spent the rest of the morning trying to find a way back to the Pinnacles.  The first route we took was down Grove Creek Road, but this road ended on private property with a locked gate.  We turned around and ended up going to Belfry to get something to drink at the country store.

We went back and tried again.  This time we went down Robertson Draw Road and then we found the Meeteetse Trail.  We followed this road back about 5 miles and ended up on the other side of the locked gate!!  I figured the trail must have turned west at a cattle crossing, but I was afraid that this was private property, so we drove back out.  We went home after this.

Back home I checked Google Maps again and found that we should have crossed the cattle gate and continued up the hill.  Next time we will probably make it.

Bob sitting in the driver's seat.

We had chicken salad on lettuce wedges for our dinner with strawberries on Greek yogurt for dessert.

Today the big thing we did was take the bench out of the truck, clean all of the carpet and upholstery with the SpotBot, let it dry out, and put it all back again.  This was the first time since 1996 that the bench has been out of the truck cab. 

It was very hot today and we both got quite a bit of sun.  After we got everything clean, we left the seats and floor mats outside to dry and we went into the house where it was much cooler to drink water and eat some lunch.

An empty cab.

Using fans to circulate cool air from the basement up into the house is working pretty good for us so far!

Later in the afternoon I went back out and put the bench back into the cab and bolted it back down.  Then I put the tools and stuff back in behind the seat.  The inside of the truck looks almost new!

We worked on the beehive a little more this evening and then we soaked all of the tomato plants really good.

I almost look forward to going back to work on Mondays because I end up exhausted from my activities on the weekend!

Powell, WY

Good day today.

As I was getting ready for work my phone rang and kept a voice message.  This was from the Powell PD.  They talked to the lady who owns the vicious Jack Russel two doors down and told her what happened.  She said, "Oh my goodness!  I must have left my gate open!"  The officer gave her a warning.

Work today was good.  I am still staying quite busy with all of the tasks that Molly does not trust Eric to do. 

We had a potluck lunch today for the people who have June birthdays.  I took a French green bean casserole.  Molly made cupcakes.  Barb brought in deviled eggs with carrots and okra pickles.  Carol made her spinach dip.  Kari made a big lasagna.  Jerri brought in two 4-foot subs from the store.

To my surprise, I found a glass lid on my Corning Ware dish!  Kari, the lady who broke the original glass cover, found a replacement for it at a yard sale.  She said she only paid $0.25.

The push stick and push block set I ordered for Dad for Father's Day was delivered this morning.  He thinks his thumb is infected.

As I arrived in Powell, I found traffic backing up behind someone.  As I got into the turn lane to turn left onto Absaroka St, I saw that it was Molly.  I rolled the window down to ask if she needed help.  She said that her car just stopped working, but she called the police to come help her.

Bob made a turkey roll with broccoli for dinner.  After dinner I mowed the lawn.

Tomorrow morning we are going to Clark to meet another well driller and get a second opinion and estimate.  Maybe we will stop in Ralston on the way back to see Mule Days.

Powell, WY

It was another routine day at Park County Courthouse.  I had leftover cajun pork chops for my lunch.

On my drive home Bobby called to say that as he was leaving the house with Buddy for the evening walk, a Jack Russell terrier that lives three doors down was waiting in the bushes for them.  It ran out and attacked Buddy.  Bob had to kick it away six times.

When I got home we went to the Powell Police Department to make a complaint about this dog. 

Buddy seems to be okay.  Just a few bites and scratches.

I guess the picture packages I mailed last week are arriving now - Dad sent me a text to thank me for the pics and tourism mags.

Cody, WY

Bob was busy yesterday!  He arranged to have TCT West come out to our house next Monday, 6/18, to install cable internet service.  Later he contacted another well driller to get a second opinion about our well in Clark.

We are going to Clark again on Saturday to meet this driller and get an estimate.


Shot leaving the barrel.


During lunch I went to Denny's Guns & Maps to look at the shot gun that Bob spotted on Friday.  When I got there, the owner, Denny, was there and he was very helpful to me.  I found the gun, a 12 gauge, single-shot, with Sears markings on it (probably made by Ithaca, and marketed by Sears), no serial number, and capable of taking 3-inch shells.  The stock on this gun is a light walnut or butternut with a few scratches.

Bob and Buddy were out taking their afternoon walk when I got home.  We had Hamburger Ole for dinner.  Then I opened the big envelope that came in the mail - the Lee Valley Tools, Hardware, and Garden Tools catalogs.  We actually layed down on the floor and perused these catalogs in "tool lust" for about three hours.

Today was a quiet day in Elections.  Ilene from Workforce Wyoming was in the courthouse today trying to register a vehicle and she popped in to say "Hi". 

During lunch I went back to Denny's.  Denny was not there, but I asked the man at the counter what the id requirements would be for purchasing a fire arm.  He said I needed a photo id (driver's license), and something else with my name and my residence address on it (utility bill, car registration, etc).  I went ahead and got the shot gun, a box of 25, three-inch shells, and a general purpose cleaning kit.

Maybe this weekend, after meeting with the well driller, we will set up a target down in one of the draws and practice with the shotgun and my hand gun.  Then, after stopping to experience Ralston Donkey Days, we will come home and have a gun-cleaning party.

Weekend

Bob rode to Cody with me on Friday morning.  He kept the truck and went to get a hair cut, then he went to the library to browse the books available there.  Dang - he's visited the Cody Public Library twice now, and I haven't been there to look at books yet at all!

We had a fairly busy day in Elections.  Now that the Primary is approaching, we are starting to get busy and we have a lot of stuff to get done!

During lunch Bob came to get me and we went to The Breadboard for lunch.  We both ordered salads and ate them there in the restaurant.

In the afternoon Bob went to Denny's Maps and Sporting Goods.  In there he found a used 12 gauge shotgun for $100.  The serial numbers have been scraped off of it, and I don't know what kind of condition it's in.  I am going to go take a look at it on Monday during lunch to see what I can learn about it.  We might get this shotgun and some shells for home protection.

After work Bob showed up and we went over to Super Wal*Mart to get our groceries.  In addition to foods, we also got three bags of topsoil and a bag of composted chicken manure.

On the way home we stopped at Arby's to get sandwiches for an on-the-road dinner.

It was around 8:00 when we got home with the groceries.  I harnessed Buddy up and took him for a walk while Bob put the food away.  When I got back I had to break up the pork chops and ground beef into smaller packages and re-wrap it for freezing.

Potato planter on the sidewalk.

On Saturday morning I got up and walked Buddy.  Because the sprinklers were running, the grass was wet and I could not mow the lawn.  It really needed to be mowed too.  After a breakfast of eggs and sausage patties, I got out the potato bag that Bobby ordered from Amazon and rolled the sides down so it was only 12 inches tall.  Then I filled it with composted cow manure and composted chicken manure.  Into this I buried four red seed potatoes, and watered it really well.

As the potato plants grow, you un-roll the sides of the bag and add more soil to the top.  There is a velcro closed flap on the side of the bag that allows you to access the potatoes and you can harvest them a few at a time.

We got into the truck around 8:45 and headed over to Clark to meet the well driller.  He was on the Western Heartlands estimating another job on a lot down the near the front in Phase II.  After about 30 minutes with that couple, him, his wife, and his new puppy climbed into his big blue Dodge truck and followed us up to our site.

The well driller, Paul Steinmetz, of Aaqua Drilling Inc, out of Joliet, MT, uses two L-shaped bent metal rods in his hands to dowse for the well location.  I am skeptical of this method of locating, but this man swears by it.  I don't know if using these allows a person to tap into their sub-conscious, or what, but it seems to work for some people.  We walked north and south around the property and east to west across it.  He drove a flagged stake in to the ground next to the deepest draw on the site.  It's about 400 feet from where we went to put the house.

He cautioned us that up in the high desert where our land is, we would not find lots of water, and it might not be very high quality water.  He said that even if the well only produces 1 to 2 gallons per minute, it can be made to work with pressure switches and timers.  He would set up a complicated system where the well pumps to a cistern near the house.  When the house pressure tank calls for water, a booster pump in the cistern would pump it up.  When the cistern gets low, the well would start pumping until the cistern is full again, or the pump looses suction.  If the pump looses suction, it is cut off and a timer keeps it off for a set time allowing the well reservoir to recharge.  Even at 1 gallon per minute, the well could theoretically produce 1500 gallons per day.  I figure we will need about 250 gallons a day.  Sometimes more, sometimes less.

Saturday was a partly cloudy day with a light breeze, but not too cold, and not too windy.  Bob wore his jacket, but I was in shorts.

Our next step is to get the forms for a well drilling permit from the State Engineer's Office.  This process takes 5 to 6 weeks to complete and approve.

Tomatoes and carrots in containers.

We went back to Powell, and I planted tomatoes and carrots in two Rubbermaid containers.  After the tomatoes were planted I put wire cages over them and set labels near them.

Then I mowed the grass.  Bob started up the grass whip and hit all of the weeds and grass along the walls, fences, and other things the mower could not reach.

Later I got the (manual) hedge clippers out and trimmed up the juniper bushes along the north side of the house.  These were quite dull and needed sharpening badly.

In the afternoon we went to the Bookstore.  Here we got a set of 8 Handyman hardback books for $10.  We also used our store credit to get a couple more books.  Then we went across the street to El Topolo Mexican restaurant (like a Chipotle Restaurant back east) and used a buy-one, get half off a second one coupon to get dinner.

After walking Buddy in the evening I went to the garage and using my Dremel, sharpened the hedge clippers, the pruning hook, and all of my shovels and hoe.  The shovels sure cut in to the earth a lot easier when they have a sharp edge!

Today we drove down to Cody to check out the used shot gun, but as it turns out, Denny's is closed on Sunday (their website shows 8 AM to 4 PM on Sunday, but oh well).  We went to Rocky Mountain Discount Sports instead and browsed.  Here we got a small one-quart Dutch oven.

We went to Bubba's Barbecue for salad bar lunch and then headed up the North Fork to the Buffalo Bill Dam on the Shoshone River.  We parked the truck, but the wind was blowing so hard the truck was rocking and I could barely get the door opened against the wind!

Bob views the exhibits at BB Dam.

As soon as I got out my hat blew off and went tumbling across the parking lot!  A car accidentally ran over it!

We carefully walked up to the visitors center and browsed the exhibits.  The spillway was open today and they were releasing water with a big roar down in the canyon.  This dam is over 300 feet tall and was the world's highest when it opened.

Walking back to the truck was a little challenging due to the wind.  I really had to lean into it!  I drove the truck back close to the visitor center to pick Bobby up.  Then we headed back to Powell.

I ran the vacuum cleaner this afternoon and read a little bit.  Bobby took a nap.  I put the dog into the bath tub and cleaned his ears with liquid ear wash solution too.

This evening I put another coat of gloss spar varnish on the beehive roof and another coat of satin spar varnish on the hive body.  I am going to put two more coats on the roof and one more coat on the hive body.

We had a nice clean salad for dinner this evening with canned chicken meat on it.  Some of this is going to work with me tomorrow morning for lunch.

I am very tired already, but I still have to clean the tub/shower with Dow bathroom tub and tile cleaner.  Then we can get some sleep.  I think next weekend is Ralston Donkey Days, and we can't miss that!

Powell, WY

Well, we are starting to get busy in Elections now.  At least it seems like it to me - Molly has been directing all of the important work to me now that she doesn't trust Eric.  She's got me checking on stuff that Eric's done too.

We are having an afternoon training session for election workers on July 31 because one of the judges came in and complained.  Today I sent an email message out to let everyone know about this date.  Some were pleased about this.  Others... well... you just can't please everyone, and you really shouldn't try.

"Dear Mr Thigpen,  I am wondering why you cannot have an afternoon training session in Powell.  I am almost 80 years old, and I know many others my age, and it's just too hard for us to be out at night.  It's hard for us to go to Cody too.  Serving on the elections is a privilege, but it shouldn't be a hardship.  Sincerely, Thelma Kost"

"Dear Mrs Kost,  Our department is hosting six (6) training sessions for the 2012 elections.  There were only two (2) training sessions held in 2010.  We are not planning on offering any additional afternoon training sessions.  I am sorry to hear that attending the August 14 and 15 training sessions in Powell or traveling to Cody present a hardship for you.  If you are unable to attend a training session, we will not be able to work with you during the elections this year.  Thank you for your years of service to the citizens of Park County!  Sincerely,  Vince Thigpen, Elections Clerk"

These old girls don't mind taking $25 for attending the training, plus $125 for Election Day, plus $30 for food, plus $$$ for mileage in excess of 10 miles.  Except for the training, which is only one time, they get this for the Primary Election and the General Election.  Problem is, they don't want to have to do anything for it.

It got windy last night, but the house was hot in the evening.  It took until around midnight to get the house cooled down.  Tonight it's supposed to go down to 45F.

Bobby tells me that he has a buyer for the house in Orlando.  The closing date should be during the last week of June or the first week of July.

The well driller is supposed to call us back tomorrow night to confirm that he will meet us in Clark on Saturday to witch the well location and give us an estimate.  Bobby will ride to work with me on Friday.  He will get a hair cut in Cody, visit the library and the extension service downstairs in the courthouse.  After work we will make our big monthly grocery shopping trip.

We've only been here 4 months and 2 weeks, but it seems like we've been here longer already!

Powell, WY

When Molly came in this morning I said, "Just WHERE have you been?  Don't know everyone is worried SICK about you?!!!"  She laughed and said, "Did you know my MOM called Jerri to ask her where I was?  She has a new SmartPhone and although I sent her messages telling her where I was going to be, she doesn't know how to check her messages."

Eric sent an email message to tell us he would be in an hour late this morning.  He came in two hours late because he was at the weekly VFW meeting trying to get those old veterans to vote him as mayor.

During lunch I went up the hill to the post office and mailed three packages - one to Becky, one to Dad, and one to Carla Marina, Bob's cousin.  These packages have pictures of our cattle branding as well as some Cody, WY tourist information magazines.

In the afternoon we had an explosion of hate and discontent between Molly and Eric.  This has been building for sometime because Molly will ask Eric to do something and he will shoot back that she is "micro managing him" or have some other reason to not comply with her directions. 

They got into it and started yelling at each other while I had a customer at the counter.  I just kept talking to the lady and kept strict eye contact with the lady to keep her attention.  Molly immediately ran to tell Jerri and Mike what happened.  She's pissed.  I think she will be looking for two people to hire when she interviews for the third in July.

Bob said it rained 30 minutes here in Powell.  It did not rain in Cody, but it's very cloudy and I saw lightning on the drive home.

Exhausted (again)

On Friday we had a large number of persons show up to file for office.  Mostly precinct committee person. 

One interesting thing happened - Terry Hinkle is the right-hand man for Gerri Hockhalter, the Park County GOP chairperson.  Gerri is also good friends with Nancy Tia Brown, the incumbent Cody mayor.  Terry came to the desk to file for precinct committeeman, and then he asked Eric, "Are you the one running for mayor?  If you are, I would like to have a private word with you in the hall."

Well, this about drove Molly nuts.  "What do you think he's talking to Eric about?"  I told Molly, "Look, Terry is Gerri's toady, and I would bet you he's come down here to ask for one of three things."  Counting them off on my fingers, I said, "One, he's here to ask for something for himself.  Two, he's here to ask for something for Gerri Hockhalter.  Three, he's here to ask for something for the party."

Eric would not tell us immediately, but later he spilled it to us.  A couple of months ago, Terry, who serves on the Park County Senior Center Board, promised Eric an interview before the board for a position at the center.  This interview never came.  Now that he's running for mayor, and he's a true threat to Nancy Tia Brown (corrupt) being re-elected, Nancy has asked her good friend Gerri to do something.  So she dispatched Terry to the courthouse to make this offer to Eric.  Eric's not going to take it, but he might have some fun playing with Terry and Gerri for awhile.

Camping in Clark, WY on 6-1-12.

As soon as I got home we began loading the truck with our tent, folding chairs, foods, camp stove, lantern, cooler, sleeping bags, and stuff for the dog.  We stopped at Blair Supermarket to get two boxes of dried firewood and a bag of ice, and we headed out to Clark to go camping on our land.

During the drive out it rained and sprinkled on the truck several times, and the skies looked very uncertain.  However, once we got to our property it looked fine.  Better than fine - it was a perfect evening.  The wind was calm and it was so peaceful!  We set up our camp.  I dug a shallow pit and built a fire in it for cooking and keeping warm.

Cooking over an open fire.

We made a dinner of fire roasted hot dogs and corn on the cob.

Around 9:15 PM the sun went down sending awesome red and orange colors into the clouds above the mountains to the west, but then the moon was out and it was almost full.  I don't think it got fully dark all night long!

We all piled into the tent to sleep.  Buddy curled up on his regular bed, and we tried to get as comfortable as possible on the hard ground.  I unzipped the panel over the screened window and would sit up and look out from time-to-time to check on the slowly dying fire, or to investigate a noise I heard.

The bacon is done!

Around 8:00 AM we got up and I started a fire for breakfast.  It was a little windier in the morning and it was harder to get the fire going.  Soon it was burning down and I had some coals to work with.  I fried bacon in the bottom of our 9-quart Dutch oven.  When the bacon was done, I poured out a little of the grease, and then fried up scrambled eggs in some of the bacon fat.  We had a tasty breakfast and then began to take down our camp.

We loaded our gear back into the bed of the truck, tossed the soil back into the pit over the still smoldering coals, and headed out for Free Fishing Day.

The Bear's Tooth.

We drove over Chief Joseph Pass and into the Sunlight Basin.  We had a very pretty drive that morning and drove about 30 miles back into the Beartooth Mountains.  We settled on a roadside spot right below the mountain named "The Bear's Tooth".  Here we got the rod, reel, flies, and other gear out to fish with.  Bob got the line in the water once, but soon lost his lure from a snag on the rocks.  While he was tying a new lure on the skies began to darken, the wind began to blow, and it started to sprinkle.  We headed east on Highway 212 with the intention of going over Beartooth Pass to Red Lodge and then trying to fish the Clark's Fork River along MT 72. 

The drive over the pass was interesting.  There was sleet coming down hard, lots of wind, and freshly plowed walls of snow about 20 feet high in places!

The weather just did not cooperate with us, so we returned to Powell, unloaded the camping gear, ate lunch, showered, and picked up some "finger foods" at the supermarket for our trip to Jerri and Leonard's house and the "Chick Party".

Molly was already there when we pulled up.  She was drinking 7-Up, while Jerri and Leonard already had beers.  We met their dog, 'Trucker', and Jerri took us to the pasture to meet her miniature donkey named "Festus".  We also met her two horses, her two full-size donkey's, her chickens and her 9 new baby chicks.

While we were outside, Mike Demoney, his wife and little boy arrived.  We all went inside and sat down to a dinner of ribs, radishes, chips, carrot sticks, cup cakes, and beers.  Molly left right after dinner to go to a music concert in Cody with a friend.

Jerri and Leonard got a wooden game board out with a bowl of marbles and dice.  Six of us sitting around the table played a couple of games of "Cutthroat".  After the second game Mike and Dawn left, so Jerri flipped the board over revealing a surface drilled for four players.  We played another game and then continued talking until 12:30 AM!

Right before we left, Molly's mother, Terri, called and asked if we knew where Molly was.  We told her what Molly told us, but she was worried because Molly had not come home yet and did not call her.  Molly was not answering her phone either and that was completely unlike her.  I tried to call her too, but the phone just rang and rang.

We came home and went right to bed.  We were tired.

Today I put some screws into the back screen door to keep it from falling apart and then we put a hook and eye on it so that we can secure it, and let Buddy enjoy the screened in porch.  I also cleaned up the rest of the camping gear and put it away.  Then I trimmed some of the flowering shrubs back so that the sidewalk could be used.

Next weekend we are going to transplant the tomatoes into the big containers, plant some carrots in front of the tomatoes, and we are going to plant some red jacket potatoes.  All of this after we make a big grocery run in Cody.