Red Letter Day

I drove down to Cody this morning with Buddy and Bob along for the ride.  Bob came along because he was going to Clark to watch the well-drilling progress.  Buddy had to come along because the realtor wanted to show the house this afternoon.

Drilling rig starting the well.

Elections hosted the first Election Judge Training session for 2012.  We had this training in the Barling Room in the courthouse basement.  There were about 42 attendees.  We spent the morning getting chairs set up and making last minute preparations.  The first candidates began arriving at 12:30.

Molly gave a very good slide show and overview of the process.  At times I thought that we might be assuming that they understood everything we were presenting, but because most of these folks have done this before, it is probably a safe assumption.

I took everyone upstairs to the Old Courthouse Law Library in groups of 20 to go over the M100 Ballot Scanning Machine operations.  Everyone was respectful, offered good insight and suggestions, and was genuinely interested in seeing that we all have a good election.  The training went much better than we imagined that it would go.

That being said, I also had about a half dozen people who insisted on having their precinct job assignments changed.  I hate doing this because for each person we change I have to change two more.  Soon you are re-organizing the entire thing, and then you have to contact everyone to let them know the changes.  Ughh.

Bob returned to the courthouse around 4:00 PM and was in the Elections Office when I got back from the Law Library.  I asked him if we struck water.  He said, "Kinda."  I was like, "Well, what does that mean?"
He said that they struck water at 80 feet, but it wasn't very good water and it was not in high enough quantity to pump.

They continued to drill and by the end of the day reached 200 feet.  Bob is supposed to meet the drillers at 8:30 AM and let them know how much deeper we can afford to drill.

Drilling rig and my truck at Clark, WY.

We drove up to Clark after I got off of work and walked around the site.  The drill hole is surrounded by powdery gray dust from the drilling.  It was very warm and the dog was panting and drooling.  We gave him some water to drink and left him in the bed of the truck while we drove back to Powell.

That dog was having the time of his canine life in the bed of truck.  I swear you could see him smiling!  I just wanted to be sure that he sat down as we traveled, and he did, for the most part.

We picked up dinner at Subway and then came home to water our plants and get ready for another day.

Powell, WY

On Sunday we got breakfast at Pepe's and then we headed up to Billings, MT to return the broken Kitchen Aid food processor to Target.  After Target we went to Lowe's and browsed until Bed, Bath & Beyond opened.

At BB&B we purchased a food processor exactly like the one we returned to Target.  We also picked up a few things for Grandma Pat's birthday package.

After BB&B we went to Salad Creations for lunch.  It was so hot outside, but the cool, wet salad was nice for lunch.

With lunch out of the way we went to Sam's Club to get some foods.  We bought a bunch of cold foods as well as cases of diced tomatoes, mushrooms, paper towels, canning jars, etc.  We bought some insulated food bags for the cold stuff since it might have cooked before we could get it home.

Our new food processor works!  It works very well.

We placed some of the new cold food into our new chest freezer.  Today that food is frozen solid.

I talked to Dad for a little while yesterday.  He's planted tomatoes at Flo's house and they are doing really well.  He is spending every weekend at Berlin, but nobody put their boat into the water - the reservoir is the lowest it's been since 1988.  The Corps of Engineers will take advantage of the low water to inspect the dam foundation this fall.

Today we prepared the Barling Room for our Election Judge Training tomorrow.  We had to put chairs out, get the computer and projector ready for our Powerpoint slide show, and plan some refreshments.  This training session will be the heaviest attended, and it will be attended by some of our strongest "tiger" personalities.

Solar gain on June 21.  Proposed house.

Chris and Laura Gunn sent us an email message with lots of questions about our proposed house and the home site.  They visited the site and although the best views are to the west, they want to orient the house so that it faces south.  This will cut down on the solar heat gain in the summer months.  Laura seems more concerned about the house getting too hot!

Also, we probably won't be able to have a basement - the excavation and concrete work would break the budget.  So, it looks like slab-on-grade with a larger garage.

Bob phoned Dave Newton, the well driller, this evening and found out that the drilling rig is moving to Clark tomorrow.  Bob is going to Clark to witness the drilling and take pictures.  There is no way I can be there since I have to conduct training in Cody.

So, we are finally starting to move forward!

Herbie Derby

Today I wired some steel rebar together with 14 gauge copper wire and hung them in a 5 gallon plastic bucket that I intend to clean rusty parts with by using electrolysis.  I fed my tomato plants some Miracle Gro, and I changed the nutrient solution in the hydroponic lettuce.

We went to the American Legion at 11:00 to stand in line and get our Bountiful Basket of fruit and vegetables.  Then we went to the Fair to relieve Teecee at the voter registration booth for lunch.  After a little over an hour, Teecee returned and packed the entire thing up.  So we wandered through the goat and cow sheds viewing this year's contestants.

While admiring some nice Boer goats, we talked to a lady named Teddy about raising the goats.  She answered many of our questions.  She lives on WY 294.  She thinks that a few dairy goats would be great for us, especially since our land is not the greatest.  Teddy mentioned that the extension service is hosting a goat raising seminar in October or March, and she said we would talk to Colleen Renner at the extension service about signing up.

After this we came home.  I layed down to take a nap.  I think we slept for about an hour.  Then we got up.  Bob walked Buddy while I watered all of the plants.

At 5:45 we walked to the fairgrounds to sign in and start our work.  We were both assigned to the Beer Wagon at the arena.  We worked for 4.25 hours this evening.  We brought in about $63 in tips tonight (combined), and we were given vouchers for $24 in food or other fair products.  I strongly suspect that Molly, the beer manager, is giving preference to the other girls who are her friends.  We will not be working the beer garden next year.

Gladys in the office said that we would be mailed checks for our 12.25 hours of work.  We would receive these checks next Friday.  We were only making $7 an hour for the wage.

Tomorrow we intend to drive to Billings to return the Kitchen Aid food processor, and find a replacement.  We will likely have lunch up there and then come home.  I will run the vacuum cleaner in the house, but we are going to let the lawn go for another week.

Thunderstorm

During my drive to Cody I had an "incident" on US 14A.  As I passed Sage Creek Road, the cars in front of me began slowing down and one car pulled over to the side of the road.  The next car swerved over to the right, but I could not see why.

Then I saw it - a deer carcass laying in the roadway right in the path of my left tire!  I could not avoid it and ran right over it - kerthump... kerthump... and a splash of red mist went up into the air.

Bob views the carcass exhibit at the fair.

I vowed that if it was bad enough I would go to the car wash to clean it all off.  When I got to the courthouse and parked I found that it was not too bad.  The back tire had some deer poop on it and the wheel wells were splattered with blood, but it was already drying.

On the way home, as I was leaving Cody, a mule deer just decided to run right out into Bighorn Avenue to cross the road.  "Damnit to hell, I am going to hit another one today!!"

My trip home was made as quickly as possible because we had to be at the fairgrounds to sell beer at 6:00 PM.  Bob had dinner ready, the plants already watered, and the dog walked.

We had small shoulder steaks and steamed Brussels sprouts for dinner.  I changed into my black shirt and shorts and we walked to the fairgrounds to sign in and start working.

Bob was assigned to the Beer Garden Tent and I was assigned to the Beer Trailer at the grandstand.  There was a country music concert scheduled for the night.  I was not sure how well attended it would be since Mike told us on Wednesday that out of 2000 seats, they had only sold 465 tickets.  The show was scheduled to start at 7:30 PM.

Burritos available for carryout.

We began loading canned drinks to the cooler and icing it down.  We also loaded our portable coolers.  But, before long the winds began to pick up, really stirring up the dust!  We were all coated in fine gritty dust and it was in out eyes and mouths!

I started up into the stands and began selling.  Even though only 10% of the seats were filled so far, this was a thirsty crowd!  I had my first box sold out in 10 minutes and went back down to refill it.  When I got back up the winds were blowing harder, it was lightning, and the rain began to fall.  Soon it began to fall in sheets - the hardest it has rained since we've been in Wyoming!

The show was cancelled.  I was heartbroken.  I made $4.00 in tips.

We signed out and browsed some of the exhibits, ate a funnel cake, and browsed the livestock exhibits. We were back home at 9:30 PM.  Another bust for us.

Tonight is the last night of the fair.  The Demolition Derby will be held in the arena and hopefully we can make a little money.  I will not be doing this next year.

Powell, WY

As I arrived at the courthouse I saw a mule deer standing right in the middle of Beck Avenue behind the courthouse.  When I pulled into the parking lot I saw a doe and her two twin fawns following her down the sidewalk.  Apparently the very best weeds are right next to the street!

Work was a little relaxed, not frantic.  I completed the instructions and forms needed for election judge training.  A few unusual things happened during the day (like almost everyday).  One was that a woman had requested that her residence address be kept confidential because she had been threatened with violence by her estranged husband.  We had to find a way to register her to vote without letting her address get out.  We found that you may mark a registration as confidential and the record is completely hidden from searches and voter data requests.  I tested this with my own record to confirm it.  The Secretary of State office said, "Well, if this is good enough for Dick Cheney, then it's going to be good enough for her."  Okay then.

In a sudden need to control and lock everything up, Molly decided that the voter registration hard cards needed to be locked up.  Mike, Teecee, and I thought that this was unnecessary and Molly became pissed about it.  While Mike and I were checking out how absentees printed in the old poll books, Molly went to Jerri to complain about it.

Anyway, we got the lady with the need for confidentiality registered and she is relieved.

I went to lunch with Teecee.  We went to Bubba's Barbecue and we each had the Atkins Special which includes salad bar and a plate of protein.

Thursday was my night off. 

Today Teecee will be staffing a voter registration booth at the fairgrounds this morning.  She will come to the office after lunch.  We all go to the fair this evening to sell more beer.  We are not sure how busy it will be because the show tonight is a concert, and it has only sold about 400 out of the 2000 available tickets.

Beer Garden

It's been very warm these past few nights and I haven't slept well.  I was in a fog at work most of the day Wednesday.  Shortly after lunch I took a Western Family® brand Stay Awake caffeine tablet.  By 4:00 PM I was feeling more alert.

I rushed home right at 5:00 PM because I had to be at work at the fair at 6:00 PM.

It was 5:35 when I got home.  I changed clothes and Bob had Capri salads ready for dinner.  We ate this, and started out the door at 5:45.  We walked the four blocks to the fairgrounds, passed the ticket booth, and checked in with Gladys in the office.

Because the event didn't start until 7:00 PM, Molly let us get something to eat.  We got a funnel cake with powdered sugar on it, and a bottle of water.

Bob and I were both assigned to the "wagon" or "beer trailer" at the grandstand.  Tonight would be the Monster Trucks show.  The fair was not exactly prepared for us and they had to improvise on the coolers we would be using to carry beer into the stands.  What they fashioned was a large soft-sided cooler with a strap tied to it to be carried on the shoulder or around the neck.  This carried beer and the "over-21" bracelets.

Bob remained down at the trailer ringing up beers at the cash register for walk-up customers while I went up into the stands with another guy and two girls to sell beers directly to show viewers.

I kept running out of Bud Light and Coors Light.  On each trip I only sold a couple of regular Budweiser.  It took until later in the evening to sell any Bud Light Lime or Mike's Hard Lemonade.  Because I could only carry about 16 cans per trip, I wanted to carry what I could sell quickly.

When I ran out, I had to return to the trailer, pay for the beer I sold, and then restock.  Here we encountered a bottleneck and ended up waiting awhile to get filled up again.  If it weren't for the wait, I probably could have sold twice as much beer as I did.

The Monster Trucks Show only lasted about two hours.  I was actually disappointed that it ended so soon!  It wasn't even dark yet!

We went to the trailer to help the supervisor, Molly Nielsen (we call her "Molly 2") shut down the trailer and get the trash and cardboard out.  We had to pay her $100 - the amount given to us to make change, and the pushers from the grandstand got to keep all of their tips.

Most of the pushers made about $10 in tips last night.  I was relieved that I was able to pay back the change.  Later I counted the tips and found that I had made $24.

The tips for everyone else working in The Trailer and in the Beer Garden were combined and split up evenly.  I think Bob got $15 in tips.  Since it was kind of slow, Molly sent some of us home early.  It was 10:00 when we went home.

We made about $102 with our wages and tips for the four hours we were there.

Friday and Saturday will be much busier and hopefully more lucrative for us.

Powell, WY

Continuously busy at Elections Office today.  I finished up changes to the slide show we will be using for Election Judge Training and then I spent the afternoon looking for the forms we will need on Election Day.

One controversy we had today was The Shirt.  We are going to order red polo shirts with an embroidered flag and "Park County Elections" on the front.  Jerri said that we needed shirts to set the elections staff apart from everyone else, but then she also said that workers would have to pay for their own shirt and that they would not be paid for overtime while helping us.

I told Mike, "Look, we are going to need Jerri to be pro-active.  This shit is going to fuckin' fly.  You can't ask someone to work, but then ask them to pay for the shirt, and let them know that they won't be paid for overtime."  Mike went to Jerri, and "Presto!" - they found some money in the budget for shirts.

Mike also said that anyone from our office working for Elections would be paid overtime.

It's just so exhausting to have to ride from one crisis to another.

Tomorrow will be a long day.  We are working our first shift at the fair selling beers.  We are working from 6:00 PM until midnight.  I will come home as quickly as I can, eat dinner, change into shorts and the beer t-shirt, eat, and head over to the fairgrounds to sign in and start. 

I know I will be dragging on Thursday.  The big tips will come from our hours on Friday and Saturday.

While watering the plants this evening I counted over 40 tomatoes!  Even the plants in the ground are starting to bear fruit! 

Park County Fair

Our Park County Fair Work Schedule:

Our PC Fair Work Schedule
	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY
Teecee	OFF	6-C	6-C	6-C	6-C
Robert	OFF	6-C	OFF	6-C	6-C
Vince	OFF	6-C	OFF	6-C	6-C

Teecee is the new Election Clerk we hired. She's worked the Beer Garden in past years and understands how hot and busy it will be, but she also knows how good the tips are.  She's scheduled to work in the beer tent only - the grey shaded hours.

I figure me and Bob will browse the fair exhibits on Saturday morning/afternoon, and then report for work that evening.  We are scheduled to "push" beer - selling it from the grandstand.  Those are the blue shaded hours.

Powell, WY

Whew!  It sure is hot!

Yesterday morning I ran the vacuum cleaner, then went outside and ran the lawn mower while Bob ran the grass whip.  By the time we were finished it was getting very hot.   Bob harvested more chives, basil, and cilantro for drying.

Bob harvests chives.

I went to the garage to work on some of our projects.  Before long Johnny was knocking at the garage door.  You know full well he wanted to talk.  It's never just a friendly, neighborly chat with Johnny, no, he wanted to talk our ears off all afternoon.  Plus he wanted a favor...

It was broiling hot in the garage, and Johnny wanted a couple of things - first he wanted us to scan a big pile of inane, arcane material about center-pivot irrigation systems for him because his scanner is broken.  Next, he wanted us to help him install a swamp cooler in their dining room window when Mary, the kids, and he returned from Linton's Big R Store.  Mary gave us a big bag of beefsteak tomatoes.

After lunch we continued working in the garage.  I was making the last hive furniture and cutting  the winter floor for our Top Bar Hive.  Bob helped me with the wood as we passed it over the table saw.

Johnny returned in the afternoon and continued to talk, with Bob, mostly, about centrifugal pump arcana, and center-pivot irrigation esoterica.  I ignored him and went to the other side of the garage where I continued to work on the wood, and then start sweeping up.

As it turns out, we did not have to help lift up a swamp cooler because Mary selected a portable unit that she can move from room-to-room as she works or sleeps.  It was hot in her house, but she had all the windows open allowing warm outside air inside the house.

Bob shows how big our tomatoes are.

We went to the grocer and bought a few things to see us through the week.  We had Greek yogurt with frozen fruit in it for our dinner.

Today was not too bad at work.  I mostly worked on putting the Election Judge Handbooks together, and in the afternoon I worked on updating the slideshow for the training.  We had a meeting to discuss the training and the entire election process.  This meeting pushed our lunches back after 1:00 PM.  The day seemed to just fly by after that.

Bob discovered that the Kitchen Aid food processor we got at Target does not work.  Now we have to plan a trip to Billings to return it.  I think we are going to Bed, Bath and Beyond to get a Cuisinart.

This evening we had Cabbage Casserole for dinner, then we headed over to the fairground for Beer Garden Training.

We met Molly Nielsen, our supervisor, and she walked everyone through what to wear, when to be there, how to operate the cash register, and how the beer service would work.  She had me and Bob schedule to work the grandstand, but Bob isn't really able to climb the stairs like that, so she is relocating him to either the beer trailer or the big beer garden tent.

My job will be to trudge up and down the grandstand during events, such as the demolition derby, monster trucks, and live concert.  I have to carry a dozen beers, in cans, in a soft-sided cooler, check id's, put bracelets on those I have id'ed, take money, and make change.  After the big events are over, we move to the beer tent to continue selling beer, picking up trash, and restocking beer coolers.

We are scheduled to work Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 6:00 PM until closing.  Closing will be midnight or 12:30 AM.  My ass will be dragging on Thursday!  Ha!  But, if it's busy, and it is sure to be, the night will pass very quickly.  Aside from the $7.00 per hour wage, the total tips are split evenly among all participants.

It is still very warm, but clouds have come in from the west and the wind has picked up as if it is going to storm.  I hope so - it will cool everything off.

Weekend

Yesterday morning I got paid and I promptly paid my Lowe's bill in-full.  I also sent Shell $100.00.

I spent most of the work day printing, collating, folding, and stapling together Election Judge Handbooks.  I am making 200 of those.   I am looking forward to doing Election Judge Training, but I am terrified at the same time!

Bob will be working as an election judge here in the Powell polls.  Hey, he'll make $125 for the day, plus $30 meal allowance, and $25 for the training session.  So, it could be worth the $180 in pay.

The tomato plants that I put in the ground next to the fence are getting so big they need to be staked up.  Each day I go out and I find another plant laying over on the ground.  Those plants have plenty of flowers, but no fruit yet.  The four plants that I planted in containers are putting out fruit like crazy!  I fed them Miracle Gro again last night.

Today we headed out at 8:00 AM to spend the day in Billings.  It takes about 90 minutes to reach Billings from Powell.

We went to Barnes & Noble first.  This was the first time we've been in a new bookstore in over six months!  I love to visit B&N.  All of the different books just sent my imagination spinning!  I found several books there that are on my Amazon.com Wish List, and I ultimately decided to leave those books on my wish list.  I found a couple of different books that I liked.  One is about making furniture from plywood, and the other one is about vegetable gardening in the Rocky Mountain region.

Our Kitchen Aid food processor.

After B&N we went to Target.  Here we got some new shorts for Bob.   We also browsed the kitchenware department and Bob wanted to get a food processor.  We vacillated back and forth between Hamilton Beach, Black and Decker, and Kitchen Aid.  Although the Kitchen Aid KFP0711 was the most expensive ($99), we got it because of its good bowl capacity and good cabinet looks.

We went to lunch after visiting Target.  We were delighted to see a Salad Creations restaurant on King Road and decided to eat there.  We ate at the restaurant in Altamont Springs, FL twice, and then it went out of business.

Next we found the Home Depot.  Here we browsed most of the store and picked up a small can of Rustoleum gloss black paint, a 5-gallon bucket with lid, seeds (spinach, stevia, spearmint, carrots, and cabbage), an eight-foot-long 2x12, and two 4x8 sheets of 1/2-inch-thick plywood.  I had the plywood cut in half, so I have four 4x4 sheets now.  We used a $50 gift card I got at Christmas when we checked out.

I intend to build chicken feeders with the plywood, and a winter floor for the beehive with the 2x12 board.  I am going to use the 5-gallon bucket with some scrap steel and my battery charger to remove rust from old wood planes using electrolysis.

Our new 7.0 cu ft chest freezer.

After Home Depot we went directly across the street to Lowe's.  Here we bought two things - a 7.0 cubic-foot capacity chest freezer, and a skein of rope.  We would need the rope to tie the sheet goods down as we would have to stand them up to make everything fit in the bed of the truck.

The maker of this freezer also manufactures for Frigidaire and GE.  The salesman tried to sell me the $20 one-year warranty, but I told him no, adding that if anything happens in the first 30 days that the store will replace it.

So much for having Lowe's paid off, but this freezer was less than $200, and I can probably make that money back this week when I work the Beer Garden at Park County Fair.

With the truck loaded up, we headed up I-90 to Cabella's.  Here Bob looked for some new shoes.  We also browsed the camping cook gear, the ammunition, and rifles.  We didn't find anything that we really needed here and the smell of cinnamon buns coming from their cafe was driving me nuts, so we got out of there, and walked across the parking lot to Sam's Club.

At Sam's we bought two items.  We bought two heavy-duty steel storage shelves.  We intend to use these in our new basement to store food and supplies.  These were only $55 each.  At Lowe's they were $89 each.  At Ace Hardware they were $110 each.  So, I think we got a good price for these.

After Sam's Club we headed down I-90 to Laurel, MT where we stopped at a gas station to get drinks.  It was very hot, and as you know, my truck does not have AC.  Then we went down 310 to Bridger, MT where we turned south on MT 72 and went through Belfry and then over the state line and onto Wyoming 120 into Clark.

We stopped at to view our land for a few minutes.  There was a good breeze blowing, but it was still very warm.  It does not look like anyone has been there since our last visit two weeks ago.  The flag is still planted where Dave Newton intends to drill.

In 35 minutes we were back in Powell unloading all of our stuff.  I could not believe it was after 7 PM already!  I carried the hardware into the garage, and then I carried the freezer into the house on a hand cart.  We re-arranged the dining room and put the freezer chest in a spot convenient to the kitchen.  It can hold 198 pounds of food.  It is pulling the temperature down right now.  I think this item is going to work very well for us.

Dinner was cold, leftover pork chops, and sliced tomatoes.  We did not want anything hot today.

After walking Buddy, I watered the plants, added more soil to the potatoes, and misted the tomato plants with more insecticide.  I am really pleased with how well my plants are doing.

Tomorrow, I intend to run the vacuum cleaner, mow the lawn, trim back some of the bushes, and then maybe work on the winter floor board for the beehive.  That will probably be enough.

Powell, WY

Bob rode down to Cody with me today.  He had a very productive day.  He went to the DMV and got his Wyoming Drivers License.  I still need to do that.  Then he got his National Parks Access Card for free admission to national parks and reduced fees on various items and services. 

He came back to the courthouse and ate lunch with us.  Then he went out to sporting goods stores to view and price rifles. 

After work we went to the Cody Farmers' Market and got a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread, home made dog biscuits, and a half pint of locally-produced honey.

I got my direct deposit advisory today.  The pay will be deposited into my account tonight.  I will pay bills tomorrow morning.

During our dog walk this evening Dave Newton, the well driller, phoned us.  He got our approved well permit back from the State Engineer's Office on Monday.  We will be drilling the well sometime next week!

Today we also filled out job applications for Park County Fair seeking the position of Beer Garden Server.  This pays $7 per hour, but the tips make it worthwhile.  With over $1000 in tips at the end of next week, I can possibly have most of my bills paid off!  We have training on Monday evening.

I had to stake up one of the tomato plants that is planted in the ground.  It got so big and the ground go so dry that it fell over.  The tomato plants in the containers continue to do very well.  We counted 23 tomatoes on those four plants with lots of flowers ready to produce even more! 

Powell, WY

Fawn laying in the shade.

Good day at work.  I had to write letters to candidates and their campaign committees reminding them to turn in their Receipts (contributions) Reports by August 14.  I had a list of candidates and addresses in Excel, wrote the letter in Word, and did a mail-merge to get customized letters to each person.

During lunch today Molly went out to her car to take a nap.  She called me in the office to let me know that a little fawn was in the parking lot and that I should come out, see it, and take a picture of it.

Later we found out that there are two of them out there.

Leonard Torczon came in around lunch time.  He hit a deer last night going about 70 MPH.  He tore the entire left side of his truck all up.  Probably $2000 in damages.  Try not to drive around sun up or sun down.  The deer are on the move at those times.

Bob got some good news today:  1.  Closing on 322 E Central Blvd #610 was completed.  We no longer own that unit and have no more obligations to it.  2.  Karen at The Real Estate Connection called to let us know her deal for 555 N Absaroka St fell through, so we will not have to move for the time being.

We had pork chops this evening.  The chops were breaded with crushed pork rinds.  Yummy!

Post 2225

Bob rode with me down to Cody today.  We got breakfast at Granny's and then headed over to the courthouse.  We parked at 7:55 AM.

We brought our cherry lattice pie in because we were having a pot luck lunch to celebrate Carol Bednarz's birthday.  There was lots of tasty items there for this lunch!  Our first time pie filling turned out just fine.

Bob checked his email and found closing documents for 322 E Central Blvd!  I printed these out, he signed them, and Barbara Atkinson, the deputy from the clerk side, notarized them for us.  Then Bob took them down to the UPS Store and sent them via UPS Red (next-day) Service.

Next he got an email message from Chris and Laura Gunn of Gunnstock Timber Frames.  They agreed to meet us for lunch at The Breadboard.   We ordered salads and met them both at a table outside.  We described the type of house we had in mind and they enthusiastically listened, took notes, and agreed to provide sketches and a proposal.

We are planning a house loosely based on the house we worked on with Cabin Fever, but the entire shell will be formed from SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels), with a metal roof, radiant heating in the floor, a wood stove, and one to one-a-half baths.  Laura Gunn is the designer and she will provide us with some sketches to review.  They told us that once the SIPs arrive on the jobsite, the house will be dried-in in less than six days.

Because these folks live here in the area, we believe we are going to get a tighter, higher quality, structure that is suited for this area.  They advocate many of the same ideas that we have been discussing this past year.

The time really flies when you are excitedly discussing your new construction home!  It was 1:15 PM when we left The Breadboard to head back to the courthouse.

I knew Bob must have been bored just hanging around the courthouse, so I sent him out to get a haircut.  The hair cutter was closed today, but then he got a phone call from the man in Meeteetse selling the food safe 55-gallon drums.  He was on his way to Cody!  So, Bob purchased the drums and we took those home with us today.  We plan to grow potatoes in two of them and use the third one as a possible reservoir for hydroponic gardening nutrient solution.

My tomato plants continue to do well.  The baby tomatoes are getting bigger - almost 5/8" diameter now!!  It hasn't even been a week yet - I just noticed them on Saturday.  I am going to continue feeding Miracle Grow once a week and spraying for aphids once a week.

This evening Bob got a scanned copy of his mail.  In it was a notice of foreclosure on Tom and Louise's house.  It names Bob and his brother, John, as defendants.  Man, Wells Fargo Bank is getting desperate to pin this house onto someone!  They realize that they have messed up.  Hopefully the judge will throw this case out.  Bob said that if this foreclosure goes against his credit, he will sue Wells Fargo.

Just two more days until I get paid again!

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Weekend

On Saturday morning I walked the dog while Bob made a breakfast of sliced tomatoes, scrambled eggs with sauteed onions and tomatillos, and coffee.

Deep Water Culture lettuce system.

After breakfast I went to the basement where I transplanted the lettuce seedlings with the most advanced root growth into my Deep Water Culture hydroponic growing system.  This system consists of lettuce plants supported in hydroton clay balls, hanging in net pots, which are set in holes cut into the lid of a Rubbermaid tub.  Inside the tub I have six gallons of water mixed with nutrient solution.  An air pump bubbles air through the solution via hoses and two air stones.

There is a grow lamp suspended above the growing lettuce.  I think the lettuce will do well in the cooler temperatures in the basement even if it does not get natural sunlight.

Before I knew it, it was time to go to the American Legion to get our Bountiful Baskets pick up.  We took our laundry basket and went to the corner of Bent and Coulter and stood in line waiting our turn.  The basket this week had zucchini, cauliflower, tomatoes, corn, kale, canteloupe, apricots, peaches, and blueberries.  We also ordered an 18-pound box of bing cherries.

We took all of this back home and put the produce away.  Then I stood at the kitchen sink with rubber gloves on stemming and pitting the cherries for three or four hours.  I had two large mixing bowls of cherries and a huge pile of pits and stems in the sink when I was finished!  We intended to make cherry jam, cherry pie, dehydrated cherries, and frozen leftover pie filling.

First harvest of basil.

Bob went outside and harvested some of the basil which is doing great in the warm temperatures.  He brought it in and laid it on parchment paper to dry in the oven.  The basil was dry and crumbling in four hours at 200°F.

Later we went to Blair Supermarket to get a few staples and gasoline for the truck.  We went to Family Dollar to get cheap wooden spoons and ended up getting a dozen pint jars too since the price was good.

Today I took the dog for his walk and came home to a breakfast of cheese omelets filled with sauteed onions and tomatillos.  There was Canadian bacon and coffee too.

With breakfast out of the way I began working on preparing the cherry jam.  I made two batches of six pints.  I had half a pint left over and I poured it into a Mt Olive Pickles jar, twisted the lid on, and put it into the freezer.

Cherry pie hot out of the oven.

After this we made pie filling with a couple teaspoons of almond extract, four cups of sugar, and 9 tablespoons of corn starch.  This was stirred into the cherries until everything was coated good.  The filling was ladled into pie shells.  We took the pie dough for the upper crust, cut it into strips, and made a lattice top for them.  These pies went into a 425° F oven for 50 minutes.

There was leftover pie filling which we spooned into a plastic pail and put into the freezer for another time.

The first tomatoes of the season!

While inspecting my container tomato plants I was delighted to see that my first tomatoes are coming in!  They are just babies now, but they will grow.  By the evening I counted over 10 new tomatoes coming in.  I also noticed a small aphid infestation, so we went to the hardware store and got a spray bottle of insecticide to deal with the bug problem.


To help the plants along with their fruiting, I made up two quarts of Miracle Grow and poured half of each jug at the base of each plant.  I intend to fertilize and spray once a week.

During the afternoon I worked in the stifling hot garage disassembling a discarded lawn mower engine.  I am really collecting a big aluminum scrap pile!  There were also assorted springs, pins, screws, etc for the parts drawer out of this engine.

I am so tired.  My weekends are always filled with activity!

Busy Week

On Thursday morning Bob went with me to the Powell nursing homes to distribute absentee ballots.  Our first stop was The Heartland at 9:00 AM.  We went in with a giant copy of the ballot (8x bigger than normal) tacked to a cork board, some absentee request forms, and the ballots.

After The Heartland (639 Avenue H, Powell), we drove over to Powell Valley Health Care (777 Avenue H).  The residents here are mostly bed-ridden or confined to wheelchairs.  We let Jenny, the activities director, pass out the ballots here.

With these two facilities completed, we headed over to The Real Estate Connection to talk with Karen about our possible move.  She said that she didn't want to panic us, but she had to let us know that an offer had been accepted on the house we are living in.  They are just waiting on the buyer's house in Greybull to close. 

She recommended a house "out in the country" on a big farm.  But the problems with it include a well that is not drinkable, no storage space, and much more expensive rent.  We turned it down and she showed us a few other places she had available.  We decided to drive over to 516 Avenue D and take a look at that house. 

This house is a little smaller than the one we are living in now.  It has a one-car garage and a small basement.  The rent is $100 more per month.  The good thing is that the owner will take the house off of the market as it gets colder so that she knows she has a renter in it all winter.

We will probably know within the next two weeks whether we have to move.  Good thing we didn't unpack everything!

Lunch was at Subway and then we drove to our last assisted living facility - The Rocky Mountain Manor (140 North Cheyenne St, Powell).  Here we set up our large copy ballot in the dining room while the residents ate lunch.  They gave me the Mister Microphone and I talked to everyone about how to fill out the ballot and how to send it in.  If they want, I will return in a month with a steel ballot box to collect their ballots.

After we finished with The Manor we headed down to Cody where Mike, Molly, and our new-hire TeeCee were busily stuffing absentee ballots into envelopes. 

Incredibly, by 5:00 PM, all ballots were in envelopes and most of them had been mailed.  There were maybe 100 that did not make it out because the postage machine was shut down.  Those went this morning.

Today was a good day, a little less pressure with the big mailing out the door.

I told Mike Demoney and Jennifer Lohrenz of the Park County Fair that Bob and I would assist with the fair by serving canned beers in the Beer Garden during the fair (July 24 - 28).  Last year the Beer Garden workers were paid $7.00 per hour, but they brought in $300 to $500 per night in tips.  The earnings are not reported!  So, that is how we will spend the evenings during the week of the fair, but hopefully, it will be worth it.

It was hot most of the day, then it clouded up and cooled off like it was going to rain.  I did not see any rain though.

We had baked cheeseburgers with a salad for our dinner, then we walked the dog and watered the plants.

Tomorrow we intend to go pick up our "Bountiful Basket" of fruit and vegetables.  We also ordered an 18 pound box of cherries.  The lawn needs to be mowed and we need to pack a few loose things up into boxes in case we actually have to move.

Powell, WY

I didn't sleep very well last night worrying about how we would get the absentee ballots labeled and mailed out.  This morning I talked about it with Mike and we decided that the best thing to do was to print all of the labels again and just toss the labels for the senior citizens we have already packed up aside.

At 9:50 I headed over to The Absaroka Assisted Living facility to pass out absentee ballots.  I took the giant ballot copy with me too.  This went well, but I was there for an hour.  After this I went over to West Park Hospital Long-Term Care Center and explained that we would have to mail the ballots over to these voters.  The supervisor there was very gracious about it.

I got back to the office around 10:30 and Molly and Mike were starting to label the inside and outside envelopes.  At 11:00 Molly excused herself to go to Jerri's office to interview a new person.  They asked the new person, Tee Cee Barrett, if she could start immediately.  She came over and we immediately put her to work sticking labels on envelopes.

My job was to pull out the senior citizen absentees for hand-delivery tomorrow in Powell and toss aside the envelopes for those voters who had their ballots delivered this morning.

I worked on this task non-stop until 3:00 PM.  Then I stopped for lunch.

After lunch we sorted all of the envelopes by political party and then by precinct.  This will help us pull the ballots from the file cabinet efficiently.

I pulled the ballots for the senior citizens in Powell, folded them, and stuffed the envelopes.  I brought the ballots, a pad of absentee ballot request forms, and the giant ballot copy home with me.  Bob will go around to the homes tomorrow morning and help me keep on schedule.

On the drive home I checked my voice mail and found a message from Karen, the realtor at The Real Estate Connection who has the house we are living in listed.  She called to let me know that they are working on an offer for the house.  She wanted to know about our construction schedule, and she wanted to know if we would be interested in moving to a peaceful place "in the country".  I guess we will stop in tomorrow morning to see her and see that this new place looks like.

I am exhausted from the hours and work this week, but I might have an exhausting move ahead of me soon. 

Rough Day

Molly and Bob take a break at work.

5:30 AM came quickly.  I could have slept another two hours!

I took Buddy for his morning walk, then got a shower, shave, and dressed for work.  Bob came with me to work again today and we drove to Cody early to get breakfast.  We ate at Granny's again.

After breakfast we went to the courthouse and got started.

I made precinct labels for each precinct and for each party:  Republican, Democrat, and Non-Partisan.  These labels would be used to identify the folders in the filing cabinet.

We had to finish counting the Democrat and Non-Partisan ballots.  Meanwhile, I started sealing the Republican ballots with clear packing tape, putting a formal label on top with the precinct number, political party, and number of ballots enclosed.  This took me until 1:00 PM.

Molly's mother came to the office after noon and she was a great help putting the ballots into the file cabinets and labeling the files.

Eric printed out a 24" x 36" poster-sized version of the ballot and we fixed it to a portable bulletin board.  We are taking this with us to the nursing homes  to demonstrate on as we pass out the absentee ballots to residents.

After a break for lunch we started wrapping and labeling the Democrat and Non-Partisan ballot packages.

With everything filed away, Terri Cozzens left for the day.

We continued to work at sorting out the nursing home residents from the general absentee request population (we printed out mailing labels for all requests).  As it turns out, the system is unable to separate these absentee requests from everyone else, so we had to go through them all by hand.  We will not be doing this for the General Election - we will mail all of the ballots out.

Eric left with good wishes from all of us - today was his last day.

Molly left around 6:00 PM to get to her zumba class in time.  Bob and I stayed behind and continued to sort through the labels until around 7:00 PM.  My advise to Molly tomorrow will be to use the bar coded labels only and hand-write the address on the outside envelope of the absentee ballot.

We got home around 7:30 PM.  I took Buddy for a walk while Bobby prepared sandwiches on romaine lettuce for dinner. 

Now we have the plants watered and we are very tired.

Tomorrow morning I am going to the assisted living centers and nursing homes in Cody to pass out the absentee ballots for the primary election.  I will get the homes in Powell on Thursday. 

We are really starting to get busy now.

Grindstone

Bob helped count ballots today.

5:30 AM sure came fast and early.  As soon as the alarm went off the dog was wagging his tail and ready to go out.

We took our walk while Bob made mushroom-cheese omelets and braised green apples for breakfast. 

After breakfast I got a quick shower and shave, dressed, and headed out.  I stopped at Blair to get a tank of gasoline.  Then I went into the store to get two bottles of sparkling water and a bottle of gas treatment.

At work I found out that Eric had emailed Molly his resignation.  He gave her all of ONE DAY notice.  He's going to be working for some contractor that works with the Corps of Engineers.  Tomorrow is his last day.

Today we had the task of counting the ballots ahead of us.  It was starting to become apparent  that we would not be able to count all of these ourselves and Molly asked Jerri if her mother, who is on vacation, could come in as a volunteer to help count the ballots.  I said, "Well, damn, if your Mom can come in to help, then maybe Bob could come in too."  Molly said it was fine with her as long as I got permission from Jerri.  Jerri only cared that Bob knew how to count.

Terri Cozzens picked Bob up at 11:00 AM and they drove down to Cody.  They came in around 11:40 and I explained to them what we were trying to do and why.

There are a lot of ballots to count - over 17,200!

Molly and Terri went to lunch first.  They went to Wendy's and Molly paid using her Mom's credit card!

Later Bob and me went to The Eatery where we both had salads.  On the way back to the office we stopped at the UW Extension Service office in the basement of the courthouse where we inquired about the services they could offer.  Bob got a copy of Barnyards and Backyards magazine with an article about Wyoming beekeeping.

All afternoon we counted the ballots.  By the end of the day we only had half a box of Democrat ballots left uncounted and half a box of Non-Partisan ballots left.  Bob and Terri are coming in again tomorrow.

This evening we had a roast with onion, carrots and potatoes.  Some of that will go to the office with us tomorrow for lunch.  Also, in addition to the Bountiful Baskets parcel of fruits and veggies, Bob also placed an order for an 18-pound box of cherries!  The price of the cherries works out to $1.33 per pound.  We will make cherry jam, we will freeze some in a syrup solution, and we will dehydrate some.

Weekend

After Buddy got his walk, Bob and I got into the truck and drove to Cody for breakfast.  We had vegetable omelets at Grannie's Restaurant.

With breakfast out of the way we headed over to Wal*Mart to get our groceries.  Our total at Wal*Mart came to $302.00.  We got plenty of food, but we had a lot of non-food items too.  Non-food items included a jug of motor oil, an oil filter, canning jar lids, hair dye, mouthwash, bar soap, and dishwasher detergent.

We saw Tami Keehn at Wal*Mart in the frozen food section.  I told her that it is so discouraging to get paid, pay all of your bills, and only have $42 left over.  She just nodded in agreement.

We drove straight back to Powell and carried the larder inside.  We started to put it all away.  I divided the hamburger and pork chops into smaller packages and re-wrapped them for the freezer.

Bob has been cutting up the water melon that we bought for the Fourth of July and drying it out in the food dehydrator he got for Christmas.  With the melon dried out, he puts the pieces into a ziploc bag and stores it in the freezer where they become very crisp and crunchy - a nice guiltless treat.

Later we went out again to look for a pitcher for my non-calorie sweetened Kool-Aid.  On the way up Bent Street we noticed that the antique store was open.  We pulled into a parking space, got out, and went in.  The only thing that I saw that cried out for me to buy it was a Sargent 418C VBM foreplane from 1910 to 1918.  It's rusty and needs a new tote and other TLC, but I managed to get 10% off on it just for asking.

We went to the Pamida Store which is closing and has 30% off signs out front.  When you get inside you find that everything is NOT 30% off.   Still we got a drink pitcher, some Jumbone treats for Buddy, and some ear wash for Buddy.

After this we went to Linton's Big R store.  Here we got some rosemary seeds.  For some reason our rosemary never sprouted.  We think it might be the seeds.  So we got another package.  We also picked up a 25 pack of shotgun shells.

We had steamed broccoli and cauliflower with lemon pepper chicken for dinner.

During our evening dog walk I found an old red Toro lawn mower in the alley with the trash.  I asked Bob to push that mower home as I walked the dog.  This 1980 model Toro is an aluminum collectors jackpot!  Not only do you get the Tecumseh engine which is cast aluminum, but the entire mower deck is also 1/4-inch-thick die cast!!  I started taking it apart when I got home.

Today we managed to sleep in til about 7:00 AM.

I got up and  took the dog for his morning walk while Bob prepared scrambled eggs with sauteed onions and tomatillos with turkey bacon and coffee for breakfast.

After breakfast I went to the garage, which was heating up fast, and started the oil change.  This oil change almost went to 4,000 miles.  I had the oil changed in 20 minutes.  Then I continued to pull the old lawn mower apart setting some screws, springs, and washers aside for my parts bin.  I think we will probably end up with 8 or 9 pounds of aluminum when we melt it down.

It got up into the 90's inside the garage and the thermometer outside said 102°F.  I came inside and finished reading the John McPhee book.  I mixed up a weak batch of Miracle Grow and fed my lettuce seedlings with a turkey baster.

I mixed up a new batch of potting mix and planted the entire package of rosemary seeds.  Hopefully we will have some sprouting soon.

I went to the shower and cut my hair really close short and trimmed my moustache too. 

Once the sun was over the house and all of the plants were in shadow I watered everything really good.  I take care to pick all of the suckers off of the tomato plants.

The sky started to get very cloudy and it looked like it was going to rain, so I got the lawn mower out, gassed it up, and mowed the front and back yards.  That needs to be done about once a week too.

After a dinner of cajun porkchops and leftover broccoli and cauliflower, we took Buddy for his evening walk.  When we returned from the walk we put him into the tub and cleaned out his ears.  He hates this, but it doesn't happen too often.

Now we are going to get ready to sleep and start another week of work.  With the ballots here, we are really starting to get busy.

Short Week

Back to work yesterday.  It was not a hard day.  The ballots we ordered from ES&S were delivered.  Now they have to be counted.  All 17,200 and something ballots.  We have to count them to know how many ballots were sent to the polling places, and how many come back.  This will (hopefully) prevent shenanigans from going on with the vote.

These ballots were delivered in 10 boxes.  Inside the boxes the ballots are in no particular order, so they have to be sorted out, and then counted.

I was tired all day long because we did not get out of Jerri's house until 12:30 AM.  I guess 4 hours of sleep isn't quite enough for me.

Bob made a pot of ratatouille for dinner.  It was very good!  Leftovers were put into a bowl for my Friday lunch.

My paycheck was deposited during the night.  I paid Bank Of America, Montana-Dakota Utilities, and City Of Powell Utilities.  When I was done I only had $42 left over.  Sometimes it's so discouraging.

Today was very hectic.  I started by opening and counting ballots, but then Molly started to get other ideas.  I was yanked back and forth as she over-reacted to the notion that all military and overseas ballots had to be sent out today.  The statute only says that the ballots have to be ready by this date.  So we went back and forth over how to get them labeled.  Between schemes I went back to ballot counting.  She sent Eric to the office supply store to get labels, but when I saw them and compared them to the way they printed out on a sheet of paper, I realized that the labels printed out in three rows, but the labels sheets were only two rows wide.  So, these were sent back.

She was complaining to Jerri that the labels in Wyoreg as set up by the Secretary Of State office do not correlate to any commercially made label.  Jerri asked her why she doesn't contact another county and ask them what they are doing.  She said she would but she doesn't have their email addresses.  I said, "Why don't you just call them?"  She said she doesn't have the phone numbers for the Elections Office.  I told her to call the County Clerk and say, "Please transfer me to Elections."  I picked up the phone and did that.

After Jerri walked away Molly said, "Why are you wasting time with this?  We only have to mail these 20 ballots I have stacked right here."  I shot back, "Okay Molly, what do you need for me to do?"

We started by printing the labels on to a sheet of paper and cutting them out with the paper cutter.  We used clear packing tape to fix them to the envelopes.  I think we got 6 addressed this way when Mike came in and announced that he "re-designed" the label so that it would print out on our Dymo label printers.  Sure enough it did  too!

We have decided that all 1400 labels for the absentee ballots will be printed this way.

After my lunch of leftover ratatouille, I continued counting ballots.  By the end of the day I think we had 25% of the ballots counted.  Next week is going to be a busy one.  I guess it starts now.

Bob made baked pork chops and green beans for dinner  today.  After dinner we watered the plants.  My tomatoes are starting to flower!  I have more buds than I can count.  I am glad.

Tomorrow we intend to go to Cody and get groceries at Wal*Mart.

Fourth Of July

July 4th was like a Saturday for me.  An extra Saturday in the middle of the week.

I made a breakfast of braised sliced green apples and cheese omelets while Bobby took Buddy for the morning walk. 

After breakfast I went to the garage to work on my hydroponic system.  I needed to cut holes in the Rubbermaid tub lid so that the net pots could hang down into the nutrient solution.  I cut these holes with the jig saw, but the edges were so ragged and pieces were continuing to break off and fall into the tub.  So, I covered the edges with duct tape and then I covered the entire top with aluminum foil tape.  The shiny foil tape will reflect more of the light back to the plant leaves.

We went to the store and bought some hamburgers, hot dogs, a cantaloupe, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, romaine lettuce, and a cheap disposable charcoal grill.  We had a genuine July 4 cook out. 

While sitting at the computer my telephone rang.  It was a call from Molly.  She left a voice message telling me that we were invited to Jerri and Leonard's house to watch the Powell fireworks.  This would start at 9:00 or 9:30. 

We watered the plants thoroughly, took a quick shower, packed fireworks, folding chairs, camera, and matches into the truck, and then we went to the supermarket to get a watermelon. 

It was just  getting dark as we pulled up to Jerri's house.  We parked in the back to keep the truck out of the way.  Jerri and Leonard already had a lot of company.  Mike Demoney was there with his wife, Dom, and his son, Cory.  A couple of neighbors were there too.  Later Rolly showed up with his kids and his wife, Kendra.

We probably had over $600 in fireworks to set off.  We lit them off in the gravel driveway, but there was quite a bit of wind and we had to keep watching the flying sparks to make sure we didn't set a grass fire.  It was a nice evening and we could just see the Powell fireworks from Jerri's house.

It was 12:30 AM when we left Jerri and Leonard's house.  We came straight home and went right to bed.  After all, I had to go to work in the morning!

Powell, WY

Yesterday evening a big cloud went over as we were watering our plants.  It thundered and then it rained for about 90 seconds.  Just long enough to wet my back.

Today was another warm one. 

We played a joke on Molly first thing.  I created a dummy resume and left it on her desk.  She was out yesterday sick.  She picked it up and began reading it.  I said, "Oh yeah, Tricia is starting on Monday morning.  I talked to her here at the counter and then Jerri talked to her for a little while.  I think she's exactly what we need."  Oh boy!  She was pissed.  She stomped directly to Mike's desk.

Later she calmed down enough to joke about it.  She spins up easily.

There was another parade on Sheridan Avenue today.  Molly said there were donkeys "as far as the eye could see".  The street fair was still going on next to the courthouse too.  I went out during lunch and bought a package of fresh apricots.

This evening while watering plants, I noticed that the four tomato plants in the bins are about to put out flowers.  I think I have at least 10 flowers ready to bloom.  Also, the lettuce in the basement is sprouting.  Seven sprouts so far!  I need to get the hydroponic bubbler for the lettuce done soon.

I have tomorrow off which is nice, but I won't be paid for it - that isn't quite so nice.

Cody, WY

It was very hot yesterday.  The thermometer on the wall said 108°F and the thermometer on the garage said 110°F.  So, it was hot!

After watering the plants and walking the dog the sun was getting low in the sky so we ran the lawn mower and grass whip.  Our neighbors also started their mowers and were mowing at the same time as we were!  I guess nobody wanted to do this in the middle of the day!

Once the sun was down the winds began to pick up.  It really blew for a while!  I opened the doors and windows to get some of the heat out of the house.  I busied myself updating this blog and uploading my Meeteetse Spires (Pinnacles) photos to Flickr.com.  I think it was almost 11:00 PM when I got to bed.  The window fan kept struggling against the winds outside.

It was much cooler this morning.  I think the day started with temps around 64°F.  The dog walk was pleasant.

Eric was out today because he had requested days off through July 4.  Molly also called in sick.  So, it was just me today.

There are parades scheduled for downtown Cody on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  There is a big street fair set up next to the courthouse.  I might browse this during my lunch tomorrow.  Some of the craft vendors seem to be offering interesting stuff.

Short week this week - no work on July 4.  Of course this means I won't be paid for July 4 as well.

The Beartooth Pinnacles

We finally made our way up to the Beartooth Pinnacles this morning.  The last couple of miles were very bumpy and up a steep grade, but we made it and parked.  My Toyota truck sure has taken us on some surprising adventures!

The trail continues up through rock spires into a pine forest above.  The trail runs next to and above a small swift stream, and is covered in loose broken rock, which is a good tripping hazard, and it is steep.  My heart was pounding in my chest from the altitude and steep grade.

After about an hour of hiking up there we turned around and came back down.  On the way down we met a geologist who was hiking in by himself.  He didn't have a gun or any bear spray!

We followed the Meeteetse Trail over to the second Pinnacles trail, but did not stop to hike it.  We continued following the trail hoping we could travel all the way to Red Lodge, but the trail came down a hill and turned to cross a creek.  The creek was deeper than I believed the truck could cross, so we turned around and headed back out the way that we came in.

It was terribly hot this afternoon.  Hot winds were blowing in from the south and they were picking up clouds of choking dust.  We stopped at Subway to get sandwiches for lunch and then came home.

Now we have the plants watered, the dog walked, and the lawn mowed.  Time to get ready for a (short) week at work.   We will be off on July 4.

Rodeo !!

Bob seated at Cody Rodeo on 6/30/12.

We went to Cody in the afternoon and stopped at WYogurt because we had $1 off coupons.  We both got flavors that are safe for diabetics and we were careful with toppings we put on.

After this we walked next door  to Ace Hardware where we picked up five (5) corks, a tube of caulking adhesive, a can of bug and tar remover, and two (2) 0.7 ounce cakes of beeswax.

Next we went to the Cody Public Library.  This was my first real visit.  We browsed the book sale room and I found a gem from the1960's about solving space flight problems graphically.   That book was $1.  I also found a book of scientific tables and formulas outside this room, and this book was free!  After this we browsed the racks and read some of the magazines.

We had dinner at The Irma.  Both of us ordered salads.  Bob just drank water, and I had un-sweet iced tea.  Our waitress, Joanie, was a Texas-style western lady named Joanie.  "Of course you can have it, THIS IS AMERICA!!"  That was her saying to all customers, all night.

After dinner we walked down the sidewalk to where the shootout was about to happen in the street.  There was already a large crowd assembled here.  We crossed and walked to the Old Time Photos shop to ask about prices and see if they let dogs pose too.  We might let them do our Christmas cards for this year.

Tickets to the Xtreme Bulls show.

Finally we went to the Cody Rodeo to see Xtreme Bulls.  We were directed to park in the large lot and then picked up our tickets at Will Call.  I saw Carol Bednarz in the ticket booth selling.  Inside the gate they had long lines at the concession stand and they had tables set up with t-shirts and stuff to buy.  They had a very large bull standing by  that you could mount and have your picture taken on top of (for only $10!).

We got two beers and headed up to our seats in Section F.

We really enjoyed the show.  Especially the banter between the announcer and the rodeo clown.  There was a big crowd there because Xtreme Bulls only shows one night. 

At the conclusion of the show we went downstairs and we picked out souvenir t-shirts and then went to the truck.  I think it took about 20 minutes to get out of the parking lot because so many people were leaving at once.  The sheriff's department was directing traffic on to the highway.

35 minutes later we were home.  I took Buddy for his over due walk and Bob put some food and water out for him.  Soon after that we all went to bed.  It was a fun and exciting day!

Xtreme Bulls !!

 

We had a great time at the Cody Rodeo last night.  The show last night was Xtreme Bulls, and it was one night only.  There was an estimated crowd of 5,000 there for that competition.  40 bull riders were competing for a purse of $50,000.  

Eight seconds sure seems like a long time when you are struggling to stay on the back of one of these crazy bovine athletes!!