A few weeks ago, Marg, Maija (the dog) and I took the raft out on the lake for the first time in three years (annual summer surgeries … you don’t wanna know). The 12’ raft has a trolling motor, so we don’t have to do any work (OK, Marg steers), just relax and float. A beautiful day. And, we almost made it. Until the dog started climbing around and maybe pulled on the wires that attach the motor to the 50 lb. battery in the raft. I see the smoke start pouring out. (I recognize this because it happened on the Colorado River a few years ago … the time we sunk our first raft.) I grab the wires off the battery. Marg tosses the wires into the lake to stop the fire. But they don’t quite make it into the water and we hear the “sssssssss” sound as the wire burns a hole in the vinyl raft. We make it to shore. Only a small hole this time, so we can repair the raft. Last time, the hot wires melted a giant gash in the side of the raft, we had to be carried ashore by the National Park Service boat, and there was nothing to do but drop the raft into a dumpster. This time we tried to focus on the lovely two hours before the accident. I’m beginning to understand why none of our family or friends will sail with us.
We’ve been living in the RV for almost two months and are truly appreciating being so close to the outdoors. Marg fixed up a nice patio for us (see photo below), so we threw a cocktail party for some of the other campground residents. We’ve had friends spend a weekend (yes, we do have room for guests). And we look at the stars at night.
Toby’s Best Bets: Thanks to my co-worker Chris, I have discovered the joy of the “Google Sky Map” app for my Droid. I just point my phone at the night sky and, magically (OK, it’s probably some kind of GPS coordinates), the stars and constellations in front of me appear in the phone window and tell me what they’re called. I’m in ecstasy!
Work trips have been keeping me busy. Montana, North Dakota, Bainbridge Island (across Puget Sound from Seattle).
Toby's Best Bets: If you're ever in Miles City, Montana, stop at The Cellar Casino (tell the owner, Denis Leidholt, I said hi!). Check out the huge collection of Jim Beam bottles. It's amazing.
Work trips have been keeping me busy. Montana, North Dakota, Bainbridge Island (across Puget Sound from Seattle).
Toby's Best Bets: If you're ever in Miles City, Montana, stop at The Cellar Casino (tell the owner, Denis Leidholt, I said hi!). Check out the huge collection of Jim Beam bottles. It's amazing.
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| This is just one section of the collection. |
And then there's the fun stuff. Two recent trips have been highlights of our outdoor living …
LEAF-PEEPING FROM BRIAN HEAD TO LAKE PANGUITCH
The photos tell the entire story. Since I left New York in 1991, I’ve truly missed the fall colors. Colorado has aspen that turn yellow; Las Vegas has rocks. But after 10 years of camping in Southern Utah, we finally discovered that trees in the higher elevations DO wear all the colors of the autumns of my younger days back East. It was almost like taking a drive upstate NY on the Taconic Parkway.
MOAB, UTAH
Last weekend, after a 10-year absence, we returned to one of our very favorite haunts: Moab, Utah. We spent a day driving through and hiking in Arches National Park … as always, stopping to climb into Sand Dune Arch and taking the required photos of Delicate Arch (check out a Utah license plate) and Windows.
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| Marg under arch. |
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| Sand Dune Arch. It's like a cool, red-sand beach under there. |
The next day, we rented a Jeep and spent 8 hours 4-wheeling the back country on Chicken Corners Trail. Spectacular scenery and just plain fun climbing up the slickrock, driving around narrow curves overlooking scary drop-offs, and realigning every vertebrae over the rocky/sandy trail. Whoo-hoo!
Toby’s Best Bets: Since Marg is an Italian cook, we are often hesitant to eat at unfamiliar Italian restaurants. But when chicken parmigiana calls, it just does. Cassano’s, on the main drag in Moab, was outstanding! We shared the chicken parm and baked rigatoni … the sauce was delicious, they didn’t skimp on the mozzarella, and our waiter was charming. (The downside is that the chairs were super uncomfortable, but the tastiness of the food more than made up for the seating issues.)
On our last day, we were supposed to take a raft trip down the Colorado River. It was cancelled due to weather. The adventure outfitters must have heard that we are prone to setting rafts on fire.
Thanks for reading!
Toby
