Small Game Changer

Jax still really happy when we hike everyday. He jumps up and down on me and nips at my fingers and runs circles around me. What a great dog.

This is so weird. The new Blogger loads the picture opposite of how I loaded them so I'll just do it backwards.

About a year ago Jax and I were at the Post Office and ran into a lady that had a Cavapoo like Jax. She was a little surprised and curious if I had her dog and then her husband or somebody showed up with hers. She called me yesterday and ask me who Jax's barber was so I hooked her up.

I haven't ever been too worried about getting sprayed by a skunk because all I've ever had is spotted skunks which are known for standing on their head to spray which gives me a little bit of time go react but a couple nights ago of the myriad of creatures running around on the front porch while the guests were watching were two baby striped skunks who don't need to stand on their heads. One set there right next to us and ate a hot dog.

Just Stuff

Still hiking with Jax most every day. If we get a late start, usually guests want to go and they're late then we drive to shade somewhere so we have more time before the sun gets too hot.

We're getting some evening hikes in as well.

I had somebody not make it a couple days ago so I drive up to look at the traditional bad spot. It's a little beat up again so I take a shove and work on it for a couple hours and leave thinking no way anybody can't make it now. The very next night two sets of guests didn't make it. When they called I could hear the nervousness in their voices so I told them both to bail and cancel the reservation. This is still the best the road has been in probably close to eight years. The ledge is hardly a ledge though it was described as huge by one non check in but there is some sand in it so I shoveled away as much as I could. It's discouraging. Then around the corner comes this. I never figured out how to get the video in here but it shows up four or so posts from now.

I can't get the video to load correctly under this new format. I'll keep working on it.

One day we're out hiking and it's nice. I find a nice spot and sack out for half an hour or so. Couple days later my eyes hurt and have for two days. I think my eyelids are sunburned. Really.

Picture Stuff

Dennis and DeLaina stayed with us last fall and sent me some pictures of Kobae and I.

Mike and Viola hiking the Hayduke came by earlier in the Spring and sent these pictures.

Tami sent me this from a couple days ago.

Erich sent me this from a long time ago with Bishop, Chewey, Linny and I on the front porch.

Each time someone shows up in a trick Jeep, truck, or special off road vehicles and still complains about the road you can 100% count on the next vehicle getting here with almost no clearance and saying they didn't have any issues with the road.

New and Improved

More Different Stuff

Moab requires masks now to go inside anything so once a week on my errands I briefly have to join the rest of the world and wear a mask. I'm standing in Walker Hardware with a bunch of materials in my hands in the checkout line and my mask breaks and falls off my face to the floor. My hands are full. People are staring at me. Then the left lens of my sunglasses pops out and falls on the floor next to my mask. Hands are still full. As I'm moving up in the line I'm scooting my mask and sunglasses lens along the floor with my boot. I get to the check out counter and set everything down, reach down and pick up the mask and lens and shove them in my pocket. Nobody is smiling or anything, just staring.

I get to the post office and Steven from Riverside Plumbing is there who a year later I still tell everyone I see that he's a pussy for abandoning me under the house during the water shut off issue with all the skunks. He says a few months ago he ran into Chris and Tami driving my truck and told Chris to tell me "I'm a pussy." Chris told him "I can't do that." When Chris and Tami got back they did tell me some tall guy said to say I'm a pussy. So I told Steven I fired Chris for it. He looked heartbroken. I didn't but it was still fun to see the look on his face. I told Tami when I got back and she looked heartbroken that I told Steven that I fired Chris for it. She said "But then you told him the truth right?" I said "No." She said "Poor Steven he still thinks that." I said "So what, he left me under the house with all the skunks." She said "I feel bad for him."

I'm nervous about this spot in the road. Each time Jax and I hike up the road there's a little more loose dirt on the road below this bounder over hang which has never looked very stable. If it goes I don't know that there's a way to fix this without a lot of work. It will take out a huge chunk of the road.

Different Stuff

This is 13 years complete and into year 14 out here. I can hardly believe it. When you think you've seen it all you haven't. I remember that happening in an earlier stage quite a few years ago. After three or four years thinking I'd seen about all that could be seen and then having a couple month stretch of stuff happening making me realize not only had I not seen anything yet I didn't know anything, right when I thought I knew everything.

After a month plus of stifling heat, every day 98 to 104, we've gotten off and on rain or showers for the last two days and have five more days of it in the forecast, low 90s and high 80s. After each shower it's as if the Earth is renewed and it feels that way with all the babies. The tiniest of lizards and young skunks, raccoons, ringtails, deer, and big horn.

Even Kobae is getting weirder, hard to imagine.

Jax and I are hiking Hurrah on days when guests check out early so we can say good bye to them since they have to pass us to leave. 

We have to be done hiking by 8am as Jax has so much hair he's in a fur coat mostly and just too hot but his appt is coming and he'll be good to go at all hours of the day.

Some Good Stuff

The batteries at the lodge were guaranteed for six to seven years and that's what I got. New ones showed up and the installation was quick. In and out in about four hours. Lot more capacity now and the time was good. There was a five day film crew here and again the infrastructure got tested to the max. In addition to coolers and air conditioners most every plug in the place had something sticking in it re-charging camera or drone batteries.

One guest saw nine baby skunks walking out to the big rock in the back yard, the nursery of big horn sheep has returned, I saw my first baby ringtail in the rafters in a couple years. I went to give it a hot dog and it smelled the hot dog and ran. The first bunch of baby raccoons have showed up with mom and her five kids and today I saw to lizards so small they would fit in your fingernail if not for their tails. It's the baby time of the year and they are all so cute. I'll try and work the Go Pro the next few nights and see what I can get.

This morning Tami was walking by the east cistern that collects water off the roof and she doesn't know why but lifted the lid to look in there and a baby skunk had fallen in and was swimming around. Years ago when I got here I'd find drown lizards and the like in them so I decided that whenever I or we change the environment and sometimes it's detrimental to the critters that lived here before I should mitigate it as much as I can. Lizards and white-tailed antelope squirrels drowning was not something that was done before we got here, at least not here so I put boards in the cistern attached to empty with lid on gatorade bottles so that the board would float and leave me just enough room to put water containers down there and water the vegetation. Anything that fell in would land on the board. A few of the air containers have come over the years and the board was starting to sink some. I reached in and grabbed the skunk who was happy to see me and kept it's tail down with my second hand, placed it on the ground and it ran for cover. Tami and I attached four new bottles and it's floating right again.

For the last several days the commercial crew that was filming out here a few months ago and got run off by the locals returned and we closed the place down just for them. They absolutely refused to do any filming off the property for fear the Punk Ass Weenies would get involved again and it's not like Moab has gotten friendlier since then, if anything it's worse. We had to get creative to find places that fit everything they wanted the filming to do for their commercials but we did it. There was a medic here everyday, they wore masks in 106 degree heat, got their temperature taken daily and were as careful as you can imagine especially for the brutal temps they were dealing with. They were so professional. I'm glad they came back and trusted me. Moab doesn't deserve them. Man they were good. Jax and I drove around a little bit and raked up the few tire tracks they missed but it's all back to normal. Feels so good they were able to finish. Was a military operation somedays with the new models in the middle of Jeep convoys being protected from being seen by anybody. At an intersection one Jeep would peel off and block the road from vehicles coming just in case and another in a different direction. Was fun to watch. I have some great video of the stuff but promised not to show it until the commercial is released and I'll have a link to the web site at that time.

Tami had an incredible effort yesterday. The whole production crew moved out of everything we had and the two houses, two hogans, and two rooms re-rented the same day. It was a 12 hour shift for her but she pulled it off.

As one production crew was pulling out yesterday I was on the phone with another one talking about filming a series out here. As usual they non-disclosure me to death so can't say much of anything more until and unless it's a done deal but when we got done I said do you have any questions and she said she has a list of things they needed and during our conversation she had checked off every one of them.

On Wednesday I got an email from a running company. They do one week seminars on running and the environment asking about putting 25 people up for a week and doing a clinic out here and I'm all in. The future looks promising as most always and sounds like there will be no shortage of interesting.