The Driveway

 The driveway has been a mess for weeks but Lance came out and graded it a few days ago. It's a sweet driveway now.

The Beach

 It's been a very tough couple of weeks. However the problems are getting knocked off one at a time. The beach is back and though a wild beach it's turned into one of the best beaches we've ever had. Nate went down with a weed wacker and saw and cut the trail back from the creek

bed all the way to the beach and it's now open again for guests to walk down from the lodge.

Nine Days

 It's embarrassing. Been nine days since I posted and I also can't find who sent me these photos. Please email me and I'll give you credit.

It's been so busy. Kate's time with us is over and a fellow from Salt Lake way named Nate has taken her place and so far, after a couple weeks, he's Hell on Wheels. Pretty amazing so far.

A male house finch reached into the water bowl for a drink and the one standing next to it with it's beak, slammed it in the back of the head while it was drinking and it died immediately on the side of the bird bath and the second house finch flew off.

Stuff

 We're mostly booked and time is just flying by. I have mail a week old I haven't opened yet. In addition to Kate I have brought in a second person, Nate, from Salt Lake who I met at a disc tournament a few years ago. With four days to his credit he's pulling about 10 hours a day and getting a lot done. Might be a keeper.

Kobae dug a big hole in front of his house, got trapped in it, couldn't get out. fried in the sun one hot day and won't go back. I filled in the hole and escorted him over there a few times but he is not interested. Last night he slept in the laundry room which is a big improvement from his sleeping in the kitchen and everyone having to step over or around him. He doesn't even wake up.

Couple Haydukers came by carrying umbrellas from the heat.

Kobae and I should be out hiking every day but it's still real hot though about to change. One other thing, there has been a large dog staying here, Albert, and Kobae always fills he has to guard his turf so he chase Albeert whenever he can and won't leave cause he's always looking for him. He slid down the back stairs at the lodge trying to get at a dog and landed right side up. He's nuts.

The beach has finally dried and guests are spending four to six hours a day at the beach. It's a weird beach but there are hot spots in the water and cold spots. Despite it took all the dirt in my driveway to make it I got to say it's still one of the best beaches I've had.

Kobae Goes Hiking and Stuff

 It was late in the day but Kobae finally headed down the driveway and we're off to hiking.

With all the rain and flooding one of the storm sent the dead deer that's been at the bottom of the hill down the creek bed and into the river.

I told both Verizon and the distributor for Hughes Net that I couldn't be without phone service and wifi at the same time. If they don't get it together soon there will emergency situations where I can't help. Just a few days later a side by side dropped off two guys that had crashed their side by side and needed help to get to town or could they use my phone or wifi to call somebody, both of which don't exist. One guy tried to give me $100 to take him to town and when I told him I was the only one here and had check ins he screamed "I'm trapped in the desert."

Tonight, three motorcycle riders pulled up and said they had just come down Lockhart Basin and found three stranded motorcycle riders. One was three miles from The Gap and two more at the Gap where they were out of water and exhausted. One was dehydrated and not doing well. I said I'd take care of it and then realized I again had no phone service or wifi and had to drive to the north side of the property. I called San Juan County and they are sending someone down from the south end of Lockhart. A helicopter flew over a half hour later heading down toward Lockhart.

We're overwhelmed. The lodge and next door is packed. We could really use some help at least through Thanksgiving.

We get back in time for Jax to set up on the side walk and control the potential bedlam keeping all the little people where they are suppose to be to prevent fighting during the feeding town.

The Anti-Cline

 Twice in the last week rock has fallen off the Anti-Cline at the same place.

The Back Porch

 With all the wood on the back porch a beam underneath broke and we had to get all the wood off the porch as the porch bowed.

Cometh the Storm

 Nightmare with Verizon. I finally have a phone that I can call out on wifi but it's still a pretty crappy phone and I still don't have wifi at the lodge. Sending guests to either the Condo or Main House if either is vacant. Nobody is complaining of course, the houses are nice. Jax and I are over at the Condo using the wifi when the storm rolls in. We load up and head for the lodge. We're too late. When we get to the turn to the lodge it's straight up and down three foot drop off.

I've got Jax with me who will get swept away easy and I'm carrying my computer which I can't lose for all the booking contacts. We can't get across the creek bed here. There are three creeks coming into the driveway. One by hole #9 is the right side of the Anti Cline run off. The driveway itself which comes from the left side of the Anti-Cline run off. The third one comes from the bowl area where holes #11, #12, #13, and #14. They all join in the driveway.

My plan is to walk the left bank all the way back to the gate and cross the stream going into the bowl area as I have to carry the computer case on one shoulder and Jax in one arm or the other. I'm going to cross the three streams one at a time before they combine. In theory the force should be just one third as much each time.

Here's where we crossed two of the three.

After crossing the third creek we climbed the mosquito infested hill to look down and see where we'd come from.

Hiking Hurrah

 Kate was driving somebody out to the other side of Hurrah so Jax and I got a chance to get a good hike in. We drove the side by side to the other side of Hurrah around 6am and hiked back.

The Ever Changing Beach

 Each time it rains, the driveway comes down the creek bed and adds to the beach as well as trees that have visited from rains in Colorado.

Kobae's Week

 It's been a week and Kobae is still pissed off about the hole he dug and won't go in his house so I filled in the hole. He went over and looked at it, didn't like what he saw so came back and humped the stairs. This time they broke and badly. We have no front stairs. One more thing to do.

Stuff

 On Friday Kate and I both have to go to town so we get guests set up for day's activities and she takes Linny's Jeep and I the beater truck Ford 250. That monster weighs 2500 pounds more than my 150 has incredible power but if you can't fine tune it, more like a bucking bull. It's a bruising experience to get to town and it has no traction. I've named it Constant Impact.

I didn't have my camera but Kane Creek was flooded with 30 feet of mud on both sides. I just touch the top of the mud going down the hill, hit the brakes and slowly slide down the hill into the mud and I'm stuck. Nations gets there in about 45 minutes and pulls me across but everyone else, including Kate is stuck on either side and it takes the county two more hours to clean it out. Jax got trapped on the Kate side but I head to town to get stuff done and after doing all my errands ran into Kate just getting into town as I was heading back and retrieved Jax.

About 5pm Friday evening suddenly my right back lower tooth shoots into excruciating pain. I can hardly function. I get hold of my dentist at an emergency number and he says he can get some people together at 8pm. I have been one door from his office that afternoon with no tooth pain. I get there at 8pm and they say they'll have to yank it. I'm back at the lodge about 10pm.

The little place where you plug your phone in to recharge it on my flip phone broke and I couldn't charge it. So while I was in town at Verizon on Friday they gave me a new upgraded phone, same model. I took it back to to the lodge, charged it, and put it up on the shelf where my old phone of seven or eight years worked. It doesn't work at all. No signal whatsoever for the upgraded model versus the old no G's model, was actually on the X1 network.

I drive back into town to find a way to get my old phone fixed. Arches Electronics can't do it. Walker has no idea so I go to Radio Shack. There's an interesting looking Hispanic kid in there all customized like the youth of today except for earings he has paper clips. I say, my phone is broke can you fix it and hand it to him. He gets a little eyepiece out and stares at the broken plug in side. He says I think so. He's going to try and weld it. I say "Are you the guy that hits on my niece Linny when she comes in here? He doesn't look up. I say any other Hispanics work here? He keeps looking down then says "No." I say "No what? You're the only Hispanic guy or you're the guy hitting on my niece?" He says "Maybe." He says "What's her name?" I say "Linny." He has a little smile. I say "You him?" He says "Probably." I say anybody else go out and open the door to her Jeep when she pulls up? He says "That was probably me."

He says "Wait, I got it." Walks over and grabs a package off the shelf. Takes the battery out of the back of my old phone, stands it up in the package he got off the shelf and it's charging my battery. He's says "Got it." His face lights up. I say "What are you doing in Moab? He says "Taking care of my grandparents." I say "I have heard Saturday night is dance night at your house." He says "My grandma still got it. She can cut a rug." He says "Your phone works again just take the battery out and charge it with this." I buy another battery plus the package on the shelf charger, it's $50. I give him another $50 for solving a big problem for me. He writes his name and number down on the receipt in case I need something else.

I go back over to Verizon and say transfer everything back to the old bland dumb phone and take your smart phone back. They do. When they go to make a call it doesn't work. They call somebody who says once the old system is gone you can't go back. They are phasing it out and it's not possible to get back on it doesn't exist. They have me call that person's supervisor who says the same thing, once you disconnect from the old system you're gone. I explain the new systems sucks and is worse than the old one and they say in some aspects but not most. But to me, no reception is a possible death sentence for somebody that gets hurt out there if I can't call. My old dumb phone worked at most of the accident scenes while all the smart phones didn't. They send me to Verizon Tech Support where I argue for another hour. Nobody is budging. I still don't have service and it's been a week. Yes if I had a smart phone I could call out on wifi but wifi is broken while we wait for a technician and it doesn't work at accident scenes. Another whole story, another time. Hey Linny in San Diego, he likes you, the Radio Shack guy, and he's pretty funny. Miss you my friend.