The Morning is Monday

Brendan sent me these.

Kobae has been coming to the porch every other day to eat and then eating enough for three days. Tortoise math.

When I went next door to check water levels and pump water six Canada geese were hanging out at the bottle place. Later around 11pm I went over to shut the water off and there was an eerie glow coming from the bottle place. I'm wondering if there are LED lights in some of the bottles but haven't been over this morning to check. On a boat years ago I called them Canadian geese and the river guide chewed me out saying they were named after a guy named John Canada who was a taxidermist. I looked it up once and there are those that say they are named after the country, then someone ask what were they called before there was a country named Canada, there's no record of a John Canada when the name popped up as a taxidermist. Then someone says they're named after an Indian tribe named Kanada or something similar so when all is said and done, I don't know. The Bottle Place still glows in the dark and I don't think it's Elon Musk.

Last year the river got up to the top stair of the boat dock when it crested and this year never got to the first stair.

In the first credit Branden sent me it says Special Thanks to Tom Higginson and filmed on location at Base Camp Adventure Lodge and also Duke Head of Hot Dog and Pizza Inspection. Every time I would throw a hot dog out for the critters Duke would get them and he got into my room on the pizza delivery night and at four of them to include the boxes, and spilled four more on the ground. You'll have to enlarge it.

In the second one, you'll have to blow it up also. Production Designer is GAEA, or in short the Goddess Mother Earth. Head of Security is Kobae.

The Usual Unusual Stuff

Today is May 10th. In addition to being the first day the Desert Willow blooms every year I remember it because it is also my best friend in the whole world's birthday. Today Linny turns 17. Linny was born 1 pound and four ounces and not expected to survive but here we are 17 years later and a movie star I might add. Linda sent me a couple of pictures of the very early days.

Kobae came out yesterday, sat in his door for five hours, then turned around and went back in never to come out again until today Sunday.

Day before Andy, Brian, and Nicole hiked out to Jackson Hole, up Jackson Ladder, and back, 13 or 14 miles. Brian and Nicole's dog Jane went with them. A small dog with a big heart. Didn't complain and when they went to head out to the Amasa Back this morning Jane was ready to go. I took a Polaris and gave them a ride out to the Ladder to save them 12 miles of hiking so they could spend all their energy on the trails on top.

Watching Jane head up the ladder and thinking of all the great dogs that were here over the weekend and their reluctance to leave as family was packing up I was missing Jax. I have no idea if I'm going to see him again. It's complete pot luck in the decision making process. The battle is so exhausting and the departure so emotional. I went on the Moab Humane Society website and looked at the four dogs waiting for adoption and I thought one of those dogs could be living this life full time instead of going back in the pen or cage each night. I don't want to abandon my hiking buddy but our time, if ever again, is always unknown and random at best. I'm thinking about it.

I haven't seen a Hayduker or Discovery Trail hiker for a month. I think you have to get permits to go through Canyonlands and there's nobody to get you one during the shutdown.

River seems to be going down. Sand bars are starting to appear again. Three weeks ago the snow pack in the Rockies was 16 feet and today it's under 7. Not much left to melt and once it's gone it's just natural springs filling the river. Chart said snow pack is 68% below normal on this date over the last seven years.

It's busy out there. This seems like an average Sunday of any other year. I've seen or heard at least 25 vehicles, dirt bikes, side by sides, Jeeps, and ATVs go out to Jackson Hole. If there are that many at Jackson I'm sure Chicken Corner is twice that busy.

Get the Popcorn

Brendan and Amy showed up bringing the completed copy of the horror flick filmed here last year The Canyonlands.

It's being screen tested as various movie people are looking at it. There are some comments about the script, about an actor or actress or two, and little stuff about this and that but there's no criticism of the scenery.

We showed it twice to keep crowd size under the Utah recommended 10 people. Had some crew drive out from town to watch the first one at 7pm Thursday night. Then guests and Tami, Tonja, and Chris for one also at 9pm.

The movie starts at the boat house with an aerial view from a drone and one of the guests said right away "That's the boat house." Was a lot of that for the next hour and a half roughly. 21 of the 23 days were filmed here on lodge property with one day at the Wind Caves and one on the river. I have to say I'm a movie star. In the edge of the drone shot you can see my white truck going up the road towards the main house though it also could have been Linny driving it also. In the beginning as the future rafters are introducing themselves I briefly thought I'm not going to make it through the movie. But that was it. It got better and better and then it got totally cool. Linny was magnificent. Really good. She gets killed and it was so realistic and a complete tear jerker. Brendan and Amy told me it would be and even knowing what was going to happen and being there while it was filmed when I saw it refined it was so touching. There was a scene where somebody is sitting in the chair I'm sitting in while I'm watching it. When it was over I could hardly wait for the second showing.

At the end as the credits are rolling it says "Head of Security..........Kobae." It's true. All Kobae did was sit in the door all day and make people walk around or step over him.

Linny shows up as "The Girl". At the very end it says filmed at Base Camp Adventure Lodge and the almost very last a special thank you to Tom Higginson.

I was so tired when the movie was over and they were all leaving last year. I was sure I didn't ever want to get involved in a movie again. I for sure don't feel that way now. Brendan keeps saying it's a B-minus movie but I think though a lot of people get whacked and there's a lot more swear words than what were woven in the script by ad-lib talent, it's a fun movie and made more so by knowing every inche of where every scene was filmed. Everyone really enjoyed it.

They're going to get me a copy at some point and I think when we can we'll show it to guests occasionally. Right now it's being shopped and still has to be kept under wraps. I'll update you if I hear anything new.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10245776/videogallery/?ref_=tt_pv_vi_sm

Vendors

I have four locations and accounts with HughesNet. I have WiFi at the main house/hogans, Condo, Lodge, and I'm paying for Doug's hogan. Long story. The one at the lodge has run out of data and so they slow me way down. I can't get on Hughes Net to buy more tokens because the Main House account keeps showing up no matter what I log in and even after getting rid of cookies. I've been keeping cardboard and paper trash waiting for somebody to have a fire at the pit and have them use up my large collection of cardboard boxes and so forth. But, in a couple of weeks nobody has had a fire. I ask Chris to burn the stuff in the fire pit because on this night because Brendan and Amy have brought us the premier of the horror flick filmed here last year and we're watching it in the living room, full of boxes.

I'm on the phone with Hughes Net and trying to get them organized to understand the problem and I have the lady on speaker phone. She says "Did I just hear people yelling FIRE in the background." I look out the window and see Chris, Tami, and Tonja all running by with containers of water. I ask the Hughes Net lady to hold for a minute. Despite the wind blowing from the river up to the lodge a small fire has started going down hill toward the river. Every one has containers and is dumping water on it so I grab a shovel and pound some fire and after just three or four minutes it's out.

I go back inside and get on the phone and the lady says "You sound out of breath." I said "I am." She says "Big fire?"

Kobae moved into his house a few days ago, then back in the laundry room for one night, then back in his house ever since. On Thursday he came out, started across the drive way, walked about five feet then suddenly flipped a U-turn and went back in his house not to be seen again until Friday.

I switched to Ferrell Gas a year or two ago for propane to be delivered. They have been magnificent on service but administratively is a little confusing. They delivered way last year. Waited three plus weeks to send me a bill and by the time I went to town to get mail it was late already. I mailed it and then they sent me a notice saying I had a $25.52 credit. But, I also had a $4.42 late fee, on my $4,000 bill that they cashed. So when all was said and done they sent me a notice saying I had a credit of $21.20 cents.

Last month I got a bill from them saying I have a credit of $21.10 but my $4.42 late fee is 60 days past due. In town on Tuesday I got another notice from Ferrell Gas that I had a credit of $21.10 but the late fee of $4.42 which they had deducted from the original $25.52 credit was now 90 days past due but the total amount due, was $0. I'm torn between sending them a check for a negative $4.42 or just letting it accumulate and see what happens when they turn me over to a collection agency.

For the last few days guests have ask me about the various birds throughout the property and I've been telling them about the red wing blackbirds. Yesterday when I said that it didn't feel right and I realized they had left, I didn't notice when, and the day they leave is the day the cowbirds show up and sometimes yellow-headed black birds. They are all here.

This is the first weekend I've been sold out since the disc golf tournament 2nd weekend in March. You can see the shadow of The Saddle starting to move around in the bottom left hand corner of the picture.

Doug Smith

https://www.facebook.com/doug.smith.921025/posts/3224344320932665?notif_id=1588972136805018&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic

This and That

Lot of good help right now so some evenings when things are under control I can jump on the trials bike and take an hour ride or so.

Seems like it's the first week of May every year before Kobae decides to move into his home. Each day he is getting closer. Walking across the parking lot and sitting for hours by his house as if deciding and on Sunday, he makes the move.

River is rising with 90 degree temps in the Rockies. This is as quick a rise as I've ever seen meaning I should get my beach back by the end of June. http://snowpack.water-data.com/uppercolorado/index.php

I'm in town when the alternator goes out on the truck, won't charge the battery and I'm stuck. Nations Towing gives me a jump and gets me to the shop. I'm waiting for a rear bumper as the truck slowly falls a part. It is dependable running every day over not easy roads.

But the truck has been running rough. Every week or so I clean the air filters in the side by sides and the Dysons. I've never cleaned or has it occurred to me to clean the truck and Jeep ones. I don't know. Maybe because they're tough and they run no matter what.

Chris is having trouble with his machines getting a reading as to what exactly is wrong with the truck. He says "Let's see what the air filter looks like." He pulls it out and drops it on the floor and there is a small mushroom atomic cloud that rises off the floor. He picked it up and drops it again and ten times the mushroom atomic cloud rises from the floor. Then Chris says into his phone set "Can you deliver me 2 Ford 150 2000 model air filters." A few minutes later it's running sweeter than I remember from ten years ago when I got it.

Coming Back

Business is picking up. Colorado eased up on some stuff yesterday and so did Utah. San Juan County is mostly open and I hear that Moab has allowed motels back in business with every other room rented or something similar and there are some restaurants around with open air seating though I can't name one. Lot of disc golfers this weekend. I got an email from Denver about 3am yesterday saying they're partially free now and they are loading up to come play disc right now. Taking the trials bike around to do errands since I've got no one to hike with.

Two magnificent bald eagles flew over Thursday. I see those maybe two or three times a year. I see a lot of golden eagles but the balds are rare. Yellow headed blackbirds are making an appearance and talking up a storm with the red-winged blackbirds. Beach is mostly gone and the river is rising fast. Most sandbars are gone with a few beaches left up and down the river.

Tonja, Tami, and Chris transferred all Michelle's stuff to the big garage yesterday and Tami and Tonja moved into that room. Most stuff next door is staying rented and I'm starting to get one or two rooms at the lodge rented at the same time. Not quite the May of last year but it's getting closer. Every now and then have a check out nervous about the drive up and so I'm taking a trials bike and getting a little ride in. So far I just show them where to drive it up and they do. I haven't had to drive one yet.

Tonja is working around the lodge. volunteering to babysit for guests, feeding everyone, and doing everything she said, to be deemed "essential". Each morning I give Tami and Chris two or three assignments and they are off to accomplish them and by the end of the day they are done. A year's worth of back order stuff is within a couple weeks of being caught up. I couldn't find any good people for longer than a couple weeks, probably Kristin and Michelle being the exceptions and now I have three. My plan to make a run at Caveman Ranch isn't happening since it's under contract for at least twice, maybe three times what I would have paid for it. Still it's an odd situation. If I was buying something that massive with so much work to do I'd be over there every day with tradespeople figuring out how to get water, how to get power, the septic capabilities, who's going to do what. It's going to be a huge project and it will have to be support an investment or debt of five or six million. They have to be ready to run. I've seen nobody over there. Tonja said she saw a truck one night and flashlights and that's it. I'm missing something.

It's the first week of May every year when Kobae finally moves into his house. He's so weird. He's hiking over by it most days and then finding a spot just a few feet from the entrance and hanging out there for three or four hours. Comes back to the porch to eat, then goes in the laundry room.