On my first loop from Carson City, I spent a night in Alturas, California. I believe I wrote a bit about that part of my journey some months ago. In any event, I noticed this iris was strongly backlit and it was striking against the darker background. So, I paused my play with the Girl and made the capture. It’s one of my favorite images from that trip and a great memory of the place.
A few weeks ago, Jimmy and I elected to drive to Java Jungle in downtown Reno. Arttown was still going on and we had not been out and about much. Jimmy was working a lot and so was I. So, our social time had been limited to passings-by now and again. It was time and it was good to be out.
It was too warm for coffee, so I elected to have an iced tea, black of course. I got there a bit before Jimmy and had the Girl sitting next to me on the bench, watching the world go by. I noticed three squids (motorcycle riders who are/think-they-are racers) BS’ing at another table. They were telling war stories of various kinds.
Jimmy showed up, got his coffee, and sat down. We were chatting and people-watching when a beautiful young woman walked along the sidewalk outside the Java Jungle seating area.
“Get your camera ready…” Jimmy said, “I saw her up the street a bit ago.
“She’s gorgeous… and I only have the normal lens on my camera.”
The squids called out to her — not the catcall I expected, but asked her “Do you want a ride?” She gave them this stunning big smile and her demeanor was of the naive.
“I have no pants,” she said, and I immediately recognized that she was not a native English speaker.
“What’s that accent?” I asked Jimmy.
“Balkans.”
“It sounds like Ukrainian or Belorussian to me.”
The squids continued to talk her up and she clearly wanted a ride. There was a spare helmet and jacket and they found her some gloves, but no pants. So, she tucked her skirt under her butt when she climbed aboard.
“I hope he doesn’t scare her,” I looked at Jimmy.
“He probably will…” was Jimmy’s dry reply.
“She seems a bit naive to me,” I looked at Jimmy.
“She’s not,” he replied, “It’s part of the European woman package. They have a deep sense of who they are and they present themselves well.”
I watched her ride off with the motorcyclist. He appeared to be taking it easy on her — he made an easy turn onto the street and didn’t goose the bike on the takeoff. They were gone a few minutes and then returned. Jimmy was shooting away, having a zoom on his camera. I just watched. Her friend/handler arrived and they sat down. Then she came over to our table.
“You shoot a lot of pictures,” she said.
“It’s street photography,” I chimed in.
“What is ‘street photography?'” she asked. So we explained about the fun of wandering about looking for interesting things, people, and actions.
“Where are you from? Belarus?”
“Lithuania,” she smiled. Jimmy grinned and introduced me as ‘Dr. Dave,’ as he always does.
“Did he scare you,” I asked.
“A little,” she smiled, “but not too bad.”
Sometime during the conversation, one of us mentioned how beautiful she was. “All the girls are pretty in Lithuania,” she responded.
I have no idea whether that is true or not. But, Angelica has much more than just good looks. She has poise, intelligence, and carries herself with confidence and a kind of innocence. It was a pleasure to meet her and the capture is one of my favorites.
Jimmy asked for her email address to send her some of the captures. I looked over to her friend/handler and said “I bet this happens quite a lot.” He looked back at me, shrugged, and grinned.
I enjoy these chance encounters. When I remember to get an informal portrait, they are even better. I MUST learn to ask for the shot when I have these conversations with people I meet. I don’t know what it is about me that prevents me from asking. But I have to get over that.
“Football season is our busiest time of the year,” Daughter said. She was being honest. It’s been a very busy week. But, I’m ahead of myself.
I finally buckled down and drove out the remaining miles to Daughter’s home. I spent a lot of time on the turnpikes (which I deplore) and another night in a motel. I did pause to pick up geocaches in states where I had not found any so as to collect the “souvenirs” for those states. The pauses gave me an opportunity to see some of the country that I had not seen. But the focus was on “getting there.”
Daughter has a wonderful house. They are in the process of filling it in as time and money allow. The grandsons are wonderful, as I expected. I’m deeply enjoying spending time with them. I’ve watched more TV than I have in years, but it’s fun to simply be with my family.
Daughter is amazing. A deep calm strength emanates from her. There is confidence there and well as competence. The boys are attentive and respectful. I expected that, given their Father. It is good to not have to be the one in charge for a change. I am not the leader here, just a beloved family member. It is good.
I’ve been going to football practice with Daughter and Younger Grandson (YG). Daughter and I sit on the sidelines and observe while YG works. He’s got a great attitude and is not afraid to mix it up a bit. He’s learned a lot, I can tell. I shot a bit of video of his workouts and will share that material with Daughter. She can do whatever she wants with it.
Saturday was the YG’s first scrimmage this year. OG, Daughter, and I sat on the sidelines (along with the Girl in her training vest). It was hot and humid, but not awful. I think I finally got some Sun on my right leg, which is usually shaded by the 4Runner when I’m driving. I have a farmer-tan on my left side and it’s time to balance it out a bit.
The scrimmage was round-robin style. With the exception of one team, it was fun to watch. The lead coach of one team was a total butt. He was screaming at his kids and had a generally bad attitude. I’m thinking he’s a candidate for the antagonist of one of the Karate Kid movies. These are ten-year old boys, for goodness’ sake, not professional players. There’s a lot of learning for them to do and it can be done in a far better way.
Enough of that…
Friday we drove up to Gettysburg to visit the national park. I put the Girl in her training vest and she was perfect! She went right to work, stayed close to me, was very attentive, and did exactly what she was supposed to do. We visited “The Cyclorama,” which is a huge oil painting of Pickett’s Charge and is accompanied by a soundtrack. There were several cannonades, which the attendant warned me about. Although the Girl didn’t like the loud noises, she only trembled a bit and realized this was not thunder.
They made us take the elevator to avoid the escalator. I didn’t remember, but the Girl knows escalators and has no problem with them. I have video of my lead trainer working her on the escalators at the airport last Christmas and the Girl did great. But, she knows elevators too and was fine with it, even as herky-jerky as it was. They put us in the handicapped seats so the Girl could place next to me. I put her in a down-stay and she was fine. The cannon blasts and rifle reports disturbed her a bit, but not badly.
We drove part of the CD-guided automobile tour. The entire place has a sense of the holy about it. I want to go back and spend more time there. They have a number of short hikes to various places that would be good to see. It is also possible to hire a guide to go along to tell the story. I want to spend time there with my cameras, but that will mean getting up early to get the good light.
Pennsylvania reminds me a lot of Missouri. There’s lots of vegetation, the air is warm and humid, and wildlife is abundant. I stepped out the back door with the Girl Sunday morning for her morning outing and watched a wild turkey at the treeline between lots. That was a sight I haven’t seen in a long time.
I’m very happy I decided to come here. It’s good to be with family, I haven’t seen Daughter and her family in two years (since Wife died), and it is good to see new lands.
On that same trip toward Verdi Peak (which we never made), we stopped at the Crystal Mine to play around looking for “points.” The mine was active in World War II, when it supplied crystal for radiocommunications. It’s still possible to find whole crystals, but it’s more difficult now than it used to be because everyone wants to find them.
The Girl had a blast hunting around, although I think her feet were a bit sore from the sharp quartz. There was quartz (and many other minerals) everywhere! I wish I had a mineralogy field book along because I still enjoy mineral identification. It’s been too many years since my geology laboratory.
I found a point fragment that was quite pretty. I also found quite a bit of galena and some fairly thin sheets of quartz that I liked.
One of the best parts was playing around with the camera. I contrast of white quartz, blue sky, and puffy white clouds caught my eye. So, I caught the image.
Many years ago there was a Clint Eastwood movie, Play Misty for Me. It was one of the psychodramas of the time and quite spooky. The title for my article was a free association based on my acquaintance, which I’ll tell you about.
Thursday evening came and my friend Jimmy arrived home from his first job. He looked into my room and remarked “I see boxes by the door, but it doesn’t look like you’re ready to leave.” I shrugged and said “Well, maybe Saturday, maybe Sunday… I have some work to do on this project that will take me a few hours.”
It was really hot that afternoon — the 4Runner’s dash thermometer read 102F. The Girl and I had been running errands, wrapping up a small project, procuring necessary items for my next trip, and trying to stay cool. I had been working on my report to address comments from the prime before I headed out. It was too hot to sleep yet anyway. But, I got settled down about 2300 and slept pretty well.
Friday morning came and while drinking my morning coffee, I decided I could get away if I really wanted to. So the Girl and I made our walk, I worked out, fed us, and got started on the last few things. It took me about a half-hour to pack them, so I showered and began loading the rig. I took my time with the rig because I faced a huge Tetris problem. In the end, I got my things in there plus the few things I wanted to stow in my unit.
We were out of the house by about 1100 and headed for Carson to take care of some last errands and stow those things I was leaving behind. On the way out of town we stopped at Sportsman’s Warehouse to pick up a couple last things, said goodbye to my neighbor (who works there), and then headed east on U.S. 50.
It was a much cooler afternoon than Thursday. I could have worked and been fine at Jimmy’s. Oh well… I had no idea. Regardless, it was good to be moving again. We stopped in Fallon for a few minutes to get out of the car and drink some water. I picked up a couple of geocaches along the way as well.
One of our stops was near Sand Mountain, to find a geocache. I thought about driving out there, but could tell it was already crowded with weekenders and decided that I didn’t want to interact. So, after the Girl chased a few lizards and I logged the geocache, we headed on.
I stopped at the Austin, Nevada cemetery to find another geocache, hoping it would be large enough to accommodate a couple of travel bugs I’d been hauling around. But, the hide was a small container so no joy.
I also was tiring and didn’t think I’d be able to make Eureka or Ely. In looking at lodging in Austin, the Cozy Mountain Motel got a lot of good reviews. But, when I drove by, the No Vacancy sign was already illuminated. So, I looked again and found the Pony Canyon Motel. The price was a little higher than I expected and I was surprised when I learned there was no air conditioning. But that wasn’t really bad as the evening cooled quickly.
The Girl and I settled in and were sitting outside enjoying the late afternoon air and light — watching the world go by. I noticed the beautiful light and retrieved my Fuji X-T1, making the capture above.
A young woman pulled in beside my rig and started rushing her things, including two cats, into her room adjacent to mine. The Girl took too much interest in the crated felines and drew a correction. “Sorry about that,” I said.
“No worries… they are so much work to take care of, not like a dog.”
“Well, dogs just require a different kind of work.”
“I gotta hurry, the restaurant closes at eight…” and off she flew. When she returned, I was boiling water to add to my freeze-dried supper, lasagna with meat sauce. I’m experimenting with backpacking meals. All that is required is the foil packet, boiling water, and a spoon. A long-handled spoon really helps. (I’ll write about that more in another article.) She walked past with her boxed pizza. “I see you made it.”
“Yep, health food,” she responded. The Girl’s nose went up as she walked by. “Must be pepperoni,” I said, “The Girl loves pepperoni.”
“I’ll save her some, then.”
“Don’t do me any favors, she’ll gas me.” We both laughed.
After I ate and cleaned up, I sat on the bench outside my room with my guitar, playing softly. A new goal of mine is to do those things that are important to me daily — reading, writing, music, photography. I’m working on getting some of my skill back on the instrument. So, I want to play a few minutes everyday. She came out of her room to get a few more of her things and smiled as she passed.
When she returned, she sat down in a nearby chair. I played for a few minutes and then she began to talk. She is learning the ukulele. She had no artistic encouragement when she was young and a friend had encouraged her to play. She took up the ukulele as something relatively easy to play and quite portable.
“Are you practicing regularly?”
“No. I often intend to, but I don’t. I binge, playing hours on one day and then nothing for a week.”
“You should commit to 15-minutes per day,” I suggested. “Don’t be regimented about it, like ‘I have to practice today,’ but make it something you do because you want to, because you get something from it. Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a session. But you’ll build muscle memory much faster if you practice regularly, even if it’s just a few minutes.”
I used to teach music in another life. My encouragement to my students was always to practice a little. Make it a focused session and keep it short. The goal is to be regular and focused. That’s the fastest way to learn and it’s a lot more fun.
“I’m Misty,” she held out her hand.
“I’m Dave,” and I took it.
Mid-visit there was a crash as the screen on her window fell out, hauling a small tan and white cat along with it. I called to Ki to stay in the room and we went over to grab the cat (she did) and I grabbed the screen. After a bit of futzing around, she got the window closed and I had the screen (mostly) back in place. After a few minutes getting her cat settled back down, she returned.
“I’m headed for Dallas to work on my Ph.D.” That led to a talk about graduate school, background, and a lot of stories about things. After an hour or two just chatting, I could tell she was tiring as she began yawning and had that look about her.
“I have to go to bed. I’m tired.”
I nodded, understanding.
“Perhaps I’ll see you in the morning. I want to see how you cook.”
I really enjoy these encounters. I enjoy interacting with people and hearing their stories. I meet interesting people along the way and am thankful for that.
Indeed, she was up and about before I cooked breakfast the next morning — a Saturday morning. She watched me prepare my eggs and oatmeal and was surprised that I had all the fixings. I was amused at her surprise. Why wouldn’t I have the things I like with me?
As I cleaned up and began my packing process, she loaded her vehicle. She knocked on my door and I asked her in. I gave her one of my cards. “Email me. I’d like to hear how your progress on your Ph.D. goes. When I’m in Dallas, I’ll drop by for a visit and we can have coffee or a beer.” She smiled, nodded, and looked at me for a moment.
I gave her a big hug, as I could see that was what she wanted.
Then she was off to Denver to see a friend, then to Dallas to get started on her work. “God Bless and be safe,” I said as I watched her go.
Once again, a living, breathing being moved into and out of my circle. She brought her energy and liveliness into my life for a few moments and then was gone. Will she email me? Will I see her again for that coffee or beer? I have no idea. I’m not even sure that it matters. It is what it is and I’m happy with that.
Then, as she drove away, my free-associating mind came up with “Play Misty for Me” and I knew I had a title for my story.
A couple of weeks ago, a bright Saturday morning, Jimmy suggested we go for an adventure. I have another image that I’ll write about later, but the intent was to drive west to Verdi, show me around that interesting little town, and then drive up the trail to the Verdi Peak overwatch tower.
So, off we went. Verdi is an interesting little town and Jimmy knows the history of the area well. He’s an excellent tour guide and I love listening to him recount the tales of the various institutions and watering holes. Verdi used to be the place to come and party. But, with the crackdown on drinking and driving, that function of the town is long passed.
We turned up one of the forest roads and turned and twisted a bit, climbing up in the the pine woods. We stopped for a hunt at the Crystal Mine and hunted for points for a good long while, which was great fun. Then we headed back out the trail.
We worked our way up the slope toward Verdi Peak. There was a pull out along the ridge and we stopped there for a few pictures. Verdi was in the view and Reno could be seen in the distance. The Girl enjoyed hunting squirrels.
I made the capture of “The Sentinel” — a remnant of a fire that occurred here some years ago. Then we clambered back into the 4Runner and started off again. At a fork in the road, Jimmy thought we should go west, but the in-dash GPS showed the only trail heading east. So, east we went, although I warned “I don’t trust the maps on these trails. Sometimes they are not complete.”
Brush scraped both sides of the 4Runner as we headed down a slope. The farther we went, the worse the trail became. There were plenty of rolly-rocks (as I call them). The trail became very steep. It was not the steepest trail, nor the rolliest that I’ve been on, but it was certainly much longer than any bad stretch I previously experienced.
It was bad enough that Jimmy got out to scout ahead. As we negotiated a set of tight switchbacks, I looked at the side of the mountain and thought “If I slide out, this will be bad. There will not be any stopping until we reach the bottom of the hill. I don’t expect to survive that.”
There was no turning back. The trail was so bad and so steep that a Y-turn was not possible. Moreover, the trail was so steep that I might not have been able to climb back out. There was no way to go but forward… and down.
Eventually Jimmy decided the trail was acceptable once again and that a scout was no longer needed. He clambered back into the 4Runner and we continued to ease our way down the trail. Eventually the slope was less steep and there were fewer rocks. A dirt bike came up to us, so I made room for him to pass. That meant that there was access to this trail from the east side. I really didn’t want to go back.
We saw a trail break off to the left (north) of us. It was posted. Jimmy said “That’s where we need to be,” so that’s where we headed.
As we pulled out to the paved road, a homeowner was working on a bike with his son. I made eye contact and said “We got lost and this was the only way out we could find.”
“No worries!” he called back. Jimmy got out to chat (that gregarious Jimmy) and so I stepped out. The 4Runner was badly marked with Nevada pinstripes. Although I really don’t want to mess up my vehicle, I also know that I bought it to use and that it will get marks.
Jimmy rejoined me. “I’m usually the one doing the scaring. That was pretty scary.” I laughed.
“What was I to do? There was no way to go but forward… What would those who gave up do?”
“They’d call for transport to come get their vehicle.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“I’m not much of one to give up.” I said. So we headed over the the fuel depot to refuel the 4Runner and head home. Jimmy bought iced tea and that was really good.
We stopped at the RV rental place where Jimmy works part time and started buffing out the pinstripes. They were bad enough that we had to go back Sunday morning to finish.
I deeply enjoy driving the trails. However, my rig doesn’t really have the tires for a trail of that kind. Still, it was a very good day, even if we made the wrong turn and had the challenge of working down the hard side of the mountain. Maybe there will be another time to get to Verdi Peak. I might take a chainsaw along, though, and trim some of that brush…
Another of my favorite simple tools is the Porlex Mini Stainless Steel Coffee Grinder. I bought it a year ago to go with the Bodum Personal French Press that I reviewed a few days ago. I’ve used it enough now to have figured out how to use the tool.
The design is clean and simple. It’s a bean bowl (top) below which is housed the grinder (ceramic burrs) and a catch bucket at the bottom. The catch slides off the body of the grinder so you can dump freshly ground coffee into the brewer. (I use a French press for now.) A stainless steel handle connects to the mechanism via a pentalobed nut. Once beans are loaded into the hopper, the “wrench” is slipped over the nut and then grind away. It takes me a couple of minutes to grind a serving of coffee while the pot is on to boil. The handle is long enough to provide sufficient leverage for easy grinding.
Setting the grind is a bit “fiddly.” (I love that British colloquialism!) Once set, the grind has been consistent for me (so far). I have no idea how long the unit might last in daily use, but I’m going to find out.
There is a strong “rubber band” with a slot to hold the handle when not in use. The unit fits easily into my travel kit. I much prefer to buy beans and grind my coffee on demand. The burr-type grinders produce a better grind than the “chopping” machines. (I had one of those and gave it away.) Ceramic burrs last longer than steel (so I’m told).
I like this unit. The design is simple, clean, and there aren’t many moving parts. It’s small, compact with the removable handle, and there is enough leverage to easily grind coffee. As I said, I like this unit.
After leaving Craig, Colorado I started working my way west. I paused a few times along the way to hunt for a geocache (and to get out of the car and enjoy the outdoors). The Girl, as always, really enjoys these stops. She travels well and is happy snoozing on the seat beside me, looking (and sniffing) out the window, and long-range cuddles (me stroking or giving her scratchies). What a wonderful companion.
We puttered along the way, enjoying the cool air and the bit of misty rain that we encountered. It was amazingly cool for summer — about 65F. I had to roll up the windows or be cold.
As I thought about our route along U.S. 40, I recalled seeing Dinosaur National Monument located near the Colorado-Utah border. Not knowing when I might again be this way, I decided to forego making miles and enjoy a diversion for a few hours enjoying the park. So, we stopped at the eastern welcome center and went inside. A ranger greeted us after finishing his visit with a small group of tourists. We chatted for a bit about his work and the park.
“The east side of the monument has the views and the altitude. The west side has the fossils and the heat.” He told us.
I elected to go for the fossils and save the views (and altitude) for our next visit. Perhaps by then I’ll have my mobile house and can stay a bit. It would be interesting to work the landscape with my cameras.
So, off we went… west. We paused in between the two parts of DNM to capture a geocache. When I clambered up on the ridge to get the hide, I glanced in both directions. U.S. 40 spread out before me in both directions. Each provided a distinctly different view. I liked the light better to the west and made this capture with my HTC One mobilephone and immediately made an Instagram post of it. Now I’m sharing it again, but this time with the story. What a great view of the arid west. I love this part of the country.
The Girl had a blast chasing rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks. I had to call her back a couple of times because she’s always at risk of getting lost. In her prey-driven focus, she’ll completely forget where she is and where I am. She’s smart and dingy — an interesting combination. She could probably find me with her doggie-sense (perhaps not as good as spider-sense, but pretty-damned-good nonetheless), but she forgets to use her best tools. I often accuse her of being my blonde bitch. [Yes, I know that’s not PC; I don’t care.]
As an aside, I’ll add that I tell people that I like “big-chested blondes with tight asses” and then give the Girl a pat. Wife used to tell me “David! You can’t say that!” to which I would respond “I just did!” And then I’d smile. When I say that, I can hear my Dad’s voice. It is something similar to those things he’d say. I still miss him and he died 20-years ago. Bummer…
We scrambled back down the bluff and headed west in the 4Runner. As we lost altitude it became warmer. The atmospheric lapse rate is still a physical reality, I suppose. It wasn’t long before we found the turn-off to the Welcome Center on the west side and pulled in. There were quite a few cars in the lot and it was much hotter. It was too hot to leave the Girl in the rig, so I put her vest on, retrieved a banana for myself from the on-board stores, and we headed for the center. The Girl took time to sniff a bit and pee, then we walked up to the door.
We were greeted by a ranger who immediately took up with the Girl. I set up a greet and permitted the ranger and the Girl to interact while the ranger told me about the bus to the quarry. She said “follow the bus in your rig and the driver will open the gate for you. You can park at the top.” Having the Girl in-vest is a very good thing.
We went inside and bought (for a buck) a self-guided tour of the western part of DNM. Then we returned to the 4Runner and followed the directions. As instructed, the driver paused at the sliding gate, asked me about access, asked about the Girl, and how many in our party. Then she opened the gate and I followed them up to the parking area. We walked into the quarry building and then enjoyed an Earthcache and the view of the pile of fossilized bones. It was a genuinely enjoyable part of my journey and I took a lot of pictures inside the quarry, then outside from the parking lot.
After an hour or so, we headed back down the hill and started the self-guided tour. I was particularly interested in the petroglyphs and the old cabin where a woman lived and worked until she was in her nineties. Those are stories for another time, I think.
Hot and tired, we finally left DNM and drove into Vernal, Utah. Vernal is a bustling little city that seems to be thriving. We found a motel (The Weston Lamplighter — recommended) and went inside. They are no-pets, so I declared my service dog, provided some documentation, and checked in. We pulled over to our room and unloaded.
I wanted some Mexican food, so I spent a few minutes researching (Google is your friend, in this case), picked a place within walking distance, and off we went. The Plaza Mexicana was busy, noisy, and warm. I ordered a margarita and a meal (enchiladas) and enjoyed the drink and the chips. The salsa was a little authoritative so I ordered a second margarita.
Margarita! OMG! The second must have been a double! The food was very good, the margarita was great, and the sopapillas were passable. (I ate them!) Then we “meandered” our way back to the motel, or rather I “meandered” with the Girl wondering what was wrong with me. The evening light was good, but there was something wrong with my eyes, so my captures were less than optimal, to say the least.
Fed, hot, tired, and a little buzzed, I fed the Girl, we went out to the grassy area so she could have her toilet, and then retired for the evening. The A/C was great and there was little on TV. All was good after a long, enjoyable day and I fell asleep readily.
An idea occurred to me a few days ago. I should write about the tools I’m using now that I no longer have a house. Living small requires rethinking almost everything one does. I still cook for myself, whether I’m on the road or staying someplace. That means there are certain tools that are required. I’m learning as I go.
A couple of years ago I bought this small Bodum personal French press. I also have a small hand grinder (that I’ll write about later). I bought the press so that I could make a single cup of coffee in the afternoon if I wanted coffee but didn’t want to make a full pot. It got some use when I had the house, but not as much as I expected.
So, I started carrying it when I travel. However, using it requires heat to boil water. (There is another topic for writing. Don’t worry, I have a story there as well.) After this last trip, I realized I really like making my own coffee. McDonald’s coffee is much improved over the last couple of years with their new approach. (Kudos to McDonald’s for making that improvement! It’s one of the things I really like about the store.) But I really prefer my own choice of beans (or grounds) and my own method of preparation. I’m not really a snob, but I know what I like.
The body of the Bodum is glass, so care is required. But, it’s relatively easy to clean and is heat resistant. Just be careful with the body to mitigate the potential for breakage. The screen is fairly coarse so a coarse grind is required. Use is simple — grind coffee, add grounds to press, boil water (I suggest boiling water while grinding coffee), add water, steep, stir before pressing (I don’t do this step), and then press slowly.
If you are not picky about sediment in the bottom of your cup, the grind is less relevant. I don’t mind a little sediment, but think I’ll work on my grind to see if I can get it a bit more coarse than I currently have. Once you decant the coffee, set the press aside to cool while you enjoy your coffee. Then dump out the grounds and rinse the press. If oils accumulate, I suggest wiping them out with a paper (or cloth) towel. I will not use detergent on my press.
It’s simple, reliable, produces consistent coffee, and is easy to keep clean. With care, this press will last me the remainder of my life. I like it and would recommend it.
The Girl and I left Denver on Friday, 3 July 2015 headed for western Nevada. I had some personal business there that needed my attention and I wanted to retrieve some things from my storage unit. Plus, it was just time for me to get out of Denver.
Older Son and DiL live on Capitol Hill in Denver. It’s a busy place and deep in the city. So, it has all the noise, commotion, and energy of a city. Although the place where Older Son and DiL live is fairly quiet, and the window A/C units we installed while I was there provided quite a bit of white noise, I could still feel that city-energy. After a couple of weeks, I just needed to be out of that.
I originally intended to stay in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. But I was unable to reserve lodging there so elected to go on a bit farther west and stayed in Craig, Colorado. Craig is not a small town at all; but it isn’t a city and the vibe there was calm, orderly, and a slower pace of life. But, I’m ahead of my story.
I left Denver and drove north on I-25 to Fort Collins, where I turned west on CO 14 — the Poudre Highway. Heading up into the foothills was quite busy as many folks were headed for the mountains (and I learned later, Steamboat Springs). Although I stopped for a couple of geocaches, I felt uncomfortable with all the traffic and eventually blew off searching for more hides. I elected to relax, enjoy the drive, and enjoy the river.
We stopped several times along the way to enjoy the warm mountain air (we also drove with the windows down and the A/C off), stretch legs, and make a capture or two. There was no reason to hurry as my mileage for the day was less than 300 miles.
When we arrived at Steamboat Springs, Jumping Jehosaphat! The town was crazy-busy with folks there for the 4th of July celebration. It was no wonder that no lodging was available. In any event, I was thankful that there was no lodging available as I would have simply traded the Denver energy for Steamboat energy. That would not have been a good thing.
So we drove on, thankfully.
About an hour later we arrived at Craig, Colorado. It was bustling, but the vibe was much calmer and my intuition told me that this was a good thing. Our motel was on the west side of town (missed it the first time), so we pulled in and walked into the office. The manager was there, remembered my telephone call, and checked me after consultation with an Asian woman (his wife?) about which unit would be best.
“That one too hot!” she exclaimed to two of his suggestions. “Put them in 18,” she said. So he did.
I backed into my parking spot so I could unload a few things from the 4Runner. I opened the door and looked around. The room was large, definitely old-school, and fine. I tossed the spread on the floor and brought in a few things. The Girl and I mounted back up (man it was hot) and drove to Walmart to reprovision for a couple of days. At the Walmart, we bumped into the manager who greeted us, “At Walmart already?” I laughed and bought a couple of salads, some fruit (bananas good!), and a six-pack of Coronas to celebrate our survival to date. Then we returned to our room.
I elected to boil a couple of eggs for my chef’s salad. It was my first use of the Pathfinder canteen stove I bought and my Trangia burner. I elected to sit outside my room because I was uncomfortable with the combustion products of the methylated spirits used in the Trangia. The wind gave me a little trouble and the simmer ring of the Trangia is, as the Brits say, “fiddly.” But I got my eggs boiled and learned a bit about using the stove and the process was relaxing (along with a Corona). The addition of the egg made the salad much better.
The Girl nibbled kibbles while I ate my salad and surfed the TV a bit. Yep… I still have little use for TV.
We rose early on the 4th and drove into town to find some food and coffee. We stopped at the local CoC and I found a self-guided tour of the area north of town in Routt National Forest. So we drove back to our motel, gathered up a few things to take along (camera, lenses, fruit, water) and headed out. Along the way, I found a big grassy area at the local middle school (out of session), so the Girl and I had a big play, refueled, and headed out on an adventure.
Once off the state highway, the route was all gravel road. We stopped to look for a couple of geocaches, but I lost phone signal and had not planned ahead, so there wasn’t much of that.
What there was, however, was a nice climb up to 5,000–6,000 feet and the commensurate cooling. The sun was pretty, there was a little breeze, and the temperature was wonderful!
As we drove along, I noticed a bluff of columnar basalt. I stopped the 4Runner, got the Girl out, collected my camera, put on my boots, and we started up the hill. After just a few steps, a big mule deer jumped up, snorted at us, and bounced over the ridge. I didn’t have enough lens to capture him, but the capture is in my memory and will always be.
After a few minutes of hiking up the hill, I puttered around the bluff while the Girl did her thing. I have a few more captures that I still need to process.
The remainder of the drive was interesting, especially the Bear Ears (a pair of mountain tops). It was a good way to spend the Fourth of July — much better than hanging out in town. We were both tired and hungry when we got back to the motel. So, we ate, drank, and then cuddled before it was time to go to sleep. The fireworks bothered the Girl some and she stayed close to me. But she settled down after a bit and only stirred again for the finale.
It was a good day.