High Country Ramble
With a rare moment with no pressing demands my trip to Moffat County and the family gathering allowed me to travel two summer only Wyoming roads. First was the Snowy Range highway between Laramie and Encampment. Saw a nice sized moose near the summit. I’ve seen few moose in my life but he seemed fairly large.
These fences make sense once you consider digging post holes in the rocky ground found here.
The second was Battle Mountain Pass from Encampment to Baggs.
Sunbeam, CO
Juniper Springs
Military Service and Patriotism
In our youth my cousins and I listened to our Great Uncle and WWII veteran uncles swapping war stories at family gatherings. I know I, and I suspect several cousins, were motivated to join the military so that we could take an active part of those sessions. Further, we looked up to those men and wanted their acceptance and approval.
Excluding the Coast Guard, I have cousins that have served in all branches. One son was an Army Medic and his son, a 5th Generation soldier, is in the South Carolina National Guard.
Last weekend at the family gathering there were three Marines, two Sea Bees, two Combat Engineers and one Destroyer sailor. All cousins or married to cousins.
I doubt any of us care to be “thanked for our service”. It was something we did because it was expected.
Coffypot had a good post on Falsebook.
“If you want to thank me for my military service, vote for candidates who put veterans before illegal aliens”.
Mass Shooting
Promoting hysteria, Iowa State University employees have developed at ‘scientific’ way for forecasting future mass shootings. They build on data collected by the “Violence Project”. Oh the horror! A possible 700+ mass shootings is forecasted (in a country with a population of 316,000,000+). If you have nothing better to do, you can read it here.
More “Settled Science” B.S. Gamers will Solve Global Warming
I’m too much a Latter Day Luddite to swallow this crap. IMO, the authors should find real jobs solving real problems. YMMV
Geothermal Electricity Production
The idea has appeal. The devil is in the details. Cynical I distrust anything Emperor Polis has his hands on. More regulation, more private sector costs, and more state employees aren’t, IMO, a sound financial plan.
Buying Vote while Virtue Posturing
Decades of gradual warming due to human-caused
climate change and an El Niño in the Pacific Ocean nudged global ocean
temperatures to record levels in 2023.
Click bait lead to set the ‘proper’ tone. Human caused is ‘settled science’. No mention that long term temperature recording didn’t start until just after the end of the Little Ice Age (1300 – 1850) in North America. Pacific Ocean record keeping started sometime around 1910 and only in a few places (LaJolla, CA for example). Does anyone remember GIGO? (Garbage in, Garbage out)
Paper Straws
Seem they have health hazards. Since I don’t live in CA I’ve never encountered them. Around here the plastic straws come wrapped in paper.
Too bad all the evironazis can’t embrace the old craftsman’s adage, “Measure twice, cut once”. As in think your idea through the many possible outcomes. Could we ask the USDA to embrace the concept instead of pushing Solyent green?
Conspiracy nutcase, me? Consider, our ancestors took measures when they heard wolves howling even when the pack was far away.
FAFO Update
14 comments:
We see a commercial here for a product called "Pooph" that supposedly kills skunk odors.
If it has a "money back" guarantee, it might be worth a try.
The road to my house has a sign that says, "no services for 57 miles." Yes, better to have and not need than need and not have. "Your cell phone doesn't work here."
Those roads less traveled are worth traveling on. Every time I see a moose, I marvel at how BIG they are. Megafauna left over from the last ice age.
Thanks for posting. I enjoyed reading.
Great story, WSF. I don't think I've seen a moose yet, but I was surprised at how big elk were when I started seeing them here. The first time we saw them in Rocky Mountain park, SLW asked me "What kind of deer is that? It's Sooooo BIG!"
I love traveling some of the back roads here, but NOT in the Supra! When I want to go "exploring", I take the Z71 Colorado, pack a lunch, water, a radio, and a few tools.
Wyoming has always had a special draw for me, from the first time we drove through it ~60 years ago, until now. Lots of stunning landscapes there.
GB
Thanks for the tip. I'll check it out.
LL
I appreciate your remark that you enjoy reding my blog since you write about the best around.
No services, no cell, no roadside assistance and yet the pilgrims don't learn. Probably some fool will try that rout in an EV.
DrJim
For many years the only place moose lived in CO was off Hwy 14 in North Park between Cameron Pass and Gould. There is a dedicated moose viewing site near Gould. Of course, no guarantee you will see one.. Now they have spread.
When your health allows you might enjoy Adobe Town and the Red Desert. No sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEM4jf3KKlM&ab_channel=AdventureGuru
Yep, great story. And folks do NOT realize there are places with no service, and you really are on your own. South Texas has a few of those too.
Old NFO
Lots a places 60-80 miles between services. Fort Davis to Pecos comes to mind.
I go out to Casper every June and this year, continued on to see a buddy in SLC and then on to Ely, Nevada to overnight. There's a pretty good taco trailer in Wendover, in case anybody is interested. Got up the next morning and drove Hwy 50 West, purportedly the loneliest road in America, to Fallon before looping back roughly south-easterly thru Hawthorne and to overnight in Tonopah. The Mormon crickets were migrating west of Ely, biblical to say the least. Next day, took the alleged Extraterrestrial Highway on a whim and looped back north to 50 at Ely again to head home, taking 50 all the way back to Central Kansas. There's a whole lot of nothin' in those parts of Nevada for sure but I sure enjoyed it.
W.W.W.
I've driven those roads over the years. 50 across Colorado is an interesting drive if you are not in a hurry. Every summer you have the pseudo outlaw bikers. Dressed in their Billy Bad Boy and Suszy Slut costumes, packs of ten+, doing five to ten miles per hour under the speed limit, they clog the roads. More irritating than Texas skiers.
Yes sir, it was an interesting trip and I want to do it again when I have a little more time.
Couple of years ago I made the drive to SLC and overnighted in the very aptly named Rock Springs, Wyoming. The hotel was clogged with German-speaking Harley riders, of all things, with their Suszies and all dressed as you described. I thought a little about the logistics and motivations involved in mobilizing that furball and shook my head, but thankfully they were not an obnoxious crowd. Must have been 30 or 40 bikes and I was dang glad not to have encountered them on the road, even if it was the interstate at that point.
W.W.W.
I've encountered foreign riders over the years. There must be firms that organize the trips. I've also seen two support vehicles pulling trailers following them.
Old joke. 85% of all Harleys are still on the road. The rest made it home.
"In our youth my cousins and I listened to our Great Uncle and WWII veteran uncles swapping war stories at family gatherings. I know I, and I suspect several cousins, were motivated to join the military so that we could take an active part of those sessions. Further, we looked up to those men and wanted their acceptance and approval."
Well said. Exactly. I caught, I think, the tail end of that.
LSP
In that same posting I mentioned seven of us veterans standing around. I don't think any of us will encourage any young ones to join the military as it stands today.
Oh man, I got my eldest into it, as you know, and he's done well so far, but I know what you mean.
That said, if the kid's to be believed, there's some good men out there. Similar to the Church, when you think it. But I won't bang on.
LSP
I'm grateful there are still people like your son who are willing to serve. I just don't want them getting killed because of stupid and incompetent woke REMFs.
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