I checked out some Little House on the Prairie videos from the library this week-end.
This is a must see:
Its Johnny and June Carter Cash!!!!!!! Made me get all teared up!
Season 3 Title is, “The Collection”.
The man in black dons black preacher clothes and sings a sea shanty to an old woman who wants to die and won’t get out of bed. It’s fantastic!
I can see why June Carter fell in love with the man, what a deep rumbly voice!
Went to the library today and had good luck. I checked out a documentary from the Discovery Channel named “Raising the Mammoth”.
My favorite part is a short segment showing Dolgan people moving their Baloks, (homes on sleds), using reindeer to pull them. Its a fantastic sight. Looks like a caravan of square Casitas!
Here is a photo I found on the web, of a Dolgan caravan:
 |
|||
|
|
|
||
The caption says: A Dolgan woman leads her draft reindeer while travelling across tundra during the winter. Taymyr, Northern Siberia, Russia.
I could do that!!!
Be sure to check out their other great photos of Baloks on the move.
http://www.arcticphoto.co.uk/gallery2/arctic/peoples/dolgan/dolgan.htm#rty0015-11
The other day I hauled home my first wide load requiring a bungee strap.
 |
|||
|
|
|
||
I bought a Coleman Power Chill cooler from the local Walmart. It was actually pretty light compared to the 100 lb load I carried home the other day.
One might wonder, why does she need a cooler and why are there clothes hanging on the fence.
Well… in a fit of spring house cleaning, and packing to move, I got rid of all my old appliances. Fridge, and washing machine included.
Since I’ve been back in Texas, I’ve been using a Coleman ice chest to keep things cool. Its surprising how quickly the ice melts, even though it’s inside my air-conditioned house. I was thinking I could take the cooler with me when I hit the road again.
I don’t want to get a new fridge since I’m prepping to rent the house out.
Ditto washing machine.
I had this vision of washing my clothes in the jacuzzi bath tub, stomping on the clothes like those pictures you see of women mashing grapes in Italy. Tried it last night. It works! Hardest part is getting everything rinsed. I let the clothes drain overnight so they weren’t quite so sogging wet, and hung them up this morning.
When I went out to set up the photo shoot, (yes the photo is a reinactment) it was so hot on the concrete that I had to go put shoes on just to take a quick picture. The clothes are good and dry, but I’m not going out there again until it gets a little cooler. I’m sure they will be good and sterilized by the end of the day.
Have been very busy the last few months. First doing repairs on my house and then 3 glorious months in Montana.
I’m back in Texas now and its too hot to do much outside except for when the sun is going down.
Got started thinking about doing some bike touring/camping yesterday (when the weather cools off).
Have been looking at little Casita camping trailers, but to buy a truck to pull it, plus the trailer, plus gas, insurance, repairs. yikes!!!! Doesn’t fit with my plan right now…….. get out of debt and hit the road. Maybe later.
I have a cheap trailer I bought for a discount as it had been returned. I originally bought a bike trailer because I don’t own a vehicle other than my bike, and its pretty hard to carry a gallon of paint home on the back of a bike.
Worked great for that purpose. It’s set up for carrying kids, (I didn’t realize at the time that you can actually buy flat bed bike trailers) but paint cans, groceries, backpacks, etc. fit just fine in the seat slings. I would say that the cover over my trailer improves my aerodynamics, but at the 5 miles per hour I ride, it probably doesn’t make much difference. 
Here is a great website I found yesterday, with good comparison charts of different types of trailers.
http://www.biketrailershop.com/catalog/index.php
Here is another great site I found yesterday. Its a company that makes recumbant trikes with room to haul a load on the back, in Montana no less!!
Be sure to scroll down to see the photo of a man hauling hay on the back of his bike on a snowy road.
http://www.lightfootcycles.com/TCX.htm
Here is a photo of my rig.
 |
|||
|
|
|
||
I was thinking about Phyllis hauling 100 lbs of gear on her bike in panniers, and wondered if it would be easier with a trailer.
I looked up my maximum weight load and it’s 100 lbs. So I headed off to Walmart yesterday to see if I could load up with 100lbs of groceries. 3 gallon jugs of water, a bag of ice, plus my normal grocery items, I’m pretty sure I came close.
I must admit, it felt a little strange. I have a long downhill run with a couple of little drainage dips in the sidewalk. There is definately a strange sort of push/pull that happens with that much weight. Including the weight of the trailer it would be 135 lbs. With my super low mountain bike granny gears, I didn’t have any problem pulling it, although I’m sure I could have walked it up a long hill faster than I could ride up.
I know, I know, my knobby tires don’t help, but its Old Nelly and a mountain bike she will always stay.
On the way home last night, I came through the park where people were gathering to watch the fireworks. I got a couple of very positive comments from people who were carrying their loads of coolers and lawnchairs from whatever distant parking they were able to find.
One man I passed said “Nice rig, baby, nice rig!”. Made my day!!!! I was smiling all the way home! Somebody gets it, all right!
