Pagosa

Lunch in Pagosa Springs, Dinner at the Lake

Lunch, as you can see, was decent, neither great nor bad. The french fries were actually pretty good, though the burger was on the greasy side. Even though it's Pagosa, the place had green chile, so the  burger had chile on it.

The rivers in the region are running high with the snowmelt and a little rain from the recent systems moving through.

We pretty much went straight to the lake after our trip, and we got back in time for the NMSC Memorial Day potluck. There were quite a number of people there, so things went over well, with burgers and hot dogs provided by the club, and a whole smorgasbord of sides, salads, desserts, breads and so on. Food and a ton of skipped rocks made for a pleasant evening, finished off quietly around the Koch's campfire.

Overall, a decently decent day.

Dock Duty

Just got back to reality* from a day (and night and day) of work docksitting at the NMSC marina. John was with me, but there was only one sleeping bag on Syzygy last night, so I wound up using a spinnaker. It wasn't too bad, but it's not going to be first choice in the future, at least until things warm up a bit. So, a number of boats came into the marina for the season, and we also leased a couple empty slips on short term rentals. We had a couple ladies in a pontoon boat come around noon, but they were rather inept at boat-handling. After bouncing around a bit, they managed to get to an end-tie with damage done to only one other boat. Ah well, too bad there aren't more boating safety classes around the area. These two really need it badly.

We cooked beer can chicken for dinner. Thank you Coors for letting us cheat in our roasting skills. Without your brew, our bird would have been burnt and desiccated, fit only for carp feed.



*I think I just left reality at the lake. It seems much simpler when all you have to worry about are inept pontoon boaters running around your marina.

Bye bye 'Burque (for the weekend)

We just drove to the cabin by the lake now, and unfortunately I've got really strong 3G here, so I'm online. Unfortunately, I say, because there's a whole lake here, with moonlight and boats and potential for sailing and all that, but I'm facebooking my time away. Mebbe we'll get that in tomorrow night.

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Just traded some moonlight sailing stories, so that may be tomorrow evening's activity.

P.S. I haven't forgotten about geting last weekend's photos up (actually, I may have forgotten, but you, dear readers, don't need to know that).

Weekend Update (Minus Seth Meyers)

Last weekend saw the end of a road journey, a trip to Heron, some boat fixing, an attempt at sailing, a rescue of the rescue boat, and a seized AC compressor.

Friday
I returned from Tempe Friday afternoon/evening/night/Saturday morning. I left Tempe, got an hour out of town, when my radiator clogged and ceased to function in the 98º heat. It cost less to install a brand new Performance Radiator than to do a flush, so the Gila Monster now has a brand new radiator, installed by a mechanic in the village of Rye, Arizona. The delay cost me some time; I drove through the night, taking a nap on the shoulder of Highway 60 somewhere near Datil.

Saturday

I arrived in Albuquerque around seven, where I unpacked from my move. I threw together a lake bundle, then took off to get John, Wolf and a Frontier green chile cheeseburger for breakfast and a trip to Heron. We took the back way (photos to be coming soonish), and did some touristy things in the area. After visiting the New Mexico Sailing Club marina, the bearings in the compressor seized up, keeping the vehicle from running. When my folks got into the area, we transfered stuff from the Jeep to my Dad's truck and went to the cabin for dinner. John choose seasonings and Wolf helped cook an awesome meal of Pan-Seared Petite Sirloin, Tarragon-Dill Mashed Potatoes, Bacon Gravy and a salad with a Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Sunday
After sleeping in, we cooked a breakfast of Pain Perdu (rhymes with French Toast) accompanied by Biscuits and Bacon Gravy. Then, we launched Syzygy (rhymes with alignment of three or more heavenly bodies). After fighting the wind for ten or fifteen minutes, we got to the marina. There was a lot of wind, so we played poker on the boat (remind me to get the chips (and cards) back up to the lake this weekend). My Dad called an auto repair/towing/salvage company, and I went with the Gila Monster into Chama while Wolf and John stayed at the marina. It turns out they had much more excitement than I did. The dockmaster had noticed a little water in the NM State Parks' Ranger boat, but it was dismissed as just rain water. A while later, there were five more inches over the floor in the cockpit of the boat. It was sinking. John and Wolf got to it with a pump and buckets, while Dockmaster Steve got to work trying to find the leak and stop it. It turns out that the State Parks person responsible for the boat forgot to put the drain plug in. The boating enforcement officer might want to review the safe boating class. After a while, it was found that a wine bottle cork was just right to make a good plug. So much for the no-glass policy; it looks like the Marinas's got an unofficial agreement again. The boat was rescued, just in time for the ranger to get it out  of the lake.

Later
We drove back to ABQ Sunday evening, excepting Pat, who stayed behind for the week to do his dockmaster duty.  As of now the Jeep's at the mechanic, but the repair should be straightforward and done soon (rhymes with my hopes and expectations). Tomorrow (rhymes with Thursday) evening we'll be heading back up, so this is a shout out to anyone who wants to come on up. Pack a few nights of clothes (we can do laundry) and send me a ring, text, email, im, etc. There will be sailing, food, a cabin with a fireplace, fun times, friendly people, hiking, being lazy, beer, food, and most of all fun.

Edit: Added photos.

Typing drool

I'm being reminded to update this blog. It's been a busy day, so plaese excuse my typing drool*. My day started Friday at eight in the morning. It is now Sunday, around one am. Long day, jeep breakdowns invloved in long road trips. First, near Payson, AZ, radiator clogged and failed. I pulled over before serious overheating, but I had a major delay in getting a tow, getting to town  and buying parts, then getting the mechanic for Galvin towing to replace the radiator, thermostat, hoses and stuff. He did a good a job, and it cost less than a regular flush at a major shop in the town.

I got back on the road about midnight. Got into Burque about seven. Unpacked from the move, cleaned out the Gila Monster, picked up a couple friends and we hightailed it out of town, towards Heron Lake. We too the back roads, explored the area, saw the sights, and experienced the crazt high winds that rocked the lake area. After a full day, it was time to head to the cabin. The Gila Monster had (has?) other plans: the AC compressor apparently seized up, freezing the engine in place for now. After my folks got into the area we secured the jeep in place, and took off to the cabin for dinner (rhymes with steak (sirloin), awesome mashed potatoes (taragon, dill, oregano, garlic) and bacon gravy. Oh yeah, you read right, bacon gravy). So, tomorrow gets AAA, a tow perhaps, mebbe even forward progress. We'll see.

Goodnight



*Typing Drool: When the blog author feels so tired that typos are left unmended, leaving satins of interest across the page, like drool on paper.

Tempe

This is a summary of the past eight days: 1400 miles (màs o menos), 28 hours sitting behind the wheel (mehr oder weniger), and I'm back in the same place I started from. I did use the high ground clearance and heavy duty suspension for a chunk of that driving. I have stuff to do here in Tempe (rhymes with landlord not believing in 30 days notice), but I have to try to get back to ABQ in time for Marty's memorial service.

I need some personal time for photography, look for that sometime in the future. I need to figure out if I'm moving back into the parent's for the summer. I need to figure out where I'll be working.

Back

Got back into 'Burque tonight. Spent the last two days at Elephant Butte. It didn't really hit me until just now; the last days have been surreal. Even though my good friend and sailor drowned Saturday, I was able to calmly load my jeep and drive out to New Mexico. I was fine for talking to other friends and people at the lake. Everything down there was so composed, almost even casual, that the events never registered.

 I don't know why, but it seems like they just don't get it. The man fucking died. He's dead. People were not taking it seriously, including myself. It felt like the only way to cope was to act as if nothing to serious happened. I don't want to blame people for that, they need to do something.

I've known this man for years. He's a devoted sailor, always ready to crew and game for just about any weather. He persevered through years of fixing his boat. The changing seasons may have started to weigh on him, but he's just gone in an instant, off the boat and sinking down into the cold, murky green lake.



I'll be back, and I'll dedicate every white russian I pour to my determined friend.

At the lake…

I know this is unexpected, but I'm in New Mexico. A friend and sailor died Saturday in an accident on Elephant Butte lake. The officials haven't released his name, so I won't either. He was a very dedicated sailor, always ready and willing to go out. He died sailing, doing what he loved.