canned Ham: June 2012


Ian found a fun place to take a rest

Mesa Verde

outside Moab

Arches

Waking up from a nap in Moab at the campground right in town.

Well, I didn't entirely finish the trailer but it was close enough for a 2 and a half week 2400 mile vacation. I was so convinced that I would have problems with it, that I pulled over about every 100 miles and crawled around underneath the thing inspecting every weld and every bolt for the first week. After that I settled down a bit and only checked it every 200-300 miles. about 600 miles in I lost a hubcap but that is the only thing that went wrong the entire time. I am very happy.

Now to finish the thing. It needs some drawers and some cabinet doors and a little bit of trim and possibly some light switches (I couldn't find any that I liked well enough to commit to installing them) currently, one would simply twist two bare wires to illuminate the interior compartment or to provide power to the exhaust fan.

This vacation was planned out, pretty well. except for the fact that I left the itinerary at work the day that we left. so instead it went a little like this

day one: leave Austin, TX and drove to Abilene where I decided to sleep in a truck stop rather than try and find an RV park. (not a great night of sleep)
the next day I am fairly certain that we made it to Santa Fe NM and stayed at a KOA after driving around trying to find a campground in the Santa Fe National Forest with no luck, it turns out that the KOA there is beautiful. They have movies every night for the kids and a pool for me and the kids I guess.
Day three, we went into Santa Fe for breakfast and were very happy to see a Trader Joe's and found the most delicious breakfast/lunch spot ever at the Santa Fe Bakery. they have the best food I have ever eaten and I consider myself a foodie, the coffee there is also delicious, I have never had better.

After breakfast we headed out toward Pagosa Springs, CO. we didn't even go through the town just headed on to Durango, CO. I remember when I was around 12 years old I went with my Dad and Grandpa to an antique engine show there, that is such a good memory for me as I did a lot of antique engine shows with grandpa. (did you know they used to power washing machines with little gas powered engines about the size of a lawnmower engine?)

anyway, we stayed in Durango for one night at the KOA there, it's possibly nicer than the one in Santa Fe.

I can't remember the name of this place, it's in NM and it's something like Echo Canyon or something. It was our first stop to see some natural beauty. I had forgotten how beautiful that part of the country can be.

an overlook of the Mesa Verde area

On a hike to see some cliff dwellings

The next morning I found out that some of my close friends were in Moab, UT. and were coming to Mesa Verde, CO. so we headed over there to meet up and to see some native american cliff dwellings. we stayed two nights there and got to visit and have some drinks with them and their family and the next day go on a few hikes with them. I love getting to see old friends.

Ian in a Kiva just hanging out

there they are, they look so small from way up here

my people taking a rest

Me with my favorite little person.

Dirt angel at Desert Rocks music festival.

Lots of my great friends from all over the country converged to visit one another, it was amazing

Moab, UT. I bought a new tandem kayak

Ian's friend gave him a sparkly tattoo

I believe I found my next project. Desoto suburban. I want to install a Nissan Titan V8 and Transmission along with the wiring and ECU along with some airbag suspension so that it can be lifted and lowered whenever I like. also airbags have such a nice ride