What did you do today? 2017 version

[MBAustin]

Finally getting caught up after nearly 3 weeks of travel. First was an amazing 2 weeks in Peru. Fascinating history, wonderful people, great food, and incredible sights. I've got more than 900 photos to go through, but here are a just a few highlights:

Cuy (guinea pig) is considered a delicacy and is prepared by stuffing it with herbs and grilling over a wood fire:

We shared one among several folks for a taste - the crispy skin was the best, the meat was bony and a little gamey.

Machu Picchu is even more wonderful than any pictures you've seen or programs you have watched. We had picture-perfect weather the 2nd morning on the mountain:

The engineering and construction and site planning is quite remarkable from many different aspects. The Maras salt pools (built by the Incas and still making salt today) and the Moray terraces (Inca horticultural research center) were also fascinating.

We finished the trip in the Amazon jungle in the northern part of the country. Saw a beautiful sunrise on our last day as we boated across 1.5 miles of the river to an island for birdwatching:


After an overnight flight and generally long (but uneventful) travel day home, I had 2 days to get ready for a trip for DFIL's 90th birthday celebration on Sunday. A wonderful time was had by all. But I'm glad to have several days at home now with very little on my calendar!

 

[Fedup]

My husband and I had dental appointment for our semi-annual teeth cleaning event. Everything is good except one of my husband's old filling in 1989, nearly 30 years later, needs a redo. More money for dental work this year for my husband.

 

[GoBears]

Timeline for our move to The Villages just sped way up!

Our house went on the market yesterday in Vegas. 10 minutes later our realtor got a call for a showing. Clients made a full price, cash offer, no appraisal, and they're paying all of the taxes and transfer fees. We close in two weeks.

Our heads are still spinning... from hitting MLS to contract signing was 9 hours.

As someone who is considering Del Webb in Las Vegas, may I ask whether you enjoyed the community, likes/dislikes and why the move to The Villages? And congrats on your sale.

 

[braumeister]

Saw a fox on my morning walk. That's always such a treat here in suburbia. Maybe once every couple of years.

 

[spncity]

DH has been staining the house, the decks, the little barn. Big job.

I have been cheering him on.

 

[Fedup]

Spent the afternoon calling car insurance company to get quotes for my kids car insurance. I think it's time for me to downsize to one car.

 

[Nodak]

Spent the 4th visiting relatives in western ND. On the way home I saw this field of canola in bloom. If you buy canola oil it comes from pressing the seeds of these plants.

 

[Fedup]

I picked some green beans from the garden this morning. It's definitely beans galore. I also provided support for my Ambrosia melons, I think I have 8 now. The bees are fertilizing the melons on the top of the trellis. I can see they are very busy.
Afterwards, I went for a walk with my husband to the supermarket to get our weekly meat and milk. We have a lot of vegetables from the garden so I didn't have to buy any from the store.

 

[Walt34]

Thursday we drove down to Cass, WV (population 52) to spend the following day riding the Cass Scenic Railroad to the top of Bald Knob, the highest elevation in West Virginia, a bit over 4,800 feet above sea level. "We" includes DW, DW's sister, her hubby, and the two grandnieces, ages 7 and 11. We spent the night in one of the refurbished Company Houses where the employee's families lived while at least one person was employed by West Virginia Pulp and Paper. Since they are at 2400 feet I thought the lack of A/C wouldn't be an issue but I was very badly mistaken. No one got much if any sleep. A side connection is that my paternal grandfather worked for the company at a paper mill in Tyrone, PA.

The trains are powered by Shay steam locomotives, which have gear-driven wheels that give the locomotive tremendous pulling or pushing power at the cost of speed. (The children's story of "The Little Engine That Could" has a basis in WV history and involved a Shay locomotive that pushed a train it shouldn't have been able to.) I doubt we ever exceeded 20 mph, and many times we were passed by speeding butterflies. The grade at times was as high as 10%, which is a steep hill for a railroad train. The whole trip took a bit over 5 hours. Then we drove home. In heavy rain all the way until the last 20 minutes of a 3 1/2 hour drive.

All in all, an interesting experience in history and well worth the trip. But if anyone else goes in the summer months I highly recommend getting an air conditioned hotel room and skip the company houses.

 

[NW-Bound]

At 10% grade, would they not need a center cog track because the regular wheels would lose traction?

 

[Walt34]

At 10% grade, would they not need a center cog track because the regular wheels would lose traction?

I would have thought so too, but no, the wheels are smooth and there was no center cog. On the sharper turns they do use a "third rail" to keep the flange from jumping the rail - it makes a heck of a loud squealing racket.

Oh, one other note to anyone else who might someday go. DO NOT get the rail car closest to the engine. That is car "A". Very noisy and lots of coal smoke. And the third car (car "C") is the only one with a potty. Unless you're on that car, you're stuck until the train gets to the top of the mountain, about two hours. That might be a problem for some people. We were aware of that and were careful to restrict fluid intake beforehand.

 

[painterbill]

Pretty area around Cass and Bald Knob, ~48 years ago we had a Boy Scout Jamboree on Bald Knob. I have forgotten how many troops but a trainful rode up to Bald Knob for a two night camping trip. It is almost the highest point in WV, Spruce Knob is a few feet higher. Enjoyed the pictures!

 

[braumeister]

Judged a BBQ contest today. Not a huge one, only a little over 40 teams competing, but excellent. One of the entries I judged was probably the best piece of brisket I've ever had, and most of the other judges at the table agreed. Impressive stuff.

The great thing about judging these contests is that even the entries that only get mediocre scores are usually at least as good or better than you'll find at a typical BBQ restaurant.

I've been doing this for a couple of years and it's great fun. Anyone can become a barbeque judge:
KCBS

 

[Marita40]

Nodak, lovely photo of a canola field! I'm in MN, and don't think I've ever seen one although I've travelled through North and South Dakota. How I love the wide open spaces and gorgeous skies!

 

[jjquantz]

@Walt34 - I agree that the Bald Knob train excursion is worth doing if one has ANY interest in trains whatsoever.

Catching up at home after a week in Denver helping DD and SIL with improvements on their first house (closed on June 30). Installed 500 sq. ft. of hardwood floor for them along with 6 new light fixtures. They worked on the kitchen cabinets. Also coached them on how to run a line for an icemaker and how to install a new dishwasher to be delivered next week. We may Skype during the installation of one or the other.

 

[Khan]

 

[Khan]

View attachment 26343View attachment 26344

The house, supposed to be here Tuesday.

 

[Music Lover]

One of my bands had a gig yesterday that was 180 kms (110 miles) from home. I think we made $40 each which wasn't even enough to cover the fuel costs...

Okay...I'm not so desperate for a gig that I'll drive for 4 hours just for gas money, lol. We played on a stage set up on the beach at a resort/small town annual summer festival. Our guitar player is a big part of the community and the festival and we do this as a favour to him. He has a cottage 10 minutes away so we spent the afternoon there sipping on a couple pops and feasting on burgers and dogs. We played from 6:30 until 9:00 to a nice crowd and then I hung around until 11:30 watching the other band before leaving.

I got a great shot in on one of my friends who has a cabin near by and came to watch us play...we were talking between sets and he commented that it must be distracting trying to play while healthy young lasses dance around in bikinis in front of the stage. I said "Yeah, I almost forgot what song I was playing a couple times. But, it sure beats hanging out in the dressing room with 16-year old boys!!" (He coaches hockey).

By the time I got home it was 1:30 in the morning...got to sleep by 2:30 and then was up at 5:30 this morning for a round of golf. I was tired enough to have 2 naps this afternoon

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

Climbed under my deck, (no small feat),and i washed down with the hose the 2 air conditioner condenser(?) units. Climbing out was an even bigger chore.

 

[travelover]

Climbed under my deck, (no small feat),and i washed down with the hose the 2 air conditioner condenser(?) units. Climbing out was an even bigger chore.

Good reminder. I'm currently renting a house and I found the AC condenser to be nearly completely plugged with various debris. Fortunately, it came off pretty easily with just a hose squirting it. Fridge was the same way, though that got hit with the vacuum and an air hose.

 

[Ronstar]

Climbed under my deck, (no small feat),and i washed down with the hose the 2 air conditioner condenser(?) units. Climbing out was an even bigger chore.

Good reminder. I'm currently renting a house and I found the AC condenser to be nearly completely plugged with various debris. Fortunately, it came off pretty easily with just a hose squirting it. Fridge was the same way, though that got hit with the vacuum and an air hose.

I cleaned mine out today also. Did it with a shop vac. Totally caked with cottonwood tree seeds.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Spent the 4th visiting relatives in western ND. On the way home I saw this field of canola in bloom. If you buy canola oil it comes from pressing the seeds of these plants.

Really nice photo! It is also called rapeseed, I believe, and used for both canola oil and industrial use.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

We had lunch with a friend at the Presidio Yacht Club in Sausalito next to the Golden Gate Bridge with some great views of the bridge, bay and city, followed by a walk around the marina. After that we came back home, picked up the dog and went for a hike at Redwood Regional Park along a pretty stream trail with ferns and Redwoods. For dinner we had to use up a Groupon about to expire so we used that up on sandwiches and salad.

 

[Meadbh]

Really nice photo! It is also called rapeseed, I believe, and used for both canola oil and industrial use.

Canola was bred from rapeseed in the 1970s at the University of Manitoba. They are related, but not quite the same.

 

[NW-Bound]

Temperature dropped to 109F high today. I braved it to drive my car to my son's home to help him get a new battery for his car. I did not venture out of the home otherwise. Should be up in my 2nd home, but there have been engagements to keep me here.

Heat killed batteries. I recently had to return a battery to Costco. There was a short line of people bringing in dead batteries. The battery I returned had a 30-month free replacement / 85-month limited (pro-rated) warranty. Costco does not offer that anymore, I think because they lose so much money.

Two weeks ago, I had to return another battery to Walmart. This 36-month battery lasted only 15 months, so was replaced for free.