STICKS

Our first test drive of our new tow vehicle was a major success for us ! We had a sill empty aux. fuel tank, so we drove over into Oklahoma and up over Kiamichi Mountain. We wanted to check out several things, such as, when in tow/haul mode, how much “hold back” the 6.4 liter diesel engine gave us. Kiamichi Mountain is steep and has many switchbacks. It also has a reputation for brake failure runaways and massive wrecks. We topped off with fuel at a savings of .13 cents per gallon and headed over the mountain.

At the top of Kiamichi Mountain is Three Sticks Monument. President Kennedy Heilo'ed in to dedicate this memorial while I was away in S/E Asia on my senior trip. It is a very special place and I stop here often .

After a quick check of things, we bailed off of the mountain. Soon I became nervous about just how little I actually had to hit the brakes ! The diesel engine while in tow/haul mode was doing all of the work, with me just giving occasional “light throttle” to the fuel pedal.

We went on over to Poteau Oklahoma and overnighted at the fairgrounds where we awoke to a heavy frost and a freezing fog !

 

This photo shows how much frost my thumbnail scraped up after just a short distance.

HITCHED

Because we know that our aging body’s will require longer and better periods of rest and recovery time, we know that one day we will, out of necessity, need a larger trailer.

We think that we will likely move into a fifth wheel of some kind. A sad day it will be indeed, it will be, when we have to part with our beloved Ollie !

But knowing that nothing halts the march of time or the deterioration of our bodies, we are trying to get ready. We have bought a fifth wheel hitch for the new tow vehicle. You should have seen the look on the guy’s face when I asked him to install one ! He gave us an incredulous look and exclaimed, ‘but, you don’t even have a fifth wheel trailer !”

What could I do but give him a “sheepish’ grin and say “yeh, I know”.

Here is a look at “harm’s folly”

The truck already had a “Hidden Hitch” by B & W . Which was for a “goose neck” trailer ball. Here is what it looks like with the ball in the hidden position.

 

The B & W “ companion hitch also fits into that same socket and latches down with a “pin release” rod/handle that is out of sight under the driver’s side rear fender well.

 

The fifth wheel un pins and sets out of the pickup bed, to return it to a useable hauling space.

He, he, that companion hitch looks kind of funny, sittin’ there in the Ollie shed, on the ground, all by it’s self.

Even Betty, is beginning to call the hitch “Harm’s Folly”. No amount of explaining that I am just trying to look ahead has been able to convince her that I have totally “lost it !”

So far, in my defense, I have only been able to say, “well it was a bargain at that price !” 

CHIME

Most of the wind chimes we’ve seen over the years are small “tinkey” sounding chimes. One year we put together a wind chime from lake trash. Stuff we found out on or down in the lake.

The sound chamber is a 72 cubic foot galvanized scuba tank. The clapper is a old stove damper and the prop was found in about 30’ of water, laying by it’s self , on a rock ledge. I can’t remember just where the boat fenders were found, they seem to wash up just about anywhere.

Here is a look.

When the wind gets up to about 20 miles per hour, the chime becomes active, giving off a deep, resonant, long tolling BOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNGGGGG.

CHECKED

Three bait traps & a live box.  Here is the stack of Bait traps and the live box, just after unwrapping the protective tarp.  No Puff Adder excitement this year. But I did notice that Betty was standing in the back door of the house looking out towards the boat shed. You know, just incase something funny might happen. He, he, she’s rotten like that !The bait trap sits at the correct depth , flat on the bottom. The small square cage in the center, holds the bait. The vee slots in the four sides let the bait fish in to the bait.The live box is designed to stake or tie to the bank, and float in deeper water . It is designed to be accessed out on the water, from the boat if needed. And it lets us keep fish in good shape until ready to clean them.

Fishin’, we got it on our mind !

TRAPS

Though they are somewhat dented, dinged and a little misshaped, the bait traps and live box are good working tools. And one of the main ingredients of a successful Spring time fishing trip to the Lake. They have sat for a year now, out in the boat shed. Wrapped in an old tarp to protect them from the elements. Their last use was at Jugfest2009. As usual they did their job well, and it was a good time at the lake with friends and family.

They have gathered a few leaves from the large oak trees that the boat shed sits under. One year there was a puff adder in one of them. The snake had been in there catching mice from a nest. He gave me quite a start.

I guess that i’ll pull that tarp off a little more carefully and look the traps over closer this year before I pick them up. If there had been a camera on me that time, there would be some great video footage of my finest hillbilly break dancin’ !

It’s time to start getting them there traps ready for Jugfest2010.

REGISTRATION

Our boat trailer has a permanent license plate on it, so, why not our boat’s registration ?

It didn’t cost much, but it does come up every so often. Why not a registration number that is owner applied and permanent ? The trip to the county seat cost more than the registration renewal.

I was able to update the boat’s insurance and pay the premium on line as part of the getting ready to go to the lake for Jugfest2010.

Checked up on the bait traps, they are still wrapped up in a tarp out in the boat shed and the two dozen jug lines are still in the boat shed, all wrapped up in a tarp, waiting to go to the lake !

Talked to AL and he said that he had found some true turn hooks of a size that we like and picked up a few. The reason that we like the true turn hook is that they have an offset in the shaft portion of the hook that results in a better hooked fish. Meaning  less damage to the fish by tearing out due to a poorly set hook.

Al & I will both be bringing tackle and traps as well as live boxes to Jugfest. Hope to see everybody there !

NO !

After spending weeks on Padre Island we thought it was safe to come home.   .  .  .  .  . NOT !

The horrible S word has insidiously crept back into our vocabulary.

SNOW

A fast moving front has deposited a couple of inches of snow here and one side of the large hardwood trees in our yard, have a layer of pasted on snow, from top to bottom.

A fresh pot of coffee,

A couple of big chunks of wood in the stove,

Then, outside for a couple of quick photos.

Ollie in the RV shed.

The latest Tow

 

Vehicle for us. Woo Hoo ! Just look at that grill guard on the front ! Man, it looks like the cow catcher on a locomotive ! Oh, yeah, a redneck boy’s dream come true !

Oh, but this snow can’t last for very long. Yesterday, Spring arrived in the afternoon and it was tee shirt warm at 70* ! The ground temperature is too high for it to last. And, we’ve gotta’ get ready for the Lake ! It won’t be long now before we’re with our friends at JUGFEST2010 !