A new game... Post pics from your cel phone V.1.0

[Jims5543]

It was an amazing trip with lots of moments that will be remembered for a lifetime.

I have some cool stories and neat pics to share.  The 360 took amazing video when we were on our sleds, I have about 4-5 hours worth to sort through.

I am just so slammed busy I have not had time to post and may not have time until next week. If I am lucky.

[Merlin]

We got a second one on the way in a month.

Thought I would whip up a little shirt for the hospital

[Mudhen]

We got a second one on the way in a month.

Thought I would whip up a little shirt for the hospital

4.gif

Congrats Merlin!!!!

77.gif

[Jims5543]

Congrats on the impending poop machine Merlin!!!


*Edit*

I posted out of order.  This should make more sense.


Saturday we hit it hard rolling out at 9 am for a day of snowmobile adventures. The day would turn out to be a disaster.

It started out amazing. We geared up, packed some beers and whiskey in our backpacks and then decided to head to this little place nestled in the mountains, only way to get there this time of year is snowmobile.



We stopped and peed at 7,120 feet above sea level.


Took pictures at the divide.



Once we got to this little resort in the mountains we bellied up to the bar and ordered a round. The owners were really fun, then we met some locals. Turned out to be ranchers, they stop in every weekend to visit and grab a beer. The whole family was on snowmobiles even a little 8 y/o who was better at driving than most of us grownups.



They are open in the summer and winter, closed in the spring and fall, in the winter the only way in is by snowmobile. We ended up eating lunch there, best Chile I have had in a long time. View from our table:



You can rent these cabins there, in the winter no water you have to go to main building for shower or bathroom.


We saw some moose on our way to this place, I may have caught them on my 360 camera video, on the way back we saw this Coyote.


On the way back we tried to go over a high pass that was shorter but more difficult, 3 of our crew got stuck. The rancher family came upon us flopping around trying to get the skis unstuck. Husband jumped on all 3 sleds and unstuck them like it was nothing.  Suggested by the Rancher dude, we agreed to turn back and take the longer lower route. On the way back we passed the same bar again, I ran in real quick and gave the bartender a $20, told her to make sure the rancher has some free beers and tell him the Florida guys appreciated his help.

We ended up getting hit by a snowstorm that was a whiteout with 50+ mph winds.



We got back to the cabin by about 2pm.  Then decided to go out for a short 2 hour run at around 3:30 so we could drive back in the dusk / dark.

This is the last pic I took.


We missed a turn on a trail, so instead of a short loop we were unknowingly on a huge loop. Long story short, we did not get back until 1 in the morning. We were really lost for a while. By 9PM we had figured out what went wrong then realized we were over 70 miles from home. From 9PM on we were hoofing along trying to get back to civilization. We were low on gas, were had no food but did have a lot of water tucked into the skis. We were cold and tired.

[Jims5543]

Installment #2 of the Sled trip:

At one point when we were 3 hours into our doomed lost drive,  I suggested turning around and going back, in hindsight that was the smart move, we would have been back in 3 hours or less. Instead we pressed on, one cat has cel service out of 6 of us. I started to be an asshole at that point and suggested we call the ski rental company and tell them we were lost but trying to get back giving rough Lat and Long just in case.

Then we came to a fork, I got a little pissy with the crew because I was starting to feel like we were going to be 11:00 news soon.

Argument ensued over which way to go at fork, after 20 minutes of looking at maps, GPS on the only cel phone that worked and arguing some more we decided to go left. No shit 40 yards over the hill were signs, one of them said 20 miles to Route 20. We were no longer lost, in 20 miles we knew where we were.

Making things more complicated, we all had tinted goggles, so we all had to drive bare eyed which meant not going to fast in the 27 degree evening.

The problem is if you run the skis under 30 for too long they overheat we learned that 40 was the sweet spot (we also learned 85 was top speed) so it was brutal driving with no eye or face protection.

Then add in 2 of the Sleds were running low on gas. We were already planning on abandoning them and riding 2 up if we had to.

We found Route 20 and there are trails on the side of it, we found a closed gas station (11PM or later at this point) that had its pumps on so we all filled up. Some were low on 2 stroke, we would deal with that in morning.

We realized we were still 50 miles from home at this point. We hoofed it along and when we were 8 miles out we stopped at a bar for pizza and much needed pitchers of beer.  (we left our earlier days supply in cabin only expecting to be out 2 hours or so)

We finished up dinner and went balls to the wall back to the resort. One of our crew, Kevins BIL, is not too sure footed on these things. He was constantly having heating problems because he was content with 20 MPH EVERYWHERE!!

We were taking turns staying behind him, during this last 8 mile run we were so tired. When he tucked into the rear and no one gave a shit.

We blasted out about 6 of the 8 miles and stopped, he was not behind us, so we waited... and waited and waited, then tried to call his cel phone. He answered and told us he fell behind got lost so drove 4 miles back to a different closed gas station and was waiting for us to rescue.

Kevin and I were fit to be tied and told the 2 young bucks to go get him.

We hauled ass the last 2 miles to the cabin while the young guys blasted back to the slow poke, we got in at 1:30 they got in at 2:00.

Sunday was a much better day, we left later but it was much colder out, 27 would be nice from Saturday, Sunday was in the teens and at higher elevations single digits into negative.  Found the limits of my ski mask at times.

This is a 360 view at the top of a mountain, it was -4F there. We had a blast going up to it.

Mt. Two Top, Idaho by Jims5543, on Flickr


Here is a normal pic.



That is about the only pic from Sunday.

We drove out to another lodge / bar / grill in the boonies that can only be gotten to by Sled.



We belly up to the bar and after a bit 3 guys on the other side started chatting with us. Conversation turns to typical, where you from.  One is from Montana The other two from Western NC.  I ask where in NC, and one says Sylva the other says Whittier. I used to have a vacation home in Sylva!! My good friend Jay lives there!

Then I ask if they know Jay, the one cat lights up, yeah!! I know Jay the Carpenter right?  Laughter ensues declarations of small world are announced.

They left very shortly after that, I never caught the cats name nor did I think to get a pic.

Monday morning, I taught Mike why I live in Florida.



Then we try to go to West Yellowstone in a snowstorm.  8 miles from Yellowstone a Tractor Trailer wrecked and blocked the entire road. It was closed and backed up for miles, no way through.




We head back and find a cafe, but it does not open until 11 am it was now 10:30. Early lunch late breakfast!!  We go back to house (1 mile away) for an hour and then head back. Bartender was named Emily and she was super cool and had a knack for remembering names, orders, everything.

We had a blast chatting it up with her while drinking and eating lunch. I tell the NC friend story she gets a kick out of it,

We leave and head to Yellowstone to book a tour and bar hop the day away.

2 hours later the NC guys we met at the other bar go and sit at Emily's bar. As conversation flows there is mention they are from NC. Emily tells them my story, and the one guy, exclaims that was them!! World keeps getting smaller.

Emily tells them my regret not getting their names and not getting a pic, they offer to pose with the owner Connie for a picture.




We do not know about this yet. We are busy wandering around West Yellowstone Montana.

Here are a few shot of took of a the town, It was pretty common to see snowmobiles driving around downtown.




We bar hopped around town. Chatting up with other tourists and locals and bartenders.  We had a blast it was a great down day for all the weary.



I now know what Pigs Ass tastes like:


Snow Piles were impressive:



We drove back to Connies for dinner, the food was amazing there. Emily saw us come in and was all excited to tell me that Jays friend had come in after we left and she had names and a picture for me.

I have to say, everywhere we go the people are awesome, everyone is super friendly. Real salt of the earth folk.  We were having an awesome time.

I have to upload my visit to Yellowstone for the day visiting the Geothermal sites, old faithful etc... We had a special treat on that tour, we got to watch a Wolf stalk some Elk and get into a scuffle with them. As if the geothermal sights were not enough.

[jeff10049]

 4.gif badass vacation Jim. Thanks for sharing the adventure.

[John Gervais]

Awesome write-up!   77.gif

Sure looks different than what we normally see - this is 'real' winter!  Brrrr...

Glad you had some fun!

[Jims5543]

Thanks Guys, we really had a blast even the getting lost part is now a cool story, not so much when we were lost.  The most frustrating part of that being lost was I had left my eye glasses at the house so I could not read maps or see phone screens very good, the land surveyor who reads maps for a living was useless.

The people all over that area are solt of the earth type, everyone I met I liked, all were extremely down to earth and extremely nice.

Final installment, then I may share a health anomaly that occurred to me on this trip that scared the shit out of me tomorrow. Gotta get back to work.

We had a mission on Monday, to book a tour of Yellowstone, we were done with Snowmobiles, we just wanted to sit and chill out, take in the sights.

The bartender at the Slippery Otter told us to go to one place, we shot over there, walked in and enquired as to the cost of a Yellowstone tour, the girl behind the counter asked how many Snowmobiles we would need, the conversation went like this:

Us - Hi we are interested in a Yellowstone tour.

Her - Great, how many sleds you guys need total?

Us - Oh, uh no, we are interested in a snowcat tour, we have beat to hell from being on sleds.

Her - Oh, I looked at this crew and thought they want to ride on sleds, I understand, you want to have a pretty princess day instead.

Us - roaring in laughter, yeah, that is exactly what we are looking for.

Her - We do not do snow cat tours. (she then sent us to the place we booked at)

We officially named Tuesday our Pretty Princess day and referred to it often.

We found the right place booked our tour, this is our Ride on Tuesday, how bad ass are these F350 Vans?





It was a brisk day pretty happy to be having a princess day sitting in a heated van.



When you see your first Bison it is pretty exciting, by the end of the tour they are Yellowstones version of squirrels.




We saw Old Faithful:


The Fountain Paint Pots:


Saw bubbling water:


Saw hot springs, seems the cleaner the water the hotter the temp, guide said this one was over 180 degrees.


View of the ladnscape, notice in all the pica how there is a ton of snow then green grass in areas, that is how hot the ground is, that area never gets winter.


They did a geothermal study, they thought this area was free of geothermal activity, wrong, notice there is no snow in this area. The road never has to be plowed. I found this to be fascinating.



The day was over, we were heading back to West Yellowstone, everyone was dozing off in the nice warm van when we found this Wolf walking on the other side of the road. Everyone woke up.


The wolf was stalking these Elk. It chased them they ran into the river then the momma chased the wolf away.


In the noise and ruckus of the battle daddy heard them and came over the ridge. He chased the wolf over the ridge. It was a pretty cool experience to see this go down and according to our guide a first for him in his 17 years working there.


After 6 days I was ready to go back to Florida, The snow base was remarkable, piled up over windows:


The front door was slightly drifted in the final morning:


when shoveling it out, there was almost no where to throw the snow.


Same problem on the roads, you can see the guard rail in this pic with the road sign starting to go under. The drive back to the airport was a white knuckle ride for sure.

[MiniDave]

I wonder how in the heck I got on THIS mailing list? The Elle mag is over 400 pages! Heck, even my wife doesn't look at these magazines - even when they're free....they just went straight to the recycle bin.

[BruceK]

I wonder how in the heck I got on THIS mailing list? The Elle mag is over 400 pages! Heck, even my wife doesn't look at these magazines - even when they're free....they just went straight to the recycle bin.

A disgruntled former student?   I'm betting a series of subscription bills will soon follow (but I hope not).   This happened to a coworker of mine (she got guns and hunting magazines she most definitely did not order) and she spent a lot of time on the phone straightening things out.   It was fraud and she had to get forceful. 

[MiniDave]

I didn't order 'em, I ain't payin for 'em!  ;D

[BruceK]

I didn't order 'em, I ain't payin for 'em!  ;D

That's what you say now, but when the supermodels from Elle and allure show up at your door begging for payment, how are you gonna turn them down?


:)

[MPlayle]

Let the wife answer the door?

[MiniDave]

I didn't order 'em, I ain't payin for 'em!  ;D

That's what you say now, but when the supermodels from Elle and allure show up at your door begging for payment, how are you gonna turn them down?


:)

Ha! That'll be the day.........

[Jims5543]

Work today was... interesting. This is a ghetto alarm / security system. Monthly dues are food and water. No love needed.



Notice the other one tangled up by the house. We were pretty nervous walking this property, hoped and prayed the leashes held. Felt bad for the closest one no shade for it. Its in the mid to upper 80's here.

[MiniDave]

Makes me want to chain the owners up in the yard for a week, see how thy like it......at least they keep the yard mowed, compared to their next door neighbor......that looks like Tick central next door!

[Jims5543]

I changed the place I was working in Monday and Tuesday.  My older son covered on the field work, I have a contract guy that does drafting for me (BIL who used to work for me) and I was checking early in the morning and late in the evening also being on standby with my cel phone answering texts and emails when needed.

I remember being a teen and early 20 something and looking over at the Dolphin and Swan hotels from Epcot, my friends and I figured only movie stars stay there.  I never in my life imagined I would ever be a guest there back then.  Back in the early 2000's I stayed in there for the first time, it was as cool as I imagined it would be. My younger son was 3 years old when we last stayed there. He does not remember it, so we surprised him with a stay there. It makes hitting the parks so much easier, you can walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios from there.

This office (ok hotel room) did not suck at all.


Early morning view as the sun was coming up.


It really changes your mood when you walk up after a day in the insane asylum parks.


My son is a Star Wars geek, this made him happy.


At the Test Track ride GM has you build a car, we decided to be really silly and build the most insane car ever.  My son was dying laughing while we just tossed crap at the screen in an attempt to make it as funny as possible.


Being a Universal season pass holder and having been to Disney once about a year ago, I can say with certainty I will not step foot in those parks for a long while, although the opening of the Star Wars and Avatar sections over the next year are tempting we will stay away.

We noticed people are just getting ruder, they will push past you when walking into a theater, I had to pull my 13 y/o back once and step away he was being crushed by selfish people who were pushing their way into a theater. My wife got swept away from us and ended up over to the side waiting for us in the crush. This was about 1 hour before we left the park and agreed that next year, for spring break we go to a national park and go hiking instead.  You never see crowds on the hiking trails.

We never noticed it this bad at Universal Studios. Plus at the Disney parks they let you select 3 fast passes per day you are there. If you buy your tickets early you an do this up to 30 days before you arrive. If you are spontaneous like us, you are screwed.  We also noticed Disney likes to keep the fast pass line to zero much to the demise of those standing in the regular line. Universal works hard to keep both lines moving, which means a fast pass holder can be in line for 10-15 minutes but the regular line moves a decent pace too.  Again, if you do not plan a month out you are screwed.

The kid really wanted to do the Disney thing (more Star Wars stuff) even he is over it now.  He said Universal is 100X better.

Now I am paying dearly for playing hooky for 2 days, clients are crushing us with orders all due by the middle of next week.

[Mudhen]

In case you MINI guys were wondering...our cars can handle a 5" suspension lift.  In the back at least...



I'd like to put this...  :D  but I'm still more in the  50.gif stage at this point.

[MPlayle]

Ummm, something about that just does not seem right. 

Even considering the purpose of gaining some critical clearance for rallycross, that back end just looks wrong.

[MiniDave]

In case you MINI guys were wondering...our cars can handle a 5" suspension lift.  In the back at least...



I'd like to put this...  :D  but I'm still more in the  50.gif stage at this point.

Hey Mudhen, glad to see you're still rallying! Any more videos to share? How does the suspension lift affect the handling? Does it help or hurt, or both?   ;D

[MiniDave]

I pass by this frequently, and I finally got out and took a couple of pics, what do you guys think about this sculpture?

Edit: It's at a local church, don't remember what brand of churchiness it is.......

[Mudhen]

Hey Mudhen, glad to see you're still rallying! Any more videos to share? How does the suspension lift affect the handling? Does it help or hurt, or both?   ;D

Still in process...had the front done for my last event just doing the rears now.  I did manage to get the back down some...adding some helper springs dropped it about 1.5".  Still too tall IMO...I'm pretty sure I'm the guinea pig for them and they've never put these rallx coilovers on a MINI before.  Sounds like they may build some with smaller cartridges for me.



Cars-eye-video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7js9FAHDpw

Been poking around here some - you got rid of your clubbie and got that '89 Cooper?!?!

[MiniDave]

Looks like those tires grip really well on accel and decell.......that terrible buzzing noise in your vids is the GoPro mount, and it's why I got rid of mine and now just use either my garmin Dash cam or my little Canon A590 point and shoot cam, the sound is oh so much better!

Yes, sold the Clubby last March and the fellow that bought it did Minis take the States with it last summer!

I bought a left hand drive Racing Green Mini that I found locally......

[BruceK]

Cars-eye-video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7js9FAHDpw

Looks like lots of fun!

[Jims5543]

The Real Estate market here is on fire. I have been turning a decent amount of work away due to my day to day clients keeping me at critical mass.  My typical day has been starting at 0600 and ending at 1900 hours with no lunch break at all. Just balls to the wall.  I do long days Monday through Thursday then spend Friday in the office, if I have walked in with over 60 hours worked by Friday morning I try to quit for the day by 2 PM, otherwise its typically another 8-10 hour day for me just all in the office.

I surveyed a cool house and thought I would share it with you, it was built right around 1900, I surveyed it initially in 1997 and was contacted by an attorney representing the buyer (from San Francisco) to perform an updated survey on the house.

It was sold for 1.3 million dollars and the buyer paid cash.   :-\

This is the front of the house, the closest part was added on in 1999 or so. It is a master suit which was lacking from this 6 bedroom house.


Backside garden courtyard.


They have their own tennis court which could use some tlc.


The pool is about 100 feet from the house, I am sure it was added at a later time, as pools were not common in 1900. It has its own cabana.


Steps to the pool:


Here comes the cool part, the view from the pool.


The view from the property:


The title underwriter had issues with the legal description which appears to have been written somewhere around 1920 based on some calls in it.  There was some ambiguity in the legal and some changes to land features that perplexed the underwriter and he needed clarification.

The lawyer who is closing this reached out to me and asked if I could address the issues, I reviewed the questions and explained it all to the lawyer, he then asked if I would be willing to conference call with the underwriter, I was agreeable to this.

After it was all over and we finally got the underwriter to sign off on the title policy with the condition I change the legal description and prepare a surveyors affidavit stating that the new legal was created to remove ambiguity from the original one. To be honest the original one was fine he was making a problem where there was none. We all hung up and I started to get to work on this.

I received a call back from the attorney, I never worked with this guy before, he thanked me for my help. He told me I handled that underwriter like a champ, and if he had to use his normal surveyor he would never have had this kind of service nor did he think his surveyor was capable of being graceful under the gun like that.  I guess all the litigation I have been through over the years has paid off finally. LOL!!  I just landed a new client who seems to work on high end properties only so these are some nice payday jobs.

I did pretty good dollar wise updating this old survey, He demanded I charge extra for the affidavit to compensate for the time I spend on the phone with him and the underwriter.

Felt pretty damn good to have some thanks thrown my way like that in a business that is pretty thankless, very demanding and many times just rude.

I am still waiting for the Hotel to close, it was supposed to close a month ago and it is still being negotiated.  Thanks was a thankless job, but I did really good on that one so don't thank away.  ;D