Books on Tape

Decider

By Dick Francis

February 29, 2012

Mar and I really like Dick Francis. He is a British author whose books always have some tie in to horse racing. We know a lot of them, but I have never read one. I always listen to them as a book on tape. They fit very well into a trip to Utah and back.

And so this time we listened to Decoder. We liked it. In fact, it was one of our favorite of the Dick Frances books. It is a little bit different, because the main character really isn't a horse racer, but gets drug into a family intrigue about a horse track.

I could recommend this one.

Travels with Mar and Lar

Logan Utah
February 25 - 29

This was meant to be a quick trip to drop Mar's mother back at home after her winter stay with us. It was simply a time I could go, so we did. But . . .

Traveling across Wyoming in the middle of winter is always a risk. You are crossing the Continental divide and a couple of other mountain ranges. There is a good chance that you will run into some sort of weather – and not good weather. We thought we were going to be okay. There was a small chance of snow forecast, but wind warnings all across southern Wyoming. So what is new about wind in Wyoming. Nothing – we thought – so we took off Saturday so we could get to Logan and attend church Sunday morning. But . . .

We got to Rawlins, Wyoming just as they closed the highway going west. It was not snowing. In fact about an hour after they closed the highway, we had blue sky. But the wind was so bad they were having accidents – vehicles blowing off the road – between Rawlins and Rock Springs. A few hours later they closed the highway going East. So we got a motel and stayed the night in Rawlins.

The trip proceeded as planned on Sunday morning and we got to Logan. Monday and Tuesday we helped Mar's mom get resituated at home. Then Wednesday morning, we woke up to a light snow – but a dire forecast for a lot more (which by the way did come to Logan that day), so we packed up and took off. The trip up Logan canyon was a little bit tense – weather related – but not too bad, and from there on we made good time.

This was not a pleasure trip – it was a utilitarian trip.

Travels with Lar and Mar

Ski Joring

Leadville, Colorado
March 3, 2013

Oh, what a dilemma. March 3 turned out to have two important events:
    Frozen Dead Guy Days in Nederland, Colorado
    Ski Joring in Leadville, Colorado
We decided to go to Leadville – mainly because Mat and Andi and kiddos – and Brea and Ben were going there.

We picked up Brea and Ben and their neighbors and did the drive to Leadville. It is about three hours from home in ideal conditions – but for us it was a bout 3 ½ hours – because there was one detour on our route (we won't talk about that incident anymore), and the conditions were not ideal. Going up I70 was real windy and at the top, in the Eisenhower Tunnel area, we were actually in a cloud which made it low visibility, slightly precipitating and slick – that translates to slower travel. I do have to say that conditions in the tunnel were much better. We got to Leadville about 2:00 PM and met Mat and Andi there. In Leadville the weather was cold but sunny and the wind was cut because we were in the "depths" of main street.

So what, you may be asking is Ski Joring. Well it really depends on where you are. In Scandinavia it is a skier being pulled by sled dogs – sort of a aided cross country skiing. In some places it is a skier being pulled by a motorized vehicle. In Leadville Ski Joring and the Crystal Carnival (and a few other places like it is a skier being pulled by a horse – a galloping horse – a galloping horse with a totally insane rider. And in Leadville it is a skier being pulled by a horse through a three block course with gates, jumps and rings (which the skier has to spear at high speed while being pulled by a horse with a crazed rider while he holds on to the rope. In Leadville they actually bring snow in and pack Main Street and build the ramps for the event. It was crazy and fun to watch. We were right at the center of the course and right at a jump, gate and ring set. Sort of like sitting on the 50 yard line.

We left at about 4:30 and drove back to Mat and Andi's for Chili and other junk food and a night of games. Mar and I got back home at 12:15 AM. We felt like we had a vacation – a real vacation where we went and just had fun.

So, just so you understand – here are videos – taken by yours truly – with some explanations.
The first class we saw was the "sport" class – where there are 3 foot jumps and the contenders practice with the pulling horse and crazy rider teams. In fact they were a little bit slower. In the video you will see them take one jump, then swing over through a gate to a second jump and then the swing back over and try to spear the rings. Watch carefully – it goes real fast.

Sometimes it doesn't go as planned – this rider decided prudence was better than honor (and destruction) and he bailed out of the last jump – which is instant disqualification.

And sometimes it is the horse who decides he has enough – again instant disqualification. (And there was one crazy rider who fell off his horse - ouch.)

And sometimes things just go dreadfully wrong – you guessed it – instant qualification.

They had a "legend" category – meaning they were old guys. They were actually pretty good. A guy who was working the event told me they were really good – but they had just slowed down.

And then there was the "open" category. The skiers sign up. The pulling horses with the crazy riders sign up. And then they are paired by "the luck of the draw". Oh, and they save the fastest horses and the craziest riders for the "open" category. Oh and the jumps are now six feet high, the gates and the rings are closer. And the skiers generally wanted a shorter rope so they are skiing in the "wash" of the horse. Let me tell you, if you blinked during the open category you missed it all. We were situated right between two jumps, one gate, and right in front of the second set of rings. You see them do a jump, then swing across the corse through the gate, then back across the course to get the rings, then back across the course to do the second jump, and then back across the course one last time real fast to hit the finish gate. Very intense and very fun – to watch. Let me tell you these guys are crazy.

I would recommend this to anyone – if the weather is agreeable. But remember – it is February – it is Leadville - it is 10,000 feet high – and it will be cold – and maybe snowy. But it is oh so much fun.

Reading List

The Call of the Wild

By Jack London

February 24, 2012

I decided a long time ago that Jack London was not for me. How could a person write great about topics in the frozen North county. That is the land of Dangerous Dan Magrew, and the Ballad of Yukon Jake. And besides, while I was in school, he always came at the end of a term so I was tired of reading. It can't be any good, I would convince myself, so I wouldn't read. The only thing I read was a short story called "To Build a Fire".

But on my Kindle – there it was – Call of the Wild. I had a trip for reading so I decided it was short enough to maybe finish on one flight. I did finish it on one flight and it was excellent. It is the story of a dog and his reversion to his natural , uncivilized essence. It is beautifully done. You feel pathos with Busk, the main character – who is a dog. I really liked it. I think I would recommend it to anyone.

Well – maybe not a women's book club. There are some violent scenes – tastefully violent – but violent none the less. Dogs getting killed by men. Dogs getting killed by dogs. Moose getting killed by dogs. Men getting killed by men. Men getting killed by dogs. You know, that kind of tasteful violence.

Travels with Lar

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

 February 20 – 24, 2012

This was a work trip. The biggest adventure of this trip was getting in and out of Canada. Going in I did get stopped at immigration. In most places in Canada, I have not had much trouble at immigration, but others in the Mentor training group have had trouble getting into Calgary. One person has gone twice and had a very hard time on both trips and on one trip had to pay $150.00 for a work permit after spending 1 ½ hours talking to the agent.. So as I went to immigration I had a little bit of trepidation. Sure enough, my documentation was not what they wanted to see. However, I was just nice to the agent and asked him a lot of questions. In the end he let me in after only 15 minutes because it was a holiday in Alberta (Family Day) and because I was a nice guy. He actually told me that. So that was getting in.

Getting out was US customs and the fact that I was a US citizen with a US passport made it easy, but the line was 45 minutes long. Then the plane spent 45 minutes sitting on the tarmac to be deiced and then waiting our turn in line. But I finally got home at about 11:30 at night.

I will mention that I did little in Calgary. It was cold. It was generally dark when I left the company where I was teaching and I didn't feel real well and was generally tired. So mostly I taught, got some dinner and then encamped in the motel.

There is a temple in Calgary, but it is under construction so I didn't get to go.

One morning, it cleared up enough to see the Canadian Rockies about 30 miles to the West. They are a little bit more rugged than our Colorado Rockies, but not so high ranging up to the high 9000 foot mark.  Calgary is a lot like Denver - high planes - foot of the mountains - low precipitation - population about the same.

Another trip – come and gone. I am glad this one is done and gone.