Old vs New

There are at least three Nissan Cubes running around the Valley and I’ve been parking next to one lately at our base. Ya know folks, I just don’t get it. I’m sure these homely little things aren’t cheap, I don’t see them as fun to drive and I certainly wouldn’t want to sleep in one.

I know I’m massively prejudiced but compared to my 30 year old solid steel sweet truck, I think she wins hands down in all departments.

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Categorized as Vehicles

Ten Dollars

I’ve been on the lookout for a treadmill to keep in shape with this winter, and I found one today at a garage sale. It turns out we knew the lady running the sale, she works on our phones at Silverstar, and she thought the motor was shot so she sold it to me for ten dollars just to get rid of it.

Ahhh, it just needed a switch reset at the base of the unit. Everything works great. It’s motorized and programmable, it has elevation and speed settings, it can monitor your heart rate and it only cost me ten dollars!

It’s also got a spot for my Nexus 10 tablet so I can watch Amazon Prime while I walk…

Best $10 I’ve ever spent!

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Categorized as House

Tetonia Tower

This old silo in Tetonia offered up some Friday perspective as my bus purred nearby.

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Categorized as The Bus

Butterfly Dresses

Steph’s taken over the dining room table lately, making baby dresses. This one is for her grand-daughter Lilly but new ones are underway for the Washington babies Cora and Emma. The fabric lady at Walmart told her it would be cheaper to just buy them but who wants baby clothes sewed by tortured underpaid expoilted children from Indonesia?

As to the dining room table I’ve become quite accustomed to eating standing up at the kitchen counter. I stand right next to the sink so I can just eat and wash. It’s the least I can do for the cause…

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Categorized as Steph

Urbanathalon

I was hunting down a gun shop in Rexburg yesterday when we drove by this flag display in Porter Park. It turns out that the Madison County Fire Department was hosting its first annual Hero’s Challenge Urbanathalon, a 5k with obstacles, symbolizing what 9/11 firemen endured while racing to the Twin Towers. The event ends at the park where Patriots Day is also being celebrated.

You may wonder why it was held yesterday and not today. If you do then you certainly aren’t from around this neck of the woods :-) This is Rexburg Idaho, the most Mormon city on the planet north of Salt Lake. This town shuts down tight on Sunday and most everyone hangs out at one of the many wards whose towers dot the city. They even tried to get the new Walmart to close, to no avail, so if you like quiet shopping, there you go!

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Market Street

Here’s some video of a trip down San Francisco’s Market Street in 1906, four days before it was destroyed by the big quake.

If you’re up for more video, I highly recommend this:

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Trailways

I was parked next to this segment of the Teton Pass Trail system today, right off the Old Jackson Highway. I realize that I live in one of the richest outdoor activity wonderlands in the country, and I just don’t seem to get out there.

Maybe it’s because I’m cheap and don’t want to spring $60 bucks for bear spray. Or, maybe I’m just waiting to buy that handgun to scare the cougars away. I know, excuses…

Now on the local front, it looks like Anika’s visiting grandfather took our advice and made the girl a path through the field from the bus stop on Ski Hill to her house. I just walked it without spray or weapons and it was pretty cool!

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Categorized as The Valley

Labor Day

As you read this, an estimated 21 million people are being trafficked around the planet. More than half are women and girls. More than 1 million are children. Nearly one-quarter are bought and sold as sex slaves. Only 1 in 100 victims of human trafficking are ever rescued. It’s a booming business. High profits and low risk make human trafficking one of the fastest-growing and most lucrative crimes on the planet. The U.N. recently estimated that trafficking nets $150 billion a year. (Popular Science – DARPA)

Happy Labor Day…

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Big Eddy

Steph was reading the local Sherrif’s Log yesterday and there were a couple of references to a place around here called Big Eddy (gunshots and a moose vs vehicle).

She asked if I knew where it was, and I didn’t, so I found some directions:

  • From the stoplight in Driggs drive west on Bates Road toward the Big Holes.
  • After you cross the Bates Bridge, drive .5 miles to the Y intersection.
  • Continue driving straight west (do not follow the curve to the left/south) 1.2 miles until you come to two metal silos on your right.
  • Turn right (north) on N 6000 W, just past the silos.
  • Head north to W 2000 N and turn right (east, towards the Teton Mountains) and drive until you reach the Rainey Access on the Teton River at the end of the road.

We drove out there this morning and you can tag along by clicking the photo below:

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Categorized as The Valley