Some things are just kinda hard to do in a 24′ foot RV.

Like making sushi and spring rolls. Our rig just lacks the elbow room and storage space to make these tasty bite sized delights.

When we had a stick house and lived on the Pacific, we could buy fresh albacore and wild caught salmon right from the boats. So we got into sushi roll making and loved it.

Once we hit the road, we gave up making sushi. There’s just something about eating raw fish in the middle of the country that’s just scary. Plus we just didn’t have room to carry our funky Japanese dinnerware.

When we returned this year, we picked up the bamboo mat once again and started where we left off, minus the sashimi. Instead we’re going for barbecued salmon and krab meat. It’ll do us just fine until we touch the Pacific shores again.

Back to the Beach

The weather’s going well for us this year (fingers crossed). By this time last year, we had been dumped on with 3 feet of snow. This year, all we’ve had is one snow flurry, and no rain (which is pissing Jim off after digging trenches and putting up gutters!).

We’re slowly getting prepped to skeedattle on out of here. Which could happen in as little as a week or not until the end of the month. This time of year, the weather is a roll of the dice. This weekend and next we’ll be busy getting the rig ready for a fast escape.

So far, we’re betting on not leaving until the end of October, then heading out to Washington and working our way to L.A. after seeing some special three legged friends. But it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.

I hope the weather lasts. It’s great seeing the transition to fall, especially after living in one-season California. Watching the aspens change and feeling the subtleties of the season puts you in touch with the power of nature.

We just can’t leave yet. We have far too much to do here, and I really like these sushi rolls!

Come Labor Day weekend, a twinge of envy and a slight yearning for the past whispers in my ear whenever I hear people talk about going to Burning Man.

Back in the day, we used to go. But when Black Rock City’s population exploded from 200 people in ’92 to several thousand by our last year in ’96, we decided to call it done.

Labor Day weekend hasn’t been the same ever since.

Until now.

Giving a New Meaning to “Fat Tire”

Fort Collins is the epicenter of bicycle and beer culture. Fat tires and big beefy beers go together here like hippies in Humboldt.

As the headquarters for super eco-groovy, New Belgium Brewery, no matter where you go you can’t help but soak up the sudsy vibe of laid back college town living.

New Belgium is the creator of awesome microbrew beer and Tour de Fat, a nationwide day-long costume party held in different cities to celebrate bicycles as a way of life.

The Fort Collins Tour on Labor Day weekend is always the biggest one, and this year some 10,000 people came by bike to toast the two wheeled lifestyle.

On Saturday afternoon, we dropped Wyatt off at doggy day care, then met our friends Mike and Marie to pedal on over to the event. Not knowing what to expect, our costumes were thrown together pretty quick and nothing to be proud of (just wait till next year!).

As more freaks started rolling in dressed in full regalia, we knew this was going to be a fun ride.

For over two hours we pedaled with partying revelers throughout town, whooping and hollering and smiling the entire way. I can’t remember the last time I smiled for hours on end, just cracking up at all of the crazy costumes that people thought up.

Everywhere the parade snaked through town, locals were sitting on the curb whooping back at us.

People had set up cocktail bars on their lawns and thew parties while the parade was going on. From frat boys to old folks, nobody could resist the good cheer the circus brought to town.

What a blast to see the entire community come out and applaud the riders. Nobody was a spectator, everyone was a participant.

After the ride, New Belgium threw a free, day-long concert near their headquarters, with local bands, food, crazy bicycle games and an emphasis on the all-important message of how using bicycles for transportation can build community and save the planet.

Being the bicycling advocate that I am, I couldn’t think of a better way to spend part of Labor Day weekend from here on out.

We’re hooked! Just wait till you see our costumes for next year  . . .

In my previous life as a marketing manager with long hours, deliverables, and accountability; and during our time as small business owners, with demanding clients, overhead and even longer hours; I often told myself – and others – that I sometimes wished I could just go dig a ditch. The opportunity recently arose, in a big way, and will again soon.

This is no ordinary ditch mind you, and it’s just one of a few that will help divert water from our roof away from our house via the new gutters we recently had installed.

Honey-do projects are one thing, but installing gutters are another. Yes, we could have easily hung DIY rain gutters. But going seamless is not just about aesthetics, it’s the smart choice up here in the mountains.

The issue is not so much that snow will pile up and tear off gutter sections – it can, and does as we’ve seen happen down the road. It’s more about what happens as snow thaws in them, freezes and repeats. Seams simply can’t take it.

Back to that ditch. As illegal as it is to collect water off our roof according to our subdivision’s augmentation plan, René wanted to try. Apparently I’m building a box garden when we get back to Jerry’s Acres next Spring. But there I go digressing.

I obliged by inquiring about nonperforated drainage pipe at Home Cheapo. Thus we learned why using such a thing for the amount of ditch I was digging is a bad idea. Stagnant water sitting in solid pipe stinks. Quite literally. I for one am very happy to discover this before burying all the pipe I did.

About ten inches deep by 40 feet long in less than six hours. That’s how I spent last Saturday. An impressive feat if I don’t say so myself, but then, I just did. This weekend calls for another 30 feet, easy. Well, not exactly easy. Remember my Colorado geology lesson from the ranch?

There’s a reason they call these the rocky mountains, and I encountered more than a few Leaverites. Ya know, those rocks that you hit and realize … you better leave ‘er right there.

How to Dig a Ditch

The right tools make any job easier. But if you must dig a trench by hand, here are a few pointers:

• Know your terrain. Unless you’re digging up a soft lawn, recommended tools include a pick axe, pointed shovel, square shovel, and rake hoe.
• Don’t bend the blade on your pick like I did. See Leaverite above.
• Keep drainage pipe ditches at least 8-10 inches deep. See Stink.
• Loosen ground with pick by swinging big and letting gravity do the job
• Square off legs and shoulders, holding pick handle low.
• Use your legs, not your back.
• Use hoe to remove movable rocks before digging.
• Switch tools often to avoid burnout and work all muscle groups.
• Avoid buried gas, water and electric lines at all costs.
• Stretch and stay hydrated.
• Don’t dread what remains to be done, keep your eye on the goal.
• Wear eye protection and listen to rockin’ tunes, or railroad work songs.
• Never, ever, try to dig a 40′ ditch in one day.