Odds and Ends
July 27 - Aug 2 — You encounter odd and funny things in life, if your open to letting them be funny, interesting, or just educational.
On a trip to visit relatives I found funny and interesting things along the way.
I hope you find them entertaining too.
I Got Mugged!
It had been a couple of hours since our last stop and I felt nature calling. Nature was calling Kepler too. While Dennis was tending Kep’s needs, I wandered over to the port-a-potties (PAPs). We had stopped at a gas station but they only had PAPs! Obviously we were in the middle nowhere, New Mexico actually. There was a guy cleaning the PAPs. He said I needed to use the ones on the other side of the station. I continued to walk around the station. As I approached the gas station door, I saw a kid with a stick, or maybe it was a Harry Potter style magic wand". Then I heard him say, “Give me all your dough.” Being me, I said, “All my dough is at home in the oven.” He said, “Then give me all your cash.” He was around 10 and his mom had to be in the store. I responded, “I need my cash to buy more dough” and kept walking. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the PAPs on the other side of the station. I kept circling the station on my second encounter with the underage thief, his mom was scolding him for not staying in the car. I kept circling. Found them! They were in a trailer!
Spruce Beetle Infestation
After trips I have a list of things to research when I get back to easy internet access. This one was odd to look up since I had no idea what I was looking at. But I know about pine bark beetles so I guessed it was something like that. I found the answer here.
The short version is, you can’t treat the world but you can selectively treat areas infested with the spruce beetle to vary the age of the forest, remove some of the fire danger, try to prevent erosion and give young trees space to grow that isn’t under a dead fallen tree, protect power lines, and protect the water shed. Some areas where left to provide a patchwork of forest conditions around Monarch Pass.
Back in 2018 the plan was to remove dead or dying trees on up to 400 acres. At that time some areas had up to 75% of the trees affected. And, remember this is mountain terrain, so very steep. They brought in special equipment that could be used on the steep slope, up to 60%, and removed many of the dead trees. Some of it they used for lumber which added funds back to the project.
It appears that by 2021 they had completed the work on 466 acres.
Capulin Volcano
Yes a volcano in New Mexico. That weird line in the photo is a road that spirals around the volcano until it reaches a parking lot at the top. We didn’t go up.
You can learn more about the site here. But if your in a hurry, it is a cinder cone volcano that only erupted once. There are lots of other volcanoes in the area and there are lava piles everywhere. It would be an interesting place to explore sometime. And if you are into night photography (Dennis) the sky around here is dark and there are no obstruction. But probably no foreground objects.
Just a Little Rain
Do you ever feel like when you’re camping/traveling it rains more? Raton, NM only gets, on average 19 inches of rain each year. We were there on a day that it rained 0.54 inches. If that doesn’t mean anything to you, that is more rain in a single day than they get in the months of January or February. If you averaged that over 12 months that would be 1.58 inches per month. But that’s not how it falls. I still think of rain in east coast terms, so May and October should be the rainy months. Here, July and August are the rainy months. This will take some getting used to.
Cotopaxi !
This one I didn’t have to look up, as much. Cotopaxi is a mountain in Ecuador. Ok it is actually a volcano. So it kind of makes sense in a volcanic region someone might want to name a community after a well known volcano. You might ask, why Cotopaxi is well known. You have heard of Mount Everest, highest point on earth and all. Or is it? It depend on how you measure it. If you are looking at sea level as your reference then yes Mount Everest would extend higher above sea level but if you measure from the center of the earth then Mount Chimborazo, Huascaran and Cotopaxi and Killimanjaro all extend farther. Confused? The Earth may be spherical but it isn’t round. It bulges around the equator and so does sea level.
Control Your Children
When I saw this sign at a New Mexico rest area I had to laugh even though it is a serious matter. It’s an excellent way make sure people stay out of the landscaping and also a good way to avoid having to mow. Reminds me of the signs at the Kansas airport, “native vegetation.” That way no one can complain that the “weeds” need mowed. They just burn it once per year. But they might want to rethink the use of the the word “weeds”.
Yes, rattlesnakes are serious business! The sign though is funny.
Electric Frowny Clown
Who thought outlining the holes in white was a good idea? At the rest stop they threatened parents with rattlesnakes if they didn’t control their kids. At the hotel (yes we stayed in a hotel) they tempt children to stick their fingers in an electrical outlet with an electrical frowny clown. We are in Texas.
Texas Windmills
Let me rephrase. Look at all those windmills, in TEXAS!
Argemone polyanthemos
If you thought I was done with thistle imposters, no. This one is a poppy, crested prickly poppy to be exact. The flower looks like a poppy but those leaves say don’t mess with me just like a thistle. They sure are pretty flowers.
We had to Buy Gas
On our trip to Salt Lake City we paid $6.99 9/10 per gallon at Soilder Summit, Utah. In Texas we paid $3.61/ gallon. We actually found gas for less. I think it was 3.59 but I forgot to take a photo. I know they have to transport it but tanker trucks hold up to 11,600 gallons. That doesn’t account for almost doubling the price from Texas to Utah. The fuel tax in Utah is $0.503/gallon while Texas adds $0.384/gallon. Something isn’t adding up here. If you’re interested in your state’s fuel tax you can easily look it up.
If you want to complain about gas prices, I know a place to buy gas!
This was an interesting site that breaks down the cost of gasoline and diesel.
Not my usual post but you see the country when you travel the highway. There is a lot to explore out there if your just pay attention and ask questions. I hope you found something interesting enough to ask more questions.