Jem Trail With The Kids

With the kids having a few weeks on two wheels to practice and hone their skills it was time for the next step. Trail ride. We chose the Jem Trail because there's a very nice section of double track/ fire road that's pretty flat (considering it in the actual mountains) with a little loop of single track that's as non-technical as you can get out here. The kids loved it. I am positively giddy with delight. They took to it immediately, flying down declines, swooping over whoops, standing up and taking on ruts head on and powering up inclines. It was a ball. Both of them even crashed a couple of times. No tears, just dusted themselves off and on to the next section of trail. No whines, no crying, no complaints. Just good old fashioned fun in the dirt and a couple of band-aids.

Warning: the word awesome will be used extensively in this post. 

The day was bright, hot and clear. As you can see here, The Boy jumped into the lead right out of the gate and stayed there the whole day. Angus spent most of the day running back and forth between the two groups. We guys were naturally way more awesome of course. "Hey, you guys coming or what?"

There was one climb that was just a bit beyond them and they ended up pushing. It was all good as Angus promptly went back to show them how it was done.

This is where you turn off the double track and pick up the single. It was also where we had the endos that I was afraid was going to screw up the entire day. Biker chicks are so awesome.

Aftermath of the endo. Ok, here's Lu and The Princess at the endo site. Here's what happened. If you look closely you can see there's a small drop off just behind the girls. It's probably 6 feet down, not too steep, then flattens out and goes into a great little berm. At the bottom of the drop there's some soft dirt. I explained how to traverse the obstacle and then demonstrated it. The Boy sailed through but The Princess hit the soft dirt and promptly went right over the handlebars. It wasn't serious, just a slightly skinned knee, though it was awesome (sorry, it just was). I freaked thinking this was going to be it. She'd walk back to the truck and never ride again. Nope. She made the pain face, checked herself out, then remounted and rode on. This pic was just after the crash. The Princess and Lu were still discussing the spectacular endo and how to get around the berm. Have I mentioned how cool biker chicks are?

Both of the girls decided that discretion was the better part of valor and walked the berm. Of course they did have the benefit of watching The Boy make the attempt. I did mention two endos? Well this was where The Boy ate it. He got about halfway through the berm but didn't have enough speed and augured in at the mid point. It wasn't so much an endo as a get off but it was pretty cool. The Boy is getting to the point where he truly appreciates a really spectacular crash. Even his own.

The end of a really great day. The kids are now certified mountain bikers. Next year we'll be upgrading from those cheap big box bikes to something much better with suspension and good hand brakes. At this age the first thing that flies out of their heads in a braking situation is the ability to actually brake. Good hand brakes will go a long way toward alleviating that. We ended the day with ice cream at the local DQ. Nothing tastes better than after ride soft serve with a side of good, clean dirt.

Since these pictures were taken I took The boy out to the trail for another run. He fell heavily twice but both times popped right back up, dusted himself off and took off again. He also made the berm. The Boy is really learning how to ride. The great thing is that both of them love to ride. They've made approximately a million laps of the circular driveway and are now riding to school, which they seem to think is awesomely awesome beans.

Hey, only a few more days before they have to go home to Florida. We need at least one more good Jem Trail ride. See you guys later. We're going for a ride.

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America Is Not Dead

120 kindergartners. 120 five and six year olds on stage. The event is their end of the school year program. The setting is a high school stage with a screen hung behind with seating for the kids. The stage is hung with bunting consisting of American flags hand drawn by the kids who are dressed in hand made red, white and blue t-shirts.

The program consisted of songs extolling the virtues of America, freedom, patriotism and the sacrifices of the men and women who wear the uniform of our beloved nation. This one especially. (I apologize for the poor quality. I took this with Lu's mini still camera that has a small video function)

On the screen behind the children is displayed pictures of those who have and continue to serve. Sung in darkness to keep the spotlight off of themselves and on those they are honoring. My beloved grandson was among them. The words:

When I lay my head down every night.
And go to sleep in peace.
I can stay there knowing all is well.
While you're standing on your feet.
Keeping watch, protecting shore to shore.
In the Air and Ocean too.
Defending freedom at all cost.
For the Red, White and the Blue.
Thank you! Oh thank you!
Men and women brave and strong.
To those who serve so gallantly.
We sing this grateful song.
To the soldiers who have traveled on.
To countries far and near.
In peace and war you paid the price.
For the cause you hold to dear.
That we may wake each morning bright.
And know that freedom rings.
Because of your great sacrifice.
Your country joins to sing.
Thank you! Oh thank you!
Men and women brave and strong.
To those who serve so gallantly.
We sing this grateful song.
Thank you! Oh thank you!
Men and women brave and strong.
To those who serve so gallantly.
We sing this grateful song.

 There were many such songs and offerings but I chose this one because it meant so much to me. Music for the soul. I cried. Openly and unashamedly. Sarge and Lu both got teary eyed as well. Who could stay dry eyed? Those may be the sweetest words I've ever heard and uttered by such innocent voiced American children. I'm tearing up even as I write these words. Yes, I am a patriot.

The program was written, directed and produced by 4 kindergarten teachers. Approved by the principal and school district. In the America of today.

120 kindergarten kids. Five and six year olds. Take heart America for a country that still produces such as these children and the adults who are charged with their education and upbringing is a country full of hope and courage and pride. So many are predicting dire days ahead. Instead I will remember this program and the kids who sang so proudly. I will remember the pride and joy in my heart as I heard their song of gratitude and tribute.I will remember my grandson, wearing his red, white and blue shirt and singing his heart out. I love him. Indeed, I love them all.

And to the enemies of my country foreign and domestic I have this message. I will defend the lives and freedom of each and every one of those children, indeed every child in America, to my dying breath. I will never abandon them and the promise of freedom, their freedom, to the depredations of the cruel and the power mad. If you think I can't or won't just try me and remember that a man who is moved by the songs of children is a man who will gladly lay down his life to make sure they can keep on singing and "go to sleep in peace".

Keep the faith my friends.

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Traditions And Messages

There is so much of her grandmother in Baby Girl. Among them they are both traditionalists. Things are supposed to be a certain way, always and forever. Heck, the DO is cut from the exact same cloth for that matter. There is a strong pioneer streak, handed down from mother to daughter for generations, that runs through Lu's family. They had a large part in settling this part of Southern Utah more than a century ago. But what messages do our traditions send to our beloved children?

Is it one of alcohol and abuse and contempt for law and society and our neighbors? Because those are indeed things that are handed down, subtly or not so much, to our progeny. Attitudes as poisonous as a rattlesnake.

Is it one of family and the shared happiness and sorrow that comes with being together, tight in our bonds of love? 

In our everyday interactions with each other and our children what are we telling them?

I like to think that Lu and I are the keepers of the family lore. The guardians of family traditions. It's our job to pass along that knowledge the kids need to understand their place in, not only our family but the greater American family.

It's an awesome responsibility, knowing that you have such an ability to guide and teach and influence.Much of their future is in our hands. What messages do we send?

Is it simply a Christmas stocking for the newest member of the family or is there a greater message? Something beyond the excitement of creating and the learning of a new skill?

Perhaps she is learning that two sets of hands makes a task go quicker and easier. That a shared joy is increased beyond measure. That patience and listening will be rewarded. That giving is more satisfying than receiving. That works of the heart carry a greater value than a store bought trinket.

Perhaps all we ever truly pass along is love. The joys of just being together as family. That sometimes a warm lap and a shared smile are enough.

In the end all we ever really have is each other. Spend your time together well and remember the messages we truly send for it is that which will stay with our children the longest and shape their futures more certainly than any outside force.

May God grant me the strength and wisdom to be the messenger I need to be.

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Update on the Girl. With x-rays!

The girls arm when we got the the hospital:

You can see the full break on the one and the bending on the other.  Brave girl

 All set!

Pink cast is all set, and she's getting use to it.  

I'm beyond proud of my little girl.  She did so well, and she's taking it all in good stride!!

~The DO

Pirate Ship Update - Finished (Mostly)

It's been a while since I posted about the Pirate Ship I was building for the grandkids. I managed to break Lu's camera and still haven't replaced it so when the DO got here she took some pics for me. Click any picture to enlarge.

Here's where we left off. The main cabin structure without siding and the beam laid on for measuring. No prow and no landscaping.

Because I was sans camera I didn't get any further build pictures so here's the finished project. I'll just have to talk you through what I did, how I did it and why. I was overruled on the whole two story thing by higher command. I just cut off the 4x4s at the rear of the ship and used the two in front as rigging. The 4x6 beam is bolted to the roof with the end held up by a 1/4 inch steel 4x4 that's 10 feet long. The steel 4x4 is set 3 feet into the ground with 160 pounds of concrete. The beam has a swing, a tire swing and a climbing rope.

The prow is set on another pier block and attached to the main cabin with 2x6 framing. The floor is OSB over 2x4 floor joists. When I decided against it being two stories I went ahead and roofed the main cabin with shingles. The sheathing is more OSB with 2x4s and 2x6s for support. Everything is either nailed or screwed together.

Lu and I were at an antique store when she found this rock. It's fiberglass and it is way cool. 75 bucks. I love finding stuff like this and it added a nice climbing rock to the play area.

We had some old fishing net floats that Lu contributed to the build. I hung them on the sides and used some nylon rope as rigging.

Here's another view of the swings. I wanted to keep the ship theme so used wood and rope everywhere I could. Lu tested everything out. Just to be sure it was safe of course.

 
You can see the steel 4x4 post here. At the top I took two pieces of angle iron, welded them together to form a U bracket, drilled it, welded it to the post and lag bolted the whole thing to the beam. It's solid as a rock. That was Sarges idea. I was going to use an A-frame but this is both stronger and takes up a lot less space.

I bought a small basketball goal and mounted it to the end. We're planning on having some epic HORSE games. I went down to Ace and bought two gallons of brown paint. The paint guy asked me what shade and I told him Pirate Ship Brown. He offered a color, I accepted and it's now officially known at my local hardware store as Ace Pirate Ship Brown. He still chuckles whenever I come in.

Every Pirate Ship needs protection and this one is no different. This is a gun ship not a sissy merchanter. If you look closely you can see the cannon mounted on the side of the prow. That is most emphatically not a Nerf gun. It's a period correct replica of a repeating cannon manufactured in the 17th century by Theodor Geisel Armaments commonly referred to as a Ma Seuss. It's NFA of course. You can also see inside the main cabin. There's a 4x4 post just inside the doorway that holds the ships wheel. I put down some old carpeting I had from the bathroom/hallway remodel for padding. It's snug, cozy and a great clubhouse.

All in all I'm please with the result. The ship measures out at 7 1/2 feet wide by 20 feet long and 8 1/2 feet high not including the spars. It's surrounded by outdoor carpeting with gravel around the whole thing. It has swings, ropes, a basketball hoop and a rock to climb. The kids seem to enjoy it so I'm calling it a success.

Here's a random photo of Angus enjoying the play area just because he's so cute.

The yard was originally dirt and weeds. Lu took care of the weeds and I covered the rest with landscaping fabric, outdoor grass carpeting and gravel. That's 10 tons of gravel I moved by wheelbarrow, shovel, rake and a 5 gallon bucket. Each and every pebble. It really looks quite nice with the ship surrounded by a green sea and gravel shoals. There's plenty to do and it's a nice place for adventures and fantastical voyages of imagination. I thoroughly enjoyed the build with enthusiastic help from Sarge and Lu. It was all done off the cuff and straight out of my head. I think that's called seat of the pants engineering. All you real engineers should probably just look away. I tended to over build and it's managed to stand up to hard play and the usual Hurricane winds. This place is aptly named. The kids are going to take some paint to it and decorate it to their hearts content. It also needs a name. Monikers are being bandied about and as soon as one is chosen it will be painted on the prow.

This was a true labor of love. We managed to turn a couple of hundred square feet of dirt, mud and weeds into a play area for the kids that will hopefully allow them good, clean fun and a chance to exercise their imaginations as well as their bodies. I hope it reflects that.

 
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Pirate Ship Play Area For The Kids

As if I don't have enough on my plate. I decided that since DO and the kids are visiting for a couple of months (they'll be here on the 23rd 24th!) we needed a nice play area for the kids. Right now they're into pirates and a few years ago they went nuts for a play ship at the Wharf in Monterey. So my play area will combine swings and other play stuff with a pirate ship theme. It'll be pretty big so it's going to take me a while to get it finished. We started last Sunday.

First up was to make some kind of a plan, buy some materials and put in the base. A clumsy sketch, a rough materials list and a trip to the Big Box Home Store and we were off.

I started with 4 pier blocks. I want the base to be 10' long by 6' wide. The sill plate is 2x6 with 2x4 floor joists. I dug pier blocks down about 10 inches. It's most important to get the sill plate square and level as the rest of the structure will follow.

 I nailed the 2x6s together at the corners but they'll be carriage bolted to the 4x4 uprights later.

It's going to be 2 stories with the second floor at 6 feet. After finishing the leveling and squaring of the first floor I put up the 4x4 uprights. I then built the second floor sill plate on top of the first floor and slid it up into place. I temporarily nailed it in place after making sure it was also square and level.

 The cross pieces you see are for lateral support until I can get some skin on the frame.

The uprights must be level on both sides before I bolt them to the sill plates. I'll have some flexibility later but it's a lot easier to check level and square at each step..

 If you click on the image you can see the bubble leveled.

After I was satisfied it was true we bolted the whole thing together at the corners with 8 inch long 1/2 inch carriage bolts with washers. You can see them at the corners here. There's 2 at each corner, 1 from each side. Each sill plate is now nailed and bolted to the uprights. The structure is actually pretty solid at this point.

My helpers, Lu, Sarge and MiL. It's so much easier with good assistants.

Next up is floor joists and flooring. I used 2x4s for the joists and OSB for the floor.
First floor is done. That's me skinning the second floor. The 4x4 uprights are 10 feet tall so you can see how big this thing is going to be. The second floor is 6 feet above the first with the uprights an additional 4 feet over that. Each floor used exactly 2 1/2 sheets of 4x8 OSB. I love it when a plan comes together.

 Each OSB sheet is nailed to the floor joists and the sill plates. You can also see that we've buried and tamped the pier blocks. It's just some additional insurance against the thing moving around. We also put 4 mil plastic under the first floor to guard against weeds and bugses.

 I love power tools. I'm using my pneumatic framing nailer to install the floor. It makes things a lot easier.

I bought a 10 foot long 2x6 beam for swings, a rope climb and some monkey bars. I placed it so I could see how it was going to work and whether or not I needed to raise it above the level of the second floor. It'll stick out an additional 5 feet from what this picture depicts so there will be plenty of room for stuff. I'll bolt it to the floor and have a 4x4 A-frame at the far end for support. It's just shy of 7 feet from the ground. Lu and Sarge think that will be fine for swings. I tend to agree but I only want to do this once so I have to get it right the first time. Opinions?

Imagine if you will. To the left of the frame, as viewed here (where the ladders are), I'll add in a ships bow. It'll be about an additional 10 feet long and 3 feet high. It'll be surrounded with gravel we're going to paint ocean blue. There will be 2 ladders/stairs from the bow to the second floor (one on each side of the bow). The bow will have a mast for the raising of the pirate's flags. There will be a door into the first floor cabin between the 2 stairs. I'll put the ships wheel on the second floor, just above the bow. The second floor will have a hip height banister with vertical rails with all the way around it.
The back, where the OSB is standing at the fence line, will be sheathed with climbing points (think rock climbing wall).
The right side, nearest the camera, will also be sheathed with port holes.
The front, under the 4x6 beam, will have the swings and a knotted climbing rope. Right next to the structure and running across the face will be monkey bars at the level of the second floor.

I'll probably use lattice here and there both to give some structural rigidity and as a safety feature. There will be an additional door into the first floor at the right front, leading from the play area under the beam. I'm considering putting in an adults stair on the right side leading to the second floor with a gate at the top.

I'm sure I'll change and add things as we go. That's the nature of such a project and I'm not working to a set plan. I'm designing as I go. I'd appreciate any input anyone would care to give.

I'll update as we go with a full write up when I'm done. I went through a lot of web sites and saw a lot of stuff I liked. I kinda stole what I liked and improvised the rest. Man, I hope they like it.

Six

First Car

My first car was actually a pickup. It was a 1948 Chev 3100 pickup. It really belonged to me and my 15 months older brother (and was therefore a subject of many fistfights over possession on any given Saturday night). Here's picture of the truck but not my truck. My truck always looked like something a farmer had abandoned in a field.

We lived next door to my mechanical genius, could do anything, former homesteader and Hughes Aircraft Inspector grandfather. We pulled out the six cylinder and three speed and dropped in a 327 and a Rock Crusher 4 speed. Just because we could. During that build we took off the bed, ostensibly to get at the driveshaft to shorten it and get easier access to the transmission. Talk was heard about "body work" and "a paint job" but I think that was mostly youthful fantasy and bragadoccio. In any event, the bed never again saw the frame rails of that truck nor did anything more than rattle can primer touch the cab.

It could modestly be called a Tire Smoker. It'd break loose the rears in any gear with barely more than a thought and a dare. Being severely financially challenged it wore a series of two dollar used tires on the back. Usually about three miles from being bald as Captain Picard. Probably a good idea because we never did get around to a rear end swap. That stocker would have snapped like soft candy if we'd ever on put anything stickier than those bias ply tires that were harder than my head.

We got the truck while I was still, let's just say somewhat shy of the date where a license could be legally acquired (I think the statute of limitations must have run out by now). I remember driving with one of my best friends past the high school and seeing the driving instructor coming the other way. I was scheduled for Drivers Ed. in the next semester so we were motivated to avoid detection. I still wonder what he thought on seeing a totally pilotless pickup pass him. I wonder more how I ever managed to miss a parked car. Thank the Mormons for very wide streets.

We later sold it when it became apparent it was totally uncool (though it'd be awesomely cool to have it now, exactly as I remember it) and we were never going to actually complete any of the grandiose schemes we had for it. I moved on to a 63 Impala SS and later a 69 Chevelle SS. There was a certain Vega in there somewhere that that same mad scientist grandfather dropped a small block into but that's a story for another day. Want to be tempted to throw something hard at me? I later abandoned the Impala. Abandoned it. It was towed by the city and who know what happened to it. I totalled the Chevelle in a head on with a bread truck and sold it for scrap. Kids.

Though I wish I still had a lot of those cars the one I'm most tempted to try again is that 48 pickup. I guess the first girl will always be special.

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