Starting the New Year at Wikieup 01/01/10 - 1/12/10

A couple of days after the kids left, our friend (and neighbor) Dutch came from Ogden. We were sad that his wife Gail didn't come, but we were glad to see Dutch. He owns some property right next to Nettie's Place and I have known him my whole life. He was a schoolboy friend of my Dad's. He was with us on New Year's Eve and we ate dinner and played dominoes until late into the evening (I think we quit at about 9:00), when he left and then we stayed up until midnight and then went to bed! Happy New Year!

For the last couple of years, there have been these three slabs of cement that someone "dropped off" in the wash down from our place. We asked about who they belonged to and no one seemed to know. So, we told the land owners where they were that we were now "storing" them at our house. They said it was okay with them. With Dutch's expertise and help, we figured out how to pull them the mile and half along the gravel road with the Hippo. We were not sure if we could do it or not.

Well, we did it. Two of them cracked, but there was enough rebar in them that they held together. We felt a little like thieves, and there were several hunters who went by and looked at us kind of funny as they passed us. So, for the next few days, we kind of expected the cops to come visit us, but no one showed up. We made sure that Dutch got one of the slabs so that we were not alone in our "dirty deed."

We had planned on mixing our own cement and pouring slabs for a couple of RV spots on the place this year. These slabs work really nice. We got one set in place and will do the other one next time we go to Wikieup. It is really nice to step out of the Condo onto cement!

Dutch worked with a come-a-long and got his slab in place. He really worked at it, a little at a time, and after a couple of days, he had it right up to his door. He had to move quite a bit of gravel and rock, but it sure looked nice when he finished. He wouldn't let us help him much. We only hope we will be in as good of shape as he is when we get in our 80's!

A few days before we left Wikieup, our friends from Emmett, Russ and Louise, showed up. It was fun having them with us. They are birders and it is always fun to walk the desert with them. We left Wikieup together and then spent one day at the next RV park before they left to go on. Hopefully, we will meet up with them later in our travels.

Terry had a brainstorm on how to make a bike rack to fit above our motorcycle, since we have two bikes now. When we had our tandem bike with us, it fit along side the motorcycle. He used a friend's welder and made a really nice rack. I took this picture but the the cover is on the bikes and you can't see the rack, so I will have to take another picture of it sometime.

Well, it has been a great two months at Wikieup and we have mixed emotions about leaving. It was fun having company quite a bit of the time we were there this time. We got better acquainted with some of the people, especially the Church members. We are thinking that some day we may spend most of the winter at Wikieup, when we get tired of traveling around so much. But, for now, we are off on another adventure!