Blogger slackin', Fat Tire Trackin'. Airstreamin'

Slackin'
So it has been a few days since the last blog update and I can't help but feel like a slacker for not putting fingers to keyboard.  The truth is I did not have any pics to upload and subsequently decided to skip the weekend of blogaroo action and spare anyone (other than Erin and I) the agony of reading this diatribe.

Fat Tire Trackin'
It was a banner weekend weather wise.  I got an early start to Saturday and was on the trails by 7:30 with the intention of being able to salvage 1/2 the day for airstream to-do's.  It ended up being a 4 hour ride with about 5,000 ft if elevation gain.  The legs felt decent and the real barometer (relative to last year) fitness wise came when we approached the 8 miles of hell on the CDT.  It has become fondly known as the 8 miles of hell because the trail is pretty rough with some fairly steep grades.  The good news is that it felt easier than I remember it last year so hopefully that is a good sign of how the legs are holding up this year.

Sunday's ride was a repeat performance of the Homestake CDT to Hwy 2 ride I did earlier in the week.  I spent most of the day getting things done around the house and Airstream.  Erin was pulling an extra shift at the hospital and the least I could do was to bone up on house chores and make some progress on the Globetrotter.  After she got off work, we went up to the Homestake CDT trailhead at the pass and hopped on some buff & super tacky singletrack.  My goal was to do the ride in sub 2 hours (Wednesday's ride was 2:03)...the legs started to warm up for the long gradual climb.  It was starting to cool off from the heat of the day and it was good to keep moving since the skeeters were out in full force.  Fortunately I did not have to stop and let them go into attack mode.  I hit the turn-around point at 1:01 and knew that I would have to motor to make it back in the sub 2 hour goal.  The return leg is slightly easier since there is a little less climbing and more descent...Erin was out for a 2 hour ride of her own and I passed her towards the top of the lookout on the return.  It seemed a little rude to pass her by and ride back to the car with her but as the Blues Brothers infamously said 'I am on  mission' (a sub 2 hr mission to be precise), so my legs kept pumping away and it was a race against the clock.

1:57 - I got back to the car in my sub 2 hr goal and started to get ready to load the bike into the truck when a swarm of hungry skeeters saw me as target # 1 (probably since I was the only moving thing in the vicinity).  I did the 'load the bike, swat the skeeter dance' and got the bike loaded in record time and hopped into the truck to wait for Erin.  She was not far behind and I could tell that her ride was therapeutic as she came to the car looking less stressed than when we had started.  She has a long weekend at the hospital and it was good to see her face less anxious than a couple of hours earlier.

Airstreamin'

It was also a good productive day on the Airstream.  I managed to paint the cabinets in the bathroom as well as paint the screen frames which all took time since it required diligence to cut the edges (which is a challenge unto itself when the airstream is moving a little as you move around).  There was some detail work that needed touch up too - scraping paint of some of the edging so there is a nice contrast against the dark paint, etc

I also took some oven cleaner to the gauchos and removed the awful, dated copper color off the metal pieces on the gaucho.  I still need to give it another round with oven cleaner in order to remove all the color  and get it down to a stainless color (before on left, after on right in pic below on right).  The gauchos also need another round of paint and touch up but we are well on our way.

The  color scheme is coming together and it is nice to see some of the contrasts with the colors.

The door also needed some scrubbing and priming...next is two coats of paint to match the inside that we painted.  The race is on as we want to try and get the GT up to Missoula this weekend so they can install the fridge and some other items for us.

There is still plenty to get done before the Missoula trek, although it was a very productive weekend of biking, airstreaming, house chores, and yard chores.