When you have 24 hours a day to devote to nothing but yourself, you have plenty of time to ponder life; the past, the present and what you would like for the future.  I have always wanted to live my life better and healthier in the future but now I have no excuse for not doing it.  It still won’t be easy but I have made some serious inroads lately.  I am eating much healthier than usual; Jesse and I walk 3 to 4 miles daily; and I have completed most of the projects still remaining for Dod’s complete restoration. 

Next comes the tough part: making resolutions and actually keeping them.  Some of the ones I am considering are:

1.       Spending 30 minutes a day doing isometrics.  Using isometrics requires no equipment, only time.  Last time I had a regular routine with isometrics (about 3 years ago), I lost 15 pounds and moved another 10 pounds from my gut back to my chest where it belongs.

2.       Spending an hour a day improving my Spanish.  I brought along six books and 20 CDs to help me in my goal.

3.       Quit smoking (I don’t need to say anything more do I?).

4.       Cut back on my drinking; this is as much a budgetary item as it is a health item.

I found a scale in town and I am down to 187 lbs. which is about 5 lbs. over what the book says my desired weight should be at 6’1” in height.  That 5 lb. mass is located in my gut but when I started this journey the mass was closer to 20 lbs. so moving 5 lbs. up to my chest should be easy.

Doing some quick math made me face the reality that if I give up both smoking and drinking I can afford three or four restaurant meals each week or spend a couple of nights with hookups each week.  It must sound like a no-brainer but 50 years of bad habits don’t disappear overnight.

Wish me luck!

If you build it they will come!

In 1934, the community of Fraser obtained permission to build a ball field on the current site.  In 1942, the Clearwater County Board of Supervisors voted to obtain 10 acres including the ball field area to create a permanent county park.

Obviously, much time and many dollars have been extended to make the park what it is today.  The park sits on the northern edge of thousands of acres of wheat fields.  In fact, part of the ball field is used to produce hay.  They got 5 of these huge bales from a small area out in right field.  One morning I captured this old farmer on his John Deere picking up the bales.

The diamond is complete with dugouts, bleachers and a snack shack.  The snack shack is available for rent as a cook shack for parties, family reunions and festivals.  August 5,6 and 7 they will hold the annual Blue Grass Jam.  From what I have heard it is a really big deal and all of the campsites will be taken with several other campers utilizing the ball field for dry camping. 

I occupy the premiere campsite in the park and have been given permission to stay there through the festival and for as long as I want.  It was pretty easy to gain permission.  I made friends with the woman who is responsible for park maintenance.  We met on the day I arrived and she stops by almost every day for a neighborly chat.

Yesterday, while she was driving a riding mower cutting the grass and weeds in the hot sun, I brought her a large bottle of water fresh from my fridge.  Today, while I was in my office/movie theatre (the gazebo) writing some posts, I heard a terrible racket coming from the mower.  When I looked around she was down on the ground attempting to repair the mower which had developed a severe vibration around the blade.  I’m no mechanic but I think logically (most of the time) so I offered to help.

We removed the pulley cover and discovered a total build up of debris.  After clearing the debris and replacing the cover the same problem was still there.  Back off with the cover for a closer inspection.  I found a large chunk of pine cone had lodged in the blade pulley and every time the belt went over that spot it became off balance creating the vibration.  After removing the pine cone piece and reattaching the pulley cover the problem was solved! 

She said I saved her a trip into town to get a mechanic and also allowed her to continue mowing and not blow the entire day.  Who knows, I may get a home cooked meal in addition to the extended stay!

Fraser Park

Fraser Park is a 10 acre site provided and maintained by the good people of Fraser, Idaho.  The sign below pretty much says it all: this park is free!  I stumbled on this great spot by taking Idaho Highway 11 north from Highway 12 at the little town of Orofino.  There are signs on the highway indicating “Visitor Information” and “Roadside Table”.  I stopped hoping to get a free Idaho map but no such luck.

When I pulled in on Thursday morning there was only one of the 10 campsites taken but that was one more than I wanted taken.  I drove on for about 30 miles up Highway 11 looking for a good boondocking spot.  All of the gravel roads that led off the highway were logging roads and the barren patches of land that the loggers had created were not very nice to look at.  The logging companies were very considerate in placing a sign on each road that timber harvesting had paid for the road.

I followed Highway 11 north to what I thought was its terminus and then decided that Fraser Park was my best bet.  When I got back to the park the campers that were here in the morning had left and I had the park all to myself.  It is now Sunday morning and I am still the only camper here!  

I have already used up my allotted three days but I am going to ask the park cleaner-upper if I need to leave for one night or if I can stay.  If I have to leave for a night, there is a great boondocking spot just behind the park.  Someone had too much money (or too few brains) and put in a road for a housing development with about 30 half-acre lots.  The electric and telephone/cable (Verizon) are already in place but there is no sign of any construction activity.

As I write this post, I am sitting at a picnic table in the gazebo.  There is free electricity here and I am taking advantage of it by charging my computer; my electric razor; and, my three iPods.  There is actually one site right next to the gazebo where I could park and plug in for the night.  I won’t use it but I will, however, bring my TV down for the occasional movie.