10-5-15.
This was our last day at the hotel. Lana and family left
early for Brooklyn. Doris had some business at the Federal Building. So we did
some walking. Going by car in this city is impossible. Riding the street cars
down town is free, but it takes awhile to figure out the system. We rather
walk.
When we came back we checked out and met Doris’s sister
Helen at a restaurant for breakfast.
Tomorrow morning we are going to Doris’s property near
Callao. There will be no Internet service and no cellphone reception. It will
be a quiet week in the high desert.
10-6-15.
This week Salt Lake City had a lot of visitors. The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had their 185
th
Semiannual LDS General Conference. I have never seen so many men in black
trousers and white shirts. Over twenty thousand Mormons were in the conference
hall.
The tire monitoring system in Doris’s car indicated low
tire pressure in one tire. We knew it was the spare tire since Doris bought new
tires a few weeks ago. Since the spare tire is mounted under the car and the
valve stem points upwards I could not check the pressure with Doris’s pressure
gage.
We went to a tire dealer in Delta and he told us the
pressure had gone down to 10 PSI. He had no time though to fix the tire. He
pumped up the pressure to 35 PSI.
Doris did not feel good to go to the high desert with a
bad spare tire. On those county dirt roads you see very seldom another car and
the cell phones do not work.
We went to the other tire dealer in town and he told us
he would fix the tire in thirty minutes. While I stayed with the car Doris went
to the store across the street and bought groceries for the week we will be
staying at the mill. We also brought some groceries from home.
The monitor valve was bad and since in such a small town
no new one is available the mechanic tried to fix it. It still leaked and he
had to install a regular valve.
We drove the 100 miles to Callao without any problems.
The last 49 miles were well maintained dirt roads. When
we come the regular way, from Wendover, the roads are not that good.
A few days ago they had a heavy rain here. Today the
weather was perfect. We did not make much dust on the road. The giant valley is
part of the Dugway Proofing Ground.
The people at the mill have their week off. They work a
lot of hours in three weeks and then take the fourth week off. Some of them
live a long distance from here.
We could not open the gate since somebody had made a
mistake when using one of the two padlocks. Doris’s padlock was hanging there
idle. I had to remove the top hinge pin of the gate to open it.
We had no problem with turning on the electricity, but
when we went to the pump building and turned on the water valve nothing
happened.
I finally figured out that the pump did not run. The
company which runs the mill had built a new pump building and installed new
tanks. The whole system was changed.
We drove to Amy’s house which is about six miles from the
mill. She is one of the employees. She got in her pick- up truck and went with
us to the mill. She showed me how to turn on the pump and lights in the
building.
She also gave me a grinder with a rubber wheel which I
have to use in case we will not find the key for the lock on the outside
cabinet for the water heater. We will have to drain the tank when we leave and
winterize the whole water system.
We also have problems with the telephone land line. Doris
had called the local telephone company and told them to turn on the telephone
for a week. Something went wrong and tomorrow we have to drive eleven miles
where we found a spot where out cell phones work.
We did this today and made some calls. The telephone
Company was not open after 5:00 PM.
This time we had very little sand in the house. The seals
I put on the bottom of the doors in June helped.
10-7-15.
We drove the eleven miles and Doris made a call to the
telephone company and found out that she forgot to call them to turn on the
telephone. Now we have service.
When we came back I took a large pitch fork and removed a
lot of large weeds. It is a losing battle. When we come back in June new ones
will be there.
We tried to burn them but they are too green. We burned a
lot of wood from trees and hedges.
10-8-15.
This was an easy day. Barbara, Doris’s sister, came by
and Doris colored her sisters hair. Barbara took a shower here. She has a
problem with her water system. One of Barbara’s nephews took the pump out of
the well and is checking it out.
We did some more eliminating of weeds. Doris tells me
that the rattle snakes are hibernating now, but I still check every step I
take. I do not want to meet again the snakes we saw in June, or step on one.
This little bird was turning the leaves over and looking
for insects.
10-9-15.
Doris saw a Diamond Back Rattle Snake peaking from under
the wooden back door steps. I was too late and the snake disappeared under the
house.
This snake has not gotten the message yet to hibernate.
We got more wood and got another fire going. It burned
all the tumble weed we had collected.
The house is all cleaned, but I have a feeling we will be
alone this weekend. Doris has invited all her sisters and her brother to come
to the mill. It is not easy to get here with a regular car from Salt Lake City.
Besides they are all older now. When they were younger, and the parents were
still alive, they had big family gatherings here.
10-10-15.
We are not alone this weekend. No family members came but
John, his son and one of his top employees came today and they are running some
equipment at the mill.
Tomorrow all the employees will be here.
We did not do any work today. We had planned to go to
Delta and attend an afternoon Halloween party at Barbara’s daughter’s house.
When we got to Barbara’s house in Callao she was not awake yet.
Doris’s parents and other relatives are buried in a
little cemetery near Barbara’s house. We walked there and took some pictures.
Then we drove to Doris’s uncle’s ranch which is located ten
miles from the town. He was asleep too. He is 102 years old and sleeps mostly
during the day.
We talked to his daughter who is an animal lover. She rescues
animals. There were about eight dogs, two goats, one horse, and turkeys, and
chickens and ducks in the back yard.
They also have their regular ranch animals like cattle,
horses and pigs.
When we were in
Callao we saw a white truck in the distance going toward the mill. Doreen
guessed right. It was John. When we got home John came to the house and brought
us up to date on the operation at the mill. He also gave us the key for the
water heater cabinet. Now we do not have to cut the pad lock.
Doris found a dead Kangaroo Rat in the refrigerator back
vent at the little travel trailer. The tail is sticking out. We cannot remove
it because it requires a key.
10-11-15.
The weather this week was perfect. We used the swamp
cooler only a few hours.
The sunrises and sunsets in the desert are unbelievable
beautiful. In the morning I eat my breakfast and watch the sun come over the
mountains. Doris is still snoring at that time.
We are getting ready to head for home. We brought the
garbage to the town dump and covered the swamp cooler.
The lady who owns the Six Mile Ranch, and her daughter
came by for a visit. They both live now in Medford, Oregon.
They were here only for two days.
I walked a little bit this morning and watched John and
his crew repair a five inch diameter water pipe for the cooling system of the
large generator. John had hit it with a Caterpillar earth moving machine.
They actually wanted to run production today so Doris
could see it. Now we have to wait until June when we come back.
They brought down more ore from the mine. The first
crusher can not handle the large boulders. A screen separates them from the
rest.
The first crusher reduces the ore to about 1 ½ inch diameter.
From there the material goes via conveyer belts inside
the building where it is reduced more.
On my walk I came by Doris’s fathers dynamite storage
place. It is empty now. John has his own storage.
10-12-15.
We turned off the water, flushed the toilets in the house
and log cabin, and added antifreeze to the tanks and bowls.
The hot water heater and the swamp cooler were drained.
The washing machine got also some antifreeze in the tub
in case there is some water in the system.
The sheets and pillows for the bed were washed and put
away.
We covered the furniture with sheets and locked the
doors, and said goodbye to John and his crew.
At 10:30 AM we were on the road and arrived in Susanville,
California at 7:00 PM.
After a dinner at a Chinese restaurant we were ready for
a shower and to go to bed.
10-13-15.
In the morning we drove to Shingletown where I picked up the
Saturn Aura I had bought before we went to Utah.
This will be my last Saturn. I could not pass this one
up. It is the top of the line with heated seats and everything is powered. The
main reason for buying this car was that it is tow ready. I can use my tow bar
with a small adaptor. On my other Saturn the base plate looked like the ramming
gear on a police car. On this car it is barely visible.
The drive home was terrible. The construction sites on
highway 299 slowed us down. Whenever we had to wait I had time to learn about
the instruments in the car.
