Crimson/Blue Fest headcount 2023

[Sparko]

A few weeks after my wife passed and while dealing with her affairs, I discovered my 94 y/o mother, (who I hadn't seen in 1.5 years due to Covid and my wife's illness), back in KC, could no longer handle her affairs. I had no idea of the veritable black-hole sized crevasse of time I was falling into trying to convert her various bank, broker, credit card, SS, Medicare, Medicare Part D, medical and dental insurance, newspaper, magazines, etc., etc. accounts over to me so I could pay her bills, where every time I was finally able to connect with the person I needed to reach or talk to only begat yet another couple of emails, forms, signatures, phone calls, etc. I can't imagine what it would have been like if I hadn't already arranged to be her DPA for medical and financial affairs. It was never ending.

Everyone who is a growed up should have a PDA. We barely got one in place before my mom's dementia went full blown, and then again just before mother-in-law got committed to the psych ward a couple of months ago. Shit would have been even more of a nightmare without those. We immediately wrote them up for ourselves as well and passed copies to our adult daughters.

And another thing, if you are going to spend time on a regular basis out in the hinterlands get AirMedCare insurance. If you get injured or sick in the SLV they will likely have to fly you out to the Springs in a helicopter. I know three people who have had to take it. The cost ranges from $30k-45k. And your regular insurance don't cover it.

https://www.airmedcarenetwork.com/

Appreciate the wisdom!

[japhy]

That seems like a fair price for a ride.

While $30-45K isn't going to crater everyone, it is a big chunk of change in a place where the average annual income is less than that. I know at least one local who is still paying off her helicopter ride 7 years after the accident that almost killed her. In the meantime the insurance costs us about $68/year for a family. A real bargain considering.

[Back2Lawrence]

Sorry. I was being all the way sarcastic. Access to great health care, for many, is a joke. But, ‘Murica.

[japhy]

Sorry. I was being all the way sarcastic. Access to great health care, for many, is a joke. But, ‘Murica.

No harm no foul, I got that.

[japhy]

It won't be too long.

The elevation is 7500 feet and the air is dry AF.

Remember to hydrate, beer don't count.

And if you are going to be above 10,000 for more than a few hours acclimate for a day first.

Big Blue is larger than it appears in photos.

[japhy]

Defix reminded me that it is 73 degrees out in the Empire right now.

With the light breeze and low humidity the wind chill makes it feel like 71, the AQI is 25.

When the sun came up it was 51 degrees there this morning.

I would have probably put on a jacket before taking Dok out for his morning constitutional. We probably would have run into Martha Lobato, she is about the only other person walking around town just after sun up. We exchange smiles and "hola". If I walk down the alley behind the liquor store, Defix and his wife would probably be sitting at their picnic table drinking coffee. The roving band of chihuahuas will be strolling down Worth Street like they own the fuckin town. They are wary of Dok and cross to the other side of the street.

If you get up early I will have a pot of coffee and you can walk the town with us.

[Shirley]

When the sun came up it was 51 degrees there this morning.

Good 2 no.

[japhy]

When the sun came up it was 51 degrees there this morning.

Good 2 no.

Hats that shade your neck, long sleeve shirts and pants. When I fish I wear gloves. Even if the weather is mild, the sun is harsh at that elevation.

This afternoon it is 88 degrees with 19% humidity this afternoon. Within an hour of the sun going down the temperature will have dropped almost 20 degrees.

[TDub]

nope. Hats are stupid. Only fit for dimwitted dresser uppers. I heard it here from a very intellectual and high falooting source.

[japhy]

nope. Hats are stupid. Only fit for dimwitted dresser uppers. I heard it here from a very intellectual and high falooting source.

One of my hats has a neck cape that wraps around my face and buttons. My daughters call it my "Lawrence of Arabia" hat. They like to tease me. I carry goggles in my truck as well. In the spring when the dust storms kick up you need goggles to be outside. In this video one of the doors on a speaker at the Frontier blew off the cabinet, it was caught by a 70-80 mph wind gust and the hinges tore loose. We were worried that if the wind got under it, the door would take off and blow into the windows of the snack shop/bar which was gonna ruin our party later that night. So I went out and picked it up, damn near becoming airborne and brought it back and deposited it on the leeward side of the building. There were several filmmakers there and one in the projection booth decided to film it. They had laughed at my goggles earlier. That same day multiple vehicles piled up on Highway 17 on the other side of the valley when a semi ran head-on into an SUV and multiple vehicles plowed into them from both directions as visibility was only about 20 feet. The CHP closed the highway for about 4 hours that day. I haven't driven into a dust storm out there since. And I keep the goggles handy.

[TDub]

nope. Hats are stupid. Only fit for dimwitted dresser uppers. I heard it here from a very intellectual and high falooting source.

One of my hats has a neck cape that wraps around my face and buttons. My daughters call it my "Lawrence of Arabia" hat. They like to tease me. I carry goggles in my truck as well. In the spring when the dust storms kick up you need goggles to be outside. In this video one of the doors on a speaker at the Frontier blew off the cabinet, it was caught by a 70-80 mph wind gust and the hinges tore loose. We were worried that if the wind got under it, the door would take off and blow into the windows of the snack shop/bar which was gonna ruin our party later that night. So I went out and picked it up, damn near becoming airborne and brought it back and deposited it on the leeward side of the building. There were several filmmakers there and one in the projection booth decided to film it. They had laughed at my goggles earlier. That same day multiple vehicles piled up on Highway 17 on the other side of the valley when a semi ran head-on into an SUV and multiple vehicles plowed into them from both directions as visibility was only about 20 feet. The CHP closed the highway for about 4 hours that day. I haven't driven into a dust storm out there since. And I keep the goggles handy.

you dont gotta convince me....im very pro hat. Of most types...im very very rarely caught without one.

[japhy]

If you work outside or you recreate outside you quickly learn that what you wear ain't an outfit. It is just part of the tools/gear that keeps it safe or fun. The San Luis Valley is a big sparsely populated place. If you aren't used to seeing no other humans for 4 or more hours that can get disorienting. There is a lot of area that has no cell service. If your truck gets a flat in the middle of the night and you don't have a working jack you might sleep in the truck unless someone you know happens to drive by leaving the party later, right Defix? You really don't wanna walk around out there in the dark, you are likely not the apex predator out there at night. I have never been abducted by an alien and rarely been attacked by a demon or spirit but there is shit out there you can not explain; and if it wants to, it will fuck with you. In the daylight you might have to walk 10 miles to get cell service or find an occupied house. Be prepared, and that includes your clothes. Always bring lots of water with you. If you work in this environment you don't call in sick for most weather, you just go out there and deal with it.

Whatever comes up, just roll with it.

Enjoy the solitude, it gets more rare every day. Enjoy the occasional magnificent dust storm that is a bit frightening and at the same time reminds you how minuscule you and your problems are in the big picture of a planet going about it's business. Enjoy being in a landscape/environment that will humble you and make you feel insignificant. If you run into a local out there wave and say "hello", ask them how their day is going. Some of the most interesting conversations I have ever had started out that way. There are people out there living lives I could not have imagined.

[TDub]

the increasing rarity of solitude is perhaps the thing that depresses me most over just my lifetime...much less over the span of the last 1000 years.

[japhy]

I love people and enjoy a good party. We are building a party town after all.

But I need solitude at times as well. I can go away for a week and not contact anyone and be good with just the random contacts I run into. From my residence in Center CO, I can drive 30-45 minutes and not see another person all day. That's a luxurious proximity I haven't found in too many places. I refer to the process of spending time "away" as a "mental enema". It is rejuvenating, and I appreciate my people more when I get back.

Sagauche Country Colorado is 3200 square miles of mountains and alpine desert. There are 6300 people living in the county. If you take out the populations of Center (2400) and Saguache (600) that leaves about 1 person per square mile. But in reality even those other 3000 plus live in clusters. Per capita we have one of the largest populations of people in the US who disappear and are never heard from again in the SLV. Every year during elk hunting season a body is found that may have been lost for a decade. There is no cell service in a big chunk of the county, maybe half. There are only a handful of County sheriffs and only Center has it's own fire dept and police dept. If you can reach help by phone it is likely an hour away.

When you drive out into the wilderness by yourself, you are alone. Not everyone enjoys that but if you do, this is a good place.

[japhy]

I spoke to Ron Rael over the weekend. He will be in the valley during our time out there. I have dropped the hint that I may bring slabs of Arthur Bryant's ribs with me. That got his attention. If things work out we might get a guided/narrated tour of Conejos.

In the embedded video the part about Conejos starts at the 8:55 mark.

https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/l ... ed-places/

[japhy]

[Shirley]

Japhy don't cotton to no bait fishing.

But this is how it's done, down here:



I follow this guy on YouTube, and he films his videos in the Gulf not too far north of where I live.

[japhy]

Japhy don't cotton to no bait fishing.

But this is how it's done, down here:

I will hold you upright while Oussie beats you senseless with your bait bucket.

After we brand you with a "nightcrawler on a baithook" image on your forehead no one will ever sell you an out of state fishing license in Colorado again.

[ousdahl]

Feral always struck me as a master baiter

[japhy]

This morning when the sun came up it was 49 degrees in the Empire. To the west you can see the San Juan Mts and the edge of the La Garita caldera which is the remnants of one of the largest supervolcanoes ever to erupt. The morning sun gives the mountains a rosy hue most mornings.

Two weeks from today we will have finished eating breakfast at the Sunflour Cafe and our convoy will be pulling into Antonito to see the history and the future of a unique culture.

In my discussion of hats/gear I think I forgot to mention "boots".....wear boots.

My oldest daughter says she feels like we should listen to Los Lobos when we drive around out here. She makes a good point.