Storm Clouds and Mailboxes

The clouds were thick and grey in the late morning after a couple nights of exercising the furnace.

Seemed like a good and proper time to get out and make sure the propane didn't expire at an inconvenient time! ;)

We started our gas hunt a short run north of camp in June Lake... we'd received what turned out to be faulty intel that we could find it a bit cheaper there than the near 5 bucks in Mammoth... 

Having failed to find any gas at an acceptable price and none of the chili makin's we were also needful of... We just turned the rig 'round for another short run in the opposite direction back into Mammoth to the known unacceptable inflation of prices you get in a mountain town. ;)

*a few minutes of respite at Silverlake*

Dark clouds to the north... dark to the south... but for a few minutes we had a blinding blue sky above us. For a little while it looked like the stormy weather was rolling on through...

...nah... just a cruel tease. ;)

The rain and snow came back all afternoon and night...

We did manage to get out and explore around camp for an hour or so during one large break in the early weather, the day before yesterday...

Then the overcast shrouded it again for another 12 hours or so... until it teased us with that few short minutes of Sol up by Silverlake...

Between us and the highway is a fence... a big tall board fence...

Kinda makes a guy think that just might could be the "weather" gets a lil' rougher around here in the winter time don't it?

... than the lil' bit of wet junk we're livin' in now...

Another day and the sun is predicted to come back... so I'll just put another pot on...

Take advantage of the respites that come along...

... and go on boondocking!

Back in camp... I told you how the "facilities" in Glass Creek were built for yonderers of slighter stature than most?

*Outhouses built for smurfs*

That there is one of 'em... and that ain't a single shot neither!

Walk 'round t'other side... and there's TWO doors.

Anybody with a "wider beam" than a runt like me is gonna have a bit of adventure gettin' turned around to leave.

... or even have a seat for that  matter... I guess you're supposed to back in. ;)

*Glass Creek Camp... before the rain and snow returns*

Now... about Mailboxes... We've been getting our mail sent General Delivery from our little store that remains in Colorado...

I think I mentioned a few days ago that we were up to something... but waiting to make sure it came off ok before I said anything...

Well, we were/are working at cutting a few more Colorado Strings... all precipitated by the increasingly onerous bureaucratic bull hooey red tape of the front range...

Since we were in Mammoth I stopped by the Post office to check on General Delivery mail... and there it was... only from a different source.

We're only likely to be in Colorado a very few days this whole year... but our mailing address was inside a political line on the map. The consequence being that our old truck is required to get an annual emissions test at a cost of 75 bucks.

It makes no difference to them the truck isn't operated in that area any longer and isn't going to be...

I worked for a short time on trying to find out the requirements of changing our address to a spot outside the arbitrary lines on a map... to simplify our vehicle registrations... but only more bull hooey...

uh Huh... the Colorado bureaucracy poked the Badger once too many times... 

So... the consequence for Colorado is...

*Colorado's Loss is South Dakota's Gain*

Like a lot of other Full Timers, We've lined up mail forwarding and non-resident auto registration in South Dakota. Even after I paid the gal at the operation we chose, 'My Dakota Address' (was pretty much a flip of the coin choice of three I located) to do the title/registration leg work...

...our registration taxes/fees were cut by nearly half... not even including that onerous emissions inspection... Come November when the fiver's plates expire... she'll be getting red white and blue plates too.

South Dakota said; "You don't have a fixed address but need simple and reasonable vehicle registrations? No Problem!"

Colorado probably isn't gonna miss our couple of hundred bucks... but I wonder how many dollars they miss from all the people going this route... and how much South Dakota makes by putting at least a modest leash on bureaucratic malarky?

Waiting for the return of the sun
Brian