Klamath Falls

Spring Snow

When we arrived back home last Sunday it was snowing or freezing raining. That type of weather kept up for literally the next three days. But the ground was already too warm for it to accumulate. The only place it did stick was on the grass and even there it didn’t stay around long because the daytime temps were above freezing.

The winds and temps kept us inside and shaking our heads. Talk to the folks who’ve lived here all their lives, or at least for more than the time we’ve been here, this is a pretty typical weather behavior for early April…

To the left is what the CX-5 looked like when we got up Monday morning. This was the day we needed to return it back to Enterprise, so during a brief respite from the snow/rain I went outside to clean it off. Donna was to follow me there in the Mini, but 2 weeks of sitting still in the garage sapped the battery just enough that it wouldn’t start. I guess I left the battery tender on the wrong car. Fortunately Enterprise’s slogan of “We’ll Pick You Up” applies on the other end as well, so I returned the car and a rep drove me back to our house.

Cheeky Kid – Part Two

If you haven’t already, go read Part One, I’ll wait…

Donna is inclined to go ahead and write the cheeky kid the check. So am I, so we will, but I have some questions. Like, how come whoever did it last year didn’t ask for money? Is this just a let’s throw this out there and see how much money I can rake in? And how many people besides us are going to fall for it? If we don’t pay, and everyone else does, will he mow every where except for between our property lines and our half side of the median?

I also question why, in this day and age, are we even growing grass. It is time to xeriscape this thing. We are in a perpetual drought here in the west and last year year it was so bad that to keep the lake healthy enough to sustain the fish population they did not release any of the usual water that is used by farmers to irrigate their crops. It is time to plant some native plants, water them this year to get them set and move on. Or do what Lady Bird Johnson kind of did as First Lady in Texas, plant wildflowers.

Cheeky Kid – Part One

First some background. We live on a street that has 2 one way lanes separated by a 30 foot section of grass. In New Orleans where Donna grew up this grassy section between the pavement was called a Neutral Ground. In downtown Aiken, SC where we lived for 30 years, when this style road happened we just called it a median. Here in Klamath Falls we don’t know what they call it because it is the only street in town constructed in this manner.

In the other two places mentioned above the city took care of these grassy areas between the streets, here who knows. There is a sprinkler system in place up and down the street and the grass gets plenty of water, so in the summer it needs mowing once every couple weeks and somebody does do it. We have lived here for two years and the first year I don’t remember who did it, I think somebody from the next block up. This last summer the kid who lives across mowed it. Yesterday we got a letter in the mail from him:

December 30, 2021

Dear Mr. & Mrs. Bogardus,

My name is John Doe and I mow the center divide for all residents in the 1000 block of Pacific Terrace. The fee for 2021 is $49.50 per homeowner, which includes my fee of $400 and a Spray & Grow Fee for $95.00.

Please remit payment to me for the 2021 upkeep of the center divide in the amount of $49.50.

Thank you.

John Doe
1098 Pacific Terrace
Klamath Falls, OR 97601
541-555-9999

To be continued…

8 mile ice cream run.
Times Miata Driven since 01/01/22: 4

 

Another Moore Park Monday

Like last Monday, and most others, we went to Moore Park to go for a walk along the paved trails. Today was nice enough to take the Miata again. After walking, we drove down to the main drag through town to visit our favorite Greek restaurant to pick up gyros for dinner to eat while watching Monday Night Football1. And with the nice weather and in town speeds after Arby’s, we even dropped the top for the last couple miles home.

11 mile trip around town.
Times Miata Driven since 01/01/22: 3

 

Moore Park Monday

We try and go for a walk everyday and we usually shoot for 2 or 3 miles, but sometimes when it is really cold we might just get a mile in. There are a couple of different walks we like to every week and one of them is to drive over to Moore Park to do a loop of the paved interior road on winter days like today (other times of the year we use the extensive park trail system.)

Today it was not too cold, but we had to limit our loop because of the snow cover still on the park roads, so we ended up only walking a mile and two thirds. The regular surface streets in town are free of snow, so we drove over in the CTBNL.

7 miles, Moore Park and back for our afternoon walk.
Times Miata Driven since 01/01/22: 2

 

Konquer Kovid in Klamath Kounty Kontest

A couple weeks ago while NFL football on a Sunday I saw a local commercial for something called Conquer Covid in Klamath. I know after places around the country and the world are offering prizes as inducement to get vaccinated against COVID-19, but didn’t realize they were doing it here too. So I signed both Donna and I up to be in the contest.

I have no idea when the contest started and there are weekly drawings for the “smaller” prizes and a Grand Prize of a new Dodge Ram or Durango at the end. We both were vaccinated back in March, so who knows how many weekly drawings we have missed out on. Unless of course the weekly drawing is for just those entered during that week, and in that case, we didn’t win a prize.

I guess there is always a chance on the grand prize or one of the 3 runner up prizes, a hot tub, a Disneyland family vacation and $3k. Of course who knows when the contest ends because, like the start date, there is no mention of it in the rules. If they are waiting until every one in the county gets a shot, they are never going to have to give away the “big” prizes, right now the county is at 55% for one dose and 49% fully vaccinated.

My favorite aspect of this contest is a little link at the bottom of the main page:

I’m not vaccinated and want to enter.

 

It is Winter Time

While still technically a couple weeks away, it is winter here in Klamath Falls. It has been highs of 40s and lows of 20s for a while now and we even had freezing fog Thanksgiving weekend that covered everything in our neighborhood with a thin blanket of white that lasted most of the day. Starting today, for the next 5 days, there is a chance of snow. We even got a brief glimpse of the flaky white stuff on the end of our afternoon walk today, zero accumulation, but still…

Last year when we first got here, both in the AirBnB and our house, we treated the winter as an exciting, fun event. We would go for a walk or drive in it only if we had to. This year we have come to the realization that we really do have to prepare for living in the here and now of the season called winter.

Last year when driving around in the Mini we did OK on it’s all-season tires, but we were locked into staying pretty close to home because going in any direction, within 30 miles, we were greeted with elevation gains and the requirement of chains or some Severe Snow and Winter Traction tires. Yesterday we ordered a winter tire/wheel package from Tire Rack. Any day now the Mini will be rockin’ some 195/60 Bridgestone Blizzak WS90s on 15X6 MSW Type 22T wheels in Silver.

Last year when walking about we just made do with our hiking boots, mine were water resistant and Donna’s had no protection from wet. This year we have decided to go ahead and bite the bullet and buy some dedicated winter boots. So, yesterday we ordered some and any day now our feet will be rockin’ in waterproof style. For him, the Men’s Firecamp Boot in Madder Brown/Red Jasper, and for her, Women’s Ice Maiden II Boot in Cordovan/Siberia.