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Gladeite

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Everything posted by Gladeite

  1. If you are OCD about mud, stay away May thru June. I could go to the car wash and still track 1/2 inch into garage. About mid July, we would take flat point shovels and scrape out garage. Same thing November and December. We love Meander and friends own Alley House. My wife could not take the lack of good grocery stores, muddy roads and no real yoga, Pilates, whatever classes. Coupled with kids not coming, it was inevitable that we sell.
  2. Pagosa veteran here. We had a home there for a few years. Never could have lived there full time. Late fall/early winter sucks, late spring sucks. Too muddy. Too much snow. 200+ inches per year at our house. All of our friends who are "full time" residents have places in Arizona/New Mexico/Mexico so they can be gone during those months. Roads are horrible in Pagosa. 30+ years of poor decision making by Archuleta County. Impossible to pave the roads. Not enough asphalt in SW Colorado. Impossible to keep them in good condition due to lack of material. There is not enough material available that is cost effective. They need more crushed stone quarries. The ones that have tried, have been voted down by uniformed/don't care environmental hawks. Pagosa has always been more a boom/bust type small town. A large ownership percentage is time/share. Once upon a time there was great demand, now, not so much. Look at the foreclosure list in the newspaper. City/county government shoots itself in the foot every month. They are absolutely against resort development(Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, etc..) yet are also waging war against short term rentals. They approved a 700 lot subdivision in town without really thinking thru the impact on existing infrastructure. Had to readdress and effectively kill it post approval. Well meaning people who are out of their depth. If you are my age, 60's, and have adult children, they are going to be disappointed. Pagosa is hard to get to from Texas. Can drive, but any 25-30 year old that is working can't take the time to drive a full day, stay a couple of days and drive a full day back. Same for flying. Once you get to Durango, it is 1.5 hours to Pagosa. Same thing. Takes all day to arrive and a full day to get home. + at least $1000 each for tickets, shuttle, etc... Restaurants are limited and Wolf Creek is a full 45 minutes from town if there is any snow on the road. Positives: Less expensive than other resort towns. Beautiful scenery. Great fly fishing, hiking, biking, etc... New pickle ball complex. 27 holes of golf. If sitting in hot sulphur water is your thing, Pagosa has you covered. Generally nice people.
  3. Do not go to the sushi place in between Jimmy John’s and The Grove. It is ridiculously overpriced and a bad wine selection. Surprised it has not closed.
  4. County Line is also on our list. Grilled wings , beef ribs and moist brisket are favorites. The Well has become another spot for us. Food has been great and they are generous wine pourers if you are a regular.
  5. Our weekly, by the house place is The Grove on Bee Caves. They have a new pizza Smothered in Sausage that is very good and new #1 seller there. Their new dish, Creole Fettuccini is also very good.
  6. Brings back old memories. Big Bend Open Road Challenge 1999. Drove a heavily modded Supra TT on R1 race tires. DPS closed off a 60 mile section of highway for speed testing. 174 thru the radar guns they set up. Next day was the race. Road closed off from Fort Stockton to Sanderson and back again. I drove in the 125 mph class which at the time was the highest class you could drive in without a roll cage. Came in at 125.86 and was 4th in my class. Very fun. No electronic aids allowed to control speed. Got a race book with mileage markers. Had a navigator that used the book, a stop watch and calculator to measure speed.
  7. Count me in the 5mm Sheridan fan club. This was around 1970. No telling how many thousands of pellets went down the barrel. I would save up my money to go to Treasure City and get a new yellow box of 5mm pellets. Nothing quite like the feeling of material wealth that was attributed to carrying a full box of pellets. I did not need anything else, until about 1975 and a church hayride changed my focus to girls.
  8. Our 2nd home is in Breck. Our grown kids really like it. Breck is one of the easiest places to get to for busy working families. They can fly to Denver very inexpensively on SW and take the Breck shuttle. We stay in Breck the first week of April for some warm, blue sky skiing. Back June 15th as the yard is just coming to life and time to plant summer flowers. Stay until first week or so of October after the leaves have changed colors. Then come back and finish the last 2 weeks of the year to celebrate Christmas/New Year. The kids come when they can and bring their friends. We have friends in and out all summer. Maintenance of the home is fairly minimal. No yard work 7 months out of the year. Utility bills are on average very inexpensive. We are not there 6 months out of the year. Turn the hot water heater off and set the boiler at 60 degrees. We get a good bit of sun during the day and the house stays very comfortable. We have a guy that checks it once per week when we are not there. Taxes are low compared to Texas and a fraction of what my Austin taxes are. Our house is in town so we walk everywhere. Can go weeks without starting the car. Those are the pros. The only cons I can think of are traffic and people related. On the weekends, the highway around Fairplay is congested and I70 can be a parking lot. The roundabouts in Breck can get backed up on Friday and Sunday. So we don't travel during weekends. Holidays are very busy with lots of traffic in town and people everywhere. We just plan accordingly. We will make dinner reservations for those times 2 weeks to a month in advance. and have already stocked up at Whole Foods and will cook on the grill/stay home. I would gladly give up Texas for Colorado except for February and May. It is too darn cold in February for everyday living and May is mud month. There is mud everywhere from the melting snow. Also, living at 9,600 feet gets harder as you get older. We only have a few years left before we age out.
  9. I have owned 1911s for 45 years, more or less. Government, commander, LW commander, officer, .45, 9mm, etc.. I have 3 customs that are pretty to look at, I enjoy wearing and they are accurate. But, I carry a Glock. Either a Gen 5 19 w/RMR and light or a 30S. Rarely clean them and never have a malfunction. They just run and run. Both are ridiculously accurate. I just got back from The Range and shot a 2" 5 shot group inside a 4" circle at 25 yards with the 19. I can't do that with an iron sight 1911 at my age without readers. I can come close to that with my custom 1911 with Nighthawk IOS system and RMR. From concealed and on a timer, I am faster with the Glocks. I have taken multi-day classes, done shoot houses, trained with sheriffs deputies here and in Colorado and I guess 80+% carry a Glock. It just works. It took a couple of years and several thousand rounds to master the RMR, but once you do it, speed and accuracy are very hard to beat.
  10. Yes, about 1,000 acres. Main entrance is past Senna Hills. It has a good bit of frontage on Lake Austin and borders Commons Ford Road and Park on the east side, Lake Austin on the north, Bee Caves Road on the south and Lake Pointe on the western boundary.
  11. I remember Franklin Savings had foreclosed on 807 Congress Avenue around 1986. They offered it to me for $100,000. That was a lot of money in those days and it did not have any dedicated parking. So, I passed. Eddie Safady bought it and renovated the place. I also looked at the ranch Michael Dell ended up with. When I looked at it, it was less than $10,000 acre. Way out in the middle of nowhere and no utilities. The Rob Roys were in various stages of foreclosure, Circle C was imploding on itself and Willie lost Briarcliff. It was a tough time from about 1984 to mid 1990s.
  12. I do all of my culling with a .243 and Dead Air Nomad 30. Works great and sounds like a .22 at most. It is quieter than my unsuppressed .22 mag. I highly recommend.
  13. Was at Russell Korman yesterday getting a link taken out and BS a little with the sales lady. The Rolex watches they have on display are not theirs. They are rep watches from Rolex so customers can see different models. They change them out frequently. They do not have any in stock that you can purchase. You get on a waiting list and pay retail whenever that comes in. My 118 series day/date is trading at $34,600. Plain rose gold/stainless date is $15,000. Platinum chronograph $77,500. They are waiting for their first shipment of preowned and reconditioned Rolex watches. Told me Rolex is getting into this space in a big way and expects to dominate the resale game.
  14. Talk to your PH about having a muzzle brake on your rifle. Many do not allow or discourage them. Just too damn loud. I was in Namibia several years ago and another group in the camp(I was there as a cull shooter)all had new rifles with brakes. Went out the first afternoon to make sure their rifles were on target. This particular camp had a tin roof over the shooting bench. First shot, the PH was standing beside the shooter and the shot ruptured both eardrums. Clear liquid was coming out of his ears, and he was in tremendous pain. We did not see that PH again. Master PH made them unscrew the brakes and tape up the threads so they did not get damaged. All PH will encourage and welcome suppressors.
  15. The last thing we need to start is a caliber debate. I will post my own observations. In a light composite stock rifle; the 300 WM has stout recoil. I guide a lot of deer and elk hunters. Most of them love hunting but have very little time. As a result, they have more money than experience. The 300 WM is a great round, but it requires attention. Many of my hunters already have a flinch built in from too much gun. Weight is a big issue. My 06 weighs 12 lbs with scope, sling and 3 rounds of 180 grainers. The S&B scope is heavy. I have carried it all over Colorado, Idaho, Africa and Patagonia. It is not light, but not too heavy. You can get a 7 lb scoped mountain rifle. The recoil difference will be significant.
  16. A long time ago, I had a rifle built to do just what you are doing. I wanted a do it all caliber that would be common in other countries. I chose a Granite Mountain action, Pac-Nor barrel, Smithson quick detach rings and S&B scope. Had it made in 30-06. Wide variety of ammunition made for this cartridge and is common in South America and Africa gun stores. I load my own and make rounds according to the job at hand. I have had great luck with it and killed a lot game in North America, South America and Africa. Never been under gunned. From what I hear, Tikka makes a great rifle for the money. I was culling in Patagonia and another culler had one in .308. It was a killing machine.
  17. You did better than me. $82,400 list price. $74,000 SP. + Bedliner + rolltop + ceramic tint. But got a good trade price for my '20 with 70,000 miles. It worked out fine. Now off to replace the POS Hankook Dynapros with KO2s.
  18. Taking delivery on a 23 F150 Platinum tomorrow. Best I could do was 9% off list. Had to add to the price: spray in bed liner, rolltop bed cover and ceramic window tint.
  19. Farm kid. Parents built a house with no insulation since we were a couple hundred feet from an oil well. We piped gas straight to the house. Had a heater in each of the 2 bedrooms and a FP in the living room. No heater in the bathroom and pipes/toilet would freeze all the time. Brother and I scoured the woods for "pine knots" and split wood each fall. Piles of blankets at night during the winter and windows open for the attic fan in the summer. Parents saved all month to make the $56 house payment and with money left over, we went to Dairy Queen. Beltbuster, large DP and banana split. Wore tough skins jeans until high school, then wore my dad 's hand me down Levis. Didn't realize that it was cool to wear Levis and was sort of fashion forward in our small, farming community. Once a month, grandparents took us to El Chico. All you could eat corn tortillas, squeeze bottle butter and hot sauce. I would try to eat a dozen before the cheese enchiladas came out. We had a black/white TV with an outdoor antennae. We only got one channel so there was a pipe wrench attached to the pole. My brother or I would adjust the antennae depending on cloud cover/time of year for optimal reception. Shot a lot of deer to eat, picked corn and dug potatoes. Picked peas in season and tried to salvage a watermelon or two before the raccoons, foxes, possums ate a hole in them. Got some schooling and moved to the big city. Never went back.
  20. I have been fortunate enough in life to have 2 expert bird dogs that were great family pets. Both were hunting machines. My English Setter had great range, great nose and impeccable manners. She was so good, a professional quail guide would come by the house and pick her up every chance he could and use her to guide the wealthy clients who flew in/hunted Albany and surrounding areas when quail were good. No telling how many coveys she pointed in her lifetime. At home, stayed at the children's feet all day and slept with them in the bed. She would swim with them, kill any pesky snakes in their vicinity and play endless games of fetch with a tennis ball. She lasted 10 years and died of cancer. When she was diagnosed as terminal, I hired a professional photographer and we went to Sterling City and hunted for a day. Great on points, retrieves and those photos are all thru the house. My Brittany was a pup from national trial champions. Also far ranging, excellent nose and very good retriever. Loved my now teenage children and wanted to go wherever they went. They would take him to Sonic, Whataburger, riding around town at night. He and I hunted our asses off for 13 years. He started slowing down and by year 15 passed away from cancer. I have put my shotgun up and choose to relish the many years in the field. I have no interest in another dog. I feel blessed to have 25 consecutive years of getting after it. It is hard to explain.
  21. 5.7 is a wonderful stopping round. The fps is high enough that hydrostatic shock waves exceed the elasticity of human tissue. Case in point, the pos that went on a rampage at Ft Hood made 13 one shot kills with his 5.7. Shots into any part of the torso were fatal. FN and Ruger have 5.7s, but they are bulky in my opinion. The 5.7 operates at a much higher pressure than 9mm, 10mm, .40, etc. Also, the overall cartridge length is about 1/2 inch longer. This will not work in the existing semi-auto platforms. I am a big fan of fast, light bullets for defensive purposes. I carry the 68 grain Lehigh Defense in 9mm. About 1700 fps. It is devastating on whitetail deer. Carry the 120 grain Lehigh in my .45 acp. It runs about 1350 fps. Again, testing on deer works great.
  22. Wife and I watched the first 1/2 of Season 6 last night. We thought it was good. Actors play their parts really well. Now have to wait till December to finish.
  23. Best place in town is probably Rootstalk. Relish is very good. Ember is very good for shareable plates. The new Carlin for seafood is pretty good and their downstairs Tavern is great for bar food/drinks. Casual for us is Sancho's for tacos, Canteen for burgers, Tin Plate for pizza. We do happy hours at Aurum, Hearthstone and Twist. For breakfast, we rotate between Columbine Cafe and Blue Moose.
  24. Mom smoked Salem Light 100s. Dad smoked King Edward cigarillos. Both died early from COPD. Salems were good for lighting firecrackers.
  25. That brings back memories. I used to have a dealership license and regularly bought/sold cars thru Wiggains and Park Place Porsche. Never had any trouble. Both were very professional back in the day. Wiggins would ride with me when I took a car for a test spin. I went thru an AMG phase and he always had inventory to sell or wanted to buy. To clarify, it was a hobby for me. There was a steep learning curve to not lose a fortune on a car deal. By the end of 17 years, I was only losing a little on each car, maybe breaking even.
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