Not What I'd Planned

I thought I was going to be at Lees Ferry this weekend, watching Izzy rig her new raft for a Grand Canyon trip, but the water pump gasket in the truck died so it's in the shop, keeping me closer to home. The end result is that I didn't miss the Arizona Early Day Gas Engine & Tractor Association meet in Apache Junction. Lots of old guys (primarily) looking over old equipment.

Unlike last time, this time I spent more time wandering through the stationary engine displays. This guy not only had the engine running, but he also had found the appropriate Sales & Service sign for his Witte engine.

They ranged from little

to big.

Most were all dolled up, but some looked like recent barn finds.

Quite a few had been adapted to run on LP gas. This fellow was using a Fluke IR thermometer to check his temperature. I'm certain that wasn't originally in the toolbox.

There were green engines there, but none of them were Listers.

I'm not sure where my interest in stationary engines started. It could have been stories from my Dad of people towing engines to town on their flywheels to donate them to scrap drives during World War II. Or it might have been the resurrected Lister that we put in a shed in the back yard when we lived in Papua in the 80's to power the first HP laser printer in the province. 3000 watts, and almost as quiet as a 3000 watt Honda, but lots heavier.

This year there were lots more old cars and very few old trucks. This 1929 Model A was bought by the current owner 52 years ago as his first car. It could use some tender loving care.

This show always does a good job of attracting some rare and very unusual tractors. This Minneapolis-Moline was one of about 800 that were built as FWD aircraft tugs used in the Pacific during WWII.

This Farmall H stole the show for me. It sounded so unusual when I first heard it at the tractor pull.

Turns out it had been re-engined with a Ford 289 V-8 and was pulling in excess of twice it's weight on the sled plate.

This show is very small in comparison to the Great Oregon Steam-Up that we attended last year, but they have all sorts of interesting stuff. Well worth the $5 admission.

Last Day in the Black Canyon

After time out for a report of the Alaska State Hockey Championships, we're back to finish reporting on the Black Canyon trip.

We woke to blue skies on our last day for this trip in the Black Canyon. Some of us enjoyed a warm breakfast of oatmeal and coffee before breaking camp. The early morning surge from the dam was already starting to recede as we loaded the boats.

It was nice to see the groover guy from Lake Mead National Recreation Area there to drain the holding tanks for the two outhouses. These are the only outhouses on this section of the river and are heavily used. With launch permits at the dam sold out for the coming weekend and the beginning of Spring Break, it wasn't going to be pretty if they'd let the tanks fill much more.

It was a delightful morning to be on the river - sunshine and a very light tailwind as we started. Everyone had smiles on their faces and good memories of our hike yesterday. We never did get back to soak in the hot springs, but that just means we'll have to do the trip over again one of these days.

The dripping spring near mile 59 was looking good.

We all kept looking for Desert Bighorn Sheep on the hillsides. They're quite common in the area and sometimes are sighted in fairly large groups. Kathy did spot two adults and a lamb high on the Arizona side of the river, but they were too far away for a picture.

We passed Crane's Nest Wash and then started looking for a spot to take a break.

The little pocket beach about mile 55.5 was our home for a short break as we exclaimed about how the weather was much nicer than we'd expected from the reports.

We stopped in the cove on river left just below Emerald Cave at mile 54 so that I could get a picture of Kathy's Knot Too Shabby hovering above the sandy bottom. This is the same place that some of my earlier wood boat projects had been photographed years ago.

As long as we were here, I got a picture of the canoe (Knot Again,) but I was too lazy to unload it.

About that time, BJ and Suzanne came around the corner from Emerald Cave so I got pictures of them. By that time the breeze was starting to build so these pictures didn't get the same "levitation" effect,

but it was clear that everyone was enjoying the trip!

Our trip ended at Willow Beach Marina at river mile 52.5. The official Black Canyon Water Trail continues on down lake another 13 miles or so, but it's quite possible to paddle all the way to Katherine Landing, just above Davis Dam at Bullhead City.

We were so glad Suzanne could join us for this trip. We're looking forward to more time together with her on rivers in the future.

A big thanks, also, to our friend Izzy, and all the staff of Desert Adventures, who provided launch and shuttle logistical support for this trip.

State Champions!

Less than 24 hours after we got home from our latest Black Canyon trip, we were on a plane headed to Anchorage. Amazingly, there were quite a few seats available on the direct flight, creating an opportunity for us to watch Spencer's last hockey tournament of the year.

The tournaments (minor & major teams) were held at the Subway Sports Center for all the Squirt (10u) teams in the state. Spencer plays for the Eagle River Blue Devils major team. He's one of the bigger kids on his team, even if his gear bag is nearly as big as him.

Every time we see him play I'm amazed at how much he's grown, and how well he skates. He sure didn't get any of that from my side of the family, although his grandmother can roller skate well enough to avoid major humiliation.

They had four games in the first round, with the top two teams going to the finals. Their first game was won against the Moose, 6-2.

They played the All-Stars in their second game on Friday, beating them 4-2. It was a delight to watch the Blue Devils win two games in a row.

Their first game on Saturday was against the North Stars. It was another well played game, resulting in the Blue Devil's third win of the tournament, 5-2.

In all the games, it was interesting to see Spencer leveraging his size to get a bit physical when necessary.

He did end up in the "sin bin" at least once as a result. Our son was staffing the penalty box for a couple of the games (each team provides a parent to staff their penalty box), which provided an opportunity for some father-son time. Jeff tried to take a selfie with Spencer, but Spencer would have none of it!

The Blue Devils played the Wasilla Jr. Avalanche in their fourth game. This was a team they'd never beaten, and once again, they lost to the Avs by six goals.

Even with the one loss, they qualified in second place in the tournament in order to face the Junior Avalanche once again in the finals. Spencer got a shirt to commemorate making the finals.

The Blue Devils scored first in the final game which was very fast, and more physical. The score went back and forth until the Blue Devils pulled ahead again, 3-2 about 10 minutes into the second period.

Try as they might, they weren't able to score any more points, but with this little guy and his teammates putting up a very strong defense, they held that score for nearly 20 minutes, emerging victorious.

The State Championship trophy is a traveling trophy. This is the first time ever that the Blue Devils name will be on the trophy.

They managed to get the ecstatic team to stand still long enough to get a picture of the team and coaches.

Each team member got a metal to commemorate their win.

Spencer's shirt got a major modification. This may be the best the shirt will ever look. When we left their house Monday morning to start our trip home, he was still wearing it. Not sure how his Mom is going to get it off of him to ever wash it.

The planes were chock-a-block full on Monday with folks that had attended the Iditarod Ceremonial start. It took us about 18 hours door to door to get home, and was worth every minute of it!