Another couple of days have come and gone. Busy for me, but not particularly interesting in most ways. Yesterday morning was nice and quiet and slow with lots of time to peruse a few favorite web sites and catch up on the latest comics.
    Headed over to Floyd just before noon and picked Rima up for lunch out. She has been so busy lately that it is just about the only time I really get to see her these days. But we had a nice hour or so together at what is fast becoming one of my favorite restaurants, Micky G's. Rima had some pesto pasta for her meal while I decided to branch out and try something totally different, so I ordered their hamburger and fries. Oh man was it good. A big thick patty of  ground beef from grass fed cows, along with some locally smoked bacon and sautéed mushrooms all topped with swiss cheese. It was really yummy. Add to that a pleasant atmosphere, a waitress that knows us and keeps the ice tea glasses full, and a reasonable price and you have a real winner.
   I took Rima back to the office after that, and then headed into the big city, Blacksburg, to do some shopping. There wasn't a lot that was needed, but I picked up a new gas can for the new lawn tractor, as well as a few grocery items, mainly some fresh fruit and veggies and eggs.   
   It would of been nice to have some time after getting back to the house to actually do something outside, but the reality is that it is getting dark around 4:00 p.m. So I spent the rest of the night reading a couple new magazines and starting in on a new book.
    It was down right cold outside this morning so there was no real incentive for me to get outside working to soon. It did eventually warm up to around 40 degrees however, and with the bright sunshine it was okay out there as long as the wind wasn't blowing to hard.
    The idea was to go out and mow the one pasture on the place that had decent grass on it last summer. This is the one just off the driveway in, and the grass there grew to be nearly 3 feet tall. More than tall enough for making hay, but probably not enough of it to make it pay. So the grass eventually fell over and now it needs to be mowed down so it will grow well again next year.
   So I got the new riding mower out, and after figuring out how the new gas can worked, managed to fill it up with new gas. It started right up which was nice to have happen. It also worked just great getting it out of the building where it was stored, so I was feeling good and headed out to the field where I lowered the cutters, put it in gear, and started it mowing away. There was a little jerk when I shifted it into high gear and then it just stopped moving. Turns out it had thrown the belt that drives the rear wheels, so I had to spend about an hour that first time trying to figure out how to get it back on. Along the way I noticed a spot on the belt where it looked like it had split along one edge, but it was worth a try to see if it would still work as is. Turns out that it wouldn't, and managed to throw the belt once again within 20 feet of where I had been before.
   It only took me about 20 mins to get it all torn apart, the belt reinstalled and then put it all back together once again.... practice may not make you perfect, but it doesn't hurt either. One more try at driving it.... and one more derailment. So it seemed apparent that the belt wasn't going to stay on no matter what I did with it. So I knifed the rest of the belt off of the machine and called it a day for getting it to run. I closed up the house and headed in to town to see about getting another belt that doesn't have any slits in it. No problem finding one as this is still a rural area and I think all car part places would have belts for not only vehicles, but for lawn mowers and tractors too. I am hoping that it won't be to difficult getting the new belt back in place, but I do know that there will be more parts that need to come off in order to get the new one back on.
     Right now I sitting here doing some work on photos and waiting for Rima to call. It's another late night for her, so I'm going to meet her at some restaurant in town once she's done. I hope it's soon.... I'm hungry.

Arizona desert between Needles and Yuma - Nov 2014

Pretty desolate out there, with just cactus, rocks and brush. I think it is still rather pretty though.

Most of the area was flat with just these patches of mountains popping up every once in a while. Most appear to be ancient volcanic extrusions that oozed up through some old sea bed deposits. It's rather stark looking and very abrupt.

One last look at another range of mountains off in the other direction.

brk*