Near the end of last year’s camping season, I tried unsuccessfully to get my chainsaw to start. I tried starting it so many times that my arm, shoulder, and neck hurt pretty bad for more than a week. Now that we’re going on our first camping trip of the year this weekend, I decided that I’d better go out for some more firewood, and for some reason the chainsaw worked just fine today. I just about filled up the bed of my truck with pinyon pine that had been bulldozed during the creation of a gas well road near Spring Glen. I haven’t showered yet, so I still smell like two-stroke engine exhaust and pine sawdust–one of my favorite smells.
I filled up both fuel tanks in the truck today at a cost of $105. Diesel fuel is $3.99 now, and I hope it doesn’t break the $4 mark. With prices like this, I don’t think we’ll do much camping too far from home this spring. Traci is really the one who wanted to go camping this weekend. I would have been satisfied just going for another all-day ATV ride, preferably somewhere in the northern San Rafael Swell. When we woke up this morning at 7:00 a.m. and the temperature outside was 21°, I asked Traci if she was sure she really wanted to go camping this early in the year. I think this is the earliest we’ve ever gone. The temperatures are only supposed to get down to around freezing this weekend, so I can at least cope with that.