Adventures, canning, group meeting

We had to get out of town again, just for a day trip to see some old mining structures in an area we hadn't visited up close before. We are trying to be a little more random and just turn on different roads, trails and paths.

 This is where we normally stop but never head down. We decided to change plans and go see what's down in the valley.

 A lot of water and some mining structures, sounds like a perfect combination of adventure!

I didn't have my good camera, I just keep forgetting to bring it. Luckily the iPhone works well enough.

I would love to load this into a truck and bring it home. What a treasure from the old days, feeding miners and workers constantly on an awesome stove.

 A random bunch of cable woven into something like a net.

Trash and a lot of it. We only found one can with any kind of stamping on it, most of the cans were opened with an axe so I'm assuming it was either a chemical for the ore processing or oil. There were some broken dishes here as well but all the labeling was weather worn. I would say there were about 10,000 cans around the site, but that's how it was back in the day.

The drive home really sucked, a bushing gave out on a vehicle and the steering got funky. 30 miles per hour was all we could do and after a point even that was too fast and wobbly. I drove home and got the truck and trailer, I think it was a 600 mile day for me. We were prepared in any case and made it home safe, just in time for mother in laws birthday dinner.

Sunday was relax and work on food storage day. We got a lot of canning done and replenished low supplies from Costco.

Zucchini and yellow squash waiting to head into the pressure canner. Our new single burner propane stove worked great and canning outside made the temperature in the house stay comfortable.

Blueberries were on sale, and when you have fruit on sale you get preserves!

I'll make about 2 dozen more before the week is out. I love preserves, it's a weakness (especially when combined with bread and peanut butter) and I'm happy to feed the habit.

It was out monthly group meeting and we decided to have a BBQ as well. It was a nasty rainstorm and wind but we didn't care. What good is being in a prepper group if you can't take a little bit of nature. I snagged us a pavilion at a local park so we had cover from the elements and the cookies wouldn't get all soggy.

The mountain house box was full of preserves that we passed out and traded for other kinds. All the soda, water, and san pellegrino was from our food storage. We keep all kinds of things stored up. I ran the grill for an hour, everyone socialized and ate well. All of the kids (and there are a lot in case you forgot) played in the rain and mud and danced around the lightning bolts. We scheduled another range day and got plans secured for the next meeting.

I also hit a record at the gym with 4 sets of 5 flat bench press using 95 pound dumbbells in each hand. That's zombie tossing strength right there. I hope everyone had as much fun as we did, days off are supposed to be awesome.