Well summer is finally in full-force. It's been warm and seasonal (high 70's and low 80's up here at the lake) and the animals are doing their thing.
Our semi-resident bald eagle giving my the flyby. He frequently hunts at the lake and his juvenile shows up quite a bit as well.
However, he has been getting harassed by the pair of Osprey that also hunt the lake.
I don't recall seeing many Osprey in this area before, so this is likely a good sign. When I lived here in the 90's and early 00's, Osprey were infrequent visitors and mainly stayed closer to the ocean or larger lakes. They're amazing to watch, but very frustrating to photograph. Their hunt success rate is ~70% for an adult, so you have to basically wait for them with camera in hand, spot them flying in (which is also hard as they fly below the tree line most times) and they will snag a fish without even blinking. The bald eagle on the other hand hunts how most XJ drivers wheel - sloppy (the 4-5 road sodas before the trailhead doesn't usually help!).
Our local critter-catcher that we've dubbed "Professor Snape" likes hanging out in our "bee garden" (I planted a bunch of wildflower seeds last year and again this spring for the bees and other pollinators). He's recently found a Mrs. and she appears to be nesting in a small cove on the side of the house in the stone wall. I let her be and keep things away. Meantime, me and Professor Snape see each other frequently. He seems to have gotten used to me, to the point where I have time to run back into my house and grab my camera. He then poses for me quite a bit as well...
Of course, summer has also made for some excellent driving weather. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to pull the top off yet due to having to keep the LJ parked outside for the time being (I'm doing a lot of work to the house, so I need the walking and staging space). The good news is that I'll have a dedicated 100A subpanel in the garage soon, so I'll be able to put my welder to use soon.
I attempted to replace the RMS and OPG one last time and it was a failure. It still leaks as much as it did last time, which was the same amount that it leaked when I originally changed it. I even used a Victor Reinz seal and gasket this time, and a fresh bottle of Loctite Anaerobic 515 sealer, with no luck. My guess is that there is some defect with the crank (even though I can't feel one).
The engine only has ~71000 miles on it, but when I did the gasket the first time I noticed that there was a lot of play in the timing chain (I replaced it of course). This may have had an unpleasant life early on, so for now, I'm just going to deal with the leak (the UCF skid plate prevents it from dripping aggressively on my driveway and maybe I'll stuff one of those oil-only absorbent mats inside the skid to keep things cleaner). A V8 is still on my short list, so not gonna worry about it any more. It loses less than 1-QT per oil change, so not a nightmare to deal with (I'm just anal retentive about leaks).
I was driving home from a work trip (semi local) and noticed a dirt road that went over the mountain by the exit to the highway. Since it was still somewhat early in the day, I decided to see where it went. I only went in about a mile or so, since there isn't great cell-service the deeper I went into the canyon and no one knew I was headed this way. There were also some decent rains earlier in the day and the trail was getting muddy.
It's only about 4 miles from the house (my house is just behind the saddle in the background, wrapping slightly up around the mountain to the left). I'll head back with my son one of these days - it seems like also a good spot to do some astrophotography and get some mild wheeling in.
It was a cool (and very enjoyable!) spring, so I haven't painted the Savvy sliders yet but that's coming on my list soon. For my b-day last month, I went ahead and ordered the Husky brand floor and cargo liner. I gotta say, I really like these. I have used WeatherTech mats in almost every other car I have owned, including the Mrs. Grand Cherokee, but wanted to give the Husky liners a try since I think the lower-profile tread would work better with a manual transmission.
Speaking of the work trip that I took, I was able to fill up just before leaving the site and reset my odometer. I went 169 miles with 14.351 gallons of gas, bringing my calculated MPG to 11.78. Not terrible, considering I was driving between 70-80 mph most of the time (and was still getting passed - this place has basically turned into NJ!). My rolling average seems to be ~13 mpg (since by my house the speed limit is 55 mph). Obviously I'm not expecting good milage from a lifted LJ on 35"s, but it's nice to know mileage for trip planning purposes.
My daughter is almost 15 and I've been letting her drive mom's Grand Cherokee in the parking lots and such. She asked if I could show her how to drive a manual, so of course I obliged. She did great and didn't stall once on take off (and she got quite good at feathering throttle and taking off quickly) but did forget to press the clutch and brake when coming to a stop a few times.
