It was a beautiful, sunny, 65° morning so I took a ride on the Yamaha WR450. I didn't go very far just a few miles down a Jeep trail to see what was at the other end, I still don't know because the trail didn't end and I seen no sign that it was going to so I turned around and came back.

I accidentally woke up this morning just as the sun was coming up so I stuck my camera out the door and took a picture. The picture didn't look so great because there were no clouds in the sky, I have figured out that clouds are what makes a really good sunrise or sunset picture. But the clouds have to be in the right place or they will just hide the sunrise or sunset. All in all I guess that explains why I see so few beautiful sunsets.

Tomorrow will be a getting ready to move day, I'm going back to 11 Mile State Park on Thursday where I will stay until Monday when I will head back to Denver. It will be great to see my family again but I'm not looking forward to the 90°+ temperatures in the flatlands.

I threw together, and I mean literally threw together, some video clips that I took with the drone of my surrounding area. This two-minute video is more about showing what the area looks like where I'm boondocked than it is to be entertaining. And I say that because making an entertaining video is way beyond my capabilities or attention span.

                                        theboondork

It's been a beautiful day today 80° and it hasn't rained yet. I got out this morning and flew the drone around a little bit. I'm still trying to learn how to fly the thing smoothly and without crashing but I've got this problem of being able to tell left from right without thinking about it for a few seconds, and when you're flying those few seconds can mean the difference in staying in the air or hitting a tree.

I've always been this way, for a normal person if you say look left, they will instantly look left, but for me I have to think about it for a second or two, left and right just doesn't come natural to me. Needless to say when I went into the military marching became a dreaded experience for me and I only survived it by paying very close attention to what the drill instructor was saying. Fortunately I was in the Air Force so once I got out of basic training and tech school I don't recall ever having to march again, which was fine with me.

I think the reason I'm this way is because I do different things with different hands. Most people if they are right-handed do everything with the right hand, but not me. I throw a ball with my right hand, I hold a fishing rod with my right hand, I shoot rifles and pistols with my right hand, and I shoot a bow with my right hand. But I eat, write, and bat with my left hand. And I think all of that causes me to not have a distinct feeling of right and left.

Now the reason I explained all that is because of what it does to my drone flying abilities. It's hard for me to make decisions about how to move the sticks  to make the drone go left or right especially when I have to do it quickly.  I'm not too bad at it if the drone is facing away from me because then if I want the drone to go left I move the stick left. But when the drone is facing me and I want the drone to go left I have to move the stick to the right. This complicated concept causes me to start thinking about what to do and then knowing I have to do it quickly usually results in total brain freeze. I know it sounds simple enough but it has the effect on me of tying my brain in knots and causing me to take no action at all until the nearest tree brings everything to a halt.

So anyway, I try to practice when I can hoping I can come to grips with this left and right thing but there are so many places that won't allow you to fly a drone anymore its getting harder and harder to find a place I can legally fly.

But while I'm on the subject of my left and right problems, if you think it sounds hard for me to fly a drone, you won't believe what it does to me when I'm trying to back up a trailer.

                                      theboondork

Today dawned chilly and dreary which lately is happening all to regular. I gave it a couple of hours to warm up and went outside and unloaded the Yamaha WR450. This is a great place to ride, there are dirt roads going off in all directions and hardly any people to share them with. I've seen two quads go by since I've been here but other than that it's been pretty quiet.

The Motoz Mountain Hybrid tires that I had put on while I was in Denver makes for a much better ride than I was getting with my knobbys. They seem to have just as much traction as the knobbys but they ride a lot smoother with hardly any vibration. So far I'm very happy with them.

I also got out my Phantom drone, charged up its batteries and took it out for a flight. I think I will try to put together a short movie of what the drone sees as its flying around this part of the Pike National Forest. It's a pretty nice place to boondock since it's relatively flat and has plenty of room for a lot of RVs, but I've never seen a lot of them here.

                            theboondork