December 12, 2022

Glamping?

Ever since we bought Toto, our baby Airstream, I have preferred wild camping to RV Park camping. Wild camping is camping in the middle of nowhere, with no services. One must be completely self-sustainable. There are no toilets, no water, no power available. Just you and what you have with you. RV Park camping has its place. When it’s very warm, being plugged in to shore power is a luxury (or even a necessity), as air conditioning will not run off the RV’s batteries; it requires more power than they can provide. And when at a typical RV Park, one has access to unlimited water, power and the ability to…

October 27, 2022

Ironthem

I had the honor and privilege to be a spectator when my nephew recently tackled the 2022 Ironman Worlds in Kona on Hawaii’s Big Island. To start, let me set the record straight. It is not an aspiration of this Senior Ripper to be an Ironman. But I stand in awe of those who participate in such a feat. It is a superhuman achievement, consisting of a 2 1/4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and a full marathon of 26.2 miles! The accomplishment is inspiring, but not to the point of my actually wanting to try it! Our infatuation with our nephew’s Triathlon career began in earnest this…

September 30, 2022

Join the Club!

We are fortunate to be living in an outdoor paradise here in Park City. People who move here, like us, do so largely because of the lifestyle. We love to be active and outside. We have, over the years, joined our fair share of golf and tennis clubs, and have enjoyed the camaraderie and activities available. But when we moved to Park City, we discovered two clubs of a very different style; both totally run by volunteers, with no clubhouses, membership committees or initiation fees. One was the Park City Mountain Sports Club. Their website describes the club as a “volunteer outdoor recreation club for adults”, offering activities including hiking,…

August 15, 2022

Tagging Along

This summer is just too beautiful to spend much time at the computer, which explains the paucity of blog posts. It seems like yesterday that the Rippers were heading east from Utah, and here Cub Reporter Gail (CRG) is typing on the Garden State Parkway on our way back west. Summer is hardly over, but for teachers like CRG, August brings the start of school. It is time to go home but not without a few adventures along the way. The first, but hopefully not the last, was a last minute invite from the owner of Thesis, the maker of our bikes, to join him for the now famous, and…