Inman Panel Focuses on Localism for Recovery

A couple days ago I posted a blog from Inman Connect on their panel 'Housing Debate: Bull vs Bear' in which the bears were goring each other to see who could out-bear the others. It was a bloodletting of epic proportion and I disagreed with much of the content as not being relevant or, in some cases, even accurate.

Yesterday (Friday) the last panel discussion was devoted to 'What's Next: When Will The Housing Market Turn?' It was, in my opinion, a much improved presentation and even though the speakers were not universally optimistic, they were all real estate specific and not alarmist, which was the problem I had with the earlier panel - trying to extrapolate general economic condition to a 'national' real estate market. 

Panelist Patrick Stone of The Stone Group suggested that about 1/3 of the country has already turned the corner (or never had a corner to turn), another 1/3 will turn within the next 6 months and the last 1/3 will turn the corner within a year. He noted that contrary to the media notion of a 'national' housing market, all real estate is local (as we all now) and that there are markets that never declined, some that have dropped but started back up, some are just hitting bottom right now and others that are just starting to drop. Each market will have to rely on LOCAL expertise to determine when the bottom has been sounded and how the recovery will proceed.

Alex Periello, CEO of Realogy Franchise Group, was even more specific stating that 'The market is what it is and it will be what it will be. It's what we do with it that's important.' Noting that 'Hope is not a good business plan', Periello went on to site 5 steps that we all should take right now to increase our positive impact on the market. Since you didn't attend, I'm not going to share those 5 things with you but needless to say they are earth-shattering. (Actually, I'll share them in a later post). Periello stated that in his opinion it's too early to call a bottom to the current market but noted that some of the earliest and hardest hit markets, including areas of California, have already started to improve. But since price is driven by inventory we will likely be dragging along a 'sloppy or rocky' bottom for awhile, maybe a long while, before we see any significant price improvement. Periello also cautioned against relying on 'irresponsible journalists' who give us eye-catching negative headlines not supported by the data in the body of the article.

Joel Singer, CEO of the California Association of Realtors, confined his comments to his knowledge of the California market as a tribute to localism. In Singer's opinion, we have hit bottom in the Golden State but it will be a long plateau with very slow growth. He noted that unlike past housing cycles which trickled downward over the course of four or five years, this cycle literally 'exploded' downward, meaning we hit the bottom much quicker and he does not believe we are in for the prolonged decline forecast by the previous panel. Mentioning the same trek across a rocky bottom, Singer urged listeners to go behind the top line numbers reported in the media and get the facts behind those numbers. For example, California's inventory has dropped to just over 7 months since Q4 07. While way off the 2 month pace of 2005-2006, it's still an improvement over the 11+ months it reached last year and is even an improvement over the recently released national average which has climbed to 10 1/2 months.

Jonathan Miller of  Miller Samuelson, Inc. noted that what's scaring buyers right now and keeping them on the sidelines are the national statistics, which are often mis-stated and more often have nothing to to do with our individual local markets. Citing his local New York market, he noted that some areas have continued to appreciate while areas as close as 2 blocks away have fallen on hard times. For that reason he doesn't foresee a 'national bottom' that we can all point to as being the definitive end of the current cycle but he believes we'll experience a series of local bottoms with that process extending over the next 12 - 18 months. Miller also noted that in his opinion the credit pendulum has swung too far and is also making it difficult for some well qualified buyers to enter the market. 'When you've got somebody with FICO's in the low 700's, good income and a steady job who can't get a loan for an entry level home, there's a problem with that system which will take some time to sort out.'

As always, I applaud Brad Inman for the diverse, high level and high energy group he brings to his Connect events. As with any group like this, there'll be some hits and some misses and I (as well as many of my colleagues) felt this latter panel was a definite hit even though they weren't as optimistic as we might have hoped. (Remember: Hope is not a good business plan). Overall the event provided some healthy doses of reality and exposure to some cutting edge technologies that you will be hearing more about during the next few months. However, as Inman pointed out, while many of these start-ups have great ideas, they are all relying on Realtor dollars to fund their success at a time when Realtor dollars are in short supply. It may not bode well for some of the fine folks we met last week but we applaud their spirit.

Gene Wunderlich - Selling Southwest California Homes including Temecula, Murrieta & The Southern California Wine Country
                   

Remember, Don't wait to buy real estate - Buy real estate and wait.

THE OPINIONS IN THIS COMMENTARY ARE STRICTLY GENE WUNDERLICH's PERSONAL OPINION. WHILE ANY REASONABLE &/or RATIONAL PERSON SHOULD AGREE, THESE VIEWS MAY NOT REFLECT THOSE OF ACTIVERAIN, COLDWELL BANKER RESIDENTIAL BROKERAGE OR ANY  LOCAL, STATE OR NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS.

Inman Panel Mostly Bear-ish on Housing

For those of you not able to attend Brad Inman's Real Estate Connect, you're missing a lot of great information. But one thing you were fortunate to miss was yesterday afternoon's panel discussion billed as a 'Housing Debate: Bull vs. Bear'.

The discussion actually came down more to a Bear vs. Bigger Bear debate as panelist after panelist strove to see who could outdo the other for pessimistic prognostications on the state of the housing market. The two Realtors on the panel, Dottie Herman, Pres & CEO of Prudential Douglas Elliman in New York and Avram Goldman, President & CEO of Pacific Union GMAC in Berkeley, tried to bring some sense of the current market to the discussion, reinforcing the fact that all real estate is local and that many local markets, including their own, are doing pretty well.

But their efforts to attribute localized successes did little to sway the remainng panelists, whose forecast for our future had many of us contemplating a mass wrist slashing with dulled razors. One gentleman, John Williams, an economist with Shadowstats, went so far as to predict the potential for a complete and total melt-down of the dollar on the international market, devaluing it to the point of worthlessness and rendering private property ownership in the United States virtually obsolete.

His observations are based on his 'Shadowstat' numbers which he claims are the numbers the government used to use to determine fiscal policy in this country before abandoning those statistics in favor of more consumer-friendly ones. These include the old M3 money supply system used by the FED until just a few years ago, for example, as well as items previously used to determine CPI and other fiscal indicators no longer touted by the government.

The most optimistic forecast for the 'bottoming out' of the current market is late 2009 - early 2010 with most of the panel seeing no relief until late 2010 to 2012. Some saw the trough being breached in 2011-12 but with the market just bouncing along the bottom for anywhere from a few years to 'decades'. WOW!

There was consensus that housing remains the best investment vehicles in a buy-and-hold scenario, and that the market might probably eventually rebound sometime maybe. The economists quoted numerous sources from politics to monetary supply, inflation, international debt and investment and numerous other sound fiscal sources, primarily dealing with the economy as a whole. They then extrapolated this to encompass the housing market, a tactic with which I disagree.

I was disappointed that a more balanced panel was not seated as there are numerous highly regarded economists who have a more positive outlook on the economy in general and the housing market in particular. It's also difficult to pit Realtors against economists because we talk in very different terms. Realtors can talk about how well their market is doing, how sales are picking up, how more first-time buyers are coming into a more affordable market and how the foreclosure market will be dimishing by this time next year. Economists talk in terms of what they see as the globalization of the market rather than localization and they can quote all these supposedly reliable objective sources of monetary significance that appear to overwhelm a Realtors subjective knowledge. But I guarantee you know your market better than all these economists put together and are more qualified to comment on it's future.

Overall the conference has been exceptional, as usual, with many Rainers in attendance. But even Brad Inman can't hit a home run every time and I think he missed the ball on this one. Hope your market is beating the odds.

Senator Feinstein responds to Oil Crisis

Gene Wunderlich - Selling Southwest California Homes including Temecula, Murrieta & The Southern California Wine Country
                   

Remember, Don't wait to buy real estate - Buy real estate and wait.

THE OPINIONS IN THIS COMMENTARY ARE STRICTLY GENE WUNDERLICH's PERSONAL OPINION. WHILE ANY REASONABLE &/or RATIONAL PERSON SHOULD AGREE, THESE VIEWS MAY NOT REFLECT THOSE OF ACTIVERAIN, COLDWELL BANKER RESIDENTIAL BROKERAGE OR ANY  LOCAL, STATE OR NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS.

Temecula, Murrieta 1st Half Sales Figures are in - Good News?

Temecula, Murrieta & Lake Elsinore Home Market

What does this mean to YOU?

3 straight months of increasing sales = 1 quarter of improvement.

One quarter doesn't make a trend by any means, but it's definitely a relief and an improvement from the past 24 months of free falling sales numbers. Now if we can just string together another quarter or two, we won't be out of the woods yet but we'll be headed in the right direction to get out at least. That's the good news.

Obviously prices are still dropping but that will continue until our sales rebound (dare I be so bold) whittles away our inventory. If sales stay strong prices will start to recover as well. We've got a couple more interest rate resets coming down the pike which means more foreclosures on the market - but then that'll be mostly behind us. Honest.

First time and move-up buyers are taking advantage of our BEST BUYERS MARKET IN 20 YEARS. By the time everybody listening to the mainstream media figures out the market has hit bottom and starts scrambling around for a house, you can already be enjoying the comforts of your own home and building equity.

Our inventory is spectacular right now but that won't continue forever. Interest rates are still low but they have been creeping higher and higher. There are dozens of single family homes for sale under $200,000 right now with some condos going for close to $100,000. We haven't seen those kind of bargains since 1998. Nearly 20% of La Cresta homes are now under $1 million with some REO's going as low as $600,000 with similar bargains in the Wine Country.

This is the Window of Opportunity you swore you wouldn't miss the next time it came around. DON'T.

Gene Wunderlich - Selling Southwest California Homes including Temecula, Murrieta & The Southern California Wine Country
                   

Remember, Don't wait to buy real estate - Buy real estate and wait.

The Hardrock 100 - Timberline Endurance Challenge

They came from 24 states and 6 foreign countries this year. 124 men and 16 women lined up in Silverton Colorado on July 11, 2008 for the 15th running of the Hardrock 100, one of the most challenging endurance races in the country. Let me tell you, I've hiked and Jeeped these mountains my whole life - there's simply no way, not enough incentive to ever get me to line up with these hardcore fanatics - but there's a waiting list of people hoping they'll get selected in the lottery to run this mother.

Here's the fun lying in wait for these lunatics. 140 of them will start out in Silverton early in the morning and about 98 will end up back in Silverton 24 - 48 hours and 100 miles later. The winner this year, Kyle Skaggs, was the first man to finish in under 24 hours - 23:23 to be exact, but most finishers average between 40 and 48 hours! That's 40+ hours of virtually non-stop movement during which time they'll ascend and descend over 66,000 feet - that's more than 11 miles straight up. Along the way they follow trails, Jeep roads and abandoned roadways originally created by the miners of the region over 100 years ago linking the high mountain towns of the rugged San Juan range.

Starting in Silverton they cross a series of passes to emerge in Telluride some 27 miles later, passing two aid stations along the way. 16 miles later they get to Ouray. This year there was a new aid station named after one of the original Hardrockers who died this past winter, local Chuck Kroger. Most runners will make it as far as Ouray although many will already have run anywhere from 15 to 24 hours to do it - including all night running through the mountains with only a little headlamp for illumination. They will have climbed for 13,999 feet and dropped a knee-jarring 15,629 ft.

But the drop off rate from Ouray on gets steeper. Runners know they have two choices in Ouray - either hit one of the steepest climbs up Engineer Pass on their way to Lake City, or drop their aching bodies into Ouray's fabled mineral hot springs spa. Well, what would you do?

If you make it out of Ouray, you've still got
better than half the race to go - a race that crosses thirteen 12,000 foot mountain passes, three summits over 13,000 and one over 14,000. Do you know how much oxygen there is at 14,000 ft? About as much as all the  bubbles from 1 beer is all! Runners high? Split a six pack with me and get the same experience.

Your body starts to consume itself, you mind starts playing tricks on you, you hallucinate, your muscles are past the point of recovery and it becomes mind over matter - can you brain command your body to continue putting one foot in front of the other or will your body revolt? They had to cancel one year because of too much snow, another year because of fires. This year there were some worries about the snow (if you saw my pictures of the Smuggler Union Mine you know why) but in the end they forged ahead.

The oldest racer this year was John DeWalt, 72, out of Sarber, Penn. The youngest runner this year was also the winner, Kyle Skaggs, 23, out of Glenwood, NM. If you do the math, Kyle averaged over 4 miles per hour in this terrain. I'd be dead if I tried to WALK 100 miles in 24 hours at sea level going downhill all the way. Kirk Apt from Grand Junction, CO, has entered the race every year since it started. He has finished every year but one so he holds the record for the most finishes of the race at 14, including a win in 2000.

I've borrowed a few of these photos from my friend, the original Hardrocker and race co-founder John Cappis. Much to the delight of his mother, John decided not to run this year and contented himself with setting the course and monitoring some of the 13 aid stations throughout the course as well as the communication and relay stations set up to transmit times and conditions from remote areas.


If you're an absolute certifiable running lunatic, get signed up for next years running of the Hardrock 100. You can do that here: http://www.hardrock100.com/ or here: http://www.run100s.com/HR/ . You can also check out many other fabulous photos and narrations of the runners torment, misery and euphoria.

If you're interested or if you're family, you can follow along my vacation adventures here:


#1. Myths & Legends of the Great Southwest
#2. Trout Lake Colorado - My Slice of Heaven
#3. The Smugglers Union Mine - Travels at Timberline
#4. An Ode to Roadhogs
#5. Leon Russell - Rico Colorado
#6. A Small Town America 4th of July - Telluride CO
#7.  World's First AC Power - The Gold King Mine

Gene Wunderlich - Selling Southwest California Homes including Temecula, Murrieta & The Southern California Wine Country
                   

Remember, Don't wait to buy real estate - Buy real estate and wait.

THE OPINIONS IN THIS COMMENTARY ARE STRICTLY GENE WUNDERLICH's PERSONAL OPINION. WHILE ANY REASONABLE &/or RATIONAL PERSON SHOULD AGREE, THESE VIEWS MAY NOT REFLECT THOSE OF ACTIVERAIN, COLDWELL BANKER RESIDENTIAL BROKERAGE OR ANY  LOCAL, STATE OR NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS.

 

World's First AC Power - The Gold King Mine

A few days back in my post about Trout Lake, I mentioned a historical factoid that Trout Lake water was used to generate the first AC power station in the country. Today I drove up to the Gold King Basin, the site of the mine that inspired the story. 

So now, as Paul Harvey might say, here's the rest of the story.

In 1881 a washed up Leadville restaurateur named Lucien Lucius Nunn made his way to Telluride, Colorado to see what he could roust up in this newly booming mining town. During the next decade, LL Nunn opened a law practice, became a real estate developer, opened a bank and started managing the Gold King Mine, in the mountains south of Telluride.  

Now there were a lot of mines operating around that time ultimately  digging over 350 miles of interconnecting tunnels through the mountains. But one problem they all had in common was how to power them. See, many of them were built above timberline like the Sheridan Crosscut, the Tomboy, the Smugglers Union and the Gold King, which meant all timber for buildings, homes and to shore up the mines had to be hauled in by mule or ox team. Wood or coal to generate power to run the mines and mills also had to be hauled in and it was pretty expensive, not to mention downright difficult in the winter.

In 1889 LL traveled back east and had a sit down with George Westinghouse. In those days, Thomas Edison had just developed DC power but it was not as stable and could not be transmitted long distances, which was what Nunn needed. Nunn convinced Westinghouse to buy up a number of patents from Nicola Tesla for AC power for the princely sum of $1 million, quite a fortune in those days. LL returned to Telluride and began construction of a 100 horsepower generator at Ames, located at the base of a mountain where he could pull water out of Trout Lake to run his new Westinghouse turbines, then run wires up the other side of the mountain to his mine to power equipment, stamp mills, trams and provide light. 

As you might imagine, Edison was against this the whole way as he owned the rights to DC power. What was referred to as the "Edison Gang' liked to portray AC power as unstable and deadly, taking some pleasure in frying small animals with 'the juice' to show just how dangerous this newfangled stuff was. Regardless, the venture soon proved itself out and in October of 1891 the power line was extended to Telluride, making this small town the first city in the nation to enjoy widespread household use of electric power. Old Timers tell of placing bets to see if they could grab the wire, throw the switch sending power to the mine 7 miles away, and let go of the wire before the circuit was complete. The Old Timers who survived to tell that tale were never the ones placing the bets, as you might imagine.

AC power revolutionized mining operations (along with most everything else) making it possible to run trams greater distances from mine to mill and to construct ever larger stamp mills. Previous stamp mills often employed only 2 to 10 stamps, large pounders that reduced large rocks to more manageable size for transportation and milling. With the advent of AC power, Nunn was able to construct a 120 stamp mill on Bear Creek near Telluride, which served to consolidate many of the local milling operations. 

Ten years later, Nunn and his brother Paul along with Westinghouse and Tesla built the largest hydro-electric generating plant in the world modeled off his original plant at Ames. This new plant was built for the Ontario Power Company at a sight known as Niagara Falls.

Amazingly that original Ames Power Plant is still functioning today providing power to the Telluride area as well as tapping into the nations electric grid. It has gone from powering the mining boom that built this area a century ago, to powering the ski lifts and recreational facilities that are providing another boom into this century. Most people outside this area, (and probably not that many locals) know that the power plant even exists and even fewer know it's story - but nearly every aspect of modern technology owes it's start to the imagination of LL Nunn and the little power plant he built high in the Colorado Rockies. 

And now you know... the rest of the story. 

I've been lucky enough to take a month off again this summer to spend at my old home in Telluride CO. You can track my travels here:

#1. Myths & Legends of the Great Southwest
#2. Trout Lake Colorado - My Slice of Heaven
#3. The Smugglers Union Mine - Travels at Timberline
#4. An Ode to Roadhogs

#5. Leon Russell - Rico Colorado

#6. A Small Town America 4th of July - Telluride CO

Gene Wunderlich - Selling Southwest California Homes including Temecula, Murrieta & The Southern California Wine Country
                   

Remember, Don't wait to buy real estate - Buy real estate and wait.

THE OPINIONS IN THIS COMMENTARY ARE STRICTLY GENE WUNDERLICH's PERSONAL OPINION. WHILE ANY REASONABLE &/or RATIONAL PERSON SHOULD AGREE, THESE VIEWS MAY NOT REFLECT THOSE OF ACTIVERAIN, COLDWELL BANKER RESIDENTIAL BROKERAGE OR ANY  LOCAL, STATE OR NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS.

A Small Town America 4th of July - Telluride Colorado

There's nothing quite so quintessentially American as a small town 4th of July celebration - especially when the small town knows how to do it up big. Telluride Colorado has been celebrating the 4th in a BIG way since way before my half century of memory comes into play. In fact the Telluride Fire Department, who puts the shindig on, celebrated it's 130th birthday this year so they've got a plenty of experience doing this sort of thing.

The 4th here always starts with a bang - a big bang called the Powder Monkey Breakfast. The firemen - who have been up most of the night tending to the 100's of pounds of beef roasting in an underground pit, wake up the rest of the town by lighting off a few sticks of dynamite around 6 a.m.. 

My Mom's birthday was on the 4th of July so she and my Aunt were always in the parade. Mom died a couple years ago but my Aunt Irene is still in the parade and I get to tag along as water boy and umbrella holder. At 95 she's the oldest living native of the town and somewhat of a celebrity. Last year she got the Key to the City, which thrilled her no end. John Roth shines up his pride-and-joy 1965 Austin Healey just so Irene's got the classiest ride in the parade.

Naturally we have jets fly over and there are floats of all types. Someone loaded a bunch of kids on a pontoon boat; the ice hockey team rode their Zamboni; there's always an old Prospector or two handing out 'honest-to-God gold' samples to the tourists; several ladies always pay tribute to the original denizens of 'Popcorn Alley', the old red light section of town; this year we had a ragtag New Orleans funeral marching band; and as usual we salute 'Men Who Can't Dance' who come variously themed as Elvis or Michael Jackson and dance down the street as only men can't.

Years ago the rest of the day was a series of contests and expositions to mining, from rock drilling with old pneumatic drills, to tug-of-war, fire hose showdown, pie eating contests, etc. After the parade most folks make their way over to the Town Park where the firemen serve up a delectable meal of that roast of beef, potato salad, baked beans, corn on the cob and watermelon. The past few years we've not braved the crowds at the park but have opted for a smaller pot-luck at the Elks Club. Many old-timers who come back to town for this day gather to visit, reminisce and remember those who passed on.

When it's dark, the firemen again put on a fireworks extravaganza that has been a tradition for decades. This year for their 130th, they really blew up the sky. They shoot them off in a little box canyon at the end of town so you can see them from anywhere in town. The bombast lights up the surrounding mountain peaks and the blasts echo back and forth from mountain to valley. While many cities did without this year due to a plant explosion in China that destroyed a good portion of the world's supply of firecrackers,  Telluride Firemen order their stock a year in advance so there was no shortage in this spectacular display.

If you're looking for a great place to celebrate next 4th of July, bring your family to enjoy a healthy slice of small-town American Independence Day. I saw Leon Russell perform the night before, Jonny Lang gave a FREE performance the day after, most everything is FREE except the BBQ, which'l set ya back $12 bucks. Come on up. It's a great time and you'll make memories that'll last a lifetime.

Gene Wunderlich - Selling Southwest California Homes including Temecula, Murrieta & The Southern California Wine Country
                   

Remember, Don't wait to buy real estate - Buy real estate and wait.

THE OPINIONS IN THIS COMMENTARY ARE STRICTLY GENE WUNDERLICH's PERSONAL OPINION. WHILE ANY REASONABLE &/or RATIONAL PERSON SHOULD AGREE, THESE VIEWS MAY NOT REFLECT THOSE OF ACTIVERAIN, COLDWELL BANKER RESIDENTIAL BROKERAGE OR ANY  LOCAL, STATE OR NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS.

Leon Russell - Rico Colorado 7-3-08

I love you in a place where there's no space or time
I love you for my life you are a friend of mine
And when my life is over
Remember when we were together
We were alone and I was singing this song for you

"Master of Space & Time"
Leon Russell

One of the things I enjoy most during my summer hiatus is attending some great concerts literally in my back yard. In addition to being famous for it's skiing and scenic beauty, Telluride Colorado also plays host to a wide and constant variety of musicians. Summer festivals include Bluegrass, Jazz, ,Blues & Brews, Chamber Music, etc. Plus every bar worth it's peanuts hosts live music almost nightly with many name entertainers and the local Opera House rocks on a regular basis.

On July 3rd one of my All-Time favorites played at the Rico Bar. If you've never heard of Rico, Colorado, you're not alone. It's another little old mining town that all but ghosted out in the 60's & 70's. But due to the fact it's only about 25 miles from Telluride, it is now staging a resurgence as young people discover the joys of a mountain lifestyle at a much more affordable price than Telluride. Still, if they count past 500 when taking a census, somebody stood up twice.

Hence when I had the chance to see Leon Russell in the Rico Bar it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. The joint was jumpin' with people from 16 - 80, all 150 of us. I got a seat on some stairs at stage height about 5 feet off stage left, which left me with a birdseye view of Leon & the band.
Now I wasn't expecting too much. After all, Leon's not had an easy life and he looks like he's about 80 (he's actually 66). After hearing Bob Dylan up here last year and the disaster that is his voice, I figured Leon's naturally gravelly tones would not be in their best shape either.

Man was I in for a surprise! Leon hit the stage with that long white hair, longer whiter beard, his Southern Colonel White Coat and cowboy hat and rocked us for 2 solid hours without a break. Great chops, pounding the ivories, voice solid in everything from screaming Hard Rain's Gonna Fall & Stranger in a Strange Land to romantic crooning in Lady Blue and A Song For You. His bassist, Jackie Wessel, has been with him for 26 years and he's got a hot-finger kid named Chris Simmons on lead guitar that's nobody's huckleberry.



If you don't know who Leon Russel is - get yours elf together. He started playing back-up bands in Oklahoma in the 50's, started headlining and soloing in the 60's and has played with nearly everybody of note since then including Eric Clapton, BB & Freddie King, Dean Martin & Frank Sinatra, Tina Turner and Steve Winwood, to name a few. He put together Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour as well as George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh, he's made albums with Willy Nelson, the Rolling Stones, The Monkees, Delaney & Bonnie - the list is endless.

Leon's on tour this summer coming to a series of small to medium venues somewhere near you. If you get a chance I highly recommend you drop what you're doing and get yourself over to the show. You will not be disappointed.

If you've been lucky enough to miss my summer travel series, feel free to follow along as I regale you with tales both taudry and true including:
#1. Myths & Legends of the Great Southwest
#2. Trout Lake Colorado - My Slice of Heaven
#3. The Smugglers Union Mine - Travels at Timberline
#4. An Ode to Roadhogs

Gene Wunderlich - Selling Southwest California Homes including Temecula, Murrieta & The Southern California Wine Country
                   

Remember, Don't wait to buy real estate - Buy real estate and wait.

THE OPINIONS IN THIS COMMENTARY ARE STRICTLY GENE WUNDERLICH's PERSONAL OPINION. WHILE ANY REASONABLE &/or RATIONAL PERSON SHOULD AGREE, THESE VIEWS MAY NOT REFLECT THOSE OF ACTIVERAIN, COLDWELL BANKER RESIDENTIAL BROKERAGE OR ANY  LOCAL, STATE OR NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS.

An Ode to Roadhogs - Summer Travelog #4

A couple times a year I take a road trip. At least one trip brings me to Colorado like the one I just did last week. It's an 800 mile trek and takes me about 12 hours depending on traffic.

Therein lies the rub - traffic. Over the years I've developed a couple pet peeves and where better to air my asphalt stained laundry than in an 'Ode to Roadhogs' blog.

#1 - The 2 Milers - Please understand I don't have anything against our great brethren of the 18 wheelers. Those Road Warriors are responsible for transporting valuable goods including Jack Daniels across this great land. But I despise the 2 Milers. You've been behind these jokers. They're running single file across the flat lands at a good clip but as soon as they hit a little hill their speed drops to something resembling Granny in a walker.
 
But there's always one (1) who feels his truck has the capability of going two (2) miles an hour faster than all the others so he has to swing out into the passing lane. Mile after dogged mile, hour upon hour, he stokes the fires in his diesel trying to creep by his cohorts gaining maybe one foot for every vertical mile traveled. Meanwhile traffic is backing up to the Mexican border waiting for this Macho Man and his diesel manhood to prove themselves.
GET OUTA THE WAY YA SCHMENDRAKE.

#2 - The Winnebago Caravan. There's only one thing I hate worse than seeing  one of these behemoths rolling down the road and that's seeing one of THESE ancient whales breaking wind.
It never fails that as soon as I hit two lane roads up out of Flagstaff (or anywhere in the civilized world I travel), there's one of these clunkers destroying enough ozone to melt Greenland. And if that's not bad enough, they travel in convoys or caravans or some damn thing and they're always clumped together so that you have to have about 12 or 17 miles of no traffic in the oncoming lane to pass all these chuckleheads - cause sure as you're born, they're not gonna back off enough to let you sneak back in if a car approaches head-on.

Plus there's always a few cars stranded in the middle of the pack somewhere that got stuck in there by mistake and now they're going to end up going wherever the Winnebago's go because they can't figure out how to get back out again. If you do get lucky and come to a passing lane, see peeve #1 above. One of these clowns always thinks he can pass the others so he blows the whole passing lane trying to prove it only to back off at the last minute as the lanes merge, usually crushing a small car in his wake. Meanwhile the thing is shaking and quaking and blowing enough black smoke to camouflage an aircraft carrier. The only saving grace is when you see one of those big smooth black spots on the edge of the asphalt where one of these finally spontaneously combusted after a lifetime of irritating motorists.

#3 - The Great 'Outlaw' Trail Riders. The last category is probably the worst. For whatever reason, the first two groups appear to be almost accidental. They are too far gone to figure out that they're not the only ones on the road and if ignorance is bliss, the first two categories are very happy campers indeed. Not so with this third group. They are keenly aware that they are not alone on the road and the fact that they are often victimized makes their lunacy almost counter-intuitive. I'm talking about the line of motorcycles riding two abreast (or four if their wives are with them) stretching for miles and miles across the country, the great trail ride from hell involving hundreds if not thousands of obnoxiously loud, smelly, fuming beasts (and their motorcycles).

Apparently bikers are incapable of traveling alone or even in pairs but observe some unwritten rule that they roam only in groups of 417 or greater. Now I'm not talking about the true 'outlaw' riders of whom I would never say a discouraging word (aw, why not, they don't read blogs?). I'm talking about the weekend warriors, sometimes on Harleys but more often on a mix of rice rockets, granny bikes, big old Goldwings, farty little dirt bikes - all mixed into a conglomeration traveling at 5 - 10 miles under the posted limit. Trying to pass a group like this is an exercise in futility and defensive driving. Not only will they not narrow their profile to allow easy passage, they actually expand like a cheap sponge until they present a solid phalanx 8 feet wide by 4.73 miles long. And they get surly if you pass, and they make rude gestures and slap your car and make you afraid to pull in for gas for the next couple days. The only good thing is most of the riders are even older and fatter than me - so I get a runnin' start.  

Well, that's my rant for the day - I just had to get that off my chest so thanks for indulging me. My vacation is actually going great and if you care you can read more about it here:

Gene Wunderlich - Selling Southwest California Homes including Temecula, Murrieta & The Southern California Wine Country
                   

Remember, Don't wait to buy real estate - Buy real estate and wait.

THE OPINIONS IN THIS COMMENTARY ARE STRICTLY GENE WUNDERLICH's PERSONAL OPINION. WHILE ANY REASONABLE &/or RATIONAL PERSON SHOULD AGREE, THESE VIEWS MAY NOT REFLECT THOSE OF ACTIVERAIN, COLDWELL BANKER RESIDENTIAL BROKERAGE OR ANY  LOCAL, STATE OR NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS.

The Smugglers Union Mine - Summer TraveLog 3

Welcome back to my Travel Log for 29 June.
If you've been following along or just stopped here by accident, I'm on vacation this month and I'm keeping this wandering journal for my own amusement and to keep friends up-to-date. Our country has so many diverse and beautiful geographies and while I may be somewhat biased, I was lucky to grow up in one of the most beautiful - the Colorado Rockies.

Yesterday we took a great trip over to our cabin on Trout Lake.  (http://activerain.com/blogsview/571021/Trout-Lake-Colorado-Summer) and before that we drove from Southern Ca to Southern Co and highlighted some travel tips you just don't find in AAA. (http://activerain.com/blogsview/568393/Myths-Legends-of-the Great Southwest)
   Did I mention I'm up here with my Aunt? She's 95 and was born here. Irene, and my Mom, Vera, lived in Telluride their entire lives. In an old mining town resurrected as a ski town, they saw a lot of changes during their lives. So Mom died a couple years ago and now my Aunt lives in Cali w/me. But we always try to come up for at least a month in the summer. We were always here for the 4th because Telluride celebrates in a BIG way and has for decades - oh, and my Mom's birthday was the 4th of July.  
   So we had a BBQ with some friends last eve and our good friend Kevin offers to take us up in the hills. So myself, my Aunt and Kevin headed out in his Ranger. What a great little rig. Smoother ride than my Jeep.

The road switchbacks up out of town. My house is about dead  center of this photo. At the fare end is Town Park where there's always a festival or concert going on. The Dead played here in '87. We can hear the music if we sit in our backyard - and we also have ringside seats for the big fireworks display they have on the 4th. Small towns have their advantages.


Heading for 13,100 Ft Imogene Pass. Along the way we'll pass over a dozen old mines and mining camps that flourished around the turn of the last century, including the Liberty Bell Mine, where my Grandmother first set up house in 1909 fresh off the boat from Austria. We also saw evidence of several big  avalanches. They had over 20' of snow last winter and a lot of snow broke loose.



For a jeep road, it's pretty tame down by the bottom but as you go up it gets rougher and narrower. This is Social Tunnel - a place to get out of the rain or snow for a spell if you got caught out.


It doesn't take long to get above timberline - but as the snow melts the wildflowers crop up. Because of all the snow the season is a couple weeks late this year but I'll show you a flower collection one day.



Unfortunately this day we couldn't make it to the top. Still too much snow on the road. Just off my left shoulder there's one more switchback and the guy on the Caterpillar just hasn't made it past there yet. So we didn't make it to the summit, didn't get to Fort Peabody and couldn't get a glimpse of the Camp Bird Mine. More on them later. We only made it to about the 12,800 Ft level - we brought an oxygen bottle in case my Aunt needed it but I almost ended up using it. I'm from C Level Man!


We only saw 2 other people on the mountain and they had been up to pre-ski the course for the Lunar Cup ski races coming up next Saturday. It's a little hard to see in this photo but you can barely make out the figure 8's they cut on that snow field. I used to be able to do that, stress USED TO.


Did I mention they had a lot of snow this winter? That'll still be there when the next snow flies.



A hundred years ago there were thriving mining communities even above timberline. My Aunt remembers hiking up here with friends - there was a dancehall, bowling alley and several mines within a couple miles. These mountains are literally honeycombed with tunnels, some that produced and some that didn't. In this basin alone there was the Tomboy, the Sheridan Crosscut, the Liberty Bell, the Japan Flora and others. The Camp Bird, just over the ridge was one of America's richest gold mines. The man who first developed it, Tom Walsh, was flush enough that he bought his wife the Hope Diamond. I'm not either lyin' - Google it.


There's still a fair amount of gear left as well as tailings piles and tunnels. Every winter the snow defeats a few more of the old buildings. A lot of the heavy metal parts were scrapped during WWII to build ships and tanks, tourists have scavenged their share over the years as well. This structure is the top of a tramway. It's like a gondola - there's a big metal wheel with teeth that drives the cable that runs the trams. Ore was mined and partially processed at the mine site, then the ore was dumped into hoppers on the other side of this building and fed into the tram cars to transport down the mountain to the mills. Returning empty tram cars carried groceries, mail, visitors and miners returning to work.


With all the snowmelt higher up, little streams and waterfalls are everywhere. From the upper basin you can see out over the ski area, past Mount Wilson all the way into Utah. The Tomboy Basin is some rugged country with a colorful history. Come see it if you get a chance.

Hope your day went well and that all your deals are cash.

Gene Wunderlich - Selling Southwest California Homes including Temecula, Murrieta & The Southern California Wine Country
                   

Remember, Don't wait to buy real estate - Buy real estate and wait.

THE OPINIONS IN THIS COMMENTARY ARE STRICTLY GENE WUNDERLICH's PERSONAL OPINION. WHILE ANY REASONABLE &/or RATIONAL PERSON SHOULD AGREE, THESE VIEWS MAY NOT REFLECT THOSE OF ACTIVERAIN, COLDWELL BANKER RESIDENTIAL BROKERAGE OR ANY  LOCAL, STATE OR NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS.