Ford Eco Sport - Good thing it's a Rental

So I have been a Ford guy since I was old enough to know the difference.  My parents had them so they were familiar and easy to recognize.  I haven't loved every Ford I have owned but I have at least liked each one.

However, the pudgy, homely, disproportionate car you see in this photo would have to do a helluva lot to gain a place in my heart.  Behold, the Ford Eco Sport. 

My Focus, which I will say has gained my respect if not my love, had a couple of factory recalls outstanding that I have waited years to take care of.  Yesterday, I dropped off the silver hatch back to finally get those taken care of.  The super-nice folks at Sunset Ford offered a rental car while mine was getting the love, and I couldn't refuse a rental car since I still gotta work.

In the cold, dark, misty night, the Enterprise rental guy led me to this off-red (sorta pinkie looking red) lump.  He apologized, perhaps seeing the disappointment on my face.  I took the keys, knowing that there was no reason to be upset because I just needed transportation.

The Eco has 2k miles on it, so it's essentially new.  Yet, that is the most positive thing I can say about it.  I mean, just look at this thing.  I has the most unpleasing shape of any modern SUV (high-car, if you'd like) on the road.  I found out pretty quickly that the only difference when pushing on the gas pedal lightly and pushing on the gas pedal violently was more agricultural, farm equipment-like noise from the front of the car.  No difference in speed, really.  Just more noise. Checking out the sticker price which was still on the window, I was surprised to see that they wanted $24k for this thing, farm noises and all.  Must be because the tractor engine under the hood is a turbo.  A turbo THREE CYLINDER 1.0.  Wow.  One can only wonder what the outcome would be if they DIDN'T have the turbo on this beast.  Seems like a heckuva lot of money for an engine that is missing it's 4th cylinder.  Don't get me started on the auto start/stop feature.

Can't wait to get the Focus back. I will gladly hand the Eco's keys back.  There are some things, however new, that just aren't worth it.

Happy Dog Happy Life

Make no mistake: anytime Rex gets a chance to lay on top of me, he will take it.  Especially if I lay in bed next to the beautiful Mrs K.  He loves TV time.  We don't get to watch much TV, but when we do, so does Rex.  He was so damn happy to get the PERFECT spot between my legs and on a throw pillow.  So happy that he was actually smiling and wagging his tail like crazy.

Yep, look at that smile.  A few moments into the show, and he was snoring.  Snored through the whole show.  Happy dog, happy life.

Return to the Berryman Trail

I can't remember the last time I rode the Berryman Trail.  It's locally famous and has changed a bit since I first rode it with friend and mentor Neil Kopitsky in 1989.  I know I rode it in 1996.  But I can't remember a time after that.  It had been long enough that I had to ask for recommendations on Facebook as to which trail head to start at, and which direction people like.  I totally remember getting off at the Bourbon exit.  That was easy.

And I remember this intersection, in which Highway W (really is an upside down M) would take me to the trail head.  But wow, it was quite a ways on W.  I didn't remember it being that far.  In total, it was 20 miles from Highway 44.

But there it was.  Marked better than it was in 1989, for sure.  The Brazil Creek trail head.  A small, quaint lot with a well-kept all weather bathroom.  I was totally the only person there.

Ah, a trail map!  Not that I thought it would help.   I was always surprised at how poorly the trail was marked with the little silver diamonds nailed to random trees along the Berryman.  Lucky Neil showed me the way the first time around, so each time after that I was diligent when coming to cross roads.

Certainly in the early 90's there wasn't a cool sign designating the Berryman as a cool place to mountain bike.  That was certainly a plus.

The trail was in solid shape, with no mud to speak of.  It was 90% leaf-covered, but trampled down enough that it wasn't a problem.  I climbed over 5 downed trees.  I only had a brief moment of panic when I came to a crossroads and didn't see the NEW Ozark Trail (OT) signs that were now so prevalent.  After a minute, I spotted one and was no worse for wear.  The entire 25.5 miles, I saw two people.  I was virtually alone, which was an awesome feeling.  I wasn't feeling so awesome when I finished.  Anything over 2 hours is long for me, and it took me a shade over 2 1/2.  I was glad to be done, but also pretty happy to be able to ride such a long, storied trail in the dead of winter.  It was 39-40 degrees most of the ride, with some pretty high winds, but weather was never a problem.

....and I stopped at Pizza Hut in Sullivan.  How cool is that?  I continued to eat everything in sight for the rest of the day.

I Hate Painting

The Great Paint of 2020 started a few days ago.  Every room and our house needs painting, but we began with the upstairs since we are going to replace the 15-year-old carpet and there is no way in hell I'm going to get paint dripped on that.  Our room was first, just because. The obligatory patching of the drywall was the first step.  There are always dings to fix, so that took a while.  Then the ceiling paint.  Finally the walls. The beautiful Mrs K did our bathroom yesterday.  Yikes.  I hate painting.

When we got the room put back together, it looked great. And it must have felt great, too, because a few minutes after we sat down, satisfied with a job well done, this happened.  Kind of like he made a nest in our perfectly clean, newly painted room.

Just for kicks, he got up there again tonight, in my spot.  We have a lot of other rooms to paint, and I have a feeling he will still be making his home on my bed, in my spot.

Attempting to get the Kids into Mountain Biking

As good as my kids have always been at riding bikes, none of them have really taken to it as a first sport.  They like baseball, football, soccer, volleyball, etc.  Totally fine sports, but c'mon man!  Deanna and I took Eli to Cliff Cave on New Years day (and hundreds of other people had the same idea...), one of our many attempts to get him enthused about riding.

We met Deanna's brother Kevin and his young man Michael there, too.  Eli did ride the Bluff Loop with me a couple of times and missed getting through the dip by ONE pedal stroke.  All this on one of the old Shit Bikes. All those Gateway Cup kids race wins are no fluke! Michael is quite the bike rider, and he kept asking for more so we gave him more.

Deanna took him for another few miles, around the Outer Loop on the other side of the road.  He seemed to really like it.  I bet he slept well, though.  All said, it was a promising day on the bikes.  Not that I want to live vicariously through my children's sports, but it would be great to see them get the joy that I get from cycling.