Leap Day – well, not until Monday, but I needed a lead-in title. Hope everyone enjoys the “once in 4, one day more” event.
This weekend has been quiet for us; no house-hunting trips or other interesting news. Later today we tackle tax return preparation so I am doing the post now as I will be grumpy later on.
The weather has warmed up the ground enough that we decided to take Soot the cat out of his styrofoam coffin in the snowbank, where he has remained frozen since he died in late December, and bury him near the garage. Burying a pet is always a sad event but Soot is now in his native sod.
Saturday was grocery shopping day and I cashed in our “fuel reward points” that totaled $.90 cents per gallon discount. (The maximum is $1.00 but resets to zero every 1st of the month.) This means I bought gas for $.73 cents per gallon for the maximum-allowed 35 gallons.
Gasoline at $.73 cents per gallon
After hitting very low levels (around $1.50) the price of fuel has begun to rise, going up $.12 per gallon this past week. I was hoping fuel prices would stay low over the summer when we do most of our driving, including our 400 mile round trips to The Lot (often with the F-150). Since our daily commute is about 110 miles we buy a lot of gasoline and discounts like this are big for us. Last year the store ran “double fuel points” if you bought groceries on specific days during the summer and I hope they have a similar promotion this year. It certainly helps the budget!
In other auto-related news, Glenwood Canyon (east of Glenwood Springs where Pam and I both work) had a rockfall of huge boulders falling off the upper rim that closed I-70 for almost a full week. The “alternate route” was about 140 miles around the closure. (There are few alternate routes through the Rockies in this part of the state.) Now open for one lane of traffic both east-and-west-bound at reduced speeds (25 mph), the extended closure didn’t have much immediate effect on us. It did, however, impact co-workers who had to commute west to get into town and east to get home. There will be periodic closures of the Canyon to allow for the movement of heavy equipment and construction gear and this will continue for many months until all the damage has been repaired and future instability mitigated. As this is also our most direct route to Sanderling, periodic closures going forward may impact our Spring/early Summer trips into the high country.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
(Pam says she had no $.02 this time.)
Pam’s 2 cents went toward the gasoline fill!
Fun to get a good deal whenever you can!
Hyvee here has a gas card but it’d ‘fueled’ by buying certain items…which would cause me to buy things I didn’t need to get cheaper gas-which in turn would cost me more…so I’ve refrained as I’m a sucker for a deal and the competition to get the best deal would do me in!
Aw, sweet Soot. Glad he finally got a proper burial. Pets shouldn’t die in the winter 🙁
Crazy about the rock fall. What an incredible pia that must have been for so many people. I hope it clears up for your trips!
Things are mostly good here. Last weekend we had temps in the 50’s, so of course I declared winter over and packed away all the girls snowpants and boots. It snowed Monday night and in for a few more tonight…sigh
but then…then, spring is coming!
Tabitha: Thanks for the note. Sorry to hear you had more snow!. We are expecting more before spring arrives, it is in forecast for this week particularly in the high country. Vail Pass (on way to The Lot) had chain law in effect yesterday. (Chains or 4wd required.) Was sad putting Soot in his spot but needed to be done. Fuel costs make up a chunk of our budget so low prices and discounts always help us out; we go though around 25 gallons a week. IN addition to canyon closure there is a *Major* construction project in Glenwood Springs; the main bridge into town, which crosses the Colorado River, is being replaced. Many impacts for us to get to and from work…more on this in my next post.