Got mice?!

[philo_beddoe]

Update- no mice anywhere! I have two traps in my shelter, havnt sprung in several days. Guess i wiped em out!

But they'll be back. They are relentless.

[AZ87V10]

Well good! Hopefully you got em all! Little pests! With all the wildlife around me, I'm really glad that I haven't had any issues like that. Especially since I live in the middle of the largest Ponderosa Pine forest in the country! Lol!

[philo_beddoe]

Yeah, your in a beautiful area out there, hows the trout fishin?

[AZ87V10]

Oh yes, it's gorgeous here! The trout fishing is awesome usually. Some of the best around. I literally live in a sportsman's paradise! There's great fishing, we have excellent hunting opportunities here too. Lots of game like deer and elk and such. I laugh when people are astounded that there's mountains and trees and snow in Arizona! Lol! Most people who are unfamiliar with the state just automatically assume the whole state is a hot desert!

[LTZ C20]

I spent about 10 days in Arizona couple years back over new years, it was dead of winter. Sunny, 75-80 degrees, we had jeans and t-shirts on, we were riding quads around the area having blast in the sun. Nights were cool and crisp, lots of beers over that 10 days.

[AZ87V10]

Yep! You were probably in the desert somewhere then. This is the time of year that you want to be in the desert! Jeans and t-shirts for sure! Where I'm at, here lately it's averaged about 35 degrees, there's a foot of snow on the ground with more forecasted for the week, plus, I live in a pine forest at an elevation of 7000 feet! We actually have 4 season weather in Arizona!

[Jason S]

I remember reading something about there being four seasons in Arizona - Fire, Flood, Mud and Drought... 

In grad school, spent several days on a field trip in Suguaro National Park (beautiful park).  This was in the spring and we were rained on most of the time there. Naturally, the last day we were there was sunny and warm; we started from the relatively warm desert basin and drove up into the mountains looking at vegetation changes at various elevations and eventually had to turn around because of snow. As a young flatlander, I'd never experienced such a thing!   

[AZ87V10]

I remember reading something about there being four seasons in Arizona - Fire, Flood, Mud and Drought... 

In grad school, spent several days on a field trip in Suguaro National Park (beautiful park).  This was in the spring and we were rained on most of the time there. Naturally, the last day we were there was sunny and warm; we started from the relatively warm desert basin and drove up into the mountains looking at vegetation changes at various elevations and eventually had to turn around because of snow. As a young flatlander, I'd never experienced such a thing!

Ha ha ha! You got that right! Sadly, in the span of the last 15 years, we've seen of the largest forest fires in the area ever recorded. Both were the largest in state history at the time. The last one in 2011 being the record holder still. Drought is always one of those things that we worry about. That's why I'm not going to complain that it's cold here with lots of snow! We need that moisture to avoid a catastrophe come spring and summer during fire season! But I love it here and wouldn't want it any other way!

[philo_beddoe]

Your in a good gun state too!! Nice and red and conservative. It's pretty blue and liberal up here in new england. It is very unique though, old farm fields and stone walls, very seasonal, plenty of native trout and wildlife. Nothin like the west though. I have a good friend in Goodyear, AZ, keeps askin me to visit. Familiar with it?

[AZ87V10]

Yes, I know where that is. It's on the west side of the valley. Or for those not in the know, it's on the western side of the Phoenix metro area off of I-10 in between Avondale on the east which borders Phoenix, and Buckeye on the west.
Yes, the gun laws here are pretty lax compared to most states, but are tightening up. We're usually a pretty red state, which is what I am, but I also live between 2 large Indian reservations as well. I have the White Mountain Apache Reservation to the south and the Navajo Nation to the north. They tend to be pretty liberal and vote democratic because they all get the free government handouts! Grrr!

[Greybeard]

Another hijacking...

AZ87V10,

I notice in your signature you have a Dodge with a four (ooppss-5" lift) inch lift and 35's. With the gear ratio stated what is cruising RPM at 70mph with your truck in direct drive (not OD)?

My truck has 4.10's with 33's and it runs annoyingly high- about 3,400 or so at 70. OK, let me clarify, the sticker in the glove box says it came with 4.10's, I have never verified that is what is still in it.

I pulled a 6,000lb GVW trailer last Saturday that weighed about 5,000lbs (estimated by the combined weights of all the pallets+the trailer weight) plus about 1800lbs on a pallet in the bed. The anemic 360 struggled the entire 70 miles I pulled it even in direct drive at 3500rpm. At that speed I was getting about 5-6 mpg (We used an entire 30 gallons in the round trip of about about 150 miles with 70 loaded).

This bone stock engine is pitiful. Truck is 2002 2500 and only has 120K on it. 

[philo_beddoe]

Isin't this thread about mice? Lol. 

[AZ87V10]

Yes, it started out that way but got side tracked somewhere! Lol! I've noticed a lot of these longer threads get hijacked like that! You know, I never really paid attention to the cruising rpm's at 70 since I rarely get to drive that fast around here! But the few times I drove it to Phoenix I noticed that it turned around 2500 or so in overdrive. I never bothered to take it out since I wasn't towing or hauling anything. But I live in a mountain area and naturally I'm on the gas more because I'm doing a lot of climbing. I seem to average around 10 mpg around town, but I do a lot of short trip driving. No more than about 5 miles a day. So naturally the truck will use more gas. When I drove down to Phoenix, I averaged around 14 mpg highway. Obviously, I used more climbing the mountains heading home. It's a great truck and does everything I would want it to do, it just gets crappy mileage. Yes it's lifted and has been regeared, but the engine is all stock. I bought it off the original owner and it only has 106K miles on it! Heck, my 87 square body gets better mileage than my Dodge! I average around 13 mpg in town in my 87!

[philo_beddoe]

I have no idea what mileage i'm getting.

[Greybeard]

Well, that's good news and bad news. I knew my truck was getting really bad mileage but I only suspected they all did. My old 78 GMC SWB with a 6" lift, 39's, 4.10's and 400 horses (although the gas was better back then) got better mileage than this Dodge. This alcohol they sell here goes through an engine faster than most alcohol goes through my system.