Turtles, Mushrooms, Trails, And The Heat... My God! The Heat

I had big plans for the weekend, but the heat makes simply breathing difficult.   I know,  it is not as if I have never experienced global warming in Summer before.  The fact is that we are simply not aclimated to it yet.   (It was a rather cool and pleasant Spring, as I recall.)

Very Pretty. 

Yesterday, we went out to Muscatine.   And it was miserable!   Oh,  The Mississippi has receded back to normal and the trails were there as ususal.  If it had not been for the 90+ degrees and impossible humidity, I'm sure we would have enjoyed it much more.   I even found a Dogbane Beetle!  (Small, but Very pretty!) Too bad we left the Camera in the car.

Sun Screen in the Morning.

Off to Tee's for some chow and then back home.  But there was not much we could do when we finally got home.   Even the cat did not want to go outside in the heat.

Cheryl looks ready. 

Today is supposed to be even worse!   90+ degrees with no clouds to shade you at all.   The heat index is said to be near 104 degrees.  So, looks like indoor time is going to be manditory and I'll have to pospone the Subie doting until cooler temps arrive.  ( next week, so they say.)   Otherwise,  we continue to get up early so that Cheryl can run before the "real heat" hits us.

Even then,  she has not finished an entire training run in a while without walking a bit of it.   It's simply too hot and there is no other way to cool off without walking.  But today we wanted to check out our old Mushroom hunting grounds in Coralville. 

Summer Golden Oyster Mushrooms. 

You can't see from the pic, but the
spores were misting off the cluster.

Summer has only just started,  and we have already MISSED the Golden Oysters!    The only remaining fresh ones were too high to collect.    What is not shown in the blinding morning sun was the other side of the tree.   Old Mushrooms were hanging all up and down the tree.   I know they were all new because I cleaned the tree up last year just before winter.  It excites me to think Summer Mushrooms might be available sooner han expected.  ( usually around late July or August.)

Dog Stinkhorn!   This Early!

Smoothshell Turtle.  Wonder what kind
it is...

In addition,  we spotted a Dog Stinkhorn near our parking spot.   (note the fly on the stem.)   These guys appear mostly in the late fall around here.  But Cheryl's Sister said she had one in her yard just a few weeks ago.   I would have thought it impossible until I saw a picture.   Now,  we have one of our own to prove that they show up much earlier than expected.

Check out all those colors ...
and that NOSE!

Larger than my hand. 

While biking/running,    we encountered a Turtle on the path.   A few weeks ago,  I had taken pics of a very large Red Eared Slider...   ( Didn't post them)  It was laying its eggs in the soft soil.   My guess is that other species of Turtles are doing the same thing. 

The proper way to handle
a snapping turtle. 

While we ushered this one off the path to keep it from getting hurt,  there was a large Snapper in the road  on the way back.   People had stopped to help it get over the curb.   They obviously have never handled a Snapper before ( grab the long tail, and you are safe and good.)  because they were trying to move it with a crutch.    It looked like the turtle was not damaged in any way. ( better than being hit by a car!)

Exploring the New path. 

Cheryl at the NEW bridge. 

And finally,  the Coralville Bike path has been extended!   I hear it reaches all the way to Tiffin.   We did not explore the entire thing, so don't quote me on the details.  All I know is that they built a bridge and have a paved trail extending out towards the highway.   I can't wait to explore more with the bike. 

End of the line on this branch. 

With Cheryl running,  we could not explore very far.   Not to mention the death sun was still beaming down on us.   But if we take the bikes, we could explore the various forks in the trail we passed along the way. 

Deer in the sunlight.   The Sun hides
it well, even thought it was very close. 

As I read about  my fellow bloggers that I follow,   they are all in the same situation:  Iowa Heatwave!   So,  I hope everyone in the Midwest is staying cool and hydrated.   The garden can wait... along with any car maintainence... until the heat wave passes.   (Hopefully)   Or at least do your stuff in the morning and evening.   High Noon is a Killer!   Thanks for stopping in.

Biking in The Iowa Death Sun.

Let's Ride!

Too hot to run in the sun. 

 A full week of 90 degree days!   Cheryl has been waking us up ridiculously early so we can beat the death sun before  it reaches its maximum "Heat Stroke" potential.   And even with these precautions,  she still had to walk several times on the last few runs.   So...  To make things more tolerable,  sometimes we break out the bikes.

But the Wild Flowers Love it! 

Best to ride in the shade. 

Don't get me wrong,  I bike all the time.   But she only rides when she is having an "off running" day.  Or...  if she is injured.   So far, so good on that front.   And that is probably because she has become a little bit wiser after 5 years of running.   ( Only in running... Let's not extrapolate the wisdom thing much further....)

Biking twice a day!   Kewash Trail 

Cheryl loves it....

We even have been cycling twice a day!   Several times now, we have been loading on the bikes and heading towards the Kewash Trail.   It is a quick 8-10 miles in the evening, after the sun dies down a touch.   We get to see many cool things at that time...

See the deer. 

There is a fawn under all that greenery.

 Like Deer running under the bridge as we roll over it.   By the way,  She had her fawn in tow; but he was so small I did not get a picture of him in the tall grass.

Bright Orange Shelf Mushrooms! 

Not too small either. 

There were also these really cool Mushrooms.   I tried to ID the species, but the mushroom books we have are missing that one.     You would think that there are not many look-a-likes out there.   Turns out there are not!

Porous underside. 

Something from the "Polypore"
family, i'm guessing. 

Behold,   Google Search to the rescue!   The name is the Cinnabar Polypore.   (I wonder why...?)  Bright orange on the top and bottom,  Porous  underside,  grows on sticks and is very distinct. ( And tough!)  Very pretty, but I doubt I would want to eat it.  Probably not poisonous,  but impossible to chew!

Clouds are rolling in. 

And getting darker. 

Getting back to the Weather...  Today was a bit of a change up.    Cheryl chose to run early again, but there was supposed to be a storm mid-afternoon.    The dark skies reminded us of the "Subie Rocker" event last year.   We were just finishing up when the dark skies completely covered us.   But luckily,  the rain held off until we were nearly home.

Whew!   How long before it rains?

But we are almost done. 

It also brought high winds and cooler air with it.  I did not mind the temporary change in Temps and Humidity.  Plus, my tomatoes could use the water.   The rain kept us all inside for most of the day, foiling my big plans for another Subie Project.   Perhaps tomorrow will be better, with overcast skies keeping the sun off of me.   We shall see.

Hope everyone is having a grand time.  If you are in Iowa... Stay Cool!   If you are North of Iowa....  You are probably already cool... and very lucky. As for me, I'm always Cool... even when the weather is hot.... Because I wear shades...   Hope you at least enjoy your weekend.   Thanks for stopping in.

Changing the Transmission Fluid On The Silver Bullet Subaru.

Because everyone should love
their Subaru.

I have discovered a new way to show Silver Bullet Subie some love!   Without having to wait for him to break or run 3000 miles for an oil change.   Nope!   Today I discovered how to change the Transmission Fluid on a 2003 Subaru Legacy!

Hmm.  Should I worry about this?  

Now, I'm sure many of you are saying, "So what, Big deal."    OR you are saying: "You have to actually change that stuff?" I know!  It was a surprise to me as well.  I have been curious about this ever since I accidentally watched some Subaru video where they mentioned it.  (I should mention that I'm aware many people don't even know what a transmission is.... until it breaks.)

300,000 miles is a Lot!  And it's getting
closer....

So why has this suddenly appeared on my radar of things that should be done?    Well,   Subie is beginning to pile on the miles.    And my hope is that he still has many years AND miles left in him.  And the only way to do that is to keep him maintained and up to par on routine,  AND UN-routine things.    And that is where the Transmission change comes in.  ( By the way, there has been NO performance issue leading to this... Hence the lack of grease for a wheel that never squeaks.)

I've got a book!   Knowledge is
power. 

So,  After watching several dozen You-Tube videos,   reading forums and books,   And after asking Andy, the Subaru Mechanic Brother-in-Law about it,  I finally gained enough bravery to try such a delicate task on my own.   I say "delicate" because it is possible to mess this completely up and cause Subie's Transmission to blow up.  First do no harm!

My attempt at determining if I'm
Level. 

After the jack stands on one side,
I'm finally level this direction too! 

Armed with the Manual,  17 mm Socket, and a very long funnel,  I prepared for surgery.  Subie had already been hot, so I did not have to warm him up.   I tried to find a level spot on our yard, which was a bit of a challenge.   First, because our yard is basically a hill.  And second,  I had no real professional way to make sure Subie was level.   I ended up using a level on the roof.   It appeared to work on a "Some-What" level.  ( Can I say, "Level" one more time?)

17mm  with a breaker bar.

Draining the Fluid. 

Then, on to the draining part.   A bit of a challenge, given the space.  Even with the jack stands, it was a chore.  I ended up using my Breaker Bar, which I have rarely used before, for the task.

Nothing holds old fluid better than
an empty cat litter container. 

Every 30,000 miles?!?!  Oops!  

The fluid was a little dirty, but not black!   Which is good!  Because I have never changed it and we bought the car 170,000 miles ago!   How often are you supposed to change the Transmission fluid?  Acording to the book:   30,000 miles!   Oops!   That kind of neglect is enough to have the Authorities take your Subaru Privileges away!  Thankfully,  the neighbors are none the wiser and everything stays in the Family. For the record,  I do feel very bad about that....

New crush washer installed. 

The Book has the Answer.

With the fluid drained out,  I re-insert the Drain plug with a new crush washer.  I debated whether to use the old one, but it looked a little rusty and I had purchased a new one anyway.  Might as well put it on.

18 lbs of torque. 

 I found the Torque Spec and used the trusty Torque Wrench to tighten it down.   ( I love that thing!)

DEXTRON III from NAPA. 

Time to fill 'er up! I dug out the extra-long funnel I specifically bought for this project last year.  (Yes,  I originally planned on doing this a year ago! But that is another, long story...)  I pulled out the dipstick and inserted the funnel.  And then cracked open the case of Dextron III transmission fluid we purchased at NAPA.   Autozone did not have specifically what we needed.  And I did not want to be short.

Umm,   The Book was a little off,
thankfully!

Check out the color... and the really
Long funnel. 

The Book told me that it required about 10 quarts!   Andy said he puts in 4.   So who is right?   Turns out, Andy was  spot on.   I'm not sure where that remaining 5 quarts are, but they did not come out the drain plug.  And I was careful not to overfill it.  Regardless,  we bought 10 quarts anyway, because there is the "Idiot Factor" that inevitably comes with my do-it-yourself jobs.

But what do I do with all this extra
now?  

Start up the car,  Shift through the gears.

The difference with this project compared to an oil change is that you have to start the car up and then shift through the gears.   Easy enough, but it seemed a Little strange checking the dipstick while the car was running.   But after topping it off and taking it out for a test drive,  everything seemed totally normal. 

All the way down and back up. 

Then take him out for a test
drive. 

The best thing is that I felt there was no difference in performance.   I say that is a GOOD thing because it means that there was not a problem before... (so if the change improved things.... it would suggest  I waited too long,)   And there was not a problem after!  ( so I did not make things worse with my attempt to do it myself.)

Compare the new vs the old
fluid stain color. 

After all is said and done,  I swapped out the transmission fluid and no animals or Subarus were harmed in the process.  I call that a success!   There are a few other things that might need changing, but those will have to wait a few days after I make sure everything is square with the transmission.  Overall,  Subie has been a Champ with all the long drives we have been on.  I'm hoping the new juice will give him a boost in life and happiness.  And, the whole process was fairly simple!   I'm not sure why I was so scared about it for so long.  ( Actually,  I know EXACTLY why I was scared about it.... but that was a Jeep and a long time ago.)

182 horses, just like this one!

182 horses, just like this one!

So here's to The Silver Bullet Subaru!  Every Cowboy has a favorite Horse.   Just like the Lone Ranger and The Man From Snowy River.  Only I have 182 of them under the hood in the form of a Boxer Engine.    Go, Go, Silver Bullet Subaru!