December 2024

Sunday: (12/01) A couple of slices of Artichoke garlic bread topped with cheese, chicken and an avocado for breakfast. I relaxed most of the day except that I cleaned the leaves from the front orchard, parkway and street gutter. I also assisted in relocating a couple of chicken coops. Ramen noodles and a wiener for lunch. Dawn made an eggplant yellow lentil soup for dinner.

Monday: (12/02) About 0900 I headed off in the van to get gas and do some shopping. The cheapest gas was in Sunnyvale at the Great Gas station on Matilda and Maude, only $3.73/gallon. The cheapest nearer me was $3.93 but most were $4.29-4.59. Next stop was Lowe’s. I got some hinges and hitch pins for the van bed. Then I was off to Grocery Outlet on Fair Oaks. Avenue. Before leaving there I had brunch of a wiener and cheese sandwich. Then off to the Sunnyvale Walmart Neighborhood Market. Then I came back on El Camino Real with a stop at Smart and Final Market. Then I looked for a nice parking spot in a mostly empty lot. I decided the Mountain View Target store lot would do. I had planned on parking near a hardware store but that didn’t workout. While parked, I swapped out the gas struts on the Van bed from 70 lbs to 40 lbs strength struts. Seems to work better. I also installed the front hinges. It should be functional now for easier access to the side storage areas over the water tanks from the rear door side. Maybe sometime in the future I’ll add some struts to the front side so it can be opened for inside access. Baked white fish with rice and red beans and corn on the cob.

Tuesday: (12/03) A banana for breakfast. I pulled the inverter/charger out of the motorhome. I inspected it for any obvious reasons for why it died. No new burning at the output terminal nor on the jumper I installed last time. I assumed it might be a loose connection to the control panel because I had disconnected it during the last repair. And it might have bounced looser. Since I had the terminal block, I installed it in place of the burnt terminal block and I removed the unused and unneeded outlet from above the terminal block to provide more room for the repair. After reinstalling it it worked so hopefully it continues to work now. A ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. We all went to Redwood City with our neighbor Meili. We stopped at the thrift store, Costco for gas and shopping and then returned home. Dinner was a chicken bake from Costco.

Wednesday: (12/04) I had the last of the artichoke garlic bread as toast with ham and cheese for breakfast. Lou and I went shopping for a few things. Back home my lunch was a salad. I relaxed the rest of the day except for installing a new CO/Smoke detector in the Van. Lou made a stir fry chicken and vegetable dinner.

Thursday: (12/05) A slow start today due to my congested lower throat. I ate my usual unfrozen pancake and sausage sandwich for breakfast. I took a walk around the neighborhood in the morning. Later, I took off in the Van to get lunch at my Chinese fast food restaurant, Wok On. After lunch I took a nap then visited the Dollar Tree store before heading home. Lou made stuffed peppers with baked potatoes for dinner.

Friday: (12/06) I still have a congested lower throat. I ate my usual unfrozen pancake and sausage sandwich for breakfast. Later I made a big batch of enchilada casserole and had some for lunch and dinner. I was pressed into chauffeur duty and drove Dawn down to San Jose to a vision equipment presentation at the Vista Center.

Saturday: (12/07) I still have a congested lower throat. Granola and yogurt for breakfast. Leftover Chinese food for lunch. I was again pressed into chauffeur duty and drove Dawn down to San Jose to the main library to an authors event. I relaxed and shopped nearby before we returned home. Leftover enchiladas for dinner.

Sunday: (12/08) I started with a breakfast pancake sausage sandwich and a shower. After the Sunday morning shows, Lou prepared bacon and eggs with potatoes for brunch. I removed the kumquat tree stump. I had to remove the tree when I replaced the sewer line and after replanting it, it died. I also pruned a dead limb off the pomegranate tree because we can tell it is dead now but not later when all the leaves are gone. I went to the neighbors and checked a noise in her car, a crack in her wall and a new heater that didn’t work. The installer blamed the wire from the heater to the thermostat for the failure but it was actually the thermostat which a simple test of shorting the wires proved. Then I caught up with email and videos.Later in the afternoon I climbed on top of the motorhome and removed the satellite TV dish/dome that I smacked into a service station canopy. No damage to the innards, just a big dent in the cap. We all went to dinner in Los Altos at the Country Inn.

Monday: (12/09) Leftover omelet for breakfast. We went shopping at Walmart. I got some cough syrup to try and easy my cough. Per the instructions, I checked with my doctor before using it.The advice nurse and my doctor OKed it. I relaxed all day trying to get better. Lots of TV watching including the TV series Castle. Lou’s chicken soup for dinner.

Tuesday: (12/10) A frozen sausage and egg sandwich for breakfast. I relaxed all day binging Castle shows. Hot and sour soup for lunch. Lou’s chicken soup for dinner. Lou and I went to Harbor Freight in the evening for a tarp and rope for the cottage roof. Leftover enchiladas for supper.

Wednesday: (12/11) Leftover enchiladas for breakfast. I cleaned off the cottage roof and installed the new tarp. A salad for lunch. Afternoon delight of leftover ambrosia and chicken salad from a party Lou and Dawn attended. Leftover enchiladas for dinner. I took Lou and Dawn to a Nativity Scene at a nearby church.

Thursday: (12/12) A lot of rain last night. Leftover enchiladas for breakfast and lunch. Hot and sour soup for dinner. Relaxed all day. My cough and congestion is about the same.

Friday: (12/13)A few showers today. Hot and sour soup for breakfast. I relaxed all day. My cough is a little better today. Leftover enchiladas for lunch. Artichoke chicken breast and rice for dinner.

Saturday: (12/14) Hot and sour soup for breakfast. Chinese food for lunch from Lucky Bistro. This is their grand reopening with a new menu and it was half off. Frankly, it was better before. Leftover clam chowder for dinner. I relaxed all day.

Sunday: (12/15) Leftover Chinese food for breakfast. I prepared scrambled eggs with ham and cheese for brunch. Dawn now has what I have, a congested throat. I’m coming out of it now. Lou took brunch over to Dawn at her apartment. I relaxed at home most of the day. It was too wet to work outside. I took a drive in the Van in the afternoon. I got gas in Sunnyvale. Stopped at the Walmart Neighborhood Market in Santa Clara. Picked up a cheap lunch at Panda Express, a $5 two item plate. I then went to the REI parking lot and had lunch at about 1500. I relaxed there for a while then looked around the store. I did find a nice chair I may get later. Then I returned home. Lou complained yesterday evening that the TV in the living room wouldn’t get any channels. I suggested she unplug and replug it to see if it came back. Evidently it didn’t. She came out to the motorhome, my man cave and mentioned it wasn’t working still. I went to check it, which I didn’t do last night. I found there was no power to the TV. It wasn’t connected fully to the wall. Evidently this is because of her unplugging and replugging it because the TV did have power for her. When it was powered up there were no broadcast channels. So, I checked another TV and it didn’t work either. I went outside to the utility cabinet and found the door open, not good. Lou had plugged an extension cord into the pug strip in the cabinet for the lighted pig in the front yard. It wasn’t on either. So I reset the GFCI outlet and power returned for the TV antenna amplifier, the storm pump and the pig. We were lucky that the water didn’t back up into the rear yard. I found a board to brace the cabinet door closed. All should be OK now.

Monday: (12/16) Leftover Chinese for breakfast. I called my dentist to cancel today's cleaning appointment. I’m sure he doesn’t need to catch a nice virus. Hamburger for lunch. In the afternoon Lou and I took a drive up in the hills around Portola Valley. On the way home we picked up dinner at Tocos El Grullense. Dawn is still sick so we delivered her dinner. Lou shared her usual super nachos with Dawn. I had a veggie burrito. A few showers today.

Tuesday: (12/17) Leftover veggie burrito for breakfast. I got a call from Clark Pest Control for our quarterly termite inspection. I arranged to meet the inspector after I can drive down to San Jose. I was there just before 1000. About 1130, I called the inspector back and he returned after his lunch at noon. It only takes a moment to check the sacrificial stakes for any infection. On the way home I stopped at La Victoria Taqueria for lunch, a nice carnitas burrito with their wonderful orange sauce. Then I stopped at Walmart Neighborhood Market for some cough syrup for Dawn and at Dollar Tree for a few things. Scrambled eggs with cheese and a bowl of hot and sour soup for dinner.

Wednesday: (12/18) Leftover veggie burrito for breakfast. Relaxed inside much of the morning. Later, I went to my shop and pulled out the gas welder and repaired the base to our christmas tree that had one and a half legs break off. Salads for lunch. After lunch it was nap time which lasted until 1700 and it was dark already. I had left my table saw out to cut some boards for the van. It was now dark and there are no outside lights to light the saw. I got my 170 degree headlamp out and it worked extremely well while I cut the boards. Then I had to put everything back into the shop due to likely rain.Baked potato with chicken for dinner.

Thursday: (12/19) Hot and sour soup for breakfast. Lou and I headed off to the Milpitas Walmart SuperStore to get a few things. Lou found some sheets she had been looking for at Ross’s. I restocked my van freezer with some more breakfast sandwiches and we got some $3 eggs. Cheapest elsewhere is over $5. I got another pair of cargo pants and we got Dawn a hand vacuum cleaner at Walmart. A frozen chicken sandwich for lunch. On the way home we stopped at Sprouts Market for more things and World Market looking for mincemeat. Baked potato chili size for dinner.

Friday: (12/20) Hot and sour soup for breakfast. I cleaned up some remaining leaves from the gutter in front of our house then got carried away and cleaned most of the leaves from the neighbors gutter and front yard as well. It was the only yard with large quantities of leaves and I didn’t want them to blow into our yard when they dry out. I tinkered on the computer al day. Later, about 1630, Dawn needed to visit the Stanford Hospital emergency room because she had a fever and was having trouble breathing. Lou stayed with her and I dropped them off and returned to pick them up. Lou doesn’t like to drive at night. I had wieners and hash browned potatoes for dinner. I paid all our online bills.

Saturday: (12/21) A frozen sausage and egg sandwich for breakfast. Lou made chili rellenos for lunch. I made pork with sauerkraut and potato for dinner. I relaxed all day.

Sunday: (12/22) Lou made fried sauerkraut potatoes with ham and eggs for breakfast. I tinkered on the computer much of the day. Our neighbor across the street delivered their dog to stay for a few days. Leftover artichoke chicken with green beans for lunch. Leftover sauerkraut, potatoes and pork for dinner.

Monday: (12/23) A frozen sausage and egg sandwich for breakfast. I took the van out and visited Redwood City. A stop at Grocery Outlet added some food items to the van including some artichoke bruschetta, which I used for lunch on toast with cheese. I also explored a Best Buy, a Home Goods and Redwood Trading Post. I relaxed in the van otherwise and returned home before dark. Leftover pork with sauerkraut and potato for dinner.

Tuesday: (12/24) Some good rain last night and some showers today. A frozen sausage and egg sandwich for breakfast. Lou and I made a run to Walmart for a few things. Our dog sitting ended and the neighbors picked up their dog. Artichoke bruschetta and cheese toast for lunch. Lou made fish with tater tots and corn on the cob for dinner. In the evening we took a drive through some of the decorated neighborhoods.

Wednesday: (12/25) Nice dry morning. A frozen sausage and egg sandwich for breakfast. I prepared fried sauerkraut potatoes with ham and eggs for brunch. I took a walk in the afternoon out to Bol park to see the donkeys. Then back to the San Antonio Shopping Center and then home, about a 5.8 mile loop. About the only business open was Safeway Market and a Starbucks. Leftover pork with sauerkraut and potato for dinner. After dinner about 1715, we headed down to the Willow Glen area in San Jose to look at all the Christmas decorations in the neighborhood. One of the best areas for such viewing. Then on the way home we stopped in South San Jose and picked up a chicken brooder for Dawn.

Thursday: (12/26) Lou prepared boysenberry waffles with bacon for breakfast. Lou gave me the OK to hit the road for a few days. I had to do a couple of projects first. I repaired the latch on one of Dawn’s compost bins. A little grinding, installation of a new bolt and lots of WD40 did the job. I also had to move Ernie’s new bike inside the tent. Now it has a tarp clover and a tent until the weather clears long enough for him to make room in his shed. I also checked the inventory in the van, adding some things and removing others. Next fill the water tank and empty the gray tank. And finally a shower and beard and haircut for me. Lou fed me a late lunch of artichoke chicken over rice. I stopped for gas in Cupertino and at Walmart Neighborhood Market in Santa Clara before getting on freeway 85 to Highway 101. Traffic was pretty good until a mile North of Cochrane Road in Morgan Hill so I turned onto Monterey Highway down to Gilroy. I stopped at a Grocery Outlet there then on to Hilister where I picked up a burrito at Super Taqueria for dinner. Then on to my campsite for the night, beside the road just outside Pinnacles NP. Ita was raining pretty good from Gilroy.

Friday: (12/27) Up at 0500. Had a frozen sausage and griddle cake sandwich. Drove in to the park at 0600. I relaxed at the Pinnacle s View Point parking lot until about 0930. Then I took a walk out the South Wilderness Trail to the Pig trap then up the hill toward Mt Defiance. Then I hiked down the ridge to find where an easier ways is for the trail. It meets at the confluence of the side creek. Then I hiked cross country back to the van. After more burrito for lunch, I drove South on Highway 25 then onto Highway 198 to the Parkfield Grade Road. I got a call from Lou when I got the to top of the grade. Evidently our sump pump decided to have a fault and is tripping the GFCI. I headed back toward home. I stopped in Greenfield to pick up some flan at the Ranch San Miguel Market and to stretch my legs. Then on to Salinas where I stopped at a Harbor Freight to buy a new sump pump. I couldn't count on our local store to have what I needed. Another stop in Morgan Hill for some gas, then home about 1900. I had some leftover artichoke chicken over s baked potato for dinner.

Saturday: (12/28) I had a frozen sausage sandwich for breakfast. Then I got to work on the pump replacement. I pulled out the old pump. Separated the parts I needed to reuse then went to the ACE Hardware to get the fittings to match the new pump to the old output line. After the new pump was installed I cleaned out the sump to get rid of the roots and debris. All good again. Then it was shower time. I also washed my clothes and the laundry in the van. About 1130 I was back on the road heading South again. I filled the gas at my cheap gas station in Cupertino. Then I ordered a pizza from House of Pizza in San Jose and picked it up on the way out. There were three traffic backups on Highway 101. I bypassed a lot of it by taking Monterey Highway then was back into the backup leaving Gilroy on Highway 101. Then another backup in Prunedale. Next stop in Soledad at the Grocery outlet for a leg stretch. Lou and Dawn went to Harry’s for prime rid after I left. I stopped for the night as it got dark at San Lucas, Highway 198.
Campsite at the junction of Highway 198 and Highway 101, 36.121396, -121.024916


Sunday: (12/29) I left my overnight spot about 0630 heading East on Highway 198. I turned onto the Parkfield Grade Road and on to Parkfield. Leftover carnitas burrito for breakfast in Parkfied by the Parkfield Cafe. Quaint spot with ornate grounds around the cafe and Lodge. The highlight is the steel fence surrounding both with warning signs to keep the gate closed to protect against the wild pigs. You can see their rutting all along the outside of the fence. They have a Bluegrass Festival each year on Mothers Day Weekend. We’ll have to return for that sometime. I continued South to Chalame then took Highway 46 into Lost Hills where I stopped at a nice Mexican market for some cookies. Then I checked where the cheapest gas was and it was at Walmart in Shafter, just ahead. It was $.20 cheaper than the cheapest anywhere else in lost hills, Shafter or Bakersfield. I took a walk in Walmart and bought a replacement bowl for the van. Then on to Highway 99 into Bakersfield. I stopped at the Rice Bowl for lunch at 1230. Nice BBQ ribs, shrimp, fried rice and chow mein. I headed out of town on Highway 178 through the Kern Canyon. My trip almost ended near the mouth of the canyon at the most narrow part of the road passing a power plant. A fifth wheel trailer pulled by a big truck was passing around the corner just before the narrow spot as I was entering. I had to stand on my brakes to stop in the road so his trailer could proceed back into his lane more. It was 1.5 feet into my 10 foot wide lane and my van is 8.5 feet wide. The car behind me was tailgating me and sounded his horn. I’d like to think he was honking at the truck but like he was honking at me. Better to be rear ended than to have a questionable blame side swipe. I continued East past South Fork onto Kelso Creek Road and into Jawbone Canyon. I passed a couple of wrecked side by side ATV’s. A guy there was worried if the people returning to ket his damaged ATV and pick up himself and his girlfriend might be too late since it was getting cold. I got some info from him and headed to his camp to let them know he was concerned. I passed his ride about 5 miles further up the road. With the need for my message delivery relieved, I stopped at the top of the mountain for the night about 1600. A bit windy here on top but the view should be nice tomorrow morning. leftover Chinese food for dinner, and still more leftovers. Wow! 68 mph winds now and for the next few hours dropping to the 50’s. There IS a reason why there are so many wind turbines on the tops of these mountains. What was I thinking?
Dispersed campsite along Jawbone Canyon Road. 35.344386, -118.111726

Monday: (12/30) Up before the sun. The wind had died down but it was still cold. I prepared some cheese blintzes for breakfast. I watched a nice sunrise before I hit the road again. I wanted some light to be able to avoid a few bumps and sand pits. I headed North on Highway 14 from Jawbone Canyon Road to California’s Red Rocks State Park. I paid my parking fee and headed off on a hike. It was only 3.5 miles because I had to turn around. I’m too old to be trying to walk the knife’s edge of the trail along the crest of the bluff. I did it 15 years ago but now my balance is nowhere near good enough. After coming down on the back side I did a loop hike around in Hanson’s canyon. I had leftover Chinese food for lunch. I called the Dentist and confirmed my appointment for next week. After a good rest, I took another hike in the other direction. I got a good look at where the knife's edge ended up and there was no way to get past where it met a cliff at the far end. I swear I hiked across it a few years ago successfully but can’t see how that would be possible, even if i had good balance. Maybe erosion has modified the path. After the second hike I left the campground and went to the Red Cliff parking area. After another rest, I took a hike out a nature trail there. All together I hiked about 8 miles today. Leftover pizza for dinner. I park beside the road just outside the park for the night.
Campsite beside Highway 14 South of Red Rocks State Park: 35.318219, -117.980255.

Tuesday: (12/31) A frozen sausage and cheese sandwich for breakfast. I decided to head South today. I drove down to Mojave and looked around at the Space Port. Then I continued on down to Agua Dulce and visited the Vasquez Rocks County Park. I took about a 6 mile hike including part of the PCT. I then went about 10 more miles West on High 14 stopping at Lang Station to get some photos of old Lang signs. When I got to I5 the traffic was really heavy so I decided to head North On I5 rather than continue West to the coast. I stopped in Gorman for gas. I was very close to totally empty. I got $10 worth of $5.69/gallon gas. I had checked and there was cheap gas in Frazer Park about 10 miles further but I was too far empty to not get some gas. In Frazer park I added 22.5 gallons more. My tank is only 24 gallons. However, for some reason my gas gauge only said it was half full. I figured the gauge was the problem because I got the quantity of gas I expected. After about 20 miles the gauge was finally reading correctly again. I stopped for the night alongside Hudson Ranch Road West of Frazier Park.

November 2024

Friday: (11/01) Granola with banana and yogurt. I was tasked to drive Dawn down to San Jose to get a flu shot. Before we left I got a call from out tennent there that their heater wasn’t working. After Dawn’s shot I dropped her off at the Library at San Jose State. When I was going into the house there I discovered immediately that I didn’t have any keys to either Dawn’s apartment or house. Fortunately the tennent was there but was on a phone meeting. I checked the heater and it made noise but didn’t heat. It sounded like the purge blower came on but the flame never came on and the fan never came on. I couldn’t get into Dawn’s apartment where the attic access is o I had to wait for Dawn to walk from the library to the house. I had a tuna sandwich while I waited for Dawn. When I got into the attic my suspicions were confirmed and I didn’t find any fuses to replace, the limit of my expertise. I called and scheduled a technician to come out which they will on Monday morning. I took Dawn hove via the Los Altos Library then collected some heaters and returned to San Jose. So now they won’t be without heat all weekend. I also rewrapped and taped up the main duct where the plastic wray had burst and the insulation was falling off. Then on the way home I stopped at Lowe’s and got some more keys made and got a lock box for a set of keys. I also got some more furnace filters. Lou made roast chicken with baked potatoes and fresh cranberry sauce for dinner.

Saturday: (11/02) A frozen breakfast sandwich for breakfast. I got out the table saw and made a new base mount for the new compost toilet. This new one has a much more rounded base edge so the base frame needs to be taller to keep the toilet in place. The toilet is now all set up and ready to use. I’ll need to paint the frame some time but I’ll wait until I confirm it works well. We went to Harry’s Hofbrau in Redwood City for lunch. Back home, the glue has set on the toilet frame so I installed it to the board the toilet sits on in the shower. In the evening we went to IKEA for a walk. Leftovers for dinner.

Sunday: (11/03) A nice relaxed Sunday morning even better because of an extra hour's sleep due to DST. I had leftover lasagna for breakfast.I took Lou to Kaiser to get a checkup. I dropped Dawn off and Barnes and Nobles while I visited the Walmart Neighborhood Market. After getting a few things I relaxed in the lot watching Youtube videos until called to pick everyone up. We stopped at Safeway and got some soup for Lou and Dawn’s lunch. For lunch I had a bacon and cheese sandwich. Back home I paid bills and tinkered on the computer. Later I helped the neighbor with a leak on her sink valve. I wasn’t able to improve it and recommended a replacement. For dinner I made chili, mashed potatoes, corn and onion with cheese bowls.

Monday: (11/04) Granola and yogurt for breakfast. After a shower, Lou and I were off to San Jose to meet the heater repair technician. He was scheduled to arrive between 8-9 am. I called about 0850 and confirmed I had given them the correct address. I had. About 1000 I was notified that the technician had called in sick and another technician would be out between 1100-1300. Alex arrived just after 1100. He checked it out and determined the control board was bad. He departed and found a board and returned to install it. Heater back in operation about 1330. Lou and I stopped for lunch at Aqui’s restaurant in Cupertino on our way home. Dawn had planned on riding her scooter over to Stanford but had some kind of event that made her leave the scooter and walk home. On our way home we stopped to pickup the scooter. Unfortunately, it was locked with two cable locks, one through the front wheel and the other locking that cable to a fence rail. The lock on the wheel had an unknown (unremembered0 combination so I had to move a bunch of stuff from the Van garage and load the scooter into the garage. Back home I returned everything back to its proper home in the van and cut the cable off the wheel. I had some wieners and hash browned potatoes for dinner.

Tuesday: (11/05) Granola and yogurt for breakfast. I was a chauffeur for Dawn to pick up her food. We also stopped by the library to return books. I worked on our old Coleman generator. I determined it might be the ignition coil shorted so I ordered one. Stir fry vegetables with tofu for lunch. Just relaxed in the afternoon. Salad for dinner.

Wednesday: (11/06) Two waffles with ham and cheese as a sandwich for breakfast. I worked on the honda generator this morning. I checked out why no spark and found the kill switch seemed to be active when it shouldn't. After disassembling the entire generator to get access it started working. Hopefully it continues to work. I used starting fluid and could get the engine to run momentarily but now with its own gas. After assembling and disassembling the carburetor several times, I eventually cleared the plug and it runs like a champ now. It only started because I gave up and ordered a replacement carburetor then trie fixing it one more time. It then worked so I was able to cancel the carburetor order. Each time I reassembled the carburetor one of the gaskets leaked gas. Tightening the bolts wouldn’t stop it. That final reassembly when the engine finally ran, the leak also stopped. Don’t know why but I have ordered a gasket kit to keep around. Ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. Lou made porcupine meatball stuffed peppers, chili rellenos and Brussel’s sprouts for dinner.

Thursday: (11/07) A frozen pancake, sausage, egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast. I blew the leaves from the yard to start. I worked on the second generator. I received the replacement ignition coil yesterday evening. It went in and needed a second seating to make the coil closer to the flywheel to work. I cleaned the carburetor and it started. A little tuning and it seems it will be OK. I had a salad and some jambalaya soup for lunch. In the afternoon I checked the Van’s spare tire pressure. It was only 59 psi and needed to be over 80 psi so I aired it up. It doesn’t seem to have fixed the fault code. I then worked on installing the struts on the bed to allow lifting it for storage access. The struts I bought are too strong so I need to get some weaker struts. I did make a run to ACE to get some screws and I filled the gas cans on the way. Lou made a pot roast for dinner.

Friday: (11/08) Granola and yogurt for breakfast. I lost my blue hat. I had to dig out one of my spare hats to be able to go out in public. I drove back to ACE, where I was last night working on the van bed strut installation, to look for my hat. It wasn’t there. I planned on a hike today. But, I decided to do some shopping first. I stopped at Dollar Tree to stock up my freezer with breakfast sandwiches and ice cream. I stopped to pick up lunch at Super Taqueria. I made my way up to Foothills Nature Preserve to the ViewPoint and ate half my burrito for lunch. About 1300 I started my hike. I hiked a 10,5 mile loop around the park on the Coyote Trail, the Los Trancos Trail and the Toyon Trail and then, because it was now dark, I took the road back to my van at the ViewPoint from the Entrance Gate, about 1 mile. The rangers were telling people to leave the park because it closed at 1800. Dawn called and wanted me to pick her up at the Los Altos Library later after a book sale event. I went there and had my dinner of some Dollar store trees. A cheese burger, a salisbury steak with macaroni and cheese and some salad.

Saturday: (11/09) Leftover burrito for breakfast. Recovery time in the morning. I relaxed all morning.We all went to Harry’s Hofbrau for lunch. More relaxing back home. Not much accomplished today. Some wieners and hash browned potatoes for dinner.

Sunday: (11/10) Dawn wanted to go to Hobee’s Restaurant in Palo alto for her birthday breakfast. After breakfast, Lou and Dawn headed off thrifting for the day. I walked from the restaurant to Walmart, then Kohl’s looking for a new hat. They are very hard to find and I struck out. Walmart is being remodeled and it’s been a few days since I was last there. Lots of rearranging. KIt looks like the food section is going to become a real market now. I caught the bus home. My knees and legs are not working correctly. I may be canceling my hikes at Pinnacles unless I can find leaders for them. Back home I worked on the junk piles in front of my shop. I cut a lot of scrap wood up and am ready to burn it some time soon. Lou and Dawn went to Famous Dave’s for their late lunch at 1600. I had leftover lasagna from Harry’s for my dinner at 1800.

Monday: (11/11) A frozen pancake sausage sandwich for breakfast. It was a rainy morning so we were slow getting out. Lou and I went to Walmart and bought a tent I saw there yesterday. Lou wants a new one to sleep outside. Her current screen tent doesn't work now that we are coming into winter. I had a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. Then Dawn joined us and we went to the Dollar Tree store and REI. I started working on the mulcher. I set up a work table and cleaned the gunk off the engine. Tomorrow I’ll clean the carburetor and try to start it. Lou made linguini with clam sauce for Dawn’s birthday dinner. It was followed by a chocolate cake.

Tuesday: (11/12) I heard the vibrating roller on the paving project about 0330. I walked down to see their activity and watched as they were finishing the last 100 feet of the last lane. They seem to be doing about 1.1 miles of a single lane each night and ended where I had predicted yesterday. Tomorrow they will be passing by our street. I binged the 800 Words TV series all night. A frozen pancake sausage sandwich for breakfast. Ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. Lou made linguini with clam sauce for dinner.

Wednesday: (11/13) A frozen pancake sausage sandwich for breakfast. I cut down the apricot tree. It's always been in the way and is a little worse for wear. It is (was) 80 years old. I managed to trim it down to within an inch of the ground. I was also able to remove half of the roots. While I was hacking and hewing I was also burning all my scrap wood. Vegetable beef soup for lunch. Leftovers for dinner. About 1930 I took a walk toward Stanford to watch the paving crew. I also took a walk over to the Arizona Garden on the Stanford Campus. It is quite different when viewed at 2200 at night. I finished watching about midnight then walked home and tucked myself in bed at 0100.

Thursday: (11/14) A frozen pancake sausage sandwich for breakfast. I removed the rest of the tree stump and back filled with dirt. Our neighbor, Meili, took us all to dinner at Aqui’s restaurant. Ernie joined us. I think this is due to my jack hammering out her sidewalk and repairing a water leak in her backyard a few days ago. I filled the compost bins with more apricot tree wood after they were emptied by the disposal service. I still have another load for next week but I can’t make the bins too heavy. Not much else done today. A wiener and hash browned potato sandwich for dinner.

Friday: (11/15) Granola and yogurt for breakfast. I tinkered with the leaf shredder motor. I cleaned the carburetor. Then I couldn't confirm it had spark so I headed off the Harbor Freight for a spark tester. Before leaving I blew and raked the leaves in the front yard since I moved the van out of the driveway which was fully covered. Then off to shop. I, of course, got a few other items while at Harbor Freight. Then I visited the Walmart Neighborhood market near there, And then I stopped by a Grocery Outlet for more stuff. I stopped for lunch at an REI store in Sunnyvale and walked over to get lunch from the China Wok across the street. After lunch I looked around the REI store. I’m looking for an inexpensive day pack but none to be found there. I stopped at a Ross store across the street and found a good enough day pack for $19. Then headed home. I tested the spark on the motor and there wasn’t any. So I started disassembling the top of the motor to get access to the ignition coil. I needed to remove the flywheel to get to the coil but it would pull off. I added some penetrating oil and am waiting to see if it breaks free. I then covered it to protect it from any rain while I wait. We had a salad for dinner.

Saturday: (11/16) A waffle, ham and cheese sandwich for breakfast. I went down to San Jose to pick up the electric heaters that we loaned the tenants. I stopped at Grocery Outlet and at Smart And Final for a few things. I had my lunch at Smart and Final, leftover Chinese food. At 1325 Dawn called and reminded me that we were to go to a play at Gunn High School at 1400. I was in San Jose and had a good distance to get to the play. I made it about 5 minutes before curtain time. Nice play. Then I returned to my shopping run visiting Walmart, and Dollar Tree and getting gas before picking up dinner from Super Taqueria.

Sunday: (11/17) Lou made an oven omelet for breakfast. We were busy all morning getting ready to travel in the motorhome. Lots to do. We finally left at about 1300. We stopped in Gilroy for gas then continued on to Pinnacles National Park. We settled into site 98. After I got us all settled in, I took a walk around the camp to find some of my fellow hikers that are camping here. Peggy, Sharon, Chinese and I took a walk around the park looking for others. As we got back Sue was walking around looking for us. There is one other camper here, Belong=da with her husband. We had vegetable ground beef soup with toast for dinner.

Monday: (11/18) Leftover omelet for breakfast. I met my fellow SJMW Hikers at the camp store and we headed up to Bear Gulch for our hike. We hiked up to the reservoir and hacked around to the back side. Then we backtracked and headed up to the High Peaks rocks and returned on the Condor Gulch Trail. I had called Lou to come pick us up at the Bear Gulch TrailHead. I forgot to tell her it would be in about an hour. She arrived before we did, She had talked with a ranger there and he later told us she left a little miffed. I waited for her to return and some hikers left in one of the cars and some hiked back to the campground. Later the ranger returned and told me that Lou was on the way per a ranger at the campground. Evidently a broadcast to all the rangers in the park went out to be on the lookout for a man in a funny hat. I was back at camp and had enjoyed a chili baked potato when my fellow hikers caught up to Lou as she arrived after a ride around the park and they told her I was up at the trailhead. Lou thought they were nice to be concerned about me by stopping by. Lou made catfish with squash and rice for dinner.

Tuesday: (11/19) PBJ waffles with bacon for breakfast. I met my fellow hikers by the cmp store and we went up to the Old Pinnacles Trailhead and hiked through the Balconies Caves and then up Juniper Trail to the Tunnel Trail, then onto the High Peaks trail, then Down the Blue Oaks Trail and back to our start. About half of the hikers took an alternate route through the High Peaks Rocks rather than doing the Tunnel Trail. Back at camp I had a chili size for lunch. We had bell peppers and potsto salad for dinner.

Wednesday: (11/20) A couple of pancake sausage breakfast sandwiches to start. I met my fellow SJMW Hikers by the camp store and we headed up to the Old Pinnacles Trailhead. We hiked either through or past the Balconies Caves and then out into the North Wilderness. It was an 11.5 mile loop hike. Nice fall hike with golden trees and hills. Back hole we gave a couple of tours of the motorhome to my fellow hikers, I had a salad for lunch. We had leftovers for dinner.

Thursday: (11/21) A waffle ham and cheese sandwich for breakfast. I met my fellow SJMW Hikers by the camp store and we headed up to the Bear Gulch Trailhead. We hiked up through Bear Gulch to the reservoir then on up to the top of North Chalone Peak. We had lunch there then came back down. Back at camp I had a better lunch then took a nice shower in the park showers. They are much better than in the past now having hot water. Then Lou and Dawn returned from their day in King City and Greenfield. For dinner we had carnitas and pickled pepper sandwiches.

Friday: (11/22) A day of rest. I prepared eggs with carnitas and toast for breakfast. Then we battened down the hatches and drove over to the dump to empty our tanks and then filled our water on the way back. Now ready for a couple more days. Lou made fresh tomato soup for lunch. I relaxed all day binging on videos. Macaroni and cheese for dinner. After dinner, it started to rain and continued well into the night.

Saturday: (11/23) Lou’s birthday. Lou made eggs, bacon and home fried potatoes for breakfast. We relaxed at home most of the day. We did drive up to Bear Gulch to look around at the nature center. We also stopped for a walk by the river then returned home. I made carnitas and cheese sandwiches for lunch. Chili bean size for dinner.

Sunday: (11/24) Granola for breakfast. We slowly prepared to roll out of camp and finally did at about 0930. Lou tried driving out but we swapped back ner the exit to the park. We stopped in Holister to look around the Grocery Outlet and the Dollar Tree stores. I picked up a couple of donuts at the Spudnut donut shop next door. I accidentally left the headlights on and that killed the battery. I tried jumping as I usually do but my mind wasn’t working again. E called AAA and they jumped it for us. While he was jumping it i finally noticed what I was doing wrong. I was jumping to the negative rather than the positive, which explains the sparks and why our hand held jumper beeped. Fortunately, no damage to either batteries or jumpers. We stopped at the Longhouse Restaurant in Gilroy for lunch of Gilroy Garlic Pork Chops. Excellent. We disconnected the Jeep and Lou and Dawn were off shopping and Thrifting. The motorhome started up nicely. I stopped for some propane in San Martin then headed home. I setup the motorhome and cleaned up some leaves. Lou made some spaghetti for dinner.

Monday: (11/25) I had a donut for breakfast. About 0615 the battery died in the motorhome. The inverter had died again killing the AC power in the MH as well as the battery charging. It was raining again today so I waited until the sun was up and during a lull in the rain to bypass the inverter and install the battery charger I bought the last time this happened a month or so ago. I’ll pull it out later and install the terminal strip that arrived after I had made temporary repairs before. Then later prepared pork chops with eggs and toast for all. Lou and Dawn were off to an appointment. I went shopping as well. I stocked up at Dollar Tree and browsed Walmart. I also spent some time in the van on the computer. I had a problem with my Kaiser pharmacy order with it saying I didn’t have any unfilled needs. Today there was no problem so the order went through. I parked there all afternoon. As I was about to leave, Lou called and asked me to get some paper cups for Dawn. I got them and headed home in the commute traffic. Back home, I had some hashed brown potatoes and ham for my dinner.

Tuesday: (11/26) A pancake, ham and cheese sandwich for breakfast. A drizzly day. I relaxed at home all day. A salad for lunch. Dawn got a couple of chicken coops from her trading group, “Trading and Talking”. They went off to get them and ended up calling me to help. Dinner at Harry’s Hofbrau.

Wednesday: (11/27) Unfrozen griddle pancake sausage and cheese sandwiches for breakfast. I tinkered in the van on the computer all day. I received Lou’s new Chromebook laptop and set it up. I also received my new projector for the van and set it up. It works quite good in daylight for such an inexpensive projector ($80). Dawn prepared vegetable soup for our dinner at her apartment.

Thursday: (11/28) Thanksgiving day. Nice day, no rain. Unfrozen griddle pancake sausage and cheese sandwich for breakfast. I worked in the van again, still trying to resolve problems with automatic recurring payments. I finally decided it might be all a problem with a certain bank card and I used another card. We’ll see. Things have worked well for years and now, likely, an improvement caused this problem. We enjoyed a nice holiday dinner in the motorhome. Ernie joined us. Chicken, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy, fresh cranberry sauce, ambrosia, deviled eggs, and stuffing. After some recovery time, we had homemade apple and pumpkin pies.

Friday: (11/29) After showers, and my stepping into long pants for the day, we headed off to San Francisco. I ate my usual unfrozen breakfast sandwich, Lou and Dawn had pie for their breakfast. We went to Golden Gate Park in SF and visited the Natural History Museum and Steinhart Aquarium. We enjoyed the aquarium much more than our visit to the Monterey Aquarium. We had leftovers for lunch in the van before returning to the museum to see what remained. We were headed home before 1600. Back home we had pie for dinner.

Saturday: (11/30) Granola and yogurt for breakfast. Lou wanted to take a drive on the coast. I prepared the van and we headed over to the coast on Highway 84, then up to Half Moon Bay. We had some clam chowder from the New Leaf Market for lunch. We then headed back South to Pescadero Road. I stopped in Pescadero and Lou took a walk there while I took a nap. She bought some artichoke garlic bread from the market there. Then on to home. A couple of slices of Artichoke garlic bread topped with cheese and chicken.

October 2024

Tuesday: (10/01) We were heading off to Santa Cruz for breakfast and to the bookstore. At 0840 a ranger called and had our chairs and pot. Traffic was backed up on the freeway so we decided to turn back to Watsonville.. We returned to the Farmers Cafe for breakfast. We looked around the nearby Vallarta Market, a really good Mexican supermarket. Then back to Santa Cruz via back roads, to avoid the freeway backup. Dawn checked out the bookstore and thrift Store. Lou and Dawn had lunch at Zachary's where we had intended to have breakfast. I had some leftovers in the van where I was relaxing. We returned to camp via back roads due the evening commute freeway backup. We picked up our chairs and pot from the camp host. We sat in our chairs listening to the Vice presidential debate in the evening. Stuffed bell peppers for dinner.

Wednesday: (10/02) We left camp before sunrise heading back home via Gilroy. Breakfast in Gilroy at the Longhouse restaurant, Cowboy Garlic pork chops for all. A hot day in Palo Alto. Back home, I did a little moving out of the van but mostly relaxed the rest of the day. Pancakes and pepper rice casserole for dinner.

Thursday: (10/03) Lou made an omelet for breakfast. After a shower, I finished moving Lou and Dawn out of the van. The van is now ready to roll when needed. I did a little work in the yard transplanting a fuschia by the arbor. The outside shower door fell off its hinges when Dawn tried to use it. The upper hinge pin ferrell broke. I made a temporary fix using a couple of washers on the bottom pin to raise the door enough for the upper pin to hold. Leftover pork chop and potatoes for lunch. Another hot day. Lou made salmon rice for dinner.

Friday: (10/04) Leftover pancakes and wieners for breakfast. I built a plywood box to help organize the van’s garage space. The box is sized to fit the ladder and provide a divider between the kayak and everything else. I should then be able to remove either the ladder or kayak without emptying the entire garage. With that done, and since it was already way too hot, I headed off in the van. Air conditioning is nice. I did some grocery shopping for the van and stopped at Kaiser in Santa Clara and got my flu and covid shots. Then I stopped in Los Altos at a park downtown in the shade by the nice lawn. Nice and cool(er). After a nice nap, I had a salad for lunch near 1600. About 1700 I headed home. Still too hot. I installed the ladder box into the van. It seems to work well to help retain the load. No dinner needed.

Saturday: (10/05) I prepared my granola and yogurt breakfast but it had to wait. Our neighbor needed some help. She's back from a long visit back East and her gae=rbage disposal doesn[t work and a circuit is dead in her dining room. I checked out and determined that the disposal wall switch was bad. And the circuit breaker for the dead circuit was bad. There was an unused breaker in the panel so I energized the circuit by swapping the breaker but it was a 15 amp and the dead circuit was a 20 amp. I went to the store and got the switch and breaker and installed them. All back to normal. Back to breakfast at 0930. After breakfast and before it got too hot, I trimmed some limbs of the oak tree off the roof of the house then blew all the debris off the house. I also cleaned the top of the rain gutters. Then I cleaned the debris off the sun room roof. It took a while to clear that roof because I didn’t want to just b;ow it off to the ground because of where Lou and Dawn’s tent is right under it. I then cleaned up what debris did get to the ground. I did not have any room in the compost bins for the pruned limbs so they will have to wait for another day, after pickup, most likely. Then I needed a shower. After the shower, I troubleshot Dawn’s rice cooker. It seems to have both a bad over temp sensor and a bad micro switch. It is not worth repairing so I ordered a replacement. Mushroom soup, rice and tuna for lunch.

Sunday: (10/06) I had a frozen breakfast sandwich to start. I re-folded my kayak, It was folded improperly when I last folded it and was bigger than needed. I also started my laundry. I spent some time cleaning up leaf debris under Ernie;s trailer, much of which I put there yesterday. I also cut up all the limbs I pruned yesterday and filled the compost bin. Lou found a missing garbage can that I also filled for disposal the next garbage day. I worked on preparing a TV subscription password list for Dawn. About 1330 I went and picked up lunch for Lou and I at the Lucky Chinese Bistro. They have remodeled and are set up differently now. Still the same food with a few more options. We had the leftover Chinese food for dinner. Somehow my draft Meetup hike announcement that I haven’t posted yet disappeared. I redrafted it.

Monday: (10/07) Dawn had her first colonoscopy this morning. We were all up late last night for that. We dropped her off in Redwood City and then Lou and I got breakfast at the Tacos El Grullense there. Then back home to rest a bit. I did add some blocks in the van microwave cabinet to keep the saucepan, plates and bowls in place. All had been good using the corn chip bag to keep the bowls and plates in place before but after moving the saucepan there stuff has been moving around. I think I may have it fixed now. It was another record hot day so we relaxed in the motorhome with the air conditioner on. We had a scare when the breaker for the AC tripped. After resetting it no further problems. The solar charging in the van seems to not be working. I’ll need to do some serious trouble shooting soon. We had stuffed bell peppers for a late lunch about 1530 then I had some cottage later for dinner. Maybe there is a benefit to living in hot places, eating less.

Tuesday: (10/08) Dawn and I were off to the Dentist. I had him check a hole in a tooth. It turned out to be ¼ of my remaining wisdom tooth broken off. Options are crown, extraction or ignore it. I also ask his opinion on getting a gum graft my other implant dentist wants to do. Both are going to be wait and see. Dawn had a new mouth guard fitted. After that we went to Walmart Neighborhood Market for a few things. I didn’t have breakfast before the dentist so I had some leftover breakfast burrito from yesterday. I also stopped at Harbor Freight for some big clamps. Back home I installed the clamps on the two clip-on fans that had broken clamps. I also collected some things for van stock for my trip. Later, I went to ACE hardware to get some nylon washers to make a better repair of the outside shower door hinge. The weather today was much cooler. No lunch needed. I helped Lou move Dawn's compost bins over to her garden spot so they will be in the sun.I prepared chili sizes for dinner.

Wednesday: (10/09) I started my day emptying the motorhome and van holding tanks and filling the water tanks. Then our neighbor Meili took us all out to breakfast at Bajis Restaurant. Back home, I then headed off in the van. I did a little shopping before leaving the area at the stores that have my favorite stuff. I also stopped at REI and got some backpack meals. Traffic was heavy on the freeways everywhere. I hate that so I pulled off onto the side road in Pleasanton. Eventually I made it to Tracy and stretched my legs at Walmart and Winco. I also got cash and gas. I has some salad fir lunch there. On it Highway 120 stopping in Oakdale for a stretch. I found a nice Chinese restaurant and got my dinner there. Honey Walnut prawns combo dinner. I only ate ⅓ so lots of leftovers. I stopped for thr night beside the road about 10 m I less before the Yosemite Park entrance.

Thursday: (10/10) A frozen breakfast sandwich to start. I headed into Yosemite NP about 0630. I stopped at the Tunnel View vista point. I watched the morning light shop on the valley rocks. Then I drove up to Glacier Point. I enjoyed the view from there for quite a while. It seems to be very popular for wedding photos. I had more leftover Chinese food for brunch, lunch and dinner. That went a long way. I returned back to Highway 120 and stopped for a hike to May Lake. After dinner, with added wiener and hash browned potatoes at the trailhead, I headed out of the park, as it was getting dark, stopping at Saddlebag Lake for the night.

Friday: (10/11) Granola and v yogurt for breakfast. I was off at 0800 hiking sround Saddlebag Lake and out to the Lundy Canyon trail junction making a loop past several lakes. Mybtrac I er Sai I hiked 8.23 miles climbing 823 feet. A nice matched set of data. Weather was perfect. I had a ham and cheese sandwich about half way along the hike. Back at the Van I had a chicken breast and some carrots. Sa l ad for dinner. I went through my backpack and made it ready for a hike. I also went through all the bags in the van and determined what can stay in the van and what will Be left at home.

Saturday: (10/12) I made a ham and cheese omelet topped with chili for breakfast. Then I drove down to the rest area near Mammoth Lakes. I took a shower there. After that I went in to town, got gas and did my laundry. I also visited a DIY hardware store and got some pins to replace the removable hinge pins on the van bed. These have rings for easy removal. The I drove out to Inyo Craters and took a short hike. Lunch was wieners and hash browns and some carrots. For dinner I had prawns with hashbrowns and carrots. I camped in the forest off Mammoth Lakes Scenic Drive.

Sunday: (10/13) Banana, Granola and yogurt for breakfast. I took a hike at the Obsidian Dome. Interesting road turned into a 4x4 road. Then I stopped in at the ranger station and asked about permits for a couple of short over nights. Their system was down so I'd need to get the permit online. My battery was lower than when I started this morning and should have been more charged after my driving. I checked and the charger said the batteries were full but the battery voltage said they were low. More checking found that the fuse from the charger was open. It had burned up the fuse holder on the backside that I couldn't see. I drove to the hardware store to see if they had a fuse holder. I had fuses. No luck. I checked at the auto parts store but it is closed on Sunday. So I decided to go down to Bishop. The auto parts store there had a breaker I could use and the hardware store there had a wire crimper I needed to install it. I replaced a 70 amp fuse with a 30 amp breaker. I also changed a setting on the charger to limit the output to 30 amps from its maximum of 50 amps. So now it is limited to a trickle but should keep up with the refrigerator. I stopped for lunch at the Ranchera Mexican restaurant, chili relleno combo. I took a drove up to Lake Sabrina to see the fall colors. Dinner was a cold chicken breast and cottage cheese.

Monday: (10/14) Banana for breakfast. I drove out to McGee Creek Trailhead. I wanted to see if the fall colors were on display there. They were. I took a hike up McGee Creek Trail about 4 miles then back. Nice hike. I finished the hike about 1330. I thought I’d have a burrito in Lee Vining. But on the way I needed to drive the June Lake Loop to see the fall colors there. At June Lake Junction there is a store that advertised real milkshakes so I stopped in and got a huckleberry shake. They are really gook shakes. My lunch hunger was better. When I stopped in Lee Vining at the Mobil Restaurant they didn’t have any burritos on the menu, just expensive stuff so I continued on. I figured I’d get something in Oakdale at the Hnan Villa Chinese restarant. I stopped at the Clouds Rest Vista Point for a nap. I arrived there at 1950 and was pleasantly surprised they were still open. I got some pork egg foo young for “lunch”. I relaxed there for about and hour then continued home. I got gas in the van and arrived home about 2345. I swapped the jeep out of the driveway and moved the van in. I plugged it in to charge the batteries and settled in for the night.

Tuesday: (10/15) Leftover egg foo young for breakfast. I moved the refrigerator to get access to the bad fuse. The parts arrived in the afternoon and I installed a new circuit breaker of the proper size. Now to see if it now works properly. Unfortunately I had fully charged the batteries so I’ll have to wait and see if the solar charges better. I had some shrimp and hash browned potatoes for lunch. Lou made tempura for dinner.

Wednesday: (10/16) I made a ham and cheese omelet for breakfast. Lou and I went to ACE and I got a pair of strap hinges to use on the modified refrigerator cabinet. Back home, I cut the backrest side of the refrigerator cabinet and installed the hinges to allow the wall to be lowered to allow the refrigerator to be slid onto the 3rd passenger seat to provide access to the electrical cabinet under the refrigerator. Previously I had to empty the refrigerator and lift it out of the cabinet. I also cut the refrigerator platform in half so that just the side that provides access to the electrical area can be removed. I also installed a 2x3 onto the side wall of the van on the left side of the 3rd passenger seat backrest. This allows the backrest to be screwed into the 2x3 to restore support. Lou made squash soup for lunch. I then took a drive to Harbor Freight and bought some parts bins to match the two I already had to help organize spare parts and hardware. While there I organized all these items into the parts bins. I also bought and installed a ratchet strap to clamp the seat backrest to the refrigerator and also secure the refrigerator. Then I prepared a BBQ pulled pork sandwich for dinner. Then, hunger gone, I stopped at Walmart Neighborhood Market and got a few things to restock the van and from Lous shopping list..

Thursday: (10/17) Lou made hash and eggs for breakfast. I moved the van refrigerator out of the way to get access to the electrical area. So nice and easy to move it after the modification. I found thatA wire had fallen off of the terminal that the new circuit breaker was connected to. That killed power to the bluetooth for the solar charger. We were all busy preparing the RV to go to Dave’s ranch this weekend. I washed the motorhome and the van. I also moved some things from the MH to the Van and vice-a-versa. I also drained the holding tanks. Lou made tacos for lunch and pork roast with potatoes and artichokes for dinner.

Friday: (10/18) Breakfast sandwich to start. We finished preparing to leave and departed about 1130. Lunch from the Lucky Chinese Bistro on the way out of town. We arrived at the Ranch gate about 1510 and one of the neighbors let us through the first gate. We had the combination to the second gate. We selected a spot and set up camp. Jerrod, Dave’s nephew, arrived about 1600. Dave wasn't feeling well. We discovered the generator wouldn’t power the charger and the batteries were too low to use much power. So we had a cold dinner. No one else arrived Friday night. When we awoke, Darlene had arrived. She came in about 0130.

Friday: (10/28) Lou’s hash for breakfast. We finished preparing to go and left home about noon. Lunch at Lucky Chinese Bistro. We arrived at the ranch at 1510. I spent over two hours cleaning up all the cow poop near the ranch house and our campsite. They aren't supposed to be on the ranch but get through the fence. Noodles with taco meat for dinner. I started the generator before dinner and eventually noticed it was not powering the charger. Seems like the auto transfer switch is inop. I found an outlet at the back of the house see e but it was too dark and too many obstacles to move tonight. Tomorrow we nsy move or I may rewire the Gen we rotor directly. I normally have a nice volt meter but Lou borrowed it and didn't return it to the MH.

Saturday: (10/19) Waffles and chorizo sausage for breakfast. During the day several of Dave’s motorcycle friends, as well as ours since we see them all each Open Ranch weekend arrived. Motorcycle club members: Brad, Brian, Ron, Frank, Scott, and Darlene. SJMWH members Don with Lou and Dawn. Lunch at the Rainbow Junction Cafe nearby about 1330. We used the kitchen in the ranch house to prepare stuffed bell peppers for dinner. There was also a potluck and a nice campfire.

Sunday: (10/20) Prepared to leave early but were delayed a little while because the RV jacks wouldn’t come up. Eventually only the right front was partially down. With the socket set I had, I was able to manually retract that right front jack enough to get the boards out and it had about 4 inches of ground clearance. We said our goodbyes and hit the road. We took the road out to Ptterson then took I5 up to Tracy. We got some chicken for breakfast/lunch about 1000 then went to Winco to do a little shopping. We took I580, I680 and hwy 237 to get home. I parked and set up the RV. When plugged in the motorhome had power so the problem is the generator has no output. I tested out the cigarette lighter power cable for the Starlink Mini and it worked. I also ordered a replacement power cable to go with the starlink AC adapter to replace the one destroyed by the squirrel.

Monday: (10/21) I had a breakfast sandwich to start. After a shower, I departed for Pinnacles NP. I put myself on Tara's hike waitlist and hoped she would let me join the hike. It was a nice 10 mile loop up to the High Peaks and back through the Balconies cave. I relaxed in the van at the park for a while. Later I drove up to Holister. I stopped at Safeway for a few things including some jambalaya soup for lunch/dinner. I was drowsy so I took a nap. I left after 1900 and stopped by the Gilroy Outlet Stores looking for a corelle dish outlet. There used to be one but now it is entirely clothing stores. I arrived home at about 2115.

Tuesday: (10/22) Granola and yogurt for breakfast. I started with a shower. Then I prepared a new hike plan for our visit to Pinnacles in November and published it and the two previous hikes I had prepared. All three are attempting to coordinate with other hike leaders making it more difficult. I had a ham and cheese sandwich with leftover jambalaya soup for lunch. Then I completed my ballot and just need to return it to complete voting. I received some items from Amazon today and one item wasn’t what I ordered so I’ll need to return it. The replacement is on the way, hopefully not the same incorrect item. The items are needed to retract the stuck leveling jack on the motorhome. Later, I prepared a fourth hike and published all the hikes. Now I’m committed, or need to be. Lou made a spinach salad for dinner.

Wednesday: (10/23) I made an omelet for breakfast. I rode the bike to the library to deliver my ballot to the drop box. I worked on organizing tools. I took Dawn to her writing class and did some shopping on my return. I found three Corelle 20 oz bowls for the van and fitted them into the cabinet.I had wieners and hash brown patties for lunch. Dawn made some kind of cabbage dish with wieners for dinner.

Thursday: (10/24) Lou made an omelet for breakfast. I started to work organizing my tool pouches and collected the tools needed to raise the motorhome jack manually. I started to try to get it up but was interrupted by the neighbor. There was a water leak in her backyard. It seemed to be under a sidewalk in front of the garage. I got out my jackhammer and removed the sidewalk and dug out a trench to find the pipe and hopefully the leak. It looked like it was leaking at the base of the faucet riser. My jackhammering had made it worse. Lou wasn’t feeling good and I had to go to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. Lou and Dawn ordered a pizza for lunch. I finished some pizza before returning to work on the leak. I had to go to ACE to get a PVC pipe cap. The neighbor wanted to just abandon the faucet, so I capped it. It was a muddy job. I had to nearly empty my shop to dig out the jackhammer so I put everything back in its place after the repair. I then got back to a little work but changed to installing a new USBc-PD outlet and wiring for a regular cigarette lighter socket. I thought I had the outlet but not so so I’ll need to fill the hole and hook up the wires when I get it in a couple of days. After a shower, I made a salad for dinner.

Friday: (10/25) I had a couple of waffles with ham and cheese for breakfast. I took Lou and Dawn for a ride. Dawn had an appointment to get a shot. After that we visited three thrift stores on Almaden Expressway in San Jose. We got lunch at the Noodle Factory there. She also picked up a Free Cycle item. Lou made macaroni and cheese with artichokes for dinner. The highway repaving crew was working down the street so I spent a couple of hours watching the work.

Saturday: (10/26) Frozen pancake and sausage breakfast sandwich for breakfast. Lou and I went hopping in the morning. Back home I worked on the motorhome. I manage to get the right front leveling jack all the way up manually. I also looked at the generator and found the hard to locate output circuit breaker on the generator. It was off. It was also in a dark black area covered with dirt on the side of the control panel. Now I just have to remember where it is for next time. Then I worked in the office with bills and other fun stuff. A salad for lunch. I also checked the van chargers and they seem to be working now? Lou and I walked down the block to look at a house for sale. Only $3.8 million, they hope. I weighed the bed to be able to order the correct gas struts. My guess was way off. It's only 80 lbs. I found a new home for my wood chips for the compost toilet. They are now under the kitchen sink in one of the three waste baskets. Leftover corn, mashed potatoes and chili topped with cheese for my dinner.

Sunday: (10/27) A couple of waffles wrapping a slice of ham and cheese for breakfast. I worked in the Van to start. I disassembled the 3rd seat back and cut off the 2x2 the supports the back board so the seat pad can be secured with its straps and so the USBc PD outlet is more clear. I installed a new light fixture above the dinette on the wall. I also replaced the two bad puck light fixtures above the dinette. Later, I installed a new light fixture over the bed headboard. I had a couple of wieners and hash browns with some salad for lunch. Lou made macaroni and cheese for dinner. When I went to bed in the motorhome I noticed that the AC power to the inverter was off. I had a yellow indicator instead of a green one. Everything was running fine on the inverter and, as usual, no alarms were sounding. I checked for tripped breakers but found none. About 0645 the batteries finally shut themselves off.

Monday: (10/28) My first task was to reactivate the batteries and get some charge on them. I jumped them to the starter battery and they showed 12 volts. The solar didn’t do much to charge them further all day due to intermittent clouds. I washed the dirty solar panels and RV roof but it really didn’t help. A frozen breakfast sandwich for breakfast. I removed the inverter and opened it up to inspect it. I saw no problems inside and the circuit breakers were good. Then, I finally noticed the input AC hot terminal was burnt the inside wire had burnt open. It probably was partially cut and it heated up the terminal due to being an effectively smaller wire. The wires ion either side of the pass through terminal strip were tight. I located a replacement terminal strip and had it shipped via FedEx overnight. The $5 terminal strip cost $35 with shipping. A new inverter/charger would have cost over $1000. There are cheaper ($600) units but they are all bigger and wouldn’t fit in my compartment. Leftover macaroni and cheese with baked beans and wieners for lunch. Chips and salsa for dinner. I started working on the Honda generator that won’t start. I disassembled much of it draining the gas tank, cleaning the fuel filter and blowing out the fuel lines. I also removed the carburetor and will complete cleaning it tomorrow.

Tuesday: (10/29) A frozen breakfast sandwich for breakfast. I worked on a second dead generator. Both of these generators seem to have no spark. I’ll get some carburetor cleaned and starting fluid and also fix or confirm they have spark. About 0900 I received the terminal strip for the Motorhome inverter. It was the wrong one, too small. So, I decided to just splice the input hot wire together. I added a length of wire to allow easier connections. I needed to go to ACE to get some wire nuts big enough for the #10 wire. Back home I connected the wires and reinstalled the inverter. It now works fine. I’ll still try to get the correct terminal but won’t be in a hurry to install it. About 1300 I received my new Joolca compost toilet for the van. Then I was off to shop and get lunch. Lunch from Wok On Chinese restaurant. I shopped at Dollar Tree after lunch. I restocked the van with some breakfast sandwiches, Mexico bars and energy drinks. Then I went to Lowe’s for some garden soil and I also found a dust pan attachment for a 5 gallon bucket. Then a visit to Grocery Outlet in North Sunnyvale. Then I stopped by Advanced Auto Parts for the carburetor cleaner and starting fluid. Then I stopped by the back for some cash and Trader Joes for some salad mixes. A salad for dinner.

Wednesday: (10/30) A frozen breakfast sandwich for breakfast. I gave myself a hair and beard cut with a shower before and after. It passed inspection by Lou, who makes sure I don’t leave any long tufts of hair. I then walked over to the Caltrain station and went up to San Francisco. I meandered through downtown looking and buildings under construction. I walked to the Sales Force park at the Trans Bay Terminal. Then I walked up to Coit Tower, mostly for exercise. Then I came down to get pizza at the Golden Boy Pizza shop. I ate it at Washington park watching the gods play. Then I walked up over Russian Hill and down to Polk Street to get a donut at Bob's Donut shop. Then on down to the Farmers Market at the Civic Center. Then I caught Muni to the train and made it home before 1700. I received my new battery charger. I ordered a 20 amp smart charger. The only charger I had was a battery minder trickle charger. Leftover Chinese food for dinner.

Thursday: (10/31) A frozen breakfast sandwich for breakfast. Lou and I went shopping for a tent for her and Dawn to sleep in. Their current tent really isn’t good for foul weather. We looked online but didn't find anything. So we took a drive. REI, Dick’s, Sports Basement, and Walmart find anything either. We had some guacamole and chips for lunch. We got home at about 1500. Lou made baked potatoes with roast chicken and a salad for dinner.

September 2024

Sunday: (09/01) Granola and yogurt for breakfast. Spent too much time trying to reserve a spot for the motorhome this week or the near future near the beach and close to home. Absolutely impossible and at least in part due to the very poor website. It remembers nothing and uses false information, different from that displayed as its criteria for a search. A wiener and cheese sandwich for lunch. A long afternoon nap I was awake way too long last night. A beef pot pie for dinner.

Monday: (09/02) Granola and yogurt for breakfast. I worked on organizing the van stock. I took the Jeep out for an oil change. I removed lots of stuff to make room for Lou and Dawn and thinned out and organized the storage bags that were in the van from 6 down to 2. One my extra clothes and one with backpacking extra stuff. Pizza for lunch. I also repaired a compost bin lid latch. That required grinding off a bolt and going to ACE to get a new bolt. I finished my preparations to leave. Lou and Dawn were out shopping and did their preparations in the evening. I prepared some smoked pork chops with tater tots for dinner.

Tuesday: (09/03) Frozen maple griddle pancake, sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich to start. I pretty much wait for Lou and Dawn to finish preparing to leave. We got away at about 1030. We’re taking both the van and the Jeep separately. We’re taking the van because we couldn’t get a large enough site for the motorhome. The site we got was listed as 24 foot max and was the only space available for more than a couple of nights. E stopped in Greenfield at the Rancho Market for lunch. Dawn and I shared a torta. I had to stop at Bradley for a nap at the Rest Area. Lou and Dawn stopped in Paso Robles at the thrift store while I napped. We arrived at Morro Bay SP campground about 1600 and set up camp. Only the second time we’ve set up the tent that Lou is using. I had ramen noodles and wieners while Lou and Dawn had macaroni and cheese and wieners. It was 110 degrees in Bradley when I left, it was 65 degrees in Morro Bay and there was fog and a light drizzle.

Wednesday: (09/04) Granola and yogurt for breakfast. After 1000, we drove over to downtown Morro Bay for a look around. We had lunch at Giovani’s on Embarcadero in Morro Bay. We returned to camp about 1300 and relaxed in camp. About 1700 we tried to make grilled cheese sandwiches and warm up some soup for dinner. It was foggy all day and we barely received any charge to our batteries so I was running the engine to recharge the batteries. We want at least 90^ to start the evening so i didn’t want to use the microwave for dinner. No problem, just use the butane stove, Unfortunately we couldn’t get it to light. So we had a cold dinner of avocado bread for dinner.After dinner we went to Miner’s Hardware and got more gas. While it didn't seem like the stove’s fuel canister was empty it would light. We got a couple of spare fuel canisters. Back home, I tried to light the stove again. I was able to light it with a cigarette lighter but not with the igniter. I suspected that some of the burner holes near the igniter were clogged by my boilover last night. I blew through the burner and it then worked. Now ready for a hot meal tomorrow.

Thursday: (09/05) Granola and yogurt for breakfast. We returned to Miners Hardware for more looking. Also explored the antique store next door. Also visited a thrift store downtown Morro Bay. Leftovers for lunch. We went to the San Luis Obispo Farmers Market downtown at 1700. We decided on dinner at Urbane Cafe.

Friday: (09/06) I prepared smoked pork chops with hash browned potatoes and eggs for breakfast. I relaxed most of the rest of the day in camp. Lou and Dawn tried to hit the thrift stores in SLO but it was too hot, at 103 degrees, to continue that so they retired to camp. I did take a short estuary walk near camp in the afternoon. Leftovers for my lunch. Lou and Dawn had lunch at IHOP. For dinner we had pan toast and soup.

Saturday: (09/07) Granola and yogurt for breakfast. Lunch from Safeway, chicken and ambrosia. Dinner at Pismo Fish And Chips. Chips and guacamole for supper. We shopped at Walmart and Grocery Outlet. Then thrift shopping.

Sunday: (09/08) I Had a breakfast sandwich while Lou and Dawn had nectarines. We all took a walk on the Morro Bay Estuary trail near the park. Lunch at Bayside Cafe next to the park. About 1300, after all the weekend campers had departed, I took the van over and dumped the gray water tank. It had indicated it was full by bubbling some bubbles from the vent tube. Salad for dinner. I turned on the Starlink and Dawn attended her storytelling group Zoom meeting.

Monday: (09/09) Leftovers from Bayside Cafe for breakfast. Lou and Dawn were off shopping and thrifting today. I Relaxed In camp. Leftover salad for lunch. About 1430 I took a walk along the Estuary toward town. I stopped for a look around the natural history museum on the way. I walked past the Heron Rookery and v peaked in at the birds. continued on stopping at the Morro Bay Inn Cafe to check the menu. Then on to Bayshore Bluffs Park to look over the bay. Back home I prepared wieners and baked beans for dinner.

Tuesday: (09/10) PBJ waffles for breakfast. Dawn visited the Natural History Museum in the morning. Lou and I relaxed in camp. We all took a drive over the Baywood for lunch at a Thai restaurant. Then we drove out through the Montana De oro State park. Back at camp we disassembled the tent so Lou and Dawn can get away really early tomorrow. We’ll all be inside the van tonight. They have to get back for a meeting while I will be able to mosey back home. We watched the Presidential debate and had a campfire in the evening. For dinner, we had ham and cheese sandwiches.

Wednesday: (09/11) PBJ waffles for breakfast. Lou and Dawn were then off back to home. Dawn had a class to attend. I wasn’t in a hurry so I relaxed a while after breakfast then headed off. I stopped in Morro Bay at a health food store where Lou found some good gluten free bread and bought her a couple of more loaves. Then on to Atascadero where i did some shopping for the van. I restocked the freezer and got a new misc items box for the floor near the driver set. My existing box keeps tipping over so I got a wider one. The box holds all the loose items in one place. Then off to Greenfield where I got lunch at the Rancho Market, a nice torta and a flan, then relaxed there tinkering on the computer for a couple of hours. While there, I tried using the Starlink Mini by just placing it on the dash rather than on the roof. It still worked well. I left it on and it continued to work well all the way home (in motion). This is nice. At home I tried putting the windshield cover over it but that did cause a loss of signal. We had some canned chow mein over rice for dinner.

Thursday: (09/12) Soft boiled eggs for breakfast. I had a dental appointment this morning. On the way home I picked up my lunch from Wok On Chinese restaurant. I did some cleanup in the van and otherwise relaxed all afternoon. Ham and cheese sandwich for dinner.

Friday: (09/13) Granola and yogurt for breakfast. I worked in the backyard garden. I repotted some fuchsia, a wisteria, and some donkey tail succulents from the hanging baskets. They were root bound and included weeds and other plants. I also cut off a couple of hiking poles to fit Dawn. I got gas in the van at the cheapest station in the area, Maude at Borregas in Sunnyvale for $4.17, the usual cheapest was $4.49 and those near home over $5.00. Ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. I tinkered and napped the afternoon. I also looked for some SS thermal cups for the van and looked at ELV Electric Bikes in Santa Clara. I’m looking for a small folding scooter with good range and suspension. Looks like I’ll be looking for a while.

Saturday: (09/14) A frozen egg, sausage and cheese pancake sandwich for breakfast. After tea in the backyard, I set up the new screen tent in the backyard. I also got the Tuctek Kayak out of the van and gave it a better wash off to be sure the alkaline water of Mono Lake doesn’t cause any problems. After some shrimp eggplant soup for lunch. I cleaned off the workbench by my shop. The eggplants came from Lou’s garden. I had leftover Chinese food for dinner. Lou and Dawn made a run to Costco today.

Sunday: (09/15) I prepared some smoked pork chops with hash browned potatoes and eggs for breakfast. It was the usual slow Sunday morning. I then started the repair of Ernie's rear trailer door which was falling apart. I intended to just put a strap to pull up the far side of the door and return it to square but then it really fell apart. Some of the wood framing has rotted. I headed off to the hardware store to get materials. I stopped for lunch at Super Taqueria in Sunnyvale then went to Lowe’s. I got a sheet of medium weight metal and some sheet metal screws. Then I went over to the Super Walmart in Milpitas to get some butane fuel for the stove in the van. Even though they showed it was in stock there on their website, there was none there and not even a place where it had been. I was able to order it there for store pickup but I didn’t think they really had any, just a bad inventory system. I did order it for pickup in Mountain View which didn’t have any in stock so I thought they would just be sending it to the store for pickup in a few days. Nope, the order was canceled without a reason given a couple of hours later. Their price is half the price anywhere else so I thought I’d get some but Walmart seems to have some problems. Back home, I cut the sheet metal into six inch triangles for each corner on both sides of the door. It secured the metal framing together so it can now be supported with the cross strap. I reinstalled the now squared door and it works well now. A salad with a couple of wieners for dinner. I also notified Amazon of a missing shipment for my Harris Walz sign for the front yard. It was supposedly delivered by UPS on 9/12.

Monday: (09/16) I received my two high capacity Ryobi batteries and started one in the Inverter powering the Starlink at 0830. Theoretically the 7ah battery powering the Starlink which uses a max of 30 watts should run for over 4 hours since the 4am battery powered for over 2 hours. I had a sausage and cheese English muffin for breakfast. I tinkered in the office all morning. Leftover breakfast and salad for lunch. I repaired Ernie’s dead range hood fan. I tried to use my meter on the fuse panel but it didn’t show me anything incorrect. I pulled some fuses to verify that the panel was labeled correctly. The fuse labeled for the fan was good. I had to remove the whole assembly and discovered the wire color and there was only one that color and size on the fuse outputs and it was labeled as lights and was the one that I didn’t see a light go out when pulled. I removed that fuse and it was open. A whole lot of work due to an improperly labeled panel and a wire color and size change under the top of the hood. Did I mention the terrible difficulty getting in to see things? But, it now works. Leftovers for lunch. Salad and pork with potatoes from breakfast. Zucchini and sausage for dinner.

Tuesday: (09/17) An unfrozen sausage egg and cheese pancake sandwich for breakfast. I took off in the van for the day. I shopped at Target and found a good coffee thermos mug. So many are so poorly designed. This seemed just right. I also looked around Best Buy and REI before heading home before dinner. Lunch from US Chinese Food in Redwood City. I had chowmein, coconut shrimp and egg foo young. On the way home I picked up pastrami dinners from Harry’s Hofbrau in Redwood City.

Wednesday: (09/18) Granola and yogurt for breakfast. I tried to port our home phone number to Google Voice but Google can't port anything but cell phone numbers. In order to do it I'd need to port the home phone to a cellular carrier and then port from that carrier to Google. Too much work for right now. I’m thinking of deleting my fiber Internet to the house and just using Tmobile. But, I don’t want to lose the phone number. So, for now, I just transfer all calls to the home phone to Google Voice number, then to each of our cell phones. I tinkered with the van load, taking the bike out and reloading a bunch of clothes and backpacking gear I needed to go through. and fought with Amazon all morning. Leftover Chinese food for lunch. After lunch I rode my bike down to Whole Foods to pick up some Amazon packages that decided, by themselves, to be delivered to the store rather than my house. Nice ride anyway. Lou called and said she backed into a school bus. No damage to the bus, very little to the Jeep but they all had to wait for the Highway Patrol to come to make a report because students were on the bus. Dinner from Tacos El Grullense down the street.

Thursday: (09/19) I made my historical ciabatta ham egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast. I finally seem to be on my way for a refund for an Amazon package that was not delivered but was logged as delivered. The order was from Amazon, shipped via UPS and final delivery by the Postal Service. Evidently the USPS delivered it to themselves. Amazon has a problem giving refunds for items logged as delivered. It’s taken hours of effort to get that damned refund. The blame is shared by the USPS not providing proper tracking and Amazon making refunds way too difficult. I announced an event at Dave’ Ranch for next month. PBJ sandwich for lunch. Lou made spaghetti for dinner.

Friday: (09/20) Spaghetti for breakfast. Lou was off to a doctor’s appointment. I took Dawn to a vision equipment event at Vista in San Jose. A BBQ pulled pork sandwich with cheese for lunch. On the way home I stopped at Walmart Neighborhood Market to get a few things. Then I got to play tetris to fit it all in the van refrigerator and freezer. At home I worked doing a little cleanup. I cut some boxes and sheet cardboard to place in the recycle bin. I pruned the neighbors wisteria plant that takes over one of our fron side gates. I pruned back one of the artichoke bushes and I dug out a bunch of freeway lilies that were too close to the motorhome and provided ant access paths. Lou made Chinese cabbage, peanut salad for dinner.

Saturday: (09/21) Granola and yogurt for breakfast. We were all off to the Caltrain station for a ride on the new electric trains. They started today with new trains and a new every 30 minute schedule. Now like a real transit system. A consistent all day schedule, smoother ride, and nice car layouts. Each seat even has its own power outlet. We rode it to San Francisco. We took a walk there then came back down to Menlo Park for lunch, then on home. We may head south on it tomorrow. I had a chicken pot pie for dinner.

Sunday: (09/22) A banana and a wiener and cheese sandwich for breakfast. We all took the free Caltrain electric train down to San Jose then back home. I made a run to Lowes for some plywood. On the way home I got some Chinese food for lunch. I painted the rust spot on the Hyundai roof. Also went through some storage boxes in my shop looking for materials for the van mods. Ham and cheese sandwich for dinner.

Monday: (09/23) Granola and yogurt for breakfast. Leftover Chinese food for lunch. It was very hot today. We had a power failure for about 3 hours due to a car that hit a pole. It destroyed the front of the car and seriously injured a bicyclist on the way to the pole. But, the wood pole was undamaged at the impact spot. The whipping of the pole though caused the high voltage wires to short together. I powered Ernie's trailer from the Motorhome and our refrigerator from the van. My Honda generator wouldn’t start. The power went off at 1745 and was supposed to be out until 1045 but came on at 2045. Not bad. We have power from the city utility and our power outages are counted in years between outages. I made a salad for dinner.

Tuesday: (09/24) A couple of waffles with ham and cheese made into a sandwich for breakfast. I worked all day on the van modifications. I emptied the rear of the van then removed the existing bed platform. I cut new panels for the bed. I’m making it be able to be tilted up from either the front or rear for easier access to the garage storage. I also cut the parts for the new 3rd bed platform. I had a sausage and cheese sandwich for lunch. I made reservations for this Sunday at Sunset State Beach for a few nights. For dinner we went to Panera Bread.

Wednesday: (09/25) I had a breakfast sandwich from the freezer then went to Lowe's. I got some carpet for the new bed platform to match the diaz. I also got paint, sandpaper, and hinges. Back home, I modified the bed supports and cut the vent holes in the platform. :po took me to lunch at Bajis restaurant. We shared a salad and garlic fries. It took all day to finish cutting all the holes in the platform boards. Then, I prepared dinner. I made a stuffed bell pepper casserole. It was very good. When we had finished dinner, Lou found the two diced onions in the microwave. I had forgotten to add them into the mix after steaming them

Thursday: (09/26) Lou woke me at 0330. She heard the sounds of the paving equipment on El Camino Real. We both got up and took a walk out to see the activity. They are grinding the pavement then paving. The project is all through Palo Alto and Mountain View. I had a breakfast sandwich from the freezer. I got to work sanding the wood parts I made for the van. That was a lot of sanding because of all the holes I sawed in the panels. Leftover bell pepper casserole for lunch. After lunch I painted the panels with a coat of primer and a color coat. Dawn made Fettuccine Alfredo for dinner.

Friday: (09/27) I had a breakfast sandwich from the freezer then got busy with the Van bed frame. I had to add a brace to the frame then paint it so it will be dry to install tomorrow. After that, I was off on Caltrain to San Francisco then I caught the Muni Light Rail to Chinatown. From there I walked over toward Columbus street to get lunch at the Golden Boy Pizza on Green Street. They make one of the best pizzas. I got a couple of pieces and ate them at the nearby Washington Square park. From there I walked to Polk Street and got a Bob’s crumb donut for dessert. They have award winning donuts. Then I ordered my first Waymo driverless car ride. Their app seems to have a problem and wouldn’t do a pickup where I was per GPS. I tried to find an address but none of the buildings had one displayed. It insisted it be a couple of blocks away. So I tried by business name. I was in front of a Walgreens on Polk Street. It showed the Walgreens in a list, The only Walgreens shown so I selected it. My ride said it would arrive in 8 minutes and cost $23. It did, but not where I was. It was at a Walgreens eight long blocks away. I had 5 minutes to get there and just made it but it had departed during the supposed last minute of a countdown window. They charged me $5 for a no show. So I ordered another ride. It arrived in 13 minutes, almost where it said it would be about 100 feet from Walgreens around the corner. Close enough to see and walk to. I have absolutely no concerns about Waymo’s ability to drive safely, unlike my great concerns for Tesla’s FSD. It made many of the other drivers look like bad drivers and, for a taxi ride, was infinitely safer than the typical taxi driver. I arrived at my destination near Golden Gate Park. I took a short walk there, and enjoyed a free concert there before going up to Irving Street to get a hand pie from a pie shop there for dinner. Then I caught the Muni “J” train back to the Caltrain Station. The next three trains were canceled so I finally arrived home 2 hours later than I had planned. I was home about 2100. I noticed the repaving crew starting to set up on El Camino Real. I also noted I had forgotten to tag off the train. I drove back to the station and tagged off. Only saved $3 but used $5 in gas to save it. I then drove over to where the repaving was being started and watched them start grinding and paving. They started grinding at 2130 and paving 2300. OK, now I fully understand their methods.

Saturday: (09/28) I relaxed all morning. Leftover pancakes and bell pepper casserole for breakfast. About noon I made potato onion soup for lunch. I installed the rear bed frame and panels and put the mattress back on and made the bed. I installed the carpet on the 3rd bed and installed magnetic latches to hold it to the wall. I moved all the remaining items that were on the bed, back to the bed. I also did my laundry. Now ready to quickly pack up and head out tomorrow. Dawn made an eggplant tomato salad for dinner.

Sunday: (09/29) We were on the road by 0930. We headed over the hill to Santa Cruz. We stopped at a Thrift Store and the Library. For lunch we had leftovers. Then on to camp after another thrift store visit and my visit to Dollar Tree to look for my breakfast sandwiches. No luck. We checked into our camp. For dinner, we had linguini noodles with Chili.

Monday: (09/30) We drove over to Watsonville to look around. A Goodwill and a Reuseit store. Breakfast About 1100 at the Farmers Cafe in Freedom. We managed to leave our step at a shopping stop. While Lou and Dawn ordered breakfast, I returned to try to find it. Fortunately a street vendor had the steps in front of her truck. I thanked her for it with a $5 t tip. About 1300 we stopped near the park entrance and relaxed overlooking the ocean. About 1400 we returned by camp and noticed our chairs had been taken. Actually we dropped by to check if there was any sun at camp. None so we went to the other camp beach. While there we thought that there should have been some chairs at camp. We checked with the hosts and a ranger stopped by our camp and took a report. Hopefully someone in maintenance will have them. Leftover Chili and noodles for dinner.

August 2024

Thursday: (08/01) A pancake and sausage breakfast sandwich to start.  I drove out to Sol Duc Falls Trailhead.  I hiked out to the falls and a few other  falls on the way to Deer Lake. It was about 4 miles out then 4 more to return the same way. 

After the hike I cleaned the potty then off to the Asian Buffet for dinner about 1630. I did have a tuna snack at the lake.  I stopped at Swain's General Store again to finish looking around. When the sun was down, I returned to the Park And Ride lot for the night.

Friday: (08/02) PBJ waffles and a sausage for breakfast. I drove out Highway 112 to Cape Flattery and the Makah Indian Reservation. I paid $20 for an annual pass to be able to stop the van anywhere there. I had some jambalaya on bread for lunch. I hiked the .7 mile hike out to the cape. While there, some whales were putting on a show. 

Cape Flattery and on the bottom right some whales spouting off the cape.

Then I went out to the other hike there. The Shi-Shi trail lead out and into the Olympic NP, about 2 miles out. Beautiful beach and rocks there. Lots of mud in the trail. Then I drove back out on Highway 112 to Highway  113 and stopped for the night near Beaver Lake on a Forest Service road. Salad and mushroom soup for dinner. 

Shi-Shi trail and the beach at the end which is then off the reservation and in Olympic Park

Saturday: (08/03) Up at 0400 and off to Hon Rain Forest. I arrived at 0545 but didn't Hit the trail until 0815. 

I hiked out the Hon River Trail about 4.25 miles then tripped and fell on my forehead and nose. Only a few miner scraps but I also had a nose bleed that wouldn't. I was short of my hiking goal but decided to turn around. After a mile or so of nose pinching I stopped at a stream. I put paper towel corks in both nostrils and washed most of the blood off. I must have looked a mess because most of the other hikers I passed offered help. One was a doctor and checked me out. Back at y he van I  removed the corks and luckily the bleeding had stopped. I had some jambalaya  over bread for lunch. Later I hiked the Hall Of Mosses and The Spruce Trails.  The morning hike was 8.5 miles, the afternoon hikes totaled 3 more miles. 

Then I returned to Forks. I stopped at the Thriftway market and got a few things. I drove out Highway 110 to Beach #1 and had my dinner, a chicken breast and a baked potato. Then before it got dark, I drove back to town and stopped  at the Transit Center Rest Area for the night. 

Sunday: (08/04) Burritos and hash browns potatoes with salsa for breakfast. I continued South on Highway 101. I drove out Oil City Road to the end where beach 6 is. The parking lot was already full but I parked further back on the road. I tried to hike out to the beach to see why it was so busy but the muddy trail and overgrown path made me decide to cancel that idea. I returned to Highway 101 and then on South stopping and beach 5 where I walked out to the beach and took a walk there. It was also very busy. 

Then continued on down to Lake Quinault. I drove the road around the lake, much of it single lane washboard road. I had more jambalaya over bread  for lunch there at a picnic area. I stopped by the Merriman Falls. Then continuing South I stopped in Aberdeen at a Safeway market for more jambalaya soup. I stopped along the way for  a nap then continued down stopping about 22 miles North of Astoria near Long beach and the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge with a view over the bay and of Long Island. I had a chicken pot pie for dinner.

Merriman Falls by Lake Quinault. The view of the bay by my night spot as water is receding.

Monday: (08/05) I made scrambled eggs with sausage and cheese for breakfast while overlooking the missing water in the bay. Then I continued down Highway 101 to Astoria. It has an interesting downtown area so I took a walk exploring it. I visited a couple of antique stores and other shops. Then I was back on the road. 

An interesting restaurant in Astoria and an old theater.

A ship waiting to go up river for a load. My night spot overlooking the bay when tide is out.

I stopped at the Tillamook cheese factory. I enjoyed observing the cheese making and packaging. All three lines were in operation and all three were observed shutting down as well. Quite interesting. In their store I found some more interesting single cider cans and bought a couple of interesting flavors. Then I drove just south of Tillamook to a rest stop for the night. I learned the fair starts on Wednesday so I may hang around here for a couple of more days. I had a dinner from Panda Express I picked up as I was leaving Astoria. I had a chicken breast for lunch.

Tuesday: (08/06) PBJ waffles with bacon for breakfast. I returned to the Tillamook Cheese Factory and observed the production line again. I’m too fascinated with factory tours. I had a bowl of soup for lunch then went to the Tillamook Air Museum to explore what they had. I had some beer battered shrimp and tater tots for dinner then went back to the Rest Area for the night.

Tillamook Air Museum. Tillamook Cheese factory.

Wednesday: (08/07) Granola with yogurt for breakfast. I took a walk around downtown Tillamook waiting for the Fair to open at 1000. I arrived at the Fairgrounds and parked then bought my ticket and was inside at 0955. Interesting little fair similar to Ferndale fair. I finished looking around by 1300 and left to stop at Grocery Outlet for more ice cream. I had a hot dog sandwich for lunch in the parking lot.

Tillamook Fair pig judging. Munson Falls.

Then I was on the road headed toward Bend. I stopped  to look at Munson Water Fall a little ways South of town. I continued on turning off Highway 101 onto 22. Near Salem I noticed  a sign for the Polk County Fair so I stopped red d in for a look. More animals, and more interest in them here. Also, no carnival here. So. I had a fair day. 

Best place to nap at the fair. Steer judging.

Chicken breast and salad for dinner. I left the fair about 1939 and continued East on Highway 22 stopping  at a Rest Area near Gates. 

Thursday: (08/08) I prepared scrambled eggs with wieners and cheese topped with salsa for breakfast. I headed on toward Bend. I stopped at the Santiam pass PCT trailhead. I met a trail angel and about six hikers there. They already had their rides to Bend so I continued on. After stopping at Winco Market for a few things and to have lunch, I cruised through Bend and stopped about 10 miles South at the Newberry National Volcanic Monument Lava Lands Visitor Center. Then I took a hike there to Benham Falls. Really not a fall but a darn treacherous rapid. The Deschutes River moves a lot of water. It is nice and calm for 18 miles before the falls and a popular kayak float. I decided to return to Bend for the night. I stopped in Old Bend by a river park that was supposed to be a great place to pend the night. Not this weekend. There is a food, art and music event there, “Munch And Music”. I had the leftover salad for lunch. For dinner, I stopped at King Buffet, a Chinese buffet.  Science I could park by the park, I went to another nearby place parking on the side of the rod by a huge deep pit.

Benham Falls on the Deschutes River. The Munch and Music event at Drake Park in Bend.

Friday: (08/09) Leftover scrambled eggs for breakfast. I stopped by a park upstream from Drake park where I had seen some river surfers the day before. I enjoyed watching gthe pros and the beginners riding the waves. Then I went back to Drake Park where the art and music event was yesterday. There was no trace of it having been there, not even any litter. I parked there and took a walk around downtown and the park then relaxed there watching the river and the people most of the morning. Jambalaya over bread for lunch. About 1330 I left Bend heading South again. I needed a nap almost immediately so I stopped South of Lapine at a Rest Area. After that, I continued and turned onto the road to Crater Lake. At the start after the turn there was a sign warning about a wildfire 18 miles ahead, so I decided to stop and check on the fire. It was one of the most active in the state per the online map and about a dozen near it. The smoke was heavy and I thought that the view at the lake wouldn’t be all that good anyway, so I headed back North from where I started and took Highway 31 toward Highway 395. The smoke eventually cleared and I saw some blue sky. I stopped about 2000 in California a couple of miles on top of a bluff overlooking a valley. A chicken breast and some tortilla soup for dinner.

Deschutes River seen from Drake's Park. River surfers.

Saturday: (08/10) A sausage and cheese pancake sandwich for breakfast. I drove down Highway 395 only stopping for gas and some groceries in Reno. I drove up Highway 108 about 7 miles to a campground that had water. I paid $6 for a day use pass and filled my water tanks. I then continued down Highway 395 stopping in Bridgeport for  burrito but the stand ws closed. Darn. I then continued down to the road to Virginia Lakes and drove up about a half mile to a wide spot in the road for the night. I had soup and  salad for dinner. I went to bed early for me at 2100 so I can get up early tomorrow. 

Sunday: (08/11) Up at 0300 and headed into Yosemite National park. I found a parking spot by Tuolumne Meadows and settled in for 3 more hours of sleep. But, I was through the gate before 0500 when a reservation was needed. I had a sausage egg and cheese pancake sandwich for breakfast at 0700. Then I tried to decide what to do and where to go and ended up parked at Tenaya Lake. 

 

Morning and evening views of Tenaya Lake from my parking place.

About 0900 I started a hike toward Clouds Rest. I stopped about noon for a tuna trail lunch. Lunch sure helped with my energy.  I made it to the top at about 1400. I had another trail lunch there. 

I arrived back at the van about 1830. I had a chicken pot pie for dinner. Then I drove out of the park and back to my camp spot overlooking Mono Lake. 

Monday: (08.12) I got up and started the water heater then took a shower. Then I drove down to Bridgeport to The Barn for breakfast. I got a chorizo burrito. I got it to go and ate it at the Vista Point overlooking Mono Lake. Then I continued South to Mammoth Lakes to a laundromat and did my laundry. After that I found a place in the forest to take a nap. After the nap I checked the cell service, which was reported as good in the area, but wasn't. So I left that spot and found a nice spot in a big meadow where I got better cell signals. I didn’t need lunch but had a chili size for dinner.

Tuesday: (08/13) Granola and yogurt for breakfast. I drove about 15 miles South to Crowley Lake to see the Crowley Lake columns. The first problem is to find the parking area to start the 2 mile hike out to the columns. You can drive much closer but need a good (excellent) four wheel drive high clearance vehicle to get there. It is really just a short downhill then short uphill climb through a bunch of deep holes on dust and sand. Our jeep could do it but no way a front drive van that is fully loaded nor most AWD SUVs could do it. It would also be a trap in that it starts with a downhill so getting out needs to be assured. Weather was nice for the 4 mile hike out and back. The columns are  interesting and there is a really nice beach there. I should have carried my kayak out for even better views of the columns. I need to get/make a nicely padded backpack that can carry the not too heavy but large kayak and some water and lunch. Back at the van, I turned on the air conditioner and spent the rest of the day at the trailhead. A hot dog sandwich with cheese for lunch. I worked on updating my blog post  for the past year's entries. For dinner I had a chicken breast and some chili beans. About 1830 I left the Column's Parking area. I returned to Mammoth, got a little gas and more groceries. Gas is more expensive here than in Bishop where I plan to be tomorrow. 

Wednesday: (08/14) I drove down to Bishop to get breakfast at the Pupfish. I checked on their hours and I arrived about 15 minutes later. That is when I found that Wednesday is the only day they are closed. My bad luck, no avocado toast breakfast. So I checked Google for breakfast spots near me and found excellent reviews for El Ranchito Mexican Food nearby. Their breakfast burritos sounded good so I got a Machaca Breakfast Burrito. It came with hash browns as well. It was the absolute best breakfast burrito I’ve ever had and the hash browns were equally excellent being freshly shredded and seasoned with black pepper. The burrito was on the wet side so I ate it with a knife and fork. They also had a variety of fresh sauces to add. 

After breakfast, I visited the Dollar Tree store and bought some ice cream bars for use later. I met a poor fellow and his son who stopped at the nearby laundromat and their campervan won’t start now. They have been waiting a couple of days for the AAA tow truck. None of the local tow companies are interested in towing them to a garage that can repair it. A tow truck is coming tomorrow to take the van to Ridgecrest. I attended my Wednesday webinar and relaxed in the shade most of the morning. When I checked at 1130 it was 88 degrees but not bad in the van with just the sliding door open. I had my leftover from breakfast for lunch.  I made a run to the ACE hardware store to get some blue shop towels. I used my last roll today. About 1800 I drove South to Big Pine and stopped for the night at the abandoned Zurich RR Station East of town. I had some cottage cheese and a wiener for dinner. 

Thursday: (08/15) Pancake sausage sandwich for breakfast. Note my shadow in the center of the left photo below.

I headed up to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine National Monument to the Schulman Visitor Center. I hiked the Mine Cabin Trail, about 3 miles. A nice hike to see a good group of the trees. Also you can see the remains of the mines but almost nothing is left but some trenches. 

When I got back to the Visitor Center, it was open. I’ve been here 4 times in recent years and this is the first time it was open. I ask about the Patriarch Grove. It is located about 13 miles out on a high clearance needed gravel road. I headed out and hiked to two short trails there. The grove there earned its name. The trees are much bigger, some 15 feet in diameter, and healthier. I spent the rest of the afternoon there relaxing. About 1600 I returned back to the Vista Point on the road into the monument. I enjoyed the sunset there and relaxed some more. About 2000 I headed further down the road to a pullout where I stopped for the night last spring. I had some jambalaya over bread for lunch. I had a chicken breast and baked potato for dinner. 

Friday: (08/16)  I drove down and up to Bishop to the Pupfish Cafe for breakfast. I had an Italian (avocado toast topped with strawberries with a chai latte. Quite good. Then I drove out Hwy 6 to Benton and then onto Hwy 120 to a nice spot in the forest above Mono Lake. I had to drive a quarter mile out a sandy road to my spot. I took a shower then relaxed the rest of the day. I had a salad for lunch. Ramen noodles with chili for dinner. 

Saturday: (08/17) A breakfast sandwich from the freezer for breakfast. I reversed the van so I had a great view of Mono Lake through the windshield. I had to park in the opposite direction to allow for a better drain for the shower. Now, a little tilt doesn’t matter. I worked at the computer most of the day updating blog posts with photos  for this past year. I also have 2023 to do. Jambalaya over bread for lunch. BBQ ribs and a baked potato for dinner.

Sunday: (08/18) PBJ waffles for breakfast. I drove down to the South Tufa area and took a walk by the spires. The water was nice and calm so i thought about putting the kayak in but I had read about needing an inspection at the Visitor Center first. I did not see that notice at the Navy Beach, a kayak launch point near the tufas. After a good look around both places, I drove down to Lee Vining to the Visitor Center. I ask about the inspection and they don’t require one, Must be an older notice at the old saw mill site near where I camped. But, the after noon winds make being on the water after noon a bad idea so maybe tomorrow. Looked around the Visitor Center then had jambalaya over bread for lunch in the parking lot. I left the air conditioner on when I left and the batteries still completed their charge to 100 percent and stayed there.

Monday: (08/19) A frozen breakfast sandwich to start. I drove down to the South Tufa area and Navy Beach where I launched my Tuctek kayak and paddled over and around the tufa. After the paddle, I had to clean up the kayak which had all that Alkaline water all over it. I hosed it off at the van and dried it off before putting it away. I also had to rinse off my legs and feet that felt like they had snail slime all over them. After that, I was off to Lake Mary where I relaxed the rest of the day. I didn't feel like a hike. Jambalaya soup over bread for lunch. Salad for dinner. I spent the night parked just outside the East entrance to Yosemite Park.

Tuesday: (08/20) A breakfast sandwich to start. I hiked out the John Muir Trail in Lyell Canyon to the Yosemite Trail junction, 6.23 miles out, then back. I enjoyed a tuna trail snack lunch looking out over the Tuolumne River. 

Back at the van I had a chili size for my post hike lunch. Then I drove West on Hwy 120 to Yosemite Valley to see the dry waterfalls. Then Hwy 140 to Merced for dinner from Panda Express. I continued out Hwy 140 stopping for the night at Hwy 140 and I5 near Gustine.

Wednesday: (08/21) A frozen breakfast sandwich to start. I headed South on Hwy 5 then Hwy 33 then Hwy 152 to Gilroy. I got breakfast to go at the Longhouse and enjoyed in the van listening to some Youtube videos. I made it home around noon. I did my wash and visited with Lou. Later, I took Lou to a doctor's appointment and Dawn to a thrift store. I did some grocery shopping and got gas. The I collected Lou and Dawn and we returned home. Lou and Dawn had my leftover breakfast For Their Lunch. Dawn seafood soup for dinner.

Thursday: (08/22) Lou made peach blintzes for breakfast. I took a walk around the neighborhood to see what's happening these past couple of months. We all went out shopping for a butterfly net for Lou to capture her chicks when needed. A BBQ pulled pork and cheese sandwich for lunch. I worked on Dawn’s computer to fix it being slow and having a bad Internet connection. Lou made stuffed bell peppers and baked zucchini for dinner.

Friday: (08/23) I made a sort of omelet, lots of onion and bell pepper, and ham, topped with cheese, with only three eggs.It was more like a hash. I made enough for two breakfasts for three people. I washed my little Hyundai and Lou’s Jeep and the van. Then Lou and I assembled a tent in the back yard where Lou and Dawn plan on sleeping tonight. Ice cream and a wiener for lunch. I received a charger from Amazon for the bicycle. I’ll carry it in the van and leave the original charger at home so wherever the bike is, a charger is. I also received a 25 foot hose for the van. Now I’ll have 40 feet of hose for filling and other needs. Having only a 15 foot hose made filling the tank more difficult because I needed a close faucet. I also received more laundry detergent  sheets. I like them much more than powdered or liquid detergent. After an afternoon nap, I straightened some leaning fence posts. Over time, the posts have shrunken and the post anchors needed their bolts tightened. I picked up Chinese food for dinner which we ate in the front yard. 

Saturday: (08/24) I had leftover yesterday’s breakfast this morning. My first job was to take a shower. Then I cut my hair and beard which required another shower. I’m no longer a mountain man.  Later, Lou made waffles and bacon for brunch. I made a shopping run to Grocery Outlet for cheese and eggs and Trader Joe's for ciabatta bread. In the afternoon I had leftover Chinese food. Then a nice afternoon nap. For dinner, I made chili sizes with baked potatoes. Lou made an apple cake for dessert. 

The before and after.

Sunday: (08/25) I had more leftover breakfast from Friday for today’s breakfast. I then got busy with some tasks. Before I left I had installed the drip tubing for Lou’s garden. I patched a couple of cuts in the tubing but ran out of couplers before fixing the third cut so I taped it up and ordered more couplers from Amazon. I departed the next day and the couplers arrived while I was gone. I replaced the tape patch, with some difficulty, and installed the coupler. These couplers are the best design I’ve used, strong and easy to install. The problem with the tape was it worked too well and was difficult to unwrap. Next project was to repair the sticky door on Ernie’s trailer. It was dragging across the deck. I determined the door was sagging at the outside end so I installed a cross support strap to keep the outside up off the deck. I made it with plumbing tape and bolts, screws and washers. I could have taken the time to get a gate support cable assembly but I’m not sure it would have worked as well. I also located and placed my whippet walking stick/ice ax into the van for just in case use. Next task was to cancel my SeriusXM service on the old Hyundai Accent. That should have been an easy task of just clicking the cancel button, BUT NO! They ask you why you want to cancel as the next prompt then give you an offer for reduced service for less cost. Then they send you off to an AI assistant chat to finish it. In the chat they ask what you want to do, ask why you want to cancel, insist on an answer and then try to talk you out of it. After 20 questions, AI transferred me to a live person and we continued. I made them an offer. The next response had to be that they were canceling the service on that vehicle or I would be canceling my other two services as well. Interestingly, the next response was that they were canceling that service. What do you know? Needless to say I did not respond favorably on the customer satisfaction survey that followed. Lou’s split pea soup for lunch. Lou made her pineapple, shrimp, and cashew rice for dinner.

Monday: (08/26) Jambalaya soup for breakfast. I worked in the backyard in the morning. I pulled weeds and cleaned up around the arbor. I also removed three hanging baskets that need to be freshened up. Lou will be doing that. I also removed a big pot from a pedestal in my succulent garden that I’ll be reworking. A wiener and cheese sandwich for lunch. After the seemingly now required afternoon nap, I headed off shopping. I stopped at Smart and Final and Walmart's Neighborhood market as well as REI. I then just parked and relaxed in the air conditioned van tinkering on the computer. I returned home for dinner. I picked up dinner from Super Taqueria on the way home.

Tuesday: (08/27) More jambalaya for breakfast. I worked on cleaning out the van. I removed everything in the garage and all the bedding including the mattress. I blew it out with the yard blower and wiped down all the surfaces. Then I installed the carpet squares in the garage floor and a couple of edge blocks, one in the bathroom to keep the wet ones in place and another in the over the water tank storage to keep some tubs in place. I then replaced everything back into the garage with some reorganizing. I also washed the bedding and reinstalled it. I also received the Starlink Mini Internet antenna. I set it up and it works well. The wifi range may be rather limited. Chili size for lunch. Hot and sour soup with a salad for dinner.

Wednesday: (08/28) Breakfast sandwich to start. We took the van down to Monterey to the aquarium. We enjoyed a look around. Then while I took a nap, Lou and Dawn explored the shops. Split pea soup for lunch and dinner.

Thursday: (08/29) A do nothing day. Bacon toast and eggs for breakfast. Leftover salad for lunch. Stuffed bell peppers and macaroni and cheese for dinner.

Friday: (08/30) Breakfast sandwich to start. I drove over the mountain to Felton to meet my fellow SJMW hikers at Fall Creek Trailhead. Bob led a nice 6 mile hike.We started at 0915 and finished about 1230. I relaxed in the parking area after the hike. Later, I drove back over the mountain to Sunnyvale to get lunch at the Wok On Chinese restaurant. I relaxed nearby after eating my lunch. I stopped by Smart and Final and Grocery Outlet on the way home. Leftover Chinese for dinner.

Saturday: (08/31) Breakfast sandwich to start. We all went to Milpitas to explore the Super Walmart there. Our local Walmart is temporarily unusable because of remodeling and it now has less than 25 percent of its normal items. The Super Walmart has way more different items than our store would normally have anyway. We had some soup for lunch. Since we took two vehicles, my van and Lou’s Jeep, We stowed all the items needing a refrigerator or freezer in the van and everything else in the Jeep. Lou and Dawn were then off thrifting and shopping. I relaxed and napped before heading toward home. I did stop at the Grocery Outlet in Sunnyvale for some Lactose free milk. Walmart was out. Leftover pea soup for dinner.