Mud Pit Work Ends

Monday: (01/25) A windy and cold day. I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning so I slept in wasting the morning. I prepared a nice ham and egg sandwich for breakfast. Lou and I then headed off to Smart and Final Market for a couple of things. We shouldn’t go together because we left without 100 bucks. On our way home we picked up lunch from the Lucky Chinese Bistro. I did get outside for a tiny bit of work. I repaired the water pipe I had broken the day before yesterday. Lou made zucchini with onions and sausage for dinner.

Tuesday: (01/26) Leftover Chinese food for breakfast. The morning and early afternoon were nice then some showers. I pruned some trees over our back fence. I just finished getting the tiny pieces into the dumpster, filling two dumpsters, just as the rain started. Leftover Dawn’s stew for lunch. Tamales for dinner.

Wednesday: (01/27) Up early. Granola and a banana for breakfast. I headed off to an 0800 dental appointment. They checked my implant. It had some inflammation that they treated a couple of months ago but now is all good. The appointment only took less than 10 minutes. I was actually out before 0800. Back home I was busy supervising the construction project down the street. They were removing some of the drilling rigs and pile drivers they had been using. It was a rainy day so I needed an umbrella most of the day. They were working in a mud pit. We only received 1 inch of rain last night. Some nearby areas got 2.5”. Nearby mountains 6-8”. I had an Impossible hamburger sandwich for lunch. Lou made Shepherd’s pie for dinner.

Thursday: (01/28) Soft boiled eggs for breakfast. I watched the move of the cement drilling rig from the construction site today. Neat to see the 12 foot wide crawler loaded onto a 102 foot long 48 wheeled trailer. We finally received our stimulus payment. It came as a debit card even though it should have been a direct transfer to our checking like the last one. Not too big due to the limits placed on this one. It took nearly an hour to activate the card online due to my slow email timing out before the activation codes expired. Five minute is way too short of a timeout. I tinkered with my RV printer which hasn't been used in two years. I expected the worst snd lmst got it. It took a while n several searches on Google for information but eventually it was hooked up and working. Dawn made pasties for dinner.

Friday: (01/29) Granola and a banana for breakfast. Today we waited around the construction site awaiting the arrival of a crane to remove the cement tower, mixer, and their container storage shed. We expected it first thing but learned when we got there it would be 10am. Actually turned up to be at 1230. The Bigge crane operator was really fast and the whole job lasted less than 45 minutes. I mentioned that we might have huevos rancheros from Los Alto Taqueria for breakfast. Then I remembered the crane was arriving so we postponed it to lunch. That turned out to be lunch and by then not breakfast but a torta instead. Dawn made beef pot pies for dinner.

Saturday: (01/30) Leftover beef pot pie for breakfast. We made a vegetable market run to our nearby Mediterranean market. Then we stopped by REI. Lou returned home hiking boots and she and Dawn bought new shoes. I looked at everything. We stopped at Baji’s Cafe for a late lunch. I prepared corned beef hash with eggs for dinner.

Sunday: (01/31) A nice day, mostly cloudy but no rain. I relaxed at home tinkering in the RV office, mostly tax prep. Leftover corned beef hash for breakfast. Pizza and coleslaw for lunch/dinner.

A Sunday Drive

 Monday: (01/18) I made scrambled eggs with ham and home fried potatoes for breakfast. Then I was off to Lowe’s in Sunnyvale for a few things. Lou made steak with baked potatoes and stewed tomatoes from our garden. I worked all day digging out around the fountain for the new borders. Dawn made quesadillas for dinner followed by fresh yogurt.

Tuesday: (01/19) Return to sanity eve. Tomorrow tRump is gone. Scrambled eggs with home fried potatoes and bacon. We had extremely high winds today as well as all last night. Lou, Dawn and I cleaned up the fallen branches from the oak tree and our yard people then blew the yard and picked up the leaves. Lou and I headed off to Lowe’s where I bought more PVC pipe fittings. On the way home we picked up lunch at the Lucky Chinese Bistro. Leftover Chinese for dinner.

Wednesday: (01/20) A nice morning watching the changing of the guard at the Whitehouse. tRump is gone and the adults have arrived. I don’t like the pledge of allegiance and don’t repeat it because of the words in it since the 1950's. Today I really liked that it was led by a woman fire captain who signed it for the deaf. Just one of the inclusive elements of the inauguration. I also really liked the poet Amanda Gordon. Outstanding. She says she will be president in 2036. I’d like to see that. Lady Gaga did a good job with the anthem and she had an effective way of maintaining social distance with her hoop-like dress. Her dove and olive branch broach were interesting. Biden gave a just right speech as well. It was interesting that the sun came out and it stopped snowing when Binden spoke. Granola and banana for breakfast. Ham, cheese and hummus sandwich for lunch. Refried beans and chips for dinner.

Thursday: (01/21) I worked on the arbor project all day. I got the water and sprinkler piping reconfigured for the new valves and concrete borders. I made another run to Lowe’s for more PVC fittings and a load of concrete bags. Granola for breakfast. Chinese lunch from China Wok in Sunnyvale. Tater-tot casserole for dinner.

Friday: (01/22) Rainy day. Lou and I headed off to Walmart to get a few things. Granola for breakfast. Dawn’s homemade bread and leftover hot and sour soup for lunch. Sauerbraten over baked potatoes for dinner.

Saturday: (01/23) No rain but still wet today. Worked on the arbor digging out the remainder of the North side. In doing so I managed to break the water line to the faucets. I need to do a little reworking of the water lines in addition to the repair. Lou and I went to Lowe’s for a few more PVC pipe fittings and some rebar in the late afternoon. Leftover Chinese food for breakfast. Leftover Hot and Sour soup, apple pie and refried beans for lunch. Dawn made a nice soup for dinner.

Sunday: (01/24) A rainy day. Leftover Dawn’s soup/stew for breakfast. We packed lunch and headed out for a Sunday drive today. We drove up Mount Hamilton and past Lick Observatory then into the San Antonio Valley. We drove up into the clouds so no great views from the top. One of our huge complex fires burned most of the East side of Mount Hamilton and nibbled around the observatory. We wanted to get a look and the extent of the damage and fortunately there are some trees that survived. Dave’s Ranch is in San Antonio Valley but was fortunately spared from the fire. We stopped at the Junction Cafe for lunch. Not much of a menu. They just reopened on weekends under new owners. I had a nice Beyond burger. Lou and Dawn couldn’t get anything gluten free so they enjoyed their packed lunch sandwiches. We returned through Livermore and Pleasanton then through Niles Canyon to the Niles District of Fremont. All of the driving to here was on local roads, no freeways. We caught Highway 237 to dash the rest of the way home. I had my leftover lunch sandwich for dinner. Lou and Dawn had other leftovers.

RV Battery Test

Tuesday: (01/12) Sauerbraten on a baked potato for breakfast. I trimmed my hair, beard, eyebrows, and ears after breakfast. Lunch from Taqueria El Grullense. Otherwise a relaxing day inside even though it wasn’t bad outside. The sun never got through the cloud cover but it wasn’t cold. One of these days I’m going to have to get to work. Granola for dinner.

Wednesday: (01/13) I made a nice ham egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast. I attended my Wednesday AlphaAnywhere webinar in the morning. Also busy listening and watching tRump get impeachment #2. Lou made open faced roast beef sandwiches with apple coleslaw for lunch. In the afternoon I updated the WiFi connections on three of my cameras that were on a repeater I removed. I also removed the power cord that went to the front yard Christmas tree. Baked beans and sausage for dinner. For desert Lou made a cranberry pear pie which Ernie requested.

Thursday: (01/14) The RV batteries were down to 46% this morning. The refrigerator running yesterday helped bring it down as well as about 10 minutes of microwave use. The new microwave is power hungry so with other loads like the refrigerator it maxes out the inverter at 1980 watts. The inverter managed to not trip even with 10 minutes use. Anyway, Since the battery was discharged about 220 amp hours I was able to test the solar and alternator charging. I had to raise my panels due to the low sun angle. But two of my panels had shades so the maximum solar charge I could get was 13 amps from the 180 watts of panels in the sun. I started the RV engine and it raised the charge to 38 amps. That confirms that the mx alternator charge is 25 amps and the probable mx solar charge is 25 amps if all panels are exposed to the sun. With that test done I exercised the generator for a while before turning the service pedestal power back on to recharge the batteries. Lou and I did some shopping at our new produce market and then at Smart and Final. Ham egg and cheese sandwiches for breakfast. Chicken pot pie for lunch. Beef broccoli rice stew for dinner.

Friday: (01/15) Nice day. Later in the morning I hopped on my bike and rode over for a look at the Stanford Arizona Cactus Garden. No flowers on this visit. I then rode over to the Stanford Dish walk entrance and walked the 4 mile loop by the radio dish. On the way home I picked up lunch at Panda Express. Back home I took a nap the rest of the afternoon. Granola and a banana for breakfast. Chinese food from Panda Express for lunch. A slice of pizza for dinner.

Saturday: (1/16) In the morning I worked on collecting information for tax preparation. Later I started preparing my pack for my camping trip in a couple of weeks. Leftover rice stew with a slice of ham for breakfast. Chili beans for lunch. An avocado for dinner.

Sunday: (01/17) Leftover rice stew with ham and cranberry sauce for breakfast. I worked all day digging out around the fountain for the new borders. Chopped salads from our nearby Corner Bakery Cafe for lunch. Granola for dinner.

Escape From Covid-19 And Insurrectionists

 Saturday: (01/09) A relaxing day tinkering in the office today. Lo and I visited the Grocery Outlet Market for a few things. I relocated the bench swing from being piled up to hanging from the swing rack. Now Lou can enjoy her swing even if I won’t put it back up in the arbor until I’ve finished there. Artichoke chicken over rice with peas for breakfast. Cottage cheese and fruit for lunch. Granola and banana for dinner.

 

The arbor double swing at its temporary home hanging from the swing frame.

Sunday: (01/10) Sauerbraten on a baked potato for breakfast. Lou and Dawn prepared it last night and put in the Foodie slow cooker. We all took a ride down to San Jose. I just wanted to check Dawn’s house, in particular the leaky faucet I repaired a while back. It does still have a valve stem leak but it is now very slow. We then visited three thrift stores and then had lunch from the Noodle & Company restaurant in South San Jose. All these travels were off freeway to make being away from home more enjoyable. Granola and a banana for dinner. 

Monday: (01/11) We heard on the weather forecast on the morning news that today there was a King Tide at 0930. Soooo, we thought we’d take a drive to see it. We drove up to San Francisco and took a walk along the Marina and at Crissy Field. Kind of fun at the Wave Organ. I managed to get my feet soaked by one of the larger waves. Nice sunny day once the fog went away. Leftover artichoke chicken over rice for breakfast. Lunch from the deli at the Safeway Market by the Marina. We also cruised many of the streets including up and down hills in the Russian Hill area. Back home about 1600. Granola for dinner. 

 

View of bay from Crissy Field. Golden Gate Bridge.

 

Wave Organ at SF Marina. Lou and Dawn listening to the organ.

Tuesday: (01/12) Sauerbraten on a baked potato for breakfast. I trimmed my hair, beard, eyebrows, and ears after breakfast. Lunch from Taqueria El Grullense. Otherwise a relaxing day inside even though it wasn’t bad outside. The sun never got through the cloud cover but it wasn’t cold. One of these days I’m going to have to get to work. Granola for dinner.

El Corte De Madera OSP Hike

Friday: (01/08) A nice 8.7 mile hike at El Corte De Madera OSP today. Excellent trails, nice weather with only a few drops of rain. Oatmeal for breakfast. Veggie burrito from Tacos El Gruelense in redwood City for lunch. Sliced apple with peanut butter for dinner.

 

A nice banana slug. On right a nice ravine.

  

About half of the hake was on roads. An interesting regrown tree stump. The hike track on right.

Weird Times

Wednesday: (01/06) I went to my man cave (RV) to attend my Wednesday Webinar and watch the Electoral Vote Count. Then spent the rest of the day watching the assault on the capitol building. Pot roast with the fixings for breakfast. Chill beans for lunch. Burger for dinner.

Thursday: (01/07) Another somewhat nice day. Another day of doing nothing. Leftover pot roast for breakfast. Chopped salad from the nearby Corner Bakery for lunch. Macaroni and cheese with broccoli and bacon for dinner.

Portola Redwoods SP, Peters Creek Loop Hike

Tuesday: (01/05) I took off early to Portola Redwoods State Park. I hiked out to the Peters Creek Loop, a nice redwood grove about 6miles out then back the same 6 miles. Weather was nice but the trail was quite muddy after yesterday's rain. I was back to the car about 1500. Lou and I made a shopping run to Smart And Final Market. Granola with diced apple for breakfast. Ham and cheese with hummus sandwich and sliced apple for lunch. Leftover beef soup for dinner. 

 

Mushrooms.

 

Mushroom and a nice green stump.

 

A nice banana slug and an old abandoned car in an area with no current nearby roads.

 

View of the burnt Butano Ridge, More mushrooms.

 

Just a nise bunch of leaves on left. The mushroom was growing on a tiny twig.

 

A huge burnt out tree snag. Drippy sap lag.

 

 

Nice green trail. The hike track on the right.

https://www.alltrails.com/explore/recording/old-tree-slate-creek-bear-creek-and-peters-creek-trails-3bc71fa?p=-1

https://photos.app.goo.gl/yFE9YUzN47sXP8PT6