June 2023

Thursday: (06/01) A ham, egg, and cheese sandwich for breakfast. I met Kayoka and Amy from San Jose Midweek Hikers at the store and we drove up to the Manzanita parking area and started our Grand Loop Hike through the Balconies Caves, Up Juniper and Tunnel Trails to the High Peaks and through the rocks. Usual Trail tuna snack for lunch on the hike. Then down the High Peaks Trail to the Rom Trail and out to the reservoir. We got to see some of the recently sighted snakes in the water. We then hiked down from the dam but were disappointed to find the Bear Gulch Caves closed so we took Moses Spring Trail around to the lower Bear Gulch Trail and back to our cars. About 10.5 miles in 6 hours 40 minutes. After an Ice cream reward and leftover Chinese food, I drove on down to King City. I took care of some online details related to the hike, topped off my gas tank and headed out Jolon Road into the Hunter Legget Army Base. Saw a badger skittering along beside Jolon Road in ort Hunter Legget. I camped at the Hunter Legget Campground. Chili and ramen noodles for a late dinner.

Friday: (06/02) Granola and a banana for breakfast. I tried to head over to the coast via the road through the base but it was closed. It did have a detour sign pointing onto a road headed North. I took it about 10 miles on dirt washboard road until I came to the paved Mariposa Road. I continued up it and exited the base into the Santa Lucia National Forest. I found several dispersed camping spots checking out several wild roads leaving Mariposa Road. I continued checking until I came to the improved Santa Lucia Campground, a paid full price vendor managed campground. The road ended there due to rock slides brought on by the recent forest fires. I turned back, returning to the first dispersed campsite that I checked out. It was easy enough to get into and was close to a nice river. I had some pineapple cottage cheese and another banana for lunch. I relaxed all afternoon. I even soaked my feet in the river. Chili and ramen noodles for dinner.

Saturday: (06/03) Scrambled eggs with ham for breakfast. I took a morning walk along the river down to a place where another trail comes up to a cliff top and back to camp. I left camp and drove just a short ways to the Wagon Cone. One side of the ridge is beside my campsite, the other at a walkin campsite parking area. I explored all the walk in campsites. Originally I thought the trail may lead somewhere but it just seems to go out to a bunch of different walkin campsites by a couple of rivers. The total hike was about two miles. I then drove back through Fort Hunter Legget to Greenfield. Lunch at the Ranch Market in Greenfield. I had a chili relleno with rice and beans and fresh tortillas. I drove out the Arroyo Seco and Carmel Valley Roads ro Carmel. I stopped along the way for a nap then had some flan that I had gotten at the market. Once on Highway One I got stuck in stop an inch forward traffic all the wat to Monterey, about an hour to go 5 miles, I decided that because it was a weekend day and traffic was so bad that I’d just continue home without any more stops. I came back through Santa Cruz. I got off Highway 17 when it came to a stop as well. Lou’s lasagna for dinner.

Sunday: (06/04) Popcorn for breakfast. The usual slow Sunday morning. A little tinkering on projects for Lou then I worked on the van starting to cut out the drawers for the seat. Salad for lunch.Dinner from Super Taqueria.

Monday: (06/05) Granola for breakfast. I had an appointment at Kaiser to get a bone density scan. It took all of 15 minutes in and out. I stopped at the nearby Grocery Outlet to look for whatever. I found some nice ham steaks there. Next stop was Harbor Freight for some wood glue. Back home, I had a salad for lunch. Then I watered our neighbors yard. Finally, I got to work on the van, I finished cutting out the drawers and nailed and glued them together. Lou made cabbage with sausages for dinner.

Tuesday: (06/06) I prepared ham steak and eggs with hash browned potatoes. For breakfast. We had a threat of rain that began early this morning so I had put oll my equipment and tools away last night. At 0900 it wasn’t raining and had not rained so I was just getting ready to bring the table saw out when I got a few drops. Then the rain started and it was a pretty good drip. I retired to the RV to do inside things. Lou made tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. They headed off to an appointment after lunch. I prepared pork with sauerkraut and potatoes in the pressure cooker for dinner later. Later in the afternoon the rain appeared to be gone so I got the saw out and made some more ¾: molding for the drawer box construction for the van. I glued and nailed the molding into the drawers I had made yesterday. Then I put everything away since the forecast for rain remains the same through tomorrow. In the evening I scheduled a hike for Thursday.

Wednesday: (06/07) Granola and banana for breakfast. It’s another overcast day. Even though the forecast is only a 1% chance of rain it looks like it could rain at any moment. I watered the neighbor’s yard. Next , I washed the van. It was quite dirty from my dirt road travels and had a good coat of bugs on the front. Lou picked a bunch of olallieberries which I enjoyed for a morning snack. An artichoke with some ham and cheese for lunch. I painted the drawers and other parts with a primer and color coat. Sausage and artichoke for dinner.

Thursday: (06/08) I prepared a ham egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast. I then headed up the hill to Russian Ridge to meet my five fellow San Jose Midweek Hikers for a 0930 hike. We did a short 6 mile loop with a little over 1000’ of climb. Lots of nice flowers to add color. We also saw a gray snake, likely a Western Yellow-bellied Racer. We didn’t see the belly but they often are gray with a big head and less than 2 feet in length. All a match for this snake. We finished about 1220. I stopped on the drive down the hill to watch a Youtube meeting about using Google Photos with Facebook. I got two good pointers from the meeting. I went up to Harry’s Hofbrau for a soup and sandwich lunch. Nice corn chowder and a pastrami sandwich. I then stopped and Grocery Outlet and Smart and Final markets for a few things before heading on home. Leftover pork with sauerkraut and potatoes for dinner.

Friday: (06/09) Granola and banana for breakfast. I prepared the van to roll and be ready to carry some plywood sheets. I rolled up the mattress and cleared the bed platform. I also removed all the storage boxes and loose materials. I headed off in the van to get Chinese food from Wok On restaurant for lunch. Next I stopped at Sprouts Market for some of my favorite peanut butter, the “Bees Knees”. It isn’t available in most places and Sprouts has been out on recent visits. Lucky day, they had some today, Next I stopped by Home Depot. I don’t shop at HD but wanted to check their plywood prices and quality. Then on to Lowe’s. Lowe’s price was 15% less and had better condition sheets. I still had to move 10 sheets of ¾’ off the pile then 8 sheets of damaged ½” sheets to get my two reasonable quality ½” sheets. Back home I relaxed a while then opened up my wood pile and reorganized it. I then added the new sheets to the pile. I then moved most of the stuff I had moved out of the van back into the van but leaving the bed open so I can build a kitchen cabinet under the bed. Lou made salmon and tater tots and Dawn made mixed vegetables for dinner.

Saturday: (06/10) Lou made eggs and leftover sauerkraut, potatoes and pork hash for breakfast. A lazy morning. Eventually, I went outside. I started by picking berries. Not all of them made it into my basket. Then I started work on the van. Not much accomplished. Lunch was some strawberry olallieberry short cake the Lou made. I cut a few boards for a cover for the water heater, pump and accumulator. In the afternoon we went to an ice cream social of the neighborhood association at Boulware Park. Lou made a stew/soup with Dawn’s leftover mixed vegetables, noodles and beef.

Sunday: (06/11) Leftover Chinese food for breakfast. This was a typical Sunday morning watching the Sunday morning shows and a few youtube videos. When I did get outside I was busy pruning the neighbors tree of a broken limb and mowing her back yard then watering the plants. Lou made grilled cheese sandwiches and strawberry shortcake for lunch.After lunch i headed off in the neighbor’s car to exercise it and get gas. Back home it was time for a nap. I never got busy after that. Dawn made stew for dinner. After dinner I harvested the artichokes on the front plants and then cut them down to the ground so new plants can grow. Later I walked Dawn home and helped her with the cameras on her computer for a zoom meeting.

Monday: (06/12) Granola and a banana for breakfast. I did the RV tank duty to start my day. Then I weeded the front yard bark and sidewalks. Our lawn people came and did our lawn while I took a break, After they left I got started on the van. I brought out my shop from my shed and assembled the water heater cover and cut out pieces for the water piping shield. To install the shield, I needed different sized screws and I also needed a 3 inch hole saw for the shower valve access. After a nice green salad for lunch. I visited Harbor Freight for the hole saw, Walmart Neighborhood Market for more ham, Lowe’s for the screws and L brackets, Home Depot to return a defective nail gun, and finally a stop for gas in my car. Back home I cut some holes, sanded the panels and drilled and fit together all the panels. They still need to be painted before final installation. Leftover soup and cottage cheese for dinner.

Tuesday: (06/13) The usual egg, ham and cheese sandwich for breakfast. I met my fellow SJMW hikers at Monte Bello Ridge Open Space. The parking lot was very busy with a group of 20 or so kids preparing for bicycle outing through the preserve. 14 of the 19 hikers signed up for my hike arrived and we were off. We hiked through the Los Trancos Preserve and the Monte Bello Preserve for about 7 miles. We finished up at about 1230. I returned home and enjoyed a shower and ramen chili for lunch. Unfortunately I napped the rest of the day. We had corn on the cob, baked potatoes and meatloaf for dinner.

Wednesday: (6/14) I had to dispose of another bench and its overload of fruit in our neighbor's yard. I also watered her yard. Lou made an omelet for breakfast. We received another neighbor's dog to dogsit for while she is out of town. I got out all the shop equipment and started on the van kitchen cabinet. I got a new sheet of plywood from the pile and cut all the pieces and then put them all together with glue and brad nails. I had a green salad for lunch. After a post lunch nap, I then drew out the cut sheet for the drawers to fit the cabinet. I then put everything away, tools to the shop, cabinetry to the van. It just might rain a little, it is overcast. Dawn made an interesting chicken stew for dinner.

Thursday: (06/15) The usual egg, ham and cheese sandwich for breakfast. I met my fellow SJMW hikers at Picchetti Open Space. We did a 9+ mile hike through Stevens Creek Park and Fremont older Open Space preserve then back to Picchetti Open Space Preserve. Enjoyable walk with flowing streams, a full lake and pond, colorful skink, calm snake, lots of birds, great views, reasonable spring weather, great company, and interesting conversation. After the hike I stopped at Aqui’s Restaurant for some Cuban carnitas for lunch. I also visited Trader Joes, Safeway and REI before returning home. Then a nice shower and nap.

Friday: (06/16) Leftover omelet for breakfast. I did a little gardening. I dug up a couple of plans in Dawn’s garden, moved a purple succulent plant from the greenhouse to the front yard and cleaned up the greenhouse floor.I cut out the pieces for the kitchen drawers in the van build. Ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. After a nap, I returned to work on the drawers. I sanded the pieces and glued them together minus their from pieces. I also made a bunch of molding to be added to the drawers to reinforce the joints. Leftover chicken stew over rice for dinner.

Saturday: (06/17) Scrambled eggs and ham for breakfast. I added the corner braces to all the drawers then did a trial fit of the drawers. I had Lou and Dawn try out the bottom drawer step height to get in the bed. Lou decided she preferred the higher middle drawer as the bottom drawer to make it easier to get up into bed. I then made a run to Lowe’s for some screws and paint. I picked up our Chinese food for lunch on the way home. Back home I ordered some hardware that Lowe’s didn’t have and my remaining drawer slides from Amazon. After a nap, i got back to work about 1630 and painted all the things I had cut out and assembled recently. Leftover Chinese food for dinner.

Sunday: (06/18) Granola for breakfast. I worked on the van painting the color coat on the kitchen cabinet and drawers. I managed to get a good sunburn doing it when the sun shines. Afternoons are much nicer in my shop on the lawn. Fathers day meal was BBQ steaks and sausage with broccoli salad, carrot and raisin salad, and corn on the cob. A nice nap in the afternoon. Snack for dinner.s

Monday: (06/19) Granola and yogurt for breakfast. Had to wait for parts for the van so we did some shopping today. Lou and Dawn visited Smart and Final and had an appointment as well. I visited Lowe’s to get some mat for the step lid for the kitchen cabinet. Lou wanted me to get an umbrella base as well but I didn’t like the cost of the ones they had. I stopped by Big Lots and found a nice one for a third the cost. I was really thinking of making my own. While there, I found some containers that I thought would be perfect for the van closet. I got the four gray ones they had. I had the clerk check on inventory at other stores and went to the Campbell store for four more. Lou called and wanted me to stop at another Smart And Final for my orange juice bottles that they didn’t have at the store she visited. Back home, I tried out the containers and they should work. I’ll need to cut off four and use four full height. I decided to get four more for spares to match when these break. Busy morning. Leftover broccoli salad for lunch. After a nice afternoon nap while the sun was shining its best, I got to work on the Van’s kitchen cabinet. I received the additional drawer slides I needed about 1600 and installed them. I had to cut the top off the top drawer and decided to cut a ¼” off the bottom drawer so the step lid was more free. I checked the weather and there was a 7% chance of a few drops tonight so I put all the tools away and moved the cabinet and it’s parts to the van. Leftovers for dinner.

Tuesday: (06/20) The usual egg, ham and cheese sandwich for breakfast. Met my fellow SJMW hikers at Foothills Nature preserve at 0930 for a 6.6 mile loop hike on the Los Trancos Trail. We finished up at 1230. 16 hikers joined me on a really nice day. Unusual for the creeks to still have water in them, but they did. Lunch from Panda Express. I tried out their Super Veggies instead of rice. Quite good. I installed the kitchen cabinet in the van and the covers for the plumbing. Dawn made Cambodian sandwiches(bacon, pickled radishes, peaches and sauce) for dinner.

Wednesday: (06/21) Granola for breakfast. I tinkered with the van and attended my Wednesday webinar. Then we were off to San Jose to the Habitat Reuse Store looking for carpet tiles which they have had stacks of in the past. Nothing today. We stopped for lunch at La Victoria Taqueria. I had a nice super relleno burrito. Lou and Dawn had nachos. Back home it was nap time. Later, when the shadows protected the rear yard where I work, I got to work on the drawers. I cut the drawer fronts and installed them. I discovered a bad drawer slide that lost several of its ball bearings. Fortunately, I had an s=extra that will be used under the 3rd passenger seat so I can finish the kitchen cabinet. I now have a bunch of parts that need painting so tomorrow morning starts with a brush. A broccoli salad for dinner.

Thursday: (06/22) Granola for breakfast. I painted the parts of the drawers that needed touchup due to cuts and new pieces. I had a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch, After two coats, I installed the trim pieces aound the drawer slides then installed the drawers back in the cabinet. That bottom drawer caused problems that resulted in my cuting several finger tips. I then started to prepare for the Dave’s Ranch campout. I loaded the electric bike and groceries. I also made a run to Walmart, ACE Hardware, and Grocery Outlet Market for a few things. For a late dinner I made an enchilada dinner. That provided some leftovers, some of which I put in the van.

Friday: (06/23) Some leftover enchiladas for breakfast with Lou in the backyard. I headed off about 0930. I stopped at REI and bought a camp table. Also stopped at Safeway for some hard cider for the campout. I made a final stop at the Super Walmart in San Jose hoping to find some small cheap camp chairs in gray but they didn’t have anything appropriate. I then headed on up Mount Hamilton Road toward Dave’s Ranch. I stopped for some cottage cheese for lunch on the way up. I arrived about 1500 as planned. More leftover enchiladas for dinner. There were several biker friends there but none of the hiker friends arrived until about 8 PM. We enjoyed nice campfire and some stargazing with a telescope that Girard brought.

Saturday: (06/24) Up early for a walk.Granola and a banana for breakfast. I took the hikers in the group for a walk around the ranch. We hikers went to The Junction Bar and Grill for lunch. The bikers had gone while we were hiking. Not much happening but sitting, snacking and chatting. We had a pot luck BBQ for dinner. All sorts of interesting things. I shared Lou’s Iranian potato salad. I also BBQ’d some pork chops and sliced them to share as nibbles. Several of us went up on a hill to watch the sunset. Then back in camp for a campfire.

Sunday: (06/25) Granola and a banana for breakfast. I took a ride on the bike down to the end of the runway to look at the eagles. I then rode on out to the highway and removed my two direction signs for this event. Back at the ranch house, I swept the floors in the house and helped cleanup the outside of the house. Then Dave took Stephanie and myself on a tour of the homestead cabin. I got to see how well I recited my memory of Dave’s previous tours on yesterday’s hike. Not too bad. Then it was time to say goodbyes to everyone. I departed the ranch with most everyone else about 1130. I came out on Mines Road to Livermore. Per all the research I could do, I had confirmed it was closed. Dave arrived Saturday afternoon and said it was open. I stopped in Milpitas for some egg rolls to compliment my cottage cheese for lunch. Back home, time to relax from relaxing. Dawn made chili beans for dinner.

Monday: (06/26) Granola and banana for breakfast. I took Dawn to her PT appointment then took the Jeep down to Normandin Jeep in San Jose for a recall fix. Normanding said they didn’t have an appointment scheduled for me. Thus is the second time they have done this to me. That’s why I tried out using Stevens Creek and Sunnyvale Jeep dealers but those two are the same dealer with two locations and they managed to schedule an appointment for me but when I arrived they had no mechanics working so could not do the work. This seems to be a problem at all dealers here in the bay area. I’ve had good service at a dealer in San Luis Obispo and in Pennsylvania. They said I could leave it nd they would see if they could get it done today. No thanks, I left. I returned to pick up Dawn and returned home. The recall is a computer update to protect in case (when) the from axle spline fails causing the parking brake to not function in two wheel drive, the normal drive mode. I always set the electric parking brake anyway so it doesn't bother me but might bother Lou because she doesn’t. Leftover enchiladas for lunch. I modified the 3rd passenger set drawer fronts by cutting off the side ears. I also cut out some spacers fro the drawer slides then painted and touched up as needed. I also re-installed a wheel on a roller basket Lou uses with the laundry. I relaxed the rest of the day Baked potato for dinner.

Tuesday: (06/27) Banana for breakfast. I worked on installing the 3rd passenger drawers and eventually got them installed. No cut finger tips this time but some bad words were expressed in the process. I had to make a run to ACE for some more screws to finish it. I managed to end up building a boat in the basement. In order to service the heater I need to be able to get access to it. After installing the drawer runners for the top drawer, I could no longer get either the top or side of the heater cover out. I had to make some modifications to the cover. Leftover enchiladas for lunch. I had some Shepherds pie filling over torn bread pieces for dinner followed by some of Lou’s rice pudding.

Wednesday: (06/28) Granola for breakfast. I installed some sprinkler drip emitters for some new planters in the gardens. I cut out a cover door for the electrical compartment, a closet shelf, and some miscellaneous other pieces. I then sanded and painted a primer coat on all the pieces. After an afternoon nap, I rerouted one of the emitter tubes to bypass a valve. Lou had mentioned it didn’t work and it was because that section of the garden was turned off because it over waters because it gets groundwater flow from the other two garden sections. Salad for lunch. Hot coleslaw with ham for dinner.

Thursday: (06/29) Ham egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast. I met 13 fellow SJMW hikers at Monte Bello Open Space preserve for a hike through four open space preserves. It was an 8.2 mile loop through Monte Bello, Skyline, Russian Ridge, and Coal Creek preserves. Nice weather and still lots of flowers. I got lunch at Panda Express. I recently discovered their super greens option instead of chow mein or rice. I had the super greens with honey walnut shrimp and sweet fire chicken. Yum! After eating lunch in the backyard, I painted the color coat on the pieces I prepared yesterday. Then I showered and washed my hiking clothes from today and last weekend. I had some black bean soup with toast for dinner.

Friday: (06/30) 19 years retired today. Breakfast with Lou at A Good Morning Cafe/ Lou made soup for lunch and dinner. I managed to install all the pieces I prepared yesterday. The closet shelf required trimming and touch up of the painted edges. I also replaced the battery in the Flume water flow monitor and cut a piece of plastic for Lou.