April 2024

Monday: (04/01) I prepared a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich for breakfast. I eFiled our tax returns and deposited a couple of checks. And then I prepared a hike announcement for tomorrow and published it. For lunch I had some steamed broccoli with sausage. Then Lou returned home with some hot tamales so I had a tamale as well. In the afternoon, Amazon delivered some replacement water filters. The van water filter was complaining that the CT filter needed replacement. When I was ready with the filter it is no longer complaining so I’ll wait for it to really want a new filter. I washed my clothes from the trip. We had some pea soup for dinner. After dinner we went to Costco to get a few things. 

Tuesday: (04/02) I made a ham, cheese and egg sandwich for breakfast. I headed up to Foothill Nature Preserve for a hike. I had 3 fellow San Jose Midweek Hikers join me for a 6.6 mile loop hike around the park. Nice weather. Nice small (4) group. After the Hike i got lunch at Panda Express before going home. Back home I relaxed the rest of the day. Lou made chicken cashew pineapple rice for dinner. 

Wednesday: (04/03) Granola for breakfast. I trimmed the dead blackberry stocks on the back fence. Lots of nice new ones are alive. After that I moved a bunch of baserock to expose the dirt edge in the patio extension. Then I leveled the base under the geotextile fabric and moved the rock back over the new area. Thus will eliminate the mud hole that has existed for months. For some reason the hole was finally dry enough today to get this done. If I get another dry spell Ill have to move some rock again to pour the concrete edge of the patio. I also need to shave ovv a couple of inches of the existing baserock to lay the bricks. I may do that and lay some of the patio even before pouring the concrete edge. Because It doesn’t need to be as dried out to do that as working in the hole. After all this work I finally got a nice shower. I had some chili and chips for a late lunch. Lou and Dawn were off much of the day visiting a friend. Leftover macaroni and cheese for dinner. 

Thursday: (04/04) Pizza for breakfast. Cooked in the microwave.. A rainy day. I relaxed inside most of the day. Lou made chili rellenos and tamales for lunch. We all went to Walmart’s to get a stretch and do a little shopping. Lou’s chili beans for dinner.

Friday: (04/05) Pizza for breakfast. This time I fried it in a pan. Much better way to do these frozen pizza slices. It was a cold breezy day. I took a walk by several construction projects in the neighborhood. The city is replacing curb and gutter on ECR, San Francisco Water Department is working on the Hetch Hetchy water pipe under ECR. And The city's sewer replacement crew was at work on Page Mill Road. There were also several buildings being built in the California Avenue area.  Back home I tried my best to do nothing. I ended up helping a neighbor kid repair his cassette player, consulted another neighbor on their new heating system and helped Lou shorten the legs on a kitchen cart for Dawn. We had baked potatoes for lunch. I added chili and cheese to mine with some Mexican sour cream on top. 

Saturday: (04/06) I made corned beef hash for breakfast. I relaxed in site out of the cold and breezy outside. Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. I finally got outside for a while and reworked the sink drain pipe in the van so it now can’t bounce apart. I had intended to rotate the sink faucet while I had the cabinet open but forgot to do that. Something for another time. Zucchini and sausage for dinner. Lou made an apple pie for dessert. 

Sunday: (04/07) Leftover corned beef hash for breakfast. I spent the usual Sunday morning inside watching TV and videos. PBJ toast for brunch. Later I got outside and prepared the van to roll. Lou drove us out to do some shopping at Walmart Neighborhood Market in Santa Clara. Her first time driving the van, We had a salad with wiener chunks for lunch in the parking lot. Lou made fried fish with asparagus and tater tots for dinner.

Monday: (04/08) Leftover corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast. I took a walk before we watched the eclipse. Strawberry waffles for lunch. Lou took another drive in the van this afternoon to take Dawn to the library. We worked in the backyard garden in the afternoon. Chili over hashed browned potatoes for dinner.

Tuesday: (04/09) I took a shower then I had the remaining corned beef hash for breakfast. After that I was off to catch the train to San Francisco. I walked the Embarcadero then up to Coit Tower. I enjoyed a Chai latte there. Then down the hill to get a slice of pizza for lunch at Golden Boy Pizza on Green street. The best pizza possibly anywhere comes from there. I walked out Broadway to Polk street and happened upon Bob’s Donut Shop. The sign in the window said they had the winner of best crumb donut there, and they looked like they were, so I got one. They are the best. Then I walked Geary Street through Japan Town and on to Golden Gate park. By this time I was worn out so I caught the N train to Church Street then caught the 22 bus to Potrero Street and then walked to La Torta Gorda, about 8 blocks, to have dinner. On a previous walk I came here for dinner only to find out they had closed. They close at 6pm. I arrived about 1630 and enjoyed a poblano pepper torta with avocado, cactus and onions. Excellent. Then I stepped outside and caught the 48 bus at the adjacent bus stop. It dropped me off at the 22nd Street Caltrain Station for my trip home. Unfortunately the next train did not stop at my closest station, California Avenue so I got off at the Palo Alto titan and caught the 22 bus home. Nice day. Lou and Dawn were out to dinner at IKEA and came home later.

Wednesday: (04/10) I made a Denver omelet for breakfast. A hot day. I cleaned out the van, putting the kayak, snowshoes and other things in the RV to make room for Lou, Dawn, and Lous scooter. We’ll be taking a trip to the Pinnacles, LA and other places this weekend. Macaroni and cheese with a fruit salad for lunch. I relaxed the rest of the day. We had a Waldorf salad with a tuna salad for dinner.

Thursday: (04/11) Pizza for breakfast. I painted a primer coat on my van platform pieces. Then I took a short bike ride to downtown Palo Alto then back home. Our neighbor Meili took us all to lunch at AQUI’s restaurant. Ernie joined us. Back home, I painted the color coat on the van platform pieces. After a shower I relaxed the rest of the day.

Friday: (04/12) Pizza for breakfast. I put the van bed platform back together then set in the sun to continue drying. Then I took a bike ride over through Stanford stopping for a hot Tiger Spice Chai Latte at Coupa Cafe. Then I visited the Arizona Cactus Garden to see what was blooming. Lou made a pea salad for lunch. Lou was busy much of the day packing the van preparing for our departure Sunday to LA. I had moved a lot of my things out to make room. I made a shopping run to Walmart to get some felt pads to cushion the bed platform so the wood pieces don't fuse together with the fresh paint. 

Saturday: (04/13) Granola and a bun for breakfast. I got sick last night and had to sleep upright to keep everything in. I felt better in the morning. A little rain last night and it is also cold. 

Sunday: (04/14) A frozen pancake, sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast. Lunch at the Longhouse Restaurant  in Gilroy, our usual garlic pork chops. I had the breakfast, Lou and Dawn the lunch. We stopped in Soledad for gas and for me to take a nap. We stopped in Paso Robles At a Goodwill thrift store. Then we continued on to El Churro County Park to camp for the  night. We stopped on the way to camp at a market to get soup for dinner.

Monday: (04/15) Leftover pancake, eggs, hash browns and pork chop for breakfast. We tried to stop in at the Cal-poly arboretum but it wasn’t open and should have been. Maybe another time. We went to SLO downtown to a few thrift stores then continued on to Arroyo Grande for lunch at Francisco’s Country Inn. Then another thrift store visit. We then went out to the beach and watched the surfers and waves. We stopped at Old Juan’s for dinner then found a campsite at Pismo Beach Oceana State Campground. We took a walk by the lake and saw a duck with 12 ducklings. That seems early. 

Tuesday: (04/16) I am finally on the mend according to my latrine visit this morning. Back home, I started to fix breakfast for Dawn and I. I was making toast in the frying pan on the Induction stove and Lou wanted some tea so I started the microwave. Shortly, all the power went off, almost all anyway. The inverter died so the microwave and induction cooktop died. The lights dimmed, the refrigerator died so all was not going well. I first thought the  batteries had died so I started the van engine to charge them up. The inverted powered up and the lights and refrigerator returned to service. Then they flickered. It turns out the solar and the alternator were supplying power directly without the battery. I looked in the electrical compartment and found a melted fuse so I thought that might be it. I had also used the DChome app to see if the batteries were fine. We ended up eating ham and cheese with partially toasted bread, no eggs. After breakfast, such as it was, i got to work on the electrical problem. I relocated the refrigerator to get better access to the electrical compartment. I am going to have to redesign that cabinet and have the refrigerator on drawer slides to make access much easier. But that has to wait. With the better access I could see the fuse was still good but its case and the fuse holder were totally melted. It was not the problem but is a problem. It is for the air conditioner. The real problem was the 300 amp main fuse had blown. I dug out a spare fuse and installed it then all returned to normal. This is the second time I’ve blown that fuse. So an easier fix would be helpful. The two appliances would have been OK when connected to shore power when it is 30 amps but the Inverter only supplies 25 amps and that is right on the border of the maximum load. We relaxed in camp the rest of the morning. I tried to reserve a space in Malibu Creek SP for Wednesday night and to add a night here at Pismo but ended up fighting the Reserve America application. It may be the most poorly designed, non intuitive website ever launched. I eventually succeeded in making the reservation at Malibu but the delays in getting through the application ended up with me losing the campsite we wanted. Lou walked down to the office and signed us up. The attendant also had trouble making the reservation but her boss succeeded. For lunch i made grilled cheese sandwiches using my butane stove. Not that I was worried about using the induction cooktop but I have never used the butane stove before so I thought I’d try it out. In the afternoon we finally left camp to visit more thrift stores and farm stores here in Grover Beach and in San Luis Obispo. We walked around downtown Pismo Beach and out the pier then went to dinner at Pismo Fish And Chips Restaurant. As the sun started to dim the cormorants started to return to their nesting tree next to our campsite. We watched them do their thing and we were glad we were not in either of the two campsites below the tree. 

Wednesday: (04/17) Leftover Jambalaya Soup for breakfast. We relaxed in camp and explored the trails in the campground in the morning. At about 1030 we left camp and headed to Francisco’s Country Kitchen for a BBQ lunch. We also got some tamales for a later lunch or dinner from a Farmer’s Market next to the restaurant. Then we got on Highway 101 heading South toward LA. I took a nap North of Santa Barbara then we continued. We arrived at the Malibu Creek State Park at about 1600 and settled into our campsite #3. I took the time to replace the CT water filter in the van. For dinner I prepared Shepherd’s Pie. Lou froze up a batch of the innards and I added some tater tots on top. The idea was to prepare it in the microwave using the convection oven feature. That didn’t work at first because I sat the pan on the turntable so it didn’t get the bottom hot. After 30 minutes of trying that I inserted the air fryer platform and cooked it another 20 minutes and that did a better job. Then I served it up in bowls and added some cheese on top and microwave those. It turned out great but used a lot of power. While I was cooking I decided to run the engine to reduce the battery draw. It cut the consumption in half. Our battery had only gotten up to 85% today and ws at 71% when dinner was ready. We can probably get by for the night making our teas tonight and breakfast tomorrow as well as running Lou’s CPAP tonight. 

Thursday: (04/18) I had one of my frozen egg, cheese and sausage pancake breakfast sandwiches to start. We also had some morning teas and coffees and all was going well until Lou went in to make some more teas and the inverter sounded an alarm and nothing worked. But we did have some lights and the microwave did show its clock but wouldn't  run. I thought the main fuse might have died again but that didn’t explain why we had some lights working. I moved the refrigerator to expose the electrical compartment, again. I replaced the fuse but everything remained the same and the removed fuse was still good. With a little (lot) more troubleshooting with the meter I finally found that the shunt was open. Or was acting like it. It turns out that both bolts on the shunt were loose and one had become totally open even though it was finger tight. There was a little heat damage to the mount. I tighten both bolts and all is now working again. That’s two failures while I’m trying to get Lou oriented in using the van. Hopefully the last failure. With the Microwave working again Lou and Dawn were able to have their breakfast. I had a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch before heading out for a hike. I hiked out toward the MASH Tv show shooting site. Unfortunately the Malibu and Century creeks were running high. I had to turn around about ½ mile from the MASH site because the bridge was partially missing and the water was 4 feet deep and 10 feet wide. There were no alternate ways to continue. On my return I had to wade across Malibu creek which was about 40 feet wide and  1 to 1.5 feet deep. Doing that allowed me to not have to return on my path out and made a loop hike but I did slosh into camp. I prepared some ramen noodles with black bean hummus, corn on the cob and wieners for dinner. In the evening we had a campfire.

Friday: (04/19)  I had one of my frozen egg, cheese and sausage pancake breakfast sandwiches to start. Dawn and Lou eat gluten free and have breakfast later than I do. We head on down to the Pacific Coast Highway and then down to the Marriott Hotel at LA Airport. Dawn had a vision products show to attend there. I dropped Lou and Dawn off then head off to do some tasks. I did some grocery shopping, got gas, and, most importantly, got some donuts, i happen by Randy's World Famous Donut shop so I had to get a couple. I got one bit in my mouth as the phone rang and they were ready to be picked up. I picked them up and we went down to Redondo Beach to “Eat At Joe’s” restaurant and had the John Wayne Special for lunch. It is a tortilla with hash browned potatoes, sausage patties and fried eggs topped with salsa. Really good. Then we got on the 405 Freeway and headed on up to Bakersfield. We stopped at Walmart to stretch and I ended up getting some shirts and a couple of things from the market. I had forgotten to get salsa and we also picked up a vegetable tray. Then we stopped at a couple of thrift stores before heading out to Ming Lake and the County Campground there. The sign said the campground was full so we stopped beside the road and had our dinner. Tamales from the Arroyo Grande Farmers Market. Topped with the salsa I just got and then a vegetable tray. Since my donut experience was interrupted, I started with a donut topped with ice cream before dinner. I was ready to drive up into Kern Canyon and spend the night alongside the road there as I have done on my solo trips. Lou suggested we stop by a friend's house in town and park in front of their house, which we did.

Saturday: (04/20) We moved from our friend's house to Beach Park.  We needed to empty the toilet liquid bottle. Then we tried to go to breakfast at Noriega's Basque Restaurant but they were not open even though their website said they should be. We settled for breakfast at Milt’s. Then there were a few thrift stores to visit. And then it was time for lunch. We stopped at the Park to have lunch. Then we were off toward home via Highway 58. We took a quick look at Wallace Creek on Leghorn Road at Carrizo Plain NM. Almost no flowers anywhere now. Then on to home arriving about 2215.

Sunday: (04/21) Leftover Mexican food for breakfast. I moved Lou and Dawn’s things out of the van and put my things that I had removed, like the kayak, back in. Also the bedding and clothes were washed and returned to the van. All ready to head out again soon. A leftover English muffin with ham, cheese and black bean hummus for lunch. Lou made smoked pork chops with chili rellenos and our first artichokes from the front yard plants for dinner. 

Monday: (04/22) I made a breakfast sandwich from some leftover sourdough toast with ham, cheese and black bean hummus to start. Then I spent most of the day cleaning the weeds and grass from the cracks in the patio and walkways. I also weeded some of Lou’s garden. And, I enabled the sprinklers and made a cue card with the sprinkler schedule on it so I can identify, more easily, if a leak is reported by my Flume water monitor. Pea, celery and ham salad for lunch. Dawn made macaroni and cheese for dinner. 

Tuesday: (04/23) Biscuits and honey for breakfast. I started my morning by doing a little more weeding of the walkways and driveway in the front yard.  I installed a temporary gate on our side fence so the neighbor can install a fence by his garage. I also moved a drain pipe that I had installed to the wall of his garage for a downspout drain to reduce flooding in our backyard. It is now just inside our side of his new fence. He’ll be pouring concrete base for the fence so he can use the 8 inch space between the fence and his garage wall for storage. Hopefully it doesn’t become a rat’s house like it was before we removed the fence 30 years ago. I also installed a new sprinkler valve and timer for the artichokes. The old one occasionally did not shut off. Leftover noodles with hummus and steamed broccoli and carrots for lunch. Dawn made moussaka eggplant casserole for dinner.

Wednesday: (04/24) Leftover biscuits with honey and an English muffin with ham and cheese for breakfast. I had a dental appointment at 1100. I went in because I broke two teeth last week. Turns out I needed a crown for one tooth, a filling for another and a new crown for a worn out one. Lou came with me and we went to lunch at Applebee’s afterwards. Salad for dinner.

Thursday: (04/25) A frozen breakfast sandwich for breakfast. I got to work on the patio. I pulled back the fabric and some rock to make room for the edge form. I staked the outside edge and set the top of the form to match the slope of the patio vee. Then I placed the inside edge of the form using bricks to hold it up so I didn’t punch holes in the fabric that lined the bottom of the patio. I then brought the concrete mixer out of storage then, after a salad for lunch,  headed off to get some concrete and rebar. I got what I needed at Lowe’s in Sunnyvale. Back home I mixed and poured the concrete. Then I cleaned up and put everything away. I needed a good shower after that to clean up myself. Lou made soup for dinner. 

Friday: (04/26) Granola for breakfast. Chinese food from Wok On restaurant for lunch and dinner. I took it easy today. I waited around until 1100 for the city to replace our electric service meter with an IOT version. Then I went out to get gas in the van, get lunch and visit REI. Then I stopped by Walmart neighborhood market for a few things. Back home I setup the new sprinkler controller, as best I could. They wouldn’t connect to the app because I needed a newer version of the hub. So I ordered one to confirm that is the problem before I get another one that is also needed. I also ordered a new fuse holder for the van air conditioner. Then I stripped the forms from the patio edge. 

Saturday: (04/27) Scrambled eggs with salsa and cheese for breakfast. I worked on a few sprinkler problems. We needed to have them back in operation because this week it is supposed to get warmer and not have clouds and rain. We’re headed off to Las Vegas to attend a PBS Roadshow event there. I also had PBJ toast for  a later brunch. Leftover pea salad for lunch. Baked potato with chili and cheese for dinner.

Sunday: (04/28) The day started with Ernie knocking on the door to advise me that the back yard was flooding. One of the sprinkler timers that I enabled yesterday started this morning at 0500 and did not shut off when it should have. It managed to flood the old garden space and the new patio area and the French drain was pumping it out  to the street gutter. I turned off the main valve for it and the berries. I’ll just consider it as having been deep watered. Wasting about 600 gallons of water. Granola and yogurt for breakfast. Salad for lunch. In the afternoon I filled the van water tank and drained the Motorhome’s holding tanks. In doing so, I found out the main sewer line from the house to the street was clogged, again. It’s been about a year since I had the line cleaned out of some roots. I’ve been planning to replace the sewer line but not it is not a preventative effort but an emergency. I had planned on going to Las Vegas tomorrow with Lou and Dawn but decided to stay home and fix this problem. I started digging trying to find the sewer line but evidently I need to dig deeper and will continue tomorrow. Macaroni and cheese for dinner.

Monday: (04/29) A ham and cheese omelet for breakfast. Lou and Dawn were off toward Las Vegas this morning. I got back to work on the clogged sewer line. Lots more digging. About 6 feet into the orchard from the sidewalk I found the problem. The cast iron pipe had cracked in two and the roots were growing into the pipe. I exposed the pipe a little further and then dug a trench on the side of it. I then broke the top of the pipe open and pulled the root ball out. I only spilled about a gallon of crap and crap water into the trench I had dug. With the plug out the piped drained out without further leakage into the trench. I ran water into a couple of upstream cleanouts  to wash out all the backed up solids then Ernie was able to drain his trailer tanks and all was back to normal except for the permanent fix. I decided to call it a day even though it was not even noon yet. I took a shower and started waiting for the trench to dry out so I can  clean up the dry mess and dispose of it. So, after my shower I went to lunch and shopping. First stop was the bank because I gave all my cash to Lou. Chinese lunch from Wok On Restaurant. Alter lunch I went to Lowe’s to get some sewer pipe and fittings for the permanent fix. Then a couple of stops for groceries from Smart and Final and Grocery Outlet. Back home I relaxed the rest of the day. I had leftover macaroni and cheese with salsa for dinner. 

Tuesday: (04/30) Granola and yogurt for breakfast. I dug out most of the rest of the trench exposing all but a couple of feet of the sewer pipe. I finished that about 1330 the cleaned up the work area and myself. I picked up some carnitas nachos for lunch. I relaxed the rest of the afternoon. No dinner needed.