January 2023

Sunday: (01/01) Granola for breakfast. Relaxing New Year's Sunday morning watching the morning shows. A sausage and broccoli salad for lunch. This is the only dry day that we get to count on during these recent two weeks. Ramen noodles and sausage for dinner. I tinkered only a tiny bit, putting a few things away in the van. Otherwise relaxed.

Monday: (01/02) Lou made shrimp and steamed kale for breakfast. Lou and I were off by 0930 to the Lowe’s home improvement store in San Bruno. I was looking for a shower wall surround kit and found something a a good price, space efficient and trimmable at Lowe’s and they had one ins stock in San Bruno. I had some difficulty locating it but finally found it and opened the box to confirm it was right for the job, so I bought it. Unfortunately, we were in the Jeep and it did not fit inside so I had to tie it on the roof. The unfortunate part is that we then had to hurry home due to impending rain. We had planned on a little shopping and looking around on our return home and probably lunch. Guacamole and chips with leftover pork and beans and sausage for lunch. The sprinkles and light rain came just as I started to unload the box from the roof. I relaxed in the afternoon. Leftover broccoli salad for dinner.

Tuesday: (01/03) Lou and Dawn were off to Costco early. I was off to Harbor Freight early (for me). I wanted to get a hardware compartment system going. I ended up getting a four tray each with 18 compartments and a small toolbox top. I’ve been having a problem locating some hardware and this kit will be good in the future for spare parts in this van. On the way home I stopped at Lowe’s to return the incorrect shelf bracket that Lou had picked up. I also looked around for some molding to protect my head from the storage shelf over the cockpit area that I keep bumping into. Nothing found. I picked up my breakfast/lunch about 1100 on the way home. I had to wait a little for two of my items to get to the fast food trays. Back home I loaded up the new bins and inspected the new shower walls and read the installation instructions. Today there were some sprinkles and threat of rain all day though it was actually pretty nice.

Wednesday: (01/04) A very rainy day. No breakfast. I’m trying to reduce food intake so I’m trying to eliminate breakfast. Iworked in the van a little before my Wednesday webinar. Then attended my webinar. And then returned to the van to install cable lugs and cables. I also went to get some keys for Dawn’s apartment. Breakfast and dinner were some leftover Chinese food from yesterday. Peking pork chops. 5 flavor chicken and pork fried rice. One dinner takes care of three meals for me.

Thursday: (01/05) A very rainy day. I relaxed inside much of the bay. In the afternoon, I made a run to Walmart and bought a pair of Levi's. It looks like I need more long pants, for a while. About 1615 i received the #10 SO cord that I need for the van’s AC power connections. I worked on installing that cable to get power to and from the inverter. Granola for breakfast. Ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. Roast chicken with Spanish rice for dinner.

Friday: (01/06) Nice clear day. I prepared scrambled eggs with ham and toast for breakfast. I was working on the van connecting wires when Dawn needed her computer system moved from the house to her apartment. I had to move and install the monitor and its articulate pole mount. I also had to cut two cable holes. One was used to mount her articulated arm mounted microphone. She spent the afternoon finalizing the system to her needs. Unfortunately I forgot about an additional hole that is needed so I have to return tomorrow. In today's shipments that were received along with crimp lugs, shrink tubing and terminal blocks, I received a RFID dongle reader/programmer and some dongles. I had hoped I might be able to clone Dawn’s apartment dongle but, alas, it doesn’t seem to have worked. Lou picked up burritos from Super Taqueria for lunch. For dinner Dawn made baked potatoes with grilled onions and cheese.

Saturday: (01/07) A nice morning before expected rain. Lou made tortilla soup and chili. We had soup for breakfast and chili for lunch. I went over to Dawn’s apartment and sawed the last cable hole in her desk top. Back home I completed connecting the available wires at the Main and load panels and the inverter. I discovered I made a serious error and extended the solar cables with #10 wire rather than #8 as needed. I ordered the #8 cable and removed the improper wires, after having completed their termination and connection. 1517 I called the city about a sewer blockage to the street for our house. A little over an hour later a tech responded and checked the line with his camera. Unfortunately it was somewhat clear at the park strip cleanout but still to the top at the exit from the house cleanout. He opened the manhole and it was almost to the top clogged up. Seven or more feet deep. After they get that cleared I’ll still have to clear our line from the house to the park strip. So, too bad the RV tanks have a week's use on them already. An hour or more later I saw lots of flashing lights down the street and down stream. They were hydro cleaning the sewer line. They said they had already cleaned past our house. I sprayed a stream of water down our cleanout. The water level never rose higher but it never went down either. More work tomorrow. Toast and chili for dinner.

Sunday: (01/08) I had a bowl of chili for breakfast/ They, i had to get to work on the sewer problem. I tried a snake and it went in 15 feet before it started folding. It doidn’t help. I tried a hose bladder but it didn’t expand big enough for the 4’ pipe. I used to have a bigger one but can’t find it now. I gave up and called for service. The first appointment is tomorrow morning. I took a shower outside. Fortunately, the weather is nice today. More chili for lunch. I worked in the van installing some shrink tubing on my connectors. I also spent some time looking and thinking. Leftover tortilla soup for dinner.

Monday: (01/09) Granola for breakfast. I got a call at 0715 from the plumbers to confirm our appointment. They arrived about 0900 and cleaned the line. Of course, the price quoted online wasn’t the actual price charged but they did find roots in our line so i relented and more to get it razor cleaned, not just opened. Cute. However, it does point out one of my future projects will be to replace the main drain line across the front yard to the park strip cleanout. They quoted around $10,000 to do that which is ridiculous. Of course, that assumes I’m still up to moving a bunch of dirt. Lou took the Jeep off early to the body shop to get some touch up work done on the repairs it had done earlier. One of the seams was improper and they were awaiting a reflector. She had to wait there for Ernie to pass by and pick her up. All flowing nicely by 1100. I replaced a bunch of sprinkler control valve batteries after that. In the Afternoon I headed off shopping. I went to Lowe’s for some needed van parts. On the return, I stopped for gas in the car, stopped at Sprout’s Market for tea, Bee’s Knees peanut butter, and ciabatta rolls. They have the best green tea and ciabatta rolls. We do miss them since they closed the Mountain View store. Next stop was at the Wok On Chinese restaurant to get lunch. From there I stopped at the Grocery Outlet Market for a couple of items. Always best to do a route when out and about. For dinner we got pizza from our nearby State Of Mind Pizza joint.

Tuesday: (01/10) Avocado toast for breakfast. Lou and I went over to Dawn’s apartment. Lou was busy hanging pictures on her walls. I installed a usb dual monitor adapter so now she can display her work on three screens. I also troubleshoot her video editing application. She was having difficulty getting it to see her camera. I fumbled with it until it worked again. Leftover Chinese food for lunch. I worked on the van in the afternoon. I hooked up the solar and alternator connections. Ready to possibly energize the electrical system tomorrow. Broccoli salad and a sausage for dinner.

Wednesday: (01/11) Another rainy day. I prepared corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast. Today was another webinar Wednesday so I attended my Alpha Software webinar. After that I worked on our taxes a little. Salads for lunch. I was worn out from doing so little so I took a nap. Later I drove Lou over to pick up the jeep from the body shop. Its final touch up and missing reflector were corrected. Back home, I did a little wiring in the van. Lou made sauerbraten with roasted potatoes for dinner.

Thursday: (01/12) Today was a window day, the only non stormy day within a two week period. Not only not stormy but nice, warm and sunny. I took advantage of it and caught the train up to San Francisco. I then rode the new Chinaton extension of the T Muni train route. It makes quick work of getting to Chinatown, the direction I usually head when heading off toward the Presidio. From the end of the track, I walked out Columbus Avenue stopping for a late breakfast at a cafe getting a bacon, spinach and egg burrito. Then on to the Palace of Fine Arts I like making a loop around the pond there. Next, I hike up the Lyon Street Steps. Lots of stairs to get to the top of Russian hill. Half way up you pass Senator Pelosci’s house which has been in the news recently. I continued over to the East end of the Golden Gate Park Panhandle. I walked through it and on through the park to the beach. I then caught the N train over to Judah street and enjoyed a beef potato peasant pie and chickpea lentil soup combo for a late lunch / dinner. Then back on the N train to the Caltrain station to catch the train home. Leftover salad for dinner.

Friday: (01/13) I provide transport to an appointment for Ernie. I did some work on the van completing all but on DC circuit breaker that is still on the way here. I also installed teo AC outlets, one for a heater that does not pass through the inverter and the second an AC outlet for the refrigerator. The refrigerator will be DC powered but has an AC option. I also reconnected the solar panel cables on the roof and installed the fuse from the alternator. They I connected the batteries and turned on the batteries and the breakers to the Solar charger and the house circuits. They all seem to work properly. I did not close the breakers from the alternator nor from the solar panels yet because I wanted to study the manuals and be ready to adjust or confirm the settings of the chargers and also have the bluetooth monitoring running as well. I need to locate a tiny screwdriver to make some final connections and install the battery temperature probes as well. Then I might have power. Leftover corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast. Cottage and fruit for lunch. Tamales for dinner.

Saturday: (01/14) I took Ernie to another appointment first thing today. Back home, after breakfast of granola and a banana, I got to work on the van. I finished up the last of the wiring including installing a breaker that arrived yesterday, I also hooked up all the monitoring equipment. I tested the solar charger and it worked fine providing about 7 amps. I then enabled the alternator charging and it provided 24 amps. When I turned off the solar, the alternator provided 51 amps, for a while, then it’s breaker tripped. I experienced the same problem with the charger in the motorhome which I corrected by installing a larger breaker. We had leftover sauerbraten with baked potatoes and corn on the cb for lunch. With the solar / alternator charger working well I then tested the inverter / charger. I fully charged the batteries which took about 2.5 hours charging at 75 amps. With that current through the terminals and cables I checked for hot spots with my thermal scanner. All really good except either terminal on the main fuse. When the charge was through I tightened the terminals some more. Then I tested the inverter. It works but I didn’t check it for a big load which I’ll do tomorrow with the heater. Tonight I’m testing the trickle consumption with the inverter on but no load. It looks like it might use 20 amp hours overnight. I had a couple of sweet tamales for dinner.

Sunday: (01/15) Leftover corned beef hash for breakfast. I picked up Chinese food for lunch from the Wok On restaurant for me and from Lucky Bistro for Lou. I love the peking BBQ ribs from Wok On while Lou can’t eat there due to their use of cottonseed oil. I was out to get some storage containers at Lowe’s and a big tool bag from Harbor Freight. I worked on the Van some testing for a heavy load running an electric heater for 30 minutes. I also ran another test of the vehicle alternator charging. I replaced the breaker that tripped previously that comes from the alternator. After about 15 minutes, the alternator/solar charger output breaker tripped. I think it was possibly due to the terminals being ever so slightly loose and heat buildup from that. I think I’ll replace that breaker with a fuse later since it doesn’t need to be switchable. Now I just need a nice sunny day to test the solar output. And there is another problem with the fact that I can’t monitor the inverter with bluetooth. The batteries and solar charger are working fine. I’ll need to contact the manufacturer to see if it was my error doing the setup that caused it. Leftover lunch for dinner.

Monday: (01/16) Leftover corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast. We had some really heave rain last night and good intermittent rain in the morning. I worked in the van. I cut the electrical cabinet top to fit now that the circuit breaker panels were installed. I also installed a pigtail cord for the DC power to the refrigerator. Then I moved the refrigerator into the van. In the afternoon we had a little sun and the refrigerator ran off the sun as well as the batteries getting topped off. My back was really bad today so I didn’t do too much more. Orange carrots and ham for lunch. Dawn made a pork roast with sweet potatoes and apples for dinner.

Tuesday: (01/17) I prepared a ham, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich using the induction cooktop in the van. Another test passed. I worked most of the day moving stuff that I won't be needing anymore from the van to storage in my shop. Next project is plumbing. I cut off the two side bed storage lids to fit behind the front cabinet line and reinstalled the lids. The end result is that I could take the van out once I get the mattress and get the bedside of the shower walls done. Having water for that would be nice but not required. Leftover hot and sour soup with cottage cheese and fruit for lunch. For dinner we had pot roast with the usual potatoes, carrots and some green beans for our garden.

Wednesday: (01/18) Granola and diced apple for breakfast. I Attended my Wednesday webinar. I also jumped a car for another resident at Dawn’s apartment. And I started working on installing plumbing. Unfortunately, I can't get started on cabinetry like the shower, the sink nor the closet, the microwave cabinet, the other overhead cabinets. Salad for lunch. After lunch I went up to Foothills Park for a short walk up Chamise Trail up to Arbolejo Lookout and the Vista Hill then back down to Boronda Lake then up and down the Toyon Trail back to the start. Possibly a 4 mile hike. It was nice to see some flowing water in the creeks. I then went off to Lowe’s to pick up some plumbing stuff for the van. On the way home I bought our dinner at Super Taqueria.

Thursday: (01/19) Granola and diced apple for breakfast. It rained well last night but today there is little chance of more rain. Since it was wet we decided to head toward Santa Cruz to look around. That plan ended when Ernie confirmed he’d need a ride about noon. So we headed off to Ikea to look at things, in particular a mattress for the van. Meatball lunch at Ikea. I picked up Ernie after lunch. Pot roast for dinner.

Friday: (01/20) Leftover pot roast for breakfast. Lou and I headed off first thing to Lowe’s. I got a few parts for the van. We also stopped at ACE to get items not found at Lowe’s. Back home I assembled the valve manifold for the water system that, hopefully, allows the one pump to transfer water from tank to tank and to the house for use. I had to return to Lowe’s again. I made a couple of online orders for pickup. Some of these items were things I couldn’t find on the shelves. On the way home I picked up lunch from Wok on and Lucky Bistro. I ate Chinese food for lunch. After lunch I unpacked the new microwave. I gave the one I bought for the van to Dawn so I had to get another. I didn’t get it tested today. Salad and cottage cheese for dinner.

Saturday: (01/21) Granola for breakfast. I went to Dawn’s apartment to look into a problem with her monitor and TV. The TV plug strip was turned off. Easy fix. Her monitor was flashing and ticking occasionally. I played with the resolution settings and all became well. While there our San Jose tennant called and said they had no hot water. I drove down to San Jose and found the pilot light out. I relit it and hung around for it to cycle before leaving. While waiting I picked up a pizza for lunch. I stopped at Harbor freight for a ⅜” allen wrench and ended up getting a micro hammer and a new wire stripper because mine has a bad cutter on it. I stopped at Lowe’s for a couple of 1 ½” PVC plugs, some teflon tape, and silicon spray. Back home I fixed the squeak in my sliding door with a couple of squirts on the door rollers. House Of Pizza pizza for lunch. I trimmed my beard and hair this afternoon. It was postponed from this morning. Leftover Chinese food for dinner.

Sunday: (01/22) Lou made bacon and eggs with oven baked home fries for breakfast. I worked on the van in the morning. I removed the driver side water tank so that I could tighten the unused plugs on the front of the tank. I did leave holes into the electrical cabinet to access the area of the plugs but in order to access the lower plug I'd need to remove the Inverter so removing the tank was easier. With all the unused holes in the two water tanks plugged, I then pulled in a water line through the rear columns and over the rear doors to connect the two tanks. Water will be pumped either direction between the two tanks through the water line. The right side tank will be the primary tank and water will be pumped from the left to the right tanks as needed. Leftover pizza for lunch. After my late 1400 lunch I relaxed until about 1600 when I was called over to Dawn;s apartment. I helped assemble the IKEA bathroom cabinet they had bought yesterday. We had stuffed bell peppers with mashed potatoes for dinner.

Monday: (01/23) Granola for breakfast. I installed some abrasion protection on some sharp spots near the water line between the tanks. About 1000, Lou Dawn and I took off toward Santa Cruz. We explored Capitola, along the bluffs by the ocean, and downtown Santa Cruz. I got my lunch from Panda Express while they got their lunches from Togo’s. We drove home via Highway 1 toward Half Moon Bay. Enroute, Dan said she got word that the Half Moon Bay bookstore, and all HMB was in lockdown due to an active shooter. It was getting dark so we turned off toward home through Pescadero. Along the way we passed three police cars headed toward the coast. At home I saw news of another mass shooting that turned out to be the shooter in HMB. Do we bring these disasters on? Last time we took this trip to Santa Cruz and came home this way we passed the beginning of the CZU fire that burned most of the mountains from Santa Cruz to HMB. This time a mass shooting. This may be our last trip. Too dangerous. Leftovers for dinner.

Tuesday: (01/24) Granola for breakfast. I helped Lou hang pictures at Dawn;s apartment. I am the master hammerer. I then worked on the van. I performed a test of the ability of the pump to bring water up to the roof and back down to confirm I’ll be able to transfer from tank to tank. It worked well. I also did some other pipe fitting. Ham and cheese sandwich with leftover hot and sour soup for lunch. In the afternoon I brought the table saw out and cut some plywood for the top and end of the water tanks. I need the end piece to mount the water manifold on. Broccoli salad with mashed potato and diced ham for dinner.

Wednesday: (01/25) Lou and I went to A Good Morning restaurant for breakfast. We then headed over to Pleasanton to the fairground for an RV show. We looked over all the available RV’s and vans and confirmed nothing as good as what mine is planned to be. After we had our fill we stopped at a couple of thrift stores. We also got to fill up our gas tank, which was all but empty, with the cheapest gas in the bay area, only $3.49. It was 60 cents cheaper than the cheap gas near home. We had Safeway soup for lunch. Ham and cheese sandwich for dinner.

Thursday: (01/26) Granola for breakfast. I finished installing the water tank vents. My original plan of using a PEX pipe for the vent had to change. It is too rigid to make it through the rear column to get outside. I had to go to ACE and get some vinyl tubing. I had to visit another ACE to finally locate one step PVC cement. I also painted the color coat on the panels I cut the other day. French toast and bacon for lunch. Lou made chicken pot pie for dinner.

Friday: (01/27) Leftover French toast and ham for breakfast. I started the day by doing a couple of tasks that have been on my todo list for a while. I went to the key shop to get a couple of copies of keys for the van ring (The motorhome door key and the house key). Now I don’t have to carry two sets of keys. Next, I got out the table saw and cut some boards to trim the bottom of the compartment above the water tanks. Then I primed the boards. Our neighbor made a nice vegetable soup for lunch. In the afternoon I painted the color coat on the boards I primed this morning. Later I made a run to Lowe’s to pick up some parts I ordered for the van. For dinner, I made baked potato chili sizes.

Saturday: (01/28) A foggy morning but sunny later. Granola for breakfast. I worked on the van. I disassembled the passenger side water tank cabinet to allow me to lift the tank and be able to install the outlet pipe fitting. I couldn’t spin the ell that was attached to the tank. I then built a bottom for the cabinet over the tank. I also installed some tee nuts to allow installing the hot water tank to the wall of the cabinet. Then I reassembled the cabinet. Finally I installed a new cover for the rear of the tank where the valve manifold will be attached. After rearranging all the supplies that were crammed on the driver side over to the passenger side, I then did the same to the driver side cabinet. This took all day with a short nap after lunch. Ham and cheese sandwich and some broccoli salad for lunch. Three bean chicken salad noodles for dinner. Lou made some chocolate flan for dessert.

Sunday: (01/29) Lou made oven omelets for breakfast. After watching the Sunday morning shows I went over to Dawn’s apartment. I installed a cable organizer channel to make her desk neater. Back home I did some more plumbing hookups. Super burrito for lunch. It was cold and breezy today so after lunch I just relaxed inside. Beef stew for dinner.

Monday: (01/30) Lou’s sweet potato pie for breakfast. I took a walk over to see the Barron Park donkeys and through the Stanford campus. Around an 8 mile hike. Nice to see Lake Lagunita full. Along the way I stopped at Coupa Cafe for a Tiger Spice Chai. I caught the bus home. Leftover omelet for lunch when I got home. Macaroni and cheese for dinner.

Tuesday: (01/31) Leftover macaroni and cheese for breakfast. Leftover omelet for lunch and dinner. I spent the cold (24 degree) morning relaxing. I also made a couple of camping reservations. One for Coyote Lake County park in Gilroy in a couple of weeks. We haven’t camped there before. I also made a reservation at Hendy Woods State Park in April. Lou wants to get away to camp for a while. In the afternoon I finally got to work on the van. I started framing the shower. The first problem was to level the van. It’s hard to align walls in a van with curved walls. I used my new leveling blocks to get it close to level. I managed to get the front and rear walls up.

New Dream RV

 Sunday: (11/22) Granola and banana for breakfast. Watched the usual Sunday morning TV shows. Lou and I went out for a little grocery shopping. We actually only needed whole milk and ciabatta buns but of course got a few more things. Back home I got to work pruning the arbor. That took the rest of the day to fill our two dumpsters to accomplish about half of the pruning. I had a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup for lunch. Leftover tortilla casserole for dinner. I did some research for a hike tomorrow. I also happened upon what I would love to be our next RV, the Winnebago EKKO. Ya gotta have a dream.

Pleasanton RV Show

Wednesday: (01/11) We headed off to Pleasanton to an RV show at the fairgrounds. Cecilia came with Lou Dan and I. We got a look at the Winnebago Sunstar model 29VE, a new model that looks interesting. We got to compare it and the Sunstar 27N we been considering. Also got a look at a new model from Hymer, the company that bought Roadtrek. Also learned about the outstanding electrical system in Roadtrek/hymen RV’s. We ate our lunch from the backpack. Cecilia treated us to dinner on the way home. Granola for breakfast. Ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch. Dinner at the Black Bear.

 

The Cupboard Was Bare

Thursday: (11/17) Dawn had an early dentist appointment so we delayed breakfast. We headed down to Gilroy with the intent of having breakfast at the Longhouse Restaurant. it was closed with a sign saying it was being remodeled. Hope it’s OK. We had to go to the Black Bear restaurant instead. After that we went over to look at the Sunstar 29VE motorhome that SeeGrins website said they had two of. They didn’t have any. So we looked around at other similar models, and some park model trailers and some of the Roadtrek motorhomes. Nothing too interesting. Then it was off to downtown Gilroy where Dawn sold some books to the Know Knew Books store. While Dawn was busy, Lou and I took a walk around town. We had lunch at a Mexican restaurant there. A little other shopping and we returned home. No rain. Nice day.

Visiting Home

Saturday: (05/21) A rainy morning. Granola for breakfast. Lou and I made a run to the grocery stores this morning. We’re in an odd position here at home without the motorhome. Our leftovers are in the RV. Some of our other daily use items are there as well. We’ll have to make do until we get the motorhome back next week, hopefully Monday.  Meanwhile, I think we are going to start looking for a new motorhome. It means all the money for the repairs we’ve done to the old one thus year are wasted money it still may be the better move. Lou and Dawn went out to a couple of estate sales this afternoon.  Lou also worked on pruning the berry plants.  I made green enchiladas for dinner.

Sunday: (05/22) Nice day. A usual Sunday morning of watching TV’s Sunday morning shows. Leftover enchilada for breakfast. Lou started some split peas in the slow cooker in the morning. Last night I tried to light the oven and the pilot was out. I lit the pilot and it worked, momentarily. My enchiladas got a little warmed but the pilot went out and the oven would light. I couldn’t get it going. So, this morning I worked on it and cleaned the pilot and aligned the assembly with some wire. It is a very old Wedgewood oven. Now works better than it has for years. Lou and I drove down to Gilroy to SeeGrins RV to look at RV’s. Actually we’ve pretty much decided on what we want, a Winnebago Sunstar 27N LX class A motorhome. It’s roomy, has great storage, excellent carrying capacity and a really efficient layout. It is the shortest Class A Winnebago makes. We examined it thoroughly, checking the fit for our needs. It seems just right. Of course, we didn’t intend to get a new RV until this week even though we’ve been looking for years. Now to see if we want what they have in stock or want to order one with our exact features. Then there is the financing of it to be worked out. It may still be years before we get it. We enjoyed a free lunch at SeeGrins. Lou’s split pea soup was great for dinner.

Monday: (05/23) We went to Hobee’s Restaurant for breakfast. They are famous for their coffee cake which Dawn was interested in. I spent most of the day tinkering on the computer and working in the office. Lou was busy tinkering on her mixer that doesn’t work. We had a late lunch of leftover enchiladas or salad. Lou’s berry cobbler for dinner. I called about the RV and supposedly they got the part in this afternoon and it should be ready tomorrow. We’ll see.

Tuesday: (05/24) I made breakfast bacon egg and cheese sandwiches. Lou’s pepper tomato ham and cheese salad for lunch. Dinner at Chili’s Restaurant. I did some tinkering in the shop, Lou did tinkering and cleaning. Dawn was making CD’s. In the afternoon I called Pacific Repair and they got the wrong part so not to be finished today. Maybe tomorrow, we’ll see. I cancelled my hike for tomorrow and am missing another on Thursday due to this uncertainty.

Wednesday: (05/25) I made breakfast bacon egg and cheese sandwiches. I dug out a hole by the swing and planted a grape vine that we had in a pot. It should look good growing on our swing as it’s arbor. An afternoon call to the RV shop confirmed no pickup today.  Pepper steak sandwiches for dinner.

Thursday: (05/26) Granola and banana for breakfast. I lazed away much of the morning. In the afternoon we all took a little run for me to get dim sum for my lunch, visit Harbor Freight to get a new straight claw hammer to finish digging the slot for a sprinkler line and visited a fermentation shop for Dawn to get some starter for one of her projects.  I also installed a sprinkler line through the lawn to the newly installed grapevine by the swings. My afternoon call to the RV shop, I have them on speed dial now, confirmed they have the part but it isn’t ready yet. BBQ corned beef with baked potato and asparagus for dinner.

Friday: (05/27) Granola and banana for breakfast. It’s that tie again, actually a bit past it. I moved the washer outside so we can water the yard with it. 40 gallons per load makes for a green lawn. The RV isn’t ready so we are now looking at next Wednesday to pick it up. We’re busy Tuesday and Monday is a holiday. A nice ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. More smoked corned beef with baked potatoes and some fried beet greens for dinner.

 
The grape vines new location and Mt Donald with the arbor behind it.

Some yard plants.

Saturday: (05/28) We enjoyed several Saturday morning shows, as usual,  like CBS Saturday Morning,  Lucky Dog,  Dr Chris Pet Vet, Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation, and The Inspectors. For breakfast I made some corned beef hash with Lou’s smoked corned beef. Enjoyed it in the back yard. Gardening was my major effort today. We all made a shopping run to Lowe’s to get a few things for that effort. We bought a nice little fuchsia to replace some geraniums in a hanging basket on the arbor. the geraniums will like a sunny spot more and the fuchsia won’t mind the shade. My lunch was vegetable beef soup and a sausage. More gardening. Lou made French fries and wieners with broccoli for dinner.

Lucky Us, No Brakes

Tuesday: (05/17) Leftover corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast. Got a good start this morning. Left the house by 1015. Stopped for gas and LPG and then hooked up and on the road by 1130. It’s an easy jaunt over the mountains on I580 then North on I205, then I5 then catch CA4 in Stockton. We make it about 25 miles East on Ca4 and near the top of a hill there is a funny noise and a loss of power for a couple of seconds. then OK. We then top the hill and i apply the brakes. There are no brakes. Fortunately I was in second gear and it wasn’t to long or steep if a down hill. There were no slow cars ahead of me and there was a place to pull off the road at the bottom of the hill. We even had one bar of cell signal. I called Good Sam Road Service and they arranged to a tow to Oakdale to get it fixed. We stopped a little after 1430.

 
I did my checks and we called for the tow by 1500. The service location was found and the tow arranged by 1545 with a one hour ETA. Unfortunately, the tow truck didn’t arrive until 1805.

We were hooked up in 45 minutes and dropped off at what we hope is the garage by 1905. After we were parked we took a walk around the town of Oakdale. Leftover chicken and artichoke over rice for dinner.

Wednesday: (05/18) Lou and Dawn were up early for a walk around the neighborhood. We had French toast with Olallieberries form our bushes and sausage for breakfast. I made contact with Pacific Truck and Autos office. Today is their busiest day so they aren’t likely to get to the RV today. We collected our things and found a room at the Best Western Motel. A little looking around and a little relaxing in air conditioned comfort. We had lunch at RyderZ Restaurant. Enjoyed the pool. Leftovers for dinner. No work done on the RV today.

Thursday: (05/19) We “enjoyed” the motel breakfast this morning. Before we headed off for the day we stopped at the garage to see how the repair might be going. They should get to work on it today. We then drove up to Angel’s Camp. We experienced some problems getting there due a total absence of signs and confused officers doing nothing to solve the problem to help traffic get to a detour around town due to a parade. We had given up and were following a destruction derby car on a trailer which fortunately brought us right to the fairgrounds. So we got to see the fair.

 
It’s a pretty good country fair. I enjoyed a long conversation with a forest service fireman about firefighting. I think I now know much more of how they are able to do their jobs. We met a pig named Trump and another named Breakfast. I even saw one that looked like me with a shaggy full beard. Ernie was there and we met up a few times.

 
The traveling storyteller and blacksmith couple had some interesting equipment.

 
Another lady from Oregon built her tiny home abut a year ago. it’s basically an old sheep herder wagon. The traveling Desoto easy chair was interesting as well.

After ice cream at Rite Aide we stopped for dinner we stopped at Ruderz again. We had soup and a sandwich. The RV shop says that a starter cable rubbed through the brake line causing our brake failure. The should have that and the differential leak fixed by late tomorrow, if we’re lucky. Either way we’re headed home tomorrow.

Friday: (05/20) Motel breakfast again. We visited all the antique stores in town. Lunch at the Corner Cafe in Oakdale. After lunch we called about the status of the motorhome. The parts still had not arrived so we headed toward home via Modesto. More thrift stores explored. I found a well reviewed Chinese Buffet so we had dinner at the Grand Buffet on Coffee Road. We then drove home arriving about 2200. Hopefully the RV will be finished Monday. Whenever it is ready we’ll head back to get it and likely do a little travel in it.

New AC For RV

Monday: (05/09) Granola for breakfast. I managed to avoid work until 1030 then went outside. i trimmed the apricot tree. it has some infection that is killing branches all over the tree, about 10%. I trimmed off all the affected areas. I then used a couple of 2″x4″ to make crossbars for the Jeeps roof rack. i need to get real ones sometime. i needed the crossbars to carry my scaffolding from San Jose to Palo Alto. I then went down to Dawn’s house and loaded my scaffolding on top of the Jeep. It takes a while to tie it all down. On the way home I stopped for lunch at la Victoria for a quesodilla. Just as i got home the delivery truck arrived with our new dishwasher. I sat it aside in the kitchen to install later. I unloaded the scaffolding and set it up by the RV. I wanted it to provide short lifts to move the old AC off the RV roof and the new one on top without having to reach too far. Each lift was only about 4 feet. I got them swapped but didn’t hook it up yet. Lou made tacos for dinner. Dawn made chunky apple sauce for desert.

Tuesday: (05/10) Granola for breakfast. Lou and Dawn were gone most of the day in San Jose including attending an event at San Jose State university. did some Internet research and then hooked up the thermostat and control box to the air conditioner and it tested good. Frankly, some installation instructions could have come in handy but there were none with either the AC or the thermostat/control box. The new unit seems to cool well, start and stop easier and draw less current. It wasn’t really too hot today so hopefully it works well in real heat.  I had a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. Lou and I made a shopping run to the Grocery outlet in the evening.

Wednesday: (05/11) Lou made a nice ham and eggs breakfast with fried potatoes. She and Dan were off after that to Fresno to visit family. I relaxed much of the morning and attended a webinar at 1000. After that I finally got to work. I removed the old dishwasher and looked at what was involved in installing the new on. I even read the directions, not that they were too helpful though. The water supply line was different enough that I needed to go to the hardware store to get parts. OSH, and probably most big city hardware stores, don’t have much of a selection of odd fittings and, of course, I needed some. I finally collected some parts that will do the job without replacing everything, not perfect but OK. On my rest break i watched several training videos then finally had the dishwasher installed and tested and all my tools put away by 1800. I had a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. I took a shower and then walked over to our Corner Bakery Cafe for a chopped salad for dinner.

No Smog From The RV

Friday: (03/13) I took the RV in go get the smog test and it passed. The Jeeps brakes have been acting up. That's why we dashed home. No car, less fun. Evidently the ABS system is constantly unapplying all brakes. Not Good. The left rear abs sensor was chewed off. I'm not sure what that means yet but I don't really suspect the squirrels did it. Likely a misbehaving rock on one of the roads we took.It's still being worked on. I washed the RV. Tightened up the loose left mirror mount. Cottage cheese and fruit for lunch. Dawn's chicken lentil soup for dinner. Lou Dawn Cecilia, and Courtney enjoyed a campfire. I enjoyed some time on the computer.

New Things

Saturday: (06/08) A little work in the green house this morning while Lou, Dawn and our neighbor Meili were out exploring some of the many garage sales today. Today we received our new wireless home phone system. Our old ones just din't work anymore, rang nicely but usually couldn't be answered. The new one looks the same, same brand but newer technology including the ability to link our cell phones so at home all calls go through the house phones. Seems like a neat feature. Dawn and Courtney went out to a movie in the evening. Pepper-steak sandwich for breakfast. Donuts for lunch. Pepper-steak sandwich for dinner.

Sunday: (06/09) A donut snack to start the morning with tea in the back yard. Lou, Dawn and I jumped in the little car and drove up to Millbrea for breakfast at Neil's Restaurant. I had corned beef hash with eggs and pancakes while Dawn and Lou shared a spinach omelet. After breakfast we toured the Tanforan Mall. Lunch was ice cream cones at Burger King, 50 cents each. Next stop was at the Hillsdale Mall in San Mateo. At both Malls Lou was enjoying the ride in here little folding electric wheel chair. The new battery pack held up well and only discharged about half way touring two malls. We stopped in Redwood City at a thrift store and I checked around trying to find some of my favorite energy drink, Samba, but I had no luck finding any. We stopped for dinner at Chavez Market's taqueria for super nachos then went home. Busy day.

Monday: (06/10) I spent the morning cleaning up and organizing my shop so I can work there. Lou and Dawn were busy doing similar work in the house. We also rearranged the living room furniture. In the afternoon Lou had an appointment. Then we did a little shopping. We bought a new rug and TV for the living room. The TV is a big smart TV. After dinner we sampled the new TV by watching some Netflix movies. We also received the second set of replacement batteries for Lou's wheelchair. I fixed ham, eggs and home fried potatoes for breakfast. For lunch I had leftover nachos while Lou and Dawn had leftover oxtail stew. Dinner was BBQ ribs with baked potatoes and green beans.


Tuesday: (06/11) I installed the replacement side mirror on the RV. The new one fit perfectly but it does have on problem. it makes the other one look so old. The new one is so shiny. With the mirror now operational, I took the RV out to get it's long delayed smog test. It was due in April. Lou made roast beef with eggs and potatoes for breakfast. Egg rolls and an avocado smoothie for lunch. Stuffed peppers with green beans, sliced peppers and quinoa for dinner.

Wednesday: (06/12) I started with a little work in the shop. I also scheduled the RV for a front end alignment tomorrow and the Jeep for some tires and a front end alignment Friday. Today, Dawn's friend Andrea and her friend Nicole stopped by for a visit. Cereal for breakfast. Lou and I had lunch at LUU Noodle House sharing our usual combination Chow Fun and an avocado smoothie. Dawn, Andrea and Nicole went out to lunch downtown. For dinner Lou made chicken spinach savory blintzes with a green salad followed with rice pudding.

Thursday: (06/13) I had an appointment at Ross Equipment in San Jose this morning to get the RV front end aligned. When we had the ball joints replaced last month in Panguitch, Utah they could align the front end. They found a torsion bar bolt loose and tightened it and that seemed to get rid of a recent noise at low speeds. In the evening Dawn went to a seminar at the Mountain View Library and I visited the IKEA store and Home Depot in East Palo Alto. Were looking for a new TV cabinet and IKEA had a couple that might work. Cereal for breakfast. Hometown buffet for my lunch, Super Taqueria quesodillas for Lou and Dawn. Dinner was leftovers for Lou and Dawn and a hot dog at IKEA for me.

Ely to Home

Thursday: (05/23) Cereal for breakfast. We left Ely just before 11am heading West on Highway 50. We stopped for gas in Austin and Fallon, had dinner at the Nugget in Sparks enjoying their buffet and made it to Fairfield by 1030. There, a semi truck tried to occupy our lane while we were already in it causing us to take evasive action to no avail and the rear of the trailer removed our right side mirror. The truck continued on down the road and we had to pull over due to the mirror banging our side window. We called the Highway Patrol and were advised to make a report tomorrow. We continued the rest of the way home with Lou acting as the right side mirror. Not a fun way to drive a motorhome. It really is like driving blindfolded when changing lanes to the right. We arrived home at 1230am and tucked the motorhome into the driveway. We just settled in and spent the night, as we have for the past few months, in the motorhome. Time enough tomorrow to move back in at home.

Back In Panguitch Again

Friday: (05/17) When we got ready to roll this morning I found I couldn't check the oil due to the dipstick being too tight in the tube. We retunred to the garage in Panguitch to have it looked at. It turns out the tube was damaged by the manifold exhaust gases blowing on it. A new one is on it's way from Chicago. They are no longer made nor stocked by GM so we were lucky to find one. It should be here on Monday. So we are settled in behind the garage again for the weekend. We'll probably take a couple of day trips from here in the Jeep to the North Rim and to Zion NP. Then we can leave from here into Nevada.

On our way to Panguitch we did our tank duty at Red Canyon again. The dump at Bryce is still closed. When we got into town we did our shopping. Breakfast was sausage gravy on bread. Lou made super nachos chips for lunch. Leftovers for dinner.
(GPS: 37.828725, -112.436412)

Bryce Canyon NP, Sunset CG

Monday: (05/13) We slept a little late this morning so that after we finished our showers it was time to move the RV into the shop so they could start working on it. Replacing the exhaust manifold took most of the day. It was removed and installed three times due to two mounting studs that took turns breaking and necessitated the removal of the manifold to drill out and tap them. With that finished near 2pm, they started the front lower ball joint replacements which should correct the alignment problem the wore out the front tires so fast. There was the potential that they would completely finish it today requiring use to live in the RV in the shop tonight but both Stewart and Dan worked on the front end work and new tire installation and got us out before 4:30pm. The work that Royal Express Transmission and Automotive did was good, timely and the prices fair. Being able to live in the RV in their yard with power was very helpfull. We filled up the gas tank and did some shopping at the market before leaving town. We stopped in at the Red Canyon Campground to use their dump and get water. When we left Bryce Canyon NP, their dump and water weren't open. Since it was after 5pm we intended to stay the night at Red Canyon thinking that Bryce might be full. Instead, we found Red Canyon CG full and continued on to Bryce Canyon NP and got one of the few remaining sites. It's nice to be back. Since the RV was on the lift all day, we ate out. Lou and Dawn went to breakfast at the Flying M Cafe having bacon and eggs or ham and eggs respectively. I finally made it to Lunch there at 11:30. I had a hot roast beef sandwich. They got to enjoy milkshakes and French fries at Henrie's Cafe for their lunch. Lou made red pepper with bean and corn soup for dinner served with toast.
(GPS: 37.624108, -112.174932)


Tuesday: (05/14) I unpacked and prepared the new generator. It's an 800 watt 2-cycle generator from Harbor Freight (HF). It's actually fairly quite and seems to handle our battery charger well. I did have to locate some 2-cycle oil for the gas. Fortunately they had it at one of the service stations just outside the entrance to the park.  We'll be getting the RV's generator repaired when we return home but didn't want to spend the time just now. The HF generator was only $105 and even if we never use it again should be worth the cost for the savings in time. It's really too bad we had to get it though since we have a nice Honda 2K sitting at home. Of course we wont be running the air conditioner on the way home now. Hopefully our path through Nevada isn't too hot. We also did some organizing and cleaning in the RV.


After lunch we drove out the Park road to the end stopping at the viewpoints. The weather was really nice today with only a little extra breeze at times. Tomorrow is a hike day for me. Leftovers for breakfast. I had corned beef hash with eggs. Lou and Dawn had spaghetti. For lunch we had ham quesodillas with more leftovers. Lou and Dawn had salad and I had soup. For dinner we had chorizo hamburgers smothered with fried onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and some cheese.


Each viewpoint provides a different grand show.


Not just red rocks here. Some gold, white and other colors add to the show.


A lot of statuary that was nature made is on display.

Panguitch, Utah In the Garage

Wednesday: (05/08) Lou fixed corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast. The clouds are broken and there's even some sun this morning. We decided to see about getting the RV fixed, during the week, while we can. I called Leale's RV Repair In San Jose to discuss the problem they provided a reference in Cedar City.


I then called Good Sam Road Service and they connected me with a "Mobile Mechanic." Stewart Ivie of Royal Express Automotive and Transmission drove up to the park and checked the engine and said it was OK to drive down to his shop in Panguitch. The CO alarm went off before I got out of the park so I opened all the windows and continued on down the hill. It was only about 25 miles. They checked it out and determined that it is, perhaps not the exhaust header but rather it is the wye pipe that connects the two headers. That may mean the repair is quick. We had ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch. While I "supervised" the repairs, Lou explored town. Unfortunately, the header is cracked as well. It wasn't the big failure because when they replaced the gaskets for the wye, the noise was gone. But a bad exhaust manifold could lead to premature valve failure so we now have to wait until Friday for the replacement manifold. Since I was in the garage, I got the oil changed as well. However, they also noted my front left tire is bare so they'll be replacing the front tires as well as checking the front end. Might as well get everything fixed in one place before we return to the wilderness. We're now camping at the garage.
(GPS: 37.828725, -112.436412)

Thursday: (05/09) Leftovers from our steak dinners, from a couple of days ago, for breakfast. Lou was off toward Las Vegas to pickup Dawn shortly after 7am. I took a short walk around town before returning to the garage. I received news then the exhaust manifold missed the truck so we're here until Monday. Actually, this is a nice little town and we do have an electric hookup so not problems with no solar due to the storm clouds. There was just a little rain today. Of course, one of the squalls was when i was outside working organizing the storage compartments. I tinkered at the computer and watched TV all day, a great rainy day activity. For lunch, a corned beef hash sandwich. A chili size for dinner.

Friday: (05/10) Mostly cloudy but much nicer today. Only a few light showers. I took a walk around more of the streets in town this afternoon. Otherwise I tinkered at the computer and watched TV. This is really civilization here in Panguitch. We have 23 TV channels. Our tires are in and the manifold is on the way and should be here Monday. Hopefully all will be done Monday. Corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast. Cottage cheese and fruit for lunch. Dinner at Hennrie's Restaurant, a smothered beef burrito with beans and a salad.

Saturday: (05/11) A nice sunny morning turning to clouds in the afternoon. More tinkering at home today. Corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast. Ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. Chicken pot pie for dinner. Lou and Dawn arrived from Las Vegas about 6:30. They had cottage cheese and fruit for dinner. They had a Las Vegas Buffet before leaving there.

Bryce Canyon NP

Tuesday: (05/07) We started the day with more rain showers and our generator failed to start. The starter motor has become disconnected and just spins freely. So we warmed up breakfast in a frying pan rather than the microwave. More chorizo scrambled eggs served with avocado. Yum! We prepared to roll. The rain had stopped long enough for us to get away. We stopped in Bicknell to get propane and top both vehicle gas tanks and then headed off through Teasdale and onto Highway 12 South. We often had rain, and sometimes snow or hail. I had intended to stop at Calf Creek CG for a night but we couldn't make the turn into the campground with the towed and couldn't turn around until after we had climbed all the way out of the valley so we'll have to stop there another time. We ate lunch on the road, ham and cheese sandwiches, and continued on to Bryce Canyon NP.


On our way in to the park I think our exhaust manifold cracked or worse. When we leave here we may be on our way to the garage. On the positive side, we finally have Verizon so we have internet via that. Back at Sunglow CG I couldn't get the Datastorm Internet to work, couldn't find any satellites even though there wasn't any obstructions? Here, it connected? Must have needed a rest. We've been roaming on our Verizon phones since we entered Utah so couldn't use the Internet on it. I'm settled in here at Bryce for four days, at least. Lou will be driving to Las Vegas to pick up Dawn at the airport on Thursday and returning with her on Friday after they play a little. Hopefully I'll get a few hikes in or just a nice rest. I caught up on my blog posts and other computer stuff this afternoon. Leftover beef stroganoff with chili rellenos for dinner.
(GPS: 37.63704, -112.16643)

A Day In Las Vegas

Sunday: (02/03) We had toast with peanut butter and jam for breakfast. Fortunately the wind was mostly gone this morning. We had gotten up rather early but had to wait until 9am to depart so we could do our tank duty when it opened. With everything ready, we were off toward Las Vegas about 9:40. The first order of business was climbing the long hill West toward High 95. In no time we arrived in Henderson and stopped at the Sunset Station Casino. We had hoped that we could spend the night there a we have in some years past but for the past couple of years now they don't allow it. Too bad. We still took advantage of it's central location surrounded by thrift shops and stores. While Lou and Dawn checked out the thrift stores i tried to find a computer case/sleeve for Dawn's newer laptop. Finding one for an 11" laptop is difficult. 10" are plentiful and then Best Buy's supply went to 16" laptops. I wanted it to fit like a glove so it didn't take any more space than necessary in Dawn's carry-on bag. Radio Shack only had two computer bags in the store and one of them was just what I needed. We met back at the casino for Sunday brunch at their Feast buffet. Excellent. Buffets, are a problem in Nevada, too many, too good. After brunch, we headed on down to the Orleans Casino where we were allowed to spend the night as in the past. Dawn was busy packing to leave tomorrow. I noticed the RV starting battery was dead again. Something to do tomorrow.
(GPS: 36.1022453, -115.2009735)

Monday: (02/04) Scrambled eggs peppers and onions for breakfast. We headed over to the airport. We were allowed to go with Dawn to the boarding area and saw her off to home. The flight was delayed about an hour due to fog in San Francisco. Dawn was home by 2:30 or so. We headed up to North Las Vegas to Jerry's Nugget Casino for lunch. Lou had her prime rib and I had a combo burrito and chilli relleno. I also got a cheesecake to go for a later desert. Since Dawn was gone, Lou had leftovers for dinner, I had my cheesecake and some leftover chili beans for my dinner. After lunch we visited a thrift store nearby. We then spent the rest of the afternoon stopping at Walmart for a new battery and a few other things. I then installed the new battery and then returned the core to Walmart. Mission accomplished. Tomorrow some more shopping then we're off the Lake Mead.

Tuesday: (02/05) Breakfast was the buffet at the Orleans Casino. We spent the day browsing at the Bass Pro Shop, thrift stores, and other distractions. We stopped by the bank for supplies and gassed up the Jeep. Dinner was chili beans with cornbread. We had planned to depart today but it got late so we decided to spend another night here at the Orleans Casino. Plans are always in flux. We then noticed a window note when we returned to the RV in the evening. The casino pointed out that we, and our neighbors couldn't remain there since sleeping in a vehicle on the property wasn't allowed. Precisely why we didn't ask permission when we arrived two days ago. Since it was only 30 minutes until we planned to watch the NCIS TV show we waited until after the show to depart at 9pm. We didn't want to risk another towing in Las Vegas. We gassed up the RV, refilled drinking water bottles and were on our way planning to just go out to Las Vegas Wash for the night as we had originally intended but I missed my turn and headed on up to Valley Of Fire. Turning around would have been difficult so we continued on to our next destination the Valley of Fire.

Quartzsite, Arizona

Saturday: (01/19) We made it to Quartzsite a little after 4pm. Our first stop was for some of their cheap gas, by California standards anyway. Gas was $3.79 in Blythe and most other places on our path yesterday. Here in Quartzsite it was $3.09. We checked in at the La Poza West BLM Long Term Visitor Area just South of town. After a quick tour we found that the the spot we stayed at a few years ago was available. There really are no specified sites. Campers just park 25 feet from each other in the desert and our spot was available and it includes a tree. Lou made pad Thai noodles for dinner. Quartzsite is a little town of some 3,000 full time residents that becomes a metropolis of maybe 500,000 peak during the winter. Most of the winter residents come in their RV's and park somewhere in the desert. It's the migration ritual of Snowbird's. More leftovers for dinner.
(GPS: 33.65026, -114.21905)

Sunday: (01/20) Dawn and I ventured out to look around. Dawn checked the vendors at Prospector's Gulch.


I concentrated on the Big Top RV Show. Lots to see even the occasional new and exciting thing.


I rather liked the customized golf carts.

Lou went to the market. Grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. After lunch I stayed home a while while Lou and Dawn took the Jeep out for a spin around town. I discovered our nice tree was shadowing our solar panels so I moved it away from the tree. I also cleaned the panels. Now they are doing much better. Later I returned to the Big Top tent and bought some LED lamps for the RV to replace some removed for use at home and also the lone remaining incandescent, the lamp in the range hood. Now we are 100% LED and florescent. For dinner we went out to the Mountain Quail Restaurant for their special of the night, mesquite smoked pork. We woke at 6am to 25 degrees but it as 35 degrees by 8am and by 9am quite nice. By afternoon we were in the 70's. Typical desert winter weather.


Monday: (01/21) Hash browned potatoes, Quartzsite General Store sausage, and eggs. I walked over to the Big Top and walked through looking for a pain eliminating ointment that we heard about that the people had picked up in the tent. There are a lot of old folks here so there were all sorts of pain sales booths. Some electric therapy, some insole for shoes and some others I forget but no ointments. I then walked by the shops at Tyson Wells, more than 100 tents. At one of the last I visited I found the SmoothGator ointment that the people we met last night were rving about. Now I can point Lou to where it's located to try it out. On the way home i stopped and picked up a fancy long range TV antenna. They are seen all over out here and a regular RV TV antenna gets nothing here and many places. The transmitters are about 90 miles away. I had brought our extendable handle that I use with brush to clean our house without needing a ladder. Now a multipurpose tool, it is serving as the mast for our TV antenna. I brought it to use with our Wilson cell phone antenna when we get to Yuma. I assembled it and erected the mast and it works great bringing in 16 channels. We had planned a late lunch at the Grubstake bar. I wanted to get their outstanding fish and chips but Lou and Dawn can't eat them because of their gluten free diet. The bar couldn't just grill the fish and we didn't have a menu to check so Lou and Dawn had lunch at home as I went off to my fish and chips. It was great as expected. I brought home a menu for reference later. They had leftover pad Thai noodles. When I returned they headed off with the jeep on another tour of town. I relaxed digesting my lunch. The above photo is of our campsite. Note the nice tree for Lou and the new TV antenna. Cottage cheese and fruit for dinner.

Tuesday: (01/22) Hash browned potatoes, sausage and eggs. We explored the West end of Main Street and the Main Event, a usually big flea market. it isn't too big but there were enough shops to keep us busy until about 2pm. Steamed cabbage with onions and sausage for lunch. After lunch we secured the RV and rolled down to the dump about 2 miles South of our campsite. Now with a full water tank and empty holding tanks we returned home. More cottage cheese with fruit and some ham and cheese cold cuts for dinner.

 
Wednesday: (01/23) We enjoyed a really nice sunrise this morning. Oatmeal with yogurt, craisens, and brown sugar for breakfast. I dropped Lou and Dawn off near the Post Office where they could check out near by junk dealers. I then Stopped by Solar Bill's and Discount Solar looking at replacement batteries for the RV. Our existing batteries are only five years old but cant hold a charge. By morning when we run the heater fan the batteres are below 10.5 volts. This after being conservative in the evening. We should be able to go three days with normal use without becoming too discharged. I chose Fullriver AGM batteries from Discount Solar. That's one of the nice things about being here in Quartzsite. If you decide what you want early enough they have it so no shipping is involved. For batteries that's rather a big cost. The batteries are costly enough so it's nice to eliminate the shipping. The Fullriver batteries are from China but so are most batteries. These gave a seven year warrantee more then any others so hopefully they do last. They also cost only $259 each rather that $318 each. It took me a while to conform with myself that I didn't want to change from six volt batteries like I currently had to twelve volt. Also to determine I wanted six batteries and not just four. There was a sign on the wall at Discount Solar that said "buy what you really want, it only hurts once." So I got replacement six volt batteries that were the same size as the existing so that fit right in place using the existing cables.


It was a lot of work to change them. The shop was busy and the guy I bought from was elderly so couldn't load the batteries himself. So I did. A lot of times. First to the cart. But since I needed to make room in the Jeep to carry them I then had to lift them off the cart to the ground so the cart could be used for other things, They have one cart. I then loaded them into the Jeep when there was room. Then back at the RV I unloaded them, Then removed the old batteries from the coach and installed the new batteries then loaded the old into the Jeep. Back at the shop, I had to unload them a final time and got my core deposits back. the six batteries were moved a total of seven times. They are not light, weighing about 70 pounds, so I got a good workout today. Before I started installing the batteries I had a ham sandwich for lunch. I finished returning the batteries about 2:30 and meet Dawn and Lou. They had had a Greek salad for lunch at Silly Al's Pizza Parlor. They left me to look around where they had been and did some errands in the Jeep, things they didn't want to have to carry around. Lou was adventurous and avoided the traffic backups on the roads by driving back home through a wash. I wondered why there was so much dust caked on to the rear of the jeep.  Dinner was smoked pork chops with mashed potatoes with cauliflower served with broccoli. We had horchata fruit bars for desert.


Thursday: (01/24) Potato pancakes and sausage for breakfast. We went over to the Pow Wow at the Quartzsite Improvement Association (QIA). The Pow Wow is really mostly a rock and mineral show. We really don't care too much for rocks but there are interesting things to be seen among them. We had lunch there. The QIA served up a nice Salisbury steak with mashed potatoes and green beans which I enjoyed. Lou and Dawn had Chef salads. After lunch we stopped by to visit our friend Jeanie who has a home here. Today was cloudy all day so our solar didn't help much. We had some rain last night but only threats today. Carrots, sausage and couscous for dinner.

Friday: (01/25) Toast and sausage for breakfast. We did our final tasks to be accomplished here in Quartzsite. Lou and Dawn were off to the bookstore, the market and the prospector store. Dam and Lou got lessons for using Dawn's metal detector.


I walked through the Big Top at the RV show. I asked questions of the travel reps from Canada and pestered other vendors with questions. I also picked up some summer sausage for one of the vendors and bought a new sewer hose to replace the leaky one I threw away. As I finished, Lou called to say they would be finished shortly so I could start getting ready to depart toward Yuma. i had a ham sandwich for lunch before starting. I lowered the solar panels, removed the TV mast and antenna, and secured everything. When Lou and Dawn returned, they enjoyed Greek salads they picked up at Silly Al's Pizza Parlor. We got on the road about 3pm. Shortly after getting on the rod it started to sprinkle enough to keep the wiper on all the way to Imperial Dam.

RV Body Work

Saturday: (10/13) I started the morning by scheduling my next hike for this Friday. We'll hike the Los Tracnos Preserve. It's much easier being a follower than a leader. I can't wait for our usual leader to get back from his trip to Africa. I also did some more research for two other hikes. Ernie took me to Joanie's Restaurant for breakfast (lunch). I had a shrimp avocado and green onion omelet. Ernie had ordinary bacon and eggs. I tinkered with a task list. I cut some wood for Lou, Stopped by Fry's Electronics and got a good deal on a case for the new laptop. And a bunch of other things. For dinner, I stopped by El Gruellense Mexican Restaurant down the street and took a dinner to go. I stopped by and fed the cat and myself. I had a chili relleno, enchilada and flauta combo, all quite good.


Sunday: (10/14) I started my morning, about 10am, by visiting Spunky, Courtney's cat that I'm taking care of. After the cat was well fed, played with and otherwise taken care of, it was my turn. I stopped by the Hong Kong Bakery in Mountain View for a few things. A potato donut (something like a raised donut filled with a curry potato stew), a pork bun, and some egg tarts. This served as breakfast and lunch. When I finally got to work. I cleaned out the RV, removing anything of value, vacuuming it, and washed it. Now it's ready to go get it's ouch fixed. Lou and Dawn returned early about 16:30. Lou and I went to dinner at LUU Noodle House for some pad Thai plates and some egg rolls. Dawn went to her story telling group meeting.

Monday: (10/15) I was up very early. I hooked up the Jeep to the RV and was on the road at 0610. I wanted to get over to Fremont to California Camper Repair before the traffic picked up too much. When I started the RV, I heard a sound I haven't heard before. Some pump was running and continued to run. A vacuum or air pump. I've never heard it before. Possibly something to do with the air springs up front? Unusual for something like this to occur on the way to the shop rather than the day after. Something else for them to fix. I disconnected the Jeep at a nearby shopping center because there was no parking near the shop. Since I had 45 minutes before they opened, I stopped in at Jack In The Box for a Ultimate Croissant breakfast. I dropped the RV off at the shop at 0800. The shopping center I was parked at had a Harbor Freight store as well. I stopped in for a few things I "needed". When I got back home I went over to feed the Spunky the cat. My lunch was Chili and sausage. Lou and Dawn were busy wit happointments and enjoyed lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory in San Jose. Dinner was leftover artichoke chicken with rice and sesame pineapple coleslaw.

Tuesday: (10/16) Lou made sausage, eggs and home fried potatoes for breakfast. She has now re-taken the cat sitting duties. I tinkered in the office most of the day. Lunch was a Chinese cabbage and tofu salad. For dinner we stopped by the old Spaghetti Factory in Redwood City for some mizithra cheese spaghetti dinners. We also did a little grocery shopping at the Grocery Outlet there before heading home. Dawn stopped by Keplers Book Store in Menlo Park for their grand reopening. Keplers is an old independent bookstore.

Wednesday: (10/17) Cereal for breakfast. Lou was off early. I visited Spunky the cat and did a few things in the yard. Lou brought lunch home from Hong Kong bakery. I had a baked pork bun and she had something like a Chinese tomale. A rice flour pork and sausage filled thing. For dinner Lou made chow mein.

Thursday: (10/18) Don McMuffin for breakfast. Tinkering in the yard and putting things away in the shop in the morning. Chili for lunch. Worked on the walkway a little. It seems to be hard to get going again.  Lou made a pot of chili for dinner.

Considering A Tiger XL Adoption

Monday: (09/17) I intended to get started early today, just to be different. When I checked my email, I noticed a message from the Tiger Motor Home Users Group, which I follow. Old Tiger XL motorhomes are small full featured class C motorhomes that are 16 feet long, ideal for getting into campgrounds. We almost drove to Denver about a year ago when one was available there. Anyway, one in good condition that is all wheel drive, as well, appeared on the user group. I called about it and will be seeing it tomorrow. It's about 80 miles East of LA. So Ernie and I are on our way South to look at it. We'll be stopping for dinner in Bakersfield with our Aunt Helen, then on closer to the meet up in Redlands.


So, I only had a little work that needed to be done. Ernie and I poured the concrete for the edge of the walkway this morning.


We were through by 10am. For breakfast I made sausage, fried potatoes and eggs. Lou made shrimp tacos for lunch. We didn't get away until 3:30 so arrived in Bakersfield for a late dinner at Bill Lee's Bamboo Chopsticks Restaurant about 8pm.

After our dinner we continued on to Redlands for the night.


Tuesday: (09/18) We were up early and enjoyed the wonderful free breakfast that the motel furnished. We met the motorhome owner a little before 9am and looked the motorhome over thoroughly including a test drive.


After the examination I decided not to get it, even though it was a nice RV. It's age and some things that it needed to have done would have made it a major effort. I have enough to do for now. The opportunity will probably not occur again but the decision was probably the best.

Ernie and I had lunch at Famous Dave's. Texas beef brisket. We returned to Bakersfield via Palmdale. For dinner, Helen took us to Dewar's Ice Cream Parlor. Ice cream for dinner, what could be better? We continued our return trip arriving home about 10:30. A fast trip of almost 900 miles in about 36 hours.

Tales Of The Basin

Friday: (07/27) Crasin muffins for breakfast. Ernie and I finished building the ramp for Wolfie. All that remains is to install the ramp surface, which will be some left over roll roofing material and to paint it, both tasks for Ernie. We all finished packing the RV to leave. Chicken and artichoke rice salad for lunch. We were off around 2pm. After a stop at the store for marshmallows we continued through Saratoga up Highway 9 and up and over the hill then down the other side to Highway 236 into Big Basin Redwoods State Park. Big Basin Redwoods SP was created in 1902 and is the "Oldest" California State Park, but NOT the "First" California State Park? The first California State park was Yosemite State Park (created in 1864) before it then became Yosemite National Park. Yellowstone National Park wasn't created until 1872 and Yosemite became a National Park as well in 1890. So even though Big Basin wasn't the first, it got it's creation date on the State Park Ranger patches.

Highway 9 had a very narrow construction zone at Sanborn Road where there was a channel with concrete barriers on both sides a few inches from the sides of the RV. No problem getting through there. Highway 236 is a single lane road most of the way into the park form the North, the way we came in. No problem getting through there either.

We were the first to arrive at the Tales Of The Basin weekend,sponsored by the South Bay Story Tellers. We camp in the Gazos Creek Picnic Area, an old campground that was turned into the picnic area. It's reserved for the story teller group camping for the event. Usually we have to move a barricade to get in to the campground for the Storytelling And Listening weekend. This year, the road was open and the area was filled with people. It was supposed to be empty. There are only a couple of sites big enough for our RV and they were filled so we looked for a place to hang out until and if we could get a better spot.


After walking a narrow loop to check it out to see if we could get through I drove through the loop trying to find a parking spot to wait until the picnickers left. All didn't go well this time. I was almost out of the loop when I heard a horrible cracking sound.


I managed to locate a tree root at the side of the road going around a turn and ripped up the right  wheel well. Some pretty good damage but nothing that can't be fixed and we can still drive it. This was the first time I've hit anything in the nine years we've had this RV and we've been in many tight spots. The root, on the other hand, sustained almost unnoticeable damage.  Hamburgers for dinner.


The RV is sort of like driving an egg shell.

Saturday: (07/28) Sausage and muffins for breakfast.


About 1030 I took off on a hike. I took the Skyline To The Sea Trail to Berry Creek Falls Trail. I didn't go too far before seeing some nice banana slugs on the trail.


The trail goes through a nice redwood forest.


The creek was flowing pretty good for this time of year.


Along the Berry Creek Falls Trail are three water falls, Berry Creek, Silver Falls, and then Golden Falls. There are also many cascades all the way up to top at the junction of the Sunset Trail, which I took back to camp. Nice nine plus mile hike though it got a bit warm later in the hike.


I snacked on nuts, banana chips and a granola bar along the way. I was back about 3pm. Lou and Dawn had BBQ ribs and green beans for lunch and left a couple of ribs for me for a snack. Dawn was off helping with the Junior Ranger program. About 4pm we went down to the amphitheater for a couple of stories presented to the junior rangers. We returned to camp for a pot luck with the story tellers, listeners and rangers before returning to the evening campfire for more stories.

Sunday: (07/29) We started the morning with a little ride around the park. We drove out to look at the other campgrounds. They are soo crowded and we were alone in our campground except for one tent camper of the Story group. The other campgrounds were very full and crowded. We took Sky Meadow Road out to the end of the park then continued on Lodge Road coming back to Highway 236 and returning to camp. We'll be returning to hike  (me) and explore those areas of the park sometime later. I didn't know that these areas existed. I've hiked most of the rest of the park before.We enjoyed our peach blintzes and sausage for breakfast and then hooked up and left the park. We stopped in Boulder Creek to look at the town. There are a couple of interesting antique and junk shops there. We then headed South on Highway 9 to the Scott's Valley cutoff and took Highway 17 back over toward home. We stopped for a late lunch in Cupertino at the Country Inn Restaurant. Lou and Dawn shared a California omelet while I had a chili omelet. We then separated and they visited the thrift stores on the way home while I stopped for gas and returned home. It was rather nice in the park but here at home it is rather hot today.