I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I just heard the seven-day weather forecast; sunny, highs in the 70s under blue skies for the coming week! So happy to be here.

Yesterday we got off to a slow start. Around 11am, Donna and I finally dressed for a bike ride. We rode the Sea World bike path. There’s a radio controlled (RC) airplane field off of Sea World Drive. We stopped for a few minutes to watch the model airplanes. In the ’90s, I was heavily involved in RC airplanes.

I worked my way past the RC airplane trainer stage and eventually competed in International Model Airplane Club (IMAC) events. These competitions require the pilot to fly specific maneuvers in sequence. Judges score the pilot on the geometric precision and placement of each maneuver. I put a lot of time and effort into it. After a few years I was competing with giant scale airplanes – like an Edge 540 with a 10′ wingspan powered by a Desert Aircraft 150cc twin cylinder horizontally opposed two stroke engine. This power plant could accelerate the 32-pound airplane straight up.

In 1997, I competed in the national championship in Morgan Hill, California. I won my class and my first national championship. In 1998, I competed in the nationals again, this time in Toledo, Ohio. I won my second national championship there. Then I hit a wall. Trying to maintain proficiency at that level requires constant practice. Expectations from sponsors and spectators can be very high. The pressure took the fun out of it and I walked away. I sold all of my equipment after the 1999 season and quit flying RC airplanes.

After we returned from our ride around Mission Bay, I worked on the leaking sewer hose fitting. I tried everything I could think of to stop the fitting from leaking to no avail. Finally, I gave up and decided to replace the hose extension and install new fittings. I suspected that my couplers weren’t compatible with the hose I used. When I built the extension to hook up the sewer hose outside of the compartment, I used Rhino Flex hose. I chose this hose for its durability. The Rhino Flex couplers are oversized and hung too far below the compartment. So, I used Valterra couplers.

I rode to Walmart to source the new parts. Unfortunately, Walmart didn’t have the parts I needed to build a new extension. There was a guy there looking at RV accessories. I asked him if there was an RV store nearby.

He began telling about the stores I already knew about – one in San Marcos, another in El Cajon. These were quite a distance away, I wouldn’t have time to go to either place. Then he said, “Oh yeah, there’s a La Mesa RV Center on Ruffner Road.” This was about four blocks away from the Walmart we were in.

I went to La Mesa RV and talked to one of the guys there. He confirmed my suspicion of a compatibility issue. Even though the Rhino Flex is supposed to fit Valterra hook-ups, he told me the hose only seals well with the Rhino Flex couplers. I decided to rebuild the entire extension with Valterra hose and couplers.

By the time I returned, it was after 4pm. We were expecting guests sometime between 4:30 and 5pm. I didn’t have time to build the new extension, so that’s on the things-to-do list for today.

Brett and Cheri Alguire drove down from their home in Dana Point to join us for dinner. Donna met them at a SendOutCards convention. They are planning to escape to the full time RV lifestyle next July. We talked about the ups and downs of life on the road. Donna went over her experience of going paperless and how she handled important documents. I went over some of the routines of set up and things to consider before buying an RV with Brett.  If I knew what I know now before we jumped in, I might have made a few different choices. It’s a good move on their part to research now and plan their transition. We also  gave them advice on where to find more information from people with far more experience than us, such as the Technomadia blog.

They’re obviously excited about the prospect of full-time RVing. We look forward to meeting up with them again down the road.

We continued our conversation over dinner. I grilled boneless chicken thighs with Moroccan spice rub. Donna served it with lentils and green beans. For dessert Donna made fresh mango ice cream in her Vitamix.

Moroccan spice chicken thigh with red lentil and green beans

Homemade mango ice cream

Today, a mobile glass repairman will come out to fix the ding in our windshield. This happened when an oncoming truck carrying an uncovered load of gravel passed by in Montana. Then I’ll get to work on the plumbing.