Yesterday was another beautiful day in San Diego. The weather was a little more fall-like in the morning – it was 56 degrees out at 8am. It quickly warmed up and the high was around 70 degrees.

Donna went for a bicycle ride while I wrote my blog post. In the afternoon we went in separate directions as Donna went shopping with Sheila’s car and I took the scooter to find some parts I need to repair our plumbing.

Our sewer hose drips at the connector underneath the coach when I open the valve. This is not good; it needs to be an airtight connection. For some inexplicable reason, Gulfstream made the opening to route the hose into the water service compartment too small for a standard hose connector to fit  through. I built a short extension that places a connector outside of the opening. That allows me to hook up easily, otherwise I would have to keep the compartment open with the hose hanging of the door or remove the hose connector, feed the hose through the opening and put the connector back on every time I hooked up.

Recently, the short extension I added developed a leak. I replaced the seals, but it didn’t help. Today I’ll disassemble the extension and rebuild it. This is not fun stuff.

Donna went to Staples to buy an external hard drive and a couple of small paper organizers for each of us. She also bought a new door mat and a runner rug for the coach. When she was finished shopping, she drove to Sheila’s house. Sheila will return later in the evening, so Donna returned her car. I rode over there on the scooter and picked Donna up. Once again, the items Donna purchased meant we were at maximum load on the scooter.

Sheila’s house is in Point Loma. When I rode over to pick Donna up, the traffic volumes were building on Midway Drive and Rosecrans Boulevard. I took an alternate route back to De Anza. From Point Loma, we rode through Ocean Beach to Sea World Drive. The traffic was light. It’s nice to have alternate routes.

The Chargers were playing against the Colts on Monday Night Football. I think I mentioned how lame the cable service is here at Mission Bay RV Resort. No ESPN! It could’ve been a moot point since there was a threat of the game being blacked out in San Diego! It seems odd to me that a nationally televised Monday night game didn’t sell out. I think there are a couple of reasons contributing to this. A large number of the people in San Diego are transplants; that is, they moved here from somewhere else. Their NFL allegiance remains with the team they originally followed “back home.” Another factor is the number of activities that are available around here on a daily basis. You can’t do everything.

I planned to watch the game at Offshore Tavern and Grill, a sports bar/restaurant on Morena Boulevard about two miles from here. It was 4pm when we returned home. I wanted to be at Offshore by 5pm at the latest to be sure I could get a good seat. Donna was going to a professional organizer’s meeting in La Jolla with a friend who was willing to drop me off at the tavern, but I wanted to get going.

I quickly donned my vintage 1984 number 14 Dan Fouts Chargers jersey and walked to Offshore. It took me about 30 minutes to walk there. I found a good seat in front of one of the many TVs. I ordered Poke, which is a plate of sushi grade tuna cubes over cabbage and green onions with avocado and a sesame oil/soy sauce dressing. I washed it down with a pint of Fat Tire ale. It was delicious.

Poke plate

The Chargers played a good game. The defense really stepped up. They won, 19 – 9. While I was there, I posted on Facebook. An old friend I’ve been wanting to connect with, Carole Bringas, replied. She joined me for the fourth quarter.

Carole lived in Prescott, Arizona when I was living in Mesa, but we never connected. She left Arizona on her own in an RV. She trekked cross-country to the east coast and traveled up to Maine. We talked about the RV lifestyle and places we’ve visited. I’ve known Carole since I was in 8th grade. We lived in the same neighborhood and were part of a tight-knit group of friends that hung out at Cadman Park.

There’s a photo and an article about those days published in the San Diego Reader here. I should have included the link in the reunion post.

Carole dropped me off at the RV park around 9pm. Donna arrived home about 9:30pm.

Donna here. Mike’s watching Sunday football, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to share some some insights into our everyday life and specifically how we manage chores and other everyday activities.

When we first hit the road, I was struck by how much longer it took to do things like preparing meals and washing dishes. It still takes longer, but I don’t think about it much anymore. It just is what it is.

There’s one chore that’s a lot easier and that’s cleaning. I can clean our new home in under 20 minutes. It used to take me a full two hours to clean our last home.

Almost daily in the beginning, I would bang a leg or elbow making the bed or blow-drying my hair. It still happens from time to time. In fact, I have a sizeable bruise on my thigh right now from bumping into the corner of the bed a few days ago. Come to think of it, though, I’ve always been a bit klutzy.

I do laundry almost every day. As I started a load of laundry this morning, I was grateful for the fact that we have a washer/dryer on board. I would not be a happy camper if I had to schedule time to do laundry, lug it to and from the park laundry facility, and hope that I didn’t have to wait for a washer and/or dryer to free up. Then again, if we had to do that, it would probably be Mike doing the laundry (since he’s retired) and I’d get out of that chore.

We have a Splendide 2000 washer/dryer that washes and dries clothes in the same machine. Apparently, this type of washer/dryer is popular in Europe because of its space-saving design.  I like that I can set the load to dry as soon as it finishes washing. Or I can just wash or just dry. The only downside to this set-up is that I can’t start a new load of wash until the previous load is dry, which is why I usually only do one load a day.

Some people complain that the clothes come out wrinkled in this type of combo machine, but I have no complaints. Then again, I’ve noticed that the clothes dry faster and come out better in dry versus humid climates and it’s quite dry here in San Diego. I did mix up some wrinkle releaser that I use as needed on heavier clothes like jeans. (You can make your own by filling a 16-ounce spray bottle with 2 cups of hot water, add one tablespoon of fabric softener, and shake to mix.)

My kitchen is way smaller than I’m used to, but I still cook pretty much the same way I’ve always done. The biggest challenge is keeping up with dirty dishes as I am preparing food. Sometimes I’ll have something like a dirty mixing bowl in my hand and realize that I have nowhere to set it down. I’m planning to write some RV recipe books that will take the challenge of cooking in a small space into consideration.

I just finished writing a book that will be published next year in October 2014. The working title, which could change, is The One-Minute Organizer’s Guide to a Cleaner, Happier Home. It was originally due to my publisher in late July, but I asked for an extension in June when I realized that there was no way I could write that book AND clean out our home in Michigan in preparation for leaving. That was a full-time job in itself!

I thought I might be able to write on the road as we made our way to Seattle and then down to San Diego. That was wishful thinking. For one thing, I couldn’t bear to miss out on the beautiful scenery along the way. But the real problem was that I just couldn’t get myself organized. Yes, me. Anyway, once we got to San Diego and could settle in, I was able to be more productive. Sort of.

When you’re a writer who has always had a nice desk with a desktop computer, ergonomic keyboard, comfortable chair and room to spread out, it’s a challenge to be productive at the kitchen table. The bench seat just isn’t that comfortable after awhile and the table is too high for typing on the keyboard. I tried working outdoors with my laptop on a TV tray and me sitting on a camp chair. I tried sitting on the sofa with the TV tray in front of me. But the kitchen table seems to be the best choice for now. Should we decide to upgrade our coach at some point, a work area with desk and chair is definitely at the top of my wish list.

While RV living does it have its challenges (there’s that word again), it’s not like they’re insurmountable or even that big a deal really. I share them with you because we promised to share the good, the bad, and the ugly realities of our lifestyle.

During the 8 weeks we traveled across country, I would tell myself, “This is your home.” But it felt like we were on vacation. Then, just a few days after we arrived in San Diego, I was washing dishes and I thought, “This is my home.” And I realized how happy I am that we chose this lifestyle. Remind me to tell you someday how that all came about.

Tuesday we started our day with a bicycle ride. I showed Donna the bike route from Pacific Beach to La Jolla. The route has a number of turns, a lot of hills (up and down) and some choppy road surfaces. Donna didn’t like it too much, but I thought it was safer than riding on Mission Boulevard and La Jolla Boulevard.

We rode to the La Jolla Cove where I showed Donna the seals I posted about last week. We’d been out for nearly an hour and Donna was anxious to get home and get back to work on her book. We decided to take the direct route back along La Jolla Boulevard and Mission Boulevard which includes about a half-dozen roundabouts. We hammered along at a good pace and the ride wasn’t too bad. Now I’m not so sure of the bike route through neighborhoods being safer.

Tuesday evening I grilled sliced eggplant while Donna made baked shrimp with fennel and feta. The weather forecast called for rain overnight and in the morning. I find the weather forecast in San Diego to be fairly accurate most of the time.

Baked shrimp with fennel and grilled eggplant

After dinner, I moved the grill and our bicycles under the canopy. It was a good thing since I woke yesterday to the sound of rain drops drumming on the roof. By the time we were ready to ride the scooter to Donna’s exercise class, the rain had stopped.

The forecast called for more rain later in the day. They were also predicting 15mph wind with gusts up to 20mph out of the west. Our canopy faces east. I kept an eye on it, but thought it would handle the wind.

The temperature only reached a high of 67 yesterday. The television news casters were calling this a “wintry blast!”  After spending years in northern climates, I had to laugh at this. It rained on and off during the afternoon, really pouring down at times.

In the late morning, while it was still dry out, Donna and I scootered to Vons supermarket in Pacific Beach. Donna had an extensive grocery list. We were on the limit of our capacity to carry groceries on the scooter. The underseat storage bin was full. Donna’s backpack was full. The canvas bag between my knees was full. Now we know the limit.

With Donna continuing work on her book and the rain outside, I had a very lazy day. I took a nap for 40 minutes around 3pm. It felt good. I might want to make a habit of this!

Last evening Donna cooked inside due to the weather. We had a low-fat version of chicken parmesan served over spaghetti squash.

Chicken parmesan with spaghetti squash

Today, we are back to more typical weather. Blue skies and 70 degrees forecasted.

Last night we watched a movie called Craiglist Joe. It’s a documentary of a guy trying to survive for 30 days solely on Craigslist contacts.

The movie reminded me of something we saw in the Northwest – hitchhikers. All along US101 in Washington, Oregon and northern California, we saw people hitchhiking. I haven’t seen that many hitchhikers since the 1970s.

Back then I made a couple of epic hitchhiking trips. Jim Birditt and I packed our backpacks and hitchhiked from San Diego to the Grand Canyon. It took two days to get there. Once there, we hiked down the Kaibab Trail. It was February, so there was snow on the south rim of the Grand Canyon.

As you hike down the trail, the climate changes dramatically. We went from alpine to desert to sub-tropical as we descended into the canyon. At the bottom, we rolled out our sleeping bags nect to the Colorado River and dry camped overnight.

The next morning we hiked up the Bright Angel Trail. It was a difficult climb. Jimbo had a stomach bug and was sick as we climbed. The last mile was icy and the footing was treacherous. When we reached the village at the top of the trail, we decided to splurge and booked a room at the El Tovar Hotel.

We came back to San Diego via Route 66 and I-10. This route also took two days for our return. We met some colorful characters on that trip.

The other epic hitchhiking trip was when I moved to Colorado in 1976 to become roommates with Jimbo and Chris Nirschl. I packed most of my belongings in a metal footlocker. My parents shipped it to me later. I had a backpack, an acoustic guitar and about $200 in my pocket when my mom dropped me off at the I-8 onramp at Rosecrans Street. Sounds crazy now, I know!

The guitar proved to be a good thing to have along. Not only could I entertain myself at night, it also helped me get out of rural New Mexico. I was somewhere north of Winslow on a desolate stretch of road. Cars were few and far between.

A lone woman drove by. A minute later she returned, turned around and offered me a ride. She was going to Pueblo, Colorado. She said she didn’t usually pick up hitchhikers, but she wanted company for the drive and figured anyone with a guitar case in hand couldn’t be all that bad. We had great conversations and I bought her lunch along the way.

Back in the ’70s, we didn’t worry much about the dangers of giving a stranger a ride. Apparently in some areas people still give rides to strangers. I don’t know. We didn’t pick up any hitchhikers, so I don’t really know how successful they were at getting rides.

Yesterday I was a little worried about the chassis battery on our coach. Motorhomes have two separate 12-volt electrical systems. One for the chassis that operates the starter motor and engine electrical functions. The other is the house system. This operates lighting, ceiling fans and so on in the coach.

Then there’s the 120-volt AC system. This operates items that require typical household electricity, like the dishwasher and clothes washer. It also operates a converter that steps the voltage down to 12-volt DC. The convertor also charges the house batteries and maintains the charge. The chassis battery isn’t charged by the converter on our motorhome.

I didn’t open the isolator switch on the chassis battery because I was using it to power our Verizon Jetpack wifi. I didn’t think the draw would be enough to matter over a few weeks. I  was wrong. The parasitic draw of the electrical components and Jetpack added up. I checked the battery and saw the voltage had dropped below 12.2 volts. This means it was at less than 50% of its capacity. Continuing to draw it down would damage the battery.

I should have kept one of the Deltran Smart Chargers I sold in our estate sale. I went to Walmart and bought a Shumacher battery charger/maintainer. This unit has smart charging technology. A low battery will be bulk charged to bring the voltage up. The charger then goes into a float charge mode that maintains the battery without overcharging it.

I hooked it up yesterday. This morning the battery is fully charged and the charger is in maintenance mode.

Last night I soaked a cedar plank for the wild Alaskan king salmon filet Donna bought at the farmer’s market on Saturday. I tried something different this time. After soaking for a couple of hours, I put the plank on the hot grill for a few minutes. This dried the surface. I rubbed both sides with olive oil, then put the salmon on it. This was a technique Donna found in one of her recipes.

Wild Alaskan king salmon filet on cedar plank

It was a fairly thick filet, about an inch and a half. I cooked it on the plank over medium heat for 10 minutes. Then I reduced the heat to low for another 15 minutes. It was perfect. This will be my method from now on. I’ll adjust the grill time, depending on how thick the filet is.

Cedar planked salmon served with cumin-roasted Brussel sprouts

Today I don’t have much of a plan. We’ll take a bicycle ride, then see what comes up.

Yesterday the weather guessers forecasted temperatures in the 80s with gusty winds. They had it half right. The temperature was in the low 80s, but there wasn’t much wind here or at Pacific Beach.

Donna went for a bike ride in the morning while I posted to the blog. After she returned, we went to the farmer’s market at Mission Bay High School. We had lunch there – quesadillas from a vendor.  I had spicy chicken and Donna had shrimp with peppers and onions. They were on homemade jalapeno tortillas. That kicked the spice up a notch. Very tasty.

Quesadillas at the farmer’s market

Donna bought a couple of heirloom tomatoes and handed me the bag. The bag slipped out of my hand and fell to the ground. One of the tomatoes split open. The guy selling the tomatoes gave me a replacement – no charge. Donna also bought green tea and spices from the spice lady and fresh scallops and salmon from the fish guy.

After we brought the goods home, we rode the scooter to Pacific Beach. They had an event called Pacific Beach Fest going on. The road along the boardwalk from Grand Avenue to Garnet was closed off. Vendors had tables and canopies set up there. There were a couple of stages with bands playing. The beach was crowded. You would think it was the middle of summer.

Vendors on the boardwalk

Parking wasn’t a problem for us since we were on the scooter. We walked up the boardwalk. Then we went down on the beach at Crystal Pier. There was a surfing contest there. We walked south on the wet sand. A beach volleyball tournament was happening a few hundred yards south of the pier.

Volleyball on the sand

Overhead, there was a squadron of skywriting airplanes. They flew in formation, releasing smoke to form letters. They spelled out “skytypers.com.”

It’s a bird…It’s a plane…it’s…

We walked back up the boardwalk to the Alehouse. They had an outdoor area fenced off for a beer garden. We cooled off with a beer and did some people watching. It was mostly a younger crowd – I’m guessing 20- or 30-something.

It was fun, but we had enough sun and left around 3pm. We spent the remainder of the day kicking back at the RV. We had stuffed grape leaves from the farmer’s market for an appetizer. Then Donna prepared pan-seared scallops with jalapeno and cilantro for dinner. They were the best scallops I’ve had.

Scallops prepped for the pan with chile pepper

Scallops with jalapeno and cilantro

Today, we’ll have lunch with my old friend, Chris Nirschl and his wife, Sherry. I haven’t seen them since 1976. I’m looking forward to meeting them and renewing our friendship.

It’s my birthday today, I’m 57. After lunch with the Nirschls, I’ll spend the day enjoying NFL action. The Chargers game at Oakland is delayed until 8:30pm PST. This will make it an exceptionally long day of football.

I have a couple of days to catch up because I didn’t post yesterday. In San Diego, each day is so much like the last. The weather only has slight variations at this time of year, although today is supposed to be warmer than usual. Temperatures in the 80s are forecasted for the coast.

In San Diego, the ambient temperature depends on your proximity to the ocean (or bays). The ocean moderates the temperature. A few miles inland, you’re on a mesa and the temperature can be 10 degrees higher. Further inland in the valleys, the temperature swings to higher highs and lower lows.

Donna and I started our day yesterday with a bike ride. I showed her the way to Ocean Beach via the Sunset Cliffs Bridge. From there we rode to Mission Beach, Pacific Beach and back home along Mission Bay. It was a 20-mile loop.

One of my tasks on Thursday was to buy parts for a water pressure regulator.  RV parks can have excessively high water pressure. My guess is that they regulate high to meet the demand when the park is full. The high water pressure poses a risk to the RV plumbing. Most RVs are plumbed with PEX tubing nowadays, which is quite durable. However, high pressure can cause leaks at joints in the plumbing.

I had an RV-specific, adjustable water pressure regulator. This unit is marketed by Valterra, an RV accessory supplier. After a couple of months of full time use, it began to leak. There’s a joint in this unit that’s swaged together. The leak at this joint could not be repaired.

I decided to replace it with something more durable. I went to Home Depot and bought a double union Watts regulator which is designed for household use. To adapt it for RV use, I had to add fittings that matched hose hook-ups. This wasn’t too hard. Once I found the right parts, it was just a matter of putting it together.

The end result is a heavy-duty water pressure regulator. When I showed Donna my handiwork, she said it was heavy duty indeed. Her emphasis was on heavy. This regulator weighs a few pounds.

Heavy duty Watts water pressure regulator

I hooked the regulator onto the spigot at the RV park. I then screwed the water filter and hose onto the end of the regulator. When I turned the water on, water started spraying from the union behind the spigot! At that point, I realized the spigot was joined to the water pipe with a plastic union. It had a crack in it. The heavy regulator opened the crack.

I closed the valve on the spigot. With the valve closed, the water pressure behind the spigot increased and the spigot blew off of the water pipe! Oh no! I had a face full of spray. There was stream a of water gushing 10 feet into my neighbor’s site.

After a few seconds, I gathered my wits and closed the supply valve at the base of the water pipe. After seeing the spigot blow off the water pipe, I  thought, we have high water pressure here for sure.

I went to the park office to notify them of the issue. My clothes were soaked. The girl at the counter said, “May I help you…oh my, did you just run a marathon or something?”

I told her what happened. She said someone would be at my site shortly. Within 15 minutes, a park maintenance guy came out and fixed the problem. He had the right parts with him. This was not the first time he had to respond to a broken union on a water spigot here. This confirmed my suspicion of high water pressure.

Now I need to buy a short length of hose. My plan is to run a short hose to the regulator, thus relieving the weight from the spigot. I’ll find a way to support the regulator and water filter, then join it to the hose supplying our RV.

Thursday night, I went out to dinner with my daughter, Shauna. This is one of the great things about being mobile. I have the opportunity to hang out in  great places and see my family while I’m at it. Donna stayed home and worked on her book. She’s almost finished.

Shauna has a busy life. She’s going to school at Cal Western School of Law. She’s also working as an intern for a federal judge. Some days are 11-12 hour workdays for her. It was nice to go out and just relax over dinner.

Yesterday I rode my bike in the morning. Later, I took Donna to Ocean Beach on the scooter. She went to see her nephew in his school play. They performed Aladdin and he was cast as Jafar. I went to the bank and handled a couple of other errands before I picked her up.

Jafar and his mom

Last night, Donna prepared a rack of lamb with Moroccan spices she bought at the farmer’s market last week. I grilled eggplant and roasted a red pepper, too. Sometimes I eat like a king!

Rack of lamb, hot off the grill

Dinner, fit for a king

If you didn’t see my post about the seals at La Jolla Cove, it may be worth a read. It sparked some comments on Facebook. This is a controversial subject. I’m researching the history of the Children’s Pool established by Ellen Browning Scripps. This area is now overrun by seals, making the beach unfit for humans.

Today we’ll head over to the farmer’s market at Mission Bay High School and shop. Then I think we’ll go the Pacific Beach Fest and see what it’s all about.