Yesterday, the temperature stayed in the upper 70s – much cooler than the days before. Today is forecast to warm up back into the 80s. I’ll pull the window awnings out to shade the windows again since we don’t expect much wind.

I haven’t been very active the last few days. I’m resting my shoulder, hoping that whatever is wrong with it will heal. I’ve been spending too much time in the coach though. I finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, the author of The Kite Runner. Donna and I watched that movie again Wednesday night. She was bawling.

While I was sitting at the table yesterday, I looked out the window. A covey of quail were walking through our site. There were five or six of them. They seemed curious about our scooter. Two of them stopped under it and looked around. Then they climbed on the muffler and jumped onto the rear tire. One crawled through the engine compartment.  Another jumped onto the floorboard, then hopped on the seat. I tried to take a couple of pictures. I knew they would scurry away if I opened the door, so I shot through the window glass. The window glass created a moire effect, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it. The photos are poor, but I’ll share them anyway.

Quail curious about the scooter

This one wanted to take it for a ride.

Speaking of the scooter, Donna was going to ride it over to the optometrist to pick up her prescription and go grocery shopping. I told her I should check the tire pressure before she rode it, since I haven’t checked it for a few weeks. It’s not unusual for tires to lose 1 or 2 psi per month.

I try to keep our tires properly inflated. Under-inflated tires are the leading cause of tire failure, such as blow-outs. Improper inflation can also cause poor handling, increased wear and decreased fuel mileage. It’s not as easy to fill tires at gas stations as it used to be. Back when gas stations were full-service stations, there were hoses with air chucks next to the gas pump. You could inflate your tires for free while the gas was being pumped. It still only takes a few minutes though and it’s an important task that too many people neglect.

The tires on the scooter were down a couple of pounds. I got the Porter-Cable portable air compressor out of the basement compartment and filled the tires to the proper pressure. I also use this compressor to fill the tires on our coach. The front tires on our coach are inflated to 110 psi. This little compressor produces a maximum of 150 psi. The pump cuts in when the pressure drops to 125 psi, so the pressure is always high enough to fill a 110 psi tire.

Proper tire inflation is important when you only have two wheels under you. It’s also very important when you are driving a 40-foot, 30,000-plus-pound motorhome. Having said that, let me add that it’s important no matter what vehicle you are driving. Please take a moment out of your day and check your tire pressures. This might help you avoid problems down the road.

Last night, Donna prepared pork tenderloin with a new marinade. It was a ginger-soy-sherry marinade and it was really tasty. I grilled it along with asparagus spears and she baked a big sweet potato that we shared. Yum.

Tenderloin and asparagus on the Weber Q

Pork tenderloin, asparagus and sweet potato

Today, I think I’ll check the library in the clubhouse and see if I can find an interesting book to read. Then, I’ll relax at the pool and read it.