Monthly Archives: March 2015

Lizards, Rabbits and Visitors

The time is flying by. A few days got by me without a post to the blog. We passed on the pickleball games on Sunday and rode the scooter to visit my step-dad Ken in Sun City. The traffic was light on the route I’d mapped out to avoid I-215. We sat on Ken’s front patio, which faces north and is shady, enjoying conversation. We had a good visit and amused ourselves by watching the antics of a couple of lizards. They appeared to be fence lizards chasing each other around the patio.

Western fence lizard

These two provided entertainment

On our way back, I took a different route so Donna could buy groceries at Walmart. It was warm but pleasant on the scooter. We had a late lunch at a Chinese diner and stuffed ourselves with the house noodle specialty plate. It had a pile of rice noodles with shrimp, chicken, pork and beef. It was good but very filling – so filling that we skipped dinner!

I spent the rest of the afternoon watching the Formula One race on TV and downloading the European coverage of the Moto GP season opener while Donna went to the pool to read. Spoiler alert – both races were very entertaining. Sebastian Vettel drove an excellent race with perfect strategy to put his Ferrari on top of the podium. Vettel is a four-time World Champion, but didn’t win a race last year. Neither did Ferrari. In his second race as a Ferrari driver, he broke that drought. In the Moto GP race, everyone figured the Repsol Honda team would run away like they did last year. It was not to be. The race turned into an epic battle between nine-time champion Valentino Rossi on the Yamaha M1 against Andrea Dovizioso on the Ducati. In the end, Rossi prevailed over Dovi by a tenth of a second.

A cottontail rabbit came into our site late Sunday afternoon. We put out a few carrot sticks which he munched on before hopping away. There are a lot of rabbits in the park.

While Donna and I were at the pickleball courts on Monday morning, our friend and fellow Alpine Coach owner, Dave Hobden, phoned me. He and his wife Stilla were leaving the FMCA rally in Pomona and were thinking about heading our way. Later, while I was at Sprouts picking up a few more groceries, he texted me saying they would join us at Golden Village Palms RV Resort. They got a good rate on two nights with their Passport America membership.

They pulled in around 2:30pm and set up in the site next to ours. I mentioned before how tight the sites are here. The shrubs in their site were so overgrown, Dave couldn’t get his living room slide out without smashing it into the shrubs. A maintenance guy came by to trim the bushes, but it wasn’t enough – he came back this morning with a power trimmer and cut the bushes back.

Dave Hobden’s Alpine Coach in the site next to us

We sat outside sipping cold beer and talking until about 6:00pm. Stilla had their dinner in the oven so they went home to eat. I grilled a pork tenderloin with a spicy dry rub – a new recipe Donna wanted to try. She served it with roasted, spicy red potatoes and green beans. It was very tasty – the dry rub was really spicy but dipping the pork in a minted cucumber yogurt sauce countered the spices nicely.

Spicy grilled pork loin with minted cucumber yogurt sauce

After dinner, Dave and Stilla joined us for dessert. Donna made carmelized banana pecan ice cream in her Vitamix. It was good, but I prefer the mango ice cream she made before.

Carmelized banana pecan ice cream

Donna said her Vitamix seemed to run slowly and had an electrical odor. This morning it doesn’t run at all. I’ll take it apart and have a look, I hope I don’t have to replace it.

Tight – or Cozy?

We’re having a heat wave in the southwest. The high temperature surpassed 90 degrees for the past two days and the forecast calls for two more days of 90 degree plus temperatures before it drops to a more normal 80 degrees here in Hemet, California.

On Friday morning, before the heat became too intense, I played a few games of pickleball. In the afternoon, I rode the scooter into town and had a look around. I found a Harbor Freight Tool store. I stopped there and bought a pop-rivet tool. I noticed when I was removing the windshield shade that one of the twist-lock fasteners was missing a rivet. Pat must have gotten distracted when he was installing them and missed one. I used to have a pop-rivet tool and an assortment of rivets, but when those Dirty, Rotten Thieves stole our trailer, all of my tools were taken. I have replaced many of the tools and continue to add tools as needed.

Yesterday Donna came to the pickleball courts and played a few games. She can’t play at full speed yet, but she was able to hold her own playing against novice-level opponents. I ended up playing for more than three hours. I think I was dehydrated when I came home. I couldn’t get enough water and I took an hour-long nap!

In the evenings here, Donna and I enjoy sitting in the shade under the canopy outside and having cocktails. As the sun starts to set in the west, the temperature in the shade is agreeable. The air here is very dry – the humidity is under 10%. Last night, Donna discovered that we have an orange tree on the other side of our cargo trailer. Another gal we met on the pickleball courts told us that they have a grapefruit tree on their site. We’ll have to arrange a trade!

One of our neighbors, Stu, stopped by to chat. He saw us pull in and said he’s inspired now to pull a cargo trailer behind his motorhome. He didn’t do it before because he was told he’d never be able to reverse without jack-knifing the trailer. He was amazed at how I was able to place our trailer on the paved parking spot. I told him it can be a little tricky with the trailer pivoting on a ball 11 feet behind the rear axle. The trick is to go slow and not over correct with the steering wheel. It also helps to have Donna outside with a handheld CB radio directing me. I use her eyes, the rearview camera and mirrors to monitor my progress and take my time. I mentioned in Friday’s post how tight these sites are. Here are photos of our site, number 567, in Golden Village Palms RV Resort.

Happy hour under the canopy

Shrubs separating the sites don’t leave much room for slides

Three quarters of the people in this park are from Canada. Many of them have been here all winter and are starting to head for home. With three large swimming pools and fewer people in the park, pool time should be great. Yesterday a vendor was at the pool selling home made Mexican food. I bought half a dozen tamales for lunch. They were excellent!

Today, Donna and I are planning to ride the scooter down to Sun City (Menifee) to visit my step-dad Ken. We can take back roads and avoid scootering on I-215. I don’t think it will take more than half an hour to get there. I’ll set up the DVR to record the Moto GP and Formula One races today while we are out. We’ll make a pitstop at the supermarket before returning to the park. Donna is planning to hang out at the pool and read while I watch the races.

Salton Sea

We rolled out from the rock garden in the desert about 9:30am yesterday. The desert was already heating up. Our route took us west on I-8 to El Centro, where we turned north on CA111. We followed CA111 to Brawley, then continued on CA86 in a northwesterly direction.

This route took us along the west side of the Salton Sea. The current iteration of the Salton Sea was formed by accident in an area of the desert directly over the San Andreas Fault called the Salton Sink. The sea is believed to have formed and drained many times over thousands of years. In 1905, engineers from the California Development Company built irrigation canals from the Colorado River. In an effort to reduce silt built up, a cut was made in the bank of the Colorado River, increasing flow to the canals. The canals flooded out of control and the Salton Sink, which is a basin only five feet higher than the lowest point in Death Valley, began filling with water. Water flowed into the basin for two years, forming the Salton Sea. The surface of the Salton Sea is 234 feet below sea level.

The Salton Sea is the largest lake in California. It’s fed by the New, Whitewater and Alamo Rivers. The water in it is saline and the salt content is greater than that of the Pacific Ocean, but not as high as the Great Salt Lake. Due to changes in water rights under the Quantification Settlement Agreement of 2003, the water level in the Salton Sea is expected to decrease.

As we drove along the west side of the lake, the wind was coming from the east. The large body of water cooled the air significantly and travel with the front windows open was comfortable.

Salton Sea viewed from Donna’s passenger side window

As we cruised along CA86, traffic was confined to one lane at one point and I saw brake lights ahead. It was a Border Patrol check station. We saw one car pulled aside into the vehicle search area, but we were waved straight through without stopping.

Border Patrol check station

We stopped for lunch in Mecca on the north side of the Salton Sea, then continued on to I-10 near Indio. We could see snow on the San Gabriel mountains in the Big Bear area. The drive west on I-10 is a deceptively steep climb to Banning. It was hot out, but our coolant temperature never exceeded 195 degrees.

We turned south at Beaumont and took CA79 to Hemet where we found the Golden Village Palms RV Resort. The sites here include a paved parking space, a concrete patio pad and a gravel RV lot. It sounds spacious, but in reality it’s quite tight. Donna directed me while I backed the cargo trailer into the paved parking spot. I dropped the trailer, then maneuvered the coach into the gravel area that’s bordered by shrubs. It was barely wide enough to put the slides out.

By the time I cleaned the bugs off the windshield and installed the front window shades, it was 4pm and time to kick back with a cold one. Our site faces north, putting the door and awning side on the east, providing afternoon shade. We grilled salmon for dinner and dined al fresco. It was a pleasant evening to sit outdoors.

Palms in the sunset at the RV park

I’m getting to the blog late today because I spent the morning on the pickleball courts. There are some really good players here. I started with a group that was playing at a higher level than me at first. Then I joined a group of players that were closer to my level of play. It was fun and I spent all morning at it.

I think I’ll go out and explore the area this afternoon on the scooter.

Shaken in the Desert

We started our last day at Casa Grande RV Resort with a free waffle breakfast at the clubhouse yesterday. We sat at a table with a couple from Camano Island, Washington. I asked them if they knew Ed and Martha King who also live there. They didn’t know them, but they were surprised that I knew where Camano Island is.

After breakfast, I loaded the trailer. I did the usual dump and flush of the tanks and we took our time getting ready for the road. We said our goodbyes to Bill and Cris Filby from Stanwood, Michigan who stopped over to wish us safe travels. Gayle Devall from Ontario also stopped by to say goodbye. We always meet the nicest people as we travel. We drove out of the park at 11am.

I headed south on Pinal Avenue (AZ387) figuring it would intersect with I-8. I followed a sign directing me west on AZ84 (also called the Gila Bend Highway). This turned out to be a better route than jumping straight on I-8. We drove west through farmland. Several miles later, the road curved to the southwest at the junction with AZ347. That’s when I realized what road we were on. We’ve traveled down AZ347 from the Wildhorse Pass Casino before when we rode our motorcycles from Mesa to San Diego. This was a good route – a few miles later we were on I-8 westbound.

Our first stop was at 12:30pm at Gila Bend. I remembered a Subway sandwich shop at a big truck stop there. The truck stop had ample parking, so getting in and out was easy. We found out that they also have a small RV park in back with full hook-ups. Our next stop was another 40 miles down the road. We stopped at Dateland. Dateland is a small community at exit 67 with a specialty shop selling – wait for it – dates! We parked across the street in an abandoned gas station and walked over for date shakes. These are one of Donna’s favorite treats. Donna also bought a few items in the shop to use as gifts later.

We continued on to Yuma where I stopped again at Fortuna Road to top off our fuel tank at the Pilot/Flying J station. I wanted to have the tank full of fuel when we entered California. Fuel is more expensive in California. We took on 35 gallons of fuel at $2.50/gallon. We drove a couple of miles to Walmart from there to stock up on groceries. The Walmart lot had a number of trees with low branches. I had no choice in a few spots but to drive through them. I was not happy about that!

After we crossed the California border, we had to go through an inspection station. We stopped at the kiosk and the Border Patrol agent asked if we had fresh fruit on board. Since the grapefruits and lemons we had were at least a week old, I didn’t consider them fresh and answered, “No.” He waved us through. It was 4:30pm by then. Our stops along the way had slowed our progress, but it was all right. I didn’t want to stop for the day in the heat of the afternoon anyway. I had the generator running and roof air conditioners on since leaving Walmart. It was 91 degrees outside.

We found our way to our favorite boondocking spot near the Imperial Sand Dune Recreation Area. The area we’re in is actually called the Picacho Recreation Area. It’s BLM land and you can dry camp for up to 14 days with no fee. We’ve stayed here twice before.

The last time we stayed here, I posted about the rock garden in the desert. We found the rock garden and the site was empty. We only saw two rigs in the area and the rock garden was more than a quarter of mile away from them. We set up quickly and enjoyed a cocktail outside in the shade.

Happy hour in the desert

Donna asked for something she hasn’t had in a quite a while. I mixed one part fresh squeezed lemon juice with two parts vodka and a dash of cayenne pepper in a shaker over ice. I shook it vigorously and served it in a martini glass. This drink is called a Holland Razor Blade. I made my usual vodka martini, shaken not stirred, garnished with a tomolive.

Donna enjoying a Holland Razor Blade in the shade

We relaxed and took in the view. Despite the temperature, we were quite comfortable thanks to the dry air and a light breeze.

View to the east from our site

We sat outside until dark and looked at the starry sky. There was more light at the Imperial Dunes area than I expected.

Desert sunset last night

This morning I was up early. We had a very windy night – it interrupted my sleep several times as it shook the coach. I’m sure it will catch up with me later, but at 6:30am I was wide awake and decided to get out of bed.

Our site shortly after sunrise

Today we’ll get back on I-8 westbound and drive to El Centro where we’ll turn north on CA111. We have about 200 miles ahead of us before we reach Hemet.

Between Here and San Diego

They are pretty serious about pickleball here at Casa Grande RV Resort. I’ve played for a few hours every morning for five days straight. On Saturday, Donna and I went out for an evening walk and found people playing on the lighted courts. It was mostly the same group that plays in the morning – they were playing twice a day! No wonder there are so many good players here.

Two of the blogs I follow had similar themes recently. Nina Fussing (Wheeling It) wrote about their top six “incidents” on the road. Then Clarke Hockwald (What’sNewell) wrote about “when, not if,” things go sideways. Wouldn’t you know it, we had an “incident” Sunday night. I wanted to watch Wicked Tuna, so I turned on the satellite and TV. When I turned on the audio amplifier, I had no sound. I thought this was odd. I noticed the radio in the dashboard had a blank display. I thought a fuse may have blown and the radio and amplifier weren’t receiving 12 volts from the chassis batteries. The audio amplifier is on the chassis circuit, not the house 12-volt circuit. I think Western RV wired it this way so that when you’re driving down the road, listening to the in-dash radio which also goes through the audio amplifier, it wouldn’t be drawing current from the house batteries. Like Clarke said, “It’s when, not if things go sideways.”

After checking fuses, I got my multi-meter out and went outside to check the batteries. Oh no! The chassis batteries only showed 7 volts. Something had drawn the battery down. I looked around and found that I had neglected to turn off the CB radio. It doesn’t draw much current, but five days of continuous parasitic draw had killed my chassis batteries. I put a charger on the batteries right away. By Monday morning, they were up to 12.8 volts. I’m sure damage has been done. I’ll keep my fingers crossed and hope they can hold an acceptable level of charge.

Donna hoped she might be ready to play pickleball on Saturday, but in doing a couple of squats to test her readiness, she aggravated the muscle pull in her groin. She had been trying to stay active by walking, but even that’s more than is comfortable right now. The afternoons have been clear and very warm with the temperature approaching 90 degrees. We’ve relaxed most afternoons and have been running the air conditioners. It cools at night – the temperature dropped to the low 50s last night.

Sharon, one of the pickleball players, organized a happy hour gathering at the courtyard by the clubhouse yesterday. Everyone brought hors d’oeuvres which really turned out to be dinner. There was a lot of food and we enjoyed hanging out for a couple of hours and talking with different people.

Happy hour with the pickleball group

Donna and I were trying to figure out what our plan is for the 12 open days we have between our check out day here and check in at Mission Bay RV Resort in San Diego. We thought about extending our stay in Casa Grande, but we really felt like moving on. Donna found a special offer at a high-end RV resort in Hemet, California. The full price rate for a week-long stay at Golden Village Palms RV Resort runs from $336 to $546 – way more than we usually pay. The special deal Donna found was for first time visitors to the resort. We reserved a site for one week for $199. It’s a true RV resort with all the amenities – three swimming pools, hot tubs, fitness center, pickleball courts and more. They have a concert series as well featuring artists such as the Eagles, Shania Twain and Tim McGraw, and Jimmy Buffet. Unfortunately, we missed their winter concert season.

We’ll pull out of here tomorrow. Our plan is stop in Yuma for fuel and groceries, then head west and spend a night in the desert. From there, we’ll travel up through El Centro on highway 111 past the Salton Sea and through the Coachella Valley to Hemet. We’ll cover about 200 miles per day and check in Thursday afternoon. After our week in Hemet, we can spend a few days at the Escapee’s Jojoba Hills park before we head down to Mission Bay. That’s our plan – we’ll see how it works out.

Two for One in Casa Grande

We’ve settled in at the Casa Grande RV Resort. It’s relatively quiet. We’re near a busy road but it’s nowhere as noisy as our location in Mesa.

When we visited the Casa Grande ruins and arrived here on Wednesday, we dodged a few rain showers. The rain continued Thursday through most of the day with a few breaks here and there. I left the scooter and grill in the trailer until Thursday afternoon when the skies started to clear a bit. I mentioned in my last post how accommodating the management was here at Casa Grande RV Resort. They gave us two back-to-back sites for the price of one so we wouldn’t have to drop our trailer!

Spacious site(s) 310/305

Donna made meatloaf for dinner. Her meatloaf is always sensational – I think it’s mainly due to the way she manages to get the meat really fine by “whisking” it with a fork. I enjoyed a bottle of Rough Draft Eraser IPA with dinner.

Rough Draft Eraser IPA

Meatloaf served with steamed Kale and bacon and mashed sweet potato

Meatloaf served with steamed kale and carmelized bacon and mashed sweet potato

The skies were partly cloudy with cooler weather on Friday. I think the high was in the lower 70s. I went to the pickleball courts in the morning. They have four courts here. When I arrived, all four courts had games in progress and 11 people were waiting to play. They have a good system here to rotate players in. There’s a rack for paddles. Placing your paddle in the rack serves as a placeholder. When a game is finished, all four players leave the court. The next four paddles in line are retrieved by their owners and that makes up the next foursome. I played several games and I’m beginning to move better now. I still have some tightness in my right leg, but it’s definitely improving.

On Friday evening, Donna prepared green chili turkey burgers. They’re really good, but these have been bothersome to grill in the past. The turkey burgers tend to fall apart because of the wetness of the diced green chilis in them. So I tried something different this time. I used a grill mat on our Weber grill and it worked perfectly. Now I just have to figure out how to clean the grill mat.

Grill mat on our Weber grill

The clouds had moved to the east while I was grilling. I shot a photo of the sunset reflecting off the clouds looking east from our site.

Sunset reflecting off the clouds in the east

Donna has been taking walks for exercise while her road rash heals. She pulled a groin muscle when she crashed and that’s preventing her from jumping back into pickleball. But her injuries are getting better every day.

We had warmer weather on Saturday. I started the day with pickleball again. Donna continued formatting one of her books which she recently updated and will re-release shortly. I had a lazy day. I spent most of the afternoon reading another Vince Flynn thriller – Protect and Defend. I managed to break away from relaxation time long enough to replace the filter bag in the central vacuum cleaner system and try it out. We haven’t been using the central vacuum cleaner, just our Dyson DC44 cordless vacuum. Donna wanted to try the central vacuum cleaner so I got it up and running. It seems to work really well.

Central vacuum cleaner

In the afternoon, we joined our neighbors, Bill and Cris Filby for happy hour. They are snowbirds from Michigan planning to go full-time soon. Right now they have a fifth-wheel RV, but they’re planning to move to a 40′ motor home when they hit the road full-time. They are also avid pickleball players and provide lessons for new players.

This morning I went to the pickleball courts early. I was there by 8:30 and played for three hours! I’m whipped. We expect the temperature to reach the mid-80s today. It looks like another good day for rest and relaxation.

The Great House

We moved yesterday. We took a little longer than usual to hit the road. I had to finish packing the trailer, clean up a few things outside, then dump and flush our holding tanks. Donna worked inside, getting the coach ready to ramble down the road. She moved a little slower than she usually does, but she managed to get everything put away. Lowell and Debi, Donna’s hiking friends, and Vern and Sylvia, our neighbors, stopped by to wish us safe travels. By the time we had the trailer hooked up and pulled out of Orangewood Shadows, it was 11:30am.

Our route took us east on US60 past Gold Canyon. The drive to Gold Canyon, which took over an hour by car through last weekend’s traffic, was covered in 30 minutes in the coach. As we continued east, I realized I had forgotten to lock the basement storage doors. I like to have the doors locked when we roll down the road as extra insurance against one accidentally opening. The traffic was light, so when we turned on to AZ79, I pulled to the shoulder and stopped to lock the basement doors.

AZ79 took us to the town of Florence. Established in 1866, Florence is the county seat of Pinal County and one of the oldest towns in Arizona. It’s also home to the largest prison complex in the state. We made a stop at the Mt. Athos restaurant in Florence, a Greek restaurant that Donna and I stopped at a couple of times before when we traveled through on motorcycles. I found parking on the street a half block away and we went in for lunch. I opted for the grilled cheese and bacon sandwich special. It was okay. Donna liked her Greek salad with gyro meat. They have moussaka, pastitio, spanokopita and other traditional Greek entrees on the menu. I probably should have ordered something Greek.

Mt Athos restaurant

After lunch, I drove west to the historic old downtown district where we picked up AZ287 and headed west toward Coolidge. Our next stop was at the Casa Grande Ruins. The focal point of this National Monument is the Great House (Casa Grande in Spanish) built in 1300AD. We found RV parking spaces in the lot in front of the park building.

Entry was $5 each as our America the Beautiful pass has expired (it would have gotten us in for free). The $5 entry included a guided tour which we took advantage of. The park ranger, Larry, was full of information and gave an interesting presentation as we walked around the Great House.

Historically, the people that once inhabited this compound were called Hohokam. There is a movement in the National Parks administration to discontinue this term (which loosely translates to vanished people) and replace it with Ancestral People of the Sonoran Desert. Apparently Hohokam can also be translated to mean “all used up” and is thought to be offensive. Another frequently used term for ancient tribes in the Sonoran desert is Anasazi. That term is also thought to be misused. The story is that early archeologists asked local Navajo people what the name of the tribe that once lived in the desert south of their land was. They answered Anasazi – which means ancestors of our enemy. The preferred term today Ancestral Puebloans.

The monument covers one square mile. I mentioned touring the compound. Although the Great House is the focal point, there are many ruins of smaller structures in the park. Our guide referred to it as an ancient gated community as it had a wall surrounding the dwellings. His theory was that this was a community of artisans, people that learned to spin and weave cotton, make jewelry and other items for trade. They stayed in a walled community to safely store their goods and keep the riff-raff out.

Wooden beams in the Great House have been scientifically dated to have originated in the early 1300s. This ancient civilization brought timber from the mountains up to 60 miles away and built dwellings from caliche – a sort of concrete made from sand, clay and calcium carbonate. They used tons of this material, shored up with the timbers to build the four-story Great House.

Great House viewed from the east

View inside the Great House through an opening in the wall

Donna in front of a smaller ruin in the compound

This civilization also practiced agriculture. They built canals to divert water from the Gila River to their fields of corn and cotton. Seven hundred years ago, the Gila River was a mighty watershed, not the dry riverbed it is today. Something happened by 1400AD and these people vanished.

In the 1800s, the stage coach from Florence to Tucson ran right next to the Great House. The stage would stop to rest their horses here. For a small fee, passengers were allowed to dig artifacts and take them. The site was abused for decades. Even after it was a protected archaeological site, many mistakes were made in recovering and documenting artifacts. Much of the history is lost forever. In 1932, a cover was built over the Great House to preserve and protect it from heavy rain and constant exposure to the sun.

This National Monument is an interesting stop and well worth the price of admission.

From the ruins, we drove west on AZ87, then followed AZ187 southwest to AZ387 south to the town of Casa Grande. By the way, the Casa Grande National Monument isn’t in the town of Casa Grande – it’s in Coolidge, Arizona. We checked in at the Casa Grande RV Resort where we stayed in early January. The park management was very accommodating. I asked for a pull-through site and told them I preferred not to drop the trailer. The issue here with the long pull-throughs is the location of the sewer and utilities. They’re located at the rear of the site. With the length of the trailer and our rig, it’s a long run for sewer, water and electrical power. They offered me a great solution. The had back-to-back sites intended for back-in use. They told me I could utilize both sites combined as a pull-through for the same price as a regular pull-through. Can’t beat that!

We’ll be here for a week while we decide on our next move.

St. Paddy’s at Orangewood

Donna was feeling sore and moving slowly on Monday. She had a dentist appointment at 9:40am and drove herself to the dentist office in Lana’s Toyota Highlander. Thankfully we still have Lana’s car and didn’t have to scooter over to the dentist office. That would have been a bit uncomfortable. After her dental appointment, Donna took pain medication. Unfortunately, the medication made her nauseous. So she took it easy for the rest of the day.

I resealed the seams on the left bedroom slide-out after a few games of pickleball. On Monday evening, we walked down to the grassy common area by the pickleball courts for the Orangewood Shadows memorial pizza dinner. Residents decorated luminaria bags memorializing those who have passed on. Since we’re newcomers to this park, we didn’t know the proper etiquette. We found a spot on the grass, set up our chairs and got in line for pizza. Then we figured out that we were set up in an area reserved for VIPs. I’m still not clear what constitutes an Orangewood Shadows VIP. We ate our pizza slices and decided to re-locate. The folks around us told us not to worry about it and stay where we were. We didn’t feel right, so we moved. Then we figured out that the grass had been divided into zones. They were calling people up to get in line for pizza by zone. Oh well, we didn’t mean to jump the line.

We sat with Jim, one of the guys we often play pickleball with, and met his wife Kay. We enjoyed their company and chatted for a while. We learned that they came to Orangewood for the first three years in a motorhome, then rented a park model for two years before deciding to buy one this year. All in all, 90 pizzas were served that night! Donna and I had two slices each, not a bad deal for a two-dollar ticket.

On Tuesday morning, I hit the pickleball court for the last time before we pull out of here. We quit early as the Orangewood Shadows St. Patrick’s Day parade was scheduled to begin at 10am. Some of the residents went all out for the parade. Donna and I sat in chairs in front of our site as the parade came by. It was fun.

Bagpipes

Our neighbor Al driving a golf cart converted to a fire engine

Orangewood Shadows band – our neighbor Brian in front with the saxophone

Another musical group from the park

After the parade, I started working on organizing the trailer. The longer we sit in one place, the more work it takes to get the trailer ready for travel. I removed the tire covers from the coach and checked the tire pressure. I also tackled another chore on my to-do list. I wanted to sanitize our fresh water tank and lines. It’s been more than a year since I’ve done this and I think it’s a good idea to make this an annual maintenance item.

The last time I sanitized the fresh water tank, I used household bleach. Two ounces per 15 gallons is the proper mixture. Household bleach has about 3% available chlorine. It also has other components that make it smell and taste awful. When I sanitized with bleach, I had to flush the stuff out of the system a couple of times and it still took a while before the odor was gone.

This time I used a chlorine concentrate called sodium dichlor. It’s available at pool supply stores. I bought a pound of granulated sodium dichlor at Leslie’s Pool for five bucks. It contains 62% available chlorine, so a little bit goes a long way. It only takes a teaspoon of sodium dichlor to treat 100 gallons of water. I put a teaspoon of sodium dichlor into the fresh water supply line and filled our fresh water tank with 100 gallons of water. The solution needs to be in the tanks for three hours or longer to ensure all bacteria are eliminated. I also opened all of the taps and shower head to distribute chlorinated water throughout the fresh water system. With the tank filled, Donna and I went to the recreation hall for the fish fry lunch.

The park was having its annual fish fry with Alaskan halibut, French fries and cole slaw. Our ticket also included our choice of beer or soda. They served a large plate of fish and chips. I managed to eat all of the halibut, but couldn’t eat all of the fries. The halibut was good!

Fish and chips plate

The fish fry lunch was running a little behind schedule. Apparently only two of the three fryers they rented were working. We had to scoot out of there so Donna could make it back to the dentist at 2pm. She had an appointment to have her retainer adjusted to fit the new crown that was put in on Monday.

After the dentist, I drove Donna to her friend’s house. Dara lives in Las Sendas a couple of miles from the dentist office. Dara is into essential oils and she had several she wanted to give to Donna to help her road rash heal. Dara and Donna sometimes ride together and she’s had her share of road rash. Some years back, she was hit by a car and seriously injured. She founded Not One More, a non-profit foundation committed to making roads safer for cyclists and helping those who have been injured to meet their medial and personal bills.

From Dara’s house, we drove to Lana’s to return her car. Lana dropped us back at the RV park. Lana also had my old laptop, which her fiance Joel had repaired. He took the laptop completely apart and replaced the cooling fan. It works like new. He said it was a difficult unit to disassemble. When I looked for someone to fix it, I was told the labor would be over $200. I paid Joel for the part – he fixed it gratis. Now I have a back-up laptop. Thanks, Lana and Joel, for your generosity.

I made one last trip to Lucky Lou’s to say my goodbyes to the gang. When I returned, I dumped the chlorinated water from the fresh water tank – it had been in there for nearly six hours. I had turned off the water heater earlier in the day. I dumped the water from the water heater and flushed it out. I refilled our fresh water tank and ran water through all of the taps. I can barely smell the chlorine. Sodium dichlor will be my method of choice from now on.

I made a few more preparations for our departure. I removed and stored our front window covers before I fired up the grill. I grilled Trader Joe’s chicken jalapeno sausages while Donna prepared creamy avocado cauliflower – steamed cauliflower blended with avocado, olive oil, garlic, lemon and parsley in the food processor. It paired perfectly with the sausage and the color was in the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day.

Non-traditional St Paddy’s Day fare

I have a few more things to load into the trailer before we kick the tires and light the fires. We’re heading back to Casa Grande.

Donna Gets Her Bell Rung!

While I was writing my post yesterday, Donna went out for a bicycle ride. She wanted to get some miles in early before it got too hot out. I dumped the gray water tank and was thinking about getting the ladder out of the trailer to reseal the trim on the bedroom slide-out. My cell phone started ringing, I saw that it was Donna on the caller ID. I thought she must be having bike trouble – a flat tire or something.

I was surprised to hear a male voice asking if I was Mike Kuper. The caller identified himself as a paramedic with the City of Mesa Fire Department. My first thought was, “Oh no, Donna’s been hit by a car.” I flashed back to 2005 when I was hit by a car while bicycling here in Mesa, Arizona. I was heading west on Guadalupe Road approaching the intersection for the Loop 202 on-ramp. This is a controlled intersection with stop lights. Cars coming from the west only enter the on-ramp on a green arrow. My light was green. I was cruising in the bike lane at 22 mph (I had just looked a my speed on my bike computer). Suddenly a car was in the intersection. The young male driver was coming from the west and had blown through the red light and turned left for the on-ramp right in front of me. I slammed on my brakes and went into a skid. There was no way I could avoid contact. I flew over the hood of the car and my left shoulder crushed into the roof pillar next to the windshield. I felt and heard my collar bone break. I fell to the ground. The driver got out of his car, still talking on his cell phone. He was shouting, “Oh my God, I just hit this dude on a bike.” The City of Mesa Fire Department responded.

I was jolted back into the present when the paramedic told me Donna was okay. She had crashed on Power Road and had her bell rung. A good Samaritan witnessed the crash and stopped to help her. He loaded her bike in his SUV and drove Donna to the fire station. The paramedic said her helmet was trashed and she was dazed. Other than that, he didn’t think she had any serious injuries. He told me that she would be transported by ambulance to the ER at Banner Baywood Hospital to have her head injury evaluated.

We still had Lana Jansen’s Toyota Highlander here, so I drove over to the hospital. I had to wait for a few minutes before they took me back to Donna’s room. I saw road rash on her legs and left arm, but she was in good spirits and didn’t seem to be in too much pain. She told me that when the guy stopped to help her, she thought she might be able to ride her bike home, but she couldn’t remember where home was! When the paramedics asked her what year it was, she said, “Can we circle back to that one?” She obviously had a concussion.

Donna in good spirits at the ER

They took X-rays of her chest and left knee. Then she was wheeled away for a CT scan of her head. About an hour later, the doctor came in and said she would be fine. They gave her a prescription for pain medication, cleaned up the road rash and sent us on our way.

She didn’t remember much about the crash. She said the handlebars seem to be wrenched from her hands or her hands flew off the bars like she had hit something. We drove past the crash site on our way to pick up her bicycle at the fire station. The bike lane looked good. We didn’t see any pot holes or obstacles.

The firemen were very helpful. They showed me her helmet and said it really saved her. The left side of the helmet was scraped and the high density foam liner was crushed and cracked in multiple places. It absorbed the impact and saved her from serious injury.

The left side of her helmet hit the pavement

Cracked liner

More cracks

Another broken part of the liner

The fire captain told me that the good Samaritan had witnessed the crash. He said there weren’t any cars ahead as he was approaching Donna from behind. He said she suddenly flew from the bike and he thought she may have caught the curb with her right pedal. They helped me load the bike into the back of the Toyota. Donna had told me her bike was damaged. She said the handlebars were askew and the wheel wouldn’t turn. I didn’t see much damage on the bike. The left brake lever and hood had some scrapes. The handle bar was straight and the wheels turned fine. A bang on the head can really play havoc with your mind. Donna insisted the bike had been damaged.

As we were driving home, I told Donna what the fire captain had told me. She didn’t believe she caught the curb with her pedal. When we got back to our coach, I examined her bike closely. She obviously went down on the left side. I also found fresh scrape marks on the right pedal. She told me that right before the crash, she had looked down at her speed readout and saw 17 mph, then bang! I think she must have drifted to the right of the bike lane, caught her pedal against the curb and lost control.

She’s sore this morning and has some road rash, but it could have been much worse.

Ouch!

Road rash and bruises on her arm

Donna here: About 20-25 minutes before my crash, I witnessed what could have been a fatal wreck involving a motor home and a Jeep. I was cycling east on McDowell. A motor home came up from behind me and it was moving right along. As it approached the intersection, which is a four-way stop, I realized that it was not slowing down. The driver was going to blow right through! I was screaming, “Oh, my God! Oh, my God!” because just then, a red Jeep entered the intersection. I saw the motor home swerve at the last minute and then straighten up as it barreled through. Miraculously, the Jeep made it across. I stopped to talk to the driver, a young man, who had pulled over just beyond the intersection. I told him that he was one lucky guy. He said he saw the motor home coming and floored it. And then his engine died – probably blew a radiator hose. As I pedaled away, he said, “Have a safe ride!”

Patio’ Kings

Our time is winding down here in Mesa. I’m a little behind on some of the tasks I wanted to complete before we move. Thursday I rested my leg, I never got around to sealing the bedroom slide-out trim. Donna rode her bike with her friend, Dara in the afternoon. She rode to Lana Jansen’s house at the end of her ride and picked up Lana’s car – she had generously offered to lend it to us for the weekend. While Donna went out shopping on Friday, I hit the pickleball court. Afterwards I put my leg up and iced it for a while. It was very warm in the afternoon, near 90 degrees. Other than dumping the gray water tank, I didn’t accomplish anything.

Yesterday Donna and I played pickleball again in the morning. I can’t move at full speed yet and playing two days in a row left me with a sore leg again. We quit playing around 11am, then we got ready to head over to Andy and Donna King’s house in Gold Canyon. They were having a St. Patrick’s Day party (a few days early). People still living in the workaday world schedule parties on the weekend. Donna made Irish soda bread the night before to take to the party.

I thought the drive to Gold Canyon would take about 25 minutes. I didn’t realize the 27th annual Arizona Renaissance Festival was happening in Gold Canyon on the weekends through March 29th. The traffic on eastbound US 60 was stop and go from Apache Junction to Gold Canyon. The drive took over an hour, it was 1:30pm by the time we arrived.

We weren’t the only ones running late due to the traffic. The party didn’t start rolling until about 2pm. Andy was expecting guests to arrive shortly after noon. Many of the people attending the party were musicians – mostly bluegrass players. The party started when Andy and a few of his friends sang Seven Bridges Road. Andy picked the guitar while three others harmonized with him. They sounded great!

Getting started

Donna at the bar with her St. Patrick’s Day bling

I took a seat at the bar and sipped Guinness and enjoyed the music. Donna fixed plates of corned beef, cabbage and soda bread for us.

Our bartender, Seth and Kylie

There were a lot of talented people rotating in and out of the band. It was lively but low key and fun.

The band changed personnel often

Some members of the new bluegrass band Andy is in showed up.

Mavis really ripped on the fiddle

At one point, Andy set me up with his Alvarez Yairi acoustic guitar. It’s a beautiful instrument. I stayed in the outer circle and and followed the chord changes and improvised on a couple of songs.

Strummig along on Andy's Alvarez Yairie guitar

Strumming along on Andy’s Alvarez Yairi guitar

People were spread out all over the backyard. Most people stayed under cover on the patio. A few took to the pool to cool off.

Cooling off

I didn’t stray too far from the bar – I claimed a sore leg required me to sit on a barstool.

Plenty of activity at the bar

The shots of Jaegermeister washed down with Guinness were catching up with me. We called it a day and Donna drove us home around 5pm. My right leg was sore from pickleball and standing around all afternoon. I iced it when we returned home.

The forecast calls for temperatures in the 90s for the next few days. I’ll need to start organizing the trailer and prepare to depart on Wednesday. We’re still not sure of our next destination.

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Monthly Archives: March 2015

Lizards, Rabbits and Visitors

Tight – or Cozy?

Salton Sea

Shaken in the Desert

Between Here and San Diego

Two for One in Casa Grande

The Great House

St. Paddy’s at Orangewood

Donna Gets Her Bell Rung!

Patio’ Kings

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