Sunday was a wacky day for sports – at least it was for me. The Moto GP race from Sepang, Malaysia was marred by controversy over the antics of Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi – unfortunately it will affect the outcome of the championship. The Formula One race in Austin, Texas saw points leader Lewis Hamilton force his teammate off track at turn one in a wildly entertaining race with changing weather and track conditions. In NFL action, the Chargers didn’t bring it against the Raiders. They played poorly through three quarters in every phase of the game, then scored three touchdowns in a span of 13 minutes.

I fired up the Weber Q grill Sunday evening. Although I love cooking with the Traeger wood pellet fired grill, I still use the propane Weber from time to time. Donna had prepared a pork tenderloin with a sesame-chili-ginger marinade. It was excellent! She served it with sweet potato mash and sauteed kale.

Grilled pork tenderloin

Served with sweet potato mash and sauteed kale

Sunday night was our last night in Usery Mountain Regional Park. The sunset was a beauty. I think Ozark enjoyed this park as much as any place we’ve been. She spent a lot of time on the dashboard looking out the windshield. Donna calls it cat TV. She was entertained by an endless display of wildlife. She watched the birds – cactus wrens, LeConte’s thrashers, Gambel’s quail. She saw lizards and rabbits and listened intently as the coyotes wailed.

Another desert sunset

We packed up and left Usery Mountain on Monday morning. On the way out, Donna stopped at the park office to inquire about camp hosting. We may apply to return to the park as camp hosts. The job would require 40 hours of work per week per couple. In return, we would have a free, full hook-up site. It requires a minimum four-month commitment though. We’ll mull it over and maybe send in the application next spring.

Our next stop was Speedco in Casa Grande. I wanted to have the coach serviced. Speedco is a truck lube and tire service center. They have a medium-duty preventive maintenance service that applies to our RV. I had the motor oil changed (28 quarts), oil filter replaced and chassis lubed. They also checked the gear oil and oil level in the front hubs/bearings. I didn’t have the fuel filter replaced since I changed it in June, but they gave me a fuel filter as it’s included in the package price.

I also paid for used oil analysis. Used oil analysis can reveal trends that may indicate abnormal contaminants which can be a sign of wear or impending failure. When I read the results and compared it to the last analysis, I was puzzled. Some of the properties of the oil seemed unusual. Then I remembered that the last analysis was done on Lucas Magnum diesel engine oil. Since then I’ve switched to Chevron Delo 400 LE diesel engine oil. I’ll never use Lucas again. The analysis of the Lucas oil indicated viscosity breakdown and the Petroleum Quality Institute has issued a warning for that oil.

The Chevron Delo oil has different additives than Lucas uses. The base stocks used in most quality motor oils are similar – it’s the additive packages that are different. For instance, Delo uses a silicon anti-foaming agent. This made the silicon content of the used oil seem high to me in comparison to the last oil analysis. Silicon can also mean dirt has been ingested by the engine. If we had a dirt problem from an intake leak or bad air filter, there would be other telltale signs. Our used oil analysis didn’t show any abnormalities.

The oil was last changed in January, about 10,000 miles ago. One of the things you can see in the used oil analysis is the Total Base Number (TBN). The TBN is an indicator of the oil’s useful life. In our case, the TBN was 7.7. Since Chevron Delo starts out with a TBN of around eight and the oil isn’t considered depleted until TBN is below two, we could have gone a lot longer before changing the oil. I wanted it done now though as we won’t be near a Speedco in the coming months.

We pulled into the Fiesta Grande RV Park around noon. This is a Thousand Trails/Encore park. We aren’t Thousand Trails members but we were able to book a week here at the Passport America rate. We have a full hook-up, pull-through site and full amenities for less than the site we had at Usery Mountain with no sewer.

Road trips wear Ozark out

Last night, Donna made caprese for us to snack on with a beer as I watched the Monday Night Football game. She used fresh mozzarella, compari tomatoes and fresh basil from her potted plant and drizzled it with balsamic vinegar reduction.

Caprese plate

Today we’ll start with pickleball and then see what the day brings. I expect sunny skies and warm weather – the forecast calls for upper 80s.