Our time is getting short here at Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort. We’re staying active on the pickleball courts and getting out with friends before we move on. Many of the snowbirds have already left for home and I expect to see a lot more heading out before the weekend. The weather has been mostly pleasant with daily highs in the upper 70s and low 80s.

On Wednesday evening, Donna grilled wild Alaskan salmon on the Weber Q and we dined al fresco at our folding table. It was nice to eat dinner outdoors in shorts and flip-flops.

On Thursday, we had dinner plans with our friends, Dave and Stilla Hobden. Stilla is from Germany and Dave was stationed there for many years. They recommended a German restaurant on Main Street called Zur Kate – they said the cuisine was authentic German fare. They were right!

We all ordered schnitzel – they have seven varieties on the menu. Although the most well-known German schnitzel is wiener schnitzel which is made with veal, these were Vienna style schnitzel made from pork tenderloin. The tenderloin is pounded flat to tenderize it and then it’s breaded and pan fried. Dave, Donna and I ordered the Jager schnitzel (hunter’s schnitzel) which had a brown mushroom gravy and onions. Stilla had the schnitzel cordon bleu which had a thin slice of ham and Swiss cheese on it covered with gravy.

The food was great and it was fun to catch up with Dave and Stilla – it’s been a year since we last saw them.

On Friday morning, our friends Mike and Jodi Hall took us out in the desert by Sycamore Creek to do some target shooting. Mike and Kim Childs joined us along with Jeff and Chrissy Van Deren. It was a fun morning. While we were out in the desert, a military Blackhawk helicopter suddenly appeared as it climbed out of a ravine below us and flew overhead no more 100 feet high. It would have been illegal for a civilian helicopter to fly that close to people, but the military has exemptions.

On Friday afternoon, Donna’s friend Audrey Muehe came by and we loaded the Sea Eagle 370 inflatable kayak in Audrey’s car. They went to the Salt River to kayak – Audrey has a Sea Eagle kayak too.  They took a two-hour cruise on the river from the bridge on Bush Highway down to the Phon D Sutton Recreation Area where they pulled out. They saw wild horses, bald eagles and herons along the way.

Saturday evening Donna got busy on the Weber Q again and grilled boneless chicken thighs with olive oil, minced garlic and fresh herbs. She served them with smashed garlic potatoes and sauteed spinach.

Donna’s getting pretty good with the grill and has taken over a lot of the grilling which used to be my domain. I still run the Traeger though.

Sunday morning I watched the first race of the Formula One season from Melbourne, Australia. It was a very entertaining race with some close racing on a track that’s very hard to overtake on. Lewis Hamilton was leading from Kimi Raikonnen and Sebastian Vettel when Kimi pitted his Ferrari after lap 18. Hamilton pitted on the following lap. Vettel inherited the lead as he stayed out. On lap 22 a disabled Haas car on the track in an unsafe position forced a virtual safety car – this means that everyone must slow down and hold station – no overtaking. Vettel was nearly at the end of the lap and dove into the pits for fresh tires. With the rest of the field lapping slowly he came back out on the track still in first place. The obviously biased British announcer cried foul claiming he somehow took advantage of Hamilton and took first place away. The fact is, he was in first place when the virtual safety car was declared and he remained in first place – he didn’t pass Hamilton or anyone else, he held station as he is required to. Vettel went on to win the race.

Sara Graff picked up Donna Sunday around 10:45am. I loaded the Sea Eagle and they met Audrey at Phon D Sutton. They left Sara’s car there and took Audrey’s car up river where they put in again. They spent a few hours on the river. It had more traffic than it did on Friday, but they still had a great time and saw more horses and wildlife.

While Donna was out, I tackled a chore I had been putting off. Our Delta kitchen faucet had loosened and needed to be re-secured. It’s a high rise single handle pull-down model. The base has a hollow threaded tube that the hose for the pull-down spray head runs through. A nut is threaded on the tube to clamp a rectangular base pad under the kitchen counter, securing the faucet in place.

I had to remove a fitting on the spray hose, then use a special Delta faucet tool to reach the nut. The tool is hollow and has a 15/16″ hex on one end to fit the nut and a couple of wings on the other end for leverage to spin the nut tight. It seems like it should be a simple task, but RV plumbing is never so simple. I had to squeeze into a tight opening under the sink and I couldn’t see the nut I was trying to reach. The hot and cold pex supply lines run right next to the nut, making it difficult to get the tool in place. I saw that I hadn’t oriented the rectangular base plate correctly when I installed the faucet and I think that’s why it loosened. I turned it 90 degrees so it would rest squarely against the underside of the countertop – it was riding on part of the sink before. I got it done and I think it’ll stay tight now.

After Donna returned from kayaking, she started preparing dinner. While she was doing that, I enjoyed a bottle of one of my new favorite beers – Duvel Citra. It’s a Belgian golden ale that’s triple hopped and features citra hops. This gives it a unique flavor – the bitterness borders on sour and I like it.

The Duvel is tasty, but it’s dangerous at 9.5% ABV, so I only had one. With dinner, I had another new beer I found. It’s from Lagunitas Brewery in Petaluma, California and it’s called Aunt Sally. They describe it as “A unique dry-hopped sweet tart sour mash ale.” The description fits. I like it and at 5.7% ABV, it won’t make me get cross-eyed.

Donna served the flank steak with parmesan-herb potatoes and a side of sauted sweet peppers, red onion and Mexican squash. It was delicious!

The forecast calls for the pleasant weather to continue before it gets up to 90 degrees next weekend. I don’t think we’ll see any rain as we count down our last 10 days here in Mesa. I’m getting the hitch itch and I’m looking forward to hitting the road.

 

*Just so you know, if you follow one of my links to Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and  I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!