Category Archives: Arizona

Easier Battery Maintenance

Having the right tool for the job always makes the task easier. I’ve posted about battery maintenance before. To recap, the house 12-volt system on our coach is powered by four 6-volt deep-cycle batteries. In our case, they’re golf cart-type, flooded wet-cell lead-acid batteries. This means the cells have lead plates immersed in electrolyte. The electrolyte is 65% water and 35% sulfuric acid.

To produce 12 volts from a bank of 6-volt batteries, they’re connected in pairs. Two 6-volt batteries connected in series produce twelve volts. Each of our four 6-volt batteries is rated to 186 amp hours (AH). This rating is typically taken over a 20-hour period. In other words, the battery should provide a little over 9 amps for 20 hours. In reality, you never want to completely discharge a battery. There’s another factor as well – discharge rates aren’t linear. The higher the discharge rate, the less capacity the battery can provide. In our case, the batteries are rated for 100 minutes at 75 amps. If it were linear, you would expect close to 150 minutes (186/75=2.48 hours).

Our two pairs of batteries connected in series amounts to two large 12-volt batteries. The two pairs are connected to each other in parallel so the voltage remains the same, but the capacity is equal to the sum of the two battery pairs. Our 186 AH batteries are now capable of providing 372 AH.

It’s important to keep lead-acid batteries charged. Storing them in a discharged state causes sulfation of the plates which diminishes capacity and ultimately ruins the battery.

Our bank of house batteries is charged by the inverter/charger any time we are connected to shore power or are running our generator. It’s a smart charger that monitors the battery condition and temperature and adjusts the charging rates accordingly. The charging goes through three phases. First is bulk charging. This phase takes care of 80% of the charging. Constant current is applied and voltage is raised above 14 volts. The second phase is called absorption. In this phase, the voltage is constant at 14.1 to 14.8 volts and current decreases as the final 20% of the charge is completed. The last phase is called float charging. In this phase, the voltage is dropped to 13.0 to 13.8 volts and the current is reduced to less than 1% of battery capacity. This phase will maintain an unused battery in a fully charged state.

The smart charger shouldn’t allow the temperature of a flooded wet cell battery to exceed 125 degrees Fahrenheit. However, some gassing of the electrolyte is inevitable. This gassing plus normal evaporation causes the electrolyte level to drop over time. The lead plates in the cells should never be exposed to air – they should be completely immersed in electrolyte at all times. Exposure to air causes irreversible damage. The evaporation or gassing only affects the water in the electrolyte. The sulfuric acid is not diminished. Therefore, only water is needed to top up the battery.

We don’t want introduce minerals into the electrolyte, so tap water shouldn’t be used. The cells should be topped up with distilled water. Whew, all that to say our house batteries need to be checked and topped up periodically. Our chassis batteries, which are used to start the engine and power the instrument panel, are maintenance-free 12-volt batteries that don’t need to have water added.

In the past, I’ve been checking our batteries every few months by removing the caps on the cells, sticking my head into the compartment and peering down into the cells. It’s easy to see if the electrolyte level is above the plates, but it’s hard to tell how high the actual level is. The cell needs to have enough electrolyte to cover the plates with about 1/4″ to 1/2″ of liquid from the plate to the surface of the electrolyte. The electrolyte shouldn’t reach the neck of the fill well though, or acid will be forced out of the vent when the temperature rises during charging.

I used to look, make my best guess and use a turkey baster to add water to each cell. The batteries in the back of the bank were a real shot in the dark as I couldn’t see into the cells very well.

Yesterday I rode the scooter to NAPA Auto Parts and bought the right tool for the job. It’s a simple thing and something I should have done long ago. It’s a battery filler with an automatic shut-off. You fill the container with distilled water, then you push the spout into the filler well on the battery cell. The spring-loaded spout opens and allows the water to flow into the battery. When the electrolyte level reaches the spout, it automatically shuts off.

Battery filler with auto shut-off and distilled water

Using this filler is a breeze. I removed the battery caps, inserted the filler spout until the flow of water stopped, then moved on to the next cell. Job done in five minutes. I didn’t have to lean into the battery bank and peer into the cells – it automatically filled each cell to the proper level.

Couldn’t be any easier

Based on my experience over the past year, I’ll do this task every three months or so.

Yesterday I walked to the RV park office and back to purchase tickets for the big fish fry on St. Patrick’s Day. My leg is getting much better. I’ll get out and enjoy the weather with another walk today. Our forecast calls for a warming trend. We should see temperatures in the high 70s today and into the 80s over the weekend.

Stormy Monday

Pardon the pun, but rain pretty much puts a damper on our activities. The heavy rain that was forecast to hit us around noon on Monday actually arrived around 9:30am. Donna drove the rental car back to Enterprise at 11:30am and they gave her a ride back to Orangewood Shadows RV Resort. With the rain pouring down all afternoon, we stayed indoors. I spent most of my time reading after I posted to the blog.

Stormy Monday

Donna had a pork tenderloin in the slow cooker all afternoon with a maple syrup and mustard sauce. She served it with cumin-spiced roasted brussel sprouts. The aroma from the slow cooker was delightful.

Pork tenderloin with brussel sprouts

The rain continued through most of the night. Donna was up early Tuesday morning. She left at 7:30am to join the Orangewood Shadows hiking group on their trek up Siphon Draw Trail in the Superstition Mountains.

The first photo from the hike was shot by Donna, all others courtesy of Don Dunning.

Water running down rock and forming a pool on Siphon Draw Trail

Water running down Siphon Draw

Superstition Mountains from the trailhead at Lost Dutchman State Park

Orangewood Shadows hiking group

Part of the trail is wide, but it gets rocky toward the top

The trail gets rocky toward the top

Mountain top shrouded in low cloud cover

While they were stopped for lunch at the top, it started raining. They carefully made their way down the slippery rock section and headed back.

Meanwhile, back at the coach, we had sunshine. I took advantage of the dry conditions and refilled the hummingbird feeder. I restocked paper products from our stash in the trailer. Then I dumped and flushed our holding tanks. After that, I gave my leg a rest and read for a while. Although it was sunny out, it was also breezy with the temperature hovering around 60 degrees.

When Donna returned around 12:30pm, she told me about the rain on Superstition Mountain. I was surprised since it had been dry here all morning. Within 10 minutes, the rain returned. It rained in spurts off and on all afternoon.

The wet road coupled with a lane closure outside of Orangewood Shadows RV Resort on University Drive proved to be challenging for some drivers. Twice we heard the screech of locked-up tires sliding on the tarmac followed by a metallic crunch. Fender benders! So many inattentive drivers in these conditions kept me home without a thought of venturing out on the scooter.

Last night, Donna made pepperoni chicken. She uses pounded chicken breasts as the base for a pizza-like entree topped with pepperoni slices, homemade marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. Last time, she served it with sauteed zucchini and onions. She served it over spaghetti squash this time.

Pepperoni chicken over spaghetti squash

The forecast calls for clear skies and a warming trend with the high temperature reaching 80 degrees by the end of the week. My calf injury is much improved and I plan to start gently exercising it with short walks and careful stretching.

Ponzi Scheme Crook

Donna and her teammate Angie raced in the duathlon at McDowell Mountain Regional Park early yesterday morning. Angie ran the first 3.6-mile leg, then transferred the timing chip to Donna in the transition area. Donna had a goal of averaging 15mph over the hilly 25.2-mile bike course. She made the ride in 1:36:40 for an average speed of 15.6mph. Then Angie finished the race with another 3.6-mile run. They were happy the rain held off and had a good time.

Angie and Donna – up at 5am and all smiles before the race

While Donna was at the race, I was thinking about the Filter Minder Air Restriction Gauge I wrote about in yesterday’s post. First I went online and looked up troubleshooting information. I found the Filter Minder FAQ page. It warns the consumer not to judge an air filter’s restriction by visual examination. An air filter that looks dirty may have much filtration life left. Air restriction through the filter remains low through much of its service life, then rapidly increases as the filter clogs at the end of its service life. The large air filter on our Cummins ISL is designed for commercial use which usually entails high mileage in a relatively short time. In a motorhome, high-mileage driving is the exception.

I found a chart on the site that showed typical results over miles driven in non-severe (not dusty) conditions. It can take more than 50,000 miles before the restriction starts to show on the gauge. Of course, they also warn not to change filters on a mileage schedule – always use restriction as the factor unless the filter is in danger of deterioration due to age.

With these facts in mind, I went out to test our Filter Minder Air Restriction Gauge. First, I disconnected the vacuum line from the top of the gauge. I put a short length of vacuum hose on it and applied vacuum. The gauge responded – there’s nothing wrong with the gauge. Then I blew air through the vacuum line between the gauge and the intake tube behind the air filter. The air flowed freely – there’s no blockage. I reconnected the vacuum line at the gauge and crawled under the coach. I disconnected the line at the intake tube and applied vacuum at the line. I stepped out and looked at the gauge. It works fine. There’s nothing wrong with our Filter Minder. Apparently I’m guilty of assuming that the old filter should have shown restriction based on its appearance.

Filter Minder Air Restriction Gauge on or Alpine Coach

Filter Minder Air Restriction Gauge on our Alpine Coach

The way the gauge works is this – as air is pulled through the air filter element into the intake system, a slight vacuum may be created between the air filter and the turbocharger compressor. As the filter collects dust and debris, it gains efficiency in dust collection. Eventually it starts to overload and the vacuum in the intake between the air filter and turbocharger increases. Once the vacuum exceeds 8 in/H2O the gauge begins to register. At 22-25 in/H2O, the air filter element needs to be changed. Our gauge didn’t move because we hadn’t exceeded the 8in/H2O threshold. That said, our air filter was old and it was time to change it. Enough about air filtration.

Another event took place over the weekend. On Saturday I talked to my step-dad, Ken. I try to stay in touch by phoning him every couple of weeks. He’s 84 years old and lives alone in Sun City (Menifee), California. He told me some unsettling news. He had rolled over a sizable IRA investment into an annuity account. Last year, he took a distribution from the annuity. As he was preparing his tax documents, he realized he didn’t have a 1099-R form for the distribution. In fact, he didn’t have a year-end statement either. He tried to reach the insurance broker who set up the annuity. The guy’s phone was disconnected and could not be reached.

He told me the guy’s name was John P. Slawinski. I did a quick Google search and found that John P. Slawinski of Palm Desert, California was arrested last August on five counts of felony financial elder abuse after stealing more than two million dollars from five senior citizens. Ken confirmed that this was the guy who set up his annuity. The article included a phone number for the Rancho Cucamonga regional office of the California Department of Insurance. I gave Ken the phone number and told him to call on Monday (today) to add his name to the list of plaintiffs.

Later I talked to my daughter, Shauna. Shauna is set to graduate law school May 1st. I told her what happened. Yesterday Shauna called me and said she found out that John P. Slawinski is currently incarcerated and a hearing is set for the end of April. She said she would follow up with the California Department of Insurance to make sure Ken’s claim is properly filed.

It makes me sick to think of scammers preying on seniors and stealing their life savings. Hopefully this guy has some assets that can be seized and liquidated to provide some restitution to his victims.

Last evening, Donna and I went out for Italian food. We wanted to go to our favorite – Roma Cafe Ristorante in the Sun Valley Plaza on Main Street, but discovered that they’re closed on Sunday. So we went to Alessia’s Ristorante Italiano on Higley and Brown Road. We dined al fresco. Donna ordered the Che Calamari plate and I had Strangola. We both opted for cappellini as the pasta. The Che Calamari is calamari sauteed with fresh tomatoes, garlic and basil marinara. The Strangola is homemade sausage sauteed with onions and button mushrooms with parmesan in a chicken broth-based sauce. We both thought the food was excellent and the service was fine, but it doesn’t top Roma Cafe. We’ll try to have dinner there before we leave Mesa.

The rain in the weekend forecast didn’t arrive until we had a few smatterings after 7am this morning. It’s overcast and blustery out. Now the weather guessers say we should expect heavy rain around noon and it will continue into the night, with clear weather returning tomorrow.

Keeping it Clean

Another rest and recuperation day for my leg on Friday. I’m seeing progress now. I can walk better and with less pain. I still have to take care not to stretch the calf excessively or try to stand on my tippy-toes. I’m not there yet.

I scootered Donna over to Enterprise where she picked up a rental car for the weekend. Enterprise has weekend specials – we get a car for $9.99/day. Donna had a free upgrade, so she got a Nissan Altima which is big enough to transport her bike to the duathlon at McDowell Mountain Regional Park on Sunday.

On Friday evening, Donna and I went to the Red, White and Brew for happy hour. Our intention was to visit with friends, have a cold one and order food. Turned out the only friends we knew there were the bartenders. Everyone else was at Lucky Lou’s. So we drove down the road to Lucky Lou’s and sat out on the patio with Mike and Jodi Hall along with Kellie and Amber.

Donna (caught mid-blink), Kellie, Amber, Jodi and Mike

Afterward, Donna and I had dinner next door at the Thai restaurant.

Saturday we awoke to heavily overcast skies. The forecast called for rain Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Donna contemplated backing out of doing the duathlon with her teammate Angie. The weather guessers revised the forecast several times throughout the day.

While Donna took the car shopping at Tempe Marketplace, I completed a task on the coach. I had ordered a new air filter element for our Cummins ISL engine and UPS dropped it off by our steps while were out Friday evening.

Air filters shouldn’t be replaced unless they develop restriction or they’re damaged or at risk of failure due to age. Our filter minder air restriction gauge didn’t indicate a restriction, but I was skeptical. The gauge hasn’t moved in the last year. Also I was concerned about the age of our air filter.

Our air filter element is made of cellulose fiber, like most air filters. The filter is 98.5% efficient when new, but the efficiency increases to well over 99% with use. As dust particles accumulate on the filter media, it traps smaller and smaller particles. When new, many of the smaller particles might pass through. That’s why changing the air filter too often can actually increase engine wear.

Diesel engines do not have a throttle. They need all the air they can get to make maximum power. The power output is regulated by the amount of fuel injected into the combustion chamber. Gasoline engines need to maintain an air/fuel ratio of about 14.7:1 although realistically it varies between 12:1 and 15:1. Diesel engines can have air/fuel ratios of 15:1 and up to more than 80:1. A good supply of clean air is essential. According to Cummins, if a tablespoon of dirt is ingested by the engine over time, it will ruin the engine. The B50 life of a Cummins ISL (B50 is the point where 50% of the engines maintained to specification will need an overhaul) is 600,000 miles. Over this life span, very little dirt passing through the air filter can add up.

So, my task was to remove the old air filter element, keep everything as clean as possible and install the new element. On our Alpine Coach, this is a fairly simple operation. The service bay allows easy access to the air filter element.

Air filter housing in the service bay

First I removed the outer end plate on the air filter housing by loosening the wing nut. This exposed the air filter element which is held in place by a second wing nut.

Air filter element held by a second wing nut

The air filter element was dirtier than I expected, confirming my suspicion of something wrong with the filter minder gauge.

Dirty air filter element

I noticed the old element was made by Luber-Finer. It had a spiral band of adhesive around the outer screen to keep the filter media from collapsing. This band only made three passes around the outer screen.

The filter media was intact and the inside of the filter was clean. The engine draws air from the outside of the filter, through the filter media and clean air is presented through the inside diameter of the filter.

Inside of the old filter is clean and media is intact

The new filter I ordered is the Cummins-recommended Fleetguard AF 25549 filter element. The spiral ring of adhesive on this filter wraps around the outside diameter five times. This looks to be better though the old filter held up fine with three wraps.

New Fleetguard filter element

I carefully cleaned the air filter housing and installed the new filter element. The air filter element has an axial seal where it meets the back of the filter housing. It’s important to have this seal undamaged and in good contact with the housing. Tightening the wing nut on the filter element compresses this seal in place. It should be snug, but not over tightened.

New filter in place

All that was left to do was to install the end cap. Job done! We won’t pull out of here for another 17 days, but I wanted to check this off my list and not let everything pile up until the last days before our departure. Next I traced the vacuum line on the filter minder air restriction gauge looking for leaks. I didn’t find any leaks. It’s either plugged or the gauge is defective.

With that job done, I retired to the sofa and finished reading Executive Power by Vince Flynn. These espionage thrillers aren’t very realistic, but they’re fun reads.

When Donna returned from shopping, I pumped up her bicycle tires and loaded her bike in the rental car. The weather guessers had pushed back the rain forecast until sometime Sunday night or Monday morning. Donna whipped up her famous crab cakes for dinner. As always, they were outstanding.

Donna’s crab cakes

Donna was up early and off to McDowell Mountain Park with Angie at 5:30am this morning. I hope the race is going well for them.

Fish Tales

Things have been pretty low key around here. I’m still resting and allowing my torn calf muscle some recuperation time. Living the full-time RV lifestyle can be much like living in a sticks-and-bricks environment, where things sometimes settle into a blasé routine.

I continue to eat like a king though. I grilled wild Alaskan sockeye salmon on Thursday. I started by grilling sliced red onion with a little apple cider vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper in a foil packet to caramelize the onions. Donna served the salmon topped with the onions, fresh parsley, and lemon juice over a bed of arugula. The caramelized red onions were so sweet.

Sockeye salmon with caramelized onions

Donna took her bicycle out for interval training yesterday. She has a duathlon race scheduled on Sunday. She’s planning to race as a 2-person team. Angie Hill from the Orangewood Shadows RV Resort will do the running portions of the race while Donna will do the 25-mile bicycle leg. Donna entered last year, but the race was rained out. Wouldn’t you know it, the weather guessers are calling for rain to move into the area on Saturday and continue until Monday!

Donna was stretching outside after her bicycle ride when a guy stopped at our site. He was handing out flyers for the annual Orangewood Shadows St. Patrick’s Day fish fry. Apparently one of the residents of the park comes down from Alaska every year with fresh Alaskan halibut and they have a big fish fry. Tickets are $12 per person. We don’t often go to this type of event, but it will be our last day in the park and it sounds too good to pass up.

When I lived in the Northwest, I made numerous trips to Alaska, mostly for business. I also went fishing there. The fishing trips were mostly to the Chatham Strait in southeast Alaska. We would fly to Sitka. In Sitka, we would transfer to a DeHavilland Beaver float plane. DeHavilland Beavers are legendary bush planes and I always enjoyed flying in one. The plane could take five passengers. The flight would carry us over Baranof Island to the Bay of Pillars on Kuiu Island. This is a remote and absolutely beautiful location.

In the bay, there was a dock with freezer equipment, two 35′ sport fishing boats and the Sea Ranger. The Sea Ranger is an old 115′ navy tug that’s been converted to a floating lodge. The Sea Ranger had electricity, hot and cold water, staterooms, a large salon and restaurant-grade dining. The location on Chatham Strait meant we were minutes away from fantastic fishing. Other charters coming from Sitka would have to leave port at dark-thirty and sail for hours to get to the good fishing grounds.

Kuiu Island is uninhabited. We would often see black bears on the shore. Whales were common in the strait. With no phones and no Internet for four days, we would fish and forget about the rest of the world. Chatham Strait is chock full of salmon – kings, silvers, pinks, sockeyes and also halibut. The abundance of wildlife in the area and the lack of development made it a wonderful experience.

Fishing near Kuiu Island

120 pound halibut from the Chatham Strait

120-pound halibut I caught in the Chatham Strait

Our catch for the day

We always packed light for the trip – just a backpack or carry-on bag. The fish we caught were immediately filleted and flash frozen. When we left, the fish were vacuum-packed in plastic and placed in a waxed cardboard container the size of a medium suitcase. Alaska Airlines allowed each passenger to check two 55-lb. suitcases in those days. We would check the containers as baggage and come home with 110 lbs. of salmon and halibut each.

Another time we went fishing on the Kenai River. This is a famous fishing destination. I’d read many stories about the Kenai since I was a kid. Three of us – Greg Schmeer, Ed King and I went. We knew a guy in Anchorage who guided on the Kenai. He took us down to the river in his truck pulling a sport fishing boat.

I was dismayed to find the Kenai wasn’t as pristine as I expected. It was crowded with boats floating down the river like cars on the interstate. Everyone would float along through their favorite areas, then fire up their engines and blast upstream to make another pass.

Our guide had a lot of experience on the Kenai. He knew the river intimately and also knew which lures would work best. He moved us around to different areas that he knew were productive. We pulled in fish after fish while others around us were getting skunked. We caught kings, silvers, sockeyes and pinks.

Me with a silver (coho) salmon on the Kenai

A nice king (chinook) salmon on the Kenai

Ed King with his namesake salmon on the Kenai

So much for the fish tales. I’ll continue to rest my injured leg and read. I picked up three more Vince Flynn espionage thrillers that should keep me occupied for a few more days.

Racing in the Rain

After a few more days of convalescing, I feel some progress with my right calf. Muscle tears are slow to heal. At first I thought I would be okay after a week or so. Now, 10 days later, I realize it’s going to take longer.

Over the past three days, I’ve limited the amount of time standing or walking. I’m trying to keep weight off my leg as much as possible. At the same time, I started applying essential oils to my calf. The thing is, when you change two variables at the same time, it’s hard to tell which one is most effective.

It’s like racing in the rain. When I used to race motorcycles, if it started raining and the track was wet, we would change to special wet tires and soften the suspension settings. We knew without a doubt that the wet tires were a big help. But how much did the soft suspension help? Without a baseline, it was a shot in the dark. Changing two things at once made it hard if not impossible to quantify how much each change helped.

Getting set for a wet race

I never liked racing in the rain

My point is, I don’t know if the essential oils are helping my leg to heal or is it just a matter of rest and time. The skeptic in me wonders if a few drops of oil can make a difference. However, I’m not taking any chances. Just like softening the suspension settings on my race bike, I’ll continue to apply the oils even though I can’t measure the effect.

I’ve been spending time reading and relaxing. Yesterday was a good day for it as we had sporadic showers in the late morning. Donna has been active. On Sunday, she rode a 33-mile loop through the Tonto National Forest, including a climb over Usery Pass. Monday she rested. We had rain showers so it was a good day to rest. Yesterday she planned to hike at Bartlett Lake with the Orangewood Shadows group, but the hike was cancelled due to weather up that way. Instead, she walked around the RV park with her hiking pals, Lowell and Debi. They power walked a circuitous route and covered over four and a half miles while the rain held off.

The afternoon was dry with partly cloudy skies. The wind kicked up and I had to roll the awning in. The temperature was cool all day. The thermometer flirted with 60 but I don’t think the high temperature ever got out of the 50s.

Donna prepared a new to us dish last night. It was Malaysian chicken sate (pronounced SAH-tay) with peanut sauce. She rode the scooter over to an Asian market on Dobson Road in the afternoon to pick up some special ingredients including Masman curry paste (a shrimp-based paste) and tamarind juice.

Chicken sate skewers on the grill

Malaysian chicken satay with peanut sauce and bok choy

Malaysian chicken sate with peanut sauce and bok choy

The peanut sauce was fabulous. Donna served the chicken with one of my favorite veggies – steamed bok choy.

I’ll relax and read another book today. Donna picked up a few more books for me at the Orangewood Shadows library. On Monday, she downloaded the Kindle version of the sequel to the James Patterson novel I read – the one that I finished earlier only to discover that the story was continued in a second volume. I finished that story. I started another novel yesterday by Vince Flynn called The Last Man. It’s a good read and I’m sure I’ll finish it today.

We have sunny skies and the forecast calls for temperatures in the low 70s with a light breeze. Maybe I’ll relax and read outside. Donna is headed to the pickleball court.

Essential Oils Therapy

I want to thank everyone for the suggestions regarding my calf injury. A brief description of the nature of the injury can be found here. The area of the tear in my case is a little higher than what is shown on that site.

After one week, I’ve come to realize I was trying to do too much, too soon. I spent most of the day yesterday resting, reading a book and limiting the amount of time standing or walking. I also started treating my calf with essential oils. I’m using a concoction of a few drops of marjoram oil and lemon grass oil mixed with tea tree oil as a carrier. I’m massaging this into the affected area. We’ll see if it helps.

I mentioned reading. I read Cross My Heart by James Patterson. It’s a suspense/crime novel, part of the Alex Cross detective series set in Washington D.C. This story is a psycho-thriller with a Hannibal Lecter type going after Cross. The thing is, after reading over 400 pages, the book ended without finishing the story. I need to get Hope to Die to finish the story (I hope it ends the story). Donna checked the park library yesterday, where I found the first book, but it wasn’t there.

Last night, Donna prepared a new dish for dinner. She made roasted chicken thighs with fresh fennel (anise) and lemon. She served it over brown rice with a side of broccoli. Another keeper.

There are beaked chicken thighs under there

There are roasted chicken thighs under the fennel

The weather guessers called for rain overnight and continuing today. I only heard a smattering of rain drops on the roof last night. The ground isn’t wet this morning. The skies are mostly clear, but it’s windy. Now they say thunder showers will move in between noon and 5pm. We’ll see.

Another Member of the Saturday Club

Donna started Friday with warm-up exercises before she hit the pickleball court. I did some gentle stretches on my right calf. It remains very sore and my mobility is limited.

In the afternoon, I rode the scooter to Red, White and Brew to have a cold one with Leendert Hartoog and welcome him to the Saturday Club. After 30 years as an engineer at Boeing, he retired. Friday was his last day at the office. I told him every day is Saturday now, so there’s no good reason to go to Home Depot or Costco on the weekend anymore. I sat and visited with Mike and Jodi Hall before heading back home.

Donna and I went down to the pickleball court yesterday at 11am. I rode the scooter – it was too far for me to walk. We attended a pickleball strategy session. A couple of experienced players, Paul and Ellen, gave a demonstration and lecture to a group of people interested in improving their pickleball game. It was interesting and we learned a lot. I couldn’t put any of it into practice yet, but sooner or later my leg will heal and I’ll be back on the court.

We’ve had warm, sunny weather. After a few days’ trial, I can say the new sunshades on the windshield and front windows are well worth it. The coach stays cooler inside and it feels more open than when we used interior curtains to close off the front windows and windshield.

Sun Dancer Shades

When we used interior curtains, the sunlight would come through the windshield before it was blocked by the curtain. This would create a zone of hot air between the window and curtain, heating the interior of the coach. The sunlight would also heat the dashboard area and subject the vinyl covering to UV degradation. And with interior curtains closed, we couldn’t see out, making the coach seem smaller. The exterior sunshades prevent all this from happening.

Here’s an example of interior curtains

Donna rode the scooter to Bed, Bath and Beyond in the afternoon to buy new bed sheets. While she was out, she picked up fresh citrus at Apache Wells RV Resort, where we stayed last year. They have an abundance of citrus that is put out on tables. We give a small donation and bring home fresh grapefruit, oranges and lemons.

In the evening, Donna used her Vitamix to puree a fresh grapefruit and made a Greyhound cocktail. We sat outside and enjoyed happy hour and the pleasant weather.

Donna enjoying a fresh squeezed Greyhound

While we sat outside, Donna had a flank steak marinading in orange juice, lime juice, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and smashed garlic cloves. I grilled it and it was sensational. Donna served it over herb salad alongside yam slices topped with herbed garlic butter.

Marinated flank steak with herb salad

I think I overused my leg standing at the pickleball demonstration. My leg was sore in the afternoon and evening. I woke up several times in the night with leg pain. I’ll take it easy today and rest with my leg elevated.

Happy Hour at Sun Life

Donna went out for bike ride Thursday morning and worked on interval training. While she was out, I wrote my blog post. I did some gentle calf movement, pivoting my foot to stretch and contract the calf muscle. It’s still sore and I can’t walk without limping. I’ve stopped icing it and will work on stretches and range of motion.

I finished reading a novel that was a total waste of time and effort. I was resting on the sofa when there was knock on the door. It was Pat from Sun Dancer Shades. He was running ahead of schedule and arrived early for our appointment. He had our new custom-made front window and windshield shades ready for installation.

Paul's assistant, Hunter aligning the sunshade

Pat’s assistant, Hunter, aligning the sunshade

I opted for twist locks instead of snaps. I think the twist locks are more durable. Sun Dancer Shades uses Dot twist-lock hardware. Dot hardware is made by Scovill. Their twist locks are high-quality marine-grade nickle-plated brass. They should outlast the coach.

Dot twist lock

Pat and his assistant, Hunter, took their time aligning the windshield shade before they drilled and riveted the fasteners to the coach. I stood and watched them work for a while, but it was too much for my injured leg, so I went inside while they completed the job. The fit of the shade is excellent.

Nice fit

The sun shades block 90% of the UV from sunlight. This will keep the interior of the coach cooler and protect interior components from UV degradation. The really cool thing is it also blocks prying eyes from peering into the coach during daylight hours, but we can see out from the inside.

Inside looking out through the sun shade

After he finished the installation, Pat walked me through the best way to remove the shades and roll them into the storage bag that came with them. He also included windshield wiper covers.

I spent the rest of the afternoon reading and doing light leg exercises. Donna took the scooter and went grocery shopping. After she returned, I got on the scooter and Donna got on back. We had a happy hour to go to at Sun Life RV Resort. Brett and Cheri had invited us to come over. Our friends, John and Sharon from Texas (On the Road of Retirement), who we met in San Diego at Mission Bay RV Resort, are also at Sun Life and joined us for happy hour.

Donna brought veggies, crackers and smoked trout pate, Cheri and Brett had a spread of hors d’oeuvres on the table when we arrived.

Happy hour snacks

We had a tour of Brett and Cheri’s Montana fifth-wheel trailer and then sat outside. John and Sharon arrived and we all sat around enjoying snacks, drinks and good company. Our travel plans include a lot of the same areas over the summer, but it seems like our timing is off. We don’t know when we’ll meet up again, but I’m sure we will sooner or later.

Cheri, Donna, John, Sharon and Brett

We had a great time visiting for a couple of hours. It was getting dark when we rode the scooter home. It was another great day in the life.

Reading and RICE

Donna was up early on Tuesday morning. She went hiking on South Mountain with a group from Orangewood Shadows RV Resort. South Mounatin Park/Preserve is a City of Phoenix park. It encompasses more than 16,000 acres, making it one of the largest municipally operated parks in the country. There are 51 miles of hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding trails in the park. Here are some photos from her hike.

Orangewood Shadows hiking group

Inside the remains of building built in the 1930s by the WPA

Petroglyphs on a rock in South Mountain Park/Preserve

View north toward Phoenix from high on South Mountain

When Donna and I first met, we were members of the Phoenix Metro Bicycle Club (PMBC). The club had organized rides every Saturday morning. Sometimes we would ride to South Mountain and enter the park from Central Avenue and then climb 5.5 miles to the summit at Dobbins Lookout – 2,330 feet above sea level. Coming back down was always fun. After our Saturday morning rides, many of the PMBC members would stop for breakfast together. That’s how Donna and I became acquainted.

Back at the RV park, I spent 90% of the day on the sofa continuing the R.I.C.E. (Rest-Ice-Compression-Elevation) treatment on my injured right calf. Other than eating and bathroom breaks, the only time I was on my feet was when I hobbled around the coach to dump and flush our holding tanks. I spent the day with my leg up on the sofa reading another Lee Child book, Bad Luck & Trouble. It was another story in the Jack Reacher series. I read the entire 480-page novel.

I’ve always been an avid reader. When I was in grade school, I liked to read stories about the early American explorers – Kit Carson, Daniel Boone and others. Later, I read about the mountain man era and the exploration of the West. When I was in sixth grade, I had surgery for acute appendicitis. The surgery involved a six-inch incision in my lower abdomen. In those days, extended hospital stays were the norm. I was hospitalized for a week. It was boring. I remember my sister, Cori, brought me a big book to read – it was Charlemane. I alternated sleeping and reading for days.

When each of my three daughters reached kindergarten age, I took them to the library. Monday nights were nights with dad at the library. I got them library cards and taught them to borrow, respect and read books. They all became good readers. It was great way to spend time together and I think it helped them throughout their school years and beyond.

Yesterday was more of the same. Donna went to play pickleball in the morning. I continued the R.I.C.E. and started reading another book. By the afternoon, after three days on the sofa, I was going bonkers with cabin fever. I went outside and tested my calf by walking about 50 feet. It wasn’t good. At 4pm, I climbed aboard the scooter anyway and rode to Red, White and Brew. Riding the scooter wasn’t too bad. Getting on and off was a little tricky. The hardest part was walking from the parking lot into the Brew. I sat with Pat and Leendert and had a cold one. I told them about my injury and had to bail out on our plans to attend the NHRA drag races on Saturday. We went to the race last year and I planned to go again, but it would mean too much walking for me.

I came back home and laid out on the sofa again. The trip to the Brew probably wasn’t the best idea. Donna made Thai Curry Shrimp with noodles for dinner.

Thai Curry Shrimp with noodles

I’ll rest and recover again today.

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Arizona

Easier Battery Maintenance

Stormy Monday

Ponzi Scheme Crook

Keeping it Clean

Fish Tales

Racing in the Rain

Essential Oils Therapy

Another Member of the Saturday Club

Happy Hour at Sun Life

Reading and RICE

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