Category Archives: Arizona

That Really Hurt

Donna went out for a long bike ride Sunday morning. She rode through the Red Mountain neighborhood then climbed up through Las Sendas to the top of the mountain. Her route brought her downhill on Hawes before she headed back on McKellips. It was a 27-mile loop with some long climbs.

While she was out, I went to the pickleball courts. No one was there, but that was okay. I wanted to work on my serve. I spent a full hour practicing and improved my serve significantly.

Later, after Donna returned, she wanted to practice serving. I went back to courts with her. She would hit half a dozen serves across to me, then I would hit them back. We practiced like this for half an hour, then we practiced serve and return. The idea was to work on a strong return of serve, hitting the ball deep to the baseline. It was a good workout and we enjoyed the time on the court together.

We were on the courts again at 9am Monday. This is when the more experienced players show up. We are competitive with some, not quite up to the level of others. Because we are new players, we play separately to even the teams out.

We were a few points into our first game. It was me and Vaughn against Donna and Sally. Sally was serving to me when it happened. I was playing back at the baseline – this is the typical position to return a serve. If you play too far forward, a deep ball to the baseline will have you scrambling back for a difficult shot. By rule, you must allow the serve to bounce before you can return it. If you play back at the baseline and the serve is short, it’s easier to move up to the ball than it is to scramble backwards.

The serve came short and low. I lunged forward, pushing off with my right foot. I felt the calf muscle tighten up on my right leg, then suddenly release. It was quite a strange sensation. It was like stretching a bungee to its maximum extension, then having some of the elastic cords inside break and the bungee suddenly extends another inch.

I hit the return low and deep to the baseline and won the point. I was aware of this as I stumbled to my left and found myself on the ground next to the court, holding my right calf. The pain was intense. After a few minutes, I got up and limped to a chair. I kept hoping it was a cramp that would pass, but I knew better.

About ten minutes later, I knew I wasn’t going to play any more. I told Donna to stay and play and I hobbled painfully home. I looked up calf strain on the Internet. The information I found seems to indicate I have a grade 2 calf muscle (gastrocnemius) tear. Further reading said this injury occurs fairly frequently among middle-aged weekend warriors competing in tennis, squash, basketball and so on. The usual treatment is known as R.I.C.E. (Rest-Ice-Compression-Elevation).

I spent the rest of the day on the sofa, icing my calf for 20 minutes every hour, then elevating my leg with slight compression on my calf. I read all afternoon. I read over 400 pages and finished a novel by Lee Child called Persuader. It’s part of his Jack Reacher series of mystery shoot-em-up books.

Last night, Donna prepared wild Alaskan cod meuniere. Served with steamed green beans, it was an absolutely delicious and nutritious meal!

Wild Alaskan cod meuniere

This morning I found our toilet wouldn’t flush. I tried to manually open the flush valve, but it didn’t seem to work. I thought we might be in for trouble. On a whim, I limped outside and opened the black water valve. Sure enough, the tank was full. It was only 10 days since I last dumped and flushed. I was surprised that it was so full.

Today I’ll do the full dump and flush routine. Other than that, I’ll stay on the sofa, continue the R.I.C.E. treatment and read another book.

Hiking and Sightseeing

Donna and I hit the pickleball courts in the morning again on Thursday. We joined others on the court and played four or five games. I’m becoming obsessed with the game. Our goal is to play at least three times a week.

Here at Orangewood Shadows RV Resort, our monthly rate doesn’t include electricity. The electricity is metered and billed separately. Thursday was the end of our first month here and the maintenance guy came by to read our meter. When we first set up in site 22, I took a picture of the electric meter. On Thursday, I shot another photo after the maintenance guy read the meter. I think this is a good idea, I had a problem with our bill at another park in the past and I’ve heard others complain that they think they were overcharged. With photos of the meter, you can open the photo properties and the meta data will show the date and time the photo was taken.

Our electric meter on the 12th. I’ll take another photo when we check out.

I spent the rest of the day puttering around. I started reading a Tony Hillerman novel. He’s written a large series of novels set in the Navajo country of northern Arizona, western New Mexico and southern Utah. They’re fun mystery stories that are easy to read and entertaining.

Friday was more of the same. I went to play pickleball, but Donna passed this time. I played hard for an hour and a half. One of the things I noticed is that the more experienced players are more relaxed and don’t work nearly as hard as I do. They rely on experience to be in the proper position most of the time while I’m constantly on the move chasing the ball. I’ll get this! I just need to keep at it and learn to anticipate my opponents’ moves. I finished reading The First Eagle by Tony Hillerman in the afternoon. My legs and hips were sore from playing pickleball three days in a row.

On Friday evening, I grilled chicken breasts. I haven’t made brick-grilled chicken in a long time. I think the last time was in San Diego, October 2013. It’s a great way to grill chicken breasts – I wrote about it in this post.

Turning the chicken breasts – the bricks will go back on top

Donna served it with lemon and herb butter, baked yam slices and asparagus.

Brick grilled chicken with baked yams and asparagus

Brick-grilled chicken with baked yam and asparagus

I mentioned in my last post that our friends, Brett Miller and his wife Cheri Alguire, are staying at an RV park near us. Yesterday morning, they swung by our place at 8:30am and picked us up in their Ford F350 Super Duty crew cab pickup truck. We drove to Usery Regional Park and paid the $6 daily use fee. Our intention was to hike up the Wind Cave trail.

Brett, Donna and Cheri at the trailhead

Although the trail is just over one and a half miles long, it’s challenging as it climbs over 800 feet in elevation up Pass Mountain. Most of the elevation gain comes in a steep section about two-thirds of the way up.

Lichen-covered cliffs on Pass Mountain

As we climbed up the trail, I began suffering from pollen allergies. I’ve been taking daily doses of local honey as an immunotherapy, but it was no match for the blooming brittlebush on the mountain.

Look closely – you’ll see a bee collecting pollen from the brittlebush flower

My eyes were burning and watering while my throat dried out. My sinuses were clogging and I had to breathe through my mouth. About ten minutes from the top, I called it good. Donna, Cheri and Brett continued up. I made my way slowly back down the mountain. I stopped several times to enjoy the view. I expected them to catch up with me near the trailhead, which they did.

Wind erosion on a cliff by the Wind Cave trail

View to the south from the Wind Cave trail – you can barely make out the cars in the parking lot below by the first hill

We left Usery Regional Park and did some sightseeing. We directed Brett and Cheri to Saguaro Lake where we stopped for ice cream. Then we backtracked on Bush Highway to Phon D Sutton recreational area. We boondocked there last year. I wrote several posts about the place, beginning with this one. The header photo for our blog was shot by Mark Fagan at Phon D Sutton with Red Mountain the background. The first parking area at Phon D Sutton was packed with RVs, including two Alpine Coaches. The back lot had more available space although it was more crowded than last year. We stopped and chatted with the owner of one of the Alpine Coaches. He was there with the same singles group that showed up last year. That’s why the first lot was so full – they had about 40 rigs in their group.

From there, we drove over to Singh Farms on Thomas Road in East Scottsdale. Singh Farms is an operational farm that has a market on Saturday from 9am to 2pm. They have groomed trails through the farm and garden areas. It’s a cool place and you can get the freshest produce around as well as fresh-baked breads, goat cheese, and a variety of jams and preserves. They also sell compost. Donna purchased a chia seed pudding with pineapple, cardamon and coconut.

Brett, Donna and Cheri at the entrance to Singh Farms

We thought about having lunch there, but decided to go to a restaurant. We found Baja Joe’s at McKellips and Gilbert Road. I enjoyed a margarita while Donna, Cheri and Brett had Pacifico beer with their entrees. We sat out on the patio. It was warmer than I expected even though we sat in the shade. The food was good – I’d go back there again.

We ended an excellent day by grilling lobster tails that Donna found at Sprouts Market.

Grilled lobster tail

Pickleball-Weary Legs

On Tuesday, I rode the scooter over to Donna’s doctor’s office to pick a prescription for her. She has a procedure scheduled and needed a sedative. While I was out, I stopped at the NAPA auto parts and picked up spray sealant for the battery terminals and tray on our coach. It was lunch time, so I stopped for a taco before I returned home. I stopped at an old favorite, Seňor Taco. I stopped here once a few weeks ago and ordered the two taco plate. I’d forgotten how big the tacos were. This time I ordered one carnitas taco and it was more than enough.

Carnitas soft taco

By the time I returned, Donna was back from her bike ride. She had to remove her right foot from her shoe while it was still attached to the pedal because she couldn’t get the cleat to release. I adjusted the tension on the pedal, then I took care of the batteries in our coach. I think the sealant I bought should work fine.

We were on the last day of our data plan cycle and had five gigabytes to spare. So, I downloaded and installed Microsoft Office. I found a good deal online and purchased Office Home and Student for one PC for $86.89. Downloading and setting up the program used about a gig of data. Later, in the evening, I could see we had more than three gigabytes left on our plan, so I downloaded Adobe Photoshop Elements 2013. I purchased it on special for $74.19 – a savings of about $15. I remembered seeing this was a three-gigabyte download. I had problems with the download and had to restart it. In the end, the download was more than 3GB and I went over our data limit. This will cost me $15 – so much for the discount price I found!

Donna prepared glazed drumsticks with rice noodles and shredded cabbage for dinner. You might wonder why I describe and photograph so many of our meals. It gives me something to write about, but it also allows me to illustrate the fact that full-time RVing doesn’t mean burgers on the grill or eating out all the time. This particular dish was yummier than it looks.

Glazed drumsticks with rice noodles and shredded cabbage

We hit the pickleball courts at 9am yesterday. There were people playing doubles on one court, the other court was empty. From 8am to 11am the courts are open for people who know the rules and are capable of sustaining a rally. From 11am to 2pm, court time is set aside for people just learning the rules and practicing. We took the open court and warmed up by dinking the ball back and forth. We were ready to start a singles game when two other players came over and asked if they could join us. They were experienced players. We played three games with them. Donna was a little intimidated by their level of play, but we had fun.

At 10am, Donna had to leave to prepare for appointments she had scheduled. I hung around and played four more games. These were more or less scramble games where we switched partners. I had a blast, but playing a total of seven games wore me out. I came back to the coach at 11am.

Pickleball action at Venture Out

I scootered Donna over to Lana Jansen’s house. Lana lent her car to Donna so she could drive to Scottsdale for a meeting with Joshua Becker, the author of Clutter Free with Kids among other titles. They had lunch together at Wildflower Bread Company and talked about their shared interest in spreading the word about minimalism and how less stuff creates space for more of what’s really important in life.

I rested my pickleball-weary legs and read while she was out. After Donna returned, we headed over to Red, White and Brew to meet our friends, Brett Miller and Cheri Alguire. We met them over a year ago when they visited us at Mission Bay. I wrote about that in this post. They hit the road in May last year and have been traveling in their Ford F350 pulling a Montana fifth-wheel trailer. Currently they’re at the Sun Life RV Park a couple of miles away from our site. This is the second time our paths have crossed on the road – I hooked up with them in Salt Lake City while Donna was at a convention in Phoenix.

We caught up with each other over appetizers. I also enjoyed a couple of Black and Tans made with Guinness Stout over 8th Street Pale Ale. We had a surprise visitor at our table. My friend from my high school days, Andy King, was at the restaurant with his wife Donna and her dad. It was pleasant surprise! We lingered at the Red, White and Brew for about two and half hours before calling it a night.

Cheri snapped this photo of me, Donna and Brett

I’m a glutton for punishment, so we’re going to hit the pickleball court again this morning.

Getting into Pickleball

After being out all day on Saturday, Donna wanted to catch up on some work on Sunday. She went for a 25-mile bike ride up to Usery Park in the morning, then buckled down at her computer for a few hours before finally taking a break to read. She’s now well into reading North to the Night, the book I just finished.

I took the rental car and drove to the Pavilions in Scottsdale where I met up with Ed and Martha King. Ed is an old friend, former colleague and fellow Volkswagen of America retiree. We worked together for 15 years in the Pacific Northwest. They were visiting a friend in Scottsdale. Ed, Martha and I had lunch together at YC’s Mongolian Grill – thanks again Ed for treating me to lunch!

At the Mongolian Grill, you fill a bowl with various sliced meats, vegetables and noodles. Then you add seasonings to make a sauce – they have recipes on a board for mixing a variety of sauces. The bowl is given to a cook who stir fries each individual order. I made sure I had my bowl packed full. The lunch also included soup and rice. I guess I packed my bowl too full – I could barely finish my meal. It was more than I usually eat for lunch. We spent a couple of hours together, talking about life in retirement. Ed and Martha have a home on Camano Island, north of Everett, Washington. Next time we’re up there, we’ll have to pay them a visit.

I drove over to the Venture Out RV Resort yesterday morning. It’s about two miles from Orangewood Shadows RV Resort. We were told that we could buy pickleball supplies at Venture Out. I got a day pass from the security guy there and he told me where to find the pickleball stuff. They’re pretty serious about pickleball at Venture Out. They have six courts and an area where you can buy paddles, balls and clothing. The courts were full and there were about a dozen people sitting in a covered breezeway either waiting to play or visiting together after their match.

Donna and I have decided to pursue pickleball as a sport we can enjoy together. It’s a fun game and great exercise. I had already read reviews on various pickleball paddles. I wanted to buy paddles instead of using the wood loaner (beginner) paddles at the Orangewood Shadows courts. Venture Out has the best prices on pickleball gear, better than anything I found online. I bought a Pro Lite Magnum composite paddle for Donna. This paddle is lightweight at 7.4 ounces and well-balanced for easy manueverability. I bought a Pro Lite Rocket XL for myself. It’s slightly heavier than the Magnum and built for power.

We took our new paddles down to the pickleball courts and worked on drills. Then we played full-court games without keeping score. We just wanted to work on our technique. Donna loves her new paddle. I like mine as well, but I need to adjust to the power of this paddle. I hit the ball long several times.

Paddle pictures from the Pro Lite site – ours are yellow, not green

We spent a full hour on the court with one five-minute break after the first 25 minutes. We had fun and it was a great workout. We plan to play at least three times a week.

Later, I returned the rental car to Enterprise. They gave me a ride down the street to Red, White and Brew where I enjoyed a couple of cold ones. I sat with Pat and shot the breeze with the guys. For a change of pace, Pamela, the bartender suggested a black and tan with 8th Street Pale Ale and Guinness Stout.

Guinness floating on 8th Street pale ale

Pat dropped me off at the RV park on his way home.

Donna prepared pan-seared salmon – just like she made last week with a ginger-scallion topping. But this time, she served it over creamy avocado cauliflower mash. Delicious!

Pan-seared salmon with creamy avocado cauliflower mash

We have another warm day ahead with the high temperature expected to reach 83 degrees. I have a few errands to run, but no big projects planned.

Greasewood Flats

Donna was up early yesterday. She had a table at the Orangewood Shadows RV Resort Country Store. The Country Store is a Saturday morning swap meet for the residents of the RV park. Donna had a table with some of her books. I stopped in for a plate of biscuits and gravy for breakfast.

After breakfast, I posted to the blog, then dumped and flushed our holding tanks. Before I knew it, it was noon and Donna had returned from the Country Store.

A few days ago, I wrote about meeting Mike and Kim at Lucky Lou’s. They’re in the process of selling their house and hitting the road in a fifth-wheel RV. One of the things they mentioned to me was fact they would be leaving their friends behind. They asked me how we cope with it.

We never looked at it as leaving our friends behind. We knew we’d be back for a visit. The cool thing is that we get to see friends all over the country that we may not have had a chance to see in previous years. We have also made many new friends in the RV community. It’s amazing how we cross paths with people we’ve met in our travels.

We took advantage of the rental car by driving up to Greasewood Flats in the DC Ranch area of Scottsdale. This area was originally settled around 1900 and was a large cattle ranch. The owner of the cattle ranch, E. O. Brown, used the DC brand on his cattle. The ranch eventually encompassed 43,000 acres. Thus the name DC Ranch.

Greasewood Flats was originally an old bunkhouse on DC Ranch. Around 1955, Doc Cavalliere bought 45 acres of land around the bunkhouse. He developed it into a hideaway to take retreats from downtown Scottsdale. Over the years, it was known by various names – it was called Pinnacle Peak Patio, then Reata Pass before becoming Greasewood Flats (the name was derived from all of the greasewood bushes on this flat area of desert). It’s one of the last rustic cowboy haunts in Scottsdale.

We went there to meet up with our friends, Bob and Sini. We first met them when we were neighbors at Mission Bay RV Resort in San Diego last year. Since then, we’ve kept track of their travels through Europe on their Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Then they drove their motorhome from Edmonds, Washington to Florida. They’ve crossed the south and are now parked west of Cave Creek. Greasewood Flats was a great place for us to meet up as it’s about halfway between their current site and ours.

Sini, Bob and Donna at Greasewood Flats

We arrived late. Road construction had the ramp from Gilbert Road to the Loop 202 closed. We had to take a zig-zag detour route that put us about a half hour behind schedule. We eventually got there and saw Bob’s vintage Chevy K5 Blazer in the parking lot. We found them seated at a table near the outdoor dance floor.

We caught up with each other and dined on green chili cheese burgers at the table. A musician was playing on the bandstand and a couple of people hit the dance floor. It was a little hot for dancing if you ask me.

Bandstand at Greasewood Flats

After lunch, we took a walking tour of the area. The place is packed with old ranch implements, mining equipment and even an old 50-caliber quad anti-aircraft gun. There’s a corral in back with horses and burros.

Cafe and bar at Greasewood Flats

Old tractor with two PTOs

Fire tanker next to wood chopping area

The area around Greasewood Flats has grown into an affluent residential development. This will be the end of Greasewood Flats. They will be closing down in a couple of months and the land will be developed into more housing. Progress kills another cool hangout.

We followed Bob and Sini to the small community of Cave Creek. We parked in the old downtown area and walked through the shops looking at all of the tourist trinkets and also looked at antique furniture. We stopped at the Rare Earth gallery and looked at gem stones, petrified wood and huge rock art displays. The rock garden in the back featured a huge rock crystal that was split in half and serves as a pair of tables with a glass table top. It’s yours for the bargain price of $175,000!

Rock tables – $175,000 price tag

After walking and shopping for a few miles, we stopped for liquid refreshment (coffee and espresso for everyone but me – I had a beer). Then we drove to the outskirts of town and had dinner at Harold’s Cave Creek Corral. This is a western-themed restaurant and saloon featuring barbeque meats. I had the half rack of babyback ribs. Donna had tilapia poached in salsa. Bob and Sini split a huge barbeque combination plate. It was a lot of food and we had leftovers to bring home.

Half-rack of babyback ribs

As it turns out, we’ll be meeting up down the road again. Bob and Sini should be at Mission Bay RV Resort in San Diego when we arrive there in April.

Bragging Shirt

We kept the coach as cool as possible yesterday. We didn’t let the interior warm up too much in the morning. We deployed the windshield curtains and pulled the shades down on the sunny side of the coach. The outside temperature reached the mid-80s by the afternoon, but we didn’t need to run the air conditioners. The discounted monthly rate here at Orangewood Shadows RV Resort doesn’t include electricity. Our usage is metered and we’re billed separately for electricity. We don’t use much unless we’re running the heat pumps/air conditioners.

I rode the scooter over to Tempe. I wanted to check out a store at the Tempe Marketplace, which is a large outdoor mall. I used to shop at BevMo there when we lived here in Mesa. BevMo is sort of a big box liquor store. They have a huge selection of beer, wine and liquor at discount prices. I heard that Total Wine had opened a store near BevMo. I wanted to compare the two stores. I had’t shopped at Total Wine before, but I was told it’s another big box liquor outlet worth exploring.

I found the Total Wine store. It’s huge with a large variety of beverages, just like BevMo. They have a tasting area, the store was clean and well laid out and I found my favorite Blue Ice potato vodka there at a reasonable price. I think they must be cutting into BevMo’s market share. I went over to BevMo to compare pricing. Total Wine had better prices and a larger variety of liquor on the shelf. Total Wine wins.

While I was at BevMo, I saw Old South Tomolives on the shelf. The eight-ounce jar was priced at $5.99. I remembered a Cost Plus World Market in the Tempe Marketplace so I stopped there. They had Old South Tomolives on sale for $2.39. I stocked up and should be good for months.

When I returned, Donna and I went down to the pickleball courts. We were signed up for lessons at 1pm. We arrived early and warmed up, hitting the ball back and forth. The husband and wife instructor team showed up just before 1pm along with another beginner couple. We learned the rules of the game and did some practice drills. Then we played a game against the other beginner couple. Pickleball is a lot of fun. It’s like a racket sport (tennis, racquetball) mixed with ping-pong. You use a paddle to hit a large plastic ball on a short outdoor court. You don’t have to be especially athletic as you don’t cover as much court as tennis and the ball moves slower. It’s still competitive though and I was feeling the strain in my legs from stopping and starting forward and back and shuffling from side to side. An hour on the court was enough as it was getting hot out. I’ll be shopping for a nice pickleball paddle!

Later, I scootered Donna to the Enterprise rental car agency. We wanted a car for the weekend. Enterprise often has a weekend special – three days for $9.99/day. They were supposed to deliver the car, but were slammed and couldn’t send someone over until much later. We wanted to go to the Red, White and Brew for happy hour and dinner. On a Friday, that means showing up by 4pm or forget about a seat at the bar. I dropped Donna off at the Enterprise and rode over to Red, White and Brew to claim our seats.

Donna had a glass of red wine and ordered the Mussels Vin Blanc (green-lipped mussels sauteed with white wine, butter and garlic). I had the New Yawka pizza paired with Guinness stout. The food was great as always.

Mussels Vin Blanc with crostini

I was wearing my California Western School of Law Dad T-shirt so I could brag about my daughter, Shauna. She will graduate from Cal Western on May 1st. Last summer, she worked as an intern at the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, DC. While she was there, she networked and made contacts. She went back to DC in November and had meetings with key contacts and set up a job interview. Yesterday, she accepted an offer from a prestigious international law firm to work in securities litigation and compliance. She will work at the Washington, DC and New York City offices. She has to finish school and pass the bar exam before she starts. She’s one of the top students in her class, so passing the bar won’t be a problem for her.

Bragging shirt

Today, we’ll take the rental car and drive up to Cave Creek. Our friends, Bob and Sini, just pulled in yesterday. We met Bob and Sini at Mission Bay RV Resort last year. They’re from Edmonds , Washington. We’ve kept in touch and look forward to getting together for lunch today.

Shady Upgrade

The past two days have been pretty low-key for me. Donna, on the other hand, was up early on Thursday and spoke to a gathering of a few hundred residents here at the Orangewood Shadows RV Resort about maximizing storage in a small space. She’s kept herself busy doing final prep to re-release an update of her book How to Declutter and Make Money Now.

I read outside for a while on Wednesday. Donna managed to tear herself away from her laptop and went out for a bike ride. I rode the scooter over to the Apache Wells RV Resort, where we stayed last year. I was looking for our former neighbor, George, from Wisconsin. I found his rig in the same space as last year, but he wasn’t home. I left a card on the windshield of his Jeep. I hope we can connect again soon. While I was at Apache Wells, I helped myself to some of the citrus fruit they put out (I made a small donation). I brought home grapefruit, oranges and lemons.

Wednesday evening Donna made Asian-inspired baked chicken thighs. It was a tasty dish.

Baked chicken thighs with organic baby spinach

Thursday was more of the same. I finished reading North to the Night by Alvah Simon. It’s a gripping tale of an incredible voyage to the Arctic Circle that Alvah and his wife, Diana, made aboard their 36′ sailboat. The winter was spent trapped in ice with months of extreme cold and darkness. Alvah bares his soul in his account of that winter. I don’t think I could ever write that honestly and expose all my fears, darkest thoughts and inner feelings. He doesn’t pull any punches.

Pat from Sun Dancer Shades stopped by at 2pm. We had an appointment for him to measure our windshield and front side windows. He made a pattern and will use it to create custom shades for our coach. The material he uses is a heavy-duty shade cloth that will block 90% of the UV from sunlight. This will keep the coach cooler and protect the interior. The shades allow you to see out in the daytime, but you can’t see in from the outside. I opted to have the shades mounted with twist locks on the coach, rather than with snaps. Most people go for snaps – I think they like the low profile. The twist locks look more utilitarian. I like the twist locks because they’re secure and you don’t have to tug at snaps every time you remove the shades. He’ll come back in a couple of weeks to install the twist locks on the coach and mount the shades.

After Pat left, I scootered over to Lucky Lou’s and had a cold one with the guys. There was a couple there, Mike and Kim, that Donna and I met there last year. They were interested in hearing about full-timing. They bought a 1-ton Dodge Ram 3500 and are planning to hit the road with a fifth- wheel trailer as soon as they sell their house here in Mesa. We talked for a while before I headed back home.

Donna prepared another new recipe for dinner. She made Thai pork and squash soup. It was made with ground pork, cubed butternut squash, red curry paste, and fresh ginger and coconut milk and topped with fresh basil and jalapeno. It was a hearty soup and quite filling. Donna said she wished she had made it spicier, but I thought it was just right.

Thai pork and butternut squash soup

The weather has been warm and sunny with light winds of less than 8 mph. Today should be more of the same with the temperature reaching the low 80s. Donna and I have a pickleball lesson scheduled at 1pm. We got rained out last week!

All About the Water

Yesterday’s project of the day was an easy one. When we were at the FMCA Convention in Redmond, Oregon, I bought new filters for our water supply from The RV Water Store ( I don’t have any affiliation with this business, but they’re friendly and have good stuff). Their site will tell you everything you want to know about water filtration and more.

I bought a standard-size dual-canister system. The water supply goes through a five-micron 10-inch polypropylene sediment filter in the first canister. This removes any solids (dirt, metal, minerals etc.) larger than five microns. The water then travels to the second canister through a five-micron fiber block-carbon filter. This removes contaminants and chemicals that affect taste.

Dual-filter canisters – spanner for disassembly in the foreground

I started using this system when we arrived in San Diego last September. I checked the sediment filter last month when we came to Arizona. It looked good at that time. The RV Filter Store says the sediment filter should last three to four months. It’s been a little over four months, so I thought I should replace it.

The canisters came with a plastic spanner that is used to unscrew the canister from the top. I turned off the water supply and relieved the pressure by loosening the hose fitting. Then I unscrewed the canister from the lid and pulled the filter cartridge out. It was indeed time for replacement. The filter media was discolored all the way through.

New sediment cartridge on the left, used cartridge on the right

I cleaned out the canister and reassembled it with a new cartridge. We should be good to go for another four months. Next time, I’ll replace the sediment cartridge and the carbon filter as well. The carbon filters are supposed to last up to twelve months, depending on the water quality.

We also have a granular carbon filter with KDF in the water line to a dispenser on our kitchen sink. This filter will remove lead and heavy metals and “polish” the drinking water. The KDF is an alloy of zinc and copper that prevents bacteria from forming in the filter when it isn’t used regularly. Since we have whole-house water filtration through the dual-canister system, Rick at the RV Water Filter Store tells me the inline filter under the sink should be good for at least two years.

Donna rode the scooter over to Lana Jansen’s house in our old neighborhood while I was working on the filter. She needed Lana’s landline phone for a call from Real Simple magazine. They were recording a pilot podcast about cleaning.

Last night, Donna cooked a pan-seared salmon filet with ginger and scallions sauteed in olive oil. She served it with forbidden rice and roasted brussel sprouts with sherry vinegar. It tasted great, but it nearly killed me.

Salmon filet with sauteed ginger and scallions

I posted about my throat cancer surgery and treatment in this post. The removal of the tumor in my throat left scar tissue and pockets in my throat. Certain foods are difficult for me to swallow. The forbidden rice caught in a pocket in my throat last night. This brought on a coughing fit and I began to choke. I was feeling pretty panicky before I was able to dislodge the rice.

Today we’re in for more sunny, warm weather. Time to get the bikes out again.

Almost Famous

The excellent desert winter weather has returned. The temperature was in the mid to upper 70s yesterday. The thermometer should hover around 80 degrees with no rain forecast in the next 10 days. Once the sun sets, the temperature drops quickly though down to an overnight low of about 50 degrees.

Donna took advantage of the weather with a bike ride in the morning. She had work to do, so after lunch, I rode my mountain bike along Eastern Canal. The dirt path along the canal was rutted from work trucks passing through while it was muddy last week. The water in the canal itself is still muddy.

Muddy canal

With the water being so muddy, I didn’t expect to see fish in the canal. But I did see a couple of fish and also discovered turtles in the canal. The turtles were very wary though. Every time I stopped to try to photograph one, it would disappear under water. I saw one sunning himself on the side of the concrete bank. I came slowly to a stop and he stayed put. As soon as I pointed my camera phone at him, he dove into the muddy water.

The canal has locks every mile or so to control the flow and water level. These locks also contain the non-native white amur fish that are put into the canal to control aquatic plant growth.

Canal lock

Near one of the locks, I saw workers from the local power utility company, Salt River Project (SRP), digging a hole. They had a hose about six inches in diameter connected to a giant vacuum in the back of a truck. As they removed dirt, it was sucked into a large container in the truck. I don’t think I’ve seen this before.

Digging a hole

I asked one of the SRP guys what they were doing. He told me they had to put up temporary structures. They were digging holes for large wooden poles. The poles would have a cross bar and uprights attached, like a football goal post, also made from wood. This was in preparation for work on the high-tension lines above. They were going to string a new bundle of wire from University Drive south to Guadalupe Road, a distance of more than five miles. This bundle would feed a new substation.

The lines high overhead would remain live while the work was performed. Shutting down the lines would knock power out of many neighborhoods in the area. The lines carry high voltage – 230,000 volts! The wooden pole structures are put in place as a safeguard. If a line is cut or broken and comes down, it will be held off the ground by the poles. Grounding 230,000 volts could be disastrous and very dangerous to anyone in the area.

230,000 volts in those lines

Donna is making me almost famous. She did an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette promoting her new book, Clear the Clutter, Find Happiness. In the interview, she mentioned my blog. The article has since been syndicated and has been picked up by newspapers across the country. This article has a sub-heading that reads “Take Some Notes From Author Who Lives In Motor Home With Husband Blogger.” By the way, I posted my 400th blog post yesterday.

Last night, Donna prepared something a little different for dinner. She followed a friend’s recipe for pizza chicken. This dish features pounded chicken breasts smothered with homemade marinara and baked with pepperoni and shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. It was a novelty dish that we both enjoyed.

Pizza chicken

She served it with sauteed zucchini and onions.

Pizza chicken with sauteed zucchini and onions

I’ve had few people inquire about the horseradish-infused vodka I mentioned in this recent post. I haven’t made it, but Sara Graff told me how it’s done. Her first batch was made in a mason jar – the second was made in a large bottle with a resealable cap.

She peels a fresh horseradish root and then cuts it into strips the size of large french fries that will fit inside the mouth of the bottle. She tied string to each of the horseradish strips and put them in the bottle. The strings suspend the horseradish and also aid in removal later. (If you’re using a mason jar, you can just toss the horseradish “fries” into the jar and fish them out later.) Then she filled the bottle with Sobieski vodka. The bottle is left in the freezer for five or six days. Then it’s ready to serve. You’ll want to remove the horseradish strips because it will make the vodka taste bitter if left too long. Sounds pretty simple. We’re planning to make a batch.

More About Doors

Yesterday was the first of February. It seems like we just celebrated the new year! We had sunny skies for Super Bowl Sunday in Phoenix. This was a welcome change from all of the rain we had since Monday.

I puttered around after sleeping in. I refreshed the nectar in the hummingbird feeder. We finally have birds visiting it. I relaxed and read a bit before turning on the TV for all of the Super Bowl hoopla. The game turned out to be a competitive and interesting contest. I’m still trying to understand Seattle’s last play. Why throw the ball from the two-foot line when you have Marshawn Lynch in the backfield?

In yesterday’s post, I mentioned the hardware used in our cabinets. Today I’d like to describe it further. When we’re traveling down the road, we want our cabinets to be securely closed. Our cabinets have clever hinges, clasps and struts. The spring-loaded struts primarily hold the doors open, but due to their mounting geometry, they also provide some resistance when the door is initially opened until they go over center and hold the door open.

The hinges have a roller on a spring. When the cabinet is closed, the roller contacts a cam-shaped tab and rolls around it to a detent in the closed position. The spring holds the roller in the detent, providing resistance to opening the cabinet. The spring tension is light though and the roller will come out of the detent and roll around to the open position without too much effort.

Hinge with roller

Now we have resistance from the roller on the hinge and the geometry of the strut. Next, there is a spring steel tab formed in the shape of a diamond mounted to the door. On the cabinet we have a pair of spring-loaded plastic rollers. The diamond-shaped tab fits between the two rollers. They give way when the door is closed and the diamond-shaped tab snaps inbetween them.

Tab on cabinet door

Rollers for door tabs

With the geometry of the struts, the roller in the detent on the hinge and the spring-loaded clasps on the cabinet, the door is held securely in the closed position. No worries of it opening as we roll down the road.

These are the kind of little details that make a coach durable and suitable for full-time use.

Today is shaping up to be another fine weather day. We expect the high temperature to reach the mid-70s this afternoon under clear skies. Time to get the bicycles out again.

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Arizona

That Really Hurt

Hiking and Sightseeing

Pickleball-Weary Legs

Getting into Pickleball

Greasewood Flats

Bragging Shirt

Shady Upgrade

All About the Water

Almost Famous

More About Doors

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: