Category Archives: Beer

Freak Alley – Boise, Idaho

We pulled into the Mountain View RV Park in Boise around 2pm on Saturday. The registration lane is relatively short and we took up the whole lane. The manager on duty, Justin, came over to my window before I shut off the engine. He told me to follow him in his golf cart and he would get us into our site so the lane wouldn’t be blocked. He already knew who we were and what site he was going to put us in.

He knew we had a long rig with our trailer and selected a site with a smaller rig next door which he had them position well forward in their site to give us more room to turn in. I think he expected us to have a difficult time maneuvering, but it went smoothly. I pulled through our site, then reversed to straighten out the trailer and we were all set. He told me to take my time setting up and come to the office any time before 6pm to sign in and pay. Nice check-in process.

The park is fairly tight and a little noisy as it’s next to I-84. It’s on the east end of the Boise airport, but since the prevailing wind is out of the west, airplanes take off in that direction and we don’t even hear them. The park is nicely landscaped and well-kept. All of the sites and interior roads are paved so there’s no issue with dust.

After we set up, I made a run to the Fred Meyer store on the Spyder and reconnoitered the area. Later, Donna went out and walked nearly five miles.

On Sunday afternoon, we rode the Spyder to the Boise Depot a few miles from here. The Boise Depot is a Mission-style structure built in 1925 to house the train station. It was proclaimed “the most beautiful structure of its kind in the west.” Today the Boise Depot is a museum with artifacts from the golden age of railroading prior to World War II. After perusing the displays, a docent took us up the bell tower in an elevator. The original spiral staircase had been removed and replaced with a elevator.

Boise Depot bell tower

Boise Depot bell tower

There are four bells in the tower, each one a different size and weight to create different tones. Today only one is used and it chimes at 8am, noon and 5pm. The view from the bell tower was outstanding. We could see the old downtown district and state capitol to the north.

Downtown and capital building

Downtown and capitol building

To the east, we had a view of a city park and mountains in the distance.

View to the east

View to the east

From there we rode to  the old downtown area. The roads are a little tricky to figure out around the depot.  Capitol Boulevard is divided and you can only go south from the intersection at the depot. We wanted to go north. I found a way by following Crescent Rim Drive to South Americana Boulevard which took us downtown.

We planned to meet up with Mike and DIna Martin at 5pm at the Bittercreek Alehouse for cold brew and dinner. We found a place to park on the street in front, but we were early. So, we took a walk across the street to Freak Alley. This is an outdoor art gallery established in 2002 where local artists create spray-paint art. Artists submit their proposals and once a year – between the first and second Saturday in August – new murals are painted. I’ve seen something similar to this in Barcelona, Spain. It was an interesting walk down what is otherwise a regular working alley with dumpsters and loading areas behind businesses.

Freak Alley

Freak Alley

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We walked back toward Bittercreek Alehouse just in time to find Dina and Mike coming up the sidewalk – they were early too. We found a table inside next to an open air window to the patio and sidewalk. I’ve never met them before but Donna’s known Dina for about 10 years through the National Association of Professional Organizers.

This was the reason we left the McCall area to come to Boise – Mike and DIna have been on the road for nearly four years in their Monaco Signature coach and this was the first time we found ourselves in the same area at the same time and we wanted to get together.

Donna, Dina and Mike

Donna, Dina and Mike

Our server seemed a little spacey at first. She brought us water right away and we said we needed a minute to peruse the beer selections. They have about 40 beers on tap plus bottled beer. Then she disappeared and seemed to forget about us. Eventually she came back and took our drink orders.

We sat and talked and enjoyed a couple of cold ones before we ordered food. Donna ordered a smoked trout salad and I went for the beef au jus sandwich. The food was outstanding – one of the best sandwiches I’ve had and Donna really liked her salad.

Donna smoked trout salad

Donna’s smoked trout salad

Beef au jus sandwich with potato-corn chowder

Beef au jus sandwich with potato-corn chowder

We stayed at the alehouse talking until about 8pm. The time flies when we’re with good company.

Today the forecast calls for a high of 86 degrees with only a few clouds. Donna and I are planning to float down the Boise River this afternoon.

Idaho’s First Capital

I asked Bob, the camp host at the Coeur D’Alene Elks Lodge, where the best place was to get propane in the area. He told me there was a place a few miles south on Appleway Avenue that had the best price. Later I rode the Spyder down there to check it out. It turned out to be an RV store that had propane for $1.99/gallon. I talked to the guy  there and he said he would open a second gate for me so I could drive in and circle behind the shop to pull up to the propane tank. Easy!

While I was out, I ran a few errands and stopped at Del Taco for lunch. I rarely buy from fast food chains, but it wasn’t bad. When I got home, Donna walked to Bed, Bath and Beyond, then hit a couple of other stores nearby. She ended up buying a smaller tomato cage at a local feed store, so I won’t modify the one I bought at Home Depot. We actually gave the one I bought to Bob and told him he could return if he wanted and use the refund to buy a drink on us.

Donna's heirloom cherry tomato plant - look closely and you'll see she already has a tomato

Donna’s heirloom cherry tomato plant – look closely and you’ll see she already has a tomato

On Wednesday night, Donna tried a new recipe for black bean soup with braised chicken and chorizo. She wanted to use the dry beans she bought in Quincy (one of many agricultural crops there) and read that she could do it without soaking the beans first, but it would take longer to cook. It ended up taking even longer than expected and came out much thicker than she wanted – more like a stew or pot of chili than soup. But, served with a dollop of sour cream, avocado cubes, green onions and cilantro it was very tasty.

Donna in her element

Donna in her element

Black bean soup

Black bean soup

I was hoping to roll out of the Elks Lodge by 9:30am Thursday morning. We loaded up and picked up the trailer, then I loaded the Spyder in the parking lot. We pulled out at 9:32am. We went directly to Bobby Combs RV Center on Appleway Avenue where I checked out the propane the day before.

The last time I bought propane was in Coeur D’Alene in July of 2014 – we went more than two years on one tank. The weight placard for our coach says the tank holds 42 gallons or about 189 pounds of propane. I’m not sure if it’s a 42-gallon tank – which would really only hold about 34 gallons of propane or a 53-gallon tank which would hold about 42 gallons. Propane tanks can only be filled to 80% of their actual capacity.

Our tank level sensor display fell below a quarter tank a few months ago and has been showing empty. It took 30.1 gallons to fill it. So, I’m assuming we have a 42-gallon tank with about 33 gallons of usable propane. The only time we use propane is driving down the road to run the refrigerator – very low consumption – or when we’re boondocking to run the refrigerator and water heater. We’ve rarely used the propane furnace – we usually stay in warm areas or run the heat pumps if needed. I hope it’ll be another two years before I have to fill it again.

After filling the tank, we drove south on US95 past Lake Coeur D’Alene and climbed into forested mountains. We would make several climbs and a few descents along the way. After a while, as we neared Potlatch, the forest gave way to farmland – mostly rolling hills with wheat fields. We continued on through Moscow – home of the University of Idaho and eventually hit the steep downgrade into Lewiston.

The grade is long and very steep with several runaway truck ramps along the way. The runaway truck ramps are lanes off to the side of the road filled with deep gravel to slow a truck that’s lost its braking power. Some of the runaway truck ramps were built into steep hillsides to further slow a truck without brakes. There were advisory signs for trucks indicating a speed of 35mph.

I thought this seemed like a reasonable speed down the long grade with a few switchback turns. I kept the Jake brake on high and only stabbed the brake pedal a few times on the way down. About a third of the way down, I pulled off at a scenic overlook. The view was incredible. Looking down into the valley toward Hell’s Canyon, we could see where the Clearwater River joins the Snake River. The Snake River flows north out of Hell’s Canyon. Lewiston is on the east bank while Clarkston, Washington is on the west bank. The Snake River continues through Washington and joins the Columbia River.

Clearwater River from left to right joins the Snake river, separating Lewiston, Idaho from Clarkston, Washington.

Clearwater River from left to right joins the Snake River flowing up from the south, separating Lewiston, Idaho from Clarkston, Washington.

A little known factoid is that Lewiston was the original capital of the Idaho Territory.

Click to enlarge and read about the first capital of Idaho

Click to enlarge and read about the first capital of Idaho

US95 took us across the Clearwater River at an elevation of about 750 feet above sea level. We began a long, steady, uphill grind out of the valley. It wasn’t too steep, but it was a constant uphill pull with a headwind component. And it was about 90 degrees out. With the engine running full turbocharger boost pressure, our coolant temperature started to climb. When it hit 200 degrees, I downshifted the six-speed Allison  3000MH transmission to fifth gear. This kept the temperature stable at 198 – 200 until we hit a steeper grade.I went to fourth gear and slowed to 50mph. Then the grade got steeper again. I watched the coolant temperature rise to 207 degrees and saw it flicker up to 210 a couple of times on the Scan Gauge D digital readout. The Scan Gauge operates off the feed from engine sensors to the Engine Control Module (ECM). For our CAPS Cummins ISL, 210 is the maximum coolant temperature I want to see. Later models with the common rail fuel system can tolerate higher temperatures.

I finally downshifted to third gear and slowed again. This kept the engine RPM up to 1,900-2,000 RPM to circulate coolant and run the radiator cooling fan at high speed. This dropped the temperature again and we finally crested the plateau.

For the previous hundred miles or so, we drove through farmland mostly growing wheat. On the plateau, the wheat fields were replaced by miles of barley – the grain most often used to make beer. Being rural farmland, we had to watch for farm machinery driving on the highway. We came upon a couple in the road and also drove through a few construction zones. All-in-all it wasn’t a hard day of driving though.

Slow tractor on the highway

Slow tractor on the highway

We pulled into Bear Den RV Park just outside of Grangeville around 2pm. We have a long pull-through site with full hook-ups and 50 amp power. We set up quickly and started the air conditioners. The park is surprisingly nice considering the relatively remote location. Nice, level, long pull-throughs and good wifi!

Donna took a walk to town – about a four-mile round trip. Driving through all those barley fields left me with beer on my mind. So I opened one!

The park was quiet overnight and the temperature dropped to a low of 55 degrees. We slept comfortably with the bedroom window open. The elevation here is around 3,400 feet above sea level.

We’ve changed up our plan. Instead of making it a two-day stop here, we’ll pull out today so we can drive down ID55 and hook up with our friends, Mark and Emily Fagan (Roadslesstraveled) near McCall, Idaho before moving on to Boise.

 

Burger Night

Yesterday was a lazy day for me. I dropped Donna off at the hair salon, then rode the Spyder down to the City Park and Beach on Lake Couer D’Alene. It was warm but breezy, so I was surprised by the number of people on the beach. The traffic in Couer D’Alene can be challenging. All of the north-south routes have many stoplights and traffic backs up.

On the way back, I stopped at Home Depot and bought a cage for Donna’s tomato plant. This thing is growing so fast, it’s sure to need support soon. I didn’t want to get a very large one, the smallest they had was 42″. I think I’ll try to cut it to a smaller size today.

After I posted yesterday, I received a message from our friend Mark Fagan. Mark and Emily are currently camped in McCall, Idaho. Mark cautioned me about wildfires in the area – we’ll need to keep an eye on it as we head south. So far, it looks like our planned route will be okay.

We’ll head out of here tomorrow. Our plan is to drive south on US95. We’ll stop at an RV park south of Grangeville for two nights. They have 80′ pull-through sites which is very convenient. Then we’ll move on to Mountain View RV park in Boise. We’ve booked four nights there and plan to meet up with Donna’s friend Dina Martin and her husband Mike. They’re in their fourth year on the road, but this is the first time we’ve been in the same area at the same time. Dina writes a blog at themartinsamericanadventure.com.

Last night was burger night at the Elk’s Lodge. We walked over around 5:30pm for burgers. The place was packed! It took over an hour for our burger order to come up. It was okay, it gave me a chance to sip a couple of pints of IPA.

We met a neighbor at the lodge the night before and he stopped by our table. It turns out his son-in-law is Ken Schutz, married to his daughter Leann. Ken Schutz was the Darrington High School principal where my daughters graduated. He said he talked to Leann the night before and got the scoop – she remembered me and my family. I lived in Darrington, Washington for about 12 years.

While we were in Alana’s driveway in Arlington, Washington my project was replacing the front shock absorbers on the coach. When we first left Arlington, I thought the front suspension felt a little stiff. Now that I have a few hundred break-in miles on the shocks, I’m very pleased with them. Parts of I-90 through eastern Washington are rough. The shocks kept the front end planted and under control. It made driving the coach much easier. Now I’ll have to see how durable they are. I’m hoping the new design from Koni holds up in the long haul.

Today we have cloudy skies and cooler temperatures – the high is predicted to be in the upper 70s. I need to run a few errands. We’ll pull out of here tomorrow morning and make about a 200-mile drive south through a variety of terrain. I’ll post about the drive on Friday.

 

Coeur D’Alene Elks Lodge

Donna sent me a text message Sunday afternoon saying she was stuck in traffic on I-90 due to an accident, but thought she would make it to Wenatchee by 3:30pm. I rode the Spyder to Pangborn airport in East Wenatchee to meet her at the rental car return and arrived at 3:20pm. Ten minutes later I saw Donna drive into the parking lot.

I grilled salmon patties and Donna served them over a mixed green salad for dinner. We had a quiet night and planned to be on the road around 9am on Monday morning.

I was out of bed by 7am and put away the windshield cover and packed the grill. After breakfast, we did our usual routine making the coach road ready – I worked outside while Donna prepped the interior. Ozark the cat has been a little funny on travel days lately. The last two times she saw us preparing to move, she hid under the sofa and wouldn’t come out until we were rolling down the road.

I don’t like operating the slides with the cat out – it would be horrible if she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. If I know for sure she’s under the sofa, it’s safe to retract the slides. This time she just laid in front of the refrigerator and watched us get ready to roll. She didn’t complain when Donna put her in her crate.

I pulled out of our site and then loaded the Spyder in the trailer. We drove out of Crescent Bar RV Resort at 9:30am.  Crescent Bar RV Resort is on the bank of the Columbia River and is at an elevation of just under 700 feet above sea level. The road out of the RV park immediately climbs up a steep, twisty grade and gains a few hundred feet of elevation. From there we drove east on WA28 to Quincy, then south on WA281 to George, Washington where we hit I-90 east.

The traffic was fairly light and we cruised at a steady 60mph. We stopped after we crossed into Idaho at the Pilot/Flying J travel center in Post Falls and filled up with 80 gallons of fuel. I added a full ounce of Biobor JF to the tank before pumping, guessing that we would need about 80 gallons and that’s exactly how much it took. With the Pilot/Flying J RV Card discount, we paid $2.58/gallon.

Speaking of expenses, July turned out to be our least expensive month for campground fees ever. Moochdocking in my daughter Alana’s driveway for 15 days had much to do with that. But we also took advantage of our Thousand Trails membership. We had six days remaining on our “free” four weeks which I amortized at $19/day to cover our membership fee and paid $20 for five additional days. Our total campground cost for July was $279 – that’s just nine dollars per day. I think I spent that much on beer!

Our destination was the Elks Lodge #1254 in Coeur D’Alene. They don’t take reservations – it’s first-come first-served. As we pulled in, I saw several RVs behind the lodge and wondered if we would get a site. It turned out they had 30 sites with 50amp electrical service and freshwater hookups and only a dozen or so RVs there. We have a fairly large pull-through site, but we had to drop the trailer in the back of the park.

Our pull-through site at the Coeur D'Alene Elks Lodge

Our pull-through site at the Coeur D’Alene Elks Lodge

In the photo you can see Donna’s tomato planter in front of the coach. The heirloom cherry tomato plant a vendor gave her at the Camas farmers’ market has really taken off. I’m guessing we’ll have fresh cherry tomatoes before the end of the month.

I had to walk to the end of the park to retrieve the ladder from the trailer so I could put the windshield cover on. That’s one of the reasons I don’t like to drop the trailer – it’s inconvenient when we need something that’s stored in the trailer. Another reason is security. I have two locks on the tongue so it would be very difficult to hook up and tow our trailer away like those Dirty, Rotten Thieves did in San Diego. The doors also have padlocks on them.

One thing I’ve noticed on the 20-foot-long slab-sided trailer is the effect of thermal expansion on the aluminum skin. The side facing the sun heats up and the aluminum siding expands. The skin is screwed into the steel frame and can’t move, so the expansion of the aluminum skin results in a wavy surface. Once it cools down, the aluminum contracts and the side is smooth and tight again.

Wavy trailer siding in the sun

Wavy trailer siding in the sun

We paid for three nights here at the Elks Lodge at a cost of $20/night. With 50 amp electrical service and the need for air conditioning, I think this is a bargain. The temperature hit the mid-80s yesterday with clear skies and we expect more of the same over the next few days. The elevation here is around 2,200 feet above sea level.

Today Donna has an appointment with a hair stylist that cut her hair when we were here two years ago. As always, that’s one of her biggest challenges – finding a good stylist who knows how to cut curly hair. We need to plan our next stop – I’m thinking we’ll head south on US95 toward Boise. All I know for sure is that we need to be in Colorado Springs by the end of the month to crew for the Heart’s A’Fire hot air balloon at the Labor Day Lift-Off balloon festival.

Red Apple Flyers

Friday evening I grilled an old favorite – bacon wrapped filet mignon. Donna made a green salad, potato salad, corn on the cob and sauteed onions and mushrooms to go with it. It was hot and windy outside, so we dined indoors. The afternoon high temperature was 102 degrees!

There's a bacon wrapped filet mignon under those mushrooms and onions

There’s a bacon wrapped filet mignon under those mushrooms and onions

Saturday morning we rode the Spyder to Pangborn Airport in East Wenatchee – about 22 miles from here. Our destination was the Hertz Rental Car counter. Donna rented a car so she could drive to Issaquah, east of Seattle to meet her sister Sheila. Sheila is running a marathon race today, Donna’s there with her nephew, Connor. She’ll come home tonight.

We took Batterman Road to the airport. A few miles before we reached Pangborn I saw a sign for the Red Apple Flyers’ field. The Red Apple Flyers are a radio controlled model airplane club. I remembered flying at their field about 16 years ago. After I dropped Donna off, I followed the sign to their field.

There was a gate at the entry and you needed a code to enter. I saw people inside. After a minute or two a guy waved at me, then he went into the clubhouse and opened the gate remotely. I pulled in and parked.

I looked at one of the nicest model airplane fields I’ve ever seen. I think it could be one of the best in the country. I didn’t remember it being anything like this when I flew here. I came to the Red Apple Flyers field a decade and a half ago to compete in a scale aerobatics contest. At that time I was a two-time International Miniature Aerobatics Club (IMAC) National Champion. The Red Apple Flyers hosted an IMAC contest. I came down with flu symptoms that weekend and didn’t fly especially well – I think I took second place. At any rate, I didn’t recognize the place.

I talked to a couple of guys and one of them gave me a tour of the place. He introduced me to a long-time club member – one of the founding members. I’m sorry to say I don’t remember his name. He told me why I didn’t recognize the place. It wasn’t the same field I flew at.

The club originally formed over 40 years ago when 10 guys got together and bought 10 acres of land to develop a place to fly their model airplanes. They cleared the land, leveled it and planted grass. Later, as the club grew, they added 10 more acres of land.

Meanwhile, Waste Management Corporation (WM) built a landfill nearby. Six or seven years ago, WM wanted the Red Apple Flyers property to expand their operation. They approached the club officers with an offer to relocate the field. The club officers knew WM needed their land and was willing to do what it took to get it, so they dreamed big. They struck a deal for WM to lease them 22 acres of land about a mile away from the original site, for $1/year. WM would clear the land, level it, put in irrigation and grass, a paved runway and parking area and build them a clubhouse. The agreement signed off by WM and they came through.

Red Apple Flyers work tables, pilot stations and paved runway

Red Apple Flyers work tables, pilot stations and paved runway

Red Apple Flyers clubhouse with raised observation deck on the right

Red Apple Flyers clubhouse with raised observation deck on the right

The clubhouse is equipped with a full kitchen, meeting room and separate men’s and women’s rest rooms.

Paved parking and storage buildings

Paved parking and storage buildings

They have 14 RV sites with electricity and water hook-ups.

RV sites

RV sites

Their agreement includes a clause that allows Red Apple Flyers to purchase the property if WM ceases operation in the area for $1. Meanwhile, WM sponsors the club with a substantial annual maintenance donation. These guys hit the jackpot!

I hung around for an hour looking at model aircraft and talking to the guys.

Large scale WWII Spitfire

Large scale WWII Spitfire

Another large scale warbird

Another large scale warbird

When I came back to Crescent Bar, I didn’t go directly to the RV resort. I went past it to check out where the pizza place was – it’s called Tower Pizza and it’s across the street from the public beach access of the Crescent Bar Recreation Area. It was another warm day and the beach was absolutely packed with people!

I walked over to the bridge over the cut where water diverts to the east off of the Columbia River. This was where Donna and I put our floaties in the water last week. College age kids ignored the “No Jumping or Diving” sign and where jumping off of the bridge. People in the water below would give the all-clear signal before they jumped so they could avoid hitting a boat or jet ski coming through under the bridge.

A kid diving from the bridge

A kid diving from the bridge

Crowded beach at Crescent Bar Recreation Area

Crowded beach at Crescent Bar Recreation Area

Later I went back to Tower Pizza and placed an order to go. I sat and sipped an IPA while I waited for the pizza. The waitress told me it might take 30 minutes. After about 30 minutes, another waitress asked me if I needed anything – I told her I was good, just waiting for my order. About 10 minutes later the second waitress came by again and asked me my name.

She went into the kitchen, than came back and told me there wasn’t an order for Mike, and asked what I ordered. I told her it didn’t really matter because I wasn’t going to wait another 40 minutes. She said there were a couple of orders without names and she wanted to see if one of them was mine. I told what I ordered and she went back to the kitchen.

She came back again and asked if I would wait six minutes. I told her I would and she offered me another IPA while I waited – no charge. I figured it would be more than six minutes, so why not take a free beer. It was interesting. The first waitress was on break and apparently didn’t turn my order in before she left. The original pizza order was expected to take 30 minutes. Now that they discovered the problem, they were able to make my pizza-to-go in six minutes. I didn’t even finish my glass of beer before it was ready. They didn’t charge me for either of the beers I drank and I was on my way.

Today will be a little cooler with the high temperature in the upper 80s. I’ll get started on preparations to hit the road tomorrow. I need to pack the kayak, check tire pressures and so on. I’ll pick up Donna at the rental agency later this afternoon. We’ll head out of here tomorrow morning and drive to Coeur D’Alene, Idaho next.

 

 

Hot Time in Crescent Bar

The heat wave is on here at Crescent Bar. Monday’s high was 96 degrees in nearby Quincy, Washington. We haven’t hit the river with the kayak yet – we intended to on Monday, but I started the morning playing pickleball with TJ, Lance and Boni. By the time we left the court, I was hot and too tired to inflate the kayak and take it to the launch point on the river.

I spent the rest of the day reading in the air-conditioned coach while Donna worked on her organizing tips newsletter. We agreed that we would take the kayak out on Tuesday.

On Monday night, the wind kicked up. I slept poorly as the wind was noisy and rocked the coach at times. In the morning, the wind gusts continued so we put off kayaking again. In the afternoon, Donna and I rode the Spyder to Quincy for groceries. We decided to check out another grocery store. We shopped at Akins the first time we went to town. This time, we hit the IGA store called El Mercado one block south of Akins. This store caters to the hispanic population and had some specialty meats, spices and vegetables. It also had standard fare at reasonable prices. We like the store, and we’ll probably go back there again, but Akins has a better selection of craft beers.

It was another hot afternoon with the temperature in the upper 90s. Donna took the grass-fed lamb chops we bought from the rancher in Portland out of the freezer. She rubbed them with a paste of olive oil, fresh rosemary and thyme, garlic, salt, pepper and lemon zest. I grilled them on the Weber Q.

Lamb chops with rib bone

Lamb chops with rib bone

Donna served it with green beans and lemon rice with chopped parsley.

Lamb chop with green beans and rice

Lamb chop with green beans and rice

I paired the lamb chop with IPA from Red Hook Brewing – one of Seattle’s oldest craft brewers, making good beer since 1981.

Red Hook Longhammer IPA

Red Hook Long Hammer IPA

After another windy night, we were up early this morning. We walked over to Lance and Boni’s site at 7:30am. TJ joined us there and we all piled into Lance and Boni’s SUV and headed to East Wenatchee to a park with pickleball courts. The park was about 20 miles from here and had six new pickleball courts. TJ’s wife Julie is away on a business trip to Las Vegas so she wasn’t with us.

Pickleball courts in East Wenatchee

Pickleball courts in East Wenatchee

We played for more than three hours. We met several people at the park  – we always meet the nicest people playing pickleball. Once again, it’s hot out and I’m whipped. The forecast calls for a high of 97 today, 99 tomorrow and 100 degrees on Friday!

I dumped and flushed our holding tanks – today is the seventh day without dumping or making any real conservation effort so the gray tank was full. I think I’ll stay indoors this afternoon and start in on another book.

 

*Just so you know, if you follow one of my links to Amazon and decide to make a purchase, 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!

Watercraft in the RV Park

Most RV parks we stay in tend to fill up on the weekend and empty out on Sunday afternoon. This is true here at Crescent Bar RV Resort. People began showing up on Friday afternoon and the park was near full capacity by Saturday morning. But it’s a little different here.

A number of the sites were occupied by tents or small slide-in campers on pickup trucks. The reason for this was the number of people arriving towing a boat or trailer full of personal watercraft. The section of the Columbia River at Crescent Bar is also called Wanapum Lake and it’s a popular recreational area for watercraft.

Our neighbors to the west of our site pulled in late Friday evening with a pontoon boat. They have a travel trailer on their site. They pay an annual fee to have the site full-time. They come here every weekend in the summer, making a drive of more than three hours from Edmonds, Washington, north of Seattle over Snoqualmie Pass after work on Fridays and returning to their home on Sunday afternoon.

Our neighbor's pontoon boat

Our neighbor’s pontoon boat

On the other side of our site is another annual park resident with a ski boat. He stores his boat in a yard a couple of miles away from the park. On weekends they drive here on Friday, bring the boat to their site and spend Saturday and Sunday on the river. They arrived Friday around 9pm. After boating Sunday morning, they spent a few hours cleaning the boat before they took it to the storage yard and headed back to western Washington. Whew!

Our neighbors ski boat

Our neighbor’s ski boat

Many people here follow a similar plan for the weekend. Others pitch a tent so they can spend the day on the river and party at night.

Tent and boat

Tent and boat

Camper and jet skis

Camper and jet skis

Another annual site with a boat

Another annual site with a boat – jet ski in the background

The site across from us had a few tents and canopies set up. They arrived with a group pulling trailers loaded with jet skis. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the sunny weather and recreational opportunities. This morning, many of the sites are empty and most of the boaters are gone until next weekend.

We’ll get the kayak down to the river now that it’s a little less hectic on the water. On Friday afternoon, Donna ordered a cart for the kayak from Amazon. One of the hassles we face with our inflatable kayak is getting it to the water. With the cart it will be much easier. Donna ordered it through her Amazon Prime account with free two-day delivery. It showed a Sunday delivery, which I thought was probably wrong – but the site did say that Sunday delivery was available in this area.

The cart arrived Saturday morning – less than 24 hours after she ordered it. How do they do that? Assembly was breeze. All I had to do was remove the retaining pins from the axles, install the wheels and re-insert the pins. Job done!

Donna prepared her mojo marinade recipe Sunday afternoon and used it on a pork tenderloin. I grilled the tenderloin while Donna prepared the sides – green lemon rice and summer squash sauteed with red onion.

Grilled pork tenderloin

Grilled pork tenderloin

Served with Orzo salad with spinach and feta and sauteed zucchini and red onion

Served with green lemon rice and summer squash sauteed with red onion

It was a tasty and nutritious meal. We enjoyed the dinner at our picnic table. It went well with an Apocalypse IPA from 10 Barrel Brewing.

Al fresco dinner

Al fresco dinner

The temperature reached 90 degrees in the afternoon, but by dinner time it was comfortable outside in the shade of our canopy. The forecast for the rest of the week calls for daily highs in the upper 90s. I think we’ll be hitting the beaches.

 

*Just so you know, if you follow one of my links to Amazon and decide to make a purchase, 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!

 

 

Twisp and Winthrop

We went out and explored on the Spyder Tuesday. Donna walked to the Winthrop post office, then I rode the Spyder and met her at the IGA store. We rode south on Highway 20 about 10 miles to Twisp – the next town from Winthrop. Although there are about 2,000 people living in the valley around Winthrop, the population of the actual town is about 400. Twisp is similar in size with about 400 people in the town.

Last year in August, when the Okanogan Complex wildfire threatened the area with more than 300,000 acres burning, both Winthrop and Twisp were evacuated. Luckily both towns were spared. However, three firefighters lost their lives battling the blazing forest.

We stopped at the Twisp River Pub and Brewery located on the Twisp River on the corner of Main Street on the north end of town. We didn’t know it was closed due to fire damage – unrelated to the Okanogan Complex fire. Law enforcement officials have deemed the cause of the fire to be arson, which heavily damaged the place last February.

We took a walk through town – which only covers a few blocks – and looked at restaurant menus. We decided to have lunch at a Mexican place called La Fonda Lopez. It turned out to be a great choice. Donna said her chicken fajitas plate was the best ever.

Donna's fajitas plate

Donna’s fajitas plate

On the way back, we took a detour at Twin Lakes Road. I wanted to check out the rodeo grounds and see if anything was going on. We stayed there over Labor Day our first year on the road and had fun with the rodeo participants camped on the grounds. The place was empty now and the gate was locked. Apparently it doesn’t get much use other than the rodeos on Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends.

We made another stop at the IGA store and Donna bought fresh Manila clams farm-raised in Washington. Donna wanted to walk off some of her lunch calories so I rode back to Pine Near RV Park and she joined me there after a while. We decided to pull out of Winthrop on Thursday and move south past Wenatchee to the Thousand Trails park at Crescent Bar. I booked us there through the end of the month.

Later, we walked into town and headed to the Old Schoolhouse Brewery for a cold one around 4pm. We had great weather all day but heard thunder booming across the valley before we left. I covered the Spyder just in case while we took our chances of getting caught out in a thunder shower. I mentioned yesterday how spacious our site is – I took another photo as we were leaving.

Roomy site at Pine Near RV park

Roomy site at Pine Near RV park

Winthrop is a fun town – it’s old western themed and touristy but still has its charm.

Winthrop buildings

Winthrop buildings

Donna outside the Old Schoolhouse Brewery

Donna outside the Old Schoolhouse Brewery

We sat out on the patio behind the brewery on the bank of the Chewuch River and enjoyed the view. I had just ordered a second pint of Ruud Awakening IPA when we felt a few raindrops. Donna and I retreated to the covered area on the upper deck. Two people claimed our riverside seats immediately and didn’t mind the rain drops.

People ignoring the rain drops as two guys claim our table on the left

People ignoring the rain drops as two guys claim our table on the left

We had a few raindrops falling as we walked home. We made it indoors before the real rain started. It rained well into the night with only a few breaks. Today’s forecast calls for a mostly sunny day with the temperature reaching the low 80s. Donna’s planning to ride her bicycle to Twisp and back on a quiet side road.

Just Four Bolts

I mentioned taking delivery of a pair of new front shock absorbers for our coach. The current set of shocks was installed just two years ago, but the trip up I-5 made it obvious that the front shocks weren’t holding up. A vehicle weighing more than 30,000 pounds has to have high spring rates and serious dampers to control the suspension.

Shock absorbers exist to damp the action of the springs. Undamped, the springs would compress over a bump, storing energy in the spring. The spring would then extend, releasing this energy as it elongates past its resting length, only to return to a compressed state. This cycle would repeat until the energy is dissipated through friction and heat. The vehicle would bob up and down like a boat going over swells in the ocean.

Getting the damping rate right isn’t a simple matter. Hydraulic shock absorbers have a piston inside a cylinder filled with fluid. The piston is connected to a shaft that extends from the cylinder. Typical installation has a fastener at the closed end of the cylinder opposite where the shaft exits and another fastener on the end of the shaft. Suspension movement strokes the piston in the cylinder, moving it through the fluid.

Slow movement of the shaft, such as compression of the front suspension when braking, or cornering, requires a high damping rate to limit the movement of the suspension. You don’t want the front suspension to compress or dive excessively while braking or roll from side to side when cornering. This is accomplished by forcing the fluid through a small port in the piston. The size of this orifice sets the low piston speed resistance – the damping rate.

Conversely, when the piston moves at high velocity – such as when hitting a square edge bump like an expansion joint where the road meets a bridge or a pot hole – we want the spring to compress and take the hit without transmitting it to the chassis. The orifice used for low-speed damping is insufficient to move the fluid quickly enough through the piston and the shock would hydraulically lock. What the shock designers typically do is add a number of high-speed ports – a ring of orifices through the piston.

This ring of orifices allows much more fluid movement – but how to keep fluid from moving through these holes when we want stiff low-speed damping? The most common way is to cover these high-speed ports with a thin metal shim. A stack of shims can be made to gain the proper stiffness of the cover over the hole. When the piston moves through the fluid at a high enough speed, the shim flexes as the fluid is forced against it – as it flexes away from the holes, it uncovers them and the fluid can pass.

Our current front shocks are Koni FSD series 8805. These shocks are designed pretty much as I described above. The piston in these shocks have a 36mm diameter. Hitting sharp irregularities in the road wasn’t an issue when these shocks were new. Over time, they gradually lost the ability to transition from high-speed damping to low-speed damping after hitting a sharp bump. It’s like the high-speed ports stay open too long, allowing the coach to bounce on the springs three or four times after hitting the bump.

About five months after I bought these shocks, Koni came out with a new replacement for use on the Alpine Coach Peak Chassis and Monaco Roadmaster RR4 chassis. This new shock, designated the Evo 99 series, has a 50mm piston and revised valving. The 40% larger piston allows the shock to operate at much lower fluid pressures and should enhance durability.

My task on Thursday was to remove the old front shocks and install the new series 99 shocks. It’s only four bolts – one on each end of the two shocks. How hard could that be, right? Well, I remembered when I had the shocks installed, the guys used cordless electric impact wrenches to remove and install the shock bolts. The mounting bolts were stubborn and it took two mechanics about an hour to replace four shocks.

The first thing I had to do was buy a 28mm socket and a large breaker bar to break the bolts loose. I bought a 24″ breaker bar and I couldn’t get the bolt to budge. I needed an impact driver. I borrowed my daughter Alana’s car and drove to Harbor Freight in Everett. I used to have a few impact wrenches in different power levels, but they’re long gone thanks to those Dirty, Rotten Thieves. I figured I could buy an air operated impact driver at Harbor Freight for about $40.

When I got there, it occurred to me that I only have a small, portable air compressor with only a few gallons capacity. In my sticks-and-bricks garage, I had a 60-gallon compressor that powered air tools easily. Although my little compressor can reach 150 psi, it doesn’t have a fast enough flow rate to power a big impact driver. I needed an electrically operated impact driver. I found a cordless impact driver with a 330 ft-lbs torque rating. It was branded Chicago Electric – Harbor Freight’s Chinese sourced house brand. I paid over $100 for it.

By the time I got home with it, it was after 1pm. I needed to charge the 18-volt battery before I could use it. It has an 18-volt nickel-cadmium (NiCad) battery. NiCad is old technology, but it works. The first charge on a NiCad is important as it forms the cell. I charged it for 90 minutes – the day was getting away from me. It takes three or four full charges before a NiCad reaches it its full capacity. After charging the battery, I had to allow another 15 minutes for it to cool before using it.

I started banging away on the first bolt with the cordless impact driver. I would hit it for several seconds, then stop to keep from overheating the motor and battery pack. After about 10 minutes of this, I needed to charge the battery pack again. Arrgh! This entails a cooling period for the battery before charging, about an hour or so of charge time, then another cooling period before attacking the bolt again. I had the first bolt off by 5pm and called it a day!

Friday morning I was back at it with a fully charged battery and started on the second bolt. After two charge cycles, I had it off. Removing the shock and installing the new one was fairly easy – it only took about 10 minutes. Getting the new shock in place entailed holding it at arm’s length with one hand while I was bent over the front tire with my head in the wheel well, then inserting the mounting bolt with my other hand. It was a workout!

Old 8805 FSD shock with top bolt removed

Old 8805 FSD shock with top bolt removed

Comparison of 8805 and 99 series. Note no dust cover on the 99 series

Comparison of 8805 and 99 series. Note – no dust cover on the 99 series

New shock installed

New shock installed

Now I had to start the charging – working – charging – working cycle on the other side. By the end of the day, I had one bolt removed from the other shock before I gave up. It was beer-thirty and I was ready for a cold one.

IPA from Seattle's Fremont Brewing

IPA from Seattle’s Fremont Brewing

Today I’ll start over and remove the last bolt. A lot of work for four bolts!

On Thursday evening, we received tragic news. Our friend Sini Schmitt texted Donna to inform her of the passing of her husband, Bob. Bob died unexpectedly while they were vacationing in the British Virgin Islands. We met Bob and Sini in San Diego a few months after we first hit the road. Since then, we’ve met up with them in Arizona and again in California and always had fun times together. I’m deeply saddened by Bob’s untimely passing. He was a great guy and will be missed by many.

 

 

Traffic and Taxes

We pulled out of the Cabela’s lot in Lacey, Washington before noon Sunday morning. Our destination was my daughter Alana’s driveway 100 miles away in Arlington, Washington. Donna thought we should be there around 1:30pm, I wasn’t so sure about that. Since it was Sunday and the middle of the Fourth of July weekend, I didn’t know what traffic through Seattle would be like. Most of the time you can count on delays getting through the city.

We hit traffic and it was stop and go all the way through Seattle. Part of the issue is the road plan – much like Portland, the roads funnel traffic through choke points. Coming into the city, four lanes of traffic drop to two lanes as the far left lane ends. Traffic merges and the new left lane immediately is an exit-only lane – so you have two lanes of traffic trying to merge right all at once. Guaranteed traffic jam.

Four lanes of Interstate travel suddenly become two

Four lanes of Interstate travel suddenly become two

We began to move faster on the north side of town, then hit another tie-up through Everett and Marysville. We pulled into Alana’s place at 2pm. Her driveway is long enough that I was able to back in without dropping the trailer. Before I did that, I unloaded the Spyder. Alana was working as was her oldest daughter Lainey. Our youngest granddaughter Gabi was home waiting for us.

I have another rant about Washington. Once we were set up, Donna went for walk with Gabi and their two chihuahuas. While they were out, I rode the Spyder to the store to replenish the vodka supply. I should have done some research first. I know California has the best liquor prices. Oregon has inexpensive beer, but expensive liquor. The prices in Washington for liquor looked better – but I had a surprise at the cash register. A bottle of vodka priced at $28.69 and a bottle of beer at $3.99 comes to $32.68. After taxes I paid $45.52 – nearly 40% in taxes! Never again.

Look at those taxes

Look at those taxes!

Alana got home around 5:30pm. I grilled salmon burgers for dinner and we sat together in the house. Alana has a 30 amp outlet in her garage, but it didn’t work. I need to take it apart and see what the problem is.

I told Donna that when I lived here in western Washington, it always rained on the Fourth of July. Monday we woke up to rain. It rained on and off all day. Alana and Lainey had to work again so Gabi visited with us in the coach and we watched a movie – The Princess Bride. I must have watched this movie five or six times, but I still enjoy it with the kids.

I didn’t get to the 30 amp outlet – after watching the movie I spent most of the day reading while rain drops fell. I’ll have to take a look at it today, otherwise we’ll be running the generator daily to keep the battery banks charged.