Category Archives: Beer

Diverging Plans

We haven’t had beach weather, but I can’t complain. The daytime high is in the mid to upper 60s and overnight the low is in the upper 50s. In the afternoon, the wind blows 10-15 mph from the west/southwest. The wind makes it feel cooler than the thermometer shows. That will change over the next few days as the temperature will climb to the upper 70s and maybe hit 80 degrees.

I scootered over to the Pacific Beach Recreation Center on Thursday for more pickleball. Donna stayed home and worked on final preparations for her booth at the upcoming annual conference of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO). She and her friend Ramona Creel are setting up a bookstore to sell books written by NAPO members.

Our plans diverged again yesterday. I had a doctor appointment in the morning. It was a follow-up visit after being diagnosed with high blood pressure late last year. I’ve been checking my blood pressure periodically. It seems to be erratic. I see variances of as much as 30mm Hg on the systolic (high) reading. Doctor Ryan thought I needed another medication to control my blood pressure better. He said it’s most likely a hereditary condition. Although regular exercise and proper nutrition can help (I already do this), I need medication. So now I take lisinopril every morning and atenolol at bedtime.

When I returned from the doctor, Donna was working on responding to a bid for speakers. Before I went to the doctor, I unpacked our Sea Eagle kayak and pumped it up. Donna’s sister, Sheila, and Sheila’s son Connor came over around 11:30am. The three of them went out on the bay in the Sea Eagle. I went to get my prescription filled at CVS. Then I rode to Chase Bank to deposit a check. From there I went to Costco. I bought a few 22-ounce bottles of craft beers and a bottle of wine. I also bought a case of bottled water which I strapped on the back seat of the scooter. When I got home it was after 1pm and Donna had left for a late lunch with Sheila and Connor.

I spent the afternoon reading a book in a chair outside in the sun. My daughter, Jamie, called from Texas. She’s having issues with her heart – something about a valve not operating properly. She wanted to know family history of heart disease. Unfortunately, I wasn’t much help. I haven’t talked to my biological father in more than thirty years and haven’t had contact with his family either. I know my paternal grandfather died of a heart attack, but he was in his 80s at the time. My mother is Japanese. She came to the USA after she married my dad. I never met her mother or father although I did meet her brother and sisters when I was a kid. It’s a long story, but I don’t know anything of the medical history on my mother’s side either.

While I was reading, I saw our neighbors across the way come out of their Lazy Daze class C motor home. I recognized them from their blog. It was Jim and Gayle (their blog is Life’s Little Adventures). They’ve been full-time RVers since 2008. We chatted briefly before they had to dash off to meet up with friends. Turned out they knew all about our trailer being stolen last year from my blog and I knew about their mountain bikes being stolen in Salinas last year from their blog.

Donna’s lunch with Sheila stretched out all afternoon. By 5pm, I was ready for liquid refreshment. I opened a bottle of Belching Beaver Peanut Butter Milk Stout. It is a tasty concoction – sort of a liquid peanut butter cup.

Liquid peanut butter cup

Liquid peanut butter cup

I didn’t think I would have any issues with milk stout. I’m lactose intolerant and milk stout has lactose in it, but not that much. I was wrong. The last two times I had milk stout, my stomach was rumbling soon after. I need to cross it off my list of beers.

Donna, Sheila and Connor returned around 6pm. We sat outside and chatted. Their late lunch had turned into an afternoon margarita fest for the adults. I ordered a pizza for delivery from Woodstock Pizza in Pacific Beach. While we were waiting for the pizza, Connor took up a hula-hoop challenge. The challenge was to spin the hoop around his body and drop to his knees without stopping the hoop. It took a few attempts, but he got it. The next step was to drop to his knees and continue hooping while he stood up. It took several attempts, but he stayed with it and finally got it.

Dropping to his knees while hooping

Dropping to his knees while hooping

Now stand up without losing the hoop

Now stand up without losing the hoop

By then the pizza arrived and we ate at the table outside.

I have a couple of projects to attend to today. Donna is going with our friend, Sini, to a yoga class by the beach at the foot of Law Street in Pacific Beach this morning. Another friend we met at the PB rec center, Laurie Beth Jones, is coming over to visit this afternoon. Like Donna, Laurie is an author – she writes about spirituality and leadership and has published 14 books, the same number as Donna.

 

Call Me Nosy

Donna and I had an early lunch in the coach on Tuesday. We scootered over to the Pacific Beach Recreation Center on the corner of Gresham and Diamond Street at noon. They have open pickleball on indoor courts from noon to 3:45pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The park attendant unlocked the gymnasium right at 12:00pm sharp. He then turned around and walked away.

We went into the gym and felt a little out of place. We were the only people there. The floor of the basketball court had painted lines for three pickleball courts. I saw a box with balls and pickleball paddles and also three canvas bags with nets. About then, another guy named Bob came in. He started setting up one of the portable pickleball nets and told me to start setting up another one. He briefed us on the procedures they follow to get games going.

Shortly after that, people began to arrive. We soon had games on all three courts and people waiting to play. Many of the players were experienced and played at a high level. We played several games and stayed until 3:30pm. Playing on an indoor court is different than the outdoor courts we’re used to. The ball is different – it’s softer and has larger holes in it. I think it’s easier to control. The floor reflects light and the overhead lights, windows and sky lights made it difficult for me to see the ball at times. Also, lob shots cannot be sent too high or they’ll hit fixtures and be called out of bounds. It was fun – we’ll go back. Afterwards, Bob e-mailed me a schedule for pickleball at other San Diego Recreation Centers.

I spent the day running errands yesterday. First, Donna and I scootered to the Sports Rx store on Santa Fe Street. Donna needed a new bicycle helmet. They had high-end helmets made by Smith that cost far more than Donna expected to spend – and they had nothing in size small. The sales associate went into the store room and came back with a size small Rudy Project helmet that had been discontinued. It was an open-box item that they offered to sell to Donna at a 40% discount. It was a great deal, but we decided to go to another store just down the street to check out what they had. She tried on some moderately priced helmets but didn’t like the fit or style. That’s what happens when you shop the high-end stuff first – you see the shortcuts taken to keep costs down on other offerings. We went back to Sports Rx and she bought the Rudy Project helmet. It’s a nice, lightweight helmet and she’s happy she went for it. She immediately headed out for her first bike ride in 3 1/2 weeks with a promise not to crash.

While Donna was out riding, I rode the scooter to Kearny Mesa. I needed to buy a new drinking water hose for the fresh water supply of our motor home. One of the hoses I connect to our filtration system was leaking at the swaged connector fitting. You shouldn’t use a regular garden hose for drinking water. Most garden hoses are made from polyvinyl chloride and have metal fittings of unstated origin. According to Rodale News, they can add heavy metals and plasticizers to the water.

I went to the La Mesa RV Center off Ruffner Street and looked at hoses. They had Valterra brand drinking water hoses, but they were only 1/2″ inside diameter (I.D.) and priced high. They wanted $21 for a 25′ hose. I rode over to Walmart and found Camco drinking water hoses with 5/8″ I.D. – 25′ for $10. These hoses are Bisphenol A (BPA) free and won’t contaminate drinking water. We don’t drink from the taps in our coach, but we do have a double filtered water dispenser for making coffee and filling water bottles. I bought the Camco hose.

I made a couple more stops for groceries and also picked up a bottle of Belching Beaver Milk Stout and a bottle of Eraser IPA.

Later, I took a stroll through the park. There are two other Alpine Coaches here but I haven’t met the owners. I also saw a few other coaches that piqued my curiosity. One was a Country Coach Magna 630 – this is a high end coach. It had damage on the left front corner and just pulled in yesterday. I can’t be sure since I didn’t meet the owner, but I think the same coach was here in a different spot when we arrived and it was damage-free. The broken fiberglass on the front looks fresh and the tire had fresh marks from contact. The left front basement door was taped shut with duct tape.

Country Coach Magna 630 damage

Country Coach Magna 630 damage

In another site, I saw a National RV Pacifica that also had left front damage. The Pacifica was the top of National’s line. This one didn’t have fiberglass damage – only the metal compartment door was hit.

Pacifica with dented compartment door

Pacifica with dented compartment door

These were graphic reminders to always maneuver the coach slowly and carefully in tight places. I don’t want to be nosy, but I would like to know what happened to these nice motor homes.

The third site that has me curious is site 138. There’s a Ford F250 pickup truck parked in the center of the site. The tag in the window shows it belongs in that site, but there’s no RV. I wondered if someone was sleeping in the back of the truck, but the site is within view of our place and I haven’t seen anyone there since we arrived on Sunday. Paying for a full hook-up site in a RV park seems like an expensive way to store your truck. Again, I don’t mean to be nosy but I can’t help wondering what the story is there.

Truck parked in a full hook up RV site

Truck parked in a full hook-up RV site

My daughter, Shauna, stopped by after work last night and joined us for dinner. She has a few more weeks of school and exams before she graduates from Cal Western with her law degree on May 1. We discussed plans for celebrating the occasion and her plans for moving to D.C. to start her new job. It turns out that she might be going to Albany, New York to take the bar exam at the same time we are there!

Today I plan to go back to the PB Recreation Center for more pickleball. Donna has opted to stay home and get some work done so she can spend the day with her sister, Sheila, tomorrow.

Getting Into Hot Water

I checked a few items off my “to do” list yesterday. Donna’s number one item was a follow-up visit to her doctor on 4th Avenue. I would have taken her there on the scooter, but I had an RV tech from RV Pros coming over to help out with the hot water situation at 11:30am. Donna’s appointment was at 11am. So, Donna took an Ūber car to her appointment.

Jorge from RV Pros arrived on time. I explained how our hot water flow was restricted – it had suddenly been reduced to a trickle while the cold water side had good flow and pressure. I told him about the corroded anode rod and how I had flushed the hot water tank twice. He looked at the back of tank through an access panel in our kitchen and diagnosed a bad check valve. The hot water outlet of the tank has a check valve that only allows water to flow out and prevents backflow into the tank. Jorge didn’t have the part with him.

To replace the check valve, the tank would have to be drained. I told Jorge I had a new anode rod. He said we should install it since the old one would be taken out to drain and flush the tank. I also showed him the pressure relief valve which was stuck. He said he would come back by 5pm with a new check valve and pressure relief valve.

After Jorge left, I rode the scooter to the Ben Bridge Jeweler at the Fashion Valley Mall in Mission Valley. I had talked to the watch maker there earlier. In 2007, I bought Donna a nice watch with a mechanical automatic movement at the Ben Bridge store in Scottsdale, Arizona. Her watch stopped when we were in Hemet. I suspected a set lever problem because the stem didn’t feel right. The watch was about eight years old and could use a complete servicing. I was once a watch idiot savant (WIS) – I had a collection of mechanical watches. I kept them on automatic winders – these are devices that rotate the watch so the auto-winding mechanism would keep the mainspring tensioned. I also had a collection of railroad pocket watches. I reduced my collection over the years – I only have one railroad pocket watch now and five wrist watches.

Israel, the watch maker at Ben Bridge confirmed my suspicion of a broken set lever. The set lever is selector that allows the watch to be manually wound or the date to be set or the time adjusted. He will do a complete overhaul of the watch including a new set lever, mainspring, seals and gaskets and polish the case and bracelet. Our goal is to have the work completed before we leave San Diego in four weeks.

While I was at the mall, I had lunch. I ordered teriyaki chicken with rice and vegetables at the food court and sat at a table in the sun. The meal was served in a flat styrofoam container. The day was breezy with sustained 12 to 15 mph wind. I ate a little over half of the meal when a sudden wind gust picked up the container and deposited the contents in my lap! Oh well.

Jorge came back around 3:30pm with the parts needed. I had talked to Thomas, the security supervisor here, and told him I would be draining the hot water tank. They are very sensitive to water spills here at Mission Bay RV Resort due to the proximity of the bay. Contaminated water run-off into the bay is frowned upon and could result in fines. Since I was draining fresh water and only expected to drain 10 gallons, he told me not to worry about it.

Jorge removed the old anode rod and he had a 1-1/8″ socket to remove the adapter from the tank. Now we could install the new genuine Suburban anode rod once the tank was drained. He used a wand on the end of a water hose to clean the inside of the tank. He also pulled the pressure relief valve.

Old corroded aftermarket anode rod

Old corroded aftermarket anode rod

File photo of a new Suburban anode rod for comparison

File photo of a new Suburban anode rod for comparison

Once the tank was empty, Jorge went inside and removed the check valve from the tank outlet. His diagnosis was correct – the check valve was faulty. The check valve has a brass housing which screws into the tank. Inside this housing is a spring-loaded plastic stopper. The spring seats the stopper inside the housing in the opposite direction of normal flow, thus preventing backflow into the tank. When a faucet is opened, the water pressure on the downstream side of the check valve drops and water pressure from the tank overcomes the spring and opens the valve, allowing hot water to flow to the faucet. The plastic stopper has a piece behind the spring that limits the amount of travel of the stopper. In our valve, this plastic piece was broken off and the stopper was floating inside the housing. Water flow would move the stopper against the outlet of the housing, restricting the flow.

Old broken check valve

Old broken check valve

With the check valve replaced and the new pressure relief and anode rod installed, we refilled the hot water tank. Voila, we had good hot water flow! I paid Jorge $170 for his time and materials and learned about our hot water system while he was at it.

With the tank working correctly, I had the electric heating element and the propane burner heating the water. I had hot water for a shower within 10 minutes. I showered and rode the scooter over to the Offshore Tavern and Grill to meet up with my school mates, Gary Stemple and Jim Birditt. Jim was in town on business and Gary set up the meet. We had a few beers and laughs while the bar filled with people wanting to watch the NCAA men’s baskeball championship. It was noisier in there than ever.

Jim and I had dinner there while Gary had to leave for a softball game in Kearny Mesa. I ordered the SD Cheesesteak sandwich – sliced beef, jalapenos, mushrooms, spicy jack cheese sauce and guacamole on an amoroso bun. I don’t know why I felt compelled to eat the whole thing. I was uncomfortably stuffed, but it was tasty.

That's a lot of sandwich

That’s a lot of sandwich

Today Donna and I will go to the Pacific Beach Recreational Center to see about getting into the open pickleball games.

Temecula Connections

After I posted yesterday, we grilled chicken for dinner. I used the brick method I described in this post. Donna had two large chicken breasts with bones and skin on. They came out great – the brick method works so well.

Brick grilled chicken breast

Brick-grilled chicken breast

We took our plates and utensils to the gazebo located about 100 feet from our coach. There are tables and comfortable chairs there between the fine arts and pottery studios. The weather was perfect – temperature in the low 70s with a light breeze.

Donna at the dinner table in the gazebo

Donna at the dinner table in the gazebo

After dinner, the sunset over the Temecula Valley was nice with just enough clouds to give it color.

Sunset over the Temecula Valley

Sunset over the Temecula Valley

We waited until 8am to get out of bed this morning because generators aren’t allowed before 8am. We needed to run the generator to brew coffee in our Keurig machine. The Keurig doesn’t like the modified sine wave from the inverter – our generator provides a pure sine wave electrical current.

After coffee and cereal, we rode the scooter up to the pickleball courts. They have four courts here that run from sideline to sideline on the tennis court. It makes for a lot of lines on the courts. For pickleball, we only pay attention to the blue painted lines. There were 17 players at the court when we arrived. There was a mix of abilities with a few very good players on the courts. One of the guys competed in the USAPA National Championship event.

Donna and I played a few games and had fun. They generally play here from 8am to 10am, so we’ll have to get there earlier tomorrow.

After playing pickleball, I rode the scooter to Temecula. It’s about a 14-mile ride northwest on CA79. The traffic moves along at 60 mph on CA79, so it was a brisk ride. I went to an auto parts store and found a new flat-four trailer electrical connector. I also bought butt connectors and a crimping tool. I found a 1-1/16″ deep socket for the water heater repair. While I was in town, I stocked up on beer and found my favorite Blue Ice American Potato vodka.

When I returned, I replaced the electrical connector on the trailer. The old connector had damaged pins. I must have stepped on it or maybe rolled the front trailer jack tire over it. I’ll be more careful of the cord and connector in the future.

Old connector with damaged pins

Old connector with damaged pins

New connector with nice, round pins

New connector with nice, round pins

I cut the old connector from the harness and prepared the new connector. First I cut the wires to a shorter length – I didn’t need the 24″ length that came with the new connector. Then I stripped the wire ends and crimped butt connectors onto the new part.

Butt connectors crimped into place

Butt connectors crimped into place

Next I stripped the wire ends on the trailer harness and crimped the open end of the butt connectors to the harness.

All crimped together

All crimped together

The last step was to seal each butt connector individually with tape. Then I wrapped all of the butt connectors and wires together with tape to reinforce it.

Final wrap reinforces the butt connectors

Final wrap reinforces the butt connectors

That’s it, job done. I checked the trailer lights and all is good.

I’ve decided to leave the water tank repair until Sunday morning. We’re dry camped and if I start on it now, I will lose a minimum of 10 gallons of water. We should have plenty of fresh water on board but why chance it. There are showers a few hundred feet from our site.

Lizards, Rabbits and Visitors

The time is flying by. A few days got by me without a post to the blog. We passed on the pickleball games on Sunday and rode the scooter to visit my step-dad Ken in Sun City. The traffic was light on the route I’d mapped out to avoid I-215. We sat on Ken’s front patio, which faces north and is shady, enjoying conversation. We had a good visit and amused ourselves by watching the antics of a couple of lizards. They appeared to be fence lizards chasing each other around the patio.

Western fence lizard

Western fence lizard

These two provided entertainment

These two provided entertainment

On our way back, I took a different route so Donna could buy groceries at Walmart. It was warm but pleasant on the scooter. We had a late lunch at a Chinese diner and stuffed ourselves with the house noodle specialty plate. It had a pile of rice noodles with shrimp, chicken, pork and beef. It was good but very filling – so filling that we skipped dinner!

I spent the rest of the afternoon watching the Formula One race on TV and downloading the European coverage of the Moto GP season opener while Donna went to the pool to read. Spoiler alert – both races were very entertaining. Sebastian Vettel drove an excellent race with perfect strategy to put his Ferrari on top of the podium. Vettel is a four-time World Champion, but didn’t win a race last year. Neither did Ferrari. In his second race as a Ferrari driver, he broke that drought. In the Moto GP race, everyone figured the Repsol Honda team would run away like they did last year. It was not to be. The race turned into an epic battle between nine-time champion Valentino Rossi on the Yamaha M1 against Andrea Dovizioso on the Ducati. In the end, Rossi prevailed over Dovi by a tenth of a second.

A cottontail rabbit came into our site late Sunday afternoon. We put out a few carrot sticks which he munched on before hopping away. There are a lot of rabbits in the park.

While Donna and I were at the pickleball courts on Monday morning, our friend and fellow Alpine Coach owner, Dave Hobden, phoned me. He and his wife Stilla were leaving the FMCA rally in Pomona and were thinking about heading our way. Later, while I was at Sprouts picking up a few more groceries, he texted me saying they would join us at Golden Village Palms RV Resort. They got a good rate on two nights with their Passport America membership.

They pulled in around 2:30pm and set up in the site next to ours. I mentioned before how tight the sites are here. The shrubs in their site were so overgrown, Dave couldn’t get his living room slide out without smashing it into the shrubs. A maintenance guy came by to trim the bushes, but it wasn’t enough – he came back this morning with a power trimmer and cut the bushes back.

Dave Hobden's Alpine Coach in the site next to us

Dave Hobden’s Alpine Coach in the site next to us

We sat outside sipping cold beer and talking until about 6:00pm. Stilla had their dinner in the oven so they went home to eat. I grilled a pork tenderloin with a spicy dry rub – a new recipe Donna wanted to try. She served it with roasted, spicy red potatoes and green beans. It was very tasty – the dry rub was really spicy but dipping the pork in a minted cucumber yogurt sauce countered the spices nicely.

Spicy grilled pork loin with minted cucumber yogurt sauce

Spicy grilled pork loin with minted cucumber yogurt sauce

After dinner, Dave and Stilla joined us for dessert. Donna made carmelized banana pecan ice cream in her Vitamix. It was good, but I prefer the mango ice cream she made before.

Carmelized banana pecan ice cream

Carmelized banana pecan ice cream

Donna said her Vitamix seemed to run slowly and had an electrical odor. This morning it doesn’t run at all. I’ll take it apart and have a look, I hope I don’t have to replace it.

Two for One in Casa Grande

We’ve settled in at the Casa Grande RV Resort. It’s relatively quiet. We’re near a busy road but it’s nowhere as noisy as our location in Mesa.

When we visited the Casa Grande ruins and arrived here on Wednesday, we dodged a few rain showers. The rain continued Thursday through most of the day with a few breaks here and there. I left the scooter and grill in the trailer until Thursday afternoon when the skies started to clear a bit. I mentioned in my last post how accommodating the management was here at Casa Grande RV Resort. They gave us two back-to-back sites for the price of one so we wouldn’t have to drop our trailer!

Spacious site(s) 310/305

Spacious site(s) 310/305

Donna made meatloaf for dinner. Her meatloaf is always sensational – I think it’s mainly due to the way she manages to get the meat really fine by “whisking” it with a fork. I enjoyed a bottle of Rough Draft Eraser IPA with dinner.

Rough Draft Eraser IPA

Rough Draft Eraser IPA

Meatloaf served with steamed Kale and bacon and mashed sweet potato

Meatloaf served with steamed kale and carmelized bacon and mashed sweet potato

The skies were partly cloudy with cooler weather on Friday. I think the high was in the lower 70s. I went to the pickleball courts in the morning. They have four courts here. When I arrived, all four courts had games in progress and 11 people were waiting to play. They have a good system here to rotate players in. There’s a rack for paddles. Placing your paddle in the rack serves as a placeholder. When a game is finished, all four players leave the court. The next four paddles in line are retrieved by their owners and that makes up the next foursome. I played several games and I’m beginning to move better now. I still have some tightness in my right leg, but it’s definitely improving.

On Friday evening, Donna prepared green chili turkey burgers. They’re really good, but these have been bothersome to grill in the past. The turkey burgers tend to fall apart because of the wetness of the diced green chilis in them. So I tried something different this time. I used a grill mat on our Weber grill and it worked perfectly. Now I just have to figure out how to clean the grill mat.

Grill mat on our Weber grill

Grill mat on our Weber grill

The clouds had moved to the east while I was grilling. I shot a photo of the sunset reflecting off the clouds looking east from our site.

Sunset reflecting off the clouds in the east

Sunset reflecting off the clouds in the east

Donna has been taking walks for exercise while her road rash heals. She pulled a groin muscle when she crashed and that’s preventing her from jumping back into pickleball. But her injuries are getting better every day.

We had warmer weather on Saturday. I started the day with pickleball again. Donna continued formatting one of her books which she recently updated and will re-release shortly. I had a lazy day. I spent most of the afternoon reading another Vince Flynn thriller – Protect and Defend. I managed to break away from relaxation time long enough to replace the filter bag in the central vacuum cleaner system and try it out. We haven’t been using the central vacuum cleaner, just our Dyson DC44 cordless vacuum. Donna wanted to try the central vacuum cleaner so I got it up and running. It seems to work really well.

Central vacuum cleaner

Central vacuum cleaner

In the afternoon, we joined our neighbors, Bill and Cris Filby for happy hour. They are snowbirds from Michigan planning to go full-time soon. Right now they have a fifth-wheel RV, but they’re planning to move to a 40′ motor home when they hit the road full-time. They are also avid pickleball players and provide lessons for new players.

This morning I went to the pickleball courts early. I was there by 8:30 and played for three hours! I’m whipped. We expect the temperature to reach the mid-80s today. It looks like another good day for rest and relaxation.

Patio’ Kings

Our time is winding down here in Mesa. I’m a little behind on some of the tasks I wanted to complete before we move. Thursday I rested my leg, I never got around to sealing the bedroom slide-out trim. Donna rode her bike with her friend, Dara in the afternoon. She rode to Lana Jansen’s house at the end of her ride and picked up Lana’s car – she had generously offered to lend it to us for the weekend. While Donna went out shopping on Friday, I hit the pickleball court. Afterwards I put my leg up and iced it for a while. It was very warm in the afternoon, near 90 degrees. Other than dumping the gray water tank, I didn’t accomplish anything.

Yesterday Donna and I played pickleball again in the morning. I can’t move at full speed yet and playing two days in a row left me with a sore leg again. We quit playing around 11am, then we got ready to head over to Andy and Donna King’s house in Gold Canyon. They were having a St. Patrick’s Day party (a few days early). People still living in the workaday world schedule parties on the weekend. Donna made Irish soda bread the night before to take to the party.

I thought the drive to Gold Canyon would take about 25 minutes. I didn’t realize the 27th annual Arizona Renaissance Festival was happening in Gold Canyon on the weekends through March 29th. The traffic on eastbound US 60 was stop and go from Apache Junction to Gold Canyon. The drive took over an hour, it was 1:30pm by the time we arrived.

We weren’t the only ones running late due to the traffic. The party didn’t start rolling until about 2pm. Andy was expecting guests to arrive shortly after noon. Many of the people attending the party were musicians – mostly bluegrass players. The party started when Andy and a few of his friends sang Seven Bridges Road. Andy picked the guitar while three others harmonized with him. They sounded great!

Getting started

Getting started

Donna at the bar with her St. Patrick's Day bling

Donna at the bar with her St. Patrick’s Day bling

I took a seat at the bar and sipped Guinness and enjoyed the music. Donna fixed plates of corned beef, cabbage and soda bread for us.

Our bartender, Seth and

Our bartender, Seth and Kylie

There were a lot of talented people rotating in and out of the band. It was lively but low key and fun.

The band changed personnel often

The band changed personnel often

Some members of the new bluegrass band Andy is in showed up.

Mavis really ripped on the fiddle

Mavis really ripped on the fiddle

At one point, Andy set me up with his Alvarez Yairi acoustic guitar. It’s a beautiful instrument. I stayed in the outer circle and and followed the chord changes and improvised on a couple of songs.

Strummig along on Andy's Alvarez Yairie guitar

Strumming along on Andy’s Alvarez Yairi guitar

People were spread out all over the backyard. Most people stayed under cover on the patio. A few took to the pool to cool off.

Cooling off

Cooling off

I didn’t stray too far from the bar – I claimed a sore leg required me to sit on a barstool.

Plenty of activity at the bar

Plenty of activity at the bar

The shots of Jaegermeister washed down with Guinness were catching up with me. We called it a day and Donna drove us home around 5pm. My right leg was sore from pickleball and standing around all afternoon. I iced it when we returned home.

The forecast calls for temperatures in the 90s for the next few days. I’ll need to start organizing the trailer and prepare to depart on Wednesday. We’re still not sure of our next destination.

Back in the Game

After three weeks of rest and recovery, my leg was feeling much better on Sunday. I walked down to the pickleball courts and practiced serving. I wanted to see if hitting serves would put too much stress on my calf. It was fine. After about half an hour, Donna came down and joined me. We practiced dinking the ball back and forth. No hard shots and no running after the ball. My leg was fine.

On Sunday evening, our friends Lana and Joel picked us up around 5pm. We drove over to Baja Joe’s for margaritas and dinner. The place was packed with a 35-minute wait for a table. There were tables available in the bar though, so we opted to sit and order dinner in the bar. Conversation flowed as we enjoyed our dinner and two pitchers of margaritas over the next two hours. When we returned to our place, we sat outside and talked for another two hours. Joel took my old laptop – he thinks he can fix the cooling fan issue. He also took our entertainment hard drive to add more movies and TV series to it. Thanks, Joel!

My leg felt good Monday morning. Donna and I went to the pickleball courts to play a game or two. I planned to limit my effort to about 80% – no lunges for the ball or jumping. Donna left after five games, I ended up hanging around and played eight games.

Action on the Orangewood Shadows pickleball courts

Action on the Orangewood Shadows pickleball courts

When I walked back home, I could feel tightness in my right calf. I put my leg up and read for a while. Then I noticed I had bruising on my ankle and foot. Apparently there are still micro-tears in the calf and the activity caused some bleeding in the muscle. Gravity forced the blood down to my ankle and foot.

Blood pooling in my foot after pickleball

Blood pooling in my foot after pickleball

I spent most of the afternoon with my foot elevated, periodically icing my calf. I don’t think it’s a big deal. My leg feels fine this morning, but I think I will give it another day of rest before playing pickleball again.

I rode the scooter over to Red, White and Brew to join Mike Hall, John Huff and Pat Fitzpatrick for a cold one. Tom Brennan joined us at the bar. Tom is patriotic and has an interesting hobby. He has replicas of various cartridges made with one troy ounce of silver. When he meets a veteran, he presents him with a silver bullet. Each cartridge is engraved. He chooses the cartridge type and engraving to give the veterans based on their service history. He has Navy SEAL friends who helped him come up with the mottos engraved on the silver cartridges.

Silver bullets - 5.56mm, 45ACP and 9mm

Silver bullets – 5.56mm, 45ACP and 9mm

We have eight more days here at Orangewood Shadows RV Resort before we hit the road. I’m getting the hitch itch and I have to take care of a few projects over the next week before we leave.

 

Jetpack Blow Up

Something strange happened on Friday afternoon. Donna and I were inside – she was working at her laptop and I was surfing the Internet. We heard a loud “pop,” but didn’t know where it came from. The next thing I knew, I lost my wifi connection to our Verizon Jetpack. Donna said she was kicked off as well. I went to re-connect and found the Verizon Jetpack was offline, it didn’t appear among the devices available.

I got up and looked at the Jetpack. The pop we heard was the back of the Jetpack being blown off as the lithium-ion battery exploded! I don’t know if the battery overcharged or overheated, but for some reason, it blew apart and wouldn’t fit in the Jetpack anymore.

Back cover blown off of Jetpack

Back cover blown off our Jetpack

Battery expanded and cover split

Battery expanded and cover split

Profile of distorted battery - it's normally a rectangle

Profile of distorted battery – it’s normally a rectangle

I don’t know if this is a function of an internal disconnect for an overheated battery or some kind of defect. Lithium-ion batteries have a safety disconnect feature to prevent fire. A burning lithium-ion battery is not a good thing – it’s impossible to extinguish a lithium-ion fire. Donna set her Samsung Galaxy S5 as a hotspot and we had Internet access.

With the sink project still underway, we decided to head out to Red, White and Brew for happy hour and dinner. Donna had her usual mussels vin blanc and I had the Meet the Meat stuffed pizza roll which is basically a meaty calzone.

RWB Meet the Meat stuffed pizza roll

RWB Meet the Meat stuffed pizza roll

Around 9am Saturday morning, we heard techno dance music blasting outside. We weren’t sure where it was coming from. I went outside for a look. There was a lane closure on the north side of University Drive with a blow-up arch in the lane and lots of orange cones. At the arch, there was a big speaker on a stand pointed at the back of our coach which is on the south side of University Drive. The music was so loud, it completely drowned out the sound of traffic on the road. There was a 5K run coming down University Drive – the two-mile mark was across the street from us. Apparently the organizers thought blasting dance music at 9am was necessary at the two-mile mark.

I rode the scooter south on Val Vista to the Verizon store with my Jetpack and blown-up battery. The guy there wasn’t very helpful. He took the Jetpack and battery disappeared into the back of the store. Fifteen minutes later he came back and said he could order a new battery for $60 and have it next week. I asked what caused the battery to blow up. He said I probably overcharged it. He said not to leave it on the charger, to run it on the battery and recharge as needed. Are you serious? The battery will last three to four hours. We have the Jetpack on all day. If I cycled the battery four times day, it wouldn’t last a year. Also, after 21 months of use plugged in, why did the battery blow up now? He had no answers. I declined the $60 battery.

I stopped at Batteries Plus to see if they had a replacement. No luck, but I bought some fluorescent light tubes I needed while I was there. I also rode over to the farmers’ market on Power Road and picked up more local honey.

When I returned home, I searched online for a Pantech BTR291B lithium-ion battery. I found it on Amazon for $22.99. With my Prime account, two-day delivery was free. At checkout, my Prime account is linked to my Chase Freedom Visa card. I had more than enough cashback points to cover the cost of the battery. It’s like getting it for free and it’ll deliver here on Tuesday.

With that done, I set into my next project. I used a sharp plastic scraper to remove the old caulking from the kitchen sink. Once I had all of the old caulking out, I cleaned the sink and the counter top area that joins the sink with rubbing alcohol. I laid a new bead of caulking and it’s looking good. The caulk needs to cure for 36 hours before contact with water. With that in mind, we didn’t want to create a lot of dirty dishes, so we went out for dinner again.

New caulk on the sink

New caulk on the sink

This time we decided to try a Thai restaurant called 5 R Cha Thai Bistro (we learned that 5 R Cha means five horses in Thai). Donna had a green curry with shrimp. She said it was excellent, it would rival Lanna Thai in San Diego.

Green curry with shrimp

Green curry with shrimp

I went with my old standby, Pad Thai chicken. It was good, but the chicken was overcooked. The sauce on the noodles makes Pad Thai, and this had great flavor. I enjoyed a Singh Ha Thai beer with my meal while Donna went for a Japanese Sapporo beer.

Pad Thai chicken

Pad Thai chicken

I think I mentioned Donna’s trip to the dentist on Wednesday. She broke a molar and had a temporary crown put on. Last night, Donna woke up with a toothache. Her temporary crown came off. This was probably due to her retainer – she didn’t think about the temporary crown when she put her retainer on. Hopefully she can have the temp reset today.

We’re planning to go out to Baja Joe’s for dinner tonight with Lana and Joel. That will make three nights in a row eating out! That’s unusual for us. By tonight, our kitchen sink will be fully functional again and we can get back to our usual meal schedule.

The rest of the country sprang forward as of 2am this morning. Here in Arizona, daylight savings time isn’t observed. The clocks neither spring forward nor fall back. That makes Arizona time equivalent to Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) now.

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, Kellie, Amber, Jodi and Mike

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

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

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

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

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

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

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’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.