Category Archives: Bicycle

Hot to Cold

TJ drove Julie and Donna to Bend on Wednesday morning. They stopped at Costco, then went to have lunch at Lesa Hill’s house and meet up with friends from their SendOutCards team. They had a salad buffet for lunch – each of them brought various fixings to make salad. Donna brought Jamaican jerk chicken with mango salsa and honey roasted almond topping with cranberries. TJ dropped them off and went to the library to work.

Meanwhile, I did a load of laundry at the park laundromat. I took my laptop and read a Kindle book while the clothes were washing and drying. I mapped out a route to Lesa’s home and rode the Spyder there to pick up Donna at 2:30pm. We wanted to hit the farmers’ market in downtown Bend. The farmers’ market runs from 3pm to 7pm on Wednesdays on NW Brooks Street – a pedestrian street between Oregon Avenue and Franklin Avenue at Drake Park (map).

Drake Park overlooks Mirror Pond and the Deschutes River. It’s a beautiful setting – people were lounging on the park grass and enjoying the breeze off the water. It was warm – in the mid 70s – but not hot.

View of Mirror Pond from Drake Park

Deschutes River

We were mostly interested in finding fresh fruit and vegetables. They had plenty – it was all very fresh but the prices weren’t as good as the farmers’ market in Chico.

Bend farmers’ market

Then we found something we didn’t expect to see there – fresh fish! Apparently it’s brought in from the coast fresh off the dock. I’m not sure exactly where it came from, but the coast is a good four or five hours away. We bought some rock fish fillets – the vendor double bagged them on ice. Donna brought a big plastic tote bag lined with reflective insulation material. We put the fish and veggies in the tote, then we stopped at the Bend Brewing Company for a cold one. I left there with a couple of bomber bottles to go. The prices weren’t as good as 10 Barrel Brewing – I bought double IPA and an Imperial Red. High alcohol beers like these usually cost more to produce.

We headed home a little after 4pm. Donna cooked the fish with a panko batter and served it with broccolini (also from the market) and cherry tomatoes roasted with Lucero garlic oil we picked up in Corning, CA. The fish was excellent – we’ll look for more next Wednesday.

Panko battered rock fish

I opened a bottle of Oregon IPA from Ninkasi Brewing Company to go with it. This is a very good west coast IPA.

Ninkasi IPA

Thursday morning it was downright cold! Donna’s phone showed 39 degrees outside! We went from one extreme to the other. The hot temperatures of the past week are quickly forgotten as the thermometer only hit 70 degrees by Thursday afternoon.

We went to Mike and Michelle’s site at 8am for the coffee talk with the group. Lance and Bonnie were there but TJ and Julie had left with their kids to take their 5th wheel trailer in for service. We sat and talked for a good hour or more, then came home for a bacon and eggs breakfast. I’m loving the homemade English marmalade I bought in Chico and had it on toast.

Donna spent the day working and had a productive afternoon. I rode the Spyder to Walmart in Bend and bought a hot air popcorn popper. We’ve been making popcorn in the microwave oven, but Donna wanted a hot air popper. We popped the last of the popcorn we had on hand last night while we watched a couple of episodes of Fargo. Donna bought fresh popcorn at the farmers’ market and I’m curious to see if it’s much different than the regular store bought popcorn – maybe I’ll find out tonight.

This morning it’s cold again and the expected high for today is only 61 degrees. Donna planned to go for a bike ride at 9am with a neighbor she met here in the park, but decided it was too cold this morning. The temperature was only in the 40s and she doesn’t have adequate cold weather riding gear.

I have a pump-out of our holding tanks scheduled. I’ll hang out until the truck arrives and supervise the operation. I’ve never used a pump-out service before, it should be interesting. Today marks the 11th day since I last dumped our tanks. We’ll be here for nine more days – we should be good until then and can hit a dump station on our way out.

A Day in Bend

We dry camped in the Bend Elks Lodge parking lot Friday. I unloaded the Spyder and we took a ride into town. We rode down Colorado Avenue so Donna could see where the hair salon is located – she has an appointment there next week. Then we crossed over the Deschutes River at Mirror Pond where Tumalo Avenue becomes Galveston Avenue. This is an older neighborhood with commercial buildings on Galveston mixed with residential housing on the side streets.

This is also an area with many brew pubs and small restaurants. We parked on a side street between 10 Barrel Brewing and the Sun River Brewing Galveston Pub. We went into 10 Barrel first and found seats at the bar. Donna is getting more adventuresome with her beer tastings and went for their Deep Root – an ale with honey and ginger which she absolutely loved. I had their Apocalypse IPA.

Deep Root – ale with honey and ginger

The woman sitting next to us at the bar was a local. She told us a few things about the area – including the fact the residents in the area aren’t too happy about all of the brew pubs. The parking is limited, so on busy nights the side streets are full of cars parked in front of their houses. She also told us her parents were full-time RVers and she is contemplating making a move to the RV lifestyle.

After we finished our beer we moved on to Sun River Brewing. I had their Vicious Mosquito IPA and Donna tried their SUP summer ale. Two beers was our limit – we had to ride the Spyder back to the Elks Lodge.

We went into the lodge for dinner. I had fish and chips while Donna had a plate of spaghetti and meatballs. This lodge is very nice and we especially liked that no smoking is allowed. We’ve found that some Elks Lodges are exempt from public smoking laws because they’re private clubs. Not so in Oregon. This lodge also had a selection of local brews on tap.

On Saturday morning, I got Donna’s bike out of the trailer so she could take a ride. She was out for about an hour and called me for directions once after making a wrong turn. We packed up and pulled out of the Elks Lodge a little past 10am. The drive to the Thousand Trails Sun River RV park was only about half an hour.

We checked in and were told there may be some sites long enough for us to back in without dropping our trailer. We drove slowly through the dusty dirt roads in the park. I found a long back-in site, unloaded the Spyder and backed the rig into it. It was so narrow that I had to crowd the door side of the coach near trees to have enough room to put the slides out on the driver’s side. I rode the Spyder down the road and found another long site that was wider.

We decided to move to the other site. With Donna directing me with her handheld Cobra CB radio, I maneuvered slowly but always ended up with obstacles – trees and a dumpster – preventing me from being able to get us into the site. We finally gave up and went back to the first site we found. I backed into it, but we still weren’t happy with the situation. Our neighbor told us there were some big, open sites on a grassy area by the road. I rode the Spyder there and saw all the those sites were full. On the way back, I saw a few long, wide sites in the “F” area.

I pulled out of the narrow site with Donna following me on the Spyder. We backed into a long, wider site and are much happier with it.

Long and wide site F12

We were set up in no time. Ozark the cat is always excited to see new surroundings outside the windows. Donna calls it cat TV when Ozark sits and stares out the window watching birds and other wildlife or people with dogs walking by.

Ozark watching cat TV

Donna’s friend Julie Muller and her husband TJ stopped by our coach. They’re in a site near us with their twin teenage sons. The four of them have been on the road for four years. They invited us to come over and join their group for a taco bar dinner.

We went over to their area around 5pm and found them along with four other families they often camp with. They are all full-timers. We had a nice meal and enjoyed meeting new people. It was a little different for us – we don’t often find ourselves among families with children. All of them had kids and were home (road) schooling them. One of the children was a baby celebrating her first birthday.

It was a fun evening. We came home around 8pm and sat outside until the mosquitoes chased us inside. Today the forecast calls for partly cloudy skies with a high of 91 degrees and a slight chance of a shower. We plan to play pickleball with the group we met last night and maybe get the kayak out on the river.

*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!

Another Chico Farmers’ Market

Saturday we were out and about on the Spyder again. We rode to Chico in the morning for the farmers’ market. The Saturday farmers’ market is held in downtown Chico at the municipal parking lot located at 2nd and Wall Streets. This is the old downtown district a few blocks away from the California State University, Chico campus – also known as Chico State.

Chico has a population of close to 90,000 people. The local economy is driven by Chico State and the many retail establishments. It’s a popular shopping destination for many of the residents in the small towns of the northern Sacramento Valley.

The Saturday farmers’ market is much larger than the one we went to on Wednesday. It has more than 100 vendor booths. Once again we found an abundance of locally grown produce with prices that can’t be beat.

Huge broccoli heads

We saw the lady from Guzzetti’s Catering and Indian Food. We bought garden bread and dipping sauce from her at the Wednesday market and couldn’t resist buying more. The bread is soft but dense and no thicker than a flour tortilla with a thin layer of filling inside. The sauces are incredibly flavorful.

We ended up with quite a haul. I had packed a small cooler with ice packs to keep the produce fresh in the Spyder trunk. We had lunch at the market – huge burritos filled with pork chili verde, rice and beans. Neither of us could eat the whole thing, so we packed the leftovers home with us.

I took a different route home – we blasted up US99 to South Avenue. I soon regretted the choice. We were riding into a stiff headwind – about 20 mph sustained wind with higher gusts. As we cruised at 65 mph, the gusts would buffet my helmet, snapping my neck back and forth. I didn’t enjoy that 20-mile stretch.

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. The lunch was so filling that we just had appetizer snacks for happy hour and called it dinner. I opened a bottle of beer from The Bruery called Humulus Terreux. It’s a hoppy, slightly sour concoction. The Bruery comes out with some beers that are really out there and this is one of them. I enjoyed it though.

Hoppy, funky and a little bit sour

I had a message from RVillage – a couple had pulled into the park two sites away from us and were members of RVillage. Their names were Mike and Donna! We chatted with them for a while and I learned that Donna has a group on RVillage that’s for Elks members. The group shares information about Elks lodges that can accommodate RVs. I joined the group – it looks like it’ll be a great resource.

On Sunday morning, Donna went for a bike ride on the quiet farm roads around here. The wind was calm for a change, making it a good time for a ride. I watched the Formula One race at Monaco. Memorial Day weekend is a big weekend for race fans. The Indianapolis 500, the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 and the Monaco Grand Prix all happened on Sunday. For me, the Monaco Grand Prix was the race to watch.

We stayed home and had a relaxing day. I cleaned the Spyder – that was about as ambitious as I got all day. The temperature reached the 90s. With the wind calm, I had the awning out and sat underneath reading a book.

I broke out the Weber Q. This gave me the opportunity to try another product the people at Weber gave me at the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas. It’s called Citrusafe BBQ Grill Cleaner. It’s a non-toxic citrus-based cleaner that cuts grease and is easy to use.

Citrusafe BBQ grill cleaner

Donna marinated a pork tenderloin with her mojo marinade. I grilled it and it was tasty!

Grilled mojo marinade pork tenderloin

Donna served it with sweet potato hash – a perfect side dish complementing the pork. I paired it with a more traditional west coast IPA from Wildcard Brewing in Redding, California.

Mojo marinade pork tenderloin with XXX hash

Mojo marinade pork tenderloin with sweet potato hash

West coast IPA

Today I’ll take time to remember those who’ve fallen while serving their country. I’m also thinking about those who’ll continue to risk their lives while protecting our nation from acts of terror.

We’re heading for a hot spell here. The predicted high for today will be 99 degrees. It’s supposed to exceed 100 degrees in the next few days. Tomorrow we’ll go back to Chico to tour the Sierra Nevada Brewery. We’ll pull out of here on Thursday.

Lake Almanor

On Wednesday morning after I posted, I got Donna’s bicycle out of the trailer and pumped up the tires. We mapped out a route that would take her on the paved bike path up Skyline Road, then down into town on Paul Bunyan Road to Ash where she could pick up the Susan River Trail. The ride involved some climbing but it wasn’t as long as she anticipated – the total distance was only 11 miles and that included exploring some streets in a development across from Diamond Mountain Casino. Here are a couple of photos from her ride.

Paved path on Skyline

Waterfall on Susan River

After her ride, we had a snack and prepared to head out on the Spyder. We wanted to check out Westwood, an old mill town about 20 miles west of here. We also wanted to get a look at Lake Almanor. We thought we could have a proper lunch near the lake.

We headed west out of Susanville on CA36, which immediately climbs for two miles outside of town. The road surface is great. It becomes a two-lane highway with passing lanes on the inclines. It cuts through the Lassen National Forest. We topped out at Fredonyer Pass over 5,700 feet above sea level, then descended a few hundred feet into Westwood.

We went to the visitor center there and found it’s only open on Friday and Saturday at this time of year. We didn’t find any suitable eateries in the small town – the population is about 1,700.

We rode out of town through pine forest on the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway. This took us to Lake Almanor – which is actually a reservoir created when Canyon Dam was built on the north fork of the Feather River in 1914. The lake is surrounded by private properties – rustic cabins, huge summer homes and resort cottages. There’s very little public access.

The area reminded me of Big Bear Lake in southern California near San Bernadino with the mountains and pine trees. The difference is the amount of tourism. Big Bear feeds off the huge southern California population and also has a winter ski area, so it’s always bustling with activity. Lake Almanor, not so much. The biggest draw is fishing on the lake for rainbow trout, brown trout and small mouth bass.

We found a couple of RV parks on the lake. One was gated and we couldn’t enter but the second one was open so we rode in and parked. The sites were laid out in such a way that I couldn’t figure out how they even got their rigs in there. Most of the sites had fifth-wheel trailers that looked to be permanent or semi-permanent set-ups.

Cove on Lake Almanor

Another view of the lake from the RV park

Another view of the lake from Big Cove RV park

The little villages on the north shore of the lake were sleepy. I guess the season doesn’t really start here until after Memorial Day. Most of the restaurants were closed. With so little of the lake shore accessible, we decided to head back to Susanville for a late lunch.

We stopped at the Pioneer Cafe – home of Lassen Ale Works where we had the fried mushrooms the day before. I had fish and chips while Donna went for a bowl of chicken noodle florentine soup with a small pub salad. The food at this place is excellent. The batter on the cod I had was perfect – paper thin with a toughness that held the fish together without being crunchy. Donna’s soup was loaded with chunks of chicken, carrots, celery and spinach noodles and she said it was terrific. She asked for blue cheese dressing on her salad – all of the dressings and sauces are made fresh in the kitchen. Her dressing seemed to be laced with fennel while the tartar sauce that came with my fish and chips featured capers.

I had the Lassen Ale Works ESB (Extra Special Bitter) – a British-style ale – that was tapped with nitrogen. The nitrogen gives it a creamy head and it was a delight.

Lassen Ale Works ESB

Those who read this blog regularly know I try to keep it up to date at least four or five days a week. One blog I follow (What’s Newell) written by Clarke Hochwald is updated every day. It’s rare for Clarke to miss a post. I’ve only met Clarke once briefly in a Walmart parking lot in Yreka, California. But after following his blog for over three years, I feel like I know him. That’s how the RV community is among bloggers – we know what our fellow travelers are up to and enjoy following them.

I noticed Clarke didn’t post yesterday. Last night, I checked his site again and no update. This was odd. I sent him an e-mail asking if he was okay. He responded and said he wrote his post but somehow forgot to post it! I didn’t mean to be nosy or be a blog stalker – RVers tend to watch out for each other and I wanted to make sure he was alright.

We’re expecting another fine day today with the temperature reaching 70 and a slight chance of a shower this afternoon. I’m hoping the new spark plug wires for the Spyder show up. The forecast says rain will come overnight and it’ll be rainy for a couple of days. I’d like to get the work done on the Spyder before the rain hits.

Hot Car Show

Saturday morning Donna rode the Spyder to meet her friend, Stevie Ann Rinehart, for breakfast in Scottsdale. She went to Merci – a French bistro that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Stevie Ann was the first person Donna met when she came to Arizona in 2002. It’s been two years since they were able to get together. They enjoyed the breakfast and the chance to visit.

When Donna came home around noon, I took the Spyder and rode to Mesa Community College (MCC) on Power Road. They were having a car show there and a few of my friends had cars in the show. It wasn’t as large a turnout as I expected – probably because there was also a car show at Falcon Field where they were having an open house and planes flying in formation overhead, including WWII warplanes. The MCC show was free though while the Falcon Field show charged admission.

I walked through and looked at the cars – a few were really nice. I talked to my friend, John Huff – he had his ’30 Ford he calls Lucy at the show. I also talked to Wayne – he had his ’63 Nova on display.

Lucy – John Huff’s Ford

I posted pictures and descriptions of Wayne’s outrageous Nova before. This time I shot a photo showing the plumbing from the dual fuel pumps to the big Holley four-barrel carburetor and the two-stage nitrous injection system. The workmanship is immaculate throughout this car.

Fuel system plumbing on Wayne’s 540 cubic inch Nova

Another guy I know, Ray, had his Hennessey Camaro there. Hennessy is an aftermarket performance car builder in Texas. Ray’s Hennessey is a HPE600. It features a supercharged LS3 V8 with 376 cubic inches of displacement producing 602 horsepower.

Ray’s Hennessey Camaro

Hennessey LS3 engine with Magnussen TVS2300 supercharger

Hennessey plate under the hood

This really clean 1956 Chevy Bel Air caught my eye. That was the year I was born. It featured a swiveling driver’s seat – it swiveled 90 degrees making it easy to enter or exit.

1956 Chevy Bel AIr

I also liked this 1965 Shelby 427 Cobra roadster replica.

1965 Shelby 427 Cobra replica

The unshaded parking lot was hot. Cars left the show before the 3pm closing time. John was one of them. After grabbing a fish taco plate at Seńor Taco, I met John and Mike Hall at Lucky Lou’s for a cold one. Since it was only 2:30pm, I went for a cold Bud Light – it was too early to drink my usual IPA.

I spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing and reading. Donna went grocery shopping then prepared balsamic chicken breasts with peppers and onions over spinach tagliatelle nests. It was delicious.

Balsalmic chicken breasts with peppers and onions over spinach tagliatelle nests

After dinner we watched a couple of episodes of Sons of Anarchy, but couldn’t get into it.

This morning, Donna went out for a 30 mile bicycle ride. I hung out and finished the book I was reading. I planned to go to the hardware store for a few things I need to continue working on some projects but they’re closed for Easter Sunday.

Donna usually makes a traditional Irish dinner of corned beef, cabbage and soda bread on St. Patrick’s Day. That didn’t work out this year, so she’s making it today for our Easter dinner. I’ll tell you about it later.

Today is another warm day – the temperature should be near 90 degrees. We’ll have the same tomorrow before this heat spell breaks.

Trailer Project – Part Two

After Donna proofread my post yesterday, she headed out on the Spyder to meet her friend Julia in Scottsdale. It was about a 20-mile ride each way. It was Donna’s first time riding the Spyder on the freeway – she took the loop 202 to the 101 to Old Town Scottsdale. They had lunch and visited at Arcadia Farms Cafe on east 1st Avenue. Donna thought very highly of the restaurant – food, service, ambiance. What more can you ask for?

When she came home, she told me she felt a vibration in the footpegs at ~5,100 rpm at 70 mph. Donna is pretty sensitive to these things and always tells me to see if I think there’s a problem.

I spent the afternoon working on the trailer while Donna was away. I wanted to get the SteepGrade bike rack installation figured out and finalized. I don’t have any affiliation with this company – Donna found them online and although not inexpensive, it looked like a good fit for us. With our new 8.5-foot wide trailer, I have room to secure the bicycles on the floor across the trailer. A little work with a tape measure had me visualizing how it could work.

I like to balance the load in the trailer as much as possible. This means some heavy stuff needs to be in front of the axles to offset weight behind the axles. Side-to-side weight is also a consideration. I think I have it pretty well sussed-out at this point. We have three bicycles – two road bikes and my mountain bike. They will travel just ahead of the axles cross-ways in the trailer. There’s enough room for me to walk past the bikes on the right side of the trailer to access the rear portion when needed. The SteepGrade racks mount the front fork with the wheel removed. The wheel is then fastened to a holder that fits over the top tube of the bike. This makes for a compact arrangement of the bikes. I needed to add some D-rings to the trailer to attach the tie-downs for the bikes.

D-rings and tape measure – measure twice

I used one-inch self-drilling screws to attach the D-rings to the steel wall studs in the trailer.

This is how they’ll ride

I think I’ll put a furniture pad over the bike in the center to prevent damage if they should move about as we travel down the road.

I wouldn’t want them to contact each other

This photo shows how the system works.

The set up on my Specialized Crave mountain bike

I also installed tie-down points for the rear of the Spyder. The front wheels will be fastened to the flush-mount rings that came with the Interstate car hauler trailer.

Meanwhile I’d treated the burn on my right leg – see yesterday’s post – with 100% aloe vera gel. It seems to be helping. Hopefully this doesn’t turn into any kind of a big deal.

I rode the Spyder to Red, White and Brew after Donna came home. I made a pass at 5,100 rpm at 70 mph to check out the vibration she felt. The Spyder is powered by a Rotax 998cc 60-degree V-twin engine. This layout is inherently unbalanced. The narrow 60-degree layout makes for a compact front-to-rear dimension – which is good for a motorcycle. Rotax compensates for the imbalance by employing counter-balance shafts in the engine. However, counter-balance shafts can’t eliminate all vibrations at all engine speeds. There will always be certain engine speeds that result in vibration. In my opinion, the foot peg vibration Donna felt at 5,100 rpm is a normal result of the inherent imbalance of a 60-degree V-twin engine.

Donna prepared turmeric chicken thighs for dinner. This is a dish she’s prepared before. This time she felt like the spice was missing its usual kick. The chicken was still tasty – just not the same as before. After thinking about it, she realized that she’s had that bottle of spice for 3-4 years – time for some fresh spice! In the future she’ll buy turmeric in smaller quantities.

3_23dnrplTimeric chicken with rice and asparagus

Turmeric chicken with rice and asparagus

Today we’ll have another typical March day in central Arizona with temperatures reaching 80 degrees. After pickleball, I’ll continue work on the trailer. I have a couple of other projects that I need to attend to before we leave here.

Up Against the Wall

I’ve written about the RV community and how we have made many new friends. We find ourselves in the same areas at the same time every now and then and it’s fun to get together and reconnect. On Tuesday we had a different experience. Blog reader Michelle Zenkovich and her husband Matt were visiting Mesa, Arizona. Michelle messaged me and we arranged to meet up at 5:30pm at the Beer Research Institute (BRI).

Donna and I rode the Spyder and arrived a few minutes early. Matt and Michelle were already there and had a table. After introducing ourselves we sat together and ordered beers. Donna, Michelle and Matt each ordered a flight of four four-ounce samplers while I went for a pint of 48OG IPA brewed onsite.

Matt, Michelle and Donna at BRI

After a bit of conversation, we ordered food. Donna and I split a machaca taco plate.

BRI machaca taco plate

Matt had the machaca tacos also while Michelle ordered the southwest poutine.

Southwest poutine

We ate and talked until 7pm, then it was time to head for home. I’m sure Matt and Michelle were jet-lagged after a long day of travel from West Virginia.

On Wednesday morning, I hit the pickleball courts early. They weren’t as crowded as last week and I hardly had a break between games. I ended playing 12 games and I was getting a little sore.

Towerpoint RV Resort had a free lunch scheduled for newcomers at the courtyard by the swimming pool. Donna and I attended and had a plate of sliced beef – I think it was a tri-tip – that was overcooked and tough. If it wasn’t for the mashed potatoes with a generous serving of gravy, I don’t think I could’ve choked the meat down. I’m exaggerating, of course. It wasn’t that bad and you can’t beat free lunch! We also had green beans and a salad with it. We met other park visitors along with the activities director and chatted for about an hour.

After lunch, I went to the hardware store to buy clips to hang some things in the trailer. Our new trailer is taller than the old one. This gives me plenty of room to mount things on the walls instead of stacking everything on the floor.

Kayak paddles and washing brushes mounted on the trailer front wall

I’ve been looking at cabinets to mount on the side walls and a solution for securing the bicycles. I have a mountain bike and a road bike and Donna has her road bike. In our old trailer, I tied the bikes to the roof bows and suspended them. I’d like to find a way to either hang them from the side walls or even mount them securely to the floor. They would be much easier to load and unload and I have the space to do that now.

I shot a couple of photos to give a sense of the size of this trailer. The external dimensions are 24′ 8″ overall length, 8′ 6″ wide and 9′ high.

Trailer tight in our site

Close fit by our neighbor’s place

It will be interesting when the time comes to leave Towerpoint RV Resort and tow the trailer out of here. We won’t leave until April 15th. Hopefully some of the sites around us will be empty by then, giving us more room to maneuver.

I got another seven games of pickleball in this morning. Later, I’ll drop Donna off for a hair appointment. While she’s there, I’ll head over to the Elks Lodge in Tempe and see about joining. Our friend Dave Hobden sponsored us and I have an application. Elks Lodges usually have RV parking and inexpensive hook-ups. This will give us another alternative for places to stay while we travel about. It’s another sunny, beautiful day. The forecast calls for warm weather and sunny skies with no rain in the next 10 days.

Western Winter Blast

We’ve had a busy and fun-filled time the past few days. On Thursday, the Alpine Coach Association SoCal chapter rally officially opened. Donna hiked the Crack in the Mountain trail in the morning. The trailhead is across the road from the rodeo grounds, about a quarter of mile from our coach. It goes down through a slot canyon and includes a dry waterfall slide before you reach the river – about three miles down the trail. Here are a few photos from her hike.

Down through the slot

Tight trail

Sandy wash

Colorado River

Our first social event was happy hour and a pizza dinner Thursday afternoon and evening.

Marcie and Donna in the foreground at happy hour

Marcy and Donna in the foreground at happy hour

On Friday morning, we had a BYOC (Bring Your Own Coffee) breakfast with the group – fresh fruit, pastries, yogurt, hard boiled eggs and toasted bagels were on the buffet.

Later, Donna and I rode the Spyder up to the mall on the north side of town. The large parking lot in front of Dillard’s where they had the RV show last weekend was mostly empty. We thought this would be an ideal place for Donna to take a few test runs on the Spyder. She started out with some low speed maneuvering, then picked up speed and worked on upshifting and downshifting. She took to it like a duck to water and had fun riding it. I’m totally comfortable on it now and I think Donna will have an easy transition from motorcycling to the Spyder.

Later I got her bicycle out of the trailer and she rode the paved bike path that runs along US95. It was an out and back ride – mostly downhill on the way out which meant she had a climb coming back. She rode about 20 miles.

When she returned, we joined a group of friends for happy hour and a potluck heavy hors d’oeuvres dinner. The reason for this gathering at Lake Havasu City is the Western Pyrotechnic Association Western Winter Blast. The Western Winter Blast is a convention put on by the association and it includes a lot of activities for their members including training, seminars, certifications and vendor exhibits. This is for various municipalities and private companies that wish to put on fireworks displays. Some of the training is for firemen to learn how to best handle fires containing various chemicals and compounds used in the fireworks. There are also classes to learn how to construct class B and Class C fireworks. All this stuff is for Western Pyrotechnic Association members. The rest of us are here just to watch the show.

During the daytime, we heard a few loud booms – I could feel the concussion from one inside our coach! I think they were simulating firework accidents for training purposes across the wash to the east of us.

Open shooting happens from 6:30pm to 7:30pm – open shooting is where members practice with fireworks. From 7:30pm to 8:30pm is the public display where vendors show off their latest and greatest fireworks. Open Shooting resumes from 8:30pm to 10:30pm. That’s a lot of fireworks.

The rodeo grounds are separated from the race track area east of us by a large sandy wash. The pyrotechnics are fired from the race track area over the empty wash. Each night a big boom and large fire is visible near the race track area – I think this is part of the training for firemen.

I attempted a few photos with my smartphone. The results aren’t stellar, but I’m compelled to include a few in this post.

Watching the fireworks from our ACA viewing area

Ooohh

Aaahh

Grand finale

The temperature is in the low 80s and will continue to be warm until we leave on Monday. Donna is going to hike the Crack in the Mountain trail again today with Alpine friends we met a few years ago at the FMCA Redmond pre-rally in Portland. I need to change the oil on our generator – It’s about five hours overdue.

Gray Skies at Jojoba Hills

On Wednesday morning, our last full day in San Diego, Donna joined her friend Johanna for a bike ride up to the Torrey Pines Glider Port. While she was out, I cleaned our site, packed the awning mat and folded the chairs. I cleaned the Traeger wood pellet fired grill. I checked our tire pressures – something I always do before we travel. When Donna came home from her ride, I took her bike to the trailer and hung it up.

Our friends Tom and Kris Downey (Open Road 365) generously offered the use of their Chevy Equinox to haul things out to the trailer. But before I started hauling stuff to the trailer, I had to scooter to Pacific Beach to CVS Pharmacy. During my last check-up before Christmas, Dr. Ryan put me on a new prescription. It’s a daily medication. I picked up the initial 30-day supply at CVS, then added the medication to my CVS-Caremark mail-order plan. I received an e-mail Tuesday from CVS-Caremark telling me they would fill the mail-order prescription with a 90-day supply in three to five days.

We’ll be bouncing around for a few weeks and I don’t think I’ll have mail forwarded until the middle of February. I’ll run out of my meds before then. I told the woman at the pharmacy about my dilemma. I was certain the insurance wouldn’t cover another 30-day supply when they just approved a 90-day supply. She looked up the out-of-pocket price for 30 capsules. It was $142. She had my contact info and said she would talk to my insurance company and call me later. She called me about half an hour later and said she had it worked out. She asked the insurance company for a vacation waiver to refill the prescription as my meds wouldn’t catch up with me in time. They approved it! When I went back to CVS and picked up the prescription there was no co-pay – it cost me zero instead of $142.

With the dilemma solved, I went to Tom and Kris’ site to borrow their car. I made two trips to the trailer and had everything except for the Traeger packed – it’s too bulky to put into the car. I returned the car, then I walked the Traeger out to the trailer and it was job done.

Just before sundown, our friend Hans Kohls (Metamorphosis Road) stopped by. He told us Lisa had a cold and didn’t want to infect anybody so she stayed home while he came by to bid us farewell. Hans brought a cold bottle of IPA from Green Flash Brewing. It was billed as a tropical fruit style. It tasted more citrus to me than anything tropical. The hops were typical IPA – I think it was Cascade, Centennial and Simcoe hops. I opened a bomber bottle of a limited release ale from Lagunitas called Hairy Eyeball. This was a malty, almost sweet beer with 9.1% ABV and 56 IBUs. It was tasty – Donna even liked it, but I think one is my limit on this beer.

Lagunitas Hairy Eyeball

With the gear already stowed in the cargo trailer, I had a leisurely morning on Thursday prepping to leave. I hooked the water hose I use for flushing to the flushing valve for the black water tank and dumped it. While it was flushing, Ray stopped by and started talking to me. I shut the dump valve on the black tank and opened the gray water tank as Tom arrived and joined the conversation. The gray tank took about six minutes to empty – then I realized I hadn’t shut off the water supply to the black tank flushing valve. I was filling the black tank with water while we talked! I ran over to the spigot and shut it off. We have a large black tank – 89 gallons, so there’s no way I could overfill it in six minutes. But I was a little flustered none the less. Getting distracted while performing a chore like that can have disastrous results.

We fired up the Cummins ISL diesel at 11:15am. When we were lining up to hook up the trailer, I couldn’t hear anything Donna was saying over the handheld Cobra CB radio. I checked the radio and it indicated low battery. Donna could hear me – there was enough battery power to receive a signal but it takes more power to transmit. There wasn’t enough current to transmit so I couldn’t hear her. The radio takes seven AA batteries and they lasted for about two years. Not bad.

We drove north on I-15 to Temecula and on to the Jojoba Hills SKP park near Aguanga (map). I told Tom it takes about an hour to get to Temecula. I was right – we got to Temecula in about an hour, but I didn’t account for the stoplight-to-stoplight drive through Temecula and the 13-mile drive down CA79 to get to the RV park. It was about an hour and half total time.

We checked in to the boondocking area – no hook-ups for five dollars a night. We’ll spend two nights here before we move on to the Golden Palms RV Resort in Hemet, about 30 miles from here.

Setting up in a dry camping area is quick and easy. I pushed a button to extend the jacks and level the coach. Then I worked three switches to extend the slide-outs. Job done. Donna loves this place. It’s one of the cleanest and well laid out parks in a beautiful setting. The amenities are great. I gave a little background on this park in this post.

It was cold Friday morning. The temperature was in the 40s. We’re a little more than 2,000 feet above sea level here. Around 9am, we braved the cold and went to the outdoor pickleball courts. We had fun and played for two hours before retreating to the coach. From the boondocking area, it’s a bit of a hike to the pickleball courts – uphill all the way. The trail is nice though and a new waterfall was added since our last stay here.

The trail heading back to our coach

Our boondocking site hidden among the trees

The new waterfall

Another view of the upper part of the ‘falls

We spent the rest of the afternoon with the generator running and the heat pumps on. The skies are overcast and the temperature stayed in the mid-50s. Tomorrow we’ll move on and hopefully find warmer weather.

From Kafta to Sushi

Donna and I played pickleball at the Ocean Beach Recreation Center on Monday. They only play for two hours at OBRC. We were home by 2:30pm. I had one task to take care of as we prepare to hit the road after nine weeks in San Diego.

I replaced the windshield wiper blade assemblies. The last time I replaced the wipers, I put new rubber inserts in. The blade assembly wears over time and the pivot points loosen. The blade clamps around thin metal strips reinforcing the rubber blade material. This area also loosens its grip after the inserts are replaced a couple of times. I found 28″ replacement blade assemblies to fit our wiper arms at a school bus supply company in Clinton Township, Michigan called Unity School Bus Parts. I don’t have any affiliation with this company, but I included a link in case a reader needs parts.

The blades are attached to the wiper arm with shoulder bolts. The replacement blades were a perfect fit. The shoulder bolt has an 8mm hex head and is fastened with a 6mm hex nut.

Shoulder bolt for wiper blade

Old and new wiper blades

This was a simple task. I think I spent more time walking to the trailer and back to get the proper wrenches than I spent actually installing the blades

Around 5pm, we went to Kris and Tom Downey’s (Open Road 365) coach. We were invited to join them and their friends, Ray and Kathy, for dinner. Kris is recovering from surgery on her broken ankle and is mostly confined to hobbling around in her coach. Ray made kafta – a middle eastern dish of ground beef and lamb on skewers or rolled into oblong meatballs. Donna made orzo with roasted cherry tomatoes and parsley.

Donna working her magic in Kris’ kitchen

We enjoyed the meal inside and sat and talked. Some of us enjoyed adult beverages as well. As always, the time flies by while the conversation is flowing.

Donna, me, Kris and Tom

Tuesday we had nice weather. It was sunny and clear out and slightly warmer with the temperature in the upper 60s. I went to the Pacific Beach Recreation Center to play pickleball while Donna stayed home to do some early spring cleaning in the coach with the products she is reviewing for Family Circle magazine. I intended to get started on packing things in the trailer after pickleball but I showered and went to Offshore Tavern and Grill instead. I had a farewell toast with the guys there.

I came home before 5pm because we had an early dinner reservation. Donna’s sister Sheila and our 11-year-old nephew Connor were picking us up to go to Sushi Ota. This popular restaurant has some of the best sushi in San Diego – make that the best sushi we’ve found anywhere. We ordered a large selection and I stuffed myself. Connor wanted to try uni – sea urchin – and I talked him into ordering it with a quail egg. He was venturesome and went for it. And he liked it!

Sushi platter – uni with quail egg in the lower left

Today we have partly cloudy skies. I’ll remove the windshield cover and tire covers and set the tire pressures. Then I’ll pack the trailer. We have cloudy skies, but the forecast calls for zero percent chance of rain until this evening. I should have ample time to pack everything this afternoon while it’s dry. Donna’s out for a bike ride with our friend Johanna this morning, then she has a lunch date in Old Town with a former colleague. I’ll scooter her over there and she’ll take the bus back while I’m packing up.

Tomorrow we’ll pull out and head up to Temecula about an hour away from here. We plan to spend two nights at Jojoba Hills SKP Resort – an RV park for Escapees members. Then we’ll move to Golden Palms RV Resort in Hemet. We plan to stay there for one week. This should be enough time to assist my step-dad. I’ll drive him to the hospital at 5am Monday morning and drive him home once he’s released after surgery. We’ll hang out and help him while he recovers. Hopefully we’ll have dry weather up in Riverside County.

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Bicycle

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Lake Almanor

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Trailer Project – Part Two

Up Against the Wall

Western Winter Blast

Gray Skies at Jojoba Hills

From Kafta to Sushi

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