Category Archives: Bicycle

Racing in the Rain

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

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

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

Getting set for a wet race

Getting set for a wet race

I never liked racing in the rain

I never liked racing in the rain

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

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

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

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

Chicken Satay skewers on the grill

Chicken sate skewers on the grill

Malaysian chicken satay with peanut sauce and bok choy

Malaysian chicken sate with peanut sauce and bok choy

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

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

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

Happy Hour at Sun Life

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

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

Paul's assistant, Hunter aligning the sunshade

Pat’s assistant, Hunter, aligning the sunshade

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

Dot twist lock

Dot twist lock

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

Nice fit

Nice fit

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

Inside looking out through the sun shade

Inside looking out through the sun shade

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

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

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

Happy hour snacks

Happy hour snacks

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

Cheri, Donna, John, Sharon and Brett

Cheri, Donna, John, Sharon and Brett

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

 

That Really Hurt

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wild Alaskan cod meuniere

Wild Alaskan cod meuniere

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

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

Pickleball-Weary Legs

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

Carnitas soft taco

Carnitas soft taco

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

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

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

Glazed drumsticks with rice noodles and shredded cabbage

Glazed drumsticks with rice noodles and shredded cabbage

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

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

Pickleball action at Venture Out

Pickleball action at Venture Out

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

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

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

Cheri snapped this photo of me, Donna and Brett

Cheri snapped this photo of me, Donna and Brett

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

 

Shady Upgrade

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

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

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

Baked chicken thighs with organic baby spinach

Baked chicken thighs with organic baby spinach

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

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

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

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

Thai pork and butternut squash soup

Thai pork and butternut squash soup

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

Almost Famous

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

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

Muddy canal

Muddy canal

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

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

Canal lock

Canal lock

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

Digging a hole

Digging a hole

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

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

230,000 volts in those lines

230,000 volts in those lines

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

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

Pizza chicken

Pizza chicken

She served it with sauteed zucchini and onions.

Pizza chicken with sauteed zucchini and onions

Pizza chicken with sauteed zucchini and onions

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

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

 

Mystery Ducks

I rode my mountain bike up Eastern Canal yesterday before noon. The canal runs diagonally to the northwest from University Drive. I crossed Adobe, Brown Road, Lindsay Road and McKellips before I reached the intersection of Old Gilbert and Gilbert Road. From there, the canal makes a turn to the northeast. I followed it for a while, then turned back.

I was surprised when I saw fish in the canal. At first, I only saw the water swirl as the fish would dart away from the side of the canal as I approached. Then I got a good look at a white amur. The canal is operated and maintained by the Salt River Project (SRP) which is the local power utility. They have a permit to stock the canals with white amur fish, which are non-native. The fish must be contained in the canals to prevent them from proliferating and competing with native species. In the canals, they control aquatic plant growth as they are voracious eaters of aquatic plants.

I also saw a large common carp. The fish was big enough to resemble an eel. Its long, slender body with a dorsal fin that ran almost the length of the body gave this impression.

I stopped at one point and snapped a photo of a couple of ducks with my smartphone. These ducks were large – their bodies were a little bigger than the average mallard. They were dark, with brown on their sides and dark iridescent feathers on their back. When I returned home, I looked in my field guide and online but had no luck identifying these ducks. I’ve never seen them before. Anyone have any idea what they are?

Mystery ducks

Mystery ducks

Donna had an appointment for lab work and left around noon. A few rain showers fell while she was out. Later, she took off again for a book signing in Phoenix. By the time she left around 4pm, it was raining steadily.

The rain continued overnight and it looks like we have a rainy day ahead. I think I’ll hang out and read an Elmore Leonard western that I started yesterday.

Simple Switch

Friday was a beautiful day for a bike ride. The temperature reached the mid-70s and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Donna took off on her road bike and headed east on Adobe Street. Shortly thereafter, I unloaded my mountain bike from the trailer and took a ride.

There are nine canals in the Phoenix area that supply irrigation water. In addition to the nine major canals, there are smaller canals called laterals that interconnect the major canals. Some of the laterals are underground. Most of the laterals south of the Salt River are large ditches.

Eastern Canal south of University Drive

Eastern Canal south of University Drive

I followed the Eastern Canal, which was built by the federal government in 1909, south. I made a loop through Mesa and stopped in at a couple of RV lots to kick tires. I also stopped at two trailer sales lots to see if I could find a pneumatic tire for the front jack on our cargo trailer. I have a six-inch wheel on there now, but it’s made from hard plastic and doesn’t roll well unless the trailer is parked on a hard surface. If I drop the trailer in gravel, it’s difficult to move it. I didn’t have any luck in my search though.

Donna spent the remainder of the afternoon working. I went to Lucky Lou’s at 3pm for an early happy hour. I met up with the usual gang there.

Patrick, Leendert, John, Mike and Jodi at Lucky Lou's

Patrick, Leendert, John, Mike and Jodi at Lucky Lou’s

Mike Hall told me about a 1978 Mercedes 450 SL he’s working on. It has a cooling system issue – the electric fan doesn’t work. I threw out a few ideas, then told him I would stop by and have a look on Saturday.

When I arrived at his place on Saturday and looked at the car, I was surprised to see the radiator has an engine-driven clutch fan in a shroud behind the radiator and an electric auxiliary fan in front of the radiator. When we spoke the day before, I assumed it only had the electric fan.

Mike had a Haynes manual for the Mercedes, but it didn’t have any information on the auxiliary fan nor did the wire diagram show the fan circuit. I searched online but couldn’t find anything useful. I spent the next two hours following wires back to the fuse panel and relay panel. It was a real head scratcher. We had already confirmed that the fan motor worked by jumping power directly from the battery.

There are two temperature sensors in the cooling system – a single pole sensor and a double pole sensor. After looking around and thinking a bit, it occurred to me that the single-pole sensor was a simple temperature switch. The double-pole sensor must be for the temperature gauge.

I disconnected the single-pole sensor and had Mike turn the ignition on. Sure enough, I had battery voltage going to the sensor. Here’s what I was thinking. The single-pole sensor is probably a simple bi-metallic switch. It has a metal strip in the center made of two dis-similar metals. As the  coolant heats up in the sensor, the metals expand at different rates, causing the strip to bend. When the strip bends far enough, it touches the metal housing on the sensor, grounding the circuit and the voltage at the connector flows. This low-current voltage activates the relay which, in turn, supplies current to the fan motor.

To test this theory, I grounded the wire connected to the sensor with the ignition key on. Voila! The fan started running. We have a defective sensor. It isn’t grounding the circuit, so the fan relay doesn’t activate. The single-pole sensor is easily replaced and the part is available online.

With that done, Mike bought me lunch at Red, White and Brew. I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up the engine compartment on our coach and re-securing some insulation that came loose in the compartment. I also cleaned and waxed the right rear corner of the coach. The lawn sprinkler behind our site sprays the right rear corner and leaves hard water spots.

Today is NFL Conference Championship day. I think I’ll hang out and watch football. Donna’s heading out for another bike ride.

Looking Back at 2014

The last day of 2014! How can that be? I’m growing accustomed to the time warp that accompanies our nomadic way of life. When I think about today being December 31st, it seems like the year flew by. But when I reflect on all the places we’ve been, the things we’ve seen and the people we met in 2014, I wonder how it all happened in just 365 days.

We’ve come full circle – last year we spent New Year’s Eve right here at Hidden Shores with Bruce and Debbie Bednarski and Pat and Kim Chapman. We left Hidden Shores Village on January 2nd last year and drove up US95 to Quartzsite. We parked the coach in a big, empty parking lot, unloaded the scooter and took off to explore a few RV sales lots. We were on a mission to find a new (to us) coach.

The time we spent on the road in 2013 had taught us a lot about full-time RVing. We had a better idea of our wants and needs in a coach. Donna had certain requirements for the floor plan and interior while I had my powertrain preferences. Donna knew I really wanted Cummins ISL power with a side radiator and two-stage Jacobs Engineering compression brake. So we didn’t waste time looking at anything without it.

We rolled on to Mesa, Arizona and visited RV sales lots there. I had my eye on a few coaches for sale that I’d been watching on the Internet. We finally ended up with our Alpine Coach and have been very happy with our choice.

After we bought our coach and completed the transaction in Blythe, California (for tax purposes) we went back to Quartzsite for the big RV show. It was our first time at the show and we learned a lot there. We also spent a lot of money! That’s where we bought our induction cooktop and the new pots and pans to go with it.

We returned to Mesa, Arizona for a long stint. We stayed until mid-April, enjoying time with friends in the area and doing a lot of cycling. When we left, we didn’t go far. We spent some time at Lake Pleasant, boondocked up on a hill with a spectacular view of the lake. Then we moved on to Congress, Arizona where we became members of the Escapees. We made new friends there and had a blast hiking and exploring the desert. We met fellow Alpine Coach owners, Dave and Lynda Campbell there.

When we left Congress, we found another cool boondocking spot near Sedona before we moved on to Flagstaff where we spent a week. Donna had to fly to New York City for a satellite media tour. But she was only gone for one day. We had a rental car for the entire week and visited the Grand Canyon National Park and also found the Beaver Street Brewery in Flagstaff. Donna did a lot of hiking on the trails near the RV park.

Our next stop was at Lake Powell, north of Page, Arizona. We boondocked on the sand next to the lake at Lone Rock for a couple of days. From there we headed east through the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona and up to Bluff, Utah before we continued on to Moab.

Our timing was poor – Moab had a big off-road event scheduled and the RV parks were sold out. We managed to find a site for one night only before we headed off to Fruita, Colorado (near Grand Junction). We enjoyed our time there. Donna did lots of bicycling and we explored the Colorado National Monument. And Big Al got a transmission service.

Our travels took us west, back into Utah. We stayed at the fairgrounds in Heber, which was a really cool little town, before moving on to Salt Lake City. In Salt Lake City, we stayed at the KOA near downtown with easy airport access via light rail. This worked out great as Donna needed to fly to Phoenix for a conference. We also took the light rail to go out to dinner to celebrate our 8th anniversary.

After Salt Lake City, we spent one night in Idaho Falls before we settled in at West Yellowstone, a few hundred yards from the park entrance. We had a blast there. Donna had bicycling adventures and wild animal encounters in the national park.

In Montana, we spent a few nights off the grid on a friend’s property near White Sulphur Springs. Our next stop was Great Falls where Donna competed in the Montana State Senior Olympics bike race. The race turned out to be a disaster when she did not finish due to tire failure.

We continued westward and found a great free campsite off I-90 near the Idaho border. After a night there, we continued west to Coeur d’Alene where we spent two weeks and were able to cheer on our friend, Allen Hutchinson, who was there to compete in the Ironman Triathlon.

We moved on to the North Cascades and enjoyed time at the Pine Near RV Park in Winthrop, Washington – one of our favorite RV parks. From there we moved on to the west side of the mountains and stayed at Lake Goodwin RV Resort where we spent two weeks and enjoyed many visits with my daughter, Alana, and our grandchildren, Lainey and Gabi.

We worked our way south and found more cool places, like South Bend, Washington – another of our new favorites. Eventually we wound up in Portland, Oregon for an Alpine Coach Association rally. This rally was a precursor to the FMCA rally in Bend, Oregon. We made many new friends at the rallies and caravaned with Dave and Stilla Hobden.

We went back to Portland before we headed south. Our new friends, Scott and Marcia Hicks, invited us to stay at their property on the Row River. It was a beautiful site with full RV hook-ups! Thanks again, Scott and Marcia.

When we entered California, we had a chance encounter with Clarke and Elaine Hockwald. They are fellow full-timers and bloggers. Clarke’s blog was one I’d followed since we first thought about RVing.

Our travels took us to central California where Donna rode in a challenging bike race in Tehachapi before we moved south to another Escapees park near Temecula. This is another favorite place.

We settled in at Mission Bay RV Resort in September and spent three months in San Diego. Whew! That was our year in a nutshell. We covered about 6,200 miles.

Yesterday, I rode my mountain bike through the Hidden Shores RV Resort. I saw trails on a hillside to the north and found a trail head.

Trails on the hill

Trails on the hill

The trail led into a sandy wash – I thought it would take me to the hillside.

Trail head into a sandy wash

Trailhead into a sandy wash

Before I rode down into the wash, I heard a motorized vehicle. A side-by-side four wheeler came around the corner.

Side-by-side ATV

Side-by-side ATV

Good thing I wasn’t blasting down the trail on my bike! The driver stopped and told me there were more vehicles coming. He suggested riding my mountain bike on the narrow trail to the east, where I’d be less likely to encounter vehicles.

Nice, old school sand rail

Nice, old school sand rail

As I was leaving, I saw a throwback sand rail. This type of dune buggy was popular back in the day – it was powered by a Volkswagen air-cooled flat four-cylinder engine and had VW torsion bar front suspension. The driver went down through the wash. This thing looked like it would be a lot of fun.

Bruce and Debbie arrived last evening. Debbie came down to visit and take a tour of our coach. We’ll be joining them for dinner and New Year’s Eve celebrations tonight.

 

Pineapple Express

Donna loves Christmas decorations. I go along with it, but I’m not crazy about putting up lights and all that. This year, Donna decided to decorate the coach. She strung lights outside and inside. She also bought funky little tree – it  has bare branches, white bark and lights.

Christmas lights outside and inside our coach

Christmas lights outside and inside our coach

Donna's Christmas tree

Donna’s Christmas tree

Yesterday, Donna moved the tree into the coach and removed the outside lights from the coach. I moved the ladder and Donna’s bicycle over to the trailer. We were battening down the hatches in preparation for the storm heading our way.

A tropical storm, called a Pineapple Express is slamming the west coast. It hit northern California, Oregon and Washington first. A Pineapple Express is a tropical storm that originates in the vicinity of Hawaii. As it moves in a northeasterly direction across the Pacific Ocean, it builds intensity and carries a lot of moisture.

These storms are fairly easy to track and predict. It hit the northern section of the west coast Thursday morning. Portland International Airport recorded a 67mph wind gust – the strongest recorded in 33 years. Powerful wind gusts hit the San Francisco Bay area, knocking out power. Wind velocity of 147mph was recorded in the Sierra Nevada mountains, near Truckee, California.

With the wind came rain. Flash flood warnings were in effect in every county of the Bay area and inland to Sacramento. Nine inches of rain fell in Sonoma County and multiple freeways have been closed. The storm will bring significant snowfall to the Sierra Nevada mountains. The snowpack could help to ease California’s drought.

The jet stream was expected to push the storm southwards, with heavy rain coming to the Los Angeles basin Thursday night. We expected to catch the tail end of the storm in San Diego, with the heaviest rain coming this morning.

The wind woke me up a couple of times in the early morning hours. By 7am, the rain was falling steadily. By 8am, it became heavy rain and it continues to rain at 10am as I type this. The forecast calls for the rain to let up with showers all afternoon and this evening. The weekend forecast calls for the storm to move east, with clear weather here on the coast. Umm, should I say that’s when the coast will be clear?

The storm will bring snow to the Rocky Mountains over the weekend. I’m glad the Chargers are playing the Denver Broncos here in San Diego on Sunday.