Category Archives: Health

Back to Normal

Things are settling down to some semblance of normal around here. When I wrote my post last week, I thought I’d turned the corner and beat the flu-like symptoms. It wasn’t to be. Tuesday morning I woke up feeling like I’d relapsed. I didn’t do much but sleep all day.

Donna returned from her two-week trip to Vermont Tuesday night. Two weeks is the longest we’ve been apart since we married over 12 years ago. While she was in the northeast, the climate was little different from here. She had to wear winter clothing! We don’t do much of that. She also wore the Lucchese boots I bought her last year. She probably wore them more in the two-week period than she has all year.

Donna dressed for New England weather

I wasn’t very good company when she got home – in fact I was dead to the world asleep in bed. The virus lingered and I wasn’t good for much for the next few days. Donna did a pile of laundry and also restocked the refrigerator and pantry. I’m eating a higher quality diet again!

Grilled chicken thigh and veggies with feta cheese

Thursday night Donna grilled chicken thighs and a medley of vegetables with feta cheese. She came home in time to see the best sunset of the season so far.

Nice sunset – I wish I was up for a walk to the bay at that time

Friday was my break-through day. I finally felt rested and better. While Donna was in New York, she went out with her friend Joan for dinner. Donna ordered a poke plate and wasn’t impressed. They left out a few details – like sesame-soy dressing and scallions.  Friday night we went to Offshore Tavern and Grill and ate there during happy hour. I had the poke plate made with cubed ahi tuna, sesame-soy dressing, cabbage, scallions, avocado and fried won ton wrappers.

Poke plate

Donna went for the seared yellowfin tuna made with sushi grade seared tuna, scallions, cabbage, soy sauce, ginger & wasabi. The meals were delicious as always.

Seared yellowfin tuna

Donna’s boots had a couple of scuffs – mostly on the heel stack and edges of the soles. I broke out my shoe-shine kit in the morning and went at it. First I cleaned the boots with saddle soap, then went over them inside and out with Bick 4 leather conditioner. I dressed the edges of the heel and sole with Fiebig edge dressing and finished up with a light polish with Kiwi shoe polish. The boots look new again

Saturday was a beach weather day. We ran a few errands then walked the boardwalk at Mission Beach. It was perfect beach weather – the temperature topped out just over 80 degrees with abundant sunshine and light wind. We had lunch on the corner of Mission Boulevard across from Belmont Park – Mr. Ruribertos Mexican Cafe. We ate at a table on the sidewalk.

The forecast calls for cooler temps with highs around 70. We’re heading over to Ocean Beach to play pickleball at the recreation center this morning. Like I said, things are returning to normal around here.

 

Chest Fever

I’m near the end of my two-week bachelor stint as Donna will return from her visit with family and friends in Vermont tomorrow night. My bachelor time has been mostly uneventful as I settled into a routine. I would check my e-mail and waste some time on the Internet while having breakfast, then go to one of the recreation centers to play pickleball for a couple of hours. After lunch I attended to domestic chores – dishes, cleaning Ozark’s litter box and sweeping. I even figured out how to use the Splendide washer/dryer combo and did a few loads of laundry.

The rest of the afternoons were spent mostly relaxing and reading a book, then going for a cold one with the guys. After dinner, I usually watched TV outside and puffed a cigar. This changed last Friday.

We’ve been fortunate in that we’ve only had a couple of minor medical issues and I’ve only been sick once in the last six or seven years. I fell ill in August of 2017 in Iowa and was down for several days. On Friday, illness struck again. I felt out of sorts all day and had a cough that worsened as the day went on. By dinner time, I had no appetite, I skipped happy hour and a cigar was out of the question. I went to bed early and tossed and turned all night.

Saturday I was much worse. The cough became an unproductive dry hack like a child with croup. You know how it is when a song gets in your head and you can’t get rid of it? Well, I had the song by The Band Chest Fever in my head all day. It was apropos – by the afternoon I was running a fever and my ailment seemed like it centered in my  upper respiratory system and sinuses.

By the way – an interesting thought on the song. The intro to Chest Fever features fantastic work on the organ by band member Garth Hudson. He based it on Bach’s Tocatta and Fugue in D minor. Back in the day, The Band drummer Levon Helm used this song to illustrate the unfair music industry practice of awarding a larger percentage of the royalties to the author of song lyrics. The lyrics in Chest Fever are mostly nonsensical and I couldn’t even recite them. That’s Levon’s point – do you think of the lyrics or Garth’s fantastic organ playing when you hear this song? Garth should have earned a greater royalty. But I digress.

I spent most of Saturday reading and napping. At one point in the morning, I had to go out and get a few groceries – the refrigerator was empty and the pantry low. I would read for 45 minutes to an hour, then doze off for 30 or 45 minutes throughout the day.

Saturday night I tried to watch the Moto GP coverage from Philip Island, Australia. The coverage started at 7:30pm, but the premier class was set to race at 1pm local time on Sunday. Due to Australia being halfway around the world across the International Date Line, that put the start of the race at 10pm Saturday PDT. I couldn’t stay up so I set the DVR and went to bed.

Sunday morning I felt better – my head was clearer, the fever broke and the cough not as severe. But I hadn’t slept all that well and I was lethargic. I watched the Moto GP race I recorded, then turned on football and kicked back on the couch. There were three good games televised on Sunday plus the Formula One race from Mexico City. Then there was the World Series game as well. I did a lot of channel surfing. I dozed at times through all of it. All this time in bed, on the couch and in my recliner has left me with a sore lower back. As usual – one thing leads to another.

This morning, I mustered enough ambition to make myself a ham and cheese omelette. I used to be a pretty good omelette maker but haven’t done it in ages.

Not up to Donna’s standards

Of course Donna would never have served it without a side of fruit and a garnish. She has much higher standards than me.

So, life on the road isn’t always sweet sunsets and spectacular views. But, we’re in a great location and I can’t complain about the weather!

Mister, Can You Help Me?

Sunday was our last night at Griff’s Valley View RV Park. We really liked this place – it’s right on the bike trail, clean and well-maintained and did I mention quiet?  Donna seared a flank steak in a cast iron pan on our induction cooktop. She sauteed fresh green beans and cherry tomatoes that we bought at the farmers’ market the day before. She served the flank steak with pan gravy over mashed sweet potato and it was a winner!

Seared flank steak

After dinner, I put away our chairs – I had already packed the Weber Q grill and Donna’s bike in the trailer. I checked the lug nuts on the trailer wheels with a torque wrench – they were fine. For the first few thousand miles, the trailer lug nuts needed to be tightened periodically. Now they seem to have settled in.

A thunderstorm passed through in the wee hours of the morning. By the time we were up and had breakfast, it was drying outside. Donna went out for a morning run and we showered before hitting the road at a leisurely 10:45am.  We had a couple of possibilities in mind for an overnight stay on our way to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Our route took us up I-35 about 20 miles before we turned west on US30 through Ames.

We decided we would head to Spencer and dry camp at the Walmart there. We stayed in Spencer last year when Donna rode across Iowa in the RAGBRAI event. Our route took us northwest toward Spencer in a stair-step fashion along divided US highways and two-lane county roads. It was all farmland. It’s amazing to me to see nothing but corn or soy beans for mile after mile. The terrain in Iowa isn’t as flat as you might think. There are gently rolling hills.

At the junction of IA3 and US71, traffic came to a stop. When I say traffic I mean all eight cars on the highway – there isn’t a lot of traffic through central Iowa farmland. The hold up was due to an oversize load on three trucks trying to negotiate the 90-degree turn. Once the trucks and escort vehicles got through the turn, they pulled off to the shoulder to allow the cars and trucks they held up to pass.

Once we were in Spencer, we made a right turn and headed east on 11th Street – which is still US71 – and found Walmart. We parked in the northwest corner at a level spot. Once I had us set up, I saw a commotion down the road where we made the turn. It was the oversize truck convoy coming through. Once again, after they made the 90 degree turn, they pulled into the center turning lanes and waited for traffic to clear before moving on.

The three trucks were hauling wind turbine blades. These long composite blades were probably for a GE 2-2.5 Mega-Watt wind turbine – it’s the most common in the US. The turbine utilizes three blades to power the generator as the blades are spun by the wind. The blades for a GE 2 – 2.5 MW turbine are 116 feet long. I don’t know how they got the trucks and trailers through 90-degree turns! I shot a couple of pictures as they drove past.

Wind turbine blade

Wind turbines use three blades because it’s the best compromise when you factor in efficiency, balance and tip speed. I never thought about how they get the blades to the site before.

We had a quiet night although once again, a thunderstorm passed through in the night. It was dry in the morning and we took our time getting ready for the road. Donna took a walk to a nearby park for exercise before we left.

As we drove through old downtown Spencer, Donna recalled riding through it last year. We stayed on US71 to the junction with US18 which took us west. I recognized a lot of this road – this was the route – in the opposite direction – we took to get to Spencer last year.

US18 took us through Canton, South Dakota. When I was a kid, I visited Canton in the summer of 1965 to stay with my great-uncle Ed. Ed and his wife Sadie lived in Canton where he was the county sheriff. I stayed with them for a week after spending a week at a cousin’s farm near Lennox.

We pulled into the Tower Campground around 12:30pm and were assigned site 207. The back-in site is paved and has a pad for a vehicle. We dropped the trailer without too much difficulty although we had to maneuver within inches of a tree. We were all settled in and relaxing by 2pm.

Strange reflections on our coach in site 207

The back-in sites here align with the site directly behind putting the back of our coach a few feet from the back of the coach behind us. We have a nice grassy area with a picnic table. We’re booked here for a week.

Donna prepared something new to us for dinner. She made blackened catfish and served it with green lemon rice.

Blackened catfish with lemon rice

We’re re-watching the HBO series Deadwood and sat through a couple of episodes before heading to bed. Lying in bed, we could hear voices from our neighbor. A group of people were sitting outside talking over each and telling tales. Some of them must have been funny, because the group would roar with laughter. By 11:30pm, I’d heard enough. The campground rule is quiet time after 10pm.

I went outside and found six or seven women sitting around a campfire in the site behind us. They must have thought they were alone in the woods or something. I asked them if they knew what time it was. One of them actually looked at her watch. I reminded them that quiet time was 10pm to 7am. One woman said, “We’re just sitting at the fire next to my coach.” I told her they were sitting at a fire 20 feet from my bedroom and needed to quiet down. Things like this happen sometimes in RV parks – people forget about neighbors and think they’re camped out when in reality they’re in a high-density area. Hopefully it won’t happen again.

Wednesday morning I was up early to shower and have a cup of coffee before I headed out to the Avera Healthcenter for my annual check-up. We have health insurance through Avera and it covers an annual physical here in South Dakota. That was the main reason for our stop here. Donna had three appointments for the day – the first one at a hair salon, followed by a mammogram and a visit to her doctor.

We worked out a plan where she walked 2 1/2 miles to the hair salon, then I rode the Spyder there to pick her up at 1pm to take her to the doctor about six miles away. I got to the hair salon a little early and was standing by the Spyder when an Asian women from the nail salon next door called out to me and asked if I would help her. She waved at me to follow her – I shrugged my shoulders and followed her into the nail salon.

She told me in broken English that she needed help putting up nail polish display racks and handed me a cordless drill and a handful of screws. I installed four racks for her and she offered me a pedicure. I declined as Donna would be ready to go any minute. It all seemed a little bizarre, but it made the wait interesting.

Donna had two appointments at facilities about a mile apart from each other. I dropped her off at the first place, then she walked to the second appointment and I planned to pick her up there around 3:45pm. Again, I arrived a little early, but I brought a book with me to fill the time. It’s a good thing I did – the doctor was running late and Donna hadn’t even got in for her 3 o’clock appointment when I arrived!

We were on our way 45 minutes later and stopped at Hydra Beer Company – a local brewery and tasting room – for a cold one. They have some good ales made onsite in their 10-barrel system. It was a good way to cap off a busy day.

We grilled green chile turkey burgers for dinner before watching a couple more episodes of Deadwood and then hit the sack. Thankfully it was quiet last night and I slept well – I needed it. Donna had to go out for one more appointment this morning for a fasting blood draw, then we can relax. The forecasts calls for sunny skies and upper 80s for the next week. I have a couple of projects in mind and we’ll go to the rodeo on Saturday. Other than that, I’m looking forward to some relaxed days.

 

Ould Sod and the Beachcomber

We had a fun-filled weekend, but I don’t think it would be fair to say we were busy.

While Donna finished up an article Friday morning, I ran a few errands. Then we headed out to Pacific Beach for a walk on the boardwalk and lunch. We dined alfresco at Tacos El Gordo, then took a walk out to the end of Crystal Pier and back to Reed Street where we parked the Spyder. The weather was pleasant – it was about 80 degrees with clear skies. A weekday at the beach at this time of year isn’t too crowded.

Donna at the boardwalk – Crystal Pier in the background

On Saturday morning, Donna went to her bootcamp workout. After lunch we rode the Spyder over to the Normal Heights district and found Ould Sod – it’s an Irish pub. Finding an open parking space around there can be problematic, but we eventually found a space about a block away.

We were there for a going away party for a friend from my high school days. Kevin Barry is retiring in a few days and he and his wife Monica are moving to Hilo, Hawaii. We had a table on the open air patio in back of the pub – it was shaded and comfortable there. Carole Bringas organized the party and it was fun to visit with some old friends.

We left around 4:30pm and came back to Mission Bay RV Resort. It was Halloween night at the RV park. When I was a kid, Halloween was always observed on Halloween – the last day of October. Nowadays I guess everyone goes out on the last Saturday of October. Kids in the RV park went from site to site. People put an orange card in their front window if they had treats for the kids – rigs without a card were to be skipped.

Donna’s altering her diet while she’s on her two-month workout schedule – which means I’m pretty much eating an altered diet of high protein and low carbohydrates. Donna has become proficient with the Weber Q grill and has taken over some of my grilling duties. On Saturday night, she grilled wild Alaskan salmon along with a baby squash medley with garlic and herbs, topped with a mixture of feta, sundried tomatoes, and pesto. It was a delicious dinner, but I think I might lose a few pounds while we’re in San Diego. After the excesses of the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta and two weeks of eating out while we were hotel bound, this is a good thing.

Grilled salmon and assorted squash

We had more fun in store for Sunday. I watched TV in the morning and caught the Moto GP race from Sepang, Malaysia, the Formula One race from Mexico City and the early NFL game. Then Carole Bringas picked us up at 2:30pm and drove us to Dana Landing where we met up with Gary Stemple and Howard Brutschy. Carole, Gary, Howard and I are charter members of the Cadman bunch. When we were in high school, we all hung out at Cadman Park.

Gary has a membership in the Freedom Boat Club – I wrote about that here last year. Gary took us on a boat ride around Mission Bay, then we beached the boat at the bay side near San Gabriel Place in Mission Beach. Our destination was the Beachcomber where the Siers Brothers band was setting up.

Boat ride on the bay – Gary, Carole , Howard and Donna

The Barefoot Bar at Paradise Point

We claimed a table at the Beachcomber and the Siers Brothers put on a great show playing classic rock tunes.

Siers Brothers Band

I checked the tide tables earlier and knew we were safe beaching the boat. The tide was near high and would be slack when we left. Gary had to return the boat before dark, so we left the Beachcomber around 6pm. I think I’d had enough adult beverages by then.

Back to the boat

This morning we have overcast skies. The forecast calls for clouds and a high of only 68 degrees. I need to do some maintenance service on the Spyder. Today seems like a good day for it since we don’t have pickleball at the Ocean Beach Recreation Center.

 

 

Tecovas

Donna and I have increased our activity levels since we came to San Diego. Donna signed up for a boot camp and personal training. She does the boot camp workout at 6:30am on Monday and Wednesday and 8am on Saturday. She works out with a personal trainer on Thursday. I’ve been hitting the pickleball courts – I played two hours a day for four days straight this week and I’m feeling it. The Ocean Beach Recreation Center is closed today and Monday for set-up and tear-down of their Halloween activities, so I’ll take some time off.

If you’ve been reading my posts, you know I have an affinity – alright, it’s an obsession – with Western boots. I’ve been reading about a boot brand for about a year called Tecovas. I think it’s an interesting story.

There’s a guy from Texas by the name of Paul Hedrick who graduated with an MBA from Harvard in 2010. He worked as an analyst for McKinsey then entered finance in New York at Catterton. He made good money and saved it for a chance to do something on his own. He was a cowboy boot kind of guy and thought he found a niche he could exploit. In 2014, he quit his job, moved back to Texas and began his journey into the boot business. He wasn’t even 30 years old but he knew what he wanted to do.

He spent a year traveling to the shoe making capital of the Western Hemisphere – Leon, Mexico. He met with boot makers to learn about their different operations. He met with tanneries and learned about the types of leathers available. He created a business model where he would contract with a tannery for raw materials and with a boot factory to hand make the leathers into cowboy boots. His monthly order would be shipped to Austin, Texas where he stocked the boots and made them available direct through online sales – no distribution network or retail stores.

He’s totally transparent about his business model and although I don’t know the actual numbers, an example might be something like this. When he contracts for an all-leather handmade boot of his design, the cost when it arrives in Austin might be $110. He offers this boot with free shipping and 30-day exchanges for say $220. He has his margin and the buyer gets a high-quality boot at an affordable price. The usual model for cowboy boots would take a boot that has a manufacturing cost of $110 and sell it to a distributor for $220. The distributor would mark it up and sell it to a retailer for $340. The retailer would mark it up and sell it to the consumer for $500. So a boot of similar quality that you pay $500 for can be bought directly from Tecovas for $220. Here are a few excerpts from several media interviews with Paul Hedrick:

“I was wearing a pair I had bought for $500-$600 and I realized that cowboy boots were one of the few industries that didn’t have a brand I really liked or one focused on quality and online, direct-to-consumer value.”

“There have been lots of surprises, ups, and downs, but I think the one aspect of designing and manufacturing cowboy boots that will never cease to amaze me is how difficult they are to make. The number of materials to choose from, the number of steps in the process – essentially all handmade steps – all of that took a lot of time.”

“I wouldn’t have been able to build and run this company without the exposure to business at all of the other places I worked prior to launching Tecovas. I was a management consultant before working for a private equity firm. The entrepreneurial spirit was always deep inside, so when the timing felt right, I jumped. I love being able to exercise my creative muscles. I wanted to be an artist, actually a cartoonist, as a kid, then an architect when I was in high school, so it feels good to be able to create.”

“We design our boots to be very wearable for first time boot buyers. They’re simple and made of super high-quality, mostly unadorned leather.”

Paul spent about a year doing his research. He launched the company and fulfilled his first orders in October of 2015 – in fact, I think I read somewhere it was October 27th – two years ago today. In his first year of operation, he reportedly sold over a million dollars’ worth of boots. I’ve read that they are on track to exceed three million in sales this year – his second year of operation.

When I first started looking at the Tecovas website, they only had four styles of boot – two for men and two for women. They still have limited offerings with various leathers, each offered in two styles for men. One is a roper style boot – a boot with a shorter shaft and lower heel than the traditional Western boot – and a more traditional style. The ropers have plain shafts – the same calfskin shaft is used regardless of the vamp leather. The traditional boots also share the same shaft leather with a little fancier decoration than the roper. By the way, the shaft of a Western boot is the vertical part that surrounds your calf. The vamp is the part that covers your foot.

I wasn’t too interested in a plain calfskin boot in the $200 price range. I didn’t think it would have the quality I wanted in a cowboy boot. Then they added a full quill ostrich boot for $355 and it really looked good. This year they added two more boots – the flagship model made from caiman crocodile and a lizard skin. The crocodile goes for $455 and the lizard is just $295 and these boots looked good.

They have about 1,800 reviews on their website and more on their Facebook page. From what I’ve read, more than 90% are very positive. Lots of the reviews are written by long-time boot buyers coming from higher end brands.

Over time, I wasn’t too happy with the Ariat leather boots I had which were my first pair of Western boots. After becoming accustomed to hand-made all-leather Lucchese boots, the machine-made Ariats with synthetic materials just didn’t have the level of comfort for me. I decided to risk $235 and give the plain calfskin Tecovas boot a try. The thing is, buying boots online means guessing to get the right size. Proper boot fit is essential.

Tecovas advertises that their boots fit true to US sizing – and they offer free exchanges with no shipping costs. The best thing to do is have your foot sized with a Brannock device at a shoe store. I didn’t want to have a shoe salesman measure my foot when I had no intention of buying from him. I wish I would have had my foot actually measured at the Lucchese store in Santa Fe when I bought my crocodile boots there, but I just tried them on for size. The thing is, boot makers use their own lasts to shape the boot and different makers may have size variations. Just because I wear a size 10-1/2 D Lucchese doesn’t mean that size will be right in a Tecovas Boot.

So, I traced my foot with a boot sock on while standing on a sheet of paper. I did this in the afternoon when my feet are largest. Your foot size will vary throughout the day and generally they are slightly smaller in the morning than they are in the afternoon.

Foot trace

The dimensions of my foot correspond to a standard US size 11 D. My left foot is about 1/16″ shorter than the right, so I used the longer foot as my size. I ordered a pair of Tecovas Cartwright calfskin boots last weekend. Cartwright – does that name ring a bell? Remember the old Western TV series Bonanza?

I was kept informed via e-mail of the shipping and projected delivery time of the boots – they arrived yesterday. They were well-packed and came with a return shipping label. I tried them on and walked carefully on our runner carpet to check the fit. They were perfect. I inspected the leather and stitching. It’s flawless. The quality of the leather is unbelievable – they feel like expensive driving gloves and not to be cliche, they fit my feet like a glove. I went out to happy hour with the guys at Dan Diego’s and kept the boots on for about four hours. They are the equal of my full quill ostrich Lucchese boots as far as comfort goes – and that says a lot.

Tecovas Cartwright calfskin boots

I’m so impressed with these boots, I ordered another pair from Tecovas – the Nolan lizard skin boots. It must have taken a lot of determination from Paul Hedrick to quit his high-paying job and launch his own business. It seems like his vision was well-founded and I wish him continued success with his business.

Meanwhile I’ll take the Ariat boots, which are in like new condition, to a consignment store. And I’m working on a boot storage solution. Donna has our closets pretty well organized, but I have to do something other than spread my boots on the floor of the closet. Donna recently wrote a blog post about closet organization here. She’s of the opinion that my obsession with cowboy boots is taking up too much valuable closet space in our home on wheels. I’ll let you know what we come up with.

It’s another beautiful day in San Diego with abundant sunshine. Donna and I are planning to hit the beach as the temperature is forecast to reach 80 degrees.

 

 

Out of Iowa

We left Center Point, Iowa and made our way west to Council Bluffs on the first of the month. Our travels across Iowa for RAGBRAI and back west across the state kept us mostly on state roads and county highways. In Iowa, most of these roads are either slabs of concrete butted together, worn asphalt that’s been chip-sealed many times over or dirt/gravel surfaces.

The concrete slabs are most common along state roads and they heave where the slabs butt together making a rough ride. At the best of times, the tires set up a rhythmic slapping sound and the coach gently bounces along. More often than not, the slabs launch the coach from one section to the next. The chip sealed surfaces are no better. I could usually see if cross traffic was approaching by the dust cloud raised as the vehicle approached on the gravel/dirt side roads. The dirt is a fine, light, powdery dust.

When we made our stop in Council Bluffs, Iowa near the Nebraska border, the constant pounding had taken its toll. First off, we couldn’t find our Jetpack wifi. We usually move it to kitchen counter before we move, but had forgotten to do that this time. The power cord was on the counter, but no Jetpack.

We searched under the slide-outs and everywhere we could think of. We found several wood screws – I’m thinking these are dropped screws when the crew rebuilt our living room slide wall. When they drop a screw, they don’t look for it, they grab another one and keep moving. It was a good time to do some real cleaning under the slide-out.

We usually place our Jetpack on a small shelf on top of the kitchen slide-out. It gets good reception there and is out of sight, but we don’t travel with it there – usually. It occurred to Donna to get out our step stool and look on the ledge and sure enough there was the Jetpack – whew! I was getting worried.

I also discovered that the stud holding the toilet seat hinge fell out! I found the stud and re-installed it with Threadlocker.

Toilet seat hinge stud

We ended up staying for two days at the Ameristar Casino while I was recovering from a virus that had me down. We moved a short distance to Papillion, NE to Walnut Creek Lake Recreation Area. This is a city park with electric hook-ups – no water or sewer. I was still feeling the effects of the virus and spent most of my time resting. I couldn’t even muster enough energy to post to this blog. We spent four nights there before heading westward to Kearney, Nebraska.

While we were in Papillion, I looked the engine compartment over – it’s always a good idea to keep an eye on things. I was surprised to find a damaged pressure cap on the coolant surge tank. I replaced this cap about three and half years ago. I’m not sure what makes the surge tank on our Cummins ISL diesel such rough duty. I found a replacement cap at an auto parts store and replaced it. If the cap doesn’t hold pressure, coolant can boil prematurely. The cap holds 13psi and raises the boiling point by 39 degrees.

Damaged seal on radiator cap

Kearney RV Park and Campground boasted 100′ pull-through sites on their web page and it may be true in one area of the park, but not where we are. The park is split into two locations. It’s a little strange. The GPS directions will take you to the north park area that sits along the north channel of the Platte River. We pulled in there to find it mostly empty with what appeared to be a few long-term occupants. A guy came out of his RV and directed us up the road to a different location where the office and the “Getaway Bay” area of the RV park is.

We found the office and checked in. They had us in the Getaway Bay in a pull-through site with a nice view and easy fishing access. The pull-through site has a level concrete pad and was just long enough to fit our 65′ length.

Our windshield view

Last night, a thunderstorm came through with heavy rain. I’m not certain, but I think I may have heard some hail in the night. Today is overcast and cooler. We plan to hang out here until Friday. There’s plenty of good biking, pickleball if I’m up to it and it’s good place for me to continue to rest and recover. Maybe I’ll catch a fish or two in the pond.

There Are No Old, Bold Pilots

Yesterday didn’t exactly go as planned. I felt better for most of the morning, but still off. I filled our fresh water tank in anticipation of hitting the road Friday. Then I spent most of the afternoon napping while Donna went for a run around Lily Pond.

Donna fixed a plate of leftover pasta with meatballs for me. I could only eat one meatball and a little of the pasta. I haven’t eaten much over the past few days.

I went to bed around 7:30pm and was out. Donna stayed up a watched a movie. Friday morning I woke up feeling well-rested despite gusty winds in the night. My head felt clear. Donna made a Switchel Sports Drink – it has maple syrup, fresh ground ginger, apple cider water and a pinch of sea salt. It was good and I had an appetite for a small bowl of cereal.

Donna remarked that I looked much better. I was feeling better for sure. But she had reservations about hitting the road. It was windy with occasional unpredictable gusts well over 20mph. I have to digress here for some background.

About 17 years ago, I took an Airman’s Medical Exam and was issued a certificate. I started taking flying lessons. I’ll never forget my flight instructor telling me that the most important trait a pilot must possess is one he can’t teach – good judgement. After a few flight lessons, cancer intervened – realistically I couldn’t afford it at the time anyway. Several years later, I went for another Airman Medical Exam. By then a lot had changed. I had been through several surgeries and no longer had sight in my right eye. The doctor told me he thought I was a risk taker based on my medical history.

I had to admit that racing motorcycles was definitely accepting a certain level of risk, but much of the rest was the result of a very active lifestyle. I can’t help it if while riding my bicycle I get hit by a car driven by an inattentive driver on his cell phone – what am I going to do – just give up cycling? He said he had issued certificates to one-eyed pilots before but it adds to the risk factor and he needed a little more time to review my history. He finished the interview with the old adage – there are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots.

I received my certificate a few weeks later but never took another lesson. So, what am I leading up too? Donna felt the wind conditions were tricky at best and could be tough even if I was at 100%. Even if we waited to see if the gusty winds would improve, we would be heading right into thunderstorms in the west by afternoon.

I did a self-assessment. There’s a game app on my smartphone that I play at the highest level. I’m usually quite proficient and score among the top five on their weekly results board. I opened the app and tried a few rounds. The games ended quickly when I would make a wrong move or my reaction time was too slow. That sealed it. Donna called the office to see if we could remain where we are for another night. I bit the bullet and paid the premium.

That being said I am feeling quite a bit better today. What was slow, incremental progress became a big step today. Hopefully we can move west tomorrow and not battle the weather conditions.

 

Prescription Runaround

In a previous post, I wrote about changes to our health care plan this year. My former employer quit offering group health insurance to retirees. Instead they funded a healthcare reimbursement account and I was on my own to find a plan on the healthcare exchange. The result was a plan that costs triple what I paid in 2016 and essentially leaves us self-insured for the first $13,100 – we’re really only covered for a catastrophic event.

Our previous health care coverage also included prescription medications under a plan through CVS-Caremark mail-order pharmacy. When I looked at the healthcare exchange, I wasn’t too thrilled with the prescription coverage and cost. I called CVS-Caremark to inquire about retaining the plan. I have a few medications that I take on a daily basis. CVS-Caremark told me there were no changes in my prescription plan, prescriptions would continue to be mailed every 90 days. Now that was good news.

In February, they mailed me my prescriptions. Then in March, they sent me an e-mail telling me that I was no longer enrolled in their plan, my previous employer had terminated the coverage. Now I had a problem. I already enrolled through the healthcare exchange and adding prescription coverage would be problematic.

After looking at a few options, I decided to buy my medications out-of-pocket through the AARP discount mail-order plan. I spoke with their customer service and was told I needed to download a form from their web site and send it in along with written prescriptions from my doctor to start the service.

I obtained the written prescriptions and completed the form – including credit card payment information and mailed it to them about 10 days ago. Yesterday I checked my account on their web site and no prescription order was showing. So, I called their customer service again. After the usual automated phone system runaround, I spoke to a representative.

When she found my information, she told me they had the paperwork and prescriptions but I hadn’t asked them to actually fill the prescriptions – what!? I had filled out their form completely and followed all of their instructions. Maybe it’s just me, but I figure that when I drop off a prescription at a drug store, it’s understood that I want the prescription filled. When I sent in the form including billing information it should be de facto evidence of me ordering the prescriptions. After more than 30 minutes of runaround, giving them all of the information that was on the form I sent in, she finally told me the order would be filled. I should expect the meds by April 13th. Whew!

A couple of hours later, my phone rang. I picked up the call and it was a recorded message from OptumRx – the supplier for the AARP discount plan – telling me there was a problem and I need to stay on the line for a representative. I was on the phone listening to their music and recorded messages for 20 minutes before a representative came on the line. She looked up my account and said she needed to verify some information.

We went over all of the same information that was on the form I sent in and also gave to the representative a couple of hours earlier. She put me on hold several times – once for 15 minutes. After 41 minutes on the phone, she told me she had everything she needed to fulfill my order – I hadn’t given her any new information at all, we just repeated everything they already had. After this call, I got a confirmation e-mail, so maybe that’s a good sign and things are moving along as they should. They also sent a link to complete a satisfaction survey. Oh boy – this will give an opportunity to tell them what I really think.

On Wednesday evening, Donna prepared some chicken breasts she bought at WinCo Foods. She spiced them with a green chile BBQ rub that she bought when we were in Taos, New Mexico. I cooked the chicken on the Traeger. About 15 minutes before I took them off the grill, I basted them with Pomegranate and Mango Chipotle Sauce. The combination was excellent, giving the chicken a spicy-sweet flavor.

Green Chile Spicy BBQ Rub

Pomegranate & Mango Chipotle Sauce

Chicken breasts hot off the Traeger

Donna served it with steamed asparagus and garlic smashed potatoes. Once again, I’m dining like a king! We sat outside and enjoyed the meal al fresco.

A meal fit for a king

Yesterday Donna joined me for pickleball in the morning. She took a fall in her first game and scraped her knee and shin. But she hung in there and we played several games. This morning I played again for the fourth straight day, but Donna woke up feeling a little punky with a sore throat, so she passed.

The temperature should reach the upper 80s today and tomorrow, so it looks like we’ll be running the air conditioners again.

Heat Wave

Wednesday was pretty low key for me. Donna went to the pickleball courts in the morning while I stayed home and nursed my hay fever. I ended up spending most of the day indoors – just as I thought I would. The thermometer hit 92 degrees in the afternoon. This heat wave may be a blessing in disguise – it seems like the hot daytime temperatures are causing the orange blossoms to drop from the trees prematurely. The pollen counts are still quite high, but I slept well last night and I’m feeling a little better this morning.

Donna and I had a conference call with our tax accountant in the afternoon. I always dread these things. We uncovered a mistake in last year’s filing and it looks like we overpaid, so that may be a good thing for us this year.

On Wednesdays and Fridays, there’s live entertainment from 3 to 5pm here at ViewPoint RV & Golf Resort. Donna walked down with her hula hoops and hoop danced to the music. She always takes two hoops in case someone wants to join her. Yesterday, she offered a hoop to a young girl who was visiting her grandparents and the two of them had a lot of fun. I only got out once all day and that was just to make a run on the Spyder to the store.

Donna defrosted the last of the lamb rib chops we bought from the farm in Portland near the Columbia River RV Park. She put them on the grill along with some sliced zucchini, peppers and onions for dinner.

Grilled lamb chops with zucchini, peppers and onions

Lamb chops are very flavorful but a little fatty in my opinion. I guess it’s an acquired taste – I didn’t like lamb when I was younger but I find it a pleasant change now. I paired the lamb with an IPA from Elysian. Although Elysian is located in Seattle and typically brews West Coast style IPA, this bottle called The Immortal is more of an English style IPA with pronounced malt flavor and a sharp bitter finish. I liked it but wasn’t crazy about it.

The Immortal

High, thin clouds formed in the late afternoon sky. This always brings a colorful, fiery sunset here in the desert.

Fiery sunset

I’d like to get out and about today – hopefully my allergy symptoms will continue to abate. I plan to hit the pickleball courts tomorrow morning and we’re both signed up to play in a tournament on Saturday. The heat wave is expected to linger through the weekend with daily highs in the mid-90s.

Down for the Count

Before I could go out to the pickleball courts for the Monday morning round robin play, I had to take a Benadryl allergy tablet. The orange trees here are in full bloom. For most people this brings a pleasant aroma to the area. For me, it’s misery. When I was tested for allergies back in the late 90s, the allergist told me he had good news and bad news.

The good news was I didn’t have to get rid of any pets because I had no allergic reactions to dog or cat dander. The bad news was I had moderate to severe reactions to all of the tree and grass pollens they tested on me – I can’t get rid of trees and grass. The pollen will be in the air at various times of the year no matter where I am. Since we tend to follow the sun, I’m more likely to be in areas that will affect me.

Most of the time it’s tolerable. I take a daily dose of fluticasone nasal spray and Opcon eye drops. When the pollen counts get very high – like they are here right now, I suffer. There’s so much pollen in the air that the Spyder looks like it’s covered in yellow dust. Last year it wasn’t so bad – I’m hoping this is a temporary condition and the pollen count will subside soon.

Taking Benadryl before pickleball wasn’t the best idea. It made my throat dry and I felt a little woozy a couple of times after playing long rallies.

Pickleball courts at ViewPoint RV Resort

I mentioned in an earlier post the hawk’s nest near the courts. I haven’t seen the adult hawks for a while. Monday morning I saw an immature hawk fly to the nest. My guess is the adults have moved on and the new generation has taken over the nest for now. I’ve read that Red-tailed hawks are monogamous and often return to refurbish the same nest every year. If so, I think junior can count on being kicked out.

Hawk’s nest in a high-voltage power line tower

Donna has really taken to our new Weber Q. She didn’t grill much on the old one. The feature she loves most on the Weber Q 2200 is the built in thermometer. She can set it to the temperature she desires without having to guess if it’s hot enough or too hot. Monday night she rubbed chicken thighs with a green chili rub she bought in Taos, New Mexico and cooked it on the grill. I usually do all of the grilling, but she wanted to do it and it came out great. Along with the chicken, she roasted a mixed baby squash medley with garlic and herbs and and served it with crumbled feta cheese on top.

Green chili rubbed chicken and baby squash

Tuesday morning I woke up with burning eyes and stuffy sinuses. It was time to break out the Neti pot. I’m hoping this is the peak of the pollen issue. I stayed indoors with the air conditioners running all day and read a book.

The outside temperature was in the low-90s in the afternoon for the last two days. This heat wave is supposed to last through the weekend with temperatures in the mid-90s. This is well above the average high temperature of 77 degrees for March here in Mesa, Arizona. I passed on the pickleball round robin this morning and will probably have another lazy day indoors.

 

*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!