Category Archives: Internet

Friends and Family

I rode the scooter to Dr. Leek’s office Friday morning. He examined my hand and removed the stitches. He said it looked good and now I need to work on motion and hand strength. We set another appointment for four weeks out. He told me I could cancel the appointment if everything is going well three weeks from now.

I knew Donna was busy on her book revision, so I didn’t come straight home. I rode the scooter to Ocean Beach and stopped for lunch. I kicked around the beach. It was a beautiful day. The north end of the beach near the jetty is called Dog Beach. It’s one of the few beaches in the county where dogs are allowed on the sand.

Dog Beach

I made another stop at the Model Yacht Pond. Two guys were sailing their model sailboats on the pond. The sailboats are interesting. The boat in the photo is about 40″ long. Servo motors with clever linkages are used to trim the sails. A servo operating a block-and-tackle on the stern applies tension on the carbon fiber mast. This is used to keep the mast from whipping about in gusty winds. The model sailboats are cool, but I’m a motorhead. I’ll come back to the pond next Sunday to see the power boats.

Radio-controlled model sailboat

Last week, when we bought our new smartphones, Christian (the Verizon guy) told us they would send return packaging via mail in 10 to 14 days to return our old phones. On Thursday, I received an e-mail from Verizon with a USPS label attached and instructions to return my phone by October 24th. This confused me. I went online to the Verizon site and started a chat session to ask what I needed to do. I had two phones to return but only one label, and if I waited to receive the packaging that Christian said we would get, I would miss the October 24th deadline.

I spent an hour online chatting with a customer service representative who didn’t understand my issue. She was also the slowest typist ever. I would sit and stare at my screen which said a message was being typed for several minutes before I would receive a one-line question. I finally came to the conclusion that we have two returns with different instructions. My old Samsung S4 needed to be sent with the label that was e-mailed to me. Donna’s old Samsung SII will be sent when we receive the packaging for it. There’s still a disparity in the credit amount we should get for the old phones. I need to go back to the Verizon store and straighten that out, the customer service representative had me going in circles until I gave up and ended the chat.

On Friday night, Donna’s sister, Linda joined us for dinner. I grilled a Morrocan-spiced rack of lamb which Donna served with a brown rice pilaf and sauteed zucchini, peppers and onions. Later we watched an old movie – My Cousin Vinny. It’s a great movie. Joe Peschi and Marissa Tomei are both outstanding in this comedy classic.

Morrocan-spiced rack of lamb

Saturday morning I rode over to the Pacific Beach post office and mailed my old phone. At 11am, my daughter, Shauna, picked me up. We made the 90-minute drive up to Menifee to visit my stepdad, Ken. We stopped at the Kentucky Fried Chicken near his place and bought an eight-piece meal to have for lunch with Ken. Ken loves Kentucky Fried Chicken. I can’t even remember the last time I had it.

Anyway, we sat and talked for a couple of hours before we headed back. On the way home, we stopped at Trader Joe’s in the La Jolla Village Square. Donna had sent me a text message with a long list of groceries to pick up there. I’m glad Shauna was with me because the store was a zoo and she knew where to find everything.

Donna and Linda were in Lakeside at a country music festival with Mona. They made plans to attend this event a few weeks ago when Mona told them she had two extra tickets.

Linda, Mona and Donna at the country music festival

Last night I watched an entertaining Moto GP race race from Phillip Island, Australia. I won’t spoil the results in case a reader has it recorded. Donna came home from the festival around 9:30pm, halfway through the race.

The Mission Bay RV Resort has the usual weekend crowd with lots of kids in the park. Today is NFL football day. I think I’ll do some hand exercises while I watch the games. I broke out my number 14 Dan Fouts throwback jersey – I hope to see the Chargers beat the Kansas City Chiefs and go 6-1.

New Phones and Data Plan

One challenging aspect of life on the road is Internet connectivity. I’ve mentioned this before, but It’s something you take for granted when you live in a sticks-and-bricks home with unlimited, high-speed Internet service.

Internet connectivity is a must-have for people on the road. Donna relies on it to do her work and earn income. In my case, it’s more of a convenience to stay in touch and keep up with events.

Many RV parks offer free wifi. We take advantage of that whenever possible, but what they don’t tell you is that “free” really means “free when it’s working.” When the RV park fills up and numerous people are trying to connect, it bogs down. Sometimes it gets so slow that it’s unusable. Or you can’t get connected at all.

When the free wifi is too slow or unreliable, we use our Verizon Jetpack. This device allows us to access the Internet via the Verizon network. It’s on the same account as my Verizon smartphone. Here’s the catch – data usage can get expensive. We try to limit the amount of data we use on our Verizon account. For example, we avoid streaming video content. By carefully monitoring our usage and taking advantage of free wifi whenever possible, we’ve been able to get by with 10GB or less of Verizon data usage per month.

That changed for us on Saturday. Donna and I went to the Verizon store in Pacific Beach. I stopped there last week and went over the October promotional data plans with the guy there. We upgraded our data plan to 30GB for $130/month. This is a great deal – it’s half the price of a 30GB plan last month. We also upgraded our phones to Samsung Galaxy S5s. It took about two hours to get through the paperwork and account changes. When we came home, we spent several hours getting our phones set up and personalized.

My set-up was easy since I was migrating from a Samsung S4 to the S5. Donna had to back up all of the apps and data on her Samsung Galaxy SII to her laptop and then transfer what she wanted to her new phone. I used an app called Smart Switch Mobile that seamlessly moved my apps from the old phone to the new one. The Verizon guy told me about it last week. He said all of my data would migrate without a hitch.

He was mostly right. All of the apps were moved. One of the ways I amuse myself is by playing a game on my phone called Subway Surfers. I have amassed a huge war chest on this game. I’m at the highest level and had more than a million coins, over 900 hoverboards and hundreds of other bonuses. These riches have allowed me to compete in a weekly challenge where I routinely finish in the top five against other participants worldwide.

Subway Surfers – the app – transferred to my new phone. But none of my data came with it. I’m back at the lowest level with no coins or tools. I have to earn them back all over again. It frustrated me, but at the end of the day, it’s just a game. I have the time to work my way back to the top.

In my last post, I mentioned our neighbors with the under-inflated front tire. On Saturday morning, I checked their tire pressure and found 30psi in the left front tire. The right front tire was at 98psi. I set up my portable compressor and tried to fill the left front tire for them. The valve stems on their wheels are short and hard to reach. After 20 minutes of futzing around, I had the left front tire up to 90psi. I put a metal cap on the valve stem. Later, I talked to them and told them what I found. I was hoping it was a leaking valve core and the cap would stop the leak.

On Sunday morning, Donna and I drove Shauna’s car to the airport to pick her up. On the way back, we stopped at the Broken Yolk on Midway Drive for breakfast. This is a popular breakfast restaurant – they have at least three locations in San Diego. Although the food is good, I find them to be overpriced and service is on the slow side.

When we came home, I talked to our neighbor and he told me that their tire was down to 40psi. The guy (I never learned his name) called for roadside assistance. They sent a tow truck! I don’t know why they didn’t send a mobile tire service. The tow truck driver had a large compressor and managed to inflate the tire to 95psi. He sprayed Windex around the rim where the tire bead seats. Bubbles quickly formed along a section of the bead. The tire bead wasn’t sealing. This is usually due to foreign matter caught between the bead and rim. It could be dirt or a piece of paper label from the tire. The only way to fix it is to remove the tire from the wheel and clean the area, then remount and inflate the tire. The tow truck driver wasn’t equipped to do this.

I went back to our coach and turned on the NFL morning game pitting the Green Bay Packers against the Miami Dolphins. Then I saw our neighbors pulling out of the park! He was going to Phoenix, Arizona. I guess he was going to take his chances of driving with a slow leak. I hope it worked out for him. Driving a 30,000+ pound vehicle with his wife and kids on board for 300 miles with a front tire losing air doesn’t seem prudent to me.

In the afternoon, I watched the Chargers play in Oakland. The San Diego-Oakland rivalry dates back to the inception of the American Football League. It’s a bitter rivalry – we don’t like them and they don’t like us. Even though the Chargers had won four straight games and the Raiders were 0-4 (going back to last year, the Raiders have lost 10 straight games), I knew it would be a tough match-up in Oakland.

The Raider fans threw eggs at the Chargers bus as it entered Oakland County Stadium. The game was a gritty see-saw affair. The Chargers took a three-point lead with two minutes left in regulation. Jason Verrett, the Chargers number one in pick in this year’s draft, sealed the game when he intercepted Derek Carr’s pass. The Chargers headed home with a divisional win and their record is now 5-1.

This morning, it’s overcast with a marine layer. I expect it to burn off by noon. We’ll have clear skies and temperatures in the mid-70s this afternoon.

Dings and Scratches

I took it easy and hung around the RV park again yesterday. The usual Friday influx was evident. It’s a long weekend for some people, Monday is Columbus Day. It seems like there are more kids in the park than usual.

In the afternoon, a Newmar Dutch Star diesel pusher backed into the site next to the driver’s side of our coach. Three youngsters ranging from about seven to 12 years old piled out – two boys and a girl. They pulled bicycles and skateboards from the basement of the coach. They were riding and skateboarding in between the two coaches. I saw one of the kids run his bike into their coach. I was thinking of the dings and scratches I would find on our coach later.

Their mom packed beach towels and whatnot and they headed down to the beach. After they left, I went outside and looked our coach over. No worries, they didn’t hit it. I looked at their coach and saw several dings and scratches. I noticed the front tire was low on air pressure. This is not good. Low air pressure is the leading cause of tire failure. Having a blowout on a front (steer) tire could be a hair-raising experience.

Under-inflated front tire on our neighbor’s coach

Later, I saw the mom outside. I mentioned the low tire. She looked at it and told me the tires were just put on before they left Utah. They’re planning to drive back to Utah on Sunday. I looked closer and I saw the cap was missing on the valve stem. The valve might not be seated well and it could be leaking. Today, I’ll break out my Porter-Cable compressor and fill the tire. I also found a spare metal valve stem cap that I’ll put on. I would hate to think of them driving down the freeway on an under-inflated tire.

Donna spent the afternoon shopping with her sister, Linda. When they returned, they told me a motorhome had a mishap at the other end of the park. While backing into their site, they hit a tree! I took a stroll around the park and surveyed the damage. It was minor, just cosmetic scratches.

While I was out, I took a walk along the path by the bay. The tides have been unusually high. The tide was going out and shore birds were feeding along the waterline. I snapped a photo of egrets and rails feeding together.

Egrets and rails feeding

We have Shauna’s car again today. Donna dropped Shauna off at the airport last night. Shauna flew to Portland, Oregon to join her sisters for their maternal grandmother’s funeral service. RIP Delaurice Grams.

We plan to head over to the Verizon store today. Our friends at Technomadia and Nina at WheelingIt wrote about the great October offers from Verizon and AT&T. I think we’ll upgrade our phones to Samsung Galaxy S5s and contract a 30GB/month data plan. Our current data plan has us scrimping on our data usage. My only fear is that data usage seems to expand with data availability. How long will it be before we find 30GB is too low?

We’ve had mild weather and the trend continues. Highs in the mid 70s, overnight lows in the mid 60s. I can’t complain about that!

Settling in at Mission Bay

On Wednesday morning, Donna and I realized we’d been here for a full week already and could hardly believe it. The time gets away from me sometimes. I don’t know where the days go.

The usual RV park rhythm is taking shape here. The park was mostly empty mid-week and new arrivals started showing up on Thursday. I expect to see many more today. We’re experiencing another southern California heat wave. It will be a great weekend to be by the bay.

While we’re here in San Diego, we’re catching up on health care. We both went to the dentist for cleanings on Wednesday. Then, on Thursday, I went to see Dr. Leek, an orthopedic surgeon. Dr. Leek treated my trigger finger condition last December (I posted about it here). At that time, we opted for a cortisone injection. He told me the injection could be effective for a year, in which case, the injection would be worthwhile. On the other hand (no pun intended), if it lasted three months or less, we would probably have to release the tendon through surgery.

By the end of March, my finger started to stick again. If I made a fist, or gripped something small – like a pen for example – my ring finger wouldn’t straighten out. I had to pull it straight with a painful pop. We were leaving Mesa, Arizona at that time. We haven’t been in one place long enough for me to seek treatment since then. I was certain that a minor surgery would be required. Now, I have the time to get it done.

Dr. Leek examined my hand and we agreed to schedule the surgery. I’ll have the surgery done next Tuesday morning. My hand will have an incision with stitches and bandages for about 10 days.

After I left Dr. Leek’s office I stopped at a scooter shop on the frontage road by Pacific Highway. They carry Vespa and Kymco scooters. I was looking for an air filter element for our Kymco Downtown 300i. It’s overdue to be changed. They didn’t have it in stock. The parts counter guy told me he could order it and have in 10 days or so. Then he told me that I would be better off to order it myself, as I could get it cheaper online. I did an online search for it before and didn’t come up with anything. He told me to search “Kymco parts” instead of searching for “Kymco air filter.” I tried it and found a couple of sources that list the filter.

Our Kymco Downtown 300i grocery – getter

Donna’s sister, Linda, came to our site in the late afternoon yesterday. She and Donna went to Solana Beach to attend a grand opening for Spark Health where their sister, Sheila, just opened her second location for Fitness Without Walls and her physical therapy services. She also provides services at her original location in Point Loma.

When they returned to the park a little past 6pm, I grilled a mojo marinated pork tenderloin for dinner. Donna served it with a sesame oil – lime vinaigrette cole slaw. My daughter, Shauna joined us. Donna, Linda and Shauna dined outdoors at the picnic table while I watched the Green Bay Packers destroy the Minnesota Vikings. I was preoccupied with the game and neglected to take a photo of the dinner plate.

Shauna is flying to Washington D.C. for the weekend. She left her car with us. We’ll have the car until Tuesday afternoon, so Donna can drive me to the surgery center Tuesday morning.

I mentioned the heat wave. Yesterday the temperature was near 90 degrees. Today and tomorrow will be the same before we cool off to the lower 80s on Sunday. I think I’ll head to the beach today where it will be cooler.

Unexpected Ferry Crossing

Donna returned from New York on schedule Tuesday night. She told me all about her trip over a glass of wine. We turned in fairly early.

On Wednesday morning, we finished packing up and left the Portland Fairview RV Park at 10:45am. Our first stop was two miles away at the WalMart. We needed to restock the refrigerator and I bought a few other supplies. While we were stopped there, we walked over to Taco Del Mar for lunch.

Our destination for the day was near McMinnville, Oregon. I’d heard about dry camping in the large parking lot at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum. The Google Earth image looked like it had easy access and a huge parking area.

I punched the address into Nally (our GPS). Two routes came up. One route was only 50 miles, but it would take one hour and 17 minutes. The other route was 73 miles and it would take one hour and 26 minutes. Hmmm…23 miles longer but only 9 additional minutes. I figured that the shorter route must have some slow roads, probably routed through Portland. One shortcoming of the GPS is the inability to preview the route step by step. I can zoom out and see the whole route, but then I lose detail.

I usually take the fastest route, but 76 minutes to cover 50 miles sounded like a lot of stop-and-go driving. I chose the longer route with a higher average speed. Nearly an hour later, I realized it was a bad choice. My preference settings allow tolls. Apparently the GPS sees a ferry as a toll. Since I allowed tolls, the route would take us to Wheatland Road where there’s a ferry across the Willamette River. Once I realized this, I diverted over to River Road. I didn’t know anything about the Wheatland Ferry. If it couldn’t accommodate our size, I might not be able to turn around. I also didn’t know the cost. Later, I found information online. Vehicles over 42 feet long pay six dollars to cross the river.

My new route added a loop to get over the Willamette River on a highway bridge. The trip turned into 100 miles and over two hours of driving. I probably burned $10 worth of fuel to avoid a $6 ferry ride.

We arrived at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum. The front parking lots were full of cars, but the large rear lot was nearly empty. There were a couple of RVs parked back there. We found a level area and parked. Donna and I walked to the museum. There are several large, very modern buildings on the property. One is the main museum with aircraft on display, including the Spruce Goose. There’s another building housing more aircraft, a separate movie theater, and a large water park building.

Main museum building

Museum extension on east side of the lot

Movie theater

Water park with Boeing 747 on the roof

It was very hot, over 90 degrees. The asphalt parking lot seemed to amplify the heat. Donna took her laptop to the museum building and sat in the restaurant area. She enjoyed some ice cream while she worked on her monthly organizing tips newsletter.

I’ve been in the Spruce Goose before, when it was displayed in Long Beach, California. I didn’t want to pay $25 to see it again. I went for a walk outside and looked at aircraft on display. The 747 on the roof of the water park is interesting. It has slides built into the exit doors. You enter the 747 and slide down into the enclosed pool below!

A relic of the Cold War - MIG 29 Fulcrum

A relic of the Cold War – Soviet MiG 29 Fulcrum

Delta Dart from the 1950s next to the MiG

As I was walking back to the coach, I talked to a worker from the museum. I asked about the overnight parking policy. He told me they welcome overnight visitors to the museum as long as we’re fully self-contained and pack out whatever we brought in. He said to limit the stay to two nights maximum. With permission secured, I moved the coach to a shaded corner of the lot.

Our place in the shade – generator slide is open to release heat

The museum closed at 5pm and the parking lots emptied. We were the only RV left and had the place to ourselves. A private party was being held at the east building, but it was far enough away that we didn’t hear them.

Thursday we hit the road by 9am. We were going to Junction City, where we had an appointment at Amazing Creations. Scott Adams and Bobby Vodden were going to remove the rear TV and make the space into a cabinet for us.

Old bedroom TV

I tried to remove the TV, but the wood surrounding the opening had been added after the TV was installed. The TV was larger than the opening. I didn’t want to break the trim, so I left it to the pros. Scott removed the wood on the right side and pulled the TV out. Then they built new trim, added a shelf and put doors over the opening.

New cabinet doors

The cabinet houses our printer, which was taking space in the closet before. We can use the shelf to store printing and office supplies.

Printer cabinet with shelf

They did a great job. The work was first class. It took a few hours to get the job done. This was mainly due to the time it took to stain the wood. They waited until we got there to match the wood stain. They stained the wood before their lunch break, so it was drying while they were out for lunch. Donna and I had lunch in the coach. We were out of there by 3pm.

We got back on the road and headed south to Cottage Grove, Oregon. Our destination was our present location on the Row (rhymes with wow) River. Our new friends, Scott and Marcia, who we met at the Alpine Coach Association rally, invited us to stay on their vacation property on the river outside of Cottage Grove.

The river runs along the north side of their property. They have a trailer and a few outbuildings on the property. One of the buildings is a workshop with a fresh water spigot, plus 20-, 30- and 50-amp electrical outlets and a sewer hook-up. We’re parked between the workshop and the river. The river is about 30 feet from our doorstep.

Row River view from our doorstep

We’re far enough from town to have very little traffic on Row River Road. It’s very quiet and peaceful here, a welcome change from the time spent in RV parks over the last few weeks. We don’t have cell phone coverage. But Scott and Marcia’s generosity included the password to their wifi network in their trailer.

Last evening, Donna and I enjoyed cocktail hour outdoors, soaking in the sounds of the river. Scott told us we could stay as long we want. We want to stay forever, but we’ll have to start moving south next Tuesday.

Happy hour in the shade, looking at the river

There’s a paved bike trail running along Row River Road. The path is on the south border of Scott and Marcia’s property. Today, Donna wants to go biking. I’ll do the same and explore the area.

First Saturday Club Anniversary

My last post was a short blurb on Thursday, July 17th about computer trouble. I think this is my longest stretch without a post. My laptop runs hot. Several months ago, Donna bought me a Targus Laptop Chill Mat with fans to circulate cool air under the laptop. This seemed to help. Last week, my laptop started shutting itself off. When I restarted it, the laptop displayed an error message about a cooling fan not working and an overheat error message.

I bought this laptop about a year and a half ago. On Thursday, I rode down to Best Buy and talked to them about the issue. The warranty is only good for 12 months. They said they would need to send the laptop to their service center and it would take about 10 business days before I would get it back. The estimated cost to replace the fan was $150 minimum, plus any heat damaged components they find. This sounded expensive considering the laptop (HP Pavilion G6) costs around $300 new.

I was afraid to use the laptop. If it overheated and crashed, I might lose all of my files. On Friday, I talked to my friend and former colleague, Khaldoon Tufail. Khaldoon is very computer savvy. He told me fan issues more often than not are caused by dust and debris build-up on the fan itself. The fan is located underneath the keyboard. His advice was to start by trying to blow the area out with a compressed gas duster. If that didn’t work, I would have to open the case and replace the fan. I found instructions for this on YouTube. It requires nearly complete disassembly of the laptop.

I bought a couple of cans of compressed gas and blew gas through all of the vent openings for the fan and through the keyboard. After doing this several times, the laptop seems to function fine. In fact, I think it’s running cooler than ever. Thanks, Khaldoon!

My daughter, Alana, had Wednesday and Thursday off work at the hospital. We spent both days together with her and our granddaughters and their “adopted” friend, Andrea. Andrea is about Lainey’s age and she is currently living with them.

It was hot and sunny both days. They bought some floating mattresses on their way out to the lake. I cut the stem of a Presta valve out of an old bicycle tube and made an adapter to fill the mattresses with air, using our bicycle tire pump. This was better than trying to blow up four mattresses. The girls enjoyed time in the lake and we grilled dinner both nights.

We loaded Donna’s bike in Alana’s car and Alana drove Donna to her house on Thursday so she could ride the Centennial Trail, which passes near Alana’s house. The roads around Lake Goodwin aren’t wide enough for safe bicycling. Donna took a ride on the trail and put in 30 miles or so.

On Friday, Alana picked us up after work. She took us to a brew pub called Skookum Brewery near her home. We sampled a few brews and had nachos. Afterwards, Alana gave us her car for the weekend. We dropped her off at home and drove her car back to the Lake Goodwin RV Resort.

Donna enjoyed a hefe while Alana tried a sample flight

Donna enjoyed a hefe while Alana tried a sampler flight

Yesterday, our friends from Portland, DeWayne and Marlo Nikkila, were passing through the area. They had visited relatives in Bremerton and were taking the Bremerton-Seattle Ferry to continue their travels to Wyoming and South Dakota. The ferry would drop them off in Seattle at 11am.

We arranged to meet at an Indian restaurant called Bombay House. It was right on their route, just off of I-90 in the Eastgate area of Bellevue. DeWayne and Marlo are vegans and they love Indian food (as do we), so this restaurant fit the bill. We met at 11:30am and had lunch. I haven’t seen them since we visited them on a motorcycle tour back in 2010. They were living in North Bay, Ontario at the time. Donna and I rode our BMWs on an extended motorcycle tour that took us through Ontario. Since then, they’ve lived in Hawaii, where DeWayne was stationed, and now Portland. The last time Donna and Marlo were together was at a convention in Las Vegas in 2011.

We sat at our table and talked for over an hour. DeWayne is a retired military man now. We talked about adjusting to The Saturday Club (every day is Saturday).

Marlo and Donna

After we left them, we drove west on I-90 to downtown Seattle. I was a little concerned because there were signs warning of lane closures on I-90 and traffic delays. We took our chances and found the traffic was so light (everyone else must have heeded the warnings), we didn’t have any problems.

Our first stop was at the Esquin Wine Merchant south of the city center. This store is in an old warehouse. They have aisle after aisle of wine – great selection and great prices. Donna picked out a few bottles.

From there, we drove downtown and parked on the corner of 2nd and Pike. We walked down the street to Pike Place Market. Pike Place Market is Seattle’s original farmers’ market. It first opened on August 17, 1907. It’s located on a steep hillside overlooking Elliott Bay. You can find great prices on some of the freshest seafood there. Most of the vendor stalls are in a large building with six levels. The building houses vendors with everything from seafood, fresh fruit and vegetables to tourist trinkets, T-shirts and fine art to restaurants and bars. You name it, you can probably find it there.

Saturday crowd at Pike Place Market

There’s one fish monger in particular with a large selection of fresh fish. They always draw a crowd. While we were standing in front of their display, someone bought some fish. One of the employees hollered, “Four black cod!” He then picked up a large, whole black cod from the crushed ice and threw it to another guy behind the counter about 15 feet away. The second guy made the catch and wrapped the fish. This was repeated until all four of the fish purchased were caught, wrapped and delivered. It was a good show.

Fish monger

More seafood

We stopped at a fruit and vegetable stand and found garlic spears. These are like the garlic scapes we bought in Coeur d’Alene, but they are from elephant garlic plants. Donna bought a bunch.

Fruit and vegetable stand

We wandered among the stalls until I was feeling claustrophobic from the crowd. We walked outside the building and shopped across the street. Donna bought handmade cheese from a small store.

Fresh flower arrangements – from $5 to $20

After we left Pike Place, I drove us up to Ballard, a small fishing community north of downtown. I wanted to show Donna the Chittenden Locks (also known as the Ballard Locks). These locks are part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal. The locks connect the fresh water of Lake Washington and Lake Union to the salt water of Puget Sound. The locks maintain the fresh water levels 20-22 feet above the mean low tide level of the sound. This prevents salt water intrusion into the fresh water of the lakes.

We crossed the locks and went to the fish ladder. This is a unique ladder due to it’s location at the confluence of fresh and salt water. When the Corps of Engineers built the dam and locks, they blocked the natural flow of fresh water to the sound. The fish ladder provides flow from the lake for salmon and steelhead trout to return from the sea to fresh water. These fish hatch in fresh water. Then they migrate to the sea. At the end of their lifespan, they return to the fresh water to spawn.

The fish ladder has 21 weirs (or steps). The weirs are like large, square concrete buckets of water overflowing into the next lower weir. Each weir is about a foot higher than the previous weir. The fish are attracted to the weirs by the smell of the fresh water flowing through them. The fish jump up each weir, climbing to the level of the lake to continue their journey to the rivers, streams and creeks they originally came from. We could see fish in the weirs from the walkway above. We walked down to a special viewing room. Some of the weirs have a plexiglass wall, allowing us to look into the weir like an aquarium. We saw steelhead trout and Coho (silver) salmon working their way up.

Yesterday was a landmark day for me. Friday, July 19, 2013 was my last day of work at the office. I walked out the door, joined the Saturday Club and haven’t looked back. The time seems to have flown by. Paradoxically, it also seems like we’ve been so many places and have seen so many things, it couldn’t possibly have fit into a span of just one year. Wednesday will mark one year since we locked up the house for the last time and hit the road.

We ended the day by watching an old movie, Witness, starring Harrison Ford. All in all, it was a great anniversary of my induction into The Saturday Club.

Summer Solstice

Yesterday was the summer solstice. It marks the day with the longest period of sunlight. It would be more correct to call it the northern solstice, as it’s the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere. The southern hemisphere enjoys a summer solstice between December 20-23, depending on how the calendar falls in a given year.

We enjoyed a beautiful midsummer day. There were few clouds in the sky and the temperature reached a comfortable high of 74 degrees. More of the same is forecast for today and tomorrow.

Donna took advantage of the agreeable weather with a bike bike. She rode south on Fox Farm Road, along the Missouri River. She found a route she really enjoyed and put in 23 miles.

While Donna was out riding, I went to the office and paid $10 for the privilege of washing our rig. I started on the roof and then did the cargo trailer. I used Rain-X car wash with carnauba on the roof and trailer. I used NAPA (Mac’s) car wash on the rest of the coach. The Rain-X car wash left fewer water spots than the NAPA product. Next time I’ll use Rain-X on the entire coach. I spent over three hours washing the coach and cleaning all of the glass. It was 3pm by the time I finished and had some lunch. I was too whipped to do the wheels.

I scootered Donna over to Barnes and Noble, which is a mile from here. After being cooped up in our coach all week, she wanted to get some work done in fresh surroundings. She took advantage of the free wifi at the Starbucks inside Barnes and Noble. I came home and kicked back inside with the Formula One qualifying I recorded for Sunday’s race in Austria. It was great to see Filipe Massa take the pole position. Later, Donna walked home.

Last evening, a couple from Australia, Dave and Meredith, pulled into the site next to us. They flew from Australia to Washington State and bought a Ford truck and fifth wheel trailer. They plan to tour the USA and Canada over the next 12 months. What an adventuresome couple. This is their first RV experience and they’ve jumped into the deep end!

We chatted with them for a while. Dave wanted to buy beer, so I rode with him in his truck and showed him where the store was. I picked up a six-pack of IPA as well. Donna and I enjoyed happy hour snacks and drinks outdoors.

Donna enjoying happy hour

Today, after I watch the Formula One race, I’ll polish the wheels, put on the new lug nut covers and treat the rubber with 303 Aerospace Protectant. This is a great product to protect against UV degradation. I use it on the tire sidewalls and the lens covers on our coach. Some headlight lens covers can be damaged by UV rays and turn yellow.

New lug nut covers go on today

I also need to organize the cargo trailer and prepare for travel. Tomorrow morning, we’ll pull out of Great Falls. We’re heading for Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, which is nearly 400 miles away. We’ll break the trip into two days, stopping in Missoula, Montana. We’ll probably stay overnight at the WalMart there.

Last week I neglected to post a photo of a great meal Donna prepared. She has the convection oven down and is getting the induction cooking down as well.

Cornish hen and roasted potatoes

I don’t know if I’ll post again before we reach Couer d’Alene.

Tamale Tuesday

This morning I awoke to the sound of raindrops drumming on the roof of our coach – the same sound I heard yesterday and the day before that. The north and east ends of Dick’s RV Park are giant mud puddles. I’m happy to be in the drier southwest corner, even though we’re closer to the road noise.

On Tuesday afternoon, we had a break in the rain. The forecast called for about an hour lull in the rain showers. Donna went for a walk while it was dry out. I checked our batteries and puttered around. We had about 60 or 70 gallons of fresh water on board. I dumped the tank and refilled it with 100 gallons of the city water here in the park. Great Falls has great water! Much better than the water we’ve been carrying from the desert. When Donna returned, she told me she saw a tamale vendor on the street corner across the 6th Street bridge.

The next bout of rain showers hadn’t arrived yet, so I hustled over to check out the tamales. There was a trailer set up as a kitchen in the church parking lot at 6th Street and 10th Avenue. It had a sign that said “Electric City Concessions” on the side. Electric City is the nickname given to Great Falls, due to having the first hydroelectric generating plant on the Missouri River here.

They offered homemade tamales wrapped in corn husks. Two dollars each, six for $8.50 or $16.00 for a dozen. Tamales are a traditional Mesoamerican dish made from masa ( a corn based starchy dough). In Mexico, tamales are made with different fillings and can be eaten for breakfast (usually with a sweet filling) or dinner. The masa is wrapped with corn husks or leaves and steamed.

I bought half a dozen tamales. These were savory with a ground pork filling. I brought them back to the coach and split them with Donna. They were fairly small, so three each was about right for lunch. Electric City Concessions sets up every Tuesday at the church (Tamale Tuesday). We won’t have another opportunity to buy them as we’ll be leaving Great Falls next Monday.

Yesterday, it rained all day with only a brief break in the evening. Donna and I took a short walk through the park during the break. We avoided the muddy north side. Last night, Donna prepared fish tacos for dinner – one of my favorites.

I’m trying to use the RV park’s wifi as much as possible. With the rain and the park fairly full, their wifi is unreliable. Being inside all day means we are burning through our data allotment. Eight days into our cycle, we’ve used 59% of our current plan. I can raise our allotment and probably will before the cycle ends.

The rain is supposed clear up around noon today. I need to change the rear inner tube on Donna’s bike. I’ll also clean and lube the chain in preparation for tomorrow’s race. At some point, we need to scooter over to the Holiday Inn to pick up her race packet. We may have a shower or two this evening, but we should have clear, blue skies for tomorrow’s race.

Giant Springs

Yesterday’s weather forecast called for a six-hour dry spell between 9am and 3pm. I took advantage of the break in the rainfall and got on my mountain bike at 11am.

After I crossed the Central Avenue bridge, I followed the River’s Edge Trail north, then east as the Missouri bends that direction. I rode at a steady pace until I passed under the 15th Street bridge and stopped at the Black Eagle Dam.

Black Eagle Dam and Falls

Below the dam are the Black Eagle Falls, the first of five falls that make up the Great Falls of the Missouri in Montana. The Black Eagle Dam was first constructed of wood in 1890. It was a timber and rock crib dam, the first to supply hydroelectric power on the Missouri River. In 1926, it was rebuilt with concrete, which still stands today. The original structure is still there, submerged behind the current dam.

The dam is 782 feet long and 34.5 feet high. It houses three turbines that can generate up to 18 megawatts of power. The dam can generate power from the flow of the river, without creating a storage reservoir behind it. Thus it’s called a “run of the river” dam.

The falls downriver from the dam drop over 26 feet. Meriweather Lewis was the first white man to see these falls. The name “Black Eagle” came from an eagle that Lewis saw nesting on a island below the falls.

A few hundred yards downstream, there’s an iron sculpture next to the path. It depicts Lewis and Clark with their guide, Sacajawea, looking at the falls.

Lewis and Clark with Sacajawea

View of Black Eagle Falls from the sculpture

There are many interpretive placards along the River’s Edge Trail, giving short history lessons. I photographed a couple of examples. Click on the placard photos to enlarge and read them if you’re interested.

Montana mining history

Smelting operation

Along this section, the bike trail is high above the river. I could see dirt trails below, near the banks of the river.

Dirt trails by the river

I came to a fork in the path. To the right, it passed under Giant Springs Road. To the left, it continued along the river. I stayed left. A short distance later, the trail forked again. To the right, it ended at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center parking lot. On the left, the trail made a rough descent to the river.

I took the left fork and rode down to the river. There was a mixture of dirt and paved trails along this section. I rode into the Giant Springs State Park. The Giant Springs are an amazing sight. Fresh water flows up to the surface into a large pool. It reminded me of Yellowstone in a way, but this water was cool, clear and pure.

The water temperature is 54 degrees Fahrenheit. It originates from snow melt in the Little Belt Mountains (where the Mumbro Park cabin is located). Giant Springs is formed by an opening in the Madison aquifer. The water comes to the surface and forms a pool, which drains 150 million gallons of pure, fresh water into the Missouri River daily. Some of the spring water is diverted and bottled for human consumption. It’s also used to supply fresh, cold water to Montana’s largest trout hatchery.

Placard at Giant Springs

Look closely and you'll see three streams of water shooting to the surface

Look closely and you’ll see where streams of water shoot to the surface

Water shooting to the surface of the pool and flowing over the rocks to the Missouri

Water shooting to the surface of the pool and flowing over the rocks into the Missouri

The pool of water rushing over the rocks into the river is an amazing sight. I tried to capture the beauty of it.

Giant Springs

A guy walking by asked if I wanted my picture taken at the springs. Why not? It didn’t add anything to the beauty factor though.

On the way back I stopped at the Knicker Biker bike shop downtown. I bought spare inner tubes for our road bikes and a few energy bars.

I came back to the RV park at 1pm. It was an enjoyable two-hour ride. Donna and I had our lunch outside at the picnic table while the sun was shining. Donna went out for a walk and I walked a couple of laps around the park. I chatted with some folks. I found out both tour groups currently in the park are bound for Alaska. I think they will be pulling out this morning. Once the tour groups leave, the park wifi should become usable again. In the meantime, we’re burning through our Verizon data plan.

Donna walked for about 45 minutes, then went back to work on her laptop. The rain returned around 4pm and hasn’t let up since then. We may have a small window – maybe an hour – of sunshine this afternoon. The weather guessers have been right so far and they say the weather should start clearing up and warming up tomorrow.

White Sulphur Springs

I haven’t posted since Friday. I think this was my longest lapse. I had good reason – we were off the grid completely for the weekend, no Internet or cellular service. Throw in a couple of travel days and there you are. I’ll have to break the update into a couple of posts or it will be too long.

On Friday, Donna rode her bicycle into Yellowstone National Park. She rode all the way to the Madison campground and back – a round trip of 28 miles. On the way, she had a close encounter with two bison, one on either side of the road. She had to ride between slow moving cars to shield herself. She rode through most of the turn-outs and view points. In one turn-out, she spotted a bear across the river. It was a black bear. Despite the name, black bears come in a variety of colors. They can be blond, cinnamon, chocolate or jet black and every shade in between. This happened to be a sizable cinnamon colored black bear. Donna snapped a photo with her cell phone.

Cinnamon black bear

When Donna returned from her ride, we walked into town. It was lunch time, so we stopped at the Taco Bus. It’s an old Bluebird bus converted to a Mexican diner.

Taco Bus

Inside the Taco Bus

We ordered enchilada verde plates and dined al fresco at a table in the sun, next to the bus.

We wanted to walk through town and wander through some shops, but thunder clouds suddenly appeared. The weather in the mountains can change very quickly. We walked to the grocery store, bought a few goods and quickly returned to our coach. We didn’t want to be caught out in a downpour. I loaded the scooter and Donna’s bicycle in the trailer.

Saturday was a travel day. We did the usual routine and hit the road by 10:30am. We headed north on US191 through the Gallatin Range.

US191 along the Gallatin River. Snow covered peak in the background

US191 along the Gallatin River with snow covered peak in the background

We had two goals for the day. Our first stop was at the WalMart in Bozeman. We stocked up on groceries there. We dry camped at this WalMart last year. I also filled our fuel tank in Bozeman.

From there we drove east on I-90 past Livingston to US89 north. There wasn’t much traffic on US89. We enjoyed the scenery and amused ourselves by counting the antelope and deer we saw along the way. Our next stop was White Sulphur Springs. I told Donna about the motel and spa there. They have hot mineral water pools there. For a fee, you can soak in the mineral water.

I used to come to this area every year in late October and spend 15 to 20 days hunting big game in the Little Belt Mountains. While we were in the area, Jim Birditt and I would make a couple of trips to White Sulphur Springs to do laundry and soak at the spa. In late fall, it can be very cold here. Jimbo and I always soaked in the enclosed pool.

Things have changed. The enclosed pool is the same, but they’ve added another outdoor pool with jets. The water in the pools comes from natural hot springs. The pools are different temperatures, ranging from 96 degrees to 105 degrees on most days. They completely drain the pools every night and allow the springs to refill them.

Board indicates temperatures of the pools

Donna enjoying the jets in the 102-degree pool

Murals on the walls of the pool area

Before we left West Yellowstone, I was able to reach a dear old friend on the phone. When I used to hunt big game in Montana, we stayed in a cabin north of White Sulphur Springs. Bob and Shirley McBride own about 160 acres of land within the Lewis and Clark National Forest. It’s not uncommon for land to be privately held within public land areas. This is known as checkerboarding. In some areas, every other section is privately held (a section is nominally a square mile or 640 acres). Most of the private sections were originally railroad grants to develop the west.

Bob McBride is a Montana native – I think he grew up near Big Sky. He has an engineering degree and was commissioned in the Navy as a Seabee officer. I don’t think there’s anything that Bob can’t fix or build. When he bought the land, there was an old cabin on it. It wasn’t much of a cabin really – just walls without a roof. There was no floor and the interior was full of cow manure. Over time, Bob rebuilt the cabin, then started adding buildings. He built a log barn. He built a bunkhouse called The Annex. The Annex is where Jimbo and I slept on our hunting trips. He built a wood-fired sauna.

Bob always had a task for us when we came out there. He was always building or working on something.

When I talked to Shirley, she said we were welcome to come out to the cabin. No one was there and she didn’t expect anyone to come while we camped there.

We drove north from White Sulphur Springs about 15 miles. I haven’t been in this area since the 1990s. A few things have changed, but it’s not too different from what I remembered. I found the dirt road that leads to their land. I pulled off in a turn-out on the opposite side of the road. I wanted to walk in first and make sure I could get our rig through the gate. The road is tight and as you enter from the highway, it immediately turns 90 degrees to the left, followed by a 90-degree right turn through a gate.

I decided to go for it. But, I had a problem. I couldn’t turn around from the turnout we were in. The two-lane highway was too narrow and didn’t have a shoulder. I had no choice but to drive north in search of a suitable turnaround. I wasn’t feeling too good about it. I couldn’t remember much development until the town of Neihart, 21 miles away.

Eight miles later, I saw a motel on the left with a parking area the encircled the building. We were able to turn around and head back to the cabin. With some careful maneuvering, we entered through the gate. The first thing we saw was an antelope walking in front of us. I couldn’t believe it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an antelope here, only deer and elk.

The road to the cabin

The two-track dirt road meanders through a couple stands of pine trees. We barely fit through a few spots. A mile in, we came to the gate marking the entrance to Bob’s property.

Gate at east end of Mumbro Park

The compound with the cabin is called Mumbro Park. I don’t remember the story behind the name. We passed through a few gates on the way in. I told Donna the rule – if it’s open when you come through, leave it open. If it’s closed, close it behind you.

The cabin sits nearly two miles in from the highway. It’s totally remote. No cell service, no Internet connectivity, no electricity. The kitchen in the cabin has a spring-fed sink with good water. Other than that, there’s no plumbing. Everything is heated with wood-burning stoves and there’s a big old wood-burning oven and stove top.

I turned around in front of the barn and parked in a fairly level spot.

Parked in front of the barn

We couldn’t hear anything but the sounds of nature. There were tree swallows and blue birds flying around us. The view out our windshield was amazing. I took Donna on a tour of the place. That will be in my next post.

Windshield view

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Internet

Friends and Family

New Phones and Data Plan

Dings and Scratches

Settling in at Mission Bay

Unexpected Ferry Crossing

First Saturday Club Anniversary

Summer Solstice

Tamale Tuesday

Giant Springs

White Sulphur Springs

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