Category Archives: Restaurants

Spyder Key Quest

I may not be as organized as Donna, but I do take care of certain things. One thing is my credit cards. I always handle them carefully and put them away before I sign a receipt or do anything else. That way, I never misplace them. I’m also careful about keys – I have a place for keys and try to always put them where they belong. That way, I don’t have to look for them and I haven’t lost a key in years – until last summer. While we were in Iowa for the RAGBRAI, somehow I misplaced the Spyder key. I  looked everywhere I could think of and retraced my steps before they were lost. I had to give up and break out our spare key.

Since then, we’ve been operating with only one key – no spare for the Spyder. This made Donna nervous – she almost locked the key in the frunk a couple of times and was also worried about losing the key and getting stuck somewhere. I meant to get one made while we were in San Diego, but I put it off. On Friday, I went to the Ride Now Powersports dealer – they carry Can-Am products – and I bought a new key. It wasn’t so simple though. The Can-Am key has a chip that is read by the ignition switch. The Spyder is equipped with an immobilizer system that won’t allow the engine to run unless the system recognizes the chip in the key.

Ride Now had a blank replacement key, but they don’t have a way to cut the keys. They can program the chip in the key, but it has to be cut first, so the key will turn in the ignition during the programming process. I took the new blank key with me. On Saturday, I set out to have the key cut. First I went to Ace Hardware on Main Street. No luck – they don’t duplicate automotive type keys. Then I went to Lowes – same story. I tried a locksmith shop on Power and Southern Avenue – they were usually open on Saturday, but not on the President’s Day weekend. Then I went to a Key Me kiosk in Bed, Bath and Beyond. They wanted to sell me another blank which they would cut for $73. I’d already paid $62 for the blank I had.

I did a search on my smart phone and found a mobile locksmith nearby called Sparks’ Locksmith. I gave him a call. He said he didn’t have a shop – just a van for mobile work – but I could come over to his house and he would cut the key in his van. He was a few blocks away off Signal Butte Road. I found his place and he cut the new key blank in less than 10 minutes and it worked in the ignition fine. He was a super nice guy and didn’t charge for the work. He just said think of me if you need to have work done or if a friend gets locked out. Sparks’ Locksmith – service 24/7 and no extra charge for after hours calls. His number is 602-301-8170 if you are ever in the area and need a locksmith.

From there I went back to Ride Now to have the key programmed. The service guy there told me on Friday that he would program the key for free once I had the key cut since I bought the blank from them. He tried to complete the program several times without success. Finally he got the service manual out. I read the programming sequence out loud to him from the manual as he went through the steps. Success at last – the new key works. I can cross that off my things to do list.

Old key, new key and keyholder

All that running around worked up an appetite. Donna grilled wild Alaskan salmon with garlic mashed potatoes and grilled baby bok choy for dinner. We always buy wild salmon and avoid farm-raised Atlantic salmon.

Wild Alaskan salmon with garlic mashed potatoes and grilled baby bok choy

On Sunday, our friends Gerry and Cindy Dimassa came over to go bike riding with Donna. We met them about 12 years ago when we rode in the same bike club together. The last time we saw them was eight years ago in Paris, France – we happened to be there at the same time.

Gerry, Cindy and Donna after a 36-mile ride to Tempe Marketplace and back

Gerry and Cindy are avid bicyclists and have ridden all over Europe. Cindy’s bike is really high-tech with electronic shifters – no cable adjustments needed!

While they were out on their ride, I tackled another chore. It was time to give the Traeger wood pellet fired smoker/grill and the Weber q2200 propane grill a thorough cleaning. Ash builds up in the Traeger and it needs to be cleaned out after four cooks or so. I cleaned the grates and build-up on the interior, then scooped the ash out.

Heart of the Traeger – the fire pot

Diffuser over fire pot after scooping out excess ash

Last step – fresh foil lining on drip pan

Later, I put two racks of babyback ribs on the Traeger. I had dry-rubbed them with my favorite rub to cook them Memphis-style. We had company over for dinner. Donna met another professional organizer online, Barbara. Barbara and her husband Brent have just taken up the nomadic lifestyle and have been on the road in their class C Minnie Winnie since August.

Barbara brought a 7-layer salad. Donna made cornbread, sweet potatoes and green beans to go with the babyback ribs and we had a buffet-style dinner outside. We enjoyed a couple of drinks and talked about the lifestyle. Brent and Barbara are just getting into it and still adjusting. Like most newcomers, they’ve been pushing and covering a lot of ground. Their next stop will be an extended stay in Palm Desert.

Dinner buffet

The wind kicked up Sunday night and Monday was very windy – gusts up to 30mph – and we had a few raindrops. It was a good day to lie low and we did. A cold front blew in and we’re in for below average temperatures for the coming week.

Tuesday was cool, but the wind died down and the skies cleared. Still, the high only reached 57 degrees! We rode the Spyder over to a Mexican restaurant where we met our friends Mark and Emily Fagan (Roads Less Traveled) along with their puppy, Buddy, for lunch. We sat out on the patio in the sun since we couldn’t take Buddy inside. We had a good time catching up on their latest adventures. We last saw them in McCall, Idaho almost two years ago.

Emily, Mark and Buddy

Donna made a turmeric chicken and rice soup for dinner last night. With the cool temperatures, soup sounded good – and it was!

Turmeric chicken and rice soup

The forecast calls for the cool weather to hang around for the rest of the week with daily highs around 60 degrees. This morning, it was 39 degrees out at 6:30am and the coach had cooled to a chilly 51 degrees. We don’t run the heat at night, we prefer blankets. But when I got out of bed, I turned on the heat pumps first thing!

*Just so you know, if you follow one of my links to Amazon and decide to purchase anything, 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!

 

Valentine’s Dinner Delayed

As we expected, the weather dashed our Valentine’s Day dinner plans. We planned to go to Roma Cafe Ristorante a few miles from Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort – our current home. The rain started falling around noon and persisted into the night. It wasn’t the typical rain we often get around here, which are thunderstorms with heavy rain in short periods. This was more reminiscent of Seattle – light to moderate rain under a heavy overcast. It would occasionally lighten up to a drizzle or a few scattered drops, then fall steadily again with small raindrops – just enough to keep everything wet.

The Phoenix area averages eight inches of rain annually. A quarter of that amount falls in July and August during the monsoon season. The monsoon happens when the prevailing winds come up from the southwest carrying moisture from the Sea of Cortez through central Arizona. That’s when you’ll see heavy thundershowers here. Anyway, we weren’t about to head out on the Spyder and didn’t want to hassle with an Uber ride of only a few miles.

I spent most of the day lazing about and reading a book. I was waiting for parts to be delivered before I could work on my next project. It seemed a simple project, but I’d already had a false start on it – more on that in a minute. Donna replaced our dinner plans with a dish of creamy champagne chicken served over veggie pasta and zucchini spirals with sauteed peppers. It was a good excuse for Donna to open the bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne she had on hand!

Creamy champagne chicken

In our galley area, we were having trouble with one of the wall outlets. One day last week, a breaker tripped and we lost power to all of the kitchen outlets. When I investigated, I discovered that one of the outlets was worn and the induction cooktop plug was barely making contact. At one point, it must have lost contact and a spark arced from the outlet to the plug causing a current spike, thus tripping the breaker. I could wiggle the plug at the outlet and make or break contact with the wall outlet.

The wall outlets are 1-1/4″ X 2-1/2″ rectangular duplex type with a surrounding wall plate.

Old outlet and wall plate

Last weekend I rode the Spyder over to the Ace Hardware on Main Street and bought three new standard household Leviton brand duplex receptacle rectangular wall outlets – I figured I should replace all three outlets in the galley area.

When I came home and removed the trim plate, I discovered that ours weren’t standard household type receptacles. The mounting screws were offset and the wall plate snapped into a square hole centered above and below the receptacles.

Pass and Seymour self-contained wall receptacle – note offset screws and holes for plate

These outlets were made by a company called Pass and Seymour. A little digging online and I found they are self-contained wall outlets made specifically for mobile homes and RVs. They don’t use a metal or plastic junction box like you would find in a standard home installation. The power supply wires and ground lug do not use any screws. Instead, the Romex power cables are stripped of the outer sheath and the individual wires are forced into slots cut into the brass conductors of the outlets. Similarly, the copper ground wire is also captured in a slot. Once it’s wired, a plastic cover snaps over the back of the assembly, completely enclosing it.

I found the replacement Pass and Seymour self-contained receptacles online from an outfit called Mobile Home Parts Store and ordered half a dozen. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have enough on hand to replace the rest of our wall outlets and the shipping cost was the same whether I ordered three or six.

The parts came on Friday and after lunch, I set to work. The first step was to trip the breaker and make sure no current was flowing through the circuit. I tested the circuit with my multimeter to be sure. Once I had the outlet out of the wall, I removed the rear plastic cover by pushing the tabs in with a small punch. Then I used a flat blade screwdriver to pry the wires out of the receptacles. The brass slots are undersized so they bite into the wire, creating a secure connection with good conductivity.

Circuit breakers – second to the bottom below the one marked Refrigerator is the circuit I worked on

Old receptacle on the right has corroded conductors

The self-contained outlets are held to wall with clever locking levers that rotate 90 degrees when you tighten the screws. Tightening the screw rotates them to a vertical position to clamp against the backside of the wall. Loosening the screw rotates the lever against the housing and releases it from the wall.

Romex sheath stripped and wires forced into undersized slots

Pushing the wire into the slots on the outlet wasn’t easy. It has to be pushed with great force. There is a tool available to do this. It’s a plastic handle that has a “U” shaped end to fit over the wire. It costs $38, so I passed on it. It didn’t look very durable and I’d only be using it a few times if I bought one.

I used a metal punch with a flat tip about 5mm in diameter. It was difficult to force the wire into place, but with a few choice words, I got it done. The advantage I see in using this type of receptacle in this application is this – it takes less wall depth and fits thin wall construction. It also doesn’t have any screws that can loosen while traveling – the wires are secure in the slots and not likely to ever work free. It took some pressure to lever the wire out of the old receptacles.

The second outlet I replaced was similar to the first one, but the main difference was the Romex cable. In this one, they stripped a small portion of the outer PVC Romex sheathing and passed the cable through the receptacle and continued on to the next outlet. The job was the same though – pry the wires from the old outlet and force them into place in the new one. Then assemble in reverse order.

The only Pass and Seymour self-contained outlets I could find were white. Our originals were more of a bone color. Since I replaced all three in the galley area, they match with a two-tone look.

New two-tone look

I flipped the circuit breaker to the closed position (on) and tested the outlets. Job done!

Friday’s weather was cool – the high was in the mid-60s – but it was dry. We rode the Spyder to Roma Cafe Ristorante and had our Valentine’s Day dinner a couple of nights late. Donna had the eggplant parmigiana with pasta and a meatball with marinara on the side. I had the cannelloni ripieni, which is rolled sheets of pasta filled with crumbled sausage and covered in marinara and melted mozzarella. I also had a meatball on the side. Roma Cafe serves reasonable portions – not oversized. It’s similar to how Donna typically plates a meal. But I was stuffed. It was a good meal.

Today we have clear skies with only a few high, thin clouds. The temperature should reach the 70s. I have a few errands to run, but other than that, no plans. I’m still getting over the sinusitis although I’m feeling much better than I did earlier in the week.

Update – I’ve read on a few RV forums where the poster advises using a regular household type duplex receptacle as a replacement. They claim it’s easier to install and somehow “safer.” While I’ll agree it may be easier to install, I can’t advise their use or understand how it could enhance safety. Standard household receptacles are designed to be installed in an existing junction box, not freestanding in the wall. If the hot leads secured by screws to the conductors were to vibrate loose, you’d have hot wires floating free inside the wall of your coach without an insulating surround.

On the other hand, a Pass and Seymour self-contained receptacle is fully enclosed once the plastic back cover is snapped into place. It also has no screws securing the wiring – the wires are tightly held in the brass slots. These are designed for this application, standard household receptacles are not!

Snow Birds

We have a variety of birds visiting our site at Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort in Mesa, Arizona. Snowbirds aren’t just people from the north wintering here – a lot of real birds also come to the southwest for the nice winter weather. We set up a hummingbird feeder with a suction cup on our living room window. It soon attracted a number of hummingbirds that visit throughout the day.

Before long we noticed other birds also came to the feeder. I’m guessing they’re attracted to the smell of the sweet nectar. We had finches perching on the feeder and I even saw a woodpecker – I’m pretty sure it was a gila woodpecker – drinking the nectar from the feeder. This prompted Donna to suggest setting up our finch feeder.

The finch feeder is a wooden tube with a mesh sock hanging from the bottom. I filled it with nyger seed. Nyger is also spelled niger and sometimes it’s called thistle. It doesn’t come from a thistle plant though, it’s the seed of the African yellow daisy. It’s grown in Africa and parts of India and is also used in local cuisine there. The name niger comes from it’s origin in Nigeria. In 1998 the wild bird food industry trademarked the name nyger. It’s a favorite food for finches and other birds feed on it too. Finches can live on it exclusively and the high fat and protein content help them get through cold winter nights.

Finch feeder

Now we have finches and sparrows in the orange tree on our site flitting back and forth from the feeder and tree. Some of nyger seed falls to the ground and in the late afternoon quail come to our site and pick at it. It’s fun to watch the birds.

Wednesday evening our friends Joel and Lana picked us for happy hour and dinner at The Hub Grill and Bar down on Baseline Road at Sossaman – a few miles from here. The food is good and they have a wide variety of beers on tap. We came here once before with our friends, Hans and Lisa. I had the pot roast sandwich – it’s a mid-western take on a French dip. It has sliced pot roast beef on a hoagie roll with mozarella and is served with a bowl of brown gravy for dipping instead of aus jus. It was tasty and I brought half of it home.

We came home early. Donna had already packed for her trip to Florida but had to be up early for her flight. She was heading to Miami to meet up with her brother and his family. He rented a place in Miami to celebrate his birthday and get away from the cold weather in Philadelphia for a month. It turns out Donna had to pack some cool weather clothing – they’re having unseasonably cold weather there, but it should warm up over the weekend. Meanwhile, we’re having great weather here in Mesa.

I didn’t sleep well Wednesday night and Donna was up at 4:30am. I got out of bed to see her off – I’ll be fending for myself for the next six days. I didn’t take much advantage of the nice weather on Thursday – I mostly read and napped, then met the guys for a happy hour beer at Lucky Lou’s. The temperature reached 77 degrees.

This morning I played pickleball for a couple of hours and I’m looking forward to another day of abundant sunshine and mid-70s temperatures.

Humphrey’s Backstage Live

Our big event for the weekend was a night out at Humphrey’s Backstage Live. Backstage Live is a restaurant and bar connected with Humphrey’s Half Moon Inn on Shelter Island. It’s a bar and restaurant that features live music – mostly by local bands. The property also has the Humphrey’s outdoor stage where Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay performances occur. The outdoor venue has a large stage set in an intimate grassy outdoor garden next to the marina between the hotel and restaurant.

Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay feature big-name artists. In 2017, performers like Sheryl Crow, The Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, Willie Nelson, Chris Isaac and Steve Winwood, to name a few were there. We saw a local band called The Reflectors at the Backstage Live. It’s a comfortable place for live music. The band plugs directly into a mixing board so the sound level is completely controlled by an operator at the board – no amplifiers on on stage. This allows the music to maintain a reasonable sound level, but removes some control from the individual musicians. I found the lead guitar licks to be a little muddy and lost in the mix, but the band sounded good overall. They played a lot of 80s and 90s hits.

Our view out the window of Backstage Live.

A poorly exposed photo of the Reflectors performing

The Reflectors performed during Happy Hour from 5pm to 7pm. Another band was scheduled to perform beginning at 9pm. I like the opportunity to enjoy live music without staying up half the night. We found out about the show from our friend Hans Kohls. We met up with Hans and Lisa at the bar and enjoyed a couple of drinks and conversation at our shared table.

One thing they did at Backstage Live that was cool was they way they arranged the tables. We sat at the back of the room at a high-top table for four. The next tables and chairs in front of us were slightly lower. The tables and chairs in front of them were even lower. This went on all the way to front, giving everyone a chance to see the stage over the tables in front.

Sunday morning Donna went hiking with Hans and Lisa. They climbed Cowles Mountain in Mission Trails Regional Park on the east trail. This trail takes you to the Cowles Mountain summit – the highest point within the San Diego City limits at 1,592 feet above sea level. It was a little over five miles round trip.

I didn’t hike, I stayed back in the park. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, the park was nearly full with only a handful of open sites. The sites were filled by families spending the long weekend here by the bay. On Saturday afternoon the exodus began. Sunday morning, the weekend warriors were packing up and leaving in droves. By Sunday afternoon, the park had more open sites than ever.

Lots of empty sites

More empty sites

The weekend weather was great – highs in the upper 70s on Saturday and a cooler 70 degrees on Sunday. This morning is overcast, but the expected rain didn’t fall. We should reach the upper 60s here at Mission Bay RV Resort. The next few days will remain cool before the highs are expected to reach the low 70s again. Donna took a day off from her boot camp workout, so we’re off to pickleball this morning at the Ocean Beach Recreation Center.

 

Sometimes I’m Crazy Like That

We pulled out of White Rock, New Mexico a little past 10am Wednesday morning. It was a surprisingly quiet night there – the Visitor Center is right on the main drag near the geographic center of the small town. However, the traffic heading out of town to the southwest past the Visitor Center is almost all going to Bandelier National Monument. There’s no real reason to head out that way after dark, so traffic falls off to next to nothing.

We made the 40-mile drive to Santa Fe and arrived in familiar surroundings by 11:30am. We pulled into the Los Suenos de Santa Fe RV park on Cerrillos Road where we’ve stayed the previous two years. We were assigned to site 93 on the south end of the small RV park. This puts us about as far from the road and traffic noise as we can get, so it’s a good site. We’ve learned through experience not to enter the pull-through sites in the “normal’ fashion – that is, entering from the rear and pulling through. The sites here are relatively narrow and the management has placed bright yellow concrete barriers shaped like barrels at the back of the sites. These barriers can be difficult to maneuver past, especially if you’re pulling a trailer or vehicle behind the coach.

We made the loop around to the front of the site and backed in. It’s much easier as the front of the sites have no barriers and plenty of room to maneuver. Then we found a new twist that affects the sites on the south end of the park. The fresh water spigot and sewer connector are located at the far back end of the site. With our trailer, our water and sewer lines had to extend about 45 feet to reach the hook-ups. This wasn’t a problem for the fresh water – I have plenty of hose. But the sewer line was a different story. In four years on the road, I’ve never needed more than 30 feet of sewer hose. I had to go to Walmart and buy hose extensions to hook up.

Meanwhile Donna was at her computer working on some proposals. She finished up and we went out around 4pm to stop in at Duel Brewery. Duel is a unique experience – they specialize in Belgian-inspired beers and a European style food experience. We haven’t eaten there, only tried a few of their brews. The Santa Fe location has a fairly small bar and is served by a small 10-barrel brewing system. They don’t distribute their beers – if you want Duel, you’ll have to visit Santa Fe or their Albuquerque location. Their beers are fairly strong for the most part and all of them have unique flavors. I’ve found all of the beers I’ve tried there to be very good. Donna and I each ordered a sampler flight and enjoyed them.

Thursday morning we rode the Spyder downtown to walk around the plaza area. This is where most tourists end up in Santa Fe. The plaza often has events and entertainment and the surrounding area is full of upscale boutique shops and a few historical buildings.

We window shopped, then I suggested we go into the Lucchese Bootmaker shop for a look around. I knew it was dangerous thing for me to do. I’ve been wanting to get a pair of crocodile western boots for about a year. And wouldn’t you know it, I found a pair black cherry boots with crocodile belly vamps (the part that covers the top of your foot) and ostrich heel counters and shafts (the part that goes up your calf). They had my size and I tried them on. I couldn’t resist and bought them. As my friend Keith Burk would say – sometimes I’m crazy like that.

Lucchese crocodile boots

I figure I’ll be 61 years old in a few weeks. I deserve a splurge every now and then. Life’s short, enjoy the ride, right?

While we were at Duel the day before, we inquired about the best green chile cheeseburger in town. We were directed to Cowgirl, a bar and grill on Guadalupe Street about a half mile from the plaza. It was overcast and few rain drops began to fall, so we decided to leave the plaza and stop for lunch at Cowgirl.

They bill themselves as serving “New Style Comfort Food.” We found an item on the menu called “The Mother of All Green Chile Cheeseburgers.” Here’s the description from their menu:

Our secret blend of all-natural beef, local buffalo and applewood smoked bacon, grilled to your liking and served in a cheddar/green chile bun with melted brie, truffled green chile, a slice of heirloom tomato and some hand cut truffle fries – Just ask for “Mother!”

It was obviously a large burger and priced at $15. Donna and I split one – it wasn’t an unusual request to split the order apparently. It was the best burger I’ve ever tasted. The blend of beef and buffalo ground with bacon made a tasty blend that wasn’t the slightest bit greasy yet wasn’t as dry as buffalo burgers can sometimes be. The brie and green chile with truffle oil was out of this world good!

The Mother of All Green Chile Cheeseburgers

We beat the rain home. Donna later walked to Sprouts and picked up a few groceries. If the market is less than two miles away, she often likes to walk and shop. I started the break-in process on my new boots after treating them with Bick’s leather conditioner. Crocodile leather isn’t as supple as ostrich and the break-in takes some time.

I watched the Thursday Night Football game then went to bed for a quiet night’s rest. This morning we headed out at 8am to the Genoveva Chavez Community Center for pickleball. We spent about three hours there. I haven’t played since we were in Coarsegold – about three months ago. It was good to be back on the court and knock some of the rust off. We’ll go back on Monday.

Tomorrow we plan to head over to the Farmers’ Market down by the Santa Fe Railroad Park. We always enjoy our visits to Santa Fe. Donna wants to get some bicycle riding in over the weekend. I don’t have any plans other than the market and of course watching the Formula One race from Singapore and some NFL action.

RAGBRAI – Day Three

We finished the day Monday with a group dinner. Jeff grilled pork steaks and everyone brought a side dish. We had a great time telling stories as we sat in the shade next to Jeff and Deb’s rig. We called it a day around 9pm, but Donna was still keyed up and watched an episode of House of Cards before hitting the sack.

Tuesday morning was another early riser day. The RV There Yet? riders were on their way around 6:40am and our three support RVs hit the road only a few minutes later.

Ready for day three

Once again Deb led the way out of Algona, Iowa followed by me and then Fred. We had an easy route – we hit US18 and went east. Fred needed to fuel up. We had a little over 50 miles to cover and figured we would stop when we saw a convenient gas station. About halfway along our route Deb spied a gas station and pulled to the side of the highway just before a four-way stop sign. I went across the intersection and stopped on the other side.

When I saw Fred pulling back onto the highway, I accelerated away from the side of the road with him right behind me. I thought Deb was a few cars behind him. The route I mapped had us turn south before we entered the destination town of Clear Lake, Iowa. We ran around the west end of the lake, then followed South Shore Drive to the Clear Lake State Park where Deb and I had reservations.

When I pulled into the park and stopped at the registration kiosk, Deb was right behind me and Fred was behind her. This was puzzling to me, but I didn’t ask how that happened as I was preoccupied with asking the park ranger what I needed to do to claim our site. The reservation website said check-in was at 4pm – we were there at 8am. A 4pm check-in doesn’t make any sense to me – who wants to check-in that late and then hit the road with a 3pm check-out? Anyway, he just told me to proceed to our reserved site.

Since we were there so early, Fred was able to snag a site – they keep about 1/3 of the sites open for drop-ins – not all of the sites are reservable. It turns out that Deb ran a different route – she came through town on the east side of the lake and our entry to the park coincided. Our first stop was at the dump station. It had only been four days for us, but my thinking is dump when convenient and be prepared to dry camp with empty holding tanks and full fresh water – you never know what might come up.

There were two dump stations – I took one and Deb occupied the other. She had a problem with the electric dump valve on their trailer. She knew how to access the problematic valve for the gray water, but didn’t know how to remedy the problem. I came over to help. She phoned Jeff and asked what needed to be done. I could see a manual screw to operate the valve – we just needed to find the correct Allen wrench to turn the mechanism. We got it to work. Meanwhile a couple of other rigs were lined up at the dump station. I did my best to finish up quickly and move to our site.

We had site 153 – this is not a level site. In fact, I don’t think there’s a level site to be found in this park. I jockeyed our coach back and forth through the 70′ pull-through site trying to find the best approximation of level and finally resigned myself to using blocks under the jacks to get us there.

Meanwhile our riders were on the course. It was a windy day with 15-20 mph wind from the southeast gusting higher at times. They were riding a mostly easterly course making for a headwind component. Donna was feeling pretty strong at the start and kept a good pace. They stopped at Wesley about 14 miles from Algona for breakfast.

Biscuits and gravy in Wesley

They continued on battling the wind and split up as Geoff and Tom wanted to hammer through the ride. Jeff and Donna took a break 24 miles in at Britt. Donna went to the Hobo Museum and paid $5  to check it out. She watched a documentary film there and became so engrossed in the story that she stayed for the entire 75-minute production!

Britt also had a Mayberry RFD theme going on – come on now, you remember Mayberry, right?

Aunt Bea and Donna

Jeff and Otis sample a little moonshine in the klink

By the time we’d dumped our tanks and set up, we weren’t too sure about heading back to the meet-up town of Garner. It turned out that Deb had to take care of some business that entailed several lengthy phone calls, so we bagged it. Fred and I took a walk to check out the campground. There is a beach area on the lake that looks nice – we saw some kids swimming but I have to wonder about the water temperature. Later I heard the lake depths are only around 10′, so maybe the water isn’t that cold.

Clear Lake Campground lake access

Deb gave Fred the keys to their GMC Denali truck and we drove into town to see what’s happening. We made a stop at the grocery store then found a bar and grill on the lake for lunch. We dined in the shade just inside the deck overlooking the lake.

View west from The Landing Bar and Grill patio

View north from the patio toward town

Clear Lake, Iowa is a town of about 7,500 residents. The lake is beautiful and the parks are nice. The one thing that probably put this place on the map for anyone over 60 is the Surf Ballroom. On February 2nd, 1959, Buddy Holly played a concert at the packed Surf Ballroom. It was his last.

The story goes that their tour was plagued with mechanical problems on the tour bus and an inadequate heating system in the cold winter weather. When they got to Clear Lake, Buddy Holly had enough. He hired a plane and pilot to fly to their next venue in North Dakota. The plane departed after midnight in the early hours of February 3rd. Fellow band members Tommy Allsup and Waylon Jennings were supposed to fly with him on the three available seats. Allsup lost his seat on a bet with Richie Valens and Waylon gave up his seat to an ailing Big Bopper. The plane crashed five miles north of US18 killing all aboard. That was the day the music died.

After a difficult day battling wind, Donna rode up to our motorhome around 3pm. Tomorrow’s forecast doesn’t have high winds, but it calls for thunderstorms. We’ll see how that pans out in the morning – will they ride or not?

Back to South Dakota

We pulled out of the Broadus, Montana city park around 10am Sunday. Our route had us continue down US212 where we traversed the northeast corner of Wyoming before we reached South Dakota. We saw several antelope in the fields along the roadside this time – I expected to see them the day before but didn’t.

We drove through the town of Belle Fourche, South Dakota which has the distinction of being near the designated geographic center of the United States of America. This designation was  bestowed by the US Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1959 – after Alaska and Hawaii were admitted to the union. The geographic center of the 48 contiguous states is Lebanon, Kansas.

We drove through town on US 85 next to a truck pulling a fifth-wheel trailer which had a cargo trailer attached to it – you don’t see that very often! We turned southeast at SD34 while the trailer pulling a trailer went straight down US85. We hit I-90 at Whitewood west of Sturgis. A little while later, the trailer pulling a trailer passed us at about 70mph. He must have taken US85 due south and got on I-90 west of Spearfish. Ours was definitely the shorter, faster route.

We pulled into the Elks Lodge in Rapid City around 1:30pm. I parked in the front lot while we figured out how to set up. This is a very nice lodge – one of the largest and cleanest lodges we’ve visited. This is the first lodge we’ve been to where the bar is open to the public. This is due to the golf course on the lodge property which is also open to the public. The RV lot is for Elks members only.

We dropped the trailer in the main parking lot and backed the coach into site four. We have 50amp electric service and fresh water, no sewer hook up. We paid for four nights and shouldn’t have any worries about sewer. The 50 amp electric service was needed – we had to run the generator on the road to power the front roof air conditioner. Once hooked up, we ran both roof A/Cs – it was 100 degrees outside! The average high temperature in July for Rapid City is 85 degrees – we were in for a few days with highs above average.

We had a problem with one of the basement compartment doors over the last couple of days on the road. The door popped open a few times. I adjusted the plate the latch attaches to, but it still wasn’t very secure. On Monday, I found an Ace Hardware store and bought a flat brass bar one-inch wide. I had them cut a three-inch section. I glued this flat bar to the latch plate effectively extending the height of the plate. The door latches securely now and shouldn’t be a problem down the road. While I was out, I picked up a few groceries.

Meanwhile, Donna was out for a bike ride in the 90 degree heat. She planned a route looking at a map and headed out for a 24-mile ride. Little did she know her route included some steep climbs! She got through it though.

I went online Monday and found the local Department of Public Safety (DPS) licensing office. I found out they take appointments for driver’s license exams and renewals. Donna lost her driver’s license back in November in San Diego – she figures it must have slipped out of the slot in her purse when she pulled her cell phone out. I scheduled an appointment at the DPS office a few miles from the lodge for 10am Tuesday morning. They advise arriving 10 minutes prior to the appointment time.

We walked into the DPS office 12 minutes before 10am. They had a sign telling us to take a number after we completed the application paperwork. Donna had already completed the application so she took a number. Then I saw another sign telling us to notify a clerk if we had an appointment. Donna told a woman at the counter she had an appointment and gave her name. She was told that she would be next in line.

We sat down to wait and within two minutes Donna’s name was called. The woman at the counter entered Donna’s application in her computer terminal, took her photograph and printed her new driver’s license in less than ten minutes! I’ve never experienced such efficiency at a government agency.

We were back on the Spyder and on the road a couple of minutes past 10am. We headed up US16 and turned off at 16A. We were headed to Mount Rushmore. We visited the monument in 2013 when we first hit the road as full-timers (post).

Once we got through the tourist town of Keystone, we hit a traffic jam trying to enter the monument. There was a crew painting new road lettering and arrows and they had a lane closed. This confused the traffic as it was forced to converge into two lanes from three – the two lanes that are for entry to the monument. Through traffic had to go around the crew, then get out of the entry lane at the entrance and get back on the highway. We baked in the sun for 20 minutes trying to enter.

When we were here before, we paid the $10 fee to park and were planning to show our National Parks pass inside but there was no entrance fee. This time I showed my National Parks pass and was told the pass doesn’t do anything for me at the monument – everyone has to pay for a parking permit to enter the monument. So I paid $10 again. We walked through the monument viewing area. We both thought the famous sculptures looked like they had been cleaned since our last visit.

Donna in front of the state flags display

At the viewing pavillion

We didn’t stay long. We went back to Keystone for lunch at Peggy’s Cafe. We were disappointed in the food quality – not on our recommended list. I wanted to take the scenic drive down Needles Highway again but realized that would mean we had to fight our way through the traffic jam at the monument again.

I decided to ride the Spyder down 16A to SD87 and we could come up the Needles Highway from the bottom. This route took us through Custer State Park. At the park entrance there was a sign advising a fee for a park pass to use any of the parks facilities – through traffic on the highway didn’t need a pass. So I carried on without stopping.

At the turn-off to Needles Highway we were stopped and an agent told us we had to purchase a pass to enter the highway, even if we didn’t plan to stop. I didn’t recall paying anything four years ago when we drove down the highway. I paid $10 for a pass.

Needles Highway is very scenic – and it’s slow. The road is narrow and full of twists and turns. There are six tunnels – some a as narrow as eight feet seven inches. I don’t know how the tour buses which are eight feet six inches wide manage to get through, but they do.

I didn’t stop to take photos at the Cathedral Spires which are granite columns – needle like – towering along a section of road. I thought we would come back down the highway and I would get pictures then. We went all the way to Sylvan Lake before stopping to stretch our legs.

Sylvan Lake

We were hot and the route was longer than I anticipated. We didn’t have enough fuel to back-track down the highway. We cooled off in the shade and Donna even put her feet in the lake.

Donna cooling off in Sylvan Lake

We exited the highway at the top end and rode back to Rapid City. We had put in about 110 miles and spent four hours on the Spyder. We had enough sightseeing for one day – we were getting saddle sore.

We ended the day with grilled green chile turkey burgers cooked on the Weber Q for dinner and some leftover red potato salad.

Green chile turkey burger

I opened an IPA called Total Domination from Ninkasi Brewing in Eugene, Oregon.

Ninkasi Total Domination

We’re thinking about going to a barbeque and rodeo later today – it depends on the weather. For the last three days, a thunder shower developed in the late afternoon. Usually it blows through quickly but we had a considerable amount of rain along with high winds, thunder and lightning last night.

Tomorrow we’ll head east and probably make an overnight stop near Chamberlain before we check in for a week in Sioux Falls.

Bass Lake

We went to the social hour at the clubhouse here at Escapees Park of the Sierras Friday night. The social hour is a happy hour combined with heavy potluck appetizers – it’s enough to call it dinner. Everyone brings a dish of food to share and their own drink of choice. Donna brought a vodka and grapefruit juice cocktail while I brought a bomber bottle of  bourbon barrel aged ale.

559 Bourbon Barrel Aged

This ale from 559 was amazing. Instead of imparting sweetness from the bourbon barrel, it had a nice flavor with a tart finish. Even at 8% ABV it wasn’t heavy at all. I really liked it.

Saturday was Donna’s birthday. Traditionally we go out to dinner at the restaurant of her choice on her birthday. Donna chose Ducey’s on the Lake up at Bass Lake. We headed out on the Spyder around 3:45pm. We rode up CA41 through Oakhurst. A couple of miles north of Oakhurst we turned onto road 222. We followed 222 until it became 274 – it changed names a couple more times before we got to the village of Bass Lake. It was a 22-mile ride and we made good time.

It’s been at least thirty years since I last visited Bass Lake. The first time I came here was 1965 or ’66 – I can’t remember for sure. I was about 10 years old and came here with my family. We spent the weekend in a cabin belonging to a friend of my father and fished. I think we all caught fish, but I remember my mom caught the most.

Later, in the late ’70s and early ’80s, my step-dad had a time share in a cabin and we spent a few long weekends here. Of course today I don’t recognize the place. Instead of a few cabins in the woods around the lake, there are many full-size houses with boat docks. There are resorts in the village including a large one called The Pines Resort. Ducey’s restaurant dates back to the end of World War II if I remember correctly. It was originally a family-run operation in a small building. Now it’s owned by The Pines Resort and is located in a large log structure overlooking The Pines marina and Bass Lake.

Bass Lake is a reservoir that was created in 1896 when a dam was built. It was originally called Crane Valley Lake. It’s in the Sierra National Forest. The lake is about four and a half miles long and less than half a mile wide in most places. From the southern tip, it’s oriented to the northwest. Even though it’s on a tilted heading, most people refer to the long shorelines as the north shore or the south shore. Bass Lake Village and The Pines Resort are located on the north shore about halfway down the lake.

Donna and I strolled around the commercial area of the village. We popped in to Pines Bar for a cold one, but left before ordering. It was a dive bar with no view. We walked down to Ducey’s on the Lake and went to their upstairs bar. We had a commanding view of the lake from there and enjoyed a cold one. They had a good selection of beers on tap, including some local beer.

At 5pm we went downstairs to the restaurant for dinner. We had window side table and a nice view of the lake. There was a lot of activity at the marina and on the lake. This was obviously a popular destination for the long Memorial Day weekend. Before we ordered, we saw a number of people pointing and looking out the windows. There was a wedding reception in the resort’s banquet hall and the bride and groom were walking toward the marina.

The groom was a naval officer. The newlyweds were accompanied by an honor guard of four navy officers, three marine officers and a marine Gunnery Sergeant. The honor guard raised ceremonial swords over the couple as the wedding photographer shot pictures. They lowered their swords before I could snap a shot.

Wedding party – reception hall in the background

View of the marina and lake from our table

Donna ordered the 10-ounce prime rib plate with a sauteed mushrooms and a side of scalloped potatoes made with ham chunks, green chiles and cheddar cheese. I had the petite filet mignon. The food was very good.

Donna’s birthday dinner plate

On the way out of the village, we made a quick stop where Willow Creek empties into Bass Lake’s northern tip to take in the view.

Willow Creek

North end of Bass Lake from Willow Creek

Donna ready to saddle up

The weather warmed over the weekend. We had a high of 80 on Saturday and in the upper 80s on Sunday. We played pickleball both mornings here at the park. Sunday morning we played for a few hours with Melinda and Joe – it was just the four of us. It was really fun as we were able to work on strategies and tactics. Pickleball is in its fledgling stages here – Melinda and Joe are working hard to get it going. This makes it difficult to put together competitive games. Melinda and Joe are intermediate level players but oftentimes they are paired with beginners to make up doubles teams. This will sort out as more people play and the beginners gain experience.

Today is Memorial Day – we should take a moment to reflect on the meaning of it. It’s a day to honor the memory of those who sacrificed all for our country. I want to give thanks to them and their families.

 

 

Last Dance in San Diego

Our last week in San Diego was filled with the usual activities and then some. I hit the pickleball courts and happy hours at Offshore Tavern and Grill and Dan Diego’s. In addition to getting some writing done, Donna got in some cycling and also attended a beach workout sponsored by San Diego Magazine.

In my last post, I described the dead end I hit trying to change out Sini’s kitchen faucet. After discussing the issue with my friends Mark and Paul – both have earned their living as plumbers their entire adult lifetimes – they came to the same conclusion. I would have to cut the frozen brass nut off of the old faucet with a sawzall reciprocating saw to remove it. I had two problems with this. First – I don’t have a sawzall. Second, I would most likely damage Sini’s sink if I used a sawzall on the faucet nut. I hated to do it, but I had to tell Sini I wouldn’t be able to complete the job.

On Friday night, Donna, Sini and I went to Offshore Tavern and Grill. We were joined by Sini’s friends, Larry and Cindy, who were visiting from Washington. We ordered dinner from the happy hour menu – Sini and Donna went for the poke plate while Larry and Cindy had carne asada tacos. I went for the seared yellowfin tuna – delicious.

Seared yellowfin tuna

We left Offshore around 7pm and headed over to Tio Leo’s – a Mexican restaurant and bar a few miles south of Offshore. We met up with our friends, Carole Sue and Mona, there. It was my night out with the girls.

Carole Sue, Donna, Sini, Mona and me

The Siers Brothers Band was playing at Tio Leo’s. This was the second time we saw this band – we saw them at the end of April at the Beachcomber. This time they had another member – a singer fronting the band – he did a smooth rendition of the Righteous Brothers’ You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling. They were as good as before – we really enjoyed their performance and I even hit the dance floor with Donna for a couple of songs.

Siers Brothers Band

Steve Siers

Steve Siers and his brother Mark play guitar in the band. They trade off lead and rhythm parts. It was interesting to see their different approach and style of playing. Mark tended to be true to the original recordings and played the lead parts pretty much note for note. Steve was a little more free-form and put his own twist on the solos. It was really evident when they covered Tom Petty’s Last Dance with Mary Jane. Mark also plays hot slide guitar and really cooked on the Allman Brothers One Way Out.

On Saturday, the kitchen faucet saga came to a close. Sini’s current faucet works fine – no leaks or problems – she just wanted to upgrade it. Since I couldn’t get the job done, she decided to wait on replacing it rather than hiring a plumber to do it. Meanwhile, Donna really liked the faucet Sini bought so she decided to buy it from Sini so I could install it in our coach.

I replaced our faucet two years ago but Donna wasn’t entirely happy with the one I put in. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, but it was too low and she didn’t like the way the sprayer functioned. The faucet Sini bought was a Delta high-rise pull-down kitchen and bar faucet. I figured it wouldn’t be too difficult to remove our faucet since it was only two years old and not corroded.

Our “old” kitchen faucet

Of course I had to deal with a cramped work space, but there was more room than I had in Sini’s cabinet.

Cramped workspace

As I suspected, the threads on the hold down nut weren’t corroded at all and removal was easy.

Clean threads and easy removal

Installing the new faucet was straight forward and I had the job done in less than an hour.

New high-rise pull-down faucet

Donna is happy with her new faucet. She likes the way the sprayer works and the high-rise design gives her more room in the sink. A happy ending to the faucet story. Sini will probably have her faucet changed when she returns here in the fall – she’s spending the summer up in Washington and her coach will be in storage.

The weather has been a mixed bag this week. We had a few showers at the beginning of the week. The pattern has been cloudy mornings with sunshine in the afternoon. The temperature has reached the upper 60s everyday. Today may be a little cooler.

I have a few things to accomplish today. We’re pulling out of here tomorrow so I’ll need to pack the trailer, check tire pressures and put away the tire covers and windshield cover. Tomorrow we’ll drive 90 miles up to Hemet where we’ll check in at Golden Village Palms RV Resort. I got a great rate on a 70′ pull-through site there with our Passport America discount – under $30/night.

 

Is Three Enough?

I made my usual stop at Dan Diego’s Thursday for a cold one with the Bay Park guys. When I was leaving through the alley in back, I saw a medium size bird with a bright red tail land on a utility cable over the alley. It was an African grey parrot! I stopped to shoot a photo but I only got one back lit shot before it flew away.

African grey parrot

African grey parrots are native to equatorial Africa – and they’re grey in color with red tails. They are popular as pets because they have an uncanny ability to mimic human speech. This bird must have been an escapee or released from captivity.

There are a few neighborhoods in San Diego that have flocks of parrots – mostly conures. These birds are also medium size and are mostly green – some have red heads. They’re native to Mexico and Central America. No one knows for sure how they got here, but they’ve been around for decades. Some say they’ve seen wild parrots here since the 1960s.

Donna and Sini went grocery shopping Thursday morning. I arrived back at the coach from the rec center just after they got back. They told me about a fifth-wheel trailer that pulled in ahead of them and they said it looked like it had wood siding – like a wood cabin.

After dinner, we took a walk through the park and found it. It was actually aluminum siding that had been air brushed to look like wood. The person that painted it was definitely an artist – the visual effect was unbelievable. We talked briefly with the owner and asked if I could take pictures.

Air brushed fifth-wheel

The painter put his initials here

MagikShop is the name of the place that painted it

On another subject, I think I have a collector bug. At one time, I collected watches. When Donna bought me a pair of cowboy boots last summer, I soon ended up with three pairs. A couple of months ago, while we were at ViewPoint RV and Golf Resort in Arizona, I decided to buy a folding pocket knife with a locking blade. We were receiving a lot of packages and I had to cut the boxes into smaller pieces to put them in a recycle bin. I was tired of retrieving a box cutter from the trailer every time I had to do it.

A folding pocket knife seemed like the answer. I did a little research online. I didn’t want anything too fancy, just a reasonably priced knife from a reputable company that would hold a decent edge. Pocket knives come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Further, it’s important to know and understand the materials they’re made from. The blade steel type is important as it determines how sharp the edge can be, how easy it is to sharpen the knife and how well it will hold an edge. The other consideration is the material used for the scales – the gripping surface on the handle of the knife.

I looked around a little and found a Spyderco Tenacious on Amazon that fit my wants. It was reasonably priced around $40. The blade steel was 8Cr13MoV – a Chinese steel that sharpens easily and has decent edge retention. The scales were G10 – a synthetic material that’s durable and provides good grip. I ordered it and put it to good use in the following months.

Then I started reading more about knife steel and the Spyderco range of pocket folders. I wanted something a little lighter with better edge retention that would fit in my pocket. I found another folding pocket knife with a locking blade called a Spyderco Delica 4. This one cost twice as much as the first knife I bought due to the quality of the materials. The blade is made from VG-10 steel. This is a Japanese steel formulated for knife blades. The scales are fiberglass reinforced nylon (FRN) for lightness. It’s very light and disappears when clipped in my pocket.

That led me to another one – a Spyderco Chaparral. This is the most expensive of the three and has a blade made from CTS-XHP steel. This steel was developed and is made by an American company – Carpenter Technology Corporation. Many high end knife makers consider CTS-XHP to be the best blade steel currently available. The scales on this knife are carbon fiber. It’s ultra lightweight and thin. The build quality is obvious.

Top to bottom Spyderco Tenacious, Delica 4 and Chaparral

A knife collection doesn’t take much space. But, where does it stop? What’s the point of having a drawer full of pocket knives? I can only use one at a time and I really don’t need a lot of specialty knives. I don’t know – all I needed was something convenient to cut cardboard but now I have three.

Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo – a Mexican holiday commemorating the battle of Puebla in 1862 during the Mexican-Franco war. It also happens to be the anniversary of our marriage. Donna and I were married on the fifth day of May in 2006. We always go out to a nice restaurant for dinner on our anniversary.

While we were getting ready to go out, I saw another unusual sight. Someone had put out two small bowls in a vacant RV site. One had some kind of food in it and the other had water. A pair of mallards were dining and drinking there. They seemed very tame.

Mallards dining and drinking

The weather was much cooler. We decided to take an Uber ride to the Cafe Bella Italia in Pacific Beach where I had dinner reservations. As we were in front of the RV park, our Uber driver cancelled and Donna received a message telling her to order another ride. Right about then, Sini drove into the park. She pulled over and got her dog, Ziggy, out of the car and told us to take her car and forget about Uber. Thanks, Sini!

Today we expect a high temperature of 63 degrees – matching yesterday’s high. There’s a 50% chance of rain showers today. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for a 90% chance of rain and a high of only 61 degrees.

 

*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!