Category Archives: Scooter

Heavy Lifting in Old Jeans

Friday was only day 2 without Donna, but it seems like she’s been away for a long time. After I posted to the blog, I got busy on the battery project. The first step was to walk out to the trailer and pick out a handfull of tools I would need. Having the trailer in a remote lot is a pain when I want to work on something. After looking over the connections and thinking about how to get the heavy starting batteries out, I dove in.

First, I disconnected the ground cables from the chassis batteries, then the positive cables. I also disconnected the cables from the 6-volt house battery located in front of the starting batteries. The other three house batteries are located on the right side of the battery bay. One house battery and both chassis batteries are on the left. I taped the connectors on the battery cables with duct tape to prevent any possibility of shorting to ground. The batteries are held in place with angle iron and metal straps. I removed the hold downs, then I pulled the 6-volt house battery out from in front of the chassis batteries. These 6-volt deep cycle golf cart batteries are heavy!

Thankfully the big group 31 maintenance free chassis batteries had folding handles on top. This made it much easier to lift and pull the batteries from the compartment. It wasn’t easy though. I was surprised to find these batteries are heavier than the Optima batteries I’m replacing them with. I would guess they weigh at least 70 lbs each. I placed the old batteries in the empty cartons from the Optima batteries so I can transport them to a recycling center.

Old battery out, ready for recycling

Once I had the old batteries out, our friend Bob Schmitt came over to offer assistance. I appreciated the offer, but it really is a one-man job. There isn’t enough room to get two sets of hands in the battery bay.

Next I placed the 60 lb Optima batteries in back of the compartment. I took several breaks as I worked. The heavy lifting and muscling of the batteries had me sweating and huffing and puffing. At one point, Gayle (Life’s Little Adventures) stopped by to chat briefly. It was a welcome break from the work.

First battery in place

Although the Optima batteries I used are classified as group 31 batteries, they are slightly smaller than the group 31 batteries I took out. This is due to the spiral wound plate construction. Each cell is cylindrically shaped. The six cells are arranged three to a side with an offset. These batteries are leak free and can be installed in any orientation. I have them upright as they fit just fine that way.

Second battery muscled into place

Connecting the batteries with the stiff 2/0 copper cables came next. I connected the positive cables first with the ground connectors still insulated with duct tape. I did this to prevent any accidental grounding of a positive lug. If the ground cables were attached first and my wrench inadvertently touched the metal frame while in contact with the positive lead, it would create a dangerous short to ground. Sparks would fly and the wrench could get very hot!

Cables connected

With everything connected and the hold downs tightened, it was job done! The whole operation took about two hours – I took many short breaks while doing the work. The battery bay looks awful in the photos. The bay is exposed on the bottom by necessity. Batteries can create hydrogen gas when they are charging. The battery bay must be well ventilated to prevent explosive hydrogen gas build up. A result of this open bottom of the bay is dust collects in the bay. I’ve cleaned it a few times and used a baking soda solution to neutralize acid build up from the flooded wet cell 6-volt house batteries. I need to repaint the trays and hold downs. That will be a project for another day.

In anticipation of the possibility of sulfuric acid getting on my clothes, I wore an old pair of jeans. I’ve had them stashed away for a job like this. When I was done, I put the jeans in the trash. When sulfuric acid gets on fabric, you often can’t tell right away. When you wash the clothes, the sulfuric acid causes the fabric to disintegrate.

After cleaning up an putting my tools away, I rewarded myself with a trip to the beach. I had a rolled taco plate for lunch on the boardwalk in Pacific Beach. It was relaxing to sit in the sun, feel the ocean breeze and people watch.

I came home at 3:30pm, parked the scooter and walked out on the Rose Creek Trail. I walked a little over a mile to the Enterprise Rental Car agency on the corner of Garnet and East Mission Bay Drive. I picked up a Ford Focus there. Donna had reserved the car so I can pick her up in Los Angeles tomorrow. Enterprise has three-day weekend specials for $9.99/day. It was cheaper to get the three-day deal than to rent a car for Sunday only.

Today I’ll kick back and watch the Detroit Red Wings play game two of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in Tampa Bay. Detroit is in the playoffs for the 24th consecutive year! I’ll follow that with the Formula One qualifying from Bahrain. We have more beach weather today, but I think I’ll just be a couch potato.

Tomorrow morning I’ll drive back to the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles and pick Donna up. We’ll come home via I-10 to I-405 so we can drop off Ingrid, our friend from Holland at the L. A. airport (LAX).

Diverging Plans

We haven’t had beach weather, but I can’t complain. The daytime high is in the mid to upper 60s and overnight the low is in the upper 50s. In the afternoon, the wind blows 10-15 mph from the west/southwest. The wind makes it feel cooler than the thermometer shows. That will change over the next few days as the temperature will climb to the upper 70s and maybe hit 80 degrees.

I scootered over to the Pacific Beach Recreation Center on Thursday for more pickleball. Donna stayed home and worked on final preparations for her booth at the upcoming annual conference of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO). She and her friend Ramona Creel are setting up a bookstore to sell books written by NAPO members.

Our plans diverged again yesterday. I had a doctor appointment in the morning. It was a follow-up visit after being diagnosed with high blood pressure late last year. I’ve been checking my blood pressure periodically. It seems to be erratic. I see variances of as much as 30mm Hg on the systolic (high) reading. Doctor Ryan thought I needed another medication to control my blood pressure better. He said it’s most likely a hereditary condition. Although regular exercise and proper nutrition can help (I already do this), I need medication. So now I take lisinopril every morning and atenolol at bedtime.

When I returned from the doctor, Donna was working on responding to a bid for speakers. Before I went to the doctor, I unpacked our Sea Eagle kayak and pumped it up. Donna’s sister, Sheila, and Sheila’s son Connor came over around 11:30am. The three of them went out on the bay in the Sea Eagle. I went to get my prescription filled at CVS. Then I rode to Chase Bank to deposit a check. From there I went to Costco. I bought a few 22-ounce bottles of craft beers and a bottle of wine. I also bought a case of bottled water which I strapped on the back seat of the scooter. When I got home it was after 1pm and Donna had left for a late lunch with Sheila and Connor.

I spent the afternoon reading a book in a chair outside in the sun. My daughter, Jamie, called from Texas. She’s having issues with her heart – something about a valve not operating properly. She wanted to know family history of heart disease. Unfortunately, I wasn’t much help. I haven’t talked to my biological father in more than thirty years and haven’t had contact with his family either. I know my paternal grandfather died of a heart attack, but he was in his 80s at the time. My mother is Japanese. She came to the USA after she married my dad. I never met her mother or father although I did meet her brother and sisters when I was a kid. It’s a long story, but I don’t know anything of the medical history on my mother’s side either.

While I was reading, I saw our neighbors across the way come out of their Lazy Daze class C motor home. I recognized them from their blog. It was Jim and Gayle (their blog is Life’s Little Adventures). They’ve been full-time RVers since 2008. We chatted briefly before they had to dash off to meet up with friends. Turned out they knew all about our trailer being stolen last year from my blog and I knew about their mountain bikes being stolen in Salinas last year from their blog.

Donna’s lunch with Sheila stretched out all afternoon. By 5pm, I was ready for liquid refreshment. I opened a bottle of Belching Beaver Peanut Butter Milk Stout. It is a tasty concoction – sort of a liquid peanut butter cup.

Liquid peanut butter cup

I didn’t think I would have any issues with milk stout. I’m lactose intolerant and milk stout has lactose in it, but not that much. I was wrong. The last two times I had milk stout, my stomach was rumbling soon after. I need to cross it off my list of beers.

Donna, Sheila and Connor returned around 6pm. We sat outside and chatted. Their late lunch had turned into an afternoon margarita fest for the adults. I ordered a pizza for delivery from Woodstock Pizza in Pacific Beach. While we were waiting for the pizza, Connor took up a hula-hoop challenge. The challenge was to spin the hoop around his body and drop to his knees without stopping the hoop. It took a few attempts, but he got it. The next step was to drop to his knees and continue hooping while he stood up. It took several attempts, but he stayed with it and finally got it.

Dropping to his knees while hooping

Now stand up without losing the hoop

By then the pizza arrived and we ate at the table outside.

I have a couple of projects to attend to today. Donna is going with our friend, Sini, to a yoga class by the beach at the foot of Law Street in Pacific Beach this morning. Another friend we met at the PB rec center, Laurie Beth Jones, is coming over to visit this afternoon. Like Donna, Laurie is an author – she writes about spirituality and leadership and has published 14 books, the same number as Donna.

Call Me Nosy

Donna and I had an early lunch in the coach on Tuesday. We scootered over to the Pacific Beach Recreation Center on the corner of Gresham and Diamond Street at noon. They have open pickleball on indoor courts from noon to 3:45pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The park attendant unlocked the gymnasium right at 12:00pm sharp. He then turned around and walked away.

We went into the gym and felt a little out of place. We were the only people there. The floor of the basketball court had painted lines for three pickleball courts. I saw a box with balls and pickleball paddles and also three canvas bags with nets. About then, another guy named Bob came in. He started setting up one of the portable pickleball nets and told me to start setting up another one. He briefed us on the procedures they follow to get games going.

Shortly after that, people began to arrive. We soon had games on all three courts and people waiting to play. Many of the players were experienced and played at a high level. We played several games and stayed until 3:30pm. Playing on an indoor court is different than the outdoor courts we’re used to. The ball is different – it’s softer and has larger holes in it. I think it’s easier to control. The floor reflects light and the overhead lights, windows and sky lights made it difficult for me to see the ball at times. Also, lob shots cannot be sent too high or they’ll hit fixtures and be called out of bounds. It was fun – we’ll go back. Afterwards, Bob e-mailed me a schedule for pickleball at other San Diego Recreation Centers.

I spent the day running errands yesterday. First, Donna and I scootered to the Sports Rx store on Santa Fe Street. Donna needed a new bicycle helmet. They had high-end helmets made by Smith that cost far more than Donna expected to spend – and they had nothing in size small. The sales associate went into the store room and came back with a size small Rudy Project helmet that had been discontinued. It was an open-box item that they offered to sell to Donna at a 40% discount. It was a great deal, but we decided to go to another store just down the street to check out what they had. She tried on some moderately priced helmets but didn’t like the fit or style. That’s what happens when you shop the high-end stuff first – you see the shortcuts taken to keep costs down on other offerings. We went back to Sports Rx and she bought the Rudy Project helmet. It’s a nice, lightweight helmet and she’s happy she went for it. She immediately headed out for her first bike ride in 3 1/2 weeks with a promise not to crash.

While Donna was out riding, I rode the scooter to Kearny Mesa. I needed to buy a new drinking water hose for the fresh water supply of our motor home. One of the hoses I connect to our filtration system was leaking at the swaged connector fitting. You shouldn’t use a regular garden hose for drinking water. Most garden hoses are made from polyvinyl chloride and have metal fittings of unstated origin. According to Rodale News, they can add heavy metals and plasticizers to the water.

I went to the La Mesa RV Center off Ruffner Street and looked at hoses. They had Valterra brand drinking water hoses, but they were only 1/2″ inside diameter (I.D.) and priced high. They wanted $21 for a 25′ hose. I rode over to Walmart and found Camco drinking water hoses with 5/8″ I.D. – 25′ for $10. These hoses are Bisphenol A (BPA) free and won’t contaminate drinking water. We don’t drink from the taps in our coach, but we do have a double filtered water dispenser for making coffee and filling water bottles. I bought the Camco hose.

I made a couple more stops for groceries and also picked up a bottle of Belching Beaver Milk Stout and a bottle of Eraser IPA.

Later, I took a stroll through the park. There are two other Alpine Coaches here but I haven’t met the owners. I also saw a few other coaches that piqued my curiosity. One was a Country Coach Magna 630 – this is a high end coach. It had damage on the left front corner and just pulled in yesterday. I can’t be sure since I didn’t meet the owner, but I think the same coach was here in a different spot when we arrived and it was damage-free. The broken fiberglass on the front looks fresh and the tire had fresh marks from contact. The left front basement door was taped shut with duct tape.

Country Coach Magna 630 damage

In another site, I saw a National RV Pacifica that also had left front damage. The Pacifica was the top of National’s line. This one didn’t have fiberglass damage – only the metal compartment door was hit.

Pacifica with dented compartment door

These were graphic reminders to always maneuver the coach slowly and carefully in tight places. I don’t want to be nosy, but I would like to know what happened to these nice motor homes.

The third site that has me curious is site 138. There’s a Ford F250 pickup truck parked in the center of the site. The tag in the window shows it belongs in that site, but there’s no RV. I wondered if someone was sleeping in the back of the truck, but the site is within view of our place and I haven’t seen anyone there since we arrived on Sunday. Paying for a full hook-up site in a RV park seems like an expensive way to store your truck. Again, I don’t mean to be nosy but I can’t help wondering what the story is there.

Truck parked in a full hook-up RV site

My daughter, Shauna, stopped by after work last night and joined us for dinner. She has a few more weeks of school and exams before she graduates from Cal Western with her law degree on May 1. We discussed plans for celebrating the occasion and her plans for moving to D.C. to start her new job. It turns out that she might be going to Albany, New York to take the bar exam at the same time we are there!

Today I plan to go back to the PB Recreation Center for more pickleball. Donna has opted to stay home and get some work done so she can spend the day with her sister, Sheila, tomorrow.

Getting Into Hot Water

I checked a few items off my “to do” list yesterday. Donna’s number one item was a follow-up visit to her doctor on 4th Avenue. I would have taken her there on the scooter, but I had an RV tech from RV Pros coming over to help out with the hot water situation at 11:30am. Donna’s appointment was at 11am. So, Donna took an Ūber car to her appointment.

Jorge from RV Pros arrived on time. I explained how our hot water flow was restricted – it had suddenly been reduced to a trickle while the cold water side had good flow and pressure. I told him about the corroded anode rod and how I had flushed the hot water tank twice. He looked at the back of tank through an access panel in our kitchen and diagnosed a bad check valve. The hot water outlet of the tank has a check valve that only allows water to flow out and prevents backflow into the tank. Jorge didn’t have the part with him.

To replace the check valve, the tank would have to be drained. I told Jorge I had a new anode rod. He said we should install it since the old one would be taken out to drain and flush the tank. I also showed him the pressure relief valve which was stuck. He said he would come back by 5pm with a new check valve and pressure relief valve.

After Jorge left, I rode the scooter to the Ben Bridge Jeweler at the Fashion Valley Mall in Mission Valley. I had talked to the watch maker there earlier. In 2007, I bought Donna a nice watch with a mechanical automatic movement at the Ben Bridge store in Scottsdale, Arizona. Her watch stopped when we were in Hemet. I suspected a set lever problem because the stem didn’t feel right. The watch was about eight years old and could use a complete servicing. I was once a watch idiot savant (WIS) – I had a collection of mechanical watches. I kept them on automatic winders – these are devices that rotate the watch so the auto-winding mechanism would keep the mainspring tensioned. I also had a collection of railroad pocket watches. I reduced my collection over the years – I only have one railroad pocket watch now and five wrist watches.

Israel, the watch maker at Ben Bridge confirmed my suspicion of a broken set lever. The set lever is selector that allows the watch to be manually wound or the date to be set or the time adjusted. He will do a complete overhaul of the watch including a new set lever, mainspring, seals and gaskets and polish the case and bracelet. Our goal is to have the work completed before we leave San Diego in four weeks.

While I was at the mall, I had lunch. I ordered teriyaki chicken with rice and vegetables at the food court and sat at a table in the sun. The meal was served in a flat styrofoam container. The day was breezy with sustained 12 to 15 mph wind. I ate a little over half of the meal when a sudden wind gust picked up the container and deposited the contents in my lap! Oh well.

Jorge came back around 3:30pm with the parts needed. I had talked to Thomas, the security supervisor here, and told him I would be draining the hot water tank. They are very sensitive to water spills here at Mission Bay RV Resort due to the proximity of the bay. Contaminated water run-off into the bay is frowned upon and could result in fines. Since I was draining fresh water and only expected to drain 10 gallons, he told me not to worry about it.

Jorge removed the old anode rod and he had a 1-1/8″ socket to remove the adapter from the tank. Now we could install the new genuine Suburban anode rod once the tank was drained. He used a wand on the end of a water hose to clean the inside of the tank. He also pulled the pressure relief valve.

Old corroded aftermarket anode rod

File photo of a new Suburban anode rod for comparison

Once the tank was empty, Jorge went inside and removed the check valve from the tank outlet. His diagnosis was correct – the check valve was faulty. The check valve has a brass housing which screws into the tank. Inside this housing is a spring-loaded plastic stopper. The spring seats the stopper inside the housing in the opposite direction of normal flow, thus preventing backflow into the tank. When a faucet is opened, the water pressure on the downstream side of the check valve drops and water pressure from the tank overcomes the spring and opens the valve, allowing hot water to flow to the faucet. The plastic stopper has a piece behind the spring that limits the amount of travel of the stopper. In our valve, this plastic piece was broken off and the stopper was floating inside the housing. Water flow would move the stopper against the outlet of the housing, restricting the flow.

Old broken check valve

With the check valve replaced and the new pressure relief and anode rod installed, we refilled the hot water tank. Voila, we had good hot water flow! I paid Jorge $170 for his time and materials and learned about our hot water system while he was at it.

With the tank working correctly, I had the electric heating element and the propane burner heating the water. I had hot water for a shower within 10 minutes. I showered and rode the scooter over to the Offshore Tavern and Grill to meet up with my school mates, Gary Stemple and Jim Birditt. Jim was in town on business and Gary set up the meet. We had a few beers and laughs while the bar filled with people wanting to watch the NCAA men’s baskeball championship. It was noisier in there than ever.

Jim and I had dinner there while Gary had to leave for a softball game in Kearny Mesa. I ordered the SD Cheesesteak sandwich – sliced beef, jalapenos, mushrooms, spicy jack cheese sauce and guacamole on an amoroso bun. I don’t know why I felt compelled to eat the whole thing. I was uncomfortably stuffed, but it was tasty.

That’s a lot of sandwich

Today Donna and I will go to the Pacific Beach Recreational Center to see about getting into the open pickleball games.

Temecula Connections

After I posted yesterday, we grilled chicken for dinner. I used the brick method I described in this post. Donna had two large chicken breasts with bones and skin on. They came out great – the brick method works so well.

Brick-grilled chicken breast

We took our plates and utensils to the gazebo located about 100 feet from our coach. There are tables and comfortable chairs there between the fine arts and pottery studios. The weather was perfect – temperature in the low 70s with a light breeze.

Donna at the dinner table in the gazebo

After dinner, the sunset over the Temecula Valley was nice with just enough clouds to give it color.

Sunset over the Temecula Valley

We waited until 8am to get out of bed this morning because generators aren’t allowed before 8am. We needed to run the generator to brew coffee in our Keurig machine. The Keurig doesn’t like the modified sine wave from the inverter – our generator provides a pure sine wave electrical current.

After coffee and cereal, we rode the scooter up to the pickleball courts. They have four courts here that run from sideline to sideline on the tennis court. It makes for a lot of lines on the courts. For pickleball, we only pay attention to the blue painted lines. There were 17 players at the court when we arrived. There was a mix of abilities with a few very good players on the courts. One of the guys competed in the USAPA National Championship event.

Donna and I played a few games and had fun. They generally play here from 8am to 10am, so we’ll have to get there earlier tomorrow.

After playing pickleball, I rode the scooter to Temecula. It’s about a 14-mile ride northwest on CA79. The traffic moves along at 60 mph on CA79, so it was a brisk ride. I went to an auto parts store and found a new flat-four trailer electrical connector. I also bought butt connectors and a crimping tool. I found a 1-1/16″ deep socket for the water heater repair. While I was in town, I stocked up on beer and found my favorite Blue Ice American Potato vodka.

When I returned, I replaced the electrical connector on the trailer. The old connector had damaged pins. I must have stepped on it or maybe rolled the front trailer jack tire over it. I’ll be more careful of the cord and connector in the future.

Old connector with damaged pins

New connector with nice, round pins

I cut the old connector from the harness and prepared the new connector. First I cut the wires to a shorter length – I didn’t need the 24″ length that came with the new connector. Then I stripped the wire ends and crimped butt connectors onto the new part.

Butt connectors crimped into place

Next I stripped the wire ends on the trailer harness and crimped the open end of the butt connectors to the harness.

All crimped together

The last step was to seal each butt connector individually with tape. Then I wrapped all of the butt connectors and wires together with tape to reinforce it.

Final wrap reinforces the butt connectors

That’s it, job done. I checked the trailer lights and all is good.

I’ve decided to leave the water tank repair until Sunday morning. We’re dry camped and if I start on it now, I will lose a minimum of 10 gallons of water. We should have plenty of fresh water on board but why chance it. There are showers a few hundred feet from our site.

Hot Water Woes

Tuesday was a farmers’ market day at Golden Village Palms RV Resort. After pickleball in the morning, Donna and I joined Dave and Stilla Hobden (Urbanescapevehicle.com) and walked to west parking area near the entrance to the park. There were only a few vendors there – the season has really wound down in Hemet. Since the park was 75% Canadian visitors for the winter and most of them are heading home now, the population of the park has really dropped. We still found a few things we couldn’t go without. I bought a jar of raw wildflower honey. Donna bought half a dozen tamales from the same vendor that was at the pool on Saturday. She also bought salsa and lemons. Dave and Stilla also bought tamales for a late lunch. We already had lunch so Donna refrigerated our tamales for consumption later.

Donna and Stilla checking out the vendor tables

Tamale lady at the farmers’ market

We enjoyed another happy hour together with much conversation. Dave and Stilla’s dog, Coach, had some kind of episode in the afternoon, maybe an epileptic seizure. They kept watch on him indoors after dinner.

On Wednesday morning, I hit the pickleball courts and played for over three hours. It was my last chance at Golden Village Palms as we would pull out on Thursday. I came back in time to see Dave and Stilla off – they wanted to make it back to Casa Grande in time to visit family over Easter weekend. I gave Dave directions to the rock garden in the desert. It’s halfway from Hemet to Casa Grande and a good stopping point for the night. Later, I saw on Facebook that he found it and was parked in the exact spot we occupied the week before. (Their dog seems to be doing okay now.)

I forgot to mention the raucous crows that were in the park Wednesday morning. They woke Donna and me up at the crack of dawn with their constant crowing. Later I saw they left calling cards on the side of our coach and also on the windshield cover. Big bird dung bombs. In the afternoon I removed the window covers and cleaned them and also cleaned the coach.

Before we left Mesa, I ordered an anode rod for our 10-gallon Suburban water heater. The anode rod is a sacrificial metal rod made from aluminum or magnesium and screws into the hot water tank. The rod will corrode over time, preventing corrosion of the tank itself. I wanted to replace ours since I wasn’t certain of its age, but I knew it was over a year old now since we’ve had this coach that long. I didn’t get around to it before we left Mesa and I put it off in Casa Grande as well.

On Wednesday afternoon, Donna told me we had a water pressure problem. After a checking it out, I realized that we didn’t have a water pressure problem, we had a hot water flow issue. I removed the aftermarket anode rod from our tank. This rod has an adapter to fit the original threads but uses a smaller diameter threaded rod. I turned off the hot water heater and removed the rod. It was heavily corroded and coming apart. Apparently chunks of the rod material were plugging up the hot water line. I flushed the hot water tank and found many chunks from the corroded rod. I couldn’t fit the Suburban replacement rod into the water tank because I couldn’t get the adapter used on the aftermarket rod out of the tank. I need to buy a 1-1/16″ deep socket to remove it. So I re-installed the failing rod and refilled the tank. We have better hot water flow now, but it’s still not right.

On Thursday morning, I packed the trailer and loaded the scooter. We had everything packed away, slides in and jacks up by 11:30am. We planned to move to the Escapees park in Aguanga called Jojoba Hills. We stayed there last September and loved the place. They don’t take reservations, but you can call ahead to check on availability. We were surprised to find no vacancy! The only thing we could do there is dry camp in the boondocking area. We’re only staying for three nights, so we opted to boondock.

When I hooked up the trailer, I couldn’t get the four-prong electrical connector plugged in. I saw one of the prongs was smashed. I either accidentally stepped on it or rolled the front trailer jack wheel over it! I messed around for about 10 minutes before I could get it connected. We checked the brake lights and turn signals and they work, but I don’t trust the connection. Still, there was nothing I could do about it as we needed to check out by noon.

We drove out of the park south on Sanderson and stopped at Walmart. Donna and I had lunch at the Farmer Boys restaurant – a sort of upscale fast food hamburger joint. The food was okay, but a bit over-priced. Then Donna went grocery shopping while I sat in the coach and read a book. After about 45 minutes, I remembered that I wanted to get propane for the Weber Q grill. I went into Walmart and bought four propane canisters and also picked up a gallon of Chevron Delo 400 15w-40 oil – it was under $12! I wanted to have it on hand for our cross-country run after we leave San Diego next month.

From there we continued south on Sage Road (CR3) through many tight curves and switchbacks to CA79. We went east on CA 79 a few miles and found Jojoba Hills – the entire trip was all of 30 miles.

Long narrow dry camping site at Jojoba Hills

Tomorrow I’ll scooter over to Temecula and buy a 1-1/16″ deep socket to fix the water heater tank and also a new flat four-prong plug for the trailer.

Lizards, Rabbits and Visitors

The time is flying by. A few days got by me without a post to the blog. We passed on the pickleball games on Sunday and rode the scooter to visit my step-dad Ken in Sun City. The traffic was light on the route I’d mapped out to avoid I-215. We sat on Ken’s front patio, which faces north and is shady, enjoying conversation. We had a good visit and amused ourselves by watching the antics of a couple of lizards. They appeared to be fence lizards chasing each other around the patio.

Western fence lizard

These two provided entertainment

On our way back, I took a different route so Donna could buy groceries at Walmart. It was warm but pleasant on the scooter. We had a late lunch at a Chinese diner and stuffed ourselves with the house noodle specialty plate. It had a pile of rice noodles with shrimp, chicken, pork and beef. It was good but very filling – so filling that we skipped dinner!

I spent the rest of the afternoon watching the Formula One race on TV and downloading the European coverage of the Moto GP season opener while Donna went to the pool to read. Spoiler alert – both races were very entertaining. Sebastian Vettel drove an excellent race with perfect strategy to put his Ferrari on top of the podium. Vettel is a four-time World Champion, but didn’t win a race last year. Neither did Ferrari. In his second race as a Ferrari driver, he broke that drought. In the Moto GP race, everyone figured the Repsol Honda team would run away like they did last year. It was not to be. The race turned into an epic battle between nine-time champion Valentino Rossi on the Yamaha M1 against Andrea Dovizioso on the Ducati. In the end, Rossi prevailed over Dovi by a tenth of a second.

A cottontail rabbit came into our site late Sunday afternoon. We put out a few carrot sticks which he munched on before hopping away. There are a lot of rabbits in the park.

While Donna and I were at the pickleball courts on Monday morning, our friend and fellow Alpine Coach owner, Dave Hobden, phoned me. He and his wife Stilla were leaving the FMCA rally in Pomona and were thinking about heading our way. Later, while I was at Sprouts picking up a few more groceries, he texted me saying they would join us at Golden Village Palms RV Resort. They got a good rate on two nights with their Passport America membership.

They pulled in around 2:30pm and set up in the site next to ours. I mentioned before how tight the sites are here. The shrubs in their site were so overgrown, Dave couldn’t get his living room slide out without smashing it into the shrubs. A maintenance guy came by to trim the bushes, but it wasn’t enough – he came back this morning with a power trimmer and cut the bushes back.

Dave Hobden’s Alpine Coach in the site next to us

We sat outside sipping cold beer and talking until about 6:00pm. Stilla had their dinner in the oven so they went home to eat. I grilled a pork tenderloin with a spicy dry rub – a new recipe Donna wanted to try. She served it with roasted, spicy red potatoes and green beans. It was very tasty – the dry rub was really spicy but dipping the pork in a minted cucumber yogurt sauce countered the spices nicely.

Spicy grilled pork loin with minted cucumber yogurt sauce

After dinner, Dave and Stilla joined us for dessert. Donna made carmelized banana pecan ice cream in her Vitamix. It was good, but I prefer the mango ice cream she made before.

Carmelized banana pecan ice cream

Donna said her Vitamix seemed to run slowly and had an electrical odor. This morning it doesn’t run at all. I’ll take it apart and have a look, I hope I don’t have to replace it.

Tight – or Cozy?

We’re having a heat wave in the southwest. The high temperature surpassed 90 degrees for the past two days and the forecast calls for two more days of 90 degree plus temperatures before it drops to a more normal 80 degrees here in Hemet, California.

On Friday morning, before the heat became too intense, I played a few games of pickleball. In the afternoon, I rode the scooter into town and had a look around. I found a Harbor Freight Tool store. I stopped there and bought a pop-rivet tool. I noticed when I was removing the windshield shade that one of the twist-lock fasteners was missing a rivet. Pat must have gotten distracted when he was installing them and missed one. I used to have a pop-rivet tool and an assortment of rivets, but when those Dirty, Rotten Thieves stole our trailer, all of my tools were taken. I have replaced many of the tools and continue to add tools as needed.

Yesterday Donna came to the pickleball courts and played a few games. She can’t play at full speed yet, but she was able to hold her own playing against novice-level opponents. I ended up playing for more than three hours. I think I was dehydrated when I came home. I couldn’t get enough water and I took an hour-long nap!

In the evenings here, Donna and I enjoy sitting in the shade under the canopy outside and having cocktails. As the sun starts to set in the west, the temperature in the shade is agreeable. The air here is very dry – the humidity is under 10%. Last night, Donna discovered that we have an orange tree on the other side of our cargo trailer. Another gal we met on the pickleball courts told us that they have a grapefruit tree on their site. We’ll have to arrange a trade!

One of our neighbors, Stu, stopped by to chat. He saw us pull in and said he’s inspired now to pull a cargo trailer behind his motorhome. He didn’t do it before because he was told he’d never be able to reverse without jack-knifing the trailer. He was amazed at how I was able to place our trailer on the paved parking spot. I told him it can be a little tricky with the trailer pivoting on a ball 11 feet behind the rear axle. The trick is to go slow and not over correct with the steering wheel. It also helps to have Donna outside with a handheld CB radio directing me. I use her eyes, the rearview camera and mirrors to monitor my progress and take my time. I mentioned in Friday’s post how tight these sites are. Here are photos of our site, number 567, in Golden Village Palms RV Resort.

Happy hour under the canopy

Shrubs separating the sites don’t leave much room for slides

Three quarters of the people in this park are from Canada. Many of them have been here all winter and are starting to head for home. With three large swimming pools and fewer people in the park, pool time should be great. Yesterday a vendor was at the pool selling home made Mexican food. I bought half a dozen tamales for lunch. They were excellent!

Today, Donna and I are planning to ride the scooter down to Sun City (Menifee) to visit my step-dad Ken. We can take back roads and avoid scootering on I-215. I don’t think it will take more than half an hour to get there. I’ll set up the DVR to record the Moto GP and Formula One races today while we are out. We’ll make a pitstop at the supermarket before returning to the park. Donna is planning to hang out at the pool and read while I watch the races.

Back in the Game

After three weeks of rest and recovery, my leg was feeling much better on Sunday. I walked down to the pickleball courts and practiced serving. I wanted to see if hitting serves would put too much stress on my calf. It was fine. After about half an hour, Donna came down and joined me. We practiced dinking the ball back and forth. No hard shots and no running after the ball. My leg was fine.

On Sunday evening, our friends Lana and Joel picked us up around 5pm. We drove over to Baja Joe’s for margaritas and dinner. The place was packed with a 35-minute wait for a table. There were tables available in the bar though, so we opted to sit and order dinner in the bar. Conversation flowed as we enjoyed our dinner and two pitchers of margaritas over the next two hours. When we returned to our place, we sat outside and talked for another two hours. Joel took my old laptop – he thinks he can fix the cooling fan issue. He also took our entertainment hard drive to add more movies and TV series to it. Thanks, Joel!

My leg felt good Monday morning. Donna and I went to the pickleball courts to play a game or two. I planned to limit my effort to about 80% – no lunges for the ball or jumping. Donna left after five games, I ended up hanging around and played eight games.

Action on the Orangewood Shadows pickleball courts

When I walked back home, I could feel tightness in my right calf. I put my leg up and read for a while. Then I noticed I had bruising on my ankle and foot. Apparently there are still micro-tears in the calf and the activity caused some bleeding in the muscle. Gravity forced the blood down to my ankle and foot.

Blood pooling in my foot after pickleball

I spent most of the afternoon with my foot elevated, periodically icing my calf. I don’t think it’s a big deal. My leg feels fine this morning, but I think I will give it another day of rest before playing pickleball again.

I rode the scooter over to Red, White and Brew to join Mike Hall, John Huff and Pat Fitzpatrick for a cold one. Tom Brennan joined us at the bar. Tom is patriotic and has an interesting hobby. He has replicas of various cartridges made with one troy ounce of silver. When he meets a veteran, he presents him with a silver bullet. Each cartridge is engraved. He chooses the cartridge type and engraving to give the veterans based on their service history. He has Navy SEAL friends who helped him come up with the mottos engraved on the silver cartridges.

Silver bullets – 5.56mm, 45ACP and 9mm

We have eight more days here at Orangewood Shadows RV Resort before we hit the road. I’m getting the hitch itch and I have to take care of a few projects over the next week before we leave.

Jetpack Blow Up

Something strange happened on Friday afternoon. Donna and I were inside – she was working at her laptop and I was surfing the Internet. We heard a loud “pop,” but didn’t know where it came from. The next thing I knew, I lost my wifi connection to our Verizon Jetpack. Donna said she was kicked off as well. I went to re-connect and found the Verizon Jetpack was offline, it didn’t appear among the devices available.

I got up and looked at the Jetpack. The pop we heard was the back of the Jetpack being blown off as the lithium-ion battery exploded! I don’t know if the battery overcharged or overheated, but for some reason, it blew apart and wouldn’t fit in the Jetpack anymore.

Back cover blown off our Jetpack

Battery expanded and cover split

Profile of distorted battery – it’s normally a rectangle

I don’t know if this is a function of an internal disconnect for an overheated battery or some kind of defect. Lithium-ion batteries have a safety disconnect feature to prevent fire. A burning lithium-ion battery is not a good thing – it’s impossible to extinguish a lithium-ion fire. Donna set her Samsung Galaxy S5 as a hotspot and we had Internet access.

With the sink project still underway, we decided to head out to Red, White and Brew for happy hour and dinner. Donna had her usual mussels vin blanc and I had the Meet the Meat stuffed pizza roll which is basically a meaty calzone.

RWB Meet the Meat stuffed pizza roll

Around 9am Saturday morning, we heard techno dance music blasting outside. We weren’t sure where it was coming from. I went outside for a look. There was a lane closure on the north side of University Drive with a blow-up arch in the lane and lots of orange cones. At the arch, there was a big speaker on a stand pointed at the back of our coach which is on the south side of University Drive. The music was so loud, it completely drowned out the sound of traffic on the road. There was a 5K run coming down University Drive – the two-mile mark was across the street from us. Apparently the organizers thought blasting dance music at 9am was necessary at the two-mile mark.

I rode the scooter south on Val Vista to the Verizon store with my Jetpack and blown-up battery. The guy there wasn’t very helpful. He took the Jetpack and battery disappeared into the back of the store. Fifteen minutes later he came back and said he could order a new battery for $60 and have it next week. I asked what caused the battery to blow up. He said I probably overcharged it. He said not to leave it on the charger, to run it on the battery and recharge as needed. Are you serious? The battery will last three to four hours. We have the Jetpack on all day. If I cycled the battery four times day, it wouldn’t last a year. Also, after 21 months of use plugged in, why did the battery blow up now? He had no answers. I declined the $60 battery.

I stopped at Batteries Plus to see if they had a replacement. No luck, but I bought some fluorescent light tubes I needed while I was there. I also rode over to the farmers’ market on Power Road and picked up more local honey.

When I returned home, I searched online for a Pantech BTR291B lithium-ion battery. I found it on Amazon for $22.99. With my Prime account, two-day delivery was free. At checkout, my Prime account is linked to my Chase Freedom Visa card. I had more than enough cashback points to cover the cost of the battery. It’s like getting it for free and it’ll deliver here on Tuesday.

With that done, I set into my next project. I used a sharp plastic scraper to remove the old caulking from the kitchen sink. Once I had all of the old caulking out, I cleaned the sink and the counter top area that joins the sink with rubbing alcohol. I laid a new bead of caulking and it’s looking good. The caulk needs to cure for 36 hours before contact with water. With that in mind, we didn’t want to create a lot of dirty dishes, so we went out for dinner again.

New caulk on the sink

This time we decided to try a Thai restaurant called 5 R Cha Thai Bistro (we learned that 5 R Cha means five horses in Thai). Donna had a green curry with shrimp. She said it was excellent, it would rival Lanna Thai in San Diego.

Green curry with shrimp

I went with my old standby, Pad Thai chicken. It was good, but the chicken was overcooked. The sauce on the noodles makes Pad Thai, and this had great flavor. I enjoyed a Singh Ha Thai beer with my meal while Donna went for a Japanese Sapporo beer.

Pad Thai chicken

I think I mentioned Donna’s trip to the dentist on Wednesday. She broke a molar and had a temporary crown put on. Last night, Donna woke up with a toothache. Her temporary crown came off. This was probably due to her retainer – she didn’t think about the temporary crown when she put her retainer on. Hopefully she can have the temp reset today.

We’re planning to go out to Baja Joe’s for dinner tonight with Lana and Joel. That will make three nights in a row eating out! That’s unusual for us. By tonight, our kitchen sink will be fully functional again and we can get back to our usual meal schedule.

The rest of the country sprang forward as of 2am this morning. Here in Arizona, daylight savings time isn’t observed. The clocks neither spring forward nor fall back. That makes Arizona time equivalent to Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) now.

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Scooter

Heavy Lifting in Old Jeans

Diverging Plans

Call Me Nosy

Getting Into Hot Water

Temecula Connections

Hot Water Woes

Lizards, Rabbits and Visitors

Tight – or Cozy?

Back in the Game

Jetpack Blow Up

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