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Snail Mail

It has been a real whirlwind week with lots of activities for us. It started last Sunday when we met our friends Bob and Carolyn Ower for dinner at Main Street Brewery in town. We had good food – I highly recommend the Down Da’ Bayou plate. I had it with beer battered catfish smothered in Cajun blue crab sauce (shrimp can be substituted for catfish). It was excellent! We had a good time and lingered for nearly two hours telling stories.

One thing that definitely isn’t a whirlwind is the United States Postal Service (USPS). I have a couple of examples – I ordered a replacement accelerator pedal assembly with position sensor for our Nissan Frontier. I don’t normally like to replace a part based on a Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC) in the control module – I prefer to test the components in the system containing the DTC to drill down to the faulty part. But, this is an intermittent issue and everything is working fine right now, so troubleshooting won’t work.

In our case we had an accelerator position fault. In my experience with Volkswagen, this could be anything from a pedal position sensor to a wiring harness or connector problem – rarely did I need to replace a pedal position sensor. Bob Ower runs a repair shop and has much more experience with Japanese cars than I do. He said he’s found this fault usually means a bad pedal assembly on Japanese cars. A search of Nissan forums seems to confirm this. So, I ordered a pedal assembly from Amazon and they shipped via USPS.

Well, USPS Priority mail doesn’t seem to have much priority these days. It took about a week to get the part. It didn’t look like they treated it too kindly during that time.

See the red sticker – and the crushed top of the box

Luckily the part inside was intact. Removal of the old part was fairly easy – I just had to remove the wiring connector on top of the assembly and remove three mounting nuts with a 12mm socket. The hardest part was wiggling into position to reach it.

I noticed the pedal didn’t appear to have much wear. Once I had it out, I had some misgivings about replacing it. I found the production date code on the assembly – it was 49/19. This means the pedal was manufactured during the 49th week of 2019. It had been replaced some time after that.

Production date code in lower left of sticker

The replacement pedal I received was produced in March of 2021, so there appears to be a lot of turnover of these parts. Hopefully I’ve solved the issue. With the new pedal installed, I had to go through a process for the Engine Control Module (ECM) to “learn” the pedal position parameters. I printed the pages with this procedure from the Nissan service manual – it involved turning the ignition to the “on” position for a few seconds, then “off” for 10 seconds with the pedal released. Then another series of key on and key off cycles with the pedal pressed through its full travel three times in five seconds. No big deal. A couple more procedures set the idle air control and idle speed and it was job done.

I have another beef with the USPS. I ordered our mail from our service in South Dakota on the second of June. I received tracking information that showed it arriving at the Sioux Falls, South Dakota USPS distribution facility on the third. Then no new notifications until yesterday, June 10th. It showed the package left the Sioux Falls USPS distribution facility on June 9th – six days after it arrived there. This is a USPS Priority mail envelope!

Donna and I played pickleball on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Our plan was to take Thursday and Friday off in preparation for another Shoot Out scheduled for Saturday (tomorrow). Besides, we had other things planned.

On Wednesday afternoon our friends Mike and Jodi Hall from Mesa and their granddaughter Swayzie checked in to the KOA Campground about a mile down the road from us. Donna prepared a potato salad and pounded chicken breasts which she seasoned with a dry rub and we went to their site at the KOA. Donna grilled the chicken there and we had dinner together at the picnic table in their site.

Jodi, Mike, Me and Donna (Jodi Hall photo)

Thursday morning we met up with them and drove nine miles east to Mesa Verde National Park. Mike and I both have America the Beautiful Senior Lifetime Multi-agency passes that get us into National Parks and other places free of charge. We drove about 26 miles into the park to the Wetherill Mesa area where we parked and hiked to the Step House. This is a cliff dwelling in an alcove facing northeast on the steep side of the mesa. It’s well protected from the elements. The hiking loop was about a mile long in total and we dropped about 100 feet down the side of the mesa.

They think 30 or 40 people lived here in 500-600 AD and again around 1200 AD.

Last night we joined the Halls for dinner again. This time Mike grilled pork chops. We all eat well, even when we’re roughing it.

This morning we met up again and they followed us up to Dolores where we hiked up the trail from the Canyon of the Ancients Visitor Center to the Escalante Pueblo and the McPhee Reservoir overlook.

These ruins date back to 1100 AD.

By the time we made it back down to the parking lot, it was lunch time. We drove through the town of Dolores and found Montezuma Mexican restaurant. Donna had heard good reports about the food there and they turned out to be well-founded. We sat on the back patio deck right next to the Dolores River and enjoyed some really tasty dishes.

Dolores River from Montezuma’s rear patio

Tonight we’ll meet up with Halls again to go to the fairgrounds for the rodeo. Donna bought tickets for all five of us a couple of weeks ago and we have reserved seats.

The pickleball club is having a social at Montezuma’s in Dolores on Sunday afternoon, so we’ll go there again. The Halls are scheduled to head out to visit friends in Ignacio Sunday morning before they return to Mesa, Arizona.

The weather has been on the warm side with daily highs in the upper 80s and even 90 degrees. This weekend is supposed to be warmer – well into the 90s. We might see 100 degrees before we leave next Thursday. I need to start planning a route out of here.

*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on 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!

Face Plant

I had a little setback this week. Like many people my age, daily medications are the reality of life. In my case, I take a couple of medications to control high blood pressure – it’s a family trait. I don’t like it, but it’s what I need to do.

When I first started taking the medications, I wasn’t quite ready for how my body responded. One night I got out of bed and stood up a little too quickly. I immediately felt dizzy and should have sat back on the bed. Instead, I took a step and put my hand up to brace against the wall. I didn’t get there. Instead, I began to fall forward. To counter this, I took another step, then another. I picked up a little up speed, then fell flat on my face. That was several years ago.

It hasn’t happened again – well, I’ve had momentary dizziness from standing up too quickly after sitting for a period of time, but no falls. That is, until three weeks ago. The night before we left Mesa, I went down in the living room. I took a small chunk out of my nose when I fell, but it was no big thing.

On Tuesday night, we watched a few episodes of Chopped on TV. I was relaxing in the Euro-recliner while I watched TV. I’ll admit I was also sipping on a bourbon on the rocks. When it was time for bed, I stood up and turned off the TV. I felt dizzy, then the next thing I knew I was face-down on the floor, bleeding profusely from my forehead and nose and I could taste blood in my mouth.

Donna was in the bedroom but came out quickly when she heard the “Thump.” My lower front tooth was broken, I could feel it moving like a piece had split across the width of the tooth leaving a front piece that seemed fairly solid and a back piece (lingual) that was moving about. Donna helped me clean myself up and it was off to bed.

Wednesday morning I was worse for wear and appeared decidedly second-hand. My tooth was clearly an issue. Donna texted our friend, Carolyn Ower, and got a dentist recommendation. We were able to get an appointment to see Dr. Vestal at noon.

I drove to his office looking like I’d been in a bar fight – except my knuckles weren’t bruised. After checking me over, he confirmed what I thought. The tooth had split with a smaller lingual piece just hanging on. Luckily, it was a thin enough piece of enamel that didn’t expose the nerve. It also tapered down toward the gumline, so only a narrow sliver extended below the gum. He simply pulled it out. He thought it would be best for me to leave it as it is for a few weeks, then decide if I want a crown to repair it.

I think I’ll be looking worse before I get better. It was apparent by late afternoon and this morning was no improvement. At least my tooth doesn’t hurt and it could’ve been worse. I’ll get over it.

Yesterday Donna went to the community pool and had a good swim. There are numbered lanes and only one person at a time can take a lane. She wanted to swim laps, so this was perfect. This morning she went for pickleball but I stayed home – I need another day or two of recovery.

While Donna was at pickleball, I took my guitar apart for a deep cleaning and did a few set-up tweaks before restringing the guitar. I’m toying with the idea of building a solid-body electric guitar. I think it would be a fun project once we return to Mesa for the winter. I’m thinking a Fender Stratocaster type of guitar with a bolt-on neck wouldn’t be too difficult and it might be nice to have another guitar.

We ended May with a slightly wet day – we had a few showers on Monday – Memorial Day. The temperature reached the upper 70s and has been steadily warming since then. Today we expect a high of 85 and it should reach 90 by the weekend.

Donna closed out the Memorial Day weekend with a couple of outstanding dinners. Sunday she made a chili verde by cutting pork tenderloin into cubes, browning them, then put them into a slow-cooker pot with tomatillo sauce. She served it over pan-fried potato slices with grilled zucchini on the side. We’ve been dining al fresco at the picnic table.

On Monday she made Korean beef bowls. It wasn’t traditional Memorial Day fare, but it was delicious.

She kicked off June with a new take on grilled chicken – Moroccan spice grilled chicken with grilled asparagus. We loved it.

The chicken breasts came from a whole chicken that Carolyn Ower gifted Donna as a thank you for helping out at the farm. It was one of their hens they had butchered. It was the same size as the whole chickens we’ve been buying at the store (about 5 pounds), but was proportioned differently. The legs and wings were much larger while the breasts were still ample size. And it was less fatty. That’s what you get when hens are allowed to roam versus those that are caged.

Farm to Table

Last Thursday was Donna’s birthday. It was my youngest daughter, Shauna’s, birthday as well. We celebrated Donna’s birthday by going out to dinner at Olio Restaurant in Mancos, about 17 miles east of Cortez. This restaurant is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday and tables must be reserved in advance. It’s an intimate setting with only seven tables – only four tables were occupied while we were there.

They have a menu that frequently changes, depending on fresh ingredients in season and they have a large wine selection. We started with a three-cheese board with rosemary-fig jam, grill toasted bread and an assortment of nuts and dried fruits. We chose Delice de Bourgogne (creamy French cheese made from cow’s milk), Caciotta Dei Boschi Al Tartufo (firm Italian cheese made from sheep’s milk) and Bucheron (soft French cheese made from goat’s milk) for our three cheeses. I ordered a bottle of 2014 Pugnitello by Corte alla Flora – a bold Tuscan red wine to go with the meal.

The cheese board and wine were extraodinary. For entrees, Donna hard a hard time deciding between the Tomato Braised Heluka Pork Cheeks on ‘Cacio e Pepe’ Bucatini Pie  or the Confit of Poussin on Mushroom Farro with Marsala Sauce, Shaved Leek & Fennel Slaw. She went for the poussin which is a small chicken – about the size of a cornish hen – that’s been partially deboned before roasting. Only the leg and wing bones remain while the bird still appears to be intact.

I was excited by the Grilled Nebraska Wagyu New York Strip with Olio Signature Steak Sauce on the menu. I’ve never had wagyu beef before, but I knew about it – at least that’s what I thought. True wagyu beef only comes from Japanese cattle – it can be one of four breeds. The most well-known is probably Kobe beef. All Kobe beef is wagyu, but not all wagyu is Kobe. There are four breeds of wagyu in Japan. Wagyu (Wah-gyoo) can be translated as wa (Japanese) gyu (cow). Wagyu cattle are genetically disposed to having a high percentage of intramuscular fat – meaing a well-marbled meat that makes the tastiest and juiciest steaks.

Fifty years ago, some Japanese wagyu cattle were exported to America for breeding, but Japan soon outlawed any export of live wagyu or any genetic material capable of reproducing wagyu cattle – they declared it a National Treasure. But the cat was out of the bag and some ranchers bred the few available cows. But the gene pool was diluted and cross-breeding occurred. Nowadays, most American wagyu is a far cry from Japanese wagyu – it’s mostly angus DNA with a small amount of wagyu genetics. Some people look down on it and call it wagus.

Back to my dish. The Nebraska Wagyu is not the Japanese wagyu I was expecting. It was definitely more of a wagus beef, a lean one as well. I was sorely disappointed and in the future, I will choose USDA Prime over American Wagyu. The real deal Japanese wagyu goes for more than $100/pound and I’ve seen cuts as high as $300/pound. Although export of live cattle and genetic material is banned, you can still get butchered Japanese wagyu beef.

I should mention that Donna volunteered to help Carolyn Ower in her garden a few days a week while we’re here. She spent Wednesday afternoon and Friday morning last week weeding alongside Carolyn who is very happy for the help. Between gardening and caring for her chickens, Carolyn has been very busy getting ready for the farmers’ market here in Cortez that will open next weekend.

In my last post, I called the Ower’s place a ranch and linked to last year’s post where I called it a farm. So, which is it? Here’s the thing: I’ve found several definitions describing a ranch versus a farm. Most agree that a farm generally focuses on raising crops while a ranch will be mainly utilizing the land to raise large animals – cattle, sheep, horses, etc. A ranch will also be a farm when you consider that they usually grow feed crops and may have vegetable gardens. So a ranch can be a farm, but a farm isn’t a ranch. Does that make sense? By the way, the Owers call their place Ower’s Farm. Dairy farms seem to contradict the convention – they have cattle and usually grow feed but they aren’t called ranches.

On Saturday, we played in a pickleball shootout at the Centennial Park in town. The local pickleball club organized the event and we signed up online through Track It Hub. It was a round-robin type affair and in the first round, everyone played three games with different partners and opposition. Then we had a break that stretched to over 45 minutes as one court got a late start due to a no-show and they had to wait for a replacement player. The long break had an adverse effect on my game. I started by scoring 31 out of a possible 33 points in the first round and moved up a bracket. When we resumed, I felt stiff and lethargic and didn’t play well in the second round. Donna felt like she played okay. She had stiff competition in the first round, but had the second highest score. And in the second round, she scored 30 out of 33. We’ll probably sign up to play again in the next shootout tentatively scheduled for June 12.

Last week, Donna made a Dijon sauce to serve over sweet-spicy grilled chicken breast. It was tasty, but I was surprised to see the brand of Dijon she found.

Friday she grilled chicken and also a medley of peppers, fresh zuchini, onions and really young bok choy. The zucchini and bok choy were gifts from Carolyn Ower’s garden.

Yesterday, Donna tried a new-to-us salmon recipe. She grilled a wild-caught Alaskan sockeye salmon with a glaze of honey, olive oil, lemon juice, soy sauce, Worchestershire sauce, finely diced ginger and shallots. It was winner and we’ll definitely go with this again, especially since cooking it in foil made for super-easy cleanup.

She plated it with buttered basmati brown rice and Tuscan spiced broccoli. Excellent!

Salmon, basmati brown rice and Tuscan spiced broccoli

The weather has been very agreeable with a few clouds and daily highs reaching about 80 degrees. I’ve been alternating the afternoon hours between playing around with ham radio or practicing guitar. After not playing much over the last couple of years, I’m finding my guitar playing is going well – I feel like I’m playing better than ever, but there are some songs I used to play that I don’t remember.

The weather forecast calls for a cooler day tomorrow with a 40% chance of afternoon thunderstorms – of course I just washed the truck. It’s supposed to heat up after that with daily highs in the upper 80s. We’ll be here for two more weeks.

Sand Canyon Cliff Dwellings

Last year when we were here in Cortez, we met a couple at the farmers’ market that have a small ranch. Their names are Bob and Carolyn Ower, and they sell fresh eggs, produce and beef from their ranch. I wrote about visiting their place here. Last week, Donna contacted Carolyn to see about getting some eggs.

We went to their place on Saturday and had a nice visit. Carolyn kindly gifted Donna with a dozen farm fresh eggs and a couple of zucchini squashes. Carolyn’s eggs always look like Easter eggs because she keeps a variety of chicken breeds and they lay different colored eggs.

A strange thing happened as we were leaving. As I started to pull out of their driveway, our truck suddenly lost all power and wouldn’t rev above idle. I shut off the engine, waited about 10 seconds and restarted. It ran fine but the check engine light as well as the traction control symbol were illuminated. Lucky for us, it happened in the Owers driveway – Bob runs a small auto repair shop on the property. He was kind enough to connect a scan tool and read the fault codes. We had P2127 and P2138. These relate to an accelerator pedal position error.

Bob cleared the codes and they didn’t return. The most likely cause of the error is a bad pedal position sensor – modern cars are drive-by-wire, there’s no cable providing a physical connection between the accelerator pedal and throttle. It’s strictly electrical with a pedal position sensor and an actuator at the throttle valve. I’m still debating whether I should order a new pedal assembly which includes the sensor or not. The fault hasn’t returned and I don’t like throwing parts at a sporadic fault.

Sunday, while I watched the Formula 1 race from Monaco, Donna hiked the Sand Canyon Trail. The full trail is about 6.5 miles – she started at the bottom and the full length to the top gains significant elevation. Donna went about four miles up, then turned back. She saw many cliff dwellings – ruins from an ancient Pueblo tribe. Here are a few photos she took on her hike.

A collared lizard she came across on the trail

We had some rain on Friday and high winds which carried over to Saturday. The temperatures were much cooler – officially the high on Friday is listed at 66 degrees, but I don’t think we reached that here in the RV park. The night time temperatures really dropped with lows around 32 degrees over the weekend.

I put up my HF ham radio antenna – a Buddipole Versatee Vertical – Monday and broke out my ham radio rig. Conditions were good Monday afternoon and I made contact with Janez Celarc (S51DX) in Vhrnika, Slovenia – about 6,000 miles from Cortez, Colorado. I had talked to Janez last year when we were in Idaho. He was working a contest this time and didn’t want to chat – he was trying to record as many North America contacts as possible in a given amount of time. He just took my name, callsign and location, then moved on to the next contact.

As I’ve mentioned many times before, we’re not camping, we’re living the RV lifestyle. We strive to eat fresh cooked homestyle meals that are nutritious and healthy, just like we did in a sticks-and-bricks house. On Saturday, I made Japanese fried rice and Donna grilled jumbo shrimp to go with it. Delicious.

Jumbo shrimp with tare sauce over Japanese fried rice

We love fried rice and I make use of any leftovers. On Sunday, I made omelettes filled with fried rice for breakfast.

Last night, Donna grilled zucchini marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper. After grilling, she sprinkled the zucchini with a mixture of chopped kosher salt and lemon zest. It was a great accompaniment to spaghetti with clam sauce.

Tomorrow is Donna’s birthday. Traditionally we go out for a nice dinner at a restaurant of her choice. Last year we were in Springerville on her birthday and with covid restrictions, we had to settle for Chinese take-out. This time we have a reservation for dinner tomorrow at Olio Restaurant in Mancos. Olio is run by chef Jason Blankenship and his wife, Michelle. Chef Jason has 25 years experience as a chef in the Houston, Texas area and Durango, Colorado. His restaurant here is exclusive – it’s only open Thursday, Friday and Saturday – reservations are required. The menu changes weekly and everything is prepared by Chef Jason – no big kitchen staff. We’re really looking forward to it and I’ll tell you all about it in my next post.

Motion is Lotion

We had a fairly quiet night at the Ute Mountain Casino truck lot Saturday night. There was a truck with refrigeration unit that ran a generator all night. To me, it’s just white noise and I don’t pay much attention to it, but for Donna, it’s bothersome. We had a leisurely breakfast at the casino restaurant – we were in no hurry as we were only 11 miles away from Cortez.

We checked in at La Mesa RV Park in Cortez, Colorado around 12:30pm. There was a camp host expecting us and he directed us to site 9. After backing into the site, I confirmed Dish Network satellite reception before setting up. I wasn’t going to stay for a month in a site with no satellite reception. We set up without any issues and I was done in plenty of time to watch the Moto GP race from France at 3:30pm.

Our site backs up to the car wash at the Speedway gas station next door. This can be a little noisy during the daytime, but we haven’t heard anyone at the car wash after dark. When we checked in, I asked about Shiree, whether she still spends much time here at the park. Shiree and her husband, Ames, own this park and one in Springerville, Arizona. The camp host gave us some bad news.

He said Shiree wasn’t doing well. In February, she had some dental work done which involved removing a tooth with an old filling. Apparently, mercury leaked from the old filling and poisoned her. She’s not able to get around on her own and is undergoing chelation treatment to remove the metal. We’re hoping she makes a full recovery.

Over the last week, I’ve been complaining about a sore right knee. I had surgery on this knee about 35 years ago. I injured it in a ski accident on Mount Hood in Oregon. I had a partial tear of the anterior cruciate ligament and a torn medial meniscus. At that time, the surgeon told me he had to trim the torn meniscus as it wouldn’t regenerate. Over time, he thought this might lead to arthritis from bone on bone contact. I was thinking it might have finally caught up with me.

But then a curious thing happened. On Wednesday morning, I went with Donna to the pickleball courts. The soreness had improved so I thought I would give it go with a compression sleeve over my knee. After a few games, I didn’t feel any soreness at all. I thought it would be sore later in the day, but it didn’t happen.

Thursday morning we went back to the pickleball courts. I had the compression sleeve over my knee again, but wasn’t experiencing any pain. I played several games pain free and my knee remains pain free now. I don’t know how to explain it – maybe there’s something to the adage “Motion is lotion” and my knee is well lubricated again.

Pickleball courts at Centennial Park in town

They have six courts at the park and a group of players that show up regularly. We were invited to sign up for a tournament a week from Saturday, which we did. The tournament format is basically a round robin with individual scores tracked. I’m curious to see what group they put Donna and me in – we’ll see how they rate our level of play.

Wednesday afternoon we drove out to Mancos – a little town about 17 miles east of Cortez. The locals pronounce it MAN-cuss. After a couple of wrong turns we found the Mancos Brewing Company and stopped in for a couple of beers on their outdoor patio. They have several good brews on tap.

Other than pickleball, we’ve had a quiet week. I had one small project. The inlet to our canister water filter system was leaking. The inlet has a hose fitting swaged onto a 3/4″ pipe thread. Over time, it had worn where the hose fitting rotates on the 3/4″ pipe threaded into the plastic canister. I couldn’t find a direct replacement, but the hardware store had a short 3/4″ pipe threaded on both ends with the threads oriented correctly to add a hose fitting to it. So I bought those and figured I had it made.

I came home, shut the water off and removed the old fitting. Then I found I had barely enough teflon tape to put one wrap on the pipe threads. I put it back together and it leaked! I made another run into town for a $1.50 roll of teflon tape. This time I double wrapped the threads and put it back together. No leaks at the filter. Job done or so I thought.

Later I saw the area near the filters was still wet. Now the end fitting on our fresh water hose was leaking. I don’t remember how old the hose is, but I suspect we’ve had it for at least five years. I ordered a new drinking water hose from Amazon – it should be delivered today.

Today won’t be a good day for outdoor projects though. After having daily temperatures of 70 to 80 degrees, we have wind and rain today and the thermometer is only expected to reach 62 degrees.

I had another package delivered yesterday. I knew I would come across something that I needed, but left behind in Mesa. I tried to set up my Yaesu FT3DR handheld transceiver to work the local repeaters – one on a mountain top out side of Mancos and the other up in Dolores. But I didn’t have the cable to connect the radio to my laptop to program it. I ordered one from DX Engineering and it was delivered yesterday – but it was the wrong cable. I phoned them and we sorted out which cable I actually need and I shipped the wrong cable back to them. I should have the correct cable in a few days.

I’ll close with a couple of dinner plates. Wednesday, Donna grilled chicken that she simply seasoned with salt and pepper. She made creamed spinach and a baked spud to go with it.

Delicious chicken thigh and wing with creamed spinach and baked potato

Yesterday she marinated a pork tenderloin with her mojo marinade. I sliced garlic for the marinade. Donna asked for thin slices but I made them a little thicker than she usually does. She wondered how that would affect her recipe. It turned out to be an improvement – having the garlic 1-2mm thick added texture with no loss of flavor versus slicing it paper thin.

She grilled the pork last night and served it with sweet potato mash and French-cut green beans. We’ll use the leftovers to make street tacos for lunch today.

Mojo marinade pork tenderloin with sweet potato mash and French-cut green beans

Pine Trees and Petrified Forest

Packing the motorhome for a four-month road trip was harder than either of us imagined. I’m sure there will be situations where we say, “I wish I had brought XX along.” It’s a learning experience. Before, we traveled with all of our belongings. Now with the cargo trailer gone, we have to be more selective and there’s no reason to try to bring everything we own.

On Wednesday morning, Donna dropped me off at the 202 RV Valet storage facility, then she went grocery shopping. I moved our coach to the end of the row where there was a water spigot and hooked up our filtration and filled the fresh water tank. We planned to boondock for a few nights and I wanted a full fresh water tank. I didn’t take it back to our place at Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort because the only water spigot there is located behind the house at the rear of the property – I would have needed about 75′ of hose.

By the time I filled the 100-gallon tank and drove the coach back to Viewpoint, it was 11am. I had to obtain a 48-hour parking pass to park the coach on the street by our park model home. We began the process of loading the coach right after lunch and worked until dark.

On Thursday morning, we continued the process. Just packing all of the pantry supplies, spice cabinet, refrigerated and frozen foods was a big chore. I also put the Midget up on jack stands and removed the front wheels – I put the wheels in the double-locked storage shed to make it very difficult for anyone to steal the car while we’re away. I loaded Donna’s bicycle in the bed of our Nissan Frontier – I had made a cable locking system for it. I also loaded the Sea Eagle inflatable kayak in the truck, then I assembled the tow bar.

It was nearly 2pm before we were ready to hook the truck up to the coach. Our neighbor came out to help. Honestly, although I appreciated him, I didn’t really want the help. It was the first time hooking up the truck and I wanted to do it methodically and check each step of the process. We got it done and headed out.

Our plans went awry within half a mile. I had driven down the 200 lane and had to make a right turn onto the main street of the park. The person living on the corner to my right had placed a large rock cairn on the corner of their property. Due to a large palm tree in the center median on the street, my ability to drive deep into the street before turning was limited. The truck right front wheel struck the rock cairn. I was stuck. I had to disconnect the truck and move it, then reposition the coach on the main street and reconnect the truck. Not a great start.

By then it was 100 degrees out and 98 degrees in the coach. I fired up the generator to run the roof air conditioner as we drove down the road. Our route took us over Usery Pass to Bush Highway and AZ87 (Beeline Highway). Did I mention it was very hot out?The climb to Payson had me watching the engine coolant temperature closely. Any time it went over 195 degrees, I slowed and geared down to keep the engine rpms up and the load lower. Payson is 5,000 feet above sea level.

From Payson, we took AZ260 east. A little more than halfway between Payson and Heber, we found the Mogollon Rim Visitor Center. By the way, Mogollon is often mispronounced. People say “Moh-geh-yon” but the Arizona State Historian says it should be pronounced “Muggy-yawn.” We parked at the visitor center briefly. Donna texted our friends, Mike and Jodi Hall. They preceded us to the area and were meeting up with Frank and Kelly Burk at a camping area about 15 miles into the Sitgreaves National Forest.

I unhooked the Nissan and Donna drove it across the highway to Rim Road, I followed in the coach as we entered the national forest. The road was wide and paved for the first few miles, then it was graveled dirt – the dirt was fine powder, almost talcum like. It was dusty!

We made it 12 miles into the forest and found the cutoff for the spur road where we were told they were planning to set up. I left the coach on the main road and we drove about a mile down the spur road before we decided it was no go for the coach. The road had sharp rocks and potholes that would be hard on the tires and cause the coach to sway excessively – I could imagine everything falling out of cabinets.

We found a nice camp site just off of the main road – I think it was Forest Service 300 road (FS300) at the FS76 spur. Unfortunately, there was no cell service so we couldn’t let the rest of the crew know where we were. We had a peaceful, quiet and very dark night in the woods. Most people don’t envision pine forests when they think of Arizona, but northern Arizona has them, especially on the rim. We were 7,880 feet above sea level. Donna heard a cow elk calling near our site.

We decided against hanging around and trying to find our friends – we weren’t sure we had the right cutoff road or if we did, how far down they might be. We moved out of there at 9am Friday morning. Donna had spent a full day cleaning the interior of the coach last weekend, but now everything had a layer of fine dust, Same for the Nissan. Once we neared the highway, we regained cell service and I had a voicemail from Frank. We were on the right spur road to find them, but they were 3 miles down – too far to go back and forth every day on a rutted, rocky road, even in the truck.

We found another boondocking spot about 90 miles east at the entrance to the Petrified Forest National Park. There are free dry-camping sites at the Crystal Forest Museum and Gift Shop. We were set up there before noon and took the truck for drive into the national park. I have a lifetime America the Beautiful multi-agency senior pass. This got us into the park without paying fees – it’s usually $25 per car. The elevation there is 5,420 above sea level.

The petrified forest and painted desert are both part of the park. We stopped about a mile and a half into the park at the visitor center. There’s a hiking trail behind the center with lots of petrified tree trunk sections. Petrified wood is formed when trees are buried under silt for long periods of time – about 216 million years, give or take a few. The wood absorbs silica and other minerals as rain water percolates through the silt and quartz crystals bond with the cells of the tree – eventually making a replica of the organic tree material details in quartz form.

We drove through the park 26 miles to the north end, taking note of stops we wanted to make on the way back. The north end of the park has the Painted Desert Inn – a National Historic Landmark – and panoramic views of the Painted Desert. We stopped at Chinde Point where we we had a picnic lunch of the sandwiches Donna made.

Painted Desert view – the colors are somewhat washed out in the photo from the mid-day sun

Our next stop was at a place called teepees. The name comes from the shape of the hills formed from layers of sandstone there.

We made the driving loop at Blue Mesa. We didn’t hike much as I have a sore right knee. The last two times I played pickleball, I was rewarded with knee pain all afternoon. The pain persists now when I walk more than a few hundred yards – I’m not sure what’s up with that.

Blue Mesa is named for the layers of blue, purple and gray badlands that make up the area. Badlands aren’t just a place in the Dakotas – badlands describes an area void of vegetation with rock formations.

We made another stop and short walk to see Agate Bridge. This is a natural bridge formed from a petrified tree trunk. It was reinforced with concrete and people used to walk across it. Walking on it is forbidden now though.

We had another quiet night. The owner of the museum and gift shop doesn’t allow generators after 7pm or before 7:30am. Our Lifeline AGM house battery bank is holding up well – it hasn’t dropped below 12.5 volts at anytime on this trip.

We were on the road by 9am once again. We decided to head back to Cortez, Colorado. Donna talked to Shiree, the owner of La Mesa RV Park there and she could have a site for us on Sunday and we booked a month-long stay. The best route took us back through the national park, we exited at the north park entrance which loops back to I-40. We took I-40 about 20 miles east and hit US191 north. This took us through the west side of the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona. It was much like the New Mexico route up US491, but with what appeared to be sparser population – not saying the New Mexico side is highly populated!

The road surface was great all the way to Chinde, where we had a little incident. I turned off the highway to get fuel at the Speedway station. Once I made the turn, I saw it was a trap. Getting to the pumps and back out of the station looked problematic. I looked at the GPS map and it showed the road I was on circling the station through a small neighborhood back to the highway.

I went down the block and turned right, then I saw the pavement ended a few hundred feet down the road where the road became a heavily rutted dirt road. If we had the cargo trailer behind us I would have just reversed back past the intersection we just came through and drove back to the highway. Towing a vehicle with four wheels down means no reversing. The castor angle of the front suspension would make the front wheel turn to full lock when you reverse and would result in a disaster. I had two choices – unhook the truck and get turned around – or continue slowly down the rutted lane. I opted for the latter and we made it out of there after a few choice words. Phew!

North of Chinle, the road surface deteriorated. It had whoops and rollers so bad that I had to slow to 45 mph on a road with a posted 65 mph speed limit. We eventually hit US160 and passed through Four Corners where we briefly drove through New Mexico and into Colorado. (The Four Corners Monument is currently closed due to COVID-19.) Our destination was the Ute Mountain Casino about 11 miles from Cortez. After about 250 miles of travel, we were ready to call it a day. We lost an hour as we’re now in Mountain Daylight Time. We dry camped for free once again in the casino truck lot – a large paved lot adjacent to the casino travel center. The Ute Mountain Casino sits at 5,880 feet above sea level.

This morning, we had cool temperatures – my phone app showed 40 degrees at 7am. The sun came over the mountain to the east of us and it warmed up quickly. We expect a high of 80 degrees today with the chance of a passing thundershower. We’ll gain a few hundred feet heading into Cortez and we’ll be about 6,200 feet above sea level.

I’ll close this post with a food picture. Last week I had to make my signature Memphis-style babyback ribs. I won’t be able make them again this summer – we’re traveling with just the Weber Q, no Traeger wood pellet-fired smoker-grill.

Memphis-style babyback ribs with green beans and sweet potato mash

Getting Out

Last Wednesday was our 15th wedding anniversary. We married on the fifth day of May back in 2006, here in Arizona – at Watson Lake Park near Prescott to be precise. We usually celebrate our anniversary by treating ourselves to a nice dinner – since it’s Cinco de Mayo, we’ve often chosen Mexican cuisine. This year was no exception. We went to Baja Joe’s Mexican Cantina where Sinaloa-style seafood is their specialty.

Many people in this country misunderstand the Mexican Cinco de Mayo celebration. It’s not Mexico’s independence day like so many people think. Instead of being the equivalent of our Fourth of July celebration, it commemorates a military victory over French forces at Puebla in 1862.

We started our dining experience with margaritas on the outdoor patio – a skinny margarita for Donna and a Cadillac-style margarita for me. We went with Baja Joe’s strength and ordered seafood entrees. Donna went for shrimp in a poblano cream sauce while I ordered sea bass a la Veracruzana. The entrees were delicious.

We don’t dine out often, but when we do, we like to make it a memorable experience. The excellent fare at Baja Joe’s was well worth it.

Earlier in the day, Donna had a visit from an old friend, one she hadn’t seen since high school. Tim Murphy and his wife Mary were in the area for a family wedding, they’re from New Hampshire and it was their first time here. Donna went for a drive with them and showed them the Salt River at the Coons Bluff and Goldfield recreational areas and they also made a stop at Saguaro Lake.

Saturday evening we met our friends, Howard and Sara Graff at The Monastery – a unique bar and grill next to Falcon Field here in Mesa. The Monastery is a bit quirky. Most of the seating is outdoors in a large, open area. It has a sand volleyball court in the center.

We found a table outside and Howard and Sara joined us shortly after we arrived. They were serving a limited menu – half a dozen appetizers and maybe a dozen entrees. You can order burgers from the kitchen or you can order burger patties with fixings and grill it yourself at one of the outdoor barbeque grills. Their specialty burger from the kitchen is $12, the patty you grill yourself is $7. We ordered food from the kitchen. They had a band playing outside Saturday night.

The band was okay, but I didn’t like their sound system. All of the instruments were plugged straight into a board that fed the PA speakers. The sound reminded me of an old portable transistor radio. The guitar tone was so buzzy, it was fatiguing to listen to. It made me think of the time when the guy that replaced me in the band Backtrack and I had a conversation about guitar tone. He said no one in the audience cares what your tone sounds like, they just want to move to the music. I don’t believe I’m the only one listening to a band that cares what the instruments actually sound like, but maybe I’m wrong about that.

We had a fun time although the conversation was somewhat limited by the sound level of the band. I wish we would have gotten together with Howard and Sara more over the winter, but it seems our schedule didn’t line up.

We had more fun on Sunday as we were invited to join a Mother’s Day celebration at Mike and Jodi Hall’s place. Jodi grilled burgers and also made a fruit salad. Donna brought a warm bean dip she made and somebody brought cold shrimp for shrimp cocktail. Mike and I enjoyed a cigar and conversation on the back patio by their koi pond. I neglected to take pictures of Howard and Sara and at the Hall’s also.

Of course we also had home cooked meals last week. Friday night, Donna grilled chicken and served it with roasted baby potatoes and creamed peas on the side.

Grilled chicken with roasted baby potatoes and creamed peas

The weather has remained very warm with daily highs in the mid to upper 90s. Even the nighttime temps are warming up with lows in the mid 60s to 70 degrees. We plan to head out for the summer on Thursday – the forecast calls for 100 degrees on Thursday afternoon.

Our tentative plan is to meet up with Frank and Kelly Burk and Mike and Jodi Hall near Woods Canyon on the Mogollon Rim – six or seven thousand feet above sea level. We’ll dry camp through the weekend and figure out our next move from there.

Covered Gold Mine

Donna came back Thursday night after spending a week visiting her parents in Bennington, Vermont. Her connecting flight in Chicago was delayed, so she didn’t make here until midnight.

We’re trying to think about what items we’ll need to pack back into the coach when we leave here. This is different – for the last eight years, everything we had was in the coach and cargo trailer. Now we have some things in the coach and most of our stuff here in our park model home at Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort. We haven’t made any firm commitments or real travel plans. We know we want to leave here soon – sometime next week – as hot weather will drive us out of the Valley of the Sun.

We plan to be back here in mid-September. I looked for options to store the coach when we return and the options weren’t too good. There are two nice RV and boat storage yards nearby. One told me there was no chance I could find a spot there in September, the other – 202 RV Valet – where we currently have the coach, said it was possible they would have a space available, but highly doubtful. There are other storage facilities in Apache Junction but most of them are just gravel lots with a chain link fence surrounding it. Not very secure.

We decided to keep our covered space at 202 RV Valet year ’round. That means I’ll be paying $200/month all summer just to ensure we have the space when we return. That’s what most of the people with RVs and boats stored there do. What a gold mine. I think they told me there are 193 covered spaces, about 120 open air spaces and around 80 enclosed climate controlled spaces. All of them are paid for, but currently about half of them are empty.

The facility at 202 RV Valet is modern and secure. It’s surrounded by a tall block wall, has several security cameras and every renter has a unique code to enter the gated entrance. They keep a record of who comes into the yard by their code. We can access the coach 24/7.

Speaking of security, last week I installed a dead bolt on the shed door. When we leave here, I’ll have tools and equipment in the shed and I want to have them there when we return. Now I’m thinking I should install dead bolts on the back door and side entrance to our home as well.

Last Saturday, my middle daughter Jamie and her life partner Francisco visited us and we had dinner here. We didn’t eat out on the deck though. It was hot and breezy so we dined inside. Donna made shrimp kabobs seasoned with tare sauce I made. I added Japanese fried rice to the meal. It was excellent.

We’ve started watching a Netflix series called Midnight Diner. It’s a Japanese TV series about a diner that is only open from midnight to 7am. The characters that come to the diner vary but they are always interesting. There are a few regulars as well. We’re enjoying the series.

The temperature has hit the 90s every day since Donna’s return. The forecast is calling for more of the same for next 10 days. People are getting up early to hit the pickleball courts around 6am to beat the heat. I don’t make it until 7 or 7:30.

Blazing sunset framed by one of the pineapple palms behind our deck

The last cool day we had was last Wednesday when we had a few rain showers and the thermometer only reached 78 degrees. It’s doubtful if we’ll see temperatures that low until late fall. That’s why we plan to head north next week.

Today is Cinco de Mayo – the fifth day of May. That makes it our 15th wedding anniversary. We plan to celebrate with dinner at a Mexican restaurant tonight.

Our Third is Born

I haven’t updated this blog for the last ten days! Sometimes it seems like there aren’t enough hours in a day. But when I really think about it, I do a lot of leisure activities that take time. It’s not like I’m toiling away.

Four or five days per week, I play pickleball for about two hours in the morning. This ends up taking most of the morning – I usually need a snack after two hours on the courts and rest. Then there’s always an errand or two to run.

Lately, I’ve devoted about two hours a day to guitar practice. I’m slowly regaining my chops and relearning some songs I used play regularly. I haven’t played through my handwired vacuum tube amps in a long time. These amplifiers work best when the power tubes are pushed into high output – it creates a responsiveness and touch sensitivity in the guitar. The thing is, pushing the power tubes means high volume!

I used to run my Marshall 18 Watt clone through an Avatar speaker cabinet loaded with two 30-watt Celestion 12-inch speakers. I had an identical – except for color – cabinet for my Trainwreck style amp. When we lived in Michigan, I practiced in our finished walk-out basement. The houses in our neighborhood were separated by large yards – we were hundreds of feet away from our neighbors. Playing loud was not a problem.

I brought one of the Avatar cabinets with us when we hit the road. Unfortunately, it was in our trailer when those Dirty, Rotten Thieves stole it. I still had a practice amp and speaker Donna bought for me and I had an Egnater Tweaker 15-watt head and cabinet with one 30-watt Celestion 12-inch speaker. This cabinet handles the Marshall fine, but the Trainwreck is too much power for it. The Trainwreck is rated at 36 watts, but this is misleading. That rating is when the output is clean with no clipping or distortion. When pushed into clipping, the output is in excess of 50 watts.

Now we have neighbors with about ten feet of separation. I ordered a Power Soak speaker attenuator to put inline between the amplifier and speaker cabinet. This device is basically a voltage divider that absorbs some of the power output of the amp and tames the speaker while I’m pushing the output into the distortion range. I can play at reasonable volume while enjoying the response these amps can provide.

I’m still concerned about the Trainwreck overpowering the 30-watt Celestion speaker and blowing it out. I ordered a new speaker cabinet with a Celestion speaker rated at 80 watts to use with the Trainwreck. It’s my favorite amp. With the volume knob on my guitar set around 4 – zero is off and 10 is full power – I get a clean, sparkly sound. Turning the knob up to around 7, I get a fatter, distorted sound and anything higher than that is full on crunch, while the volume doesn’t change much. Love it. I quit playing it though until I get the new speaker.

Last Thursday, my eldest daughter Alana and her fiance Kevin visited us. They came down to the area from western Washington to visit her mother, golf and see us. Donna grilled sockeye salmon and we enjoyed dinner on the back deck. It was a nice visit, I always enjoy visiting with my daughters and always wonder when we’ll be together again when they leave.

Friday morning, I was up early to drive Donna to the airport. She flew back to Vermont to visit her parents, so I’ve been on my own for a week – Donna will return Thursday night. So that means I’m the cook – something else that occupies my time. I’ve been spending more time in the kitchen lately even when Donna’s home.

Saturday I met up with friends at Lucky Lou’s. We shared a table on the outdoor patio – it was Mike and Jodi Hall, Frank and Kelly Burk and another Mike ( I don’t know his last name). We swapped tales and enjoyed couple of cold ones, just like old times.

On Monday morning, my youngest daughter, Shauna, gave birth to our third granddaughter in Washington, D.C. Her name is Petra. I have three daughters and now three granddaughters. Baby and mom are doing fine and we feel blessed to have them.

I’ve been tackling some minor issues in our new-to-us park model home. One of the things that needed updating was the connectors on the coaxial cable for the televisions. This isn’t hard to do if you have the right tools. Without a proper crimper for the f-type RG6 connector, it’s not a do-it-yourself thing. I ordered tools and connectors from Amazon. I’ll probably put them in the shed and not need them again, but it was necessary. The old connectors were falling apart and if you moved the cable the slightest amount, you would lose the signal.

Last week before Donna left, she made a couple of outstanding dinners. First up was pork kabobs with pineapple, mushrooms and peppers.

Next up was plate of shrimp and shishito peppers and fried rice. I made the fried rice – it’s becoming my specialty.

She also made grilled chicken thighs with butternut squash risotto and asparagus.

The weather remained hot last week with daily highs in the upper 80s or low 90s. The swamp cooler in the Arizona room has been very effective. We use a box fan to circulate air to the front room and didn’t run the air conditioner at all! This is a great energy saver. It was overcast and cooler yesterday. Last night, we had a couple of rain showers and it was cloudy again this morning, but now the sun is shining. It’s only supposed to get up to 70 for a high today and 79 tomorrow. From Thursday, the forecast calls for mid-90s through the weekend. Just in time for Donna’s return Thursday night.

Curtains Up

The annual exodus from Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort is well underway. Most of the Canadian visitors have already departed. This morning, our next-door neighbors headed back to Iowa. The neighbor on the south side of us stays here year ’round. We’ll be here through the first week of May.

Things are slowly shaping up in our new-to-us park model home. This week, I hung drapes in the front room. Donna’s been watching the Facebook Marketplace and found some deals on rods and curtains.

New drapery and rods on the front window facing Superstition Mountains

Construction of these park model homes is different from what I’d expect to find in a regular sticks-and-bricks home. When I drilled holes for the curtain rod mounts, I didn’t know what I was drilling into. It turned out the center mount was on a solid header board. If I had known that from the start, I would have drilled smaller holes and tapped wood screws directly into the wall. But, having drilled oversized holes I had to insert anchors. It worked out fine. The end mounts were into thin plywood and required anchors.

The front window is curved. Donna found an articulated rod made for bay windows that fit perfectly. When I installed the curtain rod on the side window on the north side of the front room, I piloted the holes with a small drill bit first to see if I would be in solid wood or thin ply. Once again, the center mount went into solid header board while the end mounts needed anchors inserted into thin plywood.

Another thing I worked on this week was getting my guitar amps and pedal board set up and working. The amps have been locked away in a basement compartment of our coach for nearly eight years. I’ve really neglected my guitar and hardly played at all for the last couple of years.

I expected trouble with the vacuum tubes in the amplifier. They had to get shaken up on some of the roads we’ve traveled. I was pleased to find my Egnater Tweaker amp fired up with no issues at all. Then I was surprised to find the Marshall 18 Watt clone I built in 2011 worked fine. My luck didn’t hold out on the Trainwreck inspired amp I built in 2012 – it just crackled and made a few really fuzzy tones.

I suspected one or more vacuum tubes were shot. When I was a kid, back in the 1960s and ’70s, you could find a vacuum tube testing machine in almost every hardware store and even pharmacies and supermarkets. Nowadays, these testers are just a fading memory. Without any way to test the vacuum tubes, I broke out my credit card and ordered a complete set – three 12AX7 preamp tubes and two EL34 power tubes (plus an extra 12AX7 to keep on hand).

When the tubes came, I almost switched them all out with the new ones, but then I decided to do one at a time and see which ones were bad. The first tube in the V1 position was a Tung-Sol 12AX7 and I had ordered one of these. These are made in Russia. All of the new production tubes I used are made in Russia or China. Vacuum tube manufacturing completely disappeared from the Americas and Europe as the technology is no longer used in most consumer applications. At one time, every television set had a complement of vacuum tubes and high-quality tubes were made in the USA and western Europe and were readily available. Today, it’s a niche market for audiophiles and guitar amplifiers.

After I installed the first tube, I plugged in the amp and tried it. It worked fine. The V1 position was the only bad tube! The Tung-Sol tube was under $20, but now I have three Shuguang 12AX7 tubes that I use in the V2 position of the Trainwreck and in two positions of the Marshall clone. I also have a Sovtek 12AX7LPS and two Ruby EL34s. So I’m set with spares, but if I could’ve tested first, I wouldn’t have ordered $130 worth of tubes.

I have the amplifiers stacked to save space and I can easily switch from one amp to another when I play. I also set up my pedal board and I’m happy to report that all is well with my effects pedals. I’m back to playing my guitar, but man am I rusty.

Top to bottom – Egnater Tweaker, Trainwreck type, Marshall 18 Watt clone and Egnater 1-12 speaker

Donna had her second Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday. She got the shot in Fountain Hills and while she was there, she was able to visit two of her friends in the area – a gal she met through her church and a former neighbor, both of whom she hadn’t seen in a few years. She also enjoyed a solo alfresco lunch at her favorite Italian restaurant on the lake before heading to the pharmacy to get her vaccine. She felt fine when she went to bed, but woke up in the night with severe chills. By morning, she had a fever of 101.7 degrees. She was ill all day Wednesday and most of Thursday. She’s fine today and played tennis this morning.

I mentioned in my last post the Teruyasu Fujiwara Maboroshi gyuto I bought. You might wonder why I would want to have two Japanese chef’s knives. My two gyutos have completely different character with their own strengths. The Kintaro forged by Yoshimi Kato has a thin, light blade. The cutting edge of the blade is 215mm long and the knife weighs 131 grams. My TF Maboroshi is more stout – it has a cutting edge 200mm long and weighs in at 195 grams.

The Kintaro excels when slicing cabbage. It seems to float right through the produce like a ghost. But I have issues using it on potatoes. Potato slices stick to the side of the blade like they’re suctioned on – I practically have to peel the potato slices from the knife. The Maboroshi cuts cabbage fine, but it doesn’t have the feeling of just floating through. It’s super sharp though and excels on carrots and potatoes and just about anything. Potatoes do not stick to the hammered finish on the blade.

Lately, I’ve been handling the dinner prep – Donna tells me what’s on the menu and what she needs. I break out the cutting boards and prep whatever veggies she needs. This saves her some time and we both participate in the meal preparation.

On Monday, I made Japanese style fried rice while Donna grilled salmon and shishito peppers. It was a great meal.

Grilled salmon, shishito peppers and fried rice

On Tuesday, Donna kept it simple. She sauteed onions and mushrooms and baked spuds while I grilled filet mignon. Donna wrapped the filets with a strip of bacon. The filets were delicious and tender.

Bacon wrapped filet mignon smothered with mushrooms and onions with baked potato and broccoli

Last night, Donna made a new recipe. It was crispy chicken with turmeric-lemon cabbage and peas. It was a labor-intensive recipe that took nearly an hour and 15 minutes to prepare. The meal was great, but I don’t know if Donna wants to put that much effort into making it again.

The hot weather held over the weekend and through the start of the week. It was in the 90s until Wednesday when the high temperature was 87. Thursday cooled to 81 degrees for a high and today we expect 80 degrees. Last night was a comfortable 54 degrees. Looking ahead, we should maintain the highs in the 80s with maybe a day or two around 90 in the coming week.

I found the problem with our swamp cooler. There’s supposed to be a standpipe to drain water if the level gets too high. The standpipe was broken, so not enough water was in the sump. I fixed it and now the swamp cooler is awesome. We haven’t needed to run the air conditioner these last few days – the swamp cooler is doing the job great with just a box fan to circulate air to the front room.

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Uncategorized

Snail Mail

Face Plant

Farm to Table

Sand Canyon Cliff Dwellings

Motion is Lotion

Pine Trees and Petrified Forest

Getting Out

Covered Gold Mine

Our Third is Born

Curtains Up

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