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Exploring Reno/Sparks

After I wrote my last post Saturday morning, we headed out on the Spyder. We rode to the Reno Riverfest – a summer kick-off held at Wingfield Park near downtown Reno. Wingfield Park is an island in the Truckee River, which flows right through town, accessible via pedestrian bridges, two on the north side and one on the south. The Riverfest featured a number of events including a kayak competition, several bands on two bandstands, vendor tents and beer gardens.

Entry was free and a sunny Saturday meant huge crowds in the park. The temperature was around 80 degrees.

Pedestrian bridge on the north side over the Truckee River

We watched the kayaks on the south side for a while. The competitors had to paddle upstream through rapids and maneuver through a series of gates. It looked very technical as they had to quickly change direction to get through the course.

We listened to a guy performing an excellent blues set with just his acoustic guitar and a great voice. He was good!

We didn’t hang around for too long. It was very crowded and Donna had left her I.D. back at the coach, so we couldn’t go into the beer garden. On the way back, we stopped at The Depot Craft Brewery Distillery. We sampled a couple of tasty brews made onsite – they were okay with Donna not having her proof of age. They also have five stills for distilling spirits, but we didn’t try any liquor.

On the way to the Riverfest, Donna spotted a storefront with a sign advertising hand rolled cigars. We made a stop there on the way back. It was Ruiz Cigar Lounge. This is a cigar shop featuring Ruiz cigars – rolled onsite by Marvin Ruiz and also some Ruiz cigars from his family’s factory in Esteli, Nicaragua. Marvin is an interesting and very friendly guy. He moved to Nevada from Nicaragua in 2005. He imports tobacco from his family’s farm and rolls cigars. He learned the trade in Nicaragua, first working at the Padron factory where his father and grandmother also worked at one time. Later he worked for Drew Estate and then Perdomo.

We talked cigars for a while as he showed me his selection and described many of the cigars in the Ruiz line up. I bought one to try, then he surprised us with a treat. He brought out some tobacco leaves and described the different leaves. They were all Nicaraguan from Esteli and Jalapa. He realized I knew a little bit about cigar construction as we discussed different leaf types and methods of rolling the filler.

Then he proceeded to roll a cigar. It was like watching a magician. His movements were quick and precise – he had the filler bunched and rolled in the binder so quickly that there must have some sleight of hand involved. He was almost done with the cigar before I could start snapping photos.

Already rolling the filler bunch with binder leaf

The bunch and binder are hidden by his right hand as he makes a cut with a chaveta – a special type of knife for cigar making

He laid out the wrapper leaf to finish the cigar

Finished cigar – old school style without using any molds

He gave me the Churchill cigar he’d just rolled. How generous is that?!

Off the shelf Ruiz cigar on the right – the shaggy foot Churchill he made for me on the left

I puffed the shaggy foot Churchill after dinner. It was a very nice cigar and I enjoyed it immensely.

On Sunday, Donna rode her beater bike to do some shopping nearby. While she was out, she went to Petco and brought home a surprise for Ozark the cat. Ozark has only been outside of our coach a few times in the four years since she joined us. She likes to sit on the steps behind the screen door or in her window bed to watch the outside world, but she isn’t inclined to go out.

Donna brought home a cat harness and leash. We fit the harness to Ozark and Donna took her out. She seemed to like it. She rolled in the synthetic turf in our site and they took a short walk. I’m wondering if this will encourage Ozark to go out on her own – that wouldn’t be a good thing.

Our site with fake grass at Sparks Marina RV Park

Sunday afternoon, I went back to Ruiz Cigar Lounge and sat with Marvin and shot the breeze while we puffed our cigars. He told me a lot of interesting stories about growing up in Nicaragua as a third-generation cigar roller. Another fellow from Nicaragua came into the lounge – I don’t recall his name – he told me Marvin is a Master Torcedor – a title given to only the most highly skilled cigar rollers. I bought a few more cigars from him.

While we’re back on full hook-ups, Donna is taking advantage by catching up on laundry and preparing some fine dinners. Saturday night she made one of our favorites – chicken enchilada skillet casserole.

Sunday she whipped up coconut cauliflower risotto while I grilled chicken thighs. She served it with steamed spinach.

Grilled chicken thighs with coconut cauliflower risotto and steamed spinach

This morning we returned to the Evelyn Mount Community Center for pickleball. The games we’re all high level and we had fun. We’ll go back again.

The weather here in Sparks, Nevada has been holding up fine. Daily highs are in the upper 70s. It should be cooler Wednesday with a possibility of rain on Thursday. We’re scheduled to depart on Thursday – with any luck we’ll beat the rain. I’m not sure where we’re going next – maybe Susanville, California. I’ll be sure to top off our fuel tank before we enter California – diesel fuel prices are about a dollar less per gallon in Nevada than they are in California.

Mono Lake, Hot Springs and Sparks

June Lake was gorgeous and we wouldn’t have minded spending a couple more days there. But, with snow in the forecast we packed up and got away Wednesday morning. We left Oh! Ridge Campground around 10:30am. We took the scenic route completing the CA158 loop through town and past Grant Lake. This section of the road is typically closed in winter. It was a beautiful drive.

We headed north once again on US395 and made a stop north of Lee Vining at the Mono Lake Visitor Center. This is a nice center – it’s practically a museum. I think it’s the nicest one we’ve seen since we stopped at the Missouri River Visitor Center on I-90.

Mono Lake is unique in that it’s fed by at least six mountain streams, but has no outflow. The 45,000-acre lake is about 13 miles long and nine miles wide. Lake water levels are kept in check by evaporation in the dry desert climate. Minerals concentrate in the water which is highly alkaline.

In 1941, the city of Los Angeles struck again. They diverted water from four of the streams feeding the lake. This caused the lake level to drop by 50 vertical feet and further concentrated the minerals in the lake, doubling the salinity. This affected the ecosystem. Brine shrimp are found in the lake and are an important food source for two million migratory birds.

In 1978, the Mono Lake Committee was formed to save the lake. They eventually won a legal battle before the California Supreme Court in 1983 and the City of Los Angeles was ordered to replenish the water it had taken from the watershed.

Mono Lake view from the visitor center – Paoha Island on the right

The alkaline water has high levels of calcium. Fresh water enters the lake from subterranean sources. When the fresh water from these springs mixes with the calcium rich lake water, it forms columns of limestone called tufa. These towers take centuries to form and once the lake level was lowered, many of them became visible above the surface.

We saw signs advising that Tioga Pass from the eastern Sierra to Yosemite was closed due to snow. The alternate route was a loop north by Lake Tahoe – a six-plus-hour detour!

This vehicle in the parking lot would get over the pass

After we left the visitor center, we climbed another pass on US395 and topped 8,130 feet above sea level at the Conway Summit. Our travel day was short – we drove about 50 miles to Bridgeport and checked in at the Bridgeport Reservoir Marina and Campground. Our site had us right on the reservoir.

After lunch, I unloaded the Spyder and we took a ride out to Travertine Hot Springs. These natural hot springs were only a few miles away but it entailed a slow ride up a bumpy dirt road. We found one bathtub sized pool with very hot water where the road ended. We hiked down a well-used trail and eventually found a place where there were a few interconnected larger pools.

On the way back, we climbed a razor back ridge that had a large crack running down the center and I shot a couple of photos.

View of town from Travertine Hot Springs

Bridgeport has a population of about 600 people and sits at an elevation of nearly 6,500 feet above sea level. Although the town is small, it has a brewery. We stopped at Big Meadow Brewing on Main Street for a cold one. Although they’re small with only a 7.5-barrel system, they had excellent beers on tap.

Donna prepared tortilla crusted tilapia for dinner with sauteed corn, spinach and onion.

Our original plan was to spend one night at the reservoir, replenish our fresh water and dump the tanks in preparation for more dry camping in Carson City. Donna found a casino there that allowed five nights of dry camping in their lot. Then we discovered that the information was outdated. The city had passed a no camping ordinance and the casino no longer allowed it. A similar ordinance was passed in Reno. However, the casino operators there argued that RVers were an important source of business for them. In typical hypocritical government policy, the city agreed not to enforce the ordinance at casinos. This apparently isn’t the case in Carson City though.

Glassy water at the marina in the morning – the fishermen were loving it

We changed our plan – flexibility is our motto on the road. We decided to head to Sparks and go to the Sparks Marina RV Park. We’ve stayed here twice before – both times Donna had flights out of Reno so she really hasn’t spent much time here. It’s a nice park with pull-through sites that they advertise as 65 feet long. In reality they’re no more than 60 feet and we overhang a bit at both ends, but it works without having to drop the trailer.

While I was dumping the tanks at Bridgeport, I found a problem. Our Rhinoflex sewer hose had sprung a leak. I cut the bad portion of hose off and re-installed the fittings. I could see that the hose was becoming brittle. A few years of desert sun will do that. On the way to Sparks, we made a stop in Gardnerville at Walmart and I bought a new hose.

Donna found pickleball at the Evelyn Mount Community Center about eight miles away from the RV park. We played there Friday morning from 9:45am to 11:45am. The level of play was advanced and we had a good time – we’ll go back again.

Last night, Donna cleared some leftovers from the refrigerator. She sauteed cabbage and added the leftover pork tenderloin with apples and onions, rosemary garlic roasted potatoes along with asparagus. She finished it off with a balsamic reduction and it was tasty!

The weather forecast here in Sparks is favorable with daily highs around 80 degrees and overnight lows of about 50. There’s no rain expected in the next several days. We’ll hang out here until Thursday – I took advantage of the weekly rate. We haven’t figured out what our next move will be yet.

June Lake

We had leisurely morning on Monday. Donna walked down to Schat’s Bakkery and bought a fresh baked croissant for me and some swiss pecan cookies for the road. I think it was around 10:30am when we hit the road. Just outside of Bishop, US395 begins a long uphill grade. We were climbing for about 10 miles. At one point, I geared down and slowed to about 40mph. Although the engine coolant temperature was well under control at 195 degrees, the oil temperature was rising, so I used gear reduction to ease the load on the engine. We topped out over 8,000 feet above sea level at Deadman’s Summit.

We thought about checking out Mammoth Lakes, but the weather forecast wasn’t favorable there. Also, although it’s a beautiful area, it’s geared toward ski tourism and a little too trendy for our style. We drove about 60 miles up US395, then exited at CA158 toward June Lake and found the Oh! Ridge U.S. Forest Service campground.

After a conference with the workers at the gate, we decided to take a look at a few sites. We were able to easily drop the trailer in one of three overflow parking spaces and set up in site 91 about 50 feet away from the trailer. With my newly acquired Interagency Senior Lifetime pass, we paid $27.50 for two nights here – half price. We’re at an elevation of about 7,220 feet above sea level. The mountain peaks surrounding June Lake are covered with snow.

View of the lake from the road by our site

Donna and I rode the Spyder into town – it’s only a couple of miles away. June Lake is a small town with only a little over 600 full-time residents. The number of businesses belie the small population though. There are a number of eateries, motels, cabin rentals, a couple of pubs and a brewery!

We stopped at the June Lake Brewery and each ordered a flight of four samplers. The beer was good, but not outstanding. The brown ale for example was over-hopped and had a slightly bitter finish that I don’t expect to find from this style.

The town is nestled between June Lake to the north and the smaller Gull Lake to the south. It’s a cute town – it reminds me a lot of what Big Bear, California was like in the early ’70s. It was a gorgeous day – blue skies and the temperature was near 70 degrees. We rode back to our site and enjoyed the sunshine although the afternoon wind picked up.

This is bear country and numerous warnings are posted on the grounds. Each site is equipped with a large rectangular safety box for storing food. They’re about four feet high, four feet deep and five feet wide. They’re easily large enough for a big cooler and other stuff. Tent campers are advised to keep all food locked in the box.

On the way back, we drove down the lake access road. There are two beach areas and a couple of tour buses filled with what appeared to be students were stopped there. The kids had set up a volleyball net on one of the beaches and were enjoying a game in the sun

We’re dry camped here as we have been since leaving San Diego a week ago. Long-time readers may recall that I replaced our house batteries with Lifeline advanced AGM batteries last year when we were in Vermont. These batteries were pricey, but I have to say they were well worth the expense. They’ve been completely maintenance-free. I no longer have to watch electrolyte levels or perform periodic cleaning with a baking soda solution. The best thing is how strong they are. I still top up the battery charge by running the generator for a couple of hours in the morning and evening when we dry camp, but they usually hold 12.5 volts or higher.

In the afternoon, Donna took a hike up the hills surrounding the campground and shot a few photos.

View of our site from the ridge to the northeast – our coach is just left of center

Looking north from high on the ridge – you see Mono Lake way in the distance

Looking down at June Lake from the ridge

Monday evening I was puffing a cigar out of the wind while puttering around in the trailer. It was still light out – sunset is after 7:30pm and it doesn’t get dark here until 8:15 or so. Our trailer is on one of three paved pads just wide enough for a car or the trailer. While I was in the trailer, a silver Dodge Ram 1500 pick-up truck pulled up in the dirt alongside the trailer. It crept forward until I could see the driver through the trailer door. When we made eye contact, he hit the brakes and threw it into reverse and backed away. He then proceeded to drive out of the area by going the wrong way out of our one-way loop.

By then, I had figured out the guy was casing the trailer and thought he had his lucky day when he saw the door was open. He didn’t count on anyone being inside since there weren’t any vehicles in the area. Our coach – about 50 feet away – is the only vehicle in our loop. I walked over and asked Donna if she saw the truck. She had and noticed New Mexico plates. I added the second tongue lock to the trailer and made sure it was locked up tight. I wouldn’t want another episode with Dirty, Rotten Thieves.

Tuesday morning Donna started her slow cooker filled with pork tenderloin, apples, cinnamon and onions. She left it running all day while we made another run to town. We had lunch at the Tiger Bar and Cafe. I had a French dip and it was very good served with beer-battered French fries. Donna had the cheeseburger minus the bun and she plated it over a garden salad.

After lunch, we drove around town and checked out the two marinas – one on June Lake and the other on Gull Lake. Both lakes are known for great trout fishing. Fishermen make up most of the tourism here although there is also a ski area outside of town that draws winter visitors. It’s not as trendy as Mammoth Mountain, but the bartender at June Lake Brewing told us that it brings in a fair share of skiers.

Did I mention how strong our batteries are? Donna had the slow cooker running off the inverter for six hours before the voltage on the battery bank went below 12.5-volts. At 12.3-volts – more than a 50% charge still in the bank – I fired up the generator to recharge them. The pork tenderloin was so tender it fell apart on my fork. Donna served it with steamed asparagus spears and garlic-rosemary roasted potatoes on the side.

Pork tenderloin with apples, cinnamon and onions

We have another nice day in the forecast. Tomorrow is supposed to be not-so-nice. A cold front bringing rain and snow – yikes, the “S” word – to the area is supposed to arrive by midday. We’re pulling out today ahead of the storm and going about 50 miles away to a campground in Bridgeport right on the reservoir there. We’ll be on a full hook-ups and I’ll dump our holding tanks and replenish our fresh water supply there. On Thursday, we plan to head into Nevada and spend a few days – or more – dry camped at a casino in Carson City. The weather forecast looks fine there. That’s one of the perks of our nomadic life – if you don’t like the weather, leave!

Owens Valley

I closed my last post saying we’ll move on toward Bishop. Friday morning we headed out of our boondocking site near Inyokern and drove north on US395. This is a good road – divided highway with two lanes in each direction at times. Other places are undivided and parts are two-lane highway. The traffic is generally light and the surface reasonably smooth.

This route took us up the Owens Valley. This area is mostly arid nowadays, but it wasn’t always that way. The Owens Valley is bordered on the west by the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada range. On the east, the White Mountains – also called the Inyo Mountains – form the boundary. The once fertile valley is fed by water runoff from the mountains.

In the early 1900s, unscrupulous politicians and bureaucrats working with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power began surreptitiously buying property to acquire water rights. William Mulholland had a plan to build an aqueduct to divert water from the Owens Valley to the Los Angeles basin and allow future growth. They took water from the Owens River and sent it through the aqueduct beginning in 1913. Owens Lake at the time was 19 miles long and eight miles wide. By 1926, Owens lake was a dry lake bed. It fed one third of LA’s water supply and the lake was desiccated.

The 1974 film Chinatown starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway is a fictional account of the water wars in the Owens Valley. Today, some water has refilled portions of Owens Lake, but it’s still mostly dry and in 2013 was declared the biggest source of dust pollution in the USA.

After a couple of hours, we made a stop in Big Pine. We found ample room to park our rig next to a small city park in town. There was an information center at the corner of US395 and CA168. This center was about the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. We also looked at the campground next to the information center, but decided to move on.

Horses in a pasture on the edge of Big Pine with snowy Sierra Nevada peaks in the background

I topped up our fuel tank with $200 worth of diesel fuel in Big Pine. In California, $200 buys about 50 gallons – California has some of the highest fuel prices in the country.

We came to Bishop and found parking at the Vons/Kmart center. It was posted “No Overnight Parking” but after buying groceries in Vons, we asked about it. We were told we wouldn’t have any problems. So we set up for the night. Bishop is at an elevation of just under 4,200 feet above sea level. There are peaks all around reaching elevations of 10,000 feet.

Later that afternoon, we walked about half a mile to the ranger station and I bought an Interagency Senior Lifetime Pass for $80. This will get us into national parks for free and give us half price discounts on forest service and BLM campgrounds.

We thought about taking the Spyder up to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest but we heard at the ranger station that we were likely to encounter snow at 9,000 feet. And, in any event, it would be a cold ride. The ancient pines – the oldest living trees in the world – are above 9,800 feet.

We changed our plans and went to the Laws Railroad Museum. Laws is a small community about four miles from Bishop on Route 6. The highway, US6, crosses the country from Bishop, California to Provincetown, Massachusetts. We love to travel on these old highways.

The Laws Railroad Museum is really a re-creation of a ghost town. Many old buildings from the area were relocated on the 11-acre property. A couple of the buildings were made from lumber re-purposed from old barns and warehouses. We took the self-guided walking tour and found it to be scenic and interesting.

There’s a great deal of mining history in this area. Everything from talc to gold was mined here – including the biggest tungsten ore mine in the world.

Various ore samples from mines in the area

These 20-mule team wagons were the heavy haulers of the day bringing borax from Death Valley mines to the railroad spur 165 miles away.

By the time we finished strolling through the museum, it was nearly 1pm and we were hungry for lunch. A place called Schat’s Bakkery was highly recommended and we went there. I can tell you, the recommendation was well-warranted. They have outstanding sandwiches made with bread they bake on site, delicious cookies and pastries of all kinds. If you are ever in Bishop, this is a must stop.

Sunday was Cinco de Mayo and our 13th wedding anniversary. We celebrated by going to dinner at Astorga’s Mexican Restaurant. The margaritas and food were good and they had an excellent eight-piece mariachi band.

In the afternoon, before we went to dinner, I should mention the visit I had from the Bishop Police Department. A police officer stopped by while I was outside reading a book in the shade. He wanted to let us know that overnight parking wasn’t allowed in the city. I told him I saw the signs, but got permission from the customer service in Vons. I told him we would leave if necessary. He was a nice guy and said it was a gray area really as the parking lot is private property. He also said his shift was over at 6pm, so he wouldn’t know if we were here overnight. I took that as tacit approval and we stayed.

Today we’ll continue northward on US395 and see what we find at Mammoth Lakes or June Lake or maybe Lee Vining. The daily highs here in Bishop have been in the 80s with very low humidity. As we go north, we’ll gain elevation and can expect cooler temperatures. Rain showers near the mountains are always a possibility.

Into the Quiet

As usual, I put off a few errands and chores until our time at Mission Bay RV Resort was nearing its end. Monday morning it rained. There were sprinkles and periods of drizzle until late afternoon. I left the Spyder covered and didn’t get to the hardware store as planned.

Tuesday morning was misty with light drizzle. I hopped on the Spyder and took a chance of a shower and made a run to Costco. I also straightened a few odds and ends in the trailer. Time was getting short – we had to hit the road Thursday morning. Donna ran a few errands on her bicycle – she rode her beater bike to the post office in Pacific Beach and stopped at the store. She also washed screens and inside windows. I took a break and went to Offshore Tavern and Grill for my final taco Tuesday of the season.

Wednesday was time to get down to it. I had to pick up a prescription in Point Loma and also stopped at the hardware store in Ocean Beach. I repaired another “D” ring in trailer and finished organizing it. I checked tire pressures on the trailer and coach – all were good. I had drained our fresh water tank on Monday so I refilled with fresh city water. By the end of the day, I felt like we had it under control and just needed to transfer a few final items to the trailer and load the Spyder.

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard stopped by again. Mr. Mallard had some fine nylon mesh netting wrapped around one leg. I tried to entice him close enough so I could remove it, but once he got within two feet he became wary and I couldn’t get it off of him.

If you look closely you can see the green nylon mesh

Wednesday evening Donna made baked shrimp with fennel and feta. She served it over spinach and orzo for me and zoodles (zucchini noodles) for her. She made enough to have leftovers. We also have leftover pizza chicken that will come in handy on the road.

I dumped and flushed our holding tanks Thursday morning – empty holding tanks and full fresh water tank is how we roll. By the time we had everything packed away and rolled out of site 142, it was past 10am. We drove to the overflow lot and transferred things like chairs and the Weber Q grill to the trailer. I hooked up the trailer and loaded the Spyder. We pulled out of Mission Bay at 11:15am.

I was ready to leave behind the noise, traffic and the hustle and bustle of the city. We’d been in large metro areas for the last seven months with only a couple breaks in he desert. In San Diego – like Mesa, Arizona – there are aircraft overhead almost constantly. In addition to light general aviation aircraft, helicopters frequently fly over Mission Bay. This year we even had a blimp fly over the RV park.

This year, we had an abundance of families with young kids in the park. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but a few of the kids were overly rambunctious and loud. It was tiresome and a few of the regulars we know here also commented on the noise levels.

Our route was a familiar one. After a short ride up I-5 we hit 52 east to I-15. This took us north out of San Diego County to Riverside County. The traffic was light and we breezed along. There are several steep grades along the way but we didn’t have any issues. We took the 215 fork and passed through Menifee where my step-dad Ken lives. From there, I knew we would be running the gauntlet getting through Riverside and San Bernardino .

The traffic became much heavier and we had a few slow downs and stoppages. I strived to be in the proper lane for our route well before any forks or ramps on the route. We rejoined I-15 and climbed Cajon Pass. This is a long steep grade. Trucks use the two right-hand lanes to climb the grade – slower trucks to the far right. Sometimes a large truck will use the number three lane to overtake. The interstate is six lanes wide here.

I remembered a time back in 2007 going up this climb on my Moto Guzzi Breva 1100 motorcycle. I was on my way to a motorcycle race at Willow Springs. As I was going up the hill, a truck swung into my lane ahead of me going at a much lower speed. I took a quick peek over my left shoulder and moved into the clear lane next to me. As I did this, I hit something in the road. I felt the bike jolt and heard a loud clang.

The next thing I knew, I lost traction with the rear tire and started going sideways. I thought maybe I had a flat tire. I lifted my butt out of the seat and corrected the slide. The bike continued to fishtail as I slowed and moved through the right lanes. I was fearful of getting too far sideways and being thrown off the bike in a highside crash. Surely I would be run over if that happened. I made it to the side of the road and got the bike stopped. It was smoking and I smelled hot oil. That’s when I figured out what happened.

I had run over a piece of metal on the road and it flew into the oil filter on my engine. It cut through he filter housing and engine oil was pouring out onto my rear tire.

I had roadside assistance and a guy picked me up. He took me and the bike to an auto parts store nearby. I bought an oil filter, some oil and a can of brake clean. I repaired the bike and cleaned the tire as best as I could and got back on the road.

Oil spot next to the freeway after we loaded the bike

I don’t have any harrowing tales of Thursday’s crossing. We came over the summit and soon hit US395. It’s been a long time since I’ve been through here and I could hardly believe what it’s like now. US395 was just a two-lane highway that crossed the desert to the Sierra Mountains last time I was on it. Now, the city of Victorville has bloated to the west all the way to US395. There were busy intersections with stoplights. I was determined to press on until we could find some solitude.

We found it about an hour later on BLM land south of Inyokern. We found a level, secluded area far enough from the highway that we had no road noise. The quiet in the afternoon and into the night was awesome. It also got very dark with bright stars twinkling in the night.

The weather was fine – a dry 80 degrees or so. Donna had chicken stew in the crock pot all day while we drove and it made for a nice meal. Overnight the low dropped to the 50s – it was perfect for sleeping with the window open and not a peep to be heard.

Today we’ll move north near Bishop and see what we can find there.

San Diego ShakaFest

Donna and I were sitting outside of the coach enjoying the fresh air and sunshine when we had a couple of visitors. A pair of ducks casually walked into our site. I dubbed them Mr. and Mrs. Mallard. I gave them my best duck call and they turned toward me and walked past us under the picnic table.

They pecked around our site, then settled in by the tree while Donna had her lunch a few feet away. I don’t know how these ducks became so tame, but they had no fear of us whatsoever.

Donna has her salad while the ducks make themselves comfortable

Did I mention the weather? We’ve had sunny skies and temperatures reaching the low 70s all week. Nice.

Yesterday we could hear music coming from the park on the north side of De Anza Cove. When I walked out to retrieve something from the trailer, I could see vendor tents and hear Hawaiian music.

Donna and I took a walk over there. We found the San Diego ShakaFest – a Na Koa Kai Canoe Club event. They describe the ShakaFest as a fusion of Hawaiian culture, arts and athletics. They had a youth-only canoe regatta as one of the events and also had music and traditional dances.They’re a non-profit organization and sponsor many youth activities.

Paddlers from the canoe ran up the beach under paddles held high by club members

After spending some time at the ShakaFest, I had a job to remove from my “to do” list. It was time for the annual wheel bearing grease job on the cargo trailer. Our Interstate trailer came equipped with Dexter Axles and EZ lube hubs and bearings. The recommended interval for renewing the grease in the wheel bearings is 12 months or 12,000 miles. We’ve never towed it 12,000 miles in year, but I stick to the 12-month interval.

The EZ lube bearings make it a relatively easy job to do. The axle spindle has a passage drilled through the center. Another passage is drilled perpendicular to this, intersecting the center drilling at the rear of hub, just inside the inner wheel bearing seal.

The outer end of the spindle has a Zerk fitting to pump grease into the bearing. The grease travels through the spindle to the rear of the bearing where it’s contained by the inner seal and then travels through the bearing. This forces the old grease out of the front of the bearing. It’s important to spin the wheel while you’re pumping the grease – this distributes the grease throughout all of the roller elements. If the wheel was stationary, the grease would only travel through the drilled channel into one part of the bearing and only force the old grease out from one area of the bearing.

I jacked up the trailer one side at a time and pumped in the new grease. It’s not a hard job, but it’s a messy one. As the old grease comes out around the spindle, it collects around the grease gun nozzle and needs to be wiped away. I had the job done in less than an hour and now it’s good for another year.

Rubber cover sealing the outer hub and bearing, covering the Zerk fitting

Cover removed exposing Zerk fitting the center of the axle

Forcing the old grease out can get a little messy

Last Thursday, Donna prepared a new dish. It’s a traditional Peruvian recipe called lomo saltado. This is made with thinly sliced flank steak, chopped tomatoes, peppers and onions. It’s served over french fries. Delicious.

Yesterday I had a notification that an Amazon delivery was scheduled to arrive in the afternoon. At 4:05pm, a delivery truck stopped at our site. I walked out and asked the guy if he had something for site 142. He looked a little confused and said “Yeah, but I left it at the front office.” The thing is, the office closes at 4pm on Saturday – if he left it there, he must have given it to them as they were closing. Then he drove to our site. What? This didn’t make sense to me. I walked down to the office to confirm they were closed and it was locked up tight with no one around. I still can’t figure out why the guy dropped off the package, then drove to our site empty-handed. Oh well, I got the package from the office this morning.

There’s a 60% chance of rain showers tomorrow morning. Other than that, the week ahead looks good weatherwise. We’re pulling out of Mission Bay RV Resort on Thursday. Our tentative plan is to head up US395 to the Indian Wells-Inyokern area, then continue up to somewhere around Bishop, California. Our plans are pretty loose at this point. We know we’d like to be in the Seattle area by the end of June to visit my oldest daughter and two granddaughters.

Full Spa Treatment

After the full-adult dose of Belize, it took us a couple of days to recover. But, recover we did and we’re comfortably back into the full-time RV lifestyle. Easter week was not the best time to make our re-entry – it’s traditionally a very busy time here at Mission Bay RV Resort. With kids having the week off from school, the park fills with weekend warrior families. By Friday, the park was packed and there were more kids on bicycles, skateboards and scooters than ever. It was okay though – most everyone behaved well and the park quieted down at night.

We met some new friends two sites down from us – Jeremy and Erica Cohen from New York. They were here for a week with their two kids in a somewhat unusual circumstance. Their friend set up his Fleetwood motorhome in site 140 and left it here for their use. They flew in, rented a car and moved into the motorhome for the week.

Saturday night the park had an Easter parade for the kids. Most of the kids adorned their bicycles with LED lights on the wheels – they were selling them at the snack shack – and followed a golf cart through the park.

Kids Easter parade – photo without flash

As expected, the park began to empty on Sunday – many people had arranged for a late check-out and didn’t leave until well past noon. By Monday afternoon, the park was less than 50% occupied.

Our neighbor in site 143 has a 2003 Monaco Diplomat. He hired the guys at Elite RV Service and Detail to detail his coach. They worked on it for most of the day on Monday. His coach has half-body paint, meaning that all of the white parts are gel coat. Gel coat can oxidize and it’s really hard to get the luster back, but they did a great job and his coach came out looking practically new.

Donna said our coach could use some love. I ended up paying Elite RV for the full spa treatment. We had the coach detailed including polish and wax of the full-body paint job. It took four guys about four hours to get the job done and it wasn’t cheap, but the coach sparkles now.

This week we’re back on track again with pickleball in the mornings and I hit happy hour at Dan Diego’s Monday afternoon.

We’re also back to eating good, wholesome home-cooked meals. Monday night, Donna prepared a salmon filet which I grilled. She served it with onion marmalade (onions cooked with olive oil and apple cider vinegar in a foil packet on the grill) over arugula. Very tasty!

Salmon with onion marmalade over arugula

The weather has been agreeable here since our return. While not as warm as Belize – there the daily highs were in the 80s and the temperature only dropped about 10 degrees at night – we’ve had daily highs in the upper 60s to low 70s, mostly clear skies and overnight lows in the upper 50s.

Yesterday Donna dropped her sister, Sheila, off at the airport. Sheila is still hobbled by a broken leg and is getting around on crutches. She’s off to a seminar in San Francisco, so we’ll have her car for a few days. Today we’re driving up to Menifee to visit my step-dad, Ken, for lunch.

Belize Part III – Onlieenabelize

The trade winds really kicked up over the weekend. Saturday morning it churned the water inside the reef – there were whitecaps where we had calm sea before! We went down to the resort restaurant for breakfast. We both ordered the Belizean breakfast – scrambled eggs with tomato bits and bacon, black bean puree and fry jacks. Fry jacks are fried bread dough that comes out very light with a hollow interior. It’s tasty – I tore it in half and stuffed the hollow core with bean puree and eggs.

After breakfast, Donna and I took an early morning walk up the beach past several homes and boat docks. The beach is considered public land, so homeowners cannot bar access although a few of them piled seaweed and vegetation along their property lines to discourage visitors.

We came back onto the Costa Blu property and walked past the pool. We encountered a few iguanas and lizards sunning themselves. One large iguana lived under the building next door to us and we saw him every day in the garden by the stairs.

Fishing and snorkeling weren’t happening in the windy conditions – Tuff-E-Nuff cancelled all boating activities. We reserved a trip for Monday – a combination snorkeling and fishing excursion and hoped the wind would die down by then. While talking to Hatcher at Tuff-E-Nuff, he recommended a cafe in town called Brianna’s. He said it was a small place and not much to look at, but the food was great and the prices low – not many tourists go there but a lot of the locals do.

We took the golf cart and headed into town. When I rented the cart, the guy at the agency showed me the anti-theft device and told me it was very important to always use it. I made it a habit and saw everyone else with a golf cart did the same. The anti-theft device was crude but effective.

Everyone uses the same anti-theft set-up

We found Brianna’s and ordered lunch – Donna and I ordered the chicken soup special. The soup had potatoes, cabbage, rice, corn, a little pasta and a lot of chicken meat. It was delicious and very filling. Lunch for two with a soft drink was $14US.

I should mention hitchhikers in Ambergris Caye. We gave rides in town to a couple of guys – they weren’t hitchhiking with their thumbs out – they just called out “how about a ride” as we slowly drove by. When we were at Secret Beach, a young mother with a boy about 7 years old and an infant needed a ride. The boy asked us for a lift to town – otherwise they would have to make a five-mile walk. We drove them back to town.

On the way back from lunch at Brianna’s, we made a couple of stops. The first stop was a place on the side of the road called The Truck Stop. It was a cluster of buildings with a bar, ice cream parlor, pizza place and other food vendors. At The Truck Stop, I learned that craft beer had arrived in Belize. A brewery in Placencia on the mainland, south of Belize City was brewing it.

Donna tried the golden ale while I had an IPA. It was okay, but nothing too special. The beer you can count on in Belize is Belekin. Belekin beer is sold everywhere – from grocery stores to road side stands and every bar in the country. When we were in Turkey, there was beer there that was ubiquitous called Efes. In Jamaica, it’s Red Stripe and here it’s Belikin.

The Belikin slogan says “onlieenabelize.” This is a good example of the Belizean Creole language – words run together and are spoken quickly with the emphasis on certain syllables making it hard for a non-native to follow.

Belikin also makes a dark beer they call stout – but stylistically, it’s more of a bock beer. It’s lager, not stout ale and it’s 6.5% ABV. The slogan for the stout is “go deh strong.” Hatcher told me that Belizean Creole doesn’t use suffixes like “ing” or “er” as in walking or stronger. The prefix deh replaces it. So walking become deh-walk. Also, when they say “you,” it’s always singular. If you want to address a group you don’t say “all of you” – it’s unu. No wonder I can’t understand them.

We made another stop at Rojo’s Beach Bar and Grill. The road into Rojo’s was a little tight.

This is why golf carts are the best way to travel

Donna tried a ginger caipirinha there and said it was great. We’ll have to try making it some time – a caipirinha is a Cuban cocktail made with rum, muddled limes and sugar.

Donna conversing with a scarlet macaw at Rojo”s

Back at Costa Blu, I claimed my regular perch at the poolside bar. There was one corner of the bar that was sheltered from the wind and I always sat there so I could puff a cigar with a nightcap. The staff at Costa Blu are all super-friendly and quickly caught on to my habits. It was like they saved that seat for me and always broke out a clean ash tray when I arrived.

The wind continued unabated throughout the night and into Sunday. We headed back to Secret Beach on Sunday – it’s on the leeward side of the island and wasn’t nearly as windy.

Monday morning we had some light rain for an hour or so, but I was happy to see the wind had calmed. We were on the dock at 8:30am and Rafael took us and another couple in the boat to the main Tuff-E-Nuff dive shop at the Wyndham. From there we got on a catamaran with a crew of three plus 10 other people and went to Mexico Rocks. Mexico Rocks is another marine reserve almost directly in front of Costa Blu – we were nearly back to where we started.

A fishing guide took four people at a time on a boat through a channel past the reef to fish. A guy in the first group caught a huge barracuda – they said it was 30 pounds. While the first group fished, the rest of us snorkeled. At Hol Chan, we snorkeled in a relatively tight group with six people per guide. This was to prevent people from getting lost or joining up with the wrong group. At Mexico Rocks, we were pretty much by ourselves so once the guide was reasonably certain no one was likely to drown, we were able to snorkel on our own.

Donna and I went with another couple on the second fishing run. We went outside the reef where the ocean bottom suddenly drops off to a depth of 70 feet or more. There was an old shipwreck on the reef – just the skeletal remains of a ship – the keel and a few ribs and a partial mast. I don’t know the story behind it – the guide thought it had been there for at least 15 years. Maybe a victim of Hurricane Mitch?

After a short while, I had a fish on! It gave a tough fight but I landed it. It was an ocean triggerfish. These are good fish to eat. Triggerfish feed mostly on crustaceans. They have powerful jaws and teeth that can crack crabs and mollusks.

Our boat captain – captain Bob – prepared food in the small galley of the catamaran. They fileted the barracuda and Bob took the fishing boat with another crew member to the beach to grill the fish. They came back and served it in a seasoned broth with sliced potatoes and flour tortillas. It was excellent! They also provided unlimited beer and rum punch.

The sun rises early in Belize. This time of year near the spring equinox and and again in the fall are when they have the longest daylight hours at this latitude. As usual, we were up early on Tuesday and Donna snapped a photo after sunrise.

We had breakfast at the restaurant, then packed our bags. It was time to head back home. I checked us out and we managed to stay within budget – I was wondering how we did on room charges but never really kept track.

We stopped by the cart rental place and a girl from the agency rode with us to the water taxi so she could take the golf cart back.

The taxi was on schedule and took us back to Belize City with a stop at Caye Caulker. One of the deckhands on the water taxi called ahead and arranged for a taxi cab to take us to the airport.

Our flight home took us from Belize City to Dallas/Fort Worth where we caught a flight back to San Diego. The flights were uneventful but we were exhausted by the time we took an Uber ride back to Mission Bay RV Resort. Vacation over and back to the RV lifestyle in sunny San Diego!

Belize Part One – Getting There

It’s Thursday morning and Donna and I are still recovering from our trip to Belize. We arrived back in San Diego close to midnight Tuesday. I’ll tell the story of our trip from the start – it may take three or four posts to get through it.

In hindsight, I wish I would’ve spent the money to get a more direct route to Belize. Instead, I went for a cheap fare which had us flying a red-eye to Miami where we had a long layover before we flew into Belize City. Belize is located on the eastern coast of Central America and is bordered by Mexico to the northwest, Guatemala to the west and south and the Caribbean Sea to the east.

My generation probably remembers Belize as British Honduras. It was colonized and claimed by the British in the mid-1800s and didn’t gain independence until 1981.

The mainland is about 180 miles long and 68 miles wide. The population of the country is less than 400,000. The official language is English, but the native language spoken by most of the local population is Belizean Creole – an interesting dialect. Other languages include Spanish, Mayan dialects and Garifuni – a language spoken by people of African origin that came from the lesser Antilles. The economy is fairly stable and the Belize dollar trades at 2 to 1 for the American dollar. It’s a good idea to inquire if the price stated is US$ or Belize. One US dollar is two Belize.

The coast of Belize is protected by a barrier reef 178 miles long – it’s the second largest barrier reef in the world – Australia’s Great Barrier reef is the largest. The reef runs north/south and is closest to the shore to the north – about 1,000 yards out at the nearest point and up to 25 miles off the coast to the south. Where we stayed, the reef was anywhere from 3/4 mile to four miles offshore. The reef is made up of coral and the water inside the reef was only four to 20 feet deep in our area. The water depth over the reef itself is mere inches. There are several natural channels along the reef allowing vessels to reach the open sea. The swells from the ocean break over the reef and the water inside the reef is calm with no surf. Along the reef are several small islands – the larger populated islands are called cayes (keys).

Our destination was the largest island – Ambergris Caye. Disembarking from the plane at Belize City – the largest city in the country with nearly 100,000 residents – was a culture shock. The airport was definitely old school – stair cases were wheeled out to the flight line and we walked along tarmac to the terminal. After clearing customs and passport control, we stopped at the duty-free store. Belize is the only country I’ve visited that sells duty-free to international arrivals – usually it’s only available to those departing on international flights. I picked up a bottle of El Dorado – a premium dark rum made in Guyana.

We found a taxi outside and drove across town to the port. The ride was bit hair-raising. We drove in an old Ford Crown Victoria with blown out shock absorbers and a driver that didn’t mind making daring overtaking maneuvers on narrow streets. As in most third-world countries, there was no sense of zoning in the city – industrial buildings sat next to shacks and modern houses or offices were sprinkled here and there. At the harbor, I purchased round-trip boat taxi tickets to San Pedro – the main town in Ambergris Caye with a population of about 10,000.

The boat taxi carried around 60 passengers or so and cruised smartly along. We made a stop at Caye Caulker after about 60 minutes where several passengers disembarked and a few came aboard. The next stop at San Pedro was another 30 minutes away. The water taxis run a tight schedule and everything was on time.

View from the front of the water taxi at Caye Caulker

The sea water inside the reef is very clear. In areas where the bottom is sandy, the water has a turquoise appearance. Rocky bottoms or areas with sea weed are darker.

If I thought Belize City was a culture shock, San Pedro was mind blowing. I had reserved a gasoline-powered four-seat golf cart for the duration of our stay. The guy from the rental agency texted me a phone number and said I should have the attendant at the boat taxi office call them and they would deliver the cart. This didn’t happen. The attendant said, “No phone calls, sorry.”

A taxi cab driver said he would take us to the rental agency for five dollars US. It seemed like the simplest answer, so we were off. The streets of San Pedro are narrow and bumpy. They are filled with golf carts, cars, trucks, bicycles and pedestrians. We got to the rental agency and it was empty! The taxi driver called the office and found out they had moved and were a few blocks away at a grocery store they owned. San Pedro has three main drags – I don’t know the official road names – the locals call the north/south road on the east side Front Street. It’s one-way to the north. The next main north/south thoroughfare is Middle Street and it’s one-way south. The last north/south route is Back Street and is two-way. I was completely confused by the time we picked up the cart.

Luckily I had studied a map for the route to our resort – Costa Blu was about 6.5 miles north of town. To get out of town you have to cross a canal – there’s a toll of $2.50BZ each way. We were told that no so long ago the only way across was a rope-drawn ferry. After about half an hour of driving on a narrow road mostly paved with concrete and frequent speed bumps, we found the resort.

Check-in was efficient and the staff was very friendly. The grounds were immaculate and the buildings well-maintained. Our room was an upstairs suite with a living room and kitchenette and a separate bedroom and bathroom with a large shower.

Viewed from the beach, our suite was in building 1 on the left . We had the upstairs room on the right side of the building

There are 10 buildings on the site in addition to the main reception/restaurant building and most of them are divided into four suites. There are a total of 38 suites here at Costa Blu. We had a private balcony overlooking the grounds and the sea.

Our bedroom had an extra-large, comfortable king-size bed.

I was whipped from the travel, time zone changes and lack of regular meals over the previous 20 hours or so. I was in paradise, but I was grumpy.

Donna went down to the bar and brought me a burger. After eating and resting for bit, I was feeling much better. We went down to the bar for our introduction to island life. I was surprised to learn the bar usually closed at 9pm. Later, this made sense to me. To be continued!

Packing Light

You have to love the climate here in San Diego. Although the daily highs were on the cooler side for the tail-end of last week, we still had highs in the mid to upper 60s. The weekend was fabulous with the thermometer hitting the mid 70s and we had a high of 83 degrees yesterday. Since we’re located right on Mission Bay, we have a cool, refreshing breeze off the water most of the time.

Mesa, Arizona is heating up at this time of year. If we were still there, I’m sure we’d have the air conditioners running all day. One thing about Arizona though, you can’t beat the sunsets. The dust in the desert air makes spectacular, fiery sunsets at times. Here in San Diego, we often have beautiful sunsets on the bay or over the ocean.

Thursday evening, Donna and I took a stroll around Mission Bay RV Resort and I snapped a photo of the sunset. It wasn’t the fiery, colorful display of most sunsets. What was striking about it to me was the blue hue of the sky and water. Also, notice how the sunset is to the northwest of the park. When we’re here in the fall, the sunset is west-southwest.

On Saturday morning, I took Donna to her sister’s place on the Spyder. It was a short ride, one exit up on I-5 to La Jolla Parkway which becomes Torrey Pines Road. The traffic was backed up for a couple of miles. It turned out there was construction on Torrey Pines Road that only allowed a single lane of traffic through.

Nowadays, most of us understand that the pronunciation of many words around here that are derived from Spanish. For example, La Jolla is pronounced La Hoy-ya. It’s the Spanish double-L thing, like the word tortilla. Back in the 1960s, many people who visited San Diego didn’t know this. At the time, my step-dad, Ken, worked for the city of San Diego as an electrician and he drove a marked city-owned truck. People would see he was a local and often asked him how to get to La Jal-lah. He would deadpan, “Never heard of it!”

After dropping Donna off, I decided to avoid Torrey Pines Road and took an alternate route over the top of Mt. Soledad. It was a fairly clear day so I had to stop at the monument at the top of Soledad. I’ve posted pictures of the view from there before, but here are a few more.

View northwest – La Jolla Shores beach and the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club – Scripps Pier on the far right

Looking north – you can see Scripps Pier and Torrey Pines all the way to Del Mar

Looking east – you can see the 12,000-ft concrete runway several miles away at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar

Looking south – southwest – Mission Bay in the center, Point Loma to the right and you can just see the Coronado Islands of Mexico past Point Loma

Today we’re busy packing and making final decisions on what we’ll need to take with us to Belize. Donna made arrangements for Willie, the guy that runs the snack shack here at Mission Bay RV Resort, to feed and take care of Ozark the cat. He’ll come to the coach daily for the week we’re gone. Our flight is scheduled for 9:40pm tonight and I haven’t packed anything yet. I made a run to the bank yesterday and withdrew a pile of cash – they like American dollars in Belize. This will be the first time both of us are away from the coach at the same time.

For our last home-cooked dinner before we leave, Donna kept it simple last night. She grilled chicken and a medley of peppers, onions and corn with sweet potato mash on the side.

I won’t need to pack much for Belize. The forecast calls for daily highs in the mid to upper 80s and overnight lows in the upper 70s. Shorts, T-shirt and flip-flops are the uniform of the day in this tropical country. I’ll be packing light.

We’re planning to stay off the grid most of the time while we’re down there. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of stories to tell and photos to share once we return next week.

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Uncategorized

Exploring Reno/Sparks

Mono Lake, Hot Springs and Sparks

June Lake

Owens Valley

Into the Quiet

San Diego ShakaFest

Full Spa Treatment

Belize Part III – Onlieenabelize

Belize Part One – Getting There

Packing Light

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