High anxiety......

 7:27 am - Wednesday - November 30th - GNHS - 48° F, 40% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the southwest.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 68° F.  On this date in 2017 TLE and I drove into Flagstaff from Desert View (Grand Canyon - worked at the General Store there from November to March) to do a big shopping, and have lunch with TLE's sister, Phyllis at the Lumberyard (a micro brewery, of course).....↴

After our whirlwind trip to and from Los Algodones (including a shopping foray in El Centro) we just lazed around Tuesday morning until 11 am when the World Cup match between the USA and Iran began.  The USA had to win to advance out of their pool (B) to the 'Knockout Round'.  The USA did not make the World Cup 4 years ago, so the chance to return, and make it out of pool play is exciting.  Watching the USA play is never an easy thing, and TLE and I were both mentally drained when the whistle signaling fulltime sounded with the USA holding a one to nil lead, thus advancing to the 'Knockout Round'.....WHEW!!

I piddled around a little with the sand rail which entailed hooking up a battery to it to see if the engine would turn over.  The first issue was the ignition system did not respond to 12 volts of DC power, so I had to apply the battery power directly to the starter.  I could hear the Bendix gear engaging, but the engine would not spin, so it is stuck, or seized.  That is not the death sentence it used to be.  I'm going to escalate my efforts by filling each cylinder with ATF (automatic transmission fluid), and then let it soak for a few days before I try again.

Other than that neither of us did much Tuesday, except recover emotionally from the USA v. Iran game.....we're too old for that kind of anxiety....LOL!  TLE lovingly prepared Fajitas for dinner using the Cowboy Wok, and then we played another 'Phase 10' match.  At one point I was 2 phases down, and headed for a humiliating defeat, but then the cards began to fall my way.  In the end I caught TLE with all her cards in her hand 4 times, and rallied to win the match 10 phases to 9.....nice!

We finished the evening with a nice fire, then retired inside to relax before heading off to dreamland once again.  By the way, our Christmas tree is up.....

......LOL!

Thank for stopping by!

Clean bill.....

 8:33 am - Tuesday - November 29th - GNHS - 60° F, 51% humidity, wind 6 mph out of the southwest.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 70° F.  On this date in 2021 was the first day of 2 months of boondocking in the Anza Borrego Desert......↴

We were out of bed shortly after 5 am Monday morning so we could be ready to leave for Los Algodones by 6 am.  The drive from GNHS to the border is just over 100 miles, and we wanted to arrive at 7:40 am (8:40 am Arizona time) so we would have 15-20 minutes to make the 4 block walk to Dr. Urena's office for our 9 am appointments.  As we drove south and west toward Yuma, AZ TLE caught some great sunrise pictures.....

.....I love it when a plan comes together....we arrived at the border parking lot at exactly 8:40 am (AZ time), and after a brisk walk arrived at Dr. Urena's office about 8:55.  By 9:05 am I was in the seat getting my teeth cleaned, and by 9:45 TLE was in the same seat for her turn.  Her cleaning always takes way less time than mine, and she was back in the lobby about 15 minutes later.  After paying $35 each ($70 total) for the two cleanings we were on our way walking back to the border, where there was no line.....that is a first for us.  When we got into the car at 9:30 am California time.

On our way home we stopped off in El Centro to do our weekly shopping.  There is a COSTCO, Harbor Freight, Walmart, and Farmer Boys Hamburger place within one square block there.  We haven't eaten at a Farmer Boys in years, so after completing our shopping foray we headed across the parking lot to Farmer Boys....

......we were home a little after 2 pm.  Oh, by the way, we both received a clean bill of health dentally speaking....the first time in a few years neither of us has needed any additional dental work, and the first time for moi I haven't needed a 'DEEP' cleaning.  So, one medical appointment down, and two to go.

I fiddled around with the VW sand rail for about an hour airing up the rear 'paddle' tires, and checking the throttle linkage, which moves quite smoothly after a day of letting the penetrating oil do its thing.  I'll hook a battery up to her sometime Tuesday.

We had a beautiful sunset, which I managed to memorialize......

....and thus ended another day at GNHS.....just two days left in November, and Christmas is just around the corner!

Thanks for stopping by!

Kickback.....

 4:36 pm - Monday - November 28th - GNHS - 66° F, 42% humidity, wind 12 mph out of the west by southwest.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 68° F (already past). On this date in 2013 we had returned home for the first time in 21 months, and were spending Thanksgiving at the home of our daughter Kate......when we went on the road we gifted her the vintage Duncan Phyfe dining room table which is how in the hands of a 3rd generation of Hockwalds......↴

......a promised, Rochelle, here is my post about Sunday.

Sunday was a workday, but as workdays go this one was a kickback day.....no rentals booked, and no 'walkup' customers.  I washed RZR #2, the one which had been in the accident, and #5, which had been rented Saturday, and fueled them both at our fuel station.  After we closed the office around 12:30 pm TLE and I went down to the shop/storage yard to tow the VW sand rail back to our trailer so it will be easier for me to work on it......

....once back at the trailer I pulled the four spark plugs, and squirted some penetrating oil into each cylinder to help loosen up the pistons, which seem to be stuck....I think.  I also sprayed some lube on the throttle cable, and on the linkage where it connects to each of the twin carburetors. Hopefully, on Tuesday (we drive to Los Algodones on Monday morning for our semi annual checkups, and cleaning) I'll check the points, clean them, clean the spark plugs, re-gap them, and re-install them.  Then I will install a fresh battery to see if I can get it to turn over.  I tried barring the engine over, and the crankshaft seemed to rotate about an inch, then stopped....that's why I'm not sure if it is seized, or not.

By the time I finished playing with the sand rail the sun was setting, so I headed inside to take a long, hot shower, and have dinner.  TLE and I spent some time on the 'lido deck' playing 5 games of Backgammon, in which I won 3 out of 5.....most of our games are pretty close, and 3 out of the 5 on this night went down to the last roll of the dice.

By the bye.....we have quite a fleet of UTV's now.....

Thanks for stopping by, and thank you Rochelle for your patience!

La Dentista......

 5:39 am - Monday - November 28th - GNHS - 50° F, 48% humidity, wind 5 mph out of the southeast.....have no idea if is is clear, or cloudy as it is still dark as I write. This is for Rochelle.....Elaine and I are headed down to Los Algodones this morning for our dental checkups, which are at 9 am Arizona time (8 am our time), so we need to leave here at 6 am (7 am Arizona time) to arrive in time.  I will post more about Sunday when I return this afternoon...God willing, and the river don't rise. Love you Rochelle!

Thanks for stopping by!

Disadvantages....

 7:13 am - Sunday - November 27th - GNHS - 47° F, humidity 44%, wind 2 mph out of the south by southwest.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 71° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were at Heroes Restaurant and Brewery....yup, that glass was full when I started....close to 30 ounces of brew.....lol.....↴

Sometimes being an employed nomad during the winter has its disadvantages, and one of those is your job sometimes interferes with being with family.  We have rarely worked winter jobs in our over 10.5 years of vagabonding for this reason.  When we last worked at Amazon in 2018 during their 'Peak Season' in Campbellsville, KY we missed Thanksgiving with our kids, but we did fly home for a whirlwind Christmas from Nashville, TN.  When your winter job is at a hot springs resort your busiest days are most every weekend, and specifically holidays.  We knew that going into this job, but had hopes it would work out, but once again, Saturday, it did not.  

We had no advance bookings for Saturday, so we opened the office at 9 am kind of hoping there would be no 'walk ups', and we got all the way to 11:30 am without any, but just after 11:30 am we did, and that put the kibosh on our plans to drive over to Ocotillo Wells to spend the afternoon with our kids.  We ended up renting a 4 seat RZR to two ladies, and their sister for four hours beginning at 12:30 pm. 

After they departed on their 4 hour tour I headed down to the GNHS shop/storage area to put two tires on the rear of the VW sand rail.  The one tire I worked to reseat the bead was a lost cause, but there were two 'paddle' tires (for use in sand) there I was told I could use in lieu of the other rear tires, so I mounted them, and then re-inflated the front tires.  With four inflated tires she looks pretty good now.....

Looks cool, right?

The 'paddle tires'

It has an electric fan, and Fox air shocks in the rear

.....on Sunday TLE and I will tow the sand rail up it to our trailer so I can work on bringing her back to life.  I'll check the oil, clean the points, see if the twin carburetors need to be cleaned, check the spark plugs, and see if the engine is locked up, or if it still moves. I already know the 4 wheel disc brakes are not locked up as I was able to roll it backwards a few feet, and the transmission shifts through all the gears.

While I was doing that Kyle was finishing up the repairs on the #2 RZR 4 seater left front suspension.  He let me know he would need my help when it came time to bleed the brakes (the brake line was severed in the accident, and the RZR lost ALL of its brake fluid).  I got the call around 3:30 pm, and headed down to help him.  After getting the air bled out of the system, we took it for a short ride so see how the repairs worked, and found that it tracked perfectly, and handled well at high speeds......

All fixed, and put back together

......the repairs ended up costing around $2,000.....at first we thought the rack and pinon steering column was bent, but it wasn't.  That was the most expensive part, so not having to replace it really brought down the cost.  With the $2,000 in loss of use, plus the repairs it comes to just over $4,000....much better than it could have been. 

Once that was done Kyle set about replacing all four tires on the blue Kawasaki KRX 2 seater.....we haven't been able to rent it out yet as the tires needed replacing.  He got that done in about an hour, so now we have all 7 units ready for rental for the first time.....

....as TLE and I were driving down to the shop to retrieve the KRX we caught this beautiful sunset afterglow that stretched across the horizon.....love the big views here......

.....TLE and I played 6 games of Yahtzee to end our day, and as we were heading inside for the night I took this picture of the 'lido deck'.....it is a really nice outdoor living space, and it makes us very happy....

......thanks for stopping by!

Uneventful, but full......

7:27 am - Saturday - November 26th - GNHS - 47° F, 40% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the south by southeast.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 71° F.  On this date in 2016 I rode my bicycle to the top of Mt. Rubidoux in Riverside, CA.....what a view!....↴

We began Friday knowing we had 2 confirmed rentals.....a half day (2 seater), and an all day (4 seater).  Before the morning was half gone we rented another 4 seater for a 6 hour tour, so it was a good day for COA*.  Around 11:30 am I hopped in the COA Chevy van to drive into El Centro to Coyne Power Sports to pick up parts for the damaged 4 seat RZR, so the repairs can be competed, and it can be put back in service.  It takes just about an hour to traverse the 57 miles to Coyne, and I arrived there right around 12:30 pm....

.......to find an In 'N Out Burger right across the street....

.....so I knew immediately what I was doing after I finished my business at Coyne.....

.....yup, you guess right....a #2 combo for me, please!

It took me about 20 minutes to conclude my pickup of the RZR parts, plus buy some more oil, and brake fluid, and then it was over to In 'N Out to get my #2 combo, which I ate in route back home.  I was on my way back to GNHS by 1:40 pm, and home by 2:40 pm.

All of our rentals returned on time, without any issues, and we closed up shop a tad after 5 pm....a long day for both of us, but a very nice UNEVENTFUL day....just the kind we love.

We received a number of packages from Amazon Friday, including a new bed spread......

.....the old one was 5 years old, so it was time to move on.....we really like the quilted look this new one has, and it brightens up our bedroom considerably.

Thanks for stopping by!

*COA = Colorado Outback Adventures

Plans are made, and then life happens.....

 6:39 am - Black Friday - November 25th - GNHS - 52° F, humidity 49%, wind 5 mph out of the north by northwest.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 72° F.  On this date in 2021 the sun was setting, and we had just finished our Thanksgiving dinner at Ocotillo Wells.....↴

When we returned from our foray over to Borrego Springs, and Ocotillo Wells we picked up a package which had been delivered by UPS earlier in the day......a small putting green for moi.....

.....while it may be a poor substitute for the real thing, it gives me some way to practice putting so I'm not starting from scratch when we return to LPG&RVR in April. Actually, it works pretty well, and I am impressed.

Our pans had us leaving around noon time to drive back over to Ocotillo Wells to celebrate Thanksgiving with our kids, but TLE had a London Broil which needed grilling, so after completing and publishing my latest missive I headed out to the 'lido deck' to turn on the Sea-B-Que.....I don't think I've ever BBQ'd anything in the morning.....

.....when we are ready to eat it TLE will just reheat it, and we will slice it up in thin strips.

As I grilled the LB I looked around our 'lido deck' and was pleased with what I saw.....we really have created a very nice environment which seems so detached from GNHS.......

....oh, I forgot to mention yesterday that we bought 6 bundles of wood at our favorite Borrego Springs firewood supplier to bring home.....bundles of wood here at GNHS cost $9.50/bundle, and will not fit in our portable firepit, but these bundles are the perfect length, and only cost $6/bundle.....

.....shortly after I took the picture above we got notice that a rental for a 2 seater had been booked, for 11 am to 4 pm, and with that our plans to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with our kids, grandkids, and great grandkids were dashed.....doh!  We knew there was a possibility of a rental on Thanksgiving, but we were hopeful nothing would materialize, but it did.

Once our fate was decided I decided to work on a couple of projects I was delaying until Friday....install a tablet holder in the new Polaris RZR 4 seater Bob had brought down a few days ago, and to install the mini blinds I bought at the Frugal Coyote....yup, I found a brand new, in the box set of mini binds the perfect size (48" x 48") for $15!  The new ones we had looked at when we were at Home Depot on Tuesday cost over $80.  We needed a window covering for the window in the office as the sun shines directly on TLE's back.  The installation was relatively easy.....

See what I mean?  They fit the space perfectly!  What a killer deal!

.....it was 1 pm when I finished the mini blind installation, and our customer was not scheduled to return until 4 pm so I closed up the office, and headed inside to relax for a few hours before going back to work to be on hand (along with TLE) for the return of the Kawasaki KRX.

In the interim, Kyle stopped by to ask what our plans were for Thanksgiving, and when he found out our plans had been aborted, he invited us to join he and his partner, Kristen, and some other GNHS employees for Thanksgiving.  We, of course, accepted without hesitation, and headed over around 2:30 pm to join their gathering.  We spent around 90 minutes with them before it was time to return to the office to greet our customer, and put the Kawasaki away. I'll wash, and service it Friday morning.  By the way, we have two rentals on Friday, but so far none for Saturday, and if we do not get any Saturday business we'll drive over to Ocotillo Wells to spend the afternoon with our kids.

Thanks for stopping by!

Our Borrego.....

 6:35 am - Thanksgiving - November 24th - GNHS - 61° F, 27% humidity, wind 12 mph out of the north.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 74° F.  We have a mild Santa Ana condition today.  On this date in 2016 we were celebrating Thanksgiving with family, in-laws, and friends at the home of Tim (son) and Laila.......↴

At last, a day off work!  I'm just kidding.....well, sort of.....when you are retired, but finding yourself working 5, or 6 days in a row it kind of takes the edge off retirement...a little.  At any rate, TLE and I had plans to drive around the north end of the Salton Sea to the side directly opposite from GNHS.....Salton City, and Ocotillo Wells where our kids, relatives, and friends will be gathering for their annual Thanksgiving extravaganza. 

After bidding farewell to Bob (owner of COA)who was heading back to Durango, TLE and I hopped into the Beetle to begin the 80 mile drive to Borrego Springs, and then back down the hill early afternoon to spend a few hours with Chris and Rochelle who always are the first to arrive, and choose the site for this annual event.  We left around 9:50 am and arrived in Borrego Springs around 11:20 am.  We were happy to see that Borrego Springs was much busier than last year when there were still lockdowns ongoing, and a lot of mask wearing in San Diego County.  The town seems to be thriving, which makes us happy.  Our first stop, of course, was at the Frugal Coyote Thrift Store....one of our favorites.  I do not think I have ever shopped there without finding something without which life would not be possible, and Wednesday was no different.....

.....the one thing I hate about 'usies' is if there is a sign in the background it is always backwards, and people taking selfies in their car look like they are driving from the right seat, and not the left.

With our new treasures in hand we next headed directly across the street to Los Jilbertos, which is one of our favorite taquerias....right up there with Rubio's in Alturas, CA.  We both ordered two tacos (carne asada for moi, and pulled chicken for TLE).....the food has been so consistent over the years we have been frequenting this eatery....I'm still thinking about those tacos as I write.....

Some of the best tacos ever!

I don't now what happened in this picture....we both seem unprepared.....lol!

.....we got a text from Chris (son) and Rochelle (TAR....The Amazing Rochelle) around 12:30 that they had arrived, so we finished up our lunch and headed back down the hill to Ocotillo Wells.

Chris' brother-in-law, Michael Jackson, on a downhill run in their 4 seater CanAm

....we arrived there around 1 pm, and were able to spend 3 hours with them until it was time to begin our one hour drive back to GNHS.  I love being able to spend time alone with them, because once the rest of the family arrives it becomes organized chaos....lol.  It is the same with our other kids, too....we love to visit them individually when we are in town so we can have real, complete conversations.  I love the organized chaos that inevitably results when all the Hockwalds get together, but individual time is so precious to us.  Sundown is around 4:30 pm right now, and we wanted to be sure we could find our way back to the main road from their remote boondock site.....

TLE and TAR

Mom and Dad and Chris, our first born

And, of course, the requisite 'usie', which Rochelle insists upon every time we are together

......by the way Rochelle (TAR) is one of my most faithful, and loyal bog readers, and when I don't post on a daily basis, like happened this past summer, she gets concerned, and disappointed.  She always know exactly what is going on in our lives because of that, but sometimes it is a little disappointing, because it is impossible to share news about us with her that she has not already read the day before....lol.

We had a nice, uneventful 1 hour drive home, arriving around 5 pm.....just before it got completely dark.

Thanks for stopping by!