Eventful....

 9:56 am - Monday - March 30th - TWW - 67° F, humidity 23%, cloud cover 55%, wind 16 mph out of the south by southwest.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 72° F.  On this date in 2023 TLE and I flew to Atlanta, GA to visit my son Tim, and his family....

Left to right: Kathy (grandmother of Laila), Laila, Jennifer (Laila's mother), Bowie (daughter), Tim, Crosby (son), TLE and moi

....after unpacking, and taking a nap we headed out with Tim's extended family for dinner.

Sunday began innocently enough.  TLE and I wanted to get an early start on our drive back to TWW, so we were up a little after 6 am, packed, and on the road by 7:30 am.  We drove north through Wickenburg following US-93 to US-69 which took us on a scenic drive to Prescott.  We've never driven this way before, and really liked the drive.  Distance wise it is shorter than going up I-17 to Prescott, but due to the mountainous terrain the average speed is under 45 mph, so it takes about the same driving time as the longer way....

......we arrived in Prescott at the local Fry's Supermarket to do the last of our shopping around 9:30 am, and were back on the road by 10:30 am hoping to arrive back at TWW around 12:15 pm.  We stopped in Ashfork to top off our fuel tank then continued to Seligman where we picked up some mail, and a piece of hardware at the General Store for a project I'm trying to finish.  We were at the turnoff to the north/south arterial around 11:50 pm, and figured we'd be home by 12:15 pm.  That is when things became eventful!

We were about 4 miles from TWW when I suddenly began to smell coolant....doh!  I pulled to the side of the road, and got out of the car....I saw a long trail of spilled coolant behind the VW....double doh!  We found a safe place to park, turned off the car, and then began to formulate a plan.  I initially called our towing service and was advised they could have a tow truck there in about 90 minutes.  Well, we were less than an hour (walking time) from TWW, so we declined the tow and began the long walk.  I was pretty sure someone would come along to give us a ride, and I was right.  Within 10 minutes Bridget stopped in her 2008 Ford dually pickup and gave us a hitch to a point even with our property, and dropped us off to walk the last 5 minutes to the property....

You can see our Newell in the distance...not far now

TLE was showing her concern...I was just happy to be 5 minutes from home, and not an hour....lol.

.....we quickly retrieved the keys to the Ford Explorer from the Newell, then began the 5 minute drive back to the VW.  I hooked up a tow strap from the Explorer to the Beetle, and while TLE drove the Explorer I piloted the VW.  We moved at about 5 mph, and were back at TWW.....

....within 20 minutes.  By this time it was 2 pm, and we were tired.  We unpacked our luggage, and groceries, then sat down to watch the end of the final 'Elite Eight' game of the day.....UCONN vs. Duke (#1 overall seed).  I decided I was going to wait until Monday morning to figure out what happened to the VW cooling system to cause the loss of all our coolant.

When I turned on the TV UCONN was down by 19 points to begin the 2nd half.  Not looking good, but over the course of the next 20 minutes of game time UCONN slowly closed the gap until with 10 seconds to go in the game they were down by just 2 points.  Duke inbounded the ball, and then the receiver attempted to pass the ball up court, but it was tipped by the UCONN defense, and recovered.  With just .4 seconds on the clock the UCONN player attempted a very long 3 point shot and hit it to win the game....one of the most amazing comebacks in March Madness I have ever witnessed!  It was the only time in the entire game UCONN had been ahead.

This morning, Monday, I went out to the VW to figure out why we lost all of our coolant, and found the problem pretty quickly.....

....the nipple on the device above (right side inlet) broke, disconnecting the hose which carries coolant form the coolant reservoir to the engine, causing all the coolant to leak out of the VW.  Here is picture where I have drawn a red circle around the disconnected hose....

.....now I have to just figure out what that device is, order a new one, and replace it, and all will be well....I hope.  TLE and I always pray for uneventful when we are traveling, but sometimes the Jello jiggles, and the fun begins.  In the over all scheme of things this is a pretty minor issue, and we arrived home safely.  Now it is just a matter of ordering the part, and installing it.  That is was so easy to diagnose is a blessing.

Thanks for stopping by!

Saguaro Jane.....

 7:52 am - Monday - March 30th - TWW - 57° F, humidity 26%, cloud cover 43%, wind 6 mph out of the south.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 74° F.  On this date in 2014 TLE were riding zip lines.....

....at 'Out of Africa' (near Cottonwood, AZ) a combination African animals zoo, and zip line course.....a very cool day!

Well, once again, I have fallen a day behind my usual routine, and have not yet written about Saturday, March 28th.  We purposely made our dental appointments this Spring to coincide with the annual fund raising event Tom and Darlene hold at their home in Wittmann, AZ each March which raises money for Saguaro Jane, a local charitable 'food bank'.  Saguaro is the name of the well known cactus species which is found all over Arizona.  It is pronounced 'Sawaro'....

....after typing, and publishing my latest blog post I headed out to the Newell House to help Tom set up the tables, chairs and table covers, whilst TLE help Darlene with the final food preparations for the night's festivities.....

.....Darlene had been smoking/cooking a pork butt for about 18 hours at this point, plus making all sorts of desserts.  

The day passed by quickly, and soon it was 5 pm, and the guests began to arrive.....

You can see TLE, Phyllis and Charles sitting at the table on the left

....I think there were well over 100 in attendance.  The Newell House is so large inside you could have tripled the number of attendees, and still had room left over!  Charles and Phyllis arrived a little after 5 pm to join the festivities.  We met a number of new people.  In the bottom picture you can see Tom (left corner) talking with one of the guests.  

We first met Tom and Darlene in Newport Beach, CA in 2008 just after we had bought our 1982 Newell Classic.  At the time they were on an extended (several months) Newell trip in their 1990 Newell, and had stopped off in Newport Beach to visit the first Newell folks we met, Michael and Georgia Day, who are from Texas, but wintered in Newport Beach at Newport Dunes in their 1992 Newell.  In March of 2009 we took or first extended road trip in our Newell to Austin, TX for a Newell Rally, and were reacquainted with Tom and Darlene.  At the end of the rally we were invited to join them on their drive back to Mesa, AZ, where they lived at the time.  We courtesy parked in front of their home in Mesa for a couple of days before continuing our trip back to SoCal.  That was the beginning of a long friendship, which has only grown deeper over the years.

By 7:30 pm the festivities were winding down, and TLE and I bid adieu to Charles and Phyllis until we see them again on Wednesday.  It was a very successful evening, with great food and conversation.

On the 'March Madness' front there were no surprises in the first two games of the 'Elite Eight' Saturday afternoon/evening....#1 seed Arizona defeated #2 Purdue to advance to the 'Final Four', while #1 seed Illinois topped #9 Iowa easily to also advance to the 'Final Four'.  We were in bed by 10 pm.  We are so happy we were able to attend the Saguaro Jane fund raiser after missing it the past few years!

Thanks for stopping by!

La Dentista...

 7:56 am - Saturday - March 28th - Newell House, AZ - 72° F, humidity 15%, cloud cover 30%, wind 13 mph out of the east by southeast.....mostly sunny today with a forecast high of 93° F.  On this date in 2012 we had just arrived at Cedar Key, FL for our very first visit....

....and saw our very first Cedar Key sunset that evening.  The view this morning.....

We were up around 6 am Friday morning to get ready for the 15 minute drive to the Andrade border parking lot at 7:20 am.  We were actually in the car by 7:15 am, and arrived at the border parking lot just before 7:30 am.  It's only a 10+ minute walk to Dr. Urena's dental office, so were there by 7:40 am waiting for the office to open at 8 am.  TLE and I were the first appointments of the day, so we were both in their chairs by 8:10 am.  TLE's checkup and cleaning went quickly, and she was back in the waiting room by 8:25 am.  For me, however, the fun was just beginning.  Right at the beginning of Dr. Urena's check of my teeth she found an issue with my right, lower wisdom tooth.  It was showing decay since my last checkup....bad enough that she recommended pulling it, so I gave her the go ahead.  She gave me 4 novocain shots to numb the area of the wisdom tooth, then cleaned the rest of my teeth while the areas numbed.  Within 10 minutes she began the process of removing the wisdom tooth, and it took until after 9 am to get it out, but she did....I have very long roots, and they do prove difficult to extract...lol.  Once done she sutured up the gum, and I was done.  She gave me a prescription for some antibiotics, and a pain killer,  I paid the bill....$477 (45 each for the cleanings, and the rest for removing the wisdom tooth), and we were on our way to the pharmacy to fill the prescription, and at the border crossing by 10 am.

We had not checked out of the hotel as we were pretty sure we would be back ahead of the 11 am checkout time, and we were.   After packing the car with our luggage we were on our way to Wittmann, AZ by 11 am.  There is a Sports Clips in Surprise, AZ, so TLE got me into the lineup before we arrived.  I was in the chair getting my ears lowered within 5 minutes, and out the door 20 minutes later.  Next stop was the local COSTCO where we picked a few things, before continuing our drive to Newell House in Wittmann, AZ where we arrived around 3 pm.  We have been here too many times to count over the past 14 years, and it is always like coming home, even though we don't have our Newell with us this time.

Each year Tom and Darlene host a fund raiser of sorts for a local charity, this being the 9 year they have done so, and we haven't been able to attend for a few years now, so we made it a point this to schedule our semi annual dental checkups when we did so we could stop by here our way back to TWW.

After putting our bags in the guest bedroom, we spent a lot of time talking, and catching up with them.  I then spent part of the evening watching the next four Sweet Sixteen games.  Once again it was a night of mostly close games.  Tennessee won handily over Iowa State, but the Michigan vs. Alabama was really never in doubt as Michigan won 90-77, and it wasn't really that close.  The game between St. Johns, and Duke, the #1 over all seed in the tournament, was close, and could have been won by either team, however, Duke won 80-75.

We were in bed by 10 pm.  I've taken 2 of the pain pills so far, but none today (Saturday) so far.  I'm hoping I can avoid anymore, but we'll see...the day is young.

Thanks for stopping by!

An uneventful drive to Yuma.....

 7:00 am - Saturday - March 28th - Newell House, AZ - 68° F, humidity 16%, cloud cover 37%, wind 13 mph out of the south by southwest.....partly cloudy skies today with a forecast high of 93° F.  The view this morning....

.....and on this date in 2013 TLE were in Kinards, South Carolina....

....don't ask me why, I don't remember.  Oh yeah, I can go back to that date in my blog....we were on our way to Ashville, NC to meet up with friends.  The RV park name was Magnolia RV Park...a Passport America park, and was very suitable for an overnight stay.

So, I know, I owe you a post for Thursday, so here goes.  First of all, Charles and Phyllis left around 7:30 am for their drive back to Phoenix.  Our goal  for Thursday was to be in the VW heading for US-66 by 9:30 am, and we left at 9:15 am, but not before a little drama.  I went to start the VW around 8:15 am only to find that the battery had been drained down, so it wouldn't start.  The culprit?  We, apparently, did not shut the passenger door all the way, and the interior light was on the entire time since we arrived back from Phoenix from Charles and Phyllis' wedding...that is a along time ago!  It only took 15 minutes on the battery charger to get it back above 12 volts.  It started right up, and I left it idling for about 15 minutes just to be sure it would restart, and it did.

The drive out to Route 66 took us 25 minutes....the last half of the drive the road is extremely wash boardy which makes for very slow going in a low slung VW Beetle.  From there it was smooth sailing to Kingman where we took a brief restroom break, then merged onto I-40 to US-95, which we took south through Havasu City, Parker, and finally Quartzite where we topped off the VW tank with 9.3 gallons.  We arrived in Yuma at the In-'N-Out Burger around 2:25 pm to meet Rich and Marnie Aaron for lunch.  You will recall we worked for them at Ramona Oaks RV Resort from May of 2019 to January of 2020....still one of our favorite workamping jobs ever!  We ate, and talked for over an hour and half before bidding our adieus until next time.

By this time it was almost 4 pm, and I had intended to get a haircut at a nearby Sports Clips, however, I had neglected to 'Check In' while at In-'N-Out Burger, so the wait was over 45 minutes....that was a no go for us so we began the drive over to the Historic Coronado Hotel, but made quick stop at the local Fry's Supermarket to pick up a few things.  We arrived at the hotel around 4:15 pm, where checked in quickly, and in our room with a few minutes....just in time for the first game of the round of 16, or 'Sweet Sixteen' as it has been known for decades....

.....there were four games Thursday night, just as there would be Friday night to determine which teams would advance to the 'Elite Eight' games to be played Saturday and Sunday.  All of the games were close, being decided in the final minutes, which is just how I like them, except for Thursday, the Arizona vs. Arkansas game, which got out of hand early for Arkansas, seeing them lose by 21 points to Arizona.  There was one sort of upset in the Illinois vs. Houston game.  Unfortunately, the only team I as for, Arizona, won.  Texas narrowly lost to Purdue by 2 points....so close.

We were in bed by 9:30 pm, and slept well.  Thanks for stopping by!

Friday

 6:47 am - Friday- March 27th - Yuma, AZ - 53° F, 15% humidity,  1% cloud cover,  wind 3 mph out of the northeast. 

We will be leaving for our dental appointments in a few minutes so I will not be posting today's missive until this evening. 

Thanks fur stopping by!

Back to the barn roof.....

 7:33 am - Thursday - March 26th - TWW - 50° F, humidity 16%, cloud cover 5%, wind 4 mph out of the southeast.....mostly clear blue skies today with a forecast high of 81° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were at Augusta National Golf Course....

....in Augusta, GA, the site of the annual Masters Golf Tournament.  We were there about 3 weeks before the annual event.  The view this morning....

We had two goals for Wednesday....try to raise he roof in the barn enough stop the rainwater from pooling, and then leaking through the roof, and then tighten down all of the sheet metal screws affixing the metal roof panels to the rafters.  We spent the better part of 3 hours raising different sections of the roof, then spraying water on the roof to see if it still pooled, or ran off the roof as it should, and finally decided to raise the main load bearing beam at the mid point (two 2 x 10's bolted together) an inch, then place a 4 x 6 beam under it....

There is a large steel plate under the base of the post 

which will prevent it from sinking into the dirt

....that seemed to provide the best results.....water still pools a little bit, but mostly runs off the end of the roof now.  It doesn't pool enough to leak much.  Then Charles and I spent another hour tightening ALL of the sheet metal screws on the roof of which there must have been several hundred.  Next week when Charles and Phyllis return we'll reseal all of the seams, and all of screws with clear silicone  (GE).  We may still have a few small leaks here and there, but nothing like we've been dealing with the last two winters.

It was around 1 pm when we finished giving us a good four hour work day in which we got a lot done.  Now that we've eliminated the preponderance of the leaks, we can begin to store stuff inside the barn.

We convened for our usual communal dinner around 4 pm.  Phyllis prepared wonderful hot pastrami sandwiches which were enjoyed by all.  Around 6:30 pm (sun sets at 6:50 pm now) on the 'sunset fire deck' (no fire this night....too warm still)....

.....there were a lot of contrails.  We will be leaving shortly (Thursday) for Yuma, AZ, and our semi annual dental checkups, so I'll end this missive now wishing ya'll a great day, thanking you once again for stopping by!

Insulation board installation.....

 7:43 am - Wednesday - March 25th - TWW - 50° F, humidity 17%, cloud cover ZERO %, wind 5 mph out of the southeast.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 82° F.  On this date in 2012 TLE and I were overnighting at the Walmart in Daphne, AL.....

.....we got out our bicycles and took a ride along the seashore, then stopped at East Shore Cafe for a late lunch.  The view this morning....

....time to wash that window....lol.

After checking on the greenhouse first thing Tuesday morning TLE and I got to work installing the insulation board I bought a couple of months ago....talk about procrastination....lol.  We worked about 3 hours, cutting and installing the hardest pieces.  By the time we stopped it was after 1 pm, and we had both had enough of working in direct sunlight....

....I had to reposition the Bluetti battery bank to make room for the insulation board.  We cut and installed three pieces along the back wall.  Then the ceiling, which was the most difficult piece, then the right wall.  All that remains is the piece for the left wall, a small piece in the left corner, then the door pieces and we're done.  I bought six 4' x 8' insulation boards, and I believe we will use them all.  There is a lot of waste as we cut the individual pieces to fit the space, and we've used 3 of the 6 so far.  This is a much tidier insulation installation than the fiberglass one we did last winter.  The remaining pieces will be the easiest cuts of all, and shouldn't take more than an hour.....famous last words?

Charles and Phyllis arrived around 1 pm for another two day stay.  Once they were unpacked they hooked up the water trailer and headed over to the water station with TLE.  I had had too much sun at that point, and decided to remain behind while they fetched another 1,870 gallons of water.  Upon their return around 3:20 pm I headed over to the water tower to help Charles pump the water into the top, then the bottom tanks.  We, apparently, were within 50 gallons of filling filing the top tank when we ran out of water last Sunday, so we were able to put around 1,800 gallons in the bottom tank, leaving just 700 gallons to fill it.  We'll do that when Charles and Phyllis return again next Tuesday.

By the time we finished pumping the water, putting away the suction hoses, and the Predator water pump it was a little past dinner time, so I washed up and joined everyone in the house for our communal meal.  Since we got the water haul done on Tuesday we can spend the bulk of Wednesday working on leveling the barn roof, then sealing it so it won't leak anymore.  That will be another major milestone here at TWW.

Thanks for stopping by!