Back to wonderful weather.....

 7:20 am - Monday - June 1st - LPG&RVR - 52° F, humidity 30%, cloud cover 2%, wind 8 mph out of the north.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 77° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE and I had just arrived near Driggs, ID.....

....at a boondock site right on the Teton River with a view of the backside of the Grand Tetons.  One of our most memorable boondock sites.  We were eventually joined by Glenn and Laureen, and then Claude and Gail.  The view this morning....

....nary a cloud in the sky, and no rain forecast in the foreseeable future.

Sunday was a beautiful day.  No wind, no rain, no clouds....in fact you could clearly see Eagle Mountain, and it got a lot of snow since this past Tuesday....

.....I spent time in the trailer installing a new battery in our Predator 5000 dual fuel generator.  I've had the new battery since before we left TWW, but just hadn't taken the time to remove the old one.  Harbor Freight doesn't sell these replacement batteries, so I found an exact match on Amazon for $39 shipped.  The Predator now has 620 hours on its time clock.  The first winter we used it we put on over 400 hours of run time, but as you will recall we greatly reduced its use this past winter, and only added around 200 hours of run time.  We relied mostly on our various solar arrays to recharge our various battery banks, and only used the Predator when it was raining, or snowing, or very heavy cloud cover.

Once the new battery was installed I connected our propane tank to it to give it some run time.  It started right up, and ran smoothly for about 10 minutes.  I know at some point during the summer we'll have a power outage, so it's only a matter of when, not if we'll need to fire it up, and I want the Predator to be ready to use.  You may recall I ran all of the gasoline out of it before we left TWW, and the gas that was in it when I ran it the final time had Stabil in it.

Late in the morning TLE came to me advising that the carpet around our Dometic toilet was damp.....uh oh!  This is the 2nd Dometic toilet we've had in the Newell, and it was installed back in the summer of 2019 when we were working at Ramona Oaks RV Resort.  The first one was installed back in 2009, and lasted 10 years.  We haven't had an issue with this new one in the 7 years since we installed it.  After a brief inspection I determined that the two connections on the stainless steel braided supply line were not as tight as they should be, and that is where the leak was originating, so I tightened them, and the leak stopped.  Fortunately, when I replaced the toilet back in 2019 I treated the wood base upon which the toilet sits with polyurethane spray to make it waterproof, and it worked, so no damage to the wood.  TLE cleaned the carpet piece, and once it is dry we'll reinstall it.  We are so grateful it was not a leaky valve in the toilet, or something much more complicated.

Around 4:30 pm I fired up the Sea-B-Que to grill a London Broil we purchased at Holiday Market a week, or so ago.  Claude arrived around 5 pm just as I was taking the London Broil off the grill....

....TLE added roasted potatoes, and opened a bottle of Zinfandel to chase the meal.  As always, we had great conversation, and a wonderful alfresco setting which only enhanced the meal.  Here I'm taking a rare 'usie' with my left hand....I'm not quite as adept at this as I am with my right hand....you can see my left arm in the upper right corner of the picture....lol.  We talked, and drank wine until well after 7 pm.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Absorbing vitamin D.....

 8:16 am - Sunday - May 31st - LPG&RVR - 52° F, humidity 37%, cloud cover 20%, wind 7 mph out of the north by northwest......clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 71° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE made a stop at Flaming Gorge Reservoir....

....on our way to Rock Springs, WY where we would overnight at the local Walmart Supercenter, which we have done numerous times in the last 15 years.  

For the first time in 5 days TLE and I awoke to sunshine and mostly blue sky, and NO forecast of rain.  After posting my latest missive I walked outside to just stand for a while, and feel the warmth of the morning sun.  It is the small things in life that bring happiness.  After soaking up an appropriate amount of vitamin D, I decided to dump our black tank, install the new STAFF flag on Club Car Villager #20, and redeploy our patio furniture on the 'lido deck'.

Around 1 pm I headed over to the Clubhouse to practice putting in advance of the weekly 4 pm putting contest, after which I hit a bucket of balls with my Callaway driver.  I haven't swung that club for 7 months, so it took me 6, or 7 balls to begin to hit the ball straight, and in the air.  I hit a number of shots over 200 yards, which is about my maximum distance off the tee, and by the time I finished the bucket of balls was beginning to feel comfortable again.

TLE and I returned just before 4 pm for the putting contest.  I putted well, and managed to get to the 7th round (one round before the final) before I succumbed to my opponent.  I missed one second putt, and that cost me the match.  It was my best putting effort this season so far, and served as a big boost for my confidence.

For dinner TLE made me a French Dip sandwich, which I ate while we watched the latest 'Jack Ryan' movie  called 'Ghost War'.  Just as was the case with the other 'Jack Ryan' movies starring Jack Krasinski, this one was top notch.  If you appreciate action/adventure movies you will like this one!

In closing, while we have been averaging over 8,000 views a day for a long time now we still only have 210 followers.  If you are a regular reader, and enjoy the content please consider becoming a 'follower' our blog.  It doesn't cost you a dime, and will help the blog a lot.  Thank you for your consideration!

Thanks for stopping by!

The end....

 8:05 am - Saturday - May 30th - LPG&RVR - 50° F, humidity 52%, cloud cover 45%, wind 11 mph out of the northwest.....partly cloudy skies this morning with a forecast high of 65° F....at last, back into the 60's!  On this date in 2018 TLE and I hiked to the top of Cadillac Mountain.....

.....on Mount Desert Island near Bar Harbor, Maine.  The view this morning....

....yes, my friends, that is blue sky you/we are seeing through the front windshield....no rain today!

As you will note from reading my post from yesterday, I did not begin composing yesterday's entry until after 8 am, as is often the case on our first day of our four day weekend.   We awoke, of course, to more rain after hearing rain on our riveted aircraft aluminum roof most of the night....sometimes it rained hard.  I don't think I'll have to run any sprinklers for two weeks the ground is so saturated.

Around mid morning we headed over to the Clubhouse in the Beetle to have breakfast (the golf cart was too damp, and it was sprinkling).  We don't normally eat breakfast, but once, or twice a month while here at LPG&RVR we do, and we hadn't had been able to sample a breakfast served by the new restaurant operators, Sunny and Art....

....meet Sunny.  This lady knows what she is doing, and we love her!  You'll get to meet Art soon.  We both ordered their two egg, toast, hashbrowns and toast (TLE had fried potatoes), and had a great time talking with Sunny.  We are very lucky, and blessed to have them operating the restaurant this summer.

After breakfast we headed into Likely to pick up a package at the Post Office, and then over to the General Store to get some milk as we won't be going into Alturas until Monday when we have our annual optometry appointments.  We had barely returned to the Newell when it began to sprinkle, then rain again, and that is what we experienced throughout the day, and into the early evening.  Finally, around 8 pm the rain ended, and did not return all night....the end....AT LAST!

Our brief trip into Likely was the extent of our outdoor activity Friday.  It appears we will have nice weather Saturday through Monday, and then for our next 4 day  work week.  I've got a few projects on which I've been holding fire, so maybe I can get to some of them in the next three days.  Time to get outside and enjoy the sunny weather!

Thanks for stopping by!

Day three.....

 8:08 am - Friday - May 29th - LPG&RVR - 47° F, humidity 81%, cloud cover 95%, wind 9 mph out of the northwest.....heavy, heavy cloud cover this morning with a forecast high of 56° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE and I were in Jensen, UT.....

....with Glenn and Laureen.  We spent the next day touring Dinosaur National Park, one of our bucket list items.  We spent the entire summer of the Wuhan Flu in extremely rural America where life was still normal.  One of my favorite summers of travel.....ever.  The view this morning.....

.....still overcast, and still raining.

For the the third consecutive night it rained most of the night, but as dawn broke Thursday morning we could see some blue sky on the horizon.  Some rain showers were forecast, but never materialized, so for the first time since Monday I staged golf carts....we ultimately rented 14 carts for the day, and I actually worked a full 8 hour day.  I managed to stay busy all morning by doing some weed whacking around the RV park, and hauling a couple loads of weeds from one of the permanent sites up the hill.  Each tenant is responsible for clearing weeds from their site each summer, and as the summer progresses I'll be hauling more and more loads to the burn pile.

I was able to trim weeds around the small gazebo, the trees in the parking lot grass area, all 5 water electric sites, all 10 pull through, full hookup sites, and our site before I ran out of string.  It was the perfect time to hang up my trimmer as it was 12 pm, and time to give TLE her lunch break.  The hour passed quickly with no phone calls to answer, and only one RVer checking in for a week. Four of the fourteen golf carts had been returned by 12 pm, but when I went back out after lunch the number had ballooned to 12, so I got to work washing, and stowing them.  By the time I finished all 14 had been returned, and all 14 were back in the 'Cart Shed'.  

I still had those three 5 gallon buckets of balls from the driving range to wash, dry and pour back into the 55 gallon barrel in the Clubhouse, so that was my next task.  By the time they were washed, and put away it was time to close up shop, and begin my four day weekend.  I was home by 3:30 pm taking a much deserved long, hot shower, and then a nap before returning to the Clubhouse at 5 pm to give TLE a lift home.  

It didn't rain all day long Thursday, but by 10 pm the rain had returned to serenade us throughout the night for the fourth consecutive night.  The forecast for Friday indicates the rain will come to a merciful end around 12 pm today, Friday, so we should have a nice, sunny, dry four day weekend.  We got a brief glimpse of Eagle Mountain late Thursday morning, and the amount of snow up there has more than doubled since Monday.

Thanks for stopping by!

Coastal Oregon?

 6:02 am - Thursday - May 28th - LPG&RVR - 38° F, humidity 69%, clou cover 85%, wind 8 mph out of the north by northwest.....heavy cloud cover again this morning with a chance of rain throughout the day, and a forecast high of 59° F.  On this date in 2019 TLE and I were in Ramona, CA doing some sightseeing....

....it had been raining for about 10 days, and this was the first time I could get back into my retirement costume.....lol!

Another day, and more rain.  It is beginning to feel like Coastal Oregon, only without the amazing ocean views.  I'm really interested to be able to see Eagle Mountain after all this cold, rainy weather to see how much snow fell the last few days.  Have only seem glimpses of the sun here and there a few times since Monday afternoon.  It was raining when we awoke from our nightly slumber, and continued to rain most of the morning, so I didn't even go into work with TLE.  My first and only time outside was when I drove over to the Clubhouse to give TLE her lunch break.  I've only worked 4 hours in the past two days.  TLE, on the other hand, has worked her normal schedule, and is currently the main bread winner in the 'house'.

The short term forecast shows more rain Thursday, and pretty much all day Friday.  I'm trying to remember when it has rained this many days in a row here at LPG&RVR in the past five summers, but I'm drawing a blank right now.  There is good news on the horizon, however, as the longer term forecast shows us getting back into the high 70's and low 80's by Monday, June 1st.  Until then it will be dreary, damp, cold, rainy, and overcast.

TLE drove the VW to work Wednesday, so there was no need to give her a ride home, meaning I didn't have to get dressed again to make the cold, camp, short round trip.  After dinner we watched a Jason Statham move entitled 'Shelter' on Amazon Prime, which we both enjoyed. It came out earlier this year.  If you like action flicks you'll like this one.

Thanks for stopping by!

Another typical May.....

 6:16 am - Wednesday - May 27th - LPG&RVR - 39° F, humidity 79%, cloud cover 87%, wind 8 mph out of the north by northwest.....heavy cloud cover again this morning with rain showers forecast throughout the morning, and early afternoon as well as a high of 57° F.  The view this morning....

......at least there is no snow this morning....lol!  On this date in 2020 TLE and I were in Meeker, CO....

.....at the Town Park right on the White River....Glenn and Laureen had just rejoined the summer tour after spending time with relatives in Southern Colorado.

The rain fell most of the night Monday night/Tuesday morning, but the sound of rain on our riveted aircraft aluminum roof ceased about 3:30 am.  What we didn't know until we opened the curtains Tuesday morning was that the rain had turned to snow right about that time.  We don't mind snow once and a while, especially when it will disappear before noon time.  Nevertheless, snow on the ground means no one will be playing golf first thing, so we can sleep in a little later than usual.  We finally climbed out of bed around 6 am to begin day two of our four day work week, and were on the job just before 8 am.  

I didn't stage any golf carts as it was raining, and hung around the Clubhouse about 30 minutes before leaving TLE to her daily office chores, and heading home until it was time to give her a lunch break.  The temp didn't get out of the 30's until late morning.  When I returned to the Clubhouse at 12 pm TLE was just sending out a few intrepid golfers to play 9 holes.  In all we rented just 5 golf carts Tuesday.  The rain came and went all afternoon, so I'm sure some of them got a little wet.  After lunch I spent about an hour checking the water levels in the thirty 6 volt batteries we use to power the five Club Car electrics, then headed home around 2 pm.

I spent the most of the day taking naps, and catching up on the YouTube channels to which I subscribe, so the time passed quickly,  and soon I was heading back to the Clubhouse to wash/stow the carts we had rented to find that four of the five had returned, so I'll have one to clean Wednesday morning.  By the time I finished TLE was ready to head for home.  I worked about 3 hours in all Tuesday, and it appears that Wednesday will be more of the same.  The forecast shows rain on and off until late afternoon, so not sure how many carts we'll rent.  May is always like this here in the Pitt River Valley, and the 2026 version of May is no different than past years.  A week of 80's weather gives way to four, or five days of mid 50's weather with rain and snow.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emergency!

 6:19 am - Tuesday - May 26th - LPG&RVR - 35° F, humidity 65%, cloud cover 86%, wind 7 mph out of the north by northwest......heavy cloud cover this morning with snow on the ground, and a forecast high of 53° F.  The view this morning.....

....in addition to the rain last night, we got about 1/2 inch of snow.  There won't be any golf being played this morning.  And on this date in 2013 TLE and I were working traffic control at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.....

....prior Race Day....we worked sixteen 12 hour shifts up to, and including the race....really enjoyed that job!

Monday would be the warmest day this week with a forecast high of 79° F, so we were on our way to work by 7:30 am.  I headed down to flip the sign, and retrieve any overnight registrations which might have occurred to find that  Jose had graded the old mobile site, and planted grass seed....

......in a few weeks you will never know that old mobile home was there.  On my way to the Clubhouse I picked up TLE, and were there about 7:35 am to find there were 15 golf carts left over from Sunday which needed to be washed and stowed.  While TLE headed inside to open the office I began to clean the trash off the carts, and get them ready for their spa treatment.  I had just gathered up all the keys when I saw TLE walking back to the Clubhouse from the dumpster where she had disposed of some office trash. I headed over to hand her the keys when she suddenly tripped and fell headlong onto the very rough asphalt.  By the time I got to her she was rolling over and displaying large gashes in her left knee and elbow.  It was not a pretty site.  I helped her to her feet, then walked her over to the Club Car Villager #20 explaining I was going to take her into the ER in town to have her wounds treated and dressed.....there was just too much dirt in there for me to properly clean out.

After leaving her at the cart I headed into the office to tell the waiting customers (there were about 20 people waiting for service) what happened, and that I had to take TLE into town to the ER.  I called Kathy Smith, the office manager, and asked her to come down to take care of the customers while we were in town, and then called Claude to come over and take care of the 15 carts, and stage any more carts Kathy might need.  I had already staged the 5 Club Car electrics.  Finally I called Jose Madrigal the General Manager, and advised him of the work place accident.

We were in the VW heading for town by 8:30 am, and there 20 minutes later.  There was no wait, so TLE was taken into the back room immediately to be examined, and for the first time in years I was the one in the Waiting Room waiting to hear her disposition.  The doctor used derma bond (glue) to close TLE's wounds to her knee and elbow.  They didn't want to stitch her up due to the contamination from the dirt.  While they liberally irrigated the wounds with hydrogen peroxide, they didn't want to sew her up in case there is infection.  She finally emerged from the ER a little after 10 am, and we were soon on our way back to LPG&RVR.

Amazingly, by the time we returned to LPG&RVR, TLE was feeling better, and decided to return to work for the balance of the day.  We both just worked straight through to 5 pm.  I returned to find that Claude, bless his heart, had washed all 15 carts, and had staged enough carts to get the customers out on the golf course.  

I checked in on TLE numerous times throughout the day to find her doing quite well.  I was able to get all of the employee lawns mowed, as well as the three large grass areas in the permanent sites up the hill.  By 2 pm all but one of the 21 golf carts we had rented had returned, so I began washing and stowing them, and by 5 pm the last cart had returned, so all the carts, for the first time in a few days, were stowed when TLE and I headed home for the evening.

Thanks for stopping by!