The final push....

 6:54 am - Sunday - April 19th - TWW - 44° F, humidity 13%, cloud cover 57%, wind 7 mph out of the east....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 75° F....and thus begins our final hours at TWW this season!  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were touring the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.....

....in Washington D.C. We revisited this museum 2, or 3 times.....so much to see!

TLE and I were dressed and out the door by 8 am Saturday morning knowing how much we had to do in order to be able to haul anchor sometime Sunday.  It was cold, and a little breezy making it feel even colder than the 39° F which greeted us.  TLE headed to the burn barrel to do her final burn of our paper goods, and cardboard, while I headed into the trailer to secure the gun safe, and anti gravity chairs.  Then it was outdoors to help Charles unload that 'new' IBC water tote we would install later at the north end of the barn to catch the barn roof rainwater and snow melt in the future.  

There were a hundred little things to do, and slowly but surely as the day progressed the list was getting smaller and smaller.  I next removed all of the metal spikes we use to secure the artificial turf pieces to the ground so they could be rolled up, and either put in the trailer to take with us, or leave here for next winter....

Removed this propane splice into our system

We're leaving four of the artificial turf pieces here

Propane bottle disconnected, and then reconnected to our onboard propane

Predator 5000 is disconnected for the first time in 6 months

Half the artificial turf removed

Sun shades, solar lights and hoses stowed in the new Rubber Maid

Wheel covers off the Newell and trailer

Bluetti solar panels off the trailer roof, and folded

.....after helping Charles install the new IBC water tote TLE and I turned our attention to our last black tank dump, and fresh water refill.  We could not stow the 175' of fresh water hoses in the new Rubber Maid until this was done.

Once the two lithium house batteries had reached full charge I began to disconnect the Bluetti portable solar panels I had installed on the trailer roof to boost the charge going into those batteries.  It took way less time to pull everything apart, than to set it up originally.  By the time 3 pm rolled around we had been at work for 7 hours, and we were beat, but we got it all done.  Now all that remains is to disconnect the Newell from shore power (Bluetti battery bank), back the Newell out of her site, then drop the trailer on the hitch.  We're only driving about 108 miles Sunday, so we don't have to be out of here at the crack of dawn, but more like noon time, so that final few things needing to be done will be done Sunday morning at a leisurely pace.

We had our final communal meal with Charles and Phyllis....

....we had creamed eggs on toast....one of my all time favorites.....thank you Phyllis and TLE!  You'll notice that our plates are scraped clean!  Charles and Phyllis will return to Phoenix Sunday morning, and then it will be just us saying our 'until next times' to TWW!  Oh, by the way, power was restored to Seligman mid morning Saturday.

Thanks for stopping by!

Change of plans....

 6:52 am - Saturday - April 18th - TWW - 41° F, humidity 10%, cloud cover 23%, wind 13 mph out of the east by northeast.....partly cloudy skies today with a forecast high of 71° F.  On this date in 2018 TLE was "standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona"....

....."and such a fine sight to see".  The view this morning.....

We had no where to be Friday morning until 10:30 am so we slept in until after 7 am.  We had a leisurely morning, and by the time I posted my daily missive it was just 8:30 am giving us 2 hours before we had to be on our way to Los Algodones for 'temporary crown day'.  It was nice not to have to run around packing our clothes, getting them into the car, and then quickly walking around the room to be sure we had not left anything.  Instead we began leisurely packing around 9 am, and had everything in the car by 9:50 am.  We were in the car just before 10 am, and were parking our car in the Quechan Border Parking Lot by 10:10 am.  By the way, the daily parking fee is now $10, up from the former $6 per day.

We made the walk over to Dr. Urena's office in less than 10 minutes arriving there at 10:20 am to find that there was an ongoing power outage in Los Algodones....DOH!  No power for lights, or anything requiring electricity to function, which is most things in a Dentist's office.  My first thoughts, of course, are it will be out all day and we'll have to stay another night in Yuma, but within 35 minutes the power returned and life went on.  I was in the chair to have my temporary crown installed (good for 6 months) by 10:50 am.  We had already paid for my dental work, and crown on Wednesday, so by 11:30 am we bid our adieus to the staff, and were making the walk back the border, and were through customs in less than 10 minutes.

By the time we were back in the Explorer it was 12 noon....exactly the time we had figured we would begin our return drive to TWW.  In the end it all worked out as it should. I drove the leg from Yuma to Quartzite where we took a bathroom break, and then TLE took the wheel into Havasu City where we refueled for the final 120 miles home, and also bought a couple of Frappuccinos (mocha for moi, and vanilla bean for TLE) for the road.  I took over driving duties from there.  It was about 3:15 pm at that point, and we figured we would be home before 5:30 pm.  We made it by 5:25 pm without incident.  As we pulled into the circular driveway we saw that Charles and Phyllis were, unexpectedly, there.  We weren't expecting to see them again this season, so it was a very nice surprise.  They had arrived about an hour before us, and with them they brought another IBC water tote to use to capture water off the barn roof now that we've sealed it.  We also found out that from them that Seligman has been without power for a day, or two due to big crash out on I-40 which took out several power lines that run over the Interstate.  In fact, power was out between Kingman and Ash Fork.  No gas is being pumped, and everything is closed....WOW!  The nearest services open are in Williams, AZ....

The Interstate was closed both directions beginning around 5 am on Thursday with power restoration set for sometime Saturday.  As I write I do not know if power has been restored, but it doesn't matter for us....we are off grid!

While TLE and I unpacked Phyllis made scrambled eggs with cheese for all of us with a side spinach salad....perfect!  We talked about our plans for departure, which we have moved up to Sunday from Monday.  We're supposed to have another wind event beginning Monday, and we want to get out of here before that arrives, so now we are compressing two days of final site takedown into  one day.  Will we get it done?  Stay tuned and find out!

Thanks for stopping by!

The 'crowning touch'....

 7:26 am - Friday - April 17th - Yuma, AZ - 63° F, humidity 13%, cloud over ZERO %, wind 13 mph out of the north....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 85° F.  On this date in 2023 we had a lot of snow on the ground.....

.....at Likely Place Golf & RV Resort.....our second year there.  It snowed 7 more times before Memorial Day that year.

TLE and I were up a little after 6 am Thursday to get ready to make the 10 minute drive over to Los Algodones, Mexico for my dental appointment at 8 am.  We were just here 3 weeks ago, at which time I had my lower right wisdom tooth extracted.  During the extraction it was determined that the molar next to it, which has a crown that was installed back in the 70's, had some decay, so it was decided I would return in 3 weeks to have that cavity filled.  Since Dr. Urena had to cut into my gum to get that wisdom tooth extracted it needed time to heal before she began the work on the molar.

We arrived at the border parking lot just after 7:30 am, and were at Dr. Urena's office just before my 8 am appointment.  I was in the chair by 8:10 am.  In order to repair the cavity the old 50 year old crown had to be removed, and she had that out of my mouth within 5 minutes.  Once the old crown was removed it became obvious how large the decayed area was, and the Doctor wasn't sure if it could be repaired, or would need to have a root canal.  After a series of XRAYS it was determined that it could be repaired, and have a temporary crown installed to see if that repair would hold over the next 6 months, or if it would not necessitating a root canal.  Fortunately, it is what is called a long term temporary crown ($100), and I can wait until October to have the permanent one installed if the repair holds. Obviously neither they, nor I want to install an expensive permanent crown ($450) only to have to remove it, do the root canal, and then install a new permanent crown, so I liked that option.

I was in the chair for about 2 hours while the Doctor cleaned out and filled the cavity, and then prepared the tooth for the temporary crown, which will be installed Friday morning.  We arrived back at the hotel around 10:45 am, extended our say for one more night, and then went to our room where I took a nap.

Since we had the the whole afternoon without anything to do we decided to head out to downtown Yuma to refill the Explorer tank for our drive home Friday, do some shopping at Walmart, and then see a movie.  I think we've only been to the movies once since the Wuhan Flu fiasco back in 2020, so it's been a long time.  There aren't a lot of good movies out right now (my opinion), but we did want to see 'Project Hail Mary' with Ryan Gosling as we had heard good things about it, and had pre-purchased tickets for the 1:45 pm showing at the Harkins Theaters over on Pacific.  We arrived at the theater about 1:35 pm after getting gas, and doing our shopping....perfect.

The theater was pretty empty....just folks in our age range there....may 15 people in all, including us.  I'll not go into the storyline of the movie, but will say both TLE and I enjoyed the 2.5 hour movie.  It didn't feel that long, which is a good thing, right?  The writer, or story teller, did a great job with a very unique concept drawing us in to the storyline emotionally.  I'll let it go at that.  I would, however, be interested in your impression of the movie if you have seen it.

In the same mall where Harkins is located there is a large 'food court' on both sides of the entry road which includes a Chili's Bar and Grill, which is one of our favorite restaurants.  The last time we ate at Chili's was last winter (November, or December of 2024) in Kingman. AZ.  I've been dining at Chili's since the 90's and always order 'The Oldtimer' burger.....it is a classic.....

'The Oldtimer Cheese Burger' with frieds

TLE's Santa Fe Chicken Salad

....to which I added a 22 ounce Blue Moon replete with an orange slice.  TLE had their Santa Fe Chicken Salad.  We both love the consistency of their food from restaurant to restaurant, and over the years.  We were on our way home by 5:30 pm, but not without a quick stop at the local Starbucks to buy some dark roast coffees for Friday morning, which we would reheat in the hotel room microwave.  It was a lovely afternoon spent doing what we wanted to do.  I can't remember the last time I had a hamburger, fries and beer two days in a row....lol!

We were home just before 6 pm, at which time I took another much needed nap.  The doctor had to cut back a little of the gum around the molar in preparation for the temporary crown installation Friday, but there has been no pain whatsoever.  We'll head over to Los Algodones around 10 am for my 10:30 am appointment and crown installation, and then be, hopefully, on or way home by noon time Friday), or earlier...."God willing, and the river don't rise".

Thanks for stopping by!

DOH!

 6:31 am - Thursday - April 16th - Yuma, AZ - 60° F, humidity 27%, cloud cover 66%, winc 3 mph out of the east by southeast.....overcast today with a forecast high of 88° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE and I were watching the funeral for my mother, Virginia Hockwald, via ZOOM....

....from Wittmann, AZ where we were at the time.  We couldn't be there in person due to Wuhan Flu restrictions.

As you know I have another dental appointment in Los Algodones Thursday, but we weren't leaving for Yuma until around noon time as we were going to drive the Ford Explorer to Kingman to pickup a rental car from Enterprise to continue the drive, and didn't want to pick it up until 2 pm so we would be able to return it within 48 hours and avoid an extra day charge.  We were up around 7 am and had 5 hours until our departure, so I took care of a few things around the property to keep busy.  First up was to assemble the new Rubber Maid outdoor storage container we bought for the trip back north to LPG&RVR.  The one we've had for a few years got damaged when we were leaving Likely last October, and while still serviceable in its current capacity of sheltering the Bluetti solar charger we use to power the trailer, and not fit for another trip north attached to the tongue of the trailer.  That took all of 20 minutes.....it should have taken 5, but you know the 'Hockwald Way', right?

Next I poured 2 gallons of Chevron Delo 100 40 weight oil into the Newell oil reservoir, which hold 3 gallons of oil at a time.  When I need to add oil all I have to do is open a gate valve and let the appropriate amount of oil drain into the crankcase of the big Detroit Diesel 6v92....very handy!

Whenever we leave TWW for an overnight adventure we always lockup everything which includes Phyllis' Newell, the house, the garage, the trailer, the cedar shed, the trailer Rubber Maid, the CONEX, and the battery room, so I took care of that next.  As I was doing that stuff TLE moved some things from the VW to the Explorer that we always carry with us on trips, and then we began to pack our suit cases.  We still had a good 90 minutes left before our departure, and nothing more to do so we read to pass the time.

We were on the road just before noon time for the hour, 15 minute drive to Kingman arriving just before 1:30 pm at the Enterprise office on Stockton Hill Road only to find out that they had NO cars available, and were not sure when they would....DOH!  That is a first for us.  Kind of reminds one of a certain Seinfeld episode when Jerry has the same experience.  The scene with the car rental agent is hilarious, and if you haven't seen it you should.....here is a link to that episode on YouTube.....if want a good laugh, watch it.....click on link.....well, isn't that just a kick in the groin area....lol.  One of the main reasons we wanted rent a car to drive the final 200 miles to Yuma is that the Explorer has no functioning cruise control, and driving that far without cruise control does my knee no favors, but there we were with no choice, so we got back in the car and continued our journey south.  TLE took over the driving in Havasu City all the way to Quartzite, where I resumed driving duties for the final 85 miles arriving at our hotel around 5:20 pm without incident.  

Around 6 pm we took a walk over to old town to have dinner at one of our favorite micro breweries.....Prison Hill Brewing Company....

....we chose to enjoy our meal alfresco.  We both ordered their 'Chango Malo' stouts, and shared a deep fried avocado appetizer, then split a hamburger (The Shingle) and fries.  The food, ambiance and service were exceptional, as always.

On our way home we caught the sunset....

....just after 7 pm.  Well, time to get ready to make the drive to Dr. Urena's office....thanks so much for stopping by!

Only two hours.....

 7:28 am - Wednesday - April 15th - TWW - 42° F, humidity 23%, cloud cover ZERO %, wind 8 mph out of the south by southwest....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 67° F.  On this date in 2015 TLE and I were at Goosenecks State Park in Southern Utah....

.....with Steven and Linda Dempsey....Steven took these drone shots....in the first picture there are two motorhomes close together....we are on the left, and the Dempsey motorhome is on the right.  Eleven years ago it was $10/night to stay there.  I'm not sure what the cost is today.  The view this morning.....

We awoke Tuesday knowing we had just 3 more days to take down our campsite (Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday) with 2 day trip to Los Algodones thrown into the middle.  Our goal was to finish organizing the trailer interior for VW insertion Monday morning.  Here is what the trailer interior looked like Tuesday morning.....

.....we began work at 10 am, and by 12 pm this is the change....

.....personally, I am flabbergasted we got so much done in 2 hours!  All that is left to do is pull the trailer forward about 50' to insert the VW on Monday morning.  Of course, it goes with out saying, but I'll say it anyway.  Without TLE's help and suggestions it would have taken twice as long.  

I took an hour break then headed back outside to help TLE take down the sun shades so she could spend time applying water proofing to the patio and window awnings, and then I moved some more stuff over to the garage that we are not taking with us.  I'm guessing here, but I think we've removed at least another 500 pounds of stuff from the trailer.  I haven't seen it this empty in years.  To think that we used to carry three bicycles, a tandem bicycle, and two tadpole recumbent trikes in addition to all of the other stuff we carry with us.

By 3 pm I was whipped, and it was time to put away things, and get ready for dinner at 4 pm, which turned out to be TLE's world famous burritos!  We haven't had burritos for a while now.  She makes enough of them that there are usually two, or three left over for snacks the following day.  I usually eat them cold the day after....almost as good as cold pizza....lol!

Well, we leave here (Wednesday) soon to drive down to Yuma where we'll spend the night, and then over to Los Algodones (about 10 minutes away from our hotel) for more dental work, so time to get dressed, and pack our bags.

Thanks for stopping by!

Final tasks.....

 7:05 am - Tuesday - April 14th - TWW - 32° F, humidity 43%, cloud cover 23%, wind 5 mph out of the west by southwest.....mostly clear skies today with a forecast high of 59° F.  On this date in 2014 TLE and I visited Monument Valley for the first time.....

....we only stopped there for an hour, or so, before continuing our travels.  The next year, 2015, we actually stayed at a nearby RV park (Gouldings RV) for a few days, and took the sunset tour.  The view this morning....

Monday saw a continuation of the 'wind event' for the 5th consecutive day now.  We're kind of running out of time, and we cannot allow the wind to stop us from finishing a few last tasks before we leave.  As of Monday I still hadn't caulked over those old screw holes in the garage roof, which have allowed rain to enter.  Originally I counted 17 holes which needed some caulk, but when I finally got up close and personal I found at  least 10 more.  Instead of doing the job from the top of the roof I chose to do it from the inside on a ladder.  There was no way I was going up on that roof in 25-30 mph winds.  Surprisingly, it only took me 45 minutes, beginning to end, to finish the job....

Lots of rain was getting through those holes

....and with the completion of that job there only remains one more of what I would call major jobs and that is to replace the 2 x 4 which affixes two of the solar panels to the roof of the barn.  I wrote about the need for that a few days ago when I sealed the barn roof.

I continued to move things from the trailer which we will not need in Likely this summer to the garage, while retrieving a few things we will need.  Some of those items will actually go in the storage areas of the Newell.  Then the big job began....take down the three tables in the trailer which hold tools....

The tool bags are full

One table left

....that took me until almost 2:30 pm when Charles and Phyllis arrived for a quick overnighter bringing numerous packages which were delivered to their home in Phoenix on our behalf.  This will be the last time we see them here at TWW until next Fall.  We convened in the house for our last communal meal this season around 4 pm.  

While we ate, we talked about next Fall, and our plans for the property.  This winter was full of major accomplishments including, but not limited to: 1) Getting the greenhouse operational, 2) Resealing the barn roof, 3) Resealing the garage roof, 4) Creating the RV site for Phyllis' Newell, and moving the Newell into it, 5) Solving the fuel delivery issues in the Ford 420 tractor, the Yamaha, and the Jeep, 6) Clearing the land around the chicken coop, 7) Installing all the rain gutters on the house, and greenhouse to catch rain and store it in our 5 IBC water totes, 8) Fixing the perpetual leaks in the pump house, and 9) Making the fenced area around the greenhouse varmint proof.  Of course, we did much, much more, but these were many of the major accomplishments this winter.   One thing we spent almost no time on this winter was our solar charging capabilities, and we found out that we really don't need to run the Predator 5000 dual fuel generator/inverter as much as we did last year.  Last year we ran through a 100 gallons of propane per month, but now that we rarely use the Predator it is down to 50 gallons a month.  The last time we had a propane delivery was in early February, and we won't need another one until we return next Fall.

Thanks for stopping by!

Defended successfully.....

 7:41 am - Monday - April 13th - TWW - 45° F, humidity 43%, cloud cover 52%, wind 14 mph out of the south by southwest.....mostly cloudy today with a forecast high of 56° F.  On this date in 2012 TLE and I were strolling along the Savannah River....

....in, where else, Savannah, GA....isn't she stunning?

Sunday found us in the middle of the worst wind yet this week....I think that was the 4th day of continuous wind, but this time the windspeed entered the 30's.  It was bad enough that we had to stow the patio awning on Phyllis' Newell.  TLE and I continued to winnow our clothing down to manageable levels inside the Newell. For years we have put the excess, and by excess I mean clothing we weren't wearing on a regular basis, but did not want to part with on a permanent basis, into garment bags which we hung in the trailer.  Over the years the number of garment bags has increased to the breaking point, and whenever we would insert into, or remove the VW from the trailer we had to sometimes move them.  We've had to kind of reorient our thinking on this topic now that we have a place to leave that clothing over the summer.  Phyllis has given us the use of one of the closets in one of the bedrooms to hang the garment bags, and any extra clothing we may choose to leave behind for the summer.  Last year we left a few bags, but still carried most of the garment bags with us.  This year we will carry NONE of the garment bags with us making it much easier to ingress and egress the trailer with the VW.  I'm pretty sure that between the two of us we are storing 100+ pounds of clothing.

The rest of the day we spent watching the final round of The Masters.  When we last left off Rory McIlroy was tied with Cam Young at 11 under par, and Scottie Scheffler was 4 strokes back at 7 under par.  There were a lot of other golfers who had a chance, and at times they were within a stroke of the leaders, but then fell back.  Scottie, meanwhile, played a steady game finishing at 11 under par....one stroke shy of Rory who finished at 12 under par....so close, but we are happy for Rory being able to defend his title...only the 4th, or 5th person to ever do so at The Masters....

......while the tournament was in progress TLE and I worked steadily at sorting through our clothing.  Everything I'm leaving here has been moved into the house, while TLE still has some sorting left to do, but she is close.  Beginning Monday we will begin to take down our RV site in preparation for leaving next Monday, the 20th.  We plan to be in Likely by the 27th, and begin our first 4 day shift on Friday, May 1st.

Thanks for stopping by!