Walking SLT**

Wednesday morning we cooked breakfast outside again on the Coleman stove....this time it was french toast and scrambled eggs.....why is it that food cooked outdoors always seems to taste better?

I haven't scratched any items off my "To Do" list for a few weeks now so Wednesday seemed like a good day to cross another one off the list.  Whenever I decide to enter the "handyman zone" I often wonder if I have allotted enough time for the task.  As I have alluded to on numerous occasions, it seems that no matter how straight forward a task may seem on the surface there is always some unexpected complication that multiplies the time needed to complete the task by a factor of 3, or 4.  A great example of what I call the "Hockwald Way" was the removal of the 32 year old bathroom 3 piece faucet and the installation of the new one a few weeks ago in Sioux Falls, SD.  I figured 2-3 hours maximum.....it took over 12 hours.  So when I decided it was time after 3+ years to finally install the permanent XM radio antenna on the trailer roof I was a little "iffy" on whether the hour I had allotted would be anywhere near sufficient to complete what seemed to be a simple task.

Until Wednesday I had been using a temporary antenna which I would run via cable to the outside of the trailer and up on the roof.  This was pretty easy, and did not involve drilling any holes in the roof, which I abhor, but this necessitated me remembering to remove the antenna from the roof each time we hit the road again.  Needless to say, there was more than one occasion when I forgot to put it away, and would eventually see the antenna flapping in the breeze as we motivated down the road requiring that I pull over on the shoulder of whatever byway we happened to be traversing at the time and put it away.  

As it turned out one hour was more than sufficient for the task, which resulted in my questioning why I had waited soooo long....that was an easy question to answer....I waited so long for good reason....there is no accounting for the "Hockwald Way" and when it will strike.  Of course, with every DIY* success I have I become more emboldened to tackle more projects I have been deferring out of concern that days might be lost out of my life if the "Hockwald Way" were to strike unexpectedly.

Around 11:45 TLE*** and I took off on a slow walk to do some minor shopping for a couple of projects, and have lunch.....one project was TLE's....finish the screen door modifications for our entry door, which required 15 feet of industrial strength Velcro.....I'm not sure that should be capitalized, but when you pay $27 for 15 feet of Velcro you feel the need to capitalize something.  The other long deferred small project for me was to get a digital timer to automatically turn my outdoor decorative LED lights on and off.  We first walked to the local Kmart hoping to find TLE's Velcro, but they did not have what she needed, so then we hung a walking left at the "Y" on Lake Tahoe Blvd. to hit up the local TruValue Hardware store, which also did not have what she needed....they also had no timers.  Then it was another 2 blocks down to the DIY Center (Do It Yourself Center) where we found everything we needed, including my digital timer.

TLE*** wanted to try out a little Mexican place called Taqueria Jalisco, which gets 4 solid stars from Yelp.  It was 1.9 miles from the "Y" to Jalisco's, but who is in a hurry, right?  It was a great day for a walk, and one of the great things about walking along at 2-3 mph is you see stuff you would never see driving in a car, and even riding a bike.  As we walked eastward we discovered a couple of thrift/antique shops we had not seen before and resolved to check them out on our walk back.

We loved Taqueria Jalisco!  When you enter you are given two bowls of taco chips, and directed to their salsa bar to choose your "poison".  Within minutes of being seated our waiter was taking our orders, and advising us to choose our drinks from the glass faced refrigerators, and they would add them to our bill.  This can be a little off putting to some, but when you see the bill you will appreciate how they do things.    For 4 street tacos (2 for each of us), a Negra Modelo beer for moi, a bottle of tea for TLE, plus unlimited chips and salsa our charge was $10.50!  The other day at Burger Lounge we ordered a plate of fried zuccini, and two soft drinks....$21!  Need I say more?  We will definitely be back Taqueria Jalisco!

Smiles all around after seeing the bill

As planned we stopped off to investigate "The Attic Thrift Shop", "Mountain Treasures" and the "Rural Squirrel" on our way back "home".....amazingly we managed to leave each store with no new books, or anything else for that matter....maybe it was because we still had a mile walk home....:)  We arrived back at the coach around 3:15 having walked close to 7 miles.....what a nice afternoon!  I spent about an hour after we got back "home" trying, and eventually succeeding, to program the new digital timer I bought.......should have taken 5 minutes.......the "Hockwald Way" strikes again!

We watched the NHL Kings vs. Blackhawks game, which ended up going to double overtime before the Blackhawks prevailed on a sudden death goal to win 5-4......now back to L.A. where we hope the Kings will close out this series out and return to the Stanley Cup Finals.  To finish out the evening we watched the season premier of "So You Think You Can Dance", to be referred to from this point on as "SYTYCD".

Thanks for stopping by!

* DIY = Do It Yourself

** SLT = South Lake Tahoe

*** TLE = The Lovely Elaine