5th Saturday...junking, lunch and other things

It appears the 'artic blast' is dissipating, the warming trend is beginning, and by Sunday it should be back in the  70's during the day, with lows in the 50's......a much needed improvement, and more like the SoCal I was expecting this time of year!

After 8 days in my daughter's back yard it was time to empty the 'black tank'.  You will recall that earlier in the week I had laid all the ground work for this task, and thought it would just be a matter of hooking up the hose to the portable macerator pump we carry around with us, but that is not the Hockwald way......no.  Apparently the overnight freezing temperatures had frozen the water left in the hose, and so, therefore, I could not pump the 'poop'.  Ultimately I had to switch to another hose that was dry to complete the procedure, which took about 30 minutes to run under the house, but finally we were able to rid ourselves of another 8 days worth of the black elixir.  

By the time the deed was done it was fast approaching 11:30 am, so I took a shower and then hopped in the VW with TLE* to head to the local Goodwill.  We had a large bag of clothing we both had gleaned from our closets and drawers to donate, and then wanted to spend some time seeing what this Goodwill store had which we could not live without.  For TLE it was a 'little black' dress for the Wedding Shower coming up Sunday, and for me another nice pair of cargo shorts.....you can never have too many pairs of cargo shorts in this lifestyle.....total price....$10.

In the immediate vicinity of this Goodwill there are approximately 6 antique shops, so we put our spoils from Goodwill in the car, and then spent the next hour checking out 4 of them.  TLE managed to find a pair of earrings (no books), but nothing more for me.

From there we headed to one of our favorite SoCal institutions, 'Islands'....a kind of Hawaiian themed 'fine burgers and drinks' chain that has been around since 1982.  There happens to be one just a block from the local Trader Joe's, which was our next stop.  On this day we opted for the low calorie meals.....for me the 400 calorie Caesar Salad, and for TLE the "vegetable bowl" of the same caloric intake, chased with ice tea for the two of us.  I love their 'Big Wave Burger' and Island Fries, but I don't need the 1,000 calorie price tag that accompanies them.

From there it was a short stop at TJ's**, then home a little after 2:30 for the afternoon.  That morning, when we had moved the VW out to the street so Nick could back his large work truck out of the driveway, the local assembly of crows had managed to leave their calling card all over the VW.  After taking the things we bought into the coach I headed back to the front yard to wash the fowl excrement off the car.  Just as I was finishing up the VW Kate pulled in and wondered if I would mind washing her Honda, too.....well, why not?

By 3:30 I was done with both cars, and then it was time to get my Intense 5.5 mountain bike out of proverbial 'mothballs' to get her ready for riding on Saturday.  I got a text message from Paul, one of my mountain bike buddies whom I have been riding with since the mid 90's, that the 'gang' was going to ride Marshall Canyon Saturday morning.  Well, I haven't ridden the Intense since October in Cape Blanco, so a little tuneup was in order.

I finished with that task around dusk, and then headed back inside for the evening to read and watch another few college bowl games......up this time was UCLA vs. KSU (Kansas).  Initially it was a one sided game with UCLA up 31-6 at half time, but that is one of the things I love about college football......anything can happen, and happen it did.  The 2nd half was a 'barn burner', and the final score ended up being 40-35 in favor of UCLA.  Good to see another PAC-12 team with a bowl game this year.

Reading back over our 5th Saturday activities I am just realizing how busy it was....haha!

Thanks for stopping by!

*TLE = The Lovely Elaine
**TJ's = Trader Joe's