Doctor, doctor.....Mr. MD.....

6:55 am - Tuesday - April 30th - Ramona, CA - 53° F, 92% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the south.....heavy cloud cover still, but no more rain. Forecast high will be 61° F......

The view this morning

Title taken from Good Lovin' by the Rascals....circa 1966....enjoy

We awoke Monday to rain which had begun shortly before we went to bed Sunday evening.  It was a very gentle rain....just the kind of rain we prefer here in SoCal.  I had my pre-surgical appointment Monday morning in Rancho Cucamonga at my primary care physician's office.  Just as 2.5 years ago, in order to have cataract surgery, I had to be certified to be in good health by my PCP* to have the surgery, and this time is no different.  The appointment was scheduled for 10:30 am so we began our drive around 7:30 am.  It should only take two hours to cover the 107 miles, but you just never know about traffic, especially when it is raining and the possibility of accidents increases exponentially.  It takes about 35 minutes to get from RORVR**  down the long hill to I-15, and as hoped we were merging onto that Interstate by 8:05 am.  Based on traffic Google maps indicated we would arrive in Rancho Cucamonga around 9:30 am.  By time we had merged it was raining buckets of rain......

Windshield wipers on high

.....hard to believe we are having this kind of rain in SoCal in late April, but you won't see many complain after years of drought.

In spite of the early rain along the southern end of our route we did arrive in Rancho to blue skies by 9:30 am just as Google maps predicted.  It's a good thing we were an hour early as I left the form my doctor needed to complete sitting on my computer.....doh!  Since we were early we headed directly for Pacific Eye Institute  in Upland to pick up another form.  Even with the detour we still arrived with form in hand at my doctor's office by 9:50 am.

I didn't have to wait long before I was called in to get my vital statistics before seeing the doctor, then it was another short wait before my doctor entered the ubiquitous small room to do my examination.  He was finished within 20 minutes, I had my completed form, and a prescription for another 10 months of my blood pressure medication.

From there we headed for COSTCO to pick up three prescriptions.....the blood pressure refill, and two other eye drop prescriptions for my upcoming cataract surgery.  By the time we left COSTCO and got on I-15 southbound it was 12:15 pm and were entering Ramona by 1:55 pm....even though it rained again on the return trip we made very good time.

Before continuing our drive to RORVR** we stopped off at a local watering hole called 'Reds, Whites and Brews' to order a 'flight' of local craft brews.....Yelp gives them 5 stars on 29 reviews, plus we had heard about this place from a couple of people and wanted to check out their beer offerings.  They also serve many local red and white wines, but that tasting session would have to wait for another time, as they do not serve food at RW&B***, and we hadn't eaten since breakfast....😉  We sampled 4 craft brews in all, and the one I loved the most was Peanut Butter Milk Stout......OMG!

A couple of my readers commented on the good deal I got on the Winegard Slimline satellite dish and asked where I got it.  My initial reply was that I got it on eBay and that it was listed as 'used', but had never been used, or installed.  I thought this was a one of a kind deal, however, the same seller is listing another for the same price......here is the link if you are interested: 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Winegard-SK-SWM3-Traveler-DirectTV-RV-High-Definition-Slimline-Satellite-used/123748489960?epid=1161758140&hash=item1ccffc1ae8:g:RTwAAOSwf5FcxFEa

eBay item # 123748489960

I received mine via UPS a few days ago, and it is all there in the original box, so this is the real deal if you are interested.

By the time we arrived home it was raining once again, so we stayed inside and listened to the rain on our riveted aircraft aluminum roof.  It rained on an off until after 9 pm.  We were in bed a little after 10 pm with smiles on our faces.

Thanks for stopping by!

* PCP = Primary Care Physician

** RORVR = Ramona Oaks RV Resort

*** RW&B = Reds, Whites and Brews

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Orienting.....

6:01 am - Monday - April 29th - Ramona, CA - 54° F, 84% humidity, wind 6 mph out of the south.......heavy cloud cover with a 70% chance of rain today and a forecast high of 60° F.  Lightly sprinkling as I write.

Monday we left the rolls of the unemployed reporting for our work orientation at 9 am, which, coincidentally will be our starting time every day for the foreseeable future.  We work from 9 am to 4 pm Wednesday through Saturday, and 9 am to 2 pm on Sunday for a weekly total per person of 33 hours.  We get a 30 minute PAID lunch....that is a first!

For the first 2 hours Rich took TLE and I around for an official tour of the park.  We currently have a temporary water tank, which replaces the original 50 year old tank which suddenly collapsed back in February.  The temporary one is situated at a different location than the original, which is about 15 feet lower in elevation than the original resulting in slightly lower water pressure for the time being.  Once the surveying, and engineering is complete a new water tank will be installed at the original location, or perhaps even higher.  

Additionally the owners are updating the electrical system (new junction boxes, transformers, pedestals) in the park, and that project has been underway for a couple of months now, with perhaps another month to go.

Once the tour was done I continued riding around with Rich, and TLE remained in the office with Marnie to begin learning their campground software (Campground Master), which TLE says reminds her of the DigiRez sofware Equity Lifestyles uses (Tahoe Valley Campground). Rich and I headed out to read the electric meters of the monthly residents, and check all of the propane levels in each tank for which the park is responsible.  He also spent time acquainting me with the tool shed, supply shed, and the garage where the lawnmowers, tractor, and cherry picker are stored. Everything appears to be well maintained, and organized.  It looks like it is time to have a propane delivery as we edge toward the beginning of the summer season.  We were not quite done with meter reading when it was time for our lunch break.  Rich and I finished the meter reading right after lunch, and then collected two Stihl string trimmers from the tool shed to remove the weeds from our four tent sites.....yes, there are only 4 tents sites.  There will be a lot of string trimming in my immediate future, but not to the extent at Smuggler's Den.  This is a much more arid climate, and the growing season for weeds is about at an end.  Once this crop is cut we won't have to deal with them again until the rainy season begins in the Fall.  We finished trimming the weeds in the tent sites just before 2 pm, and headed back to the office.

By 2 pm TLE and I were making the ¼ mile walk home.   Our off days will be Mondays and Tuesdays for the time being, but that could change over time based on need.  Thus far we are happy with our situation, and we like our co-workers. Everyone is laid back, but highly motivated to do their jobs.

So day one is in the books.  We'll have our regular two days off work, then hit the deck running on Wednesday for our first 7 hour work day......thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel.

Last day of unemployment......

6:53 am - Sunday - April 28th - Ramona, CA - 54°, 89% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the north.....clear blue skies today with a forecast high of 73° F......↴

Today's morning view

Saturday began with a heavy marine layer that almost resembled fog, but by 10 am the skies had cleared to partly cloudy.  Around 10 am we decided to take a walk down to the office to find out what our start time for our Sunday orientation would be, and to pick up our RORVR* work t-shirts.  Afterwards we spent some time enjoying the fishing lake view....

Looking northeast

......the fishing is strictly 'catch and release'....no treble hooks.  I'm not sure what kind of fish are in the lake, but I will ask someone on Sunday during our orientation.  From there we walked up to the 'community center which sports a miniature golf course, basketball hoop, shuffle board, pool table, fire pit, dog park, BBQ's, horseshoe pit, and a beach volleyball court.......  

.......from there we made our way over to the pool area which has a very large Olympic size pool, and a Jacuzzi heated to 101° F for your dipping pleasure.  Next to the pool is a very nice kiddie park, which is all fenced......

.....we were back home around noon time having walked about 1.6 miles around the park.  

Aerial view courtesy Google Maps of Ramona Oaks RV Resort

Since I had not dumped our black tank without the macerator pump for almost 3 months I decided to do a proper dump with the large sewer hose which really enables me to really flush out the tank properly.  I filled the black tank 4 times to the half way mark after the initial effluent dump.  By the end of the 4th flushing the water was running crystal clear, and I was confident all the waste particulate matter had been completely removed.

Our site backs up against a creek, and on the far side of the creek is Highway 78......

State Highway 78 in the background

....Sunday through Thursday the traffic is not too bad, but on the weekends during the spring/summer the road is buzzing with tourist traffic.  The only time I really hear any traffic is when motorcycles go rumbling by, but otherwise the traffic noise is not very intrusive.

For the third successive day we spent the early evening hours (4-6 pm) out on the 'lido deck' reading, and listening to music.  We are quickly settling into, and enjoying our new surroundings.....thanks for stopping by!

*RORVR = Ramona Oaks RV Resort

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel.

Environmentally speaking.....

7:52 am - Saturday - April 27th - Ramona, CA - 51° F, 89% humidity, wind 1 mph out of the west by northwest.......marine layer this morning with a forecast high of 74° F. 

Our first morning in at RORVR* dawned with clear blue skies, and a promised forecast high of 77° F.  Before it got warm we were out setting up our environment.  The first orders of business were to reposition the coach within our site a little to the passenger side, and about 2' further back in the site.  There is a certain point at the rear of our site where it begins to go downhill resulting in the front being high, so our goal was to get the rear wheels right up to the point where the declivity began, then relevel, and improve the draining characteristics of our sewer hose.........

.....we were successful on all counts.  Next up we had to drag the artificial turf out the side door (normally we pull it out the back when the ramp door is open as it is much easier with the bigger opening, but we forgot to do so before we backed the trailer up against the fence at the rear of our site).  It ended up being easier than we expected, and before long we had our patio awning deployed, turf down, and sunscreen installed......

....next up were our black wheel covers, raise the pirate flag, set up the Sea-B-Que, and hang our name plaque on the front of the coach.....looking good, no?

Last up for the morning was to assemble my two bikes, set up a table in the trailer on which to set my three tool bags, set up my workbench.  Now that we know we can get the DirecTV signal with our roof top Winegard crank up satellite dish I will return the Winegard Carryout portable dish, and attendant 400' of cables to the warehouse on Monday when I drive back to Rancho Cucamonga for my doctor appointment.

Later in the day we drove into  town to visit the TruValue Hardware store for some hardware related items, and Stater Brothers to pick up a few food items as well as kind of get familiarized again with where everything is in town.  Once thing we know for sure.....there are at least 8-10 Mexican restaurants (most rated at 4 stars, or better) in town, and we will need to sample their culinary offerings at some point.  

We closed the day out on 'the lido deck' as TLE calls it, celebrating another happy hour, and enjoying the early evening coolness.  TLE had me grill some chicken breasts she had been marinating all day around 6 pm, and by 6:30 we were enjoying another great TLE meal.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel.

*RORVR = Ramona Oaks RV Resort

Protecting hands........

7:41 am - Friday - April 26th - Ramona, CA - 65° F, 49% humidity, wind 1 mph out of the east.....clear blue skies today with a forecast high of 77° F.

I was awake shortly before 6 am, and 'up and at 'em' a few minutes later.  I am always awake early on moving day, and after sitting still for almost 6 weeks it was definitely time to be rolling our wheels once again.  With such an early start to the day you would be justified in thinking we got an early start to our move south to Ramona, CA, and you would be right as always.  We were disconnected from city power by 8 am, and after inserting the artificial turf, and VW were on our way by 8:20 am.....I turned to TLE as I always do and said "Good to be moving again, huh?" to which she replied as she always does "Yeah"......  

Yes it is!  It is working!

.....as we drove south on Cedar to CA-60 I glanced down to see if the speedo was working, and it was......my repair was successful!  A working speedo means a working cruise control, and a working cruise control means I am a happy man.  I next glanced at the Garmin Trucker to see what our ETA was and it said 10:40 am.  Our route to Ramona Oaks RV Resort was only 107 miles long, but once we left I-15 at 646' elevation we had to climb 1,450' more to the RV park over a span of 22 miles, and most of that done in the last 13 miles.  I found myself in 2nd gear running about 35 mph.....right at redline.....to keep the big Detroit Diesel 6v92 cool.  She just purrrred up the long grade mile after mile.  

Soon we spied the sign advising the RV park was just 1 mile distant, and a couple of minutes later we had arrived at our new home for at least the next 5 months.......

.......we parked in front of the park office, and went in to verify the site to which we had been assigned......#72......almost perfect.  This site is right at 60' long, but we are 62' long, and backing in with the trailer behind us would mean we would be sticking out into the street 2', and that would not be acceptable, however, the site is quite wide so we dropped our trailer as far left in the site as possible, and then backed the Newell in next to the electrical pedestal.....

.....thankfully, as you can see from the first picture, there is a break in the trees behind our site enabling us to snag the DirecTV satellite signal.....perfect!  We are, more, or less orientated facing slightly northeast so the satellite is almost directly behind our site (up in Space, of course).

Within 30 minutes I had all the utilities connected, including sewer for the first time since the day before we arrived in Winslow, AZ.  By that time it was around 85° F, and time to go inside to cool off courtesy our wonderful Duotherm A/C.  I'll spend a big chunk of Friday and Saturday getting all of our 'stuff' deployed including our turf, and patio awning....life is good!

So, our first day at Ramona Oaks RV Resort is in the books.  We received our employment contracts (no surprises), and will begin working this Sunday, or at least going through orientation.  I will drive back to Rancho Cucamonga Monday morning to have my annual doctor's appointment to be examined so I can have cataract surgery, and to get my blood pressure medication prescription renewed.

As I sometimes do when we are in a new place with an unusual name I look it up.....according to Wikipedia it means "Protecting hands....."......hmmmm.....I kind of like that notion!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel.

Eye of the storm......

6:21 am - Thursday - April 25th - Fontana, CA - 57° F, 73% humidity, wind - CALM......clear blue skies today with a forecast high of 88° F.  This is the last day you will see Fontana, CA as our location this year.  We roll our wheels in less than 3 hours for Ramona Oaks RV Resort!

Wednesday was the day of my appointment at Pacific Eye Institute where I would receive the results of my three glaucoma screening tests.  To be fair, I was pretty sure I did not have glaucoma, but there is always that little niggling doubt in the back of your mind until you know for sure.  Ever since Dr. Dovich raised the possibility of glaucoma back on April 3rd I have been awaiting this appointment to find out for sure, and to finally be able to schedule my cataract surgery.

We were out of the 'house' by 10 am, and on our way to Pacific Eye Institute for my 11 am appointment.  Driving out Arrow Route it takes almost exactly 30 minutes, and this day was no different.  We arrived just after 10:30 am at which time I signed the patient roster, and took my seat in the 'waiting room'.  As I have opined previously, there is no way you are not going to wait past your appointment time in a room entitled 'The Waiting Room', right?  However, at 10 minutes to 11 am my named was called.....hmmmm....I'm thinking I might be in an out before 11:30 am.....seems reasonable, does it not?  The technician numbed my eyes and did that funny glaucoma test where they blow little puffs of air into each eye to record the pressure, and had me look at some eye charts.  Once that was done I was thinking Dr. Dovich would walk through the door and give me my results.....NOT!

After those eye tests I was returned to the waiting room around 11 am where I waited for my name to be called again......I was not called until 12:20 pm.  By this time TLE is getting a little fidgety as she has a hair appointment in Claremont at 1:15 pm.....we both thought this was a good, safe time as my appointment was at 11 am after all, right?  Of course, we are directed to the little, tiny room where you wait some more.  By 12:45 pm TLE is texting with Amanda, her hair stylist, that we might be late, and she replies to TLE that if she can make it by 1:30 pm she can still squeeze her in.  At last Dr. Dovich arrives just before 1 pm.  Within minutes I find that I do NOT have glaucoma, and that other than the worsening cataract in my right eye, my eyes are totally normal....whew!

We are sent back to the waiting room where we were to wait for my name to be called again, this time by the surgery scheduler.  Within minutes we are called into another small room where within 5 minutes we have my eye measurement appointment scheduled (May 9th), and my surgery scheduled (May 10th) and are sent on our way with a surgical folder of things I need to do before the surgery.  We will drive up to Upland from Ramona the morning of the 9th the the first appointment, then spend the night at my oldest son's home, and then drive back to Upland for my early morning surgery on the 10th.

It is now 1:15 pm, and I am pretty sure we can make it to Maxx Salon in the remaining 15 minutes, and we make it with a couple of minutes to spare.  I drop TLE off and then begin my search for a parking spot.....finding a parking spot between Noon and 2 pm in Claremont is pretty daunting, but within 10 minutes I am successfully parked, and walking over to the salon.

While TLE is getting her hair done I get on the phone to call my primary care physician, Dr. Azzawi, to make an appointment to renew my blood pressure meds, and have him complete the paperwork Pacific Eye Institute needs to confirm I am healthy enough for cataract surgery.  Again I must wait.....a total of almost 20 minutes on hold to get an appointment for Monday, April 29th.

Shortly after hanging up the phone TLE comes walking out and we are ready to go.  We walk down the stairs and right into a local bistro named Bardot Cafe (4 stars on 890 reviews) where we decide to have a late lunch.  It is after 2 pm now and I am just ready to relax, have a good brew, and a Caesar salad.......

Caesar salad with grilled salmon....OMG! 

......we sit enjoying the balmy breezes in Bardot's alfresco dining area, of course, right?  We talk about the relief we both feel that I do not have glaucoma, and that we finally know when my cataract surgery will be.  We talk about rolling our wheels Thursday morning, and what needs to be done.  We decide we will stow the sun screen, patio awning and window awnings just after sunset as it will be cooler.  I'll roll up the gray water hose, and disconnect from the city water so we'll only have the electric to disconnect Thursday morning.  We'll pull forward out of our spot Thursday morning about 50 feet, drag the artificial turf into the trailer, then insert the VW and be on our way to our next adventure.

We paid our bill around 3:15 pm and began our 'rush hour' drive home arriving just after 4 pm.....by 7 pm we were disconnected from city water, with all of the hoses and awnings stowed.  Our sojourn here at the Fontana/Rialto Elks Lodge is now at an end.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Wipeout!

7:44 am - Wednesday - April 24th - Fontana, CA - 63° F, 60% humidity, wind - CALM.....clear blue skies again today with a forecast high of 88° F.  Last full day at the Fontana/Rialto Elks Lodge.

Tuesday was a scorcher, relatively speaking.  Compared to all other hot days since we arrived in Fontana, it was quite hot.  The rear A/C was running by 10:30 am, and was joined by its sister, the front A/C around 2:30 pm.....that's the first time we've had both A/C's running at the same time for a very, very long time.

I had a lot to do outside Tuesday where there is no A/C so I attempted to be as strategic as I could about where I worked so as to remain out of the direct sunlight as much as possible.  That strategy had me to working on the passenger side of the coach to finish wiping off the water marks leftover from my roof washing on Saturday.  Once I had finished that I moved into the trailer to finish stowing things for our short re-positioning trip down to Ramona Oaks RV Resort on Thursday morning.

By late afternoon I had finished all that had to be done until Wednesday evening when we will stow all the awnings, roll up the artificial turf, and prepare for lift off.  Additionally, it had been 10 days since I last 'dumped' the black tank so around 4 pm when the driver side was completely in the shadows I began deploying the portable macerator pump, and my 200' of hoses.  In all it took about an hour from beginning to end (deployment of the equipment, dumping, and then putting it all away).  By the time I finished it was after 5 pm and time to cool off inside before taking a shower in preparation for date night with TLE.  We are leaving Thursday and had not yet visited one of our favorite Inland Empire restaurants, 'The Salted Pig'.......

......they have this appetizer called 'Beer Battered Dates' (stuffed with cream cheese, and bacon) that we almost always order.....

......and their 'Street Tacos' are that for which you might die........

They call them 'Restaurant Tacos', but they are 100% Street Tacos! (YELP picture)

....we arrived there just after 6 pm, and that was our goal as street parking is 'FREE' after 6 pm in Riverside!  We arrived just before the evening rush, so it was not too crowded yet, but by the time we left at 7 pm it was packed.  I always love it when restaurants I love are full of customers when we visit each year.....I don't want them to go away for lack of business.

We were home by 7:30 pm, and watching some recorded programs shortly thereafter ('Deadliest Catch', NCIS: New Orleans, 'Chopped'), and were in bed by 11 pm.....one more day until we haul anchor and move down to Ramona.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel.

"Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future...."

7:17 am - Tuesday - April 23rd - Fontana, CA - 59° F, 61% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the north.....clear blue skies today with a forecast high of 91° F......time continues its dutiful job of slipping into the future.....

Steve Miller Band.....Fly Like an Eagle

Monday saw the beginning of organizing the trailer for departure on Thursday, April 25th. With the return of a lot of our stuff to the trailer I am having to find new homes for things I thought would be left behind when we headed for Alaska, but that will work out just fine as we did not bring everything back, including the Cannondale tandem.  I split my time between the trailer, and wiping down the rear, and passenger side of the Newell to remove the water marks from my roof washing episode Saturday.  I managed to get the rear, the front, and most of the passenger side done before the sun worked its way around to that side of the coach at which time I switched my focus to the driver side.  By the end of Monday I had all of the driver side done leaving just about 10 feet of the passenger side to finish Tuesday morning.  In addition I managed to get the trailer about 60% organized.  Now that the small stuff is stowed the rest will go much faster, and I should finish that by Tuesday afternoon, also.

Since we finished our Amazon commitment back on December 19th it has been all of 4 months since we have worked for pay.  It has been a nice, carefree interlude to say the least, but on Thursday we will arrive at Ramona Oaks RV Resort and find ourselves back on someone else's schedule.  I will be engaged in manual labor once again, whilst TLE will be working in the office, and doing some light janitorial as needed.

The RV park is situated at 2,100' elevation, and less than 40 miles, as the crow flies, from the ocean both of which will moderate our daily temperatures.  For example it will get to 91° F here in Fontana today, but only 80° F in Ramona......nice differential, huh?  Here's a look at the next 6 days in both locations.......

 Ramona next 6 days

Rialto next 6 days

.......typically the differential between the two locations is 5-6° F, but periodically, like today, it is much greater.  This differential in temps was one of the factors we looked at when choosing a job from those available at the time in SoCal.  Being extremely familiar with the location and its environs also played a roll in choosing this job.

As we edge ever closer to working for pay we are preparing ourselves mentally to be once again at the beck and call of others.  Based on our initial interview, and then face to face meeting with our managers we feel good about this summer's endeavors, but only time will tell. Goodbye for now from the Fontana/Rialto Elks Lodge where 'time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future'.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel.

Easter Sunday......

8:14 am - Monday - April 22nd - Fontana, CA - 58° F, 58% humidity, wind 1 mph out of the north......mostly clear skies today with a forecast high of 83° F.

Laureen and her son Geofrey in 

front of their '84 Newell in Austin, TX

Update on Glenn and Laureen.....they have arrived safely, and uneventfully at their home in Austin, TX Sunday morning, and for the first time their 1984 Newell is parked in front of that home....↗

Sunday was, of course, Easter Sunday as today's title suggests.  Our daughter Kate, and her husband Nick agreed some time ago to host an Easter brunch at their home in Jurupa Valley (pronounced Ha-rupa).  We were on our way to their home around 9:30 am arriving there just before 10 am....

 Charlise, TLE and Kate

 Charlise, Jolene and Kate

 Jake and Meredith

 Rod and Sharon

 Left to right: Chris, Rochelle, Cynthia and Christopher

 Left to right: Daniel, Jr., Cynthia, Jameson and Daniel

 Left to right: Nick, Jolene, Elijah, Kate and Charlise

 Near the end of the Easter egg hunt...Daniel Jr. and Brayden

At the end of the Easter egg hunt....everyone is happy

......we had a delightful time with our kids, grandkids, and great grandkids.  When we first arrived it was still overcast and chilly, but by 11:30 am the sun had made an appearance, and it was getting warm.   Around 1:30 pm TLE and I were ready to head for home so bid adieu to our children and their families.

Hope your Easter Sunday was as rewarding and satisfying as ours......thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel.

#6 is finished.....

7:08 am - Easter Sunday - April 21st - Fontana, CA - 55° F, 78% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the south by southwest.....overcast this morning with a forecast high of 71° F.

I finally crossed #6 off my lengthy 'to do list' (click here to read list) on Saturday........6) Thoroughly clean the roof for the first time in years.  It was the absolutely perfect day for this job, if there is such a thing.  It was very cool (high 60's) when I began, and most importantly, there was a heavy overcast.  I have not cleaned the roof since Savannah, GA back in April of 2013,  much to my everlasting shame.  The duration between cleanings is an indication of how much I do NOT enjoy this task.  I prefer to be on the roof as little as possible when it is dry, let alone when it is wet.  I have visions of slipping and falling off the 11' tall roof and landing on my head.  There is no fast way to thoroughly clean the riveted aluminum roof.  It involves a lot of being on your knees and scrubbing years of built up grime.  Sure, some of the work can be done with my long handled RV brush, but the stubborn stuff requires the up close and personal touch, and a lot of elbow grease.  The roof is approximately 36' x 8', or 288 square feet, and some of that square footage is covered by solar panels, which increases the difficulty factor.  I sincerely wish I had taken a picture of the roof 'BEFORE' I cleaned it in order to adequately relay the desperate conditions which existed up there, out of sight, for far too long.

In all it took me about 3 hours to clean the roof.  I began at the front and broke the roof down into 4 sections (1 - The front cap back to the satellite dish, 2 - From behind the satellite dish back to the Fantastic Fan, 3 - From the Fantastic Fan to the front of the rear A/C, and finally 4 - From the rear A/C to the rear cap).  This is how is all looked 3 hours later......↴

.....once again there is a sheen visible, and it is obvious there has been no oxidation of the Dupont Imron in the past 6 years.......↴

.....while cleaning the roof I noticed a few zip ties which bundle the solar cables together in spots had broken, so after I had dried the roof with old towels, I returned to replace them.

Meanwhile my brother and sister-in-law have made it all the way to Fredericksburg, TX in their 1984 Newell......just a two hour drive from home now.  When they arrive in Austin Sunday morning they will have covered over 1,800 miles, and become a lot more familiar with their new purchase.  So far they have had no mechanical issues, and the Newell continues to perform well for which TLE and I are extremely grateful.

By the time I finished cleaning the roof, and putting away all of my cleaning tools it was after 2:30 pm and I was long overdue for a nap.  Since we are not going to Alaska I have removed item #8 (move the turf, and last stuff to the warehouse) from the list, and now just have to install the new house water pump.  You will recall that the first pump I installed did not work, so I had to return it to the seller who sent a new one out under warranty.  I have tested that pump and it does work, so I will be installing that one at my leisure now that I have no Alaska trip deadline looming on the horizon.

So, I began with a 'to do list' of eight items, deleted #8 as we are not going to Alaska, and have now completed 6 of the remaining 7 items, and the final item will be completed in a week, or so.  Time to begin to pack up so we can re-position the Newell down to Ramona Oaks RV Resort on Thursday.....time is short!

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