Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Hello again!

 7:27 am - Wednesday - June 30th - Seal Rock, OR - 59° F, 88% humidity, wind 9 mph out of the south....overcast today with a forecast high of 64° F.  On this date one year ago we were in Keystone, SD visiting good friends Rich and Marnie (our former managers at Ramona Oaks RV 'Resort'...best managers ever!).......↴


I'm on my own Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday each week, and it suits me just fine.  On Tuesday Terry asked me to spruce up site #23 which needed the three hedges bordering the site trimmed, the grass cut, and edged.  While I was at it I tackled site #22, also.....



Another trailer load of hedge clippings delivered to the burn pile

.....it took me just over 3 hours to finish both sites, and then it was time to head for the 'barn' (home).  We had a surprise Tuesday.....two of our blog followers (Doug and Michelle Knudson) dropped by SRRVC for one night.  We first met them in February of 2020 when we were boondocking near Borrego Springs, CA just before the Wuhan flu fiasco began.  I wrote about that here.....


.....Doug came by the Newell for about 30 minutes while Michelle was preparing their dinner, and then we walked over to their Class A motorhome (they are in site #2, right behind our site) after we ate dinner to spend a couple of hours catching up with them, and their travels.  It is one of the delights and blessings of this lifestyle to be able to meet up with friends as we  and they move around the country.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Tuesday, June 29, 2021

The marine layer.....

 7:42 am - Tuesday - June 29th - Seal Rock, OR - 55° F, 94% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the south by southeast.....overcast this morning with a forecast high today of 65° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were in Sheridan, WY sharing a potluck with good Newell friends Tom, Darlene, Forest, and Cindy on our way to Alberta, Canada......↴


I've written about the indoor/outdoor carpeting we have been installing around the park.  We began the process of removing the old indoor/outdoor carpeting about 5 months ago before it began to rain.  There was a gap of 4 months before we began to install the new carpeting for lack of dry enough weather to complete the process of applying the mastic to the concrete, installing the new carpet, and having enough warm/dry weather to allow it to cure.  On Monday we (Fred and I) finally installed the final pieces of carpeting in front of the restrooms in the tent area......


....I expected it to take us an hour, and true to form it took us almost 3 hours beginning to end to first 'dry fit' each of the two pieces, make a few cuts around the conduit pipes which you can see in the center of the picture above, and then permanently install the new carpeting.  

The forecast for Monday indicated heavy overcast all day long, and even some fog, but the marine layer moved offshore for about 5 hours, and we got a very nice day......



....you can see the defined line of the marine layer across the horizon in the pictures above and below.....


.....I discovered, quite by accident, that Le Tour de France began Saturday.  I was expecting it to begin in early July, so I was caught by surprise.  I only missed the first two stages, and there are now 18 to go after the 3rd stage on Monday, which I was able to record (the replay), and watch after work.  Just like last year there have been too many crashes, and Monday was no exception....I think there were at least 7 crashes Monday taking out many of the stars of the sport....not a good thing for anyone to get hurt, but like all sports you need/want the stars to be at their best.

By 2:30 pm the marine layer had moved back inland causing the temps to plummet, and then add to that a brisk wind out of the southwest and suddenly all you want to do it be inside where it is warm.  The forecast for the 4th of July weekend (this weekend) is for temps in the mid 60's moving into the low 70's by mid month....that's why all the RV parks on the coast are filled to the brim right now....all the inland folk are escaping the persistent heat that we drove into and out of last weekend.

It seems as if we just finished May, and here we are on the brink of July....time is moving fast....thanks for stopping by!

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Monday, June 28, 2021

Sunday interlude.....

 7:46 am - Monday - June 28th - Seal Rock, OR - 57° F, 94% humidity, wind 10 mph out of the south....heavy overcast today with a forecast high of 66° F.  On this date in 2013 we were in Spearfish, SD at a Newell Mini Rally.  My friend Richard was under my coach finding out why my speedo wasn't working.  He noticed that the eight Grade 8 bolts affixing the drive shaft to the differential were ALL loose.....had he not discovered this we would have had a catastrophic failure within 50 miles ($10,000+), but all it cost me was eight new Grade 8 bolts......↴


What a Sunday we had!  We awoke to a temperature of 63° F with the promise of an 80° F high.  After I submitted my latest missive for publication TLE and I walked down to Seal Rock Beach to witness the lowest low tide we have yet seen.  I'll let the photos tell the story.....














Where we are standing is usually under 20' of water







For Rich and Marnie Aaron

.....we didn't get back from the beach until almost 11 am, and what better way to continue a great day than to have bacon and eggs alfresco......



...after breakfast enjoying the view....

....the VIEW....

....after breakfast TLE drove into Waldport to buy some groceries, and I spent the time washing off a couple of weeks of salt residue from the coach.

A few weeks ago TLE bought a hanging closet organizer for her closet behind the bed.  I liked it so much she got one for me at Target in Redding, and while I was working on other things outside she removed the two shelving units in my closet to install the new organizer....


......it's been a long, long time since we BBQ'd anything on the Sea-B-Que, and Sunday was the perfect day to get her out and burn some meat, and that is what we did!  I regret that I was so excited about grilling that I completely forgot to memorialize it with pictures, so you will have to use your imaginations.  We bought a couple of thick filet mignons a few months ago, and it was time to thaw them out and find out how good our purchase was.  Well, these were two of the most tender, melt in your mouth filets we have partaken of in a long, long time.  We ate them outside, and the first time in a few months.  TLE sautéed some mushrooms for the occasion, and added a bowl of her famous coleslaw for sides.  It was a great way to end our three day weekend!
 
Thanks for stopping by!

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Sunday, June 27, 2021

Friday and Saturday.......

 8:19 am - Sunday - June 27th - Seal Rock, OR - 63° F, 94% humidity, wind - zero mph out of the north.....clear, blue skies today with an amazing forecast high today of 80° F.....yes, you read correct....80° F!  The highest high and the highest low in months on the same day!

On this date in 2016 TLE and I were visiting good friends Dan and Carol Gates at Incline Beach, NV (Lake Tahoe).....they rented a cabana for the day.....↴


Well, once again I am two days behind in posting, so let's get to work!

I last posted about our Thursday afternoon drive south to Redding, CA to get our Beetle smogged.  Every other year California requires your vehicle(s) to pass a smog test in order to continue operating it/them on California highways.  This year we are a long way from the California border (300 miles, or so), and it's not just a matter of driving down the street to the local smog test facility....this is, at the very least, an overnight affair.

We were up around 7 am Friday morning to drive the last 141 miles to Redding.  We were dressed, and out the door before 7:30 am, and after a 2.5 hour drive arrived safely at A-1 Smog and Repair on Market Street in Redding.  Of particular note no one at the facility was wearing a mask...not an employee, or customer.....wonderful! We've owned this car for 7 years, and it has never failed to pass a smog test, and technically it didn't this time.  The problem was the computer memory was blank.  There are numerous computer 'monitors' which record data about the performance of your engine, and before the test can be run they must download the data from those monitors.  Nothing is ever easy when you are a Hockwald, and why should this be any different, right?

Redding, CA is south of Mt. Shasta....you can see the top of it from almost 100 miles away!

Getting close!

So, what is the solution?  How do we get those monitors to record the information needed to take the smog test?  Simple.....let the car sit for 8 hours, and then do a 'cold start' (cold is a relative term when the temps are in the 100's in Redding).  That means we would have to get a hotel room, wait 8 hours follow the driving instructions given to us by Gabe, our technician, an go back to A-1 first thing Saturday morning.  

What are the 'driving instructions' you might wonder....well, after 8 hours you start the car, turn on the headlights, and A/C, and let it sit idling for 2.5 minutes.  Then you begin driving accelerating up 55 mph, then let the car decelerate down to 20 mph without touching the brakes, then accelerate back up to 60 mph holding that speed for exactly 3 minutes then decelerate down to idle  in high gear which occurs somewhere around 15 mph.  The more times you can do this the better the chance the data fields will be populated by the monitors.

One of our reasons fr choosing Redding as our destination is they have a COSTCO, a Trader Joe's, a Target, and, most importantly, an In 'N Out Burger.  After our disappointing news at A-1 we headed first to COSTCO where NO masks were being worn by 98% of the people.  We next hit Target, then Trader Joe's, and finally In 'N Out Burger.....


Two #2 Combos, thank you very much....and get this....you can actually fill your own cup with soda again.....NO masks there either!

Look at that pile of fresh cut fries!

While we were eating our cheese burgers we began to search for another hotel in which to spend the night, and found a room at the local Red Lion Inn just a few blocks away.  Check in time is normally 3 pm, but they got us in a room by 1:30 pm, right across from the swimming pool.  Cool, let's take a swim on a 100° day, but the pool was locked due to the Wuhan Flu.....doh!  Okay, time for a long nap.

So, the first 8 hour interlude came at 9:30 pm that night, so we ran the test completing the 55 mph and 60 mph portion on I-5 southbound.  The next 8 hour interlude came at 5:30 am Saturday morning, so we were up at 6 am, and in the car doing the second run through on I-5 northbound this time.  The smog test facility opened at 7 am, and after completing the test, and getting a cup of coffee at a local Starbucks, we were there waiting our turn.....

No masks in Starbucks, plus you can sit at a table inside, or outside!!!!

.....it took about 30 minutes to find out that all the data fields had been populated except for the 'air flow' field.....doh!.....so close, but no cigar.  There are no smog test places open in Redding on Sunday, and there was not enough time to do the 8 hour cool down and cold start again before they closed at 3 pm.....double doh!

There was no way we were going to spend two more nights in Redding twiddling our thumbs, so we decided to make the entire drive home to SRRVC in one day, complete the new test designed specifically to populate the 'air flow' field on Sunday, then return to Yreka, CA (100 miles closer) in a couple of weeks where there is another A-1, 4 star smog facility, and get the test done.

By this time it was a little after 8 am, so we took a restroom break and hit the road back to SRRVC.  I drove until a rest stop just before Medford, OR, then TLE took over until we exited the I-5 for US-138 in Sutherlin, OR where we got a couple of frappuccinos to go before continuing our drive back to Coastal Oregon.

Of particular note....on this trip we found that the I-5 corridor in Oregon from Sutherlin, OR (where we merged onto I-5) all the way south to the California border is still behaving as it if where March of 2020, not June of 2021.  There were ZERO restaurants, fast food places, or coffee bars open for dine in service.....only takeout....PERIOD.  In complete contrast to this California is about 98% back to normal....go figure.

We reached Reedsport and US-101 around 1:30 pm, and decided to stop at a local restaurant called Harbor Light for lunch.  They have a wonderful Yelp rating of 4.5 stars on 439 reviews, and is that ever right on the money!  WOW! There we found no one wearing masks, not even the wait staff....how refreshing to see your server's face once again, and to hear him/her speak clearly without a piece of cloth muting his/her voice.

I ordered a pint of amber ale, and their Elk/bacon burger with onion rings, and TLE the Smoked Turkey sandwich with really good coleslaw.  We dined alfresco, of course.....



....by the time we finished and paid our tab (only $36!) it was after 2 pm, and we were still 60 miles from home.  We managed to cover that final 60 miles in under two hours, arriving back at site A-2 around 3:45 pm to a beautiful high 60's afternoon!

Of course, clear skies give us a shot at another Coastal Oregon sunset, and we got just that.....




.....and what better way to end my two for the price of one blog post....thank you so much 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 linkand  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 for which we thank you very much!

Saturday, June 26, 2021

Still in Redding.....

 5:48 am - Saturday - June 26th - Redding, CA - 73° F, 57% humidity,  wind 3 mph out of the north by northwest......forecast high for today is 112° F.

We are still in Redding, and that is an interesting story,  which I will have to relate to you later today.  Again,  thank you for your patience,  and thanks for stopping by!

Friday, June 25, 2021

Road trip.....

10:30 am - Friday - June 25th - Redding, CA - 88° F, 30% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the southeast......clear, blue skies with a forecast high today of 107° F.  

(We are in Redding, CA as I write, getting our VW 'smogged'. I will post about Thursday later on today.  Thank you for your patience!)

On this date one year ago we had just arrived in Keystone, SD for a two week stay. You can see Mt. Rushmore in the background......↴



TLE had her usual split shift on Thursday meaning she would get off work around 4 pm.  Our plan was to leave for our trip to Redding, CA after she got off work and drive as far as we could before sundown, which we thought might put us in the vicinity of somewhere between Medford and Ashland, OR.  As it turned out she was off work at 3:30 pm, and we were on the road south a few minutes later.  

We made quick stop in Waldport to fuel up the VW for the 370 mile drive to Redding, but while we were fueling TLE realized she had forgotten her wallet.  After paying for our fuel we headed back to SRRVC to retrieve said wallet, and then began our drive south again....this time around 4 pm.....oh well...best laid plans, right?

We drove south on US-101 to Reedsport where we headed inland on US-38 to connect with I-5 southbound reaching that intersection after 118 miles around 6 pm.  There TLE took the helm for the balance of the day's drive.  

We ultimately ended up getting a room at the Days Inn in Medford, OR after arriving there around 8:15 pm.  The temp was close to 100° F, but cooled down to the high 70's by 10 pm.....


....from Medford we have about 140 miles more to Redding and a forecast high of 107° F....I'm already missing Coastal Oregon!

Thank 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 linkand  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 for which we thank you very much!