Low batteries....

7:23 am - Wednesday - January 31st - GNHS - 49° F, humidity 94%, wind 2 mph out of the southeast....partially cloudy skies today with a forecast high of 68° F.  On this date in 2016 TLE and I returned to the Anza Borrego Desert for the second time in a few weeks......

After two great days spent with my brother and his wife it was time for them to return to their workaday lives, and for us to begin a day of relaxation, and the recharging of our depleted social batteries.  We both walked over to their site around 9 am where preparations for departure were already in progress.  As they worked we talked knowing that the time for 'until next times' was fast approaching, and there was no way to avoid that.  By 10 am we were hugging and planning for our next visit, and then watched as their Class A motorhome edged out of the park.  It has been a busy two weeks filled with family, and we have loved that time, but we spend most of our time by ourselves, and whenever we are able to spend time with our children, and siblings it can feel exhausting....at least in the aftermath of their visits.

Within minutes TLE and I embarked upon another of those 1 mile out and back walks averaging 3.3 mph this time.  Then it was time to sit on the 'lido deck' cooling down from the walk, and our two days of fellowship with Phil and Jeannie.....

At the end of our walk, standing in front of the now empty site #1 where Phill and Jeannie resided for two days

....shortly after our return I got out the outdoor TV so we could watch an English Premier match between Newcastle and Aston Villa.  Aston Villa was the home team, and had not lost a home game in over a year, but I guess that's why you play the game, because Newcastle, unexpectedly, won 3-1!

After the game I took the General we used on our Monday adventure down to the fuel station to fuel it, and then back to the COA office to wash it.  I reported yesterday that we still had over 70% of our fuel left, but I was wrong....we had 59% of our fuel left, but that is still good, right?  We could have gone another 70 miles...lol.

Soon it was time for our second 1 mile walk of the day....we only managed a meager 3.1 mph, but that's fine.  It is the walking that is important, not the speed.  By the time we cooled down from the second walk it was getting close to 4 pm, and almost time to retire to the 'viewing deck' for another sunset vigil....

Post walk picture #2 for the day

......we had a lovely time, and had the Chocolates light up, accompanied by a nice sunset picture....

....around 3 pm some new people arrived to spend some time in site #1, where Phil and Jeannie had been just a few hours earlier.  I remember these people from last year.  They bring out a bunch of flood lights to light up the palm trees in their site.....my kind of people.....

.....it was quite warm Tuesday, so we decided to have dinner on the 'dining/gaming deck', and then play another game of Mexican Train....the new domino game Phil and Jeannie taught us.  We managed to play 5, or 6 rounds before the mosquitoes chased us indoors.  Yup, you read right....the mosquitoes have made an unwelcome appearance at GNHS.  I don't remember mosquitoes last year, but my memory may be faulty.  Based on how Mexican Train is played we figure it could takes many hours to complete one game, so we'll return another evening to continue learning this fun game.

Thanks for stopping by!

The big loop.....

7:27 am - Tuesday - January 30th - GNHS - 48° F, 94%, wind 3 mph out of the east......crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 72° F.  On this date in 2019 TLE and I were at Beaver Street Brewing in Flagstaff, AZ having some brews......

TLE and I began our day Monday with another of those 1 mile out and back walks, averaging 3.4 mph....

Post walk picture

 .....and then began to get ready for our all day adventure with Phil and Jeannie....an almost 70 mile excursion in one of our 4 seat Polaris Generals.  We were in the General and on our way by 10 am.  Our goal was to complete the entire Chiriaco Summit Loop, with a stop at the summit for lunch......

....at this point (below) we've driven around 15 miles along the Coachella Canal Road, and are nearing the point where we turn eastward to begin the long climb to Chiriaco Summit from some 150' below sea level to 1,706' above sea level.....

....we've now gained enough elevation that we can see the Salton Sea in the distance (below).....

.....the drive to the summit takes about two hours with a few stops thrown in along the way....we probably stopped three times to take in the big view....which had us arriving at Chiriaco Summit around 12:15 pm.  There is a wonderful cafe there called the Chiriaco Summit Coffee Shop....it is really much more than that with a full menu, and alfresco dining.....

.....I had their Chiriaco Burger (why not, right?), and TLE their Ortega Burger (onion rings included on both)......

.....Philip  got their Corned Beef Hash (breakfast is served all day), and Jeannie their Patty Melt....we all got onion rings, and we all loved our selections.....

....we sat there enjoying the quiet ambiance of their outdoor dining area for over an hour before deciding it was time to begin heading for home.  Chiriaco Summit is just over 1/2 way along the loop, and to get back to GNHS we had to  pick up the Red Canyon Jeep Trail about 1.5 miles from the restaurant.....TLE managed to get a short video of part of our journey along that trail.....

.....riding along the Red Canyon Jeep Trail was the highlight of this long loop.....you stay high for quite a while affording wonderful 360° views......

.....we made several stops along the way to take in the enormous views, and eventually the Salton Sea came back into view......

There's the Salton Sea in the distance!  We must be going the right way!

....by the time we reached the old train trestle it was around 2:20 pm, and we had just shy of 30 minutes left on our journey......

.....and by 3:10 pm we arrived back at the COA office in GNHS....WITHOUT INCIDENT!  The ride was wonderful, and the plush ride of the 4 seat General was greatly appreciated by all.  We returned with over 70% of our fuel remaining....these Generals get great gas mileage!  Without the 'Ride Command' program that comes with these Polaris units we would have gotten lost more than once, but we just kept ourselves on the blue line, and never made a false turn.  This was our first time driving the Chiriaco Summit loop, so having access to 'Ride Command' was priceless for us, and now we can tell our customers what to expect along the route.

We all headed home to rest before reconvening down at the hot pools/tubs at 4:30 pm to enjoy another sunset soak, music, and laughter....I managed to catch the tail end of a very subtle sunset.....

....we were all still full from lunch so we retired to the 'dining/gaming deck' around 5:15 pm for a spirited game of 'Phase 10'.  Philip and Jeannie have never played 'Phase 10' so there was a long learning curve for them, and we didn't finish the game until almost 10 pm.....I came from way, way behind (I was 3 phases down at one point) to win on the 1oth and final phase....the cards definitely favored me this night....

......what a blast we had....there was good wine, great Pico De Gallo and chips, and lots of laughter, and kidding.....a typical Hockwald gathering.  I cannot begin to convey to you here how much it has meant to TLE and I to have this precious time with my brother and his wife....we are so sympatico!  By the way, Philip will turn 60 in about a week.....Happy Birthday little brother!

Thanks for stopping by!

Brothers by the same mother.....

6:52 am - Monday - January 29th - GNHS - 52° F, humidity 87%, wind 4 mph out of the north by northeast.....partially cloudy, again, today with a forecast high of 72° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were enjoying our 33rd Sunset at the Tiki Bar in Cedar Key, FL.....↴ 

33rd sunset

Tiki Bar at Low Key Hideaway

.....people would drive in from Gainesville, FL, about 120 miles roundtrip, just to see the sunset and have drinks at the Tiki Bar in Cedar Key.

We had only one all day rental Sunday, which was actually the second day of a two day rental, so I met Hunter at the office to wait for our customer to arrive, and finished cleaning the muddy RZR from Saturday.  By 9:30 am I had finished cleaning the RZR, and our customer had arrived and headed  out for his second day of RZRing, so I clocked out, and left it to Hunter to finish out the shift.

Sunday was also the day my brother Philip, and his wife Jeannie would be arriving in their Class A motorhome for a couple of days.  We haven't seen them for at least a year, and it's been at least 3 years since we've gotten them out camping with us.  I am the oldest of 5 children, and Philip is the youngest.  We're about  14 years apart in age.  I headed off to college when he was 3 years old, so never really had a close relationship with him until the past 20 years, over which time we've become really good friends, and done a lot of camping with he and Jeannie and their kids, who are both now married with kids.  My oldest son, Chris, who is 51, is actually closer in age to Philip than I.  He goes boondocking with Chris and Rochelle, and my other kids all the time.  There was a span of 5, or 6 years when we went to Lake Tahoe pretty much every summer with them.  At any rate, we always cherish the times we are able to get together, and whenever we do it is as if we just saw them yesterday.

They arrived at GNHS around 12:40 PM, at which time TLE and I were watching the NFL AFC Championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Baltimore Ravens.  After greeting them, and seeing them to their site, TLE and I headed back to the 'lido deck' to continue watching the game, and to give them time 'set up' in their site.

Eventually, around 4:30 pm we headed over to the hot pools/tubs for a soak, and had a wonderful time catching up with each others lives (Jeannie is a faithful reader of my blog, so she always knows what is going on in our lives.....lol).....

....of course, during the time we were soaking, the sun began its inevitable slide toward the western horizon once again.....

....around 5:30 pm we headed back to our respective abodes to change, and get ready for dinner which consisted of TLE's amazing Chicken Alfredo....Jeannie contributed side salads, and garlic Texas toast....yum!  After dinner Phil and Jeannie offered to teach TLE and I how to play 'Mexican Train', which is a game played with Dominoes......

....we had a blast, laughed a lot, and probably had too much wine, but what is a little vino between good friends, right?

The north wind came up briefly about mid day necessitating the taking down of the 'red wall' for a few hours, but it was back up by dinner time.  We're off in a couple hours for an all day RZR ride up to Chiriaco Summit (near I-10), and back....it's about a 60 mile loop trail that TLE and I have not ridden before, so it will be fun!

Thanks for stopping by!  And thank you Philip and Jeannie for coming to visit us!

Consistency is illusive.....

7:11 am - Sunday - January 28th - GNHS - 51° F, humidity 83%, wind 3 mph out of the north......partially cloudy today with a forecast high of 72° F.  On this date in 2016 TLE and I were having an early dinner at Prison Hill Brewing in Yuma, AZ......one of our all time favorite micro breweries......

 Saturday was our big COA rental day this week.  We began the morning with two confirmed bookings, and ended up with four....two all day rentals, and 2 half day rentals.  In between their departure was a lot of waiting around, as it always is.  Last year TLE and I would be worrying most of the that interval about getting rescue calls, or accidents, but this year seems different.  We don't really worry this year.  If we get a call we take care of the issue, and if there's an accident we deal with it when it happens.  Fortunately, most rental days end without incident, and this year we have plenty of machines so we're not worried about not having enough inventory to cover our advance bookings....life is good!

.....since we were working I did my one mile out and back walk solo, and managed to average 3.6 mph.  I'm really feeling great now, and my knee injury has become a distant memory.  In the one month since December 26th I've lost 8.5 pounds, and TLE is right there with me.  Consistent, moderate exercise produces amazing results, and that is the rub, right?  Trying to be consistent is the issue, but this winter we're doing great on the consistency.  I also threw in another toning workout during my 1 hour lunch break.  The toning exercises I do reduce soreness in my shoulders (I broke both shoulders over the years....right one in 1968....high jumping, left one in 1999....mountain bike accident), hips, knees and ankles (broke one many years ago...1978...hunting accident).  Those old injuries bother me occasionally now, but when I am consistent in walking, stretching, and working out, those times are much more infrequent.

The day was very nice with wispy, high clouds, and a high temp of around 69° F, plus no wind!

Our first rental returned at 3 pm, the next around 3:45 pm, the third at 4 pm, and the final one at 4:40 pm.  The spacing of their return enabled me to fuel, and wash each one without having to rush.  The first three were not that dirty, or muddy, but the fourth one was covered in mud.  I had planned to just park the fourth one when it returned, and take care of fueling, and washing it Sunday, but you cannot let that mud get dry, or it will takes hours to clean it.  I was able to get it clean in about 30 minutes, and by that time it was well past sunset, so no sunset pictures of Saturday are available for publication today.

Once I had parked the last RZR I closed the office (TLE and Hunter had clocked out by that time), and headed inside to take a long, hot shower.  TLE had a Margarita awaiting my return, and also had made Enchilada Casserole for dinner....what a woman!

We've only one confirmed booking for Sunday, which is pretty typical on a non-holiday weekend, so we've got that going for us....lol!

Thanks for stopping by!

Out of the blue.....

6:52 am - Saturday - January 27th - GNHS - 49° F, humidity 87%, wind 7 mph out of the north......partially cloudy skies today with a forecast high of 69° F.  On this date in 2012, just days before we began our full time nomadic adventure, I was viewing an amazing sunrise at Rancho Jurupa Regional Park.....

We had no advance bookings for Friday, so we opened the office at 9 am, and then TLE and I spent an hour, or so measuring the tread depth on each of the 8 four seat RZRs to see how many tires we will need to be replacing soon.  The minimum tread depth Polaris wants is 12/32's, and out of the 32 tires on those 8 RZRs there are 5 at or below 12/32's, with a few more getting close, so we (COA) will need to order tires to replace those for the balance of the season.  In the interim we will focus on renting those RZRs which still have good tread depth.  The terrain here at GNHS is very hard on tires, unlike the terrain in Durango, CO (actually Purgatory Ski Resort), which is not hard on offroad tires at all.

We had a lot of walkup interest in the RZRs Thursday, but no renters, so we closed the office around 11 am, but stayed close in case we did get a customer, or two, but that never happened.  We took two more of our one mile out and back walks averaging 3.4 mph on the first, and a leisurely 3.1 mph on the second one....

Mt. San Jacinto and Mt. San Gorgornio finally have snow 

In other Newell related news I managed to install one more of the new reading lights....this one over the instrument panel for the Newell....

....only one to go now.  

Additionally, on Friday, we had unexpected Santa Ana Winds arrive right out the blue.....no warning from the weather service.....and had to rapidly take down our sail shades, and the dining canopy, which are still down as I write.  The winds never got ferocious until early this morning (Saturday), but they have now abated for the time being.

Because of the winds we did not spend any time on the viewing deck, but I did get pictures of the Chocolates lighting up, and the sunset.....the sunset pictures were great because you are actually able to see the Salon Sea due to the angle of the light coming from the setting sun behind the clouds......

Click on this picture to enlarge so you can see the shimmering 

Salton Sea in the distance

....well, we've got a somewhat busy Saturday ahead of us with 3 rentals going out (2 all day, and one half day), so it's time to get cracking.  Thanks for stopping by!

Laugh, think, cry.....

 7:13 am - Friday - January 26th - GNHS - 52° F, humidity 74%, wind 6 mph out of the north by northwest.....partially cloudy today with a forecast high of 69° F.  On this date in 2018 TLE and I were riding the Grand Canyon Railroad with our daughter Meredith who had come to visit us the winter we worked at the General Store at Desert View......

For the first time in a week TLE and I worked.  We had two 1/2 day rentals (4 hours) booked, so we opened the office at 9:00 am to get the two rentals prepped (wiped down, pictures taken, etc.) before our customers began to arrive at 9:30 am.  After all that rain on Monday our RZRs had a lot of water spots on them, and the 2 seat General which went out in that rain storm was still filthy, in spite of Hunter's valiant attempt to clean it when it returned Monday afternoon, so I had to spend a lot time finishing what he began.

Both of our rentals came from offsite once again, and both came from the Palm Springs area where they were spending the week.  One couple was from Wisconsin.  We got them processed, and on their way a tad after 10 am.  By the way, I had to take the 2 seater down to the fuel station to top off its tank, and found this.....

....around 2" of water in the tub under the elevated fuel storage tank.  Last year it had rained more frequently than this year, but we never had standing water like this 3 days after any of the rain events.

Once our customers were on their way TLE and I took turns taking our 1 mile out and back walks.  I managed to average 3.5 mph again, covering the distance in just over 17 minutes.....

....both of our rentals returned around 2 pm, and the 2 seat General was covered in mud.  TLE and I drove both units down to the fuel station, and then directly back to the wash station where I spent the next 90 minutes blasting caked on mud off each one....the 4 seat RZR wasn't as bad as the General, but they were both quite dirty inside and out.  I didn't clock out until almost 4 pm, by which time I was ready for a long, hot shower.....love that Girard tankless water heater!

Next up was a stint on the 'viewing deck' for some Classic Vinyl music, an adult beverage, and a couple of cigars....a suitable way to end any day in the SoCal desert, workday, or not.  There was some modest cloud cover so the Chocolates didn't quite pop like they usually do, and the sunset was also a little muted, but it was nice, nonetheless, to sit and appreciate another day well lived....

....making an effort to see the day out each day kind of slows down life a little, for me anyway. It gives a man, or woman, time to reflect on the day, and life in general.  A wise man (Jim Valvano) once advised that if you can spend a few minutes each day thinking, laughing, and crying you will live a life with meaning and value.  I've come to believe that sentiment more with each passing sunset.

Here is Jim Valvano's quote in its entirety: "To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special."

Sometimes something somebody says just resinates with you, and you never forget it.  This was one of those times for me.

Thank you for stopping by!