A cut above, or below, as the case may be.....

1:01 pm - Tuesday - February 26th - Wittmann, AZ - 66º F, 25% humidity, wind 8 mph out of the east by southeast......blue skies today with a forecast high of 68º F.

We checked out of our hotel just before 6 am on Monday, and were at Flagstaff Medical Center by 6:10 am.  We found a parking spot right in front....I would hope so at 6:10 am in the morning!  We walked into the hospital and headed for the pre-op registration office arriving about 6:15 am.  By 7 am my name was called, and we were led into the surgical center where I was placed in a curtained room to change out of my clothes, and into the ubiquitous backless dressing gown.

TLE then took this picture of the cyst in my right cheek saliva gland......

 Before....

.....the surgery was scheduled for 8:30 am, and Dr. Tritle stopped by about 8:10 am to apply a 'smiley face' to my right cheek, so there would be no error......

 Dr. Tritle put a smiley face on my right cheek so there would be no mistake

JUST IN CASE YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE THE GORY DETAILS STOP READING HERE AS THERE ARE GRAPHIC PICTURES FOLLOWING

.....the last thing I remember, just like the last three times I've had surgery, was having an oxygen mask put over my mouth, which also includes the anesthesia.....the next thing I knew I was waking up 2.5 hours later.....about 11 am.....from the surgery.  Where the large golf ball like lump was is now a small crater where the rather large cyst called home for the last few years.  That 'crater' will gradually fill back in over the next 6 months.....

Just after I woke up.....I had a drain for about 24 hours

.....according to Dr. Tritle it took over 50 stitches to close everything up....as you can see from the picture above the incision begins about the middle of my ear, and runs down my jaw line then below the jaw line for total length of about 5-6 inches.....that was all pealed back to get at the cyst.  It took me most of the rest of the day to get over the effects of the anesthesia which left my mind in kind of a fog, and my stomach feeling slightly woozy.  I was authorized by Dr. Tritle to have as many as two Percocets every four hours, but I was able to get by on one every 5-8 hours before the pain would rise above a 6 on a 1-10 scale.  With one Percocet the pain was between a 2 and 3 on the 10 point scale.

For the first 24 hours I had a drain running out of my lower jaw area to a bottle kept in a pocket in my dressing gown, which was periodically emptied....by the time the draine was removed the discharge was down to a minor trickle.....  

Just after the drain was removed 

......frankly the pain, and extreme discomfort I was expecting did not materialize.  I was, understandably,  just a little uncomfortable for the first 6 hours, but then my disposition improved dramatically.  I am able to eat regular food.....no straws involved.  There are no bandages engulfing the right side of my face as I expected......just a long, ugly incision, which will improve in appearance over time.

The one thing I love about Flagstaff Medical Center is you can order anything off their menu anytime between the hours of 7 am to 7 pm.  For lunch I had a bowl of tomato soup, and a cup of coffee.  For dinner I had breakfast......scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, a fruit cup, and a glass of Sierra Mist (soft drink).  You just pick up the phone, dial 12345, and place your order.  Within 15 minutes the food is delivered to your room, and it is actually pretty good food!

So, now I am in recovery mode for the second time this month.  My first surgery back on February 5th is a distant memory, and pretty much healed.  Now I start the process all over again, but all is well in Whatsnewell land.

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Clean air.......

8:17 am - Sunday - February 24th - Wittmann, AZ - 35º F, 76% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the north by northwest......partly cloudy/sunny with a forecast high of 62º F.  We leave for Flagstaff in a few hours.......we'll spend tonight at a hotel so we can be at the hospital at 6:30 am....two hours in advance of my surgery........wish me well!

When we first got up Saturday morning it was below freezing, and it apparently had been for long enough that our fresh water hose came close to freezing.  When I first turned on the kitchen faucet the water was coming out at a dribble, but over a few minutes the flow increased back to normal.  That is an indication that ice was beginning to form somewhere along the 60 plus feet of our hose.  Since we have to run our hose so far to the water connection my heated hose is of no use as it is only 20-25' long.

As soon as the outside temps warmed sufficiently I went outside to remove the old air cleaner which was last replaced 2/5/2015.....

The 4 year old filter has done its job, and now sits forlornly by the trailer awaiting its ultimate fate

.....removing the air filer is not very difficult.  The hard part is installing the replacement.....the task makes one wish he had an extra arm, if only for a few minutes.....

......there are three metal straps which must be loosened and/or removed to remove the filter, but before that you must loosen two clamps from the rubber ducting through which the air travels from the air cleaner to the turbo.....this entire rubber assembly must be removed before the air filter can be removed.  As I said, removing it is easy......getting the new one back in is another matter entirely......

......it probably took me close to an hour to get the new air cleaner installed and secured as one bolt on one of the straps had some bad threads and would not screw into the fixed nut, so I had to find a replacement....fortunately my friend Tom (our host) had a brand new one with pristine threads just a tad longer than the old one that did the trick.

Tom and Darlene had tickets to a free concert being held at the Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts in Wickenburg for Saturday.  They were unable to use them so we became the beneficiaries of their generosity.  The performance was at 3 pm so we left a little after 2 pm for the 25 minute drive into Wickenburg getting parked about 2:40 pm, and in our seats by 2:50 pm.  The band performing was the USAF Band of the Golden West, The Commanders Jazz Ensemble.  The jazz ensemble represents the Air Mobility Command at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, CA, and travel about 3 months a year giving free concerts around the country.  Of course one never knows what to expect for 'free', but I have to say what we witnessed so far exceeded any expectations we had that we found ourselves, along with the entire audience giving two standing ovations over the course of their 90 minute performance.....

They performed 16 or more songs over the 90 minutes finishing with a stirring rendition of 'Battle Hymn of the Republic, and then Stars and Stripes.  We were so impressed with their professionalism, and the quality of the presentation.  Our seats were perfect.......Row B (2nd row) right smack dab in the middle......up close and personal.  If you every have the chance to see them, or any of the various military branch orchestras, do it.....you will not be disappointed!

We were home a little after 5 pm in time to see another subtle, but beautiful sunset.......

.....as I grilled two filet mignons for our dinner I watched the sun slip below the western horizon once again.  Life is good.....in fact, it is better than good!

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Post deluge......

8:00 am - Saturday - February 23rd - Wittmann, AZ - 32º F, 91% humidity, wind 5 mph out of the north......clear blue skies today (no rain!) with a forecast high of 54º F.  Our 'city' water line came close to freezing last night.....close, but no cigar.  When I turned on the water this morning it slowed to a trickle, so I let it keep running for a few minutes and it gradually thawed out, and came back to full pressure.

As has been our habit the last few months we awoke to a continuation of the rain from the day/night before.  It continued raining most of the morning, finally coming to a merciful end around 3 pm.

Friday was also 'dump the black tank' day.  We had a brief window without rain around 10 am so I began the process only to be rained upon near the end of the process.  By the time I put everything away I was very cold, and a little damp.

Looking at the 14 day forecast for Wittmann it appears we are in for some much warmer weather in the short term with temps getting into the 70's over the next week, and then settling into the 60's....a nice change for sure....

 Wittmann weather looking quite good for the next two weeks!

.....after warming up inside the coach for a few minutes I walked over to the Newell Barn to see what Tom was up to on a Friday afternoon.  He was installing some new 12 volt LED lights in the storage bays on the 2002 Newell, so I hung out watching him install 4, or 5 all the while talking about this and that.  I enjoy talking with Tom as I always come away knowing more than I knew before.

As is often the case when a weather system spends itself and finally moves along we had a wonderful sunset Friday evening.....it was very brief, but glorious......

.....TLE and I spent the evening catching up on some recorded shows, including Blacklist, which was two one hour shows  back to back (no Blacklist for two weeks now), which answered a few more questions, but also added a few more at the same time.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Rock Bottom.......

8:21 am - Friday - February 22nd - Wittmann, AZ - 36º F, 99% humidity, wind 7 mph out of the east.....heavy cloud cover today with a forecast high of 48º F.  Rained steadily ALL night long....still sprinkling as I write.

Thursday we awoke to the gentle sound of rain on the roof, and except for a brief respite around 10 am, it rained continuously all day long.  We had a date to meet my niece, Heather, over in Glendale at Rock Bottom Brewing (7640 Bell Road, Glendale, AZ).....Heather is the daughter of TLE's sister, Phyllis, with whom we hooked up in Flagstaff a few weeks ago.  We pay a visit to Rock Bottom at least once a year when we are in Wittmann.  We love their brews, and their food.....both are consistent, and top notch.

To get to Rock Bottom is about a 40 minute commute from the hinterlands of Wittmann, AZ, so we left just after 11 am to be sure that we would arrive by 12 noon.  Between us and asphalt are a little over 1 mile of dirt roads, and when it rains here they get really spongy, muddy, and just plain underwater in places.  There have been times in past years where the last section of dirt road was not passable due to the depth of the water and mud, and we were forced to cancel appointments.

After slogging through miles of rain drenched roads and highways we arrived at Rock Bottom just before 12 pm.  Heather arrived a few minutes later.  Heather happens to work at the same Phoenix Amazon Fulfillment Center we are going to work at next Peak Season.  She has been there for 3 years now and was a fountain of information for us as she happens to work the same overnight shift to which we have been assigned beginning November 11th.

TLE and I immediately ordered a pint of their 'Tweeker Oil' (5.8% ABV) brew......coffee infused vanilla porter produced on a limited batch release.  For our entrees I ordered their 'Street Tacos' with shrimp.....OMG....some of the best I have ever had.  TLE had their 'Smoked Chicken Quesadilla', and that was also very, very good (I had some for dinner as she could not finish the whole plate).

Our time with Heather (married with three children) flew by, as did the conversation.  We always enjoy getting together with Heather, and are so grateful she had time to have lunch with us on Thursday.

Since we were less than two blocks from a Trader Joes's, and a COSTCO we availed ourselves of their grocery offerings (sour dough bread, chips, coffee, some Kirkland premixed Cadillac Margaritas, cheese, rotisserie chicken, almonds, etc.) before heading for home around 2:30 pm. By the time we arrived back in Wittmann the roads were a little worse for the wear, and there was one section just before the end of the pave portion of the road that was under water for about 100 yards.  I was concerned that our low slung Beetle might have an issue, but we made it to the other side without incident, and were parked beside the Newell 8 minutes later unloading our shopping spoils.

We barely got home when it really began to rain in earnest, and it continued unabated into the evening, and all night long.  As I look out our window I see a lot of standing water surrounding the coach.  The good news is we have a stretch of about 11 days with no precipitation whatsoever.  Maybe things will finally dry out here in Wittmann!

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150 Yards......

8:34 am - Thursday - February 21st - Wittmann, AZ - 41º F, 98% humidity (began raining early this morning, and continues as I write), wind 10 mph out of the southeast......cloudy and rainy today (Friday, too) with a forecast high of 50º F....

Can't seem to escape the rain

Our main obsession Wednesday was to move our Newell and trailer to the rear of Tom's property.  Normally once we are settled I don't like to move, but our hosts have their 4th annual BBQ coming up on March 2nd and they will need the front area where we were for guest parking for the event.  As you know it has been raining quite often since we arrived here in Wittmann, and there will be more rain so we waited until the ground was as dry as possible following the last rain storm before moving.  

It was bitter cold first thing Wednesday, so we did not begin to even think about moving until after 12 pm.....right in the middle of the '4 hour window' when the day is at its warmest.  Instead of packing everything up for the 150 yard move I disconnected the hoses and drug them back to the new hookups, then disconnected the electrical cords and placed them on top of the artificial turf which TLE and I then drug to the new site after moving the Newell and trailer.  In all it took about 30 minutes start to finish to get situated in our new site for the next 2 weeks.

Our new site....behind the Newell Barn

The the tables and chairs for the guests at the BBQ are inside Tom and Darlene's large Newell Barn, so both the Newells in there must be moved outside so everything can be set up.  That will happen in the next 10 days I would surmise.

In the afternoon I spent some time with Tom watching him work on his rivet project, and then the rest of the afternoon taking a nap, and doing some reading.  TLE played cards with Darlene and Karen until almost 10 pm.

I will be publishing the 5th and final installment of '2018 Year In Review' later today so be sure to look for it.....thanks for stopping by!

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Relaxing.......

7:53 am - Wednesday - February 20th - Wittmann, AZ - 28º F, 76% humidity, wind 7 mph out of the east by northeast......clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 54º F.  Today we move from the front yard of Tom and Darlene's home to the backyard, and full hookups including 50 amp electric!

Tuesday was such a nice, sunny day that we just took the day off from chores, projects, home improvement and repairs.  I spent a large part of the day out in Tom's Newell Barn helping him work on his Newells part of the time, but mostly just keeping him company while he rebuilt 12 air valves for a 1998 Newell he recently purchased, and then helping him remove some outside trim on his 2002 Newell so he could realign two large pieces of aluminum skin which cover the outer wall, and then replace all broken rivets, which, in this case, was ALL of them in the middle section between his two slides.  When the rivets popped the aluminum skin shifted almost 3/16" of an inch, and if left unattended would continue to shift, eventually interfering with his slide operation.....

 A lot of missing rivets!

Where the trim pieces where

Click on picture to enlarge....I have circled the area where the aluminum skin has sifted 3/16" ....the panel on the right is the actual slide, so you can see the shifting skin is moving towards the slide.

.....Tom and I have become good friends since we first met about 9 years ago when he had a 1990 Newell at the time, and I enjoy working with him, and talking about everything under the sun.  Since he retired and moved out to the 'country' in Wittmann we have visited he and Darlene pretty much every winter since for anywhere from a week to a month at a time.

TLE, on the other hand, spent the afternoon playing cards with Darlene and Karen (wife of Adri)....they also have a Newell.....I think 1999, with two slides.....and have been here for about a month now while Adrian commutes into Phoenix to work each day......

.....in the above picture you can see Adrian and Karen's coach in the back (left side of picture) next to the Newell Barn, and our coach and trailer in the front of the house (on the right).

While I was helping Tom my new air cleaner arrived via UPS, so now I have another project on which to spend a couple of hours in the next few days.  Tuesday was a very relaxing day.....just what we needed.

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Home improvements and repairs continue.....

7:45 am - Tuesday - February 19th - Wittmann, AZ - 34º F, 84% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the northwest......clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 55º F. 

Monday, following the unexpected rain overnight, it was heavily overcast until mid morning when we began to see patches of blue peaking through the cloud cover.  By early afternoon there was more sun than clouds and things began to dry out a tad.  It never got warm enough for t-shirts and shorts, but by early afternoon I had switched from shoes to flip flops.

It was important that I test the repair I made on the TRICO air operated windshield wiper motor, so I turned on the block heater to warm up the big DD so I could start it a couple of hours later when I was ready.  Otherwise, I spent time fiddling around with the MAC valve I replaced back in early January, and as far as I can tell now it is working as it should, so it will go back with the other spare MAC valves I carry with us.


About 1 pm I lit the fires in the DD 6V92, built air pressure, and then tested the TRICO air wiper motor......it works again!  I don't know if my repair will last, but now I know how it works, how to remove it, take it apart, and put it back together again......successfully.  My good friend, Guy Cobham, owns a 1984 Newell and recently had issues with one of his TRICO air wiper motors (driver side).  He was able to find a truck parts place in Rome, GA (Rome Truck Parts, Inc.) which carries our exact TRICO wiper motor, so if I do need to replace ours I now know where to get one ($175 shipped).

Exactly like mine 

By 2 pm it was getting cold outside again, and time to head inside.....you've got to make the most of that 4 hour window.  

TLE spent the better part of the afternoon working on our curtains.  Several years ago she worked on the front curtains that cover the passenger and driver side windows, as well as the front windshield at night.  The 'pull ends' were getting a little shabby, so she bought some light weight 'ultra suede' material to rebind those ends, and it really came out well.  As the years have passed the other curtains have begun to show their age, so over the past week she has been doing the rest of the curtains.  The curtains themselves still look good, but the ends where you grab them to pull them open and closed needed attention.....

 Curtain on the driver side with 'ultra suede' now covering it

 An 'unbound' curtain end

 The original work TLE did a few years ago on the front curtains

.....the dark brown'ultra suede' looks good, and 'renews' the curtains for a few more years, as well as adding a little color to them......the color matches our faux dash leather covering pretty well, don't ya think?  So, home improvement continues at a brisk pace.  When we get back to Fontana TLE will begin to work on our 'blackout' curtains for our trip to Alaska to block out the midnight sun.

Thanks for stopping by!

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The 4 hour window......

8:29 am - Monday - February 18th - Wittmann, AZ - 39º F, 94% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the northwest......cloudy today after an all night rain storm with a forecast high of 52º F.

Without the clear blue skies Sunday, and the constant sun it would have felt much colder.  Here in the desert during this winter there is about a 4 hour window during the day when the outdoor temperatures are conducive to t-shirts, shorts and flip flops.....10 am to 2 pm.  Outside of that time window you must wear hooded sweatshirts, pants and shoes when outside, so I just don't go outside until 10 am.

I only had two things I wished to accomplish Sunday.....finish wiping the dirt and grime off the rear cap, and remove the right windshield wiper air operated motor to see why it stopped working.  You will recall our harrowing journey from Chattanooga, TN southward through Atlanta and Macon to Valdosta, GA on I-24 when it rained hard all day long.  I don't think I have ever had to run my wipers for 9 straight hours before, but apparently that put the almost 37 year old right (passenger) windshield wiper on the disabled list.  Fortunately I can get by with just the driver side wiper.....the passenger side is really for TLE's convenience, but I want my stuff to work, so Sunday was the day I decided to investigate the cause of its demise.

Since the windshield wipers are air operated they function independently one from another.  There are approximately 12 phillips head screws which hold the wiper assembly in place on the front of the coach, plus two more screw caps which attached the actual 'wiper' to the motor.  Once you get the wiper detached from the motor and the 8 phillips head screws there are at least 4 more slot screws to remove before you can get at the actual motor.  Then there is one vacuum line, and two air lines to detach before you can hold the motor in your hand.  It took me a good hour to remove the motor, mostly because it was my first time.  I'm sure the next time I have to remove one of them it will only take 20-30 minutes.

 The whole assembly before removal

That's a lot of screws!

Once I had the motor sitting on my workbench there were another 8 screws to remove which hold the body of the motor together, then I was able to pull the halves of the motor apart.  Once I had the motor opened I saw there was a plastic piece that was broken.  It appeared to be some sort of a 'stop' to limit the range of the wiper, but I couldn't be sure that was what was keeping the motor from operating.  Nevertheless, using some super glue, I fixed the broken piece and reinstalled it where it belonged.  The motor appeared to be well lubricated, so that ruled out one idea I had.  At any rate, I reassembled the motor making sure all the parts were moving easily, and then reinstalled the motor....only took about 15 minutes, and there were no parts leftover!  I'll need to start up the Newell to build air pressure to check to see if it is fixed......I have my doubts, but we will find out then.  If not, then more research will be required to repair it, or solve the problem of its disabled nature.

Before.....

After.....all clean now!

Once that was done I got out my telescoping ladder to wipe the grime/dirt off the top of the rear cap, and then called it a day.....by then it was fast approaching 2 pm and beginning to become, once again, inhospitable to t-shirts, shorts and flip flops.....time to head inside to watch some golf!

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The little generator that could.......

7:42 am - Sunday - February 17th - Wittmann, AZ - 35º F, 84% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the northwest......cloudless, deep blue skies with a forecast high today of 54º  F.

Our hosts (Tom and Darlene) arrived home from their one month trip to Southeast Asia on Friday, and Saturday TLE went on some errands with Darlene.  While she was gone I decided to disconnect from our electrical umbilical cord and plug into our 'new' Honda EU2000i generator to see if, as advertised, it could power our rear A/C unit, which was really the whole point of buying it, right?  

This used Honda 2000 watt, 3.5 horsepower generator starts on the first pull every time, and runs so quiet.....maybe a little quieter than the Predator, but not by much.  Once the Honda had warmed up for a few minutes I plugged in the RV 50 amp cord, and then went inside to turn on the rear A/C.  It takes about 4 minutes before the cooling unit kicks in, and when it did I saw the amp usage surge, but the little Honda kept up with the surge, and then settled down.  Within seconds I could feel the air coming out the A/C vents getting colder and colder.....YAY!!!  It works!  I let the Honda power the A/C for about 20 minutes before turning off the A/C, and then let it run a few more minutes to cool down before shutting it down.  I could not be happier with my decision to buy the Honda, and once again, have successfully bought an appliance on eBay that works as it should.

I spent the rest of the morning using a micro fiber towel to wipe the accumulated dirt, and grime off the back, and passenger side of the coach.  The rear was particular dirty after driving in the snow and slush in Flagstaff on February 7th.  Initially I was going to get out the hose and wash it down, but one of the benefits of using the waterless wash system I use is that after application you can just wipe off the dirt, and the shine immediately returns....

You can really see the contrast in this picture!

......now I'll have to get out the ladder to finish the top portion!  I managed to get the lower half of the passenger side done before taking a break to watch some more of the Genesis Open (Riviera Country Club).

Around 4 pm Tom took me for a ride in his new 'Razor' for about 40 minutes, and just as we returned I saw that TLE and Darlene had also just returned.  We went inside to talk for a while, and then headed back out to the Newell for the evening. We watched a couple of recorded programs, and then called it another day.

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A new 'generation'.......

8:04 am - Saturday - February 16th - Wittmann, AZ - 44º F, 80% humidity, wind 7 mph out of the west......sunny today with a forecast high of 58º F.

Friday began cloudy, but eventually cleared to partly cloudy with lots of sun....perfect for walking around outside in my winter uniform.....t-shirt, shorts and flip flops.  It was 8 days since we dumped our tanks at the Conoco fuel station in Flagstaff prior to descending to a more respectable, and warmer elevation.  At any rate it was time to deploy our portable macerator pump to transfer our current effluent to our hosts sewer clean out, which is about 40 feet from our coach, and slightly uphill.  I took my time pumping out the waste, then refilling our black tank to the 1/2 mark 4, or 5 times to really get her flushed out.  It's been a while since I had the time to really flush the tank properly.

While I was thus engaged we received two UPS shipments of things we had ordered since we arrived here in Wittmann......a lightly used Honda EU2000i generator, and a box of chrome 20 lug nut caps for our front wheels.....our old ones were getting rusty, and quite sad, so it was time to refresh them.  The new to us Honda will supplant our Predator 2000.  The Predator can only sustain a momentary surge of 1600 watts  (continuously at 1300 watts), and, therefore, will not run either of our A/C units.  Our A/C units only draw 10-12 amps when they are running, but when they start there is a momentary surge to about 1900 watts which overloads the Predator.. The Honda, on the other hand, can take a surge up to 2,000 watts, and run continuously at 1600 watts.  We wanted a small generator that could run at least one of our A/C's, or our block heater, and we really want that option for our trip to Alaska this summer.....  

The 'new' to us Honda EU2000i

  The new sparkly ones.....

 The old, sad, rusty ones....

......I spent some time adding fuel to the Honda, checking the oil, and then starting it to be sure all was well.  It works great, but the acid test will be putting it under load which I will do Saturday.  Next I installed the new chrome lug nut caps, and I was done for the day.

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching the Genisis Open (golf) being held at the Riviera Country Club in L.A.  I remember back in the late 80's taking my oldest son to Riviera Country Club to follow Jack Nicklaus around the course when it was still called the L.A. Open. It is a beautiful golf course.....at the end of the 18 holes Jack gave my son Chris his golf ball, which he still has to this day (I think).

As you will recall, last winter TLE and I worked at the Grand Canyon (Desert View General Store), and made several friends.  Sherrie and Kathy were two of those friends, and Friday evening they were both in town and suggested we get together for dinner.  We agreed to meet them at our favorite local Mexican restaurant, Rio Mirage Cafe in Surprise, at 7 pm......

Left to right: Moi, Sherrie, Kathy, TLE.....I like being surrounded by beautiful women!

....fortunately,  they arrived about 30 minutes early and were able to get a table.  I always forget how busy restaurants can be on a Friday night, and this Friday night was no exception!  It took us a while just to find a parking spot.  We had a wonderful time catching up, and reminiscing.  I remember on the first, or second day we were working at the Desert View General Store I told Kathy that although I did not know her very well yet, I knew I was going to like her a lot.  Sherrie worked down the hill from the General Store at the Trading Post, but would occasionally come through the store, and I remember telling her how much I liked her smile, and that every time I saw her smiling it made me happy.  Nothing has changed over the last year!  The food and company was stellar, but by 8:30 pm it was time to bid our adieus and head for home.  Thank you Sherrie and Kathy for the get together......we had a blast!

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A project pause......

7:33 am - Friday - February 15th - Wittmann, AZ - 47º F, 100% humidity, wind 1 mph out of the north by northeast.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 62º F.

It began raining on and off during the night, and by 10 am Thursday it settled in for good, and didn't stop until early evening.......

It rained enough to fill several of these tree planters

.....since it was raining we decided to head into Surprise to do a big shopping, and seek out a Supercuts for moi.....it's been over 5 weeks since my last haircut, and I was in great need of a 'trim'.

TLE found a Supercuts on Bell Ave. just off the 303, and  a WINCO, and Walmart close by so we headed out around 10:30 am, and arrived at the Supercuts 20 minutes later.  Within 15 minutes I was in the 'chair' getting my ears lowered while TLE drove over to WINCO to pick up a few items.  She was back a few minutes before my coif was done, and then we headed off to Walmart to finish our 'big' shopping outing.  For us a 'big' shopping means we fill one regular sized shopping cart full, or almost full.  We haven't done one of these in a long time, but now that we are sitting in one place for a month it was time to restock the pantry shelves, which were looking kind of bare to me.

By 1:30 pm we were home putting away our spoils and settling in for the afternoon listening to the rain on or aluminum roof, napping, and watching some PGA golf.....no outdoor chores for me this day.  I wish there was some way to take a 'picture' of the wonderful aromas floating through the rain drenched air.  Each time I would venture outside I was enveloped by the wonderful smell of rain soaked sage.....it is so refreshing and invigorating....if only we could bottle that aroma!

That was pretty much our rainy day, and it was nice not to do much of anything all day long!  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 we may use to buy wine......lol!

Three naps.......

7:34 am - Thursday - February 14th - Wittmann, AZ - 52º F.....wait, what?  Yes, 52º F at 7:34 am....unprecedented!  The humidity is at 72% since it has been raining overnight, and the wind is at a low 6 mph out of the east.....very cloudy today with more rain, and a forecast high of 55º F!

Wednesday began with a subtly beautiful sunrise, but what is the saying?  "Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning!"......rain is on the way.

I was awake before 6 am Wednesday, but stayed in bed until after, finally getting up around 6:15 am.....much too early for a retired person.  Oh well, on those days you just get up knowing there will be one, or two.....maybe even three naps during the day.  Believe me, long, guiltless naps are one of the perks of retirement.

Keeping in line with the previous 5 days in Wittmann I had more projects on my mental list which need a check mark next to them.  You will recall I cleaned our rear facing radiator back in Inverness, FL a little over a month ago.  At the same time I washed out both engine bays.  In the intervening time there have been a lot of windstorms, and everything was quite dusty in there once again, so time to get out the vacuum and clean it out!

I couldn't even read the engine specs there was so much dust in there!

Once order was restored in the engine bays I turned my attention to the trailer interior.  That has not been vacuumed in a few months and it was quite dirty, so I spent another 45 minutes picking up more dirt.  I may have to change out the ShopVac bag with all that mother earth inside!  Fighting the ever present dirt is an ongoing battle when you spend you life mostly parked on dirt/gravel/sand.....we can vacuum the Newell interior in the morning, and we are right back at it by late afternoon.  All the going in and out inevitably results in dirt being tracked into our Newell and trailer interiors in spite of our best efforts.....but, he he heard himself say, I would not have it any other way!

Clean again......the Airstream mat was left by a customer at TVC a few years ago....I liked it so I use it in the trailer

Speaking of vacuums, after vacuuming the trailer TLE brought her Bissel out for me to fix the cord.  Apparently when I had worked on it a few months ago I had failed to properly secure the power cord in the housing so it could not be pulled out.  It took about 30 minutes to rectify my mistake.

It was now closing in on 12:30 pm and time for the first of several naps.....TLE prepared a nice sandwich for me, after which I took a 30 minute nap.  Now I was ready for the main project event of the day.....install the new LED strip lights under the rocker panel on the passenger (starboard) side of the coach to match the new ones.  The process went much more quickly this time as I still had the soldering iron, and 12 volt bench tester on my work bench.  As is appropriate, I spent most of my time preparing the surface of the rocker panel to receive the adhesive backing on the strip lights.  The actual installation just just a few minutes.

Another project checked off the mental list, so another nap was in order.  One side note resulting from me vacuuming out the passenger side engine bay....I happened to glance up at the very large air filter and noticed the date it was installed (I always write the date installed on all the filters) was 2/5/2015.....it's been 4 years since I installed that filter....seemed like it was just a year, or two ago.  

 To  rectify my oversight I went online and ordered a new filter from Filterbarn shipped to my current location.  I should have it in a couple of days, and will be able to check another item off the list.  Have you ever noticed that as you run through a mental checklist you seem to add an item for every item checked?  

It was now late afternoon, and is most often the case in the desert it begins to cool off quickly after 3 pm.  Wednesday's high was 68º F, enabling me to spend most of the day in my preferred uniform.....t-shirt, shorts and flip flops.  At any rate I was done with projects for the day so retreated to the warmth of the Newell and took another nap.....sweet....three naps!

TLE made a wonderful taco salad for dinner, and then we watched some recorded programs before heading off to slumberland around 10 pm.....a very profitable day in every way!

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 we will use to by wine......lol!