Breakfast and stuff......

8:01 am - Friday - March 30th - SoCal - 58º F, 55% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the north by northeast.....clear blue skies with a forecast high today of 88º F!

Thursday we only had one appointment.....a 9 am breakfast appointment with two of our daughter's, Sharon and Katie at Nancy's 50's Cafe in Rancho Cucamonga which gets 4 stars on 251 reviews on Yelp.  It's about a 25 minute drive from the Fontana Elks Lodge so we left around 8:30 and actually arrived there at 8:55....life is good when you hit all the green lights!

The girls arrived within minutes, and for the next 90 minutes we talked non-stop as we always do.  The coffee and food were exceptional, and the conversation was superb.  It seems just like yesterday that Sharon and Kate were in grade school and now they have families.  Where has the time gone?

By 10:30 we were back in the VW headed for the local COSTCO to pick up a few things.  As is almost always the case when we shop at COSTCO we come away with a few things not on our shopping list.  I needed some new shorts, and a new 100' hose to replace the one I use when we must use our macerator pump to dump the black tank such as we do whenever we are here at the Fontana Elks Lodge where we only have water and electric and the dump station is almost exactly 150's away from the coach.  In order to reach it with the macerator pump I need a 50' hose and a 100' hose.....the 50' foot contractor grade hose we have had for close to 10 years is still going strong, but the old 100' one has developed a lot of kinks over the last 5 years, and needed replacement.....we bought it originally when we were at the INDY 500 back in 2012 for the same purpose, but it was very cheap, and I have regretted buying it from the very beginning.  I wasn't expecting to find the hose I wanted at COSTCO (had planned to stop by Home Depot on the way home), but fortunately they were selling a contractor grade 100' non-kink hose for $24, so I snatched it up......killer deal!  

You never know what COSTCO will have clothing wise on any given visit, but on this day they had exactly the type of shorts for which I was looking, so I grabbed a couple of pairs for $12 per pair....score!

Our route home from COSTCO took us directly by the local Fontana Salvation Army and Goodwill stores, so we stopped off to do a little junking.  TLE found a nice dress, but I came away with nothing once again.....that's fine.....I need to get rid of a few articles of clothing anyway.

We were home by 12 pm, and settled in for the afternoon.  I had a few small projects out in the trailer which I worked at for a couple of hours including getting my Cannondale Bad Boy bicycle put together to do some rides on the local Pacific Electric bike path which stretches from Rialto to Claremont...about 25 miles with no street riding.

That about wraps us our Thursday.....thanks for stopping by!

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Truckin'............

7:38 am - Thursday - March 29th - SoCal - 54º F, 60% humidity, wind 1 mph out of the north by northwest.....clear blue skies with a forecast high of 83º F!  I love sitting by the open window first thing with bare feet in the morning typing the blog instead of having all the windows closed, rocking 4 electric heaters, wearing slippers and wishing I could type with gloves on my hands.......quite a reversal of fortunes from 13 days ago.  It feels like we have been gone from Desert View longer than 13 days.

Wednesday was my scheduled doctor appointment with my primary care physician in Rancho Cucamonga.  I had signed releases on Monday to have my medical records transferred from my doctors in Arizona and he had received them by the time I arrived for my appointment at 11:30 am.  Usually when I get my blood pressure checked at a doctor's office my readings are higher.....maybe because I hate going to the doctor.....on this day my reading came in at 127/72.....just like my readings at home!

At any rate my doctor was pleased with my progress, and extended my blood pressure medication prescription for 15 months.....yay, no more doctor's appointments for over a year!

I stopped by my son's office to pick up some more mail, and was on my way home by 1 pm with no more obligations for the day.  I spent some time setting up my new Garmin Trucker GPS.  You might ask.....'Why the Trucker, and not the RV version?'....well, the Trucker was $100 less, plus it already has maps for Canada included......

.....it is really quite intuitive to use, and within 5 minutes I felt ready to 'Navigate'.  This will replace a small HP mini netbook which used to sit on our center console taking up most of the space on said console.  Now that I have the Garmin and can attach it to my driver's window using a suction cup, we have the use of our center console while underway once again.  It, the Garmin, has a 7 inch screen, which is only slightly smaller than the screen on the HP, and with the suction cup I can place it virtually at eye level enabling me to keep my eyes more on the road.  With the HP I had to look to the right, and down.....I'm sure TLE will like me keeping my eyes on the road.....😊

That was pretty much our Wednesday.....I puttered around the trailer putting away recent purchases, and then spent the afternoon reading, and then watching 'Fixer Upper'.  TLE had me grill a filet mignon for dinner to which she added sides of artichokes and cauliflower rice.....all very, very yummy.....

.....thanks for stopping by!

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Installation day.....

7:41 am - Wednesday - March 28th - SoCal - 51º F, 45% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the north with a forecast high of 79º F......just another loverly SoCal day!

Tuesday was the dedicated installation day for the 'new' Splendide 2000 'S'.  Knowing how relatively simple things like installing a new washer/dryer can consume enormous, unexpected amounts of time I dedicated the entire day to that enterprise.  I did not want any time constraints pressuring me to rush the process.

My plan was to drive the VW over to my son's office in Rancho Cucamonga about 9 am to join him in loading the 'new' Splendide into the back of his Chevy truck and then drive with him back to the Elks Lodge to load it into the Newell, and then put the 36 year old Splendide into the back of his truck for the ride back to Rancho Cucamonga where we will store it temporarily.

Everything went smoothly and according to plan.  By 10:25 am the 'new' Splendide was sitting on the floor at the top of the entry steps.  To make it easy Chris backed his truck right up to the door.  I then brought out a 2.5' x 5' piece of 3/4" plywood to bridge the gap (TLE's idea) between the tailgate and the steps into the Newell.  Then it was just a matter of Chris and I carrying it into the Newell....."easy peasy"!

I then helped Chris load the old Splendide into the truck bed, and we were off back to Rancho to drop it off, and retrieve the VW.  I was back home about 11:30 am and then off to Home Depot to buy new stainless steel braided fill hoses to replace the 36 year old fill hoses, as well as a new dryer vent hose.  Once this thing is in its cubbyhole I do not want to have to pull it back out for any reason the rest of my life!

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By 12:30 I was installing the new fill and vent hoses and then inching the 'new' Splendide into its cubbyhole, hopefully for the last time.....wishful thinking, huh?  Moving the 'new' Splendide that last 5 feet into its final resting place took about 2 hours, but by 2:30 pm the deed was done.........

Is that tight, or what?

.......there she is......everything works, and there are no leaks.....order is restored in our Newell world........suweet!  Before I put the pantry back together we ran the Splendide through one cycle still looking for leaks, but all was well.  By the time I put the pantry shelving and doors back in place it was after 3 pm, and I was tired......pleasantly tired.  

I took some time to relax and take a short nap before heading outside to set up the Sea-B-Que in order to grill some pollo asado for the street tacos TLE had promised earlier in the afternoon......and that was our Tuesday.....thanks for stopping by!

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R.I.P splendid Splendide......

7:31 am - Tuesday - March 27th - Fontana, CA - 57º F, 24% humidity, wind 14 mph out of the north by northeast......feels totally calm at this time....sunny skies with a forecast high of 74º F.

Monday was errand day.   We needed to pick up several packages at my son Chris' office (new Garmin GPS, an air purifier and a replacement filter for that purifier), as well as our mail, have lunch at Rubio's, drop off some donations at Goodwill, shop at Goodwill, stop by my primary care physician's office to make an appointment, get my medical records transferred from the Grand Canyon Clinic to my primary care physician, be at TLE's optometrist appointment by 2 pm, and then head home to remove the old Splendide washer/dryer from the Newell to make way for the installation of the 'new' Splendide washer/dryer (also at my son's office) on Tuesday.

We were on our way into Rancho Cucamonga by 11:10 am and at my son's office by 11:30 am.  Our oldest grand daughter, Cynthia works for Chris in the family insurance business and is now pregnant with our second great grand child......can you believe that?  She is due in September and looks great!  We spent about 30 minutes visiting with Cynthia and Chris before gathering up our mail and packages and heading to lunch at Rubio's Coastal Grill.....this is a southwestern U.S. franchise, so whenever we are back in SoCal a lunch there is a must.

From there we headed over to Goodwill where we donated a few things, but found nothing without which we could not live.  Next it was over to TLE's appointment where we were in and out within 20 minutes, then it was over to my primary care physician's office to make an appointment for Wednesday, and sign a release so they can get my medical records.  We were headed home by 3 pm, and within minutes were getting ready to remove the aforementioned old Splendide.

I have to say, I was a little concerned about removing the old Splendide as it has not been outside the Newell since it was installed over 36 years ago.  It is quite heavy, plus that compartment where it has spent its life is very tight, and then getting it down the entry stairs would surely be 'fun', right?  I knew it would be difficult inching 150 lbs. of metal out of its cubbyhole, but I had it to do.

It took me about an hour in all to remove the shelving, the pantry doors and then the Splendide itself.    It took a while to 'inch' it out, and then there were the stairs with which to contend, however, with TLE's help we muscled it down the stairs and on to the artificial turf without mishap.....

R.I.P. splendid 'Splendide'

.....by the time we had the Splendide compartment cleaned up for the new Splendide,  and reinstalled the pantry doors and shelving it was after 5 pm and I was exhausted!  Time for a nap and an adult beverage.....not necessarily in that order.  

We got a lot of use out of our old Splendide over the 10 years we have had the Newell, and when the dryer stopped working we never even gave replacing it immediately a second thought.  Some people don't like these small washer/dryer combos, but we have learned how to use it, and it makes our life on the road more pleasant......we rarely, if ever, spend time sitting in a laundromat, which is one of my least favorite things to do!

We watched some recorded TV programs ('Timeless', 'Designated Surviror', 'Chopped' and 'Beat Bobby Flay') and were in bed by 11 pm.....what a day!

Thanks for stopping by!

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