This and that.....

6:40 am - Wednesday - June 19th - Ramona, CA - 54° F, 97% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the west by northwest......sunny this morning with a forecast high of 79° F.....the view this morning......↴

On our non-work days we try to do something physical each day, and Tuesday we decided to take a walk together around the park.  TLE has this route she walks, when I am riding my bike, which covers about 1.25 miles, so that is what we walked......

.....I burned almost as many calories walking 1.25 miles as I did riding my bike for 3.6 miles on Monday, and in less time.....next time we'll do two loops!

We try to get out of the park at least one time per week, and Tuesday was that day this time around.  I spent about 30 minutes Tuesday before we went into town going through my two closets and my Rubbermaid storage bin pulling out items of clothing I had not been wearing.....mostly t-shirts, but there were also a couple of plaid shirts which did not make the cut.  By the time I was done I had a plastic trash bag full of clothing items to be donated back to the Goodwill.

We left RORVR around 11 am to make the 5 mile drive into Ramona where we had a number of errands to accomplish....

• visit several local stores looking looking for a few items.....Damprid, new sunscreens for our Newell windshield, butane to recharge our two lighters, and guy line adjusters.
• drop off my plastic bag of clothes at Goodwill
• have lunch at Rubio's......it's Taco Tuesday after all
• buy some groceries at Stater Brothers
• do some 'junking'

...we struck out on the Damprid, sunscreens, and guy line adjusters.....by the way, guy line adjusters look like this.....

.....we ultimately ordered those items from Amazon, and they will be delivered Wednesday.....there is it again....one day delivery for free!

We made it to Rubio's about 12:30 pm and split two original fish tacos.....

.....from there we walked over to Stater Brothers and did our shopping.  I had not given up on the butane to recharge our Olympian lighters, and stopped at a 'smoke shop' on our way home to see if they had what we needed, and they did.  It used to be you could get the aerosol butane almost anywhere.  I guess most people just buy the disposable lighters now, but we really like the Olympians.....

....we were back home by 2:30 pm, and setting up the outdoor TV to watch another women's FIFA World Cup match between Italy and Brazil, which was won by Brazil 1-0 on a very questionable penalty kick.  For the most part the officiating at this World Cup has been pretty good, but there have been a couple of matches where it was really subpar from beginning to end.  While the officiating in this match appeared to be pretty good, we were disappointed in the awarding of the penalty kick late in game.

Thanks for stopping by!

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A wonderful Sunday......

8:36 am - Monday - February 11th - Wittmann, AZ - 39º F, 45% humidity, wind 7 mph out of the west by northwest.....crystal clear, blue sky day with a forecast high of 59º F.....

Deep blue skies this morning

.....managed to sleep in until after 8 am this morning.....love being awakened by the rising sun on a clear day gently oozing through our bedroom curtains!

It was a little overcast Sunday morning, but by early afternoon the skies had cleared and we had a delightfully sunny, balmy afternoon.  We watched the entire English Premier soccer match  between the Tottenham Hotspurs and Leicester City which was won by the Hotspurs 2-1.  The second match between Chelsea and Manchester City was a 6-0 blowout in favor of Manchester City.

By the time the second match was at full time it was time for me to venture outside.  As you will recall I spent a couple of hours Saturday getting our gray water macerator pump working again, and I was successful, however, it began to leak after a few minutes of running so I was determined to completely remove it, take it inside the trailer to my work bench, then disassemble, clean, and put it back together.  This time I was completely successful and now it works properly.

By the time I finished with the macerator pump it was time to get dressed and drive into Surprise to meet fellow Newell owners Adrianne and Karen for lunch at Rio Mirage Cafe on Bell Ave.  We ate at Rio Mirage a few years ago when we were in town, and liked the food so a return visit was in order.  We met our friends there at 12:30 pm, and were seated within 5 minutes.....

.....Yelp gives them just 3.5 stars on 326 reviews, but after eating there twice now we would be at a solid 4 stars.....no question about it.  Very good, rustic, fresh Mexican food.  We talked endlessly for a couple of hours before paying our tab and heading for home.....thank yo Adrianne for treating us to lunch!

On our way home we stopped in at the local Goodwill, one of our favorites by the way, to see if they had anything without which we could not live......I found a very cool, black Tabasco shirt which I have to share with you.....

 Front

Back....great graphics!

......TLE also found a couple of things and we were on our way across the parking lot to the Trader Joe's.  We had bought a bottle of wine they were promoting within this store (a 2014 Cab) at the amazing price of $3.99/bottle (normally sells at $11.99/bottle).  We drank that bottle Friday night and loved it so we returned to by 6 more bottles......what a killer deal!

We were home a little after 3 pm putting away our spoils, and settling in to watch the Pebble Beach Pro/Am.  They had a late start due to rain, and hail in the morning, so it was obvious they would not finish all 18 holes on Sunday.  By the time the final pairing finished the 16th hole it was dark, so as I sit here this morning they are playing the last two holes with one of my favorites, Phil Mickelson, ahead by 3 strokes with 2 to play!  He began the day 3 strokes down, so he had a very good final round.

And that, my friends, was our Sunday.....thanks for stopping by!

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We're retired,right?

7:32 am - Tuesday - September 18th - Portland, ME - 69º F (really? already?), 98% humidity (has been raining for hours.....should be at least 100%, right?), wind 8 mph out of the south by southwest (I agree with this one).  Forecast high for today is 72º F and rain until early afternoon.  We had planned to depart Portland today, but we're retired and don't have to be anywhere, plus no one likes driving a 40,000 lb. motorhome/trailer in the rain, right?  So, we think we'll continue to hang out here in the Cabela's parking lot and see what happens...........

Welcome to our neighborhood!

We arrived in Portland, ME on Saturday afternoon, and needed to stay around until Monday so we could drive over to Waterboro to get our drug testing for Amazon out of the way.  We had to have it done by 9/18/2018, and they were not open on Saturday, so Monday was our earliest option.  The small clinic opened at 9:30 am, so we left around 9:15 to make the 30 minute drive.    As is often the case in the northeastern part of out country, the roads rarely run straight for very long, so we had to change directions and roads 4, or 5 times before we had covered the 21 miles between us and Waterboro.  

As we pulled into the parking lot I noted it was around 9:50 am.  We were back in the car on our way back to Portland by 10:15 am after having donated a few ounces of human liquid effluent for drug testing.

I believe I mentioned the other day that TLE was looking for a new pair of shoes for Amazon.  There is a DSW shoe store (Designer Shoe Warehouse) in Portland near the Maine Mall.  TLE is a member of this national chain, and gets a discount when she shops there, so it was an obvious choice to try and find her new shoes there....

.....it is a ginormous store with features women's shoes, but also has a men's section.  So, here the deal......why is it that anytime you go to a shoe store, about 2/3's to 3/4's of the shoes are for women?  I've even noticed this in thrift stores.....there will be 25 racks of women's clothing, and maybe 4, or 5 for men's clothing.  It's even more dramatic for shoes in thrift stores......there may be 8 racks of shoes (double sided) and only one side of one rack has men's shoes.  So, why is that?  Do men just wear their clothes and shoes until they disintegrate into a pile of dust,  or do women change their wardrobes out way more frequently than men?  These are things I think about on a daily basis.....after all, I'm retired so what else do I have to worry about? 😋

TLE did find a very nice pair of Pumas within about 25 minutes.....that is a record!  Next we were off to the local T.J.Maxx store to look for some new sheets for our queen size bed.  Amazingly she found just what she was looking for in about 10 minutes.....that is a new world record!

Like most malls, the Maine Mall has a theater complex nearby.  We haven't been to a move for a while, so I asked TLE to look up what was playing at the Cinemagic Theaters.  This theater has large, electric, leather recliners from which to view movies.....we last went to a theater like this in Sparks, NV a few years ago.  One of the movies playing there is 'Peppermint' starring Jennifer Garner.  I remember her from the TV series entitled 'Alias' in which she played this bad ass spy.  This series ran from 2001-2006, so it was pretty successful.  Based on the trailers we have seen it appeared that in Peppermint she was playing a similar character, so we decided to check it out.  It's just 90 minutes long, so not a big investment of time for retired people, right?

Getting comfortable!

.....I won't go into the details of the movie, but the script follows the classic 'biter bit' theme, and was actually a pretty good movie for two old retired folk to while away 90 minutes.  If you like action movies where the hero wins out in the end, this is the movie for you!

Our very, very good friends, Steven and Linda ('The Chouters'....pronounced 'shooters') sent us a message a few days ago that we had to check out a local Portland eatery called 'Duckfat' located on Middle Street in old Portland.  They have never steered us wrong, so we decided about 2 pm to make the drive over and check them out for a late lunch.....

.....they specialize in Belgian Frites (fries) cooked in duck fat.  They come in two sizes....small and large....of course.  We opted to split a large order of fries, and then also ordered a Beef Brisket Panini sandwich to split betwixt the two of us.  To chase these delicacies we each ordered a pint.....for me it was Allagash White (no surprise there), and for TLE it was Founders Coffee (stout)....OMG that Founders Coffee had such a wonderful coffee aroma, and finish!  This is a very SMALL eatery....all the tables are 'community' tables, which were all full when we entered, so we opted for two side by side bar stools at the very small 6 person bar.  In all I think they can seat about 30 people at a time.....

.....so, how was everything?  Well, this place gets a rare 5 stars for me.  Yelp gives them 4 solid stars on 1,909 reviews!  1,909?  That is the most reviews I have ever seen for a restaurant.  Yelp provides over 1,000 pictures of their dishes, etc......

.....the famous Belgian Frites (fries) above with the five dipping sauces, and the description of our 'flight' of sauces....we got all 5, of course.....is below.  My favorites were the horseradish and mayo, and the garlic mayo, however, all of them were delicious....

.....we were there until almost 4 pm before we decided it was time to drive our Belgian Frite swollen bodies home.  We made one more stop at a local Goodwill to donate my old golf irons I wrote about in yesterday's post, so the circle is complete.  I have a new, to me, set of irons, and my old ones can now be owned and used by someone new.

For our evening entertainment we watched a recorded episode of 'Last Ship', and a few 'American Pickers' episodes before heading off to slumberland once again.  It is nice to remember that we are retired and are not tied to any schedule.

Thanks for stopping by!

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It was all TLE's idea......I swear!

6:50 am - Monday - September 17th - Portland, ME - 62º F, 100% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the south......foggy with a forecast high today of 77º F.

It is much more humid here in Portland than it was in Southwest Harbor when we left.  We've been living in somewhat humid conditions most of the summer, so we've gotten used to it to the extent we don't complain about it anymore.  Thankfully it has only been in the 70's the first two days, and we haven't had to resort to using the A/C.  We just sit outside in the afternoon in the shade cast by the Newell and it is not bad at all.

So, what to do on a Sunday in Portland, ME?  TLE had a good idea.....in fact a couple of good ideas.....maybe even three......she found two Goodwills in the area, and the Allagash Brewing Company on Industrial in Portland!  Okay, so she had a fourth good idea.......hit up the local Trader Joe's!

We left home around 10:30 am heading for the first Goodwill.  It was only a couple of miles away, and pretty soon we were wading through the racks looking for t-shirts, shorts, etc.  TLE managed to find one pair of shorts, and I found a 'Ball' jar.....I use them for mixed drinks.  Then it was on to the next Goodwill where we both found a few more things we could not live without.  I found a whole new set of golfing irons (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, PW) and a new putter for $2 each, as well as an almost new pair of Bass flip flops for $4 ($25 new).   I've been unhappy with the original set of irons I purchased at the Goodwill in Carson City a few years ago, and have been looking for another matched set.  I know, I don't play a lot of golf, but one of the things holding me back all this time was I didn't like my unmatched set of irons at all, and I wasn't in love with my putter either.  So now I have a new set, and will donate the current set back to Goodwill.

It was now just after 12 pm, and time for lunch so we drove a few miles further to the aforementioned Allagash Brewing Company for some lunch and brews.  First we started with a 'flight' of four of their brews.....$5.......

Allagash Brewing Company

 'Flight' of brews

.....once we had both decided on what we wanted we ordered them (Allagash Black for me, and TLE their Curieux)....then we headed over to the food trailer to order our lunch.....

.....a lobster roll for TLE.....

.....and a lobster BLT for moi.....

.....there is nothing.....I repeat, nothing better than really good beer paired with really good food, and that is what we got at Allagash Brewing Company on Sunday.  After eating we hung out sitting in their beer barrel Adirondack chairs (made from beer barrel staves) for another hour enjoying the cooling weather, and lower humidity....

.....we finished off our stay at Allagash with a couple of Allagash Whites.....still my favorite Belgium White Wheat Ale ever!

......soon my watch told me it was after 2 pm and time to begin our trek over to Trader Joe's.....we haven't seen a Trader Joe's in over 4 months.....oh how we have missed you, Trader Joe's!  This Portland Trader Joe's is, by far, the largest TJ's we have ever seen.  We managed to find a bottle of the same Argentinian Malbec (Catena) that we had with our anniversary dinner at Red Sky a couple of weeks ago......$15 at TJ's, and $41 at Red Sky.....

.....we were done shopping and back in the Beetle for the drive home before 3 pm.  I sat outside for the rest of the afternoon enjoying the cool breezes, and napping in one of our beach chairs, while TLE stayed inside (allergies)......

......caught a picture of the sun setting over Cabela's.

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The tour continues.....

7:59 am - Sunday - April 15th - SoCal - 59º F, 25% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the north by northeast.....overcast with a forecast high today of 80º F......cooling down once again.  Will be back into the 60's by Monday.

Saturday would be the hottest day in the current 'warmup' hitting around 85º late in the afternoon.  Since I am not inclined at this point to ride my bicycle after last Tuesday's mishap until I am sufficiently healed TLE and I decided to take a walk for our daily exercise.  We began our walk sometime just before 9 am.  Initially we were just going to walk around the block because I wasn't sure how my ribs might feel, but after half a block I felt fine and we continued east on Rialto Ave. all the way to Cactus.  We then hung a left up to the PET*, then left again on the PET* all the way back to Maple, and the Fontana city limits where we made another left turn taking us back to Rialto Ave. and our finish at the Elks Lodge having logged 2.8 miles in 50+ minutes.....

.....at first my injured ribs hurt from breathing deeply, but eventually things loosened up and we were able to average about 3 1/3 mph for the entire walk.....not our fastest, but not too bad.

Continuing with our 'until next time' theme this week we agreed to meet our oldest daughter Meredith at a local Claremont eatery named Burger Bar (Foothill Blvd. and Claremont) for an early lunch at 11 am......

.....we pulled into the parking lot right behind Meredith (she is so punctual!) right at 11 am, and were sitting down to order within a few minutes......

......I ordered their BLAT (Bacon, lettuce, avocado and turkey) sandwich, and could only eat half of it before I was full.  It was stuffed with bacon and very thinly sliced turkey......it was delicious.  TLE and Meredith suffered the same fate as I with their entrees.  The portions are quite generous and we all ended up getting 'doggy bags' for the other halves of our sandwiches.  As always the conversation with Meredith ranged widely as we moved from topic to topic, but as it must be, soon it was time to say our 'until next times' to Meredith.

On our way east on Foothill Blvd. we decided to stop a a local Goodwill we had not visited previously.  I found no treasures to take home with me, but TLE did.  She has been turning over her wardrobe these past 3 weeks, and has found a number of replacement garments.  I'm pretty well set with my wardrobe and don't want to get rid of anything else, which I would have to do if I bought anything.  My drawers and closets are maxed out, and I am pretty happy with what I have.

Our next stop on Saturday's 'until next time' tour was my son Chris' home in upper Rancho Cucamonga where we would spend some time with him, Rochelle, Christopher, Cynthia, Ed & Linda (Rochelle's parents), Cynthia's son Daniel, and her significant other Daniel Sr.....

Left to right: Moi, Ed, Linda, Daniel Jr., TLE, Rochelle, Christopher, Cynthia, Daniel Sr. and Chris

....Daniel Jr. is our first great granchild.  We had a lovely time visiting with everyone including Chris' in-laws, Ed and Linda.  It's always a bonus when you like your children's in-laws and we like Ed and Linda a lot.  We have been camping with them on numerous occasions over the years.

A little before 3 pm we had once again bid adieu to more family and extended family giving and getting many hugs as we exchanged our 'until next times'.  Our next stop was COSTCO and then home for the rest of the day.  By the time we finished our shopping at COSTCO it was closing in on 4 pm and time for us to head for the barn.

TLE spent some time putting away the groceries and breaking down a rotisserie chicken she had purchased at COSTCO.  I spent time taking an hour long nap, which I needed.  We spent the evening watching some recorded shows from a few days prior, as well as a couple of episodes of the NETFLIX series 'The Crown' and were in bed by 10:30.

Thanks for stopping by!

*PET = Pacific Electric Trail

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It's Friday and time for more 'until next times'....

6:55 am - Saturday - April 14th - SoCal - 56º F, 26% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the north.....clear blue skies with a forecast high today of 85º F.  Enjoying the low humidity while I can.  As we head northeast it will definitely be more humid.  I am happy to report that today, the 4th day after the unfortunate bicycle acrobatics of Tuesday I am feeling much, much better.  My elbow is healing nicely, and my ribs, although still sore, are not impeding me too much from normal activity.  By this Tuesday, our new departure day, I am quite confident I will be ready to drive the Newell and change our view once again.

Friday morning it was so chilly (Chilly is one of those relative terms I use, right?  It wasn't Desert View chilly......it was SoCal chilly) I actually turned on the front electric heater to take the chill off the salon area.  I really love temps in the low 70's and overnight lows in the mid to low 40's.  That is my perfect climate.  Why can't it just be that every single day no matter where you live?  Of course, I also wish rain water were beer......but it's not.

We had very low aspirations for Friday.  With the wind there was not much I was willing to do outside, and I've pretty much got the trailer under control.  So, what do you do on a day without much to do except stay inside?  You work on your 2017 taxes which are due by April 17th this year.  For the past 15 years I have filed for an extension, without fail, every single year.  That was back in the time when I owned property, had 5 children, most of which still lived at home, had a lot of business expenses, and filed 4, or 5 schedules.  I have now, finally, arrived at the point in my life where the Federal 1040 is the only form I file for our Federal taxes.....no schedule A, C, SE, D, or any other letters.  I can now use the California 540 EZ form and use the standard deductions and exemptions on everything.  Before I was always waiting for some odd 1099 form to show up when tax day arrived, so I just filed for the automatic 6 month extension.  Actually completing and filing my taxes before tax day is quite a new feeling, and I like it a lot.

At any rate I sat down about 10 am to begin working on my taxes.  First up was the Federal 1040 off which everything else works.  Since we worked in California, Wyoming and Arizona this year I have W-2's from all those places.  I finally got our W-2's from our California job (TVC) a few days ago so there was no reason for me not to do my taxes before the current deadline.  I had the 1040 form completed in about an hour, and we are getting back just shy of $400.....yay!  Then it was on to the state forms.  I hate California's form, which I have been completing all my life.  It is four pages long (the 1040 is just 2), and very confusing.   Wyoming does not have income tax so no form for them, but Arizona has income tax so it was on to their confusing , but short 2 page form.  By 1 pm the deed was done.  We're getting an additional $26 back from California, and we owe Arizona $4.  We chose not to have any withholding done while we worked at the Grand Canyon as we knew we would get more than enough back from the Feds to cover and taxes due Arizona, and we were right.

I was so 'exhausted' I decided to take a nice nap.  Just as I was dozing off TLE asked me when we were going to run our errands.  Wait, what?  Errands?  Oh yeah, we needed to make some clothing donations to Good Willy, drop off all that stuff from the trailer I decided we didn't need to carry around anymore at Chris' warehouse, and stop at Stater Bros. (California supermarket chain) on the way home to do some shopping.  Ah well, I'm willing to sacrifice one nap for the greater good, so we were off in a cloud of dust!  By the time we were finished running around and back home it was around 2:30, and time for that nap I didn't get earlier.

We had made arrangements to meet my dear brother Philip and his wife, Jeannie, at Pomona Valley Mining Company (in Pomona, CA, of course) for dinner at 7 pm.  He and Jeannie live in Temple City (about 40 miles west of Fontana) so it is kind of a half way point for both of us.....and we love the view!  We've been eating at this restaurant for at least 30 years, and I am always very grateful they are still in business every time we come through SoCal.

We left the Elks Lodge at 6:15 pm, because it can take as long as 45 minutes to get there if the traffic doesn't cooperate, but on this night we got there in 25 minutes.  Since we were 20 minutes early for our reservation we went into the bar to order some drinks, and wait for Phil and Jeannie to arrive.  

Phil is 14 years younger than I.  He is actually closer in age (only 7 years older) to my oldest son, Chris, than he is to me.  There are 5 children in my family.  I was the first born, and my oldest sister, Jill, was born 2 years after me.  The last three (Dwyer, Hilary and Philip) are 10, 12 and 14 years younger than I am.  I didn't really develop significant relationships with them until I was in my 40's.  It was  like we had two separate families, even though all 5 of us had the same mother and father.  Anyway, Philip and I have become very good friends in the last 20 years, and actually took vacations together for about 10 years before we went on the road.  He is also the only sibling who still lives in SoCal.....the other three are spread to the four winds (Washington, Michigan and Utah).  So, whenever we are in town it is imperative that we hook up with Phil and Jeannie at least once for dinner.......

......I was trying to capture a picture of the view of the surrounding area and I-10 traffic, but inadvertently caught Philip and Jeannie's reflection in the window.....how cool is that?

We talked, drank, and ate for almost 3 hours, and I loved every single minute of it.  I keep telling Philip and Jeannie they need to chuck everything, get a motorhome, and come out on the road with us, but at 54 they are not yet ready to retire.  Not being able to see them on a regular basis, and take vacations with them is one of the downsides of the nomadic lifestyle we have adopted, and we miss them terribly.

The restaurant was getting ready to close at 10 pm, so we said our 'until next times', hugged each other more than once, and then headed back to Fontana.  As I sit here writing today's missive there is a little pang in my heart knowing we will not see them for almost a year.  TLE and I have spent literally 100's and 100's of hours sitting around campfires with Phil and Jeannie laughing, crying and telling great stories.

Thanks for stopping by!

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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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