How did it all begin?

7:16 am - Saturday - April 20th - Fontana, CA - 56° F, 81% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the south by southwest.....overcast this morning with a forecast high of 70° F.

Friday morning I composed my 2,712th blog post since I began blogging back in May of 2009, and sometime either late this year, or early next year I will pass the 3,000 mark.  Over that time there have been some 1,243,384 page views.  There are some days when I think it would be nice to take a break, but that feeling quickly disappears.  Sitting down to compose my blog each morning just after I wake up has been my habit since I began blogging on a daily basis back in October of 2012.  Frankly, I cannot imagine doing anything else first thing in the morning.  My original purpose when I began blogging was that this would be like a diary for me, and our children, and grand children could read it to find out where we were, and what we were doing.  That anyone else besides my family reads my daily missives is somewhat of a mystery to me, but I am humbled, and grateful that so many choose to read my ramblings each day.  I go through periods of time when my writing seems to me to be a little perfunctory, but I do strive to be somewhat interesting whilst transmitting a sense of what our life looks like living full time in our 1982 Newell Classic.  
  
When the dream of living and traveling full time in an RV first crossed my consciousness I began to search the internet for information about how to do it.  One of the first sources of information I found was a blog by the name of 'The Adventures of Tioga and George'.  George began blogging back in May of 2003, about a year before we purchased our original 1987 Fleetwood Tioga Arrow, a 26' Class C motorhome, and that is how I found George's blog.....he owned a 1991 Fleetwood Tioga Arrow, a 27' Class C motorhome.  And that is how it began.  I read through all of his blog posts finding out about how he had installed a solar system on his Tioga in an effort to avoid staying in RV parks.  He wanted to RV on his own terms, and stay where he wanted to stay, but off the grid.  This kind of RV lifestyle had great appeal, and as we edged ever closer to our full time dream coming true I endeavored to set up whatever RV we obtained to be able to function off the grid.  My goal was not to do it 100% of the time like George, but as often as the opportunity presented itself.  While George's Tioga was 27' long, my rig with trailer is 62' long, so a lot of George's boondocking choices would never work for us.  At any rate, I wanted to option to live off the grid when I chose.   

It was because of George's blog that I decided I would do the same, and so on May 28, 2009 I wrote my first blog post introducing ourselves formally to the blogosphere.  I only wrote 39 blog posts in 2009, and the same in 2010.  I only posted when we were out using the Newell.  I began posting daily in October of 2012 when we arrived in Campbellsville, KY to work at Amazon for the first time.  I wanted a daily record of that experience.  Frankly, I only intended to do the daily posts until we finished our Amazon contract, but by the time we left Campbellsville just shy of 3 months later I was hooked on the daily routine, and have continued that ritual ever since.

And so here we are today, April 20th, writing about the events of April 19th.....so what happened on April 19th?  The registration on the VW is due to be renewed in July, and in California one must get their vehicles 'Smogged' (tested to see if they pass current emission standards for that particular vehicle) every other year.  Since this is a 2001 VW my test years are always the 'odd' numbered years....easy to remember.  We left home around 10:30 am to drive over to Joel's Automotive.  I have been going to Joel's for car service since the mid 90's, and even though his shop is a good 30 minute drive from the Elks Lodge we continue to go there for repairs, and smog testing when we are in SoCal.  We arrived there just after 11 am to find Joel's smiling face behind the counter.  We need no  repairs this year, so it was just the smog test, and true to form the car was tested and returned to us with a passing grade within 20 minutes.

The local 'The Hat' world famous Pastrami Dip place is just up the street from Joel's so that is where we headed next.  TLE and I split a single Pastrami Dip and an order of onion rings......

1/2 of the world famous Pastram Dip

......the Pastrami Dip is so big, and has so much meat there is no way to eat a whole one by yourself and have onion rings, and don't get me started on their amazing, magical onion rings!

I had my scheduled Pacific Eye Institute appointment at 2:15 pm to have three tests run to determine if I have glaucoma, or not.  The results of those tests will be revealed when I meet with Dr. Dovich on the 25th.  At any rate, when we finished eating it was just 12:30 pm, and we did not need to be at Pacific Eye Institute until 1:45 pm, so TLE found a couple of thrift stores where we could do some 'junking' to pass the intervening time.  I did not find anything without which I could not live, however, TLE found one clothing item that she had to have.

We arrived at Pacific Eye Institute around 1:40 pm, and I was called in for my three tests around 2:20 pm.  I can take a nap pretty much anywhere, and that is what I did to pass the intervening time.  The tests were completed by 2:40 pm, and we were on our way home to the Elks Lodge arriving home just about 3:15 pm.  We turned on the A/C before we left at 10:30 am, and it was into the low 90's outside, so we arrived home to a cool Newell interior.  Love those 37 year old Duo Therm A/C's!

And so, there you have it.....another day in our lives out there for public examination, and/or comment.  Thank you for stopping by to follow our story!

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Continuing the 'until next time' tour.....

6:59 am - Friday - April 13th - SoCal - 54º F, 27% humidity (how dry I am), wind 13 mph out of the north......clear blue skies.  It was windy all night and that wind, according to the forecast, should continue into the early evening.  The forecast high today is 80º F.

I was up a little after 7 am, and TLE followed about 45 minutes later.  Getting out of bed Thursday was much easier than Wednesday.  While I am still quite sore from my bike crash on Tuesday the improvement in my condition was 100% better Thursday over Wednesday.  It took a couple of days, but the bruising on my ribs and left hip is now quite apparent, and one can now see exactly where my rib cage contacted the concrete curb......

.....there is also a long vertical bruise on my left hip, but taking a picture of that would necessitate taking off my pants, and I will not burden you with that image....😁

So, we have set our new anchor weighing date for this coming Tuesday (April 17th).  Based on my quick improvement that should allow me time to heal enough to begin driving, as well as finish a number of tasks on my 'to do' list.

Around 10 am my son Chris arrived to drive TLE and I over to Joel's Automotive to pick up the VW Beetle.  We arrived at Joel's about 10:30 and they were just about finished putting the air intake manifold back on (you have to remove it to get at knock sensor #1, which is why I didn't tackle it), so we walked over to Rabi's Cafe to have a late breakfast.  Yelp gives them 4 stars on over 200 reviews, and we would agree.  We have eaten here on several occasions over the years while having the oil in the Newell changed......

.....I ordered their Country Breakfast and TLE their Egg Melt, and just after we received our orders I got a text message from Joel advising the VW was ready.....perfect!  We finished breakfast a little after 11 and walked back to Joel's to pay our bill and then run a couple of errands on our way back home which included an obligatory stop at the local Trader Joe's.  We understand there is a Trader Joe's in Portland, ME which is about 174 miles from where we will be spending our summer in Maine, so if we do drive down it will probably be an overnight kind of deal.

After arriving back home TLE got to work on another seat project.  When she remodeled her passenger chair she had to take off the 'skirting', and decided she would replace it with something much newer and less ratty looking.  She ordered some valance material via Amazon and it was delivered to our P.O. Box Wednesday (Chris had picked it up on his way over to pick us up).  She spent and hour, or two working on installing the new 'skirting'.  This is the before (a picture of my driver's seat without the skirting....she's replacing my skirting, also)......

.....below is the finished product on TLE's passenger chair......I think it came out pretty well....

.....TLE didn't really have to modify the valance material.  It was already the right length and width as well as hemmed, so it was just a matter of her attaching it with the same stainless steel screws and grommets from the old one.

Around 6 pm we drove into Ontario to have dinner at the home of our son Tim and his lovely wife Laila continuing on with our 'until next time' tour with our kids and their families.  We spent close to 3 hours with them finishing evening sitting in their backyard around their gas fire pit talking and laughing until after 9 pm before we exchanged our final hugs and headed for home.  Once again it was wonderful to spend 'one on one' time with them.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Rehab - Day 2

7:36 am - Wednesday - April 12th - SoCal - 52º F, 70% humidity, wind - 4 mph out of the south by southwest......partly cloudy with a forecast high of 73º F.  If you don't like California weather just wait a couple of days....it has dropped 20º in the last two days.  As of this morning my bruised ribs are feeling much better.  I didn't have to take a pain pill to get to sleep last night.

Tuesday saw me not doing much of anything.  Most anything I wanted, or needed to do in preparation for our departure requires some lifting, or extensive use of arm and chest muscles and there is just too much pain from my bruised ribs so I was a good boy and just rested.  As long as I stay still I do not have much pain, but lifting (of course), bending over, getting in and out of my recliner all hurt.....not as bad as Tuesday, but it still hurts.  I did help TLE retrieve her sewing machine from the trailer, however, which required me to remove everything from the workbench so it could be lifted enabling her, not me, to lift out the sewing machine which is stored between the Cannondale Tandem bike and the front wall of the trailer.  It only comes out a few times a year, so it does not have to be readily accessible.  Usually I would perform this task, but lifting anything weighing more than 1 pound hurts like hell right now.  TLE is really being a good sport about it all.

I got a call from our mechanic at Joel's Automotive about our VW.  As I reported we are having the oil changed and a check engine light investigated.  He advised that whoever changed the oil the last time cross threaded the oil pan plug damaging the threads on the oil pan, so that whole 'assembly' will have to be replaced.  On our second issue, the

light, he advised it was the connecting wire and connector that were bad, not the knock sensor, so he was going to have to track down that wire/connector.  As a result we would not be getting the VW back until Thursday.  To Joel's credit, he did call back about 3 pm to say he had located the wire/connector in Pasadena and could have the car ready by 5, but I didn't want to fight rush hour traffic to get to and from his shop so we deferred to the previously agreed to Thursday pick up.

I've been getting emails from various readers of our blog about our Alaska trip sharing their Alaska experiences, and we really, really appreciate the information they have provided.    If you have traveled to Alaska by RV, plane, bus, ferry, etc. and would like to share your experiences, and places visited please feel free to do so (chockwald@gmail.com).  Any, and all information we can get will be greatly appreciated, and helpful.

On Tuesday, when I had my bike crash I took 3 pain pills over the first 24 hours, but I am happy to report that I have not had a pain pill since 3 am Tuesday morning.  I prefer not to be taking pain pills, and after 24 hours the residual pain from my bruised ribs was tolerable enough for me to function and sleep, which only reconfirms to me how lucky I was in this crash.  It could have been much worse.

The wind, unexpectedly, came up around 5 pm causing the awning to flap around quite a bit, so we had to get outside quickly to stow it.....that was a little painful for me, but with the help of Todd (Elks Lodge RV host) we got it put away with no damage.  Of course, within an hour the wind had abated.  It looks like we will have wind Thursday and Friday, so we'll just leave it in its stowed position until that is over.  We watched some recorded TV programs and were in bed a little after 10 am.  

Thanks for stopping by!

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OWIE!!!

7:52 am - Wednesday - April 11th - SoCal - 60º F, 46% humidity, wind - CALM.  Clear blue skies with a forecast high today of 82º F.  The heatwave is broken!

We've been meaning to get our VW Beetle in for its annual service, plus we've been getting this pesky check engine light since we returned to SoCal.  We're, obviously, running out of time to get that done so I was determined to drop the car off at Joel's Automotive Tuesday morning.  I have been taking my vehicles, including the Newell, to Joel for service since the early 90's.  He is very trustworthy and always very busy.  Yelp has bestowed a 4.5 star rating on Joel's based on 46 reviews, and I would go one step further......he's a 5 in my book!  I've become friends with he and his wife over the years, and they have been following our journies for the past 6 years.

After I had finished writing yesterday's missive and getting a bite to eat I jumped in the VW to drive the 18+ miles over to Joel's in Upland, CA.  Whenever I drop my cars off at Joel's I take my bicycle to ride back.  A couple of years ago when we were staying at my daughter's home in Riverside that ride was over 25 miles, so riding back to Fontana is really a piece of cake, right?

I arrived at Joel's shortly after 9:30 am and within about 15 minutes was heading south on Central Ave. on my Cannondale Bad Boy to pick up the PET*, which is about 3 blocks away.  The ride back east on the PET* was uneventful until I was crossing Day Creek Blvd. at the 10 mile mark.  As I transitioned from the crosswalk up the ramp to the sidewalk I was rolling over that yellow bumpy tread they install for the benefit of the blind when my front wheel slipped about 12" to the right causing me to fall to the concrete....it was as if I had hit ice!  I fell to the ground like a sack of rocks landing on my left elbow, and then my upper left chest area on the edge of a small concrete curb that surrounds the tall traffic signal pole.  Where I landed could not have been much worse.

The fall knocked the wind out of me, and for about 3 minutes I struggled to breathe, but finally I regained my breath......I was on my hands and knees during this time, and while I struggled to regain my breath I was looking at the place where my tire slipped and could not for the life of me figure out why my tire slipped.  There was no water, sand or gravel....I was mystified, and still am.  Nevertheless, there I was on my hands and knees wheezing while my injured left elbow shed copious amounts of blood on the concrete.  Fortunately I carry a small supply of band aids for just such an emergency, so once I my breathing returned to a somewhat normal state I slowly rose to my feet and retrieved one of them to staunch the blood flow, then picked up my bike hoping I would still be able to ride the final 8.5 miles home.

By this time the shock of the crash had begun to wear off, and my ribs were beginning to to hurt.  All the while I'm wondering if I have cracked, or broken some of my ribs.  I'm pretty sure at this point that my elbow is not broken, but I'm very concerned about my ribs.  Of course when you hurt your ribs it becomes difficult to breathe, and that was what I was experiencing as I mounted my bike to finish the ride home.  There was no use in calling TLE as she had no way to come and get me, there was nothing she could do, and I saw no point in worrying her, so I just began to pedal hoping for the best.  While it did hurt to breathe I was able to breathe well enough to pedal my bike, and fortunately this portion of the PET* begins to run downhill the rest of the way home.

When I hit Cherry Ave. I knew I only had 5.5 miles home, and within 30 minutes I was pedaling across the Elks Lodge parking lot to the Newell.  As I walked up the stairs into the Newell TLE asked me how my ride was, as she always does, and I told her I had crashed about 8.5 miles earlier.  As I was speaking those words it occurred to me that this was the first time I had crashed on any road bike in over 30 years.  To be fair, I have crashed on my mountain bike riding off road numerous times over the years with my worst crash being in 1999 when I broke my left collarbone pretty severely.   This is really my first crash of any kind in almost 20 years.  

At any rate TLE let out a gasp, and immediately sprang into action helping me take my shirt off so she could assess my injures and render first aid.  I was pretty sure by this point that my ribs were not broken, or cracked.  I pretty much had full range of motion, but was just extremely sore from the crash.  Within a few minutes I was finishing a quick rinse off in the shower, and then sitting in my recliner.  TLE put a proper dressing on my left elbow, and applied some neosporin to the many abrasions and contusions which cover my left side.

I spent the rest of the afternoon resting, and beginning the healing process.  I wondered if I would be fit enough to drive the Newell this Saturday when our Jello plan dictates our departure from SoCal for points east.

So, to recap......my ride home covered 18.5 miles with an average speed of 12.7 mph burning about 1,027 calories in the process......I was averaging close to 14 miles before the crash with the downhill portion of my ride just beginning.  Thankfully I made it home without further incident, and the state of my injuries is the best possible outcome for which I could have hoped considering the fact I landed on a concrete curb.

By the time I went to bed at 10 pm I was feeling much more optimistic about my prospects, although I think we may delay our departure by a few days just to be sure I am ready to drive this 38,000 pound, 62 foot long behemoth.

Thanks for stopping by!

*PET = Pacific Electric Trail

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