Lovely, light, luscious, delectable.......

7:46 am - Sunday - March 10th - Wittmann, AZ - 40º F, 67% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the north......sunny today with a forecast high of 69º F.

Saturday was a lovely, light, luscious, delectable day (from the 'The Duchess Bakes A Cake', substituting 'day' for 'cake')....hahaha....I've always wanted to use that phrase in a sentence!  The air was crisp....the sky was blue, and there was almost no breeze.....a decidedly t-shirt, shorts and flip flops kind of day.  So what kind of outdoor activity might be inspired by such great weather?  It seemed to me like a great day to finish wiping down the Newell exterior.  It was so good to finally have the energy two days in succession to do something physical that I took up the challenge and did just that.

I was expecting it to take me a couple of hours, or more to finish, but in reality it took just an hour and all that remained to do was to polish my ALCOA wheels, which I will do on Sunday.  I think the last time I got out the Mothers Aluminum Polish was two years ago when we were also here in Wittmann.

After finishing the exterior of the Newell TLE and I drove into Surprise to first visit the local Autozone where I would buy an extra can of Mothers for my ALCOA project, and then over to Walmart to do a 'big shopping'....the cupboards are getting bare!  On the way home we stopped off at Wells Country Store to get my 5 gallon propane tank (the one I attach to our Sea-B-Que) filled.  The last time I filled it was when we were still working at Smuggler's Den back in July.  It felt light to me, but it only took 2.8 gallons.  At $2.64 a gallon it only cost $7.41 to fill it up.  I think we'll stop there in the Newell on our way out of town to top off our on board 6o gallon propane tank.....it will never be cheaper to do at $2.64/gallon!

Wells Country Store....right across the street from the Wittmann Post Office

We were back home by 4:30 pm, and another day was in the books.  The time is flying by here in Wittmann, and in just a couple of days we will be rolling our wheels once again.  Two of my three surgeries are behind me, with just the cataract surgery remaining, and I already know what to expect from that.  Soon we will be heading northward to Washington State, and entering British Columbia around June 1st for our Alaska adventure.

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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!

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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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Okay......enough with the numbering!

6:56 am - Wednesday - March 20th - Wittmann, AZ - 50º F (yeah, baby!), 31% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the east by northeast......clear blue skies with a forecast high of 82º F (yeah, baby!).  We roll our wheels in 2 hours for Indio, CA where the high today will be 88º F (yeah, baby!).  As I sat down this morning to compose my latest missive I decided I was done with numbering my days in a particular location.  I numbered our days at Desert View for 127 days, and then continued numbering them here in Wittmann for 3 additional days.  I need to re-engage my imagination and start generating original titles again.

Tuesday was our last day in Wittmann, AZ this year.  I spent most of the day when I wasn't reading (and I read a LOT), working in the trailer to discard a few things, as well as find new storage places for others, and by the end of the day I had things pretty much under control for the first time in months.  

About 9 am our over night Newell visitors, George and Phyllis, fired up their Detroit Diesel Series 60 engine and made their way slowly out of the McCloud Compound.  We will be following their example on Wednesday......

.....it has been a wonderful 5 days in Wittmann spent visiting with Tom and Darlene, and re-acclimating to lower elevations and much warmer weather.  I was thinking the other day about how long we had been living in cold temperatures before we departed Desert View, and it seems it has been since late September in Montana.  Other than our two trips to SoCal for weddings in that interim, and then a our 1 week stay at Lone Rock (Lake Powell) just before we arrived at Desert View, we have been living in cold temps for 6 months.....that's enough for one lifetime, right?

Around 4:30 we decided to go ahead and insert the VW into the trailer, and then we were pretty much done getting ready for our current departure.  All that remains to do Wednesday is to disconnect the utilities and stow the patio awning.

Our plan Wednesday is to drive to Indio, CA where we will meet up with good friends Steven and Linda for three days at the Indio Elks Lodge.  We stayed there with them 2 years ago for 2 days in January of 2016.  During a span of time from New Year's Eve 2015 to late January 2016 we traveled with them from Octotillo Wells, to Borrego Springs, to Indio, to Quartzite.  It was a great three weeks!  We haven't seen them since then, and are really looking forward to spending a few days with them again.

Tuesday felt like a reading day, and that is what I spent most of my time Tuesday doing.  I actually started and finished a book on Tuesday.  Haven't done that for a long time!

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Decompression - Day 3

7:11 am - Tuesday - March 20th - Wittmann, AZ - 43º F, 34% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the north by northeast.......clear blue skies with a forecast high today of 77º F.

It's interesting how the human mind adapts and adjusts so quickly......we've only been gone from Desert View for three days + days, but it seems like much longer than that.....seems like a month has passed.  I got used to seeing early morning temperatures in the teens and 20's at Desert View, but now, just 240 miles south of that location I think nothing of seeing an early morning temperature in the mid 40's every single day.  I'm beginning to stow away my winter wear in favor of more shorts, t-shirts and flip flops.....I spend more time outside each day than I do inside.

I had three things I wanted to accomplish Monday......completely detail the VW......thoroughly vacuum all the sand and gravel out of the interior, put some leather dressing on the seats, and then wash and detail the exterior.  Secondly I needed to refill my oil reservoir, which was down to about 1 gallon of Dello 400, 40 wt. oil.....the reservoir holds 3 gallons total.    I think the last time I topped it off was about 14 months ago when we were in Wittmann the last time.  Then, after emptying the two 1 gallon jugs of oil which I store in the left engine bay into the reservoir I would need to refill them out of my 5 gallon bucket of the same oil, which had 4 gallons left.  Finally, I needed to dump the black tank as it has been a week since the last dump.

She looks 'purty' again

I began the VW detailing project about 10 am and finished just before noon at which time I took a nice break  in Tom's man cave talking with him, then it was on to topping off the oil reservoir......

 The 3 gallon oil reservoir

 The sight tub has a black line drawn for every quart....you just move the white zip tie down 1, 2, or 3 quarts and then turn on the gate valve to let the oil drain into the engine until the oil level falls to the zip tie level, then turn off the gate valve

The gate valve that controls the oil flow into the engine

......I have to get out my short step ladder to to stand on while pouring the oil into the reservoir.....I use a large funnel an 18" flex tube......40 weight oil is quite thick and it takes a while to pour in two gallons without it overflowing the funnel.  It took me about 30 minutes in all to get that done, and yes, there were a few spills.

I was in the middle of topping off the oil reservoir when another Newell owner arrived at the McCloud Compound for an overnight stay.  We've never met an Newell owner we did not like and we immediately took a liking to George and Phyllis.  I stopped what I was doing and got out my 10' b50 amp extension cord so George could plug into the second 50 amp plug.  After our introductions I went back to the oil reservoir project finishing it about 30 minutes later.  Then I had to refill the two 1 gallon jugs so I will have 5 gallons of oil with me when we leave Wittmann on Wednesday.  Just for the record, Detroit Diesels series 92 engines typically use about 1 quart of oil every 8 hours of operation, and that was the case when we first bought our 1982 Newell, but over the 60,000 miles we have put on the coach since then the oil usage has decreased to 1 quart every 12-14 hours of operation, so we're adding about 1 quart every 800 miles driven.

George and Phyllis' 1995 Newell, 46'

Finally, I was down to my last task of the day.....dump the black tank, which was done in short order.....so much nicer dumping the black tank when it is in the 70's outside.....so much nicer!

TLE spent the afternoon preparing lasagna for dinner, and it turned out wonderfully.  We had a nice group dinner in Tom and Darlene's dinning room.  I was tired after a long day of physical work, which I haven't done for a long time, so after dinner I retired to the Newell, took a nap, and then watched some TV before heading to bed around 10:30 pm after awaking from a second nap!  TLE spend time inside playing cards with Darlene.  So, Day 3 of 'Decompression' is complete!

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Decompression - Day 2

7:39 am - Monday - Wittmann, AZ - 45º F, 31% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the west.....clear blue skies once again!  Forecast high for today is 72º F!

It takes me a while to break an old habit, and the habit I am trying to break right now is waking up at 5:15 am.  I managed to make it all the way til 6:30 am Sunday morning, but I was awake at 5:30 am......does that count?  I have successfully broken the habit of wearing pajamas in the morning.....I'm now down to a t-shirt and shorts first thing in the morning. I'm still wearing my slippers, however.  We are now down to running one electric heater first thing in the morning instead of 4.....that is a big change!

By 9:30 am we had all the windows open in the Newell....that hasn't happened since last October.  We had planned to set off a 'bug bomb' to kill spiders, and other small insects which tend to accumulate when sitting in one place for months at a time, and we have been idle for 8 of the last 9 months, so it was time.  While the 'bug bomb' did it's duty we drove into Surprise to do some shopping, including the local Goodwill store where TLE found a few things she could not live without.  Then it was across town into Peoria to have lunch at one of our favorite local micro breweries.....Rock Bottom Brewing.  Whenever we are in Wittmann we always have lunch, or dinner there at least once......we arrived there about 11:30 and were quickly seated outside, and within seconds our server was taking our beer order......

.....two Roadrunner Brown Porters, thank you (the 25 oz. for moi, and 20 oz. for TLE)!

 

Sizzling Stuffed Peppers (roasted poblano peppers stuffed with chicken, chorizo and three cheeses) for moi

The Quesadilla for TLE

We haven't utilized alfresco dinning for months, but Sunday was the day!  We sat there savoring our entrees (we did also order one of their starters.....bacon wrapped, stuffed jalapeños).  It was close to 1 pm before we decided it was time to head across the parking lot to Trader Joe's to pick up a few things before heading for home.

We were back home by 2:30 and airing the 'bug bomb' out of the Newell.  TLE then spent the next 90 minutes thoroughly vacuuming all the spider and bug corpses that remained.....the 'bug bomb' did its job!

While TLE put away the groceries and did the aforementioned vacuuming I spent time in the trailer installing a couple of hooks to hang all of our extension cords.  I had been storing them in our electrical bay with our 50 amp extension cords, but they have become so numerous it has been difficult to find anything in there.....

.....yeah, I know, but you can never have too many extension cords.  I have found that however many extension cords you may have you will always wish you had one more.

While this was going on I was watching the current PGA tour event, and watching Tiger climb the leaderboard.  At one point he was 12 under par, and only one stroke behind the leader....then he bogied the next two holes while the leader went on a birdie binge finishing at 18 under par whilst Tiger faded to 10 under.  The rest of the afternoon and early evening I watched more NCAA March Madness games featuring several amazing upsets, which is what I love about March Madness!  

Well, that was our 'Decompression - Day 2'.....thanks for stopping by!

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