Decompression - Day 1

6:55 am - Sunday - Wittmann, AZ - 47º F, 52% humidity, wind 8 mph out of the west by northwest......clear blue skies, and it does not feel like there is any wind right now.  The high today at Desert View will be 42º, however, the high here will be 66º F, and our forecast low will be 43º F.  I slept with the bedroom window open once again.

After working 8 of the last 9 months it is time for some serious decompression time accompanied by significant TSFF (T-shirts, Shorts and Flip Flops) time.......

Dressed and ready to drive into Wickenburg, AZ for the Webb Center BBQ challenge

......it was nice to walk outside and not immediately wish you were wearing more clothing.....I just stood there in the sun in my t-shirt, pajama bottoms and slippers feeling the balmy morning air.   I spent an hour, or so first thing getting the VW out of the trailer, straightening up the interior of the trailer, and tossing a few more things in the trash.  I'm going to spend the next few days getting rid of more unnecessary stuff.

We left Wittmann riding in Tom and Darlene's car around 10:40 am to drive the 20 miles into Wickenburg arriving there just after 11 am and well ahead of the 11:30 opening of the BBQ challenge we were going to attend this day.  We brought our own chairs as seating there was limited.  It felt wonderful to stand outside in the sun (again) in our shorts, t-shirts and flip flops (well, Keen closed toe sandals for me).  

The entry fee was $10 each for all the BBQ you could eat, and $4 for each beer ticket.  We found a nice place on the grass to set up our chairs and then began to go from tent to tent getting plates of BBQ....beef, pork belly, pork ribs (meat on and off the bone), tri-tips, BBQ'd shrimp tacos, chicken.....you name it. 

  Ready to taste some great BBQ!

TLE and I made several trips to obtain more plates of our favorite  pork belly BBQ, and by 1:30 pm we were stuffed!  There was a band performing the entire time we were there.....

....and we had music

.....finally about 2 pm they announced the winners of various categories of BBQ, and well as the winner of the raffle for a brand new BBQ.  We were on our way back to Wittmann by 2:30, and home by 3 pm.

I spent the rest of the afternoon watching one NCAA March Madness basketball game after another with the final game ending about 8:30 pm.  As I watched the games I kept glancing up at our altimeter and smiling.......

......one thousand, six hundred and fifty-three feet elevation.  I walked outside about 6:40 pm to snap a picture of the sunset in my t-shirt, shorts and flip flops......I could not have done that just a couple of days ago......

.....due to being surrounded by juniper and pine trees it was often impossible to really see the sunrise, or sunset at Desert View unless you were down at the Watchtower viewpoint.

Life is good, and we are beginning to decompress just a little.....thanks for stopping by!

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Desert View - Day 127 - T minus zero......lift off!

7:23 am - Saturday - March 17th - Wittman, AZ - 47º F, 64% humidity, wind 7 mph out of the east.....forecast for today is sunny skies with a high.......get this......of 67º, and a low tonight (47 º F) that will be higher than the high (45º F) at Desert View today!  I slept with my bedroom window open for the first time in months and months and did not get up until 7 am!  

I was awake earlier than I wished at 4:30 am on 'T minus zero' day.  It is my nature to be thinking about what needs to be done and by what time if we are to meet our 'Jello' departure time of 9 am, so my mind was racing as it checked off one item after another in its proper order that must be accomplished before we begin to back the Newell and American trailer out of RV site #2 in the Desert View residential area.  Of course there is that rascally 2" of snow that fell Thursday afternoon that is still coating everything outside in the predawn 26º F temperature.......

.......this is not my ideal 'roll the wheels' day.  Over the years I have prepared for lift off in driving rain, in 'whiteout conditions' fog, in hellacious wind and now with 2" of snow on the ground.  Thankfully as the sun rose over the eastern edge of the Grand Canyon for our last day in Desert View there were only a few clouds so we immediately began to be hit with its wonderful warming rays, and things began to thaw.

I didn't venture outside until after 7:30 am.....until then I busied myself with folding down my computer table, putting my laptop away in its travel bag, setting up my small HP laptop which runs my Delorme GPS program on the center console, and then entering our route for the day.

As I related above, our 'Jello' goal was to be backing out of our site by 9 am.  I had to disconnect the utilities (water, sewer and electric).....I had to connect our pancake compressor to the 'quick connect' in the right engine bay to air up the system before turning the big Detroit Diesel 6V92 over.  I do this when we have been sitting still for a long time as it decreases the amount of time to finish the airing up process when I finally fire up the diesel.  Once the pancake compressor had done its job I had to stow it away, then put away the portable fire pit, pull the tire covers off the Newell tires, pull the mirror and windshield wipers covers off (TLE actually did this), take down our wind chimes which hang from the passenger side view mirror, disconnect the trailer from electricity, put away the various 'welcome' mats, and entry step for the Newell, and finally drop the trailer on the hitch.

By the time all this was done it was just after 9 am and time to begin backing out of our site.....

.....backing out took about 5 minutes as I had to do a little maneuvering to extricate us from our shoehorn site......nevertheless, we were successful, and by 9:11 am I was driving away from site #2......

.....we had decided earlier that I would drive the Newell with trailer over to the RV parking area at the Desert View Watchtower parking lot where we would insert the VW without blocking traffic on Colter Lane where site #2 is.

Within a few minutes the VW was loaded.....I still can't believe we got it in......we have way too much stuff and need to seriously begin to discard some of it in the worst kind of way......

......at any rate, we were on our way out the east gate of the Grand Canyon by 9:30 am headed for lower elevations......and I mean LOWER elevations!  Our modest goal for the day was 240 miles away at the home of dear friends Tom and Darlene in Wittmann, AZ (near Surprise) which sits at the deliciously low elevation of 1,683'.....well over a mile lower than we have been at for the past 9 months.

As we slipped down the 30 mile decline towards Cameron, AZ I turned to TLE and said "It's good to be moving again", to which she replied "Yeah, it is good".  Our first stop of the day necessitated by the alarmingly depleted nature of our 60 gallon propane tank was the Conoco fuel station just outside of Flagstaff where they sell propane for $2.69/gallon.  They also have an extremely 'easy in, easy out' configuration that we love.  We took on 56 gallons of propane, which means we had about 4 gallons left......maybe another 10 days, or so before we would have no longer had hot water.  Thank goodness we topped off our tank in Page, AZ on November 6th the same day we arrived at Desert View!

From Flagstaff we picked up I-40 westbound to I-17 southbound and then it was just a matter of holding on to the steering wheel and 'jaking' down the 20 mile decline into CampVerde where we again had a 5 mile climb out of the Verde Valley.  

We took a brief break at the Sunset Rest Area and then continued our ever downward trajectory to AZ-74 (aka: Carefree Highway) where we turned west toward our ultimate destination in Wittmann, AZ.....

The big building is Tom's "workshop" where Tom keeps his 2002 Newell when he and Darlene are not traveling

......we arrived at Tom and Darlene's country property about 3 pm....within minutes I was wearing flip flops, shorts and a t-shirt and enjoying the 69º F temperature as I connected our utilities.  My ears are still 'popping' from the massive elevation loss!

We spent the afternoon and early evening catching up with Tom and Darlene....it's been almost 15 months since we were last here....that is difficult to believe.....it seems like just a few weeks.  We'll be here for about 5 days decompressing from out 4.5 month odyssey at the Desert View General Store, and then head to Indio, CA where we will spend three days with good vagabonding friends Steve and Linda, then it is home to SoCal to visit with our children, grand children, and great grand child for 3 weeks.  Life is good!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Desert View - Day 126 - T minus 1

6:15 am - Friday - March 16th - Grand Canyon - 26º F, 77% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the north by northeast.......forecast for today is sunny with some clouds and a high of 49º F.......our last morning at Desert View.

Waking up to snow on our final Desert View day has only reaffirmed my intense desire to be somewhere else where the low will be higher than our forecast high here at Desert View today.  We'll be rolling our wheels in about 2 hours.

At last, the final day of our sojourn here at the Desert View Watchtower has arrived.  We had talked for the past year, or so about spending the winter at elevation where it was cold, and where there would possibly be snow on the ground a lot, if not all winter.  We have found ourselves over the past few years briefly in snow, but had never spent the winter where there was the possibility have snow on the ground all winter.  We escaped that bullet  here at Desert View, but not the cold.  The first couple of months the weather was wonderful most of the time, but beginning in January it got consistently cold, and the novelty began to wear off over time.  Consider us officially cured of wanting to live in the snow!  On our work day at the Desert View Market my eyes kept drifting to the top of my register monitor to see what time it was.....here it was 10:09 am meaning I had about 2 hour and 21 minutes before I would be clocking out for the last time....

 Yup, you're right.....they misspelled my first name

.......about 11 am it began to snow in earnest just as the weather guessers had predicted.  The accumulation, thank goodness, did not live up to their prognostications, but snow on the ground is snow on the ground.....it just makes everything more difficult when it comes to stow the final few things away Friday morning.

As the morning stretched on a few employees came by to say their 'until next times'.....Kathy was the first.......

 Final day with Kathy

.....Kathy is the Deli manager and one of our favorite people here at Desert View.  I remember the first time I met her way back in early November I told her "I don't know you very well yet, but I know I am going to like you!", and that is exactly how it came to be.  We will both miss her, and wish her all the best as she pursues her eventual dream to become a vagabonder, too.

Carlos has only been at Desert View a week, or less, but we developed a bond very quickly.  He is from Equador as I related previously, and very, very sharp.  He picked up the cashier routine very quickly, and will be more than a competent replacement for moi......

Carlos and moi for the last time

.....Kevin, who worked in the bakery, came by our 'home' after to work to bid his adieus, but I forgot to take an 'usie', however, I did get this shot of him Thursday doing his job.....

Kevin working

....he was also one of our favorite people and a real gentleman.  He has been working at Desert View for a little over a year now....Kevin, you will be missed!

There are other favorites that I did not get pictures of such as Mary (Deli) who when I would great her each morning and ask how she was always retorted....."Peachy!", Katie and Ashley (Trading Post Coffee Bar), and Scott (Receiving Clerk).......you guys are now apart of our lives and memories!

Around 11:10 am our manager, Wayne, came to me asking if I thought TLE would be okay with NOT working Thursday, and without hesitation, I answered "NO!" she would not mind.  I quickly called her and told her she did not have to report for work, but would have to come in to turn in her 'bank' of $400.  Carlos relieved me at the register around 11:55 am, and I quickly made my way to the back room to count my cash drawer, make my deposit ($356), and then turn in my remaining $400 bank.  We took our final 'usie' with Wayne and Ian......

Ian (floor manager), and Wayne (Interim Manager)

......and we were out the door at 11:25 am never to darken the back door of the General Store again.

We spent the afternoon watching golf, and watching the snow come down heavily.  I was beginning to get very concerned about what it might look like Friday morning.  Finally the snow began to abate, and we began to see blue sky once again. The snow did not really stick to the road, so our fears about being snowed in began to subside, and thoughts of being someplace much warmer on Friday afternoon began to come to the forefront.

We watched a few recorded shows to close out the evening and were in bed by 10 pm dreaming of flip flops, shorts and t-shirts within 24 hours.....thanks for stopping by!

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Desert View - Day 125 - T minus 2 and holding

5:40 am - Thursday - March 15th - Grand Canyon - 33º F, 83% humidity, wind 8 mph out of the southwest (it blew all night, and it seems the wind is stronger than the 8 mph being reported).......forecast for today is 1-3 inches of snow (wait, what?) a high of 38º F.  Windy all night long.  A side note about the blog title today....I miscounted....Wednesday was supposed to be "T minus 2", not Tuesday....I don't want to go back and correct the last 13 blog titles, so we are in a holding pattern for one day.  Thursday will be T minus 1.

Spring Break has seen a steady increase in store revenues each day.  For me my cash deposit broke the $500 mark Wednesday coming in at $546 and change.  When I counted down I was surprised as it did not seem I was that busy at all.  I was guessing $300+ so I was way wrong!

There is really nothing notable to report about Wednesday.....it was just another ordinary work day at the General Store.  I really like working the morning shift because it is very quiet most mornings until about 10 am.  I spend the first 2.5 hours straightening up the store, cleaning, vacuuming, mopping, straightening displays, checking date codes on perishable items, etc.  It is very relaxing for me, and it makes me feel like there are two parts to my workday.  The real work begins around 10 am when we begin to see a real influx of customers into the store, and by 12 pm  I am being relieved by TLE, and am usually home by 12:40 pm at the latest.  I then have the whole afternoon to myself.

This is really the first time since TLE and I retired that we have essentially spent the entire daylight portion of each work day (when we are working, of course) apart.  We have always worked the same shifts before, and would see each other several times a day.  Working different shifts has been a different experience, but I have come to appreciate time by myself, or I should say I am getting used to being by myself, which is a good thing.  I don't do the solitary thing very well.  I've had to develop some new routines to keep myself occupied.  Usually when TLE and I are home together we set out a plan for the day which might include hiking, biking, junking, shopping, or whatever.  There is always an activity which each day revolves around in which we both participate.  It might just be as simple as sitting outside reading and enjoying nice weather, but we do it together.

I've really enjoyed these past few days as I have been getting our Newell and trailer ready to roll, and looking forward to the next two months when TLE and I will be back in a more normal to us routine until we arrive in Maine for our summer job.  I have resolved to really enjoy each and every day of that two months.

On the 'future plans' front we are tentatively planning to travel to Alaska in the summer of 2019 with at least one other couple.  We have no plans to work that summer.....just spend the summer traveling in Alaska.  The planning is really in the early stages right now so there is not much to report, but I thought I would throw that out there for now.  There are 14 months between us and the beginning of that adventure, and anything can happen.  We also have some tentative plans for the winter after we finish with our summer job in Maine to spend a couple of months in Cedar Key, FL (one of our favorite winter places on earth) decompressing from what has essentially become a year of working one job after another.

I was home from work by 12:30, had lunch and then got back outside (in the wind) to finish taking down the rest of our decorative lighting which was strung in and between two large trees in our site.  That required the use of my telescoping ladder and took about two hours to finish.  Additionally, I took some time to weed through the stuff in our trailer and get rid of a few things we no longer need.  When I finished around 3 pm with the lights and the trailer I had a big smile on my face......we are ready to roll!  All that remains is to drop the trailer on the Newell hitch, back it out and then load the VW and we are 'gone with the wind'.

Speaking of wind, that is one thing I will not miss about our time here at the Grand Canyon.  The first couple of months were very idyllic with warm temps and little or no wind.  Now it seems we get a wind storm at least once a week that lasts for a day, or two.  The wind came up Wednesday about mid morning and continued into the night, however, Friday is looking good for our departure....fingers crossed!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Desert View - Day 124 - T minus 2

4:59 am - Wednesday - March 14th - Grand Canyon - 38º F, 74% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the south.....forecast for today is rain late morning (40% chance), and wind up to 28 mph in the afternoon with a high of 58º F.  Why am I awake so early?  As is my habit when we are getting close to our departure date my mind goes into overdrive thinking about all the things I need to do before we roll our wheels once again.  I was wide awake at 4:35 am with, apparently, no hope of going back to sleep, so I just decided to start my day 40 minutes early.

Tuesday was a barn burner!  By and far our busiest day since Spring Break began!  As we opened the door at 8 am for business there were 5 people waiting, and it got busier from there.  I had a number of side projects I wanted to work on including, but not limited to re-stocking t-shirts, mopping, etc., but I never got to them.  I ended up dropping $454.56, my biggest cash drop this SB.  Seeing how our business is increasing exponentially as we get deeper into the SB season, I am grateful we only have two days left after Tuesday!  I was getting ready to clock out around 12:30 pm, but noticed TLE's line was getting quite long so I hung around until a little after 2 pm to 'bag' for her customers.  In that 90 minute span our line got as long as 30 people deep, and the Deli line was about 40 people deep at its zenith, but eventually things leveled off, plus another cashier came on duty, so it was finally time for me to clock out.

When last we left off I had finished organizing the trailer for artificial turf and VW insertion.  Tuesday was the day we would insert the turf, but first I had to flip it over to dry the other half of the underside......it was about 2:30 pm.  In order to do that I had to put away the portable fireplace, the Sea-B-Que and the table on which it was sitting.  Since I had lost an hour and a half of my afternoon I had to work steadily with no breaks to get everything done which needed doing.  

After flipping the turf over I began to roll up our rope lights, of which there are about 100' now, and all the extension cords I as using to hook them all together.  In the middle of all this I needed to dump the black tank as it had been 8 days, remove the jack stands under the trailer which I use to stabilize it when we are parked in one place for a long time, pull the tire covers and check the air pressure on all four trailer tires.....each tire needed about 5 psi to bring them up to the proper pressure.

By the time I was finished with all that it was edging toward 5:30 pm......three straight hours of non-stop work and I was beat.  I still needed fold up the artificial turf so when TLE got home it would just be a matter of dragging it inside the trailer which takes just a couple of minutes.

Once again, TLE was not home until almost 6 pm.  She advised she dropped over $1,000 while the other cashier dropped another $500....so just over $2,000 cash sales for the day, which does include the credit card receipts which were probably another $3-4,000.  We quickly dragged the turf inside the trailer, and TLE put away the rope lights I had coiled.  

Two more days to finish a few final details.......it looks like rain Wednesday, and a trace of snow and rain on Thursday.....Friday, our lift off day looks good.....sunny with a few clouds.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Desert View - Day 123 - T minus 3

5:54 am - Tuesday - March 13th - Grand Canyon - 40º F, 80% humidity, wind - CALM....forecast for today is partly cloudy with a high of 58º F.

As we continue to edge further into 'Spring Break' season the days continue to get busier at the General Store.  When we unlocked the doors Monday morning there were 7 people waiting to come into the store.....that's a first!  I think part of the reason for the congregation at the door was that the fog had rolled into the Grand Canyon around 7:30 am and you could hardly see the Watchtower from the store, let alone get a view of the canyon, so people were looking for something to do until the fog lifted.

Because it had rained on Sunday the store floor was in serious need of a good wet mopping....there were footprints everywhere from people walking in with wet shoe soles!  Due to the early rush of people into the store I was not able to finish mopping until almost 10:30.  My cash deposit for my 5 hour shift came to $297 and change, and TLE reported dropping just under $900.....yup, that's a busy day.

Since I did no work on organizing the trailer on Sunday I to finish that chore Monday afternoon after work.  By the time I had my lunch eaten and short nap in the bank it was after 2 pm, but I knew I could finish well before TLE came home.  I, indeed, finished with the trailer interior a little after 4 pm, and it is now ready for us to move the artificial turf inside Tuesday afternoon when TLE comes home from work.

I next moved the picnic table, and Sea-B-Que off the artificial turf so I could fold fold it in half to allow the underside to begin drying out......when I get home from work Tuesday I'll flip it over the other way to get the other half of the underside dry.  Then it is just a matter of folding it up and dragging it to the back of the trailer and then inside through the rear door.  We'll insert the VW first thing Friday morning and then be on our way south to warmer climes.

TLE didn't get home until almost 6 pm as there was a flood of customers into the store just before our 5 pm closing time.  By the time they all finished paying for their purchases it was almost 5:30.  Just after she got home I lit the Sea-B-Que so I could grill a couple of filets we bought when we were in Flagstaff last Friday.  TLE provided sides of asparagus and mashed potatoes and a glass of Pinot Noir for good measure.

Well, here we are......just two more days of work (Tuesday and Wednesday), one more day of getting the Newell road worthy, and we are off Friday morning!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Desert View - Day 122 - T minus 4, not 6

5:45 am - Monday - March 12th - Grand Canyon - 36º F, 73% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the south.....forecast for today is clear blue skies with a high of 53º F.  We have rain in the forecast for Wednesday (14th) , and then 2-4" of snow Saturday and Sunday (17th and 18th).  The snow this weekend has caused us to move our departure date up from the 18th to the 16th, hence the change in the 'T minus' number above from 6 to 4.

Sunday morning was 'Daylight Savings Time' for most the country, but if you are living in Arizona your clock did not have to be changed.  Because our clocks did not spring forward we are now sharing Pacific Time with the West Coast folks, and now our DirecTV is back on West Coast time.....yay!

I woke up to a blood pressure spike so I 'called in' sick.....more important to get my blood pressure down (it came down later in the morning, and is okay now), and then TLE woke up with an itchy rash on her back, so she 'called in' sick, also.  I wrote about the allergic reaction I had to something in the Trading Post last week, and now TLE has had a reaction to something at either the General Store, or something environmental.  She treated the rash with some topical Benadryl, and it began to improve later in the day.  

We awoke up to heavy rainfall, which had commenced sometime earlier in the morning, and continued unabated until about 8 am.  It's the first time we have had any sustained rainfall since we arrived back on November 6th, and I am sure they need the rain here at the Grand Canyon.  It also helped melt any remaining snow around the Newell and trailer.  

Since my job Sunday was to relax and get my blood pressure down I did no work in the trailer, but that's cool, because I have Monday and Tuesday afternoon to finish, and get the artificial turf inside before it rains again on Wednesday.

I basically spent the entire day in my recliner watching first English Premier Soccer, and then all 18 holes of the Valspar golf tournament in Tampa Bay, FL.  Tiger Woods managed a 1 under par 70 round Sunday to make it four days in a row posting an under par score, and finished one stroke behind the winner, Paul Casey. He had a birdie opportunity on the 18th hole to tie, but just fell short.  He had to drain a 44 foot birdie putt on the 17th hole to get within 1 stroke, and have a chance to tie it one hole later.  All that being said it was great to see him playing competitive golf once again at age 42.  Whether, or not you like him personally, you have to admire his grit and determination to fight his way back into playing competitive golf once again.

I didn't leave the Newell the entire day....I just relaxed.  I know the reason for my blood pressure spike, but will not share it now.....maybe next week after we are on the road.  I pride myself on showing up for work every day I am scheduled, but now that I have high blood pressure I must take care of myself first.

The fog rolled in and out the rest of the day, so I am sure there was not much 'viewing' of the Grand Canyon going on at the Watchtower.  Finally about 4 pm the sun came out, and the clouds began to clear away.....it should be a nice clear day on Monday!

So, here we are getting ready to pull up our anchor in just a few more days.....we'll work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and have Thursday and Friday off enabling us to easily get the final preparations for departure on Friday completed.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Desert View - Day 121 - T minus 7 - FFOD

5:44 am - Sunday - March 11th - Grand Canyon - 39º F, humidity 95% (raining hard), wind 1 mph out of the northwest.  It's been raining for several hours now, and you can tell by the temperature at 5:44 am that it is not that cold.  Forecast high for today is 48º F.

As I walked to work Saturday I could tell by the smell of the air that it was going to rain.....I love that smell!  It was another typical Spring Break Saturday....very unbusy until about 10 am, then we began to get a flood of tourists into the store.  I finished out my shift dropping $247.96 while TLE dropped exactly $460.  Time goes by more quickly when we are even moderately busy in the store.

I was home from work by 12:35 pm and within an hour was out in the trailer to begin the final push to get everything organized so we can put the artificial turf away Monday, and insert the VW in about a week.  I had the current PGA tour event playing in the background on the trailer TV so I could keep track of Tiger Woods' progress.  After battling major knee and back injuries over the past few years he seems to be back in competitive form.  The announcers were reporting record breaking attendance at the tournament due to Tiger's return to competitive golf.  We'll see how he does this weekend.  After 54 holes (3 rounds) he is one stroke out of the lead at 8 under par, and has played three sub par rounds in a row.

By 3 pm I had about half the stuff in the trailer stowed away, and should be able to finish Sunday afternoon when it stops raining.  It's important that we get everything put away by the end of Sunday as we will have 2 dry days to get the artificial turf dried out and inside the trailer before the weather takes a turn for the worse later in the week.

It's looking like we will get 1-4" of snow next Saturday through Sunday, so we are thinking about moving our departure date up to Friday the 16th.  I don't want to be hooking up the trailer and loading the car in the snow, right?  At any rate, the 'T minus' countdown may change by Monday....you'll be the first to know.

We spent the evening watching 'Fist Full of Dollars' (1964) starring Clint Eastwood, which I had recorded earlier in the afternoon.  This was the first installment of what came to be known as the 'Spaghetti Westerns'.  The sequels were 'For a Few Dollars More' (1965) and 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly' (1966).  I remember while attending college in East Texas driving into Gladewater, TX in early 1968 with my good friend Tom Carrozzo to the local theater which was having a 'Spaghetti Western' marathon that night....we watched all three in succession finishing about 2 am.  'Fist Full of Dollars' essentially launched Clint Eastwood's movie career.  It is said he earned just $15,000 dollars for his role in this movie, and that the role had been turned down by both Charles Bronson and James Coburn.

I was in bed just after 9:30 pm......thanks for stopping by!

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Desert View - Day 120 - T minus 8 - T and S weather

5:34 am - Saturday - March 10th - Grand Canyon - 38º F, 49% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the south by southwest.  Forecast for today is rain (80% chance) later today, and a high of 54º F.....in fact the forecast shows rain today and Sunday.....no snow.

On our only day off work this week we opted for a trip into Flagstaff....we needed to do a BIG wash as the laundry hamper was close to overflowing.  As you will recall the dryer portion of our Splendide ceased working a few weeks ago.  We have been doing small washes here and there, but it takes a while to hang everything up to dry, therefore, it is difficult to do more than one wash at a time.  The dirty clothes have been piling up faster than we can wash and dry them so into Flagstaff it was to a big laundromat to get everything washed.

We left Desert View just after 9 am, and were arriving at the laundromat by 10:20.  I helped TLE carry everything into the facility, then left her to go get my haircut....it's been about a month and it was time.  By the time I got to the Supercuts it was 10:45 am and here were three people in front of me, so I wasn't able to sit in the chair until 11:30.  I was done by 11:45 am and on my way back to the laundromat just in time to help TLE fold all the clothes.....perfect timing!

It took about 20 minutes to fold the clothes and then stow them back in the Bug making it a little after 12 pm.....time for lunch.  We made the drive across town to the Lumberyard Brewing Company arriving there about 12:15.  We were quickly shown to a table and began perusing the beer menu......

......I chose the Pumphouse Porter once again, but TLE went for one of the guest taps....a Snowboard Scotch Ale.  There are two things on a menu that will get TLE's attention and that is any Scotch Ale, and anything with  pastrami in it.  As it turned out one of the special entrees for the day was a Pastrami Hamburger.....yup, that's what she ordered for lunch.  I had their Bacon Bleu Cheeseburger and fries.  I like their version of this burger, but I still have to say the best Bacon Bleu Cheesburger I have ever eaten is served at the Bridgetender in Tahoe City, CA....the best ever......if you are ever in Tahoe City, CA stop in at the Bridgetender and try their Bacon Bleu Cheeseburger!

Brews and lunch at The Lumberyard!

You might note I am wearing a T-shirt in the above picture....I was also wearing Shorts on this day.  It was nice enough outside that we briefly considered eating out on the patio, but there was a little breeze so we opted to sit inside.  It was wonderful, if only for a day, to get in and out the car with no jacket, gloves, or watch cap.....almost balmy!

Of course, if you are in Flagstaff you must do a little grocery shopping, so our next stop was at the local Fry's Supermarket on Route 66 to pick up a few things to get us through out last week at Desert View, and then a stop at their fuel station to top off the VW gas tank.

We had one last stop on our way out of town....Savers Thrift Store!  We had a few things to donate and TLE needed some new sweat shirts to wear around home.....her old ones had finally given up the ghost.  She found three while I found nothing without which I could not live.

We were in the car on the way home by 2:15 pm, and after an uneventful 80 minute drive arrived safely back at our Newell around 3:35 pm.  We now have just 7 more workdays over the next 9 days (Saturday through Wednesday, and then next Saturday and Sunday) and then we will be done.  I am looking forward to many days of t-shirt and short pants weather!

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Desert View - Day 119 - T minus 9 - De-gunking

6:43 am - Friday - March 9th - Grand Canyon - 29º F, 47% humidity, wind 1 mph out of the east by southeast.....forecast for today is partly cloudy with another high of 60º F in the offing.  

Almost overnight we have taken on 6, or 7 new employees here at Desert View, and just in time.  Because we were short handed TLE and I had to work 6 days, including Thursday, this past week.  With the sudden infusion of bodies we will be back to our usual 5 days for our final week here at Desert View.  I was on site by my usual 7:25 am, and going about my opening chores.  By 8 am we were ready to open the doors and wondering if it would be as busy as the past few days.....the answer was somewhere in between.  I dropped $336.96.....now that's busy for me.....TLE dropped $496 and change.  Of course, full disclosure dictates I also tell you that I worked until 2:15 pm instead of my usual 12:30 pm.  About the time I would normally pull my drawer the store filled up with customers.....probably the busiest I have seen it since just after Christmas.  As a result I offered to stay on until 2 pm to be sure things settled down before I left TLE to face the afternoon foot traffic.

As an added bonus Thursday I was given the opportunity to spend a couple of hours early in the morning training a new cashier, Carlos, who is from Equador.  He is a 20 something and very sharp.  He had worked in a mini-market in Equador previously, and picked everything up pretty quickly.  He is here working with a few of his friends, also from Equador, until sometime in May.

I pulled my drawer just before 2 pm and was walking out the door on my way home by 2:20 pm.  Ever since we arrived here at Desert View I knew I needed to pressure wash the rear facing radiator on our Newell.  I noticed as we were making the 30 mile climb up to Desert View from Cameron (back on November 6th) that the engine temps were running 5-10º hotter than normal so resolved at that time to de-gunk the radiator before we left Desert View.  Since the high was forecast to be in the low 60's, and that would be as warm as it would get in the next 10 days I opted to do the deed Thursday afternoon.  

The timing was perfect as about 3 pm the sun would be on the radiator warming it up somewhat.  I ate a quick lunch and then began to get out the equipment I would need to clean the radiator, and then pull out everything I store in the two engine bays so I could get at the radiator.  The entire process takes about 90-100 minutes with probably less than 30 minutes spent actually pressure washing the radiator.  Before I turn on the pressure washer I spray on a solution of Simple Green (a 50/50 solution) to both sides of the radiator, give it a few minutes to do its job, then use the pressure washer spraying water from the outside in since all the gunk is on the engine side of the radiator.  It usually takes three applications of the simple green to get 90% of the gunk off the inside of the radiator.  The only way to really get it all off is to steam clean it, and we are, obviously, no where near a facility where that can be done right now.  I hope to get it thoroughly cleaned when we are in SoCal this April.

By the time I finished putting everything away it was 4:30.   TLE was home by 5:30 bearing two French Dips she had bought at the Deli for dinner.....I love the French Dips here at Desert View!

We spent the evening watching recorded episodes of 'Blacklist', 'Designated Survivor' and 'Survivor'.  To finish out the evening we watched the first installment of 'The Men Who Built America: Frontiersmen'......very, very interesting!  The first installment was the story of Daniel Boone and the founding of Boonesville in the Kentucky Territory.

Friday we will spend the day in Flagstaff on our only day off this week.....thanks for stopping by!

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Desert View - Day 118 - T minus 10 - Sneezy

5:48 am - Thursday - March 8th - Grand Canyon - 23º F, humidity 51%, wind - CALM.....first time in about 2 weeks!  Forecast for today is partly cloudy skies with a high of 60º F!

Time continues to 'March' on quickly....we are down to 11 days until liftoff.  A lot of things are going through my head.....most of them revolve around warmer weather, t-shirts, shorts and flip flops.  Nevertheless, there is still the here and the now......another day working in the Trading Post for moi.  Once again I walked to work with the sun warming my walk to work.  Now that we are a week into March it is as if someone flipped a switch somewhere and declared it is now SB (Spring Break)!  I dropped another $217 even....it never comes out even!  I stayed busy all morning, and by the time TLE arrived at 12 noon things were in full swing.

Another interesting thing about Wednesday is that I began sneezing and blowing my nose as soon as I entered the Trading Post, and did not stop doing so for my entire 4 hour shift.  I don't know if I am allergic to something there in that particular store that I finally became sensitized to, or if I am getting a cold.  I never felt bad the entire shift....I just kept sneezing and blowing my nose....where did all that snot come from?  Once I was out of the store and walking home the sneezing slowed down significantly, but I kept blowing my nose.  I continued to blow my nose all afternoon, and basically filled up the trash can with spoiled tissues (as I sit here this morning composing my latest missive for your enjoyment I am not sneezing, or blowing my nose).  Finally, after TLE arrived home I took a Benadryl and that seemed to do the trick.....my sinuses dried up and there was no more blowing of the nose.  My conclusion?  I think there is something in the Trading Post to which I am allergic.  Thankfully, Wednesday was my last day working there this season.  I will be back in the General Store for my remaining 8 days of work......eight days of work left!

Due to the aforementioned sneezing/blowing of the nose I stayed inside all afternoon.  I read for a while, took another delightful nap, and then watched 'Storage Wars' on TV the rest of the afternoon.....I didn't really feel like doing anything that would take me too far from my supply of kleenex.....😋

TLE was home by 5;30 advising she dropped just over $300, so the afternoon traffic slowed down somewhat after I left.  We watched some recorded NCIS shows, and I was in bed by my usual 9:30 pm.....I'm back to getting up at 5:15 for my last 8 days of work.

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Desert View - Day 117 - T minus 11 - SB is here!

5:39 am - Wednesday - March 7th - Grand Canyon - 33º F, 22% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the south by southeast.....forecast for today is partly cloudy with a high of 52º F......we are in a warming trend, if only for a few days.  The forecast high for Thursday is 60º, and 61º F for Friday......nice!

It was nice to walk to work wearing my sunglasses Tuesday.....I haven't done that for a few months, but it was so sunny Tuesday morning I had to.  The added benefit of walking to work at 8:15 am is that I have the sun on my back warming me as I walk westward along Cedar Mountain Road.

One of the highlights of working in the Trading Post is they have a coffee bar, and Tuesday I asked Katie if she would make me a Mocha.....yum!  I enjoyed sipping that Mocha for about an hour.  It was actually busy Tuesday morning....I ended up dropping $187.76 in cash at the end of my shift and TLE dropped well north of $500.....yup, Spring Break is definitely arriving here at Desert View.  We haven't seen many children for several weeks now, but now we are seeing a lot of children....a definite sign schools are beginning to empty out for Spring Break.

The forecast for Tuesday had been for partly cloudy skies, but there were actually very few clouds most of the day.....by early afternoon it was clear blue skies once again.  Since it had been 8 days since I last dumped the black tank I decided it was time to go outside and stand in the sun while the tank was dumped, and then flushed.  I choose to dump our black every 7-8 days, but we can actually go closer to 10-11 days, and if we are boondocking we have gone as long as 21 days.

As you will note, the over night temps are getting warmer and warmer and we are leaving the heater off most of the night.  When we go to bed all the heaters are turned off, but I take the remote control for the fireplace in the Salon to the bedroom so I can turn it on when the temp in the bedroom gets into the mid 50's.  That way, when I wake up it doesn't take too long to get the coach warmed up.....in fact, it is rather comfortable in the salon when I get up at 6:15, or 5:15 ,as the case may be.......I'm getting up at 6:15 am right now because we are working the Trading Post for three days, which opens an hour later than the General Store....I'll be back to 5:15 on Thursday.

TLE was home by 5:25 pm....I was standing outside at the time soaking up the last rays of the day, so we both stood in the sun for a few minutes talking about the day.  There was nothing to watch on TV so we both spent the evening reading.  I was off to dreamland by 10 pm luxuriating in the comfort of our new 4" mattress topper.....suweet!

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Desert View - Day 116 - T minus 12 - Change it up!

(CLICK ON PIX TO MAKE THEM BIGGER!)

6:38 am - Tuesday - March 6th - Grand Canyon - 29º F, humidity 26%, wind 8 mph out of the east......there does not seem to be any wind as I write.  The forecast for today is partly cloudy skies with a high of 47º F.

Beginning Monday TLE and I had a slight change of pace work wise......we have been assigned to work the next 3 days at the Trading Post.  Since they don't open until 9 am I get to sleep in until 6:30 am for those three days.  Nothing really changes for TLE except the location, however, I only work 4 hours per day for those three days.  We also received the schedule for our final week here at Desert View......

.......we will have Thursday and Friday off and work our final two days on Saturday and Sunday.  Being off Thursday and Friday will enable me to finalize all that needs yet to be done before we depart Monday morning.

Walking to work at 8:15 am is a whole new experience for me.....the sun is up, and it is much warmer.  Another nice change Monday was there was no wind.....just clear blue skies and sun.  I was at the General Store picking up my cash by 8:25 am, and walking down to the Trading Post a few minutes later.  Even though we are beginning to see Spring Break visitors it still stays pretty unbusy until about noon time, which is when I am being relieved by TLE.  I dropped $67.20 in cash, while TLE dropped north of $400 once again.  She was very busy while I spent a lot of time reading a book.

As usual I was on my way walking home before 12:30, and home 10 minutes later eating lunch, and reading my book.  I took a long nap about 1 pm waking up about 2:30.....that is a long nap for me.

Around 4:30 I went outside to open up the trailer to get something and noticed there was still NO wind, and no clouds.  It seemed like a perfect evening to have a fire.....maybe one of our last fires here.......so I pulled out a couple of chairs, laid the wood in the fireplace, and just generally enjoyed the warm sun.  I lit the fire just after 5 pm, got a cigar and a shot of scotch and sat down to await TLE's arrival.  She was home 20 minutes later, and was happy to see that I had taken the initiative to have a fire.  We sat talking until well after 6 pm when the fire began to die and the sun was setting....time to go inside.  It goes from quite comfortable to very uncomfortable temperature wise in just a few minutes.

We are officially short timers now, and our thoughts turn to 'what's next'.....we are looking forward to lower elevations, warmer days and some hiking around the Sedona area after we leave Desert View......emphasis on warmer days!  Looks like the temps are in the 70's right now in that part of Arizona!

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