D minus 38 - Summits, Dashboards, Goodwill and Filets

We started off Thursday thinking we had to clean our two cabins, however, we found out pretty early on that the tenants were not checking out until 1....we thought they had checked out Wednesay.  So, instead of cleaning cabins I got ready to do my 12 mile circuit which would make it 5 out of 6 days I have ridden now.  I think riding every single day is the only way I am going to keep my metabolism up high enough to continue losing weight.  The ride went smoothly, and I was back at the coach in just under 57 minutes.....the view from the top of Mt. Rubidoux was spectacular, and I should have stopped to snap a picture.....maybe Friday.

I realized this morning I had never posted a picture of the re-worked dashboard cover that TLE modified to fit properly.  It came with the car, but I don't think it was for the right year. TLE is an exceptional seamstress, and made it look like it came from the store that way.

We are really falling in love with our Beetle, and are more and more convinced we made the correct purchase for our lifestyle.  I have an appointment at U-Haul to have the 1 1/4" receiver hitch installed next week so we can mount our Yakima bike rack.

Once we were both back from our exercise (TLE walks about 4 miles every day now) we showered and headed into Rancho Cucamonga  to do some shopping at Costco (needed coffee, and a few other items), plus we wanted to look at eyeglass frames.  We both want to change it up a little and get a "new look".  Here are the frames I liked. As we walked into Costco TLE turns to me and says......"I like going shopping with you!"....wow, I thought I would never hear those words.....:D  Seriously, though I used to hate to go shopping, but since we have retired, and have been living together 24/7 in the coach I have grown to enjoy it.....I actually know where to find things in the grocery store now!

TLE found two, or three frames she liked, but I will defer on showing her choices as she is still "looking".

We also stopped by my son's office to pick up a package that had come in, then the post office to mail off an eBay item I had sold, and also Pro Bass where TLE looked at some sandals....she didn't pull the trigger....she's waiting for the ones she likes to come on sale.

Since we were so close to the Rancho Cucamonga Goodwill we stopped off to see what they had.  I found three "cool wick" sports shirts for $5 each, and TLE scored a black skirt.

One of the "other things" we bought at Costco was a package of 4 petite filet mignons, a bottle of Pino Noir, and fresh spinach for dinner.....it was time for a formal dinner.  TLE did the calorie research and believed she could bring dinner in at around 300 calories, which is what my ususal 6" club has in it.  We'll see how the weigh in comes out.  

Around 4:30 I turned on the BBQ to grill the steaks whilst TLE cooked up the spinach, and we ate around 5 just as the sun was setting.  That filet is one of the best I have ever grilled.....I cherished every single bite.

We watched the Alabama vs. Oklahoma Sugar Bowl game, and it was a great game.  We have friends who live in both states, and if it was possible to have the game end in a tie I would have been happy, but secretly I was rooting for the underdog, Oklahoma, to win.....I am usually for the underdog unless it is my "home" team in the game, then I'm for them regardless.....it's the same for you, right?  Oklahoma won a game that was closer than the score indicated.....if not for a couple of crucial turnovers late in the game by Alabama the game might have gone into overtime, but in the end Alabama committed too many turnovers, and allowed their quarterback to be sacked too often.

Another day lived well!  Thanks for stopping by!

D minus 39 - Starting the New Year off right!

First of all.....HAPPY NEW YEAR  to all of you!  Everyone celebrates the New Year in their own way.  One of my favorite ways is to go mountain biking first thing New Year's morning with good friends.  I haven't been able to do that for a few years, but January 1, 2014 I did.  Back in my workaday life I rode on a regular basis with 3, or 4 people most weekends in the local Southern California mountains.   This year I joined my long time friends Paul and Brenda along with a few of their MTB friends, Ryan, Mark and Adam.  Adam is only 9 years old, and weighs maybe 50-55 pounds.  His bike weighs close to 30 pounds.  Paul is thirteen years my junior, and the rest are 18 to 25 years younger.  As soon as we got into town I was getting invites to ride from Paul and Brenda, but I knew I was in no shape to ride with them, but that desire to want to be able to ride with them again and at least not embarrass myself was a strong motivator in my recent weight loss and getting more physically fit.  

About 3 days before New Years I got a text from Paul asking me to ride with them on New Years morning.  I thought it over for a few minutes before replying "Yes" to Paul.  Even though, in my mind, I thought I was ready, I still had doubts as I prepared my Intense 5.5 MTB to be ridden for the first time since last April in West Virginia, but I was committed.

Since I still have no way of transporting my bike (that will be taken care of Thursday, or Friday) Paul agreed to pick me up and transport me to Chino Hills State Park Wednesday morning, and was there right at 7:30 to do so.  I started mountain biking in Chino Hills back in 1989 with my good friend Steve Schenkel.  After just one time out I was hooked, and was there at Chino Hills State Park every weekend for years riding.  Back then mountain bikes did not have ANY suspension, front, or rear.  Back then you could buy a decent mountain bike for about $500.  Now a good full suspension mountain bike might cost you upwards of $4,000.  It was not uncommon back in the 90's to have a mountain bike that was worth more than you car.

 Back in the mid 90's in Chino Hills State Park with my first full suspension bike - Proflex 752

Mountain biking was a big part of my life prior to going full time in our Newell, and though I now do most of my riding on a road bike, my heart will always be somewhere on the local mountain trails....

Left to right in back: Mark, Clarke, Paul Ryan

Left to right in front: Adam and Brenda

Little Adam....we had just finished a 3 mile climb up an 8% grade

Paul and I at "four corners"

Brenda and I

 I couldn't be happier with how I acquitted myself Wednesday.  This skill set is still there.  It is difficult to relate the feeling of exhilaration as you crest over a hill and see a 100 yard, 20% "drop out" stretching out before you, and the long run out just beyond where you can just let the bike go reaching speeds up to 40 miles an hour that will carry you up the next hill to the next descent....the thrill of carving through the serpentine turns standing on the pedals just steering the bike by leaning this way and that.  I have ridden my mountain bike all over the country, and these single track trails with names like Bane Ridge, Raptor Ridge, Bovinian Delight, Telegraph Canyon, and Southridge are still my favorite trails.  Perhaps it is because I know every turn, every dropout, every sudden steep climb, every rock, every bush on each of those trails.....there are no surprises....just pure, unadulterated joy.  No doubt you can see the joy on my face in the above pictures.  I never imagined years ago that at age 64 I would still be riding at this level, but am so thankful for having a body that allows me to do so.

Brenda drove me back home to RJRP where she had a chance to chat with TLE for a few minutes before heading home.  Even though TLE does not mountain bike with us, she and Brenda have become good friends.  It was a great start to 2014, and it only got better.  I watched a few Bowl games, including the Rose Bowl game between Stanford and Michigan, which was a great game right down to the final two minutes when Michigan made a great fourth down stand to win the game by 4 points.

Thanks for stopping by!

D minus 40 - Street fighting and New Years Eve

Sorry for the late posting of yesterday's blog entry....I went mountain biking this morning with some good friends, and just got back......here is what happened Tuesday!

Forty days until we pull up anchor and depart RJRP (or D minus 40) for Arizona!  As promised there will be no weigh in announcement until Saturday, but the Subway Diet continues unabated.  I guess I do need to make one small announcement.....as you will recall, my weigh in yesterday was 198.8......well, I took another 12 mile bike ride and upon returning one hour later weighed myself just out of curiosity.....197.6!  Anyway, that's the last you'll hear from me on weight until Saturday.

Tuesday mornings we open the park at 7 am as we always do.....well at least 4 more Tuesdays.....:D  Since it was 11 days since the last trout stocking we did not expect many fishermen, and that's the way it turned out.  Around 8:30 I bid adieu to TLE and went off for my aforementioned bike ride expecting to be back around 10 am, and back in the Kiosk to relieve her by 10:30.

The high forecast for Tuesday was 78, and that was about right......nothing but clear sunny skies for the foreseeable future.  No doubt on New Years day millions of people watching the Rose Parade from places where the temperature hasn't been above 30 degrees for a few weeks will be inspired to move to Southern California.

The ride around Fairmont Lake and up to the summit of Mt. Rubidoux was uneventful, and as I descended the hill on the  south side of the mountain I was right on schedule to be back by 10.....as I continued my ride up to the Santa Ana River Trail to ride the last 2 miles home I came upon a group of people who appeared to be having an altercation with a man who I had observed running up to the group.  He grabbed the leash of a dog from the hand of a woman in the group and flung the dog about 40 feet through the air (it was a small dog), then grabbed the woman and body slammed her to the ground.  It all happened so fast I didn't even have time to get off my bike before the guy went running off through the neighborhood.  We, of course, called the police who responded within a few minutes.  Meanwhile one of the women bike riders followed the man to his house, and then came back.  Once the police had our statements, they went and arrested the creep and hauled him off to jail.  You just never know what you're going to run in to while on an innocent bike ride.  Apparently what set all of the preceding events into motion was the people standing in the street had just watched the attacker's son riding a small motorized dirt bike out of control, lose control and crash.  The attacker got mad that the woman suggested he should take his son to the ER to be checked out as the crash was quite violent.....the crash had happened just a minute, or so before I got there. Why he got mad at the woman is a mystery to everyone....they did not even know each other.

As a result of that I did not get back to the Kiosk until about 11:45, so TLE said she would finish the shift without me......what a woman!

I spent the afternoon getting my mountain bike ready to ride.....I haven't ridden it since we were in West Virginia back in April.  I've been training hard, as you know, and have lost about 14 pounds so I think I'm ready to go out and not embarrass myself.  All the folks I ride with are 13 to 25 years younger than I so the potential for embarrassment is high, but I'm pretty confident I am ready to hang with them again.

We spent a couple of hours by the fire with some friends, the Millers, going back to our involvement in AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization).  Their daughter, Jennifer, was on several teams I coached going back to when she was 8 years old....she is 32 now.  It was great to see them, and catch up.

We were finally chased indoors around 9 pm as it was getting very cold.  We watched an old Deanna Durbin/Robert Cummings 1941 movie called "It Started with Eve" and then headed off to bed about 11:30.....almost made it to midnight, but not quite.

Thanks for stopping by!

SD - Day # 26 - Eight thousand, six hundred forty-two

Ever wonder what our 2013 travels look like on a map?  This is what 8,642 miles looks like.....a lot of friends, scenery and memories come flashing back as I look at this map.  I wonder what next year's map will look like, and begin to feel the excitement, the anticipation mount within me.

8,642 miles.....give, or take a few

After sitting still here at Rancho Jurupa for the past 6 weeks......back where we started 23 months ago today.....feeling so far away from Campbellsville, Key West, Washington D.C., Indianapolis, Coeur d'Alene,  Jasper, Alberta and most of all today.....Cedar Key.....feeling so far away, and yet feeling so connected to each of them,  and many more places.  Our tires have rolled the roads connecting all of those places....our eyes have seen the sites, our arms have embraced the people who connect us to those places.  It is a good feeling to reflect, but an even more wonderful feeling to know there are still so many new places to be experienced, new roads to leave our imprint on, and new people awaiting us out there.  We are not the same people who left RJRP January 30th, 2012......we are nomads who have logged 21,087 miles traveling the highways and bi-ways of this amazing country in our beloved Newell.....and that does not count one single mile we have traveled in the T-Bird.....you could easily add another 8 to 9,000  miles to that total.  And yet......and yet we have barely scratched the surface.....barely.

Today (December 31st) will be the last daily weigh in for 2013......from this point on I will report my weight every Saturday.   A new numbering system will begin.....a countdown until we say our "until next times".....we now have a tentative date for departure.....February 9th.....the day after my daughter, Sharon, has scheduled her engagement party.

So what, you might wonder, happened on Monday?  For one thing, there was an absence of wind.....just a nice sunny 80 degree day.  The park is full of New Years revelers in waiting.....lots of kids on bikes, skateboards, scooters.....lots of dogs barking at people and other dogs, and me getting irritated with this intrusion into our weekday solitude.

TLE finished her VW dashboard cover project, and it came out nicely, but I neglected to take a picture of it when it was daylight, so you'll have to wait until next year to see what she did.  She also started another project adding a corner to the sunscreen......I know that seems a little obscure, so I will illustrate with a picture when it is to a point where it will make sense.

Around 7:30 TLE headed over to start cleaning Cabin #1, and I followed about 20 minutes later to do the floors.  BUT.....before that I got an e-mail through eBay that a young man who lives in L.A. wanted to buy my Azonic MTB frame that was listed on eBay.  I started the auction at .99 cents, so he had no idea how much I was hoping to get out of it.  He asked, in the e-mail, what my cash price was......instead of responding with a number I asked him what his top dollar offer was.....he came back at $250 (I was hoping for $150), so I immediately accepted his offer, and made arrangements to meet him that evening at our coach around 8 pm....yay!  I have already recovered my purchase price of the entire bike ($240), plus a profit of $10.  Everything else now will be profit.

Back a couple of years when I started parting out bikes I would just list each and every part with a starting price of .99 cents with NO reserve......there is, obviously, a risk that I will not get a good price, but over all it always seems to work out well.  The .99 cent price attracts a lot of lookers, and ultimately increases the number of people bidding in the end.  That is another thing I didn't do on the last bike.

Around 10:30 I took off on a 12 mile bike ride, this time riding around Fairmont lake clockwise, and finishing with a climb up to the top of Mt. Rubidoux......no times to report, but I did cover the 12+ miles in just over 57 minutes.

I spent the rest of the day watching 3 college bowl games, the most interesting one was Old Miss and Georgia Tech ultimately won by Old Miss.

The guy interested in the frame arrived just before 8 pm as I was sitting by the fire.....TLE had gone in earlier as it was getting very cold, very fast.    He quickly examined the frame, gave me $250 cash and was on his way back to L.A. within minutes......suweet!

Since Tuesday was another day of iniquity we hit the sack relatively early........another great day!

Thanks for stopping by!!

SD - Day # 25 - Week 17, Santanas and 200.8

The Santanas came again, but not with the initial ferocity we had been lead to expect by the "guessers", so we did not have to get up in the middle of the night to take down the patio awning, or window awnings.  Even as we headed over to our Kiosk duty about 6:30 they were still not bad.  However, about 8:30 I had to leave the Kiosk to go back and put the awnings down as the wind was gusting up to 30 mph.  With the help of a neighbor I got the patio awning down in a couple of minutes, and then went back to the Kiosk.  As we had suspected there was not a lot of traffic due to the winds....I think we sold two fishing permits during our 4 hour shift.

From our Kiosk duty we went directly to clean Cabin #2, which took around 35 minutes....we love it when tenants leave the cabins just like they found them.  Then, all we have to do is basically sanitize them, clean the floors, and put out new linens.  

Naturally, with the advent of the New Years celebration coming in just a few days the park began to fill up on Sunday.....not empty out as is the norm.  I spent the better part of the day watching week 17 of the NFL season.  There were a number of great games throughout the day interspersed with several nice naps.  The night cap saw the Cowboys come up 2 points short in losing to the Eagles.  On another note, Peyton Manning threw 4 more touchdowns raising the regular season record to 55, plus the Broncos set a new regular season record by scoring 603 points in 16 games.

I'm still on that weight loss roller coaster.....my weigh in today was 200.8.  All I can do is remain patient, and keep doing what I'm doing and I know good things will continue to happen on that front.  I had intended to ride, but the winds did not abate until late in the day.

I got a few more parts from the latest bike listed on eBay.....right now I have 22 items up for auction so this time next week I will be busy packing things up for shipment once again.

That was our low key Sunday.......thanks for stopping by!

SD - Day # 24 - Up and Down

Looks like I'm into the rollercoaster faze of weight loss.....just one day back to my normal footlong club and I go back under 200 pounds once again......today's weigh in news......198.8.  Order is restored, and now maybe I can make a dash down to 190 over the ne2 t couple of weeks.  I know I'm losing inches because my shorts are starting to move southward....I'll have to tighten up the draw string on them, instead of loosening it like I have been for the past 22 months.....by the way in another couple of days we will have been fulltiming in our coach for 2 years, 11 months and on the road for 23 months.

Saturday morning we had Kiosk duty once again at 10 am.  TLE headed over first giving me time to work on some more VW detailing, and take my bike ride.  Since there was already someone on duty until 11:30 we didn't think it necessary to have three of us cluttering up the office.  Around 10:45 I took my ride up to the summit of Mt. Rubidoux once again....I felt strong, but not strong enough to equal or better my personal best, nonetheless, I did top out at 25 minutes, 2 seconds, and once again continued on down the hill without stopping to catch my breath.  I was able to stand in the pedals all the way down again, too.

Just before I left on my ride my daughter, Meredith, stopped by to do her laundry.....seems the dryer at home is on the fritz.  After returning from my bike ride I took a shower and headed over to the Kiosk just after 11:45 to find TLE and Sara quite busy.....in fact, our four hour shift was the busiest one we have had.  It probably owes to the fact this is really a holiday week.....we ha a lot of RV's coming into the park which is unusual on a Saturday.....usually by Saturday morning the weekenders have all arrived, but these folks are coming in for the New Years celebration and will be here until Thursday.  After about 30 minutes TLE suggested I take the opportunity afforded by a break in traffic to drive over and buy my footlong.  I arrived back just in time for the next rush, and it stayed that way until after 2:30 when I finally left Carolyn to handle the rest of the afternoon shift.

We had one of our cabin tenants check out during our shift, and the other will check out Sunday so we'll have two cabins to clean Sunday in preparation for their new tenants coming in Monday for the New Years.

After returning from Kiosk duty I took a short nap while TLE and Meredith went to TJ's again......when there is one so close you must go there often, right?  Then it was time to list the next batch of bike parts on eBay.

Sunset Friday night - forgot to post it

We spent the evening watching more old black and white movies (and one color one) we had recorded off the TCM network such as "Out of the Past" with Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas (1947), "Suspicion" with Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine (1941 Alfred Hitchcock movie), and a 1967 movie starring Tony Curtis called "Don't Make Waves" (comedy) set in Malibu, which also had Sharon Tate and Claudia Cardinale...which I don't recommend.......I'm sure it would be classified as a "c" movie....."b" at best.

Sunday is an "iniquitous" day so we were in bed by 10......

Thanks for stopping by!

SD - Day # 23 - Salted Pigs

Well, my 2 day stay below 200 pounds ended rather abruptly......why will become obvious shortly.....my weigh in this morning.....200.6.  To find out the why, read on....

Saturday started out slowly......I had my usual oatmeal breakfast, and puttered around in the trailer, airing up TLE's bike tires, doing a little more organizing, etc.  Around mid morning my daughter, Kate, sent a text message reminding us about our lunch date suggesting a change in venue from Simple Simon's (a breakfast/lunch place) to the Salted Pig (a gastro pub) on 12th and Main.   This is the last place someone on a diet should ever enter.  Both places are rated highly on all the various food rating services...Yelp gives both establishments a solid 4 stars.   

Our original plan was to ride our bikes to the original lunch destination, and when we found out the Salted Pig was just a few blocks further we got on the bikes and started our ride around 11:30 am.

The air temperature was in the low 80's, and very dry as we departed RJRP on our bikes for our lunch date with Kate and Nick......we've known Nick for years, and like him a lot, and it appears that their relationship is moving in a good direction, so we were glad to be invited to lunch to spend more time with them as a couple.

We timed our ride perfectly arriving at the Salted Pig at exactly 12 noon to find Kate and Nick waiting for us near The Salted Pig entry.  I don't think I've had a beer in almost a month now......pre-dating the start of the Subway Diet.  As you know I love dark beers, so just after sitting down at our table I began to peruse the draft beer offerings settling on a Jolly Roger Black Ale....no doubt there are a lot of calories in one pint, but if I had stopped at one pint I might have stayed below 200 pounds......but, alas, it was not to be.  Along with the beers I had their "Street Tacos" which were delicious.  This is the kind of place we love, and is the main reason we gained so much weight in the last 2 years on the road.  If we are going to continue to frequent these great eateries we will have to start sharing plates, and keeping our beer consumption to 1 pint each.  Some might say that will happen when "salted pigs fly"......perhaps, but I prefer to be optimistic.  

The "Really Good Burger" - what my daughter had

All of the food was presented beautifully......I wanted to eat everything I saw come out of the kitchen, but, alas, I am on a diet.  I think I showed remarkable restraint, but I can dream can't I?  I mentioned before that Yelp gives them a solid 4 stars.....and that is were we come down....is they had al fresco dining I would bump my rating up to 5 stars......on a nice balmy day like we had Saturday it would have been nice to sit outside.

After a leisurely lunch with Kate and Nick we bid them farewell as they motored off on Nick's Harley, and we mounted our trusty Cannondales for the ride home......bike riding is an excellent way to ride a "buzz" off, but those two Jolly Roger Black Ale's really stuck with me.   I was in my recliner within a few minutes of arriving back "home" to take a nice early afternoon nap.  While I napped TLE went off in the Beetle to TJ's (Trader Joe's) do some shopping.

I spent the rest of the afternoon cataloging bike parts, and taking pictures of same for listing on eBay.  I have 21 things to list from this bike, which is an amazing number.  I managed to get 7 of them listed, and will continue to list 5, or 6 a day until they are all up.....don't want to have to ship 21 things out on the same day!

There were a couple of college bowl games on during the evening of which I watched parts in between dozing off for short cat naps......we finally headed off to bed around 10:15.  

Thanks for stopping by!