D minus 36 - Baths, Bikes and Football

Since we returned to RJRP we have been trying to get our coach professionally washed, detailed and waxed, but one thing after another has conspired to prevent it from happening.....schedules, wind, rain, etc.  However, Saturday fate was not to be denied......all the stars had lined up allowing Tom and Carmello from Integrity Mobile Detailing to come and do what they used to do every 6 months prior to our departure on our quest for the endless summer.

Before TLE trundled off to the Kiosk for our 10 am assignment she helped me lower the patio and window awnings in preparation for the long awaited "bath".  The boys arrived around 10:45 and began to put a "smile" back on our baby.

While Tom and Carmello worked their magic I attempted to work some magic of my own on the beach cruiser type bike Mike and Terri had delivered to me the afternoon before.  Much to my surprise the bike was not in as bad a shape as it first appeared in the waning light of the Friday.  Mostly there was a small amount of rust on the chrome parts that I was able to wire brush off, then it was just a matter of removing the grime that had accumulated from it sitting outside the past 30 days.  Finally I had to remove the rear wheel to open up the hub and re-grease the bearings inside as they had all gone dry.  It's the first time I've had to reassemble a coaster brake hub in a long time, but it all went back together pretty quickly.  By 12:30 the bike was ready for human operation once again, and I would imagine Mike and/or Terri will stop by Sunday to retrieve it.  Mike has another bike he would like me to work on....yay!!  Carmello also has a bike he will bring by next week....double YAY!!

By this time Tom and Carmello were in the final phases of the wax job by this time, so I got dressed in my Kiosk regalia and headed off to assist TLE with her Kiosk duties instructing Tom and Carmello to stop by the Kiosk on their way out for payment.  Here is what we returned to after finishing our Kiosk duty at 2 pm.

I've done my best over the 22 months we were gone, but there is nothing like a good wash and wax job from Integrity.  If you live in the Inland Empire area give them a call (909-549-5843)!

Saturday was also the first day of NFL playoffs so you know what I did part of the afternoon and evening.  The first game began at 1:30 and featured the Indianopolis Colts hosting the Kansas City Chiefs.  It was like watching two games.....at the beginning of the 3rd quarter the Chiefs were ahead by 4 touchdowns....that's 28 points!  In one of the more miraculous comebacks ever the Colts overcame that deficit and won by just a single point.....45-44. The nightcap was equally close at the end, but there were never large deficits to overcome.  It was a low scoring affair in the first half ending with the Philadelphia Eagles up 7-6 over the visiting New Orleans Saints.  In the second half the lead changed hands several times, but ultimately the Saints kicked a field goal with 3 seconds remaining to win the game by 2 points.  I love close games!

That afternoon I found another bike on Craigslist to buy.  I had seen it a week, or so before, but I was already working on dismantling and selling the Azonic, so I did not pursue it.  Just on the off chance it was still for sale I e-mailed the owner and found that it was still for sale.  He lives up in Apple Valley (high desert) about 45 miles way, and I was still debating whether, or not to drive up there Sunday when he emailed back that he would be at Chapparal Motorcycles in San Bernardino at 6 pm, and would be happy to bring the bike down with him....well that is only 15 miles away, so I agreed.  The bike looked even better in person, and so I handed over the $350 we agreed on (he was asking $400 in the ad) and headed home with my new trophy.  I bought a bike almost identical to this one, but in very poor condition, a few about 2 years ago for $300 and tripled my money on it, which is why this one caught my attention immediately.

2001 Trek Fuel SLR full suspension bike....I should make my money back on the fork all by itself, but we shall see.

That pretty much wraps up Saturday.....thanks for stopping by!

D minus 37 - Weekly Weigh In

The good news, and there is only good news, is that I have been below 200 pounds for 5 consecutive days now....this morning's weigh in news.....197.0.  I have been there for 2 days now, but actually dipped down to 196.7 a few days ago.  I must attribute part of my success in staying below 200 pounds to having ridden my bike 6 out of the last 7 days.  TLE continues to lose weight, and has now passed the 11+ pound mark in weight lost.

On the eBay front my latest bike is doing great.  I spent $240 on the Azonic downhill bike, and so far have netted a $460 profit, with several items still being bid on....another $20 and I will have tripled my money!  

We had two cabins to clean Friday morning and headed out to take care of them by 9:45, and were done by 11:20.  I had intended to head out on my bike ride right after we returned from cabin cleaning, but I got up too early and was ready for a nap.  By the time I left to ride it was after 12:30 and I hadn't had lunch yet, so by the time I returned some 56 minutes later I was famished.  Even after wolfing down the 6" club I was still hungry and stayed that way all the way through dinner.  Fortunately I had plenty to occupy myself needing to pack up the wheelset from the last bike and get it in the mail before the USPS closed for the day.  Unfortunately, I did not have a box big enough for the two wheels so TLE and I headed off to find a bike shop with an appropriately sized box.  The first bike shop we went to, which I had frequented the last time we were living here, was out of business....not sure if they moved, or just didn't make it.  Since we were close to TJ's we headed there to buy some wine, and then up a few blocks to another bike shop called Pedals Bike Shop.  The owner said he didn't have any wheelset boxes, but he found a BMX bike frame box that I only needed to modify slightly to fit the wheelset!  This is a small, quaint bike shop, but the owner went out of his way to help me out, and I am appreciative.  I can see why the 16 reviewers on Yelp gives this shop 5 stars!

From there we headed directly home where now it was after 3 pm, giving me just under 2 hours to get the wheelset boxed up and over to the USPS.  While I was packing the wheelset our camphost friends Terri and Mike walked up with a beach cruiser they had recently acquired for Terri to ride to see if I would tune it up, and of course I told them I would love too.  Just like in Cedar Key last year......bike tuneups for friends are free, although I do accept beer, or wine in payment.......but only if you insist!

I got to the USPS just after 4 pm and took my place in a long line.....arriving at most post offices after 4 pm is a virtual guaranty of a substantial wait in line, and this day was no exception.  Fortunately the one and only employee on duty was very efficient, plus no one in line had anything too complicated.....a lot of money orders, which based on the area demographics is to be expected.  I had guestimated the weight of the box at 10 lbs, and it came in at 9 pounds, 8 ounces.  The USPS website said based on the weight and dimensions of the box it should cost exactly $17.39, and that is exactly what it cost....cool!

There were two bowl games on tap for Friday evening....the first between Ohio State and Clemson ......I have never liked Ohio State going back to the Woody Hayes days when they seemed to be playing USC in the Rose Bowl every year, so I was, naturally,  for Clemson, and they managed to win 40-35.  The other game was between Oklahoma State and Mizzou, and Mizzou won a close one, not reflected in the score, 41-31.

TLE and I sat around the fire enjoying the balmy evening,.....I had the outdoor TV setup so I could check in on the Ohio/Clemson game from time to time.  TLE pulled out and lit a cigar  for me to enjoy with my single malt scotch......it was a good evening to be sure.  We headed back in doors a little after 8 pm.

Thanks for stopping by!

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!