Water world.......

6:57 am - Thursday - November 14th - Ramona, CA - 49° F, 84% humidity, wind - CALM......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 78° F.

After I got back from my Wednesday morning MTB ride I noticed a stream of water flowing down the road from right in front of restroom #2.  It appeared, at first, that water was just bubbling up out of the dirt.  It turned out that somehow the sprinklers around the restroom had spontaneously turned themselves on.....they have been 'OFF' since Spring.  We were able to get them turned off once again, but we had no idea how long this had been going on, but when I went up to check the water tank an hour later it became obvious it had been a long time as the tank was down 8,000 (out of 10,000) gallons.....that is now, officially, the lowest I have ever seen it...... 

.....the rest of the day was pretty routine after that early morning excitement.

After doing the pool tests I swept up the leaves which had accumulated, and then retrieved one of our shop vacuums and vacuumed out the pool pump room.  I've swept it a couple of times since I've been here, but this is the first time I've vacuumed it....I should have done this a long time ago.  Much easier to vacuum around all the pump equipment than to sweep.
It's taken a couple of days to get the Jacuzzi clean after we changed the filter gravel and sand, but it was finally ready Wednesday afternoon for use again. From there I moved over to the playground the blow a pile of leaves off the artificial turf.

Once the pool and Jacuzzi work was done I headed down to the storage area between the tool shed, and the maintenance building to begin to clean it.  I've been slowly hauling a bunch of masonry  (pavers, garden borders, etc.) which has been stored there for years up to the storage area where the bulk of this stuff is kept.  Once I have that all moved I can begin to move other stuff around and rake up all the leaf accumulation before reorganizing everything kept (lawnmowers, trash cans, gas cans, spare tires for the golf carts, PVC pipe, wheel barrows, hoses, etc.)  there so it is all[p more accessible.  This will probably take a few more days.

To wrap up my Wednesday I tended to the horseshoe pit, and the mini golf areas and then put away my tools.  I was another great Fall day.....clear, blue skies, and 82° F.......it doesn't get much better than that.

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Purple people eater.......

6:57 am - Wednesday - November 13th - Ramona, CA - 41° F, 70% humidity, wind - CALM......clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 80° F.

I began my day being a little uncertain as to what I was going to do for most of the day.  I always have the pool, horseshoe pits, and mini golf course to occupy a couple of hours, but what after that?  I had it in the back of my mind to strip the green paint off the seat back on the site #32 path bench, then sand both the seat back and seat, and finally paint them as well as the steel posts to which they are attached.  

Around 11 am I retrieved some supplies (paint, sandpaper, scrapers, paint brush, etc.) from the maintenance building and headed down to the site #32 path bench.  To make the paint removal job easier I removed the seat back, laid it flat on the seat plank and began to scrape the green paint from each side......

......the preparation of both planks, as it should, took several hours. I finally was finished with preparation and ready to paint about 2:30 pm.  We do not currently have any exterior, green paint in stock so I found some sort of high gloss, exterior paint that looks kind of like a dark purple.  It was the only thing we had that was suitable as far as being for exterior use, so I went with it.  It kind of goes the the grape vine theme that surrounds the path and bench......

.....by 3:30 pm I had both planks painted, and ready to reinstall on the metal posts.....the low humidity combined with our 84° F day aided in the paint drying pretty quickly.  I think it came out pretty well, and certainly looks much better than it did before I began my work.  I had my tools put away, and was on my way home about 3:55 pm with another day at RORVR in the proverbial books.

Sanding and scraping paint is apparently much more physical than I remembered, and by the time I reached home I was beat.....ready for a long, hot shower, and a nap in the recliner.    It's amazing to me how early it gets dark now, and how quickly the temperatures are dropping after 3 pm.  The past couple of nights it has been to chilly to relax on the 'lido deck'.

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What a day!

6:57 am - Tuesday - November 12th - Ramona, CA - 41° F, 86% humidity, wind - CALM.....clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 84° F.

What to do on a Monday now that I am done with the fence project?  Well, there is always the pool, which did need attention Monday in spite of my 4 hour effort on Friday.  There was the moderate wind  we had most of the day Friday that sort of undid my early Friday efforts putting me back where I began Monday morning.  By 11:30 am I had finished with the pool, and it looked the best it has looked in a month....a month of Santa Ana wind events.

The horseshoe pits had received some moderate use over the weekend, and needed work, as well as the mini golf course.  Our patrons 'kindly' left golf balls, and clubs scattered about the course.  A side note here......all children under 14 years of age are to be supervised, in person, by an adult 18 years, or older.  So, either the youthful players we unsupervised, or their adult supervisors did not care.

By the time I finished with the mini golf holes it was lunch time.  Now that we are on winter hours TLE gets off work at 3 pm, so after lunch she only has two hours left in her work day.  In the afternoon I helped Rich recharge the sand filter for the Jacuzzi, which took about an hour, plus three 75 pound bags of pea gravel, and 12 bags of #20 sand weighing in at 50 lbs each to complete.....I handled all 12 of the sand bags, and 1 of the pea gravel bags, so I got a good workout.  I also spent time blowing the dirt, gravel and leaves off the short road up to restroom #1, as well as the sidewalk around the entire restroom.  I deployed more squirrel bait around the park.  I would say about 70% of the squirrel holes are now inactive, so the bait if working.  I was having a serious issue on the site #22 path I built with squirrels undermining the trail, and my squirrel bait efforts have begun to bear fruit there, also.  There area still a lot of squirrels around the park, but it is no longer the overwhelming numbers we saw for most of the summer.

I finished my work day blowing leaves off the area around the kiosk and security gate, and was able to put away my tools just before 4 pm.  Another nice work day at RORVR!  I was home a little after 4 pm to find TLE making minestrone soup in her Vita Clay pot, and the aromas from same wafting out to the 'lido deck'.....we'll have that soup Tuesday after it has had a chance to mello overnight.  For dinner Monday we had TLE's famous burritos.

The MNF (Monday Night Football) game featured the 7-2 Seattle Seahawks at the 8-0 San Francisco 49ers....the last undefeated team in the NFL this season.  It turned out to be a game for the ages with Seattle prevailing 27-24 on a 42 yard field goal as time expired in the 10 minute overtime period.....go 'HAWKS!

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Life on the 'lido deck'.......

7:08 am - Monday - November 11th - Ramona, CA - 39° F, 96% humidity wind 3 mph out of the east by northeast.....forecast high for to day will be 81° F.

We made a game time decision Sunday morning to take the day off from exercise.  TLE wanted to defrost our Dometic fridge, go shopping, and get the wash done so it was an easy choice for her.  On the other hand I only had to wash the Beetle, and dump the black tank so I had an easy day.  Once those two tasks were completed I was able to retire to the 'lido deck' to watch some NFL football.  With the daytime temp topping out at 82° F it was a perfect day to relax, and take a long nap......I even finished reading another book in the process.  We keep talking how in about a month, or so we will look back fondly upon these idyllic, balmy days of November, but for now we are just enjoying the heck out of them.

Over the weekend I exchanged numerous texts with my brother and sister-in-law (Glenn and Laureen) detailing the trouble shooting they have been doing on their 1984 Newell to rectify a few issues they knew about when they bought the coach, plus one that came up after they got home.  They are making good progress in rewiring their ignition which went south after they returned to Texas, and solving the air leaks in the air system, and are getting ready to replace all four of their electric heaters, all in preparation for our travels to Alaska this summer.  They are a good team, and I am proud of their patience while trying to solve these problems, and their bravery for tackling them.  They have gotten a lot of help from me, as well as from my friends on the Newell Gurus forum, and are well on their way to becoming true Newell Gurus.

By 4 pm it was beginning to cool off quickly on the 'lido deck' so we repositioned ourselves back inside for the duration of the late afternoon/early evening.  After sundown I went outside to take a couple of pictures of our outdoor environment to demonstrate how great it looks now.....

.....especially after dark.  This is one of those rare occasions where the pictures really do the subject being photographed justice.  Even though our 'lido deck' is totally open air, it feels very private, and significantly expands our living area, all while enhancing our quality of life.

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A mindset reset........

7:21 am - Sunday - November 10th - Ramona, CA - 41° F, 62% humidity, wind - CALM.....clear, blue skies once again today with a forecast high of 82° F.

We have been here at RORVR since April 25th and as of Saturday we had never hiked any of the numerous trails at our disposal right here in the park, let alone in the area around Ramona.  I love to hike, and explore, but have had no interest since my heart attack in hiking anywhere, let alone here.  As I recovered from my heart attack I was content to just rest up each weekend from my job.  I feel much stronger and fit now after a summer of hard work around RORVR, and finally feel ready to get back to a more normal, for us, active lifestyle outside of work.  Saturday morning I decided to push the 'reset button' on my mindset.  I retrieved our Leki hiking poles from the trailer, and with TLE began our hike at the fire road behind the barn.....

.......the first couple hundred yards of this fire road are steep.....probably in the neighborhood of 9-10%, but within minutes you are treated to beautiful, long views....

 Happy to be hiking once again

.....we took a detour off the main fire road to hike one of the trails Rich and Dave have been working on the last couple of months.  It leads up to a large rock outcropping before circling back to the fire road.....↴

.....from that vantage point I saw something I had not previously seen from the fire road....a teepee in the distance........↴

....from there we made it to the highest point in the park.....the microwave tower.......↴

......we meandered down the fire road to the next trail, built by Rich before we arrived at RORVR......he marked the trail with wooden stakes on which he applied light blue paint.....they are great trail markers......↴

.....unlike the first trail we followed, this one can be hiked, or biked.  I'm looking forward to putting my mountain bike down this trail in the near future!   On the first trail we hiked Rich and Dave used these small 'flags' to mark the trail....also very effective.......↴

....by the time we arrived back at the Newell we had covered just over 2 miles.  I think I am ready to do some more hiking, not only here at RORVR, but on some of the local hiking trails between us and Poway/Escondido.

Late Friday our new pop up dining canopy (Ozark Trails - 10'x10') arrived via FedEx.  Our original Ozark Trails canopy was an 8'x8' one, and only cost $39 at Walmart.....it was, obviously, very cheap, and the intense summer UV rays did it no kindness.  By mid October after a few Santa Ana wind events the blue canopy of that original canopy was torn in about a dozen places so I ordered a little more expensive, better made Ozark Trails canopy off eBay.  I chose a maroon color, which blends in much better with our color scheme.......↴

The new (above) and the former (below)

....of course, Saturday means NCAA college football, so I setup the outdoor TV and settled in to watch a few hours of good college football.  The best game of the day had LSU (ranked #3 nationally) playing Alabama (ranked #2 nationally) in Tuscaloosa, AL.  At the end of the first half LSU was up 33-13......just shy of 3 touchdowns, but in the second half Alabama fought back getting within 5 points at one time, but LSU prevailed holding off Alabama 46-41......a great game that could have gone either way.

TLE made carne asada tacos for dinner....the perfect end to a perfect Saturday....thanks for stopping by!

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Something new......

7:57 am - Saturday - November 9th - Ramona, CA - 49° F, 48% humidity, wind - CALM...clear, blue skies again today with a forecast high of 87° F.

Short Friday began with another early morning speed walk around RORVR......

 Beginning our 'walk about' around 6:25 am

.....we were back home by 6:50 am after covering exactly 1.45 miles in just over 25 minutes averaging 3.5 miles an hour, and consuming around 261 caloric units.  All that activity and we still had over 2 hours before we reported to work.

On Fridays I spend whatever time is needed cleaning the pool for our weekend customers....not that anyone will brave its very cold 60° F temperature, but you never know, right?  Just as I was finishing the vacuuming portion of my morning a general call went out over the radio telling all workers to report to the office for a meeting.  I had not yet put away the vacuum hose, so I left that for later and headed down to the impromptu meeting.

Each year in November everyone's hours are cut back as there is less work being done, and Friday was the day.  TLE had 5 hours shaved off her schedule.....an hour per day....not bad.  Everyone, including the managers, had their hours cut.....except for me...I'm still working my normal 32 hours per week, plus a extra 30 minutes (times 3) for closing the park 3 nights a week for a total of 33.5 hours per week.

After the meeting (around 11:30 am) TLE left with me to help me finish putting away the pool equipment, and then finished our short Friday with me putting the finishing touches on the decorative fence next to Cabin #34.......

.......we finished fitting the split rails to the posts (some had to be shortened), and then set the posts by filling in each post hole and packing down the dirt by 12:15 pm, then spent the last 45 minutes hauling fence waste material up to the big roll away dumpster in the storage area.

We left our EZ-GO cart for Dave to use in the afternoon, and walked home.  Within minutes we were relaxing outside in our anti gravity chairs, enjoying the first 1/2 day of our 2.5 day weekend.  I read for a while, and then began checking a few internet sites for an ebike I have been wanting to purchase.  Our manager, Rich, bought a couple of Haibike ebikes for he and his wife a few months ago, and he has let me ride his a couple of times.  I have been intrigued by the electric assist (Yamaha 500 watt electric motor).  Rich paid close to $3,000 each for the two Haibike SDURO full 7 bikes he bought for he and his wife, so when I found a 2018 SDURO full 7 LT 6.0 model on eBay with less than 10 miles on it for just $2,000 I pulled the trigger and bought it......

.....it is a full suspension mountain bike with 6" of travel front and rear.  There are four levels of electric motor assist.  When I have ridden Rich's Haibike I have used it on the lowest electric assist setting, and was amazed at how much a little extra assist helped in climbing very steep trails.  You still get the exercise, but don't reach the top of the hill with 'jelly legs', which means I can ride longer and get more exercise and enjoyment.  I will now be looking for one for TLE.

Around 4:30 pm I lit the Sea-B-Que in preparation for the grilling of two petite filet mignons.  I pulled them off the Sea-B-Que just shy of 10 minutes at a perfect medium rare temperature......

.....we remained outside eating, drinking some Pinot Noir, and talking until close to 6:30 pm.  What a wonderful way to end another great week at RORVR!

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Done, done and done.......

7:00 am - Friday - November 8th - Ramona, CA - 46° F, 54% humidity, wind - 3 mph out of the east by northeast.....clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 89° F.  Just got back from our 1.4 mile walk around RORVR......

I began my day just after 6 am by taking another ride on my Intense 5.5.  Basically I'm riding on the weekend, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  TLE and I will do one 1.4 mile laps around RORVR on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Thursday was a very busy day.  I began the day working by myself on the last 7 sections of fencing along the creek, and finished replacing the decorative fence next to Cabin #34....

....I finished the last 7 sections of creek fencing by 12:30 pm, and after lunch TLE joined me to replace the decorative fencing next to Cabin #34......

 Some min sledge action

 Some post hole digging

......TLE took a few pictures of me doing my thing.......

 A little more post hole action

 Pulled out a big piece of wood from one hole

 Some breaker bar action

 Pulling some dirt out by hand

 A little wood working

Putting the fence together

Done!

.....we didn't quite get the fence completely done, but good enough for a picture.  We'll return to the fence on Friday to finish fitting the split rails to the fence, and fill in the post holes.  We decided to replace all 16 split rails on this section of fence, as well as 4 of the 9 posts.  So, my total for the day was 15 sections of fence, and I am done!  All the posts are gone, and we have about 60 split rails left for future repairs.  

This was the first time since 2017 in South Lake Tahoe that TLE has worked with me.  In Tahoe she helped me finish the 300' pole fence I was building before we left for Yellowstone to finish our summer.....

Good times.....

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