Welcome to the wind tunnel....

 7:18 am - Monday - March 21st - Anza Borrego Desert, CA - 52° F, humidity 33%, wind 1 mph out of the north by northeast.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 84° F.  No HIGH winds for the first time in two days.....I feel blessed!  On this date in 2015 TLE and I were enjoying another sunset fire on the shores of Lake Powell at Lone Rock, UT......↴

We went to bed Saturday night to high gusting winds, awoke to them several times during the night, and got up to them Sunday morning.  They were blowing out of the west by northwest, which means they were blowing directly at the entry door of the Newell.  Opening that door against that wind, and getting outside when the winds are over 30 mph, and gusting close to 50 mph can be problematic to say the least.

It was windy enough that we had to forego our daily walks, but I did spend a good portion of the day putting things away, and beginning to organize the trailer in advance of our planned VW insertion late Monday afternoon, so we can be on the road early Tuesday morning.  Since I was in the trailer organizing stuff I turned on the Honda generator to provide power for the lights, and TV.....there were 8 NCAA 'March Madness' games Sunday, and I didn't want to miss any of them.  One of the big upsets of the day was #11, Iowa State winning a close one over #3, Wisconsin, 54-49, then #10 Miami bested #2 Auburn by 18 points, and it wasn't even that close.  Finally #1 Arizona barely survived their matchup with #9 TCU....with less than a minute to go Arizona was down 3 points to TCU, and had only scored 3 points in the last 5 minutes, but they hit a late 3 point jump shot to tie the game, which then went to overtime where they miraculously survived to play another day.....85-80.  Work was ongoing during those games, and I'm about an  hour away from saying the trailer is ready for turf and VW insertion.....in that order, of course.

The wind, of course, was the perpetual topic of discussion all day long, and into the night.  It felt like I we were trapped in a wind tunnel for 48 hours.  when I was awakened around 2:30 pm to the rocking of the Newell, I began to wonder if the forecast of the winds abating was another wrong guess by the weather guessers, but, alas, around 4 pm they did begin to wane, and by the time we got up there was no wind....just the blessed silence of the Anza Borrego Desert for which we have been longing for two long days.

As we end our boondocking time here in our favorite boondocking site we are slowly, but surely depleting all of our liquid assets.  We've used almost all of our gasoline for the generator, and we're down to around 80 gallons of water, and after another couple of long showers Monday afternoon the fresh water tank will be even lower, making for much less weight as we drive out Tuesday morning over the hump which separates us from the Salton Sea, and Banning Pass, which we must climb to get out of the Coachella Valley and into the Pomona Valley.  We'll dump our black, and gray tanks at the travel center in Ocotillo Wells to further lighten our load.

Now it is time to head into town to get the Newell coolant (23 gallons), and oil (24 quarts) changed, attend a wedding, and then begin our trek north to Likely, CA and our summer jobs.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to buy a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!

Adaptation......

 7:30 am - Sunday - March 20th - Anza Borrego Desert, CA - 56° F, humidity 46%, wind 8 mph out of the west......crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 78° F, and and winds into the 20's....ugh!  On this date in 2017 TLE and I were having lunch on the Terrace at the Furnace Creek Inn in Death Valley, CA.....↴

I was up before 7 am Saturday, so I took a picture of the sunrise....it was very cloudy first thing, which almost always makes for an interesting sunrise, but not windy at all....yet.....

.....I was a little concerned initially about getting our house batteries back to a full charge, but within an hour the clouds had passed to the east, and by noon time our house batteries were back to 100%.

Our lives of late have been circumscribed by wind.  We ask ourselves wind related questions all the time, such as what time will it get windy today?  If the wind is coming, should we stow the patio awning now, or roll the dice, and wait a few hours? Can I set up the outside TV, or will the wind prevent that? When will the wind lessen?  When should we walk to avoid the wind?  From what direction will the wind blow today, or this afternoon (it changes often).  To be fair, I was able to watch a lot of 'March Madness' games outside this week, so it was, obviously, not too windy Tuesday through Friday, but it feels like it has been windy every most every day.  Nonetheless, March has proven to be a windy month overall, however, we have managed to adapt somewhat, and that is what life is about, whether you live in a sticks and bricks home, or in an RV...you have to be able to adapt, but only up to a point....lol.  In our case we have wheels attached to our home, and we can choose to remain in this windy environment, or move to a place where it is not windy, and we choose to do just that this coming Tuesday (March 22nd) when we will reposition our Newell to the Elks Lodge in Fontana, CA.  Not only is it not windy there, it will be about 10° F cooler, on average, each day.  Here, in the Anza Borrego Desert, the temps will get into the low 90's this weekend, and the difference between 93° F, and 83° F is big as far as comfort level goes.  Even 5° F warmer makes a big difference, so move we will.

We had planned to be here until March 29th, but the wind has worn us down.  We love to sit outside enjoying the view, napping and reading, but it seems like half the time we're inside wishing we could be outside.  A good example is we were able to walk our desert loop early Saturday, and hoped to walk again in the afternoon, but the wind freshened, and TLE decided not to walk.....I went ahead and walked anyway, and wished I had stayed home inside like she did....lol.

Saturday was, of course, the first day of the round of 32 in this year's 'March Madness' edition.  I was adding up the number of games I will have watched all, or some of by Sunday evening and it totaled somewhere around 52 games in 6 days.  There were 8 games Saturday, and one enormous upset.....last year's national champion, and a #1 seed this year, Baylor, lost to #8 North Carolina in overtime 93-86.  There are still three #1 teams left in the tournament, and two of them won Saturday.  My #4 UCLA Bruins won their round of 32 game handily 72-56 over St. Mary's (#5) advancing to the 'Sweet Sixteen' round, and will not play again until this coming Friday.  Gonzaga, a #1 seed this year, who lost to Baylor last year in the final won a squeaker over #5 Memphis 82-78....the game could have gone either way in the last 90 seconds.  The Gonzaga game ended around 9 pm.

The early evening skies got cloudy again, and I was not sure we would get a sunset, but I took some pictures of the cloud formations......

....waiting to see if a sunset would develop, and I was rewarded......

......thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to buy a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!

Walkin', talkin', watchin' and shoppin'....

 7:34 am - Saturday - March 19th - Anza Borrego Desert, CA - 55° F, humidity 29%, wind 2 mph out of the west.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 83° F. On this date in 2017 TLE and I visited Badwater in Death Valley, CA....the lowest point in the continental U.S. at 282' below sea level.......↴

I have not made the effort for some time to take a sunrise picture, but I was awake just before the sun crested the eastern horizon, so I thought "Why not?", got up, got dressed, and went outside to do just that....

....and in addition to the sunrise, I caught the moon setting over the western mountains at the same instant......

....do I ever love my Samsung Ultra 21s phone camera lenses!

Shortly after that TLE and I took our early morning 2+ mile walk....it was a little chilly at 7:30 am, but better to need a long sleeve shirt than be wishing you could jump in a swimming pool to cool down!

In keeping with the prior two days I had the outdoor TV up and running by 9:30 am to watch the first of 16 games being played in the second round of 64......

.....and, also in keeping with it being Friday TLE came out around 12 pm to cook up 'breakfast' for lunch in the 'Cowboy Wok', which included peppered bacon courtesy Stater Brothers.......

....she added a piece of toast, and scrambled eggs to make it the perfect 'breakfast for lunch'.

I continued to watch one game after another with most games ending with the favored team winning, but there were two upsets....USC (#7) lost to Miami (#10), and Alabama (#6) lost to Notre Dame (#11)....not giant upsets, but upsets, nonetheless.  The SC game came down to the last play of the game, and could have gone either way, as did the Illinois vs. Chattanooga game with was decided by 1 point at the buzzer....Chattanooga led the entire game until the last 45 seconds.

We were gifted a modest sunset Friday evening, which I memorialized......

....oh, I did forget to mention we went into town around 9:30 am to shop, for the first time ever, at the weekly farmers market in the park formed by the Christmas Circle roundabout.  TLE bought some romaine lettuce, and some limes.  The romaine lettuce was for the Caesar Salad she had planned for our dinner fare that evening.  We also visited, for the first time, Bargain Barn, a large outdoor flea market next to The Red Ocotillo.  It's only open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday during the winter.  So that was our Friday.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to buy a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!

64 becomes 32, becomes 16......

 8:29 am - Friday - March 18th - Anza Borrego Desert, CA - 60° F, humidity 19%, wind - CALM.....the first time in a few days there is NO wind....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 86° F.  On this date in 2012 TLE and I attended a Zydeco Festival at Nicholls University in Thibodaux, LA......↴

Thursday began the round of 64  (32 teams play Thursday, and 32 on Friday...by Saturday we'll be down to 32 teams, and working toward the 'Sweet 16' by Sunday evening) in this year's 'March Madness' tournament, and by 10:15 am I was outside in my anti gravity chair watching the first game of the day...Michigan vs. Colorado....it was a close game until the final minutes when Michigan pulled away, winning 75-63.....

.....at times there were four games, on four different channels, in progress....it was a channel surfer's paradise.  I turned on the inverter at 10 am while the batteries were still charging, and watched 'March Madness' until almost 6:30 pm before heading inside for the night to watch the final 3, or 4 scheduled games.....during that interval the batteries reached 100%, and were only down to 98% at 6:30 pm.  The highlight of the night for me was #4 UCLA barely topping #13 Akron 57-53 after trailing by as many as 8 points late in the game.  They led the game early 8-5, and then trailed the rest of the game until the final 2 minutes when they finally went ahead to stay.  There were two games where the #12 seed upset the #5 seed, and one spectacular loss by perennial powerhouse #2 Kentucky to #15 St. Peter's.  It is the upsets, and near upsets that makes 'March Madness' so interesting, and that is why I watch every single year.  I'm always rooting for the underdog, that is, of course, unless the favored team is one of my favorites like Michigan, and UCLA....then you want them to win.....lol.  When the final game ended it was after 9:30 pm....almost 12 hours of 'March Madness' delight, and it begins again Friday with another marathon watching day!  I can honestly say I did nothing other than watch college basketball all day long.....not sorry!

On the weight loss front I have finally made it to my interim, pre-wedding goal of 20 pounds of weight loss....I am officially down 20 pounds, 4 ounces, and only 9 pounds 6 ounces from my ultimate goal of 30 pounds lost, and never to be found again....I hope.  I was stuck at 18 pounds lost for almost a week.  On the Wuhan flu front TLE and I remain asymptomatic, and maskless.....we continue to spend 99% of our time in rural America with rare ventures into crowded conditions, such as the wedding shower a week ago.  Life is good!

As an added bonus the wind was blowing out of the southeast until late evening, so I was shielded from its affects by the Newell.  It (the wind) never got much above 7 mph all day, and was under 5 mph most of the time......

....I managed to tear my self away from one of the early evening games to capture another sunset, and moon rise......

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to buy a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!

Death of a vision.....

 8:53 am - Thursday - March 17th - Anza Borrego Desert, CA - 69° F, humidity 16%, wind 3 mph out of the east by northeast......crystal clear, blue, sunny skies again today with a forecast high of 83° F.  On this date in 2015 we arrived at Lone Rock, UT on the shores of Lake Powell....one of our all time favorite boondock sites.....↴

TLE and I pretty much do not get out of bed in the morning until the sun hits the rear window curtain in the bedroom.  We know we will be getting up a lot (at least four out of eight days) before the sun hits any part of our Newell once we begin our summer job, so we are committed, for now, to letting the sun dictate when we rise.  

We've also taken to walking earlier and earlier as the local temperatures rise, except when the wind is blowing, and it was blowing Wednesday morning....not super bad, but bad enough to deter TLE from walking.  I ended up walking one mile around 11:30 am, and after one lap I was done....just too hot for me.

For most of the day the wind was coming directly out of the north.....

Wind directly out of the north....the opposite of Tuesday

....again, not too bad, but eventually the wind direction changed, and the velocity picked up to the point where we had to close the screen door, which faces the north, as it was too windy inside....lol.  At any rate, before that happened I had set up the outdoor TV for 'March Madness' viewing.  In my mind I was going to be sitting in that chair all afternoon watching college basketball to my heart's content, however my vision suffered an untimely death......

.....as I wrote earlier, the wind switched around to the northwest, and with the aforementioned increased velocity, threatened to topple over my flat screen TV, so I had to put it away, and head inside to watch college basketball.  The sky was this unbelievable cobalt blue Wednesday, which totally captivated me for the time I was outside....

....in between 'March Madness' games I snuck outside to capture a couple of sunset pictures....

The last rays hitting the Santa Clara Mountains

....of course, by 6 pm, the winds had once again abated as evidenced by my scull and crossbones flag's limp status.....

.....both games Wednesday were interesting, and the second one was off the charts entertaining as two 5 minute overtimes were required to determine the ultimate winner, Notre Dame which won the game on a buzzer beating layup to send Rutgers home, gets to continue their 'March Madness' dream by flying to San Diego for their next game.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to buy a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!

Snatching success from the jaws of defeat......

 8:16 am - Wednesday - March 16th - Anza Borrego Desert, CA - 68° F, humidity 22%, wind 11 mph out of the west by northwest.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with lots of wind now, and lots of wind all night....forecast high is 87° F.  On this date in 2012 I was replacing the jack on the tongue of our trailer while in Thibodaux, LA.....it got bent as we were boarding the Galveston Free Ferry (on Galveston Island) a few days earlier as I neglected to fully retract it fully earlier that morning when we were dropping the trailer on the hitch.....↴

I've never made that mistake again

All fixed...cost about $20 for the new jack

Tuesday promised to be the hottest day we've had since we returned to the Borrego with a forecast high of 87° F (it actually topped out at 89° F).  We were out taking our two mile walk around 8:45 am to beat the heat, and I'm glad we went that early as by the time we finished our second 1 mile lap the sun was already getting intense.

After a suitable 'cool down' period I decided to head into the trailer to give that Magura MT disc brake on my Haibike SDURO MTB one more shot.  I had re-watched the YouTube video and picked up on a couple of things I had neglected to do, and thought I could now successfully bleed the air out of that brake line.  It took me about 45 minutes, but in the end I was successful!  I remounted the brake, and then pulled the brake lever several times to pump it up, and what do you know?  It worked perfectly.....all the air was gone, and the spongy feeling had disappeared.  I can't believe I lived with that for over two years!

With that victory under my belt I decided to retire for the day to my anti gravity chair to revel in my success.....

It does not take much to make me happy

......the winds freshened a little around 10 am, but they never go too bad.  They blew directly from the south all day, which was good, because the Newell blocked most of it....it never blew hard enough to drive me inside, but was always there, nonetheless....

......I napped, read, and enjoyed the beautiful views to the north, and northwest....

.....I entertained brief thoughts of another sunset fire, but as if in direct response to my unspoken thoughts the wind stiffened even more, and it became obvious it was not to be.

Tuesday was also the first day of 'March Madness'....if you have read my blog for more than a few years you know everything pretty much stops when it is 'March Madness' time.  For those who may not understand, or be familiar with the term, 'March Madness' refers to the annual NCAA college basketball single elimination tournament played each March to determine the #1 team in the nation.  Tuesday is what they call 'First Four' day where 4 teams play to see which two advance, or play 'INTO' the tournament.  This year there are two 'First Four' days (Tuesday and Wednesday).  The first game began at 3:40 pm, and I was right there in my recliner watching it in its entirety, along with the nightcap at 6:10 pm.  Texas Southern topped Texas A&M, Corpus Christi in the 3:40 pm game, and in the nightcap Indiana topped Wyoming to advance.  Both were very close games until the end....just like I like them.

In between games I managed to capture a muted sunset for your viewing pleasure.....

....and the nearly 'FULL' Anza Borrego Desert moon.....I am amazed at what amazingly detailed pictures this Samsung S21 Ultra camera takes.....

.....the winds rose in ferocity as we went to bed around 10 pm, and our bedroom temp was over 78° F.....by and far the warmest bedtime temperature we have seen in weeks.  By 2 am the winds had settled down to a steady 15 mph, and remained at the velocity throughout the rest of the night.  In spite of having left a few windows open just enough to let in fresh air, it continued to be warm inside all night.....not a recipe (for me) for a sound sleep.....ah well....there are always naps.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to buy a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!

Acclimating.....

 7:50 am - Tuesday - March 15th - Anza Borrego Desert, CA - 51° F, 29% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the northwest......partly cloudy skies today with a forecast high of 89° F.  On this date in 2015 TLE and I were hiking the Airport Mesa Loop in Sedona, AZ......↴

Monday began THE warming trend here in the Anza Borrego Desert.....once it begins, there is no going back....spring is coming, with summer right on its heels.  Over the next 15 days the temps will be mostly in the mid to high 80's, getting into the 90's a couple of times.  It's time to begin to acclimate to warmer temps.  It's been a wonderful winter so far, but it will be time very soon to migrate back to the Pomona Valley, and slightly cooler temps.

We had virtually no wind Monday, and hardly any breezes until late afternoon making it feel warmer than the forecast 87° F high for the day.   TLE and I took just one walk, but made it a 2 mile walk as we were pretty sure we would not feel like walking a second time later in the day.  Once that was done I spent a good part of the day sitting in the shade cast by the Newell reading, and napping.

For entertainment I spent an hour, or so attempting, unsuccessfully, to bleed the front disc brake on my Haibike SDURO mountain bike.  The front brake has always been a little spongy, so I thought there might be a little air in the line to bleed out of the system.  These newer Magura MT disc brakes are much more difficult to charge, and/or bleed than the Hayes 9 brakes I've used for years on all my bikes.  I even watched a YouTube video showing the exact brakes I have, but was still unsuccessful in my endeavor.  I may have to surrender and take it to a bike shop.

One of our boondock neighbors is leaving the Anza Borrego Desert Tuesday for higher elevations, and the subsequently lower temps on Tuesday.  He had about 40 gallons of fresh water in large 5 gallon jugs he wanted to get rid of since he will be moving into an RV park with full hookups, and doesn't want to haul that water up the mountain.  Hans came over around 6 pm, just as we were finishing dinner, to help me pump the water into my fresh water tank.  We were down to about 100 gallons of fresh water, and had plenty to make it another 9 days, but I hated to see him pour it on the ground.  Now I have 140 gallons in my tank, and can take a few longer showers now if I wish....cool!

Since there was still no wind as the sun slid down the western slope of the local mountains I decided to light a fire in our portable fire pit, and invited Brandon, Barb, Hans and Debra over to share it.  We talked until well after 8 pm, bidding each other adieu as the fire burned down to just red hot coals.  What a great day in the Anza Borrego Desert!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to buy a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!