Foggy.....

7:40 am - Thursday - March 7th - GNHS - 58° F, humidity 68%, wind 4 mph out of the west.....partially cloudy today with a forecast high of 70° F.  On this date in 2021 I hiked with some fellow boondock friends to Coyote Peak in the Santa Rosa Mountains which are located with the Anza Borrego Desert State Park.....TLE chose, wisely, not to participate.  You can read about that adventure here......

 After a flurry of activity on Monday and Tuesday we took it easy Wednesday.  First up was a soak....I haven't had a good soak in about 10 days, so we met Charles and Phyllis at the hot pools/tubs (used the tubs this time, as they were cleaning the hot pools) around 9:30 am to do just that.

Charles and Phyllis needed to restock their filtered water supply, so he suggested we drive down to Niland so they could do just that, and then have lunch at the Buckshot Cafe.  We ate there twice last winter, but have not returned since then, so it sounded good to us.  We left around 11 am, arriving at the YeYa Market around 11:30 am.  Within 10 minutes Charles and I had filled their five 1 gallon water bottles at 50 cents a gallon, and we were on our way over to the Buckshot Cafe....

.....where we had a nice lunch....Charles, Phyllis and I had their 3 crispy taco plate whilst TLE had their ham sandwich.   Everyone gave their meal choices a thumbs up.

We were home around 1 pm, and bid our adieus until dinner at 5 pm.  I read for a while inside (the winds of a few days ago were beginning to return), and then spent a couple of hours trying to install some new fog lights on the Newell.  The fog lights which came with the Newell are 42 year old technology, are not very effective. and pull a lot of 12 volt power for not much illumination.  Before ordering the replacement fog lights I 'carefully' measured the old fog lights, and thought I had a perfect, drop in replacement, but I was wrong.  After two hours of trying to fit them using the existing mounting point, I finally figured out how to install them, but I will need to buy some flat aluminum stock to make a modified mounting bracket which will accommodate the new fog light can dimensions....

That 'Super 4x4' rock shield is removable, and I will be removing it prior to installation

.....the problem with the new fog lights is not their diameter.....that is perfect.  The problem is the cans are about two inches deeper than the old ones, making it necessary to move the mounting point about 2 inches, hence the need for some flat aluminum stock.  Once I knew what I needed to do to complete the installation, I put the front bumper back together. and cleaned up the workbench.  The next time I'm in La Quinta we'll pay a visit to the Home Depot to buy the flat aluminum stock I need to make the new brackets.

TLE and I headed over to Charles and Phyllis' 5th wheel at 5 pm for a delicious chicken curry dinner prepared by the loving hands of Phyllis.  By 5 pm the winds were over 20 mph again, but by the time we began our walk back home around 7 pm the winds had already abated, however, within 15 minutes of our arrival home it began to rain....wait, what?  Yup, it rained on and off for 3 hours.....that was not expected!  Rain on the roof.....a nice way to end a lovely day.

Thanks for stopping by!

Everyone is still smiling......

 7:21 am - Wednesday - March 6th - GNHS - 58° F, humidity 61%, wind 5 mph out of the west......cloudy today with a forecast high of 73° F.  On this date in 2014 TLE and I were attending a Spring Training game in Peoria, AZ.....Padres and Rangers.....

What to do when friends and relatives visit? Well, let's take a RZR ride! And that is what we did Tuesday....

Everyone is still smiling

Love this one....Charles and Phyllis...dueling cell phones

Lunch at the Chiriaco Summit Coffee Shop

TLE and Phyllis in the back seat

Red Canyon Jeep Trail....good to know you're on the right trail!

....we left on our adventure around 11 am in one of the 4 seat Generals driving out the Canal Trail to Bradshaw Wash, then up Bradshaw wash to the Red Canyon Jeep Trail arriving at Chiriaco Summit around 12:30 pm where we had a nice, leisurely lunch.  We began the return trip down Red Canyon Jeep Trail around 2 pm, and arrived back at GNHS around 3:30 pm, and everyone was still smiling.  I'll let the pictures (above) tell the story.  You're never quite sure how people will react to RZRing, but Charles and Phyllis loved it!

We reconvened around 4:30 pm to the 'lido deck' for snacks, wine, and a fire......

.....we'll probably take another RZR ride on Thursday, or Friday out to the Bat Caves, so I guess everyone must have had fun!

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Holy cow!

7:45 am - Tuesday - March 5th - GNHS - 54° F, 79% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the sout by southeast......partially cloudy today with a forecast high of 73° F.  On this date in 2021 TLE and I were on way back north to Seal Rock, OR after a month's vacation from our jobs there.....here we are staying at the Elks Lodge in Santa Barbara, CA......

TLE and I managed to get in a 1 mile out and back walk first thing in the morning averaging 3.3 mph.....

We haven't done a big shopping for a couple of weeks, so Monday we were off to La Quinta with Charles and Phyllis to do just that.  We left GNHS around 10:45 am, arriving in La Quinta just before lunch time, so our first stop was Rubio's Coastal Grill....nothing like a couple of fish tacos before shopping....

.....after lunch we headed first to Trader Joe's, which is just a block away from Rubios, picked up a few things there, and then headed for COSTCO, which was pretty crowded for a Monday.  By the time we finished shopping, and headed for home it was 1:30 pm, which had us arriving back at GNHS around 2:30 pm....it didn't seem like we were gone for four hours!

TLE and I spent the afternoon reading before heading over to Charles and Phyllis' 5th wheel around 5 pm for dinner.  As it turned out we were having T-Bone steaks for dinner, so it fell to me to grill them, and you know how much I love to fire up our Sea-B-Que!  Charles and Phyllis recently bought a whole processed cow (cut up into various cuts of meat), and these steaks were from that cow, which had been pasture raised, and grass fed, so the meat was tender, and amazingly flavorful.  The T-Bone steaks were quite thick, so they took about 10 minutes per side to get them to the desired medium rare.

After dinner we watched an Agathie Christie move entitled "Murder is Easy", which was a two part one, and it was very good.  We watched the movie on BritBox, which features hundreds of high quality British productions.

Thanks for stopping by!

When guessing goes wrong.....

7:35 am - Monday - March 4th - GNHS - 57° F, humidity 59%, wind 5 mph out of the west by northwest.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 72° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were in St. Augustine, FL visiting Monk's Vineyard & Wine Shop.....a wine/beer bar in the middle of an antique shop....very funky....

Sunday morning we still had those four RZRs from the all day rental on Saturday which needed their spa treatments, so around 10 am I got dressed, and began to refuel them one at a time, then washing them before putting them away.  It only took me around 90 minutes to get those 4 RZRs ready for their next customers.  Around the time I was putting away the last RZR key, and clocking out Hunter arrived to take care of the single 2 hour rental, which was going out at 12 pm.

As you remember we had taken down  our sail shades, the dining canopy, the 'red wall', and the flag in preparation for the forecast winds on Saturday and Sunday.  We were fully expecting a repeat of Saturday afternoon, but the forecast winds in the high 20's never materialized.  In fact, the breeze never got over 4, or 5 mph....something for which to give thanks.

We were expecting the arrival of Charles and Phyllis sometime Sunday afternoon.  They were driving in from Long Beach, CA where it was raining Sunday.  As they crossed over that magical boundary line called Banning Pass the rain ceased, and soon they were driving in high winds (up to 60 mph), which gradually decreased as they descended into the Coachella Valley.  They arrived here around 1:30 pm without incident.  Out of the rain, and into the sunny Salton Sea sink.

While they headed to their site to set up for a week of fun and games, TLE and I remained indoors reading, still anticipating the forecast winds.  By 4 pm it was obvious there was going to be no wind, so we raised up the dining canopy to its normal height, and reattached the 'red wall' in preparation for dinner alfresco, and began to sort of clean things up after the Saturday winds.

Around 5 pm Charles and Phyllis arrived, and dinner was served.....TLE's famous meatloaf, mashed potatoes and salad.  Charles brought a nice bottle of wine, and we settled into great, nonstop conversation, and the consumption of great food and wine.....

....I love this 'usie' .....it turned out quite nicely, and makes me very happy!

We talked until after 7 pm at which time we cleared the dishes into the Newell, and bid adieu to Charles and Phyllis until Monday morning.

Thanks for stopping by!

Not what we thought.....

7:10 am - Sunday - March 3rd - GNHS - 57° F, humidity 59%, wind 9 mph out of the west by southwest.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 69° F.  On this date in 2018 TLE and I met good friends Roscoe and Geni, whom we met while working in one of the General Stores at Yellowstone NP, for dinner at the Arizona Room in Grand Canyon Village.....

I previously wrote that we had a bachelor party group all day rental of four 4 seat RZRs on Saturday, however, that was not correct.....by a long shot.  I'm not sure how the person who set the reservation got that soooo wrong, but they did.  Instead, they were actually a group (8) of middle aged guys who work for a large, national window/door manufacturer at various locations around the USA, and were here for a company team building exercise.  A much different, and actually more preferable scenario.  It was an all day rental beginning at 9 am so TLE, Hunter and I were on the job by 8:15 am getting the four RZRs ready.  The customers arrived around 8:45 am, and by 9:15 am they were on their way.  Then it was a matter of awaiting their return sometime between 3 and 5 pm.  

You can cover a lot of ground in 4, or 5 hours here at GNHS, and we have noticed that many people renting a RZR all day only use it 4, or 5 hours of the 8 hour rental.  When we have gone out taking family and friends on rides we have typically been out anywhere from 2-5 hours, and by that time everyone is ready to be done.  

A while back TLE and I bought a 2000 watt solar charger from Bluetti via eBay.  The battery can be charged via cigarette lighter socket, via plugging into 120 VAC, or via portable solar panels, which was what interested us.  Initially we ordered just one portable 120 watt portable solar panel (folds down to one fourth is full size), but found out that we needed two 120 watt portable panels to charge it that way, so we ordered a second panel.  This was a refurbished unit fully warranted by Bluetti International. Once we got the second panel we connected the panels to the Bluetti solar charger, and found it would not charge that way.  Something was wrong with the control board.  Ultimately we returned the defective unit to Bluetti, and they sent us a replacement unit, which arrived Saturday just after our all day customers left the barn.

TLE and I quickly unpacked the Bluetti AC2000P unit, then connected the solar panels to the 'new' unit, and are quite pleased to report that it works!  We now have two ways in which to charge the Bluetti 2000 watt, lithium battery when boondocking now....via the portable solar panels, or by plugging it into the cigarette lighter 12 volt plug in the through bay of the Newell, using the solar panels on its roof.  Now, when we boondock, we will not have to run our small Honda 2000 watt generator as much, saving gallons of gasoline.  We can now power the trailer, and any power tools using the Bluetti, and not have to plug it (the trailer) into the coach, or the Honda generator to power it, plus I can now power the 12 volt ceiling exhaust fan (Fantastic fan), which I could not do before when we disconnect the trailer from the Newell.

Other than playing with the Bluetti, TLE and I spent most of the day reading while Hunter inventoried the new parts we received last week, so we can begin to repair a lot of the cosmetic damage our RZRs and Generals have sustained over the winter.

Our all day customers returned around 3:30 pm without incident....no flat tires, and no damage, cosmetic, or otherwise...perfect.  We checked them in, and closed the office about 10 minutes later.  A great rental day with no stress....lol.

The winds we were expecting arrived around noon time, and lasted until after 6 pm, but they were all out of the west by southwest, which is perfect for us as we have the Bombay Beach Bungalow, a large tree, and the Roadrunner building shielding us from the worst of the wind.  It appears we will get those same winds again Sunday afternoon, and then things will return to normal for the next week, or so.  We have just one 2 hour rental on Sunday, so it will end up being a nice, kick back kind of weekend after all.

Thanks for stopping by!

March, already?

6:52 am - Saturday - March 2nd - GNHS - 58° F, humidity 69%, wind 12 mph out of the south by southeast....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 71° F.  On this date in 2014 TLE and I were at a family party with our son Tim, and his, then, future wife, Laila.....

.....I was still recovering from double hernia surgery three weeks earlier.

Once again we slept in until after 7 am before throwing the curtains back to reveal another beautiful GNHS day....March 1st to be exact.....

....I know it may seem trite to mention that it was just New Years day a few days ago, right?  And it is just 4 years until the next Leap Year!

The temps are steadily rising, and TLE and I determined it had been too warm when we took our walk Thursday at 10 am, so we headed out for another 2 mile out and back walk at 9 am Friday averaging a whopping 3.5 mph....nothing like being back on asphalt!  After returning home I repeated the toning workout from Thursday, then retired to my recliner to read....

Standing in front of site #21 where Charles and Phyllis will be parking their 5th wheel for a week beginning Sunday

....when you are deeply engrossed in a book the time seems to melt away, and suddenly it is 4 pm.  I did spent part of the day outdoors in my anti gravity chair reading, but didn't really do anything else of a productive nature.  The weather guessers are forecasting another wind event this weekend, only the winds are completely out of the west, southwest, and southeast.....no north winds.  Nevertheless, around 5 pm TLE and I began lowering our sail shades, putting away the market umbrellas, then lowering the flag pole, and the dining canopy in preparation for the winds.  Better to do it before the winds arrive, and not at 2 am in the morning, if you get my drift.

While we were in Arizona a significant portion of the many replacement parts for our various damaged RZRs and Generals arrived.  There are still a lot of parts in the proverbial pipeline, but at least they are finally arriving, and can be installed in preparation for the time, which is fast approaching, when we return everything to Polaris.  At any rate, there is a large pile of large boxes in front of the COA office, which need to be dealt with before our Saturday customers arrive.  Time to get dressed, and begin moving boxes!

Thanks for stopping by!

The count down begins.....

 7:39 am - Friday - March 1st - GNHS - 59° F, humidity 59%, wind 7 mph out of the west by northwest....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 73° F.  On this date in 2023 TLE and I awoke to rain, and then a rainbow at GNHS......

Our first full day back home was a deservedly laid back day after a week and a half of non-stop socializing, and driving.  We haven't had to turn on any of our heaters since late last week, so we are officially in that vague, nebulous 'shoulder season' between winter and spring where the temps and weather are quite idyllic.  We stayed in bed until after 7 am, then spent a leisurely couple of hours sipping coffee, and watching the weather forecast for the next week before taking a 2 mile out and back walk, our 16th since December 26th.....

....after a brief cool down period we both did our toning workouts, and then settled into reading.  It is so quiet here at GNHS right now that it is almost spooky.  Pretty much everyone in the park is either a permanent winter resident, or working.  

Speaking of weather forecasts.....there is a large winter storm about to hit southern Oregon and northern California which is forecast to dump 8-10 feet of snow at the higher elevations all along the Sierra Nevada mountain range.  LPG&RVR will be getting snow for the next week solid.

Around mid day I took care of a couple of minor projects around the 'lido deck' area, then returned to reading with  a nap, or two thrown in for good measure.  As things stand right now we only have rentals on Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday is a group of 8 guys out on a bachelor party adventure.  We're renting them four 4 seat RZRs for the adventure for four hours, and I'm a little nervous about this whole thing.  I can just see them flipping one, or two of the RZRs....hope I'm wrong.  On Sunday we have just one 2 hour rental in one of the General 2 seaters, and that is it.

TLE and I have just 4 weeks left in our final go around here at GNHS before heading back north to LPG&RVR, so we're kind of on autopilot for the next two weeks, but then we begin to pack things away in preparation for lift off April 1st, which is a Monday.  We'd like to be back at LPG&RVR by the 7th, or 8th as opening day for the golf course, and RV park is the 13th. 

Also, during the next few weeks we'll be getting new 'shoes' for the VW, and the trailer....that is 8 tires in all.  They will all be Michelins, which we are buying through National Tire Concierge, just as we did last year when we had 4 new Michelins installed as drive tires on the Newell.  Needless to say, these tires will be significantly less expensive than the Newell tires which cost around $2,500 last year.  These 8 tires will run about $150 each, or around $1,200 + tax.  Once these 8 tires are installed we'll be set tire wise on all our rolling stock for around 6-8 years.  As a comparison, the last time I replaced the tires on the trailer back in the summer of 2015 it cost us around $125/tire through Amazon.  The current Amazon price per tire for the same tires is now $241, so National Tire Concierge has really come through once again.  With the final 8 tires we will have bought 14 tires through them....all Michelins for a tad more than the other popular brands (Bridgestone, Firestone, Toyo, Uniroyal, General, etc.).  While the trailer tires will be 9 years old this summer, they still look brand new, and we have not had one tread separation.  When we bought the trailer it had some off brand Chinese trailer tires on it, and over the first 2 years of our travels we had to replace a tire every few months due to tread separation.  Switching to the Michelin light truck tires has been a game changer for us!

We're only expecting around 25 RVs coming into the park this weekend, so we're not sure if we will get any walk up business, or not.  We'll see.

Thanks for stopping by!