Monthly Archives: October 2015

Another One Bites the Dust

Our stay here at Fiesta Grande RV Resort has flown by (map). Tonight will be our sixth night of a seven night stay. The weather has been changeable. We went from temperatures in the 90s on Thursday followed by a heavy thunderstorm Thursday afternoon, then a high of only 73 degrees on Friday with a passing shower or two.

I’ve been a pickleball glutton since we arrived. I’ve been on the court for about three hours a day. Donna played most days except on Friday when she went for a bike ride with an avid cyclist named Terry that she met here in the RV park. The shifter cable for the rear derailleur on her bike broke during their ride. I need to find a bike shop and buy a replacement cable.

I managed to get one project done. When we were in Mesa, I searched hardware stores for tie-down anchors without finding what I wanted. I needed to add more anchor points to keep things from shifting in the trailer. Lately, my ladders have been falling onto the scooter and scuffing it up. I don’t know what changed – I use bungees to secure the ladders and that’s worked just fine for two years. Maybe the bungees are worn.

When we arrived here, I ordered tie-down anchors from Amazon and they arrived in two days with my Prime account. So on Friday, I installed the anchors with #10 one-inch self-drilling screws. From now on I’ll strap the ladders to the wall. I ordered eight tie-down anchors and installed four. I’ll keep the rest on hand in case I need additional anchor points.

New tie down anchor installed

New tie down anchor installed

On Wednesday we had another Verizon Jetpack blow-up. The lithium-ion battery pack blew. I wrote about the last blow up in this post. This time the battery bulged and blew the back case cover off the Jetpack like the last one, but the Jetpack continued to work. I’m not sure how that happened. I ordered a new lithium-ion battery from Amazon and it arrived on Friday.

I think the battery issue is caused by overcharging. The thing is, we use the Jetpack all day long. I keep it plugged in because if I don’t have 120-volt AC power to it, the battery will run down in three or four hours. I’m not sure how I can avoid overcharging while running it 24 hours a day. Having the battery charging constantly makes the electrolyte form dendrites which eventually grow to a point of shorting the anode to the cathode. Apparently the Jetpack doesn’t have smart charging capability – it just keeps charging away until the battery fails.

We’ll pull out of Casa Grande on Monday and head down to Yuma for few days before we continue on to San Diego.

 

*Just so you know, if you follow one of my links to Amazon and decide to make a purchase, you pay the same price as usual and  I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

New York Bar

Back in May, I wrote about my youngest daughter Shauna graduating from California Western School of Law in this post. After graduation, she moved from San Diego to Washington, DC where she had accepted a position with a large international law firm, Mayer Brown. Shauna works on securities litigation and compliance in their Washington, DC and New York City offices.

In July, she took the New York State Bar exam in Albany, New York. It is arguably one of the toughest bar exams in the country. As you can imagine, the exams are tightly monitored and have security requirements. To enter the exam room, you must show your seating ticket and an official government-issued photo identification such as a passport or driver’s license. They have a list of items that applicants are allowed to bring to the test center. All items must be in one clear, resealable plastic bag.

On the first day of the test, they had a half-hour lunch break. They were told to take their seating ticket and photo ID in their plastic bag for re-admittance to the test center.

Shauna sat with a group of attendees and had lunch outside. When she finished her lunch, she walked over to the trash receptacle and threw away the wrappers from her food. Then she realized she had thrown her plastic bag with her seating ticket and photo ID in the trash!  Normally, you could reach into the trash receptacle and retrieve your bag, but this was a secure trash can that was built more like a postal mail drop box. Once the trash is dropped inside, there’s no reaching in to retrieve it. It had a locked door on the side to empty the trash when it’s full. Shauna was in full panic mode. With no seating ticket and no photo ID, she wouldn’t be admitted back into the test center to continue her exam. Months of preparation for the bar were about to be wiped out.

She saw a police officer and asked him for help. He didn’t have a key for the trash bin, but he said that he could call for the maintenance crew to come and open it. She only had a few minutes of the lunch break left. One of her new-found friends tracked down an exam proctor and told her about the problem. It turned out this particular proctor was the lead supervisor for the crew. She had seen Shauna in the exam center earlier and recognized her. She told Shauna not to worry and to come with her.

This proctor took Shauna to the security desk and told the security people to let her in to the exam – her seating ticket and photo ID would follow once the trash bin was opened up. Shauna was totally on edge as she returned to her seat. You can imagine how tough it was to get her head back into the exam for the rest of the afternoon. At the end of the day, she was exhausted.

After the second day of the bar exam, she told me it was the toughest mental challenge she had ever faced. New York doesn’t set a target for releasing the exam results. Typically the results are revealed in November.

Yesterday, she was still at work in Washington, DC at 8pm when she sent me a text message. She passed the bar exam! Great news! According to an article in The New York Times, approximately 10,600 people took the exam. Only 61% passed. This percentage is skewed lower by the number of foreign-educated examinees. Exam takers who earned their degrees from an accredited school in the USA passed at a 79% rate.

We celebrated Shauna’s success with a cocktail, then cooked Cornish hens on the Traeger wood pellet grill. Donna prepared the hens by rubbing them with oil and seasoning them with salt and pepper. Then she used 6-ounce cans half full of pineapple juice inserted into the cavity to stand the hens up. This is a variation of the beer can chicken grilling method.

Cornish hens ready for the grill

Cornish hens ready for the grill

Donna served the hens with a balsamic tomato conserve, garlic smashed red potatoes and sauteed asparagus with peppers and red onion.

Cornish hen with balsamic tomato conserve

Cornish hen with balsamic tomato conserve

To be honest, I don’t think cooking Cornish hens on the Traeger is worth the effort. A whole chicken or chicken quarters gives much more bang for the buck in my opinion.

Shauna’s not finished with the New York State Bar – she still has to go through a character and fitness review. I don’t see her having any issues with that. She should be sworn in to the bar in January.

We have cooler weather today. I’m posting late because I spent the entire morning on the pickleball courts. Donna played for about two hours before heading back to the coach to take a call. I hung in there for three hours playing doubles with people from Canada staying here for the winter at Fiesta Grande RV Resort.

 

Moving on to Casa Grande

Sunday was a wacky day for sports – at least it was for me. The Moto GP race from Sepang, Malaysia was marred by controversy over the antics of Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi – unfortunately it will affect the outcome of the championship. The Formula One race in Austin, Texas saw points leader Lewis Hamilton force his teammate off track at turn one in a wildly entertaining race with changing weather and track conditions. In NFL action, the Chargers didn’t bring it against the Raiders. They played poorly through three quarters in every phase of the game, then scored three touchdowns in a span of 13 minutes.

I fired up the Weber Q grill Sunday evening. Although I love cooking with the Traeger wood pellet fired grill, I still use the propane Weber from time to time. Donna had prepared a pork tenderloin with a sesame-chili-ginger marinade. It was excellent! She served it with sweet potato mash and sauteed kale.

Grilled pork tenderloin

Grilled pork tenderloin

Served with sweet potato mash and sauteed kale

Served with sweet potato mash and sauteed kale

Sunday night was our last night in Usery Mountain Regional Park. The sunset was a beauty. I think Ozark enjoyed this park as much as any place we’ve been. She spent a lot of time on the dashboard looking out the windshield. Donna calls it cat TV. She was entertained by an endless display of wildlife. She watched the birds – cactus wrens, LeConte’s thrashers, Gambel’s quail. She saw lizards and rabbits and listened intently as the coyotes wailed.

Another desert sunset

Another desert sunset

We packed up and left Usery Mountain on Monday morning. On the way out, Donna stopped at the park office to inquire about camp hosting. We may apply to return to the park as camp hosts. The job would require 40 hours of work per week per couple. In return, we would have a free, full hook-up site. It requires a minimum four-month commitment though. We’ll mull it over and maybe send in the application next spring.

Our next stop was Speedco in Casa Grande. I wanted to have the coach serviced. Speedco is a truck lube and tire service center. They have a medium-duty preventive maintenance service that applies to our RV. I had the motor oil changed (28 quarts), oil filter replaced and chassis lubed. They also checked the gear oil and oil level in the front hubs/bearings. I didn’t have the fuel filter replaced since I changed it in June, but they gave me a fuel filter as it’s included in the package price.

I also paid for used oil analysis. Used oil analysis can reveal trends that may indicate abnormal contaminants which can be a sign of wear or impending failure. When I read the results and compared it to the last analysis, I was puzzled. Some of the properties of the oil seemed unusual. Then I remembered that the last analysis was done on Lucas Magnum diesel engine oil. Since then I’ve switched to Chevron Delo 400 LE diesel engine oil. I’ll never use Lucas again. The analysis of the Lucas oil indicated viscosity breakdown and the Petroleum Quality Institute has issued a warning for that oil.

The Chevron Delo oil has different additives than Lucas uses. The base stocks used in most quality motor oils are similar – it’s the additive packages that are different. For instance, Delo uses a silicon anti-foaming agent. This made the silicon content of the used oil seem high to me in comparison to the last oil analysis. Silicon can also mean dirt has been ingested by the engine. If we had a dirt problem from an intake leak or bad air filter, there would be other telltale signs. Our used oil analysis didn’t show any abnormalities.

The oil was last changed in January, about 10,000 miles ago. One of the things you can see in the used oil analysis is the Total Base Number (TBN). The TBN is an indicator of the oil’s useful life. In our case, the TBN was 7.7. Since Chevron Delo starts out with a TBN of around eight and the oil isn’t considered depleted until TBN is below two, we could have gone a lot longer before changing the oil. I wanted it done now though as we won’t be near a Speedco in the coming months.

We pulled into the Fiesta Grande RV Park around noon. This is a Thousand Trails/Encore park. We aren’t Thousand Trails members but we were able to book a week here at the Passport America rate. We have a full hook-up, pull-through site and full amenities for less than the site we had at Usery Mountain with no sewer.

Road trips wear Ozark out

Road trips wear Ozark out

Last night, Donna made caprese for us to snack on with a beer as I watched the Monday Night Football game. She used fresh mozzarella, compari tomatoes and fresh basil from her potted plant and drizzled it with balsamic vinegar reduction.

Caprese plate

Caprese plate

Today we’ll start with pickleball and then see what the day brings. I expect sunny skies and warm weather – the forecast calls for upper 80s.

Happy Birthday Sara

Although the afternoons have been quite warm, the dew point is low and the dry air is agreeable. Even without clouds, the desert sunsets can be spectacular.

Beautiful sunset from our site at Usery Mountain

Beautiful sunset from our site at Usery Mountain

The evenings cool quickly. On Friday evening, after enjoying happy hour at the Red, White and Brew, Donna and I dined al fresco on grilled boneless chicken thighs at our site at the Usery Mountain Regional Park. It was so nice out, we sat outside until well after 10pm.

Dinner in the open air

Dinner in the open air

In the morning, Donna asked me to scooter her to the Pass Mountain Trailhead.  This seven-and-a-half mile trail has an accumulated elevation gain of nearly 1,200 feet. Most people report taking up to three and a half hours to complete the loop – Donna did it in two hours and fifteen minutes.

While Donna was hiking, I scootered over to the Ace Hardware on Power Road. I was looking for a way to add tie-down points along the walls of the trailer. I didn’t find what I was looking for there, so I went down the road to Home Depot. No luck there either. So I scootered over to the Ace Hardware on Higley, which is a well-stocked store. Strike three. I guess I’ll have to wait until we reach San Diego and order what I want from Amazon.

We wanted to rent a car to go to a celebration at the Beer Research Institute (BRI) on Stapley in south Mesa. Our friend Sara Graff’s birthday is this Tuesday and her husband Howard arranged a get-together on the back patio of BRI. We waited too long to book a rental car. Most of the places had closed at noon on Saturday – the ones that were open didn’t have availability.

Making the 18-mile ride (each way) after dark on the scooter didn’t seem like a good idea, especially since I intended to sample a couple of brews. But Howard and Sara offered to come all the way out to the park to pick us up – Sara said she wanted to meet Ozark. Still, that was really nice. Thanks, Howard and Sara!

Donna was feeling adventurous and had a sample flight with a saison, vanilla porter and coffee porter. I had a West Coast style IPA and a black IPA. The beer was good. We had a plate of appetizers that included pretzel balls with dips, southwest poutine and meat candy – yum. The meat candy is sriracha-coated candied bacon.

Sara's party enjoying the back patio at BRI

Howard and Sara’s party on the back patio at BRI

We ordered entrees as well – Howard generously picked up the tab from the open menu to celebrate his wife’s birthday. I like your style, Howard! Donna had a mac and cheese bowl with green chilies and machaca. (She figured she earned it after her hike!)

Mac and cheese with green chilies and machaca

Mac and cheese with green chilies and machaca

I went for the New Mexico stacked enchiladas plate, which is layers of corn tortilla and shredded chicken with green chilies, cheese and sour cream with a sunnyside up egg on top. We were told we had to try this when we in Albuquerque, but never got around to it.

Stacked enchiladas

Stacked enchiladas

After dinner, it was time to break out the cake and sing happy birthday to Sara.

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you

Make a wish

Make a wish

We had a great time. Donna used the Lyft app on her phone to call for a ride home. The Lyft driver showed up within minutes and took us right into the park and dropped us off outside our coach. (If you ever want to try Lyft – or Uber – we have free ride codes we can share with you. Just ask.)

I’ve been dealing with a sore lower back for the past few days. I plan to take it easy, watch the Moto GP race from Sepang and some NFL action. Donna has plans to meet up with her friend, Julia, from Fountain Hills.

The Moron Behind Me

While Donna was at the dentist Wednesday morning, I walked over to the Towerpoint pickleball courts. It began to sprinkle rain before I got there. The rain didn’t last, it was just a brief, light shower. It was enough to keep everyone away though – no one showed up to play. I practiced serving for about 20 minutes, then Donna stopped by on the scooter on her way home from the dentist and we rode home.

My day became busier when the dentist offered a 1:50pm opening in the schedule for an exam and cleaning. I took the appointment. I hoped to have the new front tire mounted on the scooter before I went to the dentist, but the tire didn’t arrive at the shop until 1pm.

I went to Steve’s Motorcycle shop after I was finished at the dentist and had the new tire mounted and balanced. By the time I got home from the shop, it was already time for the early dinner at Towerpoint. The power was out at Sun Life RV Resort while the transformer upgrades were being completed. A free dinner was arranged at the neighboring Towerpoint resort to compensate for the loss of power. Both parks are owned by Cal-Am corporation. We enjoyed the dinner and met three other couples we shared a table with. Coincidentally, one of the couples was from our adopted home town of Madison, South Dakota. We’ve met other RVers on the road that use the Madison mail forwarding service (MyDakotaAddress.com), but this was first time we met someone who actually lives there.

Donna and I hit the pickleball courts at 7:30am the next morning. We played several games, then came back to our site at 9:30am to pack up and hit the road. I didn’t have anything loaded in the trailer. We arranged for a late checkout and set our sights on leaving by noon. I managed to get everything packed, take a shower, dump and flush our tanks, pull the slides in, retract the jacks and hook up the trailer in the allotted time.

Our destination was a short drive away – Usery Mountain Regional Park (map). We booked a pull-through site here until Monday. We stayed here last year in site 14, this time we are in site 13. The park has 30 and 50 amp electrical hookups and fresh water, but no sewer hook up at the sites. There’s a dump station near the campground entrance. The views and natural desert landscape are stunning. There are great hiking and mountain biking trails. Road biking is good too – the road outside the park takes you down to the Bush Highway along the Salt River or you can go the opposite way into town.

Back among the saguaros

Back among the saguaros

After setting up, I decided to ride the scooter over to Lucky Lou’s for a last cold one with the guys. Everyone has plans for the weekend and we won’t be getting together again until we return to Mesa in February. On the way there, I had a frightening experience on the scooter.

I was stopped at a red light in the left turn lane on Power Road at the junction with McKellips. I heard a car with a loud exhaust system rev and downshift as it stopped a couple of feet behind me. The driver of a Camaro ZL1 revved the engine a few times, then did a power-brake burnout! Power-braking is where the driver steps on the brake with his left foot and floors the accelerator with his right foot. The front brakes are locked so the car shouldn’t move while the powerful engine overcomes the rear brakes and the tires spin madly and begin to smoke. This was going on two feet behind my scooter at a stop light! When the light turned green, I gassed it hard and heeled the scooter over through the turn like I was riding my old Ducati Superbike. I was glad I had new rubber on the front. The Camaro was squealing the tires through the turn right behind me. I pulled into the parking lot at Lucky Lou’s and the Camaro followed me in. I found a parking space – the Camaro parked next to me. I was mad as can be and had a few choice words for the driver – he said, “I wasn’t going to hit you.” What an irresponsible moron.

The ZL1 has a supercharged 580 horsepower engine and can light up the tires at will. This doesn’t mean it should be driven without regard to the safety of others on a public road. When I was leaving Lucky Lou’s, the guy with the Camaro came out at the same time. He got in his car, then motioned me to go ahead of him. I said, “No chance, I’ll wait here until you are clear of the area.” He lit up the tires again in the parking lot and left.

If you see a Camaro ZL1 with this plate, I advise you to stay away

If you see a Camaro ZL1 convertible with this plate, I advise you to stay away.

I came home to a beautiful sunset and watched the NFL game between the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers.

Soft light on Pass Mountain at sunset

Soft light on Pass Mountain at sunset

Lately, Ozark has been amusing herself by picking nuggets of dry food out of her dish and hiding them under the living room rug. Sometimes she burrows under the rug to retrieve them, other times we have to clean up after her.  I don’t know what brought this behavior on.

Ozark looking under the rug

Ozark looking under the rug

Today we expect clear, sunny skies and the temperature should reach the low 80s. Donna has a lunch planned with Lana Jansen. I have a couple of projects to take care of.

 

Power Outage

I haven’t posted for a couple of days as things have been fairly quiet around here. On Monday morning, we expected a scheduled power outage as the park is upgrading transformers. The power was supposed to be out at 6am and remain out for four to six hours. To compensate, a free breakfast was scheduled at the sister resort, Towerpoint, next door (map). Donna and I walked over to Towerpoint at 7:30am. The breakfast was great – I had a full plate of eggs, bacon, potatoes and a biscuit with sausage gravy! That’s way more than I usually eat, but you know how breakfast buffets are.

After breakfast, we walked over to the Towerpoint Sports Complex. We brought our pickleball gear and met a few players on the court. We played five or six games and had a good time. When we came home, we found the power was on at 9:30am. Later, a park employee came by and delivered a flyer saying the transformer work was delayed and the scheduled outage would occur Tuesday morning, followed by another outage Wednesday afternoon.

Donna serving on the Towerpoint pickleball court

Donna serving on the Towerpoint pickleball court

On Tuesday morning, we went back to Towerpoint and played pickleball again. We love this game. I also went to their office to see if they had any availability for us to return here in mid-February. They couldn’t find a site for us – January, February and March are the busiest months for RV parks in the Phoenix area. Later, the woman at the Towerpoint office phoned me and said she found two sites that should be suitable for us and advised me to come back and look at the sites. I reserved site J27 from February 15th through April 15th. This should work out fine for us – our tax accountant is here in Mesa and we can get that handled while we’re here.

When we were in Albuquerque, Donna noticed the left reverse light was out on our coach. I didn’t bother with it while we were there due to all of the balloon activity filling my days. I also didn’t bother with any diagnostic work. Since the right reverse light worked, I ruled out any possibility of a problem with the signal reaching the lights. The tail light and turn signal worked so I didn’t think I had a ground problem either. I went to NAPA Auto Parts and bought new bulbs. The 3156 bulbs came in packages of two. Since the reverse lights and the turn signal lights use the same bulb, I bought two packs so I would have bulbs on hand for all four positions.

I removed the left rear light assembly and took the bulb socket out of the bulb holder by twisting it 90 degrees. Imagine my surprise when I looked at the bulb and the filament appeared to be intact. I broke out my Fluke multimeter and checked continuity through the bulb. I read 50 mega ohms of resistance (50,000,000 ohms)! The new bulb showed 0.9 ohms of resistance. Apparently there was an internal problem with the bulb that wasn’t visible to the naked eye and that’s why it wasn’t working.

Looks can be deceiving

Looks can be deceiving

Later that afternoon, I stopped in at Lucky Lou’s and met up with the usual crowd – Leendert Hartoog, John Huff, Mike and Jodi Hall and Pat Fitzpatrick – for a cold one. I came home and our friends and former neighbors, Joel Myaer and Lana Jansen, picked us up and drove us to Alessia’s Ristorante Italiano on the corner of Higley and Brown for dinner. The food was outstanding. I had the strangola over capellini and Donna had pesce puttanesca. Donna and Lana split a bottle of Sangiovese while Joel and I enjoyed Birra Moretti (Italian lager). It was a beautiful evening and we had the entire outdoor patio to ourselves!

Joel, Lana and Donna at Alessia's

Joel, Lana and Donna at Alessia’s

We’ve had some wet weather since we arrived here in Mesa. Thunderstorms have passed through daily with sudden wind gusts and rain. Most of the severe weather has passed by to the west and north of our location. The forecast calls for drier weather ahead.

Donna had an early dental appointment at 7am this morning. I’ll go to the dentist for a check-up and cleaning this afternoon. The power will be out again this afternoon and the park has a free early dinner scheduled. I’ll start packing the trailer this afternoon. We’ll pull out of here tomorrow and head up to Usery Regional Park where we have a site reserved through Monday. We love that place – the hiking, biking and views are so nice there.

Polishing Headlights

Donna and I hit the pickleball courts Friday for the first time since we were in Santa Fe. The courts are on the west end of the RV park – our site is on the east end. As we were leaving the coach, Donna asked a woman passing by on her bicycle if she saw anyone on the pickleball courts. The woman said she hadn’t seen anyone doing much of anything in the RV park. No one came out for pickleball, so Donna and I played singles. It was fun and a good way to work on accuracy and positioning, but doubles is a better game. We played five or six games – about an hour.

After we came home and hung out for a while, I received a severe weather warning on my smartphone. Thunderstorms and a possibility of a severe dust storm (haboob) were in the forecast. I saw rain falling to the south of us and heard thunder. We had a couple of passing showers, but not enough rain to wet the roads.

At 4pm, hoping that the showers had passed, we hopped on the scooter to meet up with Mike and Jodi Hall at Lucky Lou’s. As we rode east on McKellips, we rode right into a rain shower. It rained on and off for more than an hour while we were at Lucky Lou’s and we rode home through showers on wet roads.

On Saturday morning, I rode the scooter down Main Street. The traffic was very light. Most of the RV parks are empty as it’s early for the snowbird season. I stopped at a motorcycle shop and ordered a new front tire for the scooter. Our front tire is worn and I didn’t like riding on a wet road the night before with a worn tire. It should arrive by Wednesday and I’ll have it installed then.

I made another stop at O’Reilly Auto Parts. I had a $10 gift card from the time I recycled our old batteries at O’Reilly in San Diego. I wanted to buy a headlight polishing kit. Our headlight covers are made from a polycarbonate material. When they’re manufactured, a coating is applied to prevent scratching and UV degradation (yellowing from sunlight). Over time it degrades – it’s a common problem on cars and trucks made in the ’90s and early 2000s. Our coach uses BMW E39 headlights. Ours are scratched and pitted from exposure.

After comparing a few products, I settled on Meguiars Heavy Duty Headlight Restoration Kit. The kit is complete with sanding discs, polishing compound and a polishing wheel designed to be used with an electric drill – it even includes a microfiber cloth for the application of the protectant formula once the lens is polished.

Scratched and pitted headlight cover

Scratched and pitted headlight cover with masking tape around it

I started by wet sanding with a 1000 grit sanding disc on a velcro sanding pad. Then I followed that with a 3000 grit disc. After sanding, I applied compound on the wool buffing pad with my cordless drill. It took about two hours – not including the half hour break while rain was falling – before I applied the protectant over the cover and declared it job done. It’s not perfect, but they are much better. When they degrade again, I think it’ll be time for replacement.

A couple of hours later they look much better

A couple of hours later they look much better

While I was working on the headlights, Donna had guests. She scheduled a meet-up through the local minimalist group to discuss downsizing and living on the road. Our friends, Lowell and Debi Hartvikson came and a woman named Cindy from the minimalist group also attended.

In college football action, the big game Saturday was the Michigan State University (MSU) Spartans against the University of Michigan (UM) Wolverines. The game was won as time expired in an improbable play by MSU. A local Michigan TV station, WZZM, apparently wanted to be the first to report on the game. Trouble was, they didn’t watch the final 10 seconds. They reported that UM defeated MSU for the Paul Bunyon trophy! That’s the problem with TV news coverage – being the first to report is more important then being accurate.

I grilled our favorite turkey burgers with special sauce for dinner, then we called it a day and watched a movie – Dallas Buyers Club. It’s based on the true story of Ron Woodruff.

Donna’s heading out for a bike ride this morning, I plan to spend the day watching NFL football.

Arizona Pine Forests

After the hustle and bustle of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, a couple of dark, quiet, secluded nights in a national forest campground were just what we needed. Late Wednesday afternoon, we walked about three quarters of a mile to the Porter Mountain Steakhouse across the street from the entrance to Scott Reservoir for happy hour. We had a couple of craft beers and Donna had a yummy top sirloin steak salad while I had cup of enchilada soup and Asian chicken wings.

Scott Reservoir

Scott Reservoir

We changed our plans and decided against staying in Payson after finding that there was nothing really suitable. We booked a site at Sun Life RV Resort in Mesa instead. They accepted Passport America and we booked a week at half price. It’s still hot in the Phoenix area but the forecast calls for cooler weather by the weekend. We pulled out of our free campsite at Scott Reservoir in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest around 9:30am. Donna enjoyed the drive through Show Low – it’s a clean, western town that looks like it has everything. Good shopping, lots of restaurants and it’s surrounded by pine forest.

When most people think of Arizona, images of desert landscape or colorful rocky mesas come to mind. But the northern portion of the state at higher elevations is heavily forested.

We drove across AZ260 westbound. This kept us on the Mogollon Rim most of the way. I rode this route on my BMW motorcycle back in the fall of 2008 – here are a couple of photos I took at that time.

Forest south of AZ260

Forest south of AZ260

AZ260

AZ260

We climbed and gained about 1,000 feet in elevation, topping out at 7,700 feet. Some of the grades were long and steep at 6%. The outside air temperature was 90 and my engine coolant temperature rose to 200 degrees on most grades – on one long, steep pull it went up to 210 degrees – the highest I’ve ever seen it. But it cooled quickly to the high 180s after we crested the grades.

Payson sits at an elevation of 5,000 feet so we had a number of long descents before we reached the town. The two-stage Jake brake on our Cummins ISL made the downhills easy. I know I’ve mentioned it many times, but the Jacobs Engineering engine brake is a marvel that I wouldn’t want to live without.

In Payson we hit AZ87 (Beeline Highway). The Beeline Highway has a number of climbs and descents before it intersects with the Bush Highway. We took the Bush Highway past Saguaro Lake then climbed over Usery Pass into Mesa. We found something unusual in the Valley of the Sun – humidity! Humidity is a rare thing here at this time of year.

My first stop was at the Chevron fuel station on the corner of Brown and Ellsworth. This is a couple of blocks away from our old house and I knew they had the cheapest diesel fuel around. I filled our tank with 60 gallons at $2.15/gallon.

While I was fueling, I saw a sticker on the diesel pump with fine print. It said it was illegal to fuel vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 26,001 lbs or more. I saw a guy fueling a medium-duty truck conversion for hauling a fifth-wheel at one of the pumps. I asked him about it and he said we were fueling illegally. Later I went online and found this:

The Arizona tax on gasoline (motor vehicle fuel) is 18¢ per gallon. Use fuel (diesel) is taxed at two rates in Arizona.

  • If the use fuel is used in the propulsion of a use class motor vehicle on a highway in this state, the tax rate is 26¢ for each gallon.
    • A “use class motor vehicle” means a motor vehicle that uses use fuel on a highway in this state and that is a road tractor, truck tractor, truck or passenger carrying vehicle having a declared gross vehicle weight of more than 26,000 pounds or having more than two axles.
  • If the use fuel is used in the propulsion of a light class motor vehicle (such as a pickup truck) or an exempt vehicle (certain school buses, government and non-profit vehicles, see 28-5432.C) on a highway in this state, the use fuel is taxed at the same rate per gallon as the motor vehicle fuel tax (18¢ per gallon). (See28-5601, 5605, 5606.)

Our GVWR is 31,000 lbs, so I was fueling illegally. I’m supposed to get fuel at a truck stop and pay the additional eight cents per gallon tax. I could have been fined up to $1,000 for fueling at a diesel pump that applies the light class tax. Yikes!

I saw another diesel pusher motorhome pull up to the pump as we were leaving. I wonder how stringent the enforcement is? I think I’ll stick to truck stops in Arizona in the future.

We settled into site G15 at the Sun Life RV Resort by 2pm. I had to drop the trailer in our site before I could back the coach in. We stayed here back in January 2014 – we checked in with our Gulfstream Sun Voyager coach and by the time we left we had our Alpine Coach.

After my usual set-up routine, I washed the front cap and windshield before installing the sun shades. We collected an incredible amount of bugs crossing New Mexico. Sometime during the next week I’ll wash the coach and try to polish out the scratches left by the tree at Scott Reservoir.

Last night I watched the NFL game as the New Orleans Saints knocked off the previously unbeaten Atlanta Falcons. By the time I went to bed, Ozark was cuddled up the back of Donna’s knees and they were both sleeping soundly.

Ozark cuddling with Donna

Ozark cuddling with Donna

I slept fairly well – it’s quieter here than Orangewood Shadows where we last stayed in Mesa. We’ll head over to the pickleball courts this morning and see if we can find someone to play.

Long, Lonesome Highway

After getting up around 4am for nine straight days to crew at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, it felt good to sleep in past 7am on Monday. We took our time preparing to move on from The Vineyard where we’ve been since September 30th. In 12 days of dry camping, we used less than four gallons of water a day. But then again, we were away for 7 hours a day, only prepared meals a few times, and had access to showers at the community clubhouse.

We paid up at the office and said our good-byes to Larry and Ruth, then pulled out around 1:30pm. It was a short hop back to High Desert RV Park west of Albuquerque on I-40. We decided to go back there as it is fairly inexpensive and I would be able to dump and flush our tanks thoroughly and fill with known good fresh water before heading to Arizona.

After we set up, I took a shower. But I had a problem – the shower head was cracked and leaking. By the time I finished my shower, the crack had opened up and was spraying water all over.

The next morning, Donna went for a walk while I took care of the tanks and fresh water. Then we pulled out and went directly to Camping World across I-40 from the RV park. I knew I could find a new Oxygenics shower head for less money online, but we needed it now. I like the Oxygenics because it uses less water than most shower heads and still provides a good spray. Camping World had the shower head in stock so I bought it and we hit the road.

Our route took us about 60 miles west on I-40, then south on NM117. This took us through the Malpais National Monument and the Acoma Indian Reservation and across the Continental Divide. There were many interesting looking bluffs and rock formations. Donna amused herself by taking a few windshield view photos with my smartphone. At one point, we pulled off at a scenic viewpoint – a large lot with vault toilets.

Donna wanted to hike to the arch rock formation but I vetoed the idea. I wasn’t dressed for hiking and by the time I changed my clothes and shoes, made the hike and got into comfortable driving clothes again we would have burned up an hour. I wanted to keep moving knowing that we might encounter a change of plans along the way and it could be a long day. We wanted to find one of several boondocking sites Donna had researched.

High desert rock formation

High desert rock formation

View from roadside lot with trail to rock arch

View from roadside lot with trail to rock arch

Another view from the roadside lot

Another view from the roadside lot

Highway 117 undulates – the surface contnually dips and rises over what are essentially ripples with an interval of a few seconds. At some point, Ozark got carsick from all the motion. We stopped in Quemado and Donna took Ozark out of her crate to clean up. This is the first time that has happened.

While we were driving, I heard a loud thunk from the rear of the coach. Donna went back to see what fell. She said it looked like the shower head came completely apart and was lying on the floor of the shower.

Once we hit US60 and headed west, we were on familiar ground. Donna and I traveled this route in 2005 when we rode from Mesa, Arizona to Datil, New Mexico with a group of Moto Guzzi riders. Donna and I had Moto Guzzi touring motorcycles before we switched to BMWs.

Once we were in Arizona, we climbed the White Mountains and crossed the Cerro Montoso Summit at 7,550 feet above sea level. We also gained an hour when we crossed the state line.

Rolling down that long, lonesome highway

Rolling down that long, lonesome highway

Do you remember the show "Then Came Bronson"

Do you remember the show “Then Came Bronson”

We discussed our options for the night and settled on Scott Reservoir Campground near Show Low, Arizona. This is a National Forest campground in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest that allows up to five nights of free camping. You must camp in a designated site – there are 15 sites with tables and fire rings – and there aren’t any hook-ups, but you can’t beat free. And the air here smells of the pine trees all around.

Pulling into the narrow dirt road from Porter Mountain Road (map) was a little scary. I didn’t know what I was getting into and hoped I would be able to get turned around. We followed the washboard surface for about half a mile, then found a turnaround. It wasn’t big enough and I had to jockey back and forth a few times before I could complete the turn. There was a large tree in the center of the turnaround and I scraped the left rear of our coach against branches. I hope the scratches will buff out!

We backed into a large, fairly level site and were set up in no time. I was surprised to find a Verizon 4G signal with full bars! I went to the back and looked at the shower head. I found the source of the loud thunk. It wasn’t the shower head – it was the handle that turns on the shower and regulates the hot/cold water flow. The set screw had backed out and the handle fell off. Next I found that I had misdiagnosed the Oxygenics shower head problem. I didn’t need a new shower head – the crack was in the fitting on the hose connecting to it. I could have bought a new hose for a third of the price of a new Oxygenics shower head kit. Doh!

I re-installed the shower handle with thread locker on the set screw and replaced the shower hose while Donna set off on her second walk of the day. She hiked a trail around the lake and then, when the lakeside trail petered out, followed a horse trail she found that led to a road that intersected with the road we came in on.

Ozark was feeling much better after we settled in – I believe it was the constant up and down on NM117 that made her queasy.

Ozark felling better and playing

Ozark feeling better and playing

Although it was in the upper 70s when we arrived yesterday, it’s cool this morning. Our current elevation of 6,700 feet above sea level means cool nights. It’s 47 degrees outside as I type this and a cool 59 degrees in the coach. It felt good to sleep under a comforter with the windows open. The day will warm quickly under clear skies to the mid 70s. We’ve decided to spend another night here before we go to Payson for a few days to wait out the heat wave in Phoenix. We’re hoping things cool down there and we can move to Mesa by the end of the week.

Our free site

Enjoying peace and quiet in our free site

Final Days – Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

I’ll try to recap the final three days of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta without being too repetitive. Rather than a blow-by-blow account, I’ll hit the highlights of days seven, eight and nine.

Day seven, Friday, was full of highlights for me. As we prepared the Hearts A’Fire hot air balloon for flight, our pilot, Brad Rice, called out to me. He was standing by the inflator and I thought I was about to have a new job running the inflator fan. As I approached, his wife Jessica came over and handed me a waiver and a pen to sign it. I was going up in the balloon! Brad had decided to pass on the day’s competitive event and take me up in the balloon.

I went about my usual tasks making the balloon ready. The difference this time was once the balloon was fully inflated, I climbed into the basket. I was joined by another passenger, Tia – a childhood friend of Jessica. It was surreal as Brad heated the envelope which added tension to the lines and raised the basket a few inches off the ground. The crew (which included Donna) walked the basket to our designated launch spot and Brad gave the command “hands off” to the crew. With a blast from the burners we were airborne!

In the basket

In the basket

Hands off!

Hands off!

Burner blazing to gain altitude

Burner blazing to gain altitude

As we began to climb over the park, I had a new view of the happenings. The crowds around the balloons were larger than I thought. The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is not only the largest hot air balloon event in the world, it’s also one of the few events that allow spectators on the field to mingle with the balloonists and crews. It’s like having a pit pass when you buy your ticket.

I saw many people around the launch areas

I saw many people around the launch areas

As we climbed higher I could see there were tens of thousands people

As we climbed higher, I could see there were tens of thousands people

We started out with a breeze from the north pushing us south over the park. From up high, I saw how many pilots and crews had RVs parked on the south end. I had no idea before.

RVs parked in the south lot behind the hospitality tents

RVs parked in the south lot behind the hospitality tents

We continued to climb as we passed over the RV lot on the south side of Alameda Boulevard. This is where the various Escapees groups were staying.

RV park - nice landing fields

RV park – nice landing fields

The ideal situation is when the air flow over the field creates what they call “the box.” This happens when the lower level air moves from north to south with a wind shear at higher altitude moving from south to north. When this sets up, the pilots fly low and head south, then they gain altitude to come back north over the Balloon Park field. I was taking in the unbelievable panoramic views as we flew southwest.

View to the east

View to the east

View southwest toward downtown

View southwest toward downtown

At higher altitude we came back north

At higher altitude we came back north

We gained altitude and came back north, but the wind was fickle. We were moving northeast, then directly east. This took us over I-25 and over Sandia Indian Reservation land. I posted before about the trouble that comes when you land on reservation land.

Crossing I-25

Crossing I-25

Abandoned runway - old airport was deeded to the Indians

Abandoned runway – old airport was deeded to the Indians

Brad was watching other balloons around us, but it was impossible to suss out the winds – we saw three balloons lined up and heading west just south of us. At the same time there were three more balloons a hundred yards south of them at the same altitude heading directly east!

Brad found an air current that carried us south. We were over our chase crew at the reservation border.

Our chase crew in the center of the photo - Indian land on the left

Our chase crew in the center of the photo – Indian land on the left

We hoped to put down on the dirt road bordering the Indian land. This plan was dashed when another balloon landed in front of us, blocking our path. Brad had no choice but to climb clear of them and head toward a residential area.

We're coming down ahead of the chase crew

Coming down ahead of the chase crew

As we descended, we were moving in a northeasterly direction at about 7 knots. Brad was aiming for the last road in the development on the edge of reservation land. I saw a barbed-wire fence on the north side of the road and pointed it out to Brad. I’m sure he was already aware of it and calculating our best option. There was a small mound on the south side of the road. Brad opted to stop the basket on the south face of the mound.

With the ground rising before us, the basket stopped abruptly on contact. The seven knot wind blew the balloon over the mound, tipping us on the side of the basket. The crew quickly caught up with us and stabilized the basket. What a ride! My words and pictures can’t adequately describe it.

It’s important for passengers to remain in the basket until the pilot gives the okay to get out. The pilot monitors the air temperature in the envelope. It may be at a point of equilibrium with the payload. If passengers jump out of the basket too soon, the balloon will immediately rise again.

Once we were clear to get out of the basket, I was back to work as a crew member. Over the radio, we heard the day’s competition had been cancelled due to the increasingly variable winds. Brad made a good call to skip it and go out just for fun.

Out of the basket and guiding the deflating envelope

Out of the basket and guiding the deflating envelope

Starting to squeeze and strap the envelope

Starting to squeeze and strap the envelope

Envelope ready to pack

Envelope ready to pack

Back at the park, it was tailgate time.

Tailgate time!

Tailgate time!

Of course, I had to go through the first-timers initiation to the world of ballooning ceremony. I won’t reveal the details of the ceremony other than to say it involves champagne and fun! You’ll have to take a flight if you want to know more.

Brad performs the ceremony for Tia and me

Brad performs the ceremony for Tia and me

After the ceremony, Brad and Jessica had one more surprise for me. They gifted me with an official embroidered Hearts A’Fire Crew polo shirt! Nice!

Saturday was a mass ascension day – there were no competitions on the schedule. The box set up perfectly with low level wind blowing balloons south and an upper wind taking them back north. After launching, we watched and waited near the RV park.

Mass ascension heading south out of the park

Mass ascension heading south out of the park

Brad made a full pass through the box, then landed the balloon on the west road of the RV park near Paul and Nina’s RV (Wheeling It). I expected him to land in the field in the center of the RV park, but a low level wind shift had him over the road. I made a mad dash to the road, then slowed to a jog to stay in front of the basket. A couple of other crew members were running behind it. As soon as it touched down we were hands on and adding our weight to the basket to stabilize it. The kids Brad had taken up were offloaded and a couple more kids climbed aboard and Brad went back up. This is known as a “hop.”

Balloons landing in the RV park

Balloons landing in the RV park

We made one more chase and Brad landed uneventfully in an open field.

On Saturday afternoon, Donna and I scootered over to the RV park and joined the Xscapers, a sub-group of Escapees, for their happy hour. We had a good time catching up with friends and discussing possibilities of hooking up again down the road.

Sunday was the final day. I have to say it was a fun-filled nine days, but I had all the fun I could stand at this point. Everyone was tired. We were lucky to come to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in a year where the balloons were able to fly every day. That doesn’t always happen. High winds or thunderstorms are two things that can cancel the day’s flight.

Sunday’s flight took the Hearts A’Fire hot air balloon northwest to the village of Corrales. Everyone seemed to come into the same area at the same time. The pilot next to us on the field ended up with his basket about ten feet to the left of us on landing. Balloons were raining out of the sky all around us. It was a crazy scene as I assisted three balloons touching down without crews in the area and another on our crew assisted five others. What a way to end the adventure!

We’ll pack up today and head out. I need to dump our tanks and take on fresh water after dry camping for 11 days. I’m not sure where we’ll end up tonight.

We’re already thinking about coming back again next year.