Category Archives: Uncategorized

First Time in Benson

We took it easy on Easter Sunday. Donna wasn’t feeling well in the morning and had to cancel her kayak trip on the Salt River with her friends Audrey and Julia. In the afternoon, I spatchcocked a whole chicken (I wrote about spatchcock here), rubbed it with Sweet Rub O’Mine and cooked it on the Traeger. Donna served it with whipped sweet potato and asparagus.

Spatchcock chicken plate

On Monday morning, I played pickleball. Donna still wasn’t feeling 100% so she passed on pickleball but she did go out for an easy 18-mile bike ride. I got a start on organizing the trailer. I went to Harbor Freight and picked up a package of bungee cords and a couple of tie-downs. While I was at it, I picked up cat food at Petco. We had happy hour at Lucky Lou’s and said our goodbyes until next time to our friends there.

We had a last round of pickleball on Tuesday morning – Donna had a good time playing with the 3.0-3.5 group. Hopefully she can get enough pickleball court time over the summer and fall to stay at that level of play. Afterwards, I got serious about packing the trailer and preparing to hit the road. I now have four bicycles to store in the trailer. Donna bought a hybrid type knock-around bike to use in the park or to make a quick run to the store. She got it from a guy in the park for just $25 and it’s in great shape!

I still had a few things to put away Wednesday morning. Our friend Raymond stopped by to say goodbye and wish us safe travels. Raymond and his wife Louise gave us a big bag of grapefruits fresh from their neighbor’s tree. The grapefruits are sweet and very tasty.

I knew I was going to have an issue with the left rear jack before we left. When we set up, the jack pad sunk into the gravel. It was over a little sink hole – maybe water had leaked there before. I had to extend the jack nearly to the limit while we were there to stabilize the coach. When I put the slides in and raised the jacks to the store position, the left rear jack was stuck. Gravel had filled in the hole and the foot of the jack was buried.

I started the engine so the air suspension would raise the coach. I figured this would pull the jack free. I had a “Jacks Down” alarm screaming at me, but I couldn’t think of a better solution for the stuck jack. After a few minutes though, the engine shut itself off! I checked the jack and it was free and moving to the store position. I checked the engine control module for trouble codes and didn’t find any stored codes. I restarted the engine and all was good. I’m thinking there may be an automatic shut down after a jacks down warning stays on for a certain amount of time.

It took a little bit of jockeying around in the street to get the trailer hooked up, but we got it done without any issues. We pulled out of the site at 10:30am. We took the Loop 202 south and followed the San Tan Freeway to I-10. The interstate narrows to just two lanes between Maricopa and Casa Grande. This causes traffic to quickly build especially when a tractor-trailer rig decides to overtake another tractor-trailer but can only go marginally faster. The cars stack up behind the tractor-trailer and everyone follows too closely – it can be a little hairy.

We stopped at exit 208 in Eloy and topped up the tank with diesel at the Pilot Travel Center. Donna bought Subway sandwiches there, then we drove across the overpass to Blue Beacon to get the coach washed. We ate lunch while we waited in line for the wash. Sitting in Mesa, the coach got dirty. There’s always some dust in the air and when it rains, dirt spatters up from the gravel site and coats the lower sides of the coach.

This Blue Beacon had the narrowest entry of any I’ve seen. It said it was 10’6″ wide, but I doubt it. Once we entered the wash bay I had to pass through a sprayer that was shaped like an inverted “U” – the uprights on the sides were barely wider than the coach and I smacked the right mirror. Grrr. No real damage done – just a small scrape.

We arrived at the SKP Saguaro Co-op park in Benson around 3pm. Since this was a first-time visit to this park for us, we qualified for a super discount. Our full hook-up rate is $50 for one week, plus electricity at 11 cents per kilowatt. Can’t beat that!

This park requires all arrivals to be escorted to the site and directed by a park employee. Our site is quite wide and we planned to drop the trailer and back the coach in. When I backed the trailer into the right side of the site, we saw that it was deep enough to leave the trailer connected. I pulled the Spyder out of the trailer and backed the coach and trailer into the left side of the site. Nice!

Spacious site at SKP Saguaro Co-op in Benson

The park is fairly quiet with the exception of occasional trains blasting their horns as they approach the town. We can see a large water tank on top of a bluff to our west. Donna found a trail that leads to the tower and she’s hiking it this morning as I type this. It’ll be about a seven-mile round trip.

This morning, we made a decision to change up our plan. Although we’re paid up here through the 11th, we’ll pull out on Monday the 9th. We’ll head south on AZ80 about 50 miles to Desert Oasis Campground outside of Bisbee. I booked two nights there in a full hook-up pull through site for just $21/night with our Passport America discount. We want to spend a day exploring Bisbee, but we also want to be in Austin, Texas by the 19th. We’re allowing a full week to get to Austin so we can stop and smell the flowers along the way without having to push through long, high mileage days.

The weather forecast for the week ahead looks good. At our elevation of 3,600 feet, it’s cooler here than in Mesa, but we may have a 90-degree day or two ahead. It feels good to be on the move again.

Coffee Snob

For years, I was a coffee snob. Grinding whole beans with a burr grinder was my morning ritual. I would brew coffee in a drip coffee maker or use a French press. Then I bought an espresso machine. I was very particular about my coffee and preferred dark roasted beans. My all-time favorite was a coffee bean called Harrar which came from Ethiopia. It became scarce around 2005 and now I haven’t seen these beans for years.

When we were living in Michigan, Donna did spokesperson work for Keurig. They sent her a few of their one-cup coffee makers and several boxes of K-cups. We started brewing individual cups of coffee with the Keurig machine. It was fast, easy and convenient. Back in the workday world, I would rise from bed at 6am, have coffee with my breakfast and head out before Donna woke up. So, brewing one cup at a time worked out. I also took a Keurig machine to work and would brew my own coffee at the office.

My employer provided coffee, but it wasn’t fresh and the drip coffee makers there used a heating element to keep the pot of coffee hot. Keeping a pot of coffee on a heat source for more than 40 minutes or so changes the coffee. It becomes bitter and some of the water evaporates, changing the strength of the brew. When I retired, I gave the office Keurig to one of the guys that worked for me.

When we hit the road, we brought a Keurig with us. We liked the convenience. We bought Kirkland Signature Pacific Bold K-cups at Costco. The hard water here in Arizona and in southern California meant frequent de-scaling of the Keurig was necessary or else it wouldn’t brew the coffee correctly. This was becoming tiresome. We decided to go back to our old method.

Donna ordered a Mr Coffee 10 cup thermal coffee brewer. A thermal brewer heats the water, then drips it through the coffee grounds and into an insulated carafe. There’s no heating element for the carafe, it keeps the coffee hot through its insulation, therefore the coffee doesn’t get over-cooked. The carafe will keep the coffee hot for a few hours. I also ordered an electric coffee bean burr grinder. I prefer a burr grinder over the blade type because you get more consistent results.

Yesterday, Mike Hall let me use his truck for a Costco run. I stocked up on a few things we’ll be needing in the coming months on the road. I also bought a three-pound bag of whole French roast coffee beans that were grown in Sumatra.

Whole coffee beans, thermal coffee maker and burr grinder

I’d forgotten how good a cup of coffee made with fresh ground coffee beans was. It takes a little longer for me to get the coffee on – the Keurig was fast and easy. But, I think this is worth five minutes or so to brew an excellent cup of coffee. I need to experiment a bit with the coarseness of the grind and the water/coffee ratio, but I’m sure I’ll get it perfected in no time. The counter space foot print is about the same as the Keurig machine, but we do have an extra component with the grinder.

While I was at Costco, I decided to try another Kirkland Signature branded product. They had a Speyside Scotch whisky that looked interesting. It’s aged for 18 years in oak ex-bourbon barrels, then transfered to an Olorosso Sherry cask for six months to finish it. The price was $54 – I haven’t seen 18-year-old single malt Scotch whisky for under $90 for a 750ml bottle before. I thought it was worth a try.

18-year-old Speyside Single Malt Scotch whisky

After dinner, I poured myself a dram. It was fantastic. Complex flavors with hints of honey, vanilla and spices. I think I’ll pick up another while it’s available. Kirkland Signature branded Scotch whisky is bottled by Alexander Murray. Alexander Murray is an independent bottler that buys Scotch whisky from a dozen or more distilleries and re-brands them. They bottle for Costco, Trader Joe’s, Total Wine and others.

Alexander Murray was founded by Steve Lipp. He grew up in Scotland although he lives in California now. The name Alexander Murray was his uncle’s name. His uncle taught him about Scotch whiskey and he used his name for the company. I read that they bottled over 180,000 cases of whisky in 2016. Some of the Alexander Murray branded whiskys reveal which distillery it came from. However, Costco, Trader Joe’s and Total Wine keep the source a secret. I’ll never know who actually distilled this 18-year-old Scotch, but they made a good one!

Speaking of dinner, Donna sometimes keeps it simple. Last night she grilled chicken feta spinach sausage with Southern fried cabbage and bacon. A simple and delicious meal.

Grilled feta-spinach chicken sausage and Southern fried cabbage

The weather has been near perfect. We hit the low 70s yesterday with a few clouds. Today there isn’t a cloud in the sky and we should see 75 degrees. By the end of the week it’ll be warmer – maybe 90 degrees by the weekend.

*Just so you know, if you follow one of my links to Amazon and decide to purchase anything, 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!

Grillin’ and Chillin’

Our time is getting short here at Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort. We’re staying active on the pickleball courts and getting out with friends before we move on. Many of the snowbirds have already left for home and I expect to see a lot more heading out before the weekend. The weather has been mostly pleasant with daily highs in the upper 70s and low 80s.

On Wednesday evening, Donna grilled wild Alaskan salmon on the Weber Q and we dined al fresco at our folding table. It was nice to eat dinner outdoors in shorts and flip-flops.

Grilled salmon with mango salsa, steamed asparagus and baked potato

On Thursday, we had dinner plans with our friends, Dave and Stilla Hobden. Stilla is from Germany and Dave was stationed there for many years. They recommended a German restaurant on Main Street called Zur Kate – they said the cuisine was authentic German fare. They were right!

We all ordered schnitzel – they have seven varieties on the menu. Although the most well-known German schnitzel is wiener schnitzel which is made with veal, these were Vienna style schnitzel made from pork tenderloin. The tenderloin is pounded flat to tenderize it and then it’s breaded and pan fried. Dave, Donna and I ordered the Jager schnitzel (hunter’s schnitzel) which had a brown mushroom gravy and onions. Stilla had the schnitzel cordon bleu which had a thin slice of ham and Swiss cheese on it covered with gravy.

Jager schnitzel with home fried potatoes and red cabbage at Zur Kate

The food was great and it was fun to catch up with Dave and Stilla – it’s been a year since we last saw them.

On Friday morning, our friends Mike and Jodi Hall took us out in the desert by Sycamore Creek to do some target shooting. Mike and Kim Childs joined us along with Jeff and Chrissy Van Deren. It was a fun morning. While we were out in the desert, a military Blackhawk helicopter suddenly appeared as it climbed out of a ravine below us and flew overhead no more 100 feet high. It would have been illegal for a civilian helicopter to fly that close to people, but the military has exemptions.

On Friday afternoon, Donna’s friend Audrey Muehe came by and we loaded the Sea Eagle 370 inflatable kayak in Audrey’s car. They went to the Salt River to kayak – Audrey has a Sea Eagle kayak too.  They took a two-hour cruise on the river from the bridge on Bush Highway down to the Phon D Sutton Recreation Area where they pulled out. They saw wild horses, bald eagles and herons along the way.

Wild horse on the Salt River (Audrey Muehe photo)

Saturday evening Donna got busy on the Weber Q again and grilled boneless chicken thighs with olive oil, minced garlic and fresh herbs. She served them with smashed garlic potatoes and sauteed spinach.

Grilled boneless chicken thigh with smashed potato and spinach

Donna’s getting pretty good with the grill and has taken over a lot of the grilling which used to be my domain. I still run the Traeger though.

Sunday morning I watched the first race of the Formula One season from Melbourne, Australia. It was a very entertaining race with some close racing on a track that’s very hard to overtake on. Lewis Hamilton was leading from Kimi Raikonnen and Sebastian Vettel when Kimi pitted his Ferrari after lap 18. Hamilton pitted on the following lap. Vettel inherited the lead as he stayed out. On lap 22 a disabled Haas car on the track in an unsafe position forced a virtual safety car – this means that everyone must slow down and hold station – no overtaking. Vettel was nearly at the end of the lap and dove into the pits for fresh tires. With the rest of the field lapping slowly he came back out on the track still in first place. The obviously biased British announcer cried foul claiming he somehow took advantage of Hamilton and took first place away. The fact is, he was in first place when the virtual safety car was declared and he remained in first place – he didn’t pass Hamilton or anyone else, he held station as he is required to. Vettel went on to win the race.

Sara Graff picked up Donna Sunday around 10:45am. I loaded the Sea Eagle and they met Audrey at Phon D Sutton. They left Sara’s car there and took Audrey’s car up river where they put in again. They spent a few hours on the river. It had more traffic than it did on Friday, but they still had a great time and saw more horses and wildlife.

While Donna was out, I tackled a chore I had been putting off. Our Delta kitchen faucet had loosened and needed to be re-secured. It’s a high rise single handle pull-down model. The base has a hollow threaded tube that the hose for the pull-down spray head runs through. A nut is threaded on the tube to clamp a rectangular base pad under the kitchen counter, securing the faucet in place.

I had to remove a fitting on the spray hose, then use a special Delta faucet tool to reach the nut. The tool is hollow and has a 15/16″ hex on one end to fit the nut and a couple of wings on the other end for leverage to spin the nut tight. It seems like it should be a simple task, but RV plumbing is never so simple. I had to squeeze into a tight opening under the sink and I couldn’t see the nut I was trying to reach. The hot and cold pex supply lines run right next to the nut, making it difficult to get the tool in place. I saw that I hadn’t oriented the rectangular base plate correctly when I installed the faucet and I think that’s why it loosened. I turned it 90 degrees so it would rest squarely against the underside of the countertop – it was riding on part of the sink before. I got it done and I think it’ll stay tight now.

Delta faucet tool

After Donna returned from kayaking, she started preparing dinner. While she was doing that, I enjoyed a bottle of one of my new favorite beers – Duvel Citra. It’s a Belgian golden ale that’s triple hopped and features citra hops. This gives it a unique flavor – the bitterness borders on sour and I like it.

Duvel Citra

The Duvel is tasty, but it’s dangerous at 9.5% ABV, so I only had one. With dinner, I had another new beer I found. It’s from Lagunitas Brewery in Petaluma, California and it’s called Aunt Sally. They describe it as “A unique dry-hopped sweet tart sour mash ale.” The description fits. I like it and at 5.7% ABV, it won’t make me get cross-eyed.

Lagunitas Aunt Sally

Donna served the flank steak with parmesan-herb potatoes and a side of sauted sweet peppers, red onion and Mexican squash. It was delicious!

Flank steak with parmesan-herb potatoes, sweet peppers, onions, and Mexican squash

The forecast calls for the pleasant weather to continue before it gets up to 90 degrees next weekend. I don’t think we’ll see any rain as we count down our last 10 days here in Mesa. I’m getting the hitch itch and I’m looking forward to hitting the road.

 

*Just so you know, if you follow one of my links to Amazon and decide to purchase anything, 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!

 

No Green Beer

We had mixed weather here in Mesa over the weekend. Friday was pleasant with the high temperature reaching the low 70s.  Donna had a couple of errands in the afternoon, so she planned to ride with me on the Spyder to handle them. First I took her to the dry cleaners on McDowell and Power Road. I waited in front while she picked up a dress she had altered there.

While I was waiting, I heard the growl of a V-12 engine. An older Ferrari 575 Maranello drove into the lot and came past me. The 575 Maranello was made from 2002 to 2006 and had a 5.75 liter V-12 engine putting out 508 horsepower. A higher performance version called a Super America was also offered with 533 horsepower.

From there, I dropped Donna off at Home Depot where she wanted to return a phone cord she purchased – it wasn’t the one we wanted. I rode on to Lucky Lou’s where I joined the usual suspects and Donna walked over from Home Depot to meet up. When we were leaving Lucky Lou’s, something caught my eye. It was the same Ferrari 575 Maranello parked over by the Walgreen’s Pharmacy. I’m guessing the owner was in Lucky Lou’s and parked the car out of the way in the near empty Walgreen’s lot.

Ferrari 575 Maranello parked near Lucky Lou’s

I always like seeing exotic cars that are driven on the street. This Ferrari looked like a daily driver for someone – there were a few paint chips on the front, but it was a nice looking car in good condition. Originally these cars sold for $250,000 and up – a Super America was closer to half a million dollars.

On Saturday morning, Donna played in a 2.5 level pickleball tournament. I went down to the courts to referee the games on court one – there are five courts. Donna played well and won all five of her five games. She then played in the championship game, but she and her partner were beat and finished the tournament in second place. The weather stayed nice Saturday afternoon with the high in the low 70s, but clouds moved in during the afternoon.

We spent Saint Patrick’s day at home. Donna prepared a traditional Irish meal – she always does on Saint Patrick’s Day. Before I met Donna, I usually went out to a pub for Saint Paddy’s and drank green beer. Donna’s Irish heritage calls for something a little better than green beer in a pub. She made corned beef, of course – and served it with a potato side dish called champ, cabbage and carrots that cooked along with beef in the crockpot and Irish soda bread.

Saint Patrick’s Day dinner

A few rain drops were falling by bedtime. It rained lightly off and on during the night and on Sunday morning, we had a couple more showers before the sun came out. The temperature only reached the mid-60s. Sunday marked the start of the Moto GP season and we were treated to an excellent race from the circuit in Qatar. Valentino Rossi proved he can still ride with the leaders in the highest level of motorcycle road racing at the age of 39.

For Sunday night’s dinner, Donna prepared teriyaki BBQ pork kabobs and grilled them on skewers. The recipe called for the pork to marinate, then a different sauce was used to baste the skewers on the grill making a delightful glaze on them. Yummy!

Pork kabobs over a bed of basmati brown rice

This morning I was back at the pickleball courts playing in the 3.0-3.5 round robin. Tomorrow Donna will join me in the 3.0-3.5 open play – she’s ready to move up. Today we should see a high in the mid-70s with clear skies. The forecast calls for 80s in the next couple of days and 91 on Thursday!

Lingering in Mesa

In the winter months when we’re stationary for extended periods of time, I find it difficult to maintain this blog. My days fall into routines and I don’t have a lot to say. We’ve been here at Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort in Mesa, Arizona for nearly three months now. Most of my days revolve around pickleball. I play from 8am to 10am when the courts are reserved for players in the 3.0-3.5+ group. On Mondays and Wednesdays, we play an organized round robin. The rest of the week, it’s open pick-up games.

Playing with people at similar or higher skill levels is a great way for me to improve my pickleball skills. I’m playing at a much better level than I was three months ago. After two hours on the courts, I usually have over 8,000 steps recorded on my smart phone and my legs feel it. It gives me a good excuse to kick back and read a book for a couple of hours to recover.

On Sunday, we had guests. Andrea and Tim Brundage came to our site for happy hour. They brought a veggie tray and dips. Donna made chicken satay with peanut sauce and I grilled the skewered chicken on the Weber Q. Along with good food, we enjoyed good conversation. Donna and Andrea met years ago through the Arizona professional organizers group and I met her a few years ago when we hosted a meetup to discuss full-time RVing as a minimalist lifestyle. But it was our first time meeting Tim. They have a toy hauler and also enjoy the RV life.

Most days I head out for happy hour at Lucky Lou’s around 4pm. Donna joins me a couple of times per week. I meet up with the usual crowd there.  Last Monday, we went there to celebrate Mike Childs’ birthday. Donna and I joined Mike and Kim Childs along with Mike and Jodi Hall, Jeff and Crissy Van Deren and a few others for a couple of cold ones.

On Thursday night, our neighbors Chuck and Sue invited us to join them for a concert in the ballroom here at Viewpoint. They had tickets for a Doobie Brothers tribute band. I like the Doobie Brothers music – particularly the early albums featuring Tom Johnston. The tribute band thing baffles me a bit though. It’s a little strange to see musicians playing the role of another band. These guys had wigs to look like the Doobie Brothers of the 1970s and clothing from that period.

Fuzzy image of the Doobie Brothers tribute band

The band faithfully reproduced the sound of the early Doobie Brothers. The later stuff when Michael McDonald fronted the band was little off – a bit fuzzy like the image above! I think there may have been about 1,000 people in the audience. We had a good time – it was all fun.

Although I can claim to have fallen into a routine, Donna continues to experiment with different dinner recipes and feeds me like a king. Here are a few plates from the last week.

One-skillet Italian chicken sausage with tomatoes and asparagus

 

Mojo pork tenderloin with sweet potato and spinach hash

 

Pan-seared chicken thigh with buttery orzo

 

Tortilla-crusted tilapia with seasoned black beans

 

Herbed chicken breast grilled under a foil-wrapped brick with sweet potato and asparagus

Donna rode the Spyder to Scottsdale yesterday. Her friend Stevie Ann recently became a certified massage therapist and treated Donna to a massage. Then Donna treated Stevie Ann to lunch at Arcadia Farms, one of their favorite restaurants.

The weather was mostly warm for the past week with temperatures in the low 80s. Yesterday was cloudy and windy and the temperature only reached 70 degrees. But I can’t complain about that in mid-March. The cooler weather will prevail through the weekend. We may or may not have rain Saturday night – depends on who you believe. One forecast calls for zero percent chance of rain while another calls for a 50% chance of rain – we’ll see.

We’ve extended our stay here for two additional weeks. We’ll hit the road on April 4th. I’m getting the hitch itch and I’m looking forward to adventures on the road ahead. Last week I visited the Mesa Buckhorn Elks lodge and renewed my membership. I wanted to renew in person so I could ask them not to mail my new membership cards. I wanted to pick them up at the lodge rather than have them sent to South Dakota. When I asked the lodge secretary if I could pick up the cards there, she told me to sit tight for about two minutes. She opened a file and found our pre-printed cards and I was set to go. Now that’s efficient! We will undoubtedly stay at an Elks lodge or two this summer on our travels.

 

*Just so you know, if you follow one of my links to Amazon and decide to purchase anything, 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!

 

 

A Sight to See

We’ve always said that flexibility is the key to happiness with our nomadic lifestyle. Our original plan was to stay here at Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort in Mesa, Arizona for three months. We planned to hit the road on March 21st. It looks like Donna will be flying to New York City on April 2nd, for a television spokesperson job. So, we may extend out stay here for a couple of weeks because it’ll be more convenient to fly out of Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport rather than Tucson or any other place we might end up in.

Meanwhile, we’re staying busy on the pickleball courts while I try to finish a few items on my to-do list. Donna has been chipping away at her project list as well. Yesterday she did a deep cleaning of all the wood cabinets. First she cleaned them with Murphy’s Oil Soap, then she conditioned them with Old English.

I received a part I’d ordered from McMaster-Carr the other day and installed it. Our Alpine Coach has a surge tank for the cooling system on our Cummins ISL 400 engine. The surge tank has a sight glass so you can see if the coolant level is correct. The problem I had was that our sight glass didn’t give a good look at the coolant – it looked dark regardless of the coolant level.  In the McMaster-Carr online catalog, I found a high-pressure sight for dark liquid, nickel-plated steel with a 1/2″ NPT threads. The part number is 1079K42 if you have an Alpine Coach and need one.

McMaster-Carr high-pressure sight

I wrapped the threads with Teflon tape to seal them.

Threads wrapped with Teflon tape

The old sight glass was useless.

Old sight glass on surge tank

The new one is much better. In the photo, you can see the pink coolant – it’s Fleetguard  ES Complete OAT long-life diesel coolant.

New sight glass – much better!

Large diesel engines with wet liner cylinders are prone to coolant cavitation. This phenomenon occurs when the fuel ignites and the liner vibrates and coolant moves away from the liner, creating a small vacuum. The coolant then rushes back to fill the vacuum. Over time, this can cause erosion and pitting of the cylinder liner. I’ve read that Ford 7.3 Powerstroke engines are especially prone to this as are the larger diesel engines. Special diesel coolant and supplemental additives are used to prevent this type of damage.

Donna likes her new Spyderco Santoku kitchen knife. Last night she used it to dice onions, mince garlic and chiffonade basil for a spicy shrimp pasta dinner made with yellow lentil penne. The dinner was superb!

Spicy shrimp pasta

We’ve had 80 degree weather this week and it looks like it will continue to be warm for at least another week. We’ll figure out our plan by the weekend and decide if we stay here at Viewpoint or move on.

 

Concert at the MIM

Donna and I always enjoy live music. Donna found a place called the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix. We hadn’t heard of this place before, but it’s ranked among the top 20 museums in the country. They have a theater in the museum complex and a full calendar of performances. A blues guitarist named Tinsley Ellis had a concert scheduled Saturday night. Tinsley is from Atlanta, Georgia and has been around the music scene for quite a while. He’s performed with many notable musicians including Warren Haynes, The Allman Brothers Band, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Otis Rush and Buddy Guy. He recorded his first album in 1988.

Donna found tickets online – the concert was nearly sold out. She found four seats and bought the tickets. We invited our friends, Mike and Jodi Hall, to join us. Mike came by our site at Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort around 5pm and drove us to his place. Mike and Jodi bought a house in Mesa a couple of miles away from the RV park last year. We enjoyed a cold one and toured their new home. It’s a nice place on a cul-de-sac . Mike has been doing a few upgrades such as a nice tile backsplash in the kitchen and new wood laminate flooring in the bedroom. The backyard features a pool and hot tub and also a koi pond.

While we were checking out the koi pond, a hummingbird appeared. Mike has a feeder in the backyard, but the hummingbird was hovering over the pond. In the rays of the late afternoon sun, we could see gnats buzzing in the air over the pond. The hummingbird would dart from his hover and snatch a gnat out of the air. We watched him do this for several minutes. I knew hummingbirds eat insects, but I’ve never seen one do it before.

The concert was scheduled to start at 7:30pm, so we hit the road around 6:30pm. Phoenix sprawls and the Musical Instrument Museum is on the far north perimeter near the junction of the loop 101 and AZ51. We figured it to be about a 40-minute drive.

The museum is a beautiful, large building with the theater and offices on the first floor. The museum itself is on the second floor and houses over 200 musical instruments. The museum closes at 5pm, so we couldn’t enter – we were just there for the concert in the theater. The theater is a super venue for a concert. It seats 300 people – there isn’t a bad seat in the house. It’s very intimate and acoustically designed. We learned that over 250 concerts were performed there last year and they’re on track to have 260 this year – that’s about five shows per week! Who knew?

Donna, me, Jodi and Mike at the MIM

Tinsley Ellis put on a great performance. He played nearly non-stop for about 90 minutes. He had a variety of guitars – one was especially interesting to me. Back in the 1950s, Ted McCarty was the head of Gibson, the guitar manufacturer. In 1957, he introduced some futuristic models to capture a younger rock and roll market demographic. He introduced the Flying V and the Explorer. At the same time, another model called the Moderne was announced. The Moderne of 1958 is the holy grail for collectors – because no one knows what happened to it. Supposedly a prototype was built, but it wasn’t put into production. In 1982 and 1983, Gibson broke out the blueprints and produced a small number of Moderne guitars. Tinsley Ellis had one – I was told it’s a 1982.

Tinsley’s guitars – Left to right – National Resonator, Fender Stratocaster (blond neck), Gibson ES335, Fender Stratocaster (rosewood fretboard) and Gibson Moderne

We all enjoyed the show. I’d like to come back see the museum sometime – and of course, see another show at the theater. Mike and Jodi dropped us off a little past 10pm.

On Sunday morning, Donna went for a bike ride. She rode 9 miles west to the canal bike trail and then looped south. She stopped at Kokobelli Bagels to meet her friend Jody Owens for coffee and a bagel. They visited for a couple of hours. Donna hadn’t seen Jody since we moved to Detroit in 2009.

I mostly puttered around. The Tinsley Ellis concert inspired me to put new strings on my guitar and practice a bit. I also straightened out a few things in the trailer. We’re down to our last two and half weeks here before we move on.

Last week, I sharpened kitchen knives for Donna. We have a set of J. A. Henckels knives I bought about 15 years ago. While sharpening the chef’s knife, I noticed the blade was nicked and chipped in a few places. I used a medium coarse stone to re-profile it, but I wasn’t entirely happy with the result. If you follow this blog, you probably know I have an affinity for Spyderco locking blade pocket knives. Well, I found out that Spyderco also makes kitchen knives.

I ordered a Spyderco Santoku. A Santoku is a Japanese design utility kitchen knife. Santoku means three virtues – slicing, dicing and mincing. The design incorporates a sheepsfoot-style blade where the backstrap of the blade curves down at the tip. The cutting edge of the blade on the Spyderco Santoku curves upward near the tip more than the traditional Japanese Santoku – this facilitates rocking the knife on a cutting board to dice vegetables or chop herbs.

Spyderco Santoku kitchen knife

The blade is about seven inches long and is made from MBS 26 steel in Seki City, Japan. This is a stainless steel with a high resistance to corrosion and also sharpens easily. It has high toughness which allows the blade to be ground thin – in steel, think of toughness as the opposite of brittle. I think Donna will enjoy using this knife for food preparation.

This morning was windy. I played in the 3.0-3.5 pickleball round robin and the wind was challenging at times. We expect the temperature to reach the mid-70s today and hit the 80s for next week or so. I’ll have to finish checking off my things-to-do list before we head out. We have a general idea of where we’re going. We’re set to be in Austin, Texas by April 19th for the Moto GP race at Circuit of the Americas. But we have no reservations between now and then – or after for that matter!

 

Heavy Lifting

Last weekend Donna took a flight to San Diego. She stayed at Mission Bay RV Resort with our friend Sini. She was there for Mona’s big birthday bash on Harbor Island. Donna and Sini went to the party Saturday afternoon and they went hiking on Sunday. Donna returned to Mesa on Monday around noon, so I only had to fend for myself for a couple of days.

My good friend, Mike Hall, works at the Orbital ATK plant here in Mesa, Arizona. I toured the place with Mike back in March, 2014 and posted about it here. Every now and then, usually when a management change comes about, ATK decides to reorganize some of the work areas. When they do this, they often scrap useful materials. Last week, Mike Hall told me they had several steel racks for storage tubs that were being scrapped and he offered to get one for me. I took him up on the offer – I wanted to use the rack in the cargo trailer to store some things that were on the floor. Mike dropped off the rack Monday evening.

Steel rack

Mike is recovering from a hernia operation and can’t lift anything heavy – the rack is fairly heavy, but Donna and I managed to unload it from Mike’s truck. On Tuesday, I cleared some space and put the rack in the trailer and secured it in place. I have eight tubs that came with the rack which I placed in the upper part and stowed two large plastic storage containers in the lower area. This is a great addition to the trailer – thanks, Mike!

Storage rack with plastic tubs

I wasn’t finished with the heavy lifting yet. We also took delivery on Tuesday of some new furniture we’d ordered. We wanted to take out our old hide-a-bed sofa and replace it with a new sofa. We don’t need a hide-a-bed. The old sofa had wear and tear and was very heavy.

Old hide-a-bed sofa – it wasn’t as dark as it appears in this photo

The dimensions of the sofa were too large to get out of the door to the coach. I had to remove the back and take it out in two pieces. Getting to the fasteners for the back section was a little tricky, but I got it done.

Old sofa with back removed

When the delivery truck dropped off the new furniture boxes, I saw a problem. One of the boxes was damaged and the piece inside – one of the sofa seat sections – was damaged as well. 

Damaged box

The seat sections of the new sofa have built-in storage areas under the cushion. The floor of the storage area on one of the sections was broken. It isn’t anything too serious, but we put in a claim and will get a replacement. Meanwhile, we had a carpet cleaner come by and clean the carpeted areas of the coach while the sofa was out. Our floor is hardwood laminate, but the area under the sofa – which is part of the living room slide-out – is carpeted as is the area in front of the driver’s and passenger’s seat and the bedroom.

After the carpet cleaner left, I went ahead and assembled the new furniture. Having it delivered in pieces with some assembly required made it easy to get it in the coach. I assembled the components inside so I wouldn’t have to try to fit it through the door.

Seat cushion lifts to open a storage area

The new sofa is slightly smaller than the old one – it’s not as long or as deep. The reduced depth seems to open up the living room space even though it’s only a difference of a couple inches. Hey, with all this new storage space under the seating area, maybe I can store another pair of boots! (Donna says, “No.”)

New sofa fully assembled

When the new seat section comes, I’ll have to disassemble the old one and install the new one.

Donna and I put the old sofa in the trailer and I reassembled it there. Rain was forecast to move into the area by evening and I didn’t want to leave it out in the rain. Today, a truck from St. VIncent De Paul came by to take the old sofa along with a few other odds and ends that we donated. I’m thankful I didn’t have to deal with disposal of the old sofa and hopefully someone will find a good use for it.

The weather here in Mesa has been cooler than average for the past week. The high for today is only expected to reach 60 degrees. Warmer temperatures are coming though. Beginning tomorrow, we should see daily highs in the 70s again.

Spyder Key Quest

I may not be as organized as Donna, but I do take care of certain things. One thing is my credit cards. I always handle them carefully and put them away before I sign a receipt or do anything else. That way, I never misplace them. I’m also careful about keys – I have a place for keys and try to always put them where they belong. That way, I don’t have to look for them and I haven’t lost a key in years – until last summer. While we were in Iowa for the RAGBRAI, somehow I misplaced the Spyder key. I  looked everywhere I could think of and retraced my steps before they were lost. I had to give up and break out our spare key.

Since then, we’ve been operating with only one key – no spare for the Spyder. This made Donna nervous – she almost locked the key in the frunk a couple of times and was also worried about losing the key and getting stuck somewhere. I meant to get one made while we were in San Diego, but I put it off. On Friday, I went to the Ride Now Powersports dealer – they carry Can-Am products – and I bought a new key. It wasn’t so simple though. The Can-Am key has a chip that is read by the ignition switch. The Spyder is equipped with an immobilizer system that won’t allow the engine to run unless the system recognizes the chip in the key.

Ride Now had a blank replacement key, but they don’t have a way to cut the keys. They can program the chip in the key, but it has to be cut first, so the key will turn in the ignition during the programming process. I took the new blank key with me. On Saturday, I set out to have the key cut. First I went to Ace Hardware on Main Street. No luck – they don’t duplicate automotive type keys. Then I went to Lowes – same story. I tried a locksmith shop on Power and Southern Avenue – they were usually open on Saturday, but not on the President’s Day weekend. Then I went to a Key Me kiosk in Bed, Bath and Beyond. They wanted to sell me another blank which they would cut for $73. I’d already paid $62 for the blank I had.

I did a search on my smart phone and found a mobile locksmith nearby called Sparks’ Locksmith. I gave him a call. He said he didn’t have a shop – just a van for mobile work – but I could come over to his house and he would cut the key in his van. He was a few blocks away off Signal Butte Road. I found his place and he cut the new key blank in less than 10 minutes and it worked in the ignition fine. He was a super nice guy and didn’t charge for the work. He just said think of me if you need to have work done or if a friend gets locked out. Sparks’ Locksmith – service 24/7 and no extra charge for after hours calls. His number is 602-301-8170 if you are ever in the area and need a locksmith.

From there I went back to Ride Now to have the key programmed. The service guy there told me on Friday that he would program the key for free once I had the key cut since I bought the blank from them. He tried to complete the program several times without success. Finally he got the service manual out. I read the programming sequence out loud to him from the manual as he went through the steps. Success at last – the new key works. I can cross that off my things to do list.

Old key, new key and keyholder

All that running around worked up an appetite. Donna grilled wild Alaskan salmon with garlic mashed potatoes and grilled baby bok choy for dinner. We always buy wild salmon and avoid farm-raised Atlantic salmon.

Wild Alaskan salmon with garlic mashed potatoes and grilled baby bok choy

On Sunday, our friends Gerry and Cindy Dimassa came over to go bike riding with Donna. We met them about 12 years ago when we rode in the same bike club together. The last time we saw them was eight years ago in Paris, France – we happened to be there at the same time.

Gerry, Cindy and Donna after a 36-mile ride to Tempe Marketplace and back

Gerry and Cindy are avid bicyclists and have ridden all over Europe. Cindy’s bike is really high-tech with electronic shifters – no cable adjustments needed!

While they were out on their ride, I tackled another chore. It was time to give the Traeger wood pellet fired smoker/grill and the Weber q2200 propane grill a thorough cleaning. Ash builds up in the Traeger and it needs to be cleaned out after four cooks or so. I cleaned the grates and build-up on the interior, then scooped the ash out.

Heart of the Traeger – the fire pot

Diffuser over fire pot after scooping out excess ash

Last step – fresh foil lining on drip pan

Later, I put two racks of babyback ribs on the Traeger. I had dry-rubbed them with my favorite rub to cook them Memphis-style. We had company over for dinner. Donna met another professional organizer online, Barbara. Barbara and her husband Brent have just taken up the nomadic lifestyle and have been on the road in their class C Minnie Winnie since August.

Barbara brought a 7-layer salad. Donna made cornbread, sweet potatoes and green beans to go with the babyback ribs and we had a buffet-style dinner outside. We enjoyed a couple of drinks and talked about the lifestyle. Brent and Barbara are just getting into it and still adjusting. Like most newcomers, they’ve been pushing and covering a lot of ground. Their next stop will be an extended stay in Palm Desert.

Dinner buffet

The wind kicked up Sunday night and Monday was very windy – gusts up to 30mph – and we had a few raindrops. It was a good day to lie low and we did. A cold front blew in and we’re in for below average temperatures for the coming week.

Tuesday was cool, but the wind died down and the skies cleared. Still, the high only reached 57 degrees! We rode the Spyder over to a Mexican restaurant where we met our friends Mark and Emily Fagan (Roads Less Traveled) along with their puppy, Buddy, for lunch. We sat out on the patio in the sun since we couldn’t take Buddy inside. We had a good time catching up on their latest adventures. We last saw them in McCall, Idaho almost two years ago.

Emily, Mark and Buddy

Donna made a turmeric chicken and rice soup for dinner last night. With the cool temperatures, soup sounded good – and it was!

Turmeric chicken and rice soup

The forecast calls for the cool weather to hang around for the rest of the week with daily highs around 60 degrees. This morning, it was 39 degrees out at 6:30am and the coach had cooled to a chilly 51 degrees. We don’t run the heat at night, we prefer blankets. But when I got out of bed, I turned on the heat pumps first thing!

*Just so you know, if you follow one of my links to Amazon and decide to purchase anything, 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!

 

Valentine’s Dinner Delayed

As we expected, the weather dashed our Valentine’s Day dinner plans. We planned to go to Roma Cafe Ristorante a few miles from Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort – our current home. The rain started falling around noon and persisted into the night. It wasn’t the typical rain we often get around here, which are thunderstorms with heavy rain in short periods. This was more reminiscent of Seattle – light to moderate rain under a heavy overcast. It would occasionally lighten up to a drizzle or a few scattered drops, then fall steadily again with small raindrops – just enough to keep everything wet.

The Phoenix area averages eight inches of rain annually. A quarter of that amount falls in July and August during the monsoon season. The monsoon happens when the prevailing winds come up from the southwest carrying moisture from the Sea of Cortez through central Arizona. That’s when you’ll see heavy thundershowers here. Anyway, we weren’t about to head out on the Spyder and didn’t want to hassle with an Uber ride of only a few miles.

I spent most of the day lazing about and reading a book. I was waiting for parts to be delivered before I could work on my next project. It seemed a simple project, but I’d already had a false start on it – more on that in a minute. Donna replaced our dinner plans with a dish of creamy champagne chicken served over veggie pasta and zucchini spirals with sauteed peppers. It was a good excuse for Donna to open the bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne she had on hand!

Creamy champagne chicken

In our galley area, we were having trouble with one of the wall outlets. One day last week, a breaker tripped and we lost power to all of the kitchen outlets. When I investigated, I discovered that one of the outlets was worn and the induction cooktop plug was barely making contact. At one point, it must have lost contact and a spark arced from the outlet to the plug causing a current spike, thus tripping the breaker. I could wiggle the plug at the outlet and make or break contact with the wall outlet.

The wall outlets are 1-1/4″ X 2-1/2″ rectangular duplex type with a surrounding wall plate.

Old outlet and wall plate

Last weekend I rode the Spyder over to the Ace Hardware on Main Street and bought three new standard household Leviton brand duplex receptacle rectangular wall outlets – I figured I should replace all three outlets in the galley area.

When I came home and removed the trim plate, I discovered that ours weren’t standard household type receptacles. The mounting screws were offset and the wall plate snapped into a square hole centered above and below the receptacles.

Pass and Seymour self-contained wall receptacle – note offset screws and holes for plate

These outlets were made by a company called Pass and Seymour. A little digging online and I found they are self-contained wall outlets made specifically for mobile homes and RVs. They don’t use a metal or plastic junction box like you would find in a standard home installation. The power supply wires and ground lug do not use any screws. Instead, the Romex power cables are stripped of the outer sheath and the individual wires are forced into slots cut into the brass conductors of the outlets. Similarly, the copper ground wire is also captured in a slot. Once it’s wired, a plastic cover snaps over the back of the assembly, completely enclosing it.

I found the replacement Pass and Seymour self-contained receptacles online from an outfit called Mobile Home Parts Store and ordered half a dozen. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have enough on hand to replace the rest of our wall outlets and the shipping cost was the same whether I ordered three or six.

The parts came on Friday and after lunch, I set to work. The first step was to trip the breaker and make sure no current was flowing through the circuit. I tested the circuit with my multimeter to be sure. Once I had the outlet out of the wall, I removed the rear plastic cover by pushing the tabs in with a small punch. Then I used a flat blade screwdriver to pry the wires out of the receptacles. The brass slots are undersized so they bite into the wire, creating a secure connection with good conductivity.

Circuit breakers – second to the bottom below the one marked Refrigerator is the circuit I worked on

Old receptacle on the right has corroded conductors

The self-contained outlets are held to wall with clever locking levers that rotate 90 degrees when you tighten the screws. Tightening the screw rotates them to a vertical position to clamp against the backside of the wall. Loosening the screw rotates the lever against the housing and releases it from the wall.

Romex sheath stripped and wires forced into undersized slots

Pushing the wire into the slots on the outlet wasn’t easy. It has to be pushed with great force. There is a tool available to do this. It’s a plastic handle that has a “U” shaped end to fit over the wire. It costs $38, so I passed on it. It didn’t look very durable and I’d only be using it a few times if I bought one.

I used a metal punch with a flat tip about 5mm in diameter. It was difficult to force the wire into place, but with a few choice words, I got it done. The advantage I see in using this type of receptacle in this application is this – it takes less wall depth and fits thin wall construction. It also doesn’t have any screws that can loosen while traveling – the wires are secure in the slots and not likely to ever work free. It took some pressure to lever the wire out of the old receptacles.

The second outlet I replaced was similar to the first one, but the main difference was the Romex cable. In this one, they stripped a small portion of the outer PVC Romex sheathing and passed the cable through the receptacle and continued on to the next outlet. The job was the same though – pry the wires from the old outlet and force them into place in the new one. Then assemble in reverse order.

The only Pass and Seymour self-contained outlets I could find were white. Our originals were more of a bone color. Since I replaced all three in the galley area, they match with a two-tone look.

New two-tone look

I flipped the circuit breaker to the closed position (on) and tested the outlets. Job done!

Friday’s weather was cool – the high was in the mid-60s – but it was dry. We rode the Spyder to Roma Cafe Ristorante and had our Valentine’s Day dinner a couple of nights late. Donna had the eggplant parmigiana with pasta and a meatball with marinara on the side. I had the cannelloni ripieni, which is rolled sheets of pasta filled with crumbled sausage and covered in marinara and melted mozzarella. I also had a meatball on the side. Roma Cafe serves reasonable portions – not oversized. It’s similar to how Donna typically plates a meal. But I was stuffed. It was a good meal.

Today we have clear skies with only a few high, thin clouds. The temperature should reach the 70s. I have a few errands to run, but other than that, no plans. I’m still getting over the sinusitis although I’m feeling much better than I did earlier in the week.

Update – I’ve read on a few RV forums where the poster advises using a regular household type duplex receptacle as a replacement. They claim it’s easier to install and somehow “safer.” While I’ll agree it may be easier to install, I can’t advise their use or understand how it could enhance safety. Standard household receptacles are designed to be installed in an existing junction box, not freestanding in the wall. If the hot leads secured by screws to the conductors were to vibrate loose, you’d have hot wires floating free inside the wall of your coach without an insulating surround.

On the other hand, a Pass and Seymour self-contained receptacle is fully enclosed once the plastic back cover is snapped into place. It also has no screws securing the wiring – the wires are tightly held in the brass slots. These are designed for this application, standard household receptacles are not!