Saturday, October 16, 2010

Packing for the desert.

Location, Home, CA

I realize I haven’t posted much lately. I have been getting ready for my annual fall desert trip. We have put together several features which I hope will satisfy everyone.

I am leaving Monday for Las Vegas with an overnight stop at Baker. A few of us will meet there before we travel on to Las Vegas. We will spend 4 days in Vegas and have a full schedule of things to do and see while there.

Besides our usual things we will visit the new MGM City Center, tour Hoover Dam and see the new bridge over the Colorado River. The bridge doesn’t officially open for traffic for a couple of weeks yet.

We will then spend a week in the desert around Tecopa, CA checking on the remains of the old Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad, explore some 4x4 roads and maybe soak in the hot springs at Tecopa.

From Tecopa we will move to Death Valley for two weeks and partake in the Death Valley 49er celebration. This is an annual celebration commemorating the first pioneers to enter the valley in 1849. This celebration has been held each year since 1949. One of our members has attended every year since then. He was 10 years old and rode a wagon in the grand parade.

I should be gone about a month. The weather next week in Las Vegas is calling for rain showers. Hopefully it won’t be too bad.

Speaking of weather…. Ours has been awful. Clouds and fog which for the most part is a light drizzle which goes on all day. I had planned to wash my truck and wax it today but it just kept drizzling so I watch football instead. :)

We did get our flu shots this morning. Because we belong to an HMO we can’t get a free flu shot as people who are just on Medicare can. We had to make a $20 donation each for ours. Cheap insurance I guess. Mine stung a little and my arm is sore tonight.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Nice weather for a change.

Location, Home, CA

It is warm tonight. It beats the usual fog which shows up at this time of day.

Last Saturday we drove to Newport Beach at the invitation of friends and stayed at their Marriott Timeshare. It is a beautiful coast line. We had a great time. We drove back here on Tuesday evening after the traffic rush had passed. We still had slowdown from the airport to the top of Sepulveda Pass but made it home in 3 ½ hours. I do hate driving in all that traffic but it is the shorted way to go.

Yesterday we drove North with a car load of friends and visited another friend who just had hip surgery 3 weeks ago. She is doing really well. Clyda had made a pot of Greek Chili for lunch, another friend took bread, and another brought dessert. We ate on the patio as it was such a nice day.

Today I worked on the shelves in the wood shed. I used steel studs as the framework. It turned out well so I put all my lumber on the shelves this afternoon. Another thing I can scratch off my to-do list.

I made a new recipe for dinner tonight. It was chicken breast stuffed with stuffing and covered in a mushroom sauce. Very tasty. I am thinking about doing this for my desert trip. Also, made a corn salad with walnuts and feta cheese. It was very good.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Smog check complete.

Location, Home, CA

I meant to write an update to the blog last night but I had already turned the computer off when I remembered it.

The smog check went very well. I showed the mechanic the chart from the state website and he said “looks good to me” and completed the test. There is no real test as for a gasoline engine car. They do check to see if certain factory equipment is still install on the vehicle and the OBD (on board diagnostic) computer has any error codes in it. So, I am good to go again but flatter in the wallet. Even though they do less testing on a diesel truck, they charge more than a gasoline vehicle. Go figure.

This morning I replaced a cloth shield around both the truck batteries. The outside material had come all apart. I am not sure what this shield is for but it has insulation in it so it may be to protect the battery from excessive heat. Craig had some material which is tough and impervious to everything so he sewed up a sleeve into which we inserted insulation. This sleeve was wrapped around the battery and secured with plastic ties. Time will tell if it will with stand the engine heat.

We are off for a few days. More on that later.