Getting ready to hit the road.

Location, At Home

This has been a busy week as I try to get ready for my annual fall desert trip.

On Sunday I washed the truck and gave it a coat of wax. I used Meguires Cleaner Wax as the truck has been sitting all summer and was quite dirty. Over this I put a coat of regular Meguires which really made it shine.

Tuesday morning I washed and put another coat of wax on the RV. It really shines now.

Today it was time to get a haircut and run a few errands. I also washed and waxed Clyda’s car.

Tomorrow morning I will check the tire pressure in the RV and truck tires before it warms up and then do my grocery shopping.

Friday morning I leave.

In the spring we had a large Elm tree removed and the stump ground twice. That still left a lot of large roots in the area where we want to plant another tree. Craig has been digging and cutting those roots, some of which are rather large as you can see by the photos.

 A large hole.

 

 A large root partially buried.

 

 Some of the roots removed from the hole.

I think he has enough removed that we can now plant a Ficus that has outgrown its pot. It should make a nice shade tree without getting really big. Then again, if it does get big I don’t think I will see it in my life time.

 Ficus waiting to be planted.

Some RV maintenance this week.

Location, At Home

Last Monday I completed a major project on the RV.

This spring when I took the cover off my awning in preparation for my 10 days with the Visitadores, I noticed that some of the vinyl came off the underside of the awning. Not having time to do anything about it I used some trusty duct tape to stop any further deterioration until I could find a new awning.

Needless to say, 10 days in the wind while working in the back country didn’t do the awning any good. To get it home I just added more duct tape.

After several days of searching on-line I decided to order a replacement awning and do the replacement myself. After all, I had done a replacement many years ago to the awning on our Class C motorhome and it turned out just fine.

The replacement awning was from Dometic just as the original one on the RV and it was a fraction of the cost of one from Camping World. I briefly thought about taking it to Camping World but with the cost of fuel plus the awning it was just out of my price range.

I ordered the replacement in July and installed it last Monday. It came in a large cardboard tube like those used for cement forms. I still have the tube and am not sure what to do with it. Maybe I will advertise it on Craigslist.

Installation went well with help from my neighbor Paul. The only problem occurred when we started to put tension back on the tension rods inside the roller tube. There is an aluminum shaft turning inside of an aluminum bushing and these tend to Gaul. A little oil solved that problem. Oh, and refreshing our memory via a YouTube video as to which way to turn the tension helped also. The awning looks good.

I did have a mystery later in the week as my RV batteries seemed to be down in voltage. I checked the water level and added a little too each cell but that wasn’t the problem. Normally, I have the built in battery charger turned off and only the roof solar panels keep the batteries fully charged. Heaven knows we have had enough sunlight lately to keep the solar working at peak efficiency. I turned on the internal battery charger and left it on overnight. The next morning the batteries seemed to be fully charged so late in the day I turned the charger off and then after dark checked to see what the voltage level was. While in the trailer I noticed that the front closet light was on. Ah-ha, I found the source of the battery drain. Apparently I had left the light on after one of my many trips into the RV.

Today I decided to run an equalization voltage on the batteries. I do this with the solar controller which has an equalization switch which jumps the battery voltage up about 1.5 volts. With the batteries at full charge I run the equalization for two hours. While this is running, I remove the battery caps and lay a folded paper towel over the cells to keep acid from splashing out. The batteries do bubble during this process. I also unplug the 12v line from the refrigerator circuit board and make sure all other 12v appliances are turned off.

Hopefully this will keep my batteries in tip-top shape.

Sunset at Poipu beach, Kauai.

Home from Kauai.

Location, At Home

We returned home from Kauai last Sunday after flying a “red eye” flight which left Kauai at 9 PM on Saturday.

It is our least favorite way to fly but it saves us from flying to Honolulu from Kauai to get a flight back to Los Angeles.

Killing time at the Marriott before our flight.

The car got a smog check this week so that is done for a few years.

On Thursday, Gary and Cindy, our Kauai hosts arrived in town for a wedding this evening. We all had dinner with Don and Bev to celebrate Don’s 65^th birthday. Yesterday we all went to the “Funk Zone” to wine taste and get lunch. The “Funk Zone” was once the home of small business, artsy shops, and even a few homes. Now it is home to restaurants, wineries and tasting rooms, a brewery, and other small businesses. We tasted wine at an established winery which has been there for almost 50 years. We picked up lunch to go and ate it at the wineries outdoor seating area.

Last night Clyda made HuliHuli chicken and she created a Luau at Don and Bev’s house.

Unfortunately, no one thought to bring a camera so no photos.

On the tech front, I am trying to find a replacement battery for my ACER Netbook computer. On line searches just left me confused. My battery is rated at 10.8volts while most matching batteries on line are rated at 11.1 volt. I am not sure it matters as there is a voltage regulator built into the computer. More research required.    

Kauai, HI.

Location, Kauai, HI

Greetings from Hawaii.

We arrived here on Wednesday about noon on an early morning flight from Los Angeles. Our friends Cindy and Gary picked us up at the airport and after a stop for lunch; we drove to Costco to pick up groceries.

The timeshare unit is on the bottom floor with a great view out to the ocean. We are at Poipu Beach on the southern shore of Kauai.

 

 

Yesterday we did a cruise up the NaPoli coast on a catamaran. We have been wanting to do this cruise since we first came to the island years ago. The NaPoli coast is only reachable by boat and is very isolated. We had about 30 people on the boat. There was a stop to snorkel and later we slowed to watch a pod of dolphins. We did see turtles also. We had a storm the day before so the seas were very unsettled with fairly large waves. The boat became a roller coaster with lots of water coming over the bow. Lots of people got soaked. I stayed near the bow for awhile until I was thoroughly wet and then moved to the stern.

 

 

Once we turned around the seas moderated and we were served a lunch of hamburgers, cabbage salad, and beans. Later, we were served warm macadamia nut with white chocolate cookies. The bar was also open with beer and wine.

Meanwhile the wind switched directions and the seas rose so once again we took lots of water over the bow.

It was a good trip with a great crew.

Here at the timeshare we spend time at the pool and hot tub. This is a very comfortable unit with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a full kitchen, a big living area with a dinning table and a patio with tables and chairs. The  trade winds are blowing to keep things cool and we get an occasional shower.

A trip to Wisconsin.

Location, At Home.

Much has happened since my last post.

I had a trip to Wisconsin scheduled for August 29 for 6 days. However, USAIR had other plans. I arrived at the airport about 5:15 for my 6:30 flight. After checking in and going through security I noticed there was no plane parked at the gate. NOT GOOD! As the plane is supposed to be there overnight. About 6AM everyone’s phone started ringing and announcing that the flight was cancelled. Not delayed, CANCELLED. Most people jumped up to go back to the USAIR desk to rebook or whatever they could get out of USAIR I guess but I noticed there was a phone number to call. I called it and was given a choice, cancel and get my money back or rebook for the next day. I said “rebook me” and I managed to get the same flights the next day. Hard to believe there were still seats available. I’m sure glad I didn’t go to the front desk.

SO, I went back to the airport the next morning and all was well. I arrived in Milwaukee about 3:30 in the afternoon after a brief stop in Phoenix to change planes. Within 20 minutes I was sitting in my rented Chevy Malibu and ready to head north. Normally I fly to Chicago but Milwaukee is better but it is still a 4 hour drive.

There was lots of traffic around Milwaukee due to it being Friday of Labor Day weekend and Harley Davidson was celebrating their 150 anniversary. The slow traffic eased after about ½ hour. I stopped in Stevens Point for a bite to eat and arrived about 8:30 in Abbotsford where I had booked a motel room for my stay. It really worked well to stay in Abbotsford as it is near my Mother who is in assisted living in Colby and I could stop in for a few minutes any time.

On Saturday afternoon I attended an all school reunion for my high school. A little over two hundred people came. It was really nice to have all afternoon to visit. We were served a great family style dinner.

On Sunday I visited my sister Judy and her family and again had a great buffet dinner. Later, the grandkids wanted to go fishing in Grandpas pond so we all walked down and the adults were kept busy baiting hooks with worms and taking fish off. Several nice blue gills were kept in a barrel for Grandpa to clean along with 2 very nice large mouth bass. I think my niece Angela caught the biggest fish.

Nice blue gill.

 

A. J. with a large mouth bass.

 

 Angela has the biggest fish.

On Monday I visited the cemetery where my dad is buried and spent the afternoon with friends catching up on all the latest happenings.

Tuesday I visited my cousin Jim and wife Sharon. I try to see them whenever I am in the area. It also gave me a chance to get a bite at Culvers and have a small custard. Wonderful! Later, I picked up my mother with help from my sister Judy and husband Art and we drove to Unity for dinner with my other siblings. It was a nice dinner and a celebration of my birthday.

Wednesday morning I left Abbotsford before 8 AM and stopped to see my mother on my way out of town. I drove south to Cazenovia, WI to visit my cousin Shirley and husband Ed. Shirley was nice enough to make BLT’s for lunch with the biggest fresh tomatoes from her garden. She also served me a piece of birthday cake with a candle. Very nice of her.

I left Cazenovia about 12:30 PM and drove to the airport in Milwaukee for a 5:20 PM flight back to Phoenix and then home.

Before I made this trip I had taken my truck to the local Ford Service Center to determine what a noise was that I had been hearing. On the way in to the garage I engaged the Gear Vendors over/under drive and the noise went away. That was not good but at least I now had a possible diagnosis. Long story short, the Gear Vendors unit was replaced with a factory rebuilt unit, the rear differential was serviced, and the torque converter main seal was replaced. I took the truck in on August 26^th and got it back today. The bill was rather large but not near what I expected.

Picles and a PC update.

Location, At Home.

Another canning day.

We are still getting produce from the garden. Today we made another batch of pickle relish. The first batch we made was soooo good that we may even make another batch if we have the cucumbers. I eat it on chips or crackers, it is that good!

We also blanched and froze another bunch of green beans. Those don’t take long to do and we store them in gallon zip bags in the freezer.

I managed to get the truck washed today. It really needed it. Poor old truck just sits these days. It is going in Monday to see if the noise I heard can be found. I hate to take it on the road with the RV until I know for sure what the noise is.

In my last post I mentioned the Windows 7 PC I was working on. I finally gave it up and installed Ubuntu in place of Windows 7. It was a painless install and I have not had one problem with it. My neighbor Paul talked me through it. I have it set up near my Windows 7 desktop and it is fun to work them both at the same time.

I now need to get rid of my Windows XP machine which has two hard drives installed with an old version of Ubuntu on one drive and XP on the other. Windows XP support ends in April so any PC running XP will be subject to viruses and any other problems hackers can dream up.