Day 2378

 I woke up about 8, played some games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  Then we loaded up the car and went to the laundromat.

I brought the TRX-4 with me to the laundromat.  I tried to replace the broken part.  I couldn't because the screws were mismatched.  I need the power screwdriver to force them in.

When the laundry was done we went to Walgreen's for Ellen's drugs.  They still don't have one of her prescriptions.  We're going to have to go back tomorrow.  After that we stopped at the post office on the way home.

When we got home I spent a couple of hours working on the trailer axles.   I crawled under the trailer and copied the label information.  Then I got online and poured over the manufacturer documentation trying to figure out what's needed.  It looks like replacing the axles is relatively straightforward.  If I want to get heavier ones it will take a few more parts.  I wrote up everything and sent it in an email to Joe.

After that I worked a little more on the TRX-4.  That's when I discovered that I didn't bring the power screwdriver.  I ordered another,but it will take two weeks to get here.

The weather was great today, but by then I was too disgusted to do any shooting.  I watched TV and fell asleep.  That's not surprising, I only got about 6 hours of sleep last night because I couldn't get to sleep.

Ellen fixed stir fry for dinner.  After dinner I watched the Dodgers.  They lost.

Day 2377

 I woke up about 8 and played games for about half an hour.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  It was cold and a little rainy, so we didn't do much in the morning.  I surfed and Ellen watched TV.  About noon we decided to go to the grocery store.

We needed a whole bunch of stuff - orange juice, bread, lunch meat, frozen dinners, etc.  We stocked up.  We also stopped at Dutch Brothers because it was 50 degrees.  The only other stop was the post office.

When we got home it was a little more surfing.  The weather was better, but not great.  In a little while it started raining again.  I moved from the kitchen table to the recliner.  That resulted in a nap.

Dinner was a frozen dinner.  After that we watched some cartoons and two movies.

Day 2376

 I got up at 8, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  It was cold and raining a little.  That made it a perfect day to not do much.

I did decide to do a couple of small jobs.  I changed the latch on the screen door to one we'd purchased when we were traveling.  I hadn't done it before because it required hardware that I didn't have.  The new latch works much better than the old one.  Time will tell if it holds up.

I also tried to make the phone signal amp work better.  Ellen looked up some stuff on the web.  We re-positioned the antenna.  I also went outside and sealed the outside connection with friction tape.  The amp does improve the signal some, but the root cause is that the signal from the tower sucks.

The rest of the day was surfing and TV.  It was cold and windy, no warmer than 55 degrees.  Lunch was frozen pizza and dinner was fried ham.

Day 2375

 I woke up a little after 8 and played games for over an hour.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast I went to the shed to repair the shelf.

Repairing the shelf didn't take long because I'd cut the shelf yesterday.  I spent a little time cleaning up the work area.  I was thinking about working on the roof when it started to rain.  That took care of that idea.

I went inside and started surfing.  The rain lasted all day, so so did the surfing and TV.  At times the rain was pretty hard, yellow on the radar.  Around dinner time a strong wind picked up.  It was strong enough to shake the trailer.

Dinner was leftover Pad Thai.  After dinner was more surfing and TV.

Day 2374

 I woke up about 8 and played games until a little before 9.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  After that I went outside to drain the tanks and take the cover off the Audi.

The car looked OK until I opened the hood.   There were two mouse nests in the engine compartment.  Fortunately there doesn't look to be any damage.  I cleaned it all up and then started the car.  It worked fine.

We had some errands to do.  We both had drugs to get.  I also wanted to go to the factory stores.  I needed a break.  Finally I needed some stuff at Lowe's to repair the shed.  We spent most of the morning and the first part of the afternoon doing that.  We ate lunch at a Thai place at the stores.  It was really good.

When we got home I put everything away.  Then I started work on the shoe compartment in the trailer.  I've wanted to modify it since we left Austin.  I put in two partitions.  One divides the compartment in half.  The second makes a small area for me to store my sandals.  That way I don't have to paw through shoes to get the pair I want.

I also cut a new shelf from material I got at Lowe's.  I'll probably install it tomorrow.  It was after 5 when I was done and I didn't feel like doing anything else.

Dinner was a leftover hot dog.  After dinner was TV.  There wasn't any surfing today at all.

Day 2373

 I woke at 8 and played games until 9.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  There's a lot of things that need to be done.  I decided to start with unloading the basement.

I thought it would be easy, but it was harder than I anticipated.  There was a lot of stuff in the basement.  The food stayed, everything else went into the shed.  It took many trips.  I also got a new "to do".  The shed roof leaked a lot.  I'm going to need to repair the roof, replace a shelf, and probably repair more of the floor.  Crap.

The next task was getting the car license. I drove to Woodburn to the DMV.  It was very uncrowded, only 5 people in front of me.  There were 5 people working the windows, so It didn't take long for me to get the tags.  

I also stopped at BiMart and got some combination cleaner/wax to wash the trailer.  Then it was back home for lunch.

After lunch I went back out to wash the trailer.  Ellen came out, too.  I needed to have her wash the windows immediately after I'd cleaned them.  That way the wax in the cleaner and wax wouldn't stick to the windows.

It took quite a while to wash the trailer.  There was an amazing number of bugs on the front.  They took a lot of scrubbing to get off.  The result looks nice.  I also used the same stuff to scrub off the bugs on the front of the truck.

I was pretty tired after that.  I went inside to surf.  That morphed into sitting in the recliner, which changed into a nap.

Ellen fixed hot dogs for dinner.  After dinner was a lot of TV and some surfing.  It rained pretty hard for about an hour in the evening.  Of course, we'd just washed the trailer.

Day 2372

 We woke up at 7, got up, did the pet stuff and had breakfast.  Then it was time to hook up.

The first step was to check the tires.  It was good I did.  The lugnuts weren't torqued as much as they should have been.  Also, the tires weren't inflated to 80 PSI like I'd requested.  It took some time to pump them up.

There was a problem hooking the hitch again.  It didn't close. I had to try again backing a little harder into the pin box.  Then the hitch closed.

The trip into the club went pretty well.  There wasn't much traffic and i didn't have to spend much time behind slow people.  It didn't matter because I didn't want to push things because of the crooked axles.  When we got near Salem I called Joe.  He said that it was probably a bent axle and we needed new ones.  He'll help me find them.

It was a lot of work when we got to the club.  In addition to the usual set up stuff we had to cover the tires and string the water hose.  I unloaded the truck and put everything in the shed.  I also got out the shop vac and vacuumed the cat litter from the back seat and the dirt from the front foot wells.

It was only about 1 by the time we were finished.  We went to the club and renewed our membership.  Then it was off to the post office.  After that was Safeway to buy some stuff for dinner.  We also stopped at AC/Greasy for lunch.

When we got home we went through the mail.  We can't drive the car until we renew the license.  We need insurance to do that.

The Verizon internet was really slow, almost unusable.  This was both with the MiFi and my phone.  It was very frustrating.  I ordered a couple of things with the tablet, which didn't seem to have a problem.

The DirecTV works great without needing any adjustment.  Most of the rest of the afternoon and evening was TV and a little surfing.  I was really tired from the stress of traveling when the trailer has problems.

Day 2371

 I woke up before 8, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that was about an hour or so of surfing before it was time to hook up.

I really screwed up the hook up process.  I forgot to take the pin out of the hitch.  When I backed up I knocked the trailer off the blocks.  Then when I did connect I didn't raise the jacks enough and drug one when I did the pull test.  Finally I started to roll up the power cord before I disconnected it from the trailer.

The guy next door watched and commented (nicely) on my jack stupidity.  I showed him the tires.He said it looked like out of alignment axles.  

I took the trailer to the tire place and got the tires replaced.  Getting in and out of the place wasn't bad.  We called Blue Dog about the axles.  Their first available appointment is mid August. 

We took the trailer home.  My problems continued.  I raised the jacks too much when I unhooked.  Ellen had to hold the jaws open.  Then I drained the tanks.  After that we went to Redmond to fuel up and eat a late lunch.  All of the places we found had close dining areas - take out only.

I measured the axles.  The tires on the right side (which were worn) are 3/8 inches farther apart than the ones on the left side. I called Joe, he said he'd do some research about it.  If I'm lucky it will be a quick fix he can do tomorrow.

I just drove home in disgust.  Ellen fixed grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, which was just as good as anything else.  I sat down to do some surfing.  I was really tired from being so stressed out.  I ended up sleeping while Ellen was doing the wash.

Dinner was leftovers.  The evening was a little surfing and a lot of TV.

Usually I wouldn't be concerned about a short trip on familiar roads, but I'm a little worried about tomorrow just because I don't know whether or not the axles will be a big deal.

Day 2370

I woke up at 7:15, played games and surfed until after 8.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  We didn't really have anything to do, so we surfed for most of the morning.

We left for Sportsman's Warehouse a little before noon.  They had a sale on Marmot stuff and I could use a light sweatshirt.  Unfortunately they didn't have any.  We ate lunch at IHOP.  After that we drove back to Redmond to a pet store.  We bought freeze dried and canned cat food.  That way we won't have to go get it for a week or so after we get back.

After that we went back to the trailer.  I packed up the sewer hose.  I also took the tire monitors off the tires.  Then I got out the RC truck.  I charged up a 2S and 3S battery.  Then I ran both on a big grass field next to the RV park.  It was fun.  The 3S definitely makes the truck faster, but it's still no speed demon.

I noticed that I'd broken the front bumper mount somewhere along the way, so I researched a new on.  I'm going to order a metal one.

I fixed a frozen enchilada for dinner.  After dinner it was surfing and TV.

Day 2369

 I woke up about 7:30, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast it was surfing for a couple of hours.  After that we went to Prineville.  I thought it looked interesting when we drove through it yesterday.

It was only a 20 mile trip.  We drove through town hen we got there looking for interesting things.  Then we went back through it stopping at several places.  We stopped at what we thought was a brewery for lunch.  It turned out to be under construction.  There was a group of roach coaches next door.  We had very good fish and chips.

We stopped at a couple of stores just to look at stuff.  We also stopped at an old hamburger place for an awesome milkshake.  Dan called while we were there.  He wanted to warn us that COVID was running wild in Richland.  That's when we told him that we'd skipped it because we didn't want to bring it to the place.  Oh well.

We went back to Redmond after that.  I spent the rest of the afternoon surfing, Ellen watched TV.  She fixed chicken strips for dinner.

After dinner was TV and surfing.  There's a nice place to run the RC truck tomorrow.  I think I'll try it out.

Day 2368

 I woke up at 7:15 this morning.  I got up, did the pet stuff, had breakfast, and hen went outside to hook up.  There was a little glitch.  I didn't back up hard enough and the hitch didn't latch.  I had to have Ellen hold the jaws open while I "bumped" it to get it to hitch.

The trip went pretty well.  My worry about snow was groundless, there wasn't any.  I had a little worry during the regen because it shut off twice because we were going down hill.  Eventually it finished with a 6% load.  That is great.

We got in about 12:30 and were feeling OK until I saw the passenger side trailer tires.  They were destroyed.  One was completely bald over half its surface.  The other had a bald ring all around the interior of the tire.  I have no idea what happened.  I was driving fairly aggressively over the passes.  Perhaps that caused it.  The only other thing I can think of is a brake problem.

We looked up the tire paperwork.  They are sill covered by warranty.  We tried to call the place in Bend where we bought them, but they wouldn't answer the phone.  So we drove there.  The guy said the tires were covered.  I said I wanted all 4 replaced and I'd pay for the other two.  We have to wait until Tuesday to get it done.  Fortunately the campground will let us stay.

We stopped at a McMennaman's on the way back.  When we got home it was TV, surfing, and maybe a little nap.  We just had a snack instead of dinner.

Day 2367

 I woke up about 8 and played games for a while.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After a little bit of surfing I left for Richland.

The drive was the same as always.  I took it easy even though I wasn't hauling the trailer.  It was sunny when I got there.  It felt a lot warmer than Baker even though the temperatures were about the same.

I went through the storage area and got all of the stuff that I marked down I needed.  I also brought a couple of extra things just in case.  I spent about an hour there.  I didn't interact with anyone.

I drove back home at the same pace I drove there.  When I got home I packed most of the stuff I retrieved in the basement.  It all fit pretty well, bu there's not much room left.

After that we went back to the Mormon hamburger place for lunch.  Then we went to Maverick for fuel, O'Reilley's for wiper blades, and Safeway for some groceries.  Then it was home.  We spent the rest of the day on TV and surfing.

Ellen fixed mac and cheese with ham for dinner.  It was good.

I'm feeling a little anxious about tomorrow.  I hope we don't encounter any snow.

Day 2366

 I woke up about 8 and played games for a while.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  While I was eating breakfast things went bad.  Ellen did a test and came up positive.  I did one and came up positive, too.

The next hour or so was spent replanning things.  We cancelled Richland and replaced it with two days in Baker City.  I'll go into Richland briefly tomorrow to pick up some stuff from the storage area.  We managed o reschedule the time in Redmond (no refunds).  After that we'll go to Salem.  

After that we surfed for a while and hen started to hitch up.  We had to wait for as long as possible because it was only a 2 hour trip, mad effectively 1 hour because of the time change.  We left 10 minutes before checkout time.

When we left he ash level was at 96.  I expected a regen shortly.  Instead the ash level kept going down.  I was 83 by the time we got to Baker City.  Mileage (8) sucked due to the hills and a 25 mph head wind.

We got to the park just after noon.  It was 51 degrees and very windy.  We unhooked with no problem and then went to the Mormon hamburger place for lunch.  It was really good.  We stopped at BiMart for ammo.  Federal was $11 a box, so we passed.

When we got back I sat down in the recliner and had a long nap.

Dinner was frozen pizza.  After dinner was more surfing and some TV.  It was a fairly long, and cold, walk to the shower.

Day 2365

 I woke up about 8:15 and played games for about half an hour.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  I didn't want to go anywhere because the truck is about to regen.  Also, Ellen was still coughing and sniffling.  We surfed for a while, but eventually we needed to go out for drugs, groceries, and fuel.

We went to Walgreen's to get Ellen some drugs.  They said that it would take "a day or two" to transfer the prescription.  Crap.  CVS does it immediately.  Fortunately she has enough to last until we get to Salem.  Then we went to Albertson's and go some groceries.  We'll be spending the next week in the hinterlands.

The final sop was fuel.  When we drove in a brand new Denali SUV pulled in behind us.  The driver beckoned me over.  Like an idiot I went.  He we from the middle east.  His wife next to him had on traditional brightly colored dress.  He had on several heavy gold chains and rings.  

His story was he'd forgotten his wallet.  He wanted to offer me a "gold" ring if I would pay to fill his tank.  The ring was obviously fake.  I said thank you and walked away.  He immediately left.  I filled up and we went home.  I sill have a couple of percent before the regen starts.

We spent the rest of the afternoon on surfing, TV, and naps.  Ellen fixed steak for dinner.  After dinner it was more surfing and TV.

Day 2364

 There was no reason to wake up early, but I woke up about 7:15 anyway.  I played games for quite a while and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that I did a little surfing and then took the laundry over to the laundromat.

I went back to the trailer and surfed.  Ellen sat outside waiting for everything to be done.  When it was we dumped everything out on the bed for the cats.  Then we left for errands.

We went to Costco to get water, drugs, and some cinnamon rolls.  Then we stopped at a couple of RV stores until I finally found a new water hose.  We also stopped at Wally World for DEF.  The final stop was Freddies for lunch.

When we got back I decided to take it easy for the rest of the day.  I spent the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening researching parts for the Kraton.  It's getting pretty expensive.

Ellen fixed spaghetti for dinner.  She spent most of the afternoon and evening on a chick flick marathon.  After the third or fourth one I put my foot down.  NO MORE.

Day 2363

 I woke up at 6:45.  There was no need for it, but I couldn't go back to sleep.  After a little gaming I got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  Then I went out and started to get ready to fill up the tires.

While I was doing that Ellen was cleaning the stove.  It was too greasy for me to work by.  When she was done I went back inside and fixed the broken window blind.  Then it was back outside to fill the tires.  One of them was down a little, two others needed top offs.

Ellen went off to the can, so I finished hooking up myself.  She came back just as I was finished.  Then we took off.

We didn't get very good mileage, 9.7.  We went out about 200 miles and then filled up.  We might have been able to do without it, but it would have been close.  A little later the truck gave a low DEF message.  We stopped at a rest stop and put in a box.  It was good I did both.  We got into a traffic jam just as we got to Boise.

We were in the jam for about half an hour.  I would have been really worried if I hadn't added the fuel and DEF.  It turns out that some idiot was pulling a tow behind trailer with a small Japanese SUV.  It wasn't up to the task and the trailer flipped.  The SUV had its top ripped most of the way off, but that might have been done by the firemen.

After that it was an uneventful trip.  Unhooking wasn't.

Yesterday the hitch was sticky.  Today the hitch wouldn't unhook.  I tried two times.  I finally removed the plastic blocks I'd put below the tires and the front jacks.  That dug them into the gravel.  Then I just drug the hitch clear.  Afterwards I lubed the hitch thoroughly.  It was really dry.  Hopefully that fixes it.

After that I was hot and tired.  I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening on TV and surfing.  Dinner was leftovers.  

We've decided to stay here an extra day.  According to the web that will mean that we won't be contagious when we get to Richland. 

Day 2362

 We woke up at 7, did the pet stuff, had breakfast, and started to hook up.  The hookup went well, except for one thing.  Halfway through I developed an unexplained nose bleed.  It bled quite a bit and took me 10 minutes or so to stop.

We hit the road and headed north.  I was pleased with the mileage for the first 200+ miles.  It was 13.5 even though we climbed over 3,000 feet.  Fueling was a little bit of a problem  The first place we stopped had all the diesel pumps blocked.  The second, two  miles down the road, was cheaper and super easy to get into.

After that i was driving through the SLC metroplex.  It wasn't too bad, mainly because it was Sunday.  We got to Tremonton about 2:30 or 3.  We fueled up and parked.

Both of us are still feeling under the weather - Ellen more than I.  We sat in the trailer for the rest of the day.

The evening had a disappointment.  There was a full lunar eclipse tonight, but cloud cover kept us from seeing it.  We're going to Caldwell tomorrow.  After that we'll need to change plans.  We're not going to go to Richland because we don't want to bring COVID there.

Day 2361

 I woke up about 7 and played games.  Eventually I got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  I'm still coughing, but not as much.  I feel very run down though.  I may have a little fever.  Ellen is beginning to feel the same way.

We killed time surfing for a while.  Then it was time to go do errands.  We drove into St. George to a pet stuff.  We didn't know if they'd have what we wanted because they wouldn't answer their phone.  It turns out they had NO cat food of any time.

Then we went back one exit to Albertson's.  We bought a few groceries - bread, bananas, orange juice, cereal, etc.  We also bought COVID tests.  The cereal came in a new smaller box, 13 oz instead of 18.  Same price though.  Fuck Biden.

When we got home we both took the tests.  They were both positive.  I looked for a place to get treatment.  Just like always if you don't have a primary physician the only choice is the emergency room.

The whole day was surfing, games, and naps.  The only good news is that my back is better and my cough is less.  It's hitting Ellen pretty hard.  I think she's a couple of days behind me in symptoms.  I'm a little worried.  If she's really sick tomorrow she's going to the hospital.

I waited until 5 and then went out to dump the tanks.  The temperature was 100, but the drain was on the shady side of the trailer.  The wasn't a dinner - neither of us wanted it.

We'll see how tomorrow goes. 

Day 2360

 I woke up about 7 and played games.  Eventually I got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  I'm still coughing, but not as much.  I feel very run down though.  I may have a little fever.  I think I'll get a COVID test tomorrow.

The whole day was surfing, games, and naps.  The heating pad was a godsend.  I had a sandwich for lunch and no dinner.  I'm not hungry - that's how I know I'm sick.

I'm going to do nothing again tomorrow.  Hopefully I'll be up for the long drive on Sunday.

Day 2359

 I woke up about 8 and played games for a while.  It had gotten down into the 40's last night, so there was no hurry to get going.  Eventually i was up for pet stuff and breakfast.

When I tried to turn on my computer it wouldn't boot.  I tried everything I could think of o get it to boot.  The battery was charged, but it wouldn't boot.  Finally I asked Ellen to look on the web.  Eventually she found a forum post that gave a solution: unplug the power, hold down he power switch for 40 to 60 seconds, reconnect the power, and push the power button.  It worked.  I immediately backed up some files onto the SD card.

By then it was about 11.  I loaded up the truck and went to Purgatory.  It was in he low 60's, but comfortable.  They had absolutely no ammo for sale.  Also, the main course was closed because they have a tournament this weekend.  We shot the easy course.  It was still fun if everything was shot as true pairs.  It was better than Midland.

I developed a bad cough yesterday.  By the time we were finished I was wiped out.  We went to ACE, but they didn't have what we wanted.  The two places we wanted to eat at were Dead and COVID crazy.  We went into St. George and ate.  We also got the stuff I wanted next door.

We went home then.  I was very tired.  I decided against going to Sand Lake tomorrow.  Instead I got out the heating pad/massager I bought a few days ago.  It really helps my back.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was surfing and TV.  Dinner was a frozen pizza.

Day 2358

 I woke up 7 and played games for a while.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that it was surfing.  We only have 137 miles to go today, so leaving before about 11 wasn't an option.

We started to pack up the trailer a little after 10.  I got talking to the guy next door, so it took quite a while to get all hooked up.  It didn't help that I had some difficulty hooking up the trailer.  I actually knocked the front legs off the plastic blocks.  No harm done though.

We had a stiff tail wind all the way to St. George.  That gave us 12 mpg even though it's quite a climb out of Las Vegas.  We did did get stuck in a 3 mile long traffic jam about halfway there.  It was caused by construction taking up a lane.  First, the assholes couldn't merge efficiently.  Second, after the merge was several miles of one lane.  It was marked at 55, but for some reason the assholes couldn't manage anything higher than 20 - 30.  All in all the delay cost about an hour.

We go to St. George a little before 3 (2 Las Vegas time).  I set up because Ellen camped out in the toilet.  As soon as that was done we drove to a Culver's about a mile away.  It was really good.

After that I was beat.  I sat in the recliner to surf, but ended up going to sleep.  We really didn't have any dinner because of the really late lunch.

All the rest of the evening was surfing and TV.

Day 2357

 I woke up about 7:30 and played games for a while.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast it was take the wash over to the laundromat.

I noticed while hauling the wash that my back and leg hurt a little.  That's not surprising given the amount we've walked in the last two days.  The blisters on both feet didn't feel good either.  It was cool, 60's, and windy so I decided to spend the morning surfing.

We went over to the clubhouse for lunch a little after noon.  I'd planned on playing mini-golf afterwards, but my legs and feet were still hurting.  I decided to go back to the trailer and give them a rest instead.  I don't want to cause them to start hurting as much as they have been for most of the trip.

I had 2 mojitos at lunch.  I may have taken a nap afterwards.

That was basically the day.  Both of us spent the whole day surfing and watching videos.  We didn't even turn the TV on.

Day 2356

 I woke up at 7, but played games until almost 9:30.  By then Ellen had fed he cats.  I had breakfast and then got ready to go to town.  We did a little homework on the internet and found out that we could park the truck at the Wynn.

We drove to the Wynn and parked with no problem.  Then we started going through casinos.  Actually we went through their shopping areas.  We spent absolutely no money gambling.  We didn't spend much money either.  I bought a couple of silk shirts at Tommy Bahama to replace the one that got destroyed during one hospital stay.  That was it.  We did see some neat stuff though, along with a bunch of things I wouldn't take for free.  The clothes were mostly too weird.

We went down to Caesar's.  I got another mojito.  We were going to eat at Margaritaville, but it wasn't serving food.  We ate at Rockin' Roger's in the Flamingo instead.  Walking was really pleasant, mid 70's with a breeze.

We also went to the Mirage.  We stopped for a while at a cafe inside to rest.  Then we went to see the tigers and dolphins.  The Hard Rock Cafe has bought the place.  They plan on tearing a lot of it down.  They won't say what will happen to the animals.  It's probably the last time we'll ever see them.

After that it was getting late and we started back to the Wynn.  It helped that there was a tram from the Mirage to Treasure Island.  The timing was perfect.  We got on with no wait and it left in about a minute.  The only problem was finding the entrance o the parking garage in the Wynn.

It was 5:40 by the time we hit I-15.  There was some slow traffic for a couple of miles and then it was smooth sailing.  We stopped at a grocery on the way home for bananas and lunch meat.

We just had snacks instead of dinner.  After dinner was surfing and TV.

Day 2355

 We woke up about 7.  We played games for awhile and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  When breakfast was over I went to work on the bathroom sink.

I removed everything from underneath the sink.  Then I had to spend some time cleaning up some sort of crap that had been spilled on the floor inside the cabinet.  After that I could finally take the p-trap off.  Of course that made a little mess.  There was a whole bunch of hair jamming up the trap.  I took it out.  Then I took the trap outside and washed out all of the tooth past that was in it.

I reinstalled the p-trap, but the drain was still slow.  I unscrewed the stopper and found more hair inside.  I used long nose pliers to pull it all out of the drain.  When I replaced the stopper everything worked perfectly.

I went through the plastic boxes as I put them back under the sink.  I got rid of all the expired medications and did a little reorganization.

I was 9:30 by the time I was done.  I spent an hour or two surfing and then decided to go to the strip.  We planned on parking at the link, but it's lot was closed.  We tried the structures at three other casinos.  They all had height restrictions that eliminated the truck.  I ended up parking at the Excalibur.  It cost $15.

We started walking to Caesar's which is where we originally wanted to go.  We stopped at a shrimp place for lunch along the way.  It was expensive, but good.  We also stopped at the Coke place, but didn't see anything we liked.

We found Moo machines in two casinos, but they weren't very entertaining.  They immediately too our money.  I don't mind that, but I expect them to provide a little entertainment first.

We finally got to Caesar's.  I got my mojito after a 20 or 30 minute wait.  Then we went through the casino to the shops.  Unfortunately Ellen's asshole was giving her a lot of trouble.  She must have spent 45 minutes or more in the can.  Again, we didn't find anything we wanted to buy.

We were tired by then.  We took a taxi back to the Excalibur.  The cab driver thought we were lazy.  When we got there we went straight home.

For the most part my back didn't give me trouble today.  Occasionally either my back or my leg would get a little sore, but it would go away.  I'm surprised that all the walking didn't cause me more of a problem.

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening surfing and watching TV.  Dinner was a sandwich.

Day 2354

 I woke up about 6:45, got up and did the pet stuff.  Then it was outside to hook up the trailer.  There was a small hitch.  Some branches were caught in the awning, but I go them out.  We were on the road before 8.

We got really good mileage up to Phoenix, 13.  There was a sign on I10 saying it was closed through the center of Phoenix.  Fortunately there's a new loop road around town to the south.  It's actually an 8 lane freeway.  That made it smooth sailing.

I fueled up just as we got on 60.  I could have gone all the way to Kingman, but the place we stopped at was easy to get into and as cheap as anywhere else.  The rest of the trip was 10 mpg.  I would have been worse except for a really strong tailwind.  That doesn't happen very often.  The road is improved, more of it is four lane.  It's also VERY rough.

We got through Kingman and on the road north.  I was smooth sailing, but almost as rough as 60.  The worst part of the trip was in Ls Vegas.  It was crowded and everyone was driving aggressively.  I came the closest to crashing than I have in years.  There was a sudden full stop on the 215 exit.  I almost didn't make it.

I was tired and stressed out when we got to the park.  They had lost our reservation.  Ellen took care of it while I went outside to keep the cats cool.  We eventually got a place.  It's a little screwed up because it's not level a one end.  I can barely get the truck parked in front.

To add to the stress Ellen found 4 screws and a bolt in the middle of the living room floor when she opened the slides.  We spent a lot of time looking for where they came from, but couldn't find anything that looked loose or had missing screws.

We went to do a little shopping.  I wanted a pair of shorts that fit better and a water hose.  We also needed some milk.  I didn't find the hose and could only find some shorts that barely fit.  

I'd planned to have dinner and a mojito at the cafe, but it was closed.  Left over pizza instead.

The rest of the evening was surfing and TV.

Day 2353

 I woke up about 7 and played games for a little while.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  The ostrich place didn't open until 9, so we killed some time surfing.  We left about 9 to go to the place.  That's when we learned it had opened at 8.  Oh well.

It was a nice sunny day, in the high 80's.  It felt comfortable though because of the 20% humidity and breeze.  We fed everybody.  We even bought extra sting ray and bird nectar.  The ostriches were interesting.  Some were fairly gentle and others were aggressive.  One actually bit my thumb.  Fortunately it didn't have teeth.  All in all we had a great time.  We didn't leave until 11:30.

I had a craving for a blizzard, so we went to DQ.  It was almost lunch time so we ended up eating there.  I only ate half the chicken tenders.  The rest I ate for dinner.  Then we went back to the trailer.

I'd taken Tylenol before going to the ostrich place.  By the time I go back it had mainly worn off.  I still had to dump the tanks though.  I spent an uncomfortable hour doing that.  Whenever I could I would sit on the picnic table waiting.  I was glad when ha was done.

The toilet sink has been draining slow.  I poured some tank cleaner into the p-trap.  We let it soak for several hours.  Then I filled the sink with hot water and opened the drain.  That seemed to do an OK job at cleaning it out.  I really don't want to mess with the p-trap at all, and certainly not until we're in Oregon.

The rest of the day was TV, surfing, and a nap.  I really need the nap because my back keeps me from getting a good night's sleep.  My back certainly didn't improve today.  It hurt quite a bit when I went out in the evening to get water from the truck.  I hope it's better tomorrow, it's a long drive.

Day 2352

 I woke up about 7 and played games for over an hour.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  We only had 45 miles to drive today, so we spent most of the morning surfing.  We waited until after 10 to start hooking up.  We left at 10:55.  Checkout was 11.

The trip was fine.  There weren't any problems.  We got to the park a little before noon.  We set up and had lunch.  After lunch we went over to the ostrich place.  It was closed.  It's only open on Friday and the weekend.  We decided to go tomorrow instead of shooting.  My back pain has moved to my leg as well.  I figured a day of not doing much would help it.

There were a couple of gas station/souvenir shops across the freeway.  Diesel was $5.89 a gallon at both.  Fuck Biden.  One was selling DEF for $39 a box.  We didn't buy anything.

We went back home.  I had a nice talk with the guy parked next door.  Then I went inside and hid out from the 90+ degree temperature.  I sat the entire afternoon and evening.  I still hurt a little when sitting at the kitchen table or when I get up and walk around.

Ellen fixed sloppy joes for dinner.  After dinner we watched TV.  We get 17 on air channels here.  The picture quality is really good.

Day 2351

 We woke up at 7, did the pet stuff, had breakfast, loaded up the truck, and went to the club.  The drive was uneventful except for a little traffic.  Fortunately most of the traffic was headed the other way.  The ash level on the truck went to 100% just before we got to the club.  Fortunately it didn't start the warm up before we parked.

It was a nice sunny day, but not too hot - only about 80.  We bought 8 boxes of Fiocchi at $1 a box.  Fuck Biden.  We shot 25o rounds, mainly on the super sporting course left over from the Regionals.  We also shot two towers on the Fitasc course.  They were all really good targets.  They were far enough away that I would have changed the IC for a LM if I'd been serious.

When we were finished I headed out the Ajo Hwy.  The truck started the warm up immediately.  I drove about 16 miles out and then turned around.  The regen finished about 25 miles total.  We stopped at Fry's on the way back to get bread, OJ, and bananas.  We also stopped to top off the tank.

The DEF gauge read just over half when we got home, so I decided to put in a box.  The first box had a broken seal, so I didn't use it.  There goes $16.  The filler overflowed before I got all of the next box in.  Apparently the DEF gauge isn't worth a damn.

My back was killing me when we got home.  That meant nothing except sitting in the recliner surfing.  Apparently one aspect of the problem is that the pain radiate down the leg.  It started to do that today.  In fact, tonight the leg hurts almost too much to stand.  Crap.

Ellen fixed hamburgers for dinner.  After dinner it was more surfing.

Day 2350

 I woke up before 8 and played games until a little after 8.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  Then we collected the washing and I hauled it to the laundromat.  On the way back I walked to the park's RC track.  Ellen had noticed it on the map this morning.

The track looked neat, so I went back to the trailer and got out the TRX-4.  I charged up the battery and took it to the track.  The track was small, but it was fun.  I spent about half an hour driving around it.  I still suck as a driver, but even that little amount of practice allowed me to develop a little bit of skill.

I took the truck back to the trailer when the battery got low.  Then I went and picked up the laundry from the laundromat.  After that I surfed until Ellen finished with the last of the clothes.

By then it was lunch time.  We went to In-and-Out for lunch.  Costco was next door.  We went there and got water, drugs, and DEF.  Then it was home.

By then my back was starting to give me a lot of pain.  I had planned to take the TRX-4 out again, but it hurt too much to stand.  I just surfed and watched TV instead.

Ellen fixed orange chicken for dinner.  After dinner was more surfing and TV.  I got out the shooting stuff so we could leave quicker tomorrow.

Day 2349

 With the time zone changes timing is tricking.  We got up about 8 or so, did the pet stuff and had breakfast.  We figured the cats could eat because there was a cat box in the truck.  It didn't matter though.  One of them barfed up everything they ate.  We didn't hurry hooking up and left a little after 9.

We had a really strong headwind for the first 100+ miles.  It dropped the mileage to 8.  That meant we had to stop for fuel even though we were only going 250 miles.  Fuel just gets more expensive.  We paid $5.09.  Fuck Biden.

The DEF warning went off again, but I ignored it because the tank level read 7/8 full.  However, when we got to Tucson the ash level was 91%.  That's a 65% in only 250 miles.  I'm a little concerned about the next regen.  It will probably happen when we are driving around tomorrow.

We got to the park before 1 (their time) and set up.  I didn't feel like sitting in the trailer for the rest of the day, so we went to a hobby store.  It was one of the best I've ever seen.  It was also part of an ACE HW.  I bought some glue and a pinion gear.  We went to the HW section and bought batteries, thread stopper, and a broom holder for the broom I bought at the park store.  It was well over 90 when we got back.

I installed the broom holder in the pantry.  It worked great.  Then I went to the restaurant.  I ordered a brisket pizza and had a mango beer while I was waiting.  It was good.  I took the pizza home and that was dinner.  It was good, too.

After dinner was surfing, reading, and TV.  Tomorrow is an off day.  Nothing to do except the wash.

Day 2348

 We got up at 7, had breakfast, and hooked up the trailer.  We were on the road by 8.  For once we had a crosswind that favored us a little.  At times it turned into a tailwind.  We got 11.5 mpg the whole way.  That's much better than the last two day's 8 mpg.

I started a book on tape.  It made the miles go by a little faster.  We did have to make a fuel stop.  At least it was a convenient place.  We had to pat $5.15, the highest we've ever paid.  Fuck Biden.  We also had to stop to put in DEF.  The gauge was over 1/2 when we started.  After 100+ miles it gave me the 1,000 mile warning.  Then it started counting down the miles - about 3 or 4 miles for every actual mile traveled.  After putting in a box it read 7/8 full.

The truck ran really well all day until we were 5 miles from the campground.  Then it decided to do a regen.  We had to drive about 30 extra miles until it was finished.  When it was done the level was still at 22%.  Fuck.

We unhooked as soon as we were done setting up.  There was a Wally World across the freeway.  We went there and got some more DEF, a water filter, and a small rechargeable vacuum.  The cats are using the cat box we put in the truck, but they're scattering litter all over.  We filled up with fuel and went home.

I'd noticed when we unhooked that the truck is clattering like a Ford.  It's never done that when it was warm before.  I hope the assholes at the dealership filled it with oil.  I checked it and I think it's OK.  There's no scale at the end of the stick, just a blob.  The blob is completely covered.  I'm not sure if that is good or bad.

It's pretty hot here, so we stayed in the trailer.  It was 80 degrees at 9 PM.  Ellen fixed steak for dinner.  After dinner she watched TV and I surfed.

Day 2347

 We got up about 8, did the pet stuff and had breakfast.  The club didn't open until 10, so we surfed for a while before loading up and leaving.

I made the mistake of following Google's directions instead of the truck's.  It had us driving through town on business 20.  We went through a lot of stop lights when we could have been cruising on the interstate.  We never actually got on the interstate.  The business loop didn't end until the exit to the club.

It was sunny, but very windy.  That kept the temperature to a comfortable level.  We had a great time even though the whole place was set up for a charity shoot they held a couple of days ago.  It was station after stations of pairs from either the right or left.  Oh well.  We bought a case of Fiocchi for $100.  Fuck Biden.

When we were finished we drove back into town - on the freeway.  We stopped at an old style drive in burger joint.  It was great and surprisingly inexpensive.  After that we went home.  I made sure the truck was lined up for a quick hookup in the morning.

We took the bike cover that Ellen patched yesterday and put it back over the bikes.  Hopefully it will survive.  It's 10% tape by now.

After that the evening was surfing and TV.  Ellen fixed sausage for dinner.  We went to bed a little early because we need to get up at 7 tomorrow.