Sometimes I Surprise Myself!!!

I've never been one to back down from a challenge ... mostly anyways ... but my mechanical skills are about as good as my cooking skills.  I couldn't get that broken screw out of the angle iron bracket, no matter how hard I tried.  There's very little space between the side of the bracket and the fiberglass fender.  The only way to grab the screw was straight on from the end.

After talking to Mr. Chance and reading Tom's advice on my blog, I grabbed my vise grips and hammer, along with a rug to lay on under the rig.  I also took my phone, you know, in case of an emergency ... like cutting my finger off or something!!

I wiggled under the edge and once in position,  tapped the screw with the hammer lightly, just enough for about a teaspoon of dirt and crud to fall in my face.  Out from under I came in a rush!!  Maybe this mechanics stuff isn't for me after all.  Once cleaned up, I again wiggled underneath the side ... keeping my head WAY out of range, and tapped it again, up then down.  Finally after three tries, I got the vise grips to grab the end tightly and slowly turned it back and forth until it came free and unscrewed out of the hole.  I GOT IT!!!!  Sometimes I even surprise myself!!  Sounds simple, but I never thought I could really get it out without help!!

Lucky for me, I finished up just in time as big wet drops started coming from the sky.  What the heck is THIS stuff???  The next thing I know, hail starts coming down like crazy, just as a bolt of lightning blinded me!!  I ran back to the patio to escape the torrent of rain that came down, filling my gutters to the brim.  I really should have cleaned out that last gutter in front, but it probably wouldn't have helped.  The entire back length of the house became a waterfall as that amount of water couldn't even begin to get down the drain before overflowing!!

The thunder rolled for over an hour as I kept poor scared Jessie company on the couch.  Flashes of  Oklahoma and Kansas went through my head!!  I immediately checked my weather radar to see the storm swirling in a big circle!!  YIKES!!!  As I looked out the back, all of my decorative bark was floating out of the flowerbeds down the sidewalk into the lawn!!  What a mess!!  My watering bucket said I got three inches!!  Sadly, Oklahoma did get hit with a tornado, including a big RV park.  Seems they had a shelter, but no one used it.  Trust me, I would have been the first one in the door and the last one out!!!

Lots on my plate today!!  Puppy meds, lunch with friends, a drill bit to make a little larger hole and a bolt to fit it, cleaning up the mess around the flower beds and my next big project ... setting up a mail service for when I'm gone in the summer.  Do I use the service on a temporary basis or make it permanent???  How often do you have your mail sent?  Any idea what the postage costs per month?

Where's My Mechanics Hat??

When you're single, you have to wear lots of hats.  Cowboy hats would be my choice, but dog groomer hat, maid hat, chef hat and gardener hat (including the dreaded sprinkler adjustments) are just a few.  My most disliked hat to wear is Mechanic.  I'm not very good at that one ... yes, even worse than the Chef hat!!

I cringe when I see parts missing from my rig, because I know I will have to figure out how to replace them.  Here's a missing piece that looks like it was glued on with something strong enough to rip the paint off when it went flying.  Where in the world am I going to find something in my little corner of the world to fix THAT!!  

It took four pictures and many emails to Tiffin to discover it is a #28667 weep hole cover drain slot driver forward 1".  Who knew??  I wondered why I heard that wind noise going down the freeway.  Hopefully in another two weeks, I'll get the part to replace the lost one.  I just don't have any idea how I'm going to attach it!!

In the meantime, my Mechanics Hat is getting tighter as my head is exploding with another problem!!  That fender-like thingy shouldn't be sticking out further than the door on the left.  This is what I found flapping in the breeze when I dumped the tanks this week.

Upon further investigation, I discovered this screw was missing.  When I pulled the fender out to see why, I discovered the screw had sheared off in the metal bracket that it WAS attached to.  Hmmmm this is a problem!!!

Here's a screw like the missing one.  At least I know what to ask for, that is if I can figure out how to get the old broken one out of the hole.  

You have to really look close here to see the half inch long end of the screw sticking out of the back.  It's difficult to see, let alone reach, since it was covered with a ton of road sealant from Alaska!!  The only thing I can think of is to grab it with a pair of pliers and try to unscrew it.  That didn't happen ..... I'm ready to throw in the hat.  Maybe I can duck tape it enough to hold until I get to Oregon in July.  Just kidding ...... it's a challenge now!!  I finally threw my mechanics hat in the dirt after an hour and called my Expert-At-Everything, Mr. Dan Chance to ask for resolutions.  

His advice was to get a new rig!!  Or maybe that was MY thought!!  At any rate, I'm going to try the vise grips again today, along with a can of WD40 to see if I can loosen it at all.  Maybe a hammer would work!!!  Worst case, I'll go to Home Depot and ask for a drill bit that hopefully will drill through the screw.  The result will be a larger hole, which I will fill with a larger BOLT that won't shear off.

Frustrated by that problem, I decided to don my Chefs hat for something yummy to alleviate the pain of the Mechanics hat.  How about a key lime tart???  I don't have sour cream or a graham cracker crust, so I rushed to the store for a few groceries.  Key limes are little ... VERY little ... and it takes a LOT of them to make 3/4 cup of juice.  I vaguely remember one little seed at the bottom of the cup which I failed to remove.  Uh Oh!!!  Better keep an eye out for that!

Since I wanted to use up the Nilla Wafer cookies I had, I substituted those for the graham crackers.  BAD IDEA!!!  How could something so easy be so wrong!!  The crust came out of the oven like a rock!!!   The filling however was wonderful!!!  Who knew key limes made such a difference in the flavor!!  Not quite a disaster, at least I can eat the filling .... and it was YUMMY!!  I didn't eat the whole thing, I hacked through the crust with a hatchet to make individual pieces and stuck it in the freezer.  I imagine the entire thing will be gone by the time I get that screw replaced!!!

Time to go for a run ... I can't eat that much pie without SOME exercise!!!  Maybe running will shrink my head so the mechanics hat will fit again!!

The Truth ... The Whole Truth!!

Not feeling particularly well, I stayed an extra day in Tehachapi.  The truth is, I was pretty sure another session of cold/flu was coming on since being exposed to not one, but TWO sickies who should have stayed home two weeks earlier!!

Sunday morning I came up with a bad sore throat, and thanks to the advice of RV friend Dave Burdick (I think ... truth is my memory is fading) I begged a cup of Listerine from the Pico's.  Thank goodness they had some, because the alternative was Hydrogen Peroxide!!  YUCK!!!  Every couple of hours I gargled ... or at least tried to ... OHHHHH the burn!!!  It felt like my throat was on FIRE!!!   I just hoped it would kill those little germs and keep them from invading my body.

Believe it or not, it worked!!  By Sunday evening I had lost the dragged out, I'm sick feeling and the sore throat went away.  I'm still using the product for another day, just in case ... but so far so good!!!

My apologies to the RV group, most of whom don't know about my cooking skills ... well, the truth is, they have a pretty good idea now!!  I was so sure I had packed everything I needed for the crock pot chili verde, only to find that all of my spices were sitting on the counter at home!!  With no time to hit the store, it was what it was .... it's pretty hard to make chili verde with one small can of chilis in a three quart pot with just a little pepper.  At least it was edible and maybe ... just maybe, my secret is still a secret!!

The WHOLE truth about the picnic on Saturday when we went to the Loop, is that I again lost my keys!!  I'm going to tie them to my wrist so I can't do that again.  Of course Barbara and Tom know how I am from when we went on the big trip last summer.  So Tom said "where have you been", and two minutes later, came back with my backpack and keys.  I had set them down in the garden while taking pictures, being terribly distracted by the cactus blooms!!!  Thank you Tom!!!!  I think I better get that buzzer thing and attach it to my keyring ... course then I'd probably lose my phone!!!

Everyone was happy to be home, including me.  Traffic was pretty bad on Hwy 99 this time, but I just kept to my usual 55 mph.  Once home, I tossed the dogs out and headed to the Elks Park about a mile away to dump the tanks.   Okay, truth is I didn't "toss" them, I walked them to the back yard and made sure the fence was still secure!!

At the dump station, while filling my water bucket, I noticed the fender next to the door was flapping in the breeze.  OH NO!!  Sure enough, the one screw holding the cheap fiberglass fender tight to the frame had sheared off.  Eeeeeek!!  I didn't realize everything was quite so flimsy until I crawled underneath and took a good look!!  It's not even METAL!!  

Now THIS is going to be a repair that may be beyond my capabilities.  Course you know I'll try anything once, so the truth is, even though I don't think I can fix it, I'm going to try.  As long as I don't have to drill that broken piece out, I won't have to call in the army or bother my Elks RV buddies!!  Now if I can just find the same type of screw!!  Who thought I'd be doing body work?????

Blowing Smoke On The Loop!!!

Both a wonderful and sad day, as the rally came to an end and we had to say our goodbyes to old friends and new.  Kudos to Barbara and Tom Westerfield for making this a great rally!!  Look at this breakfast spread!!!

Unfortunately I woke up with a sore throat ... yet again!!!  Thanks to the Pico's, I gargled with Listerine every couple of hours.  I'm not sure if it worked, but I did have minty breath all day!!  I do seem to be a little better, so will keep up the strategy for one more day.

It seemed like the wind was perfect for the gliders as the planes took off quite often, pulling them up until they were released to soar on the winds.  Eeeeeek!!!  This is about as close to that sport as I want to be.  Not my cup of tea, but very fun to watch!!

Don Pico made a troubling discovery when checking his engine before leaving the park.  All these finches around here have been busy little bees, building nests!!  Once we saw this, we all rushed to check our engine and generator compartments.  There was more than one found, so check your rigs occasionally to be sure no one else has set up housekeeping in your house!!

After lunch I rode with Barbara and Tom to the Tehachapi Depot Museum to make a donation in the name of the Golden Spike group for all their help in providing us the history of the area, not to mention the talk Doug Pickard gave.  He even went out of his way to meet us in Keene for more train talk and accompany us to the loop.  This is a great museum and the staff of volunteers are very knowledgable and friendly.  Be sure to stop in and say hello to Doug. 

You KNOW we couldn't leave without one more trip to the loop to watch the trains play loop-da-loop, but unfortunately were immediately slowed on Highway 58 by an accident.  This is a 55 mph corner, and apparently "someone" tried to play race driver.  We never did see anyone other than emergency personnel, but the car wasn't in too bad of shape.  SLOW DOWN people!!!  I doubt the extra few minutes saved were worth the increase in insurance premiums!!

When we got to the Loop, I again walked up the road, then up the dirt road, then up the trail to a good vantage point on top of the hill.  I'm sure getting my exercise in on this trip!!  It wasn't long before the first train came down the hill and entered the tunnel.  I'm balancing on top of the tallest rock I can find, a little wobbly due to the 50 mph breeze!!  Okay, it wasn't that bad, but I was sure gripping that rock with my toes!!  

The trains didn't appear to be terribly long, but they sure were fun to watch!!

Then the second train came UP the hill.  Perfect!!  I'll get it coming through the tunnel ... and then it stopped.  What????  I waited for a few minutes, then called Barbara.  This train was hiding behind the hill from their view.  She said she thought it was on the siding, that there must be another train coming that needs to pass.

Sure enough, still perched precariously on my rock, I turned around to find the third train rumbling DOWN the hill!!

With only two units on front, he wasn't all that long either!!  Course he IS going downhill.

After another 15 minutes wait while they passed each other, the second train began his climb up the loop.  You can see his lights in the tunnel.  Just seconds earlier, one of the many horses at the ranch located in the middle of the loop, walked across the top of the tunnel.  What a picture THAT would have been, but he was too fast for the train and wandered out of sight.

Coming through the tunnel, this Engineer blew some smoke from the third unit.  I must have snapped 10 pictures!!!  How cool is that!!!

As he made his way around the loop, he crossed over the middle cars still emerging from the tunnel.

I just love the chugging sound as they make the corner!!!  He's full circle here.

As he came around the Engineer waved ... what else could he do ... I was frantically jumping up and down flailing both arms in the wind!!!

I watched him snake up the hill and around the corner before running back down the hill to the Westerfields.  It's happy hour time and we're late ... but with good reason!!

Since there were still nine of the group camped out, instead of leftovers, we drove to the Red House BBQ, recently purchased by the same people as The Apple Shed, so we figured the food would be good.  We weren't disappointed.  The Benjamins, Dixons, Westerfields, Hurts and myself were stuffed to the gills when we left, mostly with half racks of ribs!!  The staff is very friendly and the service great!!  If you like BBQ, stop in here for sure!  You just never know what gems these little towns hold until you check them out!!

I think everyone is sleeping in late this morning, although Cooper didn't get the memo.  Try as I might to pretend I was still sleeping, he wasn't having any of it ... it's PLAY TIME!!  I sort of gave it away when I laughed at him, a half inch away from my face making funny growly noises!

Once packed up, I'll head back home for a couple of weeks while I get my act together for a run up the Oregon Coast.

But Where's The Train????

Everyone was excited yesterday ... it's the day we get to be Ferrous Equinologists.  That's the art of spotting Iron Horse's on the rails.  In other words, we chase trains, which is why the Golden Spike group is in Tehachapi.  The first order of the day however, was breakfast!!  You can't chase trains on an empty stomach!!  A short walking distance from the RV park resides the Ravens Nest Sandwich Shop.

This is an airport for gliders and there are LOTS of them tied down all over the field.  A very interesting sport, but NOT on my bucket list.  At least with climbing and zip-lining, I'm tied to the earth in case of a fall!!

The small sandwich shop was a little overwhelmed by have 17 people show up for breakfast ... little do they know, there are 18 more standing in the wings!!  There's two young girls, only one who cooks, preparing breakfast in an electric skillet.  Needless to say, it took a little over two hours for everyone to be fed, but they got it done!!  

From breakfast, we car pooled down to Keene, a siding on the rail line, where the Cesar Chavez National Monument is located.  Inside, there is a movie describing his movement and the impact on workers.  He is interred in front of the beautiful waterfall at the far end of this image.  

Surrounding the buildings are wonderful gardens of roses and cactus with pathways to walk on. 

Finally, I get to photograph cactus in bloom!!  In fact, EVERYTHING was in bloom in this garden.  What a peaceful, quiet place to visit.

Even the ocotillo was happy with blooms on every spine!!  

By now, we're all starving and luckily, Barbara and Tom picked up our sandwich orders from Kohnen's Bakery.  We staked out every picnic table just below the monument and began to chow down.  As soon as everyone opened their sandwich bag, there were WOW's and OH MY GOSHES as each sandwich was big enough for two people and delicious to boot!!  The train tracks lie just behind the group, so if a train comes by, we can rush to our cars and race up the mountain to see it pass around the loop.  But alas, no trains came!!  

One of our members from Sacramento happens to be an Engineer and brought his radio.  Not that he could talk to anyone, but he CAN listen and hear what's going on.  Well what was going on, was nothing ... nada.  Eventually, he heard that the train engineer down the hill had called an emergency.  That means it's at a dead stop ... and so is every other train on the tracks because he can't be passed.  He told us the Brakeman (correct me if I'm wrong) has to walk the entire length of the train to find the problem, fix it, then walk the same length back before they can be on the move.  With these trains being a mile or more in length, we could have a LONG wait.

No problem ... we just sat in the shade and had a wonderful time.  Pretty soon we heard "I'm doing a brake test and we'll be on the move" ... YAY!!!  TRAINS!!  Course we had no idea which train engineer was talking, but we jumped in our cars and headed to the Loop anyway!!

There are a couple of landmarks at the very top.  Drive carefully, this is a very narrow winding road, but only a couple miles from Keene!!  Still no trains in sight!  WHERE'S THE TRAIN??  It was rather hot, being mid afternoon by now, so I drove the couple that rode with me, back down the hill, when wouldn't you know it, HERE COMES THE TRAIN!!  They jumped out of my car as fast as they could, and I raced the train to the top, scaring the heck out of the guy on his motorcycle who was ahead of me.  I won first place in the "who can drive to Yosemite the fastest" game we played as kids .... so look out!!!

Once parked, I ran UP the mountain side to get a better view of the tunnel, but with fewer cars this train was too fast for me and I was totally out of breath, huffing and puffing so hard it was difficult to steady the camera!!  The engines came through the tunnel (the center line that looks like a ditch) and around the loop at a pretty good clip.  The tunnel line is deep, so the cars aren't visible, but you can see the tops at the bottom right.

Once they come around, they head East in a snakelike fashion on the back side of the mountain.  Here's the two engines on the back of the train, pushing.  What a thrill!!!  I know it's just a freight train ... but if you are a ferrous equinologist, it's a sight to behold!!!

From the top of the loop, I continued on the winding road, going the back way into Tehachapi.  My crockpot has been on all day and it's a worry, so I went home to check on it and my puppies.  In no time it will be Happy Hour and dinner time ... just before the dreaded MEETING!!

It was a long line for food ... train watching ... or waiting as the case was ... makes you extremely hungry!!  

Once everyone was full and happy, I began the business meeting.  You see, in January, I was asked to run for an office.  I felt bad because the same people keep changing offices and doing all the work.  Okay, I'll volunteer to run for Vice President, because they don't EVER have to do anything.  I got elected immediately ... no surprise ... but it's okay, I won't have to do anything, right??  Within two months I got an email ... the President can't attend this rally.  It's okay, there's still a Treasurer who can help out.  Another week went by and I got another email ... the Treasurer can't attend this rally.  YIKES!!!  

I immediately got on the internet to find out how to hold a meeting!!!  I was holding my breath until Kurt Simon, Past President, showed up.  Lucky for me, this is just a great group of happy people who didn't care how I ran the meeting and we got it done in record time!!  We even held an official vote!!  If you happened to be at that meeting, please don't give me any tips on how to get better at it.  I'm hoping that I'm bad enough, I'll get fired ... or at the very least, never be elected again!!!

This morning we say our goodbyes and most people depart.  I'm staying one more day to chase the trains through the loop.  This time I'm camping out on top of the hill to get a better view!!

So Much To See ... So Little Time!!!

Up bright and early yesterday, Jessie, Cooper and I ran directly into the coyote stalking the RV park for breakfast.  Jessie went after him with a growl big enough to scare both the coyote and Cooper!!  Off he ran ... hopefully to return this morning for some portraits!!  In the meantime, I caught this beauty sitting on the fence.  There are probably a hundred of these redheaded finches flying around in the trees.

By 9:00, we were all seated at the Apple Shed on Tehachapi Blvd, just East of the Railroad Depot. Be sure and stop here for breakfast!!  Sounds rather silly, but I had the best fried egg over easy with amazing potatoes and thick homemade wheat bread for $5.00.  There were lots of omelets and scrambles going on too.

Leonard sitting next to me, ordered the ham steak.  It looked like half a pig!!  This thing was 3/4 inch thick, juicy and flavorful beyond belief!!  He took home two thirds of it, even though both his wife and I had a few bites!!  

With breakfast out of the way, we went a couple blocks West to the Train Shop where you can purchase anything you need to create your indoor train layout.  If I just had a little more time at home!  

Like most train towns, the streets are laid out A, B, C, D, etc. with the train tracks lying between G and H.  This is the site of the original train station, now the museum with lots of artifacts and pictures.  The docents are very knowledgable and friendly .. so much so that when they hear a train whistle, they usher everyone out on to the back deck to watch it pass by.  Once gone, they continue with the tour.

Little did we know there were devastating floods here that washed trains from the tracks, resulting in many lost lives.  Then she went on to describe the earthquake that happened in 1952, a huge 7.5 on the Richter scale from the White Wolf Fault, destroying most of the buildings of Tehachapi.  This quiet little town isn't so quiet after all.

The depot was given to the city, whose volunteers rebuilt it in 2008, but within days of opening, some idiots shot off fireworks into the windows, exploding the building into flames, burning it to the ground.  Within one year, that same volunteer group rebuilt it according to the original drawings.

Way off in the distance, you can barely see the train lights ... at least you could when I was standing there.  They come up the hill from Mojave, barely hit a straight away before beginning the drop to the valley below.

We all got waves and horn blows from the Engineers, since we were practically sitting on the tracks taking pictures like crazy.

Maybe it had something to do with all those yellow shirts!!  Here's the entire group in front of a display of all the old signals once used on this track.

All that walking and train watching made me VERY thirsty.  Wouldn't you know, just half a block away is a German Bakery called Kohnen's.  They recently moved here from Ojai and have become a BIG hit.  They make wonderful sandwiches and salads, not to mention the sweets and bread.  Instead of lunch, I had a chocolate cream pie for $3.10 that was amazing!!!  Along with my Smart Water, it definitely hit the spot.  Don't miss THIS little restaurant!!!

No moss grows under the feet of this group ... from there we took a tour of Adorable Alpacas, a small ranch just West of town.  Call ahead if you want to check them out.  These are the "boys", enjoying snacks of alfalfa.

Up the hill are the mommas and babies.  The little one here is seven months old and cute as a button.  

 A face only a mother could love!!!

Shearing time is just around the corner.  Their coats differ in color from the ends of the hair to the base next to the skin.  Different colors sell for different prices ... both the wool and the animals.  Several here have won championships awards.

Don't you just want to hug them???  Alpaca wool is terribly soft and warm.  The owner has a small store with many items handmade from the wool.  I picked up a small bag of roving for spinning, just in case I find myself with nothing to do!!

Don't worry about the coyotes ... she has three dogs as big as the alpacas (I'm not kidding!!) that keep the bad guys away!!  There's lots more to see in this area, including Ostriches, the Animal Education Center where you can pet a camel and a zebra and several wineries for tasting ... and we haven't even been to the loop yet!!  That's on tomorrow's schedule!!  One of our members stopped in at the airport about a half mile from our park, and flew in a glider.  You should have seen the smile on his face!!

We had dinner at Domingo's Mexican Food on Valley Boulevard a few miles West of Old Town Tehachapi.  Originally it was the same Domingo as in Boron, but is now owned by a different family.  The food was excellent!!  I had tacos Al Pastor ... DELICIOUS!!

Followed quickly by their flan before it was ordered by all 35 of us!!!  I will definitely visit here again!!

I stopped for a quick shot of the poppies as I drove back to the RV park ....

and waddled into the rig to collapse in my chair!!

It's time for a walk with my big lens to see if Mr. Coyote has come to visit!!  Let's hope he likes his picture taken!!