Back Home

We are back in Havasu. What a nice trip. We spent time with our daughter, grandson, and I even got to see my sister. Our daughter’s house that has been under construction for over 5 years is really nice. They still have a lot to do on it but it is coming along nicely. The trip over and back was long and boring but went well. 5 ½ hours on the road is not what I like to do. Our friends here in Havasu fixed dinner tonight so we could just relax. It’s good to be back.

We are here

We made it to California today. We arrives at our daughters house about 1:00 pm their time. The trip went well even though I had a small space to sit compared to the motorhome.

The car was packed for the trip. I was real pleased though that the Saturn got 38.6 MPG. I guess it really likes highway driving.

All packed

We are all packed and ready to go, to California that is. Only this time we are not taking the motorhome. We are going to spend Christmas with our daughter. They finally moved into the house that has been under construction for about 5 years and they have a spare room for us. We of course will be spending time with the grandson and will see Susan’s parents, since they moved back to California. I think the car has just as much stuff in it as we normally carry in the motorhome. Susan didn’t want to fight the crowds in California so she shopped here and we are hauling it all with us.

WHAT!

Have you got a couple of hours to kill? You can find some pretty crazy stuff on the Internet. Check out this website I found by clicking on this photo. I guarantee you sill spend hours. It’s addicting.

Then scroll through the pages by clicking on the link at the bottom of each page.

Were still here

I know, it’s been a while since I added a post to our blog. I have been working 2 days a week as maintenance and 3 nights as security here at the resort. What a cool job. It takes me less than a minute to walk to work (from my lot to the office) and I get to go home for lunch.

Susan’s parents decided the desert life wasn’t for them so we packed up their fifth-wheel and back to California they went. Before they left, her dad offered to traded golf carts so we traded my classic gasser for his more modern electric cart.

Who got the better end of that deal?

We also got a chance to see the last race of the season at our local short track. They will be starting up again in January so I am sure we will be heading out to the track for more then.

Short track racing.

Today I went on a 20 mile ATV ride. We trailered the machines down to Parker and headed for the hills from there. Some of the ride was calm but we got into some pretty hairy stuff.

The use of tow straps were needed and a lot of finesse in some spots. At times we were heading down the trails at close to 40 MPH. What a wild ride.

Here are a few photos, enjoy.

Getting ready to ride

One of the mines we came across. One was a turquoise mine.

Time for Lunch

Horse head canyon.

Came across an old grave site. I think it was one of the miners.

Where's everyone going?

Life in the desert. These are descendants from the burros used by the miners.

There are two sheds loaded with core samples taken from the mountains when they were building the water lines to supply water for Los Angeles.

Hoping you and your family enjoy a fabulous day of food, fun and fellowship.

A Happy holidays and safe travels.

The hikes begin

Each year one of the activities at the resort is hikes into the desert or around the lake. Today was the first for this season and we went to a place known as the “Crack in the wall”. This is a wash that is near the lake.

Here are some photos and you can see more on our photo site by clicking on the link in the left column.

Also the other day there was yet another car show here in Havasu.

Here are a couple of nice Novas.


These next ones have two V8 engines in line under the hood…and partially inside the car.


How’s a Pinto with a blown V6 grab ya.

Havasu Video

A Best of the Road contest sponsored by Rand McNally combined with USA Today traveled across the country in search of the best small towns in America.

Lake Havasu City was mentioned in the "Friendliest" category behind Walla Walla, Washington.

I heard these guys liked the city so well they came back and booked a site here at the resort.

Lake Havasu City, AZ from Gone With the Wynns on Vimeo.

My toes hurt

This new job is killing my toes. Well, actually it’s my shoes that are killing my toes. I can’t remember the last time I wore a pair of shoes. It’s been flip-flops for quite some time now. On the job I still wear my shorts and t-shirts but I figured I should wear shoes rather than flip-flops. My feet are not used to being cooped up in a pair of shoes and it feels like someone took a hammer to my big toes. I remember last year when the weather forced me into shoes my big toes ended up all bruised under the nails. This time I see no bruising but they sure do hurt.

The working man

As I watched our manager here at the resort suffer through the summer trying to keep this place up by himself, I thought, it would be nice if they hired me to help out around here. My investments are down and I have gone into a conserve mode as far as spending so a little extra spending money would be nice. I help out around here a lot so why not get pain for it. So one day I asked the managers what they thought about hiring me. Well the other day while I was raking out the horseshoe pits the manager came over to me and asked if I was still interested in some work. After answering with “Sure” he said lets go into the office. I got hired on the spot. So now I am the new maintenance man for Havasu RV Resort. It’s just a part time gig and I can take time off to enjoy the activities here so that’s cool.

We had the big one

The big car show in town that is. Each year Lake Havasu City’s Relics and Rods Car Clubs puts on the Run to the Sun car show. This year there were 782 entries in the show, of which 263 were Lake Havasu City residents. 132 car clubs participated from Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming and 4 contenders from Canada. It is said that there are more classic cars per capita in Lake Havasu City than anywhere else in the country. Sure were some nice cars!

The resort here is filling up quite fast. There are a lot of owners, return visitors and pass troughs coming into the park every day now. It won’t be long before we are full again. Activities are starting back up and so are the cocktail parties. The weather has just been perfect during this transition between the hot summer and cool winter.

Mixed feelings

So recently I called my Financial Advisor and suggested we sell some of my stocks and put the money in a cash account until the market starts to recover from this slump it is in. He agreed so the move took place. The mixed feelings come now when I see the market move in either direction. When the market is up I think I should have left my stocks alone, yet I’m happy because I still have some money in there. When the market is down I am glad I moved some money out of stocks, yet I am sad because I still have stocks that aren’t doing well. I guess the good thing is no matter where my money is it isn’t doing much for me right now. Did I just say that is a good thing? Huh.

It’s starting

We are getting into the “Snow Bird” season here in Lake Havasu City so things are starting to happen. Today they had the Big Boys Toy Show downtown.

Above is a photo of one of the Big Boy Toys…or should I say a Big Toy. This is an example of what was at the show.

After the BBTS I headed out to the Island where they were in the final stages of the 30th Annual IJSBA World Finals.

This is an International Jet Sport Boat Association competition where Jet Skiers from all over the world come to compete. There is also a race tonight at the Speedway in town but we will not be seeing that this time.

Hey I fixed the Stock Market

I got sick of seeing my investments going away day after day as the Market continues to drop so I gave my financial advisor a call. We discussed the situation and both agreed the best thing to do right now is to dump at least half my stocks and put the money in a cash account for now. And when he sees some opportunities he would move some money back in. Well as soon as I did that the market turned around and has been up for the last three days so I guess I fixed the Market. I at least still have the other half in there working for me

I found a real gas tank for my golf cart. I posted a message on one of the golf cart forums on the internet and got a response. After communicating with the guy we settled on a price and he sent it out. I received it today but have to make a couple of minor modes since it is for a different year. Tomorrow I should have it all back together and ready to move on to the next project. I’ve got to say though, the gas can mod worked quite well in the mean time. I have been driving it around for close to 2 weeks with the gas can in there.

It’s that time of year again

Last night I was awakened to the sound of a mouse in the house. This morning I cleaned up the traps, loaded them up with peanut butter, set them and put them in place. It didn’t take long. Shortly after sunset we heard the snap. Sure enough, we got one. The trap is reset and ready for the next one.

Desperate measures

Since I have been having such a tough time finding a gas tank for my golf cart I decided to improvise.

I know I got too much time on my hands. Well I pulled out my little 2 gallon gas can and it fits pretty well. When I need gas I just slip the hose out of the gas can and head on down to the gas station to fill it up. Susan asked if it works and my reply was, “I don’t know. I haven’t got any gas yet.” This is just temporary until I get a real replacement.

Still here

Wow has it been over 10 days? Not much going on here lately. I am still looking for a gas tank for our golf cart, can’t believe it is so difficult to find a used gas tank for this thing. I need to get on the ball since people are coming back soon and I will have to give up the carts I am taking care of for the summer.

The managers went on vacation and I agreed to help out here if anything that the workampers can’t handle needs attention. Well, the security gate crapped out and I had to fix that. Then it crapped out again so I just opened it up and shut it down until the managers get back. The pool guy decided to fire up the pool heater for the winter and it wouldn’t stay lit so I got involved with that. That was a matter of calling the manufacturer since it is still under warranty. They sent a repair guy out and he was an idiot. I had to call him back 2 more times and it still doesn’t work. I wish I could fix it myself but don’t want to void the warranty.

People are starting to trickle in for the winter here at the resort. Soon this place will be busy again. It has been a quiet summer.

OH GROSS!

One of the things I really dislike about working on vehicles is the smell of 90 weight gear oil. This is what I have in my front wheel hubs that keep leaking. Well today I got to know what 90 weight gear oil taste like. I decided to remove some of the oil in my leaking hub thinking it was over filled and may be contributing to the leak. The only way I can do this without jacking up the motorhome and rotating the wheel so that the drain plug is at the bottom is to suck the oil out. So I got a bit of tubing, removed the drain plug, stuck it in and started to suck. Now this is one thing they tell you NOT to do but every mechanic has done it. Well I sucked a little too hard and got a bit of the oil in my mouth.

My senses were shocked with the smell and taste of the oil. I tried spitting it out but 90 weight oil is some thick stuff. I tried water. I even tried a mouth full of Hydrogen Peroxide and sloshed it around. Then I tried Pepsi. I figured if it will remove acid from batteries it might remove oil from my mouth. Ever try gargling with Pepsi? That actually helped a bit. I still have a nasty taste in my mouth but it is going away.

In your face California

I have mentioned a number of times about the heat here in Havasu this summer but today it was actually hotter in Southern California than it was here. We had a nice low 90s day with cloudy skies and a few drizzles throughout the day. Other than the humidity it was a really nice day. California was seeing high 90s along the coast to over 100 inland today.

Is it fixed

Today we ran our home into the shop to get the leaking seal replaced…again…for the 4th time. I also had them take a look at the dash A/C system. The compressor has been making a rattley noise and I was afraid it might seize up and toss a belt, and since I drive across the deserts, this would not be good. First the seal. They found the hub it mounts into was out of round so after installing a new seal they gooped silicone around it to keep it from leaking. Sounds kind of “Mickey Mouse” but I feel it is acceptable. Time will tell. I took it for a 30 mile test drive and all looks dry so far. Well dry on the inside. I pulled the hub cap to check the oil level in the hub and it appears they over filled it and there is oil on the outside now.

Note the Minimum Oil Level circle and where the level actually is.

I will drain some and clean it all up tomorrow. As far as the A/C, everything worked well, except when I was setting up on our lot I left it idling and I heard a sound that sounded like a pressure relief valve going off for a few seconds and there is what looks like compressor oil on the engine. Another reason I took it for the test drive is because I wanted to check my shroud replacement. Everything was great there. Of course, I did that myself.

Where are my followers

Not sure if you noticed but in the right hand column there is a heading called Followers but nothing shows up under it. This doesn’t mean I have no followers. This is a Blogger software glitch. I actually have 12 followers. I can’t even see them when I go into my account. Hopefully they will figure it out soon.

Job done!

What a PITA. The old upper shroud came out fairly easy since it was mostly missing and flexible. The new upper shroud being complete and stiffer was a real pain to get up in there. I tried the driver side. I tried the passenger side. I tried going between the wheel wells and the frame. Finally I had to disconnect the tube from the throttle body and the PCM/TCM assembly and push, yank, and bend. Finally it slid into place without further damage to the radiator. The lower was a bit tricky but a lot easier. After that everything bolted up without too much trouble. It wasn’t too easy to get to the 3 top mount bolts but do able. I hit the key and it started right up, and no warning lights came on so I guess I didn’t break anything or knock anything loose. My arms and hands look like I got into a fight with a wildcat though.

Before I started the job this morning I took the time to straighten the radiator fins that were bent when the shroud got shredded. There wasn’t too many of them fortunately. Then I got out the hose and shot some water through the backside of the radiator. I was surprised at the junk that came out. Looks like it might have been more pieces of the fan shroud. I still need to run it into the shop to have them look at the leaky front wheel seal again so when I do I will take it for a run up some hills here in the Arizona heat and see if it stays cool.

Now on to the next project.

I added more pictures to the photo site..

Shroud replacement

Well they wanted about $200 labor so I decided to attempt the shroud replacement on the motorhome myself. I figured I would start with removing the old one and see how that goes. Not too bad. The shroud is out and I started cleaning everything up until I was soaked in sweat. I decided to give it up for a day since it was 110 outside and I am not going anywhere for a while. Here is a link to the photos
I went to order the shroud this afternoon and they actually had them in stock. They say they have replaced a lot of them. I am a little concerned though. The new shroud is an exact match with numerous improvements. I added some photos of the new shroud to the photo site (link above). My concern is the new shroud is much stiffer than the original, which means it might be more difficult to get it back in since I had to flex the old one to get it out. I was able to get the old one out (upper and lower) from the bottom without removing anything.

They sure want a lot for 2 pieces of molded plastic. I have a price list that lists the upper at $14.04 and lower at $13.53. Apparently these are wholesale prices because I paid $42.78 each, $95.31 total with tax and $2.87 for some hardware.

No more whining

My Saturn had developed a whine. At first it wasn’t too bad so I just ignored it. But of course it got louder. I did some investigating and found that it was coming from the idler pulley. This is a somewhat common thing for these Saturns. In fact there is even a video on how to replace the pulley on Youtube. I figured it would get a lot worse before it downright fails so I mostly ignored it. The last couple of months here in Havasu have been so hot that when in the car we have the AC running with the fan on high so it mostly drowns out the whine. While in California I could really hear it since we didn’t run the air on high. Even my daughter’s husband asked what the noise was. So I figured it’s time to fix it. Yesterday I bought the part but by then it was afternoon and 110 here in Havasu so I really didn’t feel much like fooling around under the hood of the car. This morning while it was still only 90 I brought out the tools. It took me less than an hour and the whine is gone.

Back in Havasu

We arrived back in Havasu today but now without mishaps. We were traveling through the California Desert when my cooling fan decided to suck the fan shroud in, chew it up and spit it out. Suddenly we heard a WAM then a high speed buzz and had no idea what it was. I immediately pulled over, took a quick glance at all the gauges (which were normal) and shut it down. I first thought I threw a belt because my AC compressor has been making an odd sound lately. I thought it froze up and threw the belt. On first inspection I noticed the belt was still there and in good shape. I looked around and was at a loss. Then I started it up again and gave it a few revs of the accelerator. That’s when I noticed the fan sucking in the shroud, which on closer inspection was missing a few chunks.

So I assessed the situation and found if I drill a hole in what’s left of the shroud I could tie wrap it out of the way. Back on the road for a test run proved it wasn’t completely secured so I found a safer place to pull over and shimmied under again with drill and tie wraps in hand. Back on the road and no more shroud eating fan. However not all was well. Since the shroud was munched the fan was sucking air around the shroud instead of through the radiator so it ran a bit hotter than normal. I kept an eye on it for the next 3 hours and managed to get back to the resort in Havasu. Fortunately the pieces of shroud didn’t punch through the radiator or AC condenser so it looks like no major damage was done. I will probably replace the shroud myself but I still need to take it into the shop because the front wheel oil seal is leaking again…for the third time. I will have them check out the air conditioner while it’s there too.

Left Disney

We left Disneyland (Garden Grove) this morning and are now at our Daughters house in Encinitas California parked in their driveway. We dropped off our grandson at his dads this afternoon, sad, and tomorrow morning we head back to Havasu. We are not really looking forward to going back to the 100+ temperatures but Susan wants to get back and help her parents with a few things. It should only be another month of heat before it gets better.

Disneyland

We arrived in Garden Grove California yesterday. We are here to take the Grandson to Disneyland before we drop him off back at his dad’s for school. We spent 14 hours at Disneyland today and are going back tomorrow.

Our daughter is driving up from San Diego tomorrow in the morning to go with us. We bought a 3 day Park Hopper pass that lets go between Disneyland and California Adventure. Our daughter bought the tickets under a Southern California resident discount since we are now Zoners (Arizonians). We are only going 2 days but the 3 day discount passes were cheaper than a regulator 2 day pass.

Strange sighting

Landen and I went to the lake the other day for a day at the beach.

While he was playing in the water with his newfound friend I spotted this strange contraption.

What the heck is it? Looks like a water tractor. It has paddle wheels for propulsion. Turns out it is basically a lawn mower. He was cruising up and down the channel cleaning the grass that grows on the bottom. What a cool job…well not so cool since the temperature is still over 100 everyday. Even though it has been hot the weather has been fairly comfortable since the monsoons have stayed away and the humidity is low. With a breeze, it is tolerable.
We are getting ready to head out on Tuesday. Landen has to get back to California to go back to school. We tried to enroll him in school here but his Father wouldn’t allow it. Since we didn’t go anywhere this summer we are going to head over to Disneyland for a couple of days before dropping him off at his dads.

I knew that would happen

Today since it was about 110 degrees and 30% humidity I decided it was a good day to stay inside and search for the best online quote on Arizona auto insurance. Since they all require an address I know I will be getting tons of junk mail. Also they all required an email address so I was expecting tons of Junk Email. Also some required a phone number. Just after the first online quote I get a phone call from an agent. I politely told him, if I wanted to talk to an agent I would have called for a quote. Then the next call came in and I wasn’t so pleasant with this one. Then the next call, this one I just let go to voice mail. Finally I got smarter and started giving phony phone numbers. Of course my email box filled up real fast but that is OK because I want a record of the quotes anyway. I will either request to unsubscribe later or just block them. I’m not too worried about the junk mail because I got a cure that seems to work well. If they send me a post paid return envelope I write, “Please remove from mail list” on the order form and return it using their postage.

Leaks leaks and more leaks

Found another leak yesterday. I was under the motorhome changing the oil when I looker over at the right front wheel. There was axel oil leaking from the bearing down through the brake disk and onto the tire.

This is the same leak that I have had “fixed” 3 times now. The latest was just before I parked it here on our lot 4 months ago. Right now it is not leaking very bad and we have a 600 mile trip planed in 2 weeks so I will keep an eye on it and get it fixed again when we get back. And of course there was the toilet and gas tank leaks. The toilet seems to be the only one that is fixed.

Didn’t save any money there. I am referring to changing our vehicle registration from California to Arizona. You would think I would save a bundle and that was what I thought, especially when she first told me the cost of the Saturn. For about the same cost as 1 year in California I got 5 years in Arizona. Then she told me the cost of the motorhome. It was double for 1 year. So I saved $50 per year on the Saturn and paid $200 more on the motorhome. Not such a good deal. However I was reading on the California DMV site where they are going to raise the fee on my motorhome to the tune of $520 so I guess it’s all good. At least I don’t have to get a smog test on either anymore.

So why would you pay over $30 for print cartridges when you can get a printer for less than $30? My printer has been acting up lately and I figured it might just be the inexpensive refilled ink cartridges that I bought. They worked for a short while then quit. I don’t use the printer often and they may have plugged with dry ink. I considered buying new cartridges to see if it would work but even though the printer still worked it wasn’t 100% compatible with Windows Vista anymore. So I started looking at new printers. I found a Canon printer for $28, less than the cost of print cartridges. So I think in the future, when I am ready for print cartridges, I will look at new printers. The only problem is what will I do with the stack of old printers.

Failed again

The tank patch failed again. I am getting pretty good at taking the cart apart. As I stated before, in order to remove the gas tank I have to remove the entire rear body. This involves removing 8 bolts to remove the roof, 6 bolts to remove the seat assembly, 2 clamps to remove the motor air intake, 2 bolts to remove the battery, 4 bolts to remove the shifter assembly, and 4 bolts to remove the body. Now I can remove the, 3 bolts securing the gas tank, and now I can finally remove the gas tank. I can actually get all this accomplished in about 20 minutes. I think this tank is hopeless.

Patch #3

I finally got pictures of the gas tank the guy wanted to sell me. It looks worse than mine. Well I guess it doesn’t leak. Today I had another idea. I called all the golf courses in town to see if they had any parts carts that they could pull a tank out of. Nope! I sealed the crack in mine a while back with a soldering iron but it’s just a surface seal so I decided to get some JB Waterweld and attempt to reinforce it. This time I applied it to the inside and outside of the crack.

Since it is only a reinforcement and not necessarily a patch maybe it will hold. At least until I can find a suitable replacement.

Unbelievable search

I just can’t believe that my search for a used gas tank for my golf cart is so difficult. I have checked all the local golf shops, golf cart forums, craigslist, and internet search engines. I found one through a golf cart forums but that seems to have turned into a dead end. I recently found one by searching ebay’s completed auctions that didn’t sell. I emailed the seller and he still had it. I made him an offer and made me a counter offer. I called him today to get more details and after agreeing to purchase he raised the price. So I turned him down.

Laughlin

We took a cruise over to Laughlin Nevada today, just for something to do.

Landen has been bugging us to take him there even though we told him it was a gambling town and there is nothing for him to do there.

Well we were wrong. Every casino has a game room for the kids too.

On the way through Bullhead City AZ I spotted a used golf cart shop and stopped in to see if they might have a gas tank. They did but it had a hole in it. I just can’t believe I can’t find a used gas tank anywhere. The guy in Illinois that said he would sell me one has not gotten back to me in a few days. I’ve just about written him off.

Sprinkler Day

Yesterday was Sprinkler Day in the park. This is the second time they have done this. At 12:00p they turned the sprinklers on for an hour and let everyone play in the water.


Landen had a ball and after that he jumped in the lake for a while. This was refreshing since the temp today was about 106.

We almost didn’t make it to Sprinkler Day though. I was in the bathroom smearing myself with sunscreen when I heard water spraying. I looked down and the bathroom floor was filling with water. The water valve in the toiled decided to crack right then. Good thing I was standing there because otherwise it would have filled the motorhome before someone noticed it. With both roof airs going, you just don’t hear things like that. Well anyway, someone had given me a valve a few years back so I dug it out. Unfortunately that one was about to crack in the same spot so off to the parts store I went.

When I got back it was about ½ hour before sprinkler time so I plugged the water line to the toilet, turned the water back on and told Susan I will put it all back together when we get back. A few months ago I replaced the flush valve so now I got all new parts in the toilet.

Not as easy as it looks

The heat gun thing was not as easy as it looked on TV. I decided to go ahead and buy a heat gun and attempt to melt the crack back together. I started with low heat and nothing was happening so I switched it to high. On high the tank started folding in on itself and the crack not only got wider but new cracks started to open up. They gave me no problem taking the heat gun back and giving me a refund. I finally got out my soldering iron. That worked pretty well but smoothing over the cracks only made a surface patch and I really don’t think it is strong enough to hold. I did put some gas in and it held pretty well. I was thinking about reinforcing it with some JB Weld (Waterweld putty). But then I posted another want ad on a golf cart site for a used tank and this time I got a response. Someone in Illinois has one he is offering to sell me for a good price. I inquired as to year and condition before I make the purchase. Hopefully it will work for me and I can get this job done.

Good thing our friends left plenty of carts and cars for us to use while they are gone for the summer. The only problem with that is, their carts are much nicer than ours and Susan is getting spoiled driving them around. She is going to have a hard time going back to our classic.

Getting kind of tired of this

The second attempt to patch the gas tank has failed. I did an overnight test (like I did the first time) for leaks before putting everything back together. The next morning, it was leaking. I didn’t even get a chance to put it in the cart this time. I have decided that I need to weld it back together. This seems to be the only, and correct way, to fix this thing. I was watching a car show this morning. They were doing a modification on a truck and had to mod the coolant overflow tank. They cut a portion out and welded it back together with a heat gun. Man, they make it look so easy so I decided this is what I will do. Now I found that locating a heat gun is just about as difficult as finding glue that will stick to polypropylene or finding a used gas tank. If I knew for sure I could fix it this way I would spend the $25 for a heat gun. Possibly I will buy the gun and give it a try. If it works, I will keep it and consider it a $25 repair. If it doesn’t work I will take the gun back and get a refund. I would also like to find some filler to add to the joint for added security. I was hoping to use something on hand like a milk jug or plastic water bottle but I found they are made of Polyethylene. It is best to use similar plastics. It’s amazing how much knowledge you can gain on something you will probably never do again.

Second attempt

I pulled the golf cart apart again today in a second attempt to repair the gas tank. I considered getting out my soldering iron and attempting to weld the crack shut but I am afraid of making it worse. I think I will leave that as a last resort. This time I will try Seal-All. This stuff is good for use with gasoline and they say it will repair gas tanks. The problem is gas tanks are made of different materials and mine is polypropylene. There is not much that will stick to polypropylene. I figured since it dries flexible, it has a better chance than the ridged gorilla glue I used the first time.

Fixed that too

For as long as I can remember the heater/ac fan in the Saturn has been a bit noisy, especially on high. I just figured that’s the way they are. Well we went out to dinner tonight and after leaving the restaurant, I jumped in the car, started it up, and it sounded like a card in the bicycle spokes. All the way home I was thinking, this is going to be a pain to get to. When we got home, I lifted the hood…No the fan doesn’t go through the firewall…Must be on the inside. I opened the passenger side door and contorted myself to take a peak under the dash. WOW! There it is! Three screws and it will drop right out. So off to the toolbox I went. I grabbed my nut driver handle and a hand full of metric sockets and headed back to the car. WHAT! Not metric! Back to the toolbox I headed. Finally after lying on my back on the floor I had the fan in my hand. One parking ticked and lots of sticks and leaves. After I put it all back together I switched on the key and thought, I must have forgot to hook something back up…wait, it is running. Man that thing is nice and quiet now.

Earlier today we headed over to Bullhead City with the in-laws to do some shopping at Sam’s club. That storm I took pictures of last night went right through there and there was still small lakes all alongside the roads from the standing water. They got a lot of water out of that storm. After returning home I realized I still had the windows up in the Saturn so I rolled…huh, who “roles” a window down now a days…anyway, I “rolled” them down a bit. A few minutes later I was sitting under the awning enjoying this cooler day then past few when I heard a noise. Took me a minute to realize it was raindrops hitting the awning. So up the windows went again. Five minutes later you wouldn’t even know it ever rained. Everything dried up very quickly. You just don’t know around here.

Not again

I thought it was over. The weather report said we were done with the thunderstorms. So today I spent a couple of hours cleaning up all our patio stuff. I washed and polished the BBQ, cleaned the table and chairs and cleaned the patio set including the cushions. Then this rolled in tonight.

It mostly went around us but we did get some raindrops out of it. Hopefully since I got the dirt and dust off of everything there should be no spotting.

One more time

This should be the last of the thunderstorms and the humidity for a while.

We are surrounded again buy thunderclouds. It is supposed to move out tonight and start drying tomorrow. I am a bit tired of the humidity. I don’t mind sitting in the heat but when I start to sweat just sitting…that’s not good. It’s actually supposed to be a bit cooler tomorrow than it has been for the last couple of days. It’s only supposed to get a tad over 100.

Well the cart gas tank has started leaking again. The patch is holding somewhat since the leak is only seepage. Not even enough to drip on the ground before drying up but enough that I can smell gas. I am hoping it will hold long enough to run this tank dry, and then I will pull the tank again. I think this time I will do a little plastic welding with my soldering iron and then go over it with either Seal-All or JB Weld to seal it.

Landen and I tried to go into the pool today but after a minute or so we were driven out by the 90 degree water. We ended up going over to the second pool here at the resort. That one was only about 85. What a difference 5 degrees can make. We missed sprinkler day at the park here in Havasu Friday. I didn’t read about it until Friday night. This is where they turn on all the sprinklers in the park for an hour and let everyone run through them. Landen would have had a ball with that. There will be another one in 2 weeks though.

WOW! Not again

We had another hell of a Monsoon storm last night. It woke me from my sleep around midnight. This one was worse than the one Sunday night. By looking at the clouds all around us last evening I knew we had a good chance of getting something so I secured everything before turning in for the night. The winds were clocked at 70 MPH. Even though I thought I had everything battened down, I didn’t expect that kind of wind. Things started moving around outside so I went out to secure them even more. I could barely get out the door because the wind was blowing it shut. Then the lightning and rain started. Rain hitting me at 70 MPH hurts. It felt like hundreds of needles poking me. I had to make a few trips out to secure stuff because even thought I thought I had it secured I under estimated the wind. Landen was enjoying the show for a while but then started getting a little worried. It was crazy. There were at least 3 trees down in the resort and a few roof shingles missing from some park models. We faired OK this time. There are more to come.

I didn’t want to say anything until I found out for sure but it looks like I may have dodged a bullet for now. About a month ago Susan and I had our blood test done and I had an elevated PSA. An elevated PSA is an indication of the possibility of Prostate Cancer. I made an appointment with a urologist and was thinking the worst. The Dr wanted to rule out all other possibilities before doing a biopsy so he put me on 2 weeks of antibiotics among other things. Then I did what is called a Percent of Free PSA Test. This measures the percent of free PSA (not bound to a protein) in relationship to total PSA. This test indicated I am at a 24% risk of having the cancer. My Dr says he looks at it as a 76% chance I don’t have cancer and feels that this and the fact that my PSA went down that it’s worth waiting and rechecking in another 3 months. He says as long as my PSA doesn’t go back up that I am good. After getting my good news I got an email that a friend lost his battle with cancer on the 4th.

Weather change

The weather has changed around here. The other day the monsoons showed up. It is a bit early in the season but nothing is normal this year. We were sitting inside the motorhome Sunday evening and around 9:30p the motorhome started shaking. Being a California guy I thought it was an earthquake, then I remembered we are in Arizona. I went outside and could hardly stand up. The wind was gusting about 50 MPH. I started securing everything so it won’t blow away then went around and checked on our neighbor’s lots. Then the lightning came, then the rain about midnight. The next morning, I took the golf cart for a ride around the resort to check for damage. Surprising, things were looking pretty good. I think people have learned from the past and are securing their lots more when they leave. The weather is still very humid and with the heat you can’t do much before you are drenched. This is supposed to last through the week with the temp getting hotter and hotter each day.

Hot and muggy

Well as you know it has been hot here. Today the humidity came around due to some early thunderstorms in the area. There really is a difference between dry heat and humid heat. One thing that doesn’t change though, no matter what the weather is, it’s always the same when you are in the pool.

Landen went out today with the bug box he recently built. After a while he came back and said he caught something. He reached inside his bug box and pulled out this guy.

That’s right he is as flat as a piece of paper. I asked where he found him and he said under the leg of the rocking chair. HA! That explains why he is so thin.

Still holding

I went down and got another 2 gallons of gas for the cart today. Seem to be holding so far. While out we picked up a few fireworks. Of course Landen wanted to fire them all off tonight. I let him do a few and we will save the rest for the 4th.

Actually the law in Havasu permits only ground fireworks like fountains, sparklers, and showers of sparks, but nothing that shoot into the air. And the law says they are only to be fired off on the 4th…Oops, we broke the law. We had to take Papa’s Convertible (the half assembled golf cart) and drive outside the resort because they are not allowed here. For cheap fireworks he had a ball. We did saved some for the 4th.