Fantasy Island

We went out to Fantasy Island today.  The trails have undergone some remodeling from all the rain last September.  It's important to be paying close attention when riding because the channels of rubble have moved within the single track.
We had pretty cool skies today.

When we left the RV park this was in the middle of our intersection.  They're digging a giant hole in the road.

Shortly after arriving at the parking lot of Fantasy Island, we were hailed by a man walking his bicycle up the road.  His chain had broken and he was hoping we had a chain tool.  We did!  We've been carrying it around in the Camelbak for four years and have never used it.  It was good that we had it.  He had a long ride ahead of him. 

 
The bridge is still there, and still looks to be sturdy.  There is one loose board but that's all.  The exit has more rubble in it than last year.

While we were looking at the bridge, Jim spotted a fake rock in the brush, with a sword stuck in it.  The mountain bikers brought Excalibur to the desert.  Jim, being pure of heart, was able to pull out the sword with little effort.

When we got home, this is what we saw. There is a big black and red thing being put into the hole.  I have no idea what that is.  Water? Electrical?  Who knows.

There is a huge construction project on Valencia, east of I19 and almost to Rita Ranch.  If you're planning on riding your bike there, think again.  One lane has been dug up, and there are multiple lane shifts on the existing road.  There is zero shoulder anymore, so riding there is going be life threatening.
It's possible that it will rain here this weekend after a windy Friday.  Given what's happening in the GPNW (monster storms on the way) it's not that surprising that we'll be brushed by low pressure.  It's still better here, than there.

Return to Hugh Norris

It was just about two years ago that we first hiked the Hugh Norris trail.  Apparently we really did not like it, since we haven't been back since.  It's a gorgeous beautiful hike.  The down side to it is the stairs.  Someone went to great effort and expense to construct about a mile's worth of stairs.  They're beautifully done, but they are hard on the knees, especially the tall ones when you're coming back down.

This is about 2.5 miles into the hike, this is where we stopped today.  It was getting late so we decided we'd do an hour out and turn around.  It was enough.  Those stairs!

This part of the Tucson Mountain park is really pretty.  It's definitely the glamour side of the mountains.

Hiking, Biking and the Cascadia Subduction Zone

Greetings Earthlings!  How goes it in your respective climates?  The talking weatherheads are muttering about rain tomorrow.  We'll see.  It would be good if it happened, it's been awhile since the spring wild flower bloom has been any good.  December rains are required for the wild flowers to bloom.  The steenking yellow trees bloom no matter what.
We've been hiking and biking.  Here is a saguaro that bit the dust over the summer.  I hate it when they fall down.  It's like seeing the giants of the desert being felled.

There are still butterflies in the area.  We walked by this bush and startled a bunch of them.  There were also blue and yellow ones flying around.  This guy is the only one who sat still long enough for a picture.

Today was the first ride up Gates Pass.  I did better this year than last.  I'm still having to use my easiest gear, but I did not stop at all on the climb.  I'm declaring victory.

In other news, this is interesting, especially if you live on the west coast.  This is from an article on komonews.com.  A joint team of Canadian and Japanese researchers have been dropping listening devices around the subduction zone.  It's very quiet.  There should be grinding and popping of the two tectonic plates rubbing against each other, but there's not.  The fear is that the plates are locked, and when they do pop, will result in an earthquake of magnitude 9.  This may result in new water front property being formed. 

Other that this paltry offering maties, I have nothing else to report.

The Rillito Farmer's Market

We rode up to the Rillito Farmer's Market this morning.  First we had a nosh at a Starbucks on River.  It was a very pleasant nosh.  There is outdoor seating on fake grass.  We were able to get a table with enough chairs so it was good.
Then it was on to the farmer's market.

It was somewhat underwhelming.  There were three sustainable growers of meat there but the vegetable selection was not great.  Jamie reports that the Thursday market in south Tucson is way better for vegetables.
However, there was Emu oil, for your squeaking emus.

Sprouts of many sorts.

I love Christmas cacti.

We did encounter Sven the knife sharpener.  He was sort of a pain in the butt to talk to, what with his ear plugs in and the fact that he wouldn't stop reading his book.  We were trying to determine where he would be next Saturday and it was like pulling teeth to get the information out of him.  Some people maybe should not deal with the public.

 

It was a beautiful, albeit windy, day in the Old Pueblo.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!  We are grateful for the fact that the bike path between Ajo and Silverbell is finally being paved.  This is the Silverbell end and there is pavement there.  Yay!  This section of trail will connect with the trail that runs up behind the RV park.  The official opening will not be until May, apparently they have 10,00 trees that need to be planted in the park.  But as soon as the paving is done, we can ride it on weekends.

This is the Santa Cruz river, which is still being regraded.  Huge piles are dirt are being pushed hither and yon.  They need a web site so that the citizens can understand what is being done.

Speaking of mysterious projects.  We saw this concrete truck in the river a week or so ago.  They're pouring concrete into a round form around a very large man hole cover, and then around the form.  Don was out the other day when they were working on it and asked what it was for.  This is the low point of the entire water system in Tucson.  If work needs to be done in the water mains, the work crews can enter here and go fix what needs to be fixed.  As of today, they've covered the whole thing with dirt.

We did a ride with Don and Jamie today.  It was good, it was a new ride for us.  We went up the trail, and rode east on Orange Grove.  As many times as we have driven Orange Grove, I have never noticed how uphill it is.  After surmounting Orange Grove, we were rewarded with the descent on Campbell.  Starbucks at the UofA Main Gate was closed today; bad for us, good for them.  By the time we arrived home, the wind was up.

Later we went out to dinner with Don and Jamie at Sher e Punjab.  I love this restaurant.  In keeping with the tradition of Thanksgiving, we ate too much until we could not breathe.  Here are Don and Jamie on their side of the table when they could still breathe.

Tomorrow another ride will be required to work off the damage of dinner.

Remove and Replace of the Appliance and Other Stuff

Oy!  Yesterday was a day!  A day and a half kind of day.  As you recall, the over the range microwave/convection oven finally died and stayed dead.  If we so much as plugged it in, it flipped the breaker, immediately.  We ordered a new one from Home Depot (free shipping).  Yesterday we took the bus and the appliance to Premier Motorcoach Services. After our last experience with them, we swore hell would freeze over before we went back.  Our issue with them was shop loading.  We had about 3 days of work which took them eight days.  They would request the RV to be on site at 8:30, and at 11:00 we would drive by and see it hadn't been moved into the shop.  Over all, the work was OK, but their inefficiency totally soured us on them.  However, we knew that they could install the appliance as they had done so before.
After the broken appliance was removed, it was discovered that the back of a cabinet over the microwave prevented the use of the nut set.  That's the silver circle at the back of the microwave. So they drilled through the bottom of the cabinet with a self tapping screw. That's not the way it should have been done.  Erik, the owner, was fairly upset with this.

The back of the cabinet had to be removed but was not going easily.  Here they are using a circular saw to try to make a portal to see how the wood was attached.

Now they are using a small reciprocating saw to try to remove the back of the cabinet.

That's part of the slide behind the cabinet back.  That wood piece is 1/2 inch plywood that was stapled every half inch all the way around.  Thus insuring that it would be difficult to remove, and that no present or future microwaves could be properly installed.  What the heck was Beaver thinking?

We had to take a little time out to go appreciate some nature.  We spent the day in the bus, so our presence would be a reminder that we're full timers, and this task really needed to be completed in one day.  I think if you're not around, it's easy to push your work to the back of the line.  It is, however, incredibly stressful watching them brute force part of your home out.

Eventually holes for the nut set were drilled in the proper place (for the first time in the life of the bus), the proper mounting brackets were used and the thing was installed.  It weighs 72 pounds and was just a bear to get in there.

The bottom set of screws were also a bear. 

There has been a total sea change at Premier.  Everyone there is new, except for the owners.  I'm more favorably inclined towards them these days.  I will say they do one of the best TV installs I've ever seen. 

To make things even better, the ice maker froze up (see what I did there?) while we were at Premier.  Upon arriving at home, we had to defrost the freezer, including the ice bergs that were stuck in the icemaker.
And then, and then, the breaker for the circuit that runs the laptops, phone chargers, wifi modem, TV, satellite receiver and satellite antenna started flipping. If there is anything that pushes me over the edge, it is random electronic weirdness because I'm helpless in the face of electronics that aren't working.  Using the random permutation theory of debugging, we removed the easiest component to change out - the power strip.  We've had it forever, and perhaps it was the problem.  So far the breaker is not popping, so one hopes we have solved the problem.

So that was our day in the glamorous lifestyle that is full time RVing in a Class A.