Author: mchazen

These past few days were full of surprises.

When visiting with friends, we answer many questions about living in the coach and the function of its systems.  In fact, the function of the coach has been a frequent topic of this triplog.  Lately however, we have had trouble with our electric toilet.  Yes, we have and electric toilet.  Here’s the deal:  In a house, where the toilet is permanently connected to the sewer, odors are kept at bay via a water-filled gooseneck cast into the toilet.  However, our electric toilet works differently.  The toilet in the coach empties into a holding tank, which is periodically emptied to the sewer.  There is no gooseneck to keep the holding tank odors at bay, so some other solution must be used.  The designers used a system similar to airplanes, where a little trap door slides back when the toilet is flushed.  At the end of the flush cycle, the door slides back into place and a little extra water is squirted into the bowl.  In theory, a water-tight seal is formed and the water in the bowl keeps out the holding tank odors.  Lately the toilet has not been holding water and the trap door has been making noise.

So why are you reading about this?  Well, read on. . .

One Sunday morning while working out at the gym, I hear my name being called.  Jeanne was on the phone with bad news:  The trap door on the toilet is stuck and after repeatedly pushing the button to flush, the bowl is now full of water and, well, other stuff.  Cutting the workout short I headed home to deal with the emergency.  After consulting the instruction manual, it seems the designers anticipated this problem by placing a knob at the back of the toilet to manually open and close the trap door.  This is a temporary solution at best.  On Monday, after spending an hour on the phone, we arranged to have the repairs done locally under warranty.  This is a two step process.  Step one is to bring the coach in for evaluation so parts can be ordered and step two is to bring the coach in at a later date for the actual repair.  So, try to imagine bringing the house to the plumber, instead of the plumber coming to the house.  We made the evaluation trip on the 18th and the repair is scheduled for the 30th.  What a hassle.  In the meantime, we are never quite sure how the electric toilet will perform.

The weather changed and the winds have been blowing all week long, which is not unusual for Southern California this time of year.  Ryan, one of the grandsons, wanted to go shooting on a Monday when school was closed for teacher conferences.  Taking a chance on the weather, we headed for the range.  It was disaster.  The wind was blowing so hard that Ryan was literally blown out of his chair.  From time to time we were showered with sand and gravel.  There was a real danger that unattended firearms would be blown off the shooting benches.  But despite these problems, Ryan was still able to crank off about three hundred rounds of .22s.  He was a good sport about it and seemed to enjoy the day, such as it was.  I still find gravel in my jacket pockets from that day.

On another blustery day, I want trap shooting with Steve, Cathy and their son.  Despite the challenging wind, we really had a good time.  It had been over a year since we saw them last and they seem to be doing fine.  We hope to see them again before moving on.

Real dental disaster struck on a return visit to the dentist.  After healing up from the root canal and wisdom tooth extraction, it was now time to have a cap fitted to the root canal tooth.  Try picturing yourself in the dentist chair with the dentist grinding away when he suddenly stops and says “Uh oh”.  After inspecting the half-ground tooth, he announced that the tooth was cracked and may have to come out.  After a phone call, I’m on the way to the tooth-puller guy about three blocks away.  Still numb, I plop into the chair and wait for “Doc Pliers” to appear.  The conversation went something like this:

Dentist:  “Well Martin, here we are again.”

Me:  “Doc, I think you’re a good guy, but to tell the truth, I never wanted to see you again.”

D:  Laughing.  “I probably wouldn’t want to see me again either.  What seems to be the problem?”

M:  “Well, you probably already talked with Doctor (name withheld), who thinks the tooth is cracked and may have to come out.”

D:  “O.K., let’s see what’s going on here.”

The dentist took a few minutes to inspect the tooth.

D:  “Martin, the tooth has to come out.”

M:  With a resigned sigh “Doc, let’s get it over with.”

At the end of the procedure, the dentist announced that the tooth had broken into three pieces.  With blood stained hands, he carefully reassembled the tooth for me to inspect.  On the drive home, while chomping down on a bloody wad of gauze, I realized that I’m the only guy I know who bought a root canal he didn’t really need.

On the third day of jury selection, Jeanne was released from jury duty.  When the court revealed more information about the case as part of the jury selection process, Jeanne wanted nothing to do with it.  To be sure, this had nothing to do with shirking civic responsibility — Jeanne had served on juries before and even was the jury foreman on a criminal case.  However, sitting through this particular case would have been an awful experience.  The excusal was very much appreciated.

It finally rained.  Up to now, the rainy season has been an endless string of bright, sunny days.  Since the RV park doesn’t allow washing, the coach was covered with a substantial layer of dust.  Now there are little piles of mud around the perimeter of the rig, but at least it looks clean.  A little sponge bath after the weather passed also helped.

Due to the weather, we kept a low profile the past few days, mostly sticking around the coach.  With time beginning to run short, we were forced to deal with some chores we had been putting off, one of which was the coin collection.  Well, you really can’t call it much of a collection.  Over the years, my father had picked out coins from his pocket change and set them aside.  For 30 years these coins, mostly silver quarters and dimes, have been quietly resting in a cigar box in Van Nuys.  Not having time to deal with it before leaving on the trip, the cigar box has been quietly resting in storage.  On a blustery afternoon, we liberated the coins from storage and took them to a local coin dealer.  The amount of money we received was modest (enough to finance a white-tablecloth dinner) but the big payoff was peace of mind knowing that this chore was off the list.  The coin collection was something nobody wanted to deal with for 30 years.  The lesson is that when you finally leave this earthly existence, your ‘stuff’ becomes someone else’s headache.

Today we spent most of the afternoon shopping for an odd assortment of stuff; new water filter and pressure regulator for the coach, socks, batteries, coffee, etc.  We had some time to kill and ended up at one of the local shopping malls.  The place was mobbed.  It was a Christmas-like shopping experience.  And from the number of people carrying bags, they were in a buying mood.  The economy must be humming along.

We met Peter and Michelle for dinner at one of our favorite BBQ places.  The conversation eventually landed on work and Jeanne began telling stories about

her experiences as a Workers’ Compensation claims adjuster.  The tales of gruesome injuries and shameless scams are riveting.  Although they were upsetting at the time, in retrospect the twisted events quite interesting.  These are true tales — there is too much complexity and detail for fiction.  So, after a long career of dealing with crippling injuries and professional liars, at least Jeanne came away with a few good stories.  Anyway, we very much enjoyed visiting with Peter and Michelle and look forward to seeing them again on a return trip.  We also wish them well on their vacation planned in March.

O.K., o.k.  I know it has been a month since the last update, but since we are parked in Santa Paula for three months, we are not REALLY on the road.  However, we have been busy and this should bring you up to date.

First of all, we have spent a lot of time with the family.  Jeanne especially enjoys spending time with Erika, who is now walking and trying to form her first words.  It seems she changes every few days.  Although Andy is very busy with work, he makes time for us when he can.  We really enjoy visiting with his family and look forward to spending as much time with them as we can.

There has been several shooting outings.  On one particular day, a few of the club members drove to Oaktree to shoot some sporting clays.  The weather kept us off the sporting clays course, but we were able to shoot several rounds of skeet and trap.  A good time was had by all and a picture commemorating the event is associated with this log entry.  On separate days, I shot some trap with my good friends Ed and Lee.  Although many months passed without pulling the trigger, my scores were respectable.  Finally, on one clear, sunny day, we went to Triple B to shoot trap with the club.  It was good to see all our trap shooting buddies again.  Strange how you can be gone for almost two years and pick up as if it were yesterday.  We were especially happy to see Walt and Lee doing well.

Shooting trap and skeet with club members at Oaktree.

Jeanne in red car at Los Angeles Auto Show.

Jeanne in blue car at Los Angeles Auto Show.

Mike in white car at Los Angeles Auto Show.

Gwen in red VW at Los Angeles Auto Show.

Jeep concept car, the Hurricane, at Los Angeles Auto Show.

Marty with monster truck at LA Auto Show.

Shortly after New Year, our friends Mike and Gwen used some discount tickets to lure us to the L.A. Auto Show.  We hadn’t been to the Auto Show in years, so this was a special treat.  Attending on a weekday avoided the crowds and we were able to linger around the cars as long as we wanted.  Afterwards, we went to a restaurant specializing in pastrami sandwiches.  Not having one in about three years, this belly-busting cholesterol bomb was a special treat.  Served with a generous portion of pickles, I’m sure we were good on our sodium intake for the next three months.  How can something so bad for you taste so good?  Anyway, we very much enjoyed spending the day with our good friends.

Word is out in the local dental community that we are covered by a good plan.  Not wanting any of our coverage to go unused, the dentists got busy repairing a chipped tooth and pulling one of my wisdom teeth.  The repair was easy, but the extraction was a memorable event.  The next step is two follow-up visits to have the root canal tooth capped, which should complete the process.

One evening we had dinner with Gloria, who is a long-time friend of the family.  Gloria is a fun loving woman who had a long career on stage.  By teaching voice and supporting the local theater, she remains involved with the performing arts.  Anyway, spending the evening with Gloria is an event unto itself and usually begins with her famous martinis, stirred, not shaken.  After the alcohol-induced paralysis abated, we had dinner at one of the local restaurants and a good time was had by all.  We very much enjoyed seeing her again and wish her well.

Today, Jeanne had her first day of jury duty and was selected as a prospective juror on a kidnap/rape trial.  She will know more in a few days, but the prospect of sitting on the jury is upsetting and is very much an unwanted intrusion into our lives.

For the most part, the weather has been very pleasant.  In fact, it has been one warm, clear day after day.  What a change from last year when record rainfall almost trapped us in one of the local canyons!

Last year at this time, we were deluged by rainstorm after rainstorm.  Readers of this triplog may remember we almost got stuck in one of the local campgrounds when floodwaters damaged roads and bridges.  Not so this year.  The days have been sunny and warm, which is typical for December in Southern California.  We are certainly taking advantage of our good fortune.

Today was Tyler’s turn to go shooting with Grandpa.  After spending the night with us and an early breakfast, we headed for the Angeles Shooting Range, which is about an hour drive.  After a review of firearm safety and the operation of the .22 rifle, he proceeded to plink away for hours.  The range has a series of targets at various distances.  The metal silhouettes are always popular and provide instant feedback by ringing or moving when hit.  Later on, Tyler was picking off pieces of clay targets on a hillside at 100 yards.  Before leaving, I got out the Big Gun, a .223.  With it, Tyler was able to consistently hit a 12 inch gong at 100 yards, which is very good for an 11 year old.  In fact, when we were getting ready to leave, an adult shooter congratulated Tyler on his marksmanship.

Much of Jeanne’s time was spent preparing for Christmas, which means shopping, wrapping, baking cookies and the other usual tasks.  There was even some last minute panic shopping.  The family plans to gather at CeeCee’s on Saturday (Christmas Eve) for dinner and presents.

Erika and Papa on Christmas eve, 2005.

Ali, Caralyn and Hailee opening presents.

Marley and her friend Nicole.

Barbara and Dannette.

Andy and Marty, with CeCe in background.

Recovering enough from illness and dental work, I finally felt well enough to head for the gym.  It is surprising how much a 10 day layoff can set you back.  Hopefully, recovery won’t be too painful.

The last two days have been spent recovering from our colds.  Except for a brief grocery run, the days were spent quietly close to the coach.  All was not lost however; we did get our Christmas cards in the mail among other things.

Today, we felt well enough for normal activity, but the day was anything but normal.  Last week my dentist called with the dreaded you-need-a-root-canal news and today was the consulting appointment with the root-canal specialist.  We rolled out of bed early to make the 9:00 AM appointment in the San Fernando Valley.  Fortunately, the traffic was light and we had enough time for a quick breakfast at Zigs, which is a grill of sorts in the old neighborhood.  Eating there brought back memories and spiked our cholesterol levels.

After a quick inspection, the dentist declared a root-canal was needed and this was my lucky day.  He would be leaving on vacation but could get me in for the procedure this very day!  Lucky me!  Not only that, but this would use up the remainder of my dental insurance benefit for 2005.  How fortunate!  An appointment was set for 3:45 in the afternoon.

The other scheduled event was lunch with Mike, a former Fox co-worker.  Mike made a career change and has been taking classes in the San Fernando Valley towards that end.  So, after some Christmas shopping, we headed for Mission Burrito for lunch and a long visit with Mike.  It was good seeing him again and we very much enjoyed the visit.  After the holidays, we plan to visit again with Mike and his wife Gwen.

After another brief shopping trip, it was back to the dentist.

Truth be told, the root-canal wasn’t all that bad.  In about an hour, we were back in the car heading home.  I could have done without the orientation video which described the procedure.  The part about using flexible drills was a little disturbing.

The rest of the evening was spent quietly at the coach, although my jaw was a little sore.  Maybe tomorrow our life will really return to normal, whatever that is.

During the two weeks since the last entry, it seems our time has been split between family, friends, have-to chores and Christmas shopping.  Taking these one at a time:

Almost every day, we interacted with the family in some way.  Usually, we alternate between visiting Andy or Heather to spend time with them and the kids.  Jeanne especially likes to play the grandmother role with Heather’s daughter Erika, who just turned one and is learning to walk.  In just two short weeks Erika has mastered basic walking skills including the pivot, standing-still and run-away-from-grandma moves.  It is a marvel to watch.

Last week the family celebrated Dannette’s birthday with a dinner at Lin’s Chinese Restaurant, which has been a Santa Paula culinary icon for generations.  What it lacks in taste it loses in ambiance.  Yes, you read it right.  Anyway, we very much enjoyed the meal and visiting with the family afterwards at their home.

We attended two parties organized by former State Fund co-workers.  The first was a small group of friends from the Woodland Hills office.  Her friend Janice hosted the party at her home in the nearby town of Camarillo.  Jeanne really enjoyed catching up with her Woodland Hills friends and on the way home, we discussed what a pleasure it is spending time with such a diverse and talented group.

The second party is an annual event usually hosted by Chris and her husband Dick, who Jeanne met while working at the State Fund office in Ventura.  This is a small group of close friends.  Since moving away from the area, the party has been an opportunity to stay connected.  This annual gathering has been going on for almost twenty years and it has been interesting watching these several families move through life.  These are all fine people who work hard and participate in the community.  Most of the kids are either completing their education or have settled into a career.  In any event, once again we appreciate the invitation and thoroughly enjoyed spending the evening with old friends.

One afternoon, Ed and Nancy stopped by to visit, see the coach and share an early dinner at La Cabana.  Ed is an old 7up friend who is an avid outdoorsman and regular reader of this triplog.  We very much enjoyed visiting and sharing certain tales of the road not fit publishing in this triplog.  As discussions progressed, we talked about the future.  I sincerely believe that on some future afternoon warmed by the California sun, Jeanne and I will be listening as Ed and Nancy share their travel experiences.  We look forward to that day, but in the present, we very much enjoyed their visit and look forward to seeing them again before we move on.

On an absolutely beautiful day, we visited Doug and Karen at their home in the Malibu hills.  Doug is a college friend and it is hard to believe we stayed in touch for over 30 years.  The Malibu house has always been a special place for us to  visit and it is interesting to see how the place changes from year to year.  This was the year of the kitchen and patio remodel, both of which turned out great.  Also apparent was the maturity of garden, which now seems to feel like an extension of the house, sort of like another room.  Anyway, after dining on home-made pizza, we retired outside and had dessert while sitting around a small fire.  We talked late into the evening while owls hooted in the distance.  We had a great time and the visit was very much appreciated.

Since we expected to visit Canada this past year, the firearms were left in storage and I had not done any trap shooting in over ten months.  How bad would I shoot after the long layoff?  I was about to find out.  One blustery afternoon, Ed and I met at Oaktree for a few rounds of trap.  It had been a long time, but I did much better than expected.  Ed had just had some work done to his shotgun and was getting it dialed in.  Although he was shooting a modified gun with some truly ancient ammo, he scored well.  At the end of the day, we left a field of dead clay targets and the aroma of gunpowder in the air.  After all this manly activity, we were hungry.  With our guns stowed, we headed for a nearby Italian bistro for an excellent lunch and leisurely conversation.  Without a doubt, a good time was had by all.

At the top of the have-to list of chores was jury duty.  Ventura county has a one day or one trial policy and I was determined to keep it limited to one day.  Fortunately, it worked out as planned and my jury duty was consisted of sitting in a room for one day reading four periodicals cover to cover.  I’m safe for another year but just yesterday, Jeanne received her jury summons in the mail.  Ha ha ha-ha ha!

We had some follow-up medical appointments that were nothing more than routine tests and checkups.  Bottom line, we’re good to go for another year.

Both Jeanne and I caught colds, which cut our activities short while we recovered.  According to Jeanne, for most of one day I laid on the couch and whimpered.  This is a gross mischaracterization of my behavior, but somewhere along the line a day is missing.  Anyway, most of the Christmas shopping was already done, but the interruption to the workout routine was annoying.  At this time, recovery is almost complete and we look forward to returning to normal activities.

One of the reasons we return to Santa Paula each year is to take care of all the administrative and health related things that are part of modern life.  The past week was mostly devoted to these tasks.

On the administrative side, we had to take care of our driver licenses.  My driver license renewal notice said I needed a new picture and thumbprint along with a $25 dollar fee.  Usually I renew via mail, but homeland security laws are forcing states to require personal visits for verification.  Jeanne had a different issue.  When she last renewed, the DMV printed our Texas mailing address on the face of the license.  More than once she had to explain why she had a California driver license with a Texas address.  This was her opportunity to straighten it out and have a new license issued with a California address.

Our DMV visit was relatively painless.  Jeanne made appointments via the internet and we were mercifully in and out of the place in about 20 minutes.  Not bad.

The medical appointments were for routine checkups and tests.  In one week we took care of eye exams, the dreaded dentist and some routine tests.  No big surprises here and after some follow-up visits, we should be good to go for our return to the road.

Aside from the appointments described above, we spent the week quietly hanging around the coach, running errands and visiting family.  With Christmas coming up, our schedule should be full until the end of the year, but we expect it to clear in January.  Hopefully we’ll get all the have-to issues off the table by year end.

Today would be our second Thanksgiving, but this time it would be with our friends at the club property.

Here’s the backstory:  The hunting and fishing club we belong to owns property in a remote location in the hills north of Los Angeles.  Over the years, the club slowly improved the property with utilities, bathrooms, fire pits, etc.  It is a perfect venue to camp and it is one of our favorite getaway spots.  A few club members would be there over the Thanksgiving weekend and they invited us along.  From Santa Paula, the drive is about two hours along winding mountain roads.

We got an early start and after a quick McDonalds breakfast, we headed into the mountains.  The day was clear, windy and cold.  Watching the car thermometer, the temperature dropped below freezing a few times.  By the time we got to the property, it was overcast, windy and cold.  In fact, it never got warmer than 40 degrees the entire day.

Some of our close friends from the club were there, including Dennis, Mike, Carl, Bill and Merle.  Some brought the family with them and planned a Thanksgiving dinner.  We arrived around 9:00 AM and found a turkey was already smoking in one of the barbeques.

After many months on the road, it is hard to describe how nice it was to see our friends again.  Although we kept in touch via e-mail and phone, it just isn’t the same as sitting around the campfire telling lies.

When the weather marginally warmed, Mike and I hunted quail for about two hours.  There is no other experience like it.  For readers not familiar with the process, here’s the deal: Quail are birds that are native to California and live in all but the most extreme environments.  They live in groups and spend most of their time on the ground looking for food.  A unique characteristic is that they are fast runners, taking to flight only to escape danger.  Their coloring make them extremely hard to see.  It is best to hunt quail with a group of hunters lined up and moving forward through a field.  Typically, when you least expect it, a group (covey) of quail erupts and takes off at full speed.  You have less than two seconds to mount the gun and take a shot.  Most of the time, the birds win.

Kim and Kelly prepare Thanksgiving dinner at the club property.

Bill enjoys Thanksgiving at the club property.

Dennis prepares to deep-fry turkey. Stand back! This thing can erupt in flames at any moment!

Jeanne bundled up against the cold wind.

Mike displays the only quail bagged all day. And yes, it was cooked along with the turkey and shared by all.

The club property is hilly and covered with thick brush.  To hunt quail, you are humping hills, crashing through brush, jumping over logs and stumbling into ruts.  All the while, you need to know the exact location of your hunting partner, lest you spray him with birdshot.  There is nothing easy about this.  At the end of the day, it isn’t how many birds you get, it’s how much you enjoyed the outdoor experience.  Each quail outing, I renew my appreciation for the food that reaches our table.  For today’s experience, we expended two hours and 700 calories each for one bird.  But we had a great time.

That afternoon, Dennis and Carl deep fried a turkey.  Strange process.  Heat a vat of oil, slowly lower in a turkey and watch it boil in oil for 20 minutes.  Needless to say, there are a thousand things that can go wrong, including the whole thing erupting in flames 30 feet high.  Thankfully, nothing that eventful happened and the turkey turned out great.

Around 3:00 PM we sat down for dinner.  It was cold and the wind was gusting.  You had about five minutes before the steaming hot food turned ice cold.  Now we know how the pilgrims felt that first Thanksgiving.  Think of it as a vacation in Norway.

After dinner we stoked up the fire and visited.  Spending the holiday with good friends was very much appreciated and we truly had a good time.  With a long drive ahead of us, we left around 7:00 PM.  This is where things get interesting.

We had a choice of two return routes.  Route #1 follows a remote road to the interstate.  Route #2 follows a remote road all the way home.  Due to the cold and wind, we decided to take Route #1.  As it turned out, after a 25 mile drive through wilderness, Route #1 was blocked by downed power lines.  The only option was turning around and taking Route #2.  While fueling the car, we met a young couple who had no idea where they were or how to get home.  We told them to follow us and gave them a walkie-talkie.  For the next three hours, they followed us through some of the most remote areas in Southern California, at night and in the cold.  For sure, they had absolutely no idea who we were or where we were leading them.  From time to time we would use the walkie-talkie to see if they were o.k.  And, they were traveling with a baby in the back seat.  After what seemed like one of the longest rides we ever took, we pulled into Santa Paula.  We collected the walkie-talkie, pointed them in the right direction and sent them on their way.  They were only about 30 minutes from home and the roads were now familiar.  I’m sure they made it o.k.

For us, it was only a few minutes to the security of the coach.  Snuggled into a warm bed, we quickly fell asleep.  It was another great day of the Excellent Adventure.

It is the day after Thanksgiving and the shopping mall is beckoning to all shoppers.  Jeanne and Heather heeded the call and set off for some bargain hunting.  Wisely, I opted to stay at the coach and quietly work on the 2006 CHFC budget.  

They returned around 2:00 complaining about the traffic and crowds.  I had just finished with the budget.

Later that afternoon, after Jeanne recovered from the ordeal, we headed to Ventura to update the computers and pick up a few groceries.

Not much more to report, at least I had a quiet day.

It was a typical Southern California Thanksgiving day of clear skies, bright sun and warm breezes.  Perfect weather.

I headed to the gym for a Thanksgiving Day workout and Jeanne stayed at the coach preparing food to take with us to Andy and Dannette’s.  We left the coach around 2:00 PM.

We very much enjoyed spending the day with the immediate family and a few friends.  It was the usual: watching football, kids playing and the aroma of turkey in the oven.  In the end, Dannette put on a great dinner and a good time was had by all.  We very much appreciated the effort and had a great time.  Best of all, we resisted temptation and pushed away from the table in time.  And, with all the kids around, there were few leftovers. 

Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that has a basic structure (turkey, family, leftovers, etc) but also changes each year as lives change and kids grow.  This year, the big change was the kids, who are making the transition from children to young teens.  It is an interesting process to watch.

By 7:30, we were back at the coach planning the next few days.