I want some coffee!

 It's become a de facto tradition that we two retirees climb into the car about 1130 MST (almost) every Sunday and drive to Sierra Vista... Benson to Chipotle Mexican Grill in Sierra Vista- almost 40 miles. It's an easy drive from the SKP Park, over the now-3-years-and-counting project to build a bridge over the San Pedro River near St David, then on to Tombstone. At the North edge of Tombstone we turn off AZ-80 and take Charleston Rd 17 miles to Sierra Vista. Then we turn into the Charleston Crossing Shopping Center and park near Chipotle Mexican Grill We discovered the Chipotle chain years ago, probably when shopping in Tucson on a Sunday (Trader Joe's of course!). Chiptole serves a pick-and-choose meal-in-a-bowl which we both enjoy immensely. Beans, rice, grilled peppers, salsa, guacamole (avocado dip) and greens. The Admiral also gets a little sour cream and some shredded cheese cuz she's not a wimp and can digest dairy products just fine. Since it's pick-and-c...

... the two new replacement ACs (one on the trailer roof and one in the casita ) are both working pretty well. Both of these are heat pumps and have been putting out cold air for a few weeks now. Got my fingers crossed for how they work when the cold weather hits in a few weeks. Cold air aside, the most noticeable change is that I haven't been whining. Maybe it's time to crawl out from under my rock and greet the day! One seriously grumpy looking cat (photo by Melissa Hughes ) Or not! So the appliance issues have subsided for the moment. Now the attention is shifting to our Vegas RV. The not-starting issue wasn't the real issue. Apparently the issue is a relay that's stuck on/closed/activated causing the starter battery to discharge. That battery had a bulge (never a good sign!) and has been replaced. But the relay or the control to the relay still needs attention. Lightning Fast will look at the problem in a couple days.

Most trailer RVs have a 'rubber' roof. The rubber is some sort of rubber-like plastic formulation that is pliable and stands up to solar radiation. Sort of. Our Cedar Creek Cottage is a 'destination trailer' which means it is expected to stay put most of the time. Maybe get moved annually in or out of a storage area. Like most RVs with the mentioned waterproof roof covedring it relies on occasional maintenance. You have to clean it (soapy water and a soft brush) and every 2-4 years you have to apply a rubbery coating. And this was the year for our 'house'! Tina & Steve, locals from Tombstone, have been washing our Cottage twice each year for a couple years now. Since he has to get up on the roof to wash, it makes sense for him to keep track of the condition of the roof covering. Plus this year has been a little hard on that membrane because of all the repair work to the air conditioners. While he was washing the roof he took a few photos to show me what'...

We have an author in the family. Bertha Walsh was married to my mother's cousin Earl Walsh. So she's connected by marriage. Here's how- My mother is a Ross. Her mother was born a Walsh and has a bunch of cousins. One of those cousins is Earl Walsh.  Earl was a veteran of WW-II and the Korean War serving in what is now the US Air Force. After the war he and his brother had a trucking business. Earl drove a truck making deliveries in the Central Valley of California. Earl met Bertha Walling Williams in Angels Camp where she owned and operated Williams Auto Parts in Angels Camp, California after her husband died. Earl and Bertha married and were together 47 years till Bertha's decease in 2015. Bertha was a child of the great depression growing up in the Central Valley of California. In 2007 Bertha published her story of that time titled Fruit Tramps . Her story is likely similar to that of many hundreds of thousands of others in the Central Valley at that time- following...

Be forewarned: lots of whining being served up today. One AC in the trailer, built by Dometic, has died and been replaced. Cha-ching: "Check for $2,600 please".  Immediately after that unit failed the mini-split heat pump (cooling or heating from one device) in the casita packed it in and had to be replaced today. Josh from Alpha Home Services did the work for us. Cha-ching. "Check for $5,300 please." Steve from Alpha Home Services found a refrigerant leak. Bummer ! And before I forget, the on-demand water heater in the casita froze (literally). The freezing water expanded causing the boiler to crack. It happened because I had unplugged it- that meant the built-in heating element for preventing a freeze (which had worked fine for 10 years) was disabled. So that otherwise-reliable appliance led the parade of disenchantment. Cha-ching. "Check for $4,300 please." There's one more AC that hasn't packed it in yet and that's the unit in our bedroom...

 ... literally. I've blogged about the temps. Which are pretty much like any other year down here in this southeast corner of Arizona called Cochise County. We have a pretty clear idea what to expect in a normal year. But it's an American tradition to whine about the weather whether hot or cold. I refuse to give up my civil right as an American citizen by not doing my part to complain. It's the American way. But 'roasting in Benson' can be a double entendre . In this case I'm also roasting coffee. No, not cuz the air temp is that hot! I'm using my trusty Aillio Bullet roaster to get the job done. It's the same one I bought from Sweet Maria's in Jan 2019... 5-1/2 years as of this post. Works a treat and reliably turns out a few pounds of roasted coffee every week for us and a few friends. Aillio Bullet R2. Mine was an R1.5 which has been upgraded to kind of an R2 A few years ago I became disenchanted with Sweet Maria's Coffee in Oakland. No issue ...

When SE Arizona starts getting monsoons, the temps are usually a crap shoot. We have to wait to see what the trend will be. In a good year we'll get both a lot of  monsoon rain plus cooler temps... the temps don't necessarily correlate with the rains. So far this year the monsoons (which started early in late June!) seem to be giving us pretty good rain fall and manageable temps. Yee haw!! T-Storm in New Mexico a little west of Santa Fe Skies RV Park about July 2011. New Mexico is also in the path of the monsoons and has a share of the rain they bring to the American Southwest. That 200 kW solar array (lower left) can't earn its keep with all the cloud cover! We had a 'gully washer' yesterday. As of 22 July that brings the monthly accumulated rainfall to 3.35". That compares to 1.5" as about the minimum in a monsoon season during July. On the high side we had a one-time monsoon season where July hit 4.5"... that was spectacular. And scarey!! During th...