Summer Travel Map

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Happy Easter

March 23, 2008
Peoria, AZ

And a Happy Birthday to Alicia…

And congratulations to Mike and Susan on their wedding last Friday…

Friday and Saturday were productive days, although not necessarily in the areas we had planned. I’d originally planned to spend the day Friday working on the coach and Saturday getting a batch of stuff ready to sell on eBay. Well, not so much…

Friday turned into a clean-up day in the study, catching up on all sorts of miscellaneous things that were dangling in there. Most significantly, I finished up and printed out the tax forms for mailing, and they’ll go to the Post Office on Monday. I’m about a week behind schedule on this, but we’ll get a small refund so it won’t matter if it’s slightly delayed.

I also started organizing things for the coach projects, or reorganizing as the case may be. I’m trying to get the tools and supplies organized the way I want them, and it seems to be a never-ending exercise. I’m trying to leave out things that don’t belong and pack in a few things I’d wanted on the road last year, and still have room for everything, and not change the weight dynamics much. This is a tall order, but I’m dialing in on it.

I wrapped up in the garage on Saturday. I’ve got most of the maintenance items (filters, oil, drain pans, grease gun) all set, and I ordered spare fuel filters. I went through all the cleaning supplies (I’ve probably collected one sample of every RV cleaning gizmo or pad known to man over the years) and separated out those that won’t travel (like waxing kits) from those that will (like spray-and-wipe cleaners). I still have a few spare parts that need to find a traveling home, but I’ll wrap that up next week.

I also pulled out a lot of the stuff I want to sell off, but only succeeded in making a mess in the spare room again. The process of cataloging, photographing, and weighing each thing can get a little tedious, so I know I’m putting it off. I’m bound and determined to spend a good chunk of next Tuesday afternoon on that, since Geri will have her final set of dental implants done in the morning and we’ll be just hanging out at home for the rest of the day. Beside, it’s supposed to be hot, in the upper-80s to low-90s today through Tuesday, so inside work makes sense.

Friday night’s dinner was exceptional: roasted pork loin done on the rotisserie with Geri’s orzo-stuffed roasted peppers and sautéed green beans. We started with a glass of white wine, the Albariño from Longoria that we’d brought back from California, and moved on to a wonderful 1997 Brunello do Montalcino from Castel Giocondo. It’s showing all the signs of a classic Brunello: smooth tannins with lots of leather and smoke behind the fruit. Fabulous!

Today, we’re having a beef rib roast, and Ana and Larry are coming over. We’ll have “Grandma Reds” (pan-roasted red potatoes; Al named the dish) and the last of the haricots verts, and we’ll have the roasted root vegetable salad that we started last week. Wine selections to come…

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