Thursday, April 1...Black Water (Doobie Brothers)

OMGoodness!  It’s going to be a hot one today.  Already 72o at 8 a.m....up to 82o at 10:30.  Supposed to be in the 90s for the next week.   But it’s a dry heat, right?  Maybe but 95o is still hot no matter what the humidity level is.

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   Stopped by the trail cam...one bone and a couple of the banana pieces left.  So I grabbed the card; first time testing the video capability after the firmware update.  In total sixteen videos were recorded; the first four were of us setting up the area at about 7:15 p.m.  The next video was at 10:12 p.m. and the last video was at 3:48 a.m.  No video of me coming in this morning; my movements should have tripped the motion sensor and activated the camera. So it makes me wonder if the camera reached a point where it stopped recording again or was I just so sneaky that I got in without the camera noticing me. 

   Anyway, last night’s visitors consisted of a coyote, a skunk and then another coyote. We know it wasn’t the same coyote in there twice because the fur was different.  I didn’t pick up on it but Kim noticed it as soon as the second coyote came into view.   We watched the videos again and then I could see the differences. And the skunk would probably be our banana eater although the video shows it just strolled around sniffing things.

**Must be noted that the time is correct on these videos but the date is wrong.  Instead of April 1st and 2nd it should be March 31st and April 1st.  We’ll eventually get this right.**

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   Kim is feeling normal today...no tiredness, no aches or pains, no chills or fever. 

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   Tuesday is delivery day for piggy cookies to the store in Eloy.  Wednesday morning is the time to get ‘em fresh.  Later in the week they’re still good just a bit crunchier.  The piggy cookies we bought from the bakery the other day had that later in the week crunch to them, not a fresh baked softness that would have indicated being baked that morning as the young man said.  Like I said still edible. But I got to thinking that if a cut up apple works to soften up brown sugar why wouldn’t it work for the piggys.  Wednesday morning I put the cookies in a plastic bag along with a cut up apple; bit into one today and it was as moist as fresh baked. 😋 Point to remember.

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  Checked the weather app for a current temperature and see that there’s a Red Flag Warning from 9 a.m. through 6 p.m. today. The app describes it like this:  A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now...or are expected to develop.  A combination of strong winds...low relative humidity...and dry vegetation will create the potential for rapid and erratic fire growth.  Seems like this area should be in a perpetual Red Flag Warning.

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   We headed out for a bike ride about 11:45, planned to do a loop that would take us to Coolidge, Casa Grande, the Tohono O’odham reservation and then back to camp.  Temperature was already sitting at 95o.  There’s a section of irrigated fields on the way to Coolidge where the temperature always drops...it can feel downright cool at times but then once past it the temperature rises again.  Today the temp dropped to 91o in that area which didn’t do anything to cool me down and sure enough it was back up to 95 after we got past it.  Then the wind hit and it hit hard.  Everything below my neck felt stable but it seemed like it wanted to rip my head off.  In addition it felt like my nose had become a wind tunnel...in one nostril and out the other.  Really wanted to cover my nose with my hand but my instinct to stay upright wouldn’t allow me to let go of either handgrip.  As we approached Coolidge we could see blowing dirt obscuring the horizon line.  Oh, great!

   Decided to keep going on our intended route but also were keeping our options open. Turned left on 87 heading to Casa Grande from Coolidge; saw a big open plowed up field in the distance with dirt hovering over it and suddenly the dirt wall was upon us.  It was maybe ½ mile long and then we were in the clear. It was still windy but no dirt.    

   Stopped in Casa Grande where we still had the wind to contend with...decided to keep on our route. Took AZ 84 from Casa Grande to Stanfield which is where we headed south to the Tohono O’odham reservation. Along the way we found the missing herd of sheep...yes, it could have been a different herd but I’m sticking with saying it’s the same one.   Anyway, the herd was grazing on a field of harvested cotton plants.  No grass, just plants and left behind cotton bolls or at least that’s all I saw out there.  And the sheep seemed just as diligent at cleaning that field as they did the field of grass.

   Once on the reservation we rode over to IR 15 and then cruised on back to camp. 

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   By the time we got back to camp the temperature was holding at 97, there was sweat dripping into my eyes and my hair was a matted down gunky mess.  Changed out of my riding clothes but that did nothing to cool me down. Definitely time for a dip in the pool, which actually felt a bit chilly at first but quickly became oh, so refreshing.  If the temperature does as predicted we’ll be in the pool a few more times before we leave. 

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   A camper/trailer/RV have a couple of holding tanks...one for fresh water, one for grey water and one for black water.  Grey water is from the sinks and shower; black water is from the toilet. We hold the water in those two tanks until the tank monitor indicates they should be emptied.  We are diligent about monitoring and emptying.

   Had a strange thing happening the last few nights.  We both noticed a slight sewer smell in the evenings.  Kim has been checking under the camper; there are no leaks in the tank.  It was perplexing for sure.  This morning there was no smell but decided it was time to deodorize the black water tank.  Read the directions which indicated that one might want to throw two deodorizing tablets in if the temperature gets above 85o.  Hmmm, maybe the sewer smell is a result of the hot weather we’ve been experiencing.  Time for a Google search.  From the website uniquecampingmarine.com:   

   There are a few reasons why odors become worse in high heat, but it mostly boils down to 2 things: Heat causes water to evaporate in your tank.  Heat causes beneficial aerobic bacteria to work less effectively while odor-causing anaerobic bacteria thrive in heat.  So that’s the problem and now for the solution:

Believe it or not, the solutions to controlling odors in high heat are really very simple! Let’s explore how you can easily obliterate those odors caused by high heat issues. 

o  Use ample amounts of water. We recommend holding down your toilet flush pedal for 10 seconds each time you flush. We understand this can be more difficult when dry camping. Please see this article for more tips and tricks when dry camping.

o  Use enough water to cover the waste inside your tank. Also be sure to keep several inches of water in your toilet bowl at all times.

o  Treat your tanks with a high-quality holding tank treatment.

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Kim is imaging tonight. Sky is clear and the air is warm.  Took the card back to the trail cam along with some bones and fixed the date problem so tomorrow date and time should be correct.

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Bike miles today: 129

Total miles: 1989


 

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