January

  It has been a busy month so far, certainly no time to be bored. It had been really cold (for California) and windy on the beach. My friend Dave gave me an old Colman heater he had bought at the local Goodwill. Unfortunately, as with most things purchased there, it was missing a vital part so in did no work. I searched all over to find the part with no luck but by the time I gave up the quest the weather had warmed again so it was no longer needed anyway.

  Despite the weather I have been TH'ing the low tides on the beaches, with mixed results. Using the Whites PI I have been finding a lot of fishing weights brought in by the heavy surf. I have also found silver and gold.

18.5 g, but less than 10k

8.5g of 18k

4.9g of silver

   I made another sand scoop, this time I used 6" PVC and did not drill any holes in it. I use it more like a one handed shovel.

  The Class B Horizon was giving me some troubles. The house battery would not charge so I took it and the starter battery to  Autozone to have them checked. Both turned out to be bad. I bought two reconditioned ones from a place I have been going to for years. Each battery costs $40 and comes with a one year warranty. I have not had any problems with this type of battery in the past. But that did not fix the charging problem so I took out the alternator and had it checked, also at Autozone....bad. $114 for a new one and a couple of hours under the hood and I am now good to go.

  I painted the 'bathroom' and installed a first-aid cabinet. This is my TH'ing area. An easy place to wash off the detectors, scoops and boots.

  It is really nice to use the Horizon on my TH'ing forays. It is a comfortable place to rest or have a coffee and lunch. This means that I can spend more time on the beach, in shifts!

Home away from home

Coyote..up close and personal

  On Saturday night I was driving the taxi around looking for customers and I see a coyote laying in the street. This always bums me out, I used to find them quite often in the desert but only once before down here by the beach. I make it a point to stop and take their bodies off the road so they don't get hit again.
  When I got to this one I could see that it was still alive but not moving. There was a little blood around her nose but no other obvious injuries. I gently picked her up and took her the sidewalk then moved the cab out of the street (I was blocking traffic). I called my wife to let her know we were having company then put the poor thing in the back of the cab.
  We decided to let her spend the night in the Horizon and if she made it we would take her to the Wildlife Sanctuary in the morning. I cleaned her up a bit and covered her in a blanket, put a heater on and went back to work. My wife, and our friend Dave stayed with her for a while.
  I was done with work at 3am and went to check on its condition. My wife was asleep in the Horizon and the coyote had moved up to the front passenger area. I woke the wife and sent her to bed in the main RV then rearranged the coyote. She was looking better but still obviously dazed as she had no fear or concerns with me picking her up.
  The Wildlife Sanctuary opened at 8am so I called at 8.03. Luckily the only person there at that time was the woman in charge of mammals.
She said to bring her right over. When I got there Sharon had a cage set up and was prepping for x-rays. She was very pleased that I had brought the coyote in and I was glad to leave her in such kind, capable hands.
  On Tuesday night I got a call from Sharon who told me the coyote had made a full recovery. 

  By now she should have found her way home and maybe I'll see her around the park.

The Project List

  Today I tried knocking some small items off the Class B To Do list. The first thing was easy..installing a step-bumper hitch to hold the bike rack. I found the hitch on Craigslist, brand new, still in box for $20. The bolt holes lined up with the holes already in the bumper so I was done in minutes.

  Next was the house battery. This was just a matter of removing it and its plastic box, cleaning the cables and posts, checking for water and putting it back. While it was out I removed the carpeting from the small area it occupies and put in 1/4 inch ply. I did a thorough cleaning of the battery box too. I'm going to install a volt meter to this battery later so I can tell how much charge it has.

  So far so good. Now the radio! It had a really cheap old radio in so to put mine in I had to cut the dash area out to fit. I removed the console and old radio, cut the hole, put the newer radio in and wired it up....nothing. It was lunch time anyway.

  Our friend and neighbor Dave set up his deep fryer so it was chicken and fries for lunch! I did not get back to the radio, that will have to be tomorrows start. Small steps...small steps.