1,000 Foot Ore Freighter, Soo Locks, MI

1,000 Foot Ore Freighter, Soo Locks, MI

Near Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia

Near Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia

Colorful Truck Sales, Weed, CA

Colorful Truck Sales, Weed, CA

Hollywood Sign

Hollywood Sign

Mackinac Bridge, MI

Mackinac Bridge, MI

Pelicans, Grays Harbor, WA

Pelicans, Grays Harbor, WA

Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park

Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park

It’s Here . . .

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Lunch today was at a new place for us, Stella’s Fresh Brunch, which just opened a week or so ago. But though the restaurant was new to us, the location wasn’t.

In fact, we’ve been eating here for more than 35 years, but as Monterey’s Little Mexico.

Jan got the Keto Breakfast Bowl, with sauteed onions, mushrooms, sausage, cauliflower rice, avocado, and a scrambled egg.

She said it was delicious and a new favorite.

I stayed old school and just got Eggs & Bacon.

Really good, especially the bacon.

Finally finishing up at Stella’s, we did our usual Sunday HEB visit, and then home.

* * * * * * *

When we got home this afternoon, I found that FedEx had delivered a big box of Starlink stuff.

About 25# of stuff, in a 28″ x 18” x 5” box.

Resisting the urge to rip it open, I put it aside, probably until Tuesday when I’ll have time to install it.

Looks to be pretty straightforward.

But as they say, Looks Can Be Deceiving.

* * * * * * *

Memories Of A By-Gone Era:

 


Thought For The Day:

Why Is No One Ever The Right Amount Of Whelmed?


Your Retro-Preview Highlights –

2010 – RV’ing Through Utah Scenery

2011 – D-Day And Mt. Shasta

2017 – Reptiles, Dinosaurs, And Mt. Rushmore, NOT

2018 – Shiny Wheels And Pan-Cams

And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™


June 7, 2009

Nana’s Cafe…again!

Today I wanted to work some more on the toad tail lights, so we headed out for breakfast early. I wanted to get back to the coach before the regular afternoon rains showed up.

We decided to have breakfast at Nana’s Cafe, where we ate a couple of days ago, and got hooked on their coconut macaroons. And they have great breakfasts too!

When we got back, I started pulling the wiring harness underneath the toad, ty-wrapping it as I went. I’m not quite sure how I’m going to wire this thing up.

As usual, I’m mostly making it up as I go.

I got everything done I was planning to, and buttoned everything up right before the rains came.

Tomorrow, after we do some touristy stuff, I’ll work on it some more.


June 7, 2010

Moab and Monticello…

We pulled out of our park about 8 am, heading first right down the street to take on about 140 gallons of diesel. And for a change, the price had gone down.

When we got here, the price was $2.97, then yesterday the price was $2.91. Today it was $2.89. And this is the first time in a long while that diesel is cheaper than unleaded, if only by 4 cents.

We left the station and pulled onto I-15 South about 8:30, heading toward Monticello, UT, about 270 miles away. We had a great time spending a few days with our friends Pat and Judy, and they did a fantastic job showing us around Salt Lake City. Hopefully, we’ll be able to catch up with them again soon.

The first thing I started checking after we got on the road was whether or not my PacBrake exhaust brake is working, or at least activating.

I know it’s not working, or at least it doesn’t seem to slow me down any more than just the downshifting that happens. But what I didn’t know is whether or not it’s actually moving into position.

But now I do. Last night, I mounted a video camera in the engine compartment under the bed and ran the cable to a small monitor up on the dash.

In the first photo, you can see the PacBrake valve in the rest position.

Video 1

In this photo, the valve has moved.

Video 2

So now I know that the air actuator is working and moving the valve. I think this means that I have one of two other problems.

The PacBrake is a butterfly valve that is installed right after the turbocharger and provides back pressure to the system when it closes. So this means that either the valve is not closing all the way, or I have a leak in my exhaust system.

So now I’ve got to try to figure out where to go next with this.

Actually, I was really hoping that the PacBrake wasn’t activating. That would mean that I had a bad relay or a bad air solenoid, or actuator, something that would be easier for me to fix.

Oh, well. Back to the drawing board.

About noon, we hit a 25-mile stretch of I-70, so we stopped in Green River at an Arby’s located in a truck stop, so we had no trouble parking.

Along the trip today, I noticed that my engine temps were running hotter than normal. Usually, my water temp runs rock steady at 175 degrees, with an occasional excursion up to 180-185 on long hills. But today I’m hitting 190 – 195 on the hills with one 199 observed. I knew I wasn’t low on water, so what was wrong?

Then it suddenly dawned on me that it was about 95 degrees outside. This is the first time we’ve seen 80 degrees this year, much less 95. Most of our travels this year have been in the 50-60 degree range. So now it made sense. One less thing to worry about.

During the trip, we saw some great scenery along the way. These photos are in no particular order.

Utah Scenery 1

Utah Scenery 20

Utah Scenery 19

Utah Scenery 18

Utah Scenery 17

This is Wilson Arch, about 25 miles south of Moab, UT.

Utah Scenery 15

Utah Scenery 16

Utah Scenery 14

Utah Scenery 13

Utah Scenery 12

Utah Scenery 11

Utah Scenery 10

Utah Scenery 9

Utah Scenery 8

Utah Scenery 7

Utah Scenery 6

Utah Scenery 5

Utah Scenery 4

Utah Scenery 2

About 2:30, we pulled into Mountain View RV Park in Monticello, UT. The note on the office door said to find a site and pay later, so we did.

Monticello 1

I did have to reposition sideways a little, or there would have been some serious ‘slide kissing’ going on. Even now, there’s not a lot of room.

Monticello 2

This park has about 30 spaces, and is basically an RV park in someone’s large front yard. That’s their house in the back there.

Monticello 3

Our daughter Brandi called just as we were getting parked. She and Jan talked a good while, going over the wedding plans for the 21st.

We had leftovers tonight, so we didn’t even unhook the toad. Just one less thing to do before we leave for Show Low, AZ, tomorrow morning.


June 7, 2011

D-Day – June 6th, 1944

Just had to post this early today.

This is how they celebrated D-Day in France yesterday, with 1000 ‘peace turtles”, made up of U.S., Russian, and German helmets, crawling up Omaha Beach at Colleville sur Mer to “protest global violence”.

Maybe they would be better off speaking German.

D-Day Turtles

This is a much better photo.

D-Day

Or this.

Arlington-shade-trees

More blog later.


Was up about 10:30 with coffee and a muffin. Today was just a stay-at-home day, along with some chores.

A little later, Sue, the camp host, came by to drop off some brochures about things to do in the area. Nice lady.

Then I went outside to check out Mt. Shasta, and,

FINALLY!

Mt Shasta - Finally

Mt. Shasta was clear of clouds, and it is very impressive. Its highest point is over 14,000 feet, and since it’s not part of a mountain range, it really stands out and dominates the area.

It turns out that Mt. Shasta is actually a dormant (Note – Not extinct) volcano made of four distinct cones, and is home to seven named glaciers. We know it is still active because of the ongoing outgassing of sulfur gases and steam on the mountain. The last observed eruption was in 1786, and another one is expected in the next several hundred years. Just think Mt. St. Helens.

Around noon, while Jan was doing our rugs at the park laundromat, I drove into downtown Weed to drop off a package to our daughter Brandi.

Then, around 4:30, Jan and I went right down the street to Silvia’s BBQ, another Weed restaurant recommended by people here at the park.

Being from Texas, we’re always suspicious of other state’s BBQ.

I mean, California BBQ?

But our impression began to change when we got out of the truck and smelled the meat on the grill. You can’t fault a BBQ joint that has its pit out in front of the restaurant for all the world to see.

Silvias BBQ Pit

We each had a combo plate, with Jan having the Ribs and Chicken, while I had the Tri-Tip and the Pulled Pork, and we both had the Steakhouse BBQ Beans.

And, Surprise! It was really good BBQ. The sauce was tangy, and a little sweet. The only way it could have been better was a little more heat.

Hopefully, we’ll be able to go back before we leave on Saturday.

Tomorrow we’re going to take another drive out into the countryside and check out a fish hatchery.


June 7, 2013

I was right. They were wrong.

About 10, I headed down to Sunriver to try and find the correct adapter so I could finish up my drinking fountain/water faucet install. The one I got yesterday should have worked, but it didn’t seem to match up with the 3/8″ tubing I had.

And when I got to the hardware store, I found out why. I left the old one at the checkout counter when I went back to find the right one. But as I looked, my eyes kept coming back to the same one I got yesterday. And in looking closer, it looked bigger than the one I got yesterday, which was too small.

I had brought a piece of the 3/8″ tubing with me and compared it with the adapter. And it sure looked to me that it would fit. So I took it back up to the counter and checked it against the one I had brought back. And they were different, even though the part number on the package was the same.

At first, I thought maybe someone swapped it out and brought it back, but looking closely at the packaging, I could see only one set of staple holes in the cardboard. So it had apparently come from the company that way.

After the hardware store, I went next door to the Shell station, picked up some lottery tickets, and then headed back to the park.

Jan had been wanting to whip up a batch of her World Famous Chili, but hates smelling up the coach for several days with the aroma of grilling hamburger and onions. So I took her, the hamburger and onions, and her electric skillet, and set her up on the picnic table outside. Worked like a charm.

I hooked up all the water lines on my project, but didn’t mount everything, so I could check for leaks first. I did have one very small leak, but I’ll wait and see what it’s doing tomorrow. I just put a bowl under it for now.

About 4:30, after cooking in the slow cooker all afternoon, Jan served up the chili with corn tortillas, grated cheese, and crunchy tortilla strips. Really, really delicious, and we’ve got plenty left for more meals.

Brandi, Lowell, and Landon are just finishing up their first week in their new home. Looks like they’ve really settled in.

Brandi's New House


June 7, 2015

Six Weeks and Counting . . .

So hopefully they’ll make some headway on the windshield tomorrow. I’m going to call American Coach Parts to see if they have a part number for it, and I’m also going to look for my invoice from last year’s replacement to see if it has a part number on it.

The last couple of days it’s been cool with temps in the low 70’s, but today it jumped back up to 79. Still very nice. Then it looks to be in the low 80’s for the next week or so. Hope it holds out.

I went into the Thousand Trails website today and canceled all of our dates for back east, i.e., Indian Lakes, Wilmington, Hershey, etc. As it stands now, we’ll head back over to Verde Valley for a couple of weeks after leaving here. This will let me check out any problems with the repair while we’re still only about 50 miles away from here, in case I find any problems.

Then we’ll resume the first part of our original journey, i.e., Albuquerque, Amarillo, and then Oklahoma City, before heading south down to the Dallas area. We plan on checking out the 4 Thousand Trails parks encircling Dallas, only one of which we’ve ever visited. That was Lake Whitney, and it was only for one night, passing through.

That should keep us occupied until the last part of August, when we’ll be back in the Houston area for Landon’s birthday. Then we’ll decide if we’re going to gate guard this year or not. If we don’t, then we’ll have to figure out where we’re going from there.


June 7, 2016

Still in Trouble . . .

After my mis-matchmaking fiasco in yesterday’s blog, trying to marry off Judy Mott to some guy named Ed, now I’ve got Jan mad at me.

When I was talking about the D-Day landings yesterday, and my Uncle Theo’s landing on Omaha Beach, I had also planned to mention that Jan’s father landed on Utah Beach. But somehow it slipped through the keys, and I left it out.

Jan said that her father always said that he worked in a hangar during the war. She didn’t know any different until she read his obituary. Turns out he fought his way across Europe much like my uncle did. And like my uncle, he didn’t like to talk about it.

After leaving the Army at the end of the war, he later reenlisted in what was by now the US Air Force, and went career, retiring in 1966 as a Senior Master Sergeant, the year before I first met Jan.

Yesterday’s A/C drain repair is still holding, and no more water is dropping into the coach. Hopefully, it will hold until I can get back up on the roof and finish the job.

I need to find a way to block water and gunk from dropping into the bedroom when I clean the coil. Right now, I plan to put a piece of plywood over the hole and then cover the area with garbage bags and seal it up with Gorilla tape. This will let me spray the coil with cleaner and then hose it off.

One thing I noticed yesterday was the fact that the freeze sensor thermistor had come loose from the coil and had fallen down on the base, which explains why the unit sometimes freezes up. I’ll use a paperclip to make a new bracket to hold it in place.

My next project is to get our Sharp microwave down from its over-the-counter bracket and repair the door latch. So right now I’ve been Googling for some idea on how it comes down. It seems like every different model does it differently. Supposedly, the unit weighs about 70 pounds, so the real problem may be getting it back up in place after I fixed it. We’ll see.

And of course, there’s still the water pump replacement waiting in the wings.

Coming off the 3rd (and usually last) day of a migraine, Jan was ready to go out for dinner, so about 4 pm we headed down to the Woodlands Waterway area to have dinner at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria.

We’ve loved Grimaldi’s ever since we ate at the original one in NYC in 2009, and were really happy to find they had spread out across the country since then.

And by using the same coal-fired brick ovens, the same coal, the same water, and the same ingredients from the same companies, the pizza here in Houston tastes just as good as what we had in NYC.

We did do something a little different this time by trying a new salad.

Normally, we get the House Salad, which is very good. But they’ve added a Kale Chopped Salad with Kale, Romaine Lettuce, Artichokes, Cucumber, Red Onion, Shaved Italian Cheese, Sun Dried Tomatoes, and Kalamata Olives, and tossed in a Lemon Vinaigrette.

So now we have a new favorite salad.

As far as the pizza, we got our usual Large with Pepperoni, Mushrooms, Italian Sausage, and Meatballs.

We always get the Large because we then have half to bring home.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Just the best pizza around.


June 7, 2017

Rushmore Not . . .

Last night I was thinking that, although I could now start the generator, I still didn’t really know if it actually worked, you know, generated.

So this morning I decided to do a full test on the generator and transfer switch. Going outside, I extended the generator, and while pressing the Start button, I touched the solenoid wire to the power lug, and the generator started right up.

I realized that when I started it up the other day, I did not press the Start button, but just used the solenoid wire, and that was why it took 5 or 6 tries for it to catch. As it turns out, there is a sequence of 9 different things that happen when you press the button.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

So with the generator running, I went inside to wait for the transfer switch to change over.

And I waited.

And I waited.

And I waited.

Since I recently replaced the transfer switch, there was also a question about its function. So to see if it made any difference, I went outside and shut off shore power, and then came back inside.

And waited.

And waited.

And then it dawned on me. I had turned off the output circuit breaker on the generator while I was working on it. So, back outside to flip the breaker back on.

And by the time I got back inside the rig, I had power. So we’re good to head south now.

I have not yet been able to figure out what the actual problem is. It could be a broken wire, or it could be a problem with the controller board not sending out the start signal to the solenoid.

In many cases, the wire might be the most likely problem. But in this case, the wire goes right into a wire harness encased in a cover and comes out about 18″ later and goes into the controller housing. So, with no obvious damage to the harness, a bad wire is not high on the list.

And, according to Cummins, a new controller board is $995.00. So my temporary-for-now/permanent-maybe idea is to use a remote starter switch from O’Reilly Auto Parts to start the generator from inside while I’m also pressing the Start button.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Once I determine where the problem really is, which may not happen until we get back to Houston, I’ll decide how to proceed. If it turns out to be the controller board, I’ll see if I can get one cheaper than $1000. If not, the aux starter switch will become permanent. But since I have two blank switch positions on the dashboard panel, I may wire it in permanently. We’ll see.

About 1 pm, Jan and I head south back down to the Mt. Rushmore area for a couple of more touristy things. And our first stop was at the Dinosaur Museum, located right next door to the Reptile Gardens.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

They did have a large number of both skeletons and mockups.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

A pteradon.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

A Dimetrodon

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Mr. T-Rex himself.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

This is the skull of a SuperCroc. At over 40 feet long, it could swallow any of today’s gators and crocs whole.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Two of the Sea Lizards.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

The next two are ‘Not-Dinosaurs’. But I guess they had the skeletons, so they put them to use.

This is the ‘Short-Faced Bear’, which only died out about 11,000 years ago.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

This is the Smilodon, a saber-toothed cat that also died out at the end of the last Ice Age, about 11,000 years ago.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

A very nice visit.

Next up was our visit to Mt. Rushmore itself. We decided to first drive some of the scenic loops and stop at the monument on the way back. But finally coming back about 6 pm, it was raining hard, so we decided to bypass until tomorrow. In fact, it rained on us a good bit while we were on the Needles Highway.

So tomorrow we’ll visit the monument, and then drive the Wildlife Loop. So I’ll wait until tomorrow to post all our Rushmore stuff at one time. But I will leave you with this photo.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

There were black storm clouds silhouetting the monument, really making it stand out.

Coming back into Rapid City, of course, it stopped raining, so we decided to have dinner at Millstone Family Restaurant in La Crosse. Highly rated on Yelp, it was good for us, too.

We both had the Soup & Salad Bar, Jan just getting a salad, while I also got a cup of the Corn Chowder.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

For her dinner, Jan got the Chicken Strip Dinner.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

I got the Double Cheeseburger with Bacon, as well as a bowl of their other soup of the day, Bean’ N Ham.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

And as per Yelp, everything was really good.

As I said, tomorrow we’ll revisit the Mt. Rushmore area, and then if we have time, the Dinosaur Park, which Jan visited when she was in the 2nd grade, and also the South Dakota Air & Space Museum out near Ellsworth AFB.

A busy day.


June 7, 2018

Wyzing Up . . .

First up, I want to thank everyone for your kind words about yesterday’s blog on Statistics, Lying with Statistics, and Damned Statistics. I really appreciate it.

I had originally planned to power wash the rig this morning, but it just didn’t work out. I guess my get-up-and-go just didn’t get up.

I’ll try again on Saturday morning.

I want to get it done before we leave on our upcoming trip on the 21st. Besides the normal grime, I want to get all the oil off the rear of the coach and also the Blue Ox tow bar that was left over from our hydraulic fluid fan motor leak.

I also want to get some more Busch Aluminum Wheel Wash to clean up our rig’s wheels like I did last March. The front wheels went from this

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

to this.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

And the rear wheels went from this

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

to this.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

And the stuff is really easy to use. No scrubbing or polishing. Just spray it on, let it sit, and then rinse it off. It did take a couple of spray, sit, rinse iterations because the wheels were pretty dirty, but they came out great.

Jan and I headed up to Webster to have lunch at our now-favorite Chinese buffet, East Star. Then, after our usual delicious meal, we made a stop at my client’s office to pick up the Learning Remote for our new TV SoundBar that came in yesterday.

Then it was on over to the El Dorado Wal-Mart to drop off a prescription and get some groceries. After that, it was home about 5 pm.

After we got settled in, I unwrapped our new Learning Remote and got it set up. And that only took a couple of minutes. I had ordered it so both of us would have a remote to control the volume of the SoundBar that we got to increase the volume from our TV.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

All it takes to program it is to just press the SET button until the red light comes on, and then point the two remotes at each other about an inch apart. Then press and hold the function button you want to copy, and press the corresponding button on the new remote. Easy Peazy.

I programmed the Mute and Volume buttons for the SoundBar, the Power button for the TV, and the A/V button for the TV Input to switch between the DVR and the Computer. As of yet, I haven’t decided what, if anything, I’m going to do with the CH Up and CH Down buttons, since they won’t really work with our DirecTV DVR.

I think the real problem with it is going to be keeping track of it.

I’ve got another new toy coming in either tomorrow or Saturday. It’s a new Wyze Cam, but this is the new Pan Cam.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Not only can it be set to automatically pan back and forth, and tilt, but it can also be programmed with multiple detection hotspots. Even better, it will pan to track any action that enters its field of vision. And all this at 1080p and for only $30.

You can check out the video here.

I mentioned before that I’m not really happy with GoDaddy’s Website Builder programs, both the old one and the new one. So I’ve started looking at other programs.

I started this afternoon with WIX’s version, and so far, I like it. It’s easy, intuitive, and pretty powerful. But before I switch anything over, I want to look at a couple of other programs first.


June 7, 2021

A Nice, Easy Trip . . .

After running through my checklist, turning off stuff, like the water and the water heater, and turning on stuff, like the lights on timers, etc., we were pulling out of the park about 6:50 am, a little ahead of schedule.

Traffic was not heavy at all, and our first stop was about an hour later at the Buc-ee’s in Baytown for coffee, kolaches, and gas, and restrooms, of course.

Next up was the rest area as we entered Louisiana about 90 minutes later for a pee-break, due to the Buc-ee’s coffee.

Two more hours found us at the Pilot/Flying J in Beaux Bridge, LA, for restrooms, gas, and Jamocha Shakes from the Arby’s, which was our lunch. We had plans for a big dinner.

Ninety minutes later, we were turning north on I-55 heading for Jackson, MS (actually Brandon, MS), our overnight stop. And with one more rest area rest stop, we arrived at our destination about 2:30, and the reason we were staying out in Brandon, Sonny’s BBQ.

Sonny’s BBQ is one of our long-term favs, for two reasons. It’s really good BBQ, with an emphasis on Sliced Pork, and personally, because it’s where Jan and I went on either our first or second dates. It’s a toss-up.

It was either Lum’s Hot Dogs, the ones steamed in beer, or Sonny’s. And neither of us can remember which was which.

And of course, I have a little Lum’s trivia. After peaking at over 450 restaurants in the early 70’s, with locations in every state, except Alaska, and even in Puerto Rico, but with a lot of bad decisions by new owners, the chain, like many others, faded away, with the last one closing in either 2009 in Davie, FL, or in 2017 in Bellevue, NE, depending on which article you read.

So now you know.

And like most places we go, we have our favorites here too.

Jan always gets the Big Sliced Pork Sandwich with Beans and Fries,

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

while I get the Pork 3 Ways Platter with Beans and Beans.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

That’s Sliced Pork, Pulled Pork, and Ribs. All great.

Finishing up, and really full, we were only about 2 miles away from our La Quinta hotel, and we were in our room by 3:30 pm.

Our room here is pretty disappointing, especially for a La Quinta. But more about that later.

We’re getting another early start tomorrow, because we’ve got another surprise lunch stop, ending up at Jan’s sister, Debbie’s, tomorrow afternoon.

There’s a reason the subtitle for our blog is Eating Our Way Across the USA.


June 7, 2023

Nazi’s In Alabama?

After my BPPV attack this past Monday, a couple of our loyal blog readers asked me if I had tried the exercises that are supposed to relieve this problem.

Yes, I’ve tried 2 or 3 different ones, for several months at a time, with no discernible results that I can tell. I still get 3 or 4 attacks a year that last for a couple of days and then disappear until the next one.

And, strangely, the attacks always start at night, and announce themselves by flipping me head over heels when I just turn over in bed, and then it gets worse.

This came on me out of the blue back in December 2017, almost two years before my Spinal problems showed up, so I doubt there’s any connection there.

Yesterday I was able to replace one of the nose pieces on Jan’s glasses using this kit from Amazon.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Eyeglass Nose Piece Repair Kit

Not only does it have the replacement nose pieces and the very tiny screws, it also has the tweezers and screwdrivers needed too.

Our new/old friend, Bill Bergman, (new to Jan, I’ve known him since grade school) recommended a book to us, The Heart Mender. Set in the Gulf Shores area during WWII (Nazis in Alabama?), Jan said it was fun to read about all the locations that she recognized.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

The Heart Mender

Jan says it’s a great book. Check it out.

And something really spooky about this is that when Jan recommended the book to our friend Susan Springall, who we visited in Montgomery on our recent trip, Susan said that she had already read it, and that a friend of hers had babysat the author, Andy Andrews, when he was little.

Tomorrow it’s back up to the Spring area for our monthly meet-up with Debi and Ed Hurlburt, again at El Palenque Mexican Restaurant.

Looking forward to it as always.


June 7, 2024

Just A Little Smokey. . .

I spent a couple of hours on the phone this morning with GoDaddy, trying to find out why our electrolysis website had been down since about 10 am, but our tattoo site, supposedly on the same server, was working fine.

After going through a bunch of techs, I finally got to a server tech who was able to confirm that it was a server problem and that it should be back online in the next 30 minutes or so. And it was.

When I asked why the tattoo site wasn’t having any problems, he checked and said it was no longer on the same server as the electrolysis site. It had been moved over a few months ago.

I got off work a few minutes early this afternoon, but it came back to bite me. A few minutes after I got on I-45S, all 5 lanes came to a halt. Then, for the next 15 minutes or so, it was start-stop until it all stopped completely for the next 45 minutes.

Finally, about 4:30, the police on the scene started letting one lane at a time pass this right in the middle of the Interstate.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

So, instead of getting home about 3:25, it was about 4:45 pm. It was only later that I found out what had actually happened.

League City I-45 Crash

According to police, witnesses informed 911 about someone driving recklessly and traveling into the city.

Police said the driver of a white Ford Expedition hit an outside freeway barrier as he approached FM 518, traveling across all lanes of traffic and hitting the inside barrier.

At the same time, the driver’s door was opened, and the driver was thrown from the vehicle onto the shoulder, investigators said.

According to police, the unoccupied vehicle kept driving, moved back into the travel lanes, and hit a Toyota Corolla in the middle lane.

The driver was the only occupant of the Ford, while three people were inside the Toyota. Emergency responders rushed all four people to the hospital.

Joe, my mechanic, called this afternoon saying he had our Jeep ready to go. The A/C compressor had pretty much come apart inside, spewing debris throughout the system. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to finish it until next week, but the parts came in more quickly than he thought.

We’ll pick it up tomorrow, and then put Old Faithful back out to pasture, with Stabil in the gas tank and a trickle charger on the battery, all ready to go for next time. She’s never failed us yet.

And on a final note, on the way into work this morning, Old Faithful hit 315,000 miles, still going strong.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Just a little smoky.


June 7, 2025

Sparkly Toes . . .

While Jan was getting her toeies done this afternoon, which takes about an hour, I pulled over to the side of a parking lot to a shady spot under a tree, and replaced the hood struts on the Jeep.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Replacing them only took about 10 minutes. I did bring a stick with me to hold the hood up as I replaced each one.

I used an ice pick to pop out the little tab shown under the arrow above, which let me pull the old strut off the ball, leaving this.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Then, after doing both ends, all I had to do was just snap the new strut into place. And the second one was just as easy.

Done.

And Jan’s toes turned out great, too. Sparkly Toes.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Then it was on over to Schafer’s Coastal Grille for lunch. Which comes with a great view.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

And like most places we frequent, we have our favorites.

Jan’s is their Keto Shrimp Tacos, using Avocado Halves as the Taco shell.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

My favorite(s) started off with the Wedge Salad,

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

and then the Filet Bites.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Finishing up our great meal, we headed back toward Santa Fe, with our weekly Wal-Mart stop on the way.

Tomorrow, it’s Denny’s and HEB once again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s Still Dead . . .

Remember, to access our blog links,
Right-Click on The Link and Select ‘Open in New Tab’

Jan’s Phone, that is.

Friday afternoon, when Verizon said that Jan’s phone would be unlocked sometime between 1 hour and 2 days, I figured the 2-day figure was probably going to be more accurate, due to the upcoming weekend.

And so far, that’s what’s happening.

I figure that I’m going to be back on the phone Tuesday, trying to straighten this out.

* * * * * * *

Lunch today was at Gator’s once again. Very tasty as always. Then it was on up to the Wal-Mart for our weekly WM stuff.

* * * * * * *

Our Starlink hardware is still scheduled to be delivered tomorrow, sometime between 10 am and 2 pm. Don’t know when I will have time to set it up. Maybe Tuesday.

We’ll see.

* * * * * * *

For some reason, every now and then, Karma decides to become a Sink Cat.

She does look comfy.

* * * * * * *

Tomorrow we’re checking out a new place for lunch, Stella’s Fresh Brunch. It opened a few days ago in the location of the late, much-lamented Monterey’s Little Mexico, over in Dickinson.

Looking at the menu, it seems to be a high-end version of Snooze, First Watch, The Egg And I, type of place with a very extensive menu.

Then, it’s on up the feeder for our weekly HEB run.


Thought For The Day:

I certainly say “It Is What It Is.” a lot for someone who has no idea what it is.
Or where it is, for that matter.


Your Retro-Preview Highlights –

2011 – Almost As Good As Bears in Weed, CA

2014 – Abracadabra In Magic Town

2017 – Shoot Out In Deadwood, SD

2022 – Family Get-Together In Gulf Shores, AL

And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™


June 6, 2009

Flea Markets & Flamingos…

We decided to have lunch at Oasis Restaurant over on St. Augustine Beach.

On our way there, we just ‘happened’ to pass Nana’s and just ‘happened’ to stop to buy more coconut macaroons.

Quite a coincidence, huh?

After a very good lunch at Oasis, we headed back to the coach, stopping off at a fruit stand looking for fresh peaches, but no luck.

Getting back to the RV park, we went next door to the large Flea Market that is adjacent to the park. In fact, it is owned by the same people who own the RV park.

Found some new ‘S’ hook hangers, a flamingo knick-knack, and best of all, a spare DirecTV satellite receiver w/remote for only $5. The remote itself was more than worth the $5. A new one costs $20 at Walmart.

And now I’ve got a backup receiver, or maybe a 2nd receiver for Jan to use on the bedroom TV, so she can watch a different channel from the one I’m watching on the front TV.

For supper, we headed out without a real destination in mind.

I wanted to go by a Radio Shack to get some diodes for my new taillight setup, and then we thought we’d just see what we found.

And what we found was the New Century Chinese Buffet. According to their door, they’ve won a lot of awards for their food. And it was pretty good.

But not as good as the New Peking Buffet in Titusville earlier in the week.

And so it goes…


June 6, 2010

Last Day in Salt Lake City…

We headed for lunch at Sweet Tomatoes about 11 am, but first, we drove through a Holiday gas station right down the street. I wanted to check out access since I want to fuel up tomorrow morning before we hit the road south.

Diesel is down to $2.91, a pleasant change from a few weeks ago, when I paid $3.69.

Sweet Tomatoes (also known as Souplantation in some areas) is a really good soup and salad buffet place we first discovered in Ft. Myers, FL last year, and we try to eat there whenever we find one.

After lunch, we drove over to Wal-Mart to do some shopping, and then Jan wanted to get her hair done for our daughter Brandi’s wedding in two weeks.

Then, heading home, we stopped by Camping World so Jan could look at some of their recipe books.

Getting home, I worked on some stuff around the coach.

I repaired a connector on the wires that connect the taillights on our toad to the coach. Then I installed a video camera in my engine compartment so I could monitor the operation of my PacBrake exhaust brake.

Then, a little before 5 pm, we drove over to Famous Dave’s BBQ to have a last dinner with our good friends, Pat and Judy Benson.

Pat and Judy

We got back to the rig about 7 pm and started getting ready to travel tomorrow. Then, about 8:30, a bad thunderstorm, complete with hail, roared through the area, but I don’t think it was bad enough to do any damage, at least not here.

Tomorrow we head south to Monticello, UT, about 270 miles away, on our way to Show Low, AZ.


June 6, 2011

Almost as Good as Bears . . .

This morning started off with a call from our daughter Brandi, just checking in and talking about Landon’s latest antics.

About 10:30, we headed out on our Bear Hunting day trip, but our first stop was for breakfast at the Hi-Lo Diner, where we had dinner last night. Jan had eggs, bacon, hash browns, and biscuits. I had Eggs Benedict with country fries, and it was more than I could eat.

Hi-Lo Breakfast

One thing we had noticed last night was this inscription on their coffee cups.

Al-Can Beginning

Now I would have sworn that Dawson Creek, BC, Canada, thinks that they are the beginning of the AL-CAN highway. At least they thought so when we were there 3 years ago.

Dawson Creek BC

So this morning I thought to ask, and their answer kind of makes sense.

The cashier said that US 97 originates in Weed, CA, and goes all the way up to Dawson Creek. And checking it out when we got home shows they’re right.

US 97 runs up to the Canada border at Oroville, WA, and there becomes PH (Provincial Highway) 97, and poof!, 1400 miles later, you’re in Dawson Creek. And actually, PH 97 runs all the way up to Watson Lake in the Yukon as the AL-CAN along with PH 1.

But when you get to Dawson Creek, it’s still another 1500 miles to Fairbanks. A long trip.

For our bear hunt, we left Weed and headed south on I-5 to Mt. Shasta, where we got on CA-89 and drove west.

All on a rumor.

A lady at the RV park said that someone told her that someone had seen bears out around Dana, CA, so off we went.

And it was a beautiful drive.

Dana is about 50 miles away, and about 10 miles before we got there, we came down out of the mountains into a wide, flat valley that, although at about 3300 feet, looked like the Kansas prairie.

Fall Valley 1

Fall Valley 2

This beautiful little church is in the small community of Glenburn.

Glenburn Church

Fall Valley 3

Still bearless and heading home, we saw a sign for a Wildlife Viewing area in the Shasta National Forest, so off we went. Most of the road was really good, but we kept going until we were on a road like this.

Bear Country

Still finding no bears, we turned back to the campground we had passed and stopped to stretch our legs. Hearing running water, Jan and I walked over to the river and found these beautiful falls.

Called Lower Falls, it has been fished since the early 1800’s. Salmon and trout run through here still today, and if it were the right time of the year, there would be bears here.

A day late, a bear short.

Lower Falls

I also did this short video.

Looking around, we noticed that there were chipmunks everywhere, zipping around like hummingbirds. Of course, Jan just had to feed them.

Who knew chipmunks liked Rold Gold Pretzels?

Chipmunk 1

They had obviously been fed before because when people show up, they come running . . . or zipping, as it were.

Chipmunk 2

Jan said seeing all the chipmunks running around was almost as good as seeing bears.

Coming home, we stopped off to check out the Dance Country RV Park in McCloud. It’s a really nice park, well laid out with a lot of space.

Getting back to I-5 in Mt. Shasta, we decided to head about 35 miles north to Yreka, CA, and the nearest Wal-Mart. While we were there, I stopped in at the Radio Shack, and then it was on to the Wal-Mart next door.

By the time we left the Wal-Mart, it was after 4 pm, so we decided to have dinner at Black Bear Diner before heading home, so we could compare it with the Hi-Lo Diner.

And it was quickly obvious that these two places had the same origin. The menus, made up to look like newspapers, were almost identical, as were most of the menu items. And the food was just as good, too.

As we pulled in, we noticed an Ambassador Motorcoach towing an SUV on a trailer. Jan and I play a game in these cases and try to identify who in the restaurant are the RV’ers. But in this case, it wasn’t hard. It turned out to be someone we knew, Ray Kannada, from the rally in Yuma this past March.

And he was also at the Lake Minden Thousand Trails in Nicolaus, CA, about a week before we were there.

It’s really amazing sometimes how small the RV world is.

Coming back to Weed, we had some really scenic views. Here’s another shot of Mt. Shasta, still partially covered by clouds. Hopefully, it will clear before we leave on Saturday.

Mt Shasta - Yreka

You could also see the clouds rolling into the valleys as the day

Fog in the Valley

You can also see the fog in how Black Butte looked yesterday,

Black Butte

And how it looked today. It’s hard to tell it’s even there. That’s why pilots say that sometimes clouds have rocks.

Black Butte Clouds

We got home a little after 6 after a 200-mile trip and a lot of beautiful sights. Tomorrow will probably be a nice stay-at-home day.


June 6, 2012

Blinded By The Light . . .

With apologies to Bruce Springsteen (or Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, as your taste may run), I think that’s what happened to this armadillo who wandered into the area the other night. He came out of the trees and grass across the road and seemed to be doing fine until he came into the glare of all the lights. Then he couldn’t seem to figure out what to do or where to go.

He bumped around the fence for a while, then managed to crawl under the gate, but then turned around and started bumping into the gate again. Finally, he got out of the glare of the lights and continued on his way into the darkness.

Armadillo

And if that wasn’t strange enough, about an hour later, I saw something moving off to my right on the road leading up to the gate. It’s a bunny rabbit, and unlike the armadillo, he seemed to know exactly where he was going and wasn’t bothered by the lights.

He got directly opposite where I was sitting, stopped, looked over at me, and then continued hopping through the gate. When he got to the crossroad, he stopped again like he was checking for traffic, and then, making a left turn, hopped on down the road and off into the darkness.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was hippity-hopping down the bunny trail.

Sorry. I just couldn’t help it.


As a follow-up on some of my recent gadget evaluations, the cooling mister is still working great.

Ocean Beeze Mister

Since we’re starting to see a few days in the upper 90’s, I added a 2nd nozzle to the water line this morning, about two inches below the first one. According to the thermometer, this immediately dropped the temperature by another two degrees, and the difference was noticeable.

The Vehicle Sensor alarm that I recently purchased is also working out great. Once I saw that, I ordered a second sensor, and now I have one at each end of the approach roads. Each one is located about 150 yards from our rig and does a great job giving us a heads-up on approaching vehicles.

Driveway Monitor

Lastly, an update on the Kindle Fire tablet we got a few weeks ago. Jan uses it at night to read books, play games, and surf the Web. She’s really kind of taken it over. Because of the glare, it’s pretty much useless outside in the daytime, but then she just switches to her regular Kindle.


Ryan Etheridge, the Marathon Safety guy here, just came back from his two weeks off and brought us back some great boudin direct from his hometown of Lafayette, LA. Thanks again, Ryan.

And speaking of food, this afternoon we had another great meal dropped off by a rig catering company. Steak, potato salad, green beans, and banana pudding for dessert.

Yum!

Steak Dinner 2

A guy could get used to this.


On a final note, if you’re a Beach Boys fan, they’ve got a new album out called “That’s Why God Made the Radio”. With 12 new, mostly Brian Wilson songs, the album really has that vintage Beach Boys sound. Backed up by studio musicians who played with them in the 60’s, the guys, most of them in their 70’s, can still hit those harmonies just like the old days.

It’s a $4.99 MP3 download on Amazon, so check it out.


June 6, 2013

Three More Days . . .

of 80+ temperatures and using the A/C.

Make it stop!


On the 3-D printer front, now they’re printing in sugar. These photos are from a company that now makes them as cake decorations.

3-D Sugar Vase 2

3-D Sugar Vase 1

3-D Sugar Vase 3

http://the-sugar-lab.com/gallery


The $25 Honey Wagon showed up about 10:30. The guy confirmed that they had really jumped the price since we were here two years ago, and also mentioned that during the summer, the 290 spaces here stay pretty much full, and he’s on the go all the time.

Since everyone probably dumps about once a week, that means during the summer, the park makes as much as $7250 a week. Maybe I need to unretire.


Jan and I headed out a little after noon with our first stop at the hardware store right up the road in Sunriver. I was looking for the 3/8″ to 1/4″ plastic tubing adapter, and Jan was just looking.

But as we left the park, I checked the water pressure at two other sites, one in the middle and one at the front of the park. Both measured the same 25# as I do at our site. So I guess it’s a park problem and not just me. But I probably won’t worry about it any further, since our new Oxygenic Shower Head more than takes care of the problem of weak shower flow.

We got our stuff at the hardware store and then headed into Bend to have lunch at Baldy’s BBQ, and this time we mixed it up. I had the BBQ Beef Brisket Platter while Jan went with the Fried Catfish, and she said it was some of the best catfish she’s had. My brisket was really good, too.

Leaving Baldy’s, we drove along the Deschutes River for a while, admiring the many nice homes. We could see how high the water was due to all the snow melt from the surrounding mountains. Mountains like these.

Bend Backyard

Our next stop was OfficeMax, where Jan was looking for some ballpoint pen refills, and as usual, found some other stuff too. Then it was next door to Safeway for a few things before we headed back to the park.

While I stopped off at the park office to see if an Amazon package had come in, Jan walked next door to get some more fresh cherries from the produce stand at the entrance to the park.

Then, later, when I started to work on the water filter install, I found the hardware store had given me the wrong 3/8″ to 1/4″ compression adapter. They gave me one for metal tubing and not plastic tubing, and the sizes are different. However, in their defense, the package doesn’t indicate which one it’s for. So it’s back there tomorrow.


June 6, 2014

Abracadabra . . .

Or our version of the Magical Mystery Tour.

Or at least the Michigan portion of it.

We headed out about 9:30 with our first stop in Marshal, MI, at the American Museum of Magic.

American Museum of Magic 1

The collection of magic artifacts was assembled by, and the museum started by, Robert Lund, who, in his day job, was a well-known automobile writer, including Auto Editor for Popular Mechanics magazine.

Although not a magician himself, Lund was fascinated by magic and magicians since he was a young boy and collected everything he could, including the thousands of posters and playbills that lined the walls.

American Museum of Magic 3

I was impressed by two artifacts in the museum. The first is one of the three remaining Milk Cans used by Harry Houdini as part of his famous escape routines.

American Museum of Magic 2

And on a more modern note, they have two suits worn by Penn and Teller, the well-known present-day magicians.

American Museum of Magic 4

After a quick lunch at McDonald’s, we headed over to Colon, MI, home of two magic trick manufacturers, and a yearly Magic Get-Together where over 1000 magic enthusiasts show up.

Colon became a hotbed of magic due to the fact that the famous magician Harry Blackstone, Sr. bought a farm here in the 1920’s, and many fellow magicians flocked to the area. In fact, Blackstone Sr and his son-magician, Harry Blackstone Jr., are both buried in the local cemetery, as well as many other well-known magicians.

After visiting the cemetery, we headed back to Elkhart after a really fun day. You might even say a ‘magical’ day. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Later, after we’d been home for a while, we headed out to have dinner at Culver’s. Really love their burgers.

Back home, about 8 pm, blog reader Bob Plaskon stopped by.

Bob Plaskon

We all sat outside talking until finally the dark and the mosquitos finally drove us inside.

Tomorrow, maybe nothing.


June 6, 2015

Stocking Up . . .

I woke up feeling a little under the weather, so I slept late and then didn’t do much after I got up. Come to think of it, I guess that’s really not much different from any other day for me.

Later, I spent some more time looking at tires. While we were gate guarding, I noted the tires that many of the big trucks were using as they came through the gate. One thing I noticed was that most companies didn’t use what most of us call name brands, brands like Michelin, Goodyear, B.F. Goodrich, etc.

Instead, I saw tires like Doublestar, Double Coin, Hankook, Hercules, and Ironman. And I kind of think that if they’re good enough for Schlumberger, BP, Marathon, and Baker-Hughes, they’re probably good enough for our rig.

But I’m still looking.

About 3:30, we headed out for dinner and decided on Cracker Barrel, even though it wasn’t Thursday Turkey and Dressing Day. But it was Jan’s 2nd favorite, Saturday Chicken and Rice Day. I had the Buttermilk Fried Chicken, and then we shared a really good Strawberry Shortcake.

Finishing up, we went next door to the Sam’s Club to stock up on more of the Campbell’s Slow Kettle Tomato and Sweet Basil Bisque that we discovered the other day. Wanted to be sure we got some more before they either ran out, or more likely, discovered how wildly underpriced this is.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

As I said the other day, Sam’s is selling a 4-pack of these for $3.91. That’s about 98 cents each. But at the grocery stores, they sell for $2.79 to $2.98 each. So we’re saving about $2 a serving.

But it got better. When we found the display in Sam’s, they still had plenty, and they had reduced the price to $3.50 per 4-pack. So now it was 88 cents a serving. An even better deal.

As we were checking out with our eight 4 packs, we explained to the checkout guy about the great price, and he said was going to get a bunch too.

Guess what we’re having for supper tomorrow?

I was going to talk with the pharmacy about the discrepancy in prescriptions that I ran into the other day concerning Sam’s no longer offering the $4/$10 pricing like Wal-Mart. But a comment on our blog by Donna cleared things up. Here it is.

Hello, I’ve been following you for a bit but haven’t commented before.

Since I work at a Wal-Mart Pharmacy, I can help a bit. Sam’s is no longer allowed to use the Wal-Mart $4 plan, which allows some drugs to cost $4 for a month’s supply and $10 for a three-month supply. Wal-Mart can no longer use the Sam’s discount for meds. This was a change from corporate several months ago.

I know this is a pain, but your best bet is to fill at both. Use Wal-Mart for the items on the $4 list (you can find the list online) and Sam’s for the ones where you get the Sam’s discount. In many places, both stores will be next to each other.

If you’re not sure which will be cheaper, then call them and ask for the cash price. You can save a lot of money this way.

But there were still several strange things about this. One, the Sam’s Club in Las Vegas honored the $4 pricing just a month ago, and Two, the pharmacists at the Wal-Mart here had not heard anything about this change. I would have thought they would have heard.

But Three, I guess, was just coincidental timing. While we were at the Beijing Garden restaurant eating dinner after leaving Sam’s the other day, I went online to the Sam’s Club website, and found they still listed the $4 pricing.

But today it’s gone. (Cue the Twilight Zone theme)

If I were a little more paranoid, I might think Sam’s reads this blog.


June 6, 2016

It Was Late And I Was Tired . . .

Or Do We Have Too Many Friends To Keep Up With?

In yesterday’s blog, I tried to marry Judy Mott off to someone named Ed. But it seems she wants to stay with her present husband Dick. So much for my matchmaking ability.

I’m not sure where Ed came from, except as it said, It Was Late And I Was Tired. Jan and I both think we know another couple named Ed and Judy, but we couldn’t put a last name to them.

Blog reader Rick Rousseau identified the motor in yesterday’s trike as a GM product.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Rick said that the fact that the two inner exhaust ports were spaced very close together confirmed it.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Here was my reply to Rick.

Rick,

Well, I had it narrowed down to GM, Ford, or Chrysler, LOL.

The last time I fooled around with this stuff was in mid to late 60’s, with Hemi’s, 427’s, 428’s, 429’s, etc. If it wasn’t at least 400 cu. in, it wasn’t a real motor, just a hamster in a wheel.

All these high-output small blocks came around after my time.

In 1965, I did shoehorn a Buick aluminum V-6 into my Triumph Spitfire along with two Judson Superchargers, one on each bank, when I was racing in the SCCA Unlimited class.

Ran like a bat out of hell, but for some strange reason, I kept blowing out rear-ends. Who knew? LOL.

Greg

Today, being the 72nd anniversary of the D-Day landing on the beaches of Normandy, France, got me thinking about my late Uncle Theo.

And that got me thinking about his wife, my aunt Virginia, who still lives up in north Alabama. So I put in a call to her to check in and let her know we expect to be up there around the middle of August to visit.

I didn’t find out until years later that he had landed on Omaha Beach during the first day of the attack. But Omaha Beach was just his third campaign. He was also part of the Torch landings in North Africa and the Husky Landings in Sicily.

All in all, he fought across Europe in 7 campaigns, ending up at the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium. Dug in near Bastogne, Belgium, he said it was so cold nobody wanted to fight. “We could see the enemy, but we didn’t shoot at them, and they didn’t shoot at us.”

Here’s what I wrote last May after he died. Check out the rest of the story.

Theo Wesley Calvin, Jr.

Around 3 pm, I got the ladder out of the truck and went up on the roof of the rig to check out my leaking rear A/C. The first thing I noticed was that there was no water running off the sides of the rig on this one, but plenty from the front unit.

And as usual, in a simple job like this, one that should only take about 15 minutes, it took me almost an hour to just get to the problem. It took me about 30 minutes to get one of the four bolts loose that holds the cover on the A/C unit.

Then I started taking the sheet metal cover off the evaporator unit. And of course, two of the 30-odd screws that hold it on were also stuck. So out comes the big screwdriver and the hammer.

Getting the cover off and moving the evaporator coil aside, it was easy to see the problem.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

That white plastic tray is the drain pan, and that round hole is the actual drain. There’s one on each end of the pan, and they were both stopped up with all the gunk that was floating around in the pan, and the pan was full and running over and into the intake filter below, and dripping down onto the bedroom floor.

I was able to unclog the drain holes enough to get things flowing for today. But I’m going to have to come back tomorrow to finish up by cleaning the evaporator coil, cleaning out the drain pan gunk, and then putting in some bleach to really clean out the drain holes. But I was wiped out for today. I’d been up there for almost two hours, and the heat and sun were really starting to get to me. So I covered everything back up and came down.

Jan had been sitting outside, keeping an eye on me, and could tell I wasn’t feeling well. When I went up on the roof, it was overcast and about 80. When I came down, the sun was out, and it was 88. Unfortunately, it’s going to be even hotter the next few days, so I may wait a few days to finish up.

But for now, the problem is fixed, and it’s no longer leaking into the bedroom.


June 6, 2017

Dead Man’s Hand . . .

After yesterday’s 91°, today’s 75 and partly cloudy was a nice relief, especially since we didn’t get the also-promised rain showers this morning.

Today, we thought we would drive up north to Deadwood, so after a quiet morning, we left the rig about 1 pm. Getting into Deadwood about 30 minutes later, our first stop was the Visitor’s Center to pick up some brochures and make a restroom stop.

Then it was on to a recommended place for lunch, Harry’s Spaghetti Western Restaurant

We each got one of their dinners, starting with a salad.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

After that, Jan got the Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken, while I got the Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and Meatballs.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

For dessert, I had the Spumoni Ice Cream that came with the meal,

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

while Jan upgraded to the Tiramisu Cake.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

After a very good meal, we drove up the hill to the Mt. Moriah Cemetery, where both Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane are buried . . . as well as over 3,600 other unlucky people. The place is enormous

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

We would have walked around a bit, but as you can tell, it’s pretty steep and hilly, and since my knee has been acting up, we took a pass.

Coming back down the hill, we drove down Deadwood’s Historic Main Street.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Hence, the sign ‘Historic Main Street’.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Leave it to me to sniff out a model train layout, and there was one right on Deadwood’s Historic Main Street.

The layout of the Northern Hills Railway Society is in the basement of a gift shop, and admission is free, though it costs $1 to run the trains for 10 minutes.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

The layout is 80 feet by 16 feet with over 1200 feet of track, 54 engines, and 400 cars.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

One thing I liked was all the small details and dioramas.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Note the yellow biplane flying under the bridge below.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Coming back up to street level, we were just in time for one of the scheduled gunfights.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

When I saw the poker table set up, I thought that they were reenacting the shooting of Wild Bill Hickok, but it was some other famous gunfight.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

As it was, the whole thing took place right in front of the saloon where Wild Bill Hickok was shot on August 2, 1876.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Playing Five Card Draw, the hand Hickok was holding consisted of black aces and black eights, now known as a “Dead Man’s Hand”. He had discarded the fifth card, and supposedly, the replacement had not been dealt. At least that’s the way the story goes.

Heading home about 4:30, we drove on into RC for a quick stop at the Harbor Freight for a couple of things. Then it was back to the rig with a stop at the office to re-up until Saturday.

Tomorrow, the Dinosaur Museum and Mt. Rushmore.


June 6, 2018

Lest We Forget!

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

D-Day, June 6, 1944.

Looks Like I Stepped In It Again.

Wouldn’t Be The First Time, And Certainly Won’t Be The Last.

I got more comments on last night’s blog than I have on anything else in a while. Apparently, some people thought my Miss America post was too ‘political’. Others had comments, both pro and con, on my ‘Thought for the Day’ graphic.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

You can find statistics online that will support this. and others that lean the other way.

Some questioned the actual figures listed in the graphic. The problem is who is allowed to ‘torture’ the statistics. Note, I said ‘statistics’, not facts. And they’re usually not the same.

In fact, according to the FBI, the most dangerous city in the US is St. Louis, MO. But its 188 murders in 2017 were less than a third of Chicago’s 650+. But on a per capita basis, St. Louis is much more dangerous. It all depends on how far you want to ‘twist’ things.

For example, how is ‘murder’ defined? Sounds like that would be straightforward, wouldn’t it? But not so fast. There’s ‘murder’, and then there’s ‘murder.’

Was it ‘deliberate’, ‘accidental’, or ‘justified’? Or was it even ‘suicide’? Some stats have them all included. Yes, even suicide. Hey, the person ‘killed’ themselves, right?

As another example of this, remember right after the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting back on February 14th? Well, literally just minutes after the shooting, an Internet meme was circulating, saying that in just the six weeks since the beginning of the year, there had been 18 School Shootings.

WOW! 18!

At least until you start looking at the ‘facts’. According to ‘Everytown For Gun Safety’, the organization that came up with this, the first shooting of the year took place on Jan 3rd. And was a suicide.

Yes, a guy sitting in the parking lot of a school killed himself. But there were no students and no teachers anywhere near. That’s because the school had been closed for seven months.

Two more were accidental discharges by licensed peace officers, with no one injured. And another was when a gun accidentally discharged in the glove compartment of a car parked in a school parking lot, before any students were even around. Apparently, it too was a ‘school shooting.’

That ’18’ number is shrinking fast. In fact, eventually the Washington Post gave Everytown Four Pinocchio’s, their highest (worse) rating for the article.

Another example is the one about how many ‘children’ are killed by guns every day, week, month, or year. Take your pick. One says that 19 ‘children’ are killed every day. That’s almost 1300 a year.

The problem is how you define a ‘child’. Some places have the age as high as 19, or even 24. And of course, now you’re in the ‘gang member’ range.

It all goes back to Mark Twain, channeling English Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, who said, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

On the Miss America front, a number of past contestants have come out lambasting the changes, saying this was a big mistake. And others have come out in favor of the changes. So I guess it’s a toss-up. But I still don’t think it will last much past this next year or so.

Several people, both on the radio and one of our blog readers, John Brown, said that with no swimsuit competition and no evening gown competition, the whole thing might as well just be on the radio.

Sounds about right to me.


June 6, 2019

Yummy Yummy . . .

I spent the morning trying to get the credit card module working on the website. Still not sure what the problem is, but sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. But I’m beginning to think that it’s the credit card test site that’s really the problem. I emailed them, but I haven’t heard back.

Last week, we noticed that the old Ryan’s we used to go to over in Texas City was now an Asian Hibachi Sushi Buffet place called Yummy Yummy, so, even though we just ate at East Star Chinese Buffet on Tuesday, we thought we would give it a try today.

I mean, you eat Chinese, and then two days later you want to eat it again, right? And it looks like that’s it’s going to give our favorite East Star a run for its money.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

It’s much closer, it’s just as good, with a great selection, including boiled shrimp and blue crab on the lunch menu. And maybe even more importantly, it’s $1 cheaper per person, or $3 cheaper if you consider that they have the shrimp/crab items on the lunch menu and not on the more expensive dinner/weekend menu.

We’ll definitely go back. It was definitely Yummy Yummy.

Finishing lunch, we come back under I-45 to make a Wal-Mart stop for a few things. It’s been years since we’ve been to this one until the other day, and it’s probably the weirdest layout we’ve seen. Like the pharmacy is next to the grocery area, and the hardware section is at the very back, with the sporting goods in the front.

Like I said, weird.

I’m not sure what’s going on over there, but I mentioned the other day that the Wal-Mart Murphy gas station was selling gas at $1.99/gal. while everyone around there is at $2.39 or so.

Well, today they had it for $1.97. So, since we’re going up to Conroe tomorrow afternoon to meet up with Chris and Charles Yust, I thought I’d top off the tank. Unfortunately, I only needed about 5 gallons. But at least I didn’t have to wait too long in line.


June 6, 2020

YouTubeTV . . .

I was outside and under the rig by about 1:30 this afternoon, and it only took me about 45 minutes to get the filter off and then remove the 4 bolts that hold the oil filter adapter. FWIW, it sure seems like Dix Diesel Center in Luling, the last people to remove and replace the oil filter last November, tightened it down a lot more than the 3/4 turn after hand-tight specs.

And as before, I dumped the oil out of the old filter and then screwed it back on the adapter. Then I hit it a few times with my rubber hammer to break the adapter loose from the oil cooler itself.

As before, the gasket peeled cleanly off the oil cooler flange, but was firmly stuck to the adapter side. So I soaked it for an hour or so in that Permatex Gasket Remover to soften the gasket so I could then scrape it off with a plastic scraper. But by this time, it was time to clean up so we could head out for dinner about 5 pm.

I’ll try to finish it up tomorrow and then do the high-idle test.

As I mentioned the other day, I signed us up for the two-week free trial of YouTubeTV to see if it will be a valid replacement for our DirecTV satellite service.

It was pretty easy to set up and get started setting up shows that we wanted to record. For a while, we’ll dual record on both YouTubeTV and DirecTV to see how it works out.


June 6, 2021

Sunday Morning . . .

Jan and I sat outside on the patio this morning, our last time for a couple of weeks, just enjoying our time and the view. And while we were out there, I manually filled the Hibiscus Watering Bucket, and then set the timer so that 1 week from today, it will fill the bucket again, and then again, the Sunday morning that we get back.

And just like yesterday, it was nice and sunny, but with grayish clouds off in the far distance. So with that, my next project was to finish putting up the last two solar screens, after adding a few more magnets for a little more grip. Then I cleaned out and vacuumed the Jeep and checked the fluids.

About 1 pm, Jan and I headed out to have lunch at Los Ramirez one more time before we leave tomorrow. Got to have one last Tex-Mex fix with our usuals.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

After lunch, we made an HEB stop for travel snacks. I mean, you can’t travel without travel snacks, right?

We spent the rest of the afternoon getting packed and moving things out to the Jeep, so tomorrow morning we’ll have just a few things to load and go. I want to be on the way by at least 7 am, but earlier would be nice.

Jan also went through the fridge and tossed out anything that might spoil in the next two weeks, and then I walked it all down to the dumpster.

About 6 pm, Jan and I took Karma over to our friend Jennifer’s. She’s the office manager where I do my IT stuff and has kept Karma several times before, including our month-long European trip back in 2019.

Hopefully, tomorrow night’s blog will be from our halfway stop, Jackson, MS.


June 6, 2022

A Sign Of The Times . . .

Everyone is enjoying the beach, which, of course, is why we’re here.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

And a bunch of them are trying their hand at surfing using Boogie Boards.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Luckily, it’s easy to see where the deep water starts here. The dark blue line is where the shallow water drops off, going from walking depth to as much as 30-40 feet in just a few steps.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

And down the beach in one direction, we’ve got someone riding a giant Scooby Doo

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

and in the other direction, we’ve had people flying big kites all afternoon.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

We even saw a Carnival Cruise Ship heading out of Mobile and out across the Gulf.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

I was surprised to see the big oil rigs offshore.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

They look like they’re pretty close, but according to Google, the closest one is 9 miles out.

And they’re even pretty at night.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

When it gets dark, you can see a lot more rigs out there.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

And when they’re not swimming, there’s volleyball . . . or I guess that’s a group version,

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

puzzle-solving this 1000-piece puzzle,

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

or even a game of cutthroat bingo.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Tomorrow, Jan and I are getting together with a childhood friend of mine, and having lunch at Throw’d Rolls.


June 6, 2023

D-Day, June 6, 1944 . . .

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

The following is a compilation of several blogs I posted over the years about my uncle Theo and D-Day.


An Honor Delayed . . .

My Uncle Theo Calvin is being awarded the French Legion of Honor by the Consul General of France. He’s also received several awards that were lost in the shuffle after the war.

Theo Calvin

The Legion of Honor is France’s most distinguished decoration and is bestowed for acts of bravery during the fight for the liberation of France during World War II.

Theo landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6th, 1944, and fought his way across France.

scan0016a

Here he is with my Aunt Virginia in the summer of 1949 in front of their house in Athens, AL.

Oh, and that’s me he’s holding.

Theo 2006

And here he is in 2006.

The Consul General is presenting the award to three other veterans at the same time. You can read more about it here.

http://athensplus.com/VeteransReceiveLegionofHonorAward2012.htm


After catching up for a while, we headed out for lunch at Rosie’s Mexican Cantina over in Huntsville before visiting Buddy at the Floyd Fann State Veterans’ Home.

We always try to eat at Rosie’s every time we visit here since it’s the best place we’ve found in the area for Mexican. So after a great lunch and more catching up, we drove over to see my Uncle Buddy.

He has been at the Veterans’ Home for the last several months getting physical therapy and rehabilitation to help his walking ability.

Buddy

My Uncle Theo (Buddy), who will be 91 next month, is here as a WW2 combat veteran. He fought in the North African Campaign, landed at Normandy on D-Day, and then, as a Staff Sergeant, started out with Patton’s Third Army when it became operational in August 1944. Staying with the 3rd all the way to the end of the war, he was awarded the Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts, and was one of a select few to receive the French Legion of Honor medal, awarded by France for conspicuous honor fighting during that campaign.

We spent about an hour catching up since last year. He’s so animated and cheerful, it’s hard to believe he’s almost 91.


R.I.P. to A Real American Hero . . .

My uncle, Theo Wesley Calvin, Jr., died this afternoon at the Floyd Fann State Veterans Home in Huntsville, AL.

He was 93.

I knew from an early age that, like my mother, her brother, Uncle Buddy (what I called him) had been in WWII. But it was only much later that I found out just what that entailed.

My family and I have visited my mother’s family in Athens, AL, as long as I can remember. Here I am with my aunt Virginia and Uncle Buddy when I was about 18 months old.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

This was probably in the Summer of 1949.

Over the years, as I visited and later lived in Athens, I learned more about his service to our country. One time, exploring in my grandmother’s attic, I came across a WWII Army helmet that had ‘T. Calvin” painted on the inside. And it also had a thumb-sized dent with a crack in it.

When I asked my uncle about it, he looked at me for a few moments and then said it happened the day after D-Day, after his landing on Omaha Beach. He said it knocked him down, and his head rang for a week. Then he wouldn’t talk about it anymore.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Over the years, I picked up more facts, like that he fought across Europe under the command of General George S. Patton in an Anti-Tank Company

It was only in the last few years that even more of the story came out with the appearance of a mystery envelope full of medals in 2012.

As it turns out, Uncle Theo not only landed at Normandy on D-Day in June 1944, but he was also part of the Operation Torch landings in North Africa in November 1942, and the Operation Husky landings in Sicily in July 1943. In all, he fought in 7 campaigns during the war, and received a Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, signifying that he was wounded twice, both times in France.

He also fought in the last major offensive of the war, the Battle of the Bulge, from December 1944 – January 1945. Dug in near Bastogne, Belgium, he said it was so cold nobody wanted to fight. “We could see the enemy, but we didn’t shoot at them, and they didn’t shoot at us.”

Among the many medals Uncle Theo received were a Bronze Star, the Belgian Fourragere, and the French Legion of Honor.

In 2011, Theo was the Grand Marshal of the Veterans Day Parade in Athens, honoring him for his service.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

And then in 2012, Lt. Gen. Richard P. Formica showed up to pin that envelope of new medals on SSgt Calvin, medals that had been forgotten and not awarded at the end of the war.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Since we’ve been RV’ing, we’ve always made it a point to visit our relatives in Athens, and especially to visit my Uncle Theo in the Veterans Home where he’s been for the last several years.

Our hearts go out to my Aunt Virginia, and the rest of the Calvin family in North Alabama.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

He will be missed.


When I was talking about the D-Day landings yesterday, and my Uncle Theo’s landing on Omaha Beach, I had also planned to mention that Jan’s father landed on Utah Beach. But somehow it slipped through the keys, and I left it out.

Jan said that her father always said that he worked in a hangar during the war. She didn’t know any different until she read his obituary. Turns out he fought his way across Europe much like my uncle did. And like my uncle, he didn’t like to talk about it.

After leaving the Army at the end of the war, he later reenlisted in what was by now the US Air Force, and went career, retiring in 1966 as a Senior Master Sergeant, the year before I first met Jan.


And Now On To Today:

When I saw that we had more thunderstorms rolling in, I went out a little earlier than I had planned, first to reinstall a couple of sunscreens that had blown off in some recent high winds, and then to try to replace the broken strut on our Jeep’s rear window.

First, I used a pair of heavy-duty cutters to clip off the protruding part of the old bolt from the mount,

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

and then started drilling it out.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Finally, I got it opened up enough to use my rotary rasp to wobble it out enough

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

to mount the ball stud into place.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Then it was just a matter of snapping the new strut onto the ball studs, and I was done.

I had originally planned on replacing the other strut at the same time, but decided to leave well enough alone for now. Plus, the storms had shown up, so I called it a day.


June 6, 2024

SpaceX, Snooze, And A D-Day Recap . . .

The 4th test flight of SpaceX’s Starship/SuperHeavy went off right on schedule at 7:50 this morning, and was pretty much a spectacular success.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

They did lose one of the 33 Raptor Engines on liftoff, but that had no effect on the mission.

As planned, the SuperHeavy booster separated from the Starship and then made a soft landing in the Gulf of America. Simulating a ground landing, it came down and then hovered over the waves before dropping in.

The Starship went into orbit and then reentered the atmosphere and also made a soft-ocean landing in the Indian Ocean, all according to the mission plan.

A rousing success!

Jan and I were on our way about 10 am, up to Webster for a routine checkup, which, as usual, took a lot longer than scheduled. But this not being our first rodeo, we had allowed for that.

Lunch was at Snooze once again, though our first time in a while. Jan got her fav Bravocado Toast,

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

with a Hard Scrambled Egg.

I got the Shrimp & Grits again,

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

on which I crumbled my share of our order of their Bacon But Different.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Then, after a leisurely lunch/breakfast, we drove up to the Quest Diagnostics so Jan could get some blood work done. Then it was on down Hwy 3 to our local Wal-Mart for a few things before heading home.

Originally, we were both getting haircuts at 4:30, but Lesley, our stylist, texted us that SHE was running late at her doctor’s appointment. So we rescheduled for this coming Tuesday.


Since this D-Day blog is down at the bottom of the Retro-Blog™, I thought I’d repost it up here.


D-Day, June 6, 1944, 80 Years Ago Today

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

The following is a compilation of several blogs I posted over the years about my uncle Theo and D-Day.


An Honor Delayed . . .

My Uncle Theo Calvin is being awarded the French Legion of Honor by the Consul General of France. He’s also received several awards that were lost in the shuffle after the war.

Theo Calvin

The Legion of Honor is France’s most distinguished decoration and is bestowed for acts of bravery during the fight for the liberation of France during World War II.

Theo landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6th, 1944, and fought his way across France.

scan0016a

Here he is with my Aunt Virginia in the summer of 1949 in front of their house in Athens, AL.

Oh, and that’s me he’s holding.

Theo 2006

And here he is in 2006.

The Consul General is presenting the award to three other veterans at the same time. You can read more about it here.

http://athensplus.com/VeteransReceiveLegionofHonorAward2012.htm


After catching up for a while, we headed out for lunch at Rosie’s Mexican Cantina over in Huntsville before visiting Buddy at the Floyd Fann State Veterans’ Home.

We always try to eat at Rosie’s every time we visit here since it’s the best place we’ve found in the area for Mexican. So after a great lunch and more catching up, we drove over to see my Uncle Buddy.

He has been at the Veteran’s Home for the last several months getting physical therapy and rehabilitation to help his walking ability.

Buddy

My Uncle Theo (Buddy), who will be 91 next month, is here as a WW2 combat veteran. He fought in the North African Campaign, landed at Normandy on D-Day, and then, as a Staff Sergeant, started out with Patton’s Third Army when it became operational in August 1944. Staying with the 3rd all the way to the end of the war, he was awarded the Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts, and was one of a select few to receive the French Legion of Honor medal, awarded by France for conspicuous honor fighting during that campaign.

We spent about an hour catching up since last year. He’s so animated and cheerful, it’s hard to believe he’s almost 91.


R.I.P. to A Real American Hero . . .

My uncle, Theo Wesley Calvin, Jr., died this afternoon at the Floyd Fann State Veterans Home in Huntsville, AL.

He was 93.

I knew from an early age that, like my mother, her brother, Uncle Buddy (what I called him), had been in WWII. But it was only much later that I found out just what that entailed.

My family and I have visited my mother’s family in Athens, AL, for as long as I can remember. Here I am with my Aunt Virginia and Uncle Buddy when I was about 18 months old.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

This was probably in the Summer of 1949.

Over the years, as I visited, and later lived in Athens, I learned more about his service to our country. One time, exploring in my grandmother’s attic, I came across a WWII Army helmet that had ‘T. Calvin” painted on the inside. And it also had a thumb-sized dent with a crack in it.

When I asked my uncle about it, he looked at me for a few moments and then said it happened the day after D-Day, after his landing on Omaha Beach. He said it knocked him down, and his head rang for a week. Then he wouldn’t talk about it anymore.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Over the years, I picked up more facts, like that he fought across Europe under the command of General George S. Patton in an Anti-Tank Company

It was only in the last few years that even more of the story came out with the appearance of a mystery envelope full of medals in 2012.

As it turns out, Uncle Theo not only landed at Normandy on D-Day in June 1944, but he was also part of the Operation Torch landings in North Africa in November 1942, and the Operation Husky landings in Sicily in July 1943. In all, he fought in 7 campaigns during the war, and received a Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, signifying that he was wounded twice, both times in France.

He also fought in the last major offensive of the war, the Battle of the Bulge, during December 1944 – January 1945. Dug in near Bastogne, Belgium, he said it was so cold nobody wanted to fight. “We could see the enemy, but we didn’t shoot at them, and they didn’t shoot at us.”

Among the many medals Uncle Theo received were a Bronze Star, the Belgian Fourragere, and the French Legion of Honor.

In 2011, Theo was the Grand Marshal of the Veteran’s Day Parade in Athens, honoring him for his service.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

And then in 2012, Lt. Gen. Richard P. Formica showed up to pin that envelope of new medals on SSgt Calvin, medals that had been forgotten and not awarded at the end of the war.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Since we’ve been RV’ing, we’ve always made it a point to visit our relatives in Athens, and especially to visit my Uncle Theo in the Veteran’s Home where he’s been for the last several years.

Our hearts go out to my Aunt Virginia and the rest of the Calvin family in North Alabama.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

He will be missed.


When I was talking about the D-Day landings yesterday, and my Uncle Theo’s landing on Omaha Beach, I had also planned to mention that Jan’s father landed on Utah Beach. But somehow it slipped through the keys, and I left it out.

Jan said that her father always said that he worked in a hangar during the war. She didn’t know any different until she read his obituary. Turns out he fought his way across Europe much like my uncle did. And like my uncle, he didn’t like to talk about it.

After leaving the Army at the end of the war, he later reenlisted in what was by now the US Air Force, and went career, retiring in 1966 as a Senior Master Sergeant, the year before I first met Jan.


June 6, 2025

Today In 1944 . . .

Since this D-Day blog is down at the bottom of the Retro-Blog™, I thought I’d repost it up here. Since this is a compilation of several blogs, you will see some repeats.


D-Day, June 6, 1944, 81 Years Ago Today

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

The following is a compilation of several blogs I posted over the years about my uncle Theo and D-Day.


An Honor Delayed . . .

My Uncle, Theo Calvin, is being awarded the French Legion of Honor by the Consul General of France. He’s also received several awards that were lost in the shuffle after the war.

Theo Calvin

The Legion of Honor is France’s most distinguished decoration and is bestowed for acts of bravery during the fight for the liberation of France during World War II.

Theo landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6th, 1944, and fought his way across France.

scan0016a

Here he is with my Aunt Virginia in the summer of 1949 in front of their house in Athens, AL.

Oh, and that’s me he’s holding.

Theo 2006

And here he is in 2006.

The Consul General is presenting the award to three other veterans at the same time. You can read more about it here.

http://athensplus.com/VeteransReceiveLegionofHonorAward2012.htm


After catching up for a while, we headed out for lunch at Rosie’s Mexican Cantina over in Huntsville before visiting Buddy at the Floyd Fann State Veterans’ Home.

We always try to eat at Rosie’s every time we visit here since it’s the best place we’ve found in the area for Mexican. So after a great lunch and more catching up, we drove over to see my Uncle Buddy.

He has been at the Veterans’ Home for the last several months getting physical therapy and rehabilitation to help his walking ability.

Buddy

My Uncle Theo (Buddy to me), who will be 91 next month, is here as a WW2 combat veteran. He fought in the North African Campaign, landed at Normandy on D-Day, and then, as a Staff Sergeant, started out with Patton’s Third Army when it became operational in August 1944. Staying with the 3rd all the way to the end of the war, he was awarded the Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts, and was one of a select few to receive the French Legion of Honor medal, awarded by France for conspicuous honor fighting during that campaign.

We spent about an hour catching up since last year. He’s so animated and cheerful, it’s hard to believe he’s almost 91.


R.I.P. to A Real American Hero . . .

My uncle, Theo Wesley Calvin, Jr., died this afternoon at the Floyd Fann State Veterans Home in Huntsville, AL.

He was 93.

I knew from an early age that, like my mother, her brother, Uncle Buddy (what I called him), had been in WWII. But it was only much later that I found out just what that entailed.

My family and I have visited my mother’s family in Athens, AL, for as long as I can remember. Here I am with my Aunt Virginia and Uncle Buddy when I was about 18 months old.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

This was probably in the Summer of 1949.

Over the years, as I visited, and later lived in Athens, I learned more about his service to our country. One time, exploring in my grandmother’s attic, I came across a WWII Army helmet that had ‘T. Calvin” painted on the inside. And it also had a thumb-sized dent with a crack in it.

When I asked my uncle about it, he looked at me for a few moments and then said it happened the day after D-Day, after his landing on Omaha Beach. He said it knocked him down, and his head rang for a week. Then he wouldn’t talk about it anymore.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Over the years, I picked up more facts, like that he fought across Europe under the command of General George S. Patton in an Anti-Tank Company

It was only in the last few years that even more of the story came out with the appearance of a mystery envelope full of medals in 2012.

As it turns out, Uncle Theo not only landed at Normandy on D-Day in June 1944, but he was also part of the Operation Torch landings in North Africa in November 1942, and the Operation Husky landings in Sicily in July 1943. In all, he fought in 7 campaigns during the war, and received a Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, signifying that he was wounded twice, both times in France.

He also fought in the last major offensive of the war, the Battle of the Bulge, during December 1944 – January 1945. Dug in near Bastogne, Belgium, he said it was so cold nobody wanted to fight. “We could see the enemy, but we didn’t shoot at them, and they didn’t shoot at us.”

Among the many medals Uncle Theo received were a Bronze Star, the Belgian Fourragere, and the French Legion of Honor.

In 2011, Theo was the Grand Marshal of the Veteran’s Day Parade in Athens, honoring him for his service.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

And then in 2012, Lt. Gen. Richard P. Formica showed up to pin that envelope of new medals on SSgt Calvin, medals that had been forgotten and not awarded at the end of the war.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Since we’ve been RV’ing, we’ve always made it a point to visit our relatives in Athens, and especially to visit my Uncle Theo in the Veterans Home where he’s been for the last several years.

Our hearts go out to my Aunt Virginia and the rest of the Calvin family in North Alabama.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

He will be missed.


When I was talking about the D-Day landings yesterday, and my Uncle Theo’s landing on Omaha Beach, I had also planned to mention that Jan’s father landed on Utah Beach. But somehow it slipped through the keys, and I left it out.

Jan said that her father always said that he worked in a hangar during the war. She didn’t know any different until she read his obituary. Turns out he fought his way across Europe much like my uncle did. And like my uncle, he didn’t like to talk about it.

After leaving the Army at the end of the war, he later reenlisted in what was by now the US Air Force, and went career, retiring in 1966 as a Senior Master Sergeant, the year before I first met Jan.

* * * * * * *

We were on our way over to Sugarland to assuage Jan’s Trader Joe’s cravings by 10 am so we wouldn’t get home too late. Though taking Hwy 6 straight up to Sugarland is shown as a shorter route, it’s faster to take I-45 north to the Tollway, and then out on US59. Only takes about an hour, while the ‘shorter’ route takes over 90 minutes due to all the traffic and stoplights.

Jan came out about 30 minutes later with two big, very heavy bags of TJ goodies, and also the happy news that there’s a TJ’s scheduled for Pearland sometime later this year, though still nothing for the Clear Lake area yet.

Then it was on up to Richmond to have lunch at Sandy McGee’s once again. Located right in the old downtown area, we’ve been eating here since Jan worked over here at Polly Ryon Hospital from early 1993 to August 2001.

Every meal here starts with Sandy McGee’s version of chips, their Spicy Toasted, Buttered Bread Rounds.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Really good, especially for dipping in their award-winning Broccoli-Cheese soup, a cup of which comes with the Miller’s Choice plate, which Jan and I always get.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

The Miller’s Choice consists of a 1/2 Max Out sandwich, a cup of Broccoli-Cheese soup, and a fresh Fruit Salad.

The Max Out sandwich has Smoked Turkey, Melted Swiss, Mayo, and a big heap of the Spinach Salad, which consists of Baby Spinach, Bacon, Mushrooms, Red Onions, Grated Swiss and Parmesan, topped with a Honey Mustard Vinaigrette.

When you put it all together, you’ve got a great sandwich.

And even the Fruit Salad was special. It’s got Kiwi, Grapes, Apples, Strawberries, Cantaloupe, Honeydew. Pineapple, and Bananas, all sliced to order.

And we can’t go to Sandy McGee’s without getting their fantastic made-in-house desserts, even if you’re too full and have to get them to go like we did.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Jan’s favorite is their Chocolate Pie, and of course, mine is the Carrot Cake.

YUMM!

After getting gas, we were on our way back to the rig by about 1 pm, then getting close to home, and since we hadn’t had morning coffee for the last two days due to our early starts, we made a Cowboy Coffee stop for a Cold, Blended Sugar-Free Hazelnut Latte for Jan, and a Cold, Blended Caramel Macchiato Latte for me.

Delicious!

* * * * * * *

Tomorrow, Jan’s getting her toeies done, then it’s on over to Schafer’s Coastal Grille for lunch as we look out on Clear Lake. Coming home, we’ll do our weekly Wal-Mart stop.