Our RV Adventures

After coffee this morning, I got back to work finishing up my transfer switch bypass. Last night after I got the new receptacles, I made up this harness so I’d be ready to go today.

After going outside and disconnecting shore power just to be safe, all I had to do was connect the splices to the loose ends of the generator output wires and then tape them up. And for once things went smoothly and I was done in about 15 minutes.

Finishing up, Jan and I left about 12:15 to head into Spokane for the rest of the day.

Our first stop was Shakey’s Pizza for their lunch buffet. We really like their food and always stop by when there’s one in the area. The last time we ate at one was in Lancaster, CA last year.

And there’s another reason we really like them. Jan and I went there on our first date in Orlando, FL in July of 1967, about 43 years ago. So a lot of good things come from Shakey’s.

Shakey’s has a great buffet, consisting of pizza, spaghetti, fried chicken, battered, fried potato slices, salad bar, and dessert pizza. Really, really good.

Leaving Shakey’s we drove up the road about 5 miles to the Cat Tails Zoological Park. We had noticed the place when we came through town this past Monday and wanted to check it out.

Turns out that Cat Tails is Big Cat rescue zoo that began in 1991, starting with 4 cats, and has been growing ever since.

They have a number of beautiful Royal White Bengal Tigers.

They also have number of these signs around. So we have a choice: Run and LOOK like food, or stand still and BE food.

Not much of a choice, if you ask me.

This is a mountain lion, a puma, panther, catamount, or a cougar. Take your pick.

These are Serval cats. A little bigger than a domestic house cat, they can run 45 mph and jump 12 feet in the air and catch birds in mid-air.

I never knew that leopards had green eyes. The info sign says a leopard can jump 20 feet straight up and 35 feet straight out from a sitting position.  WOW!

They have a number of both male and female lions, but I could only get a good photo of this female.

They also have two tigers and a lioness that have been raised together since they were cubs, and all three are in the same cage.

And of course, a lot of tigers.

This is 14 month old Amura, being taken for a walk and moved to a new cage.

Still a youngster who likes to play with her ball, she also likes to splash in her pond,

and even take a bath.

Being raised as a single cub, the zoo decided Amura needs a companion. So they got Sage, 4 month old Great Pyrenees, from the local Humane Society.

They were kept together for almost a year until Amura got too big, and the zoo was worried that Amura might not know her own strength.

But they regularly put them together in adjacent cages so they can play. It was easy to see how excited they got when they saw each other.

We really enjoyed Cat Tails and thought it was a great bargain. At only $8.00 it’s much cheaper than some other similar attractions, and we really had a great time.

Well recommended if you’re in the area.

Leaving the zoo we headed into downtown Spokane as Jan wanted to drive through the South Hill District and check out some of the old homes in the area.

After that we headed back north for a for a few stops before heading home. First up was a Bed, Bath & Beyond for Jan to get some soaps.

Next was Lowe’s to take back the wrong receptacles from my switch bypass project, and also buy some heavier cutters. I had trouble cutting the #8 gauge wire from

Then it was back to Wal-Mart for more ‘stuff’. Apparently we left some ‘stuff’ there the other day, so Jan wanted to go back and get it all.

We got back home about 6:30, to find that unlike last night, when we got back to find a note on our RV saying the park water would be off until this morning, but found it was working fine, tonight we got back to find no note, but the water was off anyway.

No problem as we have plenty in our tank.

We’ll leave here tomorrow about 8 am, heading for Columbia Falls, MT and Glacier National Park. It’ll be about 225 miles and since we’ll also lose an hour moving into Mountain Daylight Time, we want to get an early start.

We also want to top off our diesel before we leave Newport, and that also takes a while.

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Thought for the Day:

A journey of a thousand miles usually begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire.

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We woke up this morning to more of the gentle rain that started last night, and brought some cooler temps with it. But some hot coffee and a warm muffin fixed things right up.

I called our friend Nick Russell about 11 to check in and see how Miss Terry was feeling. He’d mentioned in his blog she’d been under the weather, but he said she was feeling better now. We also talked some about our respective upcoming travels.

About noon Jan heated up our leftover Italian from last night’s meal at Tomato Street. And just like Mexican leftovers, Italian also gets better with age.

By 1 pm I was ready to finish up my transfer switch project by installing the receptacles on the generator output so I can plug it in when we need it.

But things quickly came to a screeching halt when I discovered that I did not have the correct parts. I guess when I pulled all four out of the bin I got two that were in the wrong bin. Hopefully I will be able to find the correct parts locally this afternoon and finish up tomorrow.

Brandi called about 3 pm to check in and give us the latest Landon update. Landon will be 11 months old in a week, and we’ll see them at the family reunion in IL in about a month. Yeaaa!

About 4 Jan and I headed into Newport to check out the True Value Hardware to see if they had the parts I need, and they did. So I’ll finish up tomorrow morning.

Then it was off for another visit to Rancho Alegre where we ate a couple of nights ago. It was really good, and we wanted to try it again before we leave on Friday.

This time I just had a big bowl of the Chicken Tortilla Soup, and also got a bowl to go. Jan had a two enchilada, one chili rellano plate and she also also had leftovers. This was the best Mexican we’ve had in a good while, and we’re going to miss it.

They give you a free dessert after your meal, Buñuelos with honey and whipped cream, and a strawberry topping. The perfect finish.

On the way home we stopped off at an Exxon station to scout it out to fill up with diesel on our way out of town on Friday morning. We’re only down to half a tank, but we’re going traveling thru the wilds of Montana and Wyoming for a while, and I don’t want worry about getting diesel in the middle of nowhere.

When we got back to the rig about 6 to find a note taped to our coach telling us there was a water line break, and water would be off until tomorrow morning. But when I checked at the outside faucet a little later while washing the bugs off the windshield, it seems to be working OK.

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Thought for the Day:

Trust in God. Question everything else.

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