Our RV Adventures

This time 3 years ago we were spending a week at Glacier National Park in northern Montana.

At that time, it pretty much looked like this.

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And this.

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But, after more than 15” of snow the other day, the above scene looks like this.

Yes, the waterfall is frozen. Really glad we aren’t there this year.

Later in the afternoon, I went outside to change out one of my headlight bulbs on the truck. I remember the good old days when you could just pull the bulb socket out of the back of housing, plug in the new bulb, put the socket back in, and you were good to go.

However, changing this one out now requires a #10 Torx driver and a 10mm socket and a ratchet with a long extension with 4 bolts and  screws.

After finally finishing up the headlight repair, I checked the engine oil and transmission oil, on kind of a ‘while I was in there’ basis.

Around 3pm we headed back over to Mishawaka for a couple of reasons. The first was, Jan already had a Wal-Mart / Sam’s list, and we were just there Friday.

The other reason  was that when we ate at Outback Steakhouse that night, I left my little bottle of ground Ghost Pepper/Trinidad Scorpion powder, and I was hoping they still had it.

So our first stop was at Outback, and they did still have my bottle in their Lost & Found box. Yea!

And our next stop was, believe it or not, Taco Bell. Jan and I had been seeing the ads for their new ‘Quesarito’. It’s a burrito wrapped up inside a cheesy quesadilla.

It looked really good, and tasted even better. Jan got hers with the ground beef, and I got the grilled steak. And they also have shredded chicken. We both got the Quesarito Box, which comes with a Quesarito, a Crunchy ground beef taco, a Doritos Nacho Cheese Crunchy Taco, and a drink.

The  Doritos Nacho Cheese Crunchy Taco has a taco shell made in, what else, Doritos Nacho Cheese flavor. And again, it’s really good. If I’d known how good, I would have paid the little bit extra to get both tacos that way.

And even better was the price. Our total bill was $12.38.

We used to eat at Taco Bell a lot when our kids were little, but kind of got out of the habit. Maybe we need to rethink that.

Our next stop was Sam’s Club. We wanted to get another box of the fresh cherries that we got on Friday. They were really good, and we wanted more. And then after our Wal-Mart stop, we headed home.

Coming back to Elkhart, I stopped off at Menard’s to get some hardware for my latest project.

I needed to take down my AC grills so I could clean the filters, but that involves digging out a screwdriver, and it’s a pain in the rear trying hold the grill up with one hand and get the screws out with the other.

Plus the fact that continuously putting the screws back in the same holes is making them looser.

So I decided to install hanger bolts in the screw holes and use wing nuts to hold up the grill.

Hanger bolts look like this. It’s wood screw on one end and a machine bolt on the other.

But the first problem you have with these is – how do you screw them in. Well, they make a special driver that looks like this. But it costs more money (about $8) than I spent on the rest of the project (8 hanger bolts and 8 wing nuts – about $6).

So here’s my cheap version. It’s just two nuts with a lock washer in between, and then tightened down snug.

Then my ratchet will screw them in just fine. And cheaper too.

So when I got finished, and after cleaning the foam filter, it looked like this.

Much easier to take down and reinstall.

Tomorrow Nick and Terry should be back from Michigan. Really looking forward to it.

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Thought for the Day:

"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons"
Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949

“There is no need for any individual to have a computer in their home.”
Ken Olson, President of Digital Equipment Corp, in 1977

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Normally, when we’re not having muffin muffins with our coffee in the morning, we have English muffins, buttered and then toasted with cinnamon and sugar. Well, when we were at Wal-Mart yesterday getting groceries, we came across a new product.

It’s a Cinnamon Vanilla English Muffin from the Thomas English muffin people, and it’s really good,  especially when you add butter, more cinnamon, and sugar.

Unfortunately, according to the package, it’s a Limited Edition, so stock up now.

Later, about 1pm, Jan and I headed down to the local theater for our movie two’fer afternoon. We do this a lot, because it’s just more convenient.

Our first show was The Edge of Tomorrow, the new Tom Cruise science fiction movie. I haven’t been a big fan of Tom Cruise since he screwed up the Mission Impossible franchise, but the concept of this movie, and previews on TV, were intriguing enough to make me want to give it a try.

As far as the concept goes, think Groundhog Day with a alien invasion. Cruise, killed in the first day of a D-Day style invasion to retake continental Europe from the aliens, wakes up the day before the battle, and does this over and over every time he’s killed, each time getting a little closer to the solution of defeating the alien invasion.The movie is very well done, and we both liked it. Worth Seeing.

Our second move was Maleficent, a retelling of the classic Sleeping Beauty fairytale, but this time from the viewpoint of the Evil Queen, Maleficent. And through the storyline, you find out who she is, why she’s ‘evil’, and what made her that way.

Like my feelings about Tom Cruse, Jan is not a big fan of Angelina Jolie, but she liked this movie, and she liked Jolie in it. And so did I. Nobody but Angelina Jolie could have played this part.

The effects are great, and the story ends with a twist from the original version.

Well Recommended.

By the time we got out from the movie, it was about 6pm, and after talking it over we decided to have dinner at Das Dutchman Essenhaus over in Middlebury.

We always try to eat here at least once when we’re in the area. And it’s always good.

When we eat here we normally order from the menu, and don’t do the buffet. And we always get the ‘broasted’ chicken.

If you’ve ever wondered what ‘broasted’ chicken is, it’s basically Kentucky Fried Chicken. It’s cooked in a pressure cooker fryer, just like KFC is. It’s just not KFC, but a competitor. And without all those pesky franchise fees and royalty payments.

We always get the 4 piece plate which gives us chicken to bring home. I got the ‘Broasted’ Potato Wedges, and the fresh green beans. And Jan got the same thing, except she got Mashed Potatoes with Gravy instead of the wedges.

You can’t eat here without having one of their homemade pies for dessert. Tonight Jan had her favorite Chocolate Cream Pie, and I had a really delicious slice of Praline Pecan Cream. Really, really good.

We finally got home a little before 8pm, just in time to miss the heavy downpour that came through.

Lucky us.

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Thought for the Day:

Time obliterates the fictions of opinion and confirms the decisions of nature. – Cicero

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