Monthly Archives: August 2015
Friday’s Follow-ups and Food . . .
Thought I’d do a follow-up on my new IronMan 601 tires. We now have a little over 2000 miles on them with no problems whatsoever. They feel good on the road, and I haven’t had to add any air in the six weeks they’ve been on the coach.
The only thing new is the sound. As I mentioned right after we hit the road with them, the different tread pattern makes a different sound. Nothing objectionable, and not really obvious. It’s almost subliminal. In fact Jan says she can’t hear it at all.
Hope we get another 60,000 miles out of them like the first set of Sumitomos.
Thanks to a friend and blog reader, Janna Clark, we now have Wi-Fi back in the coach. As I mentioned before, the Cradlepoint router we’ve had for 8 years finally died. Finding Cradlepoint no longer makes small routers like this, I was looking around for a substitute when Janna mentioned she had one she was willing to part with.
It was waiting for me when we got to Athens last Sunday, but it was a couple of days before I had time to set it up. I just configured it with the same SSID and password as my old one and all my devices logged in with no problems or other changes.
So our Kindles and Tab are happy once again. Thanks, Janna.
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About 3:30 Jan and I drove up to the Intercoastal Waterway to have linner at Lulu’s at Homeport. Lulu, better known as Lucy Buffett, Jimmy’s older sister, has had a very popular restaurant here for over ten years. And it seems to get bigger and more popular every year. Lulu’s is one of our Don’t Miss places here at Gulf Shores, and today’s visit just reinforced that.
We went early hoping to be able to get a table on the water and lucked out.
They even have large play areas for the kids, including this climbing area with tightropes and swings. (and safety harnesses.)
The place was crowed as usual, but we got seated right away. During really busy times we have waited as long as two hours. It’s that good.
As usual we went with our favorites. Jan got her Blackened Shrimp Tacos with a side of Guacamole,
while I started out with a cup of Gumbo
and a Half and Half Seafood Platter with Blackened Shrimp and Fried Oysters.
Like Desoto’s where we ate last night, everything from the salad dressings to the tartar sauce to the seafood, is prepared in-house. And it certainly shows
Another thing prepared in-house, that we never miss, is their Krispy Kreme Doughnut Bread Pudding.
No matter how full we are, we always find room to share a piece. In fact I didn’t finish all the fries with my dinner so I’d be sure and have room, and Jan, likewise with her chips.
Since they still had some open tables, we sat around for a while just enjoying the view and our time in Gulf Shores. Even got to see a couple of porpoises in the Canal, though they were too fast for my camera.
Next Thursday, when we leave, is coming too fast.
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Thought for the Day:
“Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened” — Winston S. Churchill
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Gulfward Bound . . .
We pulled out of Northgate RV Travel Park about 8:15, just as it started to pour down rain, and it continued until we were almost into Montgomery. And it also didn’t help the drive that we had very strong, gusty winds all the way down to Gulf Shores.
It was interesting to note the way unleaded gas prices dropped the further south we went, at least until we got off of I-65 about 50 miles from the Gulf.
North of Birmingham we were seeing prices around $2.25, then a little further south it was $2.17. By the time we got south of Montgomery, it was $2.10. Finally we saw a $2.07. Looks like under $2 is coming soon.
As far as diesel, we paid $2.28 a gallon at the Pilot just south of Montgomery, using my GS RV Plus Card, which gave me a 7 cents a gallon discount off the $2.35 cash price.
Jan took over driving as we left the Pilot, and drove for about an hour and a half. She did have a really ‘FUN’ time fighting the gusty winds, so she didn’t drive for as long as she normally would.
We checked in to the Gulf State Park at Gulf Shores about 4:30 and got set up.
We weren’t able to get a site on the water this time, but it is a nice large site, with no close neighbors.
By the time we were finished setting up, it was time for some good seafood. So we headed out to have dinner at Desoto’s Kitchen, a great local place with fresh seafood.
We both had our usual Fried Seafood Platter, with Flounder, Oysters, Shrimp, and Crab Claws.
And we both always get the same two sides: Sweet Potato Casserole and Fried
Green Tomatoes. And the sides, as well as their seafood, are all prepared fresh in house. No frozen, or pre-prepared stuff there.
We really timed our arrival perfectly. I dropped off Jan at the door while I went to park. At that point there was nobody waiting outside, but by the time I got inside there was a wait line of about 10 people Luckily we got seated immediately at the last open table.
But by the time we left about about 6:30, there must have been 50 or 60 people milling around outside waiting for a table.
It’s that good.
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Thought for the Day:
“Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts” — Richard Feynman
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