Our RV Adventures

Since our daughter Brandi’s day surgery for sinus problems got pushed back to 1pm today, our original reason for staying at Brandi’s house, to take Landon to school this morning, went away. So we were able to sleep in a little, or at least I was. Jan’s pretty much always an early riser

A little after 10am Jan and I made the half hour trip over to Richmond to have lunch at Sandy McGee’s, an almost legendary restaurant there. Jan and her coworkers used to eat here a lot when she worked at Polly Ryon Hospital there in the 1990’s. And I always wanted to eat here whenever I was in the area too.

Located in an old pharmacy building on Main St. in downtown Richmond, its very eclectic décor is a large part of its charm.

But the food is what makes the place famous. Their awarding-winning broccoli-cheese soup, along with their great sandwiches and cut-to-order fruit selections really can’t be topped.

My favorite is the Miller’s Choice, which has fresh oven-roasted turkey breast, big chunks, not dinky slices, melted Swiss Cheese, fresh spinach, with mayo and a honey-mustard vinaigrette,

as well as a cup of the broccoli-cheese soup, and fruit.

Really, really good.

Jan had their Chicken Salad Croissant,

a fresh baked butter croissant with creamy chicken salad, lettuce, tomato and avocado slices, as well as a cup of the broccoli-cheese soup.

Getting back to Brandi’s, we thought we now might have to pick Landon up from school, since we weren’t sure if Brandi’s surgery would be done in time for Lowell to pick him up. But after Brandi was taken in for the surgery, Lowell drove back over to the school to pick him up a little early, and then took him back to the hospital.

So since we were no longer needed for possible Landon duty, about 3:15 we headed out for Pasadena and the Jimmy Changas restaurant there to meet up with some old friends for dinner and then a visit to the local Opry.

Our daughter Brandi called about 4:15 to let us know she had survived the surgery, and was on her way home. Hopefully this will put a stop to all the sinus problems she’s been having.

When we got there about 4:30, we were seated immediately, but within about 15 minutes the place started filling up. Unfortunately part of our group got hung up in the Friday afternoon traffic and didn’t make it until after 5. But we all had a good time, and a good meal.

Afterwards we headed right down the street to the Pasadena Hometown Opry. Jan and I have never been to this one before, but we went to the Alvin Opry for more than 15 years, until it closed about a year ago.

But seeing the schedule of performers tonight was like being back there. Four of the six performers were Alvin Opry alumni, and, as it turns out, some of our favorites, too.

Earl Epps looks like George Jones, and sings like him too.

And in some cases, maybe better than the original. Probably because Earl is always sober.

Missy Brown has a vocal range that would astound you, and she really put it to use on O Holy Night, hitting a couple of dog-worthy notes there at the end.

She’s as good as anybody you hear on the radio.

Shawn Johnson started singing at the Alvin Opry as a kid, and we’ve watched him grow up.

His version of the Christmas song, ‘The Gift” brought tears to a lot of eyes. Not mine, of course. I just have allergies.

Margie La Blanc is from Louisiana, and really knows how to belt out a song.

She’s a much-featured performer on the Opry circuit, and her take of Brenda Lee’s “Rocking Around The Christmas Tree” was a real hit.

During the intermission, we had a chance to say Hi to them all, as well as a lot of familiar ex-Alvin Opry faces in the audience as well.

The show ended right on time at 10pm, capping off a night with good friends and familiar faces. Really nice!

After saying our goodbyes, we were on the road for the trip back to the rig by 10:15. After a potty break, and refueling with coffee and gas at the Flying J in Brookshire, we were home about 12:15, wrapping up a really nice day. Long, but very nice.

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Thought for the Day:

Now that cellphones are becoming more and more waterproof, pretty soon it will be okay to push people into pools again.

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Wanting to get any early start, I was up about  8:30 (for me, that’s early)and off to the hardware store in Columbus soon after.

In fact I was back by 9:30 with everything I needed to finish up the faucet install; two flexible supply lines and and two 1/2” barrels.

I pre-installed the supply lines to the new Moen faucet after wrapping the threads with Teflon tape, figuring it would be easier to do it now rather than reaching under the sink.

I was glad to see that this faucet uses an all-metal clamping system to hold it to the countertop, rather than the plastic nut that I had so much trouble getting off on the old one.

And this clamping system let me just insert everything from the top, and then reach under with a 7/16” box wrench to snug it all down. A couple of more minutes to connect the coach supply lines to the new faucet flexible lines, and I was done.

Turning the water pump back on, I gave it a quick test, letting both hot and cold run for a few minutes while checking underneath for any leaks. And with everything showing high and dry, I was done with Job #2.

So now it was time for coffee and an English muffin, and to check in with Jan who had spent the night at Brandi’s.

And now came the part I’d been kind of dreading; cutting large holes in the bedroom wall. I measured the height of the shower faucet and then drew a 10” x 6” outline on the bedroom wall.

A while back I had bought this Harbor Freight “Multi-Function Oscillating Tool” just for this,

so I was anxious to see how it was going to work. I was only going to be cutting 1/8” wood paneling, but at least I would have an idea.

And since several readers had ask me about these tools, I recorded a video to show you how it did it. And I can tell you it cut through the paneling like butter. And when I made a small test cut into one of the 2×4 cross braces, it went very buttery as well.

One thing to note here is that I was trying not to cut too deep in case a water line was right against the back of the paneling. Otherwise it would have been much quicker and easier.

After making my three cuts and removing the cutout piece, I found this.

Absolutely no sign of any leak.

Bummer!

You’d think at least ONE of these three plumbing jobs could have been easy.

So now I’ve got to make another cut at the bottom. But before I did that, I wanted to check in with American Coach to see how it was hooked up down there. But it was their lunch hour in Decatur, IN, so I grabbed a sandwich too while I was waiting the 45 minutes until I could call back.

When I finally got through to American. I found out that the water supply first comes in by the toilet, then feeds the lavatory sink, and deadends at the shower. Which means I should just have the two lines, hot and cold, coming down that way.

I did my second cutout about six inches above the floor, right over where I could feel a horizontal brace.

Well, now I was seeing some signs of moisture, but more cobwebs than anything else. The wiring feeds one of those inset floor lights right underneath, and on the piece of paneling I cut out next.

Well, now I’m seeing signs of moisture and mold, but still no actual water. In fact, since I been off shore water and using the pump for the last several days, the carpet has not been near as wet as normal, I think due to the lower water pressure,

So I think my next step is to go back on shore water and then just wait a couple of days to see what happens. But that will have to wait until Jan and I are back at the rig tomorrow night.

Right now it was time for me to get ready and head into Katy to meet up with Jan, Brandi, Lowell, and Landon for dinner, and then Jan and I will spend the night there.

The original reason we were here was so that Jan and I could take Landon to school tomorrow morning while Lowell took Brandi in for her day surgery. But today they moved her appointment back to 1pm, so Lowell will take him in as usual.

But since we’re meeting friends tomorrow night in Pasadena for dinner, and then a visit to the Pasadena Opry for the Christmas show, we’ll just stay here tonight and shorten our trip.

For dinner tonight we tried a new place called Slim Chickens. It’s a small chain, with about 25 locations in 9 states, starting in Arkansas about 10 years ago.

Turned out to be really good, with breaded to order chicken tenders, chicken wings, chicken and waffles (the waffle is shaped like the state of Texas), grilled chicken salads, and grilled chicken wraps.

I’m detecting a pattern here.

It looks like they’re building one up in The Woodlands area, so I’m sure we’ll give them a try again.

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Thought for the Day:

Coincidences happen if you work hard enough to make them happen.

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