Our RV Adventures

I was looking over our rig’s Silverleaf computer interface readings from our trip from the Colorado River TT to the Gulf State Park here in Gulf Shores.

Turns out we used 72.6 gallons of diesel, out of 150 gallons, and we traveled 610.9 miles, giving us an average of a little over 8.4 mpg. Not bad at all.

Especially since due to the fact that I bumped my normal 55mph up to 61- 62 due to not wanting to slow down surrounding traffic too much. The traffic is so heavy on I-10 east of Houston that even on a 4 lane traffic builds up behinds us. I wouldn’t mind pulling off occasionally, but then it’s almost impossible to get back on the road – due to all the traffic. So I try to pick it up a bit.

Of course we actually used more diesel than that, since we ran the generator for the AC’s the entire way.

A couple of things I forgot to mention yesterday.

In talking with Jeff, our Lambert;’s waiter, it turns out I knew his grandparents. They owned the Kastrup’s Motel just a mile or so south of Lambert’s. It’s no longer there, but they also had a restaurant there called the Koffee Kup. They had great food, and we always stopped there for Sunday dinner coming back from church in Foley.

Years later, when my mother, Jan and I came down from Birmingham, we stayed there.

And later, driving around Foley, we drove past my grandmother’s house on Rose Ave. Althought it looks small, it actually had 3 bedrooms and 2 baths.

She lived here from around 1957 to 1960 until she had a stroke. We ended up moving up there from our house on the Bon Secour River to take care of her. Unfortunately after about another year, her health deteriorated to the point she had to be put in a nursing home.

But two unusual things stand out for me while we lived there. One was that I had a pet flying squirrel who live on that screen-in front porch. His name was . . . wait for it . . . Rocky!

I got him as a baby, and whenever he would see me, he would come flying over and land on my shoulder, and I would feed him pecans and peanuts.

The other unusual thing was that on the other side of the alley behind the house was a home where a girl my age (12) lived. And we use to pal around a lot. But the unusual part was that her home was a funeral home. And when we went in and out the back door, we walked right through the embalming room . . . with the bodies laid out on the tables. But since she wasn’t grossed out by them, neither was I.

No way a 12 year old boy would let himself be grossed out by something that didn’t bother a GIRL.

And after a while I didn’t pay any attention to them anymore.

Or at least until one day I walked by a table that held someone I knew.

Around 6pm it started raining pretty heavily and went for almost half a hour, all the while the sun was still shining brightly. Strange.

For dinner tonight, Jan heated up our Lambert’s leftovers, and like I said in yesterday’s blog we had more food tonight than we ate last night. A very good meal. Again.

Jan is 90% of the reason I get up every morning. The other 10% is because I have to pee.

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Yesterday’s light rains became all night and all morning thunderboomers, enough to occasionally shake the entire coach.

And it looks like there’s more on the way tomorrow. In fact, The Weather Channel says we’re looking at Scattered Thunderstorms for the rest of our time here.

But it did keep it cooler

About 2:30 we headed into Foley to have ‘lupper’ at one of our all-time favorites, Lambert’s Throwed Rolls. We’ve eaten here for years, even before we started RV’ing in 2009, and it’s always worth the wait. And there’s always a wait.

Sometimes it’s only 10 minutes, while today was about 30. But we have waited as long as two hours when we were here with the whole family. There are not many places we’d wait this long, Lulu’s here in Gulf Shores, Salt Lick BBQ, near Austin, and maybe a couple of others.

While we were waiting, I checked my Galaxy Tab 4 for a Wi-Fi signal and found an open signal at the Ford dealership right  next door. And like many open signals from businesses, there’s a disclaimer agreement you have to acknowledge before they will let you online. But I’ve never seen one like this.

It’s a page and a half of dense legalese, pretty much unreadable. But of course, I accepted it and went online. But I’m not sure if we still have a son.  Or maybe I don’t have a soul anymore.

Getting seated, Jeff, our waiter showed up, and before he could ask what we wanted to to drink, I told him, “two unsweet iced teas”. He blinked a couple of times and said, “This is not how this works. I ask you what you want to drink, and THEN you tell me, not the other way around.”

Jan and I both laughed, and Jan said, “OK, you start.”

“Hi, welcome to Lambert’s. My name is Jeff, and I’ll be your waiter today. What can I get you to drink?” And after I told him again. he smiled and said, “See how much better that works.”

Jan always gets the Fried Chicken with Mashed Potatoes,

while this time I went with the BBQ Pork Steak with Turnip Greens, White Beans and Ham, and Green Beans.

And of course the PassArounds, like Fried Okra,

Fried Potatoes and Onions, Black-eyed Peas, and 3 or 4 more choices. If you don’t know about PassArounds, servers walk around with big bowls full of food and ladle out as much as you want. This all in addition to the sides that come with your meal. As usual everything was really delicious.

And because of the PassArounds, we ended up bring home more leftovers than we ate to start with.

And it’s a great deal too. My big pork steak with 3 sides was only $13. And Jan’s All White Meat Chicken with two big pieces and two sides was only $14. Nice. Especially since we’ll get a whole ‘nuther meal out of it.

And of course there are the rolls. And yes, they do throw them.

The size of soft balls, they come arcing across the dining room, 20 or 30 feet sometimes. And if you miss, another one is right behind it. And you’ll probably want to drop it quick, because they’re always hot out of the oven.

There is a place north of Houston called the Potatoe Patch that advertises ‘throw’d’ rolls, but when we ate there this past January, we found that they were more like ‘tossed’. Usually only a couple of feet.

When I mentioned this in the blog, one of readers, Joan said she used to be the Insurance Underwriter for Lambert’s and that they had seen a fair share of lawsuits from their ‘throwed rolls’. It’s really hard to believe that someone could  be injured by a soft, fluffy yeast roll.

A few years back, I think it was the Sikeston, MO Lambert’s location, I saw a roll come arcing overhead, right through the hands of the father, and hit a young boy in a highchair right in the face with a soft ‘plop’. The kid who also had his hands up trying to catch it, just picked up the roll from his tray and started eating it.

I think some people just want to sue.

At least they stacked it nicely.

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