Our RV Adventures

After a coffee-laced morning, Jan and I headed out about 1pm for lunch at Snooze up in Webster

Now usually I get the 3 Egg Classic breakfast like this.

But now that we’re doing the Keto thing, mine now looks like this.

All Bacon, All The Time.

While we were there, our waiter noticed my jar of Carolina Reaper Powder sitting on the table, and said, “Good stuff!”.

And then asked if I had tried the hot sauce they had there. When I said no, and that I didn’t normally like most hot sauces because all I taste is vinegar. And then he handed me this.

And it was delicious! Probably because vinegar is the 5th ingredient rather than the 1st.

And as soon as Jan tasted it, she said, “We have to buy some.” A little Googling said that our local HEB carried it. So it was on our shopping list for today.

Leaving Snooze, we drove over to the local Wal-Mart for a  few things. Then it was back over to my client’s to pick up an Amazon order that came in this morning. And then right next door to HEB for some Lola Savannah coffee, that they were out of, and of course, the YellowBird Serrano Sauce, which they did have.

After that we headed over to the Seabrook area so Jan could find some earrings at Burke’s Outlet. And it was while I was waiting there that I discovered a problem.

I had lost my phone.

So we back-tracked. The last time I remembered actually using it was at the Wal-Mart, so we headed back that way, with a quick stop at my client’s to see if I left it there.

With no luck, it was on over to Wal-Mart. But no luck at the Customer Service desk.

Unfortunately Jan didn’t have her phone with her, so I couldn’t check my account on WheresMyDroid.com. So we headed back to the rig and as soon as I went online with the app I was shown this.

It was still out in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

So the first thing I did was to lock the phone and take a photo with the front camera, and got this.

So it was lying face up in the parking lot. If that photo had come back showing only black, I could have then take a photo with the rear phone.

If the phone had gotten away, I could have also completely wiped, or even ‘bricked’ the phone. And it wouldn’t have made any difference if they had turned it off or removed the battery. As soon as it was powered up any time later, the lock/wipe/brick would have taken place immediately.

So Jan and I headed back up to the Wal-Mart to scour the parking lot. I know it was near a light pole since it showed up in the photo. And after a few minutes of walking around, I found this. Based on where I found it, I suspect I just didn’t clip it into my belt clip. The Otterbox case I used sometimes keeps it from locking in firmly.

Best $4.99 I Ever Spent . . .

Since we always have decaf coffee in the evening, I had set it up in the Mr. Coffee before we left for lunch. So coming home, as we got off I-45 I used the Switchbot remote to start it brewing, and just as we walked in the door, the pot beeped that it was done. And it smelled great as we came in the rig.

I love it when a plan comes together.

Thought For The Day:

“It’s discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.” –  Noel Coward

dgfhg

Well, our next big RV trip is on the calendar. We’ll leave here June 3, 2020, heading for a big family reunion in my old homestead, Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Though Jan and I will be traveling in our RV, the Texas/Illinois segments of the family are renting a 6 Bedroom / 6 Bath house about 5 minutes from the beach (right across the highway). It sleeps 20 and comes with a very nice pool/deck combo.

You can check it out further here: Gulf Shores Beach House

The beach house is booked from June 6th to the 13th. We plan on getting there on the 4th, and then since we’ll be halfway there, when everyone else heads home on the 13th, Jan and I will strike out for Florida. We’re going to visit our friend’s Nick and Terry Russell, as well as a couple of other long-time friends, one that Jan went to high school with.

We’ve also got a couple of other trips on a  tentative schedule. One family get-together up at Chris and Linda’s in Kingsland, TX, and another to visit relatives in Athens, AL, and long-time friends in Birmingham and Montgomery along the way, this trip probably in January 2020.

And of course, our non-RV trip up to NYC from the 5th to the 10th of December to see the Christmas sights.

I thought retirement was supposed to be restful.

I’m still waiting.

Of course all this RV traveling means I need to buckle down and get my oil leak fixed. Though we did make both a Florida trip and a Kingsland trip with the leak, just adding a gallon of oil everyday, it leaves the truck a black, gooey mess.

But I want to get this wrapped up, so I can get back on my generator problem. I’ve got a couple of ideas of what to check next, but it’s just a matter of finding the time.

But my big fear, based on some funny readings, is that it might be the controller board. And a new one? is around $1000. So as usual, I have a Plan B.

Rather than put that kind of money into a 20 year old generator where something else might die the week after I replace the board, I’ll thinking about pulling the Onan and just replacing it with a portable gasoline generator of the same capacity.

One like this

Westinghouse 7500/9500 KW Generator

Not only at 192 pounds, is it less than half the 420 pound weight of the Onan, it comes with remote start so I don’t even have to wire that up. And the 6.6 gallon tank is supposed to run it for about 16 hours, which would cover about 2 days driving for us.

It is about $150 more than the one from Harbor Freight that I looked at before, but it comes with a 3 year warranty rather the 2 year one from HF. And for an another $77 I can get an additional 4 year warranty, for a total of 7 year. Nice.

And Amazon delivers it free.

So I’ll see how it goes.

I am going to get back under the rig tomorrow and take another look, and some photos of the oil filter adapter to try and figure out how to get it off.

So I’ll see how it goes.

Thought For The Day:

There is a reason God didn’t give Pit Bulls the temperament of a Chihuahua.

gsfs