Our RV Adventures

When we were at WalMart the other day, we came across this cherry 327 Chevelle Malibu.

Really, really neat!

The last few days we’ve been catching up on restaurants that we haven’t eaten at since before the Shutdown.

Saturday we had lunch at the nearby Spring Creek BBQ. Jan had the St. Louis Ribs with Beans and Beans,

while I had a Ribs and Cracked Black Pepper Sausage Combo Plate, also with Beans and Beans.

Then today, we had lunch at the Cheddar’s up in Webster. Like many other places, they’re serving a somewhat restricted menu, and of course, our favorites were missing too.

So Jan got the Blackened Catfish with Beans and Carrots,

while I had the Ribs and Chicken Tenders, again with Beans and Carrots.

We may have two new favorites now.

According to the British Health Service, they’ve discovered another dirt-cheap drug to combat advanced cases of the WuFlu virus. It’s called dexamethasone, and it’s an inexpensive, generic corticosteroid used to treat arthritis, blood/ hormone/immune system disorders, allergic reactions, certain skin and eye conditions.

It apparently has little or no effect on mild cases, which are 19 out of every 20 cases. And although it’s described as a miracle cure, it’s not a sure thing. According to the article, For patients on ventilators, it cut the risk of death from 40% to 28%, and for patients needing oxygen, it cut the risk of death from 25% to 20%.

Someone commented on a website that it will only be a cheap, miracle cure until it’s mentioned by President Trump. He might be right.

These next two day’s blogs were really high on Jan’s Bucket List. She’s always been a big fan of Ree Drummond, of the Pioneer Woman fame. So Jan’s been wanting to visit her Merchantile for a long while now, so our two days in Pawhuska, OK gave her that chance.

June 16, 2017

Worth The Wait In Line . . .

Jan woke up with one of her pretty-much monthly migraines, but with one of her magic pills, and a couple of hours of peace and quiet, she felt good to go.

So about 4pm we headed back west on US60 for Pawhuska and Ree Drummond’s Mercantile to have dinner.

Getting there a little after 4:30, I dropped Jan off with the umbrella so she could get in line while I found a place to park the truck. We noticed everyone in the line was using umbrellas to ward off the sun, which is why we brought ours.

But as it turns out the place has a big stash of umbrellas for everyone to use, as well as fans set up along the sidewalks and a lady handing out free bottles of water.

Great customer service!

When we got in line we were told it would be about 45 minutes, and it was, almost to the minute.

The place is enormous inside, and it needs to be to serve 6 to 15 thousand customers a day. And of course it used to be a big department store back in the day.

We started out with appetizers, sharing a Tomato Soup with Grill Cheese Dippers,

and a order of their Whisky Glazed Carrots.

And even with this first part of our meal, we began to see that every dish is something special

The Tomato Soup was just plain delicious and the Grilled Cheese Dippers were a grilled cheese sandwich made on homemade bread and filled with 3 different cheeses, and then sliced up.

When our waiter set down the carrots the odor of whiskey just wafted over you. And yes, everything in that dish are carrots of one kind or another, even the white and black ones. Again, really delicious.

For her entrée Jan got the Fried Chicken Sandwich and made-in-house potato chips. And the bun was homemade too.

Jan also got a side of the Fancy Mac N Cheese. And we both agreed that it’s the best tasting Mac N Cheese we’ve ever had.

I got the Beef Brisket Reuben, also with homemade bread and potato chips.

The brisket was melt-in-your-mouth good, as well as the entire sandwich. And because we had filled up on the appetizers, we could only eat half our sandwiches, so we had take-home.

After our great meal, Jan of course had to check out the Gift Shop area,

and found several things she just had to have.

Then it was upstairs to the Bakery to get some of Ladd’s (Ree’s husband) favorite Chocolate Pie.

And to Jan’s disappointment, she was told that Ladd had been in just a few minutes before to get him some, and Jan had missed him.

Maybe next time.

Tomorrow’s gong to be a full day. First lunch at Monterey’s Little Mexico, then downtown to check out Frank Lloyd Wright’s Price Tower, Frank Phillips home, an old steam locomotive, and then the Woolaroc Museum and Wildlife Preserve.

Then it’s out to the Drummond Ranch to take a tour of the Lodge where Ree’s show is taped. Tomorrow is the last day for being able to visit so we really lucked up.

Then it’s back to The Merc for dinner.

YUMM!

Thought for the Day:

Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.

Once again, thanks to everyone for the many nice comments concerning my recent tête-à-tête with She Who Shall Not Be Named.

Jan says one thing everyone needs to know is that I enjoy these, just like my previous interactions with John, another blog commenter in the same mode as ‘SWSNBN’ above. I enjoy the challenge and the interchange of ideas that comes out of these situations.

I’m just sorry that SWSNBN didn’t respond to me with more of her ‘facts’.

As usual there’s a lot of conflicting information coming out on the HCQ front.

The FDA revoked emergency use of hydroxychloroquine, which they allowed several months ago. Based on the article, it looks like they’re doing this due to the Lancet article last month. You know, the one that was completely discredited and turned out to be a hoax.

But then later today, the Secretary of the HHS, Alex Azar, said this revocation has nothing to do with whether or not doctors or hospitals can still prescribe HCQ, and that that is between the doctor and the patient.

In fact, it seems the entire company behind the Lancet article, Surgisphere, was a fraud from the start and has now disappeared completely. And it looks like that goes double for Dr Sapan Desai, the founder. It turns out that Dr. Desai’s entire history is full of fraudulent claims, and he doesn’t really have the two PhD’s, and a Master’s degree, as well as his medical degree that he said he had.

His Wikipedia page was flagged 10 years ago because people noticed many of the claims about him were sourced to his own website.

While at the same time, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons Sues FDA for “Irrational” Interference of Access to Life-Saving Hydroxychloroquine.

Meanwhile, an India government study found that Healthcare Workers WereProtected from Covid-19 by Hydroxychloroquine Prophylaxis.

And here’s another positive HCQ study from India. Hydroxychloroquine Effective for Prophylaxis, According to New Study

It really seems strange that all these other countries have such good luck with HCQ and we can’t seem to get it right.

At least this Yale Epidemiology Professor Urges Hydroxychloroquine & Azithromycin Early Therapy for COVID-19 gets it right.

Another in our Where We Were 7 Years Ago Today series.

June 15, 2013

Cows and Goats . . .

Since we wanted to have breakfast this morning before we left for Nampa, we got all ready to go, and then about 8:55 walked over to the restaurant.

And the breakfast turned out to be as good as last night’s dinner. This is the #1 Combo that I had. Not a bad deal for $6.95. And all really good.

We had the same waitress as we had last night and we asked her about all the cows on the road and she told us about her cow encounter.

SR205 was a good road, except for the cows.

We had seen several of the ‘livestock on road’ signs, and she said that she ‘hit six cows last year’.

I then ask “You hit cows six times last year?” She said “No, I hit six cows, all at once. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM . . . I was driving on a dark night, came over a hill, and there was a herd of black cows, so it was BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!”

Ouch!

After she hit the 6 cows, she called 911 and reported the accident. When the 911 operator asked if she needed an ambulance, she said ‘No”. But they sent one anyway. And the 911 operator forgot to tell the ambulance driver about the cows.

Oops!

The ambulance took out 3 more cows. If you keeping score, we’re up to 9 dead cows now.

Then the police showed up at the scene of the accident.

And they weren’t told about the cows either.

Oops!

So now we’re up to 11 dead cows. About this time our waitress was picked up by her husband and left the scene. But she said more cows were hit during the night. Apparently the herd of over 200 wandered back and forth over the highway all night.

The next morning they were using forklifts to clean up the highway.

Yuck!

“This is Oregon?”

We headed out from The Narrows RV Park about 9:50, but we considered it as 10:50 because about 70 miles down the road we’ll enter the Mountain Time Zone, so it’s easier to just think that way from the start.

About 25 miles after we left the park, we hooked back up with US20 and headed east for Nampa, ID about 170 miles away. But we quickly began to wonder if we were still in Oregon.

It looked more like what we’ve seen in Wyoming or Montana. Long sweeping vistas with wide valleys, steep climbs, and curvy roads following the Malheur River that runs along side the highway.

And it made for some really nice photos.

A really beautiful trip. And even better, considering all the curves, no cat barf from Mister or Emma.

About 40 miles out of Nampa, we got on I-84E, and by about 3pm we were parked and getting set up.

A little after 4pm we were out driving around, thinking about what we wanted for dinner. Then we passed a Texas Roadhouse, and that made the decision for us. Texas Roadhouse it was.

Jan had the 12 oz. Sirloin Strip and I had my usual 16 oz. Ribeye. And both really good.

Getting home about 5:30 we found we had some new neighbors right next door. We seen RV’ers traveling with cats, dogs, turtles, lizards, parrots, cockatoos, and even ferrets and monkeys.

But goats?

Meet (from left to right, Bonnie, Goldie, and hiding out in back, Clyde.

Their owner says that they’re Nubian goats.

And to Jan’s relief, they’re dairy goats, and pets, and not pre-cabrito.

Tomorrow we got a trip of about 180 miles to Declo, ID and the Village of Trees RV Resort.

Hopefully we’ll have as nice a trip as we did today.

Thought for the Day:

“A thief in power is to be preferred to a fool, for a thief may upon occasion take a vacation.” – Anatol France