Hollywood and Hooters . . .
Thanks to everyone for their kind messages about my wasp sting. Though my hand is still red and swollen, it’s not itchy. Which was the big problem to start with.
Tomorrow is another get-together with our Alvin Opry group, and it sounds like we’re going to have two new members. Well, new to our group, but not new to us. They’re also long-time Opry attendees, and we’re looking forward to seeing them again.
And here’s some more reminiscing of our travels on this date.
April 27, 2010
High in the Sierras . . .
We decided to go out for breakfast about 9 am while we were waiting to see if our new site was open yet. Noting that the site was on the way out, we drove by to check it out and found that it was already empty. But there was a problem.
Although it was a pull-thru, the site was kind of short and rolled off down the hill in the front. By the time I had pulled far enough into the site to setup I’d be tilted downhill too much to get leveled. I thought I’d talk with the Park office when we got back.
On recommendation of the office we had breakfast at Pete’s Place in Oakhurst and it was really pretty good. The bacon was especially good.
We got back to the park about 10:30 and I stopped off at the office to find out if another site was available. One of their people took me out to look over two other sites and I picked 511.
About 11:30 we moved into our new site and got set up.
This is a really nice area of the park, off the main road so it’s nice and quiet.
But because of all the nice trees it took a while to get a sight line on the satellite, I had to move it three times before I got a signal. Here’s how I ended up finding a hole in the trees.
If I had a roof-mounted sat dish, we’d have been out of luck. As it is, I had to set up the dish about 30 feet behind the coach.
The weather had been overcast and drizzling on and off all day, and it seemed like the perfect time for an afternoon nap.
And it was.
About 4:45 pm we drove into Oakhurst to have dinner at El Cid, a Mexican restaurant that advertised in the park brochure. And it was well worth the trip. The chips were hot, the salsa was cold, the iced tea was good, and the food was great!
And the view wasn’t too shabby either. We sat out on the glassed-in patio that overlooks the High Sierras,
and looks down on a cactus garden with numerous bird feeders. And tulips, too.
Jan was happy to see all the finches since she used to feed them in Houston before we went fulltime. She was surprised to find out that the finches stay here all year, even during the winter with snow on the ground. In Houston they only stay around for a couple of months in the fall.
We saw several of these red headed birds too, but no one knew what they were. A little Googling told me that these are male house finches. We had never seen them before.
Even bluebirds were hanging around. Don’t know how happy they were, though.
We got back to the rig about 6 pm and settled in for the night.
The weather is supposed to be even worse tomorrow, so we’ll probably wait until Thursday before we do any sightseeing, but we’ll see.
April 27, 2011
Wigwams and Pie . . .
We left Show Low about 9:30 this morning heading 170 miles away to Williams, AZ to spend a few days seeing the Grand Canyon and other sights in the area.
Overall the trip was pretty uneventful, with some road construction on SR77 between Show Low and Holbrook and a lot of smoke around Flagstaff.
Holbrook, where we got on I-40W was on the old Route 66, and was also home to one of the 7 Wigwam Motels in the country. My family and I stayed here on a trip out west in 1963.
Built in 1950, it first closed in 1974, but the original owner’s family renovated and reopened it in 1988. And, in fact, the same family still operates it today.
It’s good to see it’s still around. There are only 3 of the original 7 still in existence.
After getting on I-40, our first stop was at the Flying J Truck Stop in Winslow, AZ. Where we wanted to eat breakfast at the adjacent Denny’s.
We finally got back on the road about 1:30 for the hundred mile run to Williams, with Mister spending the whole trip catching rays in the front window.
Sometimes wide awake . . .
Sometimes dozing off . . .
And sometimes, just completely out of it.
Approaching the Flagstaff area we started seeing a lot of smoke in front of us. It turned out to be a Forest Service controlled burn. Although it wasn’t too bad, we did hit several thick patches and you could certainly smell it.
While passing through some of this, we were passed by Kenny Chesney’s tour bus. He’s got an upcoming gig in Vegas and travels in style. Must be nice to have someone to drive the RV for you.
Just as we were pulling into the Canyon Gate RV Park in Williams, our daughter Brandi called to check it and tell us that Landon’s daycare had called and said a little girl in his group had BIT him. We all figured that just as soon as he has some teeth, he’ll bite’r back.
After getting set up, we rested up, and then about 5:30 we headed out for a drive around the area, and dinner.
And as it turned out, dinner was at the Pine Country Café, where we ate last year when we were through here. Our meal was good, but what we really came for were the pies.
They bake 44 different kinds of pie every day, but when a particular flavor is gone, it’s gone for the day.
Jan had this huge slice of Coconut Cream, with enough left over to take home.
And I had this delicious Strawberry Cream Cheese.
I didn’t have any left over.
Tomorrow Jan and I are taking the Grand Canyon Railway train trip to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. It leaves about 9:30 and returns to Williams about 5:30 or so.
It’s supposed to get down to 29 degrees here tonight, but it’s just after midnight and it’s already 31.
So I think it might get colder. We’ll see.
April 27, 2014
and Good Food . . .
Once again Jan and I sat outside and enjoyed our coffee and Buc-ee’s muffins. It was more overcast than yesterday, and a little windier, but still very nice. Mister always enjoys us being out there with him, since he can crawl all over us and annoy us. And he really enjoys his work.
After we finally came inside I unbungeed the drawer I repaired yesterday, put it back under the fridge and replaced all the pots and pans. Hopefully it’ll last another 15 years.
Today was a Red Letter Day. I finally finished up the last of the bins and got everything sorted away. We’ll take the empty bins down to our storeroom in Clear Lake later this week. on one of our last trips.
Tuesday night we’re getting together with Chris, Linda, and Piper down in Clear Lake for a last meal together before we leave this coming Friday. Then on Thursday night we’re getting together with Brandi, Lowell, and Landon up here in Katy. Because everyone is so busy it’s hard to get us all together in the middle of the week.
About 4 pm we picked up Maxine and Cliff Phillips next door and headed down to Columbus to have dinner at Los Cabos. This was Maxine and Cliff’s first visit and our 3rd or 4th, and it was as good as before. And they thought it was as good as we do.
It’s always kind of dicey taking friends to a restaurant you really like, and then the place has an off-day. But it was all good tonight.
Maxine and Cliff are leaving for the New Braunfels area tomorrow morning, so hopefully they’ll keep in touch and we can meet up down the road somewhere.
April 27, 2017
Going To Hel . . . Hooters?
Today, our last day to journey down to LA proper, we were on the road by 9:30, heading down to the Hollywood Blvd/TCL Chinese Theater area for our 12:15 TMZ Hollywood Tour.
We were going down early so we could check in for the tour early and then have lunch. I had made our reservations online a couple of days ago so all we had to do was to check in at TMZ’s booth in the Hard Rock Café, get our badges, and then head right across the street to the Hooters.
We had first eaten here in 2010 prior to our last Hollywood Tour, and hoped it was as good as before.
As usual we both went with our favorites, Jan getting her Original Chicken Strip Cheese Sandwich with their new Big Dipper Fries.
Previously they only had Curly Fries, but the Big Dipper’s are more like Steak Fries, but shaped to hold dips/sauces. Very Good.
I of course went with my usual wings, all drums, coated with their Habanero BBQ sauce with side sauces of Chipotle Honey for the sweetness, and Triple Dog Dare, their hottest sauce.
Jan and I both agreed that Hooters has really upped their game, I imagine, due to all the competition with Buffalo Wild Wings and the like. The wings are larger than they used to be, with a lighter breading that forms a slight crispy crust, almost like our absolute favorite wings, the Sweet Tangy Golden Sauce Wings, from the Beeville Diner down in, where else, Beeville, TX, where we ate several times while we were gate guarding down in south Texas.
As we left Hooters we noticed a police car right in front of the door, and two police officers on the sidewalk. Turns out that apparently Jan and I are going to Hell because we ate at Hooters.
At least that’s what the protesters were saying, signs, chanting, and all.
We waited about 15 minutes before our TMZ Tour Bus showed up and we were on our way.
Unlike our last Starline Tour in 2010 (You can read about it here) the TMZ tour is more ‘spot the stars’ type. However the Starline tour was a ‘homes of the stars’ so if that’s your thing, take that one.
Because we were star-spotting, AND didn’t see any, there weren’t really any photos to take. So nothing really from that.
But we were shown the very best viewpoint for the Hollywood Sign, and aptly enough it’s from Hollywood Blvd.
Right down the street from the Hard Rock Café there is an opening between the buildings where they’ve set up a viewing area for the tourists.
We were back at the Hard Rock Café by about 2:15 and quickly got on our way home, wanting to get ahead of the going-home traffic, which we did.
We did fight the winds, forecasted to be in excess of 60mph, all the way home, finally getting back about 3:30pm.
Lucky for us the wind didn’t really pick up until later in the evening when is was rocking the coach back and forth. But according to the news, trees and power lines were blown down all over LA.
New blog readers Rob and Dottie dropped by to say Hi. It’s always good to meet new friends.
Tomorrow we’re having lunch at the Shakey’s Pizza up in Palmdale, then some shopping, and maybe a drive out to the poppy fields.
Thought for the Day:
Newport Oregon Police received a 911 call that there was a cat in a tree armed with an assault rifle. True Story.
Neighbor dogs were relieved to find out that it was just a suspicious-looking branch.
.
