Monthly Archives: May 2022
Next Up, The Cheesecake Factory . . .
First off, A Happy Birthday to our son, Chris. Really look forward to seeing him in a couple of weeks over in Gulf Shores.
We met up with our Alvin Opry group at 2pm at the Webster Saltgrass Steakhouse, for the second time. Very popular with this bunch.
Some of them, Bob and Maria, on the left, we’ve known since the mid-80’s, and the rest since the late-90’s.
A great group!
And next month It’s the Cheesecake Factory on the schedule.
Holy Jumping Crocodiles
May 19, 2009
Birthday Wishes and Key Largo Dream . . .
First off, Jan and I want to wish our son Christopher a Happy Birthday today.
Jan and I decided to explore back up the Keys today. We went all the way up to Key Largo and then back down to Key West. There were several places that we drove by on the way down that we wanted to take a closer look at.
Strangely enough, most of them seemed to be gift shops.
Lunch was at a small but very good Chinese buffet restaurant in Marathon called Panda Café. Really good!
We drove in and out of several rainstorms both up and down the Keys. But it did produce some very pretty pictures. And the ‘Glades and Keys can certainly use the rain.
One thing we got see on our trip today was ‘Fat Albert’ floating over Cudjoe Key.
‘Fat Albert’ is a 175 foot long helium-filled blimp floating at 10,000 ft. It is tethered to a pickup truck at the small blimp base on Cudjoe Key.
It is used mainly by NORAD, and the radar it carries monitors suspected drug smuggling flights, fast boats smuggling Cubans, weather, any low flying plane and other potentially harmful activity.
It is also sometimes used to broadcast ‘TV Marti’, which consists of anti-Castro TV programs beamed toward Cuba.
After we got back we headed down into Key West for another dinner at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. Just as good as last time.
And of course, a few more gift shops had to be visited.
Tomorrow will be our last full day in the Keys before we head north to West Palm Beach on Thursday. We’ve really enjoyed all the sights we’ve seen here in Southern Florida and the Keys.
Here’s a few pics…
A Traveler’s Palm
We also saw this interesting lizard while we were at Coral Castle.
This one was about a foot long and I had never seen one like it.
A quick Google told me that it is a Red-headed Agama, native to Africa. It seems that some agamas being kept as pets had escaped and there are now a number of colonies thriving here in South Florida.
When they are in courting mode, the males are even more colorful.
We’ve also seen a number of interesting signs.
Looks like this guy has his business plan mapped out.
Yes there are crocodiles in the Keys. The really scary part about this sign is that there is a 6 ft. fence on both sides of the highway for the entire 6 miles. I’m not sure I want to think about crocodiles that can jump 6 ft. fences.
And finally, like I needed another reason to eat more Key Lime Pie!
End Of The Trail
May 19, 2010
Pig N Pancake . . .
We spent last night at Circle Creek RV Park just south of Seaside, OR.
It rained pretty much all day yesterday, but when we first got up this morning it was clear. But that didn’t last long.
Since we had a short 105 mile trip today, we decided to have breakfast in Seaside before we left, so about 9:15 am we headed over to the Pig N Pancake.
Jan had the Blueberry Pancakes with Bacon, and I had the Banana Pancakes with Orange/Pineapple sauce, and both were really good.
After breakfast we drove down to the end of Broadway on the beachfront. Seaside is a very popular tourist destination on the Oregon Coast and the town shows it.
Even the streetlights reflect the Seaside theme.
Seaside’s other claim to fame is that it was the end of the trail for Lewis and Clark in 1805. They stayed for almost a year before heading back east.
We left Circle Creek RV Park about 11:30 and headed north on US 101, and of course by then it was pouring down rain again.
But lucky for us it stopped right before we got to American Sunset RV Park in Westport, WA about 3 pm.
We were glad to find our good friends, Al and Adrianne Cox parked right across from us. We first met them two years ago in Fairbanks, AK and then got to see them again this past February in Tucson. They are workamping here this summer and it’ll be good to spend a few days with them.
They came over as soon as we got parked and we talked for about two hours. We also watched a crow trying to steal suet out of one of their bird feeders. Hey, crows gotta eat too.
They already had a park get-together scheduled for tonight so about 5:30 we went to down to the marina area to eat at The One-Eyed Crab, a recommended seafood place. Jan had the Wild Mexican Prawns and I had the Fish (Cod). The platters came with twice-baked potatoes which was also good.
After dinner we drove over to the seawall to watch the waves come over it. There is a storm off the coast which is causing all the rain and bringing a lot of really high winds with it. When I got out to take these pictures, I told Jan the winds were about 60-70 mph.
There was a TV camera crew there taping the storm, and when we watched them later on TV, they confirmed winds in excess of 60 mph. And on Mt Rainer, they recorded a wind gust of 118 mph.
By the time we got back to the park, the rain had slacked off and left us this.
But the wind hasn’t let up. I didn’t even try to put out the Satellite dish. It would have been hopeless. But the park cable works pretty good, so we have some TV.
BridalVeil Fall, Not Falls
May 19, 2011
Yosemite Redux . . .
First off, I want to wish a Big Happy Birthday to our son, Chris. Enjoy your dinner at Ichibon’s.
Today was our day to visit Yosemite National Park. It was a second visit for us, since we were here last year, and we were looking forward to more of the fantastic views we had seen last year.
We left the park about 9, heading first into Oakhurst to pick up some things, like gas, breakfast, and lunch,
Gas, because there are no gas stations in the park proper, breakfast because everyone was hungry, so we stopped off at Jack in the Box, and lunch sandwiches from Subway, because we found out last year how bad the food is at the dining hall at Yosemite Lodge.
So we decided that with chips and drinks from home, sandwiches from Subway, and some of Jan’s delicious lemon bars for dessert, we were all set.
On our way into Oakhurst our daughter Brandi called with the latest Landon update. He had his 9 months checkup today, and Brandi wanted to let us know that he’s doing fine with no problems.
Finally, about 10 we left Oakhurst to make the 16 mile trip into the park itself. But the 16 mile trip takes almost an hour because the road is very curvy and we were climbing from about 2300 ft. to over 6000 ft. before dropping back down to about 2000 ft. on the valley floor.
After you enter the park, it’s about 35 more miles to the Lodge area. At about 4500 ft. we started encountering more and more snow as we climbed, But not near as much as last year. But then we were three weeks earlier last year.
Last Year.
This Year.
One of the most spectacular views in the Park comes as you exit the Wawona Tunnel and get your first view of the Yosemite Valley.
That’s the 3000 ft. El Capitan on the left and the 4700 ft.
Half Dome in the middle of the shot. Half Dome just looks shorter because it’s a lot further away.
And this shot shows El Capitan, Half Dome, and BridalVeil Fall (Yes, Fall, not Falls. Don’t know why). Just a fantastic view.
Here’s a little closer shot of BridalVeil. Note all the mist at the bottom. We’ll see more of this later.
And here’s my Sweetie outshining it all.
This is Yosemite Falls, as seen from Yosemite Lodge. At about 2400 ft. it’s the highest waterfall in North America. BridalVeil is only a little over 600 ft..
That is a lot of water going over that cliff.
Last week, one of two people killed in the park was killed near these Falls.
After getting our National Park Passport stamped at the Visitor’s Center, we started on the loop that would take us back out of the park.
About 1:30 we stopped for lunch at a beautiful spot along the road.
We even had a helpful raven to clean up any crumbs we dropped. And of course Jan made sure we dropped a lot. At one point she even tore off a large chunk of my sandwich to give him.
Leaving the picnic area, we spotted two does right along the roadside, just walking around grazing.
Nearing BridalVeil Fall I found this Swallowtail Butterfly, although I’m not exactly sure which one it is.
This is a shot of BridalVeil Fall taken from the path leading up to Vista Point near the base of the Fall.
And this photo was taken from Vista Point. You can only get about one shot before the mist obscures your lens.
All that water coming down translates into some really strong rapids at the base.
Leaving BridalVeil and heading on, we notice the fog starting to move in along the mountain ridges, and it started to get colder quick.
Getting back to the Park entrance area we decided to make the 2 mile trip out to Mariposa Grove, home of Yosemite’s largest Sequoias, some of them over 300 ft. high. We didn’t get to do this last year as the road was snowed in.
Although there are over 500 giant Sequoias here, they really don’t measure up to the ones in Sequoia National Park where we plan to go next week.
We finally got back to Oakhurst a little after 5, and deciding no one was really hungry for supper after our late lunch, we just stopped off and got cappuccinos.
Later, around 8 Jan fixed us a light supper of Cheese Toast. Really good.
That’s about it for today.
Eek-Eek!
May 19, 2012
All Landon, All the Time . . .
Well, it finally happened.
Landon’s first haircut.
And as much as Brandi probably hated to do it, it was just about time since he turned 21 months on this Sunday the 20th.
It was getting a little long and curly there.
They never had barber chairs like this when I was a kid.
Not too sure about those clippers buzzing around his ears.
Ahh! That’s better.
Monkey see, monkey do. The monkey’s name is Eek-Eek! because that’s what Landon said his name was. A while back he had learned to say a bunch of animal sounds, and Eek-Eek! was the sound he said a monkey makes.
So when Lowell brought the toy home from a business trip, Landon immediately named him Eek-Eek! and takes him everywhere.
Finally headed home.
It looks like Landon first haircut went a lot better than our son’s first one.
Chris, who just turned 44 on Saturday, acted like they were cutting fingers and not just hair. in fact, he pitched such a fit, that after it was all over, we were politely asked to never bring him back.
Sunday morning at Starbucks.
Landon and Daddy Lowell
They started drilling yesterday (Saturday) and seem to be making good progress. They were at 800 feet by midnight and were at 2800 feet by midnight Sunday.
It looks like we might be here a little longer than the normal 2 to 3 weeks this time. They apparently will be doing a lot of sampling on this well so it’s scheduled for 40 days, which will take us to around the end of June. But of course, as always, things could slip.
So far this gate seems to be a little busier than our last gate, but that may just be because we are here for the startup.
No More Zip-lining
May 19, 2013
Electric Sheep . . .
(We’ll see if anyone gets this one.)
Well, we did pretty much nothing today. And it was really, really nice.
It made it all the way up to 62 degrees with plenty of sun, so we had the windows and the door open all day. Really nice. And the smell of pine trees just makes it better.
We’ve gotten a few more neighbors in the last couple of days, but nobody on either side of us. Hopefully that will hold. But with the Memorial Day weekend coming up, it might be touch and go.
When Jan did her zip line ride in Las Vegas last week, we purchased a photo of her, but I forgot about posting it until now. So here it is.
They have a zip line ride here in South Lake Tahoe, but Jan says she’s checked off Zip Lining from her Bucket List, so it’s Been There, Done That now.
About 11:30 we called our son Chris to wish him a Happy Birthday. Now being 45, that makes him officially old. Of course I don’t know what that makes us.
Jan says she’s still 39, but I’m not quite sure how that works.
Brandi sent over a picture of the kitchen area of their new house with the backsplash installed.
Apparently things have really sped up on the construction front, and they may be moving in in just a couple of weeks. We know they’re really excited.
Wednesday we plan on making a big loop around Lake Tahoe, first heading up the west side of the lake to the Donner Pass area, then over to Reno for a Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club visit. After that. we’ll probably swing down through Virginia City, before heading home.
Tomorrow’s still kind of up in the air, though. We’ll see how it goes.
Great Views
May 19, 2014
TILT . . .
On another note, there’s a couple of new high-flying attractions on the scene now. The first one, called TILT, is on the 94th floor of the John Hancock Building in Chicago.
Guests stand in individual glass cubicles which then ‘tilt’ out 30° from the side of the building.
giving you a 1000ft straight down view of the city,
and a spectacular view of the Chicago skyline.
Makes me almost willing to journey into Chicago to check it out.
For another 1000ft down view, check out the Glacier Skywalk. Located in Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada, it looks out over (and down on) a fantastic view of the Canadian Rockies.
Hope it’s not as big a tourist trap as the Grand Canyon Skywalk on the Indian Reservation in Arizona.
On a final note, I saw today that due to a shortage of gate guards, Gate Guard Services, the company we’ve worked for the last two years, has bumped the pay rate from $125 to $150 a day.
Hope it holds until we’re back there in August.
Stan Was Wrong
May 19, 2015
Still No Move . . .
Well, we still didn’t move today, so it’s going to be up to them to take care of things. Of course they pretty much do anyway since only company employees are allowed to drive the coach back here in the lot. But that way, if they dent it, they pay for it.
So we’ll just leave it all ready for them to move, with the levelers up and the slide in. All they’ll have to is unplug shore power and go.
But the good news is that Stan, the service manager, thinks that the rig will be ready when we get back. We’ll see. The only thing I’m really worried about is the torn up and shredded wiring. But Stan doesn’t seem to think it will be any big problem.
Again, we’ll see.
One thing I told them to do is to dump our tanks before they park us in the new spot. As of tomorrow, we’ve gone 18 days since we dumped our black tank the Saturday night before we left Las Vegas. I think that’s a new record for us.
After we got word that we weren’t moving this morning, we headed over to the Cowgirl in the Kitchen to have breakfast again. And it was just as good as last time.
Jan did a repeat with her omelet, while I did a changeup, and went with the Huevos Rancheros, with Bacon, Black Beans, and Jalapeno Cornbread. Really great!
And of course their great Dark Roast coffee. After we got back from breakfast, I dropped Jan off and headed out for some pre-trip chores. First up was a new right front tire.
I walked into the Big O Tire store and told the guy I needed a new tire, and then said, “Anything but Goodyear”. And he didn’t seem surprised when I told him this was the second Goodyear tire in 6 months that started coming apart on the me.
The first one twisted and warped so the front end wobbled. Then this one split open along a sidewall seam so you could the cords, AND warp and wobbled. And Nick had two of his Goodyear RV tires start to come apart on him too. And we’ve both heard stories from other people about Goodyear problems. So I don’t know what’s happened to them, but they’re off my ‘buy’ list for now.
Finishing up with a car wash, a fill-up, and Jack in the Box breakfast sandwiches for tomorrow morning, I headed home and started packing stuff away for the trip.
A 4:30 wakeup for a 6am departure is going to come awfully early.
More tomorrow from Amarillo.
Gulf Shores, Now And Then
May 19, 2016
Dredging Up Memories . . .
Today was just nice and dreary, very overcast with a light rain most of the day. In fact the AC never came on until almost 7pm. So, nice.
Miss Karma is still doing great, and is pretty much back to normal. She’s jumping up and down on things with no problems, and is still eating good, though it will be awhile until her belly hair grows back.She’s not had any trouble with licking her incision, even though I wasn’t able to get her to wear a cone.
I cut one out of piece of plastic sheeting and then tried to get in on her. And after a few puncture wounds, and only one deep laceration, I finally got it in place. And then the fun started.
She thrashed and rolled around the sofa, crying and meowing. Finally she rolled off onto the floor with a thump and began to run around the rig, bumping into things, howling as she went. And it only took me a couple of more scratches to get it off her.
But her incision still looks good, so I guess she hasn’t been bothering it too much.
After I posted some old photos yesterday, a number of blog readers commented on how much Landon and I look alike.
So I thought I post some where our ages are closer.
While I was going through Facebook today, I came across these old photos of Gulf Shores, where I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s. And these brought back some real memories.
This is the main beach intersection about the time we moved to Gulf Shores in the winter of 1950.
And this what the beach looked like in probably the 1970’s. The middle of the 3 piers in this shot is the remains of my parent’s pier. At over 600 feet when it was built in the 1950’s, it was the longest private pier anywhere on the Gulf Coast. When this photo was taken, more than half of it had been destroyed in a hurricane.
The main intersection is at the crook in the road in the photo below.
And this is what it looks like today.
And unlike the photo above this one, it’s pretty much multiple story hotels and condos as far as the eye can see it down the beach.
But of all the photos I found today this one was the one I was happiest to see.
This was my parent’s motel after we built the bigger house, and after my parents sold it to Mr. Young around 1957. We lived in a small cottage at first, but built this larger place around it in 1955.
And here’s the way the Young’s By The Sea sign looked when we owned the motel. Yep, that’s me in my favorite cowboy suit.
Several years ago Jan and I were eating at the Sea N Suds restaurant and I discovered this aerial photo on the wall. This is what the motel looked like, probably around 1956.
The Sea N Suds is built around what was the ‘Tackle Shack’ in the above photo.
The motel itself is long gone now and has been replaced by another condo.
Tomorrow we’ll do some shopping to get ready for Saturday’s get-together for our son Chris’ birthday at Brandi’s down in Katy.
Really looking forward to it.
Tomato Street
May 19, 2017
No Moose . . .
After a nice quiet morning and early afternoon, we headed out for the rest of the afternoon to drive around Coeur d’Alene and then have dinner.
Our first stop was at the Wal-Mart a mile or so back up US95 to drop off a prescription that we’ll pick up later this afternoon on our way home. Then it was on to the downtown area.
Jan was looking for some new moose socks and a couple of moose stickers. We found a couple of nice souvenir shops right downtown, and right across the street she finally saw a moose
Then we headed out to make the drive around Fernan Lake, again looking for moose. We had some great scenic views,
and even some prime moose feeding areas,
but no actual moose.
Later, after driving down south of town we headed back over to Tomato Street, a really good Italian restaurant where we’ve eaten in the past.
We started off with soup, Jan getting the Clam Chowder,
while I got the Tomato Basil Soup
For our entrees. Jan got the Baked Mostaccioli with Roasted Chicken
while I got the Mamma Meatza Pizza with pepperoni, Italian sausage links, meatballs and prosciutto ham.
Everything was delicious as in our last visit. One thing I noticed was that the Parmesan Cheese I asked for to sprinkle on my pizza was freshly grated and kept cold, not drying out on some shelf.
And of course we have plenty of leftovers.
While we were eating dinner, I got a text from Wal-Mart saying our prescription was ready, so we picked it up on our way home.
When we were coming up through Washington yesterday we noticed Cannabis stores everywhere, including right along the Interstate.
And this ad was on the Spokane newspaper’s website.
I guess this is for people too lazy to roll their own.
Tomorrow we’ve got a 239 mile trip over to Garrison, MT for one night before moving on to Billings. We’ll try to get off a little earlier than usual tomorrow since we’ll be losing an hour as we go back into Mountain Time Zone.
Stalking?
May 19, 2018
Tag! You’re It!
After yesterday’s festivities, Jan and I just stayed at the rig today, never even going outside. We had kind of planning to take another load over to the storage room, but it just didn’t happen.
One of our blog readers commented, wanting to know how you train porpoises?
Turns out it’s pretty much like training any animal, except easier. You start with something that the animal already knows how to do, and then try to get them to do it slightly different. Then you reward that behavior. Then it’s more modify and reward.
With porpoises it can be even easier.
They love to play and to mimic you. In one case I taught Lori to do a flip in mid-air when she jumped by doing one myself a few times from from the high platform.
It only took three times before she was doing flips in the air, copying me. In fact she was happy to just have me scratch her head as a reward, since she knew she’d get a bunch of fish when we were done. I also taught here to swim on her back with her head out of the water, again by doing the same thing until she started copying me.
And you only have to train one porpoise to do a trick. Then put her through her paces with another porpoise nearby. Thor wasn’t near as directly trainable as Lori, but that’s how I got both of them to jump together, as shown in yesterday’s photo.
Another thing that made Lori easy to train was that she love to play, especially tag. She would come up behind me, poke me with her nose, and then swim away. But she would always swim slow (well, slow for her), staying just inches out of my reach, as I chased her.
Finally she would let me touch her fin, and then give me a head start before she chased me. But even then she would circle around me and dive under me for a while before she would poke me again, and it would start all over.
But I think the most amazing thing she ever did was the time she gave me a fish, rather than the other way around. The pools that Lori and Thor were in were both open to the Indian River with underwater bars and above-water fences keeping them in.
One time an unwary fish came into Lori’s pool and she quickly caught it. I was sitting on the side of her pool, dangling my feet in the water, and not paying much attention to her. I was mulling over in my mind what I could do to get that beautiful redhead who worked at the Miss Kitty’s Saloon across the street to finally go out with me.
Suddenly Lori poked her head out of the water holding a wiggling fish in her jaws. When I didn’t immediately take it from her, she tossed it up on the bank beside me. Thinking she wanted to play Fetch, another of her favorite games, I threw it further out into the pool. So she took out after it and brought it back, again throwing it up on the bank.
But when I raised my arm to throw it again, she chattered at me, her upset sound. So I put my arm down, and when I did she stopped. I raised my arm again, with more chattering and thrashing around in the water. Finally it dawned on me that she was giving the fish to me as a present because I always gave fish to her.
Lori gave me a present.
Since it was just about closing time, I headed out and cleaned the fish and cooked it up on a small charcoal grill I had. Later she was perfectly happy to eat the head and the tail that I threw in to her.
BTW it took me over two weeks and five or six tries to get the redhead to go out with me. Today it would probably be called ‘stalking’.
But lucky for me, I’m persistent.
WITE, Gregory?
May 19, 2019
Paris To London in 90 Minutes . . .
It’s become pretty obvious to me, and probably everyone else, that there’s no way I’m going to be able to catch up with the cruise blogs before we get home next Sunday.
For instance, the last four days in Paris, we were out the door by 8am and didn’t get back to the hotel until 10-11pm. So no time to even do a regular blog, much less process all the photos.
So I’m going to get back to doing a daily blog of our time here in London and then started catching up on the older blogs when I can.
This morning we were up at 6am, at the hotel restaurant for breakfast when it opened at 7, and out the door when our ride to the train station showed up at 8am.
We were taking the Eurostar High Speed Train, from Paris Nord, the same station we came into on the Thalys High Speed Train from Amsterdam last week.
Our train is the one on the left.
These stations are huge with no porters or luggage carts to be found. So Jan and I, and everyone else, were dragging our suitcases hundreds of yards, and then up an escalator, no elevators to be found either.
So I would send Jan up with her small carry-on, and then send her big suitcase up behind her. Then I came up manhandling my two bags. Luckily someone at the top helped her get the big one off and to the side.
Then it was another couple of hundred yards to our check-in point where they actually scanned our tickets. Next we all queued up and went through two sets of Customs, French Border Exit Control, and then 10 feet away, British Customs. The French just checked and stamped our passports, but the British bunch x-rayed our luggage, checked our purses and bags, and wanded us.
What was kind of funny was that we were not checked for anything when we got on the train from Amsterdam to Paris, since it’s all part of the EU. The last time we went through any type of customs inspection was after we landed in Frankfurt before we left for Budapest on April 26th.
Then while we were waiting to board I found a Currency Exchange to get rid of the last of my Euros. So far we’ve cycled through four currencies, US Dollars, Hungarian Forints, EU Euros, and now British Pounds. And somehow I seem to get poorer every swap.
Actually we pretty much only have the cash for tips and the occasional place that doesn’t take credit cards. I’ve never had a problem with using any of our three cards over here.
When we finally boarded it was back down the escalator to the platform, but we found an elevator this time so it was a lot easier. But then it was another couple of hundred yards to our assigned car, which was #5. And when the train stopped, we were standing next to car #25. This is a long train.
Astonishingly these trains are over 2500 feet long, almost half a mile.
After dragging our luggage up the steps, we stowed it away, large bags in the area between the cars and the small carry-ons in the overhead racks. On both this train and the one from Amsterdam to Paris, we were warned not to leave our small bags with the big ones due to luggage thieves.
The trip actually takes about two and a half hours, but you gain an hour from France to England, so effectively 90 minutes.
But this ride wasn’t as nice as the Thalys train from Amsterdam. Not only was it not as smooth, the well-advertised Wi-Fi didn’t work either. And I don’t know what the roof was made of, but I was never able get a GPS signal for the Speedometer app on my phone. And I’m not talking under the English Channel either, but out in the countryside.
But it worked just fine on the train from Amsterdam, clocking speeds up to 311 kph, or about 194 mph. The Eurostar is supposed to be just about as fast, but is only allowed to go 160 kph, or 100 mph in the Chunnel.
We got into London’s station about 11:30, and again dragged our suitcases another couple of hundred yards to the end of the platform where we found our driver waiting for us, holding up a sign that said, WITE, Gregory. Well, at least the suitcases were his problem now.
I’m beginning to think that it would be easier to just throw everything away except the clothes on your back when you travel, and just buy new stuff when you get to your destination.
An hour later we were checked in and in our room.
And after doing a little unpacking and catching our breath, we headed down to the hotel restaurant for lunch. And what’s the first meal any new visitor to England should have?
Fish and Chips, of course.
Really good, and a really nice restaurant,
with a very nice view out the window.
But they don’t have Coke Zero, and don’t even think about asking for Iced Tea. They get a horrified look on their face liked you have bad-mouthed the Queen, and then they start stuttering.
And I don’t know what the problem is with even getting ice in your water or soft drink, but they must be rationing it or something. When they brought my Coke, I got a glass with three small cubes at the bottom. Then when we asked for some ice to add to the lukecold glasses of water we were given, our waitress came over with a glass with six cubes in it, and then spooned out three to each of us.
Back in our room, we unpacked some more, looked over our tour for the next day, The Total London Tour, and then since we’d been up since 5:30, we took a nice long nap, waking up just in time for, what else but dinner.
We decided to dress up a bit for this, but Jan really outdid herself.
It’s hard to believe she’s kept me around for almost 52 years.
Jan had the Lasagna, which she said was OK, but wasn’t seasoned very well.
We’ve noticed that a lot over here, that most foods aren’t seasoned as much as we’re used to.
But my Chicken Curry was delicious, and had a multitude of flavors.
For dessert I had the Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Whipped Cream,
while Jan went old-school with Chocolate Ice Cream.
Tomorrow it’s up early again for Buckingham Palace, the Changing of the Guard, the Tower of London, and more.
Thought for the Day:
“No but I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe.
Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
Time to die.” – Roy Batty
Saltgrass Again . . .
I spent most of today at work finishing up a few small problems with the new Shipping computer, mostly things that weren’t where they were supposed to be. Looks like all I’ve got to do now is the get the UPS remote station working right.
Tomorrow we’ve got another Saltgrass/Alvin Opry get-together. We just ate there two months ago, but it was so good that everyone wanted to go back.
Sea Caves And Lighthouses
May 18, 2010
Sea Lions and Sea Food…
Just what I wanted to see when I got up this morning – Rain.
Few things are more fun than trying to get ready to roll while you’re getting soaking wet.
But I guess it’s about time we saw some actual northwestern rainy weather. We’ve actually have very little rain since we hit the west coast.
Into every life, and all that.
We left Midway RV Park about 8 am, earlier than normal, because we wanted to stop and see the Sea Lion Cave just north of Florence, OR.
We got there about 10 am and found easy parking for our rig. But then we had a mad dash across the street to the entrance, trying to dodge cars zooming by on US101.
But it was all worth the trip. The cave was really great!
The Sea Lion Cave was discovered in 1880 and opened as a tourist attraction in 1932 when 101 was still only a gravel road.
And by the mid 50’s it was still going strong. Don’t you just love those car colors.
This pic, from the observation deck shows you the kind of weather we had today.
We had about a 100 yard walk along the trail leading to the elevator.
We took the 200 foot elevator down to the sea lion cave and looked out into what is billed as the largest sea cave in the world.
And there were sea lions everywhere. Along the walls, on the rocks, in the water, all over.
The other end of the cave looks out over the cormorant rookery, and what is called “The Most Photographed Lighthouse in the World”, the Heceta Lighthouse.
Back on the surface we looked out over the other side of the cave.
We arrived at Circle Creek RV Park just south of Seaside OR about 2:15 pm.
Around 3:30, after we got set up, we headed back down the road about 7 miles to eat at Mo’s Seafood, a place that had recommended to us.
And it was great. Jan had a Seafood Platter with Clam Chowder, and I had a bowl of Oyster Stew and a Blackened Cod Fish Sandwich. Hmmm, Hmmm, Good.
Tomorrow, we only have a 105 mile run to Westport, WA, so we’ll probably go out to breakfast and drive around a little before we leave.
We’ll be in Westport for 3 nights catching up with our friends, Al and Adrianne Cox, who we first met in Fairbanks, AK in 2008.
Meat-Filled Ravioli
May 18, 2013
A Bear for All Seasons . . .
After coffee drinking, Kindle reading, and Internet playing, Jan and I headed out for some sightseeing, dinner, and shopping.
We drove around for about an hour, crossing back into Nevada, past all the casinos that suddenly appear at the state line.
Driving further out along the road we came in on, we got a good view of the surrounding snow-capped mountains.
Coming back through town we drove out on the other side for a while just to see what’s around.
Along the way, we came across The Bear’s Den.
This place has pretty much any type of carved bears you could want.
Big ones,
little ones,
and more.
By this time our tummies were rumbling, so we decided to try Passaretti’s Italian Restaurant, located right outside the park entrance. We’d noticed the last couple of days that the place was always busy every time we drove by. And we’ve found that a busy place is usually a good place to eat.
It was interesting to find this great hot rod sitting in the parking lot. I’d seen a sign about a car show while we were driving around, but this was the only car I’d seen that might be part of it. Turns out, it wasn’t.
I did notice that the right front tire was going flat, though.
As it turned out our meal was delicious. Jan found her favorite meat-filled ravioli on the menu, and I had my usual spaghetti marinara with meatballs.
We both started out with salads with their really great homemade dressings. We also had an order of their garlic bread with melted mozzarella on top, again really good.
And after our entrees, we had to top it off by sharing a piece of their homemade carrot cake.since we’d seen it recommended online. It was delicious, but so big, that along with our meal, we could only eat half of it. So we’ll have the rest of it with coffee tomorrow. And we’ll definitely be coming back here again before we leave.
One other thing, when we got to Passaretti’s we found that there was a wedding dinner going on in the back of the restaurant. And as it turned out, the hot rod out front was what the bride and groom drove from the church to the restaurant. Unfortunately, the honeymoon had to be delayed for a while when they came back out and found the flat tire. The delay however, probably wasn’t a big disappointment, since the bride was already noticeably pregnant.
Leaving the restaurant, we stopped off at Raley’s for some groceries. On the way, I wanted to check out this service station that had been converted into an auto parts store and antique car lot.
Or so I thought.
Old Studebakers, old Oldsmobile’s,
And for some reason, a bunch of old Volvos.
You’ve really got to like old cars to like old Volvos, don’t you.
A little research told me the real story about this place.
It’s not an antique car lot. The cars are not for sale. They are parked there to be an deliberate eyesore.
The owner of the lot, apparently very rich, has, since 2007, been refusing to sell his auto parts place to the city. They want to build something else there, but he wants no part of it.
The city supposedly keeps trying to find any kind of violation to get him out. So in retaliation, he bought all these old, ugly cars and parked them on his lot, right along the main street through South Lake Tahoe.
Sounds like my kind of guy.
My Long-Legged Redhead
May 18, 2016
Oh, You Doubters . . .
While Jan enjoyed her Kindling, I spent most of the afternoon fighting my way through PayPal’s convoluted Business Account setup for a client. Just as you think you’ve covered everything, they pop up with something else they want. They’ve added a lot of requirements since I set up my Business Account.
Then when I finally finished with the setup, I had to design the default templates for the invoices that they will use to bill their clients through PayPal. That went much smoother, and now we just have to wait for PayPal to make the small deposits into the bank account that links to the PayPal account.
PayPal makes a couple of small deposits into your account, like $0.12 & $0.17. Then you have to tell them the date and amount of the deposits. This confirms to them that they are linked to correct account, and that you really have access to it.
They used to just leave the few cents in your account, but I guess those dimes started to add up. So now after they’re done, they pull the deposits back.
For you doubters out there who were snickering at yesterday’s blog where I mentioned that I was skinny and had hair when Jan and I met in 1967, here’s the proof.
This is me at Columbia Military Academy in 1965.
And this one was actually taken by Jan in Titusville.
She carried it in her billfold for years which is why it’s kind of chewed up.
See, I told you.
And this is the beautiful long-legged redhead that I fell in love with.
****** SPOILER ALERT ******
In case you recorded the Castle finale and haven’t watched it yet, skip this.
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Jan and I have been Castle fans since the first episode in 2009, and were disappointed to see it go off the air. And we’re still not sure how we feel about the final episode. We both kind of thought it had been cobbled together at the last minute, and it turns out we were right.
Stana Katic (Beckett) was already leaving, as was Tamala Jones (Lani), but it was hoped that the show would continue on with Castle, Alexis, Hayley, and Martha running the PI agency, as well as Ryan and Esposito helping out.
Thus the ante-penultimate scene of Castle and Beckett crawling to each other after they were shot. Then next season, Castle would wake up and find out that Beckett had died, and the series would proceed from there.
Apparently the word on the street in Hollywood was that the series was going to be renewed. The ratings were still decent, and the writers were already outlining new scripts. But the producers filmed a short wrap-up scene just in cast.
And it’s good they did, because last Thursday night, before the finale this past Monday, the network abruptly canceled the series with no warning. So it was a mad scramble to re-edit the show in time for the last episode.
We’re sorry to see it go.
Columbia River Gorge
May 18, 2017
Three States in Four Hours . . .
Finishing up on yesterday’s trip from Bend/Sunriver to Hermiston.
One reader asked why we were traveling with full waste tanks, and what we would do if we had to boondock along the way if our tanks were full. Well, there were several reasons for doing that.
1. Due to all the wet/snowy weather recently at the Bend/Sunriver TT, there was only one dump station available for use for the entire park, and people were complaining of 30-60 minutes waits to dump when everyone was leaving in the morning.
2. I wasn’t feeling very good and we were already running late anyway.
3. I use times like this as an excuse to clean my black tank. Before we headed out I dumped two big scoops of cheap, powdered laundry soap, a capful of Calgon water softener to help cut the grease, and several big squirts of Dawn in the toilet and flush it down.
Then all this sloshes around during the trip, breaking everything loose. And no, I don’t put a bag of ice in the tank. A 10# bag of ice in 40 gallons of room-temp liquid will be gone in just a few minutes.
Then when we get to the next park, I hook up to the sewer and dump the black tank. When it’s about finished, I connect the shore water hose to our rig’s built-in flush system and turn it on full blast. I have a clear 90° elbow in my system and I’m always amazed at how much more ‘stuff’ comes out as I’m doing this that didn’t come out by dumping alone. I do this once a month or so.
4. Although I said the tanks were full, and effectively they were, we still could have gone another day or so boondocking if necessary with no problems.
Despite my not feeling well, it actually was a very nice trip with a lot of great scenery along the way. The only downsides were a couple of really long climbs and the very gusty high winds swirling around through the canyons. You never knew which direction the next gust was going to come from.
I guess the high winds explains the miles of wind generators we saw along the way, all flailing around like pinwheels.
But finally at Biggs, OR, US97 dumped us down into the Columbia River Gorge and I-84E. And there we encountered one of those rarest of rarities. Something that some RV’ers brag about, like the size of the fish they caught, and none of their friends believe them.
It was a genuine tailwind.
I first noticed it when I looked at my Silverleaf display and saw I was getting over 30mpg, and we were running level at 60mph. Then a few minutes later I pulled over to take some photos and when I opened the door the wind pulled me out so hard it almost dumped me on my face in the dirt.
But we did have some spectacular views.
We never did figure out why this is planted this way. No sign of a house or anything else.
We pulled into the Pioneer RV Park in Hermiston about 3:30 and I got us set up in a nice long pull-thru so we didn’t have to unhitch. Then after we had our left-over Baldy’s BBQ for supper, I took some aspirin and went to bed for a few hours.
When I woke up about 8:30 I was feeling a lot better, but just washed out. Don’t know if I had some stomach bug, or what, but Jan was just fine.
I did feel OK this morning, so I guess it’s passed, whatever it was.
After a nice night, we pulled out of the Pioneer RV Park in Hermiston a little after 10am and were quickly out on I-82 and heading north toward Coeur d’Alene about 205 miles away.
As several people had told us, Pioneer is a very nice park, $20 per night Passport American with 50amp full hookup pull-thrus, long enough that we didn’t have to unhitch the toad. Since we didn’t plan on going out for dinner, that worked fine.
And be sure to call ahead to let them know you’re coming. They’re either full, as they were last night, or almost full, every night.
Our trip today turned out to be a very smooth, very scenic trip with good roads the entire way, passing through 3 states, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho along the way.
I’m still kind of confused by this dump station located at one of the rest areas we stopped at along the way.
Guess you need a really long hose and a good pump.
We pulled into the Coeur d’Alene Elk’s Lodge about 2:30 and were quickly greeted by the on-site host and led to a nice grass-covered site, a pull-thru with 50amps and water, but no sewer.
But since we dumped last night at Pioneer, that won’t be a problem.
We plan on staying here two nights before heading on to Garrison, MT for a night, and then on to Billings, MT.
On our way here we had planned to have dinner at The Cedars, a high-end steakhouse that floats on the Spokane River. We last ate here in 2010 and it was really, really good. Well worth the high price.
But when I went on Yelp this afternoon to check their times, I was struck by all the bad reviews, leading to only a 3-1/2 star rating. Reading further, I found that they were now under new ownership, and things had gone downhill quickly after that – bad food, cold food, bad service, being seated an hour later after getting there 15 minutes early, and a 9” hair in the salad bar.
Considering that their Ribeye is almost $40, we quickly had second thoughts. Scrolling down the Yelp listings, I came across the Texas Roadhouse listing. Besides being only about 2 miles away, it had a higher rating than the Cedar’s.
So Texas Roadhouse it is.
We’ve never had a bad steak, or a bad meal, at Texas Roadhouse, and tonight was no exception.
Jan got her standard 12 oz. New York Strip while I got my go-to 16 oz. Ribeye.
Great salads too, as well as great service. And Jan’s and my steak together were the same price as my Ribeye alone would have been at the Cedar’s.
A great choice. And a lot cheaper.
Coming home we got maybe the best car wash we’ve ever had, getting a lot of built-up dirt off.
Tomorrow we may head up to Sandpoint and drive around the area some. Plus Jan wants eat at Tomato Street Italian Restaurant once again.
Happy Birthday, Chris
May 18, 2018
The Big Five Oh . . . Almost!
About 4:45 Jan and I headed up to the Webster area to have dinner at the Outback Steakhouse at Baybrook Mall. We were meeting our son Chris, his wife Linda, our granddaughter Miss Piper and her boyfriend Conner. We were celebrating Chris’ Big Five Oh Birthday, but a day early since Chris has to work tomorrow.
Jan started out with Outback’s version of the Bleu Cheese Wedge Salad,
while I got the House Salad with their Tangy Tomato Dressing.
For the entrée Jan followed her usual pattern by ordering seafood, Grilled Tilapia with Lump Crab Topping, at a steakhouse.
For my part I did stick with their strong suite and actually ordered a steak, an 11oz Center Cut Sirloin, along with the Grilled Asparagus.
It’s been over a year since we’ve eaten at an Outback, actually last April in Palmdale, CA, where we were staying at the Soledad Canyon Thousand Trails Park north of Los Angeles for a week.
For many years Outback was our go-to place for steaks, but over the years it’s been somewhat displaced by Longhorn, Saltgrass, and to a lesser extend, Texas Roadhouse. But Outback is always good.
Original Mexican
May 18, 2021
No Sun, or Sunflowers . . .
After it rained heavily all morning, it was finally clear when we left the rig a little after noon, heading for Galveston and the Sunflower Café. We were meeting up with long-time friends, Peri and Jim Dean to have lunch there again.
We’ve known Jim and Peri since we first met them in Las Vegas in, I think, 2013, and we always get together whenever we’re close. And the last time was back around the first part of last December, also at Sunflower Café.
But Sunflower Café wasn’t in the cards for us today, as when we got there about 12:45 this afternoon, they were locked up tight, with no notice or announcement. So we decided to adjourn to the Mosquito Café right up the block, so I put in a call to Jim to give him the change of plans.
We’ve wanted to eat there for a while and this seemed like a good chance, but this wasn’t to be either. They were very crowded, probably because Sunflower was closed, and there seemed to be a long wait for tables. So changing plans again, we moved the whole operation a couple of blocks up the street to the Original Mexican Café, where we were seated immediately.
The Original Mexican Café is the longest continually operating restaurant on Galveston Island still at its original location, and that’s since 1916.
And although we’ve eaten here a lot over the years, the last time was in December 2017, when Jan was very unhappy with her meal. So we haven’t been back.
Needless to say, Jan can hold a grudge.
And it looks like they’ve redeemed themselves in Jan’s eyes, since she said that her Chile Relleno was very good.
So I guess they’re back on her Nice list again.
Jim and I both had the Original Platter with a little bit of everything on two plates.
Apparently Jim and I both thought it was really good since we pretty much cleaned our plates.
I don’t remember what Peri had, but I assume she liked it as well, since I didn’t hear any complaints.
And as usual when we get together, we sat and talked for almost 4 hours before we headed home, and Jim and Peri went back to their rig at the State Park.
We had a great time and hopefully we’ll be able to do this again soon.
And Thursday we get to do the whole friends-get-together thing again, with Ed and Debi Hurlburt, and Janice and Dave Evans, this time up in Huntsville at the Farmhouse Café there.
Supposed to be really good, so we’re looking forward to it.
Thought for the Day:
A Boy and his Dog.
Or is it A Dog and his Boy.
.
