Monthly Archives: May 2022
Immersive Monet . . .
After coffee this morning, I went outside for a few chores around the rig.
First up was to reseat the wheel covers on the Jeep. On the front two the clips that hold them on just happen to line up with balance weights on the wheels.
And since they weren’t locking down securely, one of them departed the Jeep when we hit a bad pothole. So I came up with a way to redo the clips so they all fasten down completely. Taking us from this –
To this
Much better.
And since the temperatures here are starting to bump up against the 90’s, it’s about time to put the solar screens up on the windshield glass and the front side windows, so I dug them out from the back of the truck and laid them out on the patio. I went ahead and installed the ones on the driver’s window and the door, but I’m thinking about doing something different with the ones on the windshield itself, since I don’t need to put them up and take them like when we’re traveling.
So I’m thinking about it.
Lastly I made new addition to Jan’s Flamboyance. Not another denizen, but just a neat flag from WalMart.
Lunch today was Yummy Yummy’s once again, our favorite Chinese buffet. Really busy since we got there a little after church-getting-out time. But we still were seated immediately, and the food was as delicious as always.
Then it was on up the feeder to HEB before getting home about 2:45.
Nice!
Last year we did two different Immersive Van Gogh presentations, one in October and one in November.
And now, next month on June 30th, we have tickets to see the Immersive Monet & The Impressionists, including Renoir, Degas, and others.
What with our two week Alabama vacation, and now this, June is going to be a busy month.
On To The Keys
May 15, 2009
Club Chicken Sandwich . . .
We pulled out of the RV park in Homestead, FL and headed down to Key West about 11:30 am.
This is later than we had thought to leave, but we were waiting for the mail to come at the park office.
Our daughter Brandi had send us a Priority Mail letter on Monday containing a replacement debit card. One of the two we normally use has lost its magnetic strip and will no longer scan.
It should have been here Wednesday or Thursday, at the latest. But it still hasn’t shown up. Since we’ll be passing back thru Homestead on our way back north, the RV park is going to hold it for us, assuming it ever shows up.
We’ll see.
We arrived here in Key West about 2:3opm and have a waterfront site here at Geiger Key RV Park. We’re about 10 miles from Key West proper.
Here’s a couple of pics of what we see from our site.
Nice!!!
We actually about 5 ft from the water’s edge.
After we had gotten things set up, we headed into Key West to grab a late lunch/early supper.
We decided to try Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville Café in downtown Key West. We’d eaten at his sister’s place in Gulf Shores, AL called Lulu’s at Homeport, so we had to try Jimmy’s too.
We were surprised how small the place really is.
Jan had the Caribbean Club Chicken Sandwich and I had the Caribbean Chicken Salad. We both really liked what we had.
Hopefully we’ll have a chance to go back.
Tomorrow some friends of ours are coming down with their RV from West Palm Beach and will join us for a few days. We really look forward to seeing Charlee again. It’s been a long time.
300 Feet?
May 15, 2010
Elk and Deer, Yes – Whales, No . . .
We started off our last day in Klamath, CA with breakfast at the Klamath River Café just like yesterday.
I had the eggs, bacon, and 3 pancakes. The pancakes were so large that I could only eat one.
After breakfast we stopped by the Post Office to mail off some packages, but since it was Saturday, it was closed. In small towns, apparently, the PO doesn’t open at all on Saturdays.
Then it was on to the Tour-Thru Tree, one of several drive-thru redwood trees in the area. This tree is still alive and still growing.
I remember driving thru a Sequoia when my family came out west on vacation back in 1964 when I was 15. When I checked it out this time, I found that it had collapsed in 1969 due to heavy snowfall. The only remaining drive-thru trees are now all Redwoods.
Next, heading up the road to the Trees of Mystery place that we had seen the day before, we encountered another of the many of these signs we had seen. What’s kind of scary is that this road is about 300 feet about sea level. I don’t want to be anywhere near here when a 300 foot tsunami come through.
A few miles down the road we arrived at Trees of Mystery and got parked.
We bought our tickets and headed up the 1/2 mile trail to the beginning of the Sky Trail gondola ride.
This is the Family Tree, twelve trees growing out of one trunk.
This tree has a hollowed-out passageway underneath it.
This is Fallen Giant, a 320 foot tree that fell about 500 years ago.
More tall trees than you can imagine.
The Cathedral Tree, a ring of 9 trees, is often used for weddings and other ceremonies.
This is the Brotherhood Tree, 297 feet tall and 19 feet in diameter.
After a pretty steep climb, we reached the beginning of the Sky Trail and headed up the side of the mountain.
Getting to the top, we found a family of chipmunks living underneath the Sky Trail upper terminal. I think this was Jan’s favorite part. They were running everywhere.
The view from the top was really something.
Then it was time for the ride back down. I had to search Jan to be sure she wasn’t smuggling any chipmunks back down.
Starting the trail back down we saw the Towering Inferno, a tree that was stuck by lightning in December 1995. It was originally over 250 feet tall and about 1200 years old. It burned for several days and this husk is all that’s left.
The bottom part of the trail was thru the Trail of Tall Tales, consisting of large scale carvings telling stories of Paul Bunyan and his friends.
Back in the parking lot we checked out the large statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.
Funny, but I always thought Babe was a girl.
Jan’s sure he’s a guy !
Leaving Trees of Mystery we headed down the road and out to Requa Point to do some whale watching. The brochures said we could see whales off the point here from mid-April thru May.
How many did we see?
None.
But we did find this plaque. When I first read it, I thought the human food they were referring to was US.
Leaving Requa Point we headed south about 95 miles to drive the Avenue of the Giants. This is a 31 mile stretch of old US 101 that threads thru some really tall trees.
Next we headed about about 25 miles further south and made the misinformed decision to make the 21 mile drive out to Shelter Cove where we were absolutely, positively guaranteed to see whales. What we didn’t know that this 21 mile drive would be the steepest, twistyest drive we’ve encountered since we drove up Mt Washington in New Hampshire last year. The 21 miles took us almost an hour and a half.
Of course it would all be worth it when we saw the whales.
NOT!
We saw some beautiful scenery, but nary a whale was in sight.
And, of course, we still had the 21 mile, hour and a half, drive back.
And then, of course, the 120 mile drive back home.
Coming back from Shelter Cove, we did see a lot of deer feeding along the road.
Getting into Eureka about 6:30 pm we stopped at a Marie Callender’s for dinner, and a couple of pieces of pie to take home with us.
Coming thru Trinidad, (no, not that one) we encountered what we had seen on a local billboard. The largest herd of Roosevelt Elk in the world crossing the road in front of us.
This YouTube video shows what it looked like.
Finally, about 8:30 pm we got back home after a long day, and over 250 miles.
Tomorrow we travel about 160 miles north to Coos Bay, OR for a couple of days.
The Shady Lady
May 15, 2013
Only in Nevada would you see . . .
a sign like this –
Or this one.
And there were several more along the way. Made for a very interesting trip today.
We pulled out of the Las Vegas Thousand Trails just about 9am. Luckily there was enough room so that we could hitch up the toad before we left, so it was just hit the road and go. And since they were parked right next door, we got to say a final goodbye to Jim Dean. We really had a great time getting to know Jim & Peri while we were in Las Vegas, and hopefully we’ll see them down the road sometime.
We had a 215 mile trip today to Tonopah, NV, on our way to South Lake Tahoe for a two week stay at the Tahoe Village RV Resort starting tomorrow.
For the first 70 miles we were on four-laned US95, but after that it dropped down to two-lane, but it was still a good, smooth road.
One thing that was nice was that this was all new territory for us, since we’ve never been this way before. And very quickly we started the long climb from Las Vegas’ 2000 foot elevation to Tonopah’s 6000 feet.
Along the way the terrain started to change from desert to high plains, with long rolling hills, punctuated by steep rises.
At about the 100 mile mark we stopped for a bathroom break at Amargosa Valley, and that’s where we found the big red “BROTHEL” sign I posted above.
It was also nice to feel it get cooler as we drove north. In Tonopah the high today is supposed to be 80. In comparison, at 1:30am this morning in Las Vegas, it was also 80.
And even better, the low tonight in Tonopah is supposed to 50. Very nice.
We got into the Tonopah Station Casino RV Park about 1:30, and really lucked out. They don’t take reservations; it’s first come, first served. And we got the very last site. 30 amp full hookups for $15.50 a night. Not bad.
After we got park and setup we both took a nap for a hour or so, and then, before having dinner, we drove around town for a little while, before coming back to the casino for dinner
When I registered for our site, I ask the lady if they were part of the Station Casinos all over Las Vegas. She said no, Tonopah Casino was there first. She said we were a stagecoach station in 1905.
Note to self: When you order The Miner’s Breakfast at the Tonopah Casino Restaurant, and it says it comes with a ham steak, they’re not talking about one of those little dinky slices. They’re talking about a full-size foot-wide slice of ham.
Tomorrow we’ve got about 250 miles to South Lake Tahoe, but since we got reservations, we don’t have to leave as early as today, but still early enough to get diesel before we leave Tonopah.
Fun And Family
May 15, 2014
Q: How Can You Tell You’re In Illinois?
A: Fuel Prices Immediately Jump 30 cents a Gallon.
Jan and I headed over to Debbie’s this morning about 8:45, stopping on the way to get gas at the Wal-Mart. The last time I put fuel in the truck at Lake Conroe in TX, it was $3.21 a gallon. Today it was $3.54. When I got diesel in MO the other day, it was $3.62. Around here I’ve seen it as high as $3.99.
Don’t know where the extra taxes are going. They’re certainly not putting it into fixing the roads, that’s for sure.
A while after we got Debbie’s, Jan and I headed out with her to have breakfast at a nearby Mennonite breakfast place. The food was really good, and plenty of it. And they also had a lot of nice baked goods.
I had always thought that the Mennonites were a split-off from the Amish. Kind of Amish-light, so to speak. I have some relatives who are Mennonite, and they look, act, and dress like any Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, etc. But the Mennonites in this area are like the Amish of Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Ohio. They shun technology, drive buggies, and dress plainly.
As it turns out, the Mennonites came first. Coming out of the Protestant Reformation of the 1500’s in Germany and Dutch-speaking countries, they were part of the Anabaptist movement of the time. And, as a matter of fact, the Amish came out of the Mennonite Church, not the other way around. There are about 15 different sects of Mennonites, ranging from ones like my relatives, to ones that shun all modern technology, to various levels in between.
Leaving the restaurant, we stopped off at an Mennonite flower nursery that Jan and Debbie spent some time going through. I, on the other hand, read my Kindle in the car.
Getting back home we spent time talking and napping before heading out to pick up our great-niece Gwen from school and bring her back to Debbie’s for the rest of the afternoon.
But that entailed a stop by the RV park so Debbie and her husband Jim could see the new floor in the rig, and a stop at Wal-Mart for a few things.
After getting back to Debbie’s, we all headed out about 6pm to attend Gwen’s band concert at the local high school. Reminded me a lot of my day’s in high school.
Gwen plays trumpet in the 5th grade band and really likes it. There were 3 different bands playing tonight and they all sounded good.
Tomorrow, our last day here, will be another one filled with fun, family, and frolic.
Well, maybe just fun and family.
Hopefully Not A Train
May 15, 2015
Things Are Looking Up . . .
We decided to go out for breakfast this morning, but while we were getting ready, there was a knock at the door. It turned out to be Stan, the service manager here at Affinity RV, with some pretty good news.
After I had questioned some of the items on the original estimate that was submitted to the insurance company, they had come up with a new, cheaper, faster estimate. ‘Cheaper’ in that the estimate has now been cut in half, because the body panels and mirror are now ‘used’ parts from Colaw RV Salvage in Carthage, MO. And ‘faster’ in that the parts should be here this Monday or Tuesday instead of waiting 5 or 6 weeks for new parts to be manufactured. I certainly don’t’ have a problem with ‘used’ body panels, since both the new and used ones will have to be painted anyway.
In fact as it stands now, they plan on moving our rig over to the body shop area on Monday. Actually that only means we’re moving just a couple of spaces to the left to be in that area. So nothing much will change for us. But during the move we’ll dump our black tank at the dump out front rather than having to use the leaky Blue Boy. All right for grey, not so for the black tank.
But it will hopefully mean that we might be out of here in a month or less, but unfortunately, not in time to take the rig to Illinois next week for our family reunion, so we’ll still be going in the truck.
So, really good news to start the day.
For our breakfast, we decided to try Cowgirl in the Kitchen, a nearby breakfast / lunch place.with 4 stars on Yelp. And it was easy to see why.
This was another one of those ‘nondescript’ places that you really have to be looking for to notice.
Like our other recent favorites, BiGA and Speed’s Hanger Deli, it’s a relatively small place with only about a dozen tables.
One thing we both liked was the coffee. You have your choice of regular or dark roast. Jan started with regular to my dark roast. But then after she tasted mine, her refill was also the dark roast. It was that good.
Although we could have ordered lunch, we were still in time to get breakfast so that’s what we did.
Jan got an omelet with all the fixing’s,
while I got the Trails End. The buttermilk pancakes were some of the best I’ve had.
Jan and I agreed that we could probably be happy just alternating between Speed’s Hanger Deli and Cowgirl in the Kitchen the rest of our time here, but then we’d miss out on telling you about all the other great restaurants we find.
So, yeah, we’re doing it just for you.
Leaving Cowgirl’s, we drove over to the PO to drop off some mail. Looking down the road we saw the entrance to the Point of Rocks RV Park, and decided to look the place over.
From the A-Frame design of the office, I suspect this was originally a KOA park. Driving around, it kind of reminded me the Bend-Sunriver Thousand Trails, or the Park of the Sierras near Yosemite National Park.
Many of the sites are cut back into the woods, and are widely separated from the neighbors.
There seems to be a lot of permanents here, but the place is well kept up and very nice.
Heading back to the rig, we made a CVS stop and then were home for the day.
So it now looks like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Just hope it’s not a train.
Dumpster Diving
May 15, 2016
Kitty Road Trip . . .
Today was a resting up day for Jan and I. If you want to feel old, try keeping up with a 5 year old. Of course he says he’s almost 6 (in August).
And the scary part is that he was really good, not a problem at all. He’s very good at entertaining himself, so that’s not a problem. And the way he reads and writes as a kindergartener is amazing.
While they were at the pool, Landon was watching as one of the rangers drove in one of the park ATV’s. Landon said, “I keep seeing signs about deer around here. Where are they? I haven’t seen any deer.”
Jan said, “What signs are you talking about, Landon?”
Pointing at the ATV, Landon said, “Right there. I’ve seen a bunch of them here.”
Looking at where he was pointing, Jan laughed and said, “Sweetie, that’s the name of the company that made it. It’s John Deere.”
Landon looked thoughtful for a few seconds and then said, “Oh yeah. I have a toy with that on it. Neat!”
Jan spent part of the morning on the phone with a tag team conversation between her, Brandi, and Chris. They were trying to set up a family get-together next Saturday for Chris’ birthday. Although his birthday is on Thursday, everyone’s off Saturday, so it works better.
Looks like for now, we’re doing a potluck at Brandi’s in Katy. We’ll get Rudy’s BBQ, and then everyone will bring dishes to fill it out the rest of the menu. Looking forward to it.
A little before 4 we headed over to Brett and Frankie O’Neal’s in the ‘G’ section to pick them up for dinner. But on the way, while dropping off a bag of trash I did a little dumpster diving.
Well, really, more like ‘beside the dumpster diving’. And here is what I found lying there.
It’s a Winegard Carryout Satellite Dome, just like ours, but maybe a little newer. There’s nothing wrong with the outside, and it didn’t rattle alarmingly when I picked it up, so it’s possible nothing is really wrong with it. We’ll see.
A lot of times with these, the real problem is with the power cable, and not the unit itself. I don’t know if I’ll get a chance to look at it this week, but Colorado River next week for sure.
I left the dome at Brett’s to have more room in the truck, and then we all headed out for the Texas Roadhouse down in Conroe, where along with really good steaks, we spent a good bit of time talking over their recent visit to one of our old stomping grounds, and a place I grew up, Gulf Shore, AL.
Had a great time comparing our favorite places, and our favorite meals. We ended up staying even after we finishing up, trying to wait out the heavy rains that had moved in.
Brett and Frankie are leaving for Lake Whitney tomorrow morning where they’ll be working at a COE park until September. Hopefully we’ll cross paths again soon.
As for Jan and I, we’ll be up very early, so we can head out about 5am to be down in La Marque to drop Karma off at 7am to be spayed. Then we get to wait around until around 3pm or so to then pick her up.
Oh Boy!
Whitewater And Bears
May 15, 2017
It Just Wasn’t To Be . . .
It finally crept up into the low 60’s today, but stayed pretty overcast with only occasional rays of sunlight.
But according to the Weather Channel, we’re still looking for snow tomorrow night, so we’ll see what happens.
About 1:30 we headed into Bend to have brunch at Big Bear Diner and then on to the movies.
Along the way we passed the weigh station that has always been closed, and that we planned on getting a free weigh as we leave here on Wednesday. But for the first time since we started coming to Bend in 2011, the weigh station was open and in use, so we’ll see how it goes on Wednesday.
Then right before we got to the Black Bear Dinner on US20, we passed Dr. Jolly’s,
Dr. Jolly’s is a licensed marijuana dispensary, which I guess is why he’s so jolly.
We both decided we wanted breakfast so Jan got an mushroom cheese omelet.
Along with the country-fried red potatoes, and a big chunk of avocado, she got a side of bacon.
Jan refers to the way she likes bacon as ‘glass bacon’, so crispy that it shatters when you touch it.
I had the two egg combo with link sausage, potatoes, and rye toast.
Everything was as good as we’ve come to expect from Black Bear, and why we keep going back.
Before we left, we each got one of their desserts for later,Jan choosing the Coconut Cream Pie and I got the Bread Pudding.
Leaving we saw that even black bears eat there. Makes sense, I guess.
Leaving the diner we drove over to the downtown area to see Colossal at the Tin Pan Theater. But it was not to be. We could never actually find the place.
We think it was down a blocked-off alley, but by the time we figured that out, we would have missed the beginning of the movie, so we thought we’d try again tomorrow. But when I got home and checked I found the theater is not open on Tuesdays.
Turns out the place is a small 30 seat art theater, which probably explains why it’s down an alley. So we’ll have to try and catch Colossal down the road somewhere.
As we drove around we saw a lot of trees in bloom, with various shade of white and pink.
We’ve been told that some of these are cherry trees, but we’ve been lied to before, so we don’t really know. But they really are beautiful.
I guess Bend OR figured they don’t have enough whitewater rapids in the area, so they built their own . . . right downtown.
Built back in 2009, they arranged boulders and barriers to speed up the water flow and generate some whitewater. There are three different paths through the area. The top is for kayaks and tubes,
while the middle route is for rafts and surfing. Yes, surfing.
The bottom route, called the Habitat Channel, is off-limits to people, and reserved for animals. But not all I guess, since ducks are often known to ride both of the other channels. Even ducks like fun.
Tomorrow’s our last day here in Bend, so we’re making one last visit to Baldy’s BBQ for dinner, and to have leftovers for our travels.
Thought for the Day:
I keep telling Jan that with some Liquid Paper and a black Sharpie, I can even that mustache right up.
.
180 and Done . . .
Lunch today was our new local Pho Barr once again, just as delicious as always.
Our next stop was the Lowe’s right next door to the WalMart on FM646 to return a bunch of leftover toilet repair parts, about $43 worth to be exact. When I was working on the toilet, and trying a number of ideas to repair the broken flange, I would buy every possible part that I might need, and then just return the stuff that I didn’t use.
Saves on trips.
Next up was a WalMart stop for a few things, before going by the PO to check our PO Box, and getting home about 3:30.
Then about 6pm Jan and I drove over to the Three Acre Truck Park on FM1764 to get some Clam Chowder to go. We noticed the other day that Cousin’s Maine Lobster’s truck was going to be there from 5-9pm today, and we’ve heard how great their Chowder was, so we got some to have for dinner Monday night.
Last night was my 180th, and last day, of using my Bone Graft Stimulator. I had to do it 30 minutes a day, though it was never really a problem.
When I got up for a bathroom break during the night, I would wrap it around my neck when I went back to bed. Laying my side I didn’t really feel it all. In fact often I would fall asleep and not wake up until several hours later.
But I’m still glad to be done with it. Though I guess it’s possible that I’ll need to use it again if I end up having the lumbar fusion at a later point.
Gold Coast and the Coral Castle
May 14, 2009
Unrequited Love and Turkey & Dressing . . .
As I said before, we’re parked at an RV community in Homestead (actually Florida City) FL called Goldcoaster RV Resort with over 400 sites, with most of them having mobile homes on the lots, but they have a lot of sites for rent.
One of the plants we’ve seen around here is a tree with large bunches of bright orange red flowers.
We were first told it was a Royal Poinsettia tree, but finally found it was a Royal Poinciana tree. These trees really stand out.
After lunch at Cracker Barrel (Thursday is Turkey & Dressing Day which is a favorite of Jan’s) we headed a few miles north to the Coral Castle.
The history behind the Coral Castle is one of unrequited love. Edward Leedskalnin was jilted by his 16 year old fiancé the day before his wedding in Latvia.
Immigrating to American in the early 1920’s, he supposedly built the Coral Castle (then called Rock Gate) in tribute to his “Sweet Sixteen”.
The place was featured on ‘In Search of…” and “That’s Incredible” and there is some controversy how this one man, working only at night, was able to move stones as heavy as 30 tons by himself.
If you want more info, click here for a pretty good article.
Here are some pics.
My Sweet Sixteen (Actually she was 19 when we met)
Tomorrow we head down to the Florida Keys for 5 days.
Paul and Babe
May 14, 2010
Coastal Drive and More Elk…
Today we headed out about 9 am to drive around the Redwood National Forest area. We first came across the Tour Thru Tree, one of several trees that allowed you to drive your vehicle thru them. We decided to check it out later and kept moving.
Next we came to the town of Klamath and stopped for breakfast at the Klamath River Café. It turned out to be very good with really good coffee.
Then, heading north on US 101 we saw the place we’d been seeing signs for – Trees of Mystery, apparently the home of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.
They have a gondola sky ride above the trees, a trail thru the trees, and some other things. Another thing for a later visit.
We headed on up the road to Crescent City to scope out the place and do the Walmart thing. Coming back I stopped for gas and we headed back toward Klamath.
Seeing a sign for a coast trail we took a turn down the road and headed toward the ocean. The first thing we came across was a large herd of Elk just off the road, just laying around catching some rays.
Following the road along thru the forest we came across a lot of fog in the trees.
Coming back past the rig we dropped off our groceries and headed back out to make a Coastal Drive thru the Redwood National Park that we found out about in some brochures.
And it was a great drive. Most of the road was a narrow one-lane gravel road winding thru the trees right along the Pacific coast.
And we finally got a close up look at some big trees.
We got back to the rig about 3 pm and were in for the night.
A while later Jan cooked up a batch of her great Chicken Rice-A-Roni, along with some garlic French bread. For dessert we had some fresh cherries we got at a road side stand today.
Tomorrow we’re going to check out the Tour-thru Tree and the Trees of Mystery, and then drive back down south to the Avenue of the Giants for more big trees.
Tonopah and Tahoe
May 14, 2013
Heading for cooler weather . . .
Today was pretty much a get-ready-to-travel day. And Jan got nervous when I told her the nearest Wal-Mart was 30 mile away from South Lake Tahoe where we’ll be for two weeks, so she wanted a Wal-Mart run before we leave tomorrow.
We started off with a Supreme Croissant Breakfast Sandwich from Jack in the Box, and then I topped off the toad tank with unleaded. I was surprised to see that the price had jumped 8 cents a gallon just in the last few days. Bummer.
After Wal-Mart, we ran a couple of more errands before getting back home about 2:30. Then about 3:30 I walked over to Jim and Peri Dean’s to take a look at the settings on their Cellphone Booster system. They’ve got slightly different system than what I’ve got, but the settings are the same.
Then a little after 4pm we all headed up to the Boulder Station Casino for the buffet and some last minute gambling. During our visit here, we won a $3 dining discount, a $5 dining discount, 1500 points on our cards, and Jan won a very nice polo shirt. Not Bad.
We got back to the rig a little after 7pm, and since it was still light enough, I spent some time stowing away some things for tomorrow’s travel.
While I was still outside, a friend of Peri Dean’s, Gail Grosman, showed up to say ‘Hi’.
We’re really looking forward moving north to cooler weather tomorrow. The high tomorrow in Tonopah is going to be 81 degrees, and then a high of 72 in South Lake Tahoe on Thursday.
Sounds real nice after the 101 degrees here in Las Vegas today.
All You Can Eat In Illinois
May 14, 2014
Cold, Wet, and Nasty . . .
Jan and I were up about 7:30 this morning, on schedule to head out about 9:30. And as forecast, it was pouring down rain. I was really glad that I had done as much as possible last night getting hitched up and ready to go. It was only 52° when I got up and it wasn’t supposed to get much warmer as the day went on. But the low temps meant we wouldn’t have to worry about needing to run the coach AC’s.
Our destination for today was Vandalia, IL, 185 miles away, where we’ll spend a few days visiting Jan’s sister Debbie, and her family.
Except for the fact it rained the entire way, the trip went very smoothly with a couple of stops. The one thing that was different from yesterday was the MPG.
As I mentioned yesterday, since we left the Houston area, we had averaged 9.16 MPG. This included a lot of hilly back roads and some city driving.
Then, after we filled up yesterday, we did 49.5 miles and used 4.9 gallons, giving us an MPG of 10.1 on the flat and level Interstate.
But today we only got a little over 8 miles per gallon. So what was the difference?
The transmission temperature, which is governed partially by the air temperature. When the air temp is at least 70 degrees or so, the trans temp stays in the 160 to 165 range.
But if the air temp is below that, the transmission never really warns up. In fact on today’s run, the temp never got above 122° So the transmission fluid stays thicker, which results in more friction, which gives lower MPG. And this is with the Transynd synthetic fluid I’m using. I assume it would be even worse with regular fluid.
About 1:30 we pulled into the Timber Trails Campground, a PassPort America park, we’ve stayed at a number of times before. It’s a nice park, about 10 miles outside of Vandalia, with level sites and good power and water. What more do we need?
About 3:30 Jan and I drove over to Debbie and Jim’s to meet up with them for dinner. Gwen, one of their granddaughters, was there too, and she’s a real cutie.
Tomorrow night we’re going to her band concert where she plays trumpet. Looking forward to it.
Our destination for dinner was a place we eaten several times before called Crossroads. It’s out in the middle of nowhere in a small town called Keyesport, but you know it’s good by the size of their big parking lot.
And it was just about full tonight because Wednesday is All You Can Eat Fried Chicken Night. And boy, was it good. Really, it’s Lambert’s good.
After saying our goodbyes, Jan and I headed back to the rig, which is actually not far from the restaurant. We’ll be meeting up with Debbie tomorrow for breakfast at a Mennonite Restaurant. Supposed to be really good.
BUSTED!
Our daughter Brandi sent this over. Here’s what Landon was doing when he was supposed to be napping.
Dennis and Carol
May 14, 2015
Some Assembly Required . . .
First off, I want to thank everyone for their kind thoughts on the passing of my uncle. It is much appreciated.
It was supposed to rain all day today, and although we had a lot of thunder and lightning last night / this morning, the rain never really appeared, but mostly got pushed back until tomorrow. So now we’re looking at a 90% chance of rain over the next couple of days.
A little after 2pm, our friends Dennis and Carol Hill showed up for a visit.. They’re staying over in Congress, AZ, so it was only about a 50 mile trip. We haven’t seen them since the Escapade in Tucson this past March so it was good to catch up again. Dennis quickly bonded with Mister, or maybe Mister bonded with Dennis. But they seemed to be pretty happy with each other.
Hopefully we’ll be able to get together again before they leave the area. We’re certainly not going anywhere.
While we were back in the Houston area this past winter, my son-in-law Lowell gave me a jar of Scary Cherries.
These are Maraschino Cherries infused with extremely hot peppers, in this case, Moruga Scorpion Peppers, the 2nd hottest peppers in the world (the Carolina Reaper is now the hottest.). I really liked them, so much so that I went through them fairly quickly.
I was hoping they would have them at the Jerome Ghost Pepper Co when we visited Jerome about a month ago, but no luck. So I decide to make up a batch of my own.
I started by buying a large jar of Maraschino Cherries at the Fry’s across the street. I then dumped in a couple of tablespoons of one of my hot powder’s, in this case, pure oleo capsaicin. I then shook the jar for a while and tasted some of the liquid.
It was hot, but not hot enough. So I added a couple of more tablespoons. And after testing, then a couple of more. Finally it was right.
I figure that they’re now hot enough to just melt their way though an ice cream sundae all by themselves. We’ll see.
With all the furor over the new Apple Watch, I got to thinking about my first digital watch. It was the Sinclair Black Watch and it came out around 1975.
And even more attractive to me, was the fact that if was actually available as a kit.
If I remember correctly, it cost about $50 for the finished one, and about $30 for the kit. So being a guy that built the first two color TV’s that we owned (Heathkit’s), I couldn’t resist getting a kit.
Despite all the parts, it only took a few hours to put it together and get it up and ticking. They even included the solder that you needed for the assembly.
It lasted for a couple of years, until the part of the case where the pins are inserted for the band finally broke out. But by that time Casio had digital watches on the market for $10. And no assembly required.
I wonder if I can get an Apple Watch kit?
The Battle For America
May 14, 2016
He’s FIVE . . .
Jan and Landon were up this morning about 7:30, and apparently played quietly together until I got up at 11. At least they didn’t wake me up.
We had originally thought Landon might be more comfortable sleeping with Jan in the bedroom, while I slept on the couch, thinking he might be a little scared in a strange bed in a strange place. But he was fine.
But he certainly tosses and turns through the night. A couple of times I was afraid he was going to roll off onto the floor, so I moved the moose footstool up against the side of the sofa.
And apparently sometimes he even sleeps sitting up.
He sat up and moved into this position without ever waking. Note Miss Karma sulking off to the side, since Landon is occupying her usual sleeping spot.
BTW Here’s a Karma update. The Animal Alliance place down in La Marque where we are supposed to take her on May 26th to be spayed, called with a cancellation, so we’re taking her down there this Monday, the 16th, at 7am to have the operation done.
Jan said that later in the morning while they were watching the Cartoon Network, there was a Bugs Bunny cartoon about the Battle for Bunker Hill. (Yean, yeah, I know it was actually Breed’s Hill, and also that we ultimately lost that battle.) Anyway, sometime during the cartoon, Landon suddenly started paying attention and piped up, “Oh, that’s the battle for America.”
When Jan got over her surprise, she asked, “Landon, how do you know that? Landon looked back at her and said, “Hey! I go to school.”
Like I said, he’s FIVE
And on that note, here’s the latest sample of his artwork.
Done with colored pencils, he certainly has a great sense of color and has no trouble staying within the lines.
Apparently, unlike the second day, the third day was the charm as far as Landon’s face boo-boo. I didn’t get a photo, but his face looked so much better it was hard to believe it was only one day later.
Jan and Landon spent a couple of hours over at the park pool this afternoon, and had a great time. Jan said he’s a really good swimmer and doesn’t need any wings, floaties, or rings. He just paddles around the pool on his own.
We headed out to take Landon back to Katy about 4pm. Being Saturday, we didn’t expect a lot of slowdowns, but between heavy rains that started after we left, and the several accidents, our normal 75 minute trip took us a little over two hours.
We met Brandi and Lowell at Little V Vietnamese Bistro, our favorite Katy restaurant for a great meal.
Jan, Brandi, and Lowell all had the Chicken Curry, which does smell fantastic. but I had to go with my favorite Shaking Beef Vermicelli Bowl.
And of course, finished up with our usual Crème Brûlée spoons for dessert.
Just the perfect amount of dessert after a delicious meal.
It was once again raining when we headed home, but no slowdowns this time, so we got home about 8:15.
As far as tomorrow, we’ll probably sleep all day. It’s hard keeping up with a five year old.
Elk In Bend
May 14, 2017
Much Better . . .
When I went to bed this morning about 3am, the weather forecast was for high 50s and sunny today.
But when I got up about 11, it was 43° and completely overcast. And it stayed that way all day. And apparently we’re looking at more snow on Tuesday.
But it brought the local fauna when about 3pm we looked out to see these Whitetails grazing their way through the park.
They’re a lot bigger than the ones we see around the Colorado River TT.
For lunch we had our leftover sandwiches from our recent Sparrow Bakery visit. I had mentioned that I found my Monte Cristo kind of bland. So I spice it up with some Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Orange Marmalade, and a couple of shakes of hot pepper flakes.
Much, much better.
About 5pm Jan dished out bowls of her chili that had been simmering in the slow cooker all day.
Very, very good. And spicy enough to put Cinco de Mayo’s ‘Hot’ Salsa to shame. And that’s a good thing.
And the other good thing is that there’s plenty left.
I was able to find a new coolant tank cap on Amazon.
The price, $9.78, was a lot better than than the $125 the Dodge dealer wanted for a brand-new tank. And it fits perfectly.
Tomorrow we’re going back into Bend to see Colossal with Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis, and described as the best movie you’ve never heard of. I won’t give away what I’ve read of the plot, but it’s kind of a weird story.
May 14, 2018
Lubing and Legos . . .
Work today was another of those times when I took care of a bunch of small things, but just didn’t seem to get a lot really done.
I’m making a list (or lists) of all the things I want to have done before we leave on our 3 week trip to Illinois and Alabama in a little over a month. I’m still hoping to get the two websites moved from an in-house server up onto Godaddy’s servers. We’ll see.
I mentioned yesterday that Brandi and her friend Chantelle are spending the week down in the Dominican Republic’s Punta Cana resort area, staying at the Hard Rock Resort & Casino.
And for free due to the sales contests that Chantelle has won.
And for a going-away present, Landon built this Mother’s Day artwork for her.
I swear the kid can build pretty much anything from Lego’s.
Recently the AC blower in our truck became intermittent and then died. At first I thought it was the motor itself, which I had already replaced in 2015. But when I tried to pull apart the connector to check for 12vdc coming in, the motor roared to life . . . for a few seconds, anyway. And when I pulled the connector apart, I found that it looked like this inside.
So it was off to AutoZone to get one of these
to replace the burnt one.
I had planned to splice the new one in using crimp connectors, but didn’t have enough slack on one side so I had to solder those wires and cover them with heat-shrink tubing. Then I sprayed it with Strike-Hold and it was fixed.
This past Friday afternoon we had our RV Mobile Lube visit for our biennial (triennial?)RV servicing.
I asked for the:
Full Engine Service:
Change oil and filter, lube chassis and driveline, replace all fuel filters on diesel & correct tire pressure
Full Generator Service
Change oil and filter, change air filter, and change fuel filter
Coolant Test
Using Cummins Test Strips
And A Possible Air Filter Change
I was hoping I wouldn’t need a new filter due to the cost.
All of this took about 90 minutes. One thing new is that now I don’t have to run the RV and the Generator for a while to warm the oil up so it will drain properly. They use a vacuum pump that just sucks it all out. The tech appreciates it since he doesn’t have to work under a hot engine and generator.
On two previous visits I had the transmission fluid changed out using Transynd synthetic fluid. This extended my next transmission service out to 185,000 miles. Since we’re presently at 147,000 miles, it’s very possible that we’ll never need it serviced again before we hang up the keys, or they drop from my cold, dead fingers, anyway.
Richard, the tech, said everything looked good, and the coolant tested good, too. He did replace both the engine and the generator oil drain plugs since they were getting a little chewed up.
When he pulled the air cleaner out to take a look at it, I was happy to see that the output side that goes into the engine was clean and white.
But then he turned it over and banged the input side on the ground, and it looked like two or three ‘bird’s nests’ fell out. A lot of grass, twigs, bits of paper, etc., and the inside was brownish-black. So it had to be replaced.
And here’s what it looks like installed.
So now it was time to crank the engine to be sure that the engine was primed and ready to go. So I turned the key …and nothing. Just silence.
Richard said he could hear the lift pump starting up, so it was getting power. After trying a couple of more times, even using the AUX Start switch, we still got nothing.
Talking it over, Richard asked about a disconnected plug he had seen while he was replacing the air filter.
Having nothing to lose, I had him plug it back together, and . . . rumble, rumble, vrooom!. He said that the lock on the plug is apparently broken so it won’t stay together. I’ll ty-wrap it in the next few days.
So the cost worked out to:
$400 – Full Engine Service
$200 – Full Generator Service
$ 20 – New Drain Plugs
and the one that hurt –
$250 – New Air Filter
That totaled up to:
$870
But I’m good for at least another two years, maybe more, depending on how much we travel. The last time I had it Full-Serviced was 2015 so that averages out to about $250 per year for routine maintenance.
Not bad.
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Thought for the Day:
True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country. – Kurt Vonnegut
