Back To Texas . . .

The biggest Buc-ee’s is coming back to Texas. Where it belongs.

Up until recently, at 68,000 sq. ft., the biggest Buc-ee’s in the world, was the one in New Braunfels, TX. But then the new one in Sevierville, TN surpassed it by about 6,000 sq. ft.

But now that honor is coming back home.

To Luling, TX.

But wait. There’s already a big Buc-ee’s in Luling, right?

Well, yeah. But now there’s going to be two. At least for a while.

Rather than close down the existing one to build the new one, or even try to remodel the old one while staying open, they’re actually going to build a completely new, bigger one right next door to the old one, and then just switch over.

Then I guess they’re just going to tear down the old one. But they don’t say.

But as busy as all of them are, maybe they’ll just keep both of them open.

Jan and I really enjoyed having the two ice makers in the condo, so we decided to break down and order one of those tabletop models, in this case, one that came highly recommended by our friend, Debi Hurlburt.

Vivohome Ice Maker

Should be here Friday.

And speaking of Debi,  tomorrow Jan and I are heading up to The Woodland area to meet up with Debi and Ed for our monthly lunch get-together at the Pappasito’s there.

Can’t Wait.


Nothing says “you’re a loser” more than owning a motivational poster about being a winner. 

 

Of Course, There Was A Gift Shop


June 15, 2009

The Lady & Sons…

Today we made a pilgrimage to Savannah’s holiest of holies, Paula Deen’s “The Lady and Sons” restaurant.

But it’s a two-part pilgrimage.

You can’t just show up and expect to get a table.  And you can’t make a phone reservation unless you have a party of ten or more.

So, starting at 9:30 am you show up at the restaurant and get your name on the list.  If you’re lucky.

Lunch is from 11 am to 3 pm.  Dinner is from 5 pm to 10 pm.

We got there a little after 10 am and were not able to get a lunch time until 2:30 pm.  If we wanted dinner, it would not be until 7:30 pm.

We picked lunch at 2:30.   Since lunch was only served until 3 we were lucky we didn’t get there a few minutes later.  And when we came back at 2:30 the earliest dinner opening was 9:30 pm.

Since we had about 4 hours to kill before returning for lunch, we headed over to a Babies R Us to pick up some baby gifts for our new great-niece and the soon-to-arrive baby of a friend.

After that it was to WalMart for our weekly ‘stuff’ acquisition trip.  Then we drove around thru some of the neighborhoods before heading down the Interstate to the local Camping World.

By now it was time to head back to downtown Savannah and Paula’s.  Her restaurant is a 3 story building that once housed the old White Hardware Company.  It’s located about two blocks from the Savannah waterfront.

Paula Deen's 'The Lady and Sons' restaurant

The Lady and Sons Dining Room

At lunch, you have your choice of ordering off the menu, or partaking of the lunch buffet.

Needless to say, we picked the buffet.  And it was a great choice.

Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, rice, cheese grits, sweet potatoes, collard greens, etc.

And great desserts.

It was all we could do to still walk when it was time to leave, but of course we had to leave thru the Paula Deen Gift Show.

And after that meal it was back to the coach for a nap.

 

Now We’re Up To 11


June 15, 2013

Cows and Goats . . .

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

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

The Narrows RV Park 3

We had the same waitress as we had last night and were talking to her about her cow encounter. She said there was even more to the story.

After she hit the 6 cows, she called 911 and reported the accident.

When the 911 operator asked if she needed an ambulance, she said ‘No”. But they sent one away.

And the 911 operator forgot to tell the ambulance driver about the cows.

Oops!

The ambulance took out 3 more cows.

If you’re keeping score, we’re up to 9 dead cows now.

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

Oops. They weren’t told about the cows either.

So now we’re up to 11 dead cows. About this time our waitress was picked up by her husband and left the scene.

But she said more cows were hit during the night. Apparently, the herd of over 200 wandered back and forth over the highway all night.

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


“This is Oregon?”

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

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

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

And it made for some really nice photos.

Nampa Trip 0

Nampa Trip 1

Nampa Trip 2

Nampa Trip 3

Nampa Trip 4

Nampa Trip 5

Nampa Trip 6

Nampa Trip 7

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

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

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

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

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

But goats?

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

Garrity Goats 1

Their owner says that they’re Nubian goats.

Garrity Goats 2

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

Garrity Goats 3

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

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

 


June 15, 2016

A Well-Fed Anaconda . . .

About 2pm, Jan and I headed back down to the Asian BBQ & Grill for lunch, but more of a business lunch. I mean we still had their delicious Vermicelli Bowls, Jan’s with Lemon Grass Chicken and mine with Grilled Pork and Shrimp,

Asian BBQ Lemon Grass Chicken

but I’ve been talking to the owner about setting him up a website for his restaurant. I showed him how his two nearby direct competitors, China Delight and East Buffet, both have websites, and how the other restaurants in his area also had websites.

Then I showed him samples of some of the other websites I’d done for clients, which he liked. He does seem interested but wants to talk with his wife when she gets back to town next week.

I told him we’ll be moving back to Columbus on Sunday and then would be back here in two weeks, but to give me a call in the meantime. He knows we’re RV’ers and are moving back and forth so that’s not a problem.

After we got home, I put the last panels and screws back in the microwave and then Jan finally got to finish cooking her Sopapilla Cheesecake in the convection oven that she’d prepared last week and then never got to cook.

It smelled great as it was cooking, and later tasted even better when it cooled. And, even better, the oven worked perfectly.

Sometime before we leave on Sunday I’m going to have to get back up on the roof and finish the AC evaporator coil cleaning. But with the forecast temps in the 97-98 degree range for the rest of the week, I’m not too enthusiastic about the whole thing. But I do at least need to get back up there and fasten the shroud down, because I don’t want to lose another one.

In 2008, a few weeks after we hit the road for the first time, we were traveling through the dunes between Yuma and San Diego, and a passing truck driver kept pointing to our roof. So I pulled over and took a look.

Even without getting up on the roof, I could see the rear AC shroud was completely gone. Figuring there was no use in going back to look for pieces, and hoping it hadn’t hit anyone, since no one was chasing me, we kept on going.

It was about a week later we were parked at the Moose Lodge in Escondido CA and I finally found a Camping World that had two in stock.

I needed two because when I got up on the roof, it was easy to see what happened. The fiberglass/plastic? of the shroud was so deteriorated by the sun that it was brittle and cracking all over. In fact the shroud had just broken away from the screws leaving small pieces of plastic underneath the heads. And the front shroud wasn’t far behind. So they both got replaced.

At the time they were replaced, the old ones were 9 years old, so the new ones are now 8 years old. But happily they show no signs of deterioration at all.

So it looks like they’re good for a while longer.

My new Zero-G hose is still working fine. Of course, it’s only been one day, so it’s not much of a test. I noticed my shower last night had a kind of ‘new plastic’ smell, but it seems to have been gone today.

At least I shouldn’t get any more kinks that start swelling up like balloons.

Kinked Hose

There were 3 kinks like this, and if the water pressure was high, the hose looked kinda like a well-fed anaconda.

 

The Mercantile


June 15, 2017

. . . We’re Not In Kansas Anymore . . .

After an easy morning, we pulled out of the I-80 Lakeside RV about 10:15, leaving our lake view site behind.

I-80 Lakeside RV Park 2

In about 10 minutes we were back out on I-135 south heading for Bartlesville, OK, about 230 miles away. 80 miles later, just south of Wichita, we got on the I-35 Kansas Turnpike for the last 40 miles before the Oklahoma border.

40 miles for $4.75. Not bad.

And 20 miles later we got off I-35 and onto US60 east for the next 80 miles or so. Then about 10 miles out of Pawhuska we passed the entrance gate to the Drummond Ranch.

Drummond Ranch Sign

Doing a little reading later, I was amazed how large the ranch actually is. At 433,000 acres, the Drummonds are the 17th largest landowners in the US.

WOW! That’s Texas big.

In fact, the Drummond Ranch and The Mercantile, home to Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, is the reason we’re here in the first place. This has been on Jan’s bucket list for a while

Coming through Pawhuska a little after 2 pm, we passed the place, and as we had been told, saw the line around the block waiting to get in. According to the web, they serve about 6,000 customers a day, with peaks up to 15,000. All this in a town of only 3,500 people.

We pulled into the Lakeside Recreation Park a little after 3 pm and were led to our pull-thru site and got set up.

We had planned to go back to Pawhuska for dinner at The Mercantile, but then decided we wanted something closer and quicker, so we headed right down the road to have dinner at Montana Mike’s Steakhouse. And it turned out to be a really good choice. Great steaks, homemade salad dressings and rolls, and excellent service.

As we were pulling into the restaurant parking lot, we were surprised to see this sign on a restaurant right new door.

Monterey's Sign

Monterey’s Little Mexico is one of our favorite places in the Houston area, and we always thought of it as a Houston chain. And it is, except  for 3 locations in OK, 2 in Tulsa, and this one in Bartlesville. Don’t know if we’ll get to eat there while we’re here.

The only downside to this park, is that just like last night’s park, I can’t get a satellite signal. But they have a good cable TV lineup, so I’m hooked up to that.


I think I may have set a new record. Somehow I managed to use 1GB of data on my MiFi . . . without being online.

I received an email from Verizon at 6:26am yesterday morning saying that I had 1GB left on my MiFi account. And then at 4:29pm, I received another email from them saying that I had now used all my 10GB of data . . . so 1GB in only 10 hours.

The real mystery is that I wasn’t online during this time, or at least,  hardly any of it. We were on the road almost all day, traveling the 330 miles from North Platte, NE to Assaria, KS.

So who was using all my data?

 

How Did You Spend Yours?


June 15, 2019

I’m Pooped, But It’s Done . . .

After leisurely coffee, I went outside about 11:30 to tackle my Dodge Dakota’s front brake pad replacement.

Like most projects, prep work is key, and sometimes takes longer than the actual project.

Disc Pads 1

I knew my floor jack wasn’t going to go high enough to lift the truck so I borrowed a concrete block from the trash pile across from the dumpster to lift things up a bit.

Disc Pads 2

Then after putting the jack stand in place to hold things up in case the floor jack failed, and with the tire off, I was able to get to the caliper/pad assembly.

Disc Pads 3

And removing two bolts and a little prying with a big screwdriver to push the calipers back in a little, I was able to slide the assembly off and lay it up on top of the housing. You don’t want to let it hang loose.

Disc Pads 4

Then the pads themselves just pop right out. I then took a close look at the rotor surface and it looked fine. No grooves, scratches, or raised edges.

Disc Pads 5

I normally replace the rotors every other time I replace the pads, and they were changed out last time so I was expecting them to still be in good shape.

Next up I used one of the old pads and a caliper spreader to push them back in completely flush with the housing so they will fit over the new, now thicker, pads.

Disc Pads 6

Normally I would just use a big C clamp, but I couldn’t find mine, and when I went to buy a new one, I found the spreader was actually cheaper than a big clamp.

I then replaced the silver pad retaining clips with the new ones that came with the pads.

Disc Pads 7

And here’s what it looked like with the pads in place on the clips.

Disc Pads 8

Finally I put Anti-Seize lube on everything that isn’t supposed to seize, and then it was just a matter of sliding the caliper assembly back on the rotor, installing the two bolts, and tightening them down.

And I was done.

With the easy part.

Next comes the hardest part, at least for me. And that’s to lift the 80# wheel/tire combo and get it up on the lugs.

But with a lot of fussing, cussing, and tussling, I got it in place, and tightened down. Then after removing the jack stand, and lowering the truck, I did a final tightening of the lug nuts.

And I was done.

With the driver’s side.

And since it was getting hot now, I decided to wait until about 5pm to do the passenger side since it would be in the shade by them.

Then by around 6:30, I was done, had done a test drive, and was in a hot shower, after taking some Advil.

So that’s how I spent my Saturday.

How did you spend yours?


The biggest Buc-ee’s is coming back to Texas. Where it belongs.

Up until recently, at 68,000 sq. ft., the biggest Buc-ee’s in the world, was the one in New Braunfels, TX. But then the new one in Sevierville, TN surpassed it by about 6,000 sq.ft.

But now that honor is coming back home.

To Luling, TX.

But wait. There’s already a big Buc-ee’s in Luling, right?

Well, yeah. But now there’s going to be two. At least for a while.

Rather than close down the existing one to build the new, or even try to remodel the old one while staying open, they’re actually going to build a completely new, bigger one right next door to the old one, and then just switch over.

Then I guess they’re just going to tear down the old one. But they don’t say.

But as busy as all of them are, maybe they’ll just keep both of them open.

Jan and I really enjoyed having the two ice makers in the condo, so we decided to break down and order one of those tabletop models, in this case, one that came highly recommended by our friend, Debi Hurlburt.

TTICE

Vivohome Ice Maker

Should be here Friday.

And speaking of Debi,  tomorrow Jan and I are heading up The Woodland area to meet up with Debi and Ed for our monthly lunch get-together at the Pappasito’s there.

Can’t Wait.

Of Course There Was A Gift Shop


June 15, 2009

The Lady & Sons…

Today we made a pilgrimage to Savannah’s holiest of holies, Paula Deen’s “The Lady and Sons” restaurant.

But it’s a two-part pilgrimage.

You can’t just show up and expect to get a table.  And you can’t make a phone reservation unless you have a party of ten or more.

So, starting at 9:30 am you show up at the restaurant and get your name on the list.  If you’re lucky.

Lunch is from 11 am to 3 pm.  Dinner is from 5 pm to 10 pm.

We got there a little after 10 am and were not able to get a lunch time until 2:30 pm.  If we wanted dinner, it would not be until 7:30 pm.

We picked lunch at 2:30.   Since lunch was only served until 3 we were lucky we didn’t get there a few minutes later.  And  when we came back at 2:30 the earliest dinner opening was 9:30 pm.

Since we had about 4 hours to kill before returning for lunch, we headed over to a Babies R Us to pick up some baby gifts for our new great-niece and the soon-to-arrive baby of a friend.

After that it was to WalMart for our weekly ‘stuff’ acquisition trip.  Then we drove around thru some of the neighborhoods before heading down the Interstate to the local Camping World.

By now it was time to head back to downtown Savannah and Paula’s.  Her restaurant is a 3 story building that once housed the old White Hardware Company.  It’s located about two blocks from the Savannah waterfront.

Paula Deen's 'The Lady and Sons' restaurant

The Lady and Sons Dining Room

At lunch, you have your choice of ordering off the menu, or partaking of the lunch buffet.

Needless to say, we picked the buffet.  And it was a great choice.

Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, rice, cheese grits, sweet potatoes, collard greens, etc.

And great desserts.

It was all we could do to still walk when it was time to leave, but of course we had to leave thru the Paula Deen Gift Show.

And after that meal it was back to the coach for a nap.

Now We’re Up To 11


June 15, 2013

Cows and Goats . . .

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

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

The Narrows RV Park 3

We had the same waitress as we had last night and were talking to her about her cow encounter. She said there was even more to the story.

After she hit the 6 cows, she called 911 and reported the accident.

When the 911 operator asked if she needed an ambulance, she said ‘No”. But they sent one away.

And the 911 operator forgot to tell the ambulance driver about the cows.

Oops!

The ambulance took out 3 more cows.

If you keeping score, we’re up to 9 dead cows now.

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

Oops. They weren’t told about the cows either.

So now we’re up to 11 dead cows. About this time our waitress was picked up by her husband and left the scene.

But she said more cows were hit during the night. Apparently the herd of over 200 wandered back and forth over the highway all night.

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


“This is Oregon?”

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

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

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

And it made for some really nice photos.

Nampa Trip 0

Nampa Trip 1

Nampa Trip 2

Nampa Trip 3

Nampa Trip 4

Nampa Trip 5

Nampa Trip 6

Nampa Trip 7

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

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

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

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

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

But goats?

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

Garrity Goats 1

Their owner says that they’re Nubian goats.

Garrity Goats 2

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

Garrity Goats 3

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

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


June 15, 2016

A Well-Fed Anaconda . . .

About 2pm, Jan and I headed back down to the Asian BBQ & Grill for lunch, but more of a business lunch. I mean we still had their delicious Vermicelli Bowls, Jan’s with Lemon Grass Chicken and mine with Grilled Pork and Shrimp,

Asian BBQ Lemon Grass Chicken

but I’ve been talking to the owner about setting him up a website for his restaurant. I showed him how his two nearby direct competitors, China Delight and East Buffet, both have websites, and how the other restaurants in his area also had websites.

Then I showed him samples of some of the other websites I’d done for clients, which he liked. He does seem interested, but wants to talk with his wife when she gets back to town next week.

I told him we’ll be moving back to Columbus on Sunday and then would be back here in two weeks, but to give me a call in the meantime. He knows we’re RV’ers and are moving back and forth so that’s not a problem.

After we got home, I put the last panels and screws back in the microwave and then Jan finally got to finish cooking her Sopapilla Cheesecake in the convection oven that she’d prepared last week and then never got to cook.

It smelled great as it as cooking, and later tasted even better when it cooled. And, even better, the oven worked perfectly.

Sometime before we leave on Sunday I’m going to have to get back up on the roof and finish the AC evaporator coil cleaning. But with the forecast temps in the 97-98 degree range for the rest of the week, I’m not too enthusiastic about the whole thing. But I do at least need to get back up there and fasten the shroud down, because I don’t want to lose another one.

In 2008, a few weeks after we hit the road for the first time, we were traveling through the dunes between Yuma and San Diego, and a passing truck driver kept pointing to our roof. So I pulled over and took a look.

Even without getting up on the roof, I could see the the rear AC shroud was completely gone. Figuring there was no use in going back to look for pieces, and hoping it hadn’t hit anyone, since not one was chasing me, we kept on going.

It was about a week later we were parked at the Moose Lodge in Escondido CA and I finally found a Camping World that had two in stock.

I needed two because when I got up on the roof, it was easy to see what happened. The fiberglass/plastic? of the shroud was so deteriorated by the sun that it was brittle and cracking all over. In fact the shroud had just broken away from the screws leaving small pieces of the plastic underneath the heads. And the front shroud wasn’t far behind. So they both got replaced.

At the time they were replaced, the old ones were 9 years old, so the new ones are now 8 years old. But happily they show no signs of deterioration at all.

So it looks like they’re good for a while longer.

My new Zero G hose is still working fine. Of course it’s only been one day, so it’s not much of a test. I noticed my shower last night had a kind of ‘new plastic’ smell, but it seems to have been gone today.

At least I shouldn’t get any more kinks that start swelling up like balloons.

Kinked Hose

There were 3 kinks like this, and if the water pressure was high, the hose looked kinda like a well-fed anaconda.

The Mercantile


June 15, 2017

. . . We’re Not In Kansas Anymore . . .

After an easy morning, we pulled out of the I-80 Lakeside RV about 10:15, leaving our lake view site behind.

I-80 Lakeside RV Park 2

In about 10 minutes we were back out on I-135 south heading for Bartlesville, OK, about 230 miles away. 80 miles later, just south of Wichita, we got on the I-35 Kansas Turnpike for the last 40 miles before the Oklahoma border.

40 miles for $4.75. Not bad.

And 20 miles later we got off I-35 and onto US60 east for the next 80 miles or so. Then about 10 miles out of Pawhuska we passed the entrance gate to the Drummond Ranch.

Drummond Ranch Sign

Doing a little reading later, I was amazed how large the ranch actually is. At 433,000 acres, the Drummonds are the 17th largest landowners in the US.

WOW! That’s Texas big.

In fact, the Drummond Ranch and The Mercantile, home to Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, is the reason we’re here in the first place. This has been on Jan’s bucket list for a while

Coming though Pawhuska a little after 2pm, we passed the place, and as we had been told, saw the line around the block waiting to get in. According to the web, they serve about 6,000 customers a day, with peaks up to 15,000. All this in a town of only 3,500 people.

We pulled into the Lakeside Recreation Park a little after 3pm and were led to our pull-thru site and got set up.

We had planned to go back to Pawhuska for dinner at The Mercantile, but then decided we wanted something closer and quicker, so we headed right down the road to have dinner at Montana Mike’s Steakhouse. And it turned out to be a really good choice. Great steaks, homemade salad dressings and rolls, and excellent service.

As we were pulling into the restaurant parking lot, we were surprised to see this sign on a restaurant right new door.

Monterey's Sign

Monterey’s Little Mexico is one of our favorite places in the Houston area, and we always thought of it as a Houston chain. And it is, except  for 3 locations in OK, 2 in Tulsa, and this one in Bartlesville. Don’t know if we’ll get to eat there while we’re here.

The only downside to this park, is that just like last night’s park, I can’t get a satellite signal. But they have a good cable TV lineup, so I’m hooked up to that.


I think I may have set a new record. Somehow I managed to use 1GB of data on my MiFi . . . without being online.

I received an email from Verizon at 6:26am yesterday morning saying that I had 1GB left on my MiFi account. And then at 4:29pm, I received another email from them saying that I had now used all my 10GB of data . . . so 1GB in only 10 hours.

The real mystery is that I wasn’t online during this time, or at least,  hardly any of it. We were on the road almost all day, traveling the 330 miles from North Platte, NE to Assaria, KS.

So who was using all my data?

How Did You Spend Yours?


June 15, 2019

I’m Pooped, But It’s Done . . .

After leisurely coffee, I went outside about 11:30 to tackle my Dodge Dakota’s front brake pad replacement.

Like most projects, prep work is key, and sometimes takes longer than the actual project.

Disc Pads 1

I knew my floor jack wasn’t going to go high enough to lift the truck so I borrowed a concrete block from the trash pile across from the dumpster to lift things up a bit.

Disc Pads 2

Then after putting the jack stand in place to hold things up in case the floor jack failed, and with the tire off, I was able to get to the caliper/pad assembly.

Disc Pads 3

And removing two bolts and a little prying with a big screwdriver to push the calipers back in a little, I was able to slide the assembly off and lay it up on top of the housing. You don’t want to let it hang loose.

Disc Pads 4

Then the pads themselves just pop right out. I then took a close look at the rotor surface and it looked fine. No grooves, scratches, or raised edges.

Disc Pads 5

I normally replace the rotors every other time I replace the pads, and they were changed out last time so I was expecting them to still be in good shape.

Next up I used one of the old pads and a caliper spreader to push them back in completely flush with the housing so they will fit over the new, now thicker, pads.

Disc Pads 6

Normally I would just use a big C clamp, but I couldn’t find mine, and when I went to buy a new one, I found the spreader was actually cheaper than a big clamp.

I then replaced the silver pad retaining clips with the new ones that came with the pads.

Disc Pads 7

And here’s what it looked like with the pads in place on the clips.

Disc Pads 8

Finally I put Anti-Seize lube on everything that isn’t suppose to seize, and then it was just a matter of sliding the caliper assembly back on the rotor, installing the two bolts, and tightening them down.

And I was done.

With the easy part.

Next comes the hardest part, at least for me. And that’s to lift the 80# wheel/tire combo and get it up on the lugs.

But with a lot of fussing, cussing, and tussling, I got it in place, and tightened down. Then after removing the jack stand, and lowering the truck, I did a final tightening of the lug nuts.

And I was done.

With the driver’s side.

And since it was getting hot now, I decided to wait until about 5pm to do the passenger side since it would be in the shade by them.

Then by around 6:30, I was done, had done a test drive, and was in a hot shower, after taking some Advil.

So that’s how I spent my Saturday.

How did you spend yours?