Monthly Archives: July 2022
Fifty Five Years . . .
As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, Jan snagged a last minute Landon-sitting gig up in Katy at Brandi’s, so we headed out about 10am to meet her at the Cheddar’s on the Sam Houston Tollway and Westpark.
Brandi said that she didn’t want lunch, so we got there early to have lunch beforehand.
Jan got the Blackened Whitefish with Steamed Broccoli and Green Beans,
while I got my usual 4 Veggie Plate,
starting with a House Salad.
And of course one of their delicious Honey Butter Croissants.
Then Brandi showed up about noon and whisked Jan away and I headed home.
After letting it cool off outside for a while, I went out and installed my new window regulator in the Dakota. So now I have working driver’s side window once again. I’ll reinstall the door panel in the next couple of days.
Fifty Five Years . . .
Today’s a special anniversary for Jan and I.
No, not our wedding one. That one is in September
But without this one, that one would have never happened.
It all started like this.
While Jan lived in Titusville after her father retired from the Air Force there, I was just down from my home in Alabama bumming around for the summer. I had been staying with my aunt and uncle over in Sanford for a week or so and was checking out the want ads for a summer job.
The one that attracted my attention was one looking for someone to take care of the animals and do the performance shows for the tourists at Florida Wonderland, a Titusville tourist attraction. And even better, it included room and board.
So on Monday, the 3rd of July I made the 35 mile trip over to Titusville, and found the place right on US A1A and the Indian River at Hwy 50.
While the main part of the attraction was on the other side of the road, I was going to be working at the Marine Life Center across the road and right on the Indian River.
Originally started by Johnny Weissmuller of ‘Tarzan’ fame in the late 50’s, it was then known as Tropical Wonderland. But somewhere along the line, Johnny faded away and it became Florida Wonderland, and was owned by the Kirk family, one of whom, Claude Kirk, was then Governor of the state.
I started on the 5th of July, and besides doing the animal acts for the public, I also took care of the two porpoises, the two manatees, the 12ft alligator, the large elephant seal, a large tortoise, and a number of other animals. And that meant keeping the 100 pounds of fish that was delivered each day iced down so it wouldn’t spoil.
Noticing that there wasn’t an ice machine there, I was told to take a couple of buckets over to the Miss Kitty’s Saloon and bring back the ice to across the road as I needed it.
“Saloon”?
Besides the carnival rides, petting zoo and other attractions, they also had a Western town, with bank robberies, gunfights, and other Western stuff. And of course, what’s a Western town without a saloon. In this case, Miss Kitty’s Pleasure Palace, soft drinks only, of course.
And of course, every ‘Pleasure Palace’ has an ice machine.
So, 55 years ago today, I walked through the swinging doors carrying my two buckets to find several young women dressed in period clothes. But the one that caught my eye was a tall, well-built redhead.
And that’s how it all started.
But it almost didn’t start, because it took me a week or so to get her to go out with me.
Luckily I’m persistent. Today I guess I’d be called a stalker.
And I think management wondered why I was needing so much more ice than usual.
She said later that she thought I was just another ‘stuck-up college guy’. Well, I don’t know about ‘stuck-up’, but I was in college, skinny and had hair.
(This photo, which Jan took at her home in Titusville, is tattered like this because she carried it around in her purse for years.)
And I drove a ‘65 Triumph Spitfire like this one.
But mine had a roll-bar because I sometimes did SCCA racing.
She thought I was stuck-up. I thought she was gorgeous.
Here she is in 1975 with our two year-old daughter Brandi.
But in looking back, Jan and I have had 55 years together because I didn’t want fish to go bad.
It’s always the little things.
Thought for the Day:
You ever get the feeling that some people slipped into the gene pool when the lifeguard wasn’t looking?
July 5, 2009
Monticello and Appomattox…Not!
Today is our last full day here at Small Country Campground before we move up to Reston, VA for a week in the Washington, DC area.
We woke up to 65 degrees and rain this morning. Well, one out of two isn’t bad.
We took the toad about 20 miles up the road to Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. It was a very beautiful drive up into the hills getting there.
One thing I finally did find out is how to pronounce ‘Monticello’. I had always heard it pronounced both ‘Mon T Sell O’ and ‘Mon T Chello’.
In fact, just last month I saw a program on the History Channel that pronounced it ‘Mon T Chello’.
However, at Monticello, they will tell you that it is pronounced ‘Mon T Sell O’, and that some people there get upset when it is pronounced the other way.
Because of the rain, I couldn’t get any decent pictures of the outside, so these two are from the internet.
East Front of Monticello
West Front of Monticello
We were only allowed to tour the rooms on the bottom of the 3 floors. The other two are apparently too hard to access via the narrow staircases.
Thomas Jefferson was really into the latest gadgets, which I guess is why he’s one of my favorites of the Founding Fathers, along with Benjamin Franklin, for the same reason.
We had some time to walk the grounds after our house tour, even though it was lightly raining.
We saw Mulberry Row, a 1000 foot line of mulberry trees that line the plantation gardens.
We were told the gardens are laid out just as they were in Jefferson’s day.
We also enjoyed the museum and exhibits on Jefferson’s life and times.
After eating lunch in Charlottesville, we were ready to head to Appomattox Courthouse, but it was almost 70 miles away, in the opposite direction of the RV park. And it was already almost 3 pm.
When I looked at the brochure it said it was about 25 miles away. But I now realized that was from Richmond, not from Charlottesville.
So we decided to call it a day and try to come back on our way back from Nova Scotia later in the year.
More tomorrow from Reston, VA…
July 5, 2010
Marathon
Today we drove over to Gina’s about 12:30 so could finish up the deck project. And by about 4:30 pm everything was wired up and tested.. And it all worked perfectly.
A little later we headed back over to the Italian Garden restaurant, and, as usual, it was delicious. Jan had a pizza this time, Gina had the spaghetti with red clam sauce, and I had the Chicken & Shrimp in a bacon-dill cream sauce. All of this with their great fresh hot bread.
Heading back to Gina’s after supper I finished up some last minute repairs on some things, and then we headed back to the rig for the night.
Yesterday, I had a teaser about this sculpture on US 290 a couple of miles west of Johnson City, TX.
It turns out that the bull sculpture entitled “Marathon” is part of the Benini Galleries and Sculpture Ranch about 5 miles off the highway.
So here’s a sample of the diverse artwork.
“Marathon”
“The Blue Saint”
The next two are actually wind sculptures that rotate, whirl, and twirl in the breeze.
“Rancher Memories”
More tomorrow…
July 5, 2011
Seattle Delayed . . .
We were up about 9 to get ready to take the ferry to Seattle, but with Jan under the weather, we’re putting the trip off until tomorrow.
Since it’s been getting warmer the last few days I went ahead and put up the solar screens on the front windows to help keep out some of the heat. The first few days here we didn’t need the AC, but we’ve had it on the last couple of days. And since we’re on 30 amps here, we can only run one AC, so it needs all the help it can get.
We’re still enjoying our new Winegard Automatic satellite dish, and it’s working great. I did find out that it only needs the 12 v when it is finding the satellite. After that it can be unplugged.
Jan wanted to get a pedicure this afternoon so about 1 we headed out to take care of that. But our first stop was lunch at Arby’s before finding a nearby nail solon and dropping Jan off.
Then I headed off for some errands. My first stop was Wal-Mart where I was looking for the plugs and receptacles I need to finish bypassing my transfer switch so I can easily switch back and forth between power sources. Not finding what I needed there, it was off to Lowe’s where they had exactly what I needed.
My next stop was Radio Shack where I was looking for 50 feet of dual RG-6 cable. It’s two cables molded together as one for hooking up dual satellite feeds.
But they didn’t carry it here so I’ll have to try somewhere else. Finally picking up Jan a little after 3 we headed home
About 5 we headed out to the Family Pancake House where we ate on Sunday morning.
July 5, 2013
Let There Be Lights . . .
Last September at a rally, I purchased two Smart Lights to replace the old ones on my coach. I had originally installed a set of the lights in 2009, and overall I’ve been pretty happy with them, except for a couple of things.
They don’t stay on long enough, and can’t be adjusted. When they are triggered, they only stay on about 15 seconds before they shut off. Then you have to wave your arms to turn them on again.
Also, the white model’s plastic case starts yellowing within a few months. So this looked like a good time to replace them. Plus the new ones come with a much brighter LED bulb rather than the incandescent one. So I bought two black ones to replace my old ones.
But after the rally was over, I packed them away planning on installing them after we got back to Houston right before Thanksgiving. But by that time I had forgotten about them.
Anyway since we have a couple of free days here before we leave, it seemed like a good time to take care of that.
Our American Eagle coach uses two of these lights, but it only took me about 45 minutes to get them both installed and checked out. There’s really not a lot to do. Just connect the wires using crimp splices and screw it on using the same holes as before. These newer models come with a strip of caulking to place around the inside lip of the case so it does not need to be caulked after installation.
A little after 5pm we headed out for dinner. After some back and forth, we ended up going back to Humphrey’s once again. This time, rather than a burger like last time, I had something similar, but different. A Bacon Cheeseburger Salad, with hamburger meat, bacon, and shredded cheese, on top of a good salad mix with spicy ranch dressing. And of course, sliced pickles and a small side of fries.
Really good.
Later, after sundown, I went outside to check out my new lights. And I was really surprised how much brighter and whiter the LED bulbs are compared to the old ones. And it stays on for about a minute, just like I wanted.
Here’s the latest pic of Landon’s 2nd cousin, Zoe Nadeau. A real cutie, and growing every day.
Tomorrow I have a few more chores I’d like to get done before we leave here on Monday.
July 5, 2014
Counting Down . . .
We again sat outside this morning with our coffee, muffins, and Mister for an hour or so. Really, really nice.
While we were outside, Dick Schell came by with his dog Murphy and invited us over to look at the remodeling he and Phyllis are doing on their rig.
So, leaving for our drive over to Shipshewana about 2pm we stopped off at Dick and Phyllis Schell’s beautiful Super C.
It’s a Hallmark, built on a Freightliner chassis, and is really nice.
Getting into Shipshewana, our first stop was E & S Sales, an Amish bulk food market, that we like to visit every time we’re here in Shipshewana.
I thought about buying Mister one of these big bags of rawhide dog bones. Figured he could use them as bait to attract dogs. Kind of like hunters set out out feeders to attract deer.
After a stop at the Red Barn Shops, a collection of small individual shops, selling arts and crafts, we headed over to Goshen to have dinner at South Side Soda Shop. But they were closed. I had called Thursday to check, and was told that they would be closed on Friday, but open on Saturday and Sunday.
They lied.
So we stopped and had dinner at the Chili’s between Goshen and Elkhart, and we both liked our meal. Applebee’s needs to take a lesson from them.
Brandi, Lowell, and Landon are visiting Lowell’s parents up in Paul’s Valley, OK this week and it looks Landon’s having a ball. Between sparklers and the waterpark, they’re keeping him busy.
Tomorrow, Sunday, is our last full day in Elkhart for this year. We leave here Monday morning for the Indian Lakes Thousand Trails near Batesville IN for a couple of weeks, then moving on to the Wilmington OH TT for a couple of more weeks before started our trip back to Houston for Landon’s birthday on the 23rd of August, and then Gate Guarding after that.
July 5, 2015
Last Day in Verde Valley . . .
Jan always records the CBS Sunday Morning show and then we watch it later. Like I’m up early enough to watch it live. Anyway, one segment this morning was about Pie Town, NM and Pie-O-Near Pies
We stopped in Pie Town and ate at Pie-O-Near as we heading back to Texas for Brandi’s wedding in June 2010. You can read about it here. June 13, 2010
I finally decided on Cherokee Landing for our two week Thousand Trails stay in Tennessee starting July 20th. Based on the reviews, it was more a matter of picking the least worst rather than the best one. So we’ll see how it goes and let you know.
About 3:30 we headed out for dinner down in Camp Verde, so it was on down to Crusty’s Pizza, a regular stop when we’re here at Verde Valley. We love their Baked Spaghetti and always get a couple of the dinners to go.
But this time we decided to get a pizza to eat in as well. Since the dinners come with salad, and salad doesn’t freeze well, we had the salads with the pizza.
A really good salad, though I would prefer less iceberg lettuce and more romaine.
We got a medium pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms, Italian sausage, and meatballs.
Really, really good, with a lot of flavor. And with the big salads filling us up, we even had a couple of slices left over to for breakfast on the road in a few days.
Getting home, we vacuum sealed the Spaghetti Dinners and froze them.
As you can see these things are huge, and when divided in half, one dinner feeds both of us when combined with a little bread and salad.
We had a couple of comments to yesterday’s blog concerning Jan’s and my ‘eating’ habits, or maybe ‘eating out’ habits, specifically, our stopping at another restaurant on the way home from the first one.
One average, we probably eat out every other day or so. On the in-between days, it may be leftovers from our eating out, or Jan may fixe something. But it’s up to Jan.
When we retired and hit the road in February 2008, we both retired. From whatever we wanted to retire from. And that includes Jan fixing meals. Jan’s a good cook, I mean, I was skinny when we got married. But now she cooks when she wants to cook. And if she doesn’t, we eat out. It’s up to her.
As far as stopping at one restaurant on the way home from another, we stopped at Hog Wild BBQ to pick up some BBQ to freeze and take with us on the road.
Hey, it works for us.
July 5, 2016
It’s Scary When Your Cat Can Tell Time . . .
With today’s temps pushing 100°, I’ve really been happy with the performance of the new Coleman Mach 15 AC unit that we installed last August
The old Coleman Mach V was still working, but seemed to have lost its oomph. I probably could tried topping off the Freon, but I really wanted a bigger unit that handled the Texas temps a little better.
And going from a 13,500 BTU unit to a 15,000 BTU one, plus a stronger fan, really makes a difference. Today, with the thermostat set at 75°, and the outside temp at 99, the unit was still able to cycle on and off all afternoon. So it’s doing its job. Nice.
Unlike a lot of other RV parks, if we hadn’t looked at the calendar, we would have never known it was the 4th of July weekend. No golf cart parades, no fireworks, no nothing. Of course the whole no fireworks thing was probably due to the ‘Absolutely No Fireworks! signs posted around.
We did drive down to the river area Sunday on the way back from Schobel’s and there were more people down there, but I’ve certainly seen the park busier on non-holiday weekends in the past.
After I mentioned about getting a 30 day gate code here, and wondering if they had annual and employee codes, Barbara Spade, friend and Ranger here, confirmed that they do have both annual and employee codes, as well as remotes.
Miss Karma can apparently tell time, or maybe her stomach can. Every day at 4:30, plus or minus about 5 minutes, she comes out from where ever she’s been sleeping, (usually on the dashboard) parks herself in front of Jan and starts meowing.
It’s dinner time, and she knows it. Scary!
The WE Channel has been running a Law & Order marathon tonight, starting with the very first episode in1990. Either I didn’t see these at the time, or I’ve completely forgotten them in the intervening 26 years, I imagine it’s the latter, but it’s like watching a brand new show. The first things I noticed is that everyone is smoking, and that Chris Noth looks about 18.
But one thing that kept bugging me was the opening musical theme. It just didn’t sound right. But after a couple of episodes, I finally figured it out.
it’s in the wrong key. And it’s in the wrong key because they’ve sped it up.
And they’ve sped it up to make it shorter so they can cram more commercials into the hour.
July 5, 2017
It’s Always The Little Things. . .
About 1:30 Jan and I drove up to La Grange for a Wal-Mart run, our first WM visit since we got back to the Houston area a couple of weeks ago.
Going through withdrawal. Or at least Jan is.
We found out this morning that we lost another RV friend, Judy Benson, to a long bout with cancer. We first met Judy and her husband, Pat in 2008 when we were workamping in Fairbanks, AK, and have kept in touch ever since, including visiting them at their home in Draper, UT, just south of Salt Lake City, in 2010.
Then they surprised us in 2014 with a visit to one of our gate guarding locations near Bryan/College Station when they came by with their daughter.
Pat passed away a year ago this coming Saturday, with Judy passing almost exactly a year later, on the 4th. Our condolences to the family. They will both be missed.
July 5, 2018
Happy ‘Belated’ 4th of July . . .
Especially To All The Veterans.
We appreciate your service to our country.
Today, the 4th, was a very nice do-nothing day here at the Rancho Blanco RV. We had BBQ and we never even left the rig.
Besides the Lawler’s BBQ we brought home from my aunt Virginia’s last night, we had some leftovers from Sonny’s, Rendezvous, and Jim & Nick’s to add to the feast. Then for dessert we had some delicious sweet ripe cantaloupe also from my aunt’s.
We still have not brought the TV up front or put the DirecTV dish out. And somehow we don’t really miss it. Jan does have one show that she really likes that starts back up next Tuesday after we get back to Houston, so maybe then.
We’ll see.
Regular readers know I always have a backup plan . . . for everything. Kind of like the old saying, “Be polite to everyone you meet, but have a plan to kill them if necessary.”
And I have one for my generator problem too.
I now seem to have two problems with signals coming from the controller board on the genset. Last summer I lost the the START signal coming to the solenoid/starter from the controller board. So my backup plan was to wire in one of those remote starter switches you use when turning up your car. So now it’s push down the GEN START button on the dash and pull the trigger on the remote.
So when I discovered that I didn’t have 12 volts coming from the controller to the governor actuator, I was hoping another kludge would get me running. So I jumpered 12 volts directly to the actuator while Jan cranked it over.
No luck.
I’ve got a couple of more things I want to check, but now that I seem to have lost two signals from the controller board, for the starter and the actuator, I’m looking at the possibility of a bad controller board.
And a new board looks to be about $1500 from Onan-Cummins. Ouch!
Of course then I would be looking at putting that amount of money into a 19 year old unit that could easily die from something else expensive . . . the very next day.
So here’s my backup plan.
It’s a 7 kw (compared to 7.5 kw for the Onan) running watts generator from Harbor Freight. The online reviews seem to be pretty good, and at 22” x 23” x 27’ it’s smaller than the Onan, and at 183 pounds, it’s about 240 pounds lighter than the Onan.
It has a 240 volt twistlock plug that could be wired up for the rig, giving me about 30 amps per leg vs. 35 amps for the Onan, so not a lot of difference. Especially since our Coleman 15K BTU unit only draws about 15 amps, and our 13.5K BTU one draws even less.
It also comes with a 120 volt 30 amp twistlock receptacle, 4 GFCI protected 120 volt receptacles, and a 12volt output.
Even better, it has electric start if you hook up a 12 volt battery to it. But I won’t need a separate battery since I’ll just use the 12v line that comes in to the Onan starter now.
It uses standard unleaded gas, and the 6 gallon tank will run the unit for 10 to 12 hours, probably longer than we’ve ever driven in a day.
I still haven’t given up on the Onan generator, but I’m prepared.
The power went off about 10:15pm last night and stayed off until a little before midnight. Then it went back off a little after midnight, so finally I gave up, post the No Blog Tonight message from my phone and went to bed.
This morning I did website stuff for a while and then went back to poring over the Onan service manual trying to get a handle on the sequence of things during startup. As part of this I’m making a list of questions to ask them.
I didn’t feel so bad last night when I went outside to check if all the power was off, or it was just me. I ran into a couple of other guys doing the same thing. And neither of their generators worked either. The guy next door in the big, brand new 5th wheel said his generator cranks and runs, but never puts power to the coach. I told him it was probably a transfer switch problem and he said, “What’s that?”
I think he was just as new as the RV. So I explained it to him, and told him it was probably part of his inverter and he should check for a blown fuse or popped breaker.
The other guy had a 2016 Expedition, and his generator wouldn’t even crank. So it’s not just me.
A little before 1pm Jan and headed over to my cousin Anna Jean’s (CuzAnna) house to see her and her sister Marjorie and her husband Walter who were meeting us there.
My mother, Anna Jean, and Marjorie were all first cousins, so I guess that makes us second cousins. Anyway we had a great time catching up on all the family and near-family gossip, and even about my ex-girlfriends here, with some good and some bad stuff that happened to them.
We talked for about 4 hours until I think we all started getting hoarse. When we finally headed out I noticed all the beautiful Tiger Lilies covering her side yard.
Really striking flowers.
Getting back on the road we make the 15 mile trip south to Decatur to have dinner at another of our favorites, Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ, a local institution. And listed as one of the 10 Best BBQ joints in the US.
The walls are covered floor to ceiling with plaques, and big trophies like these
are scattered around the dining room.
I had the 2 meat combo plate with ribs, pulled pork, beans, and turnip greens, And as usual I had leftovers.
while Jan had a 1/4 white meat chicken dinner with beans and a side salad.
All really delicious, and well worth the trip down here.
Then coming back up to Athens, we made a quick WalMart stop and then it was back to the rig.
Hope the power stays on tonight.
July 5, 2019
I Hate Apple Stuff
Unlike most days at work where I get to do things I enjoy, like play with computer stuff, I spent most of today doing something I hate, i.e. work on something Apple . . . actually anything Apple.
Which today meant trying to set up my client’s new IPhone 8+. Went round and round several times just trying to get the Apple ID configured and everything updated.
Just a real mess.
My feelings actually started with disdain though, before moving on to hatred. The ‘disdain’ started back in the early days of the Macintosh when reporter ask Steve Jobs why the Mac had a one button mouse while the PC mouse had two.
Jobs said the average user was too stupid to operate a two button mouse.
But my disdain metamorphosed in to pure hatred when I actually had to repair them. In 1998 I was doing tech support at the University of Houston – Clear Lake. We were an authorized Apple Repair Center since we had so many Apple products.
At that time Apple was the go-to computer for pretty much anything to do with computer graphics, video, or desktop publishing, so we had 100’s of units scattered in classrooms all over campus.
One product we had a number of was the Apple Color LaserWriter, probably the only printer that needed regular oil changes. There was an open pan at the bottom of the printer inside the case, kind of like a cookie sheet, that held a layer of very slippery silicone oil.
This oil was used to keep the fuser clean and had to be changed out at stated internals, which was almost impossible to do without spilling some on the floor. Which then created a hazardous area and had to be surrounded by orange cones. This was due to the fact that the oil made the floor so slippery it was like trying to walk on ice.
Plus if someone bumped the table holding the printer, oil would splash out from the open pan and on to the floor, again creating a hazardous area, surrounded by orange cones.
Another Apple product that we had to repair was the 21” Studio Display Monitor like this one.
Steve always seemed to have favored esthetics over function and reparability, and one of his favorite peeves is to not have any visible screws or fastenings on the outside of a case.
And the Display Monitor was just such a beast. The rear cover was just a rounded dome that was press-fitted onto the chassis. The factory service manual listed the tools necessary to remove the cover as 4 strong metal fingernail files and 2 dozen wooden popsicle sticks.
Yep! 2 dozen popsicle sticks!
You were to jam a nail file into the seemingly air-tight seam, hopefully making enough of a gap to be able to wedge a popsicle into the opening. You then proceeded to work your way around the rim, jamming and wedging as you go, just like changing a big truck tire.
Oh, and the reason you need four fingernail files? It’s because you’ll break at least two of them working your way around the rim.
But the manual neglects to tell you one important thing.
The dome is essentially spring loaded as it’s pressed on at the factory. So at some unknown-to-you point, the heavy dome comes loose, flies across the room, and of course, smashes into a brand-new, VERY expensive, LCD monitor, knocking it to the floor in pieces.
Then of course, there’s the infamous ‘melting’ G4 Cubes.
The G4 was a small (7” x 7” x 7”) computer that also illustrated another of Job’s pet peeves. He didn’t like cooling fans or the noise they made.
So the G4 depended on convection cooling for the components, pulling air in at the bottom of the case and exhausting it out through the top grill. Now that may have worked in mild San Francisco, but not in the Houston area.
The much higher humidity here, even in the air-conditioned buildings, meant that the whole convection cooling thing just didn’t work very well. And the heat buildup made the grill on top of the case start to sag and crack.
Oops!
Happily, for this reason, and lack of expandability, killed the G4 off in just a couple of years.
July 5, 2020
It’s Always The Little Things . . .
After I posted the blog last night I realized that I had forgotten to post the photo of the two beautiful young women I ran into at Grimaldi’s yesterday.
Well, actually I brought them with me.
You can’t have a 4th of July weekend without BBQ, so this afternoon Jan and I had a late lunch at the Spring Creek BBQ over on the Interstate. Delicious Baby Back Ribs as always, as well as a basket of their really good, crispy Fried Okra.
July 5, 2021
24 Hours Later
A little before 3pm we were in the final countdown to our Sous Vide ribs with 1 minute to go.
Coming out of the vacuum bags, and patted dry, our ribs looked like this. And actually they were already very tasty and completely done.
And I was happy to see that water in the cooler was still clean and clear which meant that none of the bags had leaked.
Basted with sauce on the meaty side first, they were on the Weber grill getting a nice char on the outside.
For the next 20 minutes or so, it was back and forth, basting each time, building up that crunchy outside that Jan and I both like.
And a few minutes later, they were on our plates, along with loaded potato salad and Bacon & Bourbon Baked Beans.
And the ribs were just as described in the recipe. Tender, juicy, but not soggy. Almost fall-off-the-bone, but not quite. A crunchy sweet crust on the outside and moist on the inside.
In other words, they were DELICIOUS! Have-Again and Again delicious! And actually very easy to do, all things considered, since a lot of the time was spent double-checking things as I went along.
Next up, Ribeye’s and Sirloin Strips.
This Just In:
In a major announcement that has shaken the computer community to its core, Microsoft has revealed that in the upcoming Windows 11, the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), the screen that tells you that your computer has thrown up its hands and died, will now be BLACK!
Uhhh? Isn’t that racist, now?
Thought for the Day:
Women always worry about the things that men forget; men always worry about the things women remember. – Author Unknown
All ALF, All The Time . . .
The Fourth of July demands BBQ so about 1pm we drove over to the nearby Spring Creek BBQ on I-45 for our BBQ fix. And it was as good as always.
Jan had the Baby Back Rib Plate with Beans and Beans, both Green and BBQ.
For me, I got the Baby Back Ribs and their Hot Cracked Pepper Sausage, also with Beans and Beans.
Then, before heading home, I made a quick stop at the Lowe’s next door for some 10-24 Wing Nuts, but they had every size but that. I only needed two, but I ordered a pack of 10 from Amazon for $7.93. And they’ll be here on Wednesday.
In a quick change of plans, tomorrow I’m taking Jan up to Brandi’s to Landon-sit next week, picking her up on Saturday. So it’s just me and Karma next week.
While she’s gone, and with no rain on the schedule, so maybe I’ll have a chance to install the new window regulator on the Dakota. It’s be nice to be able to raise and lower my window again.
That’s the new one on the left, and it’s noticeably heavier and sturdier. So hopefully it will last as long as the Dakota will.
A couple of days ago I discovered the free Freevee streaming app. Formerly known as IMDB TV, it’s from Amazon.
Available on pretty much every streaming device, it has 1000’s of TV shows and movies, everything from more recent stuff like Madmen and Bosch, along with all 47 seasons of Saturday Night Live, along with every episode of Columbo, Banacek, and Bewitched. And it goes all the way back to Petticoat Junction, Dick Van Dyke, Ozzie and Harriet and Father Knows Best.
And it even has a All ALF channel. Every episode of all 4 seasons.
Jan and I watched the first few episodes this evening, and it really holds up well, and in some cases it’s laugh-out-loud funny.
Check it out.
July 4, 2009
Happy Birthday, America!
Today is our country’s birthday, and where better to be, then the birth place of the writer of the Declaration of Independence, Virginia and Thomas Jefferson.
Happy Birthday, America!
Tomorrow, we will visit the Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, but today we’re going to stay around the coach and enjoy the day.
We’re staying at the Small Country Campground in Louisa, VA, about 20 miles southeast of Charlottesville, VA.
This place is really out in the country, but our site is basically a large gravel parking lot. This area is the only one left that will fit our rig, so we really can’t complain.
We’ll we can’t… but Mister can. He doesn’t like it, at all. The large chunks of gravel hurt his feet, and of course, there’s no where for him to roll around on the ground. He’s not a happy camper.
We are having BBQ this 4th of July. We have leftovers from our stopover at Famous Dave’s yesterday. Ribs, pulled pork, baked beans, corn on the cob, fried apples, with peaches and ice cream for dessert.
Hmmm, Gooood!
We were happy to see the park was having a fireworks show, but weren’t expecting much. Boy, were we surprised!
The show lasted over 30 minutes. It didn’t have as much variety as some city/county shows we saw around Houston, but it made for it in quantity.
Everyone started setting up about 8 pm with the kids being given sparklers to play with.
And then about 9 pm the show began…
We’re really enjoying the cool temperatures here. It was 59 last night and will only get to about 69 tomorrow. Of course, it is also supposed to rain, so we’ll see.
As I said, tomorrow we’re going to visit Monticello, and maybe, if we have time, Appomattox Courthouse, where the South surrendered at the end of the Civil War.
Jager Schnitzel
July 4, 2010
Happy 4th of July…
Our friend Gina was under the weather this morning, so about 10:30 am we headed out for Fredericksburg by ourselves, promising to bring her back supper.
Our first stop after arriving in Fredericksburg was Der Lindenbaum, our favorite German restaurant. We’ve been eating there for a number of years with our family. Our daughter-in-law Linda’s mother was born in Germany, and Linda knows good German food. And she says this is some of the best she’s eaten.
Jan and I both had the Jager Schnitzel, which is a thin breaded pork cutlet in a wine sauce with fresh mushrooms, and comes with German potato salad and red cabbage. And it was delicious!
And we got the same thing to take home to Gina.
And along with the great food, our timing was perfect too. We left the restaurant just in time for the 4th of July parade.
Everybody needs their own tank.
A great looking SS396 Chevelle.
First time I’ve seen a real airplane as a float. Apparently, it’s flyable. They just took the wings off for the parade.
And what’s a Texas parade without horses?
And, as they say in Fredericksburg, TX,
“Das ist Alles, Y’all!” ***
After the parade was over we headed back toward Canyon Lake, stopping off at the Walmart just outside of Fredericksburg to get the wire nuts I need to complete Gina’s deck project.
A few miles further out of Fredericksburg, we encountered camels. Why we don’t know.
But there’s 6 of them, including a baby.
About 2 miles out of Johnson City, we saw this chrome sculpture of a bull along the side of the road. It’s been here for years, but today we decided to investigate further.
But you’ll have to come back here tomorrow to see what we found out.
How’s that for a cliffhanger?
We got back to Gina’s about 4 pm and dropped off her Jager Schnitzel, and then headed back to the rig.
*** German for “That’s All Folks!”
Landon-Skyping
July 4, 2011
4th of July–Redux . . .
Things started up about 10 this morning with coffee and bagels, the coffee courtesy of our new Mr. Coffee.
Our old one apparently met his untimely end due to our recent electrical problems.
Then around 12:30 Jan fixed us some lunch while we waited for our LandonSkyping call.
About 1pm the call came thru and we were on the air. Brandi, Lowell, and Landon are in Oklahoma this weekend visiting Lowell’s parents, so they were Skyping from the hotel where they had Internet service.
It looks like Landon is just about ready to walk. He’s stands up on his own now, he just needs to take a few steps.
And he’s also got two upper teeth coming in to match his two bottom ones.
Our call lasted for about 15 minutes, and reminded us wonderful this technology is that lets us keep in touch like this. And it’s also nice to realized that we’ll be seeing everyone the middle of August at the family reunion at Jan’s sister Debbie’s place in southern Illinois. We’re really looking forward to it.
When we were finished with the call I headed to the Camping World inTacoma about 40 miles away. They were having sale today on the Winegard CarryOut Automatic Satellite Dish and I wanted to check it out.
Our old manual dish is starting to show its age and at our last two parks I’ve had problems getting a good signal. In fact yesterday, I helped the RV’er behind us get a 90 on his dish, and when I sat mine right by his, all I could get was 49.
So it was time to think about updating, and I liked the idea of just being able to set it down, plug it in, and let it find the satellite signal on its own.
I was concerned about whether or not it had two outputs for our DVR, but after looking at it, it looked like it would work, so I brought one home.
When I first got it home I couldn’t get it to lock onto a signal, but after moving it to another location it worked fine and locked on almost immediately. I then was able to hook up the 2nd video line and got both tuners to work. So it looks like it’s a keeper.
We had leftovers for dinner and then Jan had done one of her delicious Nana’s Apple Cake’s from Tastefully Simple.
OMG!
Tomorrow we’re going to take the Ferry over to Seattle and explore the market area. Should be fun.
TireTraker
July 4, 2013
It’s Was A Tie . . .
Jan was up early this morning because she wanted to attend an 8:30am seminar. Lucky for me, she took the golf cart shuttle taxi over to the Cam-Plex so I didn’t have to get up early.
That’s my sweetie!
I got up at my usual 10am, and after coffee, I took care of some chores around the rig. Jan was back at the rig for the afternoon and we both ended up having nice naps, before we headed over to the Cam-Plex about 5pm for the closing ceremonies and the dinner buffet.
It was after 7:30 when we got back to the rig, but the night wasn’t over. Fireworks were scheduled for either 9:30 or 10:00, depending on which brochure you wanted to believe.
We had planned to meet over at Charles and Chris Yust’s rig to watch the fireworks from there, but Mother Nature had other ideas. A little after 9pm, a light rain and a lot of lightning moved into the area. After checking the weather radar, we decided to just sit in our truck and watch the lights through the windshield.
In fact it seems like they started the show early because of the oncoming weather.
The really spectacular part of the show was the fact that the fireworks were interspersed with a lot of big lightning bolts, many of them cloud to cloud behind the fireworks. It was kind of like dueling banjos, but with fireworks. A really neat sight.
Brandi sent over these pics of Landon’s 4th, watermelon and all.
Love those Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) swimming trunks he’s got on.
Not sure what we’re doing tomorrow. It kind of depends on the weather. I’ve got a couple of things I want to do around the rig, but that might have to wait. We’ll see.
Last up, a big Thank You to Daryl and Cheri Lawrence of Lawrence RV Accessories for their usual great customer service. Cheri had given me some replacement caps for the sensors on my TireTraker Tire Pressure Monitoring System since I had a couple that were cracked.
But on one of them, the top part of the cap broke off but the threaded part was stuck on the sensor. I used successively more force trying to get the stuck part off until I broke the battery clip on the sensor. Oops.
I called Daryl and Cheri to see if they left the area yet because I wanted to buy a new sensor to replace the one I broke. They were still in the area, and a little while later appeared at our rig door with a new sensor at no charge. Now that’s what I call service.
Every RV’er should have a tire pressure monitoring system for both his RV and his vehicle, and the TireTraker is one of the best. Check it out.
July 4, 2015
They Lied . . .
Based on our visit to La Fonda the other day, their sign said they’d be open until 2pm today, July 4th. But when we got there a few minutes after 1pm for our last Mexican fix here at Verde Valley, they were already closed for the day.
They lied.
But a family in the parking lot with us recommended Concho’s up in Cottonwood near the DQ so off we went. And it was well worth the trip.
Like many of our favorite places, it’s another hole-in-the-wall place right off the main drag in Cottonwood. it was only after we got inside that I checked Yelp and found they had 4 1/2 stars
And when they brought our meal, it was easy to see why.
We both got #18, with a Chili Relleno, Ground Beef Enchilada, and a Ground Beef Tostado, and of course, with Rice and Beans. It was all great, the salsa, the chips, and everything on the plates, especially the Chili Relleno. It was stuffed full of cheese, and actually had some heat to it. And the portions were so big, we had some to take home.
The only downside, at least for Jan, was the ice tea. Unfortunately it wasn’t fresh brewed, but came out of a soft drink dispenser like Coke or Pepsi. It has a taste that Jan just doesn’t like. Me, I just add more lemon and sugar, well, Equal, anyway, and struggle through.
When we come back to this area, probably in a couple of years, it’s going to be hard to decide between La Fonda and Concho’s. But better too many choices than not enough, right.
Leaving Concho’s we drove on into Old Town Cottonwood to pick up some cupcakes from Wild Irish Rose. And we were almost too late. They bake cupcakes in the morning, and when they run out, they’re out.
So we got the last 3, a Chocolate Chip, and two Salted Caramels. Guess we’ll have to get there earlier next time. Or two years from now.
Coming back toward home, we made a stop at Hog Wild BBQ to pick up a pound of BBQ to go, a half pound of Pulled Pork and a half pound of Beef. We plan on vacuum-sealing, and freezing it to have later on the road. Lastly we made a quick Wal-Mart stop for a few things, and then home.
We had thought about taking in the fireworks show at the Verde Valley Fairgrounds in Cottonwood, but it rained on and off pretty much all day, and was supposed to be raining tonight, so we passed.
Tomorrow we’ll start wrapping up and packing up to get ready to leave Monday morning. We both agree we’re really looking forward to getting back on the road.
Grimaldi’s
July 4, 2020
Pizza and Piper . . .
Happy Fourth of July!
Jan and I headed up to Katy about 10:30 to meet up with our granddaughter Piper where she was housesitting at her aunt Brandi’s while they were up in Oklahoma visiting Lowell’s parents.
After a short conversation, Jan and I drove over to the nearby Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, followed by Miss Piper in her car. We had been to this location several times before, nice because it’s only about 10 minutes from Brandi’s.
We started out with our usual, the Small House Salad, which is small in name only.
And the ‘small’ salad was enough for all 3 of us with some left over that didn’t get eaten due to saving room for pizza.
Piper went the white pizza route with the Prosciutto Arugula Pizza, topped with thinly sliced prosciutto, shaved cheese blend and fresh arugula.
While Jan and I did the more traditional thing with The Don, topped with Italian Sausage, Meatballs and Pepperoni. To which we added Mushrooms, Bacon, and Jalapenos.
Really, really good, and we all had some to bring home.
Ron Jon
July 4, 2021
Happy 4th of July, America!
While we were outside with our coffee this morning, we made what I hope is the final addition to our sticker collection.
When we were over in Gulf Shores we made our usual stop at the Ron Jon Surf Shop in Orange Beach and got one of their stickers for our Jeep.
Unlike a lot of places, Ron Jon’s give these away free, which is why you see them everywhere.
And now on our Jeep.
Ron Jon’s also has kind of a personal connection for Jan and I. On one of first dates we drove over to Cocoa Beach to check out their store. I had used a couple of their boards for several years, so I wanted to see where they came from.
Now back then, Ron Jon’s was a small, narrow storefront, basically a double-wide aisle with surfboards propped up side by side down the way.
And I was told that if you said the magic word, you could buy pot in the back room.
And I think the word was ‘pot’, though I never tried it.
Of course, now Ron Jon’s is big-time conglomerate with the Cocoa Beach store now covering a full block of prime beach real estate.
And of course, now they’ve got locations all around the world, and even several vacation resorts.
About 2pm I set up the cooler and, after stacking the rib packs inside, I filled it up to the immersion cooker water line using the 130° water from the rig.
According to the InkbirdSmart’s control panel, the water temp dropped down to about 110° due to the cold bags of ribs. But I was surprised at how quickly the water temp started to rise, and in less than 30 minutes, the temp had reach 150° and the 24 hour cycle countdown started.
So our meal should be done about 2:45pm tomorrow afternoon. Yum!
Right after I got things started, we headed over to our local Denny’s for our Ultimate Omelets. Then coming home we made an unplanned stop at Cowboy Coffee here in Santa Fe. I say ‘unplanned’ because normally they’re closed on Sunday, and especially on a Holiday Sunday. But not wanting to pass up a chance for Cowboy’s coffee, we pulled in. Turns out this was a one-time thing, opening from 12pm to 4pm, since it seems a lot of people were out and about, and stopped by just like us.
And when we left, we had our Cold, Blended Sugar-Free Hazelnut Lattes, a copy of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, and a bunch of sparklers for our own celebration tonight.
A nice surprise.
Thought For The Day:
