Our RV Adventures

Lunch today was the Torchy’s Tacos up in Webster once again.

Jan got her usual two Chicken Fajitas version,

while I digressed from my usual two Republicans (with a Cheese Jalapeno Sausage) to one Republican (They also have a Democrat)and one Brushfire.

The Brushfire is made with Jamaican Jerked Chicken and Mango. And they’re both delicious.

And nice and spicy.

It was raining a little when we left the rig this afternoon, but it got worse as time passed. In fact, after lunch and a stop at the office, we decided to adjourn the rest of our errands and head home. And I’m really glad we did as the bottom dropped out along the way, as well as  the obligatory Tornado Warning for our area. Yikes!

And when we got home we had to set in the car for a while to let the rain die down. And getting out we found the storm had proceeded us.

The patio was a mess.

There were downed flamingos everywhere. And we were very surprised to see that even the umbrella went down.

That base is very heavy.

Our LaCrosse Weather Station showed that we had steady winds of around 25mph, with gust to over 35mph.

And while the temp was 72° when we got home, with the passing front it was down to 52 in just couple of hours.

And down to 40 tonight.

Nice!

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Thought For The Day:

I wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then.

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January 24, 2011

16 Days and Counting . . .

Our day started off with good coffee from our daughter-in-law’s Christmas present, and then got even better.

About 12:30 Jan’s dentist called with a cancellation, so Jan will get her last appointment done tomorrow afternoon, instead of Feb. 16th.  So this means we can push up our departure date from the 17th to the 9th. Which means we’ve got 16 days and counting before we leave.

Yayyyy!

The hitch itch is getting bad, believe me.

Later we left the rig about 1:45 to meet our friends Bob & Maria at King Food up in Webster, our favorite local Chinese place. As usual we sat around just talking for a good while. We’ve known Bob & Maria since the mid-80’s and always have fun together.

Finally leaving King Food, we stopped off at Brandi’s to drop off some clothes for Landon that Jan got at Kohl’s yesterday. BabyDaddy Lowell was already home working from there when we stopped by.

Passing thru Dickinson, we stopped at the Sonic Drive-In to pick Jan up a foot-long chili cheese Coney to have later for supper, along with some Ched’R Poppers.

We got home a little before 5:30 and were really glad to be in out of the rain. It started raining yesterday evening, and has pretty much rained ever since. All this rain we’re having is certainly not helping me get all the outside jobs done on the RV. Hopefully it will dry up soon.

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January 24, 2013

It’s Landon Time!

or A Random Act of Kindness.

Today was our day to get some quality Landon time, so we planned to take him to the Bayou Wildlife Park between Dickinson and Alvin, and then spend the rest of the day together.

We left the rig about 8:30 (OMG), but had few stops first before we picked him up. First up was a Starbuck’s run to get some caffeine in us, since we didn’t make coffee before we left.

Then, after a quick trip through the bank next door, it was across the street to Jack Box’s place for a breakfast sandwich for Jan. Finally our last stop before getting Landon was to the house to get his car seat for the trip.

When we got to the daycare, he was in his Computer Class (he also has Spanish Classes there too) but was ready to leave with us.

I’ve always been impressed by the security at the daycare. First off, you don’t even get buzzed in unless they know you, or expect you. And if you’re not a parent, you can’t pick up a child unless a parent has told them you’re coming, and your name must be in their files ahead of time. Very nice.

Finally getting Landon buckled into his car seat, we headed out. While I was trying to get him situated, he kept looking at me like he was wondering what kind of idiot couldn’t do this.

Hey,  there’s a lot of buckles and straps, OK?

It was only about 20 minutes to the park, and we got there just as it opened. (I love it when a plan comes together.)

The last time we were here was in the early 80’s when Landon’s mother, Brandi, was only about 7 – 8 years old. So it’s been a while.

Paying our admission at the gate, and getting our food buckets,

and heading into the park, we were quickly greeted by a welcoming committee. They had figured out that they had the best shot at the food by getting there early.

We had llamas,

American Elk,

goats,

and even this evil-looking Emu. It’s easy to see why scientists think birds evolved from dinosaurs.

And they all just came right up and stuck their heads in the car window.

Landon wasn’t too thrilled about this part. He didn’t cry, but he did keep saying “Close window, close window. Go way, go way.”

Next we crossed over a cattle gate and drove out into a wide-open area just filled with animals. Everything from deer, antelope, llamas, alpacas, elk, ostriches, and emus, to kangaroos, swans, and ducks. Oh, my.

Parking at the main building we checked out the Petting Zoo,

and the giraffes in their pen right next door.

After seeing this sign, I told Jan I was going to search her before we headed home. We have two cats. We don’t need a goat.

By now it was time for our tram ride through the rest of the park. They’re completely open so you can get up close and personal with the animals. Sometimes closer than you really want to be, especially for Jan and Landon, as you’ll see a little bit later.

As we headed out there were animals every where we looked. And what was really amazing was how many of them Landon could name.

This guy would have emptied the whole bucket if Jan had let him.

These are ring tailed lemurs. They have two different compounds of them, surrounded by water to keep them in.

You don’t realize how big swans are until you see them up close. This guy’s about 4 feet tall. That’s a lot of bird.

When the herd of American Bison surrounds the tram, you began to wonder just how sturdy the tram was.

And this Watusi Cow didn’t help things any.

I thought this Bactrian Camel (two humps) was going to climb into the tram with Jan.

He took a liking to Landon’s brightly-colored backpack and decided he wanted it.

And came after it.

She kept trying to push him away, but a 1500 pound camel doesn’t push very easily.

I’m not sure if Jan was trying to protect Landon here, or trying to get Landon to save her.

But luckily he finally gave up as the tram pulled away.

They even have gators. But luckily they don’t come up to the tram to be fed.

This is Cleo, their Southern While Rhino. She weighs almost two tons, and is 5 feet high and 9 feet long.

Now that’s a big girl.

A Red Kangaroo.

Getting back to the barn, Landon picked out a new friend at the gift shop. Jan asked him if he also wanted a T-shirt.

He said, “No shirt. Just Monkey.”

He named him Eek Eek.

I think he now has 3 monkeys named Eek Eek.

I saw this sign of the side of the barn, and it is correct.

Alvin, TX holds the record for the most rain in the continental US in a 24 hour period. Tropical Storm Claudette came in from the Gulf and just hunkered down and stayed.

We were very lucky our house didn’t get flooded, and we’re built pretty high.

And it looks like you can start your own zoo here.

Need a breeding pair of zebras? They’ve got them.

How about a half dozen Scimitar Horned Oryx . . . Oryxes . . .Oryxi?  Whatever.  You’ve come to the right place.

Or maybe you’ve always wanted a pet Water Buffalo?  You can git’em here.

About 12:30 we headed back to the house. We had a great time, and Landon said he did too. Maybe we’ll bring him back next year, so he can enjoy it even more.

On the way home, we stopped at Wendy’s for lunch. For Landon that was Chicken Nuggets and Apple Slices.

While Jan and Landon rested and played, I visited some clients and took care of some problems. And by the time I got back to the house, it was after 4pm, so we all headed out to Barcenas Mexican Restaurant, right outside the subdivision, a place Landon always enjoys.

He really likes their Queso.

As far as the Random Act of Kindness, I kept waiting for the waiter to bring our check after we were finished. Finally, I asked him for it, and he said the guy in the booth behind us had paid our check for us.

Huh?

I remember glancing at him when I sat down, and Jan said when he left she had looked at him and didn’t recognize him.

Maybe he was just messing with us. A couple of times over the years, I’ve paid the toll for the car behind me, just for the hell of it. But I never bought anyone’s dinner.

I did ask our waiter if the guy had also paid our tip. He smiled and said “No.” So I asked him how much our bill was, $35 as it turns out, and I tipped him on it.

Leaving Barcenas, we drove over to the nearby Wal-Mart for some groceries and a few other things, and then it was back to the house.

By the time we got back, Landon had finally zonked out, after a very busy day.

Brandi and Lowell had used this Landon respite to have dinner at Cheesecake Factory, so when they got home little after 7pm, Jan and I headed out. We did make a quick stop at the Monterey’s Little Mexico in Dickinson for a call-ahead order of chips and salsa to go with our meal tomorrow.

Hopefully the day won’t start so early tomorrow.

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January 24, 2014

30 Days and Counting . . .

Well, we did survive the storm. Here at the rig it was still 32 degrees when I got at 10 AM (didn’t go to bed until after 2 AM). By noon it had dropped to 30 degrees and we had a ice film on the windows and icicles hanging from the awnings

At the same time it was 47 degrees in Fairbanks, AK. I think we sucked all the cold air down here from up there. Who ever heard of going up to Fairbanks to get warm?

I had planned to visit a couple of clients today, but since it never really got above freezing around here, and the TV kept talking about icy roads in the area, I just stayed home.

Jan did go outside for a few minutes to feed the birds, but I don’t like birds that much and just stayed inside all day where it was warm.

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If we stay on schedule, we will be leaving here 1 month from today. The only problem is that we don’t know where we’re going yet. But we’ll come up with something by then.

The only definite time/place we have planned for this year so far is the 54th Escapade this coming May 12th thru the 17th in Goshen, IN.

And I just found out today that I will be giving one or more of my “Gate Guarding for Fun? and Profit”  seminars at the Escapade, the same seminar I gave at last year’s version. And now we’re got another Gate Guarding experience under our belts. See you there.

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Jan fixed a big batch of delicious chocolate chip cookies later in the afternoon. Warm cookies and hot coffee really hit the spot in this weather. It’s supposed to be warmer tomorrow, maybe up into the 60’s, but not for long. The cold weather’s coming back with a vengeance and Tuesday’s low here in San Leon is supposed to be 23 degrees.

Make it stop!

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Saw an interesting program the other day that really made me think. Right now car enthusiasts are still collecting 40 – 50 year old cars from the 60’s and 70’s. But 30 or 40 years from now there may be no classic cars from today. Or at least no running ones.

The problem is the computer chips/modules used in the engines for the last 20 years or so. Even now there are some cars manufactured in the 1990’s for which engine computers/chips are no longer available from the manufacturer. So some people are now scouring junkyards trying to find parts to keep their babies running.

So stock up now and corner the market.

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January 24, 2015

Almost Fixed . . .

Well, as was forecast, it was sunny, dry, and 61 degrees today. Nice for a change.

About 3pm I set Jan up outside at the picnic table with a power cord so she could use the electric skillet to cook up the 4# of hamburger we got at Wal-Mart yesterday. We try to never cook anything like that in the coach since it really seems to get into the fabrics. Our ceiling is carpeted and the perfect medium to hold the smell. And the vent fan on the microwave doesn’t seem to help much.

I regularly see people cooking things like bacon outside, I guess for the same reason, since they don’t eat outside, but go back in their coach.

Later in the afternoon, I went outside to turn off the water so I could change out the shower faucet cartridge. Pulling it out proved to be more difficult than I figured. I used the puller to get it loose, but it would only come out about an inch and a half and then stop. I finally grabbed the handle with a pair of pliers and twisted it as I pulled, and it finally came out.

But it left large chunks of the rubber parts inside. Here the new and old cartridges.

There are two slots located at 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock inside the faucet body where the hot and cold enters the faucet, and they were now stopped up with the pieces of rubber missing from the cartridge. But I was not able to get the pieces out with anything I had. I needed something with a sharp hook on the end.

So finally I drove down to Lowe’s and bought a set of picks like this.

With the right tools it just took me a couple of minutes to get the pieces out.

Next I coated the rubber parts of the new cartridge with silicone grease and slid it into the faucet, but when I tried to insert the retaining clip, I found it wouldn’t go all the way in. I played with it a good while but finally ran out of time when supper was ready.

The faucet is working and I was able to turn the water back on, but because the retaining clip is sticking up, I can’t put the escutcheon ring back on. This means the handle does not hit the stops so you can rotate it continuously around and around. I’ll have to figure out the problem later. But it’s almost fixed.

Jan used part of the hamburger she cooked for tonight’s dinner of delicious Hamburger Mac, and we’ll vacuum seal and freeze the rest of it for later.

Tomorrow, we’re going down to Brandi and Lowell’s in Katy to pick up our mail, help Lowell set up his new computer, and, of course, have dinner at Little V’s Vietnamese Bistro.

Looking forward to it.

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January 24, 2016

PEMEX and Power On . . .

Today was a perfect day for a walk with 60 degrees and sun. Our first loop was 1.07 miles, a little further than our normal 1.01, but  I think that’s because I doubled back a couple of times to check out other sites where we might like to park sometime.

While we were walking the first loop, we passed a lady walking the other way and said hi. Then she stopped off while we were having our coffee and bread. Dorothy Weaver and her husband live in a BigHorn 5th wheel right across the street from us. They’re from Houston, and have traveled a lot in the past, but don’t travel as much as they used to. We did have a good time comparing the different places we’d been, though.

Before we walked our 2nd leg, Jan started a big batch of chili in the slow cooker for tonight’s dinner. Really smells good in the coach.

I mentioned in yesterday’s blog that I had finally been able to repair my son Chris’ Galaxy S5 phone.

The problem started with a dropped phone and a cracked glass screen.

https://ourrvadventures.com/2016/01/but-the-patient-died/

As I detailed above, I first tried to carefully remove the cracked glass from the digitizer underneath. A replacement glass is only about $10 so if I could just get if off without damaging the LCD/Digitizer screen underneath, I could save a lot of money.

But after repeatedly reheating the glass and carefully prying it off using playing cards as shims, and about two hours work, I finally was able to separate the glass from the screen underneath.

But that’s when I discovered that LCD/Digitizer screen was already cracked along a crack in the g;ass. and only the glued-on glass was holding it all together. So now the fix was going to be a good bit more expensive than $10.

More like $150.

After finally receiving the new glass-screen combo, I started carefully prying off the busted screen, trying to keep it in one piece so I don’t get little shards of glass all in the phone. But after several hours work spread over a couple of days, I got it off pretty much in one piece.

But the further problem I found was getting the broken glass from around the HOME button without damaging it or ripping it apart.

But another hour or so of carefully picking the glass off and then removing the glue residue took care of that problem.

Once that was done, it was a pretty quick job to remove the film covering the glue strips on the new screen, connect up the electrical cables, and then press it into place.

And a few minutes later, it was Power On.

It’s Alive, again.

When we were down in the Clear Lake area on Saturday, I saw a station selling Unleaded for $1.39⁹ , 10 cents a gallon less than the cheapest station in the area.

A second look was even more surprising. It was a Pemex station, Pemex being the national oil company of the country of Mexico.

It’s certainly the first time I’ve heard of them opening stations in the US. I guess when you’re a country, it’s easy to underprice your competition.

Speaking of competition, why is is that you find two gas stations, half a block apart, both nice, big and  brightly lit , where one, a Valero, is selling Unleaded for 1.49⁹, and the other, an Exxon station, has Unleaded for $1.79⁹ ?

With a 30 cents a gallon difference, why does the Exxon have any business?

For dinner tonight we had a big bowl of the Chili that slow-cooked all afternoon.

Jan tears up pieces of corn tortillas into the Chili, and then we have other tortillas with it. It’s good every time, and this was no different. YUM !

Tomorrow we’re meeting Janice and Dave Evans, and Debi and Ed Hurlburt for lunch at El Bosque, our favorite local Mexican place. Really looking forward to it.

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January 24, 2017

Vehicular Overcast . . .

The first time we drove out to our new gate, we noticed this house high up on the hill overlooking the road. As we got closer we realized how large it was.

In fact it kind of reminded us of our visit to Hearst Castle out in California in 2010, but with less trees.

As we got closer we talked about where they got all their money, and I said, “Black Gold, Texas Tea.” And sure enough it was true.

Here’s the entrance to the estate.

“Oro Negro.” Black Gold in Spanish.

And when I zoomed in with my Panasonic Lumix, it was obvious how extensive the place really was.

And it turns out that they own all the land around the area, including the 100’s of wells, all pumping out money by the barrel full.

For the second time on my trips back to the pad, I came over a rise and found a skunk ambling down the center of the dirt road. It sometimes takes a couple of minutes of horn honking and light flashing to convince it to pull over.

I definitely didn’t do it the way a friend of mine handled the problem when we were teenagers. No, he didn’t just run over the skunk, he was smarter than that. He decided to carefully drive over the skunk, keeping him centered between the wheels

Big Mistake!

The skunk, obviously irritated by this vehicular overcast, expressed his displeasure by the normal means for a skunk. He pretty much hosed down the entire bottom of my friend’s car.

Did you know that cars aren’t airtight? Well, apparently my friend didn’t, or forgot, anyway. And with all our windows closed, so the skunk smell couldn’t in, right?, the stink wafting up from below was trapped right inside with us.

We rolled the windows down and drove real fast to get away from the smell, which worked until we stopped. Then we were engulfed again.

Rinse, Lather, Repeat.

After about 10 iterations of this we finally gave up and drove home, still followed by that unmistakable smell. And although the smell didn’t stick to our clothes, it hung around on his car for weeks. Even his girlfriend didn’t want to ride with him.

And his parents made him park his car in the vacant lot across the street.

If only he could have figured out how to dip his car in tomato juice.

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January 24, 2018

The Crazy Chicken . . .

I went into work this morning expecting a nice, quiet morning. I had a bunch of website and catalog price updates to catch up on, so an easy day.

But when I got there I found they had forgotten to tell me that I needed to a post card mail-out ready to go to the printer next Monday morning, so it can be mailed out Wednesday, using the address list I also have to clean up, eliminating any bad addresses. All this for a month-long sale. They have another sale coming up in July, that one I knew about, but this one was a complete surprise.

So I was quickly elbows deep in my graphics design program coming up with a nice looking card. I got far enough along that I’ll be able to finish it up on Friday with no problem.

I’ve already got the back done, the side where the address is printed, and I only need to track down a couple of graphics for the ad side.

Coming home from work, I made a last stop at the Webster El Pollo Loco. I say a ‘last stop’ because today is their last day of business. I had tried to do the order-ahead using their mobile app, but they had already deleted that location from the app.

When I got there they were already out of Mac N Cheese, Chips, Queso, and Cole Slaw, but lucky for me they still had their Chicken Tortilla Soup. Or at least enough for two large bowls to go.

And since after our two bowls they didn’t have enough to sell to anyone else, we got extra large servings. Nice.

I was picking these soups up as spares since we already had two in the fridge that we were going to have tonight. I had picked them up this past Monday for tonight, but when I came in this afternoon with the two piping hot ones, they became dinner. Delicious.

For Christmas I got Jan what I thought at the time was kind of a joke gift, but she says it’s become one of her favorite.

LumiLux Toilet Bowl Light

Its motion sensor turns on as soon as you come into the bathroom from either direction and stays on for two minutes, although you can program it for longer.

Makes it really easy to find in the middle of the night when you’re half asleep.

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January 24, 2019

It’s in the TRUNK!

We were out the door about 8:30 this morning, eventually on our way up to The Woodlands’ area. But we had a couple of stops on the way.

I knew had been in the low 30’s last night, probably our lowest temps so far. But I didn’t expect what amounts to a freeze with frost on the grass

and a hard coating of ice on the truck windshield and windows.

Our first stop was at my client’s to pick up my battery charger that he’d borrowed. Then it on to Miss Piper’s to get her Mazda Miata started. However my client neglected to tell me that one of battery charger clamps had broken off.

I tried to get it reconnected, but could never get a good enough connection to get a charge on the battery, so I finally had to resort to jumper cables. I had not done this to start with because I didn’t have room to get the truck close enough without blocking other vehicles, many of who were leaving for work. But by the time I gave up on the battery charger, I now had clearance to get my truck in position.

Luckily my son Chris had clued me in on the battery location in Piper’s Miata. Otherwise, we might still be looking for it.

It’s in the TRUNK!

Shades of our ‘64 VW, where it was under the back seat. Of course the engine was back there too, so it kind of made sense. But the Miata’s engine is in the front.

Since the battery was completely dead, no blinky, no buzzy, Chris and I suspected that she had left something on, rather than a dying battery. And after I let it charge for a few minutes I had Piper try it, and it started right up.

So before we got on the way, I told her to drive it around for about 45 minutes or so, and then come back home, turn it off, and try it again. And as she texted later, it started right up again.

The battery looks pretty new, so hopefully it didn’t sustain any long term damage. But we’ll see, I guess.

Then it was on up I-45 to The Woodlands and the Longhorn Steakhouse to meet up with some of our favorite RV friends.

From the left, we’ve got Ed Hurlburt, of Facebook’s RV Tips fame, my Jan, Debi Hurlburt, of Debi’s RV Cooking, Janice Evans, and Dave Evans.

Though we both like Wedge Salads, Jan hasn’t like Longhorn’s version since it’s actually done with Romaine stalks, rather than Iceberg. And Jan’s not a big Romaine fan.

But after she saw, and tasted mine, she’s changed her mind.

After a great time, and a plan to do it again in a few weeks, we all headed out, with Jan and I stopping at the HEB right down the feeder, looking for some of their Lola Savannah Texas Pecan Coffee. But they didn’t stock any whole bean coffees.

Then it was on back down to the Alvin area for Jan’s one-week checkup on her right eye cataract surgery. Her doctor said her eye’s look great, and to come back in 3 weeks for her final checkup and a prescription for her glasses. Which should wrap all this up.

Leaving the doctor’s office we made an Alvin WalMart stop for some things before we got home a little after 5pm.

A really fun day, especially with the good news on Jan’s eyes.

And good friends, of course.

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January 24, 2020

It’s Always Something Else . . .

As part of yesterday’s undone prep work, I went outside after I got back home from work this afternoon to check out our rig’s outside lights. I was worried about the right rear turn signal which sometimes goes on the fritz. But then as soon as I take the lens cover off it starts working.

But this time both turn signals were working perfectly. However, what wasn’t working now were the rig’s tail lights. So tomorrow I’ll pop the cover off the cover on the fuse panel that’s on top of the dashboard in from of the steering wheel. Hopefully it’s just a fuse. But you never know.

Although there’s only about a 20% change of rain tomorrow, unfortunately we’re looking a 50% chance on Sunday, when we’re supposed to be heading up to Katy and back for oil leak test drive. After we get up there we’ll park at the Buc-ee’s for a while and go out to lunch with Brandi, Lowell, and Landon before heading back home.

Here’s hoping we’re leak-free.

I mentioned yesterday about my uncle Tom turning down the first contract offer that he received from the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1951. But then the legendary Art Rooney, owner of the Steelers as well as the Pittsburgh Pirates, lured him back with a better offer.

Jan reminded me that a few years ago Tom told her that the offer he accepted was for $8,000. When Jan commented to Tom that it didn’t seem like a lot, he laughed and said that in 1952 it was a lot of money.

And in checking it I found out he was right. $8,000 in 1952 was the equivalent to about $80,000 today. While not a lot compared to what NFL players are making today, this is when a top of the line Chevy ran about $1,800, and a Cadillac convertible was about $3,400.

So yes, $8,000 was a bundle of cash in 1952.

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January 24, 2021

Laptops and Scenic Views . . .

Jan and I headed up to Webster to have lunch once again at Twin Peaks.

Hey, Good Eats and ‘Scenic Views’. What more can I say?

We were also meeting up with long-time phone friend, Donna. I’ve worked on her computers remotely for a number of years, but this was the first time to actually meet in person. And the reason for the meeting was to hand off a new Dell i7 laptop.

I had spent the last couple of days setting up and configuring the laptop for her daughter Alex, who needs this new one for college. And of course Alex had to come to pick it up in person.

We had so much fun talking that we were there almost two hours, and had a lot of fun getting to know Donna better. Later this week she’s going to drop off her own laptop for me to clean up too.

Coming home we made an HEB stop and storeroom stop before finally getting home about 5.

Nice end to a very nice weekend.