Our RV Adventures

And Sorely Missed.

Jumping back to this past Friday night at the Alvin Opry, we started off with dinner at Monterey’s Little Mexico once again.

Jan tried something new with the Pollo Hacienda, which came with Rice and Beans (Jan gets double beans) and a Salad,

while I got my usual Chicken Tortilla Soup.

So good that I actually had two bowls since that was all I was having.

Always delicious!

Then it was on down the street to the American Legion Hall, home to the New Alvin Opry.

We started going to the original Alvin Opry back in late ‘97-early ‘98 up until it closed in 2014.

Then a few years ago, in April 2019, some of the original performers brought it back, first for one performance at the old Opry location, after which it moved down to the Alvin American Legion Hall where it still is.

Tonight we were especially going because Jan’s crush was going to be there – John Mark Davis.

If you can’t tell from the photo John Mark is a full-blooded member of the Adai Caddo Indian Tribe over in Louisiana, and his father was the Chief.

John Mark is a really great performer and always a crowd favorite.

One thing everyone always enjoys is that he always finishes up the show with “Running Bear”, though I remember one time he closed out with a hilarious version of “Please Mr. Custer, I Don’t Wanna Go.”

And Jan got her hug.

It now seems like that staple of Sin City, the Las Vegas Casino Buffet is fading away, with possibly only 8 left on the Strip.
And those are all high-end at about $100 per person.

Our favorite buffet was actually not on the Strip, but was at the Boulder Station Casino on Boulder Hwy., just north of the Thousand Trails Park where we mostly stayed. So wondering if it was still open, I checked and found it closed too, with the last TripAdvisor review in March 2020.

It seems the buffets were already slowly dying, but then CoVid mostly put them out of their misery.

Oh, and even sadder, there are no more Vegas ‘Showgirls’, with the last show, ‘Jubilee’, closing in 2016 after 35 years. The only ones left are the ones wearing showgirl outfits mingling with the superheroes and movie stars out on the Strip getting their photos taken with the tourists.

My, how times have changed.

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Thought for the Day:
Life is a bitch. If it was easy, we’d call it a slut.

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March 13, 2009

Jan says, “Another delightful day in Paradise”…

I forgot to mention yesterday that after we had lunch at Dharma Blue, our roadtrip took a short segue out to Gulf Breeze and Pensacola Beach to look around.

Jan wanted to visit her ‘lucky’ gift shop.  She calls it that because a number of years ago when we out there with her sister Debbie and her family,  Jan found a $100 bill in the parking lot.

She wanted to go into the shop and turn it in so they could give it back to the person who lost it.

Cynic that I am, I said “Yeah, right.”  Like that $100 bill would ever be seen again.

So we went inside to the shop and I ask if anyone had reported anything lost.  They said ‘No’ and wanted to know what it was.

I said “I’ll let them identify it” and gave them my cellphone number and told them to give it to anyone who came in and reported losing something.

No one ever called.  Lucky Jan!

Unfortunately Jan wasn’t as lucky this time.  All she came home with was the suntan lotion she bought there.

This morning we started off with the breakfast buffet at Hazel’s.  We always have to eat here at least once.

Coming back we stopped at Buena Vista Luxury RV Resort being built right across the street from the beach.  This is where you actually own the lot where you park your rig.

Each lot comes with a lot of amenities, including a one-bedroom guest house.

When we were here in November, we were thinking about maybe buying a lot of some sort in this area where we could park and stay for an extended period with paying thru the nose, especially during the season.

So we decided to check them out. And boy were we shocked!

The ‘cheapest’ lots were over $400,000. (As if anything that cost almost 1/2 million dollars can be called ‘cheap’).   Forget that!

We did however look more closely at Bella Terra RV Resort, about 10 mins from the beach, off the Beach Expressway.

The cheapest lots were in the $90,000 range, which is more in our price range (At least it had one less zero than the other place).  The resort is very nice, with a lot of amenities, and we both agreed we could see ourselves staying here.

But then Jan mentioned the fact that we could stay a lot of nights at RV parks for $90,000… like about 3000 at $30 per night.

Suddenly it didn’t seem such a great idea. (I’m cheap, what can I say.)  So that idea is on hold. But we may change our minds down the road.

After we got back to the coach,  I suddenly remembered “What the hell. I’m retired”.  So I took a nap.

I spent the afternoon working on stuff around the rig while Jan remembered she was retired, so she took a nap.

Isn’t retirement wonderful!

I installed the new hitch receiver I picked up yesterday and then did a thorough checkout of our hitch and towbar system for the toad.  It can be a real bummer to have your toad come loose at 55mph and pass you on the highway. And I’m not kidding. This has happened to people.

I then finished up the new satellite platform I’ve been working on. It should now only take me about 5 mins to set up the dish when we stop.

Just keeping the boss happy…

About 4pm we headed out for dinner at DeSoto’s Seafood Kitchen.  Although they’re known for their seafood, we like their other meals. Jan and I both had their Jamaican Jerk Chicken with sweet potato casserole and steamed veggies. The sweet potato casserole, made with caramelized pecans, is probably the best I’ve ever eaten.

After dinner, we drove down the west beach to look it over.  I can remember when there was almost nothing down this way, but now it’s just mile after mile of large houses and condos.

Coming back we stopped at the public parking area to sit out on the beach for a while.

Looking around, I recalled how this spot began one of my connections with a celebrity.

Back in the late ’50’s, some friends of my parents, the Neal’s owned this area that is now state public beach.  They had a small amusement park here, a merry-go-round,  several carnival type games, my favorites, a balloon archery arcade, and a snack bar.

They also had a daughter named Patricia.  Patsy, as I called her, was about 4 years older than me, and was my occasional babysitter while our parents went out together.

And Patricia Neal went on to be pretty famous.

No, not that Patricia Neal.  And since there was already an actress using that name, Patsy decide to make up a new one for herself.

And thus was born, ‘Fanny Flagg’.

And tomorrow, the rest of the story…

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March 13, 2011

Clocks and Tires . . .

We started off this morning an hour too early. But not really for the reason you might think.

No, we did not forget to ‘Spring Forward’. The problem was that one of our clocks did.

Arizona is one of two states (the other is Hawaii) that don’t observe Daylight Savings Time. But our bedroom clock did observe it. It must have thought it was on Navajo Nation time, since they DO observe DST here in Arizona. I thought I had turned off DST on the clock, but apparently it didn’t take.

So thinking we were getting up about 9:15 we rushed to get ready to drive over to the Arizona Market Place to spend the morning.

But, while Jan was in the shower, I came out to the living room to discover that it was really 8:15. So we had plenty of time after all.

Around 10am we left the rig, with Tom and Barb, and Jan and I, and headed out.

The Arizona Market Place is a flea market type shopping area, that, although it’s really open to the weather, is shaded by large canopies that keep it very comfortable for the shoppers.

One thing that was neat about this place was the several large hardware/RV stores. They all had a lot of neat stuff, and I found several things I’ve been looking for to finish up some projects that I have in mind, and Jan found a new fanny pack and the rest of the Sue Grafton Alphabet mysteries she’s gotten hooked on.

Something for everyone.

About 12:30 Jan and I drove out to the Foothills area to eat lunch at a Mexican place a vendor at the Arizona Market Place had recommend called Mi Fajita.

Since it was right down the road from the Chocolate Crafter’s store, we swung thru their parking lot on the way, but found them closed on Sunday. Bummer!

Mi Fajita turned out to be very good, and everyone enjoyed their meal. And as usual after finishing, we just sat around talking.

We got back to the rig about 2:30 and everyone seemed to think it was a good idea for a nap. I know I certainly did.

Thinking about it, we very possibly won’t be leaving for Tucson tomorrow like we’d planned. We’ll just have to see. But luckily we don’t have any schedule to keep, or any place to be at a certain time.

Finally, about 8pm we all headed out to DQ  for a large Caramel Moolatte. At least for me.

Different strokes, and all that.

More tomorrow, maybe from Tucson, maybe not.

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March 13, 2014

Prime Time . . .

Some (most?) of you probably saw the announcement that Amazon is raising the price of their Prime membership from $79 to $99, which works out to be a 25% increase. On one hand that’s a big jump, but considering it’s the first increase since they started Prime in 2005, that’s not too bad. And it’s only an extra $1.66 a month. Worth it for free two day shipping, Kindle Book Borrowing privileges, and free Amazon Streaming Video. Still worth it.

I was wondering how long I had had the Prime membership so I logged on and checked. And as it turns out, I’ve been a member since November 2005, almost the very beginning.

And I was also happy to see that my membership had just renewed on March 4th, and at the old $79 rate. Made it just under the wire!

Later I spent some time on the phone with Chris Yust of C & C RV Insurance, our National General Insurance (nee GMAC) agent, looking over our policy. It’s ready to renew and I wanted to go over some possible changes and updates. Plus it’s always fun to hassle her a little.

But if you’re looking for the best in RV insurance, and the best in personal support, give Chris and her husband Charles, a call. They also can supply the full range of Good Sam’s products, including Extended Service Plans, Roadside Assistance, TravelAssist, and even Good Sam’s memberships. Check ‘em out.

After an easy morning of doing pretty much nothing, Mister and I headed outside, Mister to lie out in the sun, and me to get back working on my ‘stuff’ sorting. I’m finally at the point where I’ve got enough plastic bins emptied so that I can actually start sorting things into the bins where they’ll finally go. I’ve got the bins temporarily labeled with file cards to make the sorting easier, and will keep adding bins as I go, until they’re all done.

I also plan to scrub out each bay, but decided to wait until I’m done with redoing all the bins. That will probably end up being back at the Colorado River Thousand Trails where we’ll be again from March 24th to April 7th.

Later in the afternoon Jan and I pulled everything out from under the bed, sorted through it, threw out some more stuff, and then repacked it all back. Another spring cleaning job done.

A little before 5 pm, Jan and I headed a few miles down the road to have dinner at Cracker Barrel, Jan’s favorite Thursday destination. That’s because Thursday is Turkey and Dressing day there.

And they have ‘real’ dressing, you know, cornbread dressing, the real thing. Not that stuff made with other ‘stuff’.

I, on the other hand, got my usual breakfast, this time the Sunrise Sampler. It has all the basics, with eggs, a sample of sausage, ham, and thick-cut bacon, grits, hashbrown casserole, fried apples, and biscuits and gravy.

Needless to say, I didn’t finish it all, but it was good.

Coming home I stopped off and got Mega-Million’s tickets for tomorrow night’s $300+ million dollar drawing.

Tomorrow it’s probably more of the same, but there is a 20% chance of rain so we’ll see how it goes.

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March 13, 2015

DNS and Date Shakes . . .

After our coffee and muffins this morning, I got on the phone with my client, Network Solutions, and Godaddy. I was trying to transfer a domain name from Network Solutions over to my Godaddy account. As seems usual with NS, they keep screwing up this domain name, changing the DNS info back and forth, and shutting the website down. So I’ve submitted all the requests and now it’s just wait and see.

A little later Jan and I changed the sheets on our bed. We’ve had two sets of these 1500 thread count sheets for over a year now and we still think they’re great. They’re very soft, yet after a year’s use, there’s no wear or pilling seen.

1500 THREAD COUNT MILANI COLLECTION Striped QUEEN Sateen Sheet Set

They come in 6 or 7 different colors (we have the Burgundy and the Light Blue), and even better,they’re not expensive. Only around $25 a set. Check’em out.

About 2pm Jan and I headed out to the local Fuddrucker’s for ‘linner’, or ‘lupper’, if you prefer. We really like Fuddrucker’s, but for some reason we don’t eat here a lot. It just never seems to come up when we’re talking about where to eat.

But as usual, it was really good. While Jan had a Cheddar Mushroom Burger, I had the Ribeye Steak Sandwich, one of my favorites. Unfortunately, not too many places have one like this. There was a place in Cottonwood AZ, that used to have one, but they don’t offer it any more. Bummer. I was looking forward to having one in a few weeks.

After the meal, with Jan and I got gas for the truck for our road trip tomorrow,

Tomorrow Jan and I are taking a day trip over to Yuma to have lunch with Chris and Charles Yust, and visit the big flea market. Along the way we’ll stop off in Gila Bend so I can renew my Elk’s Lodge membership there.

Oh, and Jan also wants to stop at Dateland for one of their delicious Date Milk Shakes. Sounds good to me.

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March 13, 2016

Our Whistle Is Still Clean . . .

Jan and I were both up about 6:30 (5:30 in ‘real’ time) to finish up our travel day prep. Since I had done a lot of it yesterday, most of today’s tasks were inside the rig, putting away the TV and satellite stuff, setting up the trip/VMSpc computer, and stowing some odds and ends.

As always, I track everything I need to do to get ready to roll using the RV Checklist app on my Galaxy Tab.

This app keeps you on track even when you get distracted, especially important on the outside stuff. It’s a great program, so check it out.

A few minutes after 8 am, Jan and I drove into Columbus to have our usual going-away breakfast, this time with Jim and Peri Dean, and their cute, and very funny granddaughter, Carly at Schobel’s Restaurant.

We again had to wait a while for the buffet to be set up, but we enjoyed talking with Jim and Peri, and getting to know Carly. And as usual we took longer than planned, probably talking more than eating. But our extended dining was made worse by Karma.

Jan says it was my fault, but me, I blame the cat. When we went to pay, I found I didn’t have my billfold with me. At that point, I remembered that when I went in Columbus yesterday to get oil for the rig, I pulled my billfold out of my pants and carried it in my hand since I was wearing my sweats. And then when I got back to the rig, I put it on the dashboard right where I would see it when we next left the rig.

Jim and Peri kindly offered to cover the check, but Jan said I needed to be punished by going back to the rig for my wallet. Meanie!

So why didn’t I see it this morning, and why do blame the cat? Well, when I got back to the rig to bring my wallet back to the restaurant, I found that Karma, playing on the dashboard, had pulled out the curtain so it covered my wallet. Dang cat!

Finally getting back to the rig about 10:30, we were hooked up and pulling out at 11am, on the way to the Lake Conroe Thousand Trails 122 miles away. Getting out on US-71, heading down to I-10, we immediately ran into a strong headwind, which turned into a gusty side wind once we headed east on the Interstate.

And this led to us almost being side-swiped right after we merged onto the highway. An American National Logistics truck decided to pass me on the right, on what was actually the exit lane for Columbus. I don’t know why he was passing me on the right, but just as the end of his trailer started to pass our door, a wind gust caught him and pushed him our way.

Jan let out a yelp as I was already moving to the left, but not far since I already had a pickup passing me on that side. But luckily he got past us, but came within a inch or so taking out our mirror. Whew!

We made a rest stop just past Brookshire and I went outside to check for any oil blow-by from the slobber tube, and was happy to find none. So far, so good.

We pulled into a crowded park a little before 2pm and found a very un-level site in the ‘F’ section. So un-level that I may try to move to another site tomorrow sometime. After getting everything set up and connected, and due to the fact that the last several mornings have been early risings, Jan and I both took a nap.

Afternap, while Jan was fixing dinner, I went outside to check the slobber tube situation, and I was happy to find that not only was the slobber can still there,

but the rig and the toad were both clean as a whistle, with no signs of any oil.

I did not crawl under the rig to check the slobber can contents, but both the can and the clear vinyl tubing seemed oil free. I’ll check it out further in the next couple of days.

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March 13, 2017

La Posta de Mesilla . . . & More

Continuing with yesterday, La Posta de Mesilla, located in the Old Mesilla section of Las Cruces, has been around in one form or the other since the 1840’s. In the 1850’s it was the hub of a local passenger and freight line to other nearby cities.

After the Civil War it was an major stop on the Butterfield Stage Line, and in later years it hosted the Corn Exchange Hotel, one of the finest ones in the Southwest. The site continued with various hotels and restaurants until the early 1900’s. Then in 1939 La Posta de Mesilla was born, and continues until this day.

I first ate at La Posta in January 1981 when I was out at the White Sands Missile Range helping to prep the Space Shuttle’s backup landing site for the first launch in March, and where they actually landed in 1982 during STS-3.

I told Jan how great the food was and that we’d have to go sometime. And only took us 26 years to get back there.

We first visited La Posta together on our first RV trip in March 2007 in our rental CruiseAmerica Class C, and we’ve eaten here every time through since then.

We always get one of the House Specialty’s, partly because they’re delicious and partly because they come with dessert.

I had the Specialty Combination #1,

while Jan had the La Posta Chica.

Both as delicious as always, and  the reason we keep coming back, time after time.

And of course, we finished up with our Empanada desserts, with mine apple, and Jan’s favorite, Pumpkin.

One thing we both like is the New Mexico take on Mexican food. I guess it’s New Mex-Mex, rather than our usual Tex-Mex, with more pork and green chilies in the dishes. Really good  and  really spicy.

Today was a nice sleep in, rest up day with nothing much on the agenda. We headed out for lunch around 1pm, off to our other favorite Las Cruces Mexican Place, Cha Chi’s, over by the University.

We were told about Cha Chi’s when we were here in 2012 having our rig worked on. The Rush Truck Center manager recommended the place, and we were not disappointed.

Again more New Mex-Mex with great green chili salsas and pork chili con carne.

Then it was on to a nearby Ace Hardware for some brass screws for my permanent trim strip repair, and an O’Reilly Auto Parts

Back at the rig, I took a look at a house battery problem I had noticed the last couple of days. And I quickly found the cause.

One of the cables connecting the two battery banks had almost completely broken off, not by corrosion, but by flexing from vibration. And strangely, this same cable did the same thing about 5 years ago.

And when I made up a new cable at a local marine supply place in Seabrook, TX I made a spare. So my spare got installed and everything should be OK now.

Tomorrow we’ve got a 230 mile trip over to Cochise Terrace RV Park in Benson, AZ, where we’ll be for 4 days until we move over to Voyager RV Park in Tucson for the Escapees Escapade.

And along the way we’ll make our usual lunch stop in Lordsburg, NM at Kranberry’s, a really good restaurant with RV parking in the back.

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March 13, 2019

Kicking Our Butts . . .

With Fever, Aches, and Chills, Oh My!

I mentioned in last night’s blog that Jan and I had received our second  (and last, thank goodness) Shingrix Shingles shot.

We both commented to each other last night that we were surprised to not notice any problems. But that all changed overnight.

Both of us had trouble sleeping last night, and then it went downhill all day. I had trouble at work keeping awake, and by the time I got home I was experiencing the above-mentioned fever, aches, and chills. Oh, and dizzy, too.

All in all, this is worse than our first shot. Or at least I was thinking that these symptoms were not as bad as getting the shingles, but I was beginning to reconsider that.

I did gather up enough energy to call the Houston Museum of Fine Arts to order our tickets for the upcoming Van Gogh exhibit. Although it is on exhibit until the end of June, we’ll try to get there before we leave on our trip.

Jan’s Shooting Star earrings came in today, but she felt so cruddy when I got home she didn’t even try them on.

But they should look great on her on the ‘elegant casual’ or ‘casually elegant’ nights on our cruise.

I did talk to Chantelle Nugent, our travel agent today to tell her that I had already moved the money into my checking account, and she could go ahead and pay off the last part of our cruise, the Paris-London Land part.

Actually, as cheap as I am I normally don’t like to give anyone my money any earlier than I have to, which in this case would be the upcoming Saturday, the 16th. But the Chase Checking Account I moved it into, doesn’t collect interest, so I told her to go ahead. And I’m glad I did.

I figured she would just pay it with a wire transfer like she did before, but this part needed to be paid by credit card. So I gave her my PayPal card, but it didn’t go through. TWICE!

Since the PayPal card pulls directly from the Chase account, I then gave her my Chase card info, and Chantelle again gave it a go. And it was again denied . . . TWICE. So then I was on the line to Chase. Only to find that they had recently changed their daily withdrawal limits . . . apparently without telling anybody, especially me.

When I ask why this was done without letting us know, I was told that if they did that then the criminals would also find out. 

Like I was going to tell them?

And when I asked why would happen if we were in Europe in the May, and for some reason went over my unknown limit, it got really quiet on his end.

“Well . . .”

But I did tell him how much I was trying to charge and he did raise my limit. So our total trip is now paid for.

NICE!

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March 13, 2020

How Low Can It Go . . .

Our ad card started hitting the mailboxes this week, so things have picked up at work. Plus we’re getting swamped by customers ordering disinfectants, sanitizers, gloves, and of course, face masks. But we actually sold out of those last week.

On the way home from work this afternoon I stopped off at Costco, no, not for toilet paper, but gas. And found it for $1.75 per gallon. Very nice for me, but not really for the oil industry.

And I wouldn’t be surprised if it goes even lower.

As usual I have a couple of repairs scheduled for the weekend. First up is to check out what’s wrong with the AC/Heater fan in the truck. I lost High Speed a while back, but since it was winter I put off fixing it. But now it’s getting warmer, and it’s died completely a couple of days ago, so it’s time to get it fixed.

I’ll probably just go ahead and replace the fan motor and the speed resistor while I in there.

But before I do all that, I’ll check the fuse and power coming to the fan.

My other project is the bedroom sliding door. I think it’s come off the rail a bit, making it harder to move back and forth.

Brandi and Lowell have some friends in town visiting from Colorado, so it was time to break in their pool for 2020. And since the temps are in the 80’s this week, it was the perfect time for it.

Looks like fun.

Tomorrow Jan and I planned to thumb our noses at the WuFlu by having lunch at Yummy Yummy’s, our local favorite Chinese restaurant. And then we’ll probably self-isolate ourselves later for a nice nap.

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March 13, 2021

Will They Stay, Or Will They Go?

Well, yesterday I posted that the $1400 Stimulus money was going out this weekend, and apparently it was, because several of our readers found them direct deposited in their bank accounts this morning. So check you bank account if the previous checks were direct deposited.

But for some reason, Jan and my check always comes by mail, even though our SS Checks are direct deposited.

And it seems that the IRS’s Get My Payment, where you can track your checks progress, is down until Monday.

So Now We Wait.   But I still would have rather had the $41,000.

After going back and forth about their trip, Brandi, et. al., finally decided to drive to Colorado since their flight for early this morning had been cancelled due to the heavy snowstorm in the Denver area.

So they headed out about 11 this morning and seem to be making really good time. But this means I won’t get my Jan back until Saturday, rather than Thursday.

BUMMER!

I did get some good news on the AC front this afternoon. I stood on a plastic stool in rubber-soled shoes, and using an insulated pair of needle-nosed pliers, I touched the bare, burnt-off wire to the other side of the compressor relay, and lo and behold, the AC started right up.

So lucky me, the problem is with the $70 control box and not the $700 AC unit. So I’ve got another one on the way from eBay.

Luckily the weather is staying in the mid-70’s so we can do without for a week or so.

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March 13, 2022

So Now It’s Maybe April . . .

I finally installed those very expensive ($22 EACH!) Michelin Advanced Silicone Beam wipers the other day, and so far they’re doing what I wanted.

They don’t squeak, squawk, or squeal even when run completely dry. In fact, according to the instructions, you break them in by running them for 2 to 3 minutes on a clean, dry windshield.

So far so good. But will they last long enough to pay for themselves?

Yesterday we had lunch at Pho Barr once again. Just as delicious as always.

But we asked for an update on the opening of their new Dickinson location, we no longer heard ‘sometime in March”, but now it’s ‘maybe in April’.

Bummer!

Our next stop was the FedEx store on Bay Area to enlarge some printouts from 4-1/4” x 5-1/2” to Letter size.

Normally we do WalMart on Saturday and HEB on Sunday for our weekly stuff, but today we doubled-up by stopping at the new HEB at I-45 and El Dorado, and then the WalMart on the other side of the Interstate.

Then today we were back at Yummy Yummy’s once again. And again, just as delicious as always. And since we doubled-up on HEB and WalMart yesterday, we were able to just eat and come home.

Very nice.

And Mean too!

Jan and I drove over to League City to have brunch at Denny’s once again, both of us having the Ultimate Omelet as always. Along with Fruit and a Grilled English Muffin.

And as far as the ‘ultimate’ part, I don’t know what more they could stuff in here. It’s got ham, sausage, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, peppers, and cheese.

Then it was on back across the Interstate for get our HEB stuff for the week.

And home by about 3:45.

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Colombia, South America has too many hippos. Well, actually one is too many. In Colombia, anyway

And why does Colombia have too many hippos.

Well, blame it on Pablo Escobar, the Colombian drug lord and his private zoo. Located at his Hacienda Nápoles estate, he had lions, rhinos, antelope, elephants, exotic birds, giraffes, ostriches, zebras, flamingoes, bison, ponies and of course, hippos.

And though the zoo was dismantled and most animals sent to Colombian zoos after Escobar was killed in 1993, the four original hippos were considered too dangerous to handle,

So over the years the four became eight, and so on, and so on. And now they may be approaching 200 in number.

So why are these slow, docile animals now a problem?

Well, they’re not slow and docile. They’re very territorial, fast, and mean.

They can outrun a human on land, and outswim a person in the water.

And did I mention they’re mean?

Very mean.

Though they’re herbivores, they will attack anything that gets too close to them, or their babies. At least I guess you can call it a baby, even when it weighs 100 pounds at birth.

In fact a hippo had been seen biting a full-grown crocodile in half.

Yikes.

In fact, though it seems that no one has been killed by one in Colombia, they killed around 2900 people a year worldwide, and are considered the most dangerous animal in the world. And their closest living relative is a whale.

Puts a whole new slant on the ‘I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas song’, now doesn’t it.

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Thought For The Day:

Long ago in a plains tribe, three young men came of age and were to be married. They were sent out into the world with a bow and arrow and a knife to kill an animal the fur of which was to be used to make their marriage bed

Brave Eagle returned with a wonderful cougar hide that was tanned into a beautiful fur

Charging Bull returned with the hide of a young bear that was tanned into a beautiful fur.

Falling Rocks was not very successful. He returned with the skins of two rabbits and a squirrel. These were not large enough to make a marriage bed. His wise grand mother suggested he take them to the trading post and get a striped blanket.

Alas, the trader would not part with a blanket for such a minor return but offered a dusty hippopotamus hide that though rough was in fact large enough.

A year passed
The squaw of Brave Eagle presented him with a son
The squaw of Charging Bull presented him a beautiful daughter
The squaw of Falling Rocks presented him with twins, a boy and a girl

Theorem:
The Squaw of the hippopotamus is equal to the squaws of the other two hides

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March 12, 2009

Pensacola Road Trip…redux

Today was another Pensacola roadtrip day.

I wanted to pick up an additional color backup camera from Sam’s and Jan wanted to check out a gift shop we’d been to before called Artesana. We’ve been going there for about 30 years or so, and Jan wanted to check it out again.

We talked about having lunch at Sonny’s BBQ again, but didn’t want to get burned out.

Jan asked for a lunch recommendation at Artesana and was told about Dharma Blue.  It turned out to be a quaint little café on Seville Square in the old-town part of Pensacola.  And when I say old-town, I mean old-town, since Pensacola dates from the mid 1500’s.

We ate outside overlooking the square and had a great meal.

Jan had a homemade chicken salad sandwich made with granny smith apples and roasted pecans, along with homemade potato chips and a salad.

I had a grilled hamburger steak  with mashed potatoes with the skins in and fresh green beans.

Definitely recommended!

Coming home we stopped at a roadside fruit stand to buy some fresh strawberries that we had for supper, and also picked up a new tow bar hitch extension/riser that I’d ordered last week from a local RV place. Hopefully this will make towing our truck a little smoother.

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March 12, 2010

Wrapping it up…

Today was for saying goodbye to friends old and new.

We had coffee and donuts from 7:30 am to 9:00 am and then most rigs started heading out. Although some left last night, the majority left this morning.

Pretty much everyone was gone by noon. We had a gun show coming in right behind us, so the fairgrounds people didn’t want us hanging around.

But a few of us were allowed to move back over to where we were parked last week before the rally started. We plan on staying for 3 or 4 days to just rest up.

And I want to check out the gun show for new toys.

Still aren’t quite sure where we’ll go next. Maybe we’ll just flip a coin.

I’ll have some pictures tomorrow…

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March 12, 2011

Doing the Electrical Dance . . .

It was really nice to be able to sleep in this morning. Although Jan got up about 8 I slept in until about 10. But then she fell asleep about 10 last night, and I didn’t come to bed until about 1:30am.

I fixed coffee and we had the pumpkin spice muffin tops we got at Kneader’s Bakery yesterday. It was great not to have to be anywhere anytime soon, to just sit and talk, and enjoy each other’s company. We didn’t even turn the TV on.

But a little later, we did once again have to engage in, as Jan calls it, “The Electrical Dance”. It’s kind of like the Hokey Pokey, but instead putting hands and feet in and out, you turn appliances on and off.  Like “You put the AC on, you turn the water heater off, you put the coffee pot on, you turn the clothes dryer off.” “You then cross your fingers and hope it doesn’t blow, that’s life here at 20 amps.”

“All together now, You put the . . .”

The outside temperature was starting to push 80 so we turned off the roof fans and closed the windows, then started the AC so it wouldn’t get too far behind as the day heated up, since it’s supposed to be in the 88-89 range today. Just to be on the safe side, I also turned the water heater off when I turned on the AC. I just have to remember to turn it back on before my shower later tonight.

A little later I dug out my scanner and made a copy of a Fry’s Electronics receipt to email to our daughter Brandi. The Canon camera we got them for Christmas has developed a problem and they need the receipt to get it repaired.

About 12:30 Jan and I headed out to run some errands, but our first stop was a nearby McDonalds’s for lunch. Then it was on to Sam’s Club to pick up our prescriptions and a few other items.

In what turned out to be one of those strange coincidences (cue Twilight Zone theme here) I wanted to find out why my Wal-Mart online pharmacy history showed that I had picked up a prescription from a Sam’s Club pharmacy in Knoxville, TN last month on February 7th.

Now we haven’t been to Knoxville since the fall of 2008 on our way back to Houston from Alaska, so I wanted to know what was going on with my account. (As far as how we ended up in Knoxville, TN on our way back from Alaska, what can I say. We just wander a lot. Nothing good ever came from taking the shortest distance between two points.) When I talked with the pharmacist about this, I told her that we probably had picked up prescriptions there two and a half years ago, but not recently. And with a little checking, the pharmacist found out what happened.

Someone with my same name and my same birthday had turned in and picked up a prescription there. Although he had a Knoxville address, since they found a name and birthday in the computer that matched, they put his prescription history into my account instead of creating a new one for him. Don’t know about the middle initial, since mine is not on my account, I guess anything of his would have been a match.

Weird!

Heading home from Sam’s, we stopped off at Wal-Mart to get a small step ladder so I can put up the RV Quick Shades solar screens that I bought at the Gypsy Journal Rally. I carry a larger extension ladder in the back of the truck, but I wanted something small and light so I could quickly put them up when we park. Since these shades install on the inside of the windows you’d think that it wouldn’t be a problem. But, because of the screen door on the entry, the shade on the outside door can only be installed from the outside with the door open, and I need a ladder to do it.

Getting back to the rig, we found a new photo of Landon with his Flying J Froggy waiting for us in our email.

He’ll be 7 months old next week and is growing taller like crazy. Brandi said they’re going to have to get him a new car seat because he’s about to outgrow his old one.

As an example, here’s Landon at about two months. Big difference!

About 4 we headed over to downtown Yuma for a final visit to Da Boyz Italian Cuisine for another great meal of pizza, spaghetti, ravioli, salad, and bread. Really, really good. We’re going to miss Da Boyz when we hit the road.

And not only do they have great food, but they were nice enough to give us three gift certificates for rally door prizes.

And as with our last visit there, we had a lot of nice leftovers to have another time.

We got home a little before 7pm, and then around 8pm the outside temp had dropped to about 72, so I turned off the AC, opened the windows, and turned on the vent fans. Then I also turned the water heater back on.

“You put the AC . . .”

That’s about it for today. Tomorrow morning we’re going down the street to the Arizona Market Place, an outdoor flea market / swap meet facility. It’s supposed to be pretty nice and we want to check it out.

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March 12, 2012

Short, but Sweet . . .

Jan was up about 8 this morning, but I was still making up for lost sleep so I didn’t get up until 10, taking it easy and still nursing a sore ankle.

It was nice to do pretty much nothing all day. After coffee and muffins earlier, Jan fixed lunch about 12:30, which segued into an afternoon of also doing pretty much nothing. Jan read on her Kindle while I worked on website stuff for clients

About 4:30 Jan and I heading out to the Lucky Wishbone, a great local chain that serves chicken, fish, steak fingers, and shrimp. We were introduced to the place last year and we always enjoy going back again.

We finally headed back to the rig about 8:30 to wrap up a very nice day.

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March 12, 2013

Saddleback Mountain RV

We arrived at Saddleback Mountain RV Park near Balmorhea only to find the Verizon data service is almost non-existent, and has been for a couple of weeks.

So probably no blog posts until we’re in Las Cruces on Friday.

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March 12, 2014

What a Difference a Day Makes . . .

Yesterday we had a high of 76 and a low of 60, but today we had a high of 62 and a supposed low of 35. But at least it was still nice and sunny.

Jan and I once again had a couple of the croissants for breakfast to go with our coffee

In case you want to try them for yourselves, you can order them here from Amazon.

100% Butter Frozen Croissants – Unbaked -12 count

Chocolate Frozen Croissant – Unbaked – 12 count

______________________________________________________________

Later, I set up some of our small tables outside to start going through the bins and sorting things into categories. I have to have somewhere to put things until I empty out enough plastic bins to start storing stuff away.

The only problem was that the very strong winds kept blowing things off the tables and even blowing the tables over. In fact Mister, who likes to lay out in our chairs, got blown over and thrown out twice, before he gave up and went back inside for the day.

Later in the afternoon, I called Fantastic Vent and ordered a new fan motor for our kitchen vent fan. They said it will be a simple four screw drop-in from the roof, but I’ll have to take off the covers first.

Hopefully it will be here pretty quick so I can get it installed before we head north.

About 3:30 we headed back down south on I-45 to have dinner at one of our favorite places, Rudy’s BBQ. It’s so good that I always order extra so we have some to bring home. Love their Jalapeno Sausage.

After dinner we then drove back north to the Conroe area for a Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart visit. It took a good bit longer to come back north, because we were now hitting the going-home traffic. In fact we didn’t get home until almost 8pm.

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March 12, 2015

Moving on . . .

About 7 miles down the road.

While I slept in a little, Jan headed out to catch the movie about the life of Kay Peterson and her husband who founded the Escapees RV organization in 1978. Then after coming back to the rig for coffee, she headed back out again for the Escapees Pet Parade, and then the Chili Cook-off.

She later said there were some really good chili’s and some really bad ones. And some she didn’t dare try at all. But they did raise about $11,000 for CARE (Continuing Assistance for Retired Escapees), the Escapees adult day care program.

While Jan was out gallivanting around, I was getting us ready to roll. Around 3, we’re going to move about 7 miles west over to the Voyager RV Resort for the next week, before heading up to Apache Junction.

We pulled out about 2:30, and looking back as we got on I-10W. Ten minutes later we were pulling up to the guard house at Voyager and getting checked in.. Although we couldn’t get parked next door to each other, we’re only 5 spaces apart from our friends, so it works.

After getting parked and plugged in, the first thing Jan did after turning on the AC (for the first time in a week since we’ve been on 30amps) was to started doing a week’s worth of catch-up laundry.

About 4 we headed out for dinner at Poco & Mom’s, where Jan and I just ate a couple of nights ago. But it was good enough (great enough?) to go back again. Even better our mutual friends, Tom and Barb Westerfield, were meeting us there.

We’ve known them for years, but tonight was the first time we’ve had a chance to get together at this rally.

Jan and I both had the same Combo Plate, and we both agreed that, if anything, it was better tonight than last time. And it was great last time.

Luckily, by getting there at 4:30, we got a table for 4 right away, because about 30 minutes later the place began to fill up. And as usual when RV’ers get together, we spent longer at the table just talking afterwards than we did eating to start with.

It was really good to see Tom and Barb again. Hopefully it won’t be so long next time.

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March 12, 2016

Oil Can Gregory . . .

We did get in our walk this morning, the first one since Monday, what with the bad weather and all. But we did have to dodge a lot of mud puddles and soggy spots along the roads.

Coming back we sat outside to have our coffee, while Karma stayed at the screen door, meowing. So I bought her out on her leash for a while. And like every time we do this, she gets a little calmer. Shirley, her previous caretaker, came across the road to say ‘Hi’, and although Karma was a little skittish, she did allow herself to be picked up.

Coming back in for a while, I drilled a couple of holes in my prototype Slobber Can collector and headed outside and under the rig to figure out how I was going to install it.

Once I got under the rig and looked everything over, I decided to push the tubing up over the slobber tube, bend it away from the oil pan and then hang the can by the coat hanger so that the can supports the vinyl tubing and keeps it from falling off.

It does look a little kludgey, but It’s just a test model so I can see if this fixes the problem, or if the problem is still occurring at all. I hope we’ll know more tomorrow after our trip back to Lake Conroe.

Now that I had the slobber can in place I wanted to top off the rig’s oil level that I discovered was down a little after our trip over from Lake Conroe two weeks ago. But I quickly discovered that the gallon jug of 15W40 Engine Oil that I thought I had in one of the bays was actually a jug of truck antifreeze

So now it was off to the O’Reilly’s Auto Parts in Columbus for a couple of  gallons. And lucky for me, Rotella 15W40 diesel was on sale for only $14 a gallon until the end of the month, so stock up now.

Getting back, I got a funnel out to help me add the oil to the rig. And it’s not exactly easy.

Even using a funnel only helps a little since the tubing and large hose behind the filler port means that the funnel is always tilted and that makes it hard to pour in the oil. In addition, because of the low overhead it can be hard to tilt the jug up high enough to drain it completely.

But I got most of one gallon into the engine without too much spillage, and then let it sit for while before checking the dipstick. Finding it just a hair below the full line, I closed everything back up and called it done.

Next up I started dumping the black tank and then checked the truck oil and added a quart to it. Coming back to the water bay, I closed the black and opened the grey valve, while I disconnected the shore water hose and stowed it away. Then I finished up by putting away the sewer hose and I was done with that too.

I try to always do as much as possible Saturday afternoon, which means that much less to do on Sunday morning before we leave. And of course it also helps since we’re going to have our usual breakfast buffet at Schobel’s down in Columbus before we leave. And even better we’re meeting our friend’s Jim and Peri Dean there at about 8:15. Really looking forward to it.

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March 12, 2017

On The Road Repair . . .

Today was a day of repairs, with two known and one popping up at the last minute. But since we only had a 3 hour trip to Las Cruces today, I had plenty to time to work through a couple of them.

First up was a problem I put on the back burner for a couple of days. Last night when we left the coach to go eat next door at the Van Horn Steakhouse, a loud clatter came from the rig’s step as it extended. And then again as it retracted.  Sounds like a broken gear in the drive motor.

I replaced that gear about 5 years ago in the original steps. But now we have a entirely new step system due to our blow-out in May 2015. So now it looks like I’ll need to do it again. But since it’s still working I’ll probably wait until Benson to investigate further.

The most pressing problem was that the trim strip over the rig door that covers the joint between the roof and the sidewall had come loose and started to peel back due to the wind while we were traveling.

So I had to drag the big step ladder from the back of the truck and climb up there. Found that the rivets had pulled out along the strip. I didn’t have any Pop-Rivets of the right size, so I used some galvanized sheet metal screws to tighten it back in place for now. Then just in case I put a piece of clear Gorilla Tape over the end to keep the wind from catching under it again.

So finally about 11:00am we were pulling out of the park and on our way.

For about a quarter of a mile.

That’s when I realized I had another problem.Luckily I found a nice place to pull over and check it out.

And a quick look confirmed my suspicions. Although the front airbags were inflated, the rear ones were not. And from past experience I was pretty sure what had happened.

So taking a flashlight and putting down a pad over the gravel, I stuck my head underneath the rear of the rig right behind the rear tires on the driver’s side.

And this is what I saw.

The rod that runs from the airbag proportioning valve to the frame had come loose. This valve ‘proportions’ the air supply between the front and rear airbags to keep the coach level. And when the rod comes loose, no air gets to the rear bags.

But to get to the problem I had to put the coach up on the rear levelers so I could get under there. So I cranked back up and raised the rear of the coach as high as it would go. Then with screwdriver in hand I crawled under the rig.

Now before everyone starts telling me I shouldn’t be under the rig when it’s supported only by the hydraulic levelers, the only dangerous part is the few seconds it took me to crawl under the outside edge of the coach. Once I was fully under there the coach could have come all the way back down and I would have been safe, since there was plenty of room for me.

Of course I would be stuck there until the coach was lifted back up, but hey, nice time for a nap.

The last time this happened it was the grommet itself that had deteriorated and come apart. So when I replaced that one , I bought a couple of spares.

But this time it looked like the rod had just pulled out of the grommet.

So it was pretty quick work to loosen the small hose clamp, insert the rod until it bottomed out, and tighten the clamp back down, really tight this time.

Back in the rig, I cranked up and raised the levelers, letting the rig come up on the airbags, before I went back out to check, and found everything back to normal.

So 40 minutes later we were back on our way, and had no more problems with it.

Several people suggested taking the Transmountain Expressway around El Paso, but since it was Sunday noon when we were going through, we decided to take the route straight through town.

And it worked out fine. We did 60mph the entire way, never slowing down at all. Just whizzed right on through with no problems or construction.

Since we got back the hour we lost to Daylight Savings Time when we entered the Mountain Time Zone, we got into Las Cruces and were parked at the Coachlight RV Park by about 1:30.

I’m going to wrap this up now, and continue with our dinner at La Posta de Mesilla in tomorrow’s blog.

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March 12, 2018

Ouch!

Work was about the same as usual today, as I slogged through the server tracking down stuff and taking a lot of notes as I stumble across things I’ll need down the road.

Coming home I stopped off at  the Rudy’s BBQ in Webster to pick up dinner for Jan and I. Jan got her favorite Jumbo Smoked Potato with Chopped Lean Brisket, as well as a side of their Creamed Corn.

I took the simple path and just got 8oz of their Moist Brisket,

as well as a container of pickles, onions, with some pickled jalapenos and carrots. Really good, and Jan has enough left over another meal.

Tomorrow the first payment for this next year’s rig/truck insurance with National General is due. But when I went to pay it today, I found that rather than the $10-15 yearly jump I was expecting, it jumped $64 per month. OUCH!

Right now, we have a $500 deductible that I’ll probably up to $1000, since in 8 years with them we’ve only had one claim in that time. And that was our blowout in Arizona in May 2015.

I’ve been trying to locate a replacement glass for the light on my side of the bed without much luck. I checked with PPL, CW, and online but came up empty. So I thought I throw it out to our readers.

There’s no manufacturer name on the base or the glass, so that’s no help. The glass is about 7” wide and shaped like you took a soup bowl and cut it in half,

So has anyone out there seen something like this?

Recently my Garmin 1490LMT has been intermittently showing a Low Battery indication even though it’s plugged in and getting power. At first I though it might be bad connection, or even a flakey power cable, but a little Googling told me different.

It seems that the built-in battery starts to age and then won’t hold a charge. I guess I’ve gotten my money’s worth on it since it’s going on 7 years old. Since the battery is not considered to be user replaceable, the conventional fix for this is to send it back to Garmin, and for $125 they’ll send you a refurbished one with a new battery. OR . . .

you can order a kit like this for $15,

complete with the tools needed to open the case. You can get the battery alone for about $7, but since it’s not Prime, it has $5 shipping. So for a few bucks more, I get new tools to play with. Yay!

I did look into just getting a new one,  but I was looking at $100-$200 with no real step in new features. So $15 it is.

While I was at it, I ordered a new set of toilet seals for the Sealand toilet in our RV.

It stopped holding water recently, and I’ve tried cleaning several times with no luck. So since the seals are about 3 years old, it’s probably time to swap them out.

Tomorrow looks to be a little busy with lunch up in Webster, dropping off some clothes at the Salvation Army in Nassau Bay, picking up our last new window awning for the rig in Kemah, and then some groceries at the Victory Lakes HEB.

Busy, busy, busy!

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March 12, 2019

Rig Work . . .

Jan and I headed out for brunch at our favorite SnoozeAM a little before 1pm. Jan got her BRAVOCADO Toast with scrambled eggs and dressed greens,

while I got the Classic 3 Egg Breakfast with Bacon, Fruit, and an English Muffin.

Then it was on to WalMart for a few things. And, as has been our habit recently, we stopped off at the Pharmacy to see if they had gotten any more Shingrix Shingles vaccine. We were already on the call list, but we lucked up this time and we were able to get our second and final shots. Glad to have that out of the way.

This past Sunday I finally got a chance to get outside and catch up some chores. First up was to finish upgrading our rig’s windshield wipers.

The rig originally came with 26” Denso wipers and that’s what I used to replace them with after our first year. But then, after that, I found that Denso no longer made the ones that fit our wiper arms. So I improvised something, but it was a pain in the butt.

The new style were only set up for the ‘J’ hook arms, and my arms were configured so that the wipers fit between the flanges with a bolt passing through to secure the blades.

But the new blades were wider and didn’t have a hole for the bolt, so every year I had to heavily modify the wipers by removing the ‘J’ hook mount and then drilling a hole through, which was not easy in this hardened steel frame.

It also didn’t help that the new blades were wider so they didn’t really fit between the arm flanges.

Then a few weeks ago, when I was buying new Rain-X blades for the truck, I noticed that these blades not only had the ‘J’ hook mount, but also had a hole for the pivot type of mount.

So getting some new hardware, I came up with this mounting system, which will now only take me a couple of minutes next time to replace the blades.

I also upgraded the arms from 26” to 28” ones, giving me this.

And no, there’s not a problem with the arm on the right side. Due to the way the articulated arms work, that side is always lower.

Feeling I was on a roll, I decided to crawl under the rig and do a trial loosening of the rig’s oil filter. So I dug out my filter wrench, extensions, and ratchet handle, and gave it a go.

This is what it looks like from underneath.

Fitting my wrench around the filter, I tried to loosen it. I was happy to see that it wasn’t loose and took some effort to break free. But once that was done I decided to keep unscrewing it see how it came it acted. And then suddenly it was free in my hand.

So now what to do? I hadn’t really planned for this so I tried to just screw it back in. But trying for about 5 minutes I was unsuccessful. Due to the electrical cables running besides filter, I really couldn’t get it lined up and started.

So I carefully pulled the filter out from under the rig with me so I didn’t spill the oil inside. Then I crawled back under and stuffed a shop rag up into the mount to keep it clean.

When I’m ready to install the new filter, hopefully this weekend, I’ll use some large Tie Wraps to temporarily hold the cables out of the way.

Grabbing a bucket I propped up the filter and took a look.

There was no obvious damage that I could see, even when I pulled off the black gasket ring. I all looked OK. But then the problem is supposed to be debris on the mount, and not the filter. At least according to Cummins.

I’ll know more this weekend, I guess.

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March 12, 2020

Don’t I Feel Special!

I headed out about 10 this morning to retrieve my wife. She had been Landon sitting up in Katy since Sunday because Landon was out of school on Spring Break. But now it looks like that retrieval is only temporary.

I met Jan, Brandi, and Landon at the Cheddars near Brandi’s work for a nice lunch. Jan had her usual Key West Chicken and Shrimp, while I got my usual Vegetable Plate that included a bowl of their Chicken Tortilla Soup.

I mentioned a few weeks back that while we were up in Athens last month, I found out that one of the girls I dated there back in 1967 had died last March. So I had trying to track down her younger sister Anne to pass on my condolences. So I had to do a deep dive into the Net trying to get in touch with her.

And after going through eight phone numbers, I left her a voicemail, telling her I was a voice from the past, but not giving my name.

Well, during dinner she called me back. But for some reason the call(s) wouldn’t connect. So she texted me, wanting to know who was calling. So I sent her this.

Let’s see. I dated your sister Jane back in 1967 and even took you out once when Jane was grounded. I think that might have been your first date.  Plus you, Jane, and your mother used to wrestle me and try to pin me down. Remember?

She texted back, “Can’t remember back that far.”

So I told her my name.

Still nothing.

Well, Don’t I Feel Special.

So I sent her these two.

NOW she remembered. Thank goodness.

Once my identify was established, we had a nice chat about old times.

It was really good to hear from her.

After we got home this afternoon, we got a call from Brandi saying that Landon’s Spring Break had been extended for another week. So I’m only getting to keep Jan until next Monday. Then I’ll have to give her back.

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March 12, 2021

The Check’s In The Mail . . .

Well, Day 1 without Jan, and the cat and I are still alive.

So far, so good, I guess.

But now it looks like Jan’s petting/house sitting may be extended a few days. Brandi got an email this afternoon saying that due the very heavy winter storm coming in, their flight to Denver tomorrow morning has been canceled. So now they’re thinking about driving which will add a couple of days to their trip.

Oh, well.

Tomorrow, first up on my chore list is to really get into my AC problem. I going to try and short around the control box to see if I can start the AC manually.

I still kind of confused why the AC just quit working, and then 3 or 4 days later, burns up the power wire feeding the compressor relay while I just looking at the control box after taking the cover off. I had not touched anything yet.

But there was a SnapCracklePop and then all the magic smoke came out

So we’ll see what happens tomorrow. I’ve already kind of halfway resigned myself to buying a new unit, but maybe I’ll luck out.

My babysitter Patsy has a new book out and Jan says it’s really good. I just haven’t had a chance to get to it yet.

It’s called The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop, and it’s a sequel to her Fried Green Tomatoes.

In case you haven’t figured it out, Patsy’s professional name is Fanny Flagg. But when I was growing up in Gulf Shores, AL, she was Patsy to me, because her real name is Patricia Neal, and yes, she was my babysitter.

Our parents were good friends, and Patsy, being about 4 years older than me, often got stuck watching me.

Sorry, Patsy.

Jan says it’s a great book. Get it!