Monthly Archives: April 2023
I Almost Waited Too Late . . .
As I mentioned in a blog about this time last year, on April 8th, 2024, a solar eclipse will cut a wide swath across the U.S.,
and Texas in particular.
The wide area between the lines is where the eclipse will be total.
You can check it out better here: Great American Eclipse
My first thought was for us to spend the night in Waco and then drive out into the countryside about 2pm for the eclipse which will reach totality a few minutes after 3:30pm.
But apparently I waited too long.
The last time I looked at Booking.com, they wouldn’t let me book out that far. So I put it aside for a while. Until tonight.
And when I checked hotels in Waco, I only found one left.
For $1,000 for 2 nights.
Or if that’s not fancy enough, there’s this one.
A Tiny Home in a Shipping Container, only $11, 800.
Or maybe just a 1 bedroom cabin in the woods is more your XXXX.
It can be yours for two nights for only $20,000+.
Or if you really want to splurge a little.
You can get this 3 bedroom at the Silos (Joanna Gaines area)
for only $32,500
But you all know I’m cheap. So I decided to check a little further down the road in Killeen.
And I was able to get two nights at a Days Inn for only $218.
And so my reservation doesn’t ‘accidently’ get lost as the rates skyrocket, I prepaid for the room, though I normally wait until I check in at the hotel.
Though the ratings seemed a little low, when I read some of them, I wasn’t as concerned.
- One person was upset that the TV Guide Channel didn’t match the actual channel lineup.
- Another was disappointed that the free breakfast wasn’t quite as good as they expected.
- And someone didn’t like the fact that the ‘big guy at the reception wasn’t wearing a Covid’.
And the more recent reviews seem to be much better.
Looking forward to seeing the eclipse.
From yesterday, here’s Landon at age 12, on probably his last Easter Egg Hunt.
vs.
Landon at about 18 months on his first Easter Egg Hunt
He’s really growing up.
Thought For The Day:
Everyone appreciates your honesty, until you’re honest with them, then you’re an asshole. – George Carlin
April 10, 2010
Oh Peggy, My Peggy Sue…
We got hooked up and left the Road Runner RV Park in Las Vegas about 10:15 am. We’ve been here for over 3 weeks and when we’re in a place that long it’s always a lot of extra work to get ready to roll.
We had a great time while we were here, a lot of fun.
Jan said for her it was a toss-up between the giant video screen overhead on Fremont St.,
and getting to fire a machine gun at The Gun Store.
It’s hard to tell from this picture, but after she got used to the way the gun climbs when fired, she put the rest of the two magazines in his gut and chest.
I think my favorites were not exactly in Las Vegas, but things we did while we were staying here.
For me it was between the Showdown in Searchlight Tea Party Rally,
and visiting Trinity Site, where the first atomic bomb was tested on July 16th, 1945.
Anyway, I wanted to take on some diesel before we got too far so we stopped at a TA Truck Stop on the outskirts of Vegas.
And although I didn’t get debited a $500 ‘security fee’ like others have at the TA in Kingman, AZ, it just illustrates why I don’t like stopping at truck stops for fuel.
It always takes forever. The truck stop pumps don’t take regular credit cards, just ‘trucker’ cards. So inside I go to stand in line to leave my card. There were 8 people in front of me and one clerk. Fifteen minutes later I’m back at the rig to start filling the tank. Even with the faster truck stop pumps it still takes a while to take on 110 gallons.
Then it was back inside to stand in line again to check out. This time there were only 6 people ahead of me, but NO clerk. About 5 minutes later a clerk shows up from somewhere, and another ten minutes later I’m on my way.
We left the TA about 11:15 am FORTY minutes after we got there.
I hate truck stops.
About 2pm we pulled into the Calico Ghost Town RV Park, where we stay two years ago. Last time around the first of March the place was half empty, but this time they were full up.
Here’s what it looked like last time.
So it was off to my plan B, a KOA park about 5 miles away. We pulled in about 2:15 and found them almost full too. But not quite. They did have a 30 amp with water, but no sewer, which is fine for one night.
After getting set up we headed out for a late lunch/early supper at Peggy Sue’s 50’s Diner, a neat place that we ate at two years ago when we were here. Originally built in the 50’s as roadside diner along Route 66, it was reopened and refurbished in 1987 and has been growing ever since.
Then it was back to the rig. While Jan watched Mister play in the bushes, I got the satellite dish set up, and then it was time for a nap.
Isn’t retirement fun?
Tomorrow we’ll head for Lancaster, CA where we’ll be for about 10 days.
April 10, 2011
PayPal and Pizza . . .
Today was one of those nice lazy days that makes you appreciate the RV’ing life. We started off with our usual delicious coffee while we enjoyed the nice sunny day that was coming up. Much better than the cold, dreary yesterday.
About noon Jan heated up some more of Jeannie Sparks’ Potato Cheddar Soup from Tastefully Simple, along with the leftover Mexican from last night’s La Fonda visit. Seems like both the soup and the Mexican got better with age.
Jan was immersed in a book on old Texas jails, while I spent most of the afternoon trying to tie PayPal into one of my client’s shopping carts, without a lot of luck. It kind of works, but not quite. I’ve got emails into both PayPal and the shopping cart software company. We’ll wait and see.
Giving up on PayPal I decided a nap might be in order to offset all the heavy brainwork I’d been doing. Well, maybe not heavy, but I did think about it some.
About 5:15 we all headed into Cottonwood to check out Stromboli’s, a local Italian place that had been recommended to us. Turned out to be well-recommended. It was really good. Not quite Da Boyz Pizza in Yuma good, but good.
We got back to the rig about 7:30 and were in for the night.
Tomorrow we’ll leave here about 9 am to head down to Mesa about 120 miles away to get an estimate on our coach bay door repair and also pick up our prescriptions from Sam’s Club.
April 10, 2012
? ? ? ?
or, finally, some good Texas BBQ.
We headed out about 8:30 this morning for the Gate Guard Services office down in Corpus Christi to submit our paperwork and fingerprint cards, and also take the Level II Security Guard Exam.
Leaving the Gate Guard office about 11:45 we drove over to a nearby Sam’s Club to pick up some supplies. Then we headed over to get some GOOD Texas BBQ
At Rudy’s BBQ, of course.
We ordered lean brisket for Jan, moist brisket for me, pork ribs for both of us, a loaded baked potato for Jan, and a jalapeno sausage link for me, and of course, a quart of their delicious cream corn. Something for everyone.
Jan doesn’t really like corn, but she loves Rudy’s. And we ordered enough extra of everything for 2 or 3 more meals at home.
It’s interesting to compare Rudy’s BBQ with our visit to Bill Miller BBQ a few days ago. But I can only compare the ribs and the sauce, because that’s all I had in common.
Both places have dry rub ribs that come with no sauce on them. But Rudy’s ribs are moist and juicy, even without sauce, while Bill Miller’s were dry and chewy. And Miller’s pretty much tasteless sauce certainly didn’t help things.
On the other hand, Rudy’s sauce is so good we bought a bottle of it a while back to take with us as we travel. As a matter of fact, Rudy’s sauce is so good it might even make Bill Miller’s BBQ more edible.
I wonder if we ever went back to Miller’s, they would mind if I brought a bottle of Rudy’s sauce with me?
We got back to the rig a little before 3 pm, and the first thing we noticed is that we have two new neighbors. Don’t know if they’re here to gate guard, but they probably are.
The first thing I did was go over to the office here and tell Jamie we were back and ready to go. I also ask him when he thought we’d have a gate. He said he had several things coming up, and it should be soon.
Good.
Later in the afternoon another rig came into the lot and parked over at the side where we were last week. It’s crowded here again.
Hopefully we’ll have a gate tomorrow, or Thursday, or ????.
We’ll see.
April 10, 2013
The Final Iteration . . .
Some people retrace Route 66. Others see a baseball game at every Major League park in the country. Still others want to RV in every state in the US.
But Jan and I are different. But then you already knew that, didn’t you. No, Jan and I plan to eat our way through the 50 Fattest Foods in the US. Well, mostly me. I mean, I’ve certainly been in training for it, right?
Here are some of my favorites.
About 8000 calories.
Yes, they’re using Krispy Kreme doughnuts for the bun.
That’s a BLT with a pound of bacon.
I may have a head start, as I’ve eaten 15 of these dishes, though not necessarily in the state they’re listed with.
Hurry and catch up.
About 5:15 Jan and I headed out for dinner at SmashBurger.
We’d eaten at one a couple of years ago in Houston and really liked it, especially the fries.
They have regular fries of course, but they also have Smashfries, seasoned with rosemary, olive oil, and garlic. Really, really good.
They also have Sweet Potato Fries and even Sweet Potato Smashfries. But even better, they have Veggie Frites. These are green beans and carrot sticks, flash-fried and then seasoned. Also really good.
Jan and I got an order of the Veggie Frites and an order of the Sweet Potato Smashfries and then split them with each other.
The burgers are good, but not quite as good as Five Guys. And of course, not nearly as good as Stomp’s Burger Joint back in Kemah, TX.
That’s one that’s hard to beat.
I finally got my Taillight Test Box set up like I want it.
I added a power light because it’s sometimes hard to know if you’ve got a good connection on the battery terminals, and then I added a switch to turn the taillights on and off separately.
The left switch is for master power, the middle switch controls the taillights, and the right switch moves left and right to control the turn signals.
Because I already had most of the parts, I only spent about $7 on it.
Anyone need their toad taillights tested?
April 10, 2014
SOS for SSL . . .
I was up at about 10am, just in time to see off Garland and Valencia Scott as they headed out in their new Phaeton. Hopefully we’ll catch up with them again soon.
It was kind of funny that while Garland was still out in front of our site hooking up his toad, a 5’er was already setting up in his 50 amp site. They go fast when it starts hitting 80 degrees like today. Then after a nice, quiet morning of coffee and Buc-ee’s Cranberry muffins, my day quickly crapped out.
I received an email alert that there was a problem with the credit card payment area on a client’s website. After placing their order, the customer is taken to the secure area to enter their credit card info. But in this case the customer was being told that it was not a secure area and then they were dumped out to an error page.
Not good.
A little checking showed there was a problem with the SSL(Secure Sockets Layer) Certificate associated with the site. The SSL Certificate is the protocol that provides the secure, encrypted data transfer between your computer and the online shopping cart system to allow you to safely enter your credit card data. It’s also what works with the ‘https’ in the website URL.
Since the Certificate is supplied by a 3rd party to my web host company, I put in a request to them to take a look at the problem. About 10 minutes I heard back from them saying there was no problem. Or at least no problem was showing up, no error codes being thrown, etc. So they contacted the SSL company, who didn’t get back to us right away. In fact it was a couple of hours before we heard from them. And again, they said there was no problem.
Well, wasn’t that helpful.
So everyone went to their opposite corners to work on things from their end. But after another couple of hours, still no solution, and my client’s website still wasn’t taking orders.
I knew that early on in this process they had re-installed the Certificate to no avail. But I was getting ready to ask them to try it again, when I thought to ask a question.
Did you delete the old Certificate first, or just re-install over it?
And the answer was that they just re-installed over it. So as a last ditch effort, I asked them to completely delete the old one, and then re-install.
And that did the trick. And 5 minutes later, all was right with the world, or at least that part of it. And about 10 minutes later, orders started coming in once again.
* * * *
For dinner tonight we fixed up our version of Taco Salad, with greens, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, beef chili, hot sauce, shredded cheese, and Chinese noodles. And for dessert, we had some of Jan’s Strawberry 7-Up Cake. All very good.
For tomorrow, maybe a movie.
April 10, 2015
Very Little . . .
happened today.
About 10:15 Jan and I walked down to the Homestyle Grill here at the park to have breakfast. Turned out to be really good, except for the ‘strange’ biscuits. To paraphrase Sheldon Cooper, “In what universe are these biscuits?”
I wish I had gotten a photo, but I guess I was too stunned at what they were calling these. First off, they were obviously baked in a pan and cut into squares like a sheet cake. And that’s what the texture was like too, like cake.
And with a little sugar and some icing, that’s what it would be, cake.
Walking back to our rig, we came across another American Eagle, in this case, a 42 foot Tag Axle 2003 model. I got to talking with the owner who said that they had previously owned a 1999 like ours and really liked it. He said they kind of wish they hadn’t brought a 42 foot model due to the problems with finding sites that are long enough for them.
Jan and I ended up spending most of the afternoon just reading and napping, with not even the TV on. A very nice way to spend the day.
Later, about 4:30 Jan and I drove into Cottonwood to have dinner with Dave and Lynn Cross at the Golden Dragon Chinese Restaurant.
Although it was not as good as the #1 Eastern Super Buffet down in Apache Junction, but it wasn’t bad. The most noticeable difference was the selection, as it was only about half what they have at #1. But what they did have was pretty good, especially the Hot and Sour Soup.
Yesterday, as I was walking back to get something out of the truck, I noticed a little seepage and damp ground from one of my two old sewer hoses, luckily not the new one. Looking for the problem, I discovered one of those pesky little pinhole leaks. But rather than throwing the hose away, I decided to spray the leak with Rust-Oleum Leak Seal.
I used this stuff earlier this year to seal leaks in our canopy when we were gate guarding, and found you could spray on an active leak and it would seal it instantly. And it did the same to my sewer hose leak, since when I checked today, there was no sign of any leakage.
Great Stuff!
April 10, 2016
Everyone Knows It’s . . .
As usual on a travel day, I was up about 6:30 to finish up our moving day preparations.
I aroused Sleeping Beauty about 7, and then went outside to finish up there, stowing away the satellite dome, letting in the awnings, putting away the step, etc. As usual I had already put away the water and sewer hoses yesterday, so by the time I was finished, the only thing left to do was to unhook shore power.
One other thing I did, that I’ve done for the last year, was to plug in the rig’s engine block heater. Normally you only think about using it in cold weather, but my idea is that even in warm weather, 140 degree oil is better than 60 degree oil when you’re starting your engine up after two weeks.
Not sure if I can quantify any increase in engine longevity, but hey, it can’t hurt.
About 8am Jan and I headed in to Columbus for our regular leaving-Columbus-Breakfast-Buffet at Schobel’s Restaurant.
![Schobel's Buffet 3_thumb[1]](https://ourrvadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Schobels-Buffet-3_thumb1.png "Schobel's Buffet 3_thumb[1]")
They do an excellent breakfast buffet, with eggs scrambled, or to your order, grilled potatoes and onions, grits, biscuits, sausage gravy, grilled ham, crispy bacon, patty sausage, grilled link sausage, and for a little sweetness, bread pudding.
All very, very good, especially for only $7.99.
Leaving Schobel’s, we zipped across the street to pick a couple of Root Beer Shakes to go from the Whataburger. We enjoyed the one we shared the other day, we thought we get a couple of more to have for dessert spread out over the next few days. Yumm!
We were back at the rig a little before 10, and hitched up and rolling by 10:30, on our way to the Lake Conroe Thousand Trails about 120 miles.
We made this trip enough now that I think the coach could do it all by itself. You know, just put it on cruise control, and go back and get a cold green tea out of the fridge.
And as usual, it was very . . . Windy. A couple of times, it was almost change-lanes-without-moving-the-steering-wheel windy, but we made it without bumping or being bumped, so it all worked out.
We got into the park a little before 1pm and found a nice site over in the newly-remodeled ‘G’ section. After getting plugged in and set up, Jan napped on the sofa, while I adjourned to the bedroom for an hour or so.
When I got up, I found Jan again engrossed in the Big Love series she’s been streaming on Amazon Prime.
Dinner was soup and sandwiches, the soup being a couple of the Campbell’s Slow Kettle Tomato and Sweet Basil Bisque that we bought in bulk from Sam’s Club when we were in Prescott, AZ.
![Campbell Slow Kettle Soup_thumb[2]](https://ourrvadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Campbell-Slow-Kettle-Soup_thumb2.png "Campbell Slow Kettle Soup_thumb[2]")
We noticed Sam’s Club had 4-packs on sale for $1.99 so we bought one to try it out. And it was probably the best ‘canned’ soup we’ve ever eaten. When we checked at Wal-Mart, we found the individual cans sold for about $3.00. So we went back the next day and bought all eight 4-packs Sam’s had left in stock. And even better, the price had dropped to $1.89. We bought all of them because we’ve learned from experience that if you wait too long on a Sam’s Club sale, it probably won’t be there when you come back. And they had a lot less of them that day than the day before.
So we paid 50 cents per serving, rather than $3. Nice.
April 10, 2017
A Better Class of Hooker . . .
The weather has been just about perfect since we got here on Saturday. So much so that we haven’t even missed the fact that we don’t have 50 amps.
In fact we just had the doors and windows open and the fans going the last two days. And that should hold us for awhile. Even better, there’s no rain scheduled for our stay here, but that can change, of course.
Our daughter Brandi called a little before 3pm to inquire if we had hit anything today. I told her “No, but then we hadn’t left the rig yet, and the afternoon was still young.”
But so far, so good.
But not only have we not left the rig today, but we haven’t left since we got here Saturday afternoon. But Jan’s feeling a lot better today, pretty much back to normal, so we’ll be going out to eat this afternoon. Jan says El Pollo Loco, so that’s where we’re going.
Staying home Saturday and Sunday, we got to finish up our leftover Oregano’s pizza and pasta, still delicious, and it lasted us for 3 meals. Really appreciate Dick and Phyllis Schell for tuning us on to the place. Thanks, guys.
A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was having problems with my Cradlepoint CTR-350 Wi-Fi router. It gradually had more and more problems connecting to the Internet, until it finally died. I was lucky enough to find a used one on Amazon for $20. And when it came in, the new one worked.
For a while. Than it started acting up, with exactly the same symptoms.
If I put power to the router, it came up and put out a Wi-Fi signal that I could connect to. But when I plugged in the Verizon Aircard so I could actually get to the Internet, the router died. The W-Fi signal went away and the lights on the router flashed on and off.
Since the only thing different was the fact that the router’s power supply was now having to also power the aircard. So my next thought was the power supply.
Perhaps the power supply was dying and the extra load of the aircard was messing up the voltage output. But when I measured the voltage both open and under load, the voltage stayed right at 5 volts. So, not the problem.
Or at least that’s what I thought.
So now I had two routers, both with the same problem. And the only common failure point was the power supply.
Since I didn’t have a scope (at least with me) my next idea was to just replace the power supply with another one. And I keep a big bag of old supplies just for that purpose.
Whenever I throw away an old device I always save the power supply, just for something like this. So I started digging through the bag looking for a 5v supply. And about halfway down I found one. Since the connectors can vary a lot I figured I’d have to splice the old connector onto the new supply wire.
But when I looked at the new one it looked a lot like the old one. So, leaving the supply unplugged from power, I plugged it into the router and it seemed to fit perfectly. So after checking that the voltage and the polarity were correct I plugged it into the router and into the wall. And it came up normally. So now to plug in the aircard.
And the lights locked on and we had Wi-Fi. So the problem was the power supply all along. But it’s fixed now. Hopefully.
About 4;30 we headed right down the road for our dinner at the El Pollo Loco nearby. We both got Grilled Chicken Combos with salads and sides.
We first discovered El Pollo Loco in 2008 during our first time RV’ing in California and try to eat there whenever we can.
El Pollo Loco citrus-marinates their chicken for 24 hours and then they cycle it around the grill until the skin is crispy-delicious and the inside is moist and flavorful. Just perfect. Jan says we’ll be back.
Coming home Jan said while we’re here she wants to drive through some of the nicer neighborhoods to sightsee. When I ask what was wrong with where we were, she said she was thinking about someplace with a better class of hookers on the streets.
Those of you who’ve stayed at the Las Vegas TT know exactly what I’m talking about.
April 10, 2018
Rumble . . . Rumble . . . Vroom !
Jan and I were out the door a little after noon to meet up with our friend’s Rudy and Caroline Leggett, and our waitress friend Julie at the Monterey’s Little Mexico Restaurant up in Pasadena.
Rudy is the go-to guy to keep your rig’s Aquahot system working and travels all over the country to rallies working on people’s rigs.
We met up about 1pm and didn’t say our goodbyes until after 3, so all-in-all a typical RV’ers get-together. And just like this past Saturday at the Monterey’s in Alvin, Jan had her Chicken Ixtapa and I, of course, got my favorite Chicken Tortilla Soup.
When we got home a little after 4pm, I followed through on my idea to crank up the rig’s engine and then let it come up on the airbags to check things out before our test drive this weekend.
When you haven’t cranked up for 5 months, you always hold your breath that it’s going to start, but today it was just Rumble . . . Rumble . . . Vroom! with no hesitation. And it was less than 10 minutes when the rig up on the airbags and ready to roll.
One thing that’s interesting is the way the airbags come up. The rear bags come up with 3 or 4 minutes, but the front bags just sit there for 5 or 6 minutes and then come up all at once.
So it looks like we’re good to go this weekend.
April 10, 2019
Too Much Good Food, Part Deux . . .
Our visit up to Kingsland this past weekend gave us a plethora of good country eating, and of course, we had to do our part in checking this out for our readers.
We started off with a Friday night get-together at a local diner called Crazy Gal’s. Actually there’s 3 of them in the area, and it’s easy to see why they’re so popular. This is just good ole Texas country cooking.
Jan had the Chicken Fried Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Fried Okra. She said it was really tender, and bigger than it looks due to the fact it’s folded over so it will fit on the plate.
Buried under this pile of tasty gravy and onions is a delicious 8oz Hamburger Steak, along with the obligatory Mashed Potatoes and Fried Okra.
The next morning had us having breakfast at The Dam Grill, sans Brandi, Lowell, and Landon, due to Landon having some allergy problems overnight.
Jan had Scrambled Eggs. Bacon, Hash Browns, and a really fantastic biscuit,
while I got my usual Eggs Over Medium, Bacon, Hash Browns, and the above fantastic biscuit.
Is this a happy, well-fed group, or what?
But of all our good food, Saturday’s dinner was a real find. The Kempner Brick Oven, in the tiny town of Kempner, TX, population 1097, is a German restaurant that rivals any we’ve ever eaten at, including the fabled Der Linderbaum in Fredericksburg, TX.
Our daughter-in-law, Linda’s mother was born in Germany, so Linda grew up knowing what good German cooking is like.
When I saw the Hefeweizen beer that Lowell ordered, I decided to have one too.
A very light, smooth Wheat Beer, and really good.
Jan got her usual German fare, the Jaeger Schnitzel, which is a basic Schnitzel covered with Mushroom Gravy, along with Spatzle, and of course, Red Cabbage.
I got the Sausage Plate, with Thuringer, White Bratwurst, & Nurnberger sausages, along with Sauerkraut & Potato Salad. And of course, Red Cabbage.
What makes this place even better is that it’s about half the price of our other favorite German places. Delicious and Cheap!
A Great Find!
Sunday morning was our last get-together for the entire family, since Brandi, et al., were heading back to Houston right after our breakfast at El Bracero, a local Mexican place.
Jan got the 3 Breakfast Taco plate, with one each Sausage & Egg, Potato & Egg, and Bean & Cheese.
Jan said they were really good, and she had leftovers for supper after we got home.
I had a really good, little bit of everything, Spicy Omelet, along with Bacon, Refried Beans, and Ranch Potatoes. Really good, and very spicy.
By the time Sunday dinner time rolled around, Jan and I were the only ones left, so we wrapped up our last meal with Chris and Linda at another local favorite Mexican restaurante, Tequila Jalisco.
Jan had the Spicy Mango Chicken & Shrimp,
while I went with their Chicken Tortilla Soup, both really great.
It seems like no matter where we all go, we always find great places to eat. Too many of them, it seems.
One thing kind of different about the Kingsland area is that many/most restaurants don’t take credit cards. Instead they have an ATM right by the counter.
And they’re all the same type of machine.
And several of the business rebate the $2 ATM charge, saying it’s cheaper to do it that way than to pay the credit card fees.
Tomorrow we’ve got some phone calls to make, ordering our rides to and from the airport, calling the PO to hold our mail, and calling our banks to let them know about strange charges coming from Europe next month.
April 10, 2020
Vincent Van Go-Go
I mentioned a few days ago how much Jan and I like Vincent Van Gogh, and especially his Starry Night.
In fact we have a lot of swag using that picture.
And we even have take-offs on the Van Gogh theme.
Jan has both this mug and a shirt with this image. But recently we found this poster online,
which combines two of Jan’s favs, Starry Night and cats. The only problem is that we don’t have wall space for a poster here in the rig.
But then we found this online.
A Queen-Size version of this just might be on our Stimulus Check shopping list.
Speaking of Stimulus Checks, it seems the first direct deposited ones started hitting bank accounts yesterday, so the check’s in the mail, or the Internet, I guess.
April 10, 2021
Return To Normal in Texas . . .
Like all of our Alvin Opry House nights, last night was no different, starting with having dinner at the local Monterey’s Mexican Kitchen. And it looks like they’re falling into line with the dropping the masks mandate thing.
They have a sign on the door saying that since Governor Abbott had dropped the mask mandate for the state, they were doing the same thing, and that masks were now optional for their customers, though the staff would continue to wear them.
Works for me.
In last night’s short blog, I posted about 5 year old Blair Kudelka and how good she was, since this was her first time singing onstage.
You can read about that again here, Blair Kudelka
Well Jan updated me that though this was her first time singing onstage, her poise and stage presence comes from the fact that she’s a regular on the child beauty pageant circuit. Which also explains those cute little high heels she was wearing, I guess.
But this is not our first time to see a beginner appearing onstage for the very first time. This is a clip from our blog post from January 19, 2013.
We had some great singers at the Alvin Opry tonight, but it’s also nice to see some beginners like Zack Clifton.
At 9 years old, this was his first time on stage and he did a really good job. Local Opry’s like these are where a lot of famous singers get their start. Some day we may be able to say about Zack that we knew him when.
And that’s what happened here. On last night’s bill was Zack Clifton, 8 years older, and now having opened for Merle Haggard and other stars, we can truly say, “we knew him when.”
He and his family were sitting at the table next to us between his sets, and it was fun to show him that old photo of him back then.
All the talent on last night’s Opry show was great, one of the best shows ever.
Jumping forward to today, we had lunch once again at the Eggcellence up in Webster, and again, masks were now optional, but the staff were still wearing them. The best of both worlds, I guess. Something for everyone.
Though Jan was disappointed that they no longer had her favorite Greek Omelet, she really enjoyed their Avocado BLT with a side salad.
Next we made a quick stop by the office to set up system image backups on two of the office machines. I’ll remote in later tonight and finalized the backups and reboot the machines.from home.
Our next stop was at the Home Depot down on FM646 in our area, and once again, masks were now optional there, with all the signs requiring them pushed to the side.
I was there to pick up a few things for our patio setup, that I’ll talk about in another blog.
Then after a WalMart stop we finally headed back to the rig.
April 10, 2022
Save The Date . . .
Before Jan and I could head up to Katy to meet Brandi, et al., at their local Pho Barr, she called and suggested that we tell them what we wanted and Lowell would pick it up and bring it home. So we passed on our order and headed for Brandi’s instead of Pho Barr.
While Brandi and Lowell got a version of Jan’s usual Vermicelli Bowl, Jan and I went in a different direction since we just ate at our new local Pho Barr yesterday.
We of course all started with a order of their Grilled Pork Spring Rolls along with Peanut Sauce, Jan got Pho Barr’s Fish Sauce Chicken Wings, even though she’s not a big Fish Sauce fan.
But Jan said that these were delicious, and go on her ‘definitely have again’ list.
I decided to have a Grilled Pork Banh Mi, a Vietnamese-style sandwich. We had had one before when we were served one by mistake instead of our Spring Rolls.
The bread is a very crusty French Baguette, with Grilled Pork, House Mayo, Pickled Cucumbers and Carrots, Jalapenos, and Cilantro.
Really good, and now on my ‘have again’ list.
After lunch, Jan and I checked out Brandi’s Oculus Quest 2 VR Headset.
It all started with Landon’s set that he got a while back. Then our son Chris checked out Landon’s when we visited Kingsland back in January.
And he ended up ordering him a set.
Then since Brandi liked to exercise using Landon’s, and was always vying with him on whose turn it was, she finally bought her own.
So Jan and I want to see what all the fuss was about.
We both tried out the Wander app, which you walk around places around the world, with views in all directions. We jumped from the Statue of Liberty to the Pyramid of Giza, and then on to the Sphinx.
Neat.
All this time Landon was on his, playing a game of Zero-G Frisbee taking place in a space station. And there is an app for your phone or tablet that let’s people watch what you’re seeing in the googles.
A lot of fun.
Save The Date:
April 8, 2024 is the date of the next Solar Eclipse that crosses the U.S.
The neat thing about this one, at least to Jan and I, is that it covers a wide swash across Texas.
You can check it out better here: Great American Eclipse
One thing that caught my eye was that the eclipse’s 100% Totality passes over Waco, or at least a little north of it. So Jan and I are planning to check it out, since we’ve only seen a partial one before, and not much of one at that.
April 8, 2024 is a Monday, so we plan on spending the weekend in Waco, and then drive a little north in the afternoon to be sure we’re directly in the middle of the eclipse, which will be around 3:40pm.
But when I tried to use Booking.com to go ahead and book us a room in Waco, hey you can’t be too early, can you, I found that Booking.com won’t let me book anything past July 2023.
So apparently you can be too early.
Family Easter Meal . . .
Jan and I were on our way up to Katy about 10am, getting together with Brandi, Lowell, and Landon for our family Easter dinner.
And Brandi went all out with her brined and Cajun Seasoning Rubbed Smoked Turkey,
and a nice brisket.
On the vegetable front, Brandi also did Garlic and Herb Roasted Potatoes,
to go with Jan’s contributions, her Jiffy Corn Casserole
and Green Bean Casserole. Both were great!
Brandi also did a loaf of really delicious Hatch Green Chile Beer Bread.
All of this ended up on a plate like this.
Once we sat down for the meal, the dogs staked out their spots under the table, waiting for any ‘manna from Heaven’.
Baxter picked me.
I’m a sucker for that face, so though I didn’t drop anything ‘accidently’, somehow a few tidbits of brisket and turkey managed to escape my plate.
And for dessert, Brandi really outdid herself with a batch of our favorite Junior’s Mini Cheesecake Bites.
Junior’s is our all-time favorite in NYC. It’s right off Times Square, and it’s the first place we eat when we get there and the last place before we leave.
Later, resting up from that great meal, we all sat out around the pool and watched Landon and Jack look for the Easter Eggs.
Landon being 12, the Easter Bunny now hides eggs filled with money and lottery scratch-offs. And it was fun doing the warmer, colder thing running him all over the yard.
Finally, after a great meal and even better family time, we got home a little before 4pm with plenty of leftovers to remind us of that great meal, and plenty of time for one of those ‘after-turkey’ naps.
Next week looks to be another busy one. Jan has labs for her Oncologist visit and then her Mammogram on Tuesday afternoon. Then Thursday we’ve got our monthly get-together with our group of Alvin Opry friends, followed by Friday night we’ve got the Alvin Opry itself.
Busy.
Thought for the Day:
April 9, 2010
Last Day in Sin City…
Today was preparation day.
Tomorrow we leave on a two day trip over to Lancaster, CA. We’ll overnight in Barstow and then head in to Lancaster on Sunday.
After lunch at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville on the Strip, I got started on some things I wanted to get done before we leave.
As usual my driver’s side rear inside dual needed some air so I cranked up the rig and used the built-in air compressor to top off the tire.
Next I added a 12 volt plug back in the bedroom and wired it directly to the battery. This way it’s easier to run 12 volt stuff when we’re boondocking and not plugged into shore power.
Then I hooked up a tywrap on my PacBrake on the engine to see how it’s working.
About 4:45 pm we headed out to have dinner at Blueberry Hill Restaurant once again. Then, coming back toward the rig, we stopped off at WalMart for some supplies.
Finally, we dropped by Starbucks to pick up a couple of coffees to have tomorrow morning before we leave.
We plan on leaving about 10 am tomorrow. That should put us in Barstow around 1:30 – 2:00 pm. It’s only about 150 miles but we plan on getting diesel along the way, and of course, I normally drive 55 so it will take us around 3 1/2 – 4 hours.
More tomorrow from Barstow…
April 9, 2011
Hot Soup and Cold Temps . . .
First off, our daughter Brandi has released the embargo on these photos from Landon’s day care.
This morning we had some of the new coffee we got from Amazon yesterday. This was Community Club Pecan Praline. Just opening the bag for the first time was a treat. And it was really needed because we had SNOW this morning and are expecting more.
When I looked outside about 1am this morning before I went to bed, there was a light snow coming down. It wasn’t sticking because it was still in the low 40’s. And it didn’t change much all day as it never got above about 45 degrees.
A little before 12 I called the Sam’s Club down in Mesa to transfer our prescriptions there to pick up Monday when we’re down there getting an estimate on the damage to our coach bay door that happened while we were at the Pima County Fairgrounds in Tucson.
The only thing we can figure out is that it was done by the landscaper/tree trimmers working right behind the coach.
For lunch, Jan decided we needed some good hot soup to warm up our insides. So Jan fixed a box of the Tastefully Simple Potato Cheddar Soup we got from Jeannie Sparks.
And, boy was it good. Wish we’d have bought more.
And to go with the soup, we used our GT Xpress 101 Grill to fix a Grilled Turkey and Pepper Jack Cheese Sandwich.
You just put each half in the individual sections and it grills it up perfectly with meat and cheese all hot and melted. Delicious!
Leaving here I’m not sure how much warmer it will be. When I went outside to take the garbage to the dumpster I was pelted by a combination of very light rain, mixed with sleet and snow. A real mess.
Coming back to the rig I found Jan asleep on the sofa, so I decided a nap was in order.
For dinner we were going back to La Fonda, the Mexican place right down the road. And it was just as good as the last time. I had the La Fonda Special plate, and had a lot to bring home. It will make a good lunch tomorrow.
Coming out after a great meal, we saw this evidence of how much snow the surrounding hills have accumulated. There’s a good 6 inches on this roof.
And, although it’s a little hard to see. the mountains all around are frosted with snow.
Getting back to the rig, we had the last of the ice cream with hot Apple Crisp.
Really, really good.
It’s probably going to be in the 20’s here tonight so I disconnected our outside water to keep the hose and filter from freezing. We’ll use the water from our internal 100 gallon tank until it warms up.
It’s suppose to be a little warmer tomorrow with a high in the 50’s, and then back to down to the mid 30’s tomorrow night.
Brrrrrrr!
April 9, 2012
Last Day of Freedom ??
I was up about 9:30 because I wanted to call the Gate Guard offices down in Corpus Christi to see if we needed to be there at any certain time tomorrow. They said anytime, so we’ll probably head down to Corpus about 8:30 or so.
I asked the other day how soon we’d be eligible for a gate after we handed in our paperwork on Tuesday morning.
Jamie smiled and only half-jestingly said “Tuesday afternoon?”. So I guess today could be our last day of freedom before we’re on a gate.
And on a related note, there are only two rigs left here in the yard as of this morning, us and another one. The two others headed out to their gates today, so I guess that bodes well for us getting a gate soon.
So we decided to have one last treat, and headed out about 1:30 for dinner and a movie. Or rather, movie and a dinner.
Our first stop was to see Mirror, Mirror, a clever retelling of the classic Grimm Brother’s Snow White, starring Julia Roberts as the evil Queen, who’s also Snow’s step-mother.
The cinematography is amazing and the costumes are fantastic, and the characters are very well done. Jan and I both enjoy the fairytale-based TV shows Grimm and Once Upon A Time, and we enjoyed this movie also.
Recommended.
Leaving the theater, we drove over to San Antonio’s Farmer’s Market to have dinner at another of our long-time favorites, Mi Tierra Café y Panaderia. A favorite Mexican restaurant of ours, we first came here about 30 years ago, and always enjoy it when we get back.
Mi Tierra has been open 24/7 since 1941, starting with a small three table café. And now it is said to be the highest-grossing Mexican restaurant in the United States.
Very colorfully decorated.
I had the Mi Tierra Platter with a beef steak, beef taco, pork tamale, and a cheese enchilada.
And of course, Tres Leches for dessert. (we ate it before I could get a picture of it.)
Heading home, we got back to the rig a little before 7pm. Really looking forward to our trip to Corpus tomorrow morning.
Brandi sent over this video Landon in the tub making animal sounds as she talks to him.
Landon in Tub
April 9, 2013
Don’t You Feel Safer Now!
After getting the coffee started, Jan and I headed out about 9:30 for a mile walk. We’ve started using RunKeeper, a free Android/iPhone app that tracks our time walked, distance walked, and calories burned.
It even tracks your route using Google Maps and keeps a history of every walk/run.
Getting back to the rig, we had coffee and I spent some time catching up on email and blogs. About noon, a nice lady from the park office showed up with a package from Amazon.
Jan got some replacement earring backs and I got a new holster for the knife I carry on my belt. The old one has gotten kind of frayed and the Velcro is so worn that the flap doesn’t stay closed very well.
So I ordered this Nite Ize Tool Holster from Amazon.
It’s expandable and fits knives and tools of many different sizes. And it’s very easy to pull and replace the knife even when it’s on my belt.
I’ve carried this CRKT 6813 Combo Edge Knife a number of years now and it’s held up very well. It stays sharp and cuts or saws through just about anything.
About 1pm, after dropping off the garbage at the park dumpsters, I drove right next door to the convenience store to get some lottery tickets and a can of beer. Not for drinking though, but to make our own Borracho (drunken) Beans. When we were back in Texas, we would buy canned Borracho Beans from HEB, but haven’t been able to find them out here. So we’ll just make our own.
Around 4:30 Jan heated up our leftover Grimaldi’s pizza from last Thursday. And we both said that it was hard to believe that this reheated 5 day old pizza was pretty much better than any other pizza hot out of the oven. Just saying.
Well, here we go again.
The Senate is suppose to start debating the ‘‘Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act of 2013’’ very soon now. This is the ‘Universal Background Check’ that many people are in favor of.
Here are a few ‘highlights’ of the Bill.
- Take an unloaded rifle to a friend’s house, for instance, because the friend is thinking of buying a gun and wants to learn more about guns. The friend handles the rifle for a few minutes before handing it back. You’ve both committed a Federal Felony.
- Lend your gun to your niece, who takes it on a camping trip for the weekend. You’ve committed a Federal Felony.
- You live on a farm and occasionally take friends or relatives out to a safe area to target shoot using your guns. You’ve committed a Federal Felony.
- You loan a rifle to your brother-in-law so he can go target shooting. You’ve committed a Federal Felony.
Here’s an article from National Review Online by David Kopel, Constitutional Law Professor at Denver University
Turning Gun Owners into Felons
A new bill would make it a crime to “transfer” your gun to a spouse for more than seven days.
By Dave KopelPublic-opinion polls about “universal background checks” for gun sales show widespread support. While President Obama and Mayor Bloomberg talk about “gun sales,” the actual legislation moving through Congress aims to regulate far more than sales. It would turn almost every gun owner into a felon. The trick is that the language under consideration applies not only to sales but also to “transfers,” which are defined to include innocent activities such as letting your spouse borrow your gun for a few hours.
Consider, for example, Senate bill S.649, which the Senate will soon take up for debate. The background-check portion of the bill, Charles Schumer’s “Fix Gun Checks Act,” is based on model language that the Bloomberg gun-control lobby is pushing all over the country.
To see how the Bloomberg bill makes felons of people who do not sell guns, consider a woman who buys a rifle when she is 25 years old. She keeps the rifle her entire life. Yet over her lifetime, she — like most gun owners — engages in dozens of firearms “transfers.” She brings the unloaded rifle to a friend’s house, for instance, because the friend is thinking of buying a gun and wants to learn more about guns. The friend handles the rifle for a few minutes before handing it back. Another time, the woman lends the gun to her niece, who takes it on a camping trip for the weekend.
While the woman is out of town on a business trip for two weeks, she gives the gun to her husband or her sister. If the woman lives on a farm, she allows all her relatives to take the rifle into the fields for pest and predator control — and sometimes, when friends are visiting, she takes them to a safe place on the farm where they spend an hour or two target shooting, passing her gun back and forth. At other times, she and her friends go target shooting in open spaces of land owned by the National Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management.
Or perhaps the woman is in a same-sex civil union, and she allows her partner to take her gun to a target range one afternoon. Another time, she allows her cousin to borrow the gun for an afternoon of target shooting. If the woman is in the Army Reserve and she is called up for an overseas deployment, she gives the gun to her sister for temporary safekeeping.
One time, she learns that her neighbor is being threatened by an abusive ex-boyfriend, and she lets this woman borrow a gun for several days until she can buy her own gun. And if the woman becomes a firearms-safety instructor, she regularly teaches classes at office parks, in school buildings at nights and on weekends, at gun stores, and so on. Following the standard curriculum of gun-safety classes (such as NRA safety courses), the woman will bring some unloaded guns to the classroom, and under her supervision, students will learn the first steps in how to handle the guns, including how to load and unload them (using dummy ammunition). During the class, the firearms will be “transferred” dozens of times, since students must practice how to hand a gun to someone else safely. As a Boy Scout den mother or 4-H leader, the woman may also transfer her gun to young people dozens of times while instructing them in gun safety.
Under S. 649, every one of the above activities would be a federal felony, subject to precisely the same punishment a person would receive if he had knowingly sold a firearm to a convicted violent felon. S. 649, like other Bloomberg-model bills, has a few exceptions to the ban on transfers, but none of them apply to the situations described above.
You can make a “bona fide gift” (but not a three-hour loan) to certain close family members, not including aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, in-laws, or civil-union partners.
You can let someone else borrow your gun for up to seven days, but only within your home or its curtilage (e.g., the porch or deck).
You cannot lend your gun to someone on any open space you own. And even your husband can’t borrow your gun for more than seven days.
You can share a gun at a shooting range, but only if the shooting range is owned by a corporation — not if it’s on public lands or on your own property.
You can share a gun while out hunting in the field. But back at the hunting camp, you can’t clean someone else’s gun.
This is not “gun control” in the constitutionally legitimate sense: reasonable laws that protect public safety without interfering with the responsible ownership and use of firearms.
— Dave Kopel is an adjunct professor of advanced constitutional law at Denver University, Sturm College of Law, and also research director at the Independence Institute, in Denver.
And here’s the bill itself from the GPO website. -Senate Bill S.649
Of course, the major part of this bill is the fact that EVERY firearm transaction (selling a pistol to your neighbor, for example) will have to be done through a Federal Firearm License holder for which you will have to pay a fee.
One kink in this idea is a report that some FFL’s are being told by their insurance companies that their company liability insurance will not cover these transactions. And their lawyers are also recommending that they not process these transactions due to the possible liability in case something happens using a gun they transferred.
Don’t you feel safer now.
April 9, 2014
Maybe, just maybe . . .
After our long, busy day yesterday, it was nice to sleep in this morning and then enjoy our coffee and a Cranberry Nut muffin from Buc-ee’s. It got down in the 40’s here last night so it was very nice for sleeping, and it looks like it’ll be nice for the next several days.
* * * *
One thing we found out at Brandi’s yesterday, was the result of Landon’s recent allergy tests.
Up top you can see some reaction to various grasses and pollens.
But the significant one is the lower left. Brandi and Lowell knew Landon had a peanut allergy, but tests showed he’s allergic to ALL nuts, except almonds. And his nut allergy has the chance to be VERY dangerous. So he’ll have to be careful. He also has an allergic reaction to raw eggs, but cooked eggs are OK.
The other thing I noticed about this photo is how broad-shouldered Landon is. Most kids his age are pretty much straight as a board from waist to shoulders. I see an OU linebacker position in his future.
* * * *
Later, I got back on the phone with American Coach to try and track down my missing shear pin. We went between his docs and some of the manuals I have from Power Gear. Finally, after about 45 minutes I think we found it.
Going back and forth between Power Gear’s manuals, I thought I’d tracked it down to being an 18-1034 coil pin, but when I tried American Coach parts, they had no record of that number. But they did list the other Power Gear numbers that I had ordered before, like 18-1038 and 18-1036, but no 18-1034.
But finally following up some info that John at American gave me, I was able to find a cross-listing between the Power Gear 18-1034 number and an American Coach number, which was #535919.
Eureka! Maybe.
So my next call was back to American Coach Parts, and they were able to locate the pin using that number. And under that number it is listed as a coil pin of what seems to be the correct size. But there was no Power Gear number associated with it. Which is why I couldn’t locate it using that number.
The only downside was that they didn’t have any in stock and it would take about two weeks to get them in. So just to be safe, I ordered 3.
Hopefully they will be in before we leave the area.
A little later I was up on the roof installing the new Fantastic Vent fan motor that I picked up yesterday.
Everything went pretty smoothly with no real problems. I won’t rehash the install. You can read about other a couple of weeks ago here. Fantastic Vent Fan motor replacement
I did put a strip of Eternabond tape on the 6 inch crack in the other Maxx Air fan cover that I discovered last time, so that’s done.
* * * *
About 6 pm Jan and I headed out for dinner with two couples that are parked near us.
The closest couple is Garland and Valencia Scott. He’s a 30 year veteran cop and Valencia worked for Chevron. The other couple is Gordon and Merlyn Pendergast. He worked for SYSCO Foods, and I missed where his wife worked. They’re originally from Jamaica, and still have some of that lilting accent. The other neat thing is that they’ve only been retired for a week. Real newbies!
Unfortunately, both couples are heading out tomorrow morning, so we’ll have to catch up with them down the road.
* * * *
If I’m really lucky tomorrow will be a do-absolutely-nothing day.
I can hope, can’t I
April 9, 2015
It’s Like Déjà vu All Over Again . . .
We had planned to drive up to Jerome today but Jan was a little under the weather so we put off the trip until maybe tomorrow. So we’ll see.
Later in the afternoon I was back outside working on my magnetic shades. Today I wanted to glue the corner pouches on the shades that I will use to lift the shades into place.
Then, about 4pm Jan and I headed over to our favorite local Mexican place, La Fonda
If you check out the reviews on Yelp, they’re kind of mixed. People either love it or hate it. But we’ve always enjoyed it, and today was no exception.
I had the #3 Special Dinner,
while Jan had the Chile Relleno Special Dinner.
Both really good.
Even better, for a Mexican Restaurant, the chips and salsa were both excellent too.
While we were at La Fonda, I noticed that I had received a phone call earlier in the afternoon that I had missed. I didn’t recognize the number except it was an 907 Alaskan area code. Googling the number, I found that the caller was the Material Girl Fabric Shop in Fairbanks AK.
When I told Jan this, she immediately said, “I bought quilting material from them”. That was in 2008 when we spent five months up there from April through September. So curious, I called them back. The lady laughed and said she guessed it was a wrong number. She said she had 4 Jan White’s in her contacts, and just called the first one oh her list. I guess it’s always something.
Before coming home, we drove down around the Camp Verde area to check things out around there, and confirm that Crusty’s Pizza, an Italian restaurant we enjoyed in the past, is still open.
Thought I’d post this photo on how tight our site is, complete with the aforementioned sharp, pointy trees.
Later this evening, I was going through the blog posts from our last visit here in April 2011 and discovered, that in one of those weird coincidences, April 9th, 2011, 4 years ago today, Jan and I ate dinner at here at La Fonda And even weirder, I ordered the exact same Special Dinner.
When we were here 4 years ago, it was even colder than it now, with temps in the 20’s rather than the 33 degrees we had last night, and there was snow on the cars in the area.
Glad it’s a little warmer now.
April 9, 2016
In Your Pocket . . .
I had hoped to have some information on the armrest fuse box on Barbara’s 2001 National Seaview by today, but no luck.
As I said yesterday, this is the way the guy who installed Barbara’s running lights did things. He got power for the lights by pulling a fuse, put the wire down in the socket, and then plugging the fuse back in.
![Barb's Fuse Panel_thumb[3]](https://ourrvadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Barbs-Fuse-Panel_thumb3.png "Barb's Fuse Panel_thumb[3]")
Then he just put the cover back on, leaving the wires and the switch hanging out loose.
And Barbara wonders why her left turn signal AND her running light no longer work. But to have a chance of tracking down the problem, I really need the layout of the fuse panel. And so far I’ve come up empty.
I posted a cry for help on RV.net and IRV2.net, as well as Ed Hurlburt’s RV Tips group on Facebook. But although I got some suggestions, nothing panned out. So I’ll keep looking.
Since we’re leaving tomorrow for Lake Conroe, I told Barbara that I was going to keep researching things, and hopefully would have something when we come back here in two weeks. Told her I might even try driving around the Lake Conroe TT looking for another Seaview.
Hey, I’m getting desperate here.
Well, after a couple of days of XLTE and almost 50 Mbps data, I’m still back stuck at 3G and 3 Mbps. At least before, I did have 4G here, but since the ‘upgrade’ and the initial burst of speed, we’ve been hung up at 3G. Hopefully it’ll be fixed permanently when we get back here in two weeks.
I’ve come across another neat app called Pocket that works across your PC, Smartphones, and Tablets, in the same vein as Dropbox or Evernote. It allows you to save a complete webpage with just a click.
After setting up your free account, and installing the program on all your devices, you then can install the ‘bookmarklet’ in the Bookmarks Bar at the top of your browser.
![Pocket Icon_thumb[6]](https://ourrvadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Pocket-Icon_thumb6.png "Pocket Icon_thumb[6]"){kind=icon}
Then when you want to save a web page, you just click the Pocket button on the bar, and Bazinga, the complete page is saved to your account. And it looks like this.
![Pocket Screen_thumb[1]](https://ourrvadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Pocket-Screen_thumb1.png "Pocket Screen_thumb[1]")
You can also save pages via email by emailing the page link to your account using the address [email protected]. Since it comes from your email address, the page gets saved to your account.
One thing to note, is that what is saved is the complete page, so it can be read offline. And everything is saved, photos, links, and text.
Check it out.
April 9, 2017
The Shimmy Shake . . .
Jan and I have both been kind of under the weather for the last few days, Jan more so than me.
Not serious, but more like just ‘blah’. Plus I’ve one of those ‘tickle’ coughs for the last week or so. I never cough anything up, and I’m not congested or stopped up. Nor is my nose running. And strangely, even the cough seems kind of psychosomatic.
I’ll be doing something and suddenly think,”I haven’t coughed in awhile”, and within a few seconds, I’ve got to cough. I took an allergy pill a couple of times, but it seeming had no effect.
And it’s not helping that Las Vegas has even less humidity than Tucson or Apache Junction, and because I tend to sleep with my mouth open, I wake up several times a night with my mouth so dry it cracks when I try close it. So I have to keep a bottle of water by the bed.
Since we didn’t go out anywhere today, my one job was to shimmy under the rig to hook up the sewer connection. The reason?
This is a really strange site.
Note how we’re parked, at a different angle than the RV to our left. That’s because the site is not quite long enough for us. But it was all they had left when we got here. In addition, the power/water pedestal for our site and the one to our left is directly behind us. But if we parked that way the site would be too short for us to fit without sticking out in the street a bit.
Plus we were told to park our truck right across from our site.
Well I see a problem with that.
So my solution was to park to the right of the pedestal. But if I went right just enough to miss the pedestal, my wheels would be sitting ON the sewer connection. Not very helpful.
So I moved even further right which meant the connection was between the rear wheels. Hence, the ‘shimmy’ thing.
The TV show ‘Elementary’ is one of Jan and my favorite science-fiction shows. It’s about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in modern New York City. But this time Dr. Watson is a woman, Joan, not John, as in the Doyle books.
Well, last night we got to watch the pilot episode, one we’d never seen before, and it was interesting to what actors didn’t make the cut when it finally went to series.
In another of our favorite shows, ‘The Big Bang Theory’, the original pilot was never aired, and then the show was completely revamped. You can check out some of it here.
https://ourrvadventures.com/unaired-big-bang-theory-pilot/
Sheldon and Leonard are played by the same actors, but Penny was a completely different actress. And Sheldon’s character was nothing like what it is now.
A good thing they revamped it.
Oh, you don’t think ‘Elementary’ is a science-fiction show? Then explain how you’ve got a British ‘Consulting Detective’ working with the police who has a companion named Dr. Watson. In additional, he plays the violin, and has been on drugs. All this, and not once in any episode in 5 years, has anyone ever mentioned how this is exactly like the Sherlock Holmes books.
This can only mean that the TV show takes place in an alternate universe, one where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never wrote the Sherlock Holmes books.
And if an alternate universe doesn’t make a science-fiction show, I don’t know what does.
April 9, 2018
My First Love . . .
Well, besides Jan, of course.
I may have made a mistake at work today. My client found out that I can ‘fix’ things. Well, things other than computers. Things like electronic devices and doodads
When I went in the back to ask him a question, I found him trying to check the output of a power transformer . . . with his meter set to DC. And before I knew it I was elbows deep in an epilator (electrolysis) machine trying to figure out what was wrong with it.
It did take me a few minutes to trace out the circuit and find a broken wire up inside the unit on the back of a socket where one of the circuit boards plugs in.
With that one done, he set another one down in front of me and said, “Try this one.” And it short order I’d gone through 6 machines. Thinking I was about done, I ask him if he had any more. He beckoned me to follow him into another back room. It was filled with dead machines.
I want more money.
Of course with me and electronics it’s like throwing Brer Rabbit in the Briar Patch. Or to mix metaphors, I’m in Hog Heaven. I started playing around with radios and electronics when I was about 10, devouring every issue of Popular Electronics, Electronics Illustrated, Radio-Electronics, and others. Plus ordering parts from Allied, Lafayette, Burstein-Applebee, etc., as often as I could afford it.
By the time I was about 14 or so, I was repairing neighbor’s radios and TV’s in my garage shop. I think I wore out the tube tester at the drugstore. CB radio, Ham radio, I was in to anything and everything electronics. And now look where it got me.
I want more money.
This past Saturday we made another visit to Plucker’s, our new favorite chicken wing place. This time we went earlier so we didn’t have a wait.
Jan got a Garden Salad,
and a order of 5 wings with their Ginger Peach Sriracha sauce.
I had the Grilled Chicken Salad,
and Jan gave me one of her wings.
I just wish they had hotter sauces. Their hottest, Fire In The Hole, is not nearly as hot as Buffalo Wild Wings Blazin’ sauce. And the Ginger Peach Sriracha is not as hot as BWW’s Mango Habanero, my favorite there.
But it’s all good.
They do have a challenge that if you eat 25 Fire In The Hole wings, you get your name up on the wall. Well, I can handle the sauce just fine, but there’s no way I can eat 25 wings.
So I guess I’m just doomed to obscurity.
I mentioned the other day that we were going to take the rig out for a little test drive this weekend to be sure everything is working OK since we’ve been parked here for 5 months now.
Well, tomorrow I thought I’d do a pre-test test by starting up the engine and letting it come up on the airbags just so we don’t have any surprises later.
Then tomorrow afternoon we’re meeting Rudy and Caroline Leggett at the Monterey’s up in Pasadena for lunch. Really looking forward to it.
April 9, 2019
It’s A Done Deal . . .
After a lot of back and forth we were finally able to get everything lined up to give us an extra 3 days in London, with us now flying home on the 26th of May instead of the 23rd.
This will let us add a couple of extra tours, like one of Henry VIIII’s Hampton Court, and also one of Dr. Who episode filming locations.
Jan’s always been fascinated with Henry the VIII’s life, and I’m related to Catherine Parr, his sixth and last wife. My father’s mother was born in England, and could trace her line back to Sir Thomas Parr, which also makes me a descendent of King Edward III.
So please bow the next time you see me.
We spent some time this morning ordering some more items for our trip, magnetic hooks for the cabin walls to hang things from. and a couple of travel adapters for powering things.
Between trying to get our London extension nailed down, and working to check off some items that I want to get done before our trip, I never got a chance to put a call into Cummins on my oil leak problem.
On our trip this past weekend we hit 88,000 miles that we’ve put on the coach since we picked it up February 6, 2008, and that gives us about 152,600 total miles on the coach. Just getting broken in.
Several readers commented on my choice of ExpressVPN over NordVPN. FWIIW both were on my short list, but the consensus online seems to be that ExpressVPN has the edge in Europe, probably due to having a lot more servers over there.
April 9, 2021
An Alvin Opry House Night . . .
More tomorrow night about tonight’s Opry show, but I did want to mention one of the hits of this evening.
This is 5 year old Blair Kudelka. (Love her little high heels!)
This was her first time to perform on stage, and you would swear she’d been doing it for all five years of her life.
She sang Dolly Parton’s ‘Coat of Many Colors’ and ‘May The Circle Be Unbroken’.
She didn’t seem to have a problem with stage fright, and never missed a cue.
She’s really something.
April 9, 2022
And Poof!, Now It’s Gone . . .
or The Wait Is Over.
Catching up on last night:
We got to the Alvin Opry about 6:15pm, luckily just ahead of the big crowd, so we only had to wait in line a few minutes to get our included jumbo BBQ sandwich, chips, and drink, as well as a dessert we bought extra.
The sandwich was really good, as well as the homemade dessert.
And by the time we were finished with our meal, the BBQ line was wrapping around the dance floor.
Turns out that the line was so long that by the time everyone was served and seated, it was finally about 7:15 before the show started.
And this was the reason for the slowdown.
The largest crowd we’ve ever seen here.
And as usual, Shalane Colston, the Event Coordinator, and long-time friend, always goes all out on the table decorations.
A great show, with both old and new talent.
And because it started late, it was after 11:30 when we got home.
And now for today:
Leaving the rig about 12:30, we had planned to check out the Three Acre Food Park out on FM 1764 where they were having a Market Fair with about 30 vendors as well as a number of food trucks for lunch. BUT . . .
There’s always a BUT.
We decided to double-check to see if the new Pho Barr down in our area had opened by any chance.
It was suppose to open last Saturday, but ended up having to wait for their final inspection. And they weren’t open yesterday afternoon either.
BUT . . . there’s that word again.
They were open this afternoon, and so that’s where we had lunch, of course.
Just as good as the one up in Webster, and very nicely remodeled.
We used to eat here a lot when it was Pho20. But it didn’t survive the WuFlu shutdowns.
So it’s nice to have a good Pho place in our area again.
So The Wait Is Over.
Finishing it up it was right down the road for a few things from the nearby HEB.
And Poof!, Now It’s Gone.
i mentioned a few days about the faux Buc-ee’s that appeared out in Marathon, TX in the Big Bend area.
I also found out that a while back, there was a Target for a while in this same location.
Who knows what will be next?
Tomorrow we’re heading to the Katy area to meet up for lunch with Brandi, Lowell, and Landon at their favorite place, Pho Barr, of course. And yes, that means we’ll be having Pho Barr two days in a row.
What’s your point?
