After getting our eyes checked and new prescriptions this past Saturday, tomorrow, after lunch at Torchy’s Tacos, we’re going to check out Sam’s/Wal-Mart for new glasses. Then we’ll stop by Kroger’s for a few Kroger’s-only things before heading home.
I’m going to be really picky about my glasses this time. Last time, 5 years ago, we were in a rush leaving for an RV trip and I had to pick from the frames they had in stock. And I’ve never been happy with them.
Besides the fit, the lenses will often pop out just from laying them down a little hard. They kept trying to fix them but were never really successful.
So, Picky.
Turns out that the Artist Gene runs on both sides of Landon’s family. Sabey, Lowell’s niece, (so Landon’s cousin) has a business doing artwork on store windows.
Really talented.
Not sure if we’re going to do the Wing Over Houston Airshow this October, but they’re having a JetCar this year, which is going to be racing an airplane.
More Here.
Thought for the Day:
In 1969, we built the C-5A, a transport plane whose cargo bay was large enough to accommodate the entire first flight of the Wright brothers only 66 years before.
And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™
July 26, 2009
Weeerrreee Baacckk!
Today Jan and I just rested up from our week-long fling in New York with Brandi and Piper.
We put them on the plane in Philadelphia yesterday afternoon and they arrived safely back in Houston last night.
About noon, Jan and I drove over to Middletown to get more ‘stuff’ at Walmart and Sam’s, and have lunch at Cosimo’s again.
Tomorrow, Jan and I will travel back into New York one last time to visit the Empire State Building and have lunch at Junior’s again.
We didn’t go with Brandi and Piper when they went because it was pouring down and Jan didn’t want to traipse over there in the wind and rain.
So tomorrow, it’s our turn.
July 26, 2011
What do you see in this picture?
We headed out on our overnight trip this morning, leaving a little after 8 am. Our first stop was Peter’s Coffee in downtown Cody for coffee and a breakfast roll, then a quick stop on the way out of town for gas.
Very quickly we were back in the same beautiful vistas we saw last Friday when we did Yellowstone with our friends Al and Adrienne. But it’s hard to get too much of these views.
Although we were heading for Jackson, WY and Grand Teton National Park, we decided to backtrack up past Old Faithful to see the Paint Pots and some of the other geysers.
As we came back by the same place we saw the grizzly last week we slowed down to check things out. Unfortunately, no grizzly, but right down the road we did see this female elk out in the brush.
Our first stop in Yellowstone was the Fountain Paint Pot area. There is a boardwalk that makes a 1/2 loop out and back so it’s an easy walk.
It’s really hard to describe the Paint Pots. Some of it looks like the surface of the moon.
Some of it looks like the bowels of Hades.
Some of it is very beautiful.
And some of it looks like all three.
But however you want to describe it, it’s not to be missed.
Our next stop was right down the road at the Midway Geyser Basin. A bridge from the parking lot takes you across the Firehole River ( apt name, don’t you think.) and out into the Basin.
The runoff from the geysers flows into the river and keeps it warm. In fact warm enough to be comfortable for swimming when there’s snow on the ground in the dead of winter.
I’ll let the rest of the photos tell the story.
By this time it was about 1 pm and we were getting hungry. So heading back to Old Faithful Village we decided to have lunch at the Old Faithful Inn where we ate last Friday. We didn’t have the buffet this time, but we definitely wanted some more of the bison chili. In fact we split a BLT (Well, Jan had a BT because she doesn’t like lettuce on sandwiches. Salads yes, sandwiches, no.) so we would have room for the chili.
Leaving Old Faithful and heading south once again we came across another female elk. So we’re two for two on elk today.
Down the road a ways we stopped to check out Lewis Falls, a very pretty sight.
As we finally got into Grand Teton National Park we started paralleling Jackson Lake that runs for about 20 miles along the roadway.
What do you see in the middle of this picture? I’ll bet you don’t see two large bull moose.
But they’re there.
Jan’s Holy Grail!
What she’s been looking for since we hit the road for this year this past February.
What we made a special trip down to Grand Teton National Park for when she heard there might be some down here.
We were able to get as close as about 50 feet since they were in heavy brush. There was a Ranger there keeping everyone from getting too close. Otherwise SOME people would have been trying to pet them.
We watched them for about 20 minutes before they disappeared deeper into the brush and we lost sight of them.
Jan said this made the whole trip worthwhile.
Hey, if she’s happy, I’m happy.
Getting closer to Jackson we came across this group of bison who had knocked down the fence and were almost out into the highway.
There was a Ranger there too, keeping people back.
Man, these Rangers are real party-poopers.
Arriving in Jackson a little after 6 pm and getting safely ensconced in our Motel 6 room, (very nice, by the way) we heading out to get some dinner.
We had noticed a place called Bubba’s BBQ on the way in and decided to give it a try.
It was easy to see why we had to wait 20 minutes for a table. Boy, was it good.
So good, in fact, we’re going back for breakfast.
July 26, 2013
Last Day in The Soo . . .
First up, some follow-up info on yesterday’s visit to Mackinac Island.
Since there are no private motor vehicles allowed on the island, horses (and bikes) are everywhere, and their by-products, of course.
According to our carriage tour guide, there are about 550 horses on the island at any one time. Contrast this with there being only about 500 full-time residents. Another interesting fact is that for those 500 residents, there is only one doctor. But the 550 horses had THREE veterinarians. Shows you who’s the most important there.
Plus the fact that the horses don’t even have to spend the winter on the island. At the end of the season they all get a ferry ride to the mainland and then spend the winter on a 2000 acre horse farm up near Pickford, MI, which is about half way between St. Ignace and Sault Ste. Marie. Must be nice.
Due to the Lake Snow Effect, supposedly Mackinac Island gets about 40 feet of snow a season. Seems like a lot. I guess I wouldn’t want to spend the winter there either.
They have three main breeds of horses: Percherons, Belgians, and a Percheron/Belgian cross, called a Bay. In the photo below, the two black horses are Percherons, and the brown one is a Bay.
Someone asked our tour guide why they don’t use Clydesdale’s. Our guide said that Clydesdales are really show horses, and their ankles are really too weak to work as real draft horses, and said it would take 4 or more Clydesdales to pull the same weight as two Percherons.
She then said “That’s why they use them to haul “light’ beer.
Ba-Rump-Bump
We woke up this morning to heavily-overcast skies and the promise of later rain.
Oh Boy!
Sure glad we didn’t wait until today to visit Mackinaw Island.
About 3pm Jan and I headed out for Wal-Mart and dinner at China Cate, the Chinese restaurant we ate at last Saturday, right after we got here.
It started a light rain as we left the rig, but while we were in Wal-Mart the bottom fell out. We could hear the rain coming down heavy on the roof. And then my pocket started going “BEEEEEP BEEEEEP BEEEEEP BEEEEEP!”
And then I could hear other alarms faintly all around me.
Turns out it was a weather alert coming in on everyone’s phone. A tornado had been spotted somewhere west of us, over around Newberry, and was supposedly headed our way. All during this the rain just came down harder. It had slacked off somewhat by the time we had finished at Wal-Mart, but we still had to make a run to the truck.
We were sure glad to get some of that Hot & Sour Soup into us. And as before our meal was really good, approaching that of our fabled King Food back home.
By the time we got home the rain had pretty much slacked off, hopefully for the rest of the night. Otherwise we may have trouble getting out of here tomorrow.
We’re parked on grass and headed downhill so we’ll have to back out of here. We’ll see how it goes.
Tomorrow we’re heading south about 220 miles to spend one night at the Little Rivers Casino near Manistee, MI, before heading on to Elkhart, IN on Sunday.
July 26, 2014
Lego my Queso . . .
Since it’s supposed to rain tomorrow, we all headed out about 1pm to the Caesar Creek Flea Market right down the road. With almost 160,000 sq. ft. of indoor space, it’s one of the largest flea markets in the Midwest.
In addition, they’ve got over 500 outside vendor spaces too, selling your more typical flea market stuff, used bikes, dishes, crafts, and old tools.
The inside vendors are more like your typical stores, with new merchandise, as well as antiques.
They did have one area set up with a very large Lego exhibit, showing what can be done with these little blocks.
We spent about an hour checking out the outside vendors first, as a number of them were starting to pack up due to the heat, and incoming T-storms.
Then it was inside to the nice, cool AC, and row after row of pretty much everything from tires to ATV’s to old books. It took us another couple of hours to check out all the inside vendors. But after all that the only one of us that bought anything was Jan, who bought some small cars for Landon. But we had a good time even so.
Leaving the flea market and heading into Wilmington proper, we stopped by the Post Office to mail some letters before deciding on El Dorado Mexican Restaurant for dinner.
The lady that cut Jan’s hair the other day said it was really good and Yelp gave it 4-1/2 stars so we thought we’d give it a chance. And we’re glad we did.
Everyone was really happy with what they had.
Jan had the Pollo Loco platter.
And I had the Chili Verde. My Verde (green) sauce was really good, and really spicy.
Even the chips and salsa, and the cheese dip were excellent.
FYI Here up north they call it ‘cheese dip’. In Texas we call it Queso. But if they take their ‘cheese dip’ and put meat in it (usually chorizo), then it suddenly becomes Queso Fundido. Which is the same thing we call that in Texas.
We’ll go back.
Our daughter Brandi sent over this photo of a friend’s two kids that came over to play with Landon. The photo’s not too good because there was too much light from the windows behind them. But I thought it was hilarious how they’re playing together. Look what’s propped up in from of them.
Tomorrow looks to be a stay-home day with some really bad weather rolling through, leading to our next cool front Monday and Tuesday with highs in low 70’s and lows in the low 50’s for two or three days. Nice.
July 26, 2015
Make Up Your Mind . . .
When we first got here last Sunday, I was happy to see 3 bars of 3G on my Verizon air card. But, unfortunately, it was not to last.
A couple of days later, I was crawling along the Internet with 1 bar of 1X. I didn’t realize there still was 1X around. But since it is, the hills of Tennessee is probably the place for it.
Do I hear banjos?
I’m not sure what Verizon is doing around here, but my signal is all over the place. Right now, a little before midnight, I have 4 bars of 3G. While 30 minutes ago, I had 1 bar of 1X again.
Make up your mind. Find a speed and stick to it.
For dinner tonight Jan whipped up one of her great Taco Salads, using ground beef she cooked earlier, and then vacuum-sealed and froze.
What she usually does is buy one of those big packs of ground beef and then take the electric skillet outside and cook it all up, That way it’s always available for a quick meal, and it doesn’t smell up the rig.
Tomorrow looks to be another movie/dinner/shopping trip
First up is the Minion’s movie at the same theater we saw Jurassic World this past Friday. Jan and I both enjoyed the two Despicable Me movies, and the Minions turned out to be the breakout stars, so now they get their own movie.
Next up is a return visit to The Bar-B-Q Shop. We first ate here in 2010 and really enjoyed it, but since then we’ve always come through Memphis on a day when it’s closed. So we’re really looking forward to eating there again tomorrow.
But even better, just a couple of months ago the Food Network did a series on the Top Five Restaurants in the US in six different categories: burgers, steak, pizza, tacos, barbecue and ice cream. And we were really surprised to see the one on the Top Five BBQ Restaurants in the US .
As it turns out, we’ve eaten at two of them, and will check out the 3rd next month.
Killen’s Barbecue
3613 E Broadway St, Pearland, TX 77581
The Bar-B-Q Shop
1782 Madison Ave, Memphis, TN 38104
Skylight Inn
4618 S Lee St, Ayden, NC 28513
Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q
1715 6th Avenue SE, Decatur, AL 35601
Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que
3002 W 47th St, Kansas City, KS 66103
Of course The Bar-B-Q Shop is on the schedule for tomorrow, and we’ve eaten at Big Bob Gibson’s in Decatur, AL a number of times, and will eat there again next week when we’re visiting relatives in Athens, AL.
Killen’s in Pearland will be on our list for next month when we’re back in Houston. It’s apparently opened in the last couple of years, and it’s been a while since we’ve been over there. But we’ll certainly check it out.
And since we plan on doing the East Coast next year, maybe we’ll able to try the Skylight Inn in Ayden, NC on the way up the coast.
But Joe’s in Kansas City will have to wait until we finally do Kansas, because along with Nebraska, it’s one of the two states we haven’t done yet. But there’s always year after next.
Then coming home tomorrow we’ll probably make another Wal-Mart stop since Jan discovered they still had stuff left after our visit last Friday.
July 26, 2016
Tires and Taco Salad . . .
When I got up this morning, I thought it was still nighttime. It had rain off and on through the night, and was still pretty much black outside when I came out of the bedroom.
And it was 75 degrees. Very nice.
Later in the morning, in between raindrops, I went outside to check the rig’s tire pressures. I had last checked it two months ago right before we left here for Lake Conroe. Normally I check them once a month, but we’ve been parked here for almost 6 weeks so it still works out.
And in checking the pressures, once again I was amazed at how well these Hercules Ironman tires hold air. Each tire was within a pound of 96 pounds. I normally keep them all at 100#, but the last time I measured them at that pressure, it was 95 degrees. So 96# at 75 degrees is just about perfect.
Although a lot of rainy circled all around us, it never rained very heavy for very long. But the nicest part was that the high temperature for the day here was 82 degrees.
Amazing!
For dinner tonight Jan fixed up one of her delicious Taco Salads. She cooked up a pound of ground chuck with some onions, added fresh sliced jalapenos, and along with salad greens, sliced cherry tomatoes, black beans, and shredded cheese, layered it all over a bed of chips and topped it off with Salsa.
Really, really good.
And of course we had some of last night’s Pineapple Angel Food Cake for dessert.
Tomorrow we’ll leave her about 11am for the drive down to the Clear Lake area to have lunch with our son Chris and DIL Linda. And hopefully Miss Piper too.
Then on the way back we’ll probably stop in to say Hi at Brandi, Lowell, and Landon’s for a few minutes.
July 26, 2017
It Really Works!
With a 300+ mile trip in front of us today, we were up about 6:30am and pulling out of our site at Colorado River a little before 9, with our first stop right down the road at the Colorado County Oil Co to fill up with diesel at $2.14 a gallon for 122 gallons.
Jan had followed me in the truck, so we hitched up while we were filling up, and were on our way about 9:30. We would have probably left even earlier, but it’s a fine line between leaving early and leaving so early that we run into Houston traffic since we were going through downtown Houston and out the other side.
But apparently we timed it just fine because we held 60mph all the way through town except for a couple of short slowdowns. Coming out the other side and into Baytown we made a breakfast stop at the Buc-ee’s there.
After stocking up on both breakfast and sweet kolaches and a couple of their great Orange Cranberry muffins we were back on the road with our next planned stop at the rest area as we entered Louisiana.
Since it was under reconstruction last year when we came through, I checked the state website which said it was now open. They were WRONG.
It wasn’t even close. In fact it was completely torn up, but we found a nearby pullout for our potty break.
We took the Breaux Bridge exit and pulled into the Poche’s Fish ‘N Camp RV Park about 4pm. After getting everything set up except for satellite we headed out to have dinner at Pont Breaux (nee Mulate’s).
Under the Mulate’s name, we’ve eaten here for more than 30 years until the family sold it in 2011 after their mother, the founder, died.
Jan got a cup of Seafood Gumbo, and an order of Crab Cakes with Remoulade Sauce,
while I got my usual bowl of Seafood Gumbo
which comes with potato salad and bread.
And of course we couldn’t leave without finishing up with their bread pudding with whiskey sauce, and a cup of Community Club coffee with Chicory.
A great meal.
On the rig AC front, it turns out that my recent air deflector install really worked after all. And it was working the other day too. Or at least it would have if we hadn’t been streaming 95° air right into the coach.
Turns out the dash air vent had popped off the Recirculate setting so just hot air was coming in. Now I always keep those vents turned off on my side anyway, and Jan just had hers on her feet so she really didn’t notice it at the time either.
We did discover the problem on our trip over from Lake Conroe this past Sunday and turned it off, but then the generator stopped when we got too low on diesel, so we never got to see it that was the problem.
But having it turned off today fixed the problem and we were cool the whole way.
Tomorrow we’ve got about a 240 mile run to Theodore, AL, so not quite as long a day.
Nice.
July 26, 2018
An Old House and A New House . . .
I was back at work today, not a normal Thursday for me, but I was helping to cover for my client who was taking some CE courses today and tomorrow.
I did sneak out around 12:30 to meet up with the last scheduled potential buyer who’s looking at the house. Got some nice ideas from him on how to proceed, and he’s going to get back with me with his proposal.
Hopefully we’ll be able to have all the info and make a decision later this weekend.
After I got home about 4:15 Jan and I headed right back out to have dinner at Pho 20 once again, our first visit since we got back from our trip.
I got my usual White Chicken Meat Pho and a couple of Shrimp Spring Rolls.
While Jan had her now-usual Teriyaki Chicken, starting with the House Crunch Salad.
All delicious as usual, and as usual, Sherry, the owner, sent us home with more food than we ordered. While we’re eating, she’s always in the kitchen whipping up some special dishes for us to take home. And she also sent Jan home with a big box of blueberries and half a dozen tomatoes still on the vine.
When I mentioned my new Digital Voltage/Amp Meters,
I forgot to tell you how inexpensive they are at only $17.00 each. A real deal.
Looks like I will be getting a new GPS in the near future. I got my replacement Charger Cord in today, but it didn’t fix the problem. The GPS works just fine on the battery, but it will not run on the 12v charger, which means, I guess, that there is a problem in the internal power circuitry in the unit. So I get a new GPS. Yah!
Brandi, Lowell, and Landon have a new WOW house. At least according to Jan. She always called their old house, a WOW house, and it really was.
They sold that house last December, because they wanted something a little smaller than the almost 4000 sq.ft. one they had, and, more importantly, they wanted a much bigger backyard, big enough for a pool. They have been renting since they sold and had said they were going to start looking for something new in the fall.
But in a surprise announcement, they bought a new home today, and it looks like they got what they wanted . . . in spades.
WOW!
And yes, the present owner really likes RED.
The house is about 1000 sq. ft. smaller than they had before, and they certainly got a larger backyard. At over 11,000 sq.ft., there’s room enough for several pools, not just the one the place comes with.
As it stands right now, and assuming the inspection goes OK, they’ll close on August 31st.
And Brandi’s already invited us to Thanksgiving at the new house. Really looking forward to it.
July 26, 2019
Wash Day Blues . . .
As I mentioned, I have a chore list of stuff to do while Jan is gone, and at the top of the list was to get the dryer working again. It quit right before we left for Europe, and with my recent ‘under the weather’ phase, and the problem at work, I’m just getting around to fixing it.
The reason I was able to let it slip for a while is that the park’s laundry is just two sites away. So I had some breathing room
So the first thing I did was get my washer dolly out of the bays and then pulled the washer out onto it until I could get the top off.
A while back I had configured the hoses so that I could partially remove the washer from the cabinet and get the lid off, since that’s usually where most problems are.
Since everything worked fine except no heat from the dryer, I figured it was the Thermal Overheat Fuse like a couple of times before.
A fuse of the correct temp is no longer available, and the replacements I found on Amazon aren’t quite the right temp rating so they only last a couple of years. But when I checked the fuse it was still good, as was the thermostat also.
But as I looked around I noticed the heater blower motor was loose on the mount, enough to make the motor twist around so that the squirrel cage fan rubbed against the inside of the blower housing, tearing it loose from the motor shaft and damaging the fan itself.
So my first call was to Westland Sales out in Oregon, but I was pretty sure I already knew the answer. And I was right.
A replacement was no longer available, not the first time I’ve heard this on my 20 year old Splendide Washer/Dryer.
A few years ago I had to replace the no-longer-available water pump with one from another make of washer by kluging up a mount for it in a new location with new hoses. But it’s worked for 5 or 6 years with no problems.
So now my Plan B is to check our storage room for my box of Splendide parts. These are parts that I salvaged out of an old 2000 unit when upgraded to a new 2100. But it’s been so long I don’t know if I pulled the blower motor or not. So I’ll see tomorrow.
But if I don’t have a replacement, my Plan C is to repair the squirrel cage and then create a new mount for it on the motor shaft.
So we’ll see how it goes.
My Alexa has a new response. We have an Echo Dot in the bedroom that controls several devices there, including a fan that’s mounted up by the ceiling that she controls. So when I get up, I say, “Alexa, turn the fan off, please”. And after she does it, she says, “OK”. And I, wanting to be polite to our future robot overlords, always say, “Thank you!”
Now, normally Alexa goes silent at this point, but today she said, “You’re Welcome. And have a great Friday!”
Hopefully Alexa will remember my obeisance when they take over.
July 26, 2022
How Long Can You Tread Water?
Somehow I missed this yesterday, but 43 years ago, on July 25, 1979, Tropical Storm Claudette visited Alvin, TX and stayed for a while. And in the next 24 hours dropped 43” of rain on the small town, a U.S. record to this day.
We do it bigger in Texas.
At the time I was working at Johnson Space Center for a NASA contractor on the Space Shuttle, and as was usual for me, I was working the night shift and going into work at 11:30.
FWIW night shift is always my favorite shift for a number of reasons and I try to work it whenever possible.
1. It usually pays more, with a shift differential.
2. It’s easier finding a parking space.
3. It’s cooler here in Texas.
4. No bosses hovering around so you can actually get some work done.
So a little before 11pm I headed into work in our 1970 AMC Ambassador Station Wagon like this.
We bought it when were traveling around the country to different military bases while I was working for the DOD. It was our first new car and was set up with the heavy-duty suspension, the towing package and lift bags in the rear springs. It was also our first car with AC.
And it rode pretty high.
Anyway, it had been raining all day at our house, and as I backed down our driveway, the water was almost up over the curb, but the center of the road was open so I didn’t expect any problems. At least until I got to the end of the block and turned onto the main street leaving the subdivision.
Then looking through the rain coming down, and at the far end of my headlights, I could see some sort of wall out there.
And it was getting closer.
I quickly realized it was actually a 2+ high foot wave of water sweeping through our subdivision. Knowing I didn’t have time to turn around, I put the car in reverse and backed up down the street and into our driveway. And though some of the water spread out down our way, most of it stayed out on the main street, flooding a lot of the lower elevation houses.
In our case, when we picked out our house, I picked the one with the highest elevation that I could find. And it stood us in good stead. With all the rain over the next hours, the water only got about halfway up our yard. Unlike a number of our less-fortunate neighbors.
Getting back in the house, I called work and told Bob Squires I wasn’t going to be able to make it in to work tonight. He laughed and said that it was OK. They already knew they weren’t going to be able to get home either.
Jan and I left the rig a little after noon, on our way up to Webster for my Physical Therapy session at the Houston Physicians’ Hospital, the same place I had my Cervical Spine Fusion back last November. We should have had plenty of time to make my 1pm appointment, but a bad wreck on I-45 had traffic backed up for 3 miles. So instead of getting there about 20 minutes early, I was about 5 minutes late. But I had called to let them know, so they took me in as soon as I got there.
Well, as soon as they got my $20 co-pay.
We went through the 8 exercises that I had been doing, and then Jennifer gave me a couple of more that I will do standing.
When I got there, someone was already on the elliptical exercise bike, so Jennifer said I would do it at the end after we were done.
I had already told her about not wanting to do a full 10 minutes on it like last time and she said no problem.
So I just did 5 minutes this time. And I don’t know if it was the fact that I only did 5 minutes, or that the exercises I’ve been doing for the last week are showing some improvement, but I wasn’t wiped out like last time.
Finished up, we drove over to the nearby Snooze AM for lunch/breakfast.
Jan got her usual fave, the Bravocado Toast.
I went with something I’ve had before, but not in a good while, the Shrimp and Grits.
Cheesy Grits, with Sautéed Shrimp, Andouille sausage, a spicy soffrito sauce, and topped with a sunny-side-up egg.
And as usual, we shared an order of their Maple Bacon.
A great meal as usual.
Our next stop was at Kroger to pick up a prescription for Jan, but there was a sign on the window saying their system? was down, and to check back in an hour. That’s what tomorrow is for.
Our next, and last stop, was at the Costco for a few things, and then it was home for the afternoon.
Another nice day.
