Jan and I were on our way over to Spring Creek BBQ about 12:30 for the second leg of our weekend BBQ Tour.
Jan got the Rib Plate with Beans and Beans (Green and BBQ),
while I had a Two Meat Platter, Ribs and Cracked Black Pepper Sausage, and also with Beans and Beans.
Along with these. we also shared a basket of the Fried Okra.
Finishing up, we made a quick Wal-Mat stop to pick more rubber ducks.
Why, you say?
Well,
Never Let It Be Said . . .
that Jan and I don’t have all our ducks in a row.
We noticed a while back that a lot of Jeeps have ducks lined up on their dash. So, since we had one lone duck that somebody gave us, I stuck it to our Jeep dash. It’s the littlest one in the above photo.
Then yesterday while we were in Wal-Mart, there was a charity table selling snacks, and they had a big bowl of rubber ducks in different color and costumes. So, since ours was looking lonely, we added six more.
As to why Jeep owners put ducks on their dashes, well, take your pick.
Some lady started it.
It was supposed to brighten someone’s day.
It’s a way to say Hi to other Jeep owners
If the Jeep drives into a river, they act as little floaties.
Probably more duckies to come.
Thought For The Day:
I used to wonder what it would be like to read other people’s minds. Then I got on Facebook and …
Never mind.
Your Retro-Preview Highlights –
2010 – Palo Duro Canyon
2013 – Village Of The Trees Park
2017 – Ree Drummond’s Mercantile
2023 – The Chicken Ranch (Yes, that one.)
And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™
June 16, 2009
Great BBQ and Goodbye…
Today is our last full day in the Savannah area. Actually, yesterday should have been our last day, but we decided to stay over an extra day to eat at a place we heard about on the radio, Wiley’s Championship BBQ.
While driving around last Saturday, we were listening to a radio show about BBQ and they were talking to a guy named Wiley McCrary.
He talked about traveling around the country and competing on the Championship BBQ circuit.
I didn’t realize there WAS a Championship BBQ circuit.
But apparently there is a large group of people that compete in contests for money and prizes all over the country, just like golf or tennis.
And Wiley McCrary was one of the top guys in the country. And now he has a small BBQ place just outside Savannah. It only has about 8 tables, but he does a lot of takeout business and party catering.
And the BBQ was some of the best we’ve ever had. Jan had the pulled pork platter with potato salad and BBQ beans, and I had the rib platter with BBQ beans and sweet potato casserole, and then we shared the different dishes.
For dessert, we shared the Bread Pudding with Pecan Praline Bourbon Sauce. And let me tell you, there was definitely bourbon in the bourbon sauce.
All in all, another great meal here in Savannah.
Tomorrow we head about 85 miles north to an RV park just outside Charleston, SC. We’ll be there for 3 or 4 days checking the place out.
June 16, 2010
Amarillo By Morning…
Speaking of that, here’s a little musical interlude – Amarillo By Morning by George Strait
First – This announcement::
My daughter has instructed me to tell you that, when I said the other day that it would be a “boring six weeks”, that this did not include her, or anything to do with her wedding next Monday.
She also said to tell you that she is not boring.
Hopefully, this will get me out of the doghouse. I just want to remind her that I hugged her first.
We left the coach about 11:30 am heading for the nearest Kohl’s.
We were going to Kohl’s so that Jan could find a pair of sandals for Brandi’s wedding, and luckily she found just what she wanted.
Leaving Kohl’s we headed down the street to have lunch at a Jason’s Deli we saw on our way there. We have always liked Jason’s and it’s the first one we’ve seen since we left Texas this past February. Jan had her favorite Turkey Muffuletta with Broccoli Cheese Soup, and I had the Southwest Chicken Chili and a salad.
After lunch, we headed about 30 miles south to visit Palo Duro Canyon State Park, a place I’ve wanted to see even before we starting RV’ing.
The first thing we saw after entering the park was a Texas Longhorn. No, not a college football player, but the real thing. According to the signs, there’s a whole herd of them out here, but this one is the only one we saw.
Then, as we started into the canyon itself, we came across this sign. Glad we weren’t in the rig, although we took our coach up and down 12-15% grades in Canada on our way to Alaska two years ago.
Here’s a brief description of the canyon.
As the second largest canyon in the United States, Palo Duro Canyon is roughly 120 miles long and has an average width of 6.2 miles, but reaches a width of 20 mi in places. Its depth is approximately 800 ft. but in some locations, it can increase up to 1000 ft. Palo Duro Canyon has been named “The Grand Canyon of Texas,” both for its size and for the dramatic geological features, including the multicolored layers of rock and steep mesa walls similar to those in the Grand Canyon.
The scenery was as spectacular as I had heard. We drove the loop out and back in about an hour, stopping at the Gift Shop on the way back where Jan bought a couple of books about pioneer women, and a Lighthouse postcard.
But the real signature formation of the canyon is this – The Lighthouse. And unfortunately, you can’t see it from the highway. It can only be reached via a hiking trail, which, since Jan was wearing sandals, we took a pass on. So here’s an Internet photo.
Heading back toward Amarillo, Jan said it was nice to be back in Texas again after spending time traveling through the desolation of Arizona and New Mexico. I said that a lot of Texas out there next to Arizona and New Mexico looked just as desolate.
Jan said “That’s because they sucked all the life out of Texas”.
That’s my Jan!
Along the way home we stopped at a Tractor Supply Store so Jan could pick up a copy of the latest issue of CountrySide magazine, which as it turns out, they did not have yet.
Closer to home we stopped off at a WalMart to get some groceries, and Jan also wanted to get a pedicure before the wedding. However this particular Walmart did not have a nail salon. We try again tomorrow in Abilene.
After we got home we decided that since we had such a big meal yesterday, and a good lunch today, we’d just have the rest of the Big Texan carrot cake from last night for supper tonight, along with a pot of coffee.
June 16, 2011
Pizza and Epoxy . . .
My morning started today a little before 9 with abrupt silence. Our white noise machine in the bedroom had gone quiet. And that means the power had gone off.
And that usually means that Jan has forgotten that we’re on 30 amps here.
“Jaaannn!”
“Sorrryy!”
As it was, it wasn’t Jan’s fault . . . this time.
I got dressed and went outside to reset the breaker, and discovered the real problem.
The breaker was hot, and wouldn’t reset. It was spongy like it had rubber bands inside.
I decided to let the breaker cool off and see what would happen. In the meantime, I got my 30 amp to 20 amp adapter out of the electrical bay and moved us over to the 20 amp outlet.
About 20 minutes later I went outside to check the breaker just as the honey wagon truck pulled up to dump our tanks. I tried the breaker again, and, although cool now, it still would not reset.
I mentioned the problem to the honey wagon guy and he said he would get someone out as soon as he could. Said the only problem might be that they were re-epoxying the family pool this morning and they had everyone called in to work on it because once they mixed the epoxy they only had 20 minutes to get it applied. I told him no problem, and that we were doing fine on 20 amps.
But lo and behold, about 30 minutes later, a guy pulls up in a truck, checks the breaker, and starts to remove the screws on the breaker box. Luckily for him, the box was equipped with plug-in breakers, so he just had to pull out the old one and plug in the new one.
And less than 5 minutes later we had 30 amp again.
Now that’s great service!
About 12:45 Jan and I headed into Bend to see the movie ‘Thor’. I was somewhat leery about the movie because I grew up reading the Thor comic books in the early 60’s, and I always hated the way they sometimes change the story completely.
On the way, I got a shot of Mt. Bachelor, one of the Three Sisters mountain range, west of us. This would be our view from the park if it weren’t for all the trees.
Back to ‘Thor’, I was pleasantly surprised. They did change some of the origin facts, but that didn’t hurt the movie. We both enjoyed it and look forward to others in the series.
Leaving the cinema, we drove over to the Boston’s Pizza we had discovered yesterday. We first ate at a Boston’s in Dawson Creek, BC, Canada in 2008 on our way to Alaska, and since then we’ve stopped to eat there whenever we find one.
Once again, Boston’s did not disappoint. I don’t know what their crust is, but it’s always crispy, never doughy, and never that slick wetness on top of the crust and under the sauce. They also apparently put the pizza under a broiler for a few minutes before serving it so the pepperoni is crispy on the edges.
Just delicious!
After we got home about 5 we talked about our plans for the next few weeks. It looks like our schedule could change, but we’ll have to wait and see.
June 16, 2012
Snap, Crackle, Pop . . .
or Why is Jan all giddy?
Snap, Crackle, Pop, and a small puff of wet smoke is what happened this past Thursday when a strong, swirling gust of wind not only almost blew the fan off the table, but was so strong that it made the fan blades try to turn backward, and then, last, but not least, blew water from the misters back through and underneath the motor. At which point, after the aforesaid snap, crackle, pop, etc, the fan screeched to a halt and died.
R.I.P. Fan.
I quickly brought our smaller fan out of the coach to tide us over until I could pick up another one.
The wind here is really strange. Sometimes it seems to blow from all directions at once. This causes the dust devils we regularly see on the roads around us. The other strange thing is that while it blows pretty steady all through the day and evening, sometime between 1 and 3am, it just stops. One minute it’s windy and then the next it’s not. Like someone flipped a switch.
Weird. And it won’t pick back up until later in the morning.
Now, as to why Jan is giddy. Well, besides being married to me for almost 45 years, (I’m going to pay for that, believe me.) she’s giddy because we’re getting an afternoon/evening off. We found a lady who’s going to come in and work our gate this Sunday from 1pm to 11pm. Ten whole hours of freedom.
Of course, we were off a couple of weeks ago for our granddaughter Piper’s graduation, but we were so on the go, we never really got any time to just relax. So it looks like dinner, some shopping, and a movie are in our near future.
We also got a new generator trailer on Thursday. Our old one had started leaking oil. Turns out to have been a cracked oil pan. Terry, the maintenance guy at the Whitsett yard brought the new one over, and to speed things up, I pulled the old one out of the way with my truck and he just backed the new one in its place. This minimized the time the coach A/C’s were offline. On hot days, once they get behind, they sometimes can’t catch back up.
Also on Thursday, Jan whipped up a big batch of her crockpot King Ranch Chicken. Boy, did the coach smell good all day. Shredded chicken breast, Rotel Habanero Tomatoes, tortilla strips, and a lot of other good stuff, really hits the spot.
Really spicy, and really good.
Yesterday (Friday) I made a run over to the Gate Guard Services office to pick up some packages that had come in for us, and came back through Pleasanton for a Wal-Mart run, which of course included a new fan. Also stopped off at McDonald’s to bring us back lunch, which included an Iced Hazelnut Latte for me. I don’t care for their coffee very much, but I do like their lattes.
Today, Saturday the 16th, marks the beginning of our 2nd month here, and we probably have another 2-3 weeks here, maybe more if they have problems. This is kind of unusual for a drill site, but they’re doing a lot of extra testing and sampling here for some reason. It would be nice if it kept going until we leave here for Celina around the 20th of August. Then we wouldn’t have to move again.
But the odds are, it won’t.
June 16, 2013
We’re Two for Two . . .
After saying goodbye to our next-door goats, we headed out of the Garrity RV Park about 10 am and half a mile later we were heading east on I-84 toward the Village of Trees RV Resort near Declo, ID about 180 miles away.
Unlike yesterday’s trip, which had a lot of hills and curves, today’s was pretty much straight east, though we did steadily climb from about 2200 feet up to 4500 during the trip.
We got into the Village of Trees RV Resort about 1:45pm, and since we already had a paid reservation, we were led to our site and parked by a little before 2pm. And the park turned out to be just as nice as we had been told.
Every site is a long pull-thru, long enough to not have to unhook your toad if you don’t want to.
Some of the sites are thick grass, but most are compacted asphalt and gravel.
About 4pm we headed back down the Interstate about 5 miles to the big town of Burley. Well, big enough to have a Wal-Mart, anyway. We had planned to eat dinner at the local Perkins Restaurant, but came across El Caporal Mexican Restaurant along the way.
Normally we’re kind of leery of unknown Mexican places, especially in southern Idaho! But the place was really busy, so we decided to give it a try. And are we glad we did.
El Caporal is another real find, just like Cinco de Mayo last week in La Pine. So now we’re two for two.
Everything was good, from the chips, salsa and bean dip, to the iced tea. Jan had a 3 item combo, and I had a platter called Three Chiles, with pork chunks in tomatillo sauce, beef chunks in Colorado Red sauce, and a really good cheese Chile Relleno.
Another one for our Well Recommended List.
After that great dinner, we scouted out a couple of places to get diesel tomorrow morning, and settled on one that also has a busy diner right next door for breakfast and plenty of parking for the RV.
Diesel prices are all over the map around here. The Phillips 66 here at the park has it for $4.14, but the Shell right on the other sided of the Interstate has it for $4.38! But the Sinclair down the road a couple of miles has it for $3.95. Guess where we’re going.
Getting back to the park about 5:30 my day wasn’t over yet. I had a repair to make.
Yesterday when we got to Nampa, I found the battery in the truck dead. We had been on a lot of hills and the BrakeBuddy had really been working overtime. But normally this is not a problem because I have a charge wire running from the coach battery to the truck battery keeping it charged up as we traveled. But obviously something had gone wrong.
Getting in the park today the truck battery was fine, but then we didn’t really have any hills to speak of. So checking the wire, I found I had voltage coming from the rig battery, but it was not making it from the truck side of the connector to the truck battery. And checking inside the split flex tube covering, I found the reason. The splice had come apart. A new crimp splice took care of the problem and we were back in business.
Tomorrow we’ve got about 190 mile trip to Victor, ID and the Teton Village Campground where we’ll spend 4 nights revisiting Jackson, WY, and Grand Teton National Park.
And moose. Jan says not to forget the moose.
June 16, 2014
Two Nights in a Row . . .
Well, the promised rain didn’t show up last night, so we again sat outside with our coffee and enjoyed the nice weather.
What did show up last night was a power outage. About 2:45 it got very quiet in the rig. We use a white noise machine, and when it goes off, it is very, very quiet. The first thing I did was throw on some clothes and go outside and check the pedestal. And there was no power there.
Looking around, I saw some dark areas and some areas that still had lights. So it wasn’t a total outage, and I figured it was not going to get fixed until morning. So going back inside, I turned on the vent fans and opened the windows. It was cool enough that we had a nice breeze coming in. So throwing off the covers, we went back to sleep.
About 5:30 I woke up freezing. The power and the AC had come back on, so I got up and closed the windows, and turned off the fans. And everything has been fine since then.
But the strange thing is that the people who were parked right next door to us, didn’t lose power. Weird!
About 2:30 Chris Guld of Geeks on Tour came by and we checked out different tips on our Galaxy S5’s for a couple of hours. We learned a lot.
For dinner, Jan heated up the last of the leftover Mancino’s Pizza from the other night. The toaster oven makes it nice and crispy, and very good.
My son Chris called today, and his new motorcycle is a Yamaha as I thought. It’s Roadliner 1900 S. Looks like a really nice machine.
Brandi sent over these pics of Landon at his daycare playing the Bubble Game. They have a bubble machine and the kids take turns trying to pop all the bubbles as they squirt out.
Tomorrow we’ve got a day trip planned. We’re heading down to Peru, IN where Jan wants to visit because she lived there when she was 10 years old, and wants to check out the area.
We may also try to visit the Monon Connection Train Museum in, where else, Monon, IN. We’ll see how it works out.
June 16, 2015
Now We Know Why . . .
We were up and out this morning a little before 9am so we could have breakfast here at the hotel before they shut it down at 9:30. Most other hotels seem to go to 10 or 10:30, so I don’t know why they quit early here.
But it is a really good breakfast – eggs, sausage, waffles, cold and hot cereals, bagels, English muffins, pastries, juices, coffee, etc. Very nice.
We had initially planned on driving over to the rig to see what was going on, but then thought about how it might just be a wasted trip when they didn’t know anything new. And we were right.
I called Affinity about 11am and was told that everything would be done by close of business today . . . or maybe first thing tomorrow.
Right.
They said to call back in two or three hours and they’d know more then.
Right.
But rather than just call back, we decided to do the ‘boots on the ground’ thing and go by on the way to supper, so about 4pm we headed over to Affinity.
And found nothing had been done. I was now told that everything would be completed by close of business tomorrow, or the first thing Thursday morning.
Right.
In anticipation of this happening, earlier in the afternoon I called the Verde Valley Thousand Trails and made a 50amp two-week reservation starting this Friday, figuring there was no way we were actually going to get out of here tomorrow.
I also secured permission to stay here until at least Friday morning, no matter when they finish the rig, so we don’t have to find another place to stay before Friday.
So as it stands now, we’ll leave for Verde Valley Friday morning, stopping at the Sam’s Club for diesel at $2.43 a gallon (NICE!), with another stop a few miles down the road to get four new rear tires on the rig. The front two will already have been replaced at the shop. Then it’s on to Verde Valley about 50 miles away.
Our dinner stop was a place that our friend Barb Westerfield recommended, and boy was she spot on. The restaurant was Origin Bistro, out in Prescott Valley, and it’s a real find.
Like many of our favorites, it’s a pretty non-descript storefront in a small strip center, with only the words, “Gourmet Family Dining” belying its looks.
After all, how many places do you find Seared Duck, Pesto Seared Scallops, and Herb-Crusted Mahi-Mahi on the same menu with steaks and burgers. WOW!
We started off with an order of Trixie’s Shrooms, which are mushroom caps stuffed with Crab, Sausage, and Cheese. Really, really good, and very recommended.
After much consideration, Jan got the Pesto Seared Scallops, and after one taste she couldn’t stop raving about it.
They make the pesto in-house, and the dish is served with quinoa and seasonal vegetables.
As usual, I went kind of old school and ordered the American Classic Burger.
With grass-fed beef from a local ranch, bacon, cheddar cheese, mixed greens, red onions, tomatoes, pickles, and Thousand Island Dressing on a brioche bun, it was a whole new take on a burger. And boy was it good.
But strangely enough, as good as the burger was, the side I ordered, Corn on the Cob, was the highlight of the meal for me. I love Corn on the Cob, and this was really special.
They get Mexican corn from a local market, coat it in a little crème fresh and some mayonnaise, and then roll it in an herb mixture and put it on the grill. Then it’s served with a sprinkle of goat cheese for one last burst of flavor. Again, WOW!
Finishing up, we were too full to even share a dessert, but made the mistake of asking what they had. And when they said, “Fried Bread Pudding”, we knew why Barbara recommended the place. And, as full as we were, we knew we had to share an order.
They take a delicious bread pudding and then Deep Fry it until it’s crispy-crunchy on the outside, and soft and warm on the inside. Then they top it with caramel sauce and fresh-made whipped cream. it’s really hard to convey how good this is.
Everything was so good in fact, that we’ve decided that, since this place is right down the road from our tire place, that we’ll time things to eat lunch here while our new tires are being put on Friday.
I’ve already got my eye on their Sourdough Reuben, with in-house made Corn Beef, and if I’m really lucky, Corn on the Cob.
June 16, 2016
Cool Memories . . .
It may be that Jan and I are starting to regret not heading north for the summer this year, as we have every year since 2008.
The temps here in Houston have been flirting with the 100’s, when in 2008 we were in Fairbanks AK and the high temp for the day was 69°.
And in 2009 we were in Savannah GA, eating at Paula Deen’s Lady & Sons restaurant, and the high was 84°.
Even in 2010, when were on our way back to Austin for our daughter Brandi’s wedding, it was only 78 degrees when we were in Amarillo, eating at the Big Texan Steak Ranch.
Nice, COOL memories!
I was hoping to find a cool time to get back up on the roof and at least screw down the AC shroud, if not actually finish up the cleaning, but even at 8pm this evening, with sundown about 8:30, it was still 90 degrees.
So it looks like I may have to get up at 9 tomorrow since it’s only supposed to be about 80 then.
When I was looking for the parts for my recent Sharp microwave repair, I was surprised to find out how expensive the round ceramic platter was. Depending on where you look, and whether or not they actually have them in stock, I found them priced from $65 (out of stock) to $95 (special order 3 –6 weeks), to $225 (in stock and ready to ship).
Jan said she’s going to be a lot more careful with ours. I hope so.
For dinner tonight we had our leftover fajitas from Mama Juanita’s the other night. Really good, especially when paired with one of Jan’s great salads,
and coated with Jan’s Homemade Dressing.
Tomorrow, besides the AC job on the roof, we plan on getting together with Dick and Judy Mott, grandson Logan, and hopefully Randy Lazarine, at Vernon’s Katfish Kountry out on SR105.
We’ve eaten here several times and it’s always been good, so we’re looking forward to it.
June 16, 2017
Worth The Wait In Line . . .
Jan woke up with one of her pretty much monthly migraines, but with one of her magic pills, and a couple of hours of peace and quiet, she felt good to go.
So about 4pm we headed back west on US60 for Pawhuska and Ree Drummond’s Mercantile to have dinner.
Getting there a little after 4:30, I dropped Jan off with the umbrella so she could get in line while I found a place to park the truck. We noticed everyone in the line was using umbrellas to ward off the sun, which is why we brought ours.
But as it turns out the place has a big stash of umbrellas for everyone to use, as well as fans set up along the sidewalks and a lady handing out free bottles of water.
Great customer service!
When we got in line we were told it would be about 45 minutes, and it was, almost to the minute.
The place is enormous inside, and it needs to be to serve 6 to 15 thousand customers a day. And of course, it used to be a big department store back in the day.
We started out with appetizers, sharing a Tomato Soup with Grill Cheese Dippers,
and an order of their Whisky Glazed Carrots.
And even with this first part of our meal, we began to see that every dish is something special
The Tomato Soup was just plain delicious and the Grilled Cheese Dippers was a grilled cheese sandwich made on homemade bread and filled with 3 different cheeses, and then sliced up.
When our waiter set down the carrots the odor of whiskey just wafted over you. And yes, everything in that dish are carrots of one kind or another, even the white and black ones. Again, really delicious.
For her entrée, Jan got the Fried Chicken Sandwich and made-in-house potato chips. And the bun was homemade too.
Jan also got a side of the Fancy Mac N Cheese. And we both agreed that it’s the best tasting Mac N Cheese we’ve ever had.
I got the Beef Brisket Reuben, also with homemade bread and potato chips.
The brisket was melt-in-your-mouth good, as well as the entire sandwich. And because we had filled up on the appetizers, we could only eat half our sandwiches, so we had take-home.
After our great meal, Jan of course had to check out the Gift Shop area,
and found several things she just had to have.
Then it was upstairs to the Bakery to get some of Ladd’s (Ree’s husband) favorite Chocolate Pie.
And to Jan’s disappointment, she was told that Ladd had been in just a few minutes before to get him some, and Jan had missed him.
Maybe next time.
Tomorrow’s gong to be a full day. First lunch at Monterey’s Little Mexico, then downtown to check out Frank Lloyd Wright’s Price Tower, Frank Phillips home, an old steam locomotive, and then the Woolaroc Museum and Wildlife Preserve.
Then it’s out to the Drummond Ranch to take a tour of the Lodge where Ree’s show is taped. Tomorrow is the last day for being able to visit so we really lucked up.
Then it’s back to The Merc for dinner.
YUMM!
June 16, 2018
Busy, Busy Day . . .
Today was our busiest day in a good while, seemingly pretty much nonstop, starting with heading up to our son Chris’.
We were meeting up to unload the bed of our truck, so we could then load it up with a bookcase, a secretary, a cabinet, two sets of headboard/footboards, two sets of bedrails, the air compressor, and the battery charger.
I’m not sure how it all fit, but it’s packed in there like a Chinese puzzle box. I just hope we can get it unpacked when we get it to Illinois.
Just about the time we finished the unloading/reloading, Chris’ wife Linda got home from work, and in a very happy mood since this was her very last day on the job before they move up to Kingsland, TX on Wednesday.
So to celebrate we all headed right outside the subdivision to our longtime favorite, Barcenas Mexican Restaurant. We’ve been eating here since it opened in 1998, and some of the wait staff still remember us. Nice.
Jan and I shared the Mixed Fajitas for Two and it was as delicious as usual.
One thing that makes the beef so good here is that it’s all Certified Angus Beef. Very tender.
Next up we headed back down to the 646 area to see about getting a new tire put on the truck at the WalMart, but they were on a 2 to 2-1/2 hour wait. We’ll check back tomorrow. Then we hit Walmart, Target, and Kohl’s looking for some new shirts for both of us for our trip. Jan found something, but I’ll probably have to order online.
Then we turned right back around and drove up to Webster once again, with the first thing up, a haircut for me.
I went to the same shop I’ve been going to for over 20 years, but Lou, the longtime owner, sold out and retired recently. And unfortunately, he apparently took my haircut records with him, as even after I told the new guy exactly how I wanted it, I came out with a LOT LESS hair than I went in with. And you’all know I don’t have a lot to spare,
Jan suggested that I need to find a New Lou. We’ll see.
Our next stop was the Harbor Freight store right along the way. Jan came in with me because strangely enough, she likes Harbor Freight. She also likes trains, science fiction, and guns, so what can I say. Then as we were checking out, Jan handed my bag with the 3 items I had purchased, and said, “Happy Father’s Day”.
Well, don’t I feel special.
Note the big smile on her face. Of course, it seems to run in the family.
with Miss Piper too. I think that’s a Desert Eagle .50 cal. she’s shooting.
Next up was the real reason we came back up, and that was to meet Brandi, Lowell, and Landon at another longtime favorite, King Food. They had come down to drop off some stuff with us to bring up to Illinois with us. They’re flying up and didn’t have room.
Here Landon’s trying to tell Brandi a joke, but he’s laughing so hard he couldn’t get it out.
So we got to see everyone today except Miss Piper who’s still down in Florida with her boyfriend Connor and his parents.
Coming home it took us an extra 30 minutes on I-45 due to one of those ‘phantom slowdowns’, at least that’s what I call them. That’s where you’ve got three lanes of Interstate traffic putt-putting along bumper-to-bumper at about 5mph for 5 or 6 miles, but with no sign of any kind of accident. Then suddenly you come over the hill and everyone just speeds up to normal speed.
I’ve always figured that maybe there was a cleared accident there earlier and this is just the leftovers. But I don’t know for sure.
Tomorrow will be mostly trying to finish up moving stuff to the storage room, but we’ll see.
June 16, 2019
Happy Father’s Day . . .
To all the Fathers out there.
Jan and I headed for Sugarland about 10:30 to meet up with Brandi, Lowell, and Landon for a Father’s Day Lunch at the Floyd’s Cajun Seafood there. Originally we had planned on meeting at the Sugarland Ice Rink for Landon’s skating lesson, but the lesson is only 30 minutes, so Brandi said that they’d just meet us at the restaurant.
Landon’s not doing Hockey this summer but he still wants to take the lessons because they’ve really improved his skating, and thus his hockey playing in the fall.
By the way, Landon has his own YouTube channel, that he set up and programs himself. Called Mr. Pug, shortened from the original Mr. Pug Morrison for some reason, he’s now got 15 subscribers, and could probably use a few dozen, or a few hundred more. So check it out and at least give him a Like or 2 on his 12 videos.
Thanks.
Landon’s also taking coding classes this summer at one of the Code Ninjas facilities near his house. I think they start out with the Roblox concept where you drag and drop modules, building games and programming robots. Sounds like it’ll be right up his alley.
Readers will remember that before we left on our trip I signed up for a VPN service called ExpressVPN. It worked great and was a lot safer whenever I was doing financial stuff aboard ship and in hotels.
And I found that if I wasn’t using it, sometimes when I accessed US sites, I was told that I couldn’t because I was not located in the right area. When that happened I would just connect to an ExpressVPN server in Dallas (they don’t have a server in Houston), and suddenly I was in the right area.
Well, yesterday I did the reverse. I was trying to find a digital copy of a book that wasn’t available on Amazon, or in the US, either. But I did locate a copy on the Project Gutenberg site in Australia. However, when I tried to download it, I was told that the download was not available in my area.
So a couple of clicks on my ExpressVPN app and a Chrome refresh, and suddenly I was in Amsterdam. And the download worked just fine.
When our son Chris called today to wish me a Happy Father’s Day, (I, of course, wished him one back, I told him I could have really used his help yesterday. And when he asked what for, I told him the trials and tribulations of my brake job yesterday, and that the biggest problem was lifting the 85# tire up and getting it on the lugs.
He got real quiet for a few seconds and then said, “Yeah, it’s gotten a lot harder for me lately too.” I told him to just give it another 20 years and see how it feels.
It’s hell getting old. But it sure beats the alternative.
June 16, 2020
The Next Miracle Drug . . .
When we were at WalMart the other day, we came across this cherry 327 Chevelle Malibu.
Really, really neat!
The last few days we’ve been catching up on restaurants that we haven’t eaten at since before the Shutdown.
Saturday we had lunch at the nearby Spring Creek BBQ. Jan had the St. Louis Ribs with Beans and Beans,
while I had a Ribs and Cracked Black Pepper Sausage Combo Plate, also with Beans and Beans.
Then today, we had lunch at the Cheddar’s up in Webster. Like many other places, they’re serving a somewhat restricted menu, and of course, our favorites were missing too.
So Jan got the Blackened Catfish with Beans and Carrots,
while I had the Ribs and Chicken Tenders, again with Beans and Carrots.
We may have two new favorites now.
June 16, 2022
Pappasito’s Again . . .
I know some of you are still having problems with the blog, mostly not being able to leave comments. For some reason, the firewall is not letting them through. I hope to have it fixed this weekend.
Jan and I were out the door by 10:30 this morning heading for the Pappasito’s’ Cantina up in The Woodlands/Shenandoah area, where we were meeting up with Debi and Ed Hurlburt for our monthly get-together
The traffic was a little heavier than usual, but we made it with about 10 minutes to spare.
Jan got the same thing she had for her Mother’s Day meal at the Pappasito’s down in our area, the Plato del Mar.
I got the Pappasito’s Grill, with a skewer of Beef, Chicken, and Vegetables, along with some Broiled Shrimp, Rice, and Beans.
And as usual with these get-togethers, we talked for a couple of hours after we finished eating.
In fact we stayed around so long that, as I usually do, I tipped our server a little extra since we hogged her table for so long.
And after getting our hugs, we were on our way home by about 2:30. And of course, we’ve already got next month’s location/date locked in.
Jan and I are still trying to get caught up with the TV shows we missed while we were on the road. And adding some new ones.
Catching up with Murdoch Mysteries, I signed us up for Hulu last night. At $6.99/month, it starts out with a 30-day free trial before you start getting charged. As I do with all these subscriptions, I created a Privacy card for this one. It only allows charges from Hulu, and only for the exact amount of the monthly amount.
And it can be closed at any time if I decide to cancel it.
We signed up for Hulu so we could watch the 3rd season of Orville: New Horizons, and also Only Murders In The Building, a 10-episode comedy/mystery with Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez. It was supposed to be a one-time deal, but it was so popular that they’re doing a 2nd one.
Tonight we watched another episode of Star Trek Strange New Worlds. This series, the 11th one in the Star Trek Universe, has really come into its own, making it a worthy prequel to the Star Trek: The Original Series
June 16, 2023
Chickens And Eggs . . .
First up, Ron, our Canadian friend, alerted me to the fact that the links that I post on the blog aren’t working. Or at least, clicking on them doesn’t do anything. I suspect that it has something to do with blog problems I had a couple of weeks ago when people couldn’t view the blog for a couple of days.
But in the meantime, while I’m trying to track down and fix the actual problem, there is a workaround. Just put your mouse cursor over the link, and then right-click. This should bring up a menu that lets you select ‘Open Link In New Tab’ at the top of the pop-up. This will, as it says, open the link in a new tab on your browser.
Hopefully, I’ll be able to track down the problem soon.
Stay Tuned.
Fifty years ago this summer the Chicken Ranch, located near La Grange, TX, closed for good. You might know the place better as The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
It actually first opened in 1844 but was closed down during the Civil War because it was suspected that some of the girls were ‘Yankees’. It then reopened in 1905, and under a series of owner/madams and complacent sheriffs, it lasted until 1973 when the governor of Texas, Dolph Briscoe, ordered it shut down.
Then a few years later two lawyers bought the place and moved it to Dallas where it was opened as a restaurant with Edna Milton, the last madam, as the hostess. It lasted a year.
Then it re-opened as a bar called The Chicken Ranch. It lasted a year.
Apparently, Edna Milton, who looked nothing like Dolly Parton,
was a better madam than a hostess.
BTW it was called The Chicken Ranch because during the Depression when people didn’t have a lot of money, they took chickens in payment. And strangely enough, it wasn’t long before they were overrun with chickens and started selling eggs.
And Jan and I have actually been there, or at least where it used to be.
Now it’s just a gate leading to an overgrown field. Ahh, but if that field could talk.
Tomorrow we’re meeting up with our friends, Bob and Maria, once again, this time at the Kelley’s up in League City.
