We were on our way up to the Houston Medical Center area, leaving the rig about 11:15 for the ~ hour trip. Our first stop was our other go-to lunch place in the area, Cleburne Cafeteria, the other one being Katz’s Deli.
Cleburne Cafeteria has been around in one form or another, and two different locations since 1941. It’s burned down twice, once in 1990 and again in 2016. But it seems to always come back bigger and better.
And more delicious.
Jan got her favorite Turkey & Dressing, with the Broccoli-Cheese Casserole, along with a piece of Pumpkin Pie to bring home.
I got a repeat of my Kelley’s meal last week, with the Chicken Fried Chicken, along with the fresh Green Beans and Charro Beans. And of course, a piece of Pecan Pie, also to bring home.
After a nice leisurely lunch, we made the 20 minute trip over to the Houston Methodist Hospital’s Scurlock Tower for Jan’s Pre-Admission Testing regime for her upcoming Parathyroidectomy next Friday, August 2nd.
They did an EKG (no problems), took her blood pressure (122/69 Great!), and took some blood for some other routine tests. Very efficient, and we were on our way in a little less than an hour.
We don’t know yet when our surgery will be, just that we have to be there two hours before.
Close to home, we made a Cowboy Coffee stop for Sugar-Free Hazelnut Coffees, needed because we didn’t have our rig coffee this morning, finally getting home a little before 5pm.
Originally, we had scheduled an Alvin Opry Group get-together this Thursday, at Saltgrass Steakhouse as usual, but with one person concerned about all the rainy weather we’ve got coming up, and another couple with the WuFlu, we decided to postpone until next month. So our social calendar had opened up.
Looks like tomorrow I’ll be back on phone patrol trying to get Spectrum to fix our phones.
Wish me luck.
I’ll need it.
Thought For The Day:
All of the Purple Hearts given out during the Korean War, the Vietnam War, The Gulf War, The War on Terror, etc., and ever since, were all from the original 375,000 manufactured toward the end of WWII in anticipation of the planned invasion of the Japanese mainland. But then weren’t needed due to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Your Retro-Preview Highlights –
2010 – The Rally – Day 2
2011 – Digging For Dinosaurs
2013 – Whitefish Point And The Edmund Fitzgerald
3014 – Ohio and Big Chairs
And Now On To today’s Retro-Blogs.™
July 23, 2010
We’re 3 out of 4, but the iced tea was good…
Today started out at 10 am with Jan attending the Dog Talent Show and I hit the vendors area again. I bought a couple of things, and I’m looking at a few more, including a new PacBrake.
At noon Jan and I met for a lunch of corn dogs and French fries at the Food Court. What we didn’t realize at the time is that this would be the best meal of the day.
Then at 1 pm, Jan caught a seminar on RV’ing the Pacific Northwest by Mike and Terri Church. A little late since this is where we were earlier this year.
I checked out a talk on RV Refrigerators, which I hoped would help with a problem I’m having with mine. No luck. But it was interesting.
About 2:30 pm we headed north into Indiana to Sam’s Club to pick up a prescription and some other stuff. Then it was off to the low point of the day.
Since we’ve been in Louisville, we’ve eaten 2 places that were on the Rally Tours: Mark’s Feed Store, and Joe Huber’s Family Farm and Restaurant. We also discovered Cottage Inn, a nearby local favorite. All three were excellent.
The 3rd restaurant on the Rally Tours was Kingfish Seafood. In finding the directions online, I also read a few reviews. Some liked it, but others said it had gone downhill, and wasn’t as good as it used to be. Another said the food was “Bland, bland, bland”.
And boy, was he right.
Jan had a Shrimp and Oyster Platter with Baked Potato and Glazed Carrots, and I had the Seafood Feast, with Tilapia, Catfish, & Shrimp, with Corn on the Cob and Onion Rings. Believe me, bland, bland, bland certainly described the meal.
Nothing had any taste or seasoning. Red Lobster is much better, and I really don’t like Red Lobster.
But as Jan said, “The iced tea is good, though”. A ringing endorsement, indeed!
The view of the Ohio River was pretty, but it didn’t make up for the meal
On our travels, we collected photos of a number of city mascots in the last few years, including pelicans, mermaids, bears, bison, and now horses. We’ve seen a number of these around town, all with different paint schemes.
Getting back to the rig, we rested up and tried to keep cool for about an hour and then headed out for the high point of the day.
Tanya Tucker!
And just as a teaser here she is singing “Delta Dawn”.
And she was fantastic.
During the first part of the concert, I was impressed by the voice of the backup singer in the band. Turns out she comes by that voice naturally. She’s Tanya’s 21-year-old daughter, Presley.
And boy, can she sing, too.
Tanya ended the show with the first big hit she had, Delta Dawn. When she was 13!
Before the concert, they were selling aerial photos. So here’s what we look like here.
We got back to the rig about 8:30 after a long day. It’s nice to be home.
July 23, 2011
Dinosaurus . . .
After coffee and bagels we headed over to Al and Adrienne’s a little before 10 am to pick them up at their rig. Then it was off for the 85 mile trip south to Thermopolis, WY.
Arriving there, our first stop was lunch at Lil’ Wrangler Family Restaurant. Al and Adrienne had eaten here a while back and said it was really good. And they were right. Hamburgers made with 1/2 pound hand-formed patties of fresh ground beef.
Really good.
After lunch we headed over to the object of our trip, The Wyoming Dinosaur Center, the largest privately-funded dinosaur research center in the world. And the only one to have excavations in progress on their own property.
This is a cast of an ocean bottom containing hundreds of echinoderms, relatives to today’s sea stars and sand dollars. This fossil is about 300 million years old.
This is a pterosaur, one of the earliest flying dinosaurs. Although this one is about the size of a crow, other species had wingspans as large as 30 feet.
A Dimetrodon.
Archaeopteryx is considered the first bird, since it had feathers. There are only ten specimens of this dinosaur in the world, and this is the only one in America.
A cousin to the Stegosaurus.
Two meat eaters in combat.
A Protoceratops.
A type of Ankylosaurus.
Triceratops.
Allosaurus, cousin of T’Rex.
A nest of baby duckbills,
And their mama.
Albertaceratops.
An Ichthyosaur, the ‘fish lizard’.
This is Jimbo, so big I couldn’t get him all in one photo. A 106-foot-long Supersaurus, he’s one of the largest fossils in existence.
At 2 pm we all loaded in a tour bus and were taken about 5 miles out in the country to an active dig site. In the last 20 years, 17 dinosaur skeletons have been excavated from here.
These next two photos show the remains of an Allosaurus that they have been working on for 5 years, and it may take them another 15 years to remove it completely.
In the wintertime, this large excavation pit is completely filled in with dirt to protect the dinosaur bones from freezing and cracking.
Next, we were taken over to a large open excavation under the shed. The bones, mostly of plant-eaters, are lying around on the surface.
Because of the jumble of chewed-on bones, they think this was a kill site where baby meat eaters were fed.
Outlined in red paint, this is the footprint of a large Allosaurus.
And this is the footprint of a large plant-eating dinosaur. This is the only known location where both dinosaur footprints and fossils are found in the same area.
We really enjoyed our time at the Dinosaur Center, and it’s well-recommended. The displays are all top-notch, and very well done.
Leaving the Center, we drove up into the country behind the Hot Springs State Park just admiring the many unique rock formations, and rich colors.
The many hot springs in the area have been a tourist attraction since the late 1800’s, and are considered the largest mineral hot springs in the world.
Just how mineralized the water is can be shown by these ‘travertine beehives’.
A 8-foot pipe is stuck in the ground over a hot spring. The mineral-laden water flows out the top of the pipe and down the side, leaving the mineral deposits behind on the pipe. It slowly builds up and expands, creating these rock-hard ‘domes’. As the dome grows, more pipe is installed on top as necessary.
After another great day of exploring, we got back to Cody a little before 6, and after dropping off Al and Adrienne at their rig, we came back home, tired but having had a great time.
A little before 7 pm, we walked a few rows over to Lu and Larry Tillotson’s, readers of our blog who discovered we were in the same park and wanted to meet us.
We had a great time getting to know them and talking over some of our experiences in traveling fulltime. They’ve been on the road for 8 years now, still enjoying the RV life. Hopefully, we’ll cross paths again soon.
And tomorrow . . . ?
Nothing, I hope. It’s time for a rest-up day.
July 23, 2013
240 Miles Today and still Mooseless . . .
Since we had a lot of things to cram into today, we headed for Whitefish Point about 8:15. But our first stops were at McDonald’s for Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Biscuits and a Holiday station for gas.
Gas prices here in Michigan are a little strange. Diesel is pretty much the same price that we’ve paid for the last several months, about $3.80 a gallon. But unleaded is through the roof. The last time we filled up the truck was in Sioux Falls, SD, and we paid $3.16 a gallon. Here it’s anywhere from $3.90 to $4.00 a gallon. They were even complaining about it on the radio today.
Our 70 mile trip to the Great Lake Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point took about 90 minutes with a lot of nice scenery, but no moose.
After getting parked we started our visit at the main museum building. I was very interested in these lighthouse Fresnel lens. They’re able to take a relatively small light source and turn it into a beam that can be seen for miles.
In fact this 9 ft. tall, 3500 pound lens could throw a beam over 28 miles. Made up of 344 leaded crystal prisms, it floated on a pool of mercury allowing for near frictionless rotation. In use before electricity, a grandfather clock-like mechanism with a 44 ft. long pendulum turned the lens, sweeping the beam across the horizon every 7-1/2 seconds. And the clockwork had to be wound every 2 hours and 18 minutes throughout the night to keep the light rotating.
No wonder lighthouse keepers had a reputation for being so grumpy. They were sleep-deprived.
The first commercial ship to sink on Lake Superior was the HMS Invincible in 1816, with over 300 more vessels to follow in the next almost 200 years. But of course, the one that everyone is most interested in is the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.
Launched in 1958, at 728 ft. it was the biggest ship on the Great Lakes. And to this day is the largest ship to ever sink on the Lakes.
In 1995 a dive team recovered the Fitzgerald’s bell which now resides here in the Museum. At the same time, a replacement bell inscribed with the names of the 29 crewmembers, was mounted on the wreck in its place.
In a nearby building, another replica of the Fitzgerald can be found. This 1:60 scale model is made from over 18,000 Legos and has taken 9 years so far. “So far”, because it’s not quite finished yet.
Looks pretty good to me. I’m convinced you can build just about anything with Legos.
One of the things that fascinates people about the Fitzgerald is that to this day they still don’t know what happened on that November day in 1975. Did it capsize, take on water through broken hatch covers, or break in half straddling two large waves?
No one knows for sure.
One thing that seemed very apropos for our visit today is that when we left the rig in Sault Ste. Marie, it was bright and sunny. But the closer we got to Whitefish Point the worse the weather got, ending with heavy clouds, high, gusty winds, spitting rain, and whitecaps on the Lake.
Just like it was on the Fitzgerald’s last voyage, bright and sunny when it left port, and then an unexpected storm rolling in.
After spending about two hours at the Museum, we headed over to Tahquamenon Falls State Park. At least we tried to.
Heading to the Museum earlier, and passing through the small town of Paradise, MI, we had to go through a construction zone where the road was down to one lane because they had dug out a deep trench in the other lane.
But coming back they now had both lanes of the pavement trenched out and were directing traffic across a temporary roadway that they had created by piling the dirt removed from the trenching into the deep ditch at the side of the road. What they apparently didn’t think about was how this big tour bus was going to navigate this.
The answer is, not very well.
Although OK for cars and trucks, the unpacked dirt was just a sand trap for the bus, which promptly sunk up to its axles as you can see in the pics.
After about 30 minutes or so, they finally dragged him out with a front loader. Later, when we were at the Bear Ranch, I saw the tour bus and asked the driver about it. He said they told him it was well-packed and he wouldn’t get stuck.
He laughed and said, “It wasn’t and I did”. Glad I wasn’t trying to take the rig through there.
We got to Tahquamenon Falls State Park about 12:30 and made the 1/2 mile walk down to the Upper Falls to take a look. We noticed that the water is the same brown color as the Wisconsin River in the Dells, for the same reason.
The many swamps and decaying hardwood trees further north of here produce tannic acid that colors the waters downstream, though the acid level is not enough to hurt fish or other animals.
Since it was now after 1pm we decided to have lunch at the Pub restaurant there. Turned out to be very, very good. I had the Beer Cheese Soup and a fresh Whitefish sandwich, and Jan had the Broccoli Cheese Soup and a Mushroom Pesto over Linguini. Made with fresh wild mushrooms, she raved about it the rest of the afternoon.
She even got her one and only moose sighting there.
On a weirder note, they even had this Moose Nativity scene for sale in their gift shop.
For some reason, there’s something a little unsettling about this. They also had a Bear version, if you’re of that bent. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Finishing up a delicious lunch, we headed for Oswald’s Bear Ranch, about 20 miles away.
Although it was OK, I think Jan and I were both a little disappointed, especially for the $20 a car that we paid to get in.
All of the bears are either rescues, or are born there. And they have four large fenced-in areas for them. One for the adult males, one for the adult females, one for the yearlings, and one for the cubs.
It’s hard to get a lot of decent pictures because in most cases you’re shooting through a double layer of chain-link fence. They did have access holes in some areas, and observation towers in others, but the bears were always somewhere else, so you still couldn’t get many good shots.
They did have this area where, for $10, you and your family could have your picture taken with a bear cub. They give you a large spoon with Fruit Loops in it (apparently bear cubs love Fruit Loops) and one of you holds the spoon and distracts the cub with the Fruit Loops while you all smile and one of the employees takes several pictures with your camera.
I tried to get Jan to do it, but she smartly said, “What if they run out of Fruit Loops, or the cub decides he’s full? What am I going to do with an empty spoon?”
I thought maybe she could whack it on the nose while I ran away, but I wisely didn’t say that. I can see her point though. I wouldn’t want to fight off a snarling little fuzzball full of teeth and claws with a spoon either.
Our last stop was the Visitor’s Center in Newberry, the so-called “Official Moose Capital of Michigan” (Jan says, “Yeah, right”) to pick up our Moose Guidebook and find out the best areas to look for moose.
Jan says, “Yeah, right.
So after checking out some of the spots and remaining mooseless, we headed home, finally getting back about 6:30 after a really great day of exploring the UP.
Tomorrow, Canada, Oh Canada!
July 23, 2014
What is it about Ohio and Big Chairs?
Is it something in the water?
This afternoon as Jan and I drove into Wilmington, we saw this.
Then in 2011 when we were staying at Smith’s Campground near Loudonville, I found this cozy little number. BTW Smith’s Campground is a great RV park, right on the river, and owned by really nice people.
And not to be outdone, Jan found her own version, albeit a little smaller.
We could have each had our own chairs like these two guys
Or we could have gone a little more modern.
Or even to the beach.
This one’s on Bournemouth Beach in the U.K. It’s over 25 feet high and weighs about 6 tons.
Must be a B*t*h to fold up.
I recently came across some good info for cell phones.
The first one talks about Speeding Up Your Android Phone. I already knew a couple of these, but some were new.
The second one is for Samsung Galaxy owners. Several good things in this one too.
About 2pm Jan and I headed out for some errands. Our first stop was the Great Clips next to the Wal-Mart to get our hair cut. And Yes, I got both of mine cut.
Next up was a trip to the Wally World next door for a few things. Then heading home a little after 4pm, we decided to have dinner at Taco Bell. We were glad to see that they still have the Quesarito. Supposedly it’s a limited-time product.
The Quesarito is a burrito wrapped up inside a cheesy quesadilla. As before, Jan got hers with ground beef and I got mine with steak. And since we got the box, we got two tacos and a drink with it. Not bad for about $13.
Several blog readers had questions about Jan’s Hot Dog Casserole last night. This was Jan’s first time making the dish this way, and she says now she’ll do it a little differently next time.
This time she used a tube can of pizza dough, but that turned out to be a pain getting the big mass of dough separated into 8 pieces and flattened out. So she says next time she’ll use a tube can of the crescent rolls that comes already separated and rolled out.
Then she just mixed the Wolf Brand Hot Chili, Bush’s Hot Chili Beans, and the Habanero Rotel in a 9 x 13 pan, placed the wrapped hot dogs on top, and baked it for 20 minutes at 375°. Since she used our convection oven, you may need a little more time in a conventional one.
Jan also said that next time she will brown the wrapped hot dogs on one side under the broiler and then put that side down on top of the chili before cooking it. That way both sides will be brown and crusty. A very good dish. Try it for yourself.
July 23, 2015
ThunderBoomers . . .
The weather really turned nice today, or at least in comparison to the previous days of high 90’s. At 6am this morning a big line of thunderboomers moved through and combined with the pouring rain, shook the coach for about an hour.
Because of all this, it barely made it into the 80’s today with pretty much the same tomorrow. And tomorrow night is supposed to be in the 60’s. Very Nice.
I did get a few things done on my chore list today, but pretty much had to stick with inside stuff due to all the rain. I’m still trying to get my transfer switch replaced, not I’m not sure if I have time to have it shipped here, or at our next stop.
After a few days of 3 bars of 3G, my Verizon service here now officially sucks. For some reason my 3G just goes away and I’m stuck with a couple of bars of 1X, just pitiful. But sometimes late at night all of a sudden the 3G just pops back in. It’s going to be a real pain in the rear if this continues our entire time here.
My niece Stahlie has added a lot more content to her website Adventurous History. Check it out when you get a chance. She’s really doing a good job.
For dinner, Jan fixed up one of the Crusty’s Pizza Baked Spaghetti meals we vacuum-sealed and froze before we left Cottonwood, AZ and the Verde Valley Thousand Trails. Done with some garlic bread, it’s a really good meal.
Tomorrow we’re going to drive into the Memphis suburbs on this side of town to see a movie, probably Jurassic World, and then have dinner at Jim & Nick’s BBQ once again. Then on the way home, we’ll make a Wal-Mart stop for a few things.
July 23, 2016
Been There!
Another hot day here in Texas.
In fact, as far as we’re concerned, it’s the hottest one so far. We have a remote digital thermometer outside in the shade, and today was the first day it hit 100°. And tomorrow’s supposed to be a couple of degrees hotter.
Oh well, that’s Texas in the summertime. One thing that’s funny though, is that when I check the temps along our upcoming route when we leave here next Sunday, I.e. Breaux Bridge, LA, Biloxi, MS, and Gulf Shores, AL all the temps for the next week are in the mid to high 80’s, not the high 90’s like here.
Sounds like a good time to be moving on down the road.
We had originally thought about doing the park Potluck this afternoon, but decided it was cooler to just stay home, and also because then Jan wouldn’t have to heat up the coach preparing something.
Maybe next Saturday night right before we leave.
A few days ago I posted a time-lapse photo of the recent SpaceX Falcon 9 Take-off and the landing of the 1st stage back at the Cape.
But the Falcon 9 is just the start. Next up is the Falcon Heavy, basically 3 Falcon 9’s tied together, making it the most powerful rocket since Apollo’s Saturn V. That’s 27 engines firing at once.
It even does mid-air refueling of a sort. All 3 rockets are firing at lift-off, but the two side rockets are also pumping their excess fuel into the main rocket. So that when the side rockets shut down and fall away to land back on Earth, the main rocket is left with a full tank of fuel to continue on into orbit. Then when the payload is ejected into orbit, the main engine then deorbits and also lands back at the Cape.
Its first launch is scheduled for this December.
In fact, the Falcon Heavy could launch a new moon mission in only two launches. And since all three rockets are recoverable, it would be at a fraction of the cost of an Apollo mission.
And according to SpaceX, the next stop is Mars.
I mentioned a few days ago that Jan and I sometimes go through old photos of our trips and play ‘Name The Site’, trying to figure out where we were parked in that particular photo.
Well, we also play ‘Been There’, The winner is the first one to yell out ‘Been There!” when they mention a place on TV that we’ve been to on our travels.
Today they were talking about Harrisburg, PA. ‘Been There’. A few days ago, the Statue of Liberty. ‘Been There’.
Even a few years ago when CSI was still on the air, and they visited a gun store in Las Vegas, and although they called it by a different name, it was obvious it was The Gun Store where Jan found a new favorite toy.
I guess this would make a good drinking game, but since Jan and I really don’t drink, you’re on your own.
July 23, 2017
Stumped, Baffled, and Confused . . .
Sounds like a good name for a law firm.
Up about 7am, with everything pretty much ready to roll by 8, we headed out for breakfast at Cracker Barrel, kind of a ‘leaving Lake Conroe’ ritual of ours.
Jan went with the Maine Blueberry Pancakes with Bacon,
while I got the Fresh Strawberry Sourdough French Toast with Over Medium Eggs and Bacon.
And of course, coffee, lots of coffee.
Back at the rig we were hitched up and pulling out of Lake Conroe Thousand Trails by 10:15, heading for Colorado River TT about 120 miles away.
After a nice trip, but seemingly more traffic than usual, we pulled into Colorado River about 12:30 and got set up in A28, a new site for us, but with a nice big shade tree.
About 10 minutes out we lost the generator when the fuel level dropped to about 25%, which of course still leaves us almost 40 gallons, so no problem. We plan on fueling up at Colorado County Oil when we leave for Alabama on Wednesday.
Unfortunately, the generator shutting off early didn’t make a difference in cooling the coach, since despite my airflow baffle modification yesterday, we couldn’t tell any difference in cooling from the front AC. Bummer!
I thought that it would at least do something. Actually my big worry was whether or not it would survive the trip, and not get ripped off in the windstream.
I was able to install the panels without making any holes in the cover by utilizing pre-existing holes and slats.
For the top panels, I drilled holes that matched the mounting bolts holding on the cover,
while for the side panels I used 1/8” toggle bolts poking through the side slats
Then I taped it all together with Heavy Duty Packing Tape, especially along the front edges where it might catch the wind and be ripped off.
So, basically what I have here is a good solid installation of something that just doesn’t work. And that’s why I’m –
Stumped, Baffled, and Confused . . .
I really don’t have anywhere else to go on this right now. The only two variables here are AC Voltage on the generator and airflow. And the generator voltage stays at 118VAC whether we’re moving or sitting still.
And when we’re parked and using the generator, the AC works great.
So for right now, I’m stuck. Back to the drawing board.
July 23, 2018
Can’t Trust That Day . . .
Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure that the new power cord that I ordered for my Garmin GPS will probably fix my problem with the unit constantly shutting off and turning back on, all by itself.
I knew it wasn’t a bad connection or loose wire since shaking or wiggling it makes no difference. So what I did was bring the unit into the rig last night and plug it into my computer using another cord to charge up the internal battery in it.
Then this morning I put it back in the truck and used it going into my client’s, just running on the unit’s battery. And it worked perfectly, with no shutdown/reboots. And it worked coming home too.
I said, “unfortunately” because I already have the replacement GPS picked out. And I copied all my favorites off the old unit, ready to transfer to the new one.
BUT . . . I’m too cheap to discard a perfectly good GPS that’s still working fine, or at least will be when my new $6.89 cord comes in.
I’ve got three more buyers coming to see the house tomorrow, and a fourth one hopefully scheduled for Thursday, but I haven’t heard back from him about a time yet.
The first guy from the Ugly Houses people called back this afternoon, just ‘checking in’. When he finally came out and asked me if I’d made a decision, I said I had 4 more people coming out in the next few days and that we would probably be making a decision by this weekend.
So far our Splendide washer/dryer is working fine after my repair, so with that out of the way, and hopefully with the house out of the way after this weekend, I’ll be able to get back on rig stuff.
First up I going to use a garden sprayer filled with a mixture of water, Awesome, and Dawn to hose down the general area of the rig engine’s oil leak and then hose it off. Hopefully, then I’ll be able to get some idea where the leak is coming from using my new WiFi Endoscope Inspection Camera. I’ll probably have to run the engine for a while before I can see the problem.
Then I want to get back on my Onan Generator problem. Since our recent Illinois/Alabama trip, I’ve come up with some ideas and some more things to check, so maybe I can get a handle on it soon.
Wrapping up, the micro 32GB SD memory card in my Samsung Galaxy S8+ appears to have died. I noticed yesterday that the photos I had on it had disappeared. So this evening I took the phone out of its Otterbox case and pulled the SD card out and reseated it. No luck.
Tomorrow I’ll dig out one of those postage-stamp-sized SD adapters and try it in my computer, then I’ll know more.
July 23, 2019
Catching A Snooze . . .
Well, the brakes didn’t get done, and for a good reason. I really didn’t want to. But the excuse I’m going with was that Jan had a lot of stuff she wanted to do this afternoon and I didn’t want to have a problem and mess up what she wanted to do.
And I really didn’t want to.
So we headed out a little after 1pm with our first stop at Snooze AM for a late breakfast. While Jan went with her usual Bravocado Toast,
I detoured from my usual 3 eggs, 3 bacon, English Muffin, and Fruit and went with the Shrimp & Grits.
And fruit.
Then it was on over to the nearby HEB for a refill on our favorite Lola Savannah coffees, their Texas Pecan and Vanilla Cinnamon Pecan. It only comes in Whole Bean and it’s easy to see that it’s really ‘Pecan’ since there are pieces of pecan right in with the beans.
And the cashiers at the checkout always comment on how good it smells.
Then it was on to WalMart for some more stocking up for her upcoming pet-sitting job up at Brandi’s starting this coming Thursday.
Done there we drove over to her favorite nail place to get her tootsies done, before we headed home about 5pm.
I recently saw another T-shirt I just had to have.
For some reason, Jan says it’s typecasting.
Now that’s just mean.
Probably true. But still, just mean.
But the T-shirt I get the most comments on from people is this one.
Some people think it’s from Game of Thrones, but having never watched GoT, I don’t know.
July 23, 2021
Keep ‘Em Coming . . .
Thanks for all the suggestions we received about things to see/do in Branson this December.
So far we’ve gotten the most recommendations for Sight and Sound, but keep ‘em coming.
Tomorrow we’re meeting friends Janice and Dave Evans for lunch, but closer to home this time. They’re going to be down in this area visiting relatives, so we’re meeting at the Floyd’s Cajun Seafood up in Webster.
It’s been a while since we’ve been there so we’re looking forward to it.
I forgot to mention in yesterday’s blog that we had lunch once again at Snooze yesterday. It’s been a while since we’ve been there, maybe not since we came back from our trip. But everyone seemed happy to see us.
And as usual, we both got our usuals. Jan with her Bravocado Toast,
and my 3 Egg Classic with fruit.
I asked for crispy bacon, but they went a little past that, into ‘glass bacon’ territory. You know, when you touch it, it shatters. But it was still good.
And their fruit dish is always great too.
Someone asked if we were still liking YouTubeTV as our main streaming service, and we really do. And we really appreciate the feature to start a show at the beginning, no matter when you start watching it.
For example, if you started watching The Good Fight about 10 minutes into the latest episode, it asked you if you want to join it Live or Start From The Beginning. So you don’t have to worry about missing the first few minutes of a show.
In fact this works up to the very last minute the show is on.
Neat!
July 23, 2022
Well, At Least We Tried . . .
Knowing they closed at 2pm, Jan and I got to Joe Fat’s Eatshop about 1pm, only to find them closed. Or at least dark, since as I said it’s actually inside the convenience store. We knew they had said that they were closing early yesterday for a catering job, so I guess that applied to today too. We’ll go back soon.
So our backup plan (we always have a backup plan) was right down the road a couple of hundred yards to Los Ramirez Mexican.
Our meals were as delicious as usual, and a lot of other people agreed with us, since they do a steady take-out business. But we’ve never seen one as large as this.
That’s the six big trays on the cart, four big trays on the table, everything in the box, and the three 5 gallon buckets on the counter. That’s a lot of food.
Sorry we weren’t invited.
Brandi and Lowell are having a pool party this weekend at their home up in Katy for Brandi’s coworkers and their kids.
Even a water slide for the kids. Looks like fun.
I’m sure most of you have seen or read something about the recent mall shooting in Indianapolis, IN. The shooter came out of the food court restroom where he had been hiding, and started firing into the crowd with an AR-15, killing three and injuring two more.
But 15 seconds after he fired the first shot, a 22-year-old bystander pushed his girlfriend to the floor, and using the Glock 9mm he was carrying, hit the shooter with his first shot. From 40 yards away!
See the small red X in the center of the photo.
That’s where the shooter was standing when he was first hit.
Then advancing on the shooter, firing as he went, Elisjsha Dicken hit the shooter 7 more times, so 8 times total out of the 10 shots he fired. Weapons experts are pretty much roundly amazed at this accuracy.
It has been reported that he was taught to shoot by his grandfather, starting when he was a little boy. Looks like his grandpa taught him well.
Too bad Elisjsha wasn’t at the Uvalde school a few weeks ago. Things might have turned out differently.
It’s also been noted that his girlfriend was a nurse and immediately started helping the wounded.
I have seen various reports about whether or not he had a concealed carry permit, but actually he didn’t need one. Starting this past July 1st, Indiana became what’s known as a Constitutional Carry State, which says that anyone who can legally own a gun can legally carry it concealed.
I’ve also seen comments that Elisjsha broke the ‘law’ because the shopping mall had signs saying no guns allowed. Well, he didn’t break the law because that’s not a law. All the mall can legally do was to ask him to leave. If he doesn’t, he could then be arrested for trespassing. That’s it.
And of course, the signs didn’t stop the shooter from bringing guns in either.
July 23, 2023
Schafer’s, nee Outrigger’s?
We were on our way over to the Clear Lake Shores area, near Seabrook and Kemah, about 12:45 to meet up with former client/long-time friend Tricia. We’ve known each other a number of years and try to get together every few months or so.
We were meeting her at Schafer’s Coastal Grille, which is apparently the heir-apparent of one of our favorite places, Outrigger’s which used to reside under the Kemah Bridge before falling to the recent Hwy 146 expansion.
But Jan had recently seen something on Facebook about Schafer’s having a connection to Outrigger’s. And looking at their website confirmed it, showing a menu listing for Outrigger’s Famous Fish and Shrimp Tacos. Which just happens to be Jan’s favorite dish there.
Getting to Schafer’s, we found a large plain-Jane grey building, which belied the inside décor. While Outrigger’s had kind of a dive bar feel and décor, Schafer’s was more upscale.
They’ve even got tablecloths, which Outrigger’s had picnic tables.
When we asked Ryan, our server, about the Outrigger’s/Schafer’s connection, he said it’s the same owner and the same cooks. But when I asked him why they named it Schafer’s, rather than something like (my choice) Outrigger’s Too, he really didn’t have a good explanation.
But the food was as delicious here as its predecessor.
While Jan started with a House, I got their Wedge version.
Really good, especially the house-made Blue Cheese dressing.
Then Jan and Tricia got the Keto version of their Grilled Shrimp Tacos, which were wrapped in an Avocado half, rather than a tortilla shell.
I got the Hamburger Sliders, which unusually, looked a lot smaller on the menu than what I got.
Really good, and I had two leftovers to bring home.
Finally saying our goodbyes to Tricia until next time, Jan and I headed back over to our area for our weekly HEB stuff.
When we entered HEB some dark clouds were rolling in, and the thunderboomers started up while we were shopping. Luckily we got back to the Jeep right before the bottom dropped out. And it poured down until right before we got back to the rig, so we stayed pretty dry.
SpaceX has mounted the latest Starship on the launch pad down in Boca Chica, TX, hoping for a launch in the next month or so.
