Category Archives: Uncategorized

Catching Up On Friday . . .

Our Friday in Fredericksburg started out with a good breakfast at our hotel, the Sunday House Inn, before we headed back into the downtown area for some last-minute shopping along Main St.

Then it was on out of town to a long-time favorite, Wildseed Farms

Wildseed is a little bit of everything, a plant nursery, a pottery shop, a gift shop, a dress boutique, a wine tasting, and a snack bar, surrounded by fields of wildflowers.

A must-visit place when we’re in the Fredericksburg area.

Next up, we headed further out into the countryside for our 2pm tour at Longneck Manor, a preserve for Rhinos and Giraffes.

Turning off the FM road, we crossed a cattle gate, meaning it was a free-range area, and immediately saw this sign.

This is good advice because sometimes the big bulls will ‘bump’ back.

We drove along on the dirt road, seeing a lot of cows roaming around, but no sign of Longneck Manor, depending only on our GPS to get us there.

Finally, when we were starting to hear banjos, we saw this.

We had to wait a while for the gate to open, since the sign said it would open 30 minutes before our 2pm tour.

First up, was the Rhino petting area. Everybody gets a chance to pet to Barney, one of the 3 Rhinos they have on site.

The Rhinos normally are fed hay, but they really like this alfalfa. So they use it to lure them to stick their head in the slot so we can pet them.

These are the other two Rhinos, Tom and Justin.

Our guides talked about how all 3 Rhinos have different personalities, including phobias.

Barney doesn’t like women in loose-flowing dresses. They scare him and he runs off. While Tom doesn’t like camera equipment with big lenses sticking out.

And Justin is terrified of cows. When they come up to the fence and start mooing, Justin runs away and hides.

Then it was on to the Giraffe Feeding area.

They have 4 giraffes, 3 adults, and a youngster. And they’re all eager for the goodies, which consist of Romaine lettuce, slices of squash, cucumber, and zucchini.

I think the most surprising thing is the length of their tongues and how they can use them, almost like a hand that curls around the food and then pulls it into their mouths.

A great time, and we’ll go back next time.

Then we headed out, bound for our Quality Inn in Marble Falls. We wanted to get checked in and unloaded before we headed back over to our son Chris’ in Kingsland.

Brandi, Lowell, and Landon didn’t get on the way from Katy until later so they just went straight to the hotel, getting in about 10pm.

Chris has down a great job continually upgrading his place, including a putting green for Linda where the pool goes during the summer.

More tomorrow.


Thought For The Day:

The more I get to know certain people, the more I realize why Noah only let animals board the ark.

And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™


March 18, 2009

Settling in at the Gulf Shores State Park . . .

First off, check out the new tab at the top of the page  ‘Tour Our Beauty’.  It will give you a pictorial tour of our home.  Check it out!

Jan and I spent today settling into our new site. You know, the usual stuff, putting out the flamingo and the brass moose, hanging the windchimes, as I said, the usual…

As I mentioned yesterday, we’re now on a quiet cul-de-sac at the end of the park.

Our New Cul-de-sac home

Our new Cul-de-sac home

Nice wide spaces

Nice wide spaces

Apparently the group of RV’ers here have regular get-togethers.  They were having a weenie-roast lunch when we got here yesterday, and today we were invited to a potluck dinner on Sunday evening.  We’re looking forward to it.

The guy next to us is from Canada and spent some time telling us all the must-see places in Newfoundland / Nova Scotia when we get up there later this summer.

For dinner today we tried a new place for us, Firehouse Subs.  We both liked the Italian sub we had.  We’ll go back, I’m sure.

More news from Paradise tomorrow…


March 18, 2010

Da Boyz and Hooters…

Jan and I slept late this morning. It was the first time in about a week or so that we didn’t have something to do early in the morning.

I fixed coffee and we sat around and just enjoyed life. Then about 11 Jan heated up the last of the Da Boyz pizza leftover from Yuma. I think it was even better than it was originally.

After cleaning up a bit, we drove over to check out the Las Vegas Hooters. It turns out that this Hooters was actually in a casino. I don’t know if that affected their menu, but it was certainly different from the ones in Texas we frequent. They had no wings hotter than 911, and did not have the Honey BBQ, Cajun Spice, or Garlic Flavored like we have found in other Hooters. But what we had was pretty good so all was not lost.

Leaving Hooters, we stopped off at an AutoZone to pick up some fuses and fuse holders to wire up a new charge line for the toad.

After that, we decided to call it a day and head home, as we have a full day planned for tomorrow.


March 18, 2011

Lorikeets and Ostrich Fishing . . .

First off, I forgot to post this St. Patrick’s Day photo of Landon yesterday, and was chastised by our daughter Brandi.

Mea Culpa.

LandonIrish

This morning was an early start, with absolutely no coffee to help.

About 10am  Jan and I headed north on I-10 about 55 miles to revisit the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch, located near Picacho Peak.

Picacho Peak

Here’s a better photo of Picacho Peak from the Web.

Picacho_Peak

We got there about 11:15 and waited a few minutes for our friend Jeanne Sparks to arrive from Casa Grande to visit with us.

We were last here in February 2008 on our way to Alaska.

After collecting our animal feed cups and lorikeet nectar, we entered the animal enclosure to first encounter the Fallow Deer area.

Jan was very popular, and it was funny to watch her try to feed each one separately and be sure that everyone got their share.

Fallow Deer 1

Fallow Deer 2

Then it was on to the ostrich area to try and feed these hungry birds while retaining all our fingers. And it wasn’t easy, believe me. Sometimes it was like feeding a nest of snakes.

Ostrich 1

Ostrich 2

Is this a kind and gentle face, or what?

Ostrich Closeup

They had a photo of what a baby one looks like. They sell all their fertilized eggs overseas so they don’t have any babies at the ranch.

Ostrich Baby

One treat was getting to meet Rooster himself.

Rooster Cogburn

Next, it was on to the goats. Known as the Hole In The Wall Gang, the goats are a lot more fun (and safe) to feed than the ostriches.

Goats 1

Goats 2

The Sicilian Donkeys weren’t really hungry, but they did like to be petted, and were a big hit with the little kids.

Donkeys 1

Then finally, it was Jan’s favorite, the Lorikeets.

Lorikeets

They give you little cups of nectar which the Lorikeets love, and will swarm all over you to get it.

Lorikeets 1

Lorikeets 2

Our friend Jeanne certainly has her hands full.

Jeanne with Lorikeets

These are really beautiful, colorful birds, and much friendlier than the ostriches.

Lorikeet Closeup

It was funny to watch them dive under the water in their bathing pond, then fluff up their feathers and fly up to the top of the cage in the sun to dry off.

Lorikeet Bath

Lorikeet Bath 1

All together now. “Awwwww”

Lorikeet Lovebirds

Our next treat was the Monster Truck Tour around the ranch, something we had not done last time. The Tour is a combination of sightseeing and motocross jumping.

Monster Truck

The 50-minute ride took us around the feeding and breeding areas of the ranch, interspersed with wild bumps and jumps across and over ditches and ravines.

We also got to see an ostrich nest in the wild, although they usually take the eggs from the nest and incubate them as soon as possible because of local predators like javelinas and bobcats.

Ostrich Nest

Our next adventure was Ostrich Fishing.

Ostrich Fishing 1

There is a bolt on the end of the string, and you stick it in a quarter section of grapefruit, and let the fun begin.

Ostrich Fishing 3

Ostrich Fishing 2

They said if you could land one on the platform, you could have it. I wanted to ask if I could just shoot one and reel it in, but Jan wouldn’t let me.

Bummer!

They’re supposed to be really tasty.

We had a great time here, and it’s well worth your time if you’re in the area.

Ostrich Fishing New

We left Rooster’s about 1pm and headed across the Interstate to the Bowlin’s gift shop, one of Jan’s favorites. She loves their earring selection, and found another pair she really likes.

Then we drove back into Tucson to have lunch at the Lucky Wishbone.

It’s kind of a fast food place, but serves things like steak fingers, chicken livers, and gizzards, along with chicken strips, shrimp, fish, and fried chicken.

Really good.

We got home about 5:30, and it seemed like a good time for a short nap.

And of course, about 7:30 we drove over to the DQ in Vail.


March 18, 2012

A Nice, Cold, Dreary, Rainy Day . . .

And windy, very windy.

I finally got up about 6:30am to let in our bedroom window awnings, not because of possible wind damage, but just because they were so noisy that it was hard to sleep.

And then later in the morning, the rain part of the incoming cold front came thru. Never really hard, but pretty steady for long periods. And as far as the cold part, it never got out the 40’s all day.

But it was a perfect day to stay bundled up at home, cuddled up with hot coffee warming our insides and the floor heaters keeping us warm outside. The perfect day to just curl up with a good book.

I did gather up enough energy to install Jan’s new LED reading lamp over the sofa. The old one used an incandescent bulb that Jan said was too hot sometimes.

LED Spotlight

I had looked for a CFL or LED bulb to fit the old lamp, but since it used a non-standard ‘intermediate’ base, I was never able to find one that would fit.

But while we were at Lowe’s yesterday I came across the one pictured above. It’s LED so it stays cool and is a little brighter than her old one, so she really likes the new one.

For lunch Jan fixed sandwiches and chips with muffins for dessert while we listened to the rain hitting the top of the coach. And the steady rain coming down made it a good afternoon for a nap. (Really, is there a bad afternoon for a nap?)

Jan fixed us dinner about 6pm, warming up our leftovers from Luckie’s Thai a few nights ago, and if anything, it was even better than originally.

And that pretty much rounded out what turned out to be a very nice day.


March 18, 2013

Delorme and Silverleaf . . .

After Jan and I had a nice, quiet morning here at the Pima County Fairgrounds RV Park, we headed out a little after 1pm for a couple of errands, the main one being Sam’s Club to pick up one of Jan’s prescriptions, and a couple of other things. Coming back in the direction of the park we drove down Campbell Ave to check out the location of the new Grimaldi’s Pizzeria here in Tucson. After our visit to the one in San Antonio a week or so ago, we certainly want to eat here before we leave.

Chris Yust, our GMAC Insurance rep had called earlier in the day to say they were heading this way and wanted directions to the park here. They were coming in from Yuma to a rally that starts here on Wednesday.

Later in the afternoon, I stowed away the Acer laptop that I used to display my Delorme Street Atlas GPS mapping program and my Silverleaf engine computer display.

Silverleaf 2

In checking the display before I shut it down, I was surprised to find that, even with the heavy headwinds we encountered coming to Tucson from Las Cruces, I used 31.2 gallons of diesel for a total of 259.1 miles traveled. This makes it 8.3 mpg, not bad for the trip at 55-60 mph.

I also finished mapping out all the RV parks we’ve stayed at in the last 5+ years. That’s 267 parks ranging from Key West, FL to Fairbanks, AK, and from San Diego to Nova Scotia, Canada.

Master RV Parks List

We’ve actually been all the way out to Newfoundland, but we left the RV in Louisbourg, NS and just took the truck over on the ferry, staying in B & B’s as we traveled down the 500-mile length of the island.

Of course in 5 years we’ve spent more than 267 nights on the road, but we’ve stayed at many of these parks multiple times. For example, we’ve stayed here at Pima County Fairgrounds RV Park 4 times, and other parks as many as 5 times. When you find a good park in an area, you tend to stick with it.

Later, after Chris and Charles Yust had arrived and got parked and set up, we all headed out to Luckie’s Thai, our favorite local Chinese place. And yes, I know it says Thai, but they have a full Chinese menu too. We’ll go back again.


March 18, 2014

An Asian Two’fer . . .

Well, the bin situation is finally coming together. I rearranged my categories, combining some and expanding others and also ended up using a combination of the 64 Qt. bins and the file boxes to fill in some odd spaces in the bays. I’ve still got a couple of bins left over filled with miscellaneous stuff that doesn’t really fit into any of my categories. So I’ll have to come up with something else.

While I was outside working, Don Couvillion came over and we set up plans for getting together Thursday night, before they leave on Friday. We’re looking forward to it.

About 4 I headed out on a few errands, dropping off garbage, and then down the road to the convenience store to pick up Powerball & MegaMillions tickets for tonight and tomorrow night. Then coming back, I stopped off at a rock pile behind the Activity Center. I had brought a couple of empty kitty litter buckets with me, along with my entrenching tool. I wanted to get a couple of buckets of rocks and dirt to help fill in the water-filled ruts at the front of the rig. If we get much more rain before we leave here on Monday, I might have some problems getting out of this site. I figure it will take 8 or 10 bucket loads to fill it all in.

For dinner Jan fixed us a salad and then heated up the left-over pizza from our  Grimaldi’s Pizzeria visit yesterday afternoon. When you reheat it in the convection oven, it’s just about as good as it was originally. And I’ve found a new favorite salad dressing – Hidden Valley Bacon Ranch. I had a Bacon Ranch dressing when we ate at Applebee’s last week, so I decided to pick some up for home. Really good.

Tomorrow Jan and I are heading down to the Clear Lake area for a doctor’s appointment. We’ll go down a little early so we can have lunch at King Food one more time before we leave the area. I’m also going to drop off some more stuff at our storeroom, and pick up our prescriptions from Sam’s Club.

Then we’ll come home by way of our daughter Brandi’s in Katy to pick up our mail and packages. We’ve got some stuff from Amazon, as well as our new Fantastic Vent fan motor that should be here. And hopefully the replacement shear pins for the slide will be there too.  And we also want another chance to eat dinner at Little V’s Vietnam Restaurant near their house. So our day will be an Asian Two’fer.


March 18, 2015

On to AJ . . .

After coffee and Munchkins this morning, I started packing away some stuff to get ready to move up to Apache Junction tomorrow morning.  Then with Jan grabbing the magnets inside, I took down the solar screens and stored them away in the truck. Hopefully I’ll have some more time to work on them up in Apache Junction.

‎Later, about 4:30pm Jan and I headed up Kolb Rd. to Dry River Company Pizza. It’s an order it at the counter, they bring it to the table kind of a place with a nice atmosphere and a friendly staff.

It does have couple of quirks, however. They only have one size of pizza, 13-14”, and they only have 12 different kinds of pizza, with no additional items listed. It may be that you can order different ingredients, but they aren’t on the menu and we didn’t ask.

Instead we ordered the Traditional, with Tomato Sauce, Sausage, Pepperoni, Banana Peppers, and Mozzarella. And even better, this pizza is normally $11, but since we were there during Happy Hour, I.e., before 5:30, the pizza was only $8. Nice.

The pizza is thin crust, cooked in a wood-fired (with pecan) brick oven. And pretty much everything is fresh. As in the pizza dough is made daily, all the sauces are made in-house, as well as, believe it or not, the mozzarella cheese.

They also make all their salad dressings (except Ranch) and the bread for their sandwiches and garlic bread is baked daily around the corner at La Baguette Bakery.

You can’t get much fresher than that.

And it showed in the food. We all agreed it was some of the best pizza we’ve had in a good while. As far as I’m concerned, it’s not quite up to Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, but darn close. Grimaldi’s coal-fired oven may be a little hotter, because their crust is lightly charred on the bottom and the edges, really adding to the favor.

They also have a wide variety of salads, pastas, and sandwiches if you’re not in the mood for pizza. (How can anyone not be in the mood for pizza, he asks?)

Sure wish we hadn’t discovered this place on our last night in Tucson.

Later, finally heading back to Voyager RV Resort, we made a detour a couple of miles up I-10 to the Pilot/Flying J to get gas in the truck. Yesterday unleaded was $2.19, but today it was $2.17. And even better, with our Good Sam’s RV Plus card discount, it was only $2.12 a gallon. Nice.

Tomorrow we’ll be stopping again at the Pilot/Flying J to get diesel for the rig. And unless it goes down again overnight, it should be about $2.61 with our Plus card discount.

Getting home I went ahead and disconnected our water and sewer. One less thing to do tomorrow morning, especially since we’re meeting Al and Adrienne at the RV Park Café for breakfast at 8am, before we head out about 10.


March 18, 2016

Another One Bites The Dust . . .

We were heading down to Brandi’s this morning, so I got up a little early to see if I could kludge up something to get the truck AC going.

The AC is not working because of a problem with the condenser fan that supplies extra cooling for the radiator when the AC is on. But in most cases, it’s really only needed when you’re driving slow or idling. Otherwise, at highway speeds there is enough airflow to keep things cool.

So my idea is to temporarily hard-wire 12 volts directly to the AC compressor coil, bypassing the problem with the fan that is shutting down the AC. But by the time I  figured out how I was going to wire it up, and found some wire that was heavy enough, it was time to get ready to drive down to Katy.

But luckily for us, it stayed pretty overcast the whole trip, so we were pretty comfortable the entire time. But the noise of the windows down at 70mph gets kind of tiring.

We headed out about 11:30, and after a smooth, fast trip, got to Brandi’s in Katy about 1:00pm. Then after looking over movie times, I went online and bought us all tickets for the 2:45 showing of Zootopia, the latest Disney offering. So we had some time to kill until we needed to be at Katy Mills Mall.

The first thing Landon had to show us was his new missing tooth, but this time it wasn’t Miss Kitty’s fault. Back last November, Landon and Miss Kitty, their 120# Black Lab, bumped heads and Landon lost two teeth.

Landon loses teeth_thumb[3]

Well, this time Landon hit his mouth on his daddy’s knee and another tooth hit the floor. So this is what he looks like now, showing off with Grammy Sonja.

Landon with less teeth_thumb[1]

Looks like corn on the cob is off the menu now.

Later Landon was showing off on his new trampoline out in the backyard.

Landon on Tramoline_thumb[1]

Looks like it could be another lost tooth situation.

About 2pm we all drove over to Katy Mills Mall to see Zootopia. I was afraid that the theater would be really crowded due to Spring Break, but we had no problems getting prime seats.

As far as the movie goes, it was really good and everyone enjoyed it. Like the best movies, it’s written on several different levels, and had something for everyone, including enough action so that no one fell asleep, unlike when Jan, Landon, and I went to see SpongeBob Square Pants, and we ALL fell asleep.

A really good movie, and well recommended.

Getting back to the house about 5, we found Brandi and Lowell already home, and with everyone hungry, we did a quick turnaround and were off to Little V’s Vietnamese Bistro right down the road.

We try to eat here as often as possible, just because it’s so darn good. And Tuygen, the owner knows us all by name, and always takes really good care of us.

Family at Little V's_thumb[1]

From left to right, Lindell and Sonja, Lowell’s parents, my Jan, Sherry, Lowell’s sister, and Brandi and Lowell. Master Landon is on the floor under the table, using the chair bottom as a stand for playing games on his iPad. He says we’re too noisy and he can’t concentrate.

Finally a little before 7, after getting our hugs, Jan and I headed back to Conroe, making a “too much iced tea with dinner” stop at the Flying J in north Houston, before we arrived home about 8:15.

Tomorrow if the weather holds, I’ll take a closer look at my truck condenser fan problem. Besides hotwiring the AC itself, I’ll start doing some troubleshooting on the problem, with the first thing I check is the fan itself.

I’ll disconnect power going to it from the truck and then put 12 volts to it directly. This will tell me whether the problem is with the fan, which I suspect it is, or somewhere in the control circuitry.

But since the fan was making a lot of racket before it quit completely, that’s the best way to start.


March 18, 2017

Voyager Bound . . .

Since we only had a 33-mile trip this morning, we didn’t get up until a little after 7:30 and then took our time getting ready to roll.

But after calling Voyager RV Resort and being told we couldn’t come in until after 11am, we decided we had time for breakfast. And remembering the extensive breakfast menu at the Horseshoe Café & Bakery from our visit last Thursday, we headed into Benson to give it a try.

And we weren’t the only ones, with a 20-minute wait before we got seated. But the service was fast, and the coffee was great.

Jan got her favorite Mushroom and Cheese Omelet with Country Potatoes, Bacon, and a Biscuit.

Horseshoe Cafe Omelet Breakfast

I  went with the Wagon Wheel Breakfast, with Eggs, Bacon, Sausage Links, and a Belgian Waffle.

Horseshoe Cafe Egg Breakfast

Really, really good, and we both had plenty of leftovers, too.

Back at the rig a little after 10, we finished packing everything away and cranked up the rig a little after 10:30, planning to leave in about 10 minutes. But first we had to get the slide in.

Although we had no problem bringing it in when we left Las Cruces last Tuesday, putting it out when we got here at Cochise Terrace in Benson was a different story, with a lot of jerking and groaning.

And this morning didn’t get any better. The right side only went out about 3 inches and then stopped, while the left side kept going. So it was outside and into the bay under the slide to check out the problem.

At first everything looked fine as I had Jan move the slide in and out a bit. But finally looking down on the floor of the bay, I found a sheared-off bolt, and nearby, the broken nut end.

Rig Slide Broken Bolts

This led me to pull back the square shaft from the inside round shaft, so now it was obvious where the bolt came from. But why did the bolt shear off and the shear pin right behind it was fine? A little further investigation told me the reason.

Rig Slide Problem

The shear pin on the manual drive shaft to the left was sticking out a little too far and was jamming against the round base on the other shaft and maybe occasionally hitting the other shear pin too.

So now it was off to the Ace Hardware in Benson for a new bolt. Actually four new bolts. One for the repair and three for spares. You know me.

The guy at the hardware store confirmed what I thought I remembered, that the six lines on the bolt head indicated that the old bolt was a Grade 8, the hardest and strongest of standard bolts. So I was careful to get replacements of the same grade.

Getting back to the rig, I knocked the offending shear pin back out of the way a little and then jogged the manual drive to line up the two shaft holes, installed the bolt, and I was done.

Rig Slide Repair

I hoped.

And after cranking up, the slide came in smooth as silk.

So a few minutes later we were on our way, with Jan following me in the truck. No need to hitch up for a 30+ mile run.

We were checked in at Voyager and waiting to be parked by about 1:15pm. Unfortunately the lady who guided me to our site thought she also knew how to park me.

Now Jan and I have been doing this for over nine years and we’ve got it down to a science. I tried to tell the lady that Jan and I could park just fine by ourselves without her ‘help’. But she was insistent that it was going to be done her way.

Jan said later she wondered why I kept jogging back and forth and ‘didn’t just pull in and park like we normally do”. I said it was because you weren’t guiding me, she was, and she didn’t know what she was doing.

But we did end up parked right next to our friend’s Chris and Charles Yust, so it all worked out for the best.

After we got parked, and after just plugging in power for the AC’s, we headed down the the Pima County Fairgrounds to get registered for the Escapade. Then it was off to the nearby Wal-Mart for a few things. The last time Jan had been to a Wal-Mart was about two weeks ago and she was starting to have withdrawal pains.

Later, we headed out with Chris and Charles to have dinner with some friends at a favorite place of theirs, Rigo’s, off 1-10 West, just south of the Silver Saddle Steakhouse.

And with a delicious Mexican buffet, Rigo’s is now a favorite of ours. Though Jan stuck with her Chile Rellenos, I did try the buffet, and it was great. And it was 2 for 1 Beer Night!

Caldo (Beef and Vegetable) Soup, Cheese and Potato Soup, Beef Fajitas, Shrimp Fajitas, Tacos with all the fixin’s, and a lot more. Plus Sopapillas and Rice Pudding for dessert.

And they also have a Breakfast and Lunch Buffet.

I did manage to get a picture of the whole motley crew. Well, almost the ‘whole’ crew.

Rigo's Dinner Crowd

Somehow I managed to leave Charles out of the photo on the front right. My excuse?

I had two beers. But then I wasn’t driving.

On the left, we have Jan, Bob, and Sandy. And on the right, there’s a small part of Charles, Chris, Mickey, and Lynn.

We had a great time, and what’s more amazing, we weren’t the loudest group there. Very unusual, believe me.

Tomorrow is first day of the Escapade, although the seminars don’t start until Monday. so Jan and I will get to spend some time roaming the Vendor area, buying stuff we want, but probably don’t need. Sounds like fun.


March 18, 2018

Last One . . .

Catching Up on Catching Up.

Jan and I headed out yesterday afternoon a little before 3pm to meet everyone over at our son Chris’ in Heritage Park. Brandi, Lowell, and Landon were coming down from Katy and we were all going out for dinner at the Birraporetti’s over in Friendswood. And even better Miss Piper and her boyfriend Connor were meeting us there.

But on our way, we made a detour by the Taco Cabana to see if I could perhaps recover my lost driveshaft. Since my mechanic was having to order me a new one, I thought I would check around to see if I could find the old one and maybe reuse it, hopefully saving me some money. But no luck. I guess some found it and threw it in the trash. Oh well.

We all spent a couple of hours just talking and laughing. We even got to FaceTime with Jan’s sister Debbie and her family up in Illinois. We talked about our upcoming family reunion there at the end of June, and also about some furniture that we’re taking up there when we go.

We left for Birraporetti’s a little after 5:30 for our 6pm reservation. And we were glad we had one because the place was jam-packed. Literally wall-to-wall, so much so that it was hard to get to the restrooms in the rear of the place.

Birraporetti's Group

This was our first time to meet Connor, seated at the other end of the table. Jan later told Piper that he was a ‘hunk’. Seems like a really nice guy.

It was so noisy that I had no idea what anyone else had, but Jan had the Chicken Alfredo with Mushrooms Sandwich with a Side Salad.

Birraporetti's Chicken Alfredo - Pesto

She had asked for Pesto instead of Alfredo sauce. But they forgot it and had to bring the Pesto out separately. But she said it was delicious.

I had a really good bowl of Tuscan Bean Soup with pasta.

Birraporetti's Tuscan Bean Soup

The soup already had cut-up Italian Sausage in it, but I got the two extra pieces from Miss Piper who didn’t want the serving that came with her meal.

With everyone’s varying schedules, it’s always good when we can get the entire family together now and then, and we really had a great time.

Today:

The only thing significant that happened today is that I finally got to install the last window awning of our new set. Jan came outside and supervised while I went up and down the ladder.

Last Awning 2

I asked her if she was going to catch me if I fell off and she said, ‘NO”. But she would call 911 for me.

Last Awning 3

That’s my Sweetie!

Tomorrow starting at 8am, Jan and I have our yearly GP checkups and prescription renewals. Then that finishes me up, though Jan has one last appointment with her oncologist for a follow-up on her mammogram last week. But since that came back clean, there should be no problems with that either.

Then we’re done until next year. YAY!


March 18, 2019

Puddles Was Great!

Puddles Was Great

Got Home Late!

Will Catch Up Tomorrow!


March 18, 2020

Rest In Peace, Charles . . .

image

Jan and I were deeply saddened to receive the news this afternoon that our long-time friend, Charles Yust, had passed away.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, Chris. It’s hard to believe that all this happened so quickly, and how quickly our lives can change.

Rest in Peace, Charles.


March 18, 2021

Homeward Bound . . .

Both Brandi and her family, and my Jan are all homeward bound. And even better, a day early. They left Colorado this morning and are spending the night in Amarillo, before coming back tomorrow afternoon.

So I’ll be able to pick Jan up tomorrow afternoon, instead of Saturday.

YEA!

And of course you shouldn’t pass through Amarillo without eating at the Big Texan Steak Ranch at least once

Landon at Big Texan Steakhouse

Don’t know if he did the 72oz. Challenge or not.

I stopped off at HEB this afternoon after picking up some Amazon orders, and finally found out why I can’t find Coke Zero Vanilla anymore, and Coke Zero Cherry almost never. It seems there’s an aluminum can shortage.

But Googling didn’t really clear up the cause. Some sites said it was due to the pandemic of course, while other sites said it was the Chinese Trade Embargo. ???

While I was in line to check out, the lady in front of me reached over and placed the divider thingie behind her stuff. When I thanked her, she smiled, nodded, and then I said, “You must be having a sleepover this weekend”.

She looked at me in amazement, and I think a little concern, and said, “How do you know that?”

“Well, you’ve got your cart piled high with bags of candy bars, chips, Goldfish, PopTarts, soft drinks, and juice boxes. Probably not stuff you would usually buy for YOUR kids. But anything to keep them quiet, right.”

“And then for you, you’ve got those two REALLY big bottles of wine.”

She looked at me and started laughing, along with the checkout clerk, and said, “I only hope I’ve got enough wine! There’s 10 of them.”

For her sake, I hope she does too.

Crossing our fingers, it sure looks like they’ve started resurrecting the Monterey’s Mexican Kitchen over on I-45 and FM-517. I noticed both yesterday and today that there was a dumpster out front and a half dozen work trucks.

The place was flooded during Hurricane Harvey in August 2017, and we kept hearing that they were going to rebuild it SOON. But SOON has stretched out to 3-1/2 years now.

Here’s hoping.

Wrapping up, here’s something kind of creepy for you.

Spider HairCut

Yikes!

But why?


March 18, 2023

Getting Pinched . . .

Jan and I were on the road this morning about 9:45, heading up to Conroe to meet up with Debi and Ed Hurlburt, and also, long-time-no-see, Janice and Dave Evans.

After making our usual bathroom break at the Flying J along the way, we got to La Pizca (The Pinch) Grill & Cantina right at 11:30, with Janice and Dave showing up a couple of minutes later, and Debi and Ed a few minutes after that.

Ed said this place had only been open about six weeks, and before that had been a bad BBQ place. Our server, Rob, was so attentive and informative that we all assumed he was a manager/owner type. But it turned out he was the bartender who just took some tables when he wasn’t busy.

Really good server.

And the food was really good too.

Dave had the Pork Tamales with Charro Beans,

La Pizca Dave 20230318

while Ed had the Steak Burrito.

La Pizca Ed 20230318

Jan got the Pollo Ranchero covered in Verde Sauce with a side of Grilled Veggies.

La Pizca Jan 20230318

I got a bowl of their Chicken Tortilla Soup,

La Pizca Me 20230318

that was just full of chicken.

La Pizca Me 2 20230318

And a side of their Grilled Veggies too.

La Pizca Me Veggies 20230318

The service was great, and the food was even better. So good in fact that we’re coming back next month.

La Pizca RV Group 20230318

We had a great time, and we’re already looking forward to next month.

After saying our goodbyes, we headed back down to Santa Fe, with a quick stop at our local HEB, finally getting home about 4pm.

Really, really nice day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Homeward Bound . . .

This morning started early, but for a good reason. We were getting together with Brandi, Lowell and Landon for breakfast at a local hot spot, the Bluebonnet Cafe. It was just going to be us 5 because Chris and Linda had headed out to New Mexico for a family emergency.

We wanted to get there early for two reasons. First because we all wanted to get a early start heading back home. And second, we knew the place would fill up fast on a Sunday morning. And it did.

Bluebonnet is known for their large servings, and today was no different.

Jan had the plate-sized Blueberry Pancakes with well-done bacon.

While I got the Two Egg Breakfast with Bacon,

along with Biscuits, Grits and Sausage Gravy for the Biscuits.

Landon got their plate-sized Cinnamon Roll with Sausage.

Our meal was really good, and we still had some to take home with us. And reinforcing our decision to there early, the place was almost full when we left about 8:30.

Lowell et al., were taking US290 all the way back, but Jan and I decided to cut down back to our usual stop at the Buc-ee’s in Luling for a potty break. And then it was on to the Katy Buc-ee’s about 90 minutes later.

We got back to our area about 1:30, making an HEB stop before getting back to the rig a little before 2pm

We all had a fantastic time getting together with everyone, and can’t wait to do it again.

Starting with tomorrow’s blog I’ll start to catch up with all the fun of the last few days.

Stay tuned.


Thought For The Day:

Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™


March 17, 2009

Moving day…

Well, we put some miles on the coach today…   2.4 miles actually.

As I had mentioned, we could only stay in the premium site where we were for two weeks and then either had to move on, or move to another site here in the park.

I was unsure if a site would be available when we needed to move since the park has been pretty much filled up due to Spring Break.

But we lucked out and had our choice of three new sites this morning.  We chose a new site at the end of a cul-de-sac.  Nice and quiet. With plenty of woods for Mister to stalk…well, whatever he stalks.  At least he’s away from the alligators.

Beautiful day today… with more to come.


March 17, 2010

Long hills, but no more cat barf…

We left Laughlin about 8:30am, heading toward Las Vegas.

Although our parking facilities were plain-jane with no hookups, it was free and had a great view. Can’t beat that!

LaughlinCasinoRVParking

We had a couple of long hills on our way, but our rig had no problem with them,  And one of these hills was a 17 mile long steady climb.

About 50 miles out of Las Vegas we passed thru the town of Searchlight.

Searchlight is a famous gold mining town. During the early 1900’s it was bigger than Las Vegas, with over 7 million dollars in gold taken out between 1907 and 1910. Although the gold mining started to play out in the 1920’s, the town had a resurgence during the 30’s and 40’s during the building of the Hoover Dam because of the El Rey, a famous bordello. At its peak it had a population of 1500, but according to the 2000 census there are only 576 people there.

We pulled into the Roadrunner RV Park about 10:20. We parked out on the street for a few minutes waiting for a space to open up since they don’t take reservations. But by 10:45 we were parked and set up.

Here’s my lovely bride, Jan at the London Bridge at Lake Havasu.

JanLondonBridge

After I got cleaned up we headed out to Claim Jumper, a restaurant we ate when we were here two years ago and really enjoyed. And it was a good as we remembered. We will definitely go back before we leave.

Leaving the restaurant we stopped off at WalMart for ‘stuff’. You can never have too much ‘stuff’, and WalMart has great ‘stuff’, and a lot of it.

Then it was on to Fry’s Electronics so I could pick up some goodies.

By then it was dark and we decided to drive up and down the Strip to see the lights. Between the Luxor pyramid, the Paris Eiffel Tower, and New York, New York Stature of Liberty, it was quite a sight.

After driving up and down the Strip, we headed back to our rig. It was a long, but very enjoyable day.


March 17, 2011

Happy St. Paddy’s Day . . .

Once again this morning started out with coffee about 9:30 and some website work for clients. Then about 10:30 Jan set up an outing for us for lunch, shopping, and errands.

So around noon Jan and I headed over to the Miracle Mile area of Tucson. Our first stop was to drop off some mail at the Post Office and then on to Luke’s Italian Beef. A Chicago-style sandwich shop, they serve a variety of beef sandwiches, cheesesteaks, hot dogs, and Polish sausage. Jan had an Italian Beef sandwich with Provolone cheese, while I had a Polish Sausage Dog, Chicago Style. We both had orders of their great fries. They’re really crispy because they’re fried twice.

After a delicious lunch, we headed west out of town toward the Tucson Mountain Park and Gate’s Pass scenic areas.

Gate's Pass 2

Gate's Pass 1

Gate's Pass 3

Gate's Pass 4

We had been thru some of this area before a while back when our friends Al and Adrienne took us out to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum that is located here. But this time we made a giant loop coming back into Tucson by a different, very scenic route.

Our first stop back in town was Wal-Mart for some needed supplies. Then it was on to Trader Joe’s, a western-based U.S. chain, similar to Whole Foods, selling mostly natural and organic foods, it’s a fun place to find products you don’t see in many other stores.

We finally got back home about 6pm, and, after putting away our groceries and checking our emails, we headed out about 7 to DQ.

Tomorrow we plan on revisiting the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch up I-10 in the Picacho Peak area between here and Phoenix.


March 17, 2012

Pollo and DQ . . .

After a quiet morning, Jan and I headed out around noon for an afternoon of lunch and shopping. Jan had her usual Wal-Mart list and I had a couple of things I needed too.

But our first stop was for lunch at El Pollo Loco, our favorite place for flame-grilled chicken. Unfortunately they’re pretty much only found out west so we don’t get to eat there as often as we like. We went to one last year in Las Vegas, and we were disappointed. It wasn’t very good. But today, this one was delicious. Their chicken is soaked overnight in a citrus marinade and then flame-grilled over an open fire. The skin comes out slightly blackened and crispy-crunchy good, and the chicken is moist and flavorful.

After lunch, our next stop was a nearby 99cent store to get some of the spicy mustard the food vendor at the Yuma Rally had used. Don’t know why it’s so good, but it really is.

Next up was a Lowe’s right down the street. I needed some new fluorescent bulbs for one of our bathroom fixtures, and we wanted to look at the Levelor wooden blinds. One of our day/night shades in the bedroom broke a string, so we were thinking about just replacing them like others have done, but to fit our windows it’s a two-week special order, so we’ll have to wait until we’re in one place for that long.

Then it was on to Wal-Mart for more shopping, stocking up on groceries, cat food, etc. Jan says a week without Wal-Mart is just, well, sucky.

Finally about 3pm we headed home with stops along the way at Starbuck’s for a Cinnamon Dolce Latte for me, and then DQ for a vanilla cone for Jan. Gotta keep our strength up.

We got home about 3:30, got things put away, and then a little later, we drove down the road a few miles to Voyager RV Resort to visit our friends Al & Adrienne for dinner.

We met them in Fairbanks, AK in 2008 and have been good friends ever since. We always try to hook up with them around the country as our paths cross, and we always have a great time getting together.

After a great supper Jan and Adrienne talked while Al and I cleaned the gunk out of her computer to speed things up. She should really see the difference now.

Time flies when you’re having fun, which is why we didn’t get home until about 9:30, way past Jan’s bedtime. But the great company kept her bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Well, maybe just bright-eyed.


March 17, 2013

Pima Bound . . .

Today we were heading for Tucson, AZ about 260 miles away. We filled up with diesel at the Pilot station right down the road from the park before getting out on I-10 west.

When we got to Lordsburg about 90 minutes later, we made our usual stop at the Kranberry’s Family Restaurant there. They’re only a couple of blocks off the Interstate and have RV parking. In fact when we parked, there were three other RV’s and a semi there too.

When we came out of the restaurant we could tell the wind had picked up even more. Oh boy. But we really didn’t have a lot of problems with the wind, just a couple of strong gusts. Instead we mostly just had a strong headwind.

We pulled into Pima Country Fairgrounds about 3pm, having gained an hour since Arizona doesn’t do Daylight Savings Time. They only had 30 amp sites available, but I was able to get a spot facing the east so we won’t have the afternoon sun coming into the windshield.

For dinner we decided to not go out, but just have the leftover Grimaldi’s pizza from last Sunday. And it was still really, really good.

Tomorrow we’ll try to catch up with some friends who live in the area, and maybe do some shopping. And of course there’s always the fact that there’s a Grimaldi’s Pizzeria here in Tucson, too.


March 17, 2014

New Friends and Pizza . . .

After a 35 degree night, we had a beautiful sunny day today. So I managed to get through the last six basement bins, although I didn’t finish getting everything sorted into the final bins. This is because I’m having to rethink my bin categories, mainly because I’ve got too many tools and too much electronic stuff to fit into one bin of each. But it looks like I’ll be able to consolidate some categories that turned out to be smaller than I thought. So hopefully it’ll all work out.

I’ll see tomorrow since it should be another beautiful day.

But the other reason I didn’t get any further with the sorting is that Jan and I met some new friends and spent part of the afternoon talking and getting acquainted over in their very nice Tiffin Allegro Bus. Don and Darlene Couvillon came in this morning and will be here until Friday.

Don and Darlene

About 3, we started talking about dinner, and since Jan and I had already planned to eat at the Grimaldi’s Pizzeria in The Woodlands, we suggested there, and they agreed.

So about 3:30 we piled into our truck and headed out about 25 minutes away. And as usual, the coal-fired oven-baked pizza was fantastic.

Grimaldi's SA 5

And the company was pretty good, too. Turns out we’ve been to a lot of the same places, and have a lot of interests in common.

After dinner we stopped off for a while at the Barnes & Noble a few blocks over. Jan and I were just looking for a couple of magazines, since we don’t really buy hardcover or paperback books anymore, just Kindle books.

While I was in line checking out, there was a guy in front of me buying Nook. I just wanted to grab him by the lapels, and shake him, “Don’t buy it. The Nook is going out of business. Buy a Kindle!”

But to his detriment, I didn’t.

On the same subject, I read today that B&N is dropping support for the Nook Windows Reader App.

And another domino falls.

On another note, the last couple of days I haven’t seen any quashed snapping turtle parts on the road leaving the park, so I guess my turtle rescue the other day was successful.

Finally, we had a great time getting to know Don and Darlene, and hopefully we’ll be able to get together with them again before they leave.


March 17, 2015

T-Shirts and Trim Tape . . .

This morning I was back working on my magnetic solar shades, I went ahead and mounted the one on the driver’s, holding the shade up outside, while Jan stuck the magnets on the inside.

Faux Magne Shades

They seem to hold just fine, even with all the strong, gusty winds we’ve been having the last few days, so I think the magnets are plenty strong. After looking things over, I think I’ll have a solar screen place in Apache Junction sew the two pieces into one single piece so it will be easier to handle. And I’ll also have them trim off the bottom to the correct length and then hem it so it will look nicer.

Then after I get the solar screen configured like I want it, I will use 3M Trim Tape to permanently fasten the magnets in the correct position on the inside of the windshield.

3M Trim Tape

The stuff is super-strong and is used to fasten trim, moldings, and emblems onto automobiles. It’s the same stuff that the Magne Shade people use to hold their magnets in place.

So far it looks like it will work out fine.

* * * * *

About 1pm Jan and I headed out on some errands around town, with our first stop at the Pima Air & Space Museum. Not to tour it, which we did back in 2010, but to get a new SR-71 T-Shirt from the gift shop.

SR-71 Shirt

I bought one of these shirts when we visited back then, but after 5 years of wear it’s looking a little worn out and faded.

Then it was on up to Bookman’s, the used book store, so Jan could see if they had the last 2 books in the Eragon series, which they didn’t. Guess we’ll just go ahead and get them on the Kindle,

Heading back over to Houghton Rd, we made a stop at the new Dunkin’ Donuts for some more Munchkins (holes) for breakfast. Still don’t know if we got what we ordered, since we got the same surly cashier as the other day, who apparently can’t count, and couldn’t keep our order straight.

Next up was the new Wal-Mart right next door. Turns out that this is one of those ‘Mini’ Super Wal-Marts that we first encountered in Kenedy, TX when we were gate-guarding in 2012. It’s a ‘Super’ Wal-Mart because it has a full grocery section, but it doesn’t carry the range of products that the full-size stores do. The quickest way to tell the difference is that, unlike the big ones, the ‘Mini’s’ only have one entrance, not two.

Getting home a little before 4, we had just enough time to put everything away, and then head back out to meet our friends Al & Adrienne at 5pm for dinner at the Hog Pit Smokehouse, which is right down the road from the new Poco & Mom’s on Tanque Verde

Everyone enjoyed their meal. I even thought it was better than Brushfire BBQ where we ate last week, but Jan was kind of on the fence. She liked some things better here, and some things better at Brushfire.

Finishing up, we went back to their townhome here at Voyager for a couple of hours to keep catching up. As I’ve mentioned before, we first met Al and Adrienne in Fairbanks, AK in 2008, and later have caught up with them in Westport, WA, and Cody, WY. They get around almost as much as we do.

Tomorrow they’re talking rain, so we’ll see how much work I get done outside before we leave on Thursday for Apache Junction.


March 17, 2016

A Day Of Rest . . .

Much Needed Rest!

With our first down day in a while, Jan and I both just vegged out today. I only went outside to tighten down a leaking water hose connection, and that was it.

About 1pm I started putting together a beef stew in the slow cooker. Back in the fall of 2013 a Company Man on one of our gates gave us two beautiful 1-1/2 pound boneless ribeye steaks, already frozen and vacuum-sealed. We tucked them away in the freezer and kind of forgot about them.

We came across them the other day while sorting through the freezer contents, working on using up stuff to make it easier to defrost soon. And since I didn’t want to pull our Weber Q200 out, only to find out we’re out of propane, we decided to go with a really good beef stew.

We’d had them thawing out for the last couple of days so they were good to go.

Ribeys Steaks_thumb[1]

And it was amazing how good these steaks still looked . . . like they just came from the store.

I trimmed some of the excess fat off and then cut them into cubes. Then it was into the slow cooker with a can of mushroom soup, a can of water, and a few pearl onions.

Pot Roast 1_thumb[1]

After adding salt, a lot of coarse black pepper, and a healthy dose of

Arizona Black_Scorpion_Sting_Powder_thumb[2]

Arizona Black Scorpion Sting for some heat, I put the cooker on high, and let it go for a couple of hours before I added the potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and the rest of the pearl onions.

And after another couple of hours, dinner was served.

Pot Roast 2_thumb[1]

Jan toasted up some Hawaiian Bread Rolls to go with it, and it was a real feast. The meat was very tender without being mushy, and the flavor was delicious, with enough heat to make the top of my head sweat. So it was perfect.

And there’s leftovers, too.

Readers from last October and November will remember my quixotic search for boot laces that would last more than a month or so. I lace my boots really tight for the ankle support (needed from jumping out of a perfectly good airplane one too many times.) and so my laces only last a couple of months before they snap.

So loyal reader Lloyd Jackson suggested I get some Paracord and make my own.

You can read more about it here: I Made My Own

And these homemade Paracord laces have been great, going over six months without a problem. Until this happened.

Chewed Shoelaces_thumb[1]

Karma the Kitty decided she needed a new chew toy and it seems my boots, and the laces filled the bill.

So this evening I made up a new set, but this time I added some color.

Paracord Laces - New_thumb

We’ll see how long these last.

Jan and I’ve been following the flooding news on the TX/LA border, with I-10 possibly closed until next Monday. So it was interested to find this photo online.

TX-LA Flooding_thumb[1]

That group of buildings is what remains of the big Welcome Center / Rest Area as you come into Texas from Louisiana. Looks like it’s going to be a while until it reopens.

Wrapping up, I want to highly recommend a book that Jan and I both really enjoyed. It’s not often that you come across a book that makes you constantly laugh out loud, but also pulls at your heartstrings, hard.

it’s the true story of a young boy growing with a neurological condition called Synesthesia, causing him to see black and white text like this.

Toaster Oven Mocking_thumb[1]

Growing up he thought everyone saw the world like this. But colored text was only a small part of what he saw. Everything had its own color, and the colors changed as the objects moved.

But a few slips along the way, like when he was talking to a Little League friend about hitting, and told his friend he liked to hit the ball right behind the glowing orange tentacles, convinced him there was something wrong with him, and that everyone didn’t see things the way he did.

And it was only in college when he discovered what he had, and that there was a name for it.

Read this book. You will definitely enjoy it. And it’s only .99 cents

The Toaster Oven  Mocks Me_thumb[3]

The Toaster Oven Mocks Me


March 17, 2017

Lucky Us . . .

I spent the morning tracking down a problem with Charles Yust’s Toshiba laptop, which was running very slow, glacially slow, as a matter of fact.

After checking a lot of things, including the CPU speed, and cleaning and reseating the 2GB RAM stick, I dug further into the system and found that it was still a RAM problem

The laptop system RAM was showing anywhere from 500 to 2000 Hard Errors per Second. whereas my desktop computer shows maybe 1 Hard Error per Minute, and often goes several minutes without showing any errors.

So I ordered 2 new RAM sticks, one to replace the bad one, and a second one to bump the memory up to 4GB which will also make it run faster.

Finally about 12 noon I headed outside to finish up my rig cleaning by going over it again, this time with Turtle Wax Zip Car Wash & Wax. Took me about 90 minutes and it turned out pretty good.

Rig Wax

Probably would have been a little better if I had buffed it dry, but still OK.

About 3pm we headed into Tucson to Voyager RV Resort to look at a problem Chris and Charles Yust were having with another laptop not staying connected to the Internet.

Although I was not able to duplicate the problem, I suspect it might be caused by the fact that the laptop’s connection to their MiFi was Public and not Private, thus causing the McAfee Firewall to interfere with the data flow. So we’ll have to see how it works now, and if the problem comes back.

Later, after Chris finished up with her customers about 6pm, we all headed over to one of our favorite Tucson eateries, Luckie’s Thai. Located in an unassuming strip center storefront location, the Chinese/Thai cuisine is hard to match.

Jan and I each started with a bowl of their Hot & Sour Soup.

Luckie's Thai Hot & Sour Soup

Not quite King Food good, but very, very good anyway.

Then Jan got an order of their Sesame Chicken with Steamed Rice,

Luckie's Thai Sesame Chicken

while I went with the Orange Beef with Fried Rice.

Luckie's Thai Orange Beef

Both very good, with plenty left over for later.

Finishing up, we all rounded out the meal with a shared bowl of their fantastic homemade Coconut Ice Cream.

Luckie's Thai Coconut Ice Cream

As seems to be usual for us, we finally left at 9pm as they turned the lights out on us.

Tomorrow we’ll head over to Voyager RV Resort where we be for the next week as we attend the 57th Escapees Escapade which starts on Sunday.


March 17, 2018

Ouch, Ouch . . .

Friday afternoon as I was coming home from work I got another call from Brock’s Car Care about the truck.

Turns out a while back the truck’s transfer case cracked. Dennis at Brock’s said he knew it wasn’t recently because the dirt buildup around the crack where oil was seeping out. Apparently this threw the case out of alignment and begin to stress the U-joints. I knew from the rumble that I needed to have them looked at but I was trying to wait until all our upcoming doctor’s appointments were done with.

Unfortunately that didn’t work out too well.

Dennis wasn’t too encouraging about repairing it but I told him to take a shot and see what he could do using used parts whereever possible.

So he called yesterday with the ‘bad’ news. But not really as ‘bad’ as I had anticipated. By utilizing a used transfer case he could fix it for S2126.00 Ouch, Ouch.

However he said he would have to order a new driveshaft since he couldn’t find a used one. Wonder if a lot of Dakota’s have lost their driveshafts, so there’s a shortage?

Of course there’s always the math about putting $2100 into a 14 year old truck with about 274,000 miles on it, a truck worth maybe $5000 per Kelly Blue Book. But there’s a couple of other considerations.

Overall it’s in good shape. It still looks good and runs good, and it’s towable with just the push of a button. AND it has a $1500 Blue Ox baseplate installed on it. A baseplate that probably can’t be installed on many other vehicles, although I do have a call into Blue Ox to check.

So if I replaced it with something else, I would have to find something that was towable, and buy a new pricey baseplate. So I decided to roll the dice and take a chance.

We’ll see how it goes.

Dennis said it should be ready to go toward the end of the week. Luckily Chris and Linda are going up to Kingsland for a few days and won’t be back until Thursday night, so using his truck until then shouldn’t be a problem.

Last night we got together with long-time friends Barbara and Tom.

Barbara and Tome

I’ve known Barb since the early 2000’s when I did IT support for the company where she worked. We always try to get together a couple times every year while we’re in the area.

Sometimes we meet at a restaurant and then go back to their home in the South Shore Harbor area. But if we’re really lucky, Barbara cooks!

Barbara's Table

Last night’s menu was Lasagna, Green Beans with Bacon, Carrots and Chopped Kale Salad. But Barbara’s gift is that every dish gets her special touch.

Barbara's Carrots

For instance, after cooking these carrots, she coated them with butter, Amaretto Liqueur and Orange Liqueur. Probably the best carrots we’ve ever had, and Jan’s new favorite.

Between eating, talking, and looking at a couple of computer problems she was having, we didn’t get home until 1am.

I’ll catch up with tonight’s family antics on tomorrow’s blog.


March 17, 2019

Puddle’s

Tomorrow evening we’ve got our Puddle’s Pity Party concert at the Stafford Center,

Puddles

preceded by dinner at the Floyd’s Cajun Seafood up in Sugarland.

Since it may be late before we get home, there may or may not be much of a blog tomorrow.

We’ll see.


March 17, 2020

Our Thoughts and Prayers . . .

Jan and I were extremely shocked and saddened to hear that our long-time friend Charles Yust has been hospitalized after he collapsed and suffered a traumatic head injury and multiple major brain bleeds. According to his wife, Chris, he is not doing well.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Chris and Charles, and we hope for the best.


March 17, 2021

Hot Or Cold . . .

It got up to 81° here today, but the humidity was only about 36% so it was still very comfortable, even without the front AC.

But it looks like the cold front that wreaked so much havoc out west is finally showing up in our area,  but not nearly as cold. But it is supposed to go down to about 45° tonight, and just barely make it into the 70’s tomorrow. And it looks like 60’s/40’s the rest of the week.

And speaking of the front AC, it looks like my new control box should be here tomorrow, and should only take me about 15 minutes to get it hooked up and checked out. Of course, then it’ll take me another 15 minutes or so to get all the filters and covers back in place.

RV Driver Annihilates Their New Jeep Wrangler by Flat-Towing It in 4-Low

Jeep Wrangler Tow

This is what happens to your new Jeep Wrangler when you tow it at 55mph in first gear, and 4-Low. The mechanic figured that with the gear ratios, the engine was revving at about 50,000 rpm, and then BOOM!

Ouch!


March 17, 2022

Leprechauns. Who Knew? . . .

Jan and I headed out a little before 1pm, with our first stop at the Home Depot for a new wall toggle switch for our water heater. I wanted one that lights up when it’s on, but when I checked Amazon I didn’t see one I liked, at a price I liked. So I checked Home Depot and found one for $4.65. Website said it was on Aisle 8, Bin 10.

It actually was in Bin 8, right next door. But close enough.

Then it was on up to Twin Peaks for lunch. I told Jan that today being St. Patrick’s Day, I wouldn’t be surprised if the servers were all dressed as leprechauns.

What I didn’t realize is how skimpily dressed the leprechauns would be. Which is why there are no photos.

Sylvia, our regular waitress, wasn’t working today, so we had a new one, Sylvia’s BFF, Victoria. Now if it had been Sylvia, I would have asked for a photo, but felt funny asking for one from someone we didn’t know at all.

This was another of those days when Jan says the place should be called ‘Twin Cheeks’.

But I did get photos of our food, especially since we both got something different this time.

After starting out with a cup of their Tomato Basil, Jan got the Avocado Smash Burger and a side of Sautéed Green Beans.

Twin Peaks Jan 20220317

I got a bowl of the Green Chile Chicken, as well as a couple of sides, the Sautéed Broccoli and the Sautéed Green Beans.

Twin Peaks Greg 20220317

The Green Beans are really good, with diced tomatoes, onions, corn, and bacon mixed in.

Just as we were finishing up, who should walk in and sit down at the table right next to us, Sylvia and another young lady.

I didn’t recognize her at first, since she was in civilian clothes, her hair was up in a ponytail, and she was wearing a visor cap.

It says something about the place when the servers come back on their day off.

Leaving TP, we drove over to get my haircut. Except there was a sign on the door saying they were closed for Spring Break and wouldn’t reopen until the 23rd. So it will have to wait until next week, I guess.

Getting home around 3:15, I got my new switch installed and checked out.

New Water Heater Switch

Looks good.


March 17, 2023

Spring, or Not Spring . . .

Yesterday it was 82° and then 46 last night. And we’re looking at 50’s and 40’s for the next week before hitting 80 again by next Thursday.

Hey, it’s Texas weather. What can I say.

Information You Need:

Reusable water bottles hold more bacteria than toilet seat, study finds

A recent study from US-based waterfilterguru.com found reusable bottles can harbor 40,000 times more bacteria than the average toilet seat – describing them as being like a “portable Petri dish.”

Comparing the cleanliness of the bottles to household objects also painted a dirty picture: they contain twice as germs as the kitchen sink; can harbor four times the amount of bacteria as a computer mouse; and 14 times more than a pet’s drinking bowl.

Experts recommend washing it at least once a day with hot soapy water, and sanitizing it at least once a week – though increase the habit if you’ve been unwell, drink from it while eating, or are filling it with something other than water.

Or maybe it’s just the water. After all, W.C. Fields said he never drinks water. Fish pee in it.

Makes sense to me.

I got a call from the guy that was working on our Jeep yesterday who said they’re going to go ahead and replace the oil pump. So hopefully we’ll know something about the oil light problem soon.

Real Or Fake?

This is the Amazon Snake Cat. Supposedly the rarest cat in the world

Amazon Snake Cat -500

Maybe.  There’s a big debate going on online.

So you be the judge.

Tomorrow morning we’re heading up to Conroe once again to meet up with Debi and Ed Hurlburt, and hopefully, Janice Evans to check out a new Mexican place, La Pizca (The Pinch) Grill & Cantina. The menu looks good, so we’ve got high hopes for it.

And really looking forward to seeing everyone too.