Our RV Adventures

Catching Up On Our Recent Adventures –

Waking up about 8:15 Tuesday morning, after our wild and crazy Monday night, I put in a call to Adam at NTB Tires to explain why there’s a Jeep Liberty in his parking lot, asking him to mount the repaired tire we left there on Sunday, and put a new tire on the spare wheel, and mount it on the tailgate rack.

Then it was on over to Joe’s Automotive to drop off the Jeep so he could look at what I think is probably an alternator problem. After you’ve idled for a while, the alternator light comes on until you give it a little gas to raise the RPM’s.

Either the alternator is not ‘alternating’, or the voltage regulator isn’t ‘regulating’, but I’ll let Joe figure it out.

Then we drove on over to the Kelley’s County Cookin’ in Alvin to have lunch. And we continue to be amazed at how much food they give you for not a lot of dollars.

Jan got the Fried Chicken Tenders with Mashed Potatoes and Carrots,

while I got my usual Country Fried Chicken Breast, with Dressing, Mashed Potatoes, and Carrots.

One thing Jan and I have talked about is that if money was really tight, you could eat at Kelley’s every other day, and have half left over for the off day. Since this meal is only $11.99 ($10.99 with a Senior Discount) plus Iced Tea for a total of about $15, or $7.50/day. And they’ll give you pretty much as many rolls and cornbread as you want.

Good to keep in mind.

This morning I had my first Pre-Op appointment at Houston Physician’s Hospital. First up was a chest X-ray to be sure I wouldn’t have any problems with the anesthesia during my upcoming Lumbar Fusion. When I mentioned that I didn’t have one 3 years ago with my Cervical Fusion, the nurse said they’ve changed the criteria since then.

Next up was a blood draw and an EKG, before Jacob spent some time going over all the things I need to know before my surgery on the 17th.

Plus he told me I need to come back by after I see Dr. Wang on Monday afternoon so they can do another blood draw to type and match for the Blood Bank. I had two questions.

Why not just draw the blood now?

Or why can’t I just tell you I’m O+?

When I got home this afternoon, Jan and I turned right around and headed up to Joe’s Automotive to pick up the Jeep. Joe had called me this morning and said that as I thought, the problem was with the alternator, and I had two choices.

I could put a standard 130 amp alternator back in, or for $20 more, I could have a 165 amp one. So I got the big one.

And 59 minutes later, Joe called me back and said it was done.

Great Service!

With Jan driving the Jeep, she followed me home where we dropped off the Dakota and headed back out to have dinner at Pho Barr once again.

Always Great!

Tomorrow we’re heading up to The Woodlands to meet up with Debi and Ed Hurlburt for our monthly get-together. Really looking forward to it.

Thought For The Day:

And Now On To today’s Retro-Blogs.™

September 11, 2009

Titanic and Atlantic…

Today was our day to tour the Halifax,  Nova Scotia area.

We had planned to get an early start,  but then Jan woke up with a migraine.  So she took her Imitrex and went back to bed for a while

Later,  after the Imitrex had worked its magic,  we went to breakfast about 10:30 am at the Finer Diner and then drove to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

One of the things we wanted to see was the Titanic exhibit that they have.  They also have an exhibit on S.S. Atlantic,  a ship that went down off Nova Scotia in 1873.  The 635 people who died when the Atlantic went down made it the largest loss of life until the Titanic in 1912.

They also had an interesting exhibit about the explosion of a ship in Halifax harbor that killed over 2000 people,  very reminiscent of the Texas City explosion in 1947.  In this case, it was a shipment of ammunition for use in WWI that blew up,  rather than fertilizer,  like in Texas City.

Finally leaving the museum about 2:30 pm,  we were attracted by the smells coming from the Dragon King Chinese Buffet restaurant across the street and decided to give it a try.

And it was really good. Especially the Hot & Sour soup.

Leaving the restaurant,  we drove around downtown Halifax for a while before taking the scenic drive down toward Peggy’s Cove.  And it was certainly worth the trip.

On our way down the coast we passed St. Margaret’s Bay,  a very picturesque dock area.

Arriving at Peggy’s Cove, we found a charming little village on the Atlantic Coast, filled with quaint little multi-colored houses.

The rocky coast is something we don’t see in Texas,  but it’s always a scenic view.

And of course, the obligatory lighthouse.

With the sun setting, we headed back to the coach, stopping off at a hardware store, and driving through a nearby gas station, scouting it out to see if we can get in and out easily in the coach.

Because fuel is so expensive here (about $3.60 a gallon vs. $2.50 in the US), I was hoping to be able to get back to the US before filling up the coach with diesel, but it will be too close for comfort. So we will probably fuel up tomorrow on our way out of Halifax.

One thing we found interesting in the area was this Mcdonald’s complete with lighthouse.

Arriving back at the coach, we sat outside for a while and let Mister roam around for a bit and then it was in for the night.

September 11, 2010

Never Forget . . .

We left Tom Sawyer RV Park about 11:45 to make the 220-mile run to the Moose Lodge in Jackson, MS.

Since we were leaving so late, we had a lunch of leftovers before we left. And while we were eating our daughter Brandi called with the latest Landon update.

Only two more days until we get to see him, me for the first time.

It started sprinkling a little while before we left, and then got progressively harder as the day went on. By the time we were about 30 miles outside Jackson, it was really coming down, and the wind had picked up.

We got into the Moose Lodge about 4:15 pm and got set up. I just hooked up power, and didn’t worry about water or sewage. And lucky for me, the rain was gone by the time we got to the Lodge.

About 30 minutes later, we drove down the road about half a mile to Sonny’s BBQ, one of our favorite BBQ places. One thing I like about Sonny’s is that they have sliced pork, instead of just pulled pork. By my thinking, sliced pork is much better on a sandwich than pulled pork.

Getting back to the rig, I got the satellite dish set up and we were in for the night.

Tomorrow we’ve got another 220-mile run down to Breaux Bridge, LA for one night, and then it’s on to Houston for the next 4-5 months.

September 11, 2011

In Remembrance . . .

9/11/2001

Never Forget!

September 11, 2012

Another Quiet Day . . .

Jan woke up still under the weather this morning so we just made it a stay-at-home day.

I spent part of the morning making some phone calls, trying to solve some rig problems I’m having.

My first call was to Brake Buddy.

For the last 5 years I’ve used a Brake Buddy Classic as the braking system when we tow our truck behind our RV with absolutely no problems. But recently the 12-volt cigarette lighter on it has gotten kind of ‘iffy’ and needed to be replaced. But the typical replacement plugs I found locally are not heavy-duty enough.

All I could find were ones rated for 5 amps, but the Brake Buddy needs one rated for 20 amps. So my next try was to call Brake Buddy and get one from them.

And what I got excellent service. When I told them what I needed, the guy took my name and address and said a new plug would go out to me this afternoon. No charge, no nothing, just great service.

Kudos to Brake Buddy.

Taking care of that, my next call was to Westland Sales about a problem with our Splendide washer/dryer. Once last month at the end of the wash cycle the door wouldn’t unlock. So after fooling with it for a while, I ran it through another wash cycle and at the finish the door unlocked with no problems.

But then a couple of days ago it happened again, and this time running it through the cycle again didn’t help. But I left it alone for a few hours and it unlocked on its own.

So I called Westland to get some ideas about what the problem might be, and after talking for a few minutes, Ryan, the tech, gave me some things to check further, and then get back to him.

After that, my last chore was to order some new checks from Checks In The Mail. Unfortunately they have to be shipped to our home address in Houston, so I’ll have to have our daughter ship them back out to us to wherever we are.

For the rest of the afternoon, I worked on client website stuff, getting some new domain names, and typing in some text filler for the web pages.

Since Jan didn’t feel like going out for dinner, in fact didn’t feel like eating at all, I fixed a little something to eat. Hopefully she’s on the mend.

We’ll see tomorrow.

September 11, 2014

Another Nice Drop . . .

Today’s vehicle count dropped off even more, from yesterday’s 148 to a nice 126. But it may be the calm before the storm.

We had heard they were soon going to be fracking a well further on in past our gate, but then the gate guard up the road said they were going to be fracking three wells at one time. I didn’t say anything at the time, but you always hear rumors about things like this. And when you look at them closely, they don’t make sense.

For example, last year when we worked a frack gate down south of San Antonio, our peak days were about 300 vehicles, and that was pretty exhausting. Remember that the 300 number is just the vehicles coming in. You have pretty much the same number going out, but not quite. Let’s call it 500 total ins and outs. So three frack jobs would mean 1500 ins and outs a day. That means that in a 24 hour day, one vehicle a minute would have to pass through our gate. But that’s physically impossible.

The road leading to. and past our gate is pretty much a one and half lane road. Two pickups can squeeze by each other if they’re careful, but a semi and anything else just won’t fit. For this reason, there are several pull-outs along the way so vehicles can pull over to let someone pass.

Plus our gate and cattle guard are only wide enough for one vehicle. And some of the semi’s hauling a big load have to be careful about squeezing through the gate.

Very quickly you would have a solid gridlock of vehicles clogging up the road. So logistically that’s just not going to happen. Then today a company guy came through, and to Jan’s question, confirmed that there are three frack jobs coming up.

But ONE AT A TIME. Now that makes more sense.

Our drill rig finally started drilling about 4am this morning. Kind of.

But I’m not sure they’re doing it right. I have never heard a rig make these kind of sounds. There’s clanking, clanging, squealing, and screeching. And then there’s this.

I’m not sure what happened, but all of a sudden this big cloud appeared tonight for a while. It wasn’t smoke, and didn’t smell like anything, and it didn’t look like steam. So maybe it was dust. I don’t know.

But it’s certainly entertaining.

September 11, 2015

Doable . . .

Friday is usually Grocery Day, and today was no different. So I headed out to Wal-Mart a little after 11am making the 8-mile trip into Carthage.

Being this close to town could really get you spoiled. We’ve been at other sites where it was two hours each way, and considered ourselves lucky at others when we only had a two hour round-trip.

Today’s visit was a lot less eventful than Wednesday’s tête-à-tête with the Pharmacy there. The only problem is that this store, being a ‘mini’ SuperCenter, doesn’t always stock some of the brands/items that we normally buy at Wal-Mart. But it all works out. And of course, this being Grocery Day means it’s also Whataburger Day, so I made the obligatory stop there before heading home.

After lunch, and after I came on shift at 1pm, Jan decided she was going to go into town to get her haircut, so off she went about 1:30. This is only the second time in the four years we’ve been gate guarding that she’s left by herself. A real milestone. I hope she’ll do it more now that we’re so close to town.

She was back about 2:30, happy with her hair, but very unhappy with the price. Her wash and cut was $45, about twice what she usually pays at a SuperCuts, etc. At those prices, the hair places here better hope they don’t put a TGF or a SmartStyle in at the Wal-Mart.

It looks like the frack is off and running, but it does sound like it’s a little hit or miss so far, at least based on the starting and the stopping of the noise and the smoke/dust cloud that hovers above the pad. But the sand trucks are coming in, albeit, less than the 20 a day we were told. So far it’s been about 10 or so a day, in batches of 3 or 4. So that’s been nice.

Things did settle down to what I imagine will be a more usual pace, now that all the prep/startup stuff is done. Down from yesterday’s 135, we had 111 trucks come through today. A nice, very doable, pace.

Just after I went in at 6pm, we did get another light, dust-settling rain which was nice. Jan said it lasted for about 20 minutes with no wind, so it didn’t blow in under the canopy. Right now there’s a lot of lightning in the clouds to the south of us, but looking at my Rainy Days app, it doesn’t look like it’s heading our way.

So far.

September 11, 2016

School Days . . .

Between a new low vehicle count of only 29, and a high of only 85 degrees, it was a really nice day.

I’ve decided to go back to school. And I’ve been accepted to Harvard. Well, HarvardX anyway, which is Harvard’s online presence.

Over the last few years I’ve seen articles and ads about Khan Academy and edX, Both offer free online courses on hundreds of subjects, pretty much on anything you can think of.

Khan Academy seems to concentrate on general subjects, like Chemistry, Biology, or Electrical Engineering, using their own class materials. They even have math classes for K – 8th grade, that are used by many homeschoolers. And another focus is on test prep for SAT, MCAT, GMAT, and more.

But edX offers actual specific classes from major universities around the country, like MIT, Harvard, UT, and many others. And again, they’re all free. The only possible charge is if you want an actual Verified Certificate or Diploma, which runs about $100.

edX offers two main types of courses, scheduled and self-paced. Scheduled is just like any college course, with a definite start date, and assignments due at a definite time. Self-paced are just that. You can start anytime and work at your own pace. In fact edX lists over 300 self-paced courses.

I thought I’d start off with Introduction to Computer Science, a course given, as I said by Harvard. I figure it would be interesting to get a more recent overview of the subject, since the last time I took an Intro Computer class was 1973, when Jan and I were both back in college.

Jan had to take the Intro class as part of her Medical Records degree curriculum and was worried about it. I had an open period at the same time so I signed up too. We did our programming assignments on an IBM 1170 at the school using punch cards.

My previous Intro class had been in 1966 at Vanderbilt University on an IBM 360 that took up a whole floor of the Science Building, again using punch cards and Fortran IV. But my first actual programming was on a Geniac analog computer that I got for Christmas in 1958 when I was 10.

If you’re anywhere near my age (i.e. ancient) you probably remember ads in magazines like this one

The actual computer looked like this – a Masonite board with six Masonite wheels, and a lot of jumper wires, as well as batteries, light bulbs, and a buzzer.

You wired it up using the jumper wires, and then you could solve simple math problems, guess your age problems, and many others. For me, the best thing was that it taught you to logically break a problem down into small pieces and then construct a program to solve it.

At 10 I was already into shortwave radio, collecting SWL cards from all around the world, and studying for my ham radio license, so the Geniac was just another step.

Anyway, after the Intro course, I want to check out some of the newer languages that have come along in the last few years, like C++, C#, and Linux. I programmed in Unix at NASA, but Linux is a newer version. Then after that, probably Java and Ruby.

Who knows?

For dinner tonight we had our leftover Blue Moon BBQ from yesterday. Since Jan had also fixed us a dessert we found we had leftover leftovers, so we have another meal for tomorrow too.

Tomorrow I’ll put in another call to Wilson about my DBPro cell phone amplifier, and see if I can get it working.

September 11, 2017

Never Forgive! Never Forget!

Originally I had planned to go down to my Clear Lake client’s today, but changed my mind when my  Amazon orders weren’t shown as out for delivery. So I decided to wait until tomorrow.

But then about 11am in came the text messages saying that my orders were out for delivery, so about 15 minutes later I was on the road south, getting to the office about 1pm.

And of course, my orders didn’t actually show up until about 3, but I got some other stuff done in the meantime.

I finally found the location of the InDesign catalog files so I could make product and price changes and then generate a new PDF file to send to customers. Boy, the ex-guy sure hid things in squirrely places.

When the WiFi adapters finally showed up, I installed the first one on the Shipping computer in the back office and it went really quickly. And in a first, they not only include a mini-CD for the drivers, but a 65 MB flash drive as well.

Which was a good thing since this computer doesn’t have a DVD player for some reason. Another weird choice from the ex-guy.

I plugged in the drive, selected Auto-Install and off it went. And a minute or so later, the computer rebooted,  I plugged in the USB WiFi adapter and we were on the air. Easy Peazy.

But the second one didn’t go quite so well. The first machine was Win10, but this one was a Win7 version. But the setup software, which is supposed to know what version it’s running on, again installed the Win10 drivers.

Since I was running out of time (I need to be on the road back to Conroe by 4, or the traffic is even more of a nightmare than usual), I re-ran the setup.exe and manually installed the Win7 drivers, plugged in the adapter . . .  and it didn’t work.

And I was out of time. When I come back Wednesday, I’ll delete all the drivers, including those in the registry and try again. But just to be on the safe side, before I do anything, I’ll take the working adapter from the other computer and plug it into this one just to be sure it’s not the adapter itself.

Finally, if I needed a lawyer, I’d certainly want a Dick.

September 11, 2018

Hot & Delicious!

Jan and I headed out about 12:30 for a WalMart run but since we were in the area we decided that, with the rainy, overcast day, another big bowl of King Food’s Hot & Sour Soup was in order.

Since we were planning on having dinner with friends later tonight, we each just had soup.

Hot & Delicious!

Next up was a quick stop by my client’s office to pick up something I forgot yesterday, and then it was on to our WalMart stop.

Coming home we made a gas/lottery ticket stop, finishing up at the Santa Fe Post Office for our mail, and also to pick up a Change of Address card. Now that we’ve gotten our new address from Dakota Post, I can submit an address change for our old My Dakota Address address.

In our mail was my renewed Passport America card and a paper PPA park catalog, which I didn’t want. I didn’t want the catalog because it’s pretty much useless, since it’s out of date pretty quickly, and I can get all the info online. But I had to pay $5 shipping for it anyway.

What I don’t understand is why my account number changed? I’ve had the same PPA number since I first joined in 2007. But suddenly with this new card I’ve got a new number for some reason.

About 5:15 Jan and I headed over to the TGI Friday’s in Pearland for a get-together of a lot of our Alvin Opry friends.

We’ve known most of them since the late 90’s, but don’t get to see them as often since the Opry closed a while back.

Jan had the Dragon-Glazed Grilled Chicken with Veggies,

while I had a bowl of their White Cheddar Broccoli Soup.

Guess I’m on a soup kick recently. But it was all good. As was the company.

Hopefully we’ll be able to do it again soon.

September 11, 2020

Never Forget . . .

I was back on the phone this afternoon talking to Spartan about my brake lights. And then I called American Coach with the same question.

And now I have two different answers. Spartan says the brake lights should work with just the ignition on, and without the engine running and the air brakes working.

But American Coach says No, the brake lights won’t work without the engine running and air pressure built up.

So I guess I’ll have to ring it out manually. I know that both the brake lights and the turn signals work from the rear PDC (Power Distribution Center). so next I’ll try to trace the wires from the front panel back to the PDC.

Several people have asked me about the test switch that I’m using to test the rear lights at the PDC. It’s really pretty simple.

It’s just a toggle switch with spade lugs on the leads.

That way I can pull the relays and control the lights directly.

So back to it tomorrow.

September 11, 2021

A Family Reunited . . .

Jan and I were in Smokey The Truck and on our way to Katy about 9:30, really looking forward to getting together at our daughter Brandi’s for post and pre-birthday celebrations, and getting all the family together again.

We did make a quick gas stop along the way before hitting the Interstate where Ole Smokey easily kept up with the 70mph traffic with no problem. Maybe we should call her Ole Reliable instead.

She’s got almost 310,000 miles on her, and is only running on 7 of 8 cylinders, but she’s always ready to go in a pinch and get us where we need to go. And save us from having to rent a car while the Jeep’s in the shop.

Good girl!

We got to Brandi’s a little before 11 and found everyone in the pool.

Well, everyone except Landon. He and his BFF Sophie stayed up all night playing video games, and, though Sophie was up, Landon was still sleeping in.

Jan and I said how good it smelled when we were walking up to the front door. And this is why.

They got a new pellet grill and there was a brisket slow-smoking in it.

And as soon as Piper and Derek showed up, we all dug in.

Really, really good, as well as the pan of Burnt Ends she did too.

And of course all the fixin’s were on hand also.

It was interesting to watch the interaction between all the dogs, big and little. Brandi and Lowell have two, Jack and Baxter, both big, and Chris and Linda brought their two, both small, and then Piper and Derek brought their two, one big and one small.

There was no real fighting, but a lot of ‘arguing’ for a while. In fact, Baxter just went over and hid in one of the bushes to wait it out.

But eventually it all settled down.

Then it was all back in the pool, this time including Piper and Derek.

This was Jan and my first time to meet Derek, and he seems like a really nice guy. He’s an electrician, working for a company doing electrical work for places like Tesla and Dell, and he has his own company on the side. And he and Piper are remodeling a house together.

He said he’s hoping to have his Master Electrician license next year, and then wants to go out on his own. He’s also a big SpaceX fan, so we had a good time talking about that.

This was our first time to have the whole family together since this past January, and it really felt good. And even better, it looks like everyone (including Derek) will be coming to our big family reunion in Gulf Shores, AL next June.

Can’t wait.

September 11, 2022

Pucci And Gucci . . .

Jan and I were on our way up to Katy by about noon this morning, with our first stop at the Torchy’s Tacos in the La Centerra area of Cinco Ranch. You know you’re in a really ritzy area when your Torchy’s Tacos is next door to a Pucci’s and across the drive from a Gucci’s.

You know, Pucci’s, where you can pay $11,230 for this dress.

Or Gucci’s where you can pay $4,600 for this bag.

And this is a cheap one.

So, yeah, a ritzy area.

Luckily, Torchy’s is not that pricey.

Jan got two tacos, the Baja Fried Shrimp and the Brushfire, with Jamaican Jerk Chicken.

And I got two of their Jalapeno Cheese Sausage Dogs.

Both delicious!

Then it was on around the corner so Jan could make a Trader Joe’s run while I stayed in the Jeep. Then it was on over to Brandi’s to drop Jan off, and a few minutes later I was heading back to Santa Fe, getting home a little before 4.

I mentioned a few days ago about the faceplate design I did for some epilators we’re having made for us in Poland.

I sent them a faceplate design that looked like this.

They sent me back a revised design like the top one in this comparison below.

So I told them that wasn’t acceptable, and I wanted something more like what I originally sent them. To illustrate I sent them this comparison showing them another unit they had done, and what I wanted.

In return, they sent me back this one.

Much better, and I chose the bottom one.

We’ve got a busy week coming up. Tomorrow I’m getting the Jeep inspected, as the first step in Jan and I becoming Texas residents once again, for the first time since 2008.

It seems you have to get your vehicles inspected first, then you have to get your vehicle registered and tagged. Only then can you go down and get your license.

Then Thursday we’re meeting Debi and Ed, and hopefully Janice and Dave, up at the Katz’s Deli Express up in The Woodlands for lunch. Though we’ve eaten at the Montrose location a number of times, this will be our first time at this one. Looking forward to seeing everyone.

On Saturday we’re getting together with Barbara Parker, one of Jan’s former coworkers from her Medical Records days.

September 11, 2023

Never Forgotten . . .

I like words. This blog should make that obvious.

Words are very powerful. They can make people happy and laugh out loud. They can make good friends never talk to you again, and make you thousands of new ones.

And I especially like learning new words.

Ones like “Tourons”

‘Tourons’ are ‘Tourists’ who are ‘Morons’

And they even have their own photo montage on Google.

This guy could probably use a red cape.

Some are just kind of strange.

And some don’t go well at all.

And now the bison are actually keeping score.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Coming home this afternoon, I saw an older white van in front of me at a light, and something about the license plate struck me as odd.

Turns out I was right. It’s one of those ‘Sovereign Citizens ‘Fake’ License Plates, i.e. it’s not a legal plate

“Sovereign citizenship” is a belief in pseudo-legal theory that certain Latin phrases, interpretations of law, name spellings and peculiarities around state documentation and signatures mean you don’t have to register your car, obtain a driver’s license, or indeed follow any laws deemed harmful to your own personal freedom. This is, of course, absurd, and very much illegal.

Now, these sovereign citizens often make their grift look vaguely official, to make them more believable as a legal defense, but that often ends in boring fakeries that don’t quite look official or anything like the real thing. But some who ascribed to this fringe theory have brought a little flair to their fake (and very illegal) license plates.

There are a number of sites online where you can buy plates like this.

And here’s more information about TEMU and all the problems with it.

TEMU is Cleverly Hidden Spyware that Poses an Urgent Security Threat to U.S. National Interests

“TEMU app software has the full array of characteristics of the most aggressive forms of malware /spyware.”

• The app has hidden functions that allow for extensive data exfiltration unbeknown to users, potentially giving bad actors full access to almost all data on customers’ mobile devices.
• It is evident that great efforts were taken to intentionally hide the malicious intent and intrusiveness of the software.
• We engaged numerous independent data security experts to decompile and analyze TEMU app’s code, integrated with experts of our own staff, and analysts who have written independently in the public domain.
• Contributing to the danger of mass data exfiltration is the fast uptake rate of the TEMU app: over 100 million app downloads in the last 9 months, all in U.S. and Europe. TEMU is not offered in China.
• I mean, why should they have in China? They already have all of their info. They just want ours.

   

   

   

   

   

A probably apocryphal Chinese curse, often attributed to Confucius, goes, “May You Live In Interesting Times.”

Well, we had it in Spades last night.

And it all started out so nice.

After a brief stopover at Trader Joe’s for Jan, we met up with Jim and Peri Dean at Cleburne Cafeteria for a late lunch/early dinner.

 

We’ve known Jim and Peri since we first met up in Las Vegas in May 2013. They were blog readers, and when they saw we were both at the Las Vegas Thousand Trails, they got in touch.

And we’ve been getting together when we can ever since.

And this time, what with the good food and great conversation, we looked up 3-1/2 hours later to notice it had gotten dark.

So saying our goodbyes, our trip home went smoothly until we were back on I-45 south, when just before we passed Baybrook Mall about 8:15pm, we had a blowout on the Jeep, with our spare tire on the passenger rear that we’d had mounted after our recent flat on Saturday.

We managed to clump-clump-clump to a clear area between where the Bay Area Blvd exit and the feeder combine, so we were safely out of the way.

Settling in, I got on the phone to Good Sam Roadside Assistance to get a tow, hopefully about 10 miles down to the NTB tire place where I had left my flat last Sunday. But there things starting come apart.

It seems that, unlike the daytime customer service reps, English is maybe a 3rd or 4th language, and they’re very hard to understand.

I kept trying to tell them where we were, but it just didn’t work. They tried to use their app to get our Lat/Long coordinates, but that didn’t work.

But finally they told me they had someone on the way. Maybe.

But based on the tracking map they texted me, the tow truck wasn’t coming to where we were located. But about then, a Police Cruiser and a Tow Truck showed up to move us, for free, off the feeder and into the nearby Baybrook Mall parking lot.

And to Jan’s relief, the tow truck dropped us off in the parking of the Baybrook Mall Denny’s. She had about 4 glasses of tea, so she really was happy to have a nearby bathroom.

By now it was going on 10:30pm and finally the little tow truck icon started moving on the map and heading our way. Or at least heading toward where Good Sam thought we were. But luckily for us, the driver called when he couldn’t find us, and after we told him, he got there about 15 minutes later with his flatbed tow truck.

And we were quickly loaded up and on our way. And then the rest of the night descended into comedy.

Our driver, a really nice black guy, took off flying low, with Jan and I hanging on for dear life. And it quickly became obvious that the tow truck had no working headlights, my window was stuck down, and every time he made a right turn, his door swung open.

Oh, and he was doing 80 mph down the Interstate.

But he got us down to the NTB VERY FAST, dropped our Jeep off, and for an extra $40 tip, took us home. Again, very, very fast.

Jan had said earlier in the evening that we would laugh about this tomorrow. But we ended up laughing about it last night. Maybe out of relief that we had survived the evening.

That’s it for today, but I’ve got more to follow up to with in tomorrow’s blog.

Finishing up, tomorrow I’ve got a Pre-Op appointment at my hospital.

Stay tuned.

Thought for the Day:

Maybe people would be more likely to evacuate from hurricanes if we didn’t give them wussy, non-scary names, like Harvey or Irma. I’ll bet if you called a hurricane Megatron Death 2000, they’d get the hell out of town as fast as they could.

And of course, the next one up in the list in 2020 is Nana. Who can be scared of ‘Nana’?

And Now On To today’s Retro-Blogs.™

September 10, 2009

Still no moose…

After a late night arrival from our debacle of a ferry ride, we needed to get an early start this morning for our long 300 mile day.

But we had a problem.  We had called the park from Newfoundland to extend our stay an extra day when we decided to stay over.  But we had not paid for that day yet.

I had planned to pay yesterday afternoon when we got back,  but since our ferry was 5 hours late,  the park office was closed when we got home last night.  So I had to wait for the office to open this morning.  There were no office hours listed on the door,  but I was hoping they opened at 8 am,  but no luck.

So a little after 8,  Jan and I decided to go to breakfast while we waited.  We got back about 9 and still no luck.  Finally, about 9:30 the lady showed up and we paid.

Because of this,  it was 10 am before we finally pulled out.

Because we were getting a late start and had a long trip,  we decided not to stop for lunch as we had planned,  but just eat on the road.  So a little after noon,  we pulled over at the side of the road and Jan fixed peanut butter crackers.  Ten minutes later we were on our way.

About 5 pm we arrived at Wayside RV Park in Glen Margaret,  Nova Scotia,  which is just southwest of Halifax.

After getting set up,  we went out to admire the view out our front window.

And then a little while later,  a great sunset.

At the RV park’s recommendation,  we visited the Finer Diner for supper.  Jan had the Seafood Platter and I had Lasagna.  Both very good.

And for dessert,  Jan had Coconut Cream pie, and I had the Rhubarb Caramel pie.

MMMMM!

Getting back home I got the satellite dish up and going and then we settled in.

Tomorrow,  we plan on touring the area and especially visiting the Titanic museum and memorial here.

Then on Saturday,  we’ll head back to Moncton for a couple of days to visit the Bay of Fundy area.

So by Monday evening we should be back in Houlton, ME.  Good old USA!

September 10, 2010

Ducks and Tri-Motors . . .

This morning started off about 10:30 with coffee, and pumpkin bread from Bob Evans.

Mister started out with a nap in a handy sunbeam. The only problem was his sunbeam kept moving. He’d wake up, look around, realize his sunbeam had moved, and then move over to the new spot.

He didn’t like it when it disappeared completely.

After a morning of pleasantly doing nothing, we headed out about 2:45 pm to eat Memphis BBQ.

We had originally planned to eat at Neely’s BBQ. This couple has a show on the Food Network called Down Home with the Neelys. We enjoyed the show and hoped to enjoy their BBQ, but the online reviews changed our minds.

Inside we headed for The BBQ Shop, a place that showed up on pretty much every “Best BBQ in Memphis” list I found.

And they were right !

Like most good BBQ places, it looks pretty nondescript on the outside, but the food inside was another story.

Jan had a pulled pork sandwich piled high with meat and coleslaw. Once again, I had the Combo Platter with ribs and pulled pork. It was smaller than the one last night, but not by much. At least it only had two sides instead of four.

The ribs are what they refer to as “half & half”. Memphis BBQ is usually cooked with just a dry rub, and not with sauce. You can add the sauce later if you want.

The BBQ was delicious, but what really set it apart was their sauce, or at least their hot sauce. We never even tried the regular one.

Their hot sauce was very, very, hot. But along with being very, very hot, it was very tasty and flavorful, maybe one of the best sauces I’ve ever had.

All in all, it was a great meal!

Then leaving The BBQ Shop we drove back toward downtown and The Peabody Hotel. The Peabody is/was the ritziest hotel in Memphis and I stayed here several times between 1964 and 1966 when I went to CMA (Columbia Military Academy). I was in the band, and we marched in several parades here, including the Cotton Carnival.

The other thing the Peabody is known for is their Duck March.  Their ducks live in a rooftop enclosure, and every morning five ducks ride the elevator down to the lobby and then march out to the pond/fountain in the middle of the lobby to the sounds of the King Cotton March. And then every night they march back to the roof. They’ve been doing this since 1932, though I assume it’s not the same five ducks. Hundreds of people show up to watch the parade.

We also used to drop water balloons from our rooms and the roof.

Did you know that if you manage to hit one of the ventilation fans on a city bus roof, you can soak everyone inside?

Good times!

Next we drove along the Mississippi River on Riverside Dr.

While taking these pictures of the Mississippi, I saw a familiar-looking plane flying over the river.

I could have sworn it was a Ford Tri-Motor. I quickly took a photo using my camera’s telephoto lens, and I was right.

So the next question was, what in the world was 1930’s Ford Tri-Motor doing flying over Memphis?

A little Googling gave me the answer. The EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) has a Tri-Motor touring the country selling rides. They also have a B-17 Flying Fortress that we saw in Elkhart, IN last month doing the same thing. This is their plane below.

I got to fly in a Tri-Motor a number of times when we lived in Colombia, South America in the early 60’s. It was either take a 6-hour plane ride over the Andes, or a 27-hour car ride. And strangely enough, I helped deliver a baby on one of these flights. I was fourteen at the time. But that’s another story.

And here’s a Tri-Motor we saw last year at the Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Ford Tri-Motors were built from 1929 to 1933. 199 were built, and at the time the Ford Aircraft Division was considered the largest commercial aircraft builder in the world.

As of 2008, there were 18 still known in existence.

And yes, it was part of Ford Motor Company.

And of course, what’s Memphis without the obligatory Graceland drive-by.

Crossing the Mississippi, and getting back to West Memphis, we stopped by Ray’s BBQ where we ate last night. He had mentioned that he was on the Web, but I couldn’t find his website. A little investigation told me that his domain name, RaysBBQWorld.com had expired back in June and had not been renewed, so his website was no longer on the Web. I told him he needed to contact the person who did his site to get it fixed.

Leaving Ray’s we stopped off and got some vanilla ice cream to have with the wonderful chocolate cake Jan’s sister Debbie made for us.

We got back about 5:30 and just enjoyed the view of the Mississippi out the front of the coach.

Tomorrow we’ll head south to Jackson MS to spend the night at the Moose Lodge.

September 10, 2012

On to Indiana . . .

Our last morning in Celina started out with breakfast at The Fountain, our favorite local breakfast place. Stu and Donna McNicol, and Jan and I spent the morning talking, joking, and laughing one last time. In fact we were having so much fun that time sort of slipped away from us.

We had planned to leave Celina between 10 and 11am. However, at 11am, we were all still sitting in The Fountain. But after wrapping things up, we finally got on the road a little before 1pm, heading down US 27 to the Indian Lakes Thousand Trails Preserve at Batesville, IN about 120 miles away.

We pulled into the park a little before 4pm, found a site in the full hookup area, and got parked and set up.

We stayed here in late October, early November last year and were impressed how beautiful the area was.

About 5:30 we headed over to Greensburg for dinner. and after asking some locals, ended up at Storie’s Restaurant, which as per the recommendation, was really good.

One neat thing about Storie’s is that it is right across the street from the famous Tower Tree. As seen in these Internet pics, yes, there really is a tree growing out of the courthouse tower, and it’s been there since 1870.

The tree, recently confirmed as a Mulberry tree, is regularly trimmed to keep it from causing too much damage to the building.

Getting back to the rig just about dark, we decided to sleep in and just take it easy tomorrow.

September 10, 2013

Hell Fighting . . .

Another pretty quiet day. Once again it only made it to 87 with some rain, but not like the other day. All in all, nice.

The Hell Fighters’ Kitchen guys dropped off another couple of meals for us and said they’d be back Thursday. Seems like they come every other day or so, and since we usually get two meals out of each serving, Jan may not have to cook again if this keeps up.

September 10, 2014

Slower, but still Steady . . .

We had a very nice slowdown today, with only 148 vehicles through the gate, compared to yesterday’s 233. As I said, very nice.

Our rig still hasn’t ‘spudded in’ yet. Don’t know what the problem is, or if there really is a problem. They’ve got drill pipe hanging in the derrick, so that part’s ready, but no drilling.

I made our first supply run over to the Wal-Mart in Bryan this morning, and all I can say is, “I hate breaking in a new Wal-Mart.” Not only are the different departments in different places in the store, but, especially in the Grocery department, different items are in different areas. For instance, some Wal-Marts stock the vinegar in the Baking section, others put it in the can goods aisle. Some put the drinking water with the soft drinks, while others put it in the booze area. You never know.

But it took a while to find everything on Jan’s long list, long because this is the first time in two weeks since we stocked up on stuff.

On the way home I stopped off at Rudy’s BBQ to stock up on this too. A jumbo baked potato with lean brisket and a 1/2 pound of lean brisket for Jan, and a jalapeno sausage link and a 1/2 pound of moist brisket for me, and a quart of creamed corn for both of us. We’ll get several meals out of this.

Jan doesn’t normally like corn, but she likes Rudy’s. Now if they would just crumble bacon in it as they made it, it would be just like my grandmother’s, cooked up in her big cast-iron skillet. MMMMM, good.

Looks like Fall and cooler weather are right around the corner. Friday night’s low is supposed to be in the high 60’s with Saturday’s high in the 70’s. Then it’s in the 80’s as far as the eye can see, or at least, as far Weather.com can forecast.

We’ll see.

September 10, 2015

It’s Frack Eve . . .

Or so we’re told.

They said they’ll start tomorrow, but we’ll see. They’ve already prepositioned 20 loads of sand, so when the next sand trucks start coming in, we’ll know they’re off and running.

And on a good note, we’ve been told that they will only be bringing in 20 sand trucks a day, ten at a time. Last year it was not unusual to get 20 an HOUR. And not for just one hour either. But hour after hour. So this is really good news.

From yesterday’s 64 vehicles coming in, today it jumped to 135. But a lot of that was fracking equipment coming in to stay, so it may settle down a bit once they actually get started. One of the things that will tend to keep the count up is that there’s no housing here, so the crews all come and go at the shift changes.

We saw a familiar face today when our Gate Guard Services guy came by to top us off with diesel and change the oil and filter in the generator. It was Todd, who had just come back to work with GGS a few days ago. Todd has been one of our services guys several times over the last few years, and in fact he was the one that brought in our replacements when we left our gate in North Zulch last November.

Good to have him back.

This is what I have on the thermostat back in the bedroom.

The switch I added lets me manually change the fan speed from high to low. Normally this is down automatically, with the fan running on high on AC, and low when you’re set to heat.

But right after we bought the coach, I replaced the old round analog thermostats with these digital ones, which have worked great for the last 8 years. I put in the switch because Jan was worried about how loud the AC fan would be since it was located right over our bed. But as it turns out, it wasn’t a problem, and it just stays on high.

But I now want to add the same mod to the front thermostat. Our new Coleman 15K AC unit has a much stronger (and louder) fan so I would like to decrease the noise a bit when we’re both watching TV. Plus with the increased BTU’s of the new unit, coupled with the better fan, the unit really doesn’t run as long as it should.

You’ve probably heard that having too big an AC unit in a house is not a good idea. The reason for this is that in high-humidity areas, like Texas, cooling is only part of what makes you comfortable. You also need to remove the moisture from the air. This is why you see water running down the side of your rig in humid areas.

Earlier this summer when we were in Prescott, AZ, the AC would run, but there was no water coming off the roof, because we only had about 10% humidity. But in Texas, it’s a different story.

So when your AC system is too big, it cools down the air so fast, that it doesn’t run long enough to take the necessary moisture out. This means that you can end up with that cold. clammy feeling. So by being able to manually adjust the fan speed, I can reduce the cooling and increase the moisture removal.

Tomorrow’s grocery day for me, and then Jan’s once again talking about going into Carthage to get her hair done. But we’ll see.

September 10, 2016

Blue Moon’s and Sunsets . . .

Today, with a high of 85, tonight’s forecasted low of 67, and Blue Moon BBQ for lunch, just couldn’t get much better. At least for a gate day, anyway. And the fact that the vehicle count was only 33, just made it even better.

The original forecast called for ‘Scattered Thunderstorms’, and lucky for us, that’s what they did. Just scattered all around us, but never over us, so that was nice too.

Back on the subject of mail delivery, our carrier showed up about 12:30 today with our Jet.com package, so I guess that’s all worked out now. At least I hope it is.

I spent some more time this afternoon looking at my Wilson Cell Phone Booster problem. First thing, because it was the quickest and easiest, was to check the cables running from the outside directional antenna to the amplifier box, and the cables running from the amplifier to the ‘inside’ (even though it’s outside too) antenna,

After cleaning the connections and checking them for continuity and no shorts, I then tried the next thing that Patrick, the Wilson Tech Support guy, suggested – bringing the two antennas closer together to see if the amplifier was actually amplifying. If it is, then the lights on the amplifier should turn from green to red. This shows that the amplifier is going into shutdown mode due to the feedback between the two antennas.

This is the same as when you get a microphone too close to the speakers and get that high, piercing shriek, only with radio waves instead of sound waves.

And I was showing an overload condition on the amp, so that meant it was actually ‘amplifying’.

So why isn’t it working. . . at least somewhat?

One thing that was kind of funny is that while I was using the Open Signal app on my phone to find the direction of the nearest tower, I was also watching the signal strength of the signal, shown as   -110 dBm, which is pretty weak. But then suddenly it jumped up to about  -95 dBm, which is a decent signal.

What the heck?

But then I noticed that my phone had dropped back to 3G instead of 4G. Then after a couple of minutes, it popped back into 4G mode. And my signal strength dropped back down to  -110 dBm again.

What the heck?

So I guess Monday morning I’ll be back on the phone with Wilson again.

As I mentioned yesterday, today was a  ‘Blue Moon BBQ for lunch’ day. So about 11:30 I headed over there to pick it up.

Jan did a changeup today and went with the Blue Moon Nachos, which several workers had recommended.

And she was really happy too. Blue Moon’s version is a little different, with multiple layers of chips, chopped beef, beans, and cheese, stacked about 2 inches deep in the container, and coming with sour cream and a Chipotle Jalapeno Dip.

She got the large version, to have leftovers for another meal, as well as an obligatory  ‘Only Available on Saturday’ HotShot, a fresh jalapeno stuffed with 3 cheeses and chopped beef, then wrapped in bacon and tossed on the pit.

She said it was all delicious, and she’s found her new favorite dish.

I got the 3 meat plate, choosing Sliced Brisket, PepperJack Sausage, and Ribs, along with Potato Salad, Beans, and of course, a HotShot.

And, even better, we both had plenty left over for dinner tomorrow.

Wrapping up for today, Jan got some really good shots of the rig at sundown today.

This is a first for me, since I’ve never seen the rig at sundown.

I’m already asleep by then.

September 10, 2017

Drop Off and Pick Up . . .

Today was another drop-off day for me, taking Jan back down to our daughter Brandi’s in Katy so she can drop off and pick up our grandson Landon at school until Wednesday when I’ll pick her up on my way back from Clear Lake.

Brandi is at a work conference in San Diego (notice how these ‘work conferences’ are never in Des Moines or Little Rock, but in Miami, Las Vegas or San Diego) and our son-in-law Lowell’s working late at the office this week, so Jan is once again Landon-sitting. Kind of like throwing Brer Rabbit in the Briar Patch.

Leaving about 2pm, our first stop was the Kroger’s over in Willis for gas. No problems and I only had to wait for one car. Unleaded was $2.39 a gallon.

Our next stop was the IHOP about 10 miles south for brunch. before heading on to Katy. Jan got her favorite omelet, cheddar and mushroom, and said it was just stuffed full inside.

I decided to try their new Stuffed Donut French Toast, topped with Bacon and Maple Syrup.

It’s a donut filled with Bavarian cream, dipped in vanilla French toast batter, grilled, and then topped with crispy bacon pieces and maple glaze. Artery-clogging good.

Jan and I both ordered a side of bacon with our entrees. Unfortunately, I got Jan bacon.

Well, not Jan’s exactly. It’s just that mine was prepared exactly like Jan’s.

Jan basically likes her bacon ‘burnt’, or as a waitress put it one time, ‘Glass Bacon’. You know, where you just touch it and it shatters into small pieces.

I like mine regular crispy, but more often than not, mine shows burnt just like Jan’s. And today was one of those days.

Taking the 99 Grand Parkway, the trip down to Katy was smooth with little traffic, so nice. But we had a couple of more stops before getting to Brandi’s. First up was the new Buc-ee’s that pretty much opened in the middle of Hurricane Harvey.

We wanted to get some kolaches and muffins but also wanted to check out their new car wash. At 255 feet long, it’s one of the longest ones in the world. Only one in Germany is possibly longer. They also have 120 gas pumps here, and if you choose the $16 wash, you get 20 cents a gallon off.

The cost is $9, $12, or $16. Don’t know what you get extra for the $16 one, because the $12 version was great.

It got off the residual hydraulic fluid leftover from our recent rig unpleasantness in Louisiana, cleaned the wheels, and left the truck shiny white. Couldn’t have been much better.

After making our pastry stop inside, we drove another exit down to check out the Hamilton Metals rig count sign, which showed 949 rigs, down 5 since last week.

This pretty much reinforces what I’ve seen in the gate guarding field, since the last rig count we saw in the middle of July was 952. So things are pretty stagnant.

Our next stop was the nearby Kroger’s for a few things for Jan and a few things for me to bring home. And while we were there we ran into Lowell and Landon doing their shopping too.

Finally heading toward Brandi’s, we made a quick drive-by of Landon’s school to be sure that she knew where it was. And then later this afternoon Lowell going to give her an in-service on Brandi’s Lexus, which is what Jan will be chauffeuring Landon in.

After dropping Jan off, I reversed course back to Conroe, getting home a little before 7pm. Coming back into the park, I noticed that sometime today they reinstalled the entrance gates that they took down for the repaving.

It was nice to be able to just drive through for a while.

September 10, 2018

So Good She Had Two Bowls . . .

I left work a little early today, about 3pm, to get a jump on the traffic and the weather on the way up to Brandi’s in Katy to pick up my missing wife.

It had been pouring down up in that area all morning so I was wary of what the drive was going to be like. But by the time I got up there, it had all passed through and all I got was a few light sprinkles along the way.

I had gone over to the storage room yesterday afternoon and picked up the stuff we had saved from our house for Brandi, but didn’t want to take it up there until they had moved into their new house. No need to move it twice.

Coming home, with the coolish, dreary weather, we decided that a big bowl of King Food’s Hot & Sour Soup, and maybe an order of their Crispy Garlic Honey Crusted Chicken Wings.

Jan got the small bowl, the same one that comes with their meals,

while I usually get the big bowl since it’s sometimes all I get.

But this time, the soup was so good, that Jan ordered a second bowl while we waited for our wings.

But as usual, they were worth waiting for.

Brandi and Lowell turned us on to these wings a while back, and we’re amazed that we ate there for so long and never got them ourselves.

We had thought about stopping off at WalMart for a few things, but decided to put it off until tomorrow, since Jan just wanted to get back home.

I finally got our new South Dakota address from Dakota Post today. We had lost our original one, from MyDakotaAddress that we’ve had since 2007, when they suddenly went out of business with no notice. In fact, when they publicly announced the closure, they also said that they had started to reject our mail the week before.

I guess Dakota Post got swamped with new customers because it took a good while to finally get my box number. Something that I really needed since I need to get our Driver’s License renewals in, especially mine, which expires Oct 5th. We have a little more time with Jan’s since hers doesn’t expire until the 25th. It does make it easier though with both our birthdays in the same month.

Tomorrow I’m going to try to get back on the generator repair, but that may end up being called on a rain delay . . . again. Plus it doesn’t look much better for the rest of the week. Or much of next week either, for that matter. If so, I’ll get back on the phone with Onan and pick some more brains on possible solutions to the problem.

One positive for all the rain though, is it’s keeping the daytime temps down, with tomorrow’s high forecast for 80°, and staying in the low 80’s for the rest of the week.

Nice!

September 10, 2019

Best $4.99 I Ever Spent . . .

After a coffee-laced morning, Jan and I headed out about 1pm for lunch at Snooze up in Webster

Now usually I get the 3 Egg Classic breakfast like this.

But now that we’re doing the Keto thing, mine now looks like this.

All Bacon, All The Time.

While we were there, our waiter noticed my jar of Carolina Reaper Powder sitting on the table, and said, “Good stuff!”.

And then he asked if I had tried the hot sauce they had there. When I said no, and that I didn’t normally like most hot sauces because all I taste is vinegar. And then he handed me this.

And it was delicious! Probably because vinegar is the 5th ingredient rather than the 1st.

And as soon as Jan tasted it, she said, “We have to buy some.” A little Googling said that our local HEB carried it. So it was on our shopping list for today.

Leaving Snooze, we drove over to the local Wal-Mart for a  few things. Then it was back over to my clients to pick up an Amazon order that came in this morning. And then right next door to HEB for some Lola Savannah coffee, that they were out of, and of course, the YellowBird Serrano Sauce, which they did have.

After that we headed over to the Seabrook area so Jan could find some earrings at Burke’s Outlet. And it was while I was waiting there that I discovered a problem.

I had lost my phone.

So we back-tracked. The last time I remembered actually using it was at the Wal-Mart, so we headed back that way, with a quick stop at my client’s to see if I left it there.

With no luck, it was on over to Wal-Mart. But no luck at the Customer Service desk.

Unfortunately, Jan didn’t have her phone with her, so I couldn’t check my account on WheresMyDroid.com. So we headed back to the rig and as soon as I went online with the app I was shown this.

It was still out in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

So the first thing I did was to lock the phone and take a photo with the front camera, and got this.

So it was lying face up in the parking lot. If that photo had come back showing only black, I could have then taken a photo with the rear phone.

If the phone had gotten away, I could have also completely wiped, or even ‘bricked’ the phone. And it wouldn’t have made any difference if they had turned it off or removed the battery. As soon as it was powered up any time later, the lock/wipe/brick would have taken place immediately.

So Jan and I headed back up to the Wal-Mart to scour the parking lot. I know it was near a light pole since it showed up in the photo. And after a few minutes of walking around, I found this. Based on where I found it, I suspect I just didn’t clip it into my belt clip. The Otterbox case I used sometimes keeps it from locking in firmly.

Best $4.99 I Ever Spent . . .

Since we always have decaf coffee in the evening, I had set it up in the Mr. Coffee before we left for lunch. So coming home, as we got off I-45 I used the Switchbot remote to start it brewing, and just as we walked in the door, the pot beeped that it was done. And it smelled great as we came in the rig.

I love it when a plan comes together.

September 10, 2020

Lighting Up . . .

Jan and I had a busy afternoon, first with lunch at the Cheddar’s up in Webster, and then by the office to pick up my Amazon order that had come in while we were having lunch.

Then it was on to the nearby Wal-Mart, and then the Sam’s right next door for some more ‘stuff’. Apparently we can never have enough stuff.

Then on the way home, we made an HEB stop for some of their stuff that Jan likes better than Wal-Mart and Sam’s stuff.

After all the new ‘stuff’ was put away back at the rig, I went outside to install the new taillight/brake light LED bulbs that came in from Amazon today.

Although they look white, they glow bright red, and the brake light function flashes like the newer cars do. But they don’t flash on the rig.

The taillights work fine, but the brake lights don’t. So far.

Part of the problem is that I don’t know if the brake lights will work without the engine running and the air up to pressure for the air brakes.

I did turn the key on and had Jan pump the brake pedal while I checked outside, but no brake lights.

So I’ll call Spartan/Fleetwood tomorrow to see if I really have a problem or not. And then I’ll get back on the turn signals.

Jan and I really hope everyone is enjoying our RV travel retrospectives that we’ve been reposting every day. It’s neat to relive all these memories, and watch our grandkid’s Piper and Landon grow up over the last 13 years.

September 10, 2022

Gone Again . . .

Our lunch stop today was our Pho Barr down here in our area.

And this time, while we started out with our usual Grilled Pork Spring Rolls,

Jan got an order of their Fish Sauce Chicken Wings.

She said they were delicious, almost as good as the Garlic Honey-Glazed ones from King Food.

I stayed with my usual Pho Ga, which is basically Pho with Chicken.

Also delicious as always

Then it was on up to Webster to check out a new place.

Called Ollie’s, it’s a combination of Big Lots, Dollar General, and Half-Price Books, but bigger.

We had never heard of Ollie’s before we saw it had taken over the old Babies R Us location across from the WalMart on El Dorado in Webster. But as it turns out, they have almost 450 locations in 29 states and are expanding rapidly.

Here’s a copy of their Grand Opening flyer for this store. And here’s the Weekly Flyer from the other locations.

I mean where else can you find a LED Lighted Toilet Paper Holder.

A neat store. We’ll be back to check it out again.

Last night, getting home from the Alvin Opry, we had a great full moon. So I decided to check out the 30x and 100x modes on my Galaxy S21 Ultra phone. The 3x and 10x are optical, but everything above that is digital.

And I was happily surprised at how good the photos looked.

Here’s the moon at 30x,

And here it is at 100x

Really neat.

She’s gone again.

Tomorrow I’m taking Jan back up to Brandi’s so she can Landon-sit while Brandi is at a business conference out in San Diego. Really though, the whole Landon-sitting thing pretty much consists of getting him up and off to school each morning.

Lowell leaves around 5:30-6:00 each morning and doesn’t get home until around 5, but overall Landon pretty much takes care of himself, so it’s not really a tough gig.

I’ll get here back on Thursday.

Lunch today was at Texas Huddle, our 2nd visit since they reopened back in August.

We both started out with their really good side salads.

Following up, Jan got her Keto (bunless) Cheddar Mushroom Burger. Of course this time they forgot to leave off the bun.

I went a little different this time, with an order of their Chicken Wings (all drums) with the Flaming Raspberry Sauce.

Really good, and I had 3 to take home.

Then it was on back down into our area for our weekly HEB stop, followed by a P.O. stop, and then home for the day.

A very nice day.

Now back to yesterday’s Birthday Pool Party.

Which as the name suggests, was spent mostly in the pool,

with Miss Piper and everyone else.

Even the dogs got in the act. Well, make that ‘dog’.

Jack is known to just jump in the pool and swim around for a while.

But Baxter doesn’t like the water and usually hides in the bushes.

Max, the new dog, got carried in, not too happy, but just swam around a bit, and then headed for the steps.

We mostly just snacked on all the great things Brandi had put out, Pulled Pork from Costco, homemade bean/cheese dip, salami and cheese puffs, chips and more. The two towers with the blades spin around, keeping any flies off the food.

Neat idea!

There was even a floating buffet so you didn’t even have to get out of the pool.

Then as the day wound down, the chaise lounges were put to good use.

Finally, saying our goodbyes, Jan and I were home by 6pm, tired, but very happy after seeing everyone.

And looking forward to our next time together.