Our RV Adventures

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I couldn’t find this for last night’s Memorial Day blog, but this photo has always been one of the most moving to me. Especially when you notice the baby carrier off to the side.

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Lunch today was at the Rudy’s BBQ up in Webster, an idea that a lot of other people apparently had also. It took us a little over 20 minutes to get to the front of the line.

Jan said this is the busiest we’ve ever seen it, probably because it’s the only time we’ve been here on a holiday.

We got pretty much our standard order, with Jan’s Loaded Baker with Lean Brisket, 1/2 lb. of Turkey, 2 Baby Back Ribs, 1/4 lb. of Moist Brisket, a Cheddar Jalapeno Sausage link, and a Pint of Creamed Corn.

A lot, but we have plenty for leftovers.

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Our month-long neighbor headed out today, but before he left I was able to confirm that he is the one that had the Starlink system that showed up on our local WiFi system. He does remote IT support, and just travels around the country in his Class A, with his Golden Retriever named Clay.

He said the Starlink system is great, and he’s never had a problem with it. It just works.

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Just a reminder that the SpaceX’s StarShip #9 launch is still scheduled for tomorrow, May 27th, with the launch window opening at 6:30 CDT. They’re forgoing catching the 1st stage booster to concentrate on getting a successful StarShip 2nd stage flight. This is helped by the fact that it’s a used booster that was caught on Flight #7.

And here’s a Mars vista taken by the Curiosity Rover.

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This morning I woke up about 4am, and while I was trying to get back to sleep, I remembered that I probably needed to order some new struts for the Jeep’s hood, since it doesn’t always want to stay up. 30 seconds later they were on the way from Amazon. Be here tomorrow.

Something I do all the time, but amazing when you think about it.

A couple of clicks and you can order pretty much anything and have it delivered right to your door.

Thought For The Day:

Never Question Authority. They Don’t Know Either, But They Won’t Admit It.

Your Retro-Preview Highlights –

2011 – Sugar Pine Choo Choo Train

2017 – Moose, Mines, and Dinosaurs

2019 – Homeward Bound From London

And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™

May 26, 2009

Two Georges on the Waterway…

Jan and I spent all day hunkered down in the coach riding out some really bad weather coming through.

About 5 pm we headed over to our friend’s house and then went to Two George’s Restaurant for supper. This is a really great place right on the Intracoastal Waterway.

We made a big meal of it since this will be our last time to get together.

May 26, 2010

So far, no snow…yet

We left Riverfront RV Park in Garrison, MT about 8:45 am heading for Billings, MT about 270 miles away. We had planned to leave about 8 but it was in the mid 30’s outside, and the bed was warm, and we overslept. What can I say?

This park had some really nice views.  Here’s a close-up of the mountain I showed you yesterday.

And here’s the view in the other direction.  You just can’t beat views like this.

But before we left I wanted to put some air in one of my tires, so I started up the coach engine and went outside to air up the tire. All of a sudden I heard the engine accelerate to what sounded like wide open throttle. Running around to the door I looked in and saw Mister standing on the left-hand control panel looking out the window at what I had been doing. Unfortunately, this meant he was standing on the cruise control switch. When you’re idling, the cruise control allows you to set the engine speed.

Mister set it to wide open!

But luckily there didn’t seem to be any damage done.

Anyway, about an hour after we left, and after a long, slow climb, we crossed the Continental Divide at 6393 ft. and started back down. There was still a lot of snow along the road up there.

About 11:30 am we stopped at a rest area and Jan fixed sandwiches for lunch. Then it was back on the road.

Then, about 1:30 we stopped in Big Timber to take on diesel. The last time I got diesel in Washington state, it cost $3.70 a gallon. Today it was $3.04.

A big difference!

We got into Billings about 3 pm and got parked at the Billings Trailer Village.  It was certainly nice to have better weather than the last time we were in Billings.

Here’s how it looked today.

When we first came through on our way to Alaska at the end of March of 2008, we had only planned to stay a couple of days to visit a friend of Jan’s. However, the weather didn’t cooperate.

We ended up staying a week due to heavy snow. Here’s how it looked then. Here’s my beautiful wife taking in the snow.

And here’s Mister’s first encounter with snow. He put one foot down on the step and reconsidered going outside.

Then he just sat in the door and looked around. He absolutely refused to go outside.

After all, he’s a Texas cat. He doesn’t do snow.

Then, coming back from Alaska the first part of October 2008, we again stopped in Billings for a couple of days, And again we got snowed in for a week. With even more snow this time.

14 inches!

But this time we broke the jinx. But as Jan said, “the day’s not over yet.” We’ll see.

About 4 pm we headed out for some errands and dinner. We first stopped by Sam’s and picked up some kitty litter, then it was on to Great Clips to get my bi-annual haircut.

Which took about 5 minutes. Hah!

Then it was off to Famous Dave’s, one of our favorite BBQ places, for dinner. They have a great new BBQ sauce called “80 Proof” made with Jack Daniels.  And it is good!

We got home about 5:30 and Jan went across the street to do some laundry. She likes to do our throw rugs in the bigger commercial machines. It’s quicker.

While she was gone, I vacuumed the rugs and floors, and cleaned some spots on the rug.

Then it was in for the night.

Tomorrow we head for Gillette, WY, about 238 miles away, for 4 days of the American Coach Rally.

May 26, 2011

Sugar Pine Choo Choo . . .

We were up early this morning (well, 9 am is early for me) because I was going to get to play choo choo.

Well, they probably won’t let me play with it, so I’ll just have to settle for riding on it.

We headed out about 10 am to ride the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad located about 25 miles north of the park, on the way to Yosemite National Park.

The YMSP railroad is laid out on some of the old routes of the Madera Sugar Pine Lumber Company that ran from 1899 to 1931. When the company closed down, they pulled up all the tracks and sold off the rolling stock.

But then in 1961, Rudy Stauffer started rebuilding the railroad, laying down some of the old track along a 4-mile loop following the old roadbed, to create an excursion railroad.

The reconstituted railroad began service with the purchase of a Shay locomotive from the West Side Lumber Company railway of Tuolumne, California. Built in 1928, No. 10 is recognized as the largest ‘narrow gauge’ Shay locomotive ever constructed.

Narrow gauge means that the tracks are closer together than on a standard gauge railroad, in this case 3 feet vs. 4 feet, 8 1/2 inches. Narrow-gauge track was used in locations like this because it was cheaper to build where the clearances and the curves are tighter.

Shays were known for their pulling power and were used in many logging and mining situations. What gave them their strength was their unique way of getting power to the driving wheels.

Unlike conventional steam locomotives like this 4-8-4 below that uses side rods that only power the large center wheels,

the Shays have gears and drive shafts that power all 12 wheels giving superior traction and power

They also had on display this center cab yard switcher that I think is a GE 50 or 55 ton model from the late 1950’s, but I’m not sure. It is apparently not operational.

In the engine house, I also found Shay No. 15, the second engine on the railroad, though it looks like it’s under repair.

The rolling stock consists of two types of cars, a covered coach,

and these open-air versions, made from very large logs.

About 11:15 the conductor called “All Aboard,” and we headed out on our 1-hour trip.

At the halfway point, the train stopped to take on water and give the passengers a chance to stretch their legs.

It also gave me a chance to check out the cab of the locomotive. That mess looks worse than working on an RV.

Here you can see the firebox that makes the 200 psi of superheated steam that powers No. 10. The locomotive originally burned wood, but was later converted to burn fuel oil, also known as bunker oil. However, now, they burn used motor oil, which doesn’t give them as much power, but is much cheaper.

Finishing up our ride, we checked out the museum, bookstore, and gift shop, along with their gold panning instruction and demonstration.

After a great day on the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad, we headed back into Oakhurst about 1:15 pm. We had a really good time and highly recommend this to anyone in the area.

In the summertime they even have a Moonlight Special on Wednesday and Saturday nights complete with a BBQ steak dinner, entertainment, and a moonlight train ride (well, if the moon is out, otherwise it’s just a train ride in the dark, which can be fun too.)

Heading back into Oakhurst, we decided to have a late lunch at Todd’s Cookhouse BBQ, our favorite local BBQ joint. It seems like this place just gets better and better every time we go.

Coming back to the park, we stopped off at the PO for our mail and some stamps, and then the NAPA Auto Parts store in Coarsegold for diesel antifreeze.

Our final stop was, of course, for cappuccinos. I think we’re hooked now.

That’s about it for today.

There’s always tomorrow.

May 26, 2013

Wheeeeeee!

They just opened the new Texas SkyScreamer at the Six Flags over Texas in Arlington. And at 400 feet, this one of seven in the US is the tallest. The next runner-up tops out at 242 feet at Six Flags over Georgia in Atlanta.

At the top, you’re whirling in a 124-foot circle at about 35 mph. The shorter towers rotate you at 43 mph, I guess due to less stress on the towers.

My kind of ride.

This might be worth a trip to Dallas when we’re back in Houston, just to give it a try. Now Jan might be a whole ‘nother story.

What about you?   Wanna join me?

Aunt Sherry posted this photo of Master Landon enjoying himself at Chuck E. Cheese. Our daughter Brandi said they’re supposed to have the house closing on Thursday, and then the moving company comes on Friday to start the move to their new house.

Jan and I were both a little under the weather this morning so we decided to postpone our movie. We had planned to try the buffet at the Horizon Casino after the movie, but with no movie, we decided to just do the buffet. But about 5 minutes before we were ready to leave, I decided to check Yelp for reviews on the place. And I’m glad I did.

There are 4 casinos here in the area. Two of them have $13-15 buffets and two have $30 buffets. And according to Yelp, the two cheaper ones are really, really bad. I mean, how many reviews do you see that say they gave the buffet one star because you’re not allowed to give no stars, Or that everyone in another group got food poisoning. Another group took a couple of bites and then asked for their money back.

So those places were out, and neither one of us wanted to pay $60 for dinner, so the other two were out. After a quick discussion, we decided to go back to Passaretti’s Italian Restaurant, the place we first ate at a couple of days after we got here. And even better, it’s right outside the park.

Jan had her Meat Ravioli and I had the Spaghetti Marinara with Meatballs, exactly what we had the first time. Just as good as the first time. And just like last time, there were a number of large parties there, but our food still came promptly.

After dinner we drove down the road to Raley’s for some groceries, and an after-dinner coffee at the Peet’s located inside the store. This was our second time there, and it has been our new favorite coffee place. At least to us, the coffee is better than what we’ve had at Starbuck’s. Just saying.

As far as the movie thing, we’ll see about tomorrow.

May 26, 2014

Dogs And Brats . . .

After talking we decided to do hot dogs and brats on the grill this evening, so we will pick up some stuff for this.

About 1pm Jan and I drove over to the nearby Wal-Mart for groceries and stuff. And one of the ‘stuffs’ we picked up was a new Farberware Countertop Convection Oven like this one, except ours is black.

And it even has a rotisserie. Not that I ever think we’ll use it.

We tend not to do a lot of rotisseriering. But Jan is giddy over her new toy.

It’s also NOT digital which has caused us problems on the last two toaster ovens we’ve had.

Leaving Wal-Mart we stopped off at Martin’s Grocery to pick some other things. From there we got a couple of fresh salad items, i.e., Steakhouse Potato Salad and Broccoli and Cheese Salad. We also picked up a Coconut Cream Pie for dessert.

And we got some of their fresh muffins for breakfast the rest of the week.

About 5:30 we headed next door and got the hot dogs and brats on the grill. It was a perfect evening for it, with most of the holiday rigs having left the park for parts unknown.

The food was great, and the dessert a little later inside, was really good too. All in all, a very nice day.

Here’s a video thought y’all might enjoy.

Salut Salon. A really great quartet. And funny too.

May 26, 2016

It Only Took Eight Hours . . .

I finished up the Dell laptop repair/OS-reinstall last night, after getting the last of the Win10 updates downloaded. After replacing the hard drive, I had to first reinstall Win7 since that’s what was on the computer originally. Next using the Product Key on the bottom tag, I activated Win7 and downloaded 1.2 GB of updates. FWIW you can not install Win10 over a non-activated Win7, 8, or 8.1. It just won’t let you do it.

Next up, because the client wanted Win10, I installed it and then downloaded 500 Mb of Win10 updates, and that finally wrapped it up. I’ll drop it off while we’re down in Clear Lake tomorrow afternoon.

On the subject of Windows 10, for those of you still resisting Microsoft forcing it down your throat, or in your computer anyway,  just remember Windows 10 upgrades are essentially the date rape of the computer world. You wake up and realize what has happened when you were asleep.

Many people have reported stepping away from their computer for a few minutes only to come back to find it in the middle of a Win10 install.

If this happens to you, after it’s finished installing, it asks you to agree to the Terms and Conditions. If you click “don’t agree”, it undoes the install, putting everything back the way it was.

But if you want to put a stop to this before it all starts, here’s some help. Check out Never10.

It blocks any further attempts to install Win10, and if the files have already been downloaded to your computer, it will delete them. And if you ever decide you do want to install Win10, just run the program again. So check it out. Never10

What’s up with the commercials when we’re streaming network TV shows?

Occasionally we will stream a network show that we missed for some reason, either bad weather knocking out the satellite, or we can only record two shows at a time, so couldn’t record the third one, etc.

Last night we were catching on an episode of Once Upon A Time that we missed a while back. We have three later episodes on the DVR, so we needed to watch this one first to keep them in order. But as happened previously when we’ve streamed network shows, the commercials are unwatchable.

The show itself streams without a glitch, but when the commercial break starts it all grinds to a halt. First there’s 15-20 seconds of just black, then the ad starts, but usually stutters, starting and stopping, and usually freezing at some point. Then another 10-15 seconds of black, and it all starts over again. For 6 long commercials.

And 10 minutes later, it does it all over again. And again.

So if they can stream the show with no problems, why not the commercials?

Last night, I finally remembered to bring my Garmin GPS in from the truck so I could update the maps and software to the latest versions. It seems like I always think about doing this when we’re in Conroe, but the speed and reliability of the 3G (or 4G, for that matter) there just isn’t up to downloading 2+ GB of data.

But with the 2.75 – 3.00 Mbps I’m getting on 3G  (and 25 Mbps on 4G) here at Colorado River, this is the time to do it.  So I got out my laptop, hooked up the GPS to it, and started the download. And eight hours later, at 3am when I went to bed, it had just finished up. So now I’m good for another year.

Recently while I looking for something on the Home Depot site, I can across a post about a couple’s DIY paint job on their 1992 camper.

They started out with this:

And ended up with this.

You can check it here at DIY Camper Paint Job. And if you keep scrolling down, they detail the interior upgrades they did. Nice.

May 26, 2017

Moose and Mines . . .

We had a visitor this morning a little before I got up. Bob Fitz, a blog reader, came by to say HI, and let us know he and his wife were in Keystone yesterday when we were. They’re visiting Rapid City for a few days, and invited us to stop by and visit when we’re again in the Sioux Falls area.

It’s still going down into the high 30’s/low 40’s every night, but it’s supposed to start warming up a little in the next couple of weeks.

And speaking of a ‘couple of weeks, after we had been here a couple of days, we started talking about staying a few extra days past our one-week stay. But when it all boiled down, we reupped for a second week. Which means we won’t leave here until June 6th.

Unless we decide to stay longer.

Elk Creek is unlimited PassPort America, so we can linger pretty much as long as we like. And one reason for us to stay longer is that Jan used to live here.

She was here when she was in 2nd grade while her father was stationed at Ellsworth AFB. So she remembers places around here that she would like to revisit. And at least one of them is still around.

That one is the Dinosaur Park, a group of dino statues built on top of a hill near downtown Rapid City. Constructed in the mid-1930’s to capitalize on tourists visiting nearby Mt. Rushmore, the city hoped to keep some of the tourist’s dollars in town.

And while we were at the Safeway, I looked up on top of the nearby hill and saw one of the reptiles on the loose.

Finishing up on yesterday’s 1880 Train, trip we were surprised at how many large homes were located out in the Black Hills National Forest.

Don’t know if this guy had a lot of firewood left over from this past winter, but he’s certainly ready for next winter.

Turns out that there were about 60+ mining claims that predated the 1897 creation of the Black Hills NF, and today many of those claims are now the location of family homes.

But some of the mine facilities can still be found along the route, mostly in the Addie Camp area. This was the Addie Camp tin mine.

Or at least it was supposed to be. Although they went down over 800 feet,  they never found much tin, and the mine was closed down.

This is the remains of the Good Luck Tungsten Mine, which was much more successful than the tin mine, but it finally closed down in the 1950’s.

The 1880 Train ride turned out to be one of our favorites, and is much recommended.

Later, while we walking around Hill City waiting for our not-to-be Alpine Inn dinner, we came across these two amazing horse sculptures along the sidewalk.

Both done by the same artist, they’re made from junk, springs, tools, even other horses, and faces.

and there was also a smaller one.

Really amazing.

Jan had a good time exploring The Farmer’s Daughter shop right across the street.

And even found a new moose to add to her collection

Cute.

We’re trying to keep our heads down during the holiday weekend, but we may run into RC to grab a burger at Fuddruckers, and maybe a trip to Home Depot or Lowe’s.

May 26, 2018

Another Day . . .

Going To The Sun.

I just saw an article online about the ongoing plowing of the Going To The Sun Highway in Glacier National Park.

Some years, the snow is so heavy that they don’t get the road completely open until July, and this year looks like another one. So I guess we lucked out on our visit in July 2011.

May 26, 2019

Homeward Bound . . .

Before our trip home today we spent several hours last night carefully weighing our luggage over and over.

Did you know a single sox weighs 3 oz.?

We were trying to max our two large checked bags right up to the 50 # limit, finally getting one of them up to 49.9 and the other one right on 50# by using the digital scale we had brought with us.

Then I got my carry-on right up to the 17# limit allowed for them. So then leaving out our travel clothes, I wedged all the rest into Jan’s carry-on, and, holding my breath, weighed it.

25.8 pounds!

Yikes!

Ok, if we each wear 4 shirts, 3 pair of pants, 6 pairs of underwear, and 2 pairs of shoes, we might get in under the wire. But somehow I don’t think that’s going to work either. Then Jan remembered that when we were checking in at the gate to our Lufthansa flight from Houston to Frankfurt last month, they offered to also check in our carry-on’s as well as our big bags.

So Jan had the idea to just check in her carry-on along with her big bag, which means the 25# wouldn’t matter. So with a plan in hand, we were up at 7am, downstairs for breakfast at 8, and sitting in the lobby waiting for our ride by 9:30am.

Advised that we should be at Heathrow Airport 4 hours before our scheduled flight at 14:10, we were there a little before 10. Only to find out that our flight was going to be delayed, but only for about 10 minutes. So no problem.

But after we got through TSA (no cavities searched) and were at our gate, we were told the flight had slipped 45 minutes. Then we were told that our plane was late coming in from the States, and we were pushed back an hour. And that caused all the dominos to fall, further screwing over our schedule.

Gates are booked for a flight at a specific time, so if a plane is too early or too late arriving there may be another plane at that gate. Which is why as our flight got pushed back later and later, our specific gate number became ‘iffy’. But finally about an hour and 15 minutes late, we were boarded on our Boeing 787-9 and waiting for pushback from the gate.

But that didn’t happen. As our departure got pushed back later and later, we also lost our slot in the flight path that we were scheduled to take home. So a new flight plan had to be calculated and then approved. But that resulted in a longer path home, so we had to take on another 10,000 pounds of jet fuel.

So finally, two hours and 10 minutes late, we were rotating and in the air for a now-10 hour flight.

They were able to make up some time by pushing the speed, staying at 34,000 feet and almost 600 mph for most of the flight, leaving us with views like this.

We finally got into Houston about an hour and 10 minutes late. And after getting through Customs, we met our driver and were on our way back to Santa Fe, getting back to the rig about 10pm.

Safe, sound, and with a lot of really great memories. And totally exhausted.

Now, after we get unpacked and settled in, I’ll start going back and filling in the missing days on our trip of a lifetime.

Stay tuned.

May 26, 2020

Jan’s Happy Place . . .

As part of our recent Restaurant Resurrection Tour, we had brunch this afternoon at Snooze once again, our first visit in a couple of months. Jan had really been jonsing for their Bravocado Toast.

But our next stop was really her Happy Place, the SuperCuts where she finally got her hair cut. And even better, on our way there we made a quick detour past her nail salon and found them open also, so she got a reservation for Thursday afternoon. Now she’s REALLY happy.

Our next stop was at the office to pick up some Amazon things that had come in, and then it was down the street to the local HEB for a few things before heading back down to Santa Fe, with a stop at the PO for our mail before finally getting home.

Don’t forget about the SpaceX launch tomorrow afternoon, scheduled for 3:32pm CDT. Taking off from pad 39A, the same one that both the Apollo 11 moon landing and the first Space Shuttle launched from, it will mark both America’s return to space for the first time since the Shuttle was retired in 2011, and the world’s first commercial (non-government) manned launch. It will take two former Shuttle astronauts to the Space Station for an extended stay.

God Speed!

Jan just finished streaming all 5 seasons of Persons of Interest on Netflix with me watching on and off. A really great show, and often just one surprise after the other.

As it got down to the last episode, I realized that I had actually never seen the wrap-up. And it was really good.

And now we’re on a new streaming series that we really liked, Pushing Daisies.

May 26, 2021

Graduation Day . . .

SpaceX put another 60 Starlink satellites into orbit today, which is supposed to complete the first level of the system. Don’t know, but hopefully it means we might be getting our dish/system soon. Crossing my fingers.

Also crossing my fingers that my new phone comes in tomorrow as scheduled. At least that’s what UPS says. And Jan’s also crossing her fingers since she’s excited to get my hand-me-down S8+ to replace her S5 which is now 7 years old. Which I think must be about 20 in phone years.

And I’m ready for it since I already have my Otterbox and Screen Protector ready to go.

As I mentioned yesterday, we’ve got an appointment at our local NTB tomorrow afternoon to get new tires for our Jeep. And as I always have with our Dodge Dakota, I chose their ‘house brand’ Crosswinds with a 40,000 mile warranty. And once I eliminated all the stuff I didn’t want (Road Hazard Warranty for $20/tire), and didn’t need (TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) Repair Kit) since the Jeep doesn’t have a built-in tire pressure monitoring system, I’m getting the 4 tires installed for $480 out the door.

I could have bumped up to the middle choice, the Mesa AP3’s, with a 50,000 mile warranty, but the 20% added mileage would have cost me 30% more per tire. Not a good trade-off. And FWIW, both of these tires are made in China, so no change there.

And if I was feeling really spendy, I could have gone with brand-name Michelin’s, for more than double the cost of the Crosswinds. Though these are made in the U.S., for some strange reason, they have absolutely no mileage warranty of any kind.

So what’s the point?

Tomorrow was the last day of school for Landon this year, and his graduation day from Elementary School. Next year he’ll be in 6th grade, or Middle School, as they call it here.

That’s him, 2nd from the left in the blue shirt.

Somewhere along the line, the grade levels changed since Jan and I were in school. Back then, Elementary School was 1st – 6th, Junior High was 7th and 8th, and High School was 9th-12th. Easy Peazy.

Then somewhere along the way, Junior High became Middle School, but the same grades. But now 6th grade has been bumped up to Middle School. So why?

Wrapping up the subject of Landon’s school, Brandi posted this note she got from Landon’s homeroom teacher.

Just got the sweetest note from Landon’s homeroom teacher.  I asked how he has been doing and if his behavior has improved, and she wrote the following:

We have a mutual respect and he knows I think he is pretty amazing.  I told him, and I would like to share with you that he has the soul of a writer.  I keep thinking back to the beginning of the year when he refused to write and I dreaded giving him a writing assignment because he would fight me tooth and nail on it.  Now, I cannot get him to stop writing.  He has such an amazing imagination and his voice rings out in everything that he writes.  With his art skills, he could illustrate his own books.  I told him when he publishes his first book, I would like him to mention me in the dedication. Ha!

I will truly miss him next year and hope he will keep in touch and let me know how he is doing!

Awww. So sweet.  Even with the “White Sarcasm” gene going strong!!

And she’s right about the “White Sarcasm’ gene, too.

May 26, 2022

A Night In Slidell . . .

We were on our way this morning a few minutes before 9, with our first stop at the Baytown Buc-ee’s about 45 minutes later for coffee, kolaches, and gas.

Overall the trip was pretty smooth with very nice weather the entire way. The only problem was coming into Covington where we lost about 30 minutes for one of those phantom slowdowns, supposedly for a construction zone. But the traffic just crept along at 5-10 mph for 30 minutes and then just sped up.

Who knows?

We got to our La Quinta in Slidell about 4pm, but first stopped at the Cracker Barrel right next door for dinner. And along the way, I picked up this cute Flamingo Pillow for Jan.

In fact flamingos seem to be in this year, since CB had an entire section devoted to them. We’ll have to go back soon.

A while after we got in the room, Jennifer, our Karma sitter sent this photo over of Karma making herself at home.

Tomorrow it’s on up to Athens, AL with a lunch stop at Weidman’s in Meridian, MS along the way.

Really looking forward to seeing everyone.

May 26, 2023

The 6th And Final Leg . . .

We were on our way home this morning a little after 11am, heading for Baton Rouge, about 225 miles away.

The worst slowdown was actually right after we got back on I-10 leaving Fairhope and crossing the Mobile Causeway leading to the tunnel. Traffic was pretty much bumper to bumper 10 mph for about 10 miles. You do the math.

Getting into Baton Rouge, our first stop was at the Sonny’s BBQ here, the sixth and final leg of our Southern BBQ Tour.

If you’re keeping count, it’s been:

Sonny’s BBQ
Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ
Jim ‘N Nick’s BBQ
Golden Rule BBQ
Sonny’s BBQ
Sonny’s BBQ

Finishing up another delicious meal, we drove over to our nearby Sleep Inn Hotel, the same place we stayed last year.

Tomorrow we’ve got a last leg of about 300 miles to get back to Santa Fe and home.

Much as we’ve enjoyed this trip, we’re both looking forward to getting back to our own bed.

May 26, 2024

Settling In . . .

Kind of.

Jan only kind of got to settle in since we met Brandi, Lowell, and someone we didn’t recognize at first, up at our long-time favorite King Food about 1pm.

Besides getting together with family, I was handing Jan off to stay with them for a few days while I do some work on the toilet here in the rig, as well as a few other things.

As far as the person we almost didn’t recognize, it turned out to be our 13-year-old grandson Landon, who’s now an inch or so taller than his mother, AND has a much deeper voice. Brandi says he’s grown 4” since the first of the year. Looks like he’s going to be tall like his father Lowell.

As Brandi said, “My little boy’s growing up.”

After getting my wifey hugs, I headed back down to the Santa Fe area. I had called Jennifer, our Karma-sitter, ahead of time so she could corral Karma into the carrying cage before I got there. And as she’s done before, when I got Karma back to the rig and let her out, she ran around crying like she didn’t know where she was. But I gave her a couple of squirts of whipped cream and she settled down.

It’s a miracle drug.

While we were gone back to Alabama, Rob got his first tenant in one of the new sites, and it’s the only other Class A besides us that’s ever been parked here.

Haven’t seen any cars parked there, so maybe they just haven’t moved in yet.

I’m not sure what happened with gas prices while we were gone. When we left May 9th, gas was running around $3.19/gallon, but now during the Memorial Day Weekend, many stations have it for $2.99 or even cheaper.

What’s Up With That?

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First off, I want to thank all the Veterans out there for their service. You’re what makes this country great.

As I’ve mentioned before, my mother was a Captain in the Army Nurse Corp. and was Chief of Nursing at West Point.  Both of the photos were taken there.

Her nurses were on a troop train to New Orleans in late July 1945 to board a hospital ship for the invasion of the Japanese mainland, with my mother a few days behind because she had the flu. But they were all turned around en route due to the dropping of the Atomic Bomb. So it’s very possible that I’m only here due to the Bomb being dropped.

My mother even has her own exhibit in the Veterans Museum in Athens, Al. And yes, that’s her original uniform.

My father (yes, that’s me in 1951 or so when I was 2), was a Chief Petty Officer in the Navy and spent the entire war in the Shore Patrol at the Naval Pier in Chicago. He tried several times to get shipboard duty but was always turned down.

But he always said that he figured he did his part, since he said no Japs ever made it past Chicago.

Jan’s father, as well as one of my uncles, participated in the D-Day landing, and later at the Battle of the Bulge. Then, after getting out of the Army and going to college, Jan’s father reenlisted in the Air Force and retired in 1966 as a Senior Master Sergeant.

Hopefully, their service, as well as all veterans everywhere, will never be forgotten.

* * * * * * *

Lunch today back at Denny’s for Ultimate Omelets once again, with the only thing new being that they’ve gone up 20¢ since our last visit two weeks ago. But they were as good as always, of course.

HEB wasn’t as busy as we expected for Memorial Day Eve, so we were in and out quickly, and after getting gas, we were home by 3pm. It was nice to see that the price of gas was down to $2.45, the lowest I’ve seen for a while, especially considering it’s a holiday weekend.

* * * * * * *

Normally tomorrow would be a work/stay-at-home day, but since it’s Memorial Day, it must be BBQ, right?

So we plan to have lunch at Rudy’s BBQ. Great food, and delicious leftovers.

* * * * * * *

I think I’ve worked with every one of these somewhere along the way.

Thought For The Day:

The only thing worse than mornings are “morning people”.

Your Retro-Preview Highlights –

2010 – A Beautiful Day in Montana

2012 – Staying Cool on the Gate And A Big Black Snake

2013 – Duck, Duck on Lake Tahoe

2017 – The 1880 Train and The Crazy Horse Monument

2019 – Hampton Court and King Henry VIII

2020 – Memorial Day Family Memories

And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™

May 25, 2009

Sangria & Roast Pork…

Today, Jan and I spent most of the day around the coach just reading and watching TV

The park we’re in is nice, but does have a power problem. They only have 30 amp power available here and this means that we can’t run both A/C’ units at the same time. Luckily the frequent rain is keeping things fairly cool.

We went out for lunch at Deli Inn again and did a little shopping, while trying to dodge all the rainstorms passing through.

About 5pm we went over to our friends Charlee and Bill’s house for supper. She made a delicious shredded roast pork and vegetables, and lots of Sangria.

Great food and Good Friends.  It can’t be beat.

May 25, 2010

A Beautiful Day in Montana…

Today was really pretty uneventful. We left Blackwell Island RV Park in Coeur d’Alene about 9:45, heading for Garrison, MT, about 240 miles away.

A little over an hour later, we entered Montana and the Mountain Time Zone, so 11 am became 12 noon.

About 12:15 we stopped at a rest area for a quick snack lunch, and while we were there, Jan started a crock-pot meal of her world-famous chicken spaghetti. She then puts the crock-pot in the sink to keep it in place. It plugs in just like normal, since the coach inverter gives us AC power on the road. And it really started to smell good as we drove.

Just as on our trip to Alaska two years ago, the scenery between Coeur d’Alene and here is really fantastic. The hills start out heavily forested, and gradually thinned out to these sparsely-vegetated rolling hills.

And as you can see, the weather was fantastic too.

The biggest thing we’ve noticed since leaving the coast is the much cooler nighttime temperatures. It’s been in the mid-30s almost every night. Last night here in Garrison it was 31 degrees with rain/snow showers.

And as you’ll see below, there’s still a lot of snow on the mountain tops.

Even today, although it was very sunny, I don’t think it made 60 degrees.

We arrived here at Riverfront RV Park about 4 pm and started setting up. About 5pm Jan added the spaghetti to the crock-pot and turned it on high to cook.

Our daughter Brandi called about then to talk about her upcoming wedding on June 21st.  Then about 5:15, our daughter-in-law Linda called to chat about Brandi’s bridal shower this weekend.

And the scenery here at the park is pretty good, too.  Here’s the view out our front window. Note the snow.

Here’s our site here,

And here’s Mister on the prowl. Note the leash.

We just let him drag it around.  After all, the park rules just say “All pets must be on a leash.”  Nothing says I have to be holding it.

About 7:30 about a half dozen magpies showed up out in front of our rig. The last time we saw magpies was two years ago in Dawson Creek, BC, Canada, on our way to Alaska. These are really beautiful birds.

Tomorrow we head for Billings, MT for one night, and then on to Gillette, WY, for the American Coach Rally.

May 25, 2012

Mister Cool . . .

First off, more congrats are in order to our granddaughter Piper. She just received her C. N. A. (Certified Nursing Assistant) certification, specializing, I believe, in Phlebotomy.

In other words, she really likes to stick it to people.

She’ll be starting on a four-year scholarship at the University of Houston – Downtown in the Fall, working toward her degree as a Nurse Practitioner.

All this and she hasn’t even graduated from high school yet.

Next Thursday, though.

Well, my cooling mister experiment turned out to be a real success, but not quite like I intended. The kit I bought at Tractor Supply came with 50 feet of line and 10 misters, as well as the necessary connectors.

I had planned to run the hose around the bottom edge of our canopy like they show on the box. But things were pretty busy on the gate, and while I was thinking about how I wanted to hang the hose, I decided to just hook up one mister on the end of the hose (so I could cut it off with no problems if I didn’t like where it was).

After noticing how fine the mist coming from the nozzle was, I stuck it behind our fan and twist-tied it in place.

Turning the fan on and placing it about 5 feet away, the difference was almost instantaneous. I could feel the moisture hitting my face, but I wasn’t getting wet. And it was suddenly much, much cooler where I was sitting.

After enjoying the cool breeze for a few minutes, I hung my thermometer in front of the fan to see what it would register. The thermometer said 100 degrees (it had been kind of in the sun. I think it was about 95 degrees), and I wanted to see exactly how much difference it made.

Within about 30 seconds, the display started falling. 99, 98, 97 . . . And in about 5 minutes it was down to 80 degrees, which explains why it felt so comfortable now. And the 20-degree drop is just what the box said it would give.

After thinking things over, I decided this solution was perfect for what we needed. Most of the time, there’s just one of us out here, so why cool the whole area? And it’s certainly a lot simpler. The fan motor is completely sealed, so a little moisture is not going to hurt it. And this will save on water usage too. Since ours has to be trucked in, that was a concern.

We’ll see how it works tomorrow for the whole day. It’s not supposed to be quite as hot as today, only about 91, but it will still be a good test.

More later.

Last night, while working the gate about 10pm, Jan saw a large black snake slithering across the road about 25 feet away. It had come from behind our rig and was heading for the woods across the road.

The wind was very strong, and Jan said the snake was being blown sideways as it moved so it had to keep adjusting its course, kind of like a sailboat tacking into the wind.

A few minutes later, a truck was leaving the site, and Jan had to walk over to that side of the road to check him out. She had her flashlight out and was frantically searching the roadside for snake signs as the truck came to a stop behind her.

What she didn’t realize was that the guy had gotten out of his truck to see what she was looking at. When his hand touched her shoulder, she let out a loud scream.

And then he let out a loud scream.

By that time, I think if the snake was still anywhere nearby, he was headed for the deep woods.

On another critter note, I took this picture of a two-inch long brown scorpion, right before he unfortunately passed away. Services to be announced at a later date.

May 25, 2013

Duck, Duck, No Goose . . .

The park really got busy today. Although we don’t have any neighbors on either side, we’re pretty much surrounded now. What’s interesting are all the tent campers here in the park. There are groups with 10-15 tents all clustered together in a circle. Since it’s still going down to the low 30’s every night, I hope they’ve got good sleeping bags.

About 1:30, Jan and I headed down to Heavenly Village for an afternoon of fun and frolic.

Well, fun and a boat ride. Well, fun and a boat/car ride.

Heavenly Village is an area that’s still in California, but bumps right up against Nevada and the 4 casinos here. Its claim to fame is the fact that this is where you catch the gondola ride up to the ski areas on the other side of the mountain.

Our daughter Brandi reminded us that she was out here staying at Heavenly Village on a ski trip a number of years ago.

We thought about riding up the top and looking around, but then found out it’s $38 . . . each! for the round-trip. Nah, ain’t gonna happen.

Heavenly Village is also a very nice shopping/dining area with a couple of high-end hotels thrown in for good measure.

And of course, the other thing Heavenly Village is known for is that it’s the starting point for the Tahoe Duck Tours, which is the main reason we’re here this afternoon.

As we walked around, checking out the shops, the first place Jan saw was Sock City. Turns out to be a place that only sells socks. Who’d a thunk it? Well, they also sell knitted gloves and hats, too.

Of course, Jan did buy several pairs of very colorful socks that she really liked.

The next thing we came across was a really neat car show there on the grounds.

A 1932 Ford.

A 1937 Chevy Truck

A 1970 Mustang Mach I

A very nice 1932 Chevy.

A 1965 Austin Healey 3000. I used to have a lot of fun shutting these down in my souped-up 1965 Triumph Spitfire. Surprised a lot of guys.

Here’s a 1979 Corvette. Love that Blower (Supercharger)

And a beautiful 1947 Chevy Stylemaster.

About 2:45 we queued up for our Duck Tour. Our Duck was built in 1945 and can travel 55mph on the highway and 8 knots in the water. We’ve taken Duck rides in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Seattle. We tried to take one in Boston, but they were sold out for the rest of the day.

Our driver was Captain Donnie, a South Lake Tahoe native.

After we drove around South Lake Tahoe for a while, with our Captain pointing out the best of the local shops and restaurants, then it was time to get wet.

We drove over to the Tahoe Marina and right down the ramp and into the drink.

Lake Tahoe was formed millions of years ago when a now-extinct volcano (Mount Pluto) erupted and blocked off what was then a deep canyon. At over 1600 feet, it is the 2nd deepest lake in North America. Only Crater Lake is deeper.

The lake has been reshaped several times during past ice ages, and in fact, there are several areas where you can find ancient trees, 90 feet tall and 30 feet in diameter, 150 feet below the surface.

As we got out into the lake, the captain pointed to the high-end lakeside homes. By ‘high-end’, we’re talking $10 million and up. The ‘poorer’ section is down at the other end. Those only go for about $1 million. Wish I was poor like that.

This is the Safari Rose. Built in 1959 as a corporate yacht for IBM, its later claim to fame is that it was the very first ship to offer Alaskan cruises, before any of the big cruise lines started sailing up there.

And this is a very unique boat. In fact, it’s the only one in the world.

It’s the Tahoe Flyer, the world’s only fully U.S. Coast Guard Certified Hot Air Balloon Launch and Recovery vessel.

After launching from the boat, the tethered balloon ascends to around 8,000 – 10,000 feet, giving you views all the way over to Yosemite when the weather is clear. And then when you come back down after about an hour aloft, the Tahoe Flyer is waiting right there underneath you.

After about 30 minutes out on the lake, we came back ashore and drove around the area some more before finishing up back at Heavenly Village.

By the time we finished up, it was after 4:30, so we decided to have dinner at Applebee’s once again since it was only about a block away.

It was almost 6 by the time we got back to the rig, and the park was even busier.

Tomorrow, maybe a movie. We’ll see.

May 25, 2014

Slip Slidin’ Away . . .

Once again, we walked this morning, bumping it up a little further in distance. The weather was perfect and it was good to see how full the park is with all the holiday weekend visitors. And still no shouting, no fights, or no gunshots. It’s all good.

Getting back from our walk, we sat outside with our coffee until we lost the shade. Then it just got too hot.

About 2 pm we all headed over to Mishawaka for shopping and dinner. Our first stop was the Sam’s Club for a few things for Jan. While I was there, it was time to renew my membership, and this time I decided to upgrade to a Plus membership. It costs an additional $55, from $45 to $100, but it will pay for itself in about 3 months on prescription savings. I recently found out that besides Wal-Mart’s (Sam’s) $4 prescription list, there is a second, additional list for Plus Card members.

In this case, Jan’s Lipitor generic is normally $90 for 3 months. But if you have the Plus membership, it is $11.87 a month or $35. 61 for 3 months, a savings of  $54.39. Which pretty much pays for the $55 a year extra cost. The other 9 months are just gravy. Check it out.

Leaving Sam’s, we drove over to the nearby Bargain Books, a used book store that we’ve visited before, and always enjoyed. They have a great selection and pretty good prices.

Finally, our hunger drove us right down the road to the new Golden Corral. At least new to us. It wasn’t here last year.

This new one is much bigger than other Golden Corrals we’ve seen, with a much bigger parking lot. We could have easily parked our rig there.

The place was pretty busy, but we only had to wait in line about 5 minutes to get in. But the best thing was that the food was really, really good. Everything was hot and fresh, and kept well stocked. We all left very full.

In fact, so full, I think everyone took a nap when we got home. I know I did.

Lowell posted these shots of Landon and his friend Ruthie enjoying their SlipNSlide in the backyard. Looks like fun.

As far as I know, we don’t have anything planned for tomorrow, but you never know.

May 25, 2015

A Lost Afternoon . . .

Saturday, 5/23

Jan’s sister Debbie and her husband Jim picked us up at our motel about 9am, and we all headed down to the Denny’s to meet up with the rest of the clan.

After another great meal, we all piled into 3 cars and headed into St. Louis for an afternoon at Grant’s Farm in St. Louis. But it did not work out that way.

Grant’s Farm was the home of Ulysses S Grant, where he lived from 1854 until the beginning of the Civil War, and farmed and raised cattle. In fact, Grant’s home is still preserved here. At some point, it was bought by the Busch family of Anheuser-Busch fame, who opened it to the public as a wildlife reserve/petting zoo in 1954. They even have Clydesdales.

So it sounded like a really neat place. But apparently it sounded that way to everyone else in St. Louis, because it seems like they all converge on the place on Saturday morning.

After an hour’s drive from Vandalia to St. Louis, it took us over another hour backed up on the main highway to finally turn into the park, and another 30 minutes to get to the entrance.

After that long wait, everyone needed to use the bathroom, and by ‘everyone’, I mean everyone in the park,  and we found the potty lines were over an hour long. After suffering through that, we found the line to actually walk into the park was another hour.

And by then, the park would close in about 90 minutes.

At this point we decided to call it a day. We had dinner reservations for 5pm, and wanted to be sure we could get over to St. Charles, MO by that time.

Leaving the park, we saw at least part of the reason for the bottleneck. To walk into the park itself you have to cross the entrance road where everyone is still trying to enter in their vehicles.

So they stop the traffic, let people cross and then stop the people to let the traffic come in. And as we left, the cars were still trying to come in.

* * * * * * *

It’s now almost 11pm Monday night and we want to be on the road by 6am for our 2 day 1500+ mile trip back to Prescott, AZ tomorrow. So I’ll finish the rest of this later.

May 25, 2016

We’re Rich!

Now we just have to figure out what to buy with it. A new rig, maybe?

Our son Chris brought our mail up to Brandi’s this past Sunday, and last night I finally got a chance to go through it all. And here’s what I found.

A check as a settlement on a lawsuit. And a lawsuit that I didn’t know I was involved in. A check for a whole 16 cents!

What’s even funnier about this is that it says it’s a sales tax settlement refund for overcharges on an AT&T Mobility Data Plan. But we’ve never had an AT&T Data Plan, or even an AT&T phone of any kind. We’ve always been with Verizon.

So I don’t know now. I guess we should split our largesse with the kids. It’ll be their inheritance.

After monitoring my Progressive 50 amp EMS (Electrical Management System) a lot more closely the last two days, I’ve got a good idea what the problem is. At first, I was thinking I maybe had a bad or floating ground, But watching the L-1 and L-2 voltages on the Progressive display told me different.

The two voltages go in opposite directions under load. When L-1 is showing 105 volts, L-2 might be showing 128 volts. Way too wide a spread. And just inside the Hi/Lo cutoffs of the Progressive EMS.

And even with both A/C’s off, and nothing else on except the TV/Sat and the computer, we were only seeing about 111 – 113 volts, way too low. Last week at Lake Conroe we were seeing 120 to 122 volts at the same time of day.

To protect the rig, the Progressive will cut off power to the rig if the voltage goes over 130 volts or below 103 volts. And it doesn’t have to be on both L-1 and L-2, but either one of them. So when one voltage is at 104 and the other one is running at 128, a momentary change on either end can cause the EMS to drop out. So now I’ve got a good handle on what’s happening, but what’s actually causing the problem?

I said earlier that at first I thought it might be a floating ground. But seeing the opposite voltage swings says an open or high resistance neutral. And because it’s happened at two different sites in this ring, I suspect it might be located at the main panel or thereabouts.

So now it’s up to Jeff, the park’s electrical guy, to follow up on this. As far as us, Jan says we’re never parking in this area again. It’s too much drama.

Wrapping up, I wanted to pass on a recipe for this delicious salad our daughter-in-law Linda brought to our son Chris’ birthday bash held at our daughter Brandi’s this year. Jan liked it so much she asked for the recipe. Turns out to be from an old Kroger’s ad. Quick and Easy, and really Good.

Strawberry – Orange Tropical Salad

May 25, 2017

Another 70 Years?

Jan and I were out the door by 11am, heading south to Hill City and the 1880 Train ride about an hour away.

We had allowed plenty of time because if you miss your train, you’re out of luck. No refunds. So since I bought our tickets yesterday online, all I had to do was pick them up at the train station, and then wait.

The locomotive came backing into the station, pulling the train behind it. Which meant that at the other end of  the route, Keystone, they didn’t have a wye or a turntable, but used a runaround track to move the locomotive to the other end of the train for the trip back to Hill City

The engine uncoupled from the far end of the cars, coming back to the other end to take on water at the tower before coupling to the new head of the train for the next run.

The trip to Keystone at the other end of the track, and near Mt. Rushmore, takes about an hour to travel the 10 miles, so you do the math. A speedster it’s not.

The enclosed cars are immaculate, unlike some trains we’ve been on. Really nice, with comfortable padded seats.

Getting to Keystone, they brought the engine out onto the runaround track for a little servicing and some more water.

Then they coupled it to the other end of the train, which is how it ends up running in reverse, coming back into Hill City.

So while we were the first car behind the engine on the outbound run, we were bringing up the rear coming home.

We arrived back in Hill City about 3:30, which was the final run for the day. Then after hitting the gift shop for a couple of things, we had some time to kill before dinner.

So while we were waiting for the Alpine Inn to open at 5, we decided to make the 10-mile drive down to the Crazy Horse monument. We were interested to see if they had made any noticeable progress since we last visited in 2008.

And the answer is . . .

2008 Visit

2017 Visit

So the answer is NO!

The only thing really different is that they’ve cleared the rubble along the side so you can now see the full outline of where the horse’s head is going to be.

Since they started working on it in 1948, 70 years ago, I figure it’s going to be at least another 70 years before they finish.

Here’s what it’s supposed to look like when it’s finished.

I think I would be worried that the pointing finger will break off under its own weight, as well as the arm itself. Maybe that’s why they’re going so slow.

If something falls off, they’re screwed. Doubt they can glue it back on.

Getting back into Hill City and the Alpine Inn a little before 5pm, we found we didn’t want to eat there tonight. We had come for their well-recommended German cuisine, but it turns out that they only serve that on the lunch menu.

The dinner menu is prix fixe, with only two items on the menu – a bacon-wrapped filet, and a German noodle dish. Neither of which we wanted. We’ll catch them for lunch another time.

Checking Yelp, we chose Desperados, a place right down the street.

Turns out it’s housed in the oldest hand-hewn log building in South Dakota. Built in 1885 as a saloon and hotel, it’s also been a newspaper office, a fix-it shop, a fly-tying shop, a book and gun shop, a stained glass shop, and a bunch of other things. In fact, it’s been continuously occupied since it was built.

Quite a record.

And now, as a restaurant, it was still great.

Jan had the Chicken Fried Chicken with mashed potatoes and sautéed green beans,

while I had the Chicken Fried Steak with mashed potatoes and sautéed green beans..

Yes, it’s the same photo, since they both looked exactly the same.

This was a great meal. The breading on the meat was really good, as was the gravy. Just perfect.

And while we were at the restaurant, I saw this photo on the wall, showing the face of Crazy Horse from the outstretched arm.

Looks a lot better this way. And I guess they must have an elevator of some sort to get all those people up there.

Coming back home by another route, we passed Mt. Rushmore but really couldn’t see it due to the sun being in our eyes. We’ll be coming back here after the holiday is over.

Back in Rapid City, we made a quick Safeway stop for a few things, as well as Starbuck’s Cinnamon Dolce Latte’s for the road, finally getting home about 7:30.

I’ll flesh out some more of today’s adventure in tomorrow’s blog.

Oh, and Sheldon will be happy to know that the train cars used the Janney coupler, and not the original link-and-pin coupler or the Miller hook & platform.

May 25, 2018

I Hate Updates . . .

Especially Microsoft Windows 10 Updates

With the holiday weekend coming up I thought today was going to be quiet enough that I could get back to work on moving the website from the local server up to GoDaddy servers.

But it didn’t work out that way. Not at all. I spent the day fighting the latest Microsoft Windows 10 update, also known as the Spring Creators Update, or Build 1803.

I noticed on Monday that the Shipping Department computer had updated over the weekend, but everything seemed to be working OK, so I didn’t look further. But when I came in this morning, I had a note telling me that they weren’t able to print out the daily end-of-day shipping reports from UPS and USPS on Monday or Tuesday. These print to the printer in the Office Manager’s office, so it looked to be a network problem

And the problem was that the Shipping computer was no longer on the office network. In fact it couldn’t even see the network, and none of the other computers could see it.

So first up, I went to check out the HomeGroup settings, which is the way the office network is set up. and the way it was set up when I took over the system last year. And I immediately saw the problem.

There was no more HomeGroup. In fact the HomeGroup entry wasn’t even listed in the Control Panel. It was just gone.

And a little Googling explained that Microsoft, in their ‘infinite wisdom’ (do you detect the sarcasm there?) had decided to just eliminate the HomeGroup option. Which, of course, left thousands of networks dead in the water.

There were a bunch of fixes posted online, none of which worked for me. So I tried to go back to the old-school method of setting up a workgroup, and then configuring permissions on all three machines, something I’ve probably done hundreds of times before.

But this time it didn’t work, at least not on the Shipping computer. No matter what I tried, nothing worked. So finally having wasted most of the day fighting this, I bit the bullet, and using the Recovery mode function, I uninstalled Build 1803, and dropped back to the previous version, Build 1703.

And after about an hour, the computer rebooted, and now I had the HomeGroup back. Then, with a few minutes of configuration, I had the network back and everything worked.

The problem was fixed, but I wasted a day on it.

I’ll lock down the machine to keep it from updating for a while, until it looks like MS has a fix available. Could be a while.

Looks like I’ve got a 4 day weekend coming up. With the office closed on Monday for Memorial Day, I don’t go back to work until Wednesday. But I’ve got plenty of website stuff here at home to keep me busy, along with taking more stuff over to the storage room.

May 25, 2019

Hampton’s Court . . .

Today, along with our visit to the Tower of London, was the highlight of Jan’s visit to London. And mine, too, I guess.

We Ubered out to Hampton Court Palace, Henry VIII’s home away from home, and were dropped off right at the front of the long walk up to the entrance.

And we had to start out with the obligatory selfie of Jan and I.

Strangely enough, until this Europe trip, I had never actually taken a selfie.

After walking across the inner courtyard, we entered the main building and quickly found ourselves in the Great Hall

and its beautiful stained glass windows.

Ironically Anne Boleyn is credited with helping Henry design the Hall, his favorite place in the Palace. Though it didn’t seem to help her later in life.

Every room had another amazing, beautiful feature.

And when you’re the King, you have your own Chocolate Room where the Royal sweets were prepared.

We even had a personal audience with the King himself, as he regaled us with tales of life in his court.

And then we came to my favorite part, the room where Henry and my relative, Catherine (Katherine, Kateryn, take your pick) Parr were married.

And she was very pretty, even by today’s standards.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m descended from the Parr family and Sir Thomas Parr, Catherine’s father. My grandmother, Sarah Jane Parr, was born in England and was directly descended from Sir Thomas. And since he was a direct descendant of Edward III, we’re actually related to royalty, too.

She and Henry never had any children, so nothing from that line.

Hampton Court Palace was a great end to our London visit, since tomorrow we head back home to Houston.

May 25, 2020

Happy Memorial Day . . .

First off, I want to thank all the Veterans out there for their service. You’re what makes this country great.

As I’ve mentioned before, my mother was a Captain in the Army Nurse Corp. and was Chief of Nursing at West Point.  Both of the photos were taken there.

Her nurses were on a troop train to New Orleans in late July 1945 to board a hospital ship for the invasion of the Japanese mainland, with my mother a few days behind because she had the flu. But they were all turned around enroute due to the dropping of the Atomic Bomb. So it’s very possible that I’m only here due to the Bomb being dropped.

My mother even has her own exhibit in the Veterans Museum in Athens, Al. And yes, that’s her original uniform.

My father, yes, that’s me in 1951 or so when I was 2, was a Chief Petty Officer in the Navy and spent the entire war in the Shore Patrol at the Naval Pier in Chicago. He tried several times to get shipboard duty but was always turned down.

But he always said that he figured he did his part, since he said no Japs ever made it past Chicago.

Jan’s father, as well as one of my uncles, participated in the D-day Landing, and later at the Battle of the Bulge. Then, after getting out of the Army and going to college, Jan’s father reenlisted in the Air Force and retired in 1966 as a Senior Master Sergeant.

Hopefully, their service, as well as all veterans everywhere, will never be forgotten.

Jan and I did our part in local restaurant resurrection today with lunch at our local BBQ favorite, Rudy’s. Since you line up to get waited on at the counter I was curious to see how they handle that. But they just had spots on the floor every six feet.

Jan had a Loaded Stuffed Baked Potato with Brisket and one of my ribs.

I had Pork Ribs, a Jalapeno Sausage Link, and a cup of their Green Chile Stew, with enough left over to bring half of it home. Delicious.

And doing our part earlier this week, Tuesday night we had dinner at Saltgrass Steakhouse once again, our second visit since they reopened their dining room, and then Thursday night was our first visit back to Los Ramirez since they reopened their dining room.

And we had the same meal then that we had on March 19th, right before everything shut down.

Jan always gets the Pechuga Rellena, a grilled chicken breast on a bed of grilled shrimp and broccoli, all covered in melted cheese. While I usually get the Spicy Chicken Fajitas with Charro Beans. Yum!

May 25, 2021

They Ran Out Of Deer . . .

GoDaddy’s been having trouble with the server my blog (and a lot of others) runs on, and it took until today, and a couple of phone calls, to get the problem fixed, but everything should be working fine now.

Jan and I headed up to the Clear Lake area about 1pm, with our first stop at Twin Peaks for lunch. And there was not a mask in sight.

Even the pretty girls were no longer wearing them. When I asked, our server said they became optional for employees this past weekend, and everyone dropped them. And out of a restaurant full of people, only one person came in with one and immediately took it off after they looked around.

But our visit today came with some disappointment. My long-time favorite, the Half Wedge Salad and a Bowl of their Venison Chili are no more.

No more Wedge Salad, which was actually relatively new, and no more Venison Chili, which has been on the menu for years, in fact, as long as we’ve been going there.

When I asked Faith, our waitress, if they ran out of deer or something, she said I wasn’t the first one to complain, by a long shot. Hopefully, they’ll bring it back.

Jan on the other hand, got to have her usual Spicy Chipotle Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Grilled Broccoli.

For me, I assuaged my disappointment by having the Billionaire’s Burger, with Fries.

It seems that what makes it the Billionaire’s Burger is that it had Billionaire’s Bacon on it, one of their appetizers. And Billionaire’s Bacon is thick-cut bacon that is baked with brown sugar, red chili flakes, and smoked paprika.

And besides the bacon, the burger has Sriracha Pimento Cheese on it. Really hot and spicy. And delicious.

Then it was on by WalMart and Sam’s for a few things before making a quick stop at the office to see if my new S21 Ultra phone had come in. According to Verizon, it’s in the wind somewhere out there and should be here any time now.

Our last stop was at the NTB tire center near us to shop for tires for the Jeep, and set up an appointment for Thursday afternoon to get our baby some new shoes before our upcoming trip.

May 25, 2022

On The Beach . . .

After I got home this afternoon, we dropped Karma off at our Office Manager Jennifer’s so she can take care of her while we’re gone. Then we took her out to dinner at Los Ramirez Mexican as an additional Thank You.

Jan and Jennifer watch a lot of the same YouTube shows so they had a good time comparing notes.

Getting back to the rig a little after 7pm, I loaded up the Jeep with everything that Jan had already packed. Just that much less to do tomorrow morning.

We plan on leaving here about 9am, make a Buc-ee’s stop at the Baytown location for Coffee, Kolaches, and Gas, and end up in Slidell, LA about 3:30pm. And since this is Thursday, the Cracker Barrel located right next door to the La Quinta will be serving Jan’s favorite Turkey and Dressing.

So we’ll eat there before we check in, and then be in for the night. Then on Friday, we’ll head out for Athens, AL with a lunch stop at Weidman’s in Meridian, MS.

Weidman’s has been around since 1870, and is also known for the jar of homemade Peanut Butter on every table. We’ve eaten here a number of times over the years, and we’re really looking forward to it again.

We’re going to spend 4 days in Athens, then head down to Birmingham and Montgomery, before ending up in Gulf Shores on Saturday the 4th of June. There we’ll meet up with the rest of the family for a week at a condo on the beach.

May 25, 2023

Last Day In Almost Paradise . . .

After breakfast at the motel, we headed over to Claudia’s at about 11am prepping for another day of fun, frolic, and good food.

On the way, we admired all the flowers that line every corner of the town, including hanging baskets. Really nice.

Getting there, I first had to redo the repair to the garbage disposal. The connection to the bottom of the disposal is apparently kind of iffy, but I think I’ve got it tied off to keep it working.

On our way down to Gulf Shore, we made a stop at the Book Exchange used book store in Foley to pick up a copy of Foley At 100,

a book detailing the 100+ year history of Foley, AL, one of the areas where I grew up down here. It mentions a lot of people I knew, some of whom I had forgotten until I read their names again.

Then it was on down to DeSoto’s Seafood Kitchen right off the beach. We’ve been eating here for years, and consider it one of our trifecta of great restaurants in this area, along with Lambert’s and Lulu’s.

We all three got the same Fried Seafood Platter, differing only with the sides. Just as delicious as always before.

Jan also saw this picture of an Octopus that she really liked and wanted me to get a photo of.

Finishing up we drove over to the beach side to sit out for a while.

A lot different weather than a couple of years ago.

Finishing up, here are the two beautiful ladies who have kept me busy the last few days.

Tomorrow we start back toward Houston with a layover in Baton Rouge tomorrow night. Then on home to Santa Fe Saturday night.

May 25, 2024

Finally Home . . .

After breakfast at our Baton Rouge Sleep Inn this morning, we were on our way toward home by about 10am, with our first stop at the Pilot in Breaux Bridge for gas and a bathroom break.

Then our next stop was supposed to be at the Rest Area as we entered Texas, but found it closed due to the recent storms and flooding. So we stopped at another Pilot in Orange, TX another 10 miles on down the road.

I decided to top off the tank again to get us home without having to gas up in the next day or so. Normally, I would wait until the Baytown Buc-ee’s to fill up, but we had decided to turn off early and take SR146 down to our area.

When we were leaving Houston a couple of weeks ago, we noticed that the southbound lane of the Sam Houston Tollway took 4 lanes of traffic down to 1 lane as it crossed over the Ship Channel Bridge, and the cars were backed up all the way up to I-10.

It’s been years since we’ve been down 146 and all the new roadway was amazing. So taking SR146 worked out great and it was smooth sailing until till I went over the hill right before our SR96 turnoff, and a Texas Highway Patrol cruiser popped up behind me, lights a flashing.

Turns out that with all our pointing out all the changes around us, I hadn’t noticed that the speed limit had dropped from 55 to 45. Of course, it seems that I’m not the only one who did this, since he was parked to catch anyone coming over the hill.

But he was really nice and let me off with a warming.

Thanks, Officer Cano.

Our first stop back in our area was at HEB for some groceries, getting us home around 4:15.

We had a great trip, but we’re glad to be home. I’ll recap more in the next few days.

Tomorrow Jan and I are meeting Brandi and her family up at King Food for lunch so Jan can go home with them while I work on some stuff around the rig.