72 Degrees Today!

 

We have had so much going on!  Plus, it was up to 72 degrees today!  Hello again Spring!

Anyway, we had a mobile RV repair guy come out to do some small repairs on our fifth wheel.  First was changing the anode rod in the water heater.  Wow, did I learn a lot!  This should be done once a year.  Even though it hasn't been a whole year that we have lived in this home, we decided to go ahead and change it out.

Look at the old rod!  This is what is in the water heater, and it catches most of the calcium that goes into the heater.  If the old anode looks like this when you replace it, then it is doing its job!  And when you take the old one out, when you are draining the water heater, you put a cleaning rod in and swish it around to get any calcium that is laying on the bottom of the inside of the water heater.

The guy recommended this type.  Even though it says extended life, you still need to change it out every year.  If you don't, you will probably need a new water heater in 3 years.

The next little job was working on the toilet.  We have noticed a drop of water once in a while.  Never a puddle, but then again, I don't even want a drop.  Repair guys says we need a new water valve.  It was leaking where the foot paddle is.  Maybe someone can live with a drop every couple of weeks, but we can't.  Especially since we knew that it could get worse days, weeks or months later.

Best thing to do is remove the toilet and bring it out in the sunshine to work on it!  It didn't take long to replace the valve, and soon it was back where the throne sits.

That was about it.  Nothing real pressing to do, but at least it is done and we don't have to worry about it for a while.  Shout out to Shipley's Mobile RV Service out of Lindale, Texas!  If you are ever in Tyler, or around there, use Shipleys.  They are very knowledgeable and very reasonable priced!

For dinner, we have been wanting to try Cracker Barrel.  I haven't really heard anything bad about their food.  Let me be the first to tell you how bad it was....

Road Hog had the trout, side of dumplings and green beans.  Trout was good, I make better dumplings, and the green beans came out of a can.

I had the country fried shrimp, side of Mac and cheese, and hash brown casserole.  The Mac and cheese was paste, I didn't care for the hash browns so those went to Road Hog, and the country fried shrimp had so much country fried coating on them that I would imagine that the country fried chicken was the same way.  I didn't know that the meal came with French fries, which really didn't matter because they were stone cold.  I will say that the best thing about Cracker Barrel was the little store that they have, and they sell everything!  Yes, I spent more money in the store than in the restaurant.  So, if you ever see a Cracker Barrel, go shopping, then eat some where else!

We have been getting ready to leave on Friday.  Tomorrow is our last full day here in Tyler.  We really liked this rv park, and the people are pretty awesome.  We will probably be back towards winter, and hopefully across the park from Roy. 😂. (just kidding Roy!) Save your political talk for us when we come back!

Nuttin' But Blue Sky

What does Ethel do on a nice spring day?  Same box, different place.

Look at that blue sky!  All the ice is gone, and it was about 55 degrees today.  It is still below freezing at night, which is fine with us!  😎

Tully was taking a walk with her shadow today.  At least she doesn't have to wear her coat.  Naked and free!  Well, as free as one can be on a leash and harness!  

Tully is still on chicken and rice.  She absolutely cannot wait for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  She used to eat breakfast and dinner but I was told to feed her 3 - 4 times a day, small meals.  So, we do the 3 times a day.  And more rice than chicken.  And since I cook the rice in the boiled chicken juice, she has no problem downing the rice.

Look at that little face.  She sits where the sun shines.  

Still Winter !

Another cold day here in Texas.  Tully stays nice and warm wrapped up in her blankets.  

And we've been feeding all the birds.  We had so many today, and they are leaving with full tummies.  It's hard to keep fresh water out there for them when it is so cold.

We woke up to 23 degrees and the high today was 30.  Tomorrow it is supposed to get into the 40's.  Even though it was freezing, my washer and dryer did it's job just fine.  I am so glad that we went with the installed washer and dryer.  It has been a Godsend.  Best decision ever.  I will never travel without these very important appliances.

Tully has been taking her walks with her thicker coat on.  What she really needs is maybe some ugg boots.  I bet the frozen ground doesn't feel all that great on shoeless feet paws.  She did try walking with her little hat on but she couldn't see, so we had to snap it back in place.

Winter in Tyler !

 

We woke up this morning to 43 degrees.  It wasn't but a couple of hours later it was 28 degrees and ice falling from out of the sky.  No snow, but ice.  We are warm inside at 67 degrees, the fireplace is on, and an extra heater going to save on some propane.  All of our tanks are full and we were ready for the winter storm.

The storm came on the door side of the trailer, so the whole side of the trailer was covered in ice.  Mind you, that isn't snow on the steps.  It is ice.  Icicles are hanging from the bottom of the trailer.  I think we will stay home today.

The cold storm gave me reason to slow cook a 15 bean soup.  Not that there were only 15 beans, but 15 different beans.  I also threw in some smoked turkey legs.

Here is Road Hog finishing my turkey leg.  I guess I never noticed his little pinky finger before.  I know you have to stick your pinky out when you have a cup of tea, but a smoked turkey leg?  😂😂

Texas Twinkies !

 

Watching Ethel Louise playing with her little mouse on her scratching post you would think she was still a kitty.  She's 13!!!  Both her and Lucy act like kittens.  Lucy will run the length of the trailer, turn around, and run the other way, every single night.  She jumps on the bed, turns around, tries to catch her tail then come running back to the living room.  I'm so glad that the cats are enjoying our traveling.  They love being with us, and tell us every day.  (Just by their little antics.)

I have no clue how Ethel fit her big behind in this small box.  I feel like she is waiting for our next travel day.  Come on guys, let's go!

Here is where we had dinner tonight.  Texas Music City Grill and Smokehouse.  Their food was excellent!  And I learned about Texas Twinkies.  😂. Does everyone know what Texas Twinkies are?  Keep it clean!

You might have to click on the photo to make it bigger.  And I'm telling you, if you click on it, you will see what Texas Twinkies are.  We didn't try them....

Road Hog tried the Étouffée.  It was so good!  It was filled with crawfish and shrimp.  Plus, a Texas shape piece of cornbread.

I ordered the smoked chicken wings which are slow smoked then flash fried for that perfect crisp!  These had a kick to them, but not hot enough to not taste the wings.  

We also had sweet potato fries, and fried okra.  All was so good!  Hopefully we can make another trip back before we leave.

This is the entrance of the restaurant.  Lots of animals, which was sad, but I loved the chandelier of horns.

There was also lots of old guns.  I absolutely loved the guns!

Look at all of them!  There were so many!  I just wonder what these guns were used for?  Did the cowboys use these?  They looked old enough!  The stories that they could tell if they could only talk!

This rusted horse was out front, by the door.  So, if you are ever in Tyler....

We will be leaving here Feb. 11th and slowly head to Odessa.  The truck is going in to the dealership tomorrow because for some reason the massage on the driver side seat is not working.  So Road Hog wants that fixed.  Then next Tuesday we have a RV repair guy coming out so fix a couple of little things, and to show us a couple of things of maintenance that we need to do.  As far as we are concerned, Grand Design has done a great job with our Solitude.  It is very comfortable, and easy to pack and unpack when traveling.  The only thing is we wished we would have gone bigger.  That might be happening down the line sometime, but we aren't actively looking right now.  35 feet for us and our animals is fine right now.

Tomorrow we will be under a winter storm watch!  Yes, I am talking snow and ice!  So Wednesday and Thursday will be cold days, then it will be spring again!

Is It Spring?!

 

What a nice day!  It got up to 68 degrees and there was nothing but blue sky.  We sat outside for a while and read, while Tully got a little tan.

She sure loves the sun.  There were a lot of little birds to watch but that was about it.  We were behind the trailer so we couldn't people or dog watch.

Here is Road Hog, reading.  And probably drinking a beer.  There is a empty field that he is facing and that is where we hear the coyotes.  Not every night though.  Normally it is nice and quiet.  There isn't any houses back there, so no traffic.

Here is a photo of looking up in an oak tree.  Notice the blue sky beyond?  What is it doing in Washington?  Is everyone dried out?  Is it time to start mowing?

We are getting kind of antsy so we are planning on moving down the road.  One thing that has been on my bucket list my whole life is to go see the Alamo.  So we will be heading that way before heading up to Odessa again to see Aunt Jackie.  Then it is on to Amarillo to visit my grandpa's grave, then on to Utah to go camping with Ang, Ly and Murphy!  We will be slowly heading north, to visit my sister and brother in law and meet their new grandson, then we will be heading east towards the end of summer to visit my brother and sister in law.  And hopefully meet their new grandson! And, we hope to see all our rest of the family and friends in between!

Busy Days!

 

We've been pretty busy around here.  One of the grocery stores that we like is called Fresh.  Everything is fresh!  The vegetables and fruit, the meats, and everything else in between.  They even have this dry-aged beef thingybob in the store.  Dry aged beef.  (Ewww).  Have you ever smelled dry aged beef?  Not pleasant.  To me anyway. 

They even have a humidifier for their cigars.  Road Hog was drooling.  Here and at the aged beef.  The guy with the mop was following him around, mopping up the mess Road Hog was leaving behind.

I thought these bags of chips were kind of weird.  No, I will not try crawtators or voodoo chips.  I can only imagine....If any one of you want to try these, let me know and I will get you some.  And, I will hand deliver them if I can watch you eat them.  All of them.  😂

Now I think it is officially official.  We received our Texas drivers license!  I haven't used mine yet, but I will!

There aren't any Costcos here in Tyler, but there are Sam's Club.  We really don't want to join Sam's so we decided to go to Terrell, about 70 miles away, to shop at Costco.

So after shopping, dang if we didn't end up at Buc-ee's again!  Hey, it was lunch time and they have barbecue!!  Plus, they sell diesel, and we were down half a tank.  Great timing!  No photos of our food, but I can tell you that it was again very good!