RIP SANDRA

Currently in Kerrville TX (Low 33 Currently Sunny 34 Forecast Sunny; Milder High 63) 

We recently lost our Sandra, aka cutest cat ever!

We are slowly adjusting to life without a cat. It is very sad and lonely but we will not be getting another cat. At our age, taking care of each other is about all we can handle. And the heartache of losing another cat is more than we can endure.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

SEPTEMBER 2021 UPDATE - 12TH FULL-TIMING ANNIVERSARY

Currently in Kerrville TX (Low 64 Humid with Rain Clouds Sun High 83) 

In honor of our 12th anniversary full-timing we are going to provide a Top 12 full-timing list. Here is one of our favorite photos just after we started full-timing in 2009.

The following places are ones we found on our full-timing travels. Disclaimer: I have not verified that these places are still open so caveat emptor.

Top 12 Breakfast meals (in no particular order)

Arizona Green Chile Eggs at Turquoise Room in Winslow Arizona

Corn Maiden at Turquoise Room in Winslow Arizona

Warm Prickly Pear Cactus and Spice Bread Pudding at Turquoise Room in Winslow Arizona

Sourdough Pancakes at Smitty's Pancake and Steak House in Idaho Falls Idaho

German Pancakes (Dutchman) at Smitty's Pancake and Steak House in Idaho Falls Idaho

Steak N Eggs at Smitty's Pancake and Steak House in Idaho Falls Idaho

SOS at TJs Homestyle in Avondale Arizona

French Man's French Toast at Naniboujou Lodge in Grand Marais Minnesota

Marionberry French Toast at Fishtails Cafe in South Beach Oregon

Pumpkin Pancakes at Drake Diner in Des Moines Iowa

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes/unique Syrup at Jensen's Cafe in Burnsville Minnesota

Finnish Pancakes (Pannukakku) at Suomi in Houghton Michigan

 

Honorable Mention:

Eggs Sardou at Rio Ranch Cafe in Kerrville Texas 

Eggs Benedict at Loula's Cafe in Whitefish Montana

Grits at Loula's Cafe in Whitefish Montana

Aunt Bessie's Sourdough Waffles at Smitty's Pancake and Steak House in Idaho Falls Idaho

Welsh Eggs at Knead Cafe in Kalispell Montana

Southwest Benedict at Cedric's in Idaho Falls

Eggs Benedict at TJ's Homestyle in Avondale Arizona

Buttermilk Pancakes at TJs Homestyle in Avondale Arizona

Oatmeal at TJs Homestyle in Avondale Arizona

Bobby J Breakfast Sandwich at Woerner's Warehouse in Fredericksburg Texas

Raspberry French Toast at Kaleva Cafe in Hancock Michigan

Cranberry Wild Rice French Toast at Sara's Table in Duluth Minnesota

Swedish Pancakes at Swedish Pantry in Escanaba Michigan

Orange Pancakes at PM Park in Clear Lake Iowa 

Pancake Syrup at Jensen's Cafe in Burnsville Minnesota

Top 12 Breakfast Places in no particular order

Turquoise Room inside the La Posada Hotel in Winslow Arizona

Rio Ranch Cafe in Kerrville Texas

Smitty's Pancake and Steak House in Idaho Falls Idaho

TJs Homestyle in Avondale Arizona

Woerner's Warehouse (breakfast sandwich, quiche) in Fredericksburg Texas

Loula's Cafe in Whitefish Montana

Naniboujou Lodge in Grand Marais Minnesota

Fishtails Cafe in South Beach Oregon

Suomi in Houghton Michigan

PM Park in Clear Lake Iowa

Jensen's Cafe in Burnsville Minnesota

Knead Cafe in Kalispell Montana  

 

Honorable Mention:

Sunset Grill in Fredericksburg Texas

Sam's No 3 in Aurora Colorado
Kaleva Cafe in Hancock Michigan
Drake Diner in Des Moines Iowa

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

AUGUST 2021 - BOB BIRTHDAY MONTH, GO CYCLONES!

Currently in Kerrville TX (Low 73 Mostly Sunny High 96)

It's weird to be the same age as old people! 

August is Bob's birthday month and for us it is a month long celebration. We sign up for a lot of eclubs that give us free meals for your birthday and we tried to use them all :-)

Starting off with a BOGO free meal at First Watch to a free sub at Jersey Mike's to a free slam at Denny's to a sundae at Culvers to free cinnamon breaksticks at Pizza Hut to a free sandwich at Schlotzsky's it was a great month.

The highlight though was another great meal at 1011 Bistro where we both got the sea bass. This is what you get for celebrating your birthday there, a hazelnut chocolate tart, it was delicious.

We like eating out as you know, we like eating out with some free stuff even more.

As August ends it means that the college football season is upon us. The team from Bob’s alma mater, The Iowa State Cyclones, are entering the most hyped, most anticipated year ever. The preseason AP poll had the Cyclones ranked #7 which is their highest preseason ranking of all time. The preseason magazines are paying attention and the Cyclones figure prominently on the front and back covers of 3 major publications. Bob is poring over thes magazines to prepare for the September 4^th kickoff against UNI.

Bob has taken ‘drinking the Kool-Aid’ to the next level.

Bob is so pumped up he got a new shirt.

Speaking of shirts, with the new Name Image Likeness (NIL) rulings college players can make money off of endorsements, clothing, appearances, etc. Rory Walling is a special teams player at Iowa State and he did something incredible. His t-shirt is a military appreciation t-shirt and he will be donating all of his proceeds, in his own words, "This shirt will honor all of the servicemen and women fighting for our country. This shirt holds a special place in my heart because both of my grandfathers fought for our country. The military presence in my family taught me to stand up for what I believe in and live with integrity. A quote that I've held with me is, 'All gave some, but some gave all.' With this quote in mind, I want to support those who have fought and served for our country. As a way of giving back, we will be donating 100% of the proceeds to the Puppy Jake Foundation, a charity dedicated to helping military veterans through the assistance of well bred, socialized, and professionally trained service dogs." - Rory Walling

Bob will be wearing this t-shirt often, especially on September 11th (20th anniversary) when Iowa State hosts the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Go Cyclones!

Till next time,

Bob an Jo

JULY 2021 UPDATE - ANNIVERSARY, ETC.

Currently in Kerrville TX (Low 71 Mostly Sunny High 87) 

July is our anniversary month, a big one in fact, our 30th. We went to Bistro 1011 in Kerrville and they treated us well. Here is our anniversary dessert from them.

In spite of all the uncertainty of the future of Iowa State conference membership due to OU and Texas bolting to the SEC, Bob is excited about this upcoming year so he bought a new shirt.

Other news on the foodie front is that an Arby's opened in Kerrville. It is a new concept store for drive-thru and walk-up ordering only.

Otherwise  it was a pretty normal month of doctor's appointments, church and eating out.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

JUNE 2021 UPDATE-COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE

Currently in Kerrville TX (Currently 74 Partly Sunny Low 72 A Couple of Morning Showers then Partly Cloudy High 89) 

This will be the first blog posting that will not have the automatic emails generated by Google so the times they are a changing. Bob had a boss that always said, "communicate, communicate, communicate" so in addition to the readers that have this blog in their reading list we also post on Facebook and emails are sent out to those that first have subscribed at Google but now will be a distribution list managed by us.

What is not changing is what seems like a constant stream of mechanical issues. Vibration caused a wire to come lose on our clothes dryer, which has had a couple of breakdowns before. Shortly after the wire was put back in place the dryer was no longer heating. A high temperature limit switch failed, but we have the part and the tech is coming tomorrow.

From the 'it never makes the noise when you take it into the shop' files. Our living room air conditioner fan started making some squealing noise so we immediately texted our mobile service guy. He texted right back and we tried to set an appointment. Our schedules didn't align in the initial conversation and you will never guess what happened next, the fan quit making the noise. It's been a few days now with no fan noise so we really don't know what to think.

We did a whole chicken on our smoker this month.

 

HEB had a great price on shrimp that we couldn't resist.

Other than that our month has just been doctor's appointments, massages and church.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

MAY 2021 UPDATE

Currently in Kerrville TX (Low 64 Currently Cloudy; Humid; Storms Around Forecast High 82) 

May started off with a bang for us. We got a lot of rain which resulted in flooding on May 1st. Here is how it looked a day after the flooding, we couldn't believe how fast the water rose and then receded.

There was a lot of scrambling by the RVs on the level below us as the water rose. The last couple RVs were driving through the water to get out. We were safe on the upper level.

Lots of info on the foodie scene. We ate for the first time at a DDD place in San Antonio, Magnolia Pancake Haus. Jo loves her some pancakes and Magnolia has a German apple pancake called 'apfel pfannekuchen' which is wonderful.

We split the apple pancake and a smores bread pudding french toast entree and had lots of leftovers. This place is a contender to go on our best restaurants list. We need to do more research to make sure it is worthy. The lengths we go to for information for our readers is amazing.

Kerrville got another BBQ restaurant the end of May, 'True Texas BBQ' at the brand new HEB grocery store. We've eaten there once and the sliced brisket was excellent, some of the best we have had. The brisket beans, cole slaw, baked potato and cherry cobbler were also very good. The sliced turkey on the other hand was dry.

Not much of a smoker update, or should we say 'rain attractor' this month. May was very rainy with a chance of rain most days. One day looked pretty good so Bob started the smoker and was about 30 minutes into a pork roast when it started sprinkling. We put the roast in the crock pot and the smoky flavor added a nice touch. We were able to smoke chicken legs and shrimp which were both excellent. We did both on the same day because of all the rain.

In other Kerrville foodie news they are building an Arbys on Main Street. We really like their chicken salad sandwich so look forward to visiting there when it opens.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

APRIL UPDATE (AND SOME CATCH-UP INFORMATION)

Currently in Kerrville TX (Low 63 Showers High 66) 

 

We have been inconsistent in our blogging and we are going to try monthly updates. We are still in Kerrville Texas due to medical and mechanical issues. We hope to travel this fall up to Iowa/KC area and see family and friends.

 

Since our anniversary blog last September the mechanical issues and joys of living in a condo on wheels have continued. Covid has certainly impacted the mechanical side as well as the medical side of our travel issues. When Covid hit RV mobile service shutdown just like everything else. What that did to an already overworked and understaffed service area was devastating. Some services in the area quit mobile service outright. The others were so backed up appointments were months out. While this is going on we needed an air conditioner and washer replacement and then a dryer repair which was quite challenging to schedule. But the worst mechanical issue we have is the dining room slideout which won't slide in. The repair is beyond the capabilities of most one man mobile service techs so it has to go into the shop. We found out the problem when we were getting ready to travel and a mobile guy was able to get it working for awhile but that repair is no longer working. Our plan is to get this done in the KC area this fall. Our truck was in the shop for a few days with a leaking exhaust manifold. Just another mechanical challenge we have faced.

The medical front has been challenging also. As we recently blogged about JJ had serious medical issues and we recently lost him. Bob caught Covid and if it wasn't for Jo's niece Deb and husband Dan it would have been a lot worse. As Bob was going to get tested Deb and Dan were arriving for a visit. They stayed in the RV next door and got groceries and takeout for us and really helped us survive the quarantine since they assumed Jo had it also. We had socially distanced conversation but unfortunately no hugs. We owe them big time.

 

Bob had hernia surgery and is just now ready for prime time again. Jo continues her monthly visits to the pain center and periodic visits for her leg veins. But Bob is the one falling apart; from getting Covid to hernia surgery and starting pain shots on his back with a triple fusion back surgery probably in his future Jo has had to take care of him and she is doing a great job (Nurse Ratchet wink wink). Doctor visits, grocery stores and restaurants totally comprise our social activities.

 

We finally got a pellet smoker. Our friends TC and Linda have one and we really enjoyed our visits when they cooked for us. As we traveled we saw other RVers with one and were really interested. What really sealed the deal was a couple of events. Not sure if you heard about we in Texas are calling Snovid 2021 (or Snowpocalypse). It was a hundred year storm in February that had record lows, record snow, record ice. It was the BWE (Baskerville Weather Effect) on steroids. There were power outages, rolling blackouts, propane shortages, diesel shortages, stores closed, etc.) Bob sat in line almost 3 hours to get propane. To top it off another mechanical issue we forgot to mention is that our transfer switch failed. So when the power came back on we still didn't have power. It was a balancing act during propane shortages to use propane for heat and to run the generator to charge our batteries. To complicate matters it was so cold the propane tanks froze. Once the power became stable but without the transfer switch Bob came up with a power hack. He bought a 50a to 30a adapter, and a 30a to 15a (110v) adapter. We then ran an extension cord through the kitchen window and plugged in a lamp, to show when the power was on, a couple of heaters so we could turn off the propane furnace and the residential refrigerator to reduce the inverter draw on the batteries. It was a hectic time but we survived. All in all being in an RV with a generator was one of the best ways to ride of Snovid 2021. It was like 2020 said Covid, toilet paper and hand sanitizer shortages and 2021 said 'hold my beer'.

 

Anyway back to the pellet smoker, during Snovid our neighbor Dean did a turkey on his smoker and shared it the folks in the park. It was a nice gesture and good food. Then in late March our fulltime friends Steve and Vicki visited. They have a Green Mountain Grill Davy Crockett which is the tailgater version. After talking with them and sampling food we pulled the plug and ordered one. 

 

 

We checked with Steve to make sure he would help Bob since he was still under weight limits due to his hernia surgery. USPS had issues with the delivery of the cover delaying it until after Steve and Vicki were leaving so we had to improvise. Here is the beginnings of the 'Steve trademark smoker cover'.

We used the plastic cover that came with the smoker and some plastic sheeting Bob had on had and some tape. Before the new cover arrived we had a few days of rain and some high winds. One thing you don't want is for the pellets to get wet and the improvised cover did its job. Good thing that it worked because the warranty wasn't worth the plastic it was written on. After USPS finally delivered the cover we have had burgers, St. Louis style ribs, chicken and pork chops. Here is a half chicken that was real good. 

 

 

Next up is a Boneless Pork Center Loin Roast that HEB has on sale. Then probably steaks and baby back ribs, the choices are endless. We really like the pellet smoker. I have read online that some don't feel that there is enough smoke flavor but to us it is just right.

 

Here is the smoker with the cover that finally arrived.

 

Well that does it for catch-up and for April. We 'plan' on having one for May and every month thereafter.

 

Till next time,

 

Bob and Jo

RIP JJ

 Currently in Kerrville TX (Low 60 Storms-Some Severe High 80) 

 

We are sad to report that we recently lost JJ.

 

 

 

Here is the plaque we have on JJ's urn.

 

                                        JJ (More Than A Pet)

                                        Always Loved....

                                        Never Forgotten

 

He certainly was more than a pet as the numerous blogs about him attest to. He was usually good on travel days when he had to go into the bedroom but on some days he was hesitant.

He was an Olympic judge.

He was a birdwatcher.

Here he is as a service cat consoling Sandra after she got back from the vet.

 

We miss him everyday.

 

Till next time,

 

Bob and Jo