Amici's and New Brake Pads for R2D2

Tom, Bob, Reet and Shirley at Pizza House in Clyde, TX, Nov 2007
Friday, November 6, I was very pleased that my back is much better this morning. I had a rough night due to gastrointestinal issues. I must have inadvertently eaten something I'm allergic to. Had to get up in the middle of the night and take something to settle my innards. Feeling great this morning. It's sunny and warm already. Low of 57-I like that! High gets to 83 later with 35% humidity. Dad said they only had a high of 62 yesterday in the St. Louis area. A few hundred miles south sure makes a difference. Perhaps that should be our travel motto.

I take a walk after breakfast and faithfully do my back stretches. I've had no drugs since 11:00 a.m. yesterday and I'm pain free. Maybe this was just a blip and not a full-blown attack. I worked on Good Sam pages for a bit. Logged on and discovered it does not take 30 days to "un-maxout" my photo upload. I guess they get their count of 150/month day by day. So I can upload 20 more photos. That means I can create pages on my Good Sam blog from 2007 for a few days and let my Earthlink journal for Jan 2009 rest for a bit. I'm so far behind it is daunting but it helps to switch back and forth. Not so boring to use two different sites and different tools. I found this photo from Nov 2007 of our Iowa RV friends, Tom and Shirley. We drove 80 miles to meet them for pizza near Abilene. By coincidence I had an email from them today and they hope to meet us in Bastrop this year in December as they move their 5th wheel from Houston to Abilene. They come down to Texas every year to visit their son and daughter.

I called my brother Mike and caught him driving up to Lake Texoma. We had a nice chat in spite of the wind blowing in my cell phone and making noise. I was outside to get better reception but the wind is blowing hard. Bob had thoughts of playing golf today (I was going to walk along as my back isn't up to it.) But the wind deterred him. I'm kind of glad. It's depressing to not be able to join in. The walk would have done me good though. I ended up walking around the campground three times today.

For one of today's projects, Bob fixes the sight glass on the water heater. Just one a million little things that need TLC when your home moves down the road. Then he gets out his new Rhino collapsible sewer hose kit that he bought yesterday. Our storage pipe for it underneath the RV is 47 inches long. This hose advertises being 45" long, when collapsed (it is 15 feet in length when stretched out.) But that is without the fittings and connections. So it won't fit. Back to the drawing board. He wanted to get a spare 10-foot hose extension anyway for those times when you need just a bit longer than a 15-foot hose. So he'll put that in our current storage pipe and add a longer PVC pipe like we did to our last RV.

We go to lunch around 12:30 at Amici's. We get our same waitress and she laughs and says "I won't have to leave before you're done today." She gives us a new table this time in the opposite corner. It is busy in here at lunch time. We finally try the Fried Ravioli appetizer (Toasted Ravioli for all of us St. Louis folks who know how perfect it is on The Hill!) It was scrumptious, but a cheese ravioli, not meat. I like how it was smothered with their big shreds of fresh Parmesan. I've seen chocolate curls that aren't that huge.

I finally try the manicotti. Two with marinara sauce and one with Alfredo, both stuffed with ricotta cheese. Bob has the Italian sausage and peppers. A real winner. We roll out with a 'go' box. Our waitress begged us to have dessert (Bob thought she was trying to give it to us free since our bread came late-they ran out) but I was too stuffed to let her talk me into it if you can believe that.

Across the street on the way home we get diesel and a paper. The guy inside at QT points to the headline of "Twelve Killed in Killeen" and says it is thirteen now and the guy who did it was shot but not killed so there will be the whole mess of a trial now. I feel so sorry for all of those families. And there are over 30 wounded. What a sad thing.

Back home we read the paper. I go for another walk. Bob unchains our bikes and works on my rear brake on R2D2 (Reet's Raleigh; Double Delight or Double Devil, depending on if I'm cycling uphill or downhill!) He puts the new brake pads and spring on that we bought in Warren but it still isn't stopping correctly. So he studies the mechanics and makes a few adjustments and it is working better than it has for a while. We'll let the pads wear in and adjust it again soon. We oil both chains with our new self-cleaning oil and treat ourselves to a piece of cake for a job well done. One way or the other I was going to get my dessert today. First I took a walk. All that bending over with the bikes got my back talking to me.

I worked the puzzles in the paper and we watched our recorded season premier of "V" and a couple of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. I'm taking a break to blog and later we'll watch the new White Collar. We're kind of enjoying that. It's 7:30 p.m. and 71 degrees. I read Bob's cousin Patti's blog Osage Bluff Quilter and saw her recipe for fried turnips. I'm sending it to my Dad. That sounds right down his alley and it's turnip season.

Thermostat Warranty at Dean's RV Superstore

Thursday, November 5, I had a restless night and finally had to resort to Aleve in order to get my back to quit hurting. I'm semi-allergic to the stuff in Aleve but it beats the pain. I took a walk before breakfast and stopped in the office to borrow the Yellow Pages. We're trying to find RV parts; a thermostat and sewer connections (we lost ours as we left Edwardsville.) I'm a bit disconcerted that my morning stretch does not make my back feel better--quite the opposite in fact. After breakfast I take an aspirin specially formulated for back pain. Aspirin does not like my stomach. But I do get rid of the pain for half a day.

I take another walk to return the Yellow Pages to the office. On the way out I meet Sandy (her husband Bill is mixing architectural concrete repair mixture in the back of his truck next to their Newmar motorcoach.) They live in SE Oklahoma, Marietta, and travel for business. Bought their coach last time they were here and took a drive up to Claremore. He would like to go full-time. She doesn't know about selling their house. I meet their Llapsa, Brandy. Adopted from a family on their street who turned her out.

Don, from behind us across the road in a Wildcat 5th wheel, stopped to say he had a dog just like her that travelled with him. He's here Mondays thru Fridays as he's in his 3rd week of treatments for prostate cancer and doesn't want to drive here every day from his small town in OK.

Sandy says she works the crosswords and sudoku. Today's sudoku is a '3' but too hard for her and she usually can do harder ones. I tell her I'll see how Bob does. I head back home and Bob and I leave for lunch at Ruby Tuesdays at Memorial and 71st. Love their salad bar--and today we add mini turkey burgers.

We take Hwy 169 to 21st Street and find Dean's RV Superstore. What a friendly, customer-oriented bunch of folks. The parts guy looks up our 'fancy', as he calls it, thermostat and says it's $169. We were hoping for around $50 and were bemoaning the fact that it is under warranty but we didn't want to drag our RV in here. He says lets go talk to the service guy. So Nick takes our VIN# and says he'll contact the manufacturer after Bob tells him he checked the voltage to make sure there is power to the thermostat. This would be GREAT if we could get this covered under warranty without having to pack up and move twice.

Bob found the sewer connections and hose kit he wanted and we were out of there. We stopped at 51st and Harvard for groceries at the Food Pyramid. On the way in a guy was signing people up for Tulsa World subscriptions and asked if we wanted a free newspaper. We said "Yes, but we're from out of town." No problem; he asked where we were from and when we said Austin he asked "What is the name of the paper there?" We said American-Statesman" and a lady walking in the store turned around and said "Are you from Austin?" She has been here in Tulsa two years after 29 years in Austin and was so shocked to hear "American-Statesman." She lived near 360 and in Lakeway for a while. She knew Jester Estates where we lived. Her name was Joy and you could tell she missed Austin, but not the traffic.

We found another bargain cake in the bakery and headed home in 3:00 p.m. traffic. As we were putting groceries away, Nick from Dean's called and asked for our model and serial numbers on the thermostat. We gave him every number we could find. He called back a few minutes later and said the 'furnace serial number' was the magic one. Our part has been approved by the warranty department. It's coming from Indiana so it might be five days or so. Hallelujah!

My brother Mike called. Dad is home from the hospital. I was just going to give my folks a call. So glad he got to come home.

After reading the paper I go for another walk in the interest of improving my back. I meet Lonnie (wife Rena) from British Columbia across the road. They are here for another week. Have two children and five grandchildren in Tulsa. Are on their way to Southern California for the winter. Told him about the bike trails here. He said he drove by Turkey Mountain trailhead just today.

World Series is over, those dang Yankees won. Tonight we watch The Mentalist and Flash Forward. It's 5:38 p.m. and I can't believe how dark it is. High 80, Low 81. Right now it is 74 degrees with 36% humidity. It doesn't get any better than this. I called Mom and Dad this evening. Both seem very glad to be home. Dad said "You won't believe what I got in the mail today--an MRwhatever, you know one of those pictures of my first great grandson! He will be my first great grandson you know. Megan sent it and said we'll get to see him at Travis' wedding!" He sure sounded like a proud great grandpa to be. I tried to call Megan but had to leave a voice message.

Cycle 22.5 Miles Towards Sand Springs

PSO (Public Service of Oklahoma) Bike Trail along Arkansas River in Tulsa



Tuesday, Nov.4, I spent the night on the living room floor trying to get a kink out of my back. Don't know how I got it but yesterday morning it started hurting and didn't go away all day. I put two pieces of foam on the living room floor and piled up some blankets. It took me until 2:30 or 3:00 a.m. to go to sleep but I finally got five good hours of rest. The good news is my kink was gone when I got up and didn't return. That was weird. Usually back issues don't disappear so easily with me.

We had our leftover Union Cafe breakfast this morning; pretty hearty for us but we plan to ride later. Around 10:15 I called St. Joe's Hospital in my hometown to see how Dad was doing. Mom answered in a low voice. Dad is napping so I didn't get to talk to him. She says his doctor was in already and they are keeping him one more day. They hope to release him to go home tomorrow. I called Mike to tell him the news.

Bob and I read for a while waiting for it to warm up. Then we have a bowl of Ham Hodge-Podge Soup for lunch and pack up the bikes to hit the trail. We are so delighted to go down the steep hill of Turkey Mountain at 1:20 p.m. that we don't realize until we get to the bottom that neither of us locked the truck. We can't believe it but we have to cycle back up that hill. It's only a mile but it's straight up. No fun at all but we'll enjoy our ride more knowing the truck is as safe as can be in this day and age.

Man-made rapids for whitewater rafting on the Arkansas River in Tulsa, OK

It's another beautiful fall day although the wind out of the north is chillier than I thought. Good thing the sun is so bright. We ride right into the teeth of the wind all the way along the Arkansas River. It's tough going. There's a new Route 66 pedestrian walkway over the road to go out to Sand Springs but the cyclists still have to cross the street. Go figure. We go out just over 11 miles and turn around.

The firefighters are having a drill in a smoky metal building. They're done by the time we return. I have a restroom break before we cross the River (we take the other loop back.) I almost crash a gal as I try to turn onto the bridge up a steep ramp. That was close. I don't make it all the way up Turkey Mountain the second time either! Oh well. We get back to the truck 2 hours and 40 minutes and 22.5 miles later. We're exhausted but exhilarated.

New Route 66 Pedestrian Trail at 21st Street and Riverside in Tulsa, OK

We stop at Union for a paper, chain the bikes to the front of the RV and go inside for Amici leftovers. We're both starving as our meager bowl of soup wore off. Bob dumps our holding tanks and we relax with the paper. Game 6 of the World Series is tonight. I'll try to post my pictures tomorrow. It's 5:48 p.m. and 67 degrees. The high was 77, the low was 47 and the humidity is a perfect 25%.

Brunch at Union Street Cafe

Tuesday, Nov. 3, I was up at 7:00 and greeted by the sun. The low was 48. I started out by dressing Gertrude for Thanksgiving. Then I got on-line and worked on photos and miscellaneous stuff. Around 11:00 Bob and I go north a block or so on Union to finally try Union Street Cafe. On the way we get out the truck manual to adjust the compass. We've moved into Zone 6 and it needs to be resets.

Union Cafe is a cute little place, recently under new ownership according to their sign. Their breakfast and lunch specials are on the whiteboard by the front door. Our waitress is friendly. I have French toast and grits. Bob has pigs in a blanket; three pancakes wrapped around link sausage and two eggs. All very tasty. We leave with go boxes.

We head to Jenks to browse all of the small antique stores. We found books, postcards and some Lawson Woods blotters. We're back home by three to read the paper we got out of the machine by the cafe and have leftovers from Amici's. I have a voice message from my brother Mike and call him back. I figured he was calling about HIPAA forms. But he says Dad's in the hospital again. Seems like he's stabilized now and of course wants to go home. Poor guy is having quite a year.

It's 3:42 p.m. and 76 degrees. The high was 78 with 32% humidity. A very nice day. I go for a walk to try to get rid of a deep back ache that has been bothering me all day. I turned wrong or something this morning. Put ice on it this morning and it was okay as long as we were walking and shopping. As soon as I sit down it flares up again. Anyway, as I walked I went by a newbie RVer with a 5th wheel and bikes strapped way up in the bed of his pickup. They look like a younger couple and their license plates say British Columbia. Must be headed to the Texas Coast for the winter.

Golf Olde Page and Amici's

Gertrude says Happy Thanksgiving aboard The Titanic!
Monday, November 2, our curbside neighbors left at 5:55 a.m. and woke me up. What an ungodly hour to tow an RV down the road. I guess you miss the city traffic on your way out of Tulsa. I was up so I worked on journal pages. First I was in a stupor and poured the water for my coffee down the side of the reservoir and all over the counter. Then I remembered the kitchen towel hook fell off last night; the adhesive gave out. So I had to hunt up a towel in the dark. Oh well.

The sun is out and it is 58 degrees by 10:30. We have Crispy Thingies for breakfast and I stretch and make PB&J's for later on the golf course. And I washed out our bike pants in case we decide to ride tomorrow. They need time to dry.

Around 10:45 we head to Page Belcher golf course. The parking lot is full so we go inside. He says we can get on in 15 or 20 minutes. So we putt for a bit and then tee off behind the guys with the 11:13 tee time. They are slow, or else the guys in front of them are, for seven holes but all of a sudden they disappear. Today we play the Olde Page course (back nine too.) But we run out of steam after 13 holes and call it a day as we near the parking lot. Cycling did us in I guess. Shame to waste such a gorgeous day. High 83 but it felt like 70 with only 36% humidity.

We get a paper on the way home. I put the awning out and go outside to read on the patio. We have been meaning to put that awning out and dry it out after all of the rain in Columbus and Edwardsville. But every time we thought of it the day was too windy. We do have a few spots of mildew near the top that we'll have to clean off. When we drive in this afternoon we notice an older Titanium three sites down on our curbside.

We get cleaned up and around 3:45 we head to Amici's. We wanted to try their dinner menu. We're the first ones there but an older couple in a Prius comes in after us. We get our same table and our same waitress. She is embarrassed to tell us she has to leave early again! I ask her how her granddaughter's Halloween event was and she said it was good but the balloon favors caused an issue. She blew up her granddaughter's balloon and it popped and she was not happy that her balloon was gone and it didn't seem to calm her down to say they had more balloons at home. So they left early.

I had to try the Eggplant Parmesan and was not disappointed. Baked, tender eggplant stuffed with Italian sausage and mozzarella with a hearty red sauce. It was great. My salad had a tasty strawberry vinaigrette. Bob had the pork medallions. The guy in the paper who did the review said they were more like hubcaps and he was right. They were smothered in a tasty Dijon mustard Marsala sauce. We'll be back; lunch or dinner, it's all great.

Home to work puzzles and relax. If the Phillies don't win tonight The Yankees will be the World Series Champs. It's 5:54 p.m. and 71 degrees. I'm sad by how dark it is and it's not even 6 o'clock yet.

Cycle 17 Miles Creek Turnpike & Camille's Sidewalk Cafe

Our new kitchen in our 5th wheel Titanim RV


Sunday, November 1, I was up at what my body thought was 7:00 a.m. but it was actually 6:00 a.m. I work on Earthlink journal pages as I'm still blocked out of my new Good Sam site. So I decided to post Jan. 2009 on Earthlink and at least make some progress. The low was 45 and later today it gets up to 83 degrees! The sun is bright and the skies are a glorious blue. After a light breakfast and a stretch we make Ham Hodge-Podge Soup, one of our favorites.

Ham Hodge-Podge Soup

Makes 6 to 8 servings

In Dutch oven combine first 8 ingredients, 3 cups water, ½ teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Cover, simmer 1 hour. Add undrained beans; cover and cook 10 to 15 minutes. (Add more water if desired.)

5 cups chopped cabbage
6 large carrots, cut into 1-inch or ½ inch pieces (1 pound)
2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped (3 cups)
1.2 cup turnip, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cups diced fully cooked ham (10 ounces)
½ cup chopped onion
½ to one teaspoon seasoned salt
1 15-ounce can Great Northern or white beans

Enjoy!

The galley aboard The Titanic!

It is much easier to cook in our new RV kitchen. We have way more counter space and work area. And it is much easier for the two of us to move around and do things without being in each other's way.

The streetside Class C next to us packs up and then they leave in their toad (maybe for church?) When they return they pull out lock, stock and barrel in a 30 seconds. Now that was being ready to go! After a bowl of our hearty soup we load the bikes around 12:30 and head to Turkey Mountain trailhead just down the road. They have rerouted the trail around the parking lot for safety reasons I presume. And now there are flagstones on the terrace as the top of the mountain. A snappily dressed guy and gal are chatting at the top. He is saying that the old path will be removed and a new, terraced one built. I'll have to be sure and tell Marty that the Turkey Mountain hill might be easier to get up next time!

We have fun zooming down Turkey Mountain but I dread coming back up. It has been awhile since we've ridden but I always get a thrill when we hop on our bikes. The trail is closed at the bottom by Bear Fountain in Riverside Park. There is a rocky temporary path to go under the street. Strong winds are against us along the Arkansas River. We cycle past the new River Spirit Casino; now open since we were here last year.

The trail is extremely busy today. I keep saying everyone is out on a gorgeous day to cycle/jog off all that Halloween candy. We cycle past our usual resting bench before Suicide Hill and tackle it without a break. Bob makes it to the top but I had to get off and walk halfway up. We make it out 8.5 miles. Bob's game for the next big bill but I peter out at Memorial. We turn around and head back but not before I snap a picture of this delivery truck waiting at the stoplight. These hills are a challenge since we haven't ridden in over a month. And all of our riding in Ohio was pretty flat this summer.



I can't stress enough what a beautiful fall day it is. This is why we come to Tulsa in the fall. Going back down Suicide Hill three young boys almost wipe me out. 1) A five-year old on a small bike turn is sideways at the bridge after the hill, supposedly to play a trick on his friends behind him but it almost killed me; 2) Fifty feet later a seven-year old on a scooter going the opposite direction stumbles onto my side of the trail and I narrowly avoid him; 3) a seventeen-year old is walking three abreast with his friends playing 'miss-the-cracks' and steps in front of me. Geez!



We rest on the bench at the bottom and decide to have a dinner break at Camille's Sidewalk Cafe.We have always wanted to try this place. We abandon their bike rack after I sue the restroom and leave the bikes in front by the windows. Their Sunday Special is two entrees for the price of one. I get Tuscan Tomato Soup and half an Apple Walnut Tuna Sandwich on homemade marble rye with a side of tortilla chips and salsa. bob gets Bankok Thai Salad. I have a huge cup of coffee; and all for only $8.83.

Refreshed, we head for the dreaded Turkey Mountain. I only need one rest on the way up; Bob makes it the whole way that showoff. At the top, two seventeen-year old guys crowd me off the trial. They are talking and riding on both sides of the trail and don't see or hear me when I call out. I can't decide if I'm upset that I'm invisible to these guys or happy that I cycled so much I'm too thin to see coming down the trail:)

Dad, Mom and Bob get ready to dig into a huge Stefanina's Pizza

We cycled 17.01 miles and I for one am glad to be back at the truck. We get a Sunday paper at Union on the way home. We chain the bikes on the patio since we have a concrete site here. It was sure fun to ride on such a glorious fall day. Everybody else thought so too! It's 4:55 p.m. CST and 81 degrees. The humidity is only 16%! What a difference from cycling in Ohio's 85% humidity! We read the paper, have snacks and watch the Phillies lose again. I'm posting a picture of our visit with Mom and Dad in St. Charles recently. We enjoyed a local St. Louis-style pizza-Yum

Window Washing on Halloween--Now That's Scary!

Gertrude says Happy Halloween aboard The Titanic!
Saturday, October 31, it was a chilly 44 degrees this morning; 57 degrees in the living room as we had the heater on low. I enjoyed my coffee and got on-line. I'm maxed out on my photos on my Good Sam site so I tweeked the aesthetics of my new Facebook page.

After a light breakfast and stretch I got a burst of energy and started housecleaning. Somehow the regular cleaing morphed into washing the interior windows. That turned out to be a good decision as I found some 'construction' gunk behind some of the day/night shades that we rarely open. Had to use my Goo Gone to get whatever it was off. The day turns out to be sunny with clear blue skies so my window cleaning was very noticeable. I love that.

Bob tinkered with several projects while I was in a cleaning frenzy. He checked the voltage on the thermostat for the A/C and furnace. It would seem we need a new thermostat. The digital readout on this one keeps blanking out. The manual has all these BIG LETTER WARNINGS about being very careful not to disturb the delicate circuitry of the thermostate unit. Why in the world they put in at shoulder level on the second step up to the bedroom is beyond me. When we were moving in boxes both of us crunched into it and bounced off several times. I guess we did it in.

He tried to put a replacement spoke on the rear wheel of his bike but of course it's on the side that needs a special tool to get the sprocket off. Foiled by that he found the emory tool for the commode to file off rough edges. We're having trouble with the seal holding water so he filed off the edge. We'll see what happens; so far so good.

We broke for leftovers for lunch. My lasagna from Amici's was enough for the two of us to split. I got myself cleaned up while he cleaned the inside of the truck. Then we walked to QT on Union for a paper. It is a gorgeous day-an unlikely Halloween weather pattern. The high was 71 with 36% humidity. Now this is why we moved south!

Back home to read the paper. The western sun is streaming in my clean bay window in the back by our Euro chairs. We got hot reading the paper. I had to move to the loveseat on the shady curbside. I put new batteries in my frother and made myself a latte. Tonight is game three of the World Series. Just checked email and had some great photos from Bob's cousin, Michael Monat, in Colorado of his parent's 90th and 91st birthdays. Just got some picture on email from my nephew Travis in Missouri of an 18-wheeler that completely burned up along a roadway (he works as a dispatcher.) Anyway, the driver wasn't hurt but it sure brought back horrible memories of RV's we've seen burn to the frame. But I won't think about that now Scarlet!

It's 5:57 p.m. and 71 degrees. We didn't have any Trick or Treaters in this RV Park last year so I didn't even buy any candy. I'll be embarrassed if any show up tonight.