Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

CapnBob

New Windshield for the RV

We encountered a minor glitch during our RV excursion to see the great eclipse in Waco Texas when a passing Big Rig Semi on a two-lane road threw up such a wind gust when passing in the opposite direction, that our windshield cracked from the shock. It did nothing to inhibit our travel plans, but became a greater concern since the crack size progressed as we got closer to home. I called the insurance company and fortunately, we were covered for a cracked/broken windshield.

Windshield Crack Getting Worse

Image: the windshield crack – pardon the reflections – click to enlarge.

After a couple of weeks waiting for the new glass to arrive, the new windshield got installed today and looks great. Due to some curing issues, we won’t be able to drive it home until tomorrow morning, so that will be the major issue for the day – getting the RV home and parking it in it’s usual slot up in the RV drive.

The new windshield

Image: the new windshield – click to enlarge.

Kudos to State Farm, RV Glass Express and Select Glass for a coordinated effort in getting the job done.

08 May 2024 by Notions Retirement Travel Wanderlust

Cinco de Mayo —
  Southwestern Feast Day

Today, Cinco de Mayo, is the second of the two nearly concurrent feast days we tend to celebrate in early May. Like in yesterday’s post, the image above is an AI-generated picture with the suggestion of “Cinco de Mayo Buffet.” Also, as in yesterday’s image. I added the 3D text overlay. You may see the original AI image here.

Today’s feast consisted of a Southwestern New Mexican Pork Stew, which was very good. This is another of Damsel’s recently discovered recipes. At this hour, we’re all content with the feasting weekend now behind us.

As a disclaimer, we’re of Celtic ancestry, but not Latino. We celebrate because of the food and culture for both events. As for us, we are Christian, Patriotic Americans and celebrate the appropriate religious and patriotic events and feasting as they occur.

05 May 2024 by Food & Dining Holidays Notions

Beltane — Celtic Feast Day

This is the weekend in May where we celebrate two nearly concurrent feasts. Today is the first feast in celebration of the Celtic Cross-Quarter day of Beltane, or, the beginning of the summer season. I will post about the other feast we celebrate this weekend tomorrow.

The (clickable) image above is a scene generated by Microsoft’s Copilot AI image creator. I suggested a pastoral Irish Festival scene and this is what it came up with. I overlaid the Beltane text using an old 3D graphics program by Xara. The original AI-generated image without the overly can be seen here.

Our feast today consisted of “Guinness Meat Stew” from a recipe the Damsel found on-line. It was indeed a feast.

04 May 2024 by Ancestors Food & Dining Holidays Notions

Home, Sweet Home

Although we got home early, it is late now, so this will be brief; we had a good trip back home from Gila Bend today along the so-called “Phoenix Bypass” route, and that was the intent of going the way we did, to avoid the !*&%#^? Phoenix construction and traffic. It worked, although there was a lot of traffic for a Sunday. Anyway, we’re home.

We’re about to watch a movie and then climb into our own bed at home. G’nite!

21 Apr 2024 by Arizona Notions Travel Wanderlust

Gila Bend

We are in a really nice RV campground tonight. We have been blessed on this adventure to have stayed in many really nice RV parks. This park, the Sonoran Desert RV Park, is located in Gila Bend, AZ, and has a number of nice amenities. Our camp spot has it’s own fenced-in dog run, a concrete patio with charcoal grill and a propane “fire feature” where you can sit around and enjoy the warmth of a fire.

Tomorrow, we will be headed home. We are less than two hours from Wickenburg and expect to be home in the early afternoon. It has been quite the adventure and even though it has been enjoyable, we are now anxious to be home again.

20 Apr 2024 by Arizona Retirement Travel Wanderlust

Back in Arizona

We are in Benson, AZ for the evening. We have elected to take short trips per day to reduce stress and weariness, therefore we will not be home until Sunday, having one more camping night on the road at Gila Bend, AZ, tomorrow evening.

We selected tomorrow’s campsite specifically to avoid driving through the Phoenix Metro area, which is stressful given the driving crazies and construction in that area. Last fall, we made the mistake of driving through that area and vowed to avoid it as much as possible.

As for today’s campsite, Benson is a nice town along Interstate 10 in Cochise County, AZ. We selected this campground since it is far enough away from the Interstate to be quiet overnight, yet is convenient to get back on I-10 without any hassle.

We’re both looking forward to getting home, since we’ve been on the road for almost a month. Don’t get us wrong, though, since we have had a lot of fun, good eats, relaxation, adventure (seeing new places) and, most of all, another eyewitness of a magnificent solar eclipse.

19 Apr 2024 by Notions Retirement Wanderlust

Mountain View

Damsel and I walked down to the “scenic walk” area of the RV park here in Las Cruces to see what we could see. The view of the area from atop the Picacho Hills, west of Las Cruces proper, was very nice. I aimed my camera phone toward the rugged mountains we crossed getting here and got the (clickable) image above.

Those peaks are the so-called “Organ Mountains” which have this interesting appearance due to being formed by igneous, rather than sedimentary rocks. The organ name comes from some early notion that the peaks resemble a pipe organ.

Tomorrow morning, we head to the west again in continuation of the trek homeward. We shall (God willing) blog from Benson, AZ tomorrow evening.

18 Apr 2024 by Photography Retirement Travel Wanderlust

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