Secret to a good cup of coffee.

Santa Fe Skies RV Park 

Santa Fe, NM 87508

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RV LIFE:

This morning my husband, Scott made me a cup of coffee. Now, keep in mind, to make ME a cup of coffee, I mean to make a cup of coffee FOR me, is quite simple. We have a small single serve KEURIG coffee maker. So just pop in a "k-cup" and push the button. I drink my coffee black, no sugar. How easy! I'm a low maintenance, I hope fairly easy to please type of gal.  Scott brings the mug of coffee to me.  I take a sip and ahhhhh, wonderful.  I said to Scott, "This is a really good cup of coffee!", he said, "Do you want to know my secret? L-O-V-E"  Awwwwwww. Ugh, too sweet.

I came across a new blog the other day. I'm now subscribing to it. This guy is a funny, funny writer. He keeps me laughing.  This couple is just starting out their transition to full time RV'ing. They are in the process of fixing up their home for sale. This is what we went through about 9 months ago, only we hired people to do it. That's why we never bought new cars, fancy clothes, new furniture, etc. We saved our money so we could hire people and ease our stress level.  Anyway, they are living in their RV locally while fixing up the house. I'm enjoying reading about this difficult transition of purging, the RV learning curve, etc. Been there, done that and still learning.
Check out GATORS & GRAPEFRUIT and leave a comment with some words of encouragement!
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FOOD:
PANTRY RESTAURANT Our rating 4.5 out of 5


Huge Breakfast:Nice atmosphere with Southwestern plates on display and other artwork. A diner type atmosphere.


FRESH CORNED BEEF: Description from menu-Slow roasted corned beef brisket with sautéed green onions served on a bed of Pantry fries topped with two eggs cooked your way. Served with toast or biscuits with country gravy.  $9.99

Delicious! Cubed pieces of corned beef...yummy. This was over their breakfast fried potatoes which were very good also, topped with 2 eggs perfectly cooked over easy as requested. This also included 2 country biscuits and gravy.  I could make a meal of just the biscuits & gravy. Delish...A huge plate and too much to eat.

BUTTERMILK PANCAKES: Order of two. The waiter warned us that the pancakes were really large, but we thought we'd share if need be. Waiter was correct. The pancakes were between 10-12" in diameter. Light and fluffy though. This was served with packets of REAL butter and WARMED syrup.

SAUSAGE PATTIES: 2 thick slices of sausage. Nothing exceptional, but still good and nicely cooked with just a touch of crispness.

The wait staff were very nice and efficient.
We hope to return for another breakfast. I'd like to try the Stuffed French Toast!

Pantry update 4/19/12:
Just came back from dinner at Pantry. If we lived in Santa Fe, this would be our "go to" restaurant.  Scott had the meatloaf & I had the reuben sandwhich.

GARDEN SALAD: Large salad with crisp romaine, green peppers, tomatoes, cukes, radishes and home made croutons. Scott had italian dressing & I had raspberry vinaigrette. Dressing were average.

MEATLOAF dinner with brown gravy, vegetables and mashed potatoes: Meatloaf was very good but nothing exceptional. I think a slightly thicker slice would have been nice. I don't think the mashed potatoes were home made. The sauteed vegetables of FRESH green & yellow squash, carrots, and broccoli were excellent. The meatloaf dinner also came with a thick slice of Texas toast, which was good.

REUBEN sandwich: Pantry cooks their own corned beef. Sandwich was very. Fresh hearty rye breast, and not overwhelmed with 1000 island dressing. This plate came with a crisp dill pickle slice and HOME MADE potato chips. The chips were excellent & addictive!!

TRES LECHES cake: Delicious.

CHOCOLATE FLAN cake: Slightly disappointing. The chocolate cake base was good. Not real sweet (a good thing). Almost like a light brownie. Topped with a layer of flan, which I felt was tasteless. Chocolate syrup was drizzled over top. I think a caramel or butterscotch syrup would have been much better with this combo.

Still hoping to make it for our 2nd breakfast there before we leave.
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RV MOD/ACCESSORIES:
Kitchen counter space is at a premium in an RV. We do have the part that can lift up for extra space, but we want MORE! We went to Target and bought a resin/plastic cutting board a little larger than one of our sinks.  Scott cut it to fit over the sink and we rarely take if off. This is part of our counter top now.

We replaced our sink drains with just SCREEN DRAINS, so the sinks do not hold water now. I hate running the water constantly or on and off, on and off to do the dishes.  So we purchased a COLLAPSIBLE SINK. I love it!! This is exactly what we needed. Purchased at Camping World.

Sink collapses fairly flat so I can just throw it in the under the stove storage, otherwise known as the oven or in the slim drawer under the oven. Now I can fill up the collapsible sink with hot sudsy water and really feel like I'm getting the dishes cleaned.  The tub can of course be used for other things, such as a bucket to clean the rig, a paw rinsing station, when the dogs paws are muddy or dirty, etc.
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ELECTRONIC WOES:
As long as I can keep Lyla and Devin off my keyboard and off button, my computer is working fine. My computer is basically on all day long.  So when I go outside for something, the dogs want to know "where Mom went". So up onto my chair, then onto my desk, hopefully missing my keyboard Lyla plants herself to look out the side slide window to keep an eye on Mom and make sure she doesn't leave without her.

I use my computer mainly for file keeping, web surfing, email and blogging. Scott likes to play those fancy games on his,so he needs a better computer than mine.  His computer has been going blank lately. He realized that the computer was ok, but the screen was not showing anything.  Being the computer savvy guy he is, he figured it was the video card. He hasn't had to buy a video card in a couple of years, so he had to research the best ones for his needs.

He ordered a
XFX FX787ACDBC Double D HD 7870 1050MHz 2GB DDR5 2XminiDP HDMI Dual DVI Graphics Cards - Black Edition.  My gosh! The name is longer than the link!! Oh, and I guess they are now called "Graphics Cards". What the hell??? Good thing we keep our money separate! This thing cost $389.00!!!!! Men & their toys.

When it comes to computers, we want it NOW. Luckily, Santa Fe Skies RV Park accepts personal mail delivery here, so we didn't have to have it forwarded from Escapees mail  in Livingston, TX. Two days and he's back in business. Let the games begin! 

What is that hanging on the front door??? Oh, he can't be serious??!!!????

 I DON'T THINK SO! You want privacy, then don't full time in a 35' RV! Actually, it all works out fine.  If he really needs to have the full effect of his games, he puts on a set of headphones and I don't hear all the guns shooting, or cars vrooming. I can just do as I please and laugh at him squiggling around in his chair and screaming and yelling at the game, or talking game stuff with his fellow gamers.

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PETS:

Bad Mommy! I've been emailing & blogging. It's amazing how time consuming blogging is.  I've been up since 6:30am when I took the dogs out for their morning walk.  It is now 2:30pm and I haven't stepped foot out of the RV since the morning walk. 

Lyla can hold it "forever". She's content to lay around the house as long as Mom is near. Devin being the active 1.5 yr old Irish Setter has also been a very good and patient boy today.  He's just now starting to get a little squirmy. Bad, bad Mommy! Time to let the dogs out!

(Not our African Grey Parrot.) 

I'm so confused!

Santa Fe Skies RV Park

Santa Fe, NM 87508

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RV LIFE:

Weather & Altitude: I am so confused! Am I in NJ in January? It's been in the 40-50° range during the day and drops down to 30° overnight! I heard that it hit 80° in NJ! Huh???

Walking the dogs at 6:30 in the morning, I have to not only put on a scarf & hat, but gloves too! Is this the norm for New Mexico at this time of year? Is it because we are at 7000 ft. altitude? In spite of the cold, the lilac bushes around the campground are beginning to bloom.

I have taken a nap 2 days in a row.  I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the altitude? My body needs to expend more energy to get enough oxygen through my bloodstream? 

Both Scott & I have been having sinus headaches...Is that Spring or is that the altitude? 

Our noses are always dried up...Is that Spring or is that the altitude?

It's also been constantly windy here. Have I ever told you how much I hate the wind??? My hatred began when I used to do long distant bicycle riding for charity. I'd rather struggle up a mountain, than deal with the constant wind on flat terrain. 

Was I ever surprised when I was putting on my make up (a rare occurrence these days). I opened my squeeze bottle of liquid foundation and it started flowing out like lava out of a volcano!!!  I hadn't squeezed it yet. I thought maybe there was a hold somewhere! I frantically looked for the lid, but didn't get the bottle closed before foundation was all over the bathroom sink! I must have been squealing, because Scott came around and saw what happened.  I looked at him confused and he just matter of factly said that is what happens because of being in the high altitude. Then proceeded to tell me how water normally boils at 212°, but will probably boil at a lower temperature up here in Santa Fe.  Scott did test his suspicion. He boiled some water for pasta and couldn't resist dipping a thermometer in the water to see when it would boil. Sure enough, about 195° to boil. 

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PETS & ANIMALS:

Both Devin & Lyla are loving this RV park.  It didn't take long for Devin to find something to entertain himself with.

Devin's new tumbleweed toy

The park is almost over run with rabbits. So Devin grabs a scent and off we all go. No choice until I can get some control. We just have to go along with Devin's mission. Then when he actually sees a rabbit. He just stops, lifts his front leg and I suppose he's waiting for me to shoot it or something. I guess he would make a good hunting dog.

Now Lyla on the other hand has been a real pain in the behind! She has decided that this park is a buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner. She's sniffing the ground also, but her goal is to find the little gourmet nuggets of bunny poop and eat them like M&M's!!! 

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SIGHTS:

For all the traveling we are doing, we really don't do much touristy type of activities. We mainly like to relax and enjoy the scenery.

We did visit the SANTA FE FARMER'S MARKET.  This is a must visit place. We had to pay $1.00 an hour for parking at the nearby parking lot. We stayed 2 hours.

We began by having a light breakfast at the Farmer's Market Cafe.

Scott had a breakfast burrito and said it was delicious.  I had an almond pastry, which was also delicious.

We both had coffee.  Mine was called "black lightning". A really good cup of coffee!

We were hoping since we were early in the season, that the market wouldn't be very crowded, but we were wrong. It was difficult to get to some vendor's tables because of the crowd. Have I ever mentioned, I hate crowds? Well I do. But I persevered, because the vendors were outstanding!!!

I'll try to list some of the types of items for sale:

Lots of greens, vegetables and herbs.

Goat cheese

Home made baked items.

Honey

Soaps

Raspberry Farm items

Organic beef, yak, rabbit

Lavender sachets, soaps, etc.

Jewelry

Textiles

Pottery 

We ended up purchasing...

a YAK rib eye.

Raspberry jam from HEIDI'S RASPBERRY FARM

Hickory Almond Mustard

Oatmeal raspberry bars

Raspberry apple pie

Scones

Eggs from  KJ Farms. Yes, that egg on the bottom right is a pale green chicken egg. Read an interesting article about this farm and his eggs HERE.

Ciabatta rolls from CRUMPACKERS CAFE & BAKESHOP

Bacon

A new thimble for my cross stitch projects.

I'm sure I forgot a few items we purchased, but you get the idea of the variety & quality found here.

We loved this farmer's market so much, we have extended our stay in Santa Fe from 1 week to 11 days, so we can go to the  SANTA FE FARMER'S MARKET  again!

SANTA FE SKIES RV PARK, Santa Fe, NM 87508

SANTA FE SKIES RV PARK

Santa Fe, NM 87508

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PARK REVIEW:

Nice park. Wish I wasn't so cheap though. They have cheaper sites and more expensive. The cheaper sites are just dirt and crushed stone.  Very dusty. The better sites have cement patios, which prevents so much dirt from being dragged into the RV.

Some sites are short and tight, while others are more spacious.

The park is in an elevated section of Santa Fe, so the view is beautiful! In the evening, it's like looking down into a valley with all the town lights twinkling and the shadow of mountain peaks (some snowcapped) in the background.

View from computer window

Mountains! Yea! Still no shade trees or soft grass, but I'm totally enjoying the view of the mountains.

View from back picture window

Clean restrooms.

Quite a few machines in the laundry, though the room is small for all the machines.

Staff is nice and very dog friendly.

By the office is a sitting area to read with a small library. There is a computer station for use of fast internet. 

Free wi-fi, but slow.

Crushed stone walkway around park for the dogs. Very dog friendly. Unusual that this particular park DOES allow dogs off leash through out the RV park as long as they are friendly and under voice control.

Just started building a dog park.  Nice size. Devin is having a blast running and expelling all that setter energy. Right now it's dirt and VERY DUSTY. I've been swallowing dust a lot.  It looks like they have plans of building a stone patio with table and sun protection.  Doggie bags provided at the dog park & through out the walking trail.

 Very cool &  unique iron dog paw gate that I'm sure is made by a local artist.

Making friends already.

How neat is this gate latch!? I think I've fallen in love with this type of art. I guess it's iron works?

On either side of the dog park or many solar panels that supply the power for the park. Anything not used is sold to the local utility company.

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RV LIFE:

Amazing how happy I am again. So glad to be away from Lubbock, TX. This RV park was recommended by a fellow RV'r we met at an overnight stop.  I must admit, I did not want to come here.  From the photos on their website, it just looked like more dry, dusty, barren, flat, boring scenery. Not! Although I would not choose to live in this terrain, it is much prettier because of the mountains in the background. I'm quite happy with our view.

We left Lubbock, TX in between bad weather.  Threats of rain, lightning, tornadoes, hail etc. The day we left, we found out that there was a small FUNNEL inside our campground the night before. One of the long term residents has a mini weather station and was keeping track of the weather near us.

Here in Santa Fe we have warnings of rain and high winds (60 mph) this weekend. Scott has put in all the items around the site and also tied down the slide out covers. We were warned that the winds could get so high and flap those covers and rip them off.  It was even suggested that we may have to bring in our slides during the wind storm. That would not be pleasant. I guess we would spend that time in our king sized bed with the dogs and watch tv & read.

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Woof, Woof Weaser

MESA VERDE RV PARK

Wolfforth, TX 79382

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RV LIFE: 

This is our last day at Mesa Verde RV Park near Lubbock, TX. Although the park & staff are nice, I will be glad to exit this area of the country. Flat, boring landscape. It's depressing. The only nice view we saw in this area of TX were the beautiful sunsets.

Devin & I will miss our play time with Weaser, the resident Labradoodle. But Devin will be on to new adventures, new landscape, new animals, new smells.
I'm sure Weaser will miss Devin also.

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RV MOD:

Just a little mod. We're just following what other RV'rs do. The map of the US and adding the states we've stayed in as we travel.

Purchased at Camping World for about $15.00. Placed on our living room slide out.

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FOOD:
My rating 2 out of 5
Texas sized McD's burgers.


Ugh!

CHEESEBURGER: I had the regular and hubby had the larger one. Both skinny burgers, one was just larger around than the other. Dried up overcooked burgers. Reminded me of McD's only more dry and larger. I like McD's burgers, & I'd go to McD's before heading back to Alex's.
Burgers had slice of cheese, tomato, lettuce, reconstituted minced onion and mustard. Lettuce & tomato were fresh.

FRIES: Nothing special. Not bad, but not especially good either.

ONION RINGS: Nothing special. Hubby came here because of  the good reviews on burgers. I came here because of the good reviews on the onion rings. The onions rings were good and not out of a bag, but the batter was bland.  I had to add salt.

I would not return.
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BOOKS:
Audio:
Virals Audio CD by Kathy Reichs



My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Good narration by Cristen Milioti. The main characters are teens and Cristen performed the young voices nicely.
Cute story, with murder mystery and sci-fi mixed in.
Intelligent, not "popular" teens try to find interesting things to do while living on a remote island that is home to science labs and also a pack of wolves.
Follows these kids misadventures and how they accomplish getting out of tricky situations.


View all my reviews

Audio:

Worst Case by James Patterson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Murder Mystery: Narration was good.
Rich teens are kidnapped and asked questions about world economics. Most kids couldn't care less. The "entitled", kids are called today just want all there is without caring how they got it. The kidnapper doesn't want money but wants them to ..."know the price others pay for their luxurious lifestyles." If they don't know, what are the consequences? Read the book. 

View all my reviews

Kindle edition:

The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mystery:
#2 of Millennium series
I tried to listen on audio the first book in this series, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". So much history that dragged on that I couldn't finish. My husband READ the book and loved it.  I waited until the movie came out and LOVED IT!
So was very excited to read the second in the series, "The Girl Who Played with Fire". I was NOT disappointed! Excellent!
This is a year after the end of the 1st book. Researching into the sex trade and low lives involved, murders and the government cover up. Drives me crazy the level of crimes this secret gov't agency could get away with.
Lisbeth is a fugitive & again is made out to be a insane antisocial, satan loving lesbian.  Will the truth be told? Will she be caught? Well worth reading to find out.

View all my reviews

Happy Easter

Lyla with the Easter Bunny (me). I inherited this bunny outfit from an old boyfriend. In 2007, I dressed as the Easter Bunny to raise money for our ENGLISH SETTER RESCUE. This was held at the PET VALUE in Gilbertsville, PA. We had a nice turn out. I held lots of little dogs, a couple very young human babies, guinea pigs and even a snake. The little boy that owned the snake was THRILLED that the Easter Bunny wasn't afraid of a snake.

Above is a photo of Poppy. She's my brother's rescue American Eskimo dog.

Animal rescue work has grown so much because of the internet. Most of my rescue work is record keeping and communicating via email. I do not like to talk on the phone. A few years back, I volunteered on a yahoo group for NJ/PA area and stated, I could help transport, pull, check out needy animals if they needed help in my area. Within 1 hour I got an email from ESKIE RESCUERS UNITED.  They needed to have an Eskie picked up from a home giving her up after adopting her only 3 weeks prior. So I picked up Poppy & was told they were giving her up because she wouldn't play with their other dog. (Yea, right). Ended up we fostered her for a couple of weeks, then drove her to PA to be fostered. Had a great time meeting, Gina with Eskie rescue. I knew nothing about AMERICAN ESKIMO DOGS. We ended up finding out, Poppy is not the norm.  She gets along very well with most dogs and is well behaved. She is fine around children she knows. It was heartbreaking to leave her in PA. She is a sweet dog. But we are setter & large dog people.

A week later, we got a call from Gina asking if we could foster Poppy again because they were getting in 21 Eskies that needed to be taken into rescue. Sure we could. We couldn't give her up again though. 

My brother dog sat for Poppy for a week and we asked if he wanted to keep her.  He said yes. The rest is a beautiful love affair. 

...and by the way...Poppy loves to play.

MESA VERDE RV PARK, Wofforth, TX 79382

MESA VERDE RV PARK

Wolfforth, TX 79382

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PARK REVIEW:

Mesa Verde RV Park in Wolfforth, TX is a nice RV park, although not for us. We like to be away from busy streets.

We are here for a week.  Devin LOVES this park! The owners of the park live at the park. One of the enclosed dog parks is right next to their home. They have a wonderful Labradoodle, named Weaser, who loves to greet and play with guest dogs. 

The park owners are very nice. The park is clean and surrounded by a 6' privacy fence, so it does help give us a sense of being away from the businesses & traffic near by.

If you're in the Lubbock, TX area, I would recommend this RV Park. This is not so much a park for vacationers, but more for long stays or passing through.

View from my computer desk/rv door

View from rear picture window

Lubbock, TX is home to TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY, so there are lots of little eateries nearby to choose from.

RV LIFE:

 While staying in Livingston, TX, it didn't feel much different from NJ, except for the local flaura. I do miss NJ's lush lawns. 

While traveling  I-20 (I think) towards Lubbock, TX, we passed through Sweetwater, TX, which is the wind energy capital. We are definitely beginning to see a whole "other world" now as we head west. 

Windmills for miles...

I guess this is what a MESA is...

We are staying right outside the town of Lubbock, TX. Lubbock is well developed with lots of shopping & restaurants.  It is an odd (for us) landscape. No tall buildings, no tall trees. Miles of flat land.  Not my kind of  place. We will not be settling in TX.

I was told we are in Tornado season around here. We've had some threats of storms and hail from dime sized to baseball sized. So far, we've just had some rain and one night of lightning all night long. We have quite a few windy days, which makes the higher temperatures bearable.  Also, the humidity has been between 25-35, which Scott said he's never seen. I am not a hot weather person. The temps go up & down here a lot. Hot days, cool days and same with the nights.

It's been so windy here at times...while food shopping and errand running, my "to do" list blew out of the side of my pocketbook.  I am a list maker, so this was devastating for me. My grocery list, my errand list, my list of things to look up on the internet, my list of topics to cover in the blog. I'll survive.

It's been so windy here at times...that by the time I come back into the RV, I need to untangle my hair from the wind blowing it all which ways. It reminds me of what my hair was like after a day of motorcycle riding.

I am hoping to slowly be able to handle the RV life on my own, if the need ever arises. (I hope not). So while on my outing to do errands, I saw that we were extremely low on diesel for the truck. My first thought is to just let Scott fill it up next time we're out, but I was a little nervous that maybe that was pushing it. I later found out, Scott has a 5 gal. container of diesel just in case.
Anyway, I nixed out Shell because it was on the other side of the road and I couldn't quickly see where the diesel pumps were. I had to go to Walmart and their gas station had diesel. So on my way in to the parking lot, I scan the gas station and check out where the diesel pumps are. Ah ha! There they are, right in plain site. Hmmmm, which side of the truck is the gas tank opening. So off I go into Walmart, got the minimum of staples (eggs & milk). I forgot it was the day before Easter and it was a madhouse in there. I hate crowds, so I had to get out of there FAST! Ok, calm down Deb, checkout was painless and now back at the truck to try to fill the tank. Remember, we're from NJ. Jersey girls don't pump gas! So after this huge story buildup, I pumped the diesel without incident. Why was I so nervous?  Hopefully, I'll have the same experience when I try to tow the 5th wheel....someday.

PETS:
The Mesa Verde RV Park resident Labradoodle, Weaser is about the same age and size as our Irish Setter, Devin. They have been having a blast playing together.

FOOD & BEVERAGE:

SHERIDAN'S LATTES & FROZEN CUSTARD 

Confusing menu  My rating 4 out of 5. Would have received a 5 out of 5, but I can't understand the menu.

My weakness is ice cream and anything similar (frozen custard). I stopped here because of all the great reviews.
Upon looking through the window into the working area, there are all kinds of visual goodies. Lots of toppings, syrups, etc displayed. Like a playground for custard lovers.
But...the "menu" is on a huge board and although it is eye catching, it is VERY CONFUSING! All I wanted to do was try a cone of custard. Since I couldn't find anywhere a list of custard flavors anywhere on the menu, I assumed they would have at least chocolate & vanilla. I opted for a double dip chocolate in a waffle cone. They claim they make them.
CHOCOLATE CUSTARD: Delicious. Smooth, creamy, light chocolate taste. I prefer a richer chocolate taste. Since I don't know much about custard, I don't know if the lighter chocolate is a characteristic of custard or the preference of Sheridan's.
WAFFLE CONE: Delicious. I could eat the cone as a yummy snack with a cup of tea or coffee. Just a touch of cinnamon in the life but sturdy waffle.
I would return again for their delicious product, but I WON'T be returning because I can't figure out their menu.

APPLES: Who knows what might interest blog readers. I try to think if I'd be interested in what I right. So here's a little info on apples.  My preference is towards the tart and crisp apples. I don't like soft & sweet apples, such as McIntosh. I usually will go for the yellow/green Granny Smith apples as a first choice. The Red Delicious as a second choice. Most groceries now have a wide variety of apples, so you may be wary to try some of the unfamiliar varieties. My new favorite are the Gala apples. They are just slightly sweet and crisp. Try one out next time you're shopping.


Tomatoes: I picked up some beautiful Roma tomatoes at the local Ace Hardware/Lowe's grocery store. It seems that they are trying to ape Walmart Super Ctrs. with having a general store attached to a grocery store. 
Being from NJ, I should have had access to beautiful "Jersey Tomatoes"...not! 10 yrs ago, I looked forward to the end of summer to be able to purchase those beautiful huge bright red Jersey tomatoes. Ya know, tomatoes are a fruit and not a vegetable. And I would eat those juicy sweet bits of heaven like a fruit. Mmmmmm. 

But in recent years the tomatoes seem to be hothouse or just gross looking. 

 I was thrilled at the rich red color of these Roma Tomatoes and I was not disappointed.  I made a tomato, cucumber and onion salad with them.

TOMATO / CUCUMBER SALAD

1 large or 2 small tomatoes, cubed

1/2 cucumber, cubed

1 thick slice sweet onion, chopped

1/2 tsp. italian seasoning

salt & pepper to taste

Splash of olive oil

1-2 TBSP. balsamic vinegar

Single service, light and refreshing.

WEATHERFORD, TX 76088

WESTWOOD RV PARK

Weatherford, TX 76088

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RV LIFE:

This is just an overnight stop. We stayed so long at Escapees (a week turned into a month) in Livingston, TX, that we are trying to make up some time & distance.  So a couple of short stops and longer distances to come.

Westwood RV Park is a little "Mom & Pop" park. Seems fairly quiet in a nice neighborhood. No bathrooms or laundry. This is a place for definitely self-contained rv'rs. No views. Right next to a quarry, so you do get a lot of truck noise, but still not bad. Well kept, with fairly level gravel sites and paved roads. Free WiFi that was fast. Owner was very nice and easy going.  We would return if need be, but would not seek this park out as a place to settle.
 / Sites close together, but well kept. Fairly level gravel.
+ Full hook ups
+ WiFi Free and FAST
- No Laundry
/ No bathrooms
+ Pets welcome
+ Verizon internet worked well

/ Small park with quite a few long time residents.

We did meet a nice couple next to us. When we arrived, we checked out the rigs on either side of us. We noticed a skinny tether for a dog, but at the end of the tether was a LARGE collar. We figured there must be a large, well behaved dog next door. If the dog was not well behaved, they would have a stronger tether line.

Sure enough, ends up there's a VERY SWEET Doberman next door.  Did I say VERY SWEET? 8 yrs old and still wants to play even though he has a weak back end. Devin & damn, I forgot his name played well together. Wish there was a dog park near. Poor "what's his name" did end up with his back end collapsing after a while, but he didn't seem in pain. He was still happy.

The couple that owned the Doberman were really nice and I'm sure we would have had a nice time being neighbors if we'd stayed longer. They are the first couple that we know of that saw our "new" vinyl sign on the back window, with our blog listed. Sure enough, they checked us out. Those nosy neighbors! :) So if those nosy ex neighbors are reading this post, please either email or enter in the comments your wonderful Doberman's name, so I can fill it in.

PETS:

...which brings me to step up on my soap box...This large Doberman didn't have a mean bone in his body. Did I say how sweet he is? It's a shame that insurance companies have to ban breeds because of media hype. Don't blame the campgrounds & RV parks. They have to ban because of their insurance carriers. Why can't insurance companies put a clause in to allow the banned breeds if they have passed the CANINE GOOD CITIZEN test & have the certificate to prove it. 

It is absolutely ridiculous to ban a whole breed. It needs to be a case by case. The Canine Good Citizen test is legitimate proof of the character of the INDIVIDUAL DOG no matter the breed.

I'm scared to death of Akita's. I've only met two and both were unpredictable. The only dog that bit me was an American Cocker Spaniel.  Any dog can be a biter. It's not the breed, it the way the dog was brought up, trained, treated, etc.

Magnet on our truck

On our way out of this RV park, we saw this jet stream. Wonder why it was in such a tight circle? Or could this possibly be a cloud formation?

Allegro needs surgery

RAINBOW'S END-Escapees
Livingston, TX 77351
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**PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT MY NEW PAGE TEMPORARILY UP ABOUT ALLEGRO

RV LIFE & MODS:
We have a very relaxed lifestyle now. Our goal for the day is to do ONE chore! Then we are free to do as we please.
Today, I put our blog address on our rear window of the RV, with vinyl lettering. Scott put our "home" town & state on the front of the RV with vinyl lettering.

There happened to be a sign making store that we kept passing every time we had to go into the town of Livingston.  Very nice woman (owner). Quick service and I feel reasonable prices.
The large "Neptune, New Jersey" sign cost approximately $30.00 for 6" high letters.  The blog address sign cost approximately $20.00 for 3" high letters.

FOOD & BEVERAGE:

I must admit, I've only tried two flavors...Mocha Almond Fudge & Butter Percan. My ultimate weakness is ice cream. So while we are traveling the country, I scout out "home made" ice cream stores. I rarely find a mocha flavor, so I had to try this.
MOCHA ALMOND FUDGE: Excellent. Creamy, rich chocolate flavor with just a subtle coffee flavor amid the chocolate. The nuts were crushed instead of whole, which I thought would get lost in the ice cream. But they put so many crushed FRESH almonds in that it completes this flavor beautifully.
Butter Pecan is my "go to" flavor to determine my ratings for ice cream stores. I look for a buttery taste through out the ice cream with plenty of pecans. I do NOT like vanilla ice cream with pecans thrown in and called Butter Pecan.
BUTTER PECAN: Very good. Also had subtle flavoring of vanilla butter, without tasting like artificial flavoring. Lots of pecans throughout.
WAFFLE CONE: Tasty & fresh.
I also took a quart of the Mocha Almond Fudge home with me.

BOOKS:

Kindle edition:

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sci-Fi/Vampire:
Great story line & characters continued in this 4th book of the "Twilight" series. I am so into the characters and have not lost interest at all in this story.
Had to watch "Breaking Dawn", the movie right after reading. Loved it!


View all my reviews

AUDIO BOOK:

  Undeniably Yours by Shannon Stacey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Romance:

Audio book version: Good narration by Lauren Fortgang

As with most Harlequin romance books, this is light and typical. But, I still loved it. The characters were well developed and likeable. I did get a little frustrated with the stubborn thinking of the main female character, Beth. But that was a big part of the story line. I knew it would end well. Unrealistic story, but isn't that part of being taken away into the unreal world of book reading?

View all my reviews

AUDIO BOOK:
Though Not Dead by Dana Stabenow
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Murder Mystery with a little romance:

Audio book version: Good narration by Marguerite Gavin

Starts out with the death of a long time well loved local.

The story surrounds his history and also his beneficiary, Kate's history.

A good story, but too much history about Alaska. Admittedly, I am not a history fan. So if you are, you'll enjoy all the extra info on the history of Alaska.

I would have rated 4 out of 5 if the history part had been abbreviated.


View all my reviews

Days fly...

RAINBOW'S END-Escapees

Livingston, TX 77351

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RV life:

Since we are STILL in Livingston, TX, I don't have much to blog about. We live a quiet life, so day to day activities are quite boring to write about. For us, it's nice. Little responsibility, not many expenses.  

We laugh, because there are things that Scott would like to do but says..."I don't have enough time in the day".  Of course he stays in bed until noon most days. Not actually sleeping, but after he wakes, he reads, then has a cup of coffee and reads some more while watching TV. Before he knows it, it's noon. Sometimes he'll start cooking breakfast, which I love because by the time he finishes, it my lunch time.

I get up at the crack of dawn, thanks to Devin. 

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 Scott passes time by cooking quite often. He made a hearty tomato sauce with this hunk of meat, slow simmered until it could be shredded in the sauce

The dogs pass the time staying cool indoors...

or Devin keeping busy outside with Mom.

That is a 12" ruler in that hole. We are undecided whether to stop him or just let him have fun. As you can see, we let him have fun. We have bought a couple of bags of dirt and grass seed, to repair his digging when we leave.

I pass the time crafting and baking. Lyla loved licking the loaf pan clean.

CRAFTS: I'm still cross stitching most of the day outside. People are starting to become curious as to what I'm doing all day, sitting in the same position. Haven't worked on the sweater much. By the time I come in at 7pm from cross stitching all day, then I need to fix/eat dinner and it's almost time for bed! Another day flew by.

I did complete a soap saver that is loosely based on this SOAP SAVER pattern. A soap saver is a pouch that you can throw in all those little end pieces of soap instead of throwing them out. I put a sponge also in the pouch. This soap saver is made out of beading hemp twine, so it also acts as an exfoliater.

FOOD & BEVERAGE:

Being from NJ, we are somewhat prejudiced in that you can't get good Italian food outside of the NY/NJ area. We were pleasantly surprised by this strip mall restaurant.
The walls were completed covered with murals of grape vine fields, etc.
Service was good.


Stuffed Mushrooms: Excellent. Very flavorful bread crumb type stuffing with mozzarella cheese melted over the top.


Chicken Fettucini Alfredo: Very Good. Fettucini cooked just right. Nice bite size chunks of chicken and the sauce was delicious. You could really taste the REAL cream as one of the ingredients.


Spaghetti & Meatballs with marinara sauce: Very Good. The sauce was simple but tasty. There were six or seven small meatballs, that were average in flavor.


Pizza with peppers & mushrooms: Not as good as our local NJ pizza place, but I would definitely get another. The mozzarella cheese is excellent tasting, which is important. Their crust was somewhat soft and thicker than what we prefer.
All in all definitely a place to check out. We plan on returning.
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Scott is a Port and Sweet wine drinker (yeck).
Taylor's Fine Tawny Port:
$13.00 Scott's rating 3.5 out of 5

This is his cheap go to, usually easy to find Port. It's a rare port (& probably terrible) if it's under $10.00.
He has been having a very difficult time finding Port in this part of TX. So he's had to start switching to sweet wines. I'm happy about that because wine is a lot cheaper than port and Scott drinks more than I do.

Wimberley Valley Winery Texas Country Cellars Sweet Red: 
$5.50 (on sale) Rating 4 out of 5

I even like this wine. It's definitely got a fruity taste with a sweet finish. I tasted it at room temperature. This would definitely be a nice wine chilled and to be sipped on a hot day.  Would also probably make a nice base for Sangria. 

Sangria basic recipe

1 bottle red wine

Sliced oranges, peaches, strawberries, lemon, lime, etc.

1/4 cup sugar

Optional:

1/4-1/2 port or  Cpt. Morgan Rum, or Vodka or Gin or Triple Sec (orange liquor) 

Ginger ale or seltzer to add some bubbly.

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Since our Alaska trip was cancelled and since we've been stuck in Livingston, TX for over a month (ugh!!!!), we've decided to skip San Antonio and just cut across the northern section of TX quickly and travel to central & northern NM. We haven't been impressed with TX. It actually reminds me of NJ, which is not a good thing.