THE HEART ATTACK GRILL

THERE’S A NEW RESTAURANT ON FREEMONT STREET SINCE WE’VE BEEN THERE, CALLED THE HEART ATTACK GRILL.  YOU MAY HAVE HEARD OF IT ACTUALLY,  A FEW WEEKS AGO A PATRON HAD A REAL HEART ATTACK AT THE PLACE AND THE NEWS WENT VIRAL ON THE WEB AND IN THE NEWS MEDIA.

BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED FOR THE OWNERS.  WITH ALL THE FREE PRESS, EVEN ON A MONDAY AFTERNOON AFTER THE LUNCH HOUR WE STOOD IN LINE TO GET INTO THE PLACE.

 

BY THE WAY, YOU READ THE SIGN RIGHT IN THE FIRST PICTURE, OVER 350 POUNDS YOU EAT FOR FREE.  THERE IS A BIG WAREHOUSE SCALE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DINING ROOM.  WHILE WE WERE THERE A BIG GUY CLIMBED ON AND HIS WEIGHT WENT OVER 350.  THE WHOLE ROOM BURST INTO CHEERS, AND APPLAUSE FOR THE BIG GUY.

BEFORE WE WERE SEATED WE ALL HAD TO PUT HOSPITAL GOWNS ON.

 

MARY GOT TO JAW-JACKING WITH OUR NURSE (WAITRESS) AND SHE PULLED UP A CHAIR AND SAT DOWN TO TAKE OUR ORDER.  HERE SHE IS SENDING TO THE ORDER TO THE KITCHEN ON HER SMART PHONE.

 

I’M SURE MARY IS CHECKING OUT HER SMART PHONE, AS IT WAS MY JOB TO GOOGLE HER NICE HOOTERS.  MIKEY TRIED TO ORDER THE GARDEN SALAD, BUT THAT WAS NOT TO BE IN THE HEART ATTACK GRILL.  IT’S A BURGER JOINT AND THE BUGERS ARE HALF POUND PATTIES. ONE PATTY IS CALLED THE SINGLE BYPASS, A DOUBLE IS CALLED THE DOUBLE BYPASS, ETC.

HERE IS MY CHOCOLATE SHAKE WITH A PAT OF BUTTER ON TOP AS A GARNISH.

AND THE SANDWICH, COMPLETE WITH TWO PIECES OF CHEESE AND BACON.

WE GOT A CHUCKLE OUT OF THE BILL.  INSTEAD OF SALES TAX, THE RECEIPT SAID “OBAMA’S CUT”.

OUTSIDE SETS AN OLD AMBULANCE, JUST IN CASE?

MIKEY’S VACATION

MIKEY AND I LEARNED TO DEAL BLACKJACK TOGETHER IN THE SAME CLASS AT THE MISS MARQUETTE, MANY YEARS AGO.  WE SPENT 80 HOURS TOGETHER IN THAT CLASS, WORKED TOGETHER ON THE BOAT, TOOK THE 40 HOUR ROULETTE CLASS, AND FINALLY SPENT ABOUT 250 HOURS IN A CRAPS CLASS.

MIKEY SPENT A LOT OF TIME OFF WITH MARY AND I DRINKING, NIGHT FISHING, GOING ON ROAD TOURS, AND CAMPING OUT AT YELLOW RIVER. LOT’S OF GREAT CAMPFIRE STORIES COULD BE AND HAVE BEEN TOLD.

IN 1999 REX CAME WEST, AND MIKEY LEFT THE CASINO IN THE YEAR 2000 TO WORK ON THE RAILROAD, WE LOST TOUCH.

TEN YEARS LATER WE WERE HAVING A DRINK AT THE SAWMILL SALOON IN PRAIRE DU CHEIN, WI AND VISITING WITH ROBBO THE BARTENDER.  WE ASKED IF HE EVER RAN INTO MIKEY?  HE SAID HE THOUGHT HE HAD MIKEY’S CELL PHONE NUMBER AND WE CALLED MIKEY UP FOR SHOTS AT THE TOP OF THE HOUR.

TEN YEARS OF CATCHING UP, A HELL OF A HANGOVER THE NEXT DAY, AND WE WERE CONNECTED AGAIN.  MIKEY BECAME A FAITHFUL BLOG READER AND WE PLANNED TO GET TOGETHER AGAIN IN 2011 WHEN WE VISITED WISCONSIN.

WHEN WE GOT TOGETHER IN OCTOBER OF 2011, MIKEY ANNOUNCED THAT HE HAD SOME VACATION TIME AND MONEY SAVED AND WANTED TO DO A NEVADA VACATION! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL !!!

MIKEY AND HIS FRIEND JERRY FLEW INTO VEGAS ON SUNDAY AND WE SPENT SUNDAY, MONDAY, AND TUESDAY IN VEGAS. WEDNESDAY THRU SATURDAY THEY RENTED A CAR AND DID A NEVADA ROADTRIP, MARY I WENT BACK TO WORK FOR FOUR DAYS, AND THEN WE SPENT SUNDAY AND MONDAY IN LAUGHLIN.

IT WASN’T LONG AND MIKEY DECLARED THAT FREEMONT STREET WAS HIS FAVORITE PLACE ON THE PLANET!!

 

OUR FIRST STOP AFTER PICKING UP MIKEY AND JERRY AT THE AIRPORT AT 9:08 AM WAS THE HARD ROCK CASINO. EVEN THOUGH IT WAS EARLY IN NEVADA IT WAS NOON IN WISCONSIN AND MIKEY PROUDLY ANNOUNCED THAT HE WAS BUYING THE FIRST DRINK IN VEGAS !!

MIKEY STEPPED UP TO THE BAR AND ORDERED THE FOUR DRINKS AND PULLED A $20 BILL FROM HIS WALLET.  MIKEY’S EYES GOT AS BIG A SAUCERS WHEN THE BARTENDER LOOKED AT THE $20, SCRATCHED HIS HEAD, AND SAID, “THAT WILL BE $38, SIR”.

WELCOME TO LAS VEGAS MIKEY !!!

 

(THE CURRENT “DOORS AND DRAWERS” SCORE: 21 DONE, AND 29 TO GO.)

Tinker

By Uncle Hans

     .......Tinker was great fun.  Our friends enjoyed his visit, as well.  He is just learning the freedom of being able to fly.  We have kept his wings clipped until we got to know one another better, now they are about 2/3 thirds grown out.  He is becoming very adept, and started "shoulder-hopping" on this trip.  A little un-nerving to be on a 10-lane freeway at 75mph and have something fluttering to a landing (or crash-landing) on your shoulder.  He also shows up whenever there is food.

He does not really eat that much, but has to taste and feel everything.  He likes to play and make noise. 

His cage crashed twice, once during a sudden stop in traffic and once when I hit a curb on a corner (the back wheels are like 8 feet wide and the front is only 6).  He did not sustain injury that we can tell, but I'm sure he suffered emotional trauma as he got quiet for a few minutes.

  Then it was back to constant nonsense gibberish, almost like having three teenagers in the back...........

.............We saw lots of interesting stuff, and even stopped to "smell the roses" once in a while.  This is the new bridge between the two "Kansas Cities".

Renee is standing by the Rialta (she has named it the "Love Shack" after her little place on Deer lake, near Spooner).  Above her is a square blob that pokes up into the sky.  Behind the blob is the Minnesota Capitol Rotunda, complete with scaffolding as it under repair.  You have to trust me that it is there.  We are in the parking lot of the White Castle, where we dined in style.  It was our third restaurant meal in 6 days, and we really splurged here.  I had 4 sliders and Renee 5.

  Across the parking lot was a drug bust, complete with two squad cars, am ambulance and 8-10 officers.  It may have been something benign, like a medical call, but it was fun to watch as we ate our sliders.

No gunfire, though.......

  .....Renee has the map out here, but is she navigating?
           Hell NO!.......How can you get lost on I35, remember? 
         She is looking at destinations for our next trip, in April.  Look carefully, it looks like Savannah or Myrtle Beach.  Tinker will not be with us, he can't stay locked in the RV at 85 degrees and you can't take him with anywhere outside or you would never see him again.  One more fun thing to do while RVing is to plan your next trip..........

  ....So here we are back at home sweet home.  Jake helped me back the Love Shack into the garage and she can rest. She deserves it.  3200 miles and no mechanical problems....

    Not a bad maiden voyage at that!

By Uncle Hans

San Antonio

By Uncle Hans 

We stopped at the famous Riverwalk in San Antonio.  It was raining, so we stayed indoors, but could appreciate the beautiful concept: a multi-story shopping mall, right downtown, with a river running through it.

Renee made a killing at a Pacsun store, 30-50% off for the weekend.  We hit the food court.

 

Two pictures are of the river shot through the windows. In the one with the steps, you can see our rig, parked on the street across from an entrance, in the upper left hand corner.

 

I had to load our treasures in the trunk in the pouring rain, so it was nice to be able to park on the street nearby.

This rig parks well, in a normal sized spot, but, like all RV's ....................NO parking ramps!

........We spent that night camping and staying in out of the rain.  We had a nice candle light dinner of soup we had brought along and ice cream we had bought ...........

  ........(you guessed it?) at WalMart.  Rex has pointed out to us that Walmart has a long-standing policy of allowing people with RV's to spend the night in their parking lot under the security lights.  It's called "Boondocking", but Renee calls it "Bootlegging" (she lives in her own little world).

The second picture show our actual campsite.

  The sites don't have slot numbers like an RV campground.  They also don't have sewer hook-ups, water hook-ups, or electricity.  But the price is right.  We ran the generator long enough to microwave the soup, which, I am guessing, is against the "park rules".
    Oh Well.......

.........We paid them back by shopping to replenish our supplies.  Renee is restocking the refrigerator, which is large and we love it, now that we can figure out how to light it.  It is "Three-way", of course, that's 110 volt, 12 volt, and LP gas.  The 12 volt is very effective as long as the temp outside is below freezing (I think it is just a fan to bring in outside air!).  Warmer temps make it pretty worthless.  The gas works well, as does the 110v.  We camped in Ed and Judy's driveway and had 110v.  Having the fridge on the road is a joy.  We both gained 2 or 3 lbs on a 6 day trip..........

.....We left in subfreezing temps and came home to the same.  That meant leaving the on-board plumbing "winterized" with antifreeze in all the lines, and not using it.  Otherwise, you risk freezing damage to all the plumbing.  Our next trip will be in warmer season and we look forward to the use of the plumbing, sinks and shower included.  But the toilet flow directly into the black tank and is not really at risk of freezing damage, if managed.  We found it VERY helpful, both while camping and driving.  We just added a little non-toxic pink antifreeze fluid occasionally as a flush............

By Uncle Hans

South Texas

By Uncle Hans

  .........we visited our friends, Ed and Judy the first aft/evening and went out to eat, catching up on all the news in the medical world (Ed is a "retiring" anesthetist whom I worked with for 30 years).

  The next day we went the 5 miles to Mexico and went shopping. 

       No, I successfully resisted the urge to buy this gorgeous sombrero, but we succumbed to this ceramic wall hanging.  We have been looking for something to fill a big blank space on the brick wall facing the lake at home.................

   ......The next day we started the long trip back.  Renee quickly came to enjoy the RV lifestyle.  She crocheted.

She napped.  She spent a couple of hours with the local newspaper and enjoyed the real estate section.  She snacked and made sandwiches for me.  She played with the bird............

By Uncle Hans