May 2015 Louisiana Road Trip Part 1 OR I am Almost a Country Star

"I always seem to stumble onto some weird shit."--Sluggy

Mid May of this year and we were off on another road trip to see our daughter in Louisiana.

Up and on the road bright and early on Sunday May 17th it took just about 2.5 hours to get out of PA and cross over into the South..........

Last year's trip we took I-81 all the way down into Tennessee, then down into Alabama, across Mississippi and west through Louisiana.  This year we decided to take a bit of a different route to LA as we wanted to spend some time in Kentucky this trip.

We took I-81 into Maryland and then picked up I-68 West into West Virginia.

 

 

Maryland sign as we left.
Sorry we won't be back for a couple of weeks! ;-)

Another 1.5 hours and we were in West Virginia.....

While driving down I-81 we always see many large crosses along the highway, going across I-68 we see a fair share of gigantic American flags too......

We were getting mighty hungry by the time we hit Morgantown, WV so we got off the road to find something to eat for lunch.

We saw a sign for some chain restaurant that wasn't too nasty but we missed it once we got off the exit and ended up driving for miles.
Then we drove back toward the interstate and saw this place right across from a mall so we went with it......

Schmitt's Saloon and Davisson Brothers Music Hall.
I figured Hubs could get a nice brew and we could get something fried or "bad for us" to eat.

If I only knew......

As we approached the door to the place we say this big sign posted on the door........

Attention
This event is being filmed, videotaped and/or photographed.  By being present at this event each person in attendance irrevocably consents to being filmed, videotaped and/or photographed and releases all producers and users of such fill, videotape or photograph from any liability for loss or damages.....yadda  yadda yadda.

WTF?

So we go inside and hope for the best.

Seems we stumbled upon a real life saloon and music hall(with a stage and theater lighting)venue for live bands.  Supposedly the "premiere live band venue in West Virginia".

 

 

 

A wall of posters by the bathrooms from past local and national country acts that have played this hall.

So we go in anyway and get a table across from the bar and a waitress in a denim miniskirt comes over and slaps down a couple of menus that have the heading "Event Menu" on them.
Event Menu??
The plot thickens......

The menu has about 9 items on it so we choose a couple of burgers, Hubs gets a beer and I stick to iced tea.

It's a Sunday afternoon and we have great fun looking at the small crowd in this here bar.

Hubs loved the couple at the bar......a 40ish guy trying to look 20 years younger with his wrinkled up also trying to pass for 20 skinny gal friend dressed in white pants so tight seam failure was always seconds away.  I counted that this guy drank 6 beers in the almost an hour we were there.

At about beer round #5 said gal friend actually fell off her bar stool.  Nobody batted an eye.
Just a day in the life of a bar fly I suppose.

My favorite was the one I dubbed "Rastafarian WV Granny".  Now picture this--an old, almost toothless white woman wearing glasses, dressed in an almost see through granny nightgown and bedroom slippers with ta-tas that hadn't seen a bra in decades with Rastafarian dirty blonde dreadlocks.  I think she got lost and wandering out from a nearby trailer park and was looking for the way back home.

She must have shuffled back and forth by our table 20 times in the short while we were at Schmitt's.

I thought about getting a photo of her but the flash would have tipped her off and besides I just tried NOT to make eye contact every time she shuffled by. 
These are exactly the kind of people who take a "shine" to me and decide to just come over to me, a complete stranger, and strike up a conversation like we have been pals for years.  I just didn't want to take that chance today......

As we waited on our burgers, the emcee got up on stage at the mike and said their FunFest show for today was starting and they had 3 bands on today's program.   And then he added that after the show they were going to film a music video for county singer Scott Shelby and that is why that sign was on the front door.

The emcee continued that they needed more people in the saloon so asked everyone to call or text their friends to come on down around 4pm and they could all be in the official music video for the title track of Shelby's new album, "Still Got It".

I begged Hubs to let us stay and hang around for the filming of the video but he didn't want to be driving late into the night.  But wouldn't it be cool to be able to tell people that I was in a music video for some real life country singer?  8-)))

And with that, a band began playing music and the girl singer started wailing into the mike.
I decided to take a clandestine bit of video while the crowds milled around and Hubs played on his phone.  That video is HERE.

After nobody seemed to notice and shut me down I took another short bit of video.....



This band is called "Trial by Fire".  They have a Facebook page HERE.

The guy on the right with the orange guitar got my attention with the first tune they played.  He put his guitar backwards behind his head and shredded during their first number.
Now THAT takes talent.....

HERE is another proper video of another of the songs they do.

We ate while the band played on and then we left before the other two bands took the stage and totally missed the opportunity to become famous via music video.
Oh well.....easy come easy go. lolz

Here's the website for singer Scott Shelby

And here is the music video that was filmed at Schmitt's that day after we left.  They hardly even show the audience/crowd so maybe it was a good thing we let this one go by.  I bet the next opportunity for fame and fortune are just around the corner......ya, that's it......



We got back onto the Interstate and made tracks ourselves.....tracks for Huntington, WV where we were to stop for the night.

Only problem was, the stretch of highway between Morgantown and Huntington WV wasn't conducive to me keeping food down.  Somebody should have warned me that this stretch of interstate was rather twisty and hilly.   And I'm not talking regular twisty and hilly.

I have since dubbed West Virginia, "The Land of Roller Coasters".  On that day it sure felt like I was on a gigantic roller coaster without end, holding onto a plastic bag in case my lunch wanted a repeat performance.
I did manage not to hurl but was I ever glad when we hit Morgantown and could get off the highway.

Here are a couple of photos I snapped with my free hand when the waves of nausea weren't rolling like the road.....

That's Roanoke WV, not Roanoke VA.

 Angry clouds matching my nauseous stomach rumblings......

 

And I SWEAR this is about the only FLAT stretch of road that day.......but it was twisty and curvy......sigh.....

We had a reservation for the Quality Inn on Route 6 leading into Huntington.
$89.60 for 1 night in a rundown "seen better days" Quality Inn with no amenities outside of a pretty bad free breakfast.

We stashed the luggage and went out in search of dinner as it was getting dark.  I wasn't too hungry still but Hubs was famished.

We opted for a Bob Evans tucked into the other edge of town past Marshall University rather than attempting some of the places blogger buddy Jay had recommended.   My stomach needed bland and boringly predictable food........

My grilled chicken came with a flag stuck into it so I had a little fun in the near deserted dining area......I embarrass Hubs everywhere we go.......

By the time we finished our meal and headed back to the motel it was pitch dark and our GPS "Vicki" was still having seizures--shutting down suddenly and then reviving long enough to bark out directions that made little sense before shutting down or recalculating yet again.
"Vicki" was not earning her keep on this trip.....

So we tried to find our way back up Route 6 despite a bunch of one way roads that confused Hubs even more in the dark.

A cool retro neon sign outside a bus station.

The Marshall U. sign I snapped right before Hubs took a wrong turn down a one way road....!!!

Yep, I noticed that there were headlights coming toward us from a distance and they were from ALL the driving lanes and that is how I figured out he was going the wrong way down a one way street.
Well, that and the headlights started flashing at us.

So we ducked into a driveway and waited for the traffic to pass and made a turn and went back down the road in the correct direction.

I guess we are just too old to drive in a town we aren't familiar with at night.......well, that plus I was still between cataract surgeries.....

We made it back to the room safe and sound after that and dare not go anywhere until daylight.
It sure wouldn't have been much fun to meet our end on a dark road in West Virginia.
Besides I can't squeal like a pig very well.....





Sluggy

 

This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "Lazy Week" Edition--

Not much going on here this past week.  If you don't count getting a head start on my month end money stuff.
Here's about the most excitement I had last week......

I opened this bottle of root beer brewed in the Virgin Islands that I picked up while in Fredericksburg VA.
It was quite tasty as root beers go and if I see it again at this price in my travels I'll buy some more.

 

Onward to the meal planning!

 

Here's what was planned last week.......

1. Sunday--Chicken Parm, Tossed Salad
2. Monday--Roast Chicken, Squash Casserole
3. Tuesday--Leftovers
4. Wednesday--Tacos
5. Thursday--Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Cole Slaw(leftover)
6, Friday--BLT sandwiches
7. Saturday--Leftovers

 

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Chicken Parm, Tossed Salad
2. Monday--Roast Chicken, Squash Casserole
3. Tuesday--Leftover chicken Parm made into Subs
4. Wednesday--Tacos
5. Thursday--Leftover Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Cole Slaw
6, Friday--Risotto with Leftover Chicken and Mushrooms, Stir-fry Veggies
7. Saturday--McDonald's Chicken Sandwich

Pretty much everything as planned except no BLT's and I made Risotto using leftover chicken and I was too tired to cook Sat. night so Hubs went to Mickey D's and got me a chicken sandwich(he got a Big Mac).  I made a cheese grits with leftover country ham for breakfast Sat. morning and served it with fried apples slices.  Now I have a big dish of THAT to use up.
meh.

As for my grocery spending last week.....

2 trips to Weis, doing the paper product deal x 2 and some other loss leaders plus a gallon of milk at the independent grocer.  I spent $81.39 on $228.87 of regular retail goods.
Plus that $100 I dropped on Rite-Aid gift cards(to use later this year) so I am up to $181.39 of spending for last week.
bleh.


Leftovers going into this week--some roast chicken, taco meat, tiny bit of barbecue pork, cole slaw, lots of risotto, stir-fried veggies and a big portion of that Grits breakfast casserole I made on Sat.
We had some food waste this week--some of the baked beans from the July 4th picnic got moldy before they all got used.  Oh well.
 

Here is this week's food plan--

1. Sunday--Kielbasa(from the freezer), rolls, onions, pickles
2. Monday--crab cakes and fish, leftover cole slaw, leftover stir-fry veggies
3. Tuesday--leftover roast chicken made into something TBD, grilled yellow squash
4. Wednesday--maybe Chinese take-out or "breakfast for dinner"
5. Thursday--eating out
6, Friday--eating out
7. Saturday--leftovers(risotto?)and veggies

What I need to buy for this menu?.....I don't need a thing.  It's only a partial week's menu and I am not grocery shopping again until August rolls around.  The only thing I see worth going to the store for, here this week, is pickles.  How pathetic is that? lolz
 

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?    

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten that week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week? 

Sluggy

Ho Hum Weekend

Not much going on around here this weekend.
It's hotter than hell today so I am staying indoors with the a/c on after a trip outside to check on the garden.

I haven't gone anywhere since Friday when I hit the bank and Weis(PMITA)Markets to do that paper products deal again.  And yes, I got another $3 Catalina for doing the deal. 8-)

Hubs on the other hand, has made 5 trips out this weekend and even went down the mountain for 3 of them.

I called Sonya and Eldest son yesterday but evidently they both have a life on weekends, unlike me...... 8-(

I rode my bike another 8 miles the last 2 days.

I saw on the news last night that it was 109 in Shreveport Louisiana the other day.
OMG!  I think this plan to move to LA has to be rethought..............

I made a cheese grits and country ham casserole with leftover ham we had for breakfast Saturday. Served that with fried apple slices.  It was ok but nothing great.  As we don't eat much of a breakfast during the week here, I might pan fry slices of it in bacon fat and serve that for dinner one night this week to use it up.  That plus sometime green and healthier would make a right proper meal.

Speaking of food, I am working on both my July food spending post and my Savings Challenge post, as well as my Monday menu post this weekend.
Is it really time again to make another weekly menu??  Didn't I just make one 2 days ago? lolz

I might even start in on my May road trip series of posts too.

I did do a bit of genealogy digging on Saturday as I haven't been doing much with that hobby lately.  Found some interesting information on another "new to me" dead relation.  Might make a trip somewhere while on the Family Reunion excursion in September to flesh this info out and have something proper to post on it.  I also need to work on Part 2 of the genealogy post on my paternal grandfather but just haven't been "feeling it" lately.

We do have some excitement coming up in the coming week around Chez Sluggy though.

* Later this week finds us making a trip to Pittsburgh PA and then to Fredericksburg VA to move Eldest son.  The weather is suppose to be muggy and questionable those days which doesn't bode well.  I hope things turn out for the best even so.

* Then next week it's a quick visit from a blogging friend on her way through this area.  I will try not to poison her with my cooking and OMG this means I have to CLEAN THE HOUSE?....doesn't it???!!!
Oh, now I didn't think about that when I offered her dinner.  Maybe I can talk her into wearing sunglasses(better yet, a blindfold!)inside the house so she doesn't see all the cobwebs.......ya think?

Hubs and I need to go over some retirement type paperwork that he sent off for a couple of weeks ago.  Maybe we'll go through that tonight if I can stay awake.....stuff like this just makes me want to sleep. lolz

Ok, I am off to see what I can offer Hubs for dinner here tonight and get some more miles logged on the bike.
I doubt if he will think highly of leftover baked beans from the July 4th picnic which I really need to pitch out!

What's going on in your world?

Sluggy

Inspecting & Whittling Down the "Nut"...A Ramble

Since we are slated to retire in less than 3 years I am obsessed with figuring out what our "nut" or household/living expenses need to be compared to what we are spending now, pre-retirement.
I am trying to reduce our "nut" every year to try to get it as low as I can post retirement. 
I figure if we commence retirement with our expenses lowered  as much as possible and find we can in fact afford to spend more, it will be easier to expand our spending, rather than to head into retirement and find we are still spending more than our savings can handle.
Sounds like a plan, right? 8-)

Using my monthly spending/expense sheets from 2014, I have concluded that we spent $53,278.52 of our regular income that year. (This doesn't count the money I paid to buy my car in 2014 which came out of the Bonus money.)
That comes out to $4,439.87 spent per month on our "nut".

So far in 2015 we've spent $23,924.09 of our regular income to "live". (Again this doesn't count the money we paid to buy Hubs car in 2015 which also came out of the 2015 Bonus money.)
This averages out to $3,417.72 spent per month for the last 7 months. 

If we stay on this track we will have approximately a $41,012.72 nut for 2015. 
(Granted this isn't all the income we have spent as there was money taken out of the check before we got it for healthcare premiums, life insurance and long term care insurance.  These items will still need to be funded in retirement and will need to be accounted for in our "nut" spending.)

So far in 2015 we have spent about $1000 a month less than we did in 2014.
July has been out lowest month of living costs so far in 2015.  Our "nut" for July was $2200 out of our regular income.  February's spending was $2500+ change.
$2,200 in July.
Gosh I wish our monthly "nut" was this low every month......

Looking at the spending for 2014 compared to 2015 so far, here are a few of the categories where we have reduced the spending......

*  A lot less money spent on car repairs.  Buying a new car in 2014 meant no car repairs on 1 of the 2-3 cars we owned.  Buying another almost new car in 2015 meant even fewer car repairs compared to what we are use to spending on vehicles. We spent $2786.72 on car repairs in 2014.  So far in 2015 car repairs have run a mere $441.61. (Sssh, don't say that too loudly lest we offend the car gods.....)

*  Ditching cable tv.  Since getting rid of cable we are saving $70.80 per month or $849.60 per year.

*  Since putting in the mini-split heating/ac system Fall of 2013 we are shaving a bit off of the heating bill each month we use it.  It's more efficient than the system the house came with.  Yes, it cost a chunk of cash to install it/buy it but we are reaping the benefit of lower utility bills in winter and it will be an added asset when we go to sell this house.  We should recoup some of the expense of having this system put in with a higher selling price. 
It's difficult to quantify an exact figure for the savings in our heating bill since weather conditions vary from one year to the next plus the cost of electricity goes up every year here but we are trending toward lower heating bills.

*  We are no longer paying for private music lessons for College Boy out of our regular income.  He take lessons at college and that cost is included in the tuition/fees we pay for his education and that money comes from a college fund set aside years ago for that purpose.  We are saving approximately $1600 a year on this item.

*  We seem to be spending less on alcohol, clothing and "stuff" in 2015.   There has been little spending on replacing clothing, shoes, household goods and "wants" so far this year.  We just haven't felt the need to buy much "stuff" this year.
I'll have to wait until the year is over to run the numbers on adult beverage spending for 2015 but with how much we spent in 2014 on liquor I am SURE that number will be down. 8-)

*  We have no pet related expenses in 2015 since our last doggy died near the end of 2014.   We paid $450ish in vet bills and kennel fees for our dog in 2014.  There were more costs such as meds and food but I don't have a figure for this portion of pet expenses.  Let's just call that another $400 a year, so a savings in 2015 of $900+/-?

So with just these categories we are "saving" at least $6000 a year in 2015 over 2014's spending.(This is without taking into account any less spending on "stuff" and "wants" this year.)  $6K a year comes out to a $500 per month reduction in spending in 2015 over 2014.

Looking over our spending categories now there really isn't much more we can cut out of our fixed bill costs.  We have basic phone service(no fancy cell plans), basic internet/cable, have cut utility expenses, gas to get to work can't get cut, taxes are what they are, keeping medical co-pays low as possible by exercising/eating well/taking maintenance drugs/etc., and not performing "retail therapy".

Once College Boy is out on his own(hopefully in 3 years! Yes I am an optimist...lolz)there will be even less spending.  No paying for his food/drink, water and electricity use, clothing, no more paying for his glasses and healthcare, incidental monies, no fetching in back and forth to/from school and no third car to maintain and insure. 
Add in downsizing to a smaller house(less space to heat/cool and lower taxes)in a cheaper area once we move and there will be some more reductions in spending.

The only way to save more would be to cut out vacation trips and the costs associate with those.  This year we have/had taken a 2 week trip to Southern Virginia to see my brother in January, a 2 week road trip to Louisiana in May, a 2 day apartment hunting trip in July, a 3 day trip to move Eldest in July, a 3 day family reunion trip in September and a 4-5 day trip to Ocean City Maryland in October.
For a year of traveling that seems financially reasonable to me.  I would hate to have to cut out what little traveling we do per year.  Traveling, sightseeing and visiting family and the associated costs are my one "wants" spending vice other than a nice meal out now and again and buying adult beverages.  I don't spent much money on house "prettifying" or crafts or buying more fashionable clothes to cram into my closet or upgrading tvs, phones or doing entertainment or recreational things that cost lots of money.
Everybody needs to spend a little of their income on leisure and this is mine. ;-)

Even if you are trying to cut your living expenses what are the things you are reticent to give up?
What things do you spend on that are justified by helping you maintain your sanity?

To conclude this long ramble.......we seem to be bringing our expenses down slowly every year over the next.  I hope to get the "nut" down a little more over the next 3 years before we launch into that unknown territory called "retired".

Sluggy
 

Shopping on Wednesday

First I picked up a few things at Rite-Aid while I was there getting drugs.

I put the total OOP of $4.80 on a free gift card.

The Watkins lotions were free after Rain checks from around last Christmas.

The almonds were $1 for 2 cans so .50¢ per can.  They are on sale for $2.50 each this week and I used 2 x $2/1 Blue Diamond Q on the Hopster site.

The toothbrushes were $3.50 each and give back 300 in points this week.  I used a $1.50/2 Oral-B Q(coupons dotcom)so this deal after Q and points was a .50¢ moneymaker.

I had BOGO Snickers Qs plus they are BOGO this week at Rite-Aid.  Buy 4 Snickers and use 1 Q and pay $1.15(the price of 1 bar)for all 4(comes to 28 and 3/4 cents each).

I used the 400($4)in points on my card and earned 600($6)in points for the transaction.

I then bought $100 in Rite-Aid gift cards....you get $5 in points for each $50 in R-A gift cards you buy this week(limit 2).
I used budgeted cash I would end up spending at Rite-Aid anyway and converted it to store scrip(the gift cards).  That earned me 1000($10)in Plenti points.
Since I have spare cash to do this, why not earn $10 in points to spend for cash I'd use for buying items there anyway?

Now I have $16 in points to spend.  I'll wait until I can get something free or real cheap at Rite-Aid to go back and spend this since I don't "need" any toiletries.

Then it was off to Weis(PMITA)Markets.
I posted a video of my shopping trip HERE
I spent $53.03 and saved 49% over regular retail.

The best Deal was the paper products, Save $5 Instantly when you spend $25.  This runs off of regular retail but the items are on sale so you don't have to "spend" $25 actually to get the $5 discount.

2 x 6 packs of Scott paper towels at $5.99=$11.98(reg. $7.39 x2=$14.78)
1 x 12 pack of Scott toilet tissue at $7.99(reg. $10.29)
Total=$19.97(reg. $25.07).
After the $5 discount and $5 in Qs used(3 x .50/1 doubled to $1/1 and 1 x $2/1 Weis coupon book on Viva or Scott towels Q) I paid $9.97 + .59¢ tax=$10.56.

I received a $3 OYNO Catalina Q for buying 3 Scott items in 1 transaction.

I'll return later this week and do this same deal again, using similar Qs PLUS the $3 Catalina and will pay $6.97 + .41¢ tax=$7.38 for these 3 products again. 
Total for all 6 packages with tax will be $17.94 OOP.

$I'll also earn another $3 Catalina to use in the next 2 weeks.
Nice.

Sluggy