Great Road Trip of 2017-Part Three

Part One of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE

Part Two of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE

Another 45 minutes down the interstate and we were getting hungry for lunch so we stopped here in Leavenworth.  Not the one in Kansas(that's one of the few states I haven't been too yet), but the one in Indiana on the North side of the Ohio River(KY is on the South side of that watery boundary).  I bet you didn't know there was a Leavenworth in Indiana too.  It was about the size of a speck of dust and no prisons in sight.

It was around 3 pm so the place was deserted.  I got my first real meal of the day(and sobered up)........

A breaded pork tenderloin sammich and unsweetened ice tea.   I don't know what it was but that pork tasted so good!  I left most of the fries(as I knew we'd be seeing a LOT of French fries this trip and they were nothing special.

After our late lunch we stopped at the Shell gas station nearby so we could fill up the car and start using some of those Shell gas gift cards.

And that's when the first black cloud of doom hovered over us.

I swiped the gift card and started pumping gas(Hubs was inside getting coffee or something).  After about 8 seconds the pump shut off when I reached $1.98 spent on that gift card.

I went, "Huh!", to myself, because that was strange as this is the first time we tried to use one of those gift cards so it should have $50 on it.

So I finished out that transaction at $1.98 and tried swiping another gift card.  I got a strange message at the pump to "See Cashier Inside" and the card wouldn't work at all.

When Hubs came back out I explained what had happened and gave him both gift cards(the one that let me use $1.98 and the second one I tried to swipe that wouldn't work at all)to take inside to the cashier/attendant to see what was going on.

He came back outside and said the cashier tried the cards and neither had any money on them.

WTF?!?!

I had $300 in Shell cards(6 x $50 per card)and this information didn't bode well. 

I was in no position to do anything/call the company at this point(we only had a flip phone with limited minutes and we are on a cross country trip so had neither the time or where with all to deal with this now).  I'd have to handle this when we got home.

It was a good thing I didn't HAVE TO rely on these gas cards for this trip!  If so we'd be sunk.

So I tried to forget about it until we got home in August and not let it ruin my enjoyment of this trip.

We put the rest of the gasoline on our credit card and headed West.  We still had 5 hours of driving until we were stopping for the night.  

It was tempting to go to Santa Claus Indiana but we were on a tight driving schedule that day. ;-)

An hour after Santa Claus we were crossing into Illinois.

This portion of the driving was a lot of the photo above out the window.  Fields of crops and just roadside fields with vegetation.

At our next pitstop I noticed the outside temperature on the rental car's dashboard had hit 99F.....

Unfortunately for me(fortunately for Hubs who LOVES HOT weather), this temp was a portent of things to come.

This stretch of driving included going through St. Louis too.  We didn't stop in St. Louis(been there, done that)and we got through that clusterfuck before rush hour thankfully.

Here's the Mississippi River from one of the bridges into St. Louie over that waterway....I don't remember which one we crossed over on.

Nice shot of the suspension bridge over the Old Man River......

And just like that, we were in......

We had another 2 hours of driving to get to our hotel in Columbia MO so no stopping for us that day.

I think it would have been fun to stop at Ozarkland(I am all about roadside attractions!)but it was not to be this trip.  A "Barn Full of Bargains" sounds right up my alley! lolz

A photo of the place from someone who  stopped there and posted this photo on Yelp.  The reviews there were all over the place, from neat to gross. lolz

We found the hotel right before dark(after 7 something)and lugged the luggage into the room and it was still way hot outside so it felt good to finally get to the hotel.

We were both starving so we got Jimmy John's delivered to the room for dinner.  A little unwinding and tv and it was off to sleepytown for us.

And Day Two of the Epic Trip to West 2017 was in the books.

Sluggy

Frugal Friday....the September 18th Edition

 Here's what passed for frugal around here this past week.....

* First off I forgot to mention I used all my Weis Points accumulated by Sept. 7th when they expired.
I had Hubs go back to Weis(PMITA)Markets on the 7th, get another 18 ct. of eggs for .99¢(using 100 points)and then he filled my car's gas tank using the last 300 points(which was .30¢ off a gallon of gas).

* I printed off my second Playtex/Walmart $5 rebate gift card.  I used the first rebate gift card on a Walmart purchase the previous week.

* Remember those 6 bars of Neutrogena soap I got earlier this Summer doing a Johnson and Johnson deal at Walmart?

Those 2 x $10 gift card/rebates finally showed up on the same day via snail mail(and I DO mean SNAIL!).

I spent under $6 per 3 bars(which will be donated/used/giveaway fodder)and got $10 Visa prepaid cards back for each 3 bars.

Nice.

*  I found money!

This dime and penny were nestled under the candy rack by the register at Rite-Aid last Friday.

I also had a penny snatched out of my clutches at Weis(PMITA)Markets.  It was just past my shopping cart on the floor as I was checking out.  I should have pushed my cart over it to keep it safe until I was finished with the cashier.  Some woman scooped MY PENNY up as she walked by and left the store....humph, the nerve!

And no, I didn't drop everything and chase her out of the store. lol

Then on Tuesday I found another penny at Rite-Aid when I went in to finish up my Bonus Challenges.

rah me. lolz

Total Change found this week. .12¢
Total Change found this year....$48.15

* I got a single cup of Brown Cow brand yogurt at Weis last Friday.  It was on quick sale for .50¢ and I got .25¢ back on Ibotta for buying it.  But the cashier scanned the reg. barcode so it rang up $1.25. Yikes!

I went to Customer Service and got a .75¢ refund to tuck into my refund/post coupon envelope.

*  I remembered to get my PandG Summer Rebate mailed in before Sept. 14th.  That will be another $15 prepaid Visa card and hopefully it arrives before the year ends.

I tried to send it electronically but I had too many items to use their online form.  That form only let you add 7 items and I had way more than that. ugh.

* We had Subway for dinner one night and I used a gift card that was paid for last year(and had earned me BC at Rite-Aid too).  Ordered online so I got a free sub for purchasing 2.  Hubs and I split the free sub for lunch the next day. ;-)

That's about it around here.  As of yesterday, when I write up these weekly FF posts, I had only been to R-A this week and spent Bonus Cash and no actual money.  There will be more shopping this weekend(Weis and Price Chopper)but that will go on next week's post.

What frugal wins did y'all have this past week?

Tell us all about them!

Sluggy

September Giveaway Winner!

 Here's what was up for grabs this month......

And the winner is..........

Linda Cunha

LindaSeptember 16, 2020 at 9:53 PM

Fall plans, be a little less lazy and get some things done.
I haven't won any of your giveaways
lindacunha1951@gmail.com

Congratulations Linda C.!

You have 48 hours from when this post goes live to contact me with your full name and mailing address to claim your prize. (My email addy is on the side bar under "About Me".)

If the Boring Blog Giveaway Box is not claimed within that time I'll choose another winner for September.

Thanks for everyone who entered and the entertainment your comments provide me too. ;-)

Come back next month and see what Sluggy has planned. 8-)))

Sluggy

Last Day to Enter the September Giveaway!

 Last chance for the Giveaway this month.

Go HERE or use the link in my Side Bar under Giveaways.

Entries close at 11:59 pm EDST tonight.  One entry per day and be sure to mention if you haven't won one of my giveaways before for an extra entry.

Sluggy

The To-Do List....the August Edition

 Let's see how we did with our To-Do List for August..........

* Pay Bills  DONE  Always done first.  Had to pull from the Slush Fund to cover it all but we had the funds.

* Read 1,2,3 Books  PASS  Well I barely read 2 Books.

"What Would Dolly Do?:How to be a Diamond in a Rhinestone World" by Lauren Marino

Marino styles herself a super fan of Dolly Parton and it shows in this tribute Ms. Parton.

Lot a lot of "meat" in this little book but it's "well done". (See what I did there? lol)

There are many facts to Dolly Parton beyond the country singer and dumb blonde image she projects.  She is an entrepreneur and has spearheaded many charitable works around the country.  She has also brought many jobs to her little holler in Tennessee, an area of crippling poverty where she grew up.

A quick read and two thumbs up.

Then I read this one........

"The Bonanza King:John MacKay and the Battle Over the Greatest Riches in the American West" by Gregory Crouch

This one took forever to get through.  It was very detailed and after reading it you will know EVERYTHING having to do with the "Comstock Lode".  The author got caught up in the minutiae at time and other parts it sailed along but overall it was a very enjoyable and interesting read.
I had never heard of John William Mackay(pronounced Mackie)before reading this book but his is a true rags to riches story.  Though he became one of the "giants of industry", like Carneige, rockefeller, Morgan, Gould, Getty, Vanderbuilt, etc. he is often forgotten.  He wasn't one of the Robber Barons but a humble man even with all his wealth and he never took advantage of the working class men like his fellow "giants".  

I learned a lot about mining and such.

Four thumbs up for this book.

* Hold Giveaway  DONE  A different kind of  Giveaway this past month thanks to Sonya Ann. 

*Mail Giveaway  DONE  The Virtual gift card was easy to mail. lolz

* More Decluttering  DONE  Most of the decluttering was due to stuff found when Ex-CB moved out and the subsequent moving of stuff from other rooms.

* Stuff to Sallie's  FAIL  

We have an overflowing box of castoffs(mostly thanks to Ex-CB leaving)but it still sits in the living room.  Maybe next Sunday when Hubs goes to the rifle range I can get him to drop this off at Salvation Army because even though the store is closed on Sunday they are back to accepting donations in the back.

* Dr. Appointment  DONE  I had my visit with my new primary(I just get a doc broken in and he leaves....is it me? lol).  He's young and shiny like a new penny.  He's sending me to Orthopedics for my leg.

* Continue to Deal with Garden Harvest  DONE

We've stayed on top of the veggies the garden has produced(eaten it all-nothing to preserve)being as there hasn't been much.  It's been a strange year in many ways not just due to Covid.

* Fill more Giveaway Boxes  DONE

I've got 6 boxes ready to go.
Go me. lolz

* Continue to Deal w/VA Stuff  PASS  Still dealing with legal stuff and hoping we will be at a point soon to make some relocating decisions.

* Access Damage in Bedroom and Fix  DONE

Other than lots of cleaning the bedroom didn't get anything else done in there. 

Furniture reposition-ed, day bed added and the toiletries stockpile organized and stored away all in one location.

This was the big August project and it's complete.

Done and dusted as far as I am concerned. ;-)

* Eat Down the Pantry  FAIL
With all the doom and gloom predictions of higher Covid numbers in the fall and food shortages we didn't see the need to eat down food stocks here really once the month began.  We've pretty much been restocking as we eat down so we are status quo really on food.

* Surgery  DONE
Trust me, you don't won't to see pictures of this! lolz  I am glad it's over and the surgery site is  mostly healed up.  Soon I can go bra-less at night....yay!  Now we await the medical bill for this.....not yay.

* Work on Details of Winter Trip  PASS  I am reticent to commit to tickets and reservations still but I am working on making this happen.  Still in the "pull the details together" stage on this but making progress.

That's about it from here for August.  Nothing much exciting but we are bumping along in life during a strange Summer.

How did you do on your To-Do List for August?
Let us know all about it!

Sluggy