Camping, Princess Style

[Porthos]

I was out of state for almost a week and finally caught up on this thread. I read with interest the various perspectives put forth on vehicles, trailers, and motor homes. Growing up here in southern California my family of origin progressed from tent camping to a smallish tent trailer just for the parents to a small travel trailer and camper. By the time I was out of high school my parents had settled on a larger travel trailer and pickup with camper shell. I joined the Air Force 12 days out of high school and while in I discovered the wonders of backpacking. Since I had been a lifelong mountians-to-walk-about-in kind of guy I knew that a spouse would have to share a least some enjoyment of this out-of-doors recreation. I met my DW at a summer camp in southern Calif where we were both working. This western-themed camp and her being there was proof that we could enjoy the outdoorsy stuff together. LIttle did I know that she had done some backpacking. As married life moved forward and our children were born we stopped backpacking for a while, not knowing that health issues would prevent returning to that passtime. We did continue to tent-camp through our daughters' growing up years. Several years ago we realized that tent camping would not work when we reached retirement. we also enjoy lakeside fishing from chairs. My attempts at fly fishing are a thing of the past. We very much still want to be in the out of doors when we can but have chosen, when retirement comes for her (I am already unwillingly retired) to pull a smallish travel trailer with a truck but still set up a outdoor kitchen and mostly use the trailer as sleeping quarters, cooking inside when the weather doesn't cooperate. My eldest sister and her late husband did this for around two decades. That is the vision.

 

Here is the reality. My DW has severe arthritis in her feet and has developed scoliosis. I have a degenerative condition in the base of my spine that will eventually cause me to not be able to walk unaided. I want to keep the dream alive and hope we can still travel this way.  Only time will tell.

 

I have mulitple large RV sales lots to choose from within a half hour's drive. I  think the time has come for me to start looking and see if I will one day be able** to share my DW's and my adventures, culinary and otherwise, with my egullet friends.  In the meantime, I welcome this vicarious journey. Thanks, Smithy.

 

** Able as in seeing that my future mobilty issues can be reasonably worked with.

 

 

[quiet1]

50 minutes ago, Porthos said:

I was out of state for almost a week and finally caught up on this thread. I read with interest the various perspectives put forth on vehicles, trailers, and motor homes. Growing up here in southern California my family of origin progressed from tent camping to a smallish tent trailer just for the parents to a small travel trailer and camper. By the time I was out of high school my parents had settled on a larger travel trailer and pickup with camper shell. I joined the Air Force 12 days out of high school and while in I discovered the wonders of backpacking. Since I had been a lifelong mountians-to-walk-about-in kind of guy I knew that a spouse would have to share a least some enjoyment of this out-of-doors recreation. I met my DW at a summer camp in southern Calif where we were both working. This western-themed camp and her being there was proof that we could enjoy the outdoorsy stuff together. LIttle did I know that she had done some backpacking. As married life moved forward and our children were born we stopped backpacking for a while, not knowing that health issues would prevent returning to that passtime. We did continue to tent-camp through our daughters' growing up years. Several years ago we realized that tent camping would not work when we reached retirement. we also enjoy lakeside fishing from chairs. My attempts at fly fishing are a thing of the past. We very much still want to be in the out of doors when we can but have chosen, when retirement comes for her (I am already unwillingly retired) to pull a smallish travel trailer with a truck but still set up a outdoor kitchen and mostly use the trailer as sleeping quarters, cooking inside when the weather doesn't cooperate. My eldest sister and her late husband did this for around two decades. That is the vision.

 

Here is the reality. My DW has severe arthritis in her feet and has developed scoliosis. I have a degenerative condition in the base of my spine that will eventually cause me to not be able to walk unaided. I want to keep the dream alive and hope we can still travel this way.  Only time will tell.

 

I have mulitple large RV sales lots to choose from within a half hour's drive. I  think the time has come for me to start looking and see if I will one day be able** to share my DW's and my adventures, culinary and otherwise, with my egullet friends.  In the meantime, I welcome this vicarious journey. Thanks, Smithy.

 

** Able as in seeing that my future mobilty issues can be reasonably worked with.

 

 

 

I have autoimmune arthritis that is right now behaving itself reasonably but it's hard to know if the current treatment will continue to work and if there will be something new to try if it fails (autoimmune diseases are sneaky in that they seem to have a high rate of eventual treatment failure even if you get good results initially) so mobility is something I consider a bit also, and I was pleased to see poking around recently that there is far more available in the way of wheelchair-friendly "off the shelf" design these days than there was some years ago when my late husband and I were looking to see about an rv to do a US road trip (we lived in the U.K. and he had to use a wheelchair and some other medical stuff so an RV seemed the simplest prospect to transport everything and see the sites) when there really wasn't much of anything unless you went totally custom. No sample floor plans or anything. I don't need a wheelchair right now and hope not to ever, but some of the features in the wheelchair accessible models are appealing, and I hope the fact there are more being sold means more wheelchair accessible used models to look at.

 

Arthritis is awful, though.

[Smithy]

Arthritis is indeed awful.  I don't suffer from it, but some of my family members do.  After my father passed away, my mother, sister and I took to doing a "Ladies' Weekend Out" to someplace my mother wanted to see.  As her mobility and energy decreased we began to consider renting an RV that would accommodate her needs and shorten the distance from restaurant to bedroom.  As it happened, her final illness came before we had the opportunity to try a road trip in an RV together - but I know the possibilities are there. As the Baby Boomers continue to age and retire, I suspect the opportunities will improve.

 

Traveling allows one to see interesting sites.  This is a little exercise area at a truck stop in Gila Bend, Arizona, where we stopped to fuel up and eat. I don't remember what we ate.  Probably sandwiches.

 

[Smithy]

We've been out in the desert for a couple of weeks, finally in an area where we can have campfires when it isn't too windy. We've had a few wind storms (it's blowing again right now, but supposed to grow quieter this evening) but also some beautiful weather. 

 

There's an art to building a fire ring suitable for cooking something more than hot dogs on sticks, and my darling is pretty good at it.  The main tricks are to build the ring with an opening so wood can be added after the grate is down, to have the grate support at the right height above the fire, and to have a level top so the grate can be level. I've seen manufactured rings that allow the grate height to be adjustable.  We aren't quite that enterprising; we simply adjust the fuel instead.

 

One of his favorites is hash: potatoes, onions, and some sort of sausage.  I think this particular sausage was a leftover from Louisiana.  (Yes, we still have some!) 

 

 

 

 

I prefer fireside salads, when possible.  

 

 

This one had potatoes, peppers, tomatoes,  asparagus and seasoned chicken, all cooked in a grill wok then tossed over fresh spinach.  A lemon and garlic vinaigrette completed the ensemble.

 

 

 

There's a story behind the new salad servers.  I'll tell it in another post.

[Smithy]

There are other campsites nearby that have been in use over the years.  This one isn't right for our rig, but is good for tent campers.  We've never seen anyone in it, but there's a rotting lawn chair, some nice logs suitable for supports of some kind, an old fire ring with weeds growing up through it, and stones moved around to give a landscaping effect.  

 

 

I spotted a small shopping basket just at the edge of the clearing, went to investigate, and found this:

 

 

Cool, huh? It's larger than any of my clay cookware; I think it would accommodate 2 chickens. I considered giving it a home. Would somebody be back for it?  Then I realized that the base is cracked.

 

It's still the right size to fit in our fire ring. I've been wishing I had something that needed a slow roast in the embers: eggplant, for instance.  I don't.  We'll be moving in a couple of days.  I've left it in place for someone else to use, if they wish.  If it's still here next time we come, I'll put more creative thought into using it.

[Shelby]

22 minutes ago, Smithy said:

We've been out in the desert for a couple of weeks, finally in an area where we can have campfires when it isn't too windy. We've had a few wind storms (it's blowing again right now, but supposed to grow quieter this evening) but also some beautiful weather. 

 

There's an art to building a fire ring suitable for cooking something more than hot dogs on sticks, and my darling is pretty good at it.  The main tricks are to build the ring with an opening so wood can be added after the grate is down, to have the grate support at the right height above the fire, and to have a level top so the grate can be level. I've seen manufactured rings that allow the grate height to be adjustable.  We aren't quite that enterprising; we simply adjust the fuel instead.

 

One of his favorites is hash: potatoes, onions, and some sort of sausage.  I think this particular sausage was a leftover from Louisiana.  (Yes, we still have some!) 

 

 

 

 

I prefer fireside salads, when possible.  

 

 

This one had potatoes, peppers, tomatoes,  asparagus and seasoned chicken, all cooked in a grill wok then tossed over fresh spinach.  A lemon and garlic vinaigrette completed the ensemble.

 

 

 

There's a story behind the new salad servers.  I'll tell it in another post.

Oh food is just so good cooked over a fire.  

 

I LOVE those spoons.  Truly they look like something my Grammy would have that was bought in the 1950's.

[IowaDee]

I really like them too.  Why do I think they look Polish or Russian?  Kind of kinky to see those big, blue eyes among the lettuce leafs.  Anxious to hear the story.  

Loved the site with the dinosaurs.  Heck, I'm loving everything about  your trip as usual.  

[Smithy]

@Shelby, that might be almost the right era for those spoons. @IowaDee, you're very close.

 

I took a break from the desert and drove to San Diego to visit my best friend and part of her family.  She and her husband recently returned from a career overseas and I am delighted to have them back in the country. (I had hoped to arrive in time to scoop up my friend and her son, if he was interested, and get to @FrogPrincesse's daughter's Christmas market, but I didn't arrive with enough time or energy to make the drive to the other end of San Diego.)

 

One of the weekend's festivities was the annual party for Returned Peace Corps Volunteers.  It's a pot luck lunch, a fundraiser, and a chance for the Peace Corps folks to make plans for the next year.  The lunch was an excellent feast, and I wish I'd taken photos.  Many people brought foods from the countries where they had served.  My friend's son, just back from Senegal, brought an excellent mafé and there was at least one more peanut stew; there were South American foods and Indian foods and foods from various parts of the South Pacific.

 

The fundraiser was a silent auction. People could bid on trips, restaurant or zoo tickets, or various items: clothing, basketry, gift baskets, pottery, and so on...some new, some donated from people's households as they downsized.  Those of you who have been reading along know that I'm a sucker for gadgetry and cookware.  I perused the tables, saw some major bargains, thought "it's for a good cause!" and bid.  Some items I bid on because they were appealing and I couldn't stand to see them orphaned with no bids.  Some items I truly wanted, and watched to see if I was outbid.  When the time came, I found that I'd won the bids on:

 

 

A Christmas basket that included a bottle of wine, carefully wrapped (we drank it at my friends' house, and I left the basket with them);

 

 

Some fun Egyptian mugs that I would never have bought in Egypt for myself;

 

 

A small but heavy wooden spice grinder and spice box ("Oh, Nance," exclaimed my friend, "if we'd known you'd want that we'd have given it to you instead of donating it!")

 

and 

 

A beautifully basketed collection titled "Let's Cook!" I left this basket behind too, and my friends will use it or give it away. Look at what-all was included!  The colored stripey things at the upper left are place mats made of fine wooden sticks, the kind that roll up easily.  I couldn't resist.

 

All that stuff - and a Guatemalan handbag, not shown - set me back $38.  As I was paying at the checkout table, a woman came up, spotted the "Let's Cook!" basket and said, "Oh, good!  I was hoping somebody would give that a good home. I've had those salad servers since my Peace Corp stint in Romania, in the early '60's.  I thought it was time to let somebody else enjoy them."

 

My friend's husband is only semi-retired, and was away during most of my visit.  I stayed an extra day in order to see him.  Bless him, he brought a gift!

 

 

I'm not sure what the binding agent is other than honey, but these are sweet, crunchy, nutty, delicious little bites of sesame seeds and nuts. Lovely stuff.

Edited December 17, 2016 by Smithy
Minor word fidgets (log)

[IowaDee]

What an amazing selection of wonders you ended up with. The spice grinder is what really makes me drool!  And I would love a piece of the confection too.  I love any sweet with honey and sesame seeds.  Those look just amazing.  You hit the jackpot!

[Shelby]

I'm in awe.  How fun!  

[kayb]

Sounds like a great evening. I love a silent auction. Years ago, I had taken my then-13-year-old daughter to a conference with me; one night, there was a reception with a silent auction. She fell in love with a "piggy bank" made from a small (gas-grill-sized) propane bottle, painted red, with a snout and eyes and ears glued on one end, a curly tail on the other, and four "feet" made of pipe -- an Arkansas Razorback. I bid on it until it got out of my price range, and told her I just couldn't do any more. A friend overheard us, bought it, and gave it to her. Now, it's in her son's bedroom.

 

Like your salad spoons -- a new family heirloom!

 

[Smithy]

We just closed the back gate of our little home, for the 3rd or 4th time in 2 weeks, to improve our wind and storm protection and eliminate some drafts.  Just over the mountains and along the coast, parts of Southern California are under flash flood warnings.  After my last post I got busy with holiday plans and interactions, and we've moved many times.  We've gone round in a circle and are now just at the perimeter of the Southern California storms.  Along the way I took photos, made notes, and failed to post anything.  (I also failed to send Christmas cards, so there you go.)

 

I've decided to take a page from the Quentin Tarantino School of Narrative. Who needs linear storytelling?  It's stormy right now, but I can cast my mind back to a happier season - only a month ago! - and bring you along. Prepare for some jumps.

 

We shopped at a large and delightful grocery store last week (Stater Bros) and quite forgot to take any photos.  They have an impressive butcher counter - I think high-quality meat was how they got their start - including a broad variety of in-house sausages.  We stocked up on items that we'd exhausted, perishable fruits and vegetables, and luxury meats such as salmon,  various sausages, and chicken. Tonight's dinner will involve boneless skinless chicken breast and green beans from that trip. I'll post photos of it later, but probably much later.  This is a nonlinear story.

 

Two days ago it was all about comfort food.  I had some leftover salmon that became a salmon salad.  Part of it went on toast, with capers, in a nod to @blue_dolphin's breakfast of the same day. My darling opted for his own comfort food: leftover hash from the previous night's dinner. We had fresh juice from navel oranges and minneola tangelos.  

 

 

 

 

 

It was a blustery day, full of wind, and the lake was roiled.  

 

 

We turned off the radio and went for a drive to check out another possible camping area. By the time we came back, the skies had opened up and the low points in the roads were flooding.  

 

We were rewarded during a break in the storm by a full double rainbow. This is an excerpt. I'm sorry the double bow isn't more clear.

 

 

Our trailer was fine, but the camp road was muddy; traffic cones had been placed a little beyond us to discourage people from driving farther.

 

That night, it was about comfort food and beer.  We had purchased a Caprese Italian Sausage at Stater Bros - they said it was a New York style Italian sausage, but were not specific about the seasonings. The sausages were plenty spicy but the seasonings seemed more complex and less hot than with standard hot Italian sausage: perhaps a bit less red pepper and a bit more black, or even white pepper? A touch of mace, perhaps?  The fennel was less pronounced than we usually expect, and seemed nicely balanced. Those sausages, a bunch of chard, onions, and garlic all went into a one-pot creamy Pasta Alfredo meal.  

 

 

 

We also tried a new beer.  

 

 

This one was strong and bitter, and sported the words "You are not worthy".  It was worthy of the dinner.

 

 

Next up: dates from yesterday? Or Christmas preparations from last month? I'll flip a coin.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

@Smithy Stone is pretty much the only ale I drink.  Arrogant Bastard is one of the easy ones.

 

[chromedome]

I love the name, and the label. If I saw that in a store I'd have to try it. 

 

I recently brought home a bottle of this one for similar reasons...saw the label, and had to give it a try. Same thing with Shawinigan Handshake, though the name requires a bit of explanation for non-Canadians. Also a bit more. 

[Shelby]

Been wondering what adventures you've been up to.  Can't wait

 

That sausage looks good.  I never think to put them with an alfredo type sauce.  Need to do that.

[Smithy]

3 hours ago, chromedome said:

I love the name, and the label. If I saw that in a store I'd have to try it. 

 

I recently brought home a bottle of this one for similar reasons...saw the label, and had to give it a try. Same thing with Shawinigan Handshake, though the name requires a bit of explanation for non-Canadians. Also a bit more. 

 

Those are amusing labels!  As you surmised, I'd never heard of a Shawinigan Handshake before.  Thanks for the additional links.

[Porthos]

www.stonebrewing.com

 

My SIL is very enamored of them. In their seasonal releases I like the Smoked Porter and the Imperial Russian Stout, but neither are around for very long.

[Smithy]

47 minutes ago, Porthos said:

www.stonebrewing.com

 

My SIL is very enamored of them. In their seasonal releases I like the Smoked Porter and the Imperial Russian Stout, but neither are around for very long.

 

Smoked Porter sounds excellent. I like some stouts as well.  We opened one last night that I'd intended to save for an as-yet-undetermined cooking project.  It was pretty good.

 

 

It didn't last until dinner, so I can't comment on how well it would have complimented this variant on Chicken Cordon Bleu.

 

 

 

[Porthos]

I discovered the Elysian's Dragonstooth stout a couple of years ago at the Orange County (CA) fair. They have a beer-vending location called beers of the world. While there are some actual imports what their mainstay is are US craft breweries (and for the desperate who can't wait until they get to another beer booth a little bit of popular American weak swill).

[Smithy]

Once again, the time machine is needed.  We've been having mechanical and electrical issues that have curtailed my computer time and battery power.  I think they're resolved now.  So, it's time for a visit to the past, to our holiday season.

 

At home, we have Christmas ornaments and Christmas dishes and, most years, the sort of weather that makes for a white Christmas.  We haven't used those decorations for years, because we've been visiting family far away instead.  I bring along a small trove of ornaments, wall hangings and table linens for the season.  Sometime in mid-December, I took the time to pull out the decorations and get the trailer dolled up for the season.

 

 

I also cleared out oddball foodstuffs from the refrigerator that I didn't expect to be using for family visits. When all else fails and you can't think of a reason to use the seeds, drink the pomegranate juice.  It's delicious.

 

We had a final just-the-two-of-us dinner - I forget what, now - before driving into more congested areas.

 

 

There are very, very few reasons for us to drive into the L.A. Basin with our rig, particularly in these conditions:

 

Maybe, by now, there's only ONE reason we would do this. That dear reason turned 96 on Midwinter's Day, and is still mentally and physically sound.  We went to help celebrate her birthday and share the Christmas spirit with a feast and music.  She invited friends over for a very nice dinner of baked salmon, steamed vegetables, pilaf, and decadent desserts.  The desserts surprised me: a massive pumpkin pie and a massive, rich, creamy cheesecake from Costco that was the Platonic ideal of cheesecake goodness. I like cheesecake well enough, but had never known just how good one can be.  That was one surprise.  The larger surprise was that she had chosen such sweets at all.  She has been an athlete all her life, and has rarely indulged in desserts beyond frozen yogurt or a cookie.

 

I wish I had a picture of the food.  The salmon filets had been marinated in lemon, then placed in a baking pan and sprinkled with crushed corn flakes and a touch of margarine.  It was delicious. I've tried to replicate it since then with some success.  Next time I try, I'll take a photo.

 

The next day, after breakfast, we again braved the L.A. traffic as we headed westward.  The deluge continued. 

 

It isn't clear from this photo, but traffic crawled for miles. It came clear that an obstruction of some sort was ahead. We finally arrived at it: nothing in our direction of travel, but the eastbound lanes were well and truly stuck: a semi had somehow flipped over, onto the railroad tracks between the eastbound and westbound lanes.  After we passed the mess we saw that the eastbound lanes were halted for a good 12 miles.

 

Eventually we drove out of the rain, out of the traffic, and up the coast. We passed beautiful farm fields in Ventura County, and I mentally waved in the direction of @blue_dolphin as we went through.  I seem to have lost the photos from that trip, but eventually we arrived and set up camp in the parking lot RV campground that would be our home for the next week. It's conveniently close to Pismo Beach, which has lovely walking and surf and people-watching.

 

 

My sister stayed with us for this family visit, and we learned that the garage/dining room/spare bedroom of this trailer isn't really practical for adult sleeping arrangements.  Instead, the overhead bunk bed (suitable for children adept at managing ladders) held her gear and served as a head-basher for everyone who stood up too quickly from the dining table!

 

The three of us walked, more than once, to a burger joint close to the beach and to our campground.  These fat, juicy burgers were drippy and delicious.

 

 

Some of the customers' comment cards remain on display.

 

 

 

 

 

[Smithy]

My cousins, who have become the social hub of our extended family, live in the coastal hills and have a grand view of the surrounding hills, the Pacific Ocean, and (of interest to the 3 pilots in our family) far off, the beacon of the Oceano Airport.

 

They have the dishes and linens, space and time to use them, and inclination to host large dinner gatherings.  Their sense of style is uncluttered - something to which I sometimes aspire but am not likely to achieve in this lifetime.  It's a pleasure to visit their house, and a pleasure to spend time with them.  

 

As we've aged, health considerations have complicated meal planning. One person has Crohn's Disease and is gluten-intolerant to boot; another is diabetic; some of us like wine and others won't touch it.  Dinner offered a broad selection to make sure there was something for everyone: prime rib cooked on the grill,

 

salmon cooked after that; a selection of vegetables and potatoes and pilaf and salad.  I brought the bread. I've made friends with the oven in my trailer...although during this baking session I unwisely left my bowl scraper over the oven vent.  I'm still trying to find a replacement.

 

 

We talked about adventures and developments in our lives; hopes for the future; and told stories on ourselves and each other.  And we ate, and complimented, and ate, and groaned, and walked, and celebrated our good fortune in being together.

 

 

There were, predictably, topics that we avoided over dinner.  We had time to discuss them later, when the sharp objects had been removed.  

[Porthos]

2 hours ago, Smithy said:

 

The stretch of freeway you were on was part of the first phase of building this freeway, which opened when I was in high school. It ended just a few miles further at the beginning of Pasadena.  If I had a dollar for every time I passed that sign ...

 

Pismo is still a favorite destination for many thousands of Californians.

[Porthos]

39 minutes ago, Smithy said:

We talked about adventures and developments in our lives; hopes for the future; and told stories on ourselves and each other.  And we ate, and complimented, and ate, and groaned, and walked, and celebrated our good fortune in being together.

 

Wonderfulness ... Family connections.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

8 hours ago, Smithy said:

The three of us walked, more than once, to a burger joint close to the beach and to our campground.  These fat, juicy burgers were drippy and delicious.

 

It's so good to hear about your rambling adventures again! You've been missed, and I'm glad to hear your mechanical/electrical issues have been resolved.

 

Is the Beach Burger you visited this one? That is an unusual and scrumptious looking bun. On picture 94, the poster comments that they assume it's a Dutch crunch bun. Any observations on this roll? I had never heard of it before.

 

So nice you were able to visit your 96 year old friend/relative, and your cousins put on one lallapalooza of a spread!

[Porthos]

That certainly looks like a Dutch Crunch Roll to me. I've never thought of using on for a burger.