Camping, Princess Style

[rotuts]

@Smithy

 

thank you for the pictures of the stores shelves.

 

I enjoy seeing how various stores stock this and that .

 

esp in other locales , and countries .

Edited Friday at 02:14 AM by rotuts (log)

[blue_dolphin]

On 2/4/2026 at 7:35 PM, blue_dolphin said:

A jury-rigged repair?  That sounds kinda scary to me!

Replying to myself to say that I’m sure you are confident that the repair will do the job and get you where you need to go and I don’t doubt that one bit!
It reminds me of an incident that happened years ago when I’d recently moved to California. My parents came to visit from NY and I took them on my tour of the state. On the way from San Francisco to Yosemite, a rather winding route, up, down and side to side. After a long uphill, my gas pedal stayed stuck to the floor even when I took my foot off entirely. I tried to pry it up with my toe and the pedal came free but the engine was still at full throttle.  It was a manual transmission so I could down shift to slow down until we came to a turn out but it backfired like the 4th of July when I shut it off. I called AAA from a pay phone. The guy they sent showed me how the accelerator cable was catching on a crack in its sleeve.  He said it would take about a week to get a replacement shipped to them. Then he used his pen knife to trim the sleeve where it was catching and said if I’d handled that situation, I should be fine.   I was entirely confident in that jury-rigged repair, though I believe my mom was saying the rosary the whole way home!
To make this somewhat food related, I’ll add that I’d made reservations at the grand old Ahwahnee Hotel for both our night’s stay and a lovely dinner but with all the waiting for the AAA guy, we were running late.  My pleas to extend the check-in times were denied so we dined in the cafeteria and stayed in a tent cabin! 
Looking forward to your travels and hope they go smoothly!

 

 

Edited Friday at 04:03 AM by blue_dolphin
Missing word (log)

[Smithy]

@blue_dolphin, that story took me through chills and shivers (I grew up near the Sierras and know those roads) and laughs and admiration! Too bad about the Awahnee, but good on you for the entire adventure!

 

My "jury rigged" system wasn't as dire. For reasons that I don't fully understand, and need to call about, the mobile repair folks "fixed" the problem, temporarily at least, by switching the "in" and "out" wires for the glide. So far it seems to be working, instead of jamming cockamamie in the frame as it had been. I've been able to move on.

 

The Greek Chicken salad in a "shakeable bowl" turns out to be exactly as @chromedome described.

 

 

After shaking the mixture (without explosions, splashing or other culinary disasters) it looked like this:

 

 

If I'd made this salad I think I'd have torn, chopped or cut the greens finer, but the flavors were excellent and the salad was a fine dinner. More than one type of lettuce and olives; pepperoncini; chicken breast that wasn't dried out; tomatoes; cucumbers; shredded cabbage; feta cheese. No doubt I've forgotten a few things. There was a gracious plenty of dressing. All told, I'm pleased with this dinner.

[Smithy]

Well, Dorothy -- we're in Kansas. I'd hoped to make it most of the way through the state, but I pooped out after 6 hours of driving and found a truck stop with electrical power and hot showers. Enough driving for one day!

 

I've mentioned before that when I'm driving I can't take photos. You'll just have to use your minds' eyes. I've been driving through rolling prairie, watching the Minnesota snow give way to Iowa's stubble fields with occasional snow, and now Nebraska's and Kansas' obviously soft ice on rivers and ponds. Don't go out there now. There were snowmobile tracks on the rivers in Minnesota. I've been fascinated with hawks perched atop power lines, maybe one per mile, each one watching quietly for field prey as intently as a fisherman watching a bobber and hoping for a bite. I giggled yesterday a bit, when I passed a sign in Iowa pointing off to "Hawkeye Point -- the high part of the state -- 1,670 feet"! I realize that may sound pretty high if you live in Florida or Louisiana, but folks from the western part of this continent will likely be as amused as I was. (Why, Minnesota goes all the way up to 2,301 feet!)

 

I'm happy to report that it's warmed up as I'd hoped. I'm done with long underwear for the trip! I'll be able to put water in the trailer tank soon! I think I can switch from boots to sneakers! And things seem to be working commensurately better in the Princessmobile. I discovered this morning that the inverter I had installed last summer actually has enough oomph to run the microwave. I'm thrilled. Now I hope I can find decent truck stop coffee before I get around to brewing my own! The chains around here offer multiple bean varieties and brews, but even the "strong" and "rich" stuff from this truck stop chain seems insipid.

 

As for food: this morning I made a peanut butter sandwich -- whoopee -- and didn't bother taking a photo. A little after noon I was decidedly peckish and realized I've been jonesing for pizza for a while. 

 

 

 

One and a half slices were lunch. Gooey, fatty, but pretty good. Two slices were dinner, after I was mostly set up and incredibly hungry. 

 

If you're horrified at the idea of salad from a paper plate, then look away now. This was the rest of dinner.

 

 

Why dirty a paper plate when there's just enough greenery left from a salad mix in one of those ready-to-eat plastic bins? It's headed for the trash anyway.

Edited Saturday at 03:25 AM by Smithy
Changed "year" to "trip" re long underwear, in a fit of sensibility (log)

[C. sapidus]

2 hours ago, Smithy said:

. . . I giggled yesterday a bit, when I passed a sign in Iowa pointing off to "Hawkeye Point -- the high part of the state -- 1,670 feet"! I realize that may sound pretty high if you live in Florida or Louisiana, but folks from the western part of this continent will likely be as amused as I was. (Why, Minnesota goes all the way up to 2,301 feet!)

 

 

And Maryland goes all the way up to 3,360 feet!

 

But hey, those punk kid mountains out west haven't been around since before trees existed . . .

 

Edited Saturday at 03:38 AM by C. sapidus
Clarity (log)

[patti]

Louisiana’s high point … Mt. Driskill … 532 feet!

[Smithy]

I'm out of the cold country! It took about 9 hours of driving against or across a stiff wind yesterday, and learning what that feels like (and what it does to fuel mileage) but I'm settled for a few days where I can get ready for "regular" camping -- that is, self-contained boondocking, I hope, or at least being able to use my own water. Today I flushed the lines of antifreeze, to the best of my ability, and filled the water tank. The water is still fizzy and vaguely pink, and not especially pleasant to drink, so i'll continue using bottled water until it's all flushed below my personal detection limit. This was yet one more reason my darling always wanted to be gone by now: I really detested the lingering taste of RV antifreeze, so when we bought a new trailer we ensured that the stuff had never contaminated the pipes. But that meant, of course, that we had to leave before the temperatures dropped below freezing. (One year we did have a severe cold drop in October, so we winterized that Princessmobile that year. It was only for a couple of weeks, and I don't recall having objectionable flavors. Holding time is probably a factor; this Princessmobile was winterized several months ago.)

 

I luxuriated this morning in the idea that I could have my OWN coffee (once I found the stuff) and didn't have to go anywhere in particular. Sunshine outside, steamy coffee in bed! Yay!

 

 

The coffee mug has a wedding photo from my best friend's youngest son's wedding in Kenya last summer. I'm farther around in the photo, next to my best friend and the happy couple; I'm "Auntie Nancy" to the gang. I've never written here about the Kenyan food I sampled, but you may see some of it later this winter. It was delicious.

 

There's a prairie dog town across the field. I finally know what those mystery "birds" are that chirp so peculiarly from the ground. 🙂

 

 

I'll need to go to town tomorrow for fuel and, believe it or not, a few groceries. I finished off the yogurt today, and I think there are other things on the list as well.

 

I worked hard getting the Princessmobile ready (mostly) and waited far too long for lunch; it became dinner. Still, I had a chance to try out my new cast iron griddle atop the stove. I haven't had much luck cooking grilled cheese sandwiches on cast iron at home without smoking up the kitchen, and that's why I almost brought along my panini press. Today's trial worked pretty well, though. The sandwich was salami, turkey, Havarti cheese (I'm out of the other sliced stuff), mayo, mustard, on sourdough bread. I'd already had an uncooked version of this sandwich. As much as I like that bread's flavor it's a bit too soft without being toasted or griddled. This worked out much better. Butter on the outside for the griddling.

 

 

Salad greens and pickles added after griddling.

 

 

It isn't the "ooh, what will I cook first when I have time?" dinner I'd envisioned, but it's all I had the energy for.

Edited 9 hours ago by Smithy
Removed duplicate photograph, reformatted surrounding paragraphs (log)

[Smithy]

On 2/4/2026 at 9:04 PM, Smithy said:

They have these things called "tornados" that I've been wondering about. They look like tortillas wrapped around hot dogs, and they seem to be cooked like the hot dogs in these roller displays, where the cylinders rotate over heat and gradually move to the "cooked" area. They advertise the filling as "steak and cheese", "pepperoni and cheese", "Southwestern chicken," and so on. I decided to try a couple. I didn't take a picture of the intact product (what can you do with a cooked, breaded cylinder?) but after trying a bite of two of them, I opened the contents of one:

 

 

 

Following up on this: in case someone's interested, I snapped a photo of the works in progress, because my description may not have been clear.

 

 

I still wouldn't bother buying another.

[Tropicalsenior]

10 hours ago, Smithy said:

There's a prairie dog town across the field.

Growing up on a farm in Nebraska, we had a prairie dog town on a little hill in our pasture. As children, we spent many hours at the crest of that hill watching them play and stop to talk to each other in their happy little chirps.

One day as my brother was watching them, a mother brought out a little group of pups and when she returned to the borough, she left one behind. My brother put it in his pocket and brought it home. It was only a few weeks old and could just barely walk so we really didn't have much hope that it would live. But we took turns with an eye dropper and through some miracle we pulled it through and added  a fascinating, pampered little critter to our family.

Not being conversant with prairie dog Anatomy, we never did figure out whether it was a he or she but we named it Buster and he was with us for about 5 years. I could probably write a book about life with Buster.

In the extreme Nebraska summers, prairie dogs are able to go below ground and stay cool so Buster could not stand the heat in the house. Our cellar door was the type that  laid flat on the floor of our porch and my brother-in-law cut a hole so Buster could go into the cellar and stay cool. We used to say that we were the only house in the state that had a prairie dog hole in our porch. Another consideration was that prairie dogs hibernate in the winter and only come out during warm days. My mother made Buster an insulated box lined with sheepskin to put in the cellar for him to hibernate. We had a big old shaggy shepherd type dog with a heavy undercoat and when winter was coming, Buster would comb out that undercoat and use it to line his nest. That big old dog would lay like a statue while that little mite would rob him of his winter coat.

As I said, I could write a book, but appreciate your little neighbors. They're fascinating creatures.

Edited 11 hours ago by Tropicalsenior (log)

[YvetteMT]

The prairie dog (and gopher) population in MT is what most ranchers rage war on.  Back in the day there were bounties for removal (couple pennies for every tail turned in) and even now, many places will let a person shoot the critters.  (Their burrows can trap a cow or horse leg and if running that leg can break.  And they damage grazing/hay ground). 

[Smithy]

Getting back to food: 

 

 

This rather odd pinkish stuff is mixed-berry kefir, while I wait for eggs to boil. I'm giving them more time than I would at home, because I'm a couple thousand feet higher here than there. (My instant-read thermometer says the water is at 204F.) I'm not especially crazy about the boiled-egg idea for breakfast, but I don't have any better ideas and the kefir won't hold me through my shopping and errands.

 

Just as last year, I'm realizing some things I'd forgotten -- not things I couldn't find, like the Instant Pot and hand mixer, but things like window washing equipment. There are at least 2 squeegees and 2 extending poles sitting at home, in plain sight, due to previous purchases that my darling and I made and then forgot to pack! So in addition to the groceries and trailer consumables I need, I'll be picking up some cleaning equipment if I can find it.

 

Last year I only needed 1 day to rest and recuperate before traveling again. This year I'm making it 2 (and counting). I feel much better and more rested than yesterday, but I still have things to do and I'd be fighting a strong headwind anyway if I wanted to move on today. As much as I love aerodynamics, I'll simply say that a headwind makes a huge difference in fuel consumption.

[Tropicalsenior]

2 minutes ago, Smithy said:

I'll simply say that a headwind makes a huge difference in fuel consumption.

Plus being very dangerous. If that headwind turns into a side wind it can easily flip a trailer.

[Smithy]

21 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Plus being very dangerous. If that headwind turns into a side wind it can easily flip a trailer.

 

I saw it happen last year, when I was staying put but needed to go somewhere in the pickup only. The highway message boards were flashing the warnings, but people tried it anyway. It wasn't pretty.

Edited 9 hours ago by Smithy
Corrected spelling: "I" to "It" (log)

[Smithy]

This egg isn't especially photogenic, at least not in my hands, but it came out well. The others will probably go into salads of one sort or another.

 

 

When I left home, I had 4 boiled eggs and 3-1/2 dozen raw eggs, thanks to the generosity of my DIL and her prolific chickens. In fact, I gave another 2 -1/2 dozen to the friends who helped me finish loading. I tend not to eat eggs unless I'm putting them into something -- nothing against them, it's just my cooking style -- but of course I couldn't turn down the gifts. I'm not in a hurry to work my way through these, but I do need to include them from time to time in my meal planning. They'll last a long time in the shell, but there's also the possibility of opening the refrigerator door after a rough road and having scrambled raw eggs on the floor. That nearly happened last week!

[Tropicalsenior]

Maybe you could use something like this. I bought something similar when we first moved here because at that time when you bought eggs they gave them to you in a paper bag and I never got home without breaking one or two. The only problem with it was that it only contained 12 eggs and here they sell them to you in multiples of 15. I still had three that were in danger of not making it home in one piece.

[Smithy]

7 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Maybe you could use something like this. I bought something similar when we first moved here because at that time when you bought eggs they gave them to you in a paper bag and I never got home without breaking one or two. The only problem with it was that it only contained 12 eggs and here they sell them to you in multiples of 15. I still had three that were in danger of not making it home in one piece.

 

Numeric culture is funny, isn't it? There's the perennial question of why hot dogs and hot dog buns aren't sold in the same multiples in this country. I hadn't heard of selling things in multiples of 15, though.

 

I actually have an egg container that I picked up at a garage sale last year, same idea as yours but for a dozen.

 

 

If it falls out during a refrigerator avalanche however, the eggs will be just as broken as in the standard containers. Maybe the mess will be contained, but it would still be a mess. The more standard cartons are relatively secure now, I think.

 

 

For sure, the 18 eggs on the left are fairly secure, because the container under that carton has a lipped lid. They'd both have to come out at the same time. The blue dozen-egg container on the right may be relocated before I move.

 

I've learned the hard way to be careful opening cupboards and doors after traveling. A few days ago I was glad for that caution; when I parked after an especially rough road, I started to open the refrigerator door and could hear contents shifting. BOTH those cartons you see in the collage above were trying to slide out, along with a couple of condiment jars! I managed to save the eggs and have relocated them since that near-disaster.

[Tropicalsenior]

This is how our eggs are packaged now. They are simply wrapped in cellophane but it is much preferable to the paper bag. They are sold in units of 15 but they are actually sold by the kilo so each package has a slightly different price. When I get them home I transfer them to plastic egg cartons that are designed for 15 eggs. Most people here don't keep their eggs in the refrigerator and don't have to because they have not been washed before Packaging.

For me, it's a habit that I have just not been able to get used to and I still keep mine in the fridge.

For a while here, we had frequent small earthquakes and I had to get used to being very cautious about opening cupboard doors. I learned quickly after I got hit in the head with a jar of peanut butter

Edited 8 hours ago by Tropicalsenior (log)

[MaryIsobel]

9 hours ago, YvetteMT said:

The prairie dog (and gopher) population in MT is what most ranchers rage war on.  Back in the day there were bounties for removal (couple pennies for every tail turned in) and even now, many places will let a person shoot the critters.  (Their burrows can trap a cow or horse leg and if running that leg can break.  And they damage grazing/hay ground). 

We go to a lake for a fishing derby, late June every year. The place is over-run by ground squirrel (similar to groundhogs.) Our dog will sit by a hole and wait for ours and then suddenly lunge, snap their neck and walk away. I felt so bad and embarassed until the owner told me that they were going to put him on staff as they have been trying to cull the little critters!

[Smithy]

I spent the day on a combination of walking, loafing, working on the trailer (chores, laundry) and shopping. I absolutely, positively had to go get fuel: the gauge was nearly on empty and although the "miles remaining" info said I had 40 miles to go, I didn't want to push it. I put 32 gallons into a 35 gallon tank. That's close enough to "empty", don't you think?

 

Then it was on to a pickup wash, and then a Walmart. I needed trailer chemicals, the window squeegee I've mentioned before, and a few groceries for myself and the 4-footed companions. Really, I didn't need much in the way of groceries: a few odds and ends, like yogurt and sliced cheese. Then the floodgates opened.

 

This Walmart is HUGE, even by the usual Walmart Superstore standards. I went through my "Help! Get me outta here!" phase while I tried to navigate the various auto parts, RV parts, household cleaners, and groceries while I was busy dodging the electronics, toys, sporting goods, garden goods (seeds and fertilizer for sale here already) and countless other departments. Eventually I had enough scratched off my list that I could start to take photos.

 

The cheese section is amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found proper chorizo, although I realized later I'd picked up the beef instead of the pork. Oh, well.

 

 

I really just needed some sliced cheese (and of course I got more than I needed) and vegetables. But how could I resist more than two things from this section?

 

 

 

It took a while to find the jalapenos I wanted; this immense selection of chiles didn't have them. They were elsewhere altogether.

 

 

All that done, I headed back for home, anticipating a happy session of cooking...but wait! While searching the local maps I discovered an African market and restaurant! 

[Smithy]

There actually were a couple of "African market" listings with Somali food. I chose the one most nearly along my route home, that said "truckers welcome" although I'm not a trucker as such. One the way there, I turned into the wrong parking lot and this building:

 

 

The building to the left of the Asian market is a Burmese restaurant; I also passed a Thai restaurant or two, and maybe a Vietnamese restaurant. But no, I was set on Somali food. I pressed on, and found the place in question.

 

 

Err... yes, really. I half expected the door to be locked but it wasn't. I went inside.

 

 

 

Nobody there but the proprietress, who at first thought I was asking for a "restroom" instead of the "restaurant". I thought about walking back out, but decided to take a chance on the place. They offered goat and rice. I don't get many chances at that.

 

I'm glad I did. She packaged it up, complete with salad and utensils and a banana (tomorrow's breakfast!) and sent me on my way, $20 later.

 

 

Inside, there was a gracious plenty of rice, goat, and a "salad" that will serve to augment other salads.

 

 

It's a lot of food. The salad has a very sharp onion that will benefit from a good vinegar soak, but I have no other complaints. The rice is fluffy and delicious, and seasoned with something I can't quite identify: garam masala, perhaps? I'm not sure what the lime is for but I tried it on everything. The goat is very moist and tender, and seasoned similarly to the rice. It's advertised as "goat" rather than "kid goat" (or "cabrito" in this area) but it has nothing of the gaminess I've been told to expect. Maybe it's kid.

 

 

There's a lot. I'll be making more than one dinner from it all. And yes, with all these groceries I already had, and those I bought today, I could have been cooking. But when will I have another opportunity at Somali food?

 

Edited to add: I forgot to mention the red stuff in the little plastic condiment container. it's a nice, spicy, pepperish sauce, most reminiscent of peri-peri. I didn't think it necessary on anything I tried, but it didn't detract either. I'll use it on something.

Edited 21 minutes ago by Smithy
Updated with discusison about the hot sauce (log)

[Smithy]

After my shopping adventure, I perused the local tourist flyer in the laundry room. Thanks to the weather I may get another day to Get My Kicks on Route 66. 

 

 

I learned, from looking through it, that there's a LOT more ethnic diversity than I'd have expected. It's reflected in the grocery stores I mentioned above, and in the restaurants that I didn't even know about until I started spotting them while driving.

 

 

Whaddaya know. I could eat myself silly around here and never eat the same cuisine twice!

 

[MaryIsobel]

13 minutes ago, Smithy said:

There actually were a couple of "African market" listings with Somali food. I chose the one most nearly along my route home, that said "truckers welcome" although I'm not a trucker as such. One the way there, I turned into the wrong parking lot and this building:

 

 

The building to the left of the Asian market is a Burmese restaurant; I also passed a Thai restaurant or two, and maybe a Vietnamese restaurant. But no, I was set on Somali food. I pressed on, and found the place in question.

 

 

Err... yes, really. I half expected the door to be locked but it wasn't. I went inside.

 

 

 

Nobody there but the proprietress, who at first thought I was asking for a "restroom" instead of the "restaurant". I thought about walking back out, but decided to take a chance on the place. They offered goat and rice. I don't get many chances at that.

 

I'm glad I did. She packaged it up, complete with salad and utensils and a banana (tomorrow's breakfast!) and sent me on my way, $20 later.

 

 

Inside, there was a gracious plenty of rice, goat, and a "salad" that will serve to augment other salads.

 

 

It's a lot of food. The salad has a very sharp onion that will benefit from a good vinegar soak, but I have no other complaints. The rice is fluffy and delicious, and seasoned with something I can't quite identify: garam masala, perhaps? I'm not sure what the lime is for but I tried it on everything. The goat is very moist and tender, and seasoned similarly to the rice. It's advertised as "goat" rather than "kid goat" (or "cabrito" in this area) but it has nothing of the gaminess I've been told to expect. Maybe it's kid.

 

 

There's a lot. I'll be making more than one dinner from it all. And yes, with all these groceries I already had, and those I bought today, I could have been cooking. But when will I have another opportunity at Somali food?

Have never had Somali food, nor goat for that matter - it looks delicious!