Camping, Princess Style

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Am reminded of our oldest granddaughter who has a serious sweet tooth and a very health conscious mother.    I remember the child, then around 8, chanting when asked about snacks, 'Vegetables and fruit. Vegetables and fruit" while eyeing peers potato chips and Goldfish.

[FauxPas]

With all that you have been going through, I would have expected you to be feeling pretty tired. So pleased to hear your upbeat tones and see you having some bits of fun in the kitchen! Best wishes for healing and travels! ❤️

[Smithy]

We tried a new stopover place last night: the Rock & Brews Casino in Braman, Oklahoma. I've noticed the place in passing over the last few years, but this time we realized they offered boondocking. It's even free! Well, it would have been if I hadn't bought dinner there. That, and the gambling, are the point of offering free boondocking, aren't they? In order to boondock you have to register for their Players Club (free) and that gets you $5 worth of loyalty points to play on the machines.

 

I didn't get as many photos as I'd thought, and that's a shame. The place is filled with electronic gaming machines, most stand-alone but some "cascading" and connected to other casinos via the internet. (Don't ask me to explain that.) The place has a Hard Rock Cafe sort of vibe, with giant murals / photos of rockers and rock bands. I liked the music, both for its familiarity and its relatively low volume. My darling wouldn't have liked it, but he couldn't walk there anyway. I brought food back to the Princessmobile.

 

 

Here's the menu. I was sorely tempted to buy both a burger and their "Hotel California Cobb Salad", but I knew it would be overkill. I settled on Alice Cooper's Poison Burger (Brioche Bun, Pepper Cheese Spread, Reaper Ranch, Fresh Fried Jalapeno, Crispy Onion Strings, Alice Cooper Poison Sauce). My darling opted for the Smokehouse Burger (Brioche Bun, BBQ Sauce, Double Melted Cheddar, Applewood Smoked Bacon, Onion Ring, Lettuce, Tomato, Dill Pickle, Mayo) minus the dill pickles. French fries with both dinners. I ordered the burgers medium rare. While I waited for my order I admired the decor and puzzled over the games. Things have changed drastically since the days of the one-armed bandits!

 

 

The burgers and fries were excellent! The fries were crisp on the outside, seasoned nicely, and still hot when I got them back to the Princessmobile. His burger, on the right above, was quite messy; his travel clothes are now decorated with spots of BBQ sauce, but he had no complaints. My burger's jalapenos, the pepper cheese spread, and the Poison sauce all carried a delicious hot whallop. Wherever they're getting their jalapenos, these are NOT of the insipid variety. 🙂

 

As I expected, we didn't come close to finishing our dinners. The remains are in the refrigerator and will make at least one more meal apiece. I'm not sure how I'll reheat those fries to do justice to them -- no air fryer or CSO available -- but we'll Give It Our Best Shot.

[Smithy]

Well, we've made it!

 

At the beginning of this trip I wrote about how we'd made it to Texas in record time. This return trip was also a new record: 10 days from our desert camping site to home. We pushed pretty hard, with the day's distances ranging from 200+ miles to nearly 400 miles, and with a couple of days' stops for weather. We shared the driving on the longer days.

 

We managed to stay behind or ahead of bad weather, and are now successfully parked at home, with things put under cover or into the house before the rain arrived. We still haven't finished the burgers from Braman, Oklahoma, but last night we ate fried chicken from the central Minnesota Walmart where we'd parked for the night. I don't seem to have gotten a picture of the chicken. I was too thrilled to show our parking place, and the scenery!

 

 

This place was only a couple of hours' drive from home. We managed to time our travel so that we arrived home, parked, and got things under cover before the rain began. It's supposed to rain for the next few days.

 

 

Tonight we almost polished off the pork roast from last week. There's still some left over, thanks to our diminished appetites, but it will be finished in the next day or two. This was a nice celebratory dinner. (His plate looked like mine, except it included toast. 😉 )

 

 

It's good to be home.

 

 

Thanks for keeping us company, y'all. I'll see you over on the other topics!

[ElsieD]

I'm glad to read you are safely home.  Thank you once again for the blog.  I wish for both your sakes that it had been trouble-free.  No place like home though, is there?  Lovely fireplace you've got there.

[gfweb]

Glad you are back. Sorry its still cold up here.  

[Shelby]

Sooooo glad you're home safe.  I bet it feels GOOD to be back.

[FauxPas]

Aw, hope you two can relax and recover, @Smithy! 

 

Your kitty looks pretty content!  🙂

 

[ElsieD]

20 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

Aw, hope you two can relax and recover, @Smithy! 

 

Your kitty looks pretty content!  🙂

 

 

I didn't realize there was a kitty on the chair til I read your post.  He blends right in, doesn't he?

[blue_dolphin]

I know your darling doesn't care for the cooler weather, @Smithy, but I'll bet even he is content to have this particular trip wrapped up. I usually don't want them to end either but I'm very relieved this time. 

As always, thanks for taking us along! 

[Kim Shook]

Just checking in and saw your travels and travails!  I'm so sorry that you all had to go through all of that while on the road and so glad that your darling is on the mend.  Remember to take care of yourself as you take care of him.  Glad to see you got home safe and sound.  Hugs from me.