Saturday went as planned – after I posted to the blog, Donna went for a bike ride and I took my quadcopter over to De Anza Cove Park across from the RV Resort entrance (map). I practiced hovering, flying away from me and back and also flying from side to side. It takes a fair amount of concentration to keep it under control. Hovering requires constant throttle adjustment as the ‘copter will climb or drop with any change in wind or if I make a right-left or forward-back correction. The four rotors that create lift for the ‘copter also control the heading by making small speed adjustments thus tilting the platform. A half hour was enough so I walked back to the coach.

The day before, UPS had dropped off three boxes for Donna. When she returned from her 20-mile bicycle ride up Rose Canyon Trail to University Town Center and back through Clairemont, she wanted to open the boxes. They were sent from an editor at Family Circle magazine who is looking for product reviews from cleaning experts for the April 2016 issue.

I opened the smaller box first and we found it packed with household cleaning and laundry products. The next box had a lightweight Oxo broom and dustpan set with an extendable handle. That box also contained more cleaning products including a soon-to-be released shower and tub scrubber from Oxo that Donna said is a cleaning dream come true. The last box held a Shark Rocket AH452 lightweight vacuum cleaner with powerful suction. It’s a new product and I didn’t find this exact model online, but it’s similar to this one on Amazon. It was like Christmas all over again – opening boxes and finding surprise items inside.

Donna still had Sheila’s car, so she took a trip to Vons and Trader Joe’s to get groceries. We expected the weather to deteriorate by the end of the weekend, so she wanted to stock up for the week. She bought a nice five-pound whole chicken at Trader Joe’s. I prepped the Traeger wood pellet fired smoker/grill and we teamed up to season the chicken. It’s much easier if one person lightly rubs the chicken with olive oil, then holds and rotates it while the second person applies the seasoning inside and out. Donna did the first part and I shook the seasoning. I used the last of the Traeger chicken rub on the inside and back of the bird then applied Sweet Rub O’Mine.

I roasted the whole chicken on the high setting on the Traeger. The Sweet Rub O’Mine has a lot of sugar in it which caramelizes and helps attain a nice crispy skin. In the photo it looks like the skin is burnt. It isn’t, it’s just the caramelized rub. The chicken was flavorful with no burnt taste at all.

Traeger roasted chicken

Chicken breast and wing with a side of yummy rice and steamed green beans

Donna whipped up an absolutely delicious side dish. She added dried cranberries, pecans and scallions along with some orange zest and orange juice and honey to a wild rice blend after cooking. The chicken was moist and tender. I paired the meal with a bottle of Voo Doo American stout brewed by Left Coast Brewing in San Clemente.

Voo Doo American stout

This is a dark, full-bodied, malty stout with flavors of chocolate and coffee. It’s strong at 8.0% and balanced at 39 IBUs.

Sunday was a lazy day for me. I put away a few things we had out in preparation of rain in the forecast. Donna went out for a four-mile run. Then she took down the Christmas decorations and stored everything away in a basement compartment. I spent the rest of the day watching the last week of regular season NFL football.

We made stacked enchiladas for dinner. I cut about a pound of leftover brisket across the grain then diced it. Donna put enchilada sauce in the bottom of a pyrex casserole dish then added a layer of corn tortillas. Then she poured more enchilada sauce over the tortillas and added the brisket meat and cotija cheese. This was followed by another layer of tortillas, sauce, meat and cheese. Then the top layer of tortillas was put on and covered with sauce, cotija cheese and white cheddar cheese. Foil was placed over the casserole dish and it was baked at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. It made a great meal and I’m looking forward to reheating the leftovers.

After the last game of the day with the Minnesota Vikings prevailing over the Green Bay Packers – thus winning the NFC north division – we watched a couple of episodes of Mr. Robot. It’s a USA Network series that we’ve enjoyed watching. We have one more episode left in season one.

The rain predicted came overnight. It’s cloudy but fairly warm at 60 degrees this morning. Our friends Hans and Lisa (Metamorphosis Road) arrived here at the RV park yesterday. Tonight we plan to join them for dinner and sample a few beers. I have another bottle of Voo Doo and some IPAs. The rest of our week will probably be low-key. There are a series of storms lined up in the Pacific that will bring periods of rain each day in the coming week.

*Just so you know, if you follow one of my links to Amazon and decide to make a purchase, you pay the same price as usual and  I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!