With Donna away, my dinner menu is different. It isn’t a matter of me being unable to cook – it’s more a matter of me doing what’s convenient. Pizza delivery from Mountain Mike’s in Clairemont took care of a few meals.

Donna’s nephew’s wedding in Akron, Ohio was blessed with great weather on Saturday and I hear everyone had a great time. Congratulations to Mark Anthony and his bride Jamie.

I rode the Spyder over to the self-serve car wash in Pacific Beach Saturday and gave it a good cleaning. Then I rode up the coast to La Jolla. One thing I miss about our scooter is the ease of parking. The Spyder needs nearly the same space as a compact car.

I found a parking place right by the main life guard station at La Jolla Shores. The beach wasn’t especially crowded, but there was a surfing contest sponsored by WindanSea going on.

View to the north toward Scripps Pier from La Jolla Shores

Surfing contest

On Saturday night, I cooked an old standby – a Marie Callenders pot pie. Cooking in our convection oven is a little different than a conventional oven – it cooks faster. I foil wrapped the perimeter of the pot pie and cooked at 400 degrees for 50 minutes. A quick-read thermometer showed an internal temperature of 168 degrees. Just right.

Not so gourmet

On Sunday morning, I wheeled the Traeger wood pellet-fired smoker/grill from our trailer in the storage yard to our site. It might be more accurate to say I dragged it here. The wheels are small, the unit is fairly heavy and the pavement is rough.

I had the cover on it and left it in our site as the NFL football games were about to start. I was surprised during the Chargers game in the afternoon when I realized it was raining! It was a light shower, but I had the door open and our door panel was wet. I’m glad I had the Traeger covered.

I prepped the babyback ribs for tomorrow’s guys’ night. I was surprised to find the membrane on the bone side of the ribs had been removed by the butchers at Siesel’s Meats. Removing the membrane is something I always do. It’s not that hard, but this is the first time I’ve bought babyback ribs with the membrane already removed. Siesel’s has a reputation for quality meat and they obviously pay attention to the small details. I applied the dry rub and let them rest overnight in the refrigerator.

Two racks of babybacks dry rubbed,stacked and ready for the Traeger

Donna will be home in the early afternoon. I’ll have everything ship shape. The weather forecast looks great – low-70s and sunny.