Category Archives: Grilling

Lainey’s Graduation and Party

We drove with my daughter Alana to the Xfinity Arena in Everett Thursday evening for the Arlington High School graduation ceremony. It was hard for me to believe my granddaughter, Lainey, was graduating from high school. Every year seems to whiz by faster and faster.

They had 350 students graduating – the ceremony lasted a little over two hours. Afterwards we made our way through the crowds and met up on a street corner to shoot a few photos. I had my camera bag and my trusty Canon 10D – I haven’t used this camera in a few years. I mostly just point and shoot with my smartphone. We were able to shoot the pictures before the rain started falling again.

Lainey and Alana

By the time we finished up with photos and headed out, it was after 10pm. We met up at Buffalo Wild Wings at Smokey Point and had a few beers and food. We didn’t get home until after midnight – I don’t stay up that late usually.

The rain moved out of the area Friday afternoon. Things were looking promising for the graduation party on Saturday. Donna was able to get a bicycle ride in, then we took Alana’s car and shopped at WinCo Foods.

Saturday morning we stayed dry and the weather forecast called for zero percent chance of rain. Everyone got busy preparing for the party at LuAnn’s house. I grilled marinated chicken thighs on the Traeger that was then chopped into pollo asado taco meat. I had to make three batches as the grill wasn’t nearly large enough for the amount of chicken I grilled. Meanwhile Alana and Shauna were grilling marinated beef at Luann’s house.

I pulled the last of the chicken off the grill and we walked over to LuAnn’s house a little past 2pm. The house was all decorated for the party.

Props for selfie photos

The dining room table was made into a large taco bar with tortillas, meats, beans, rice and all the fixings.

Taco bar

There was enough food to feed an army. I don’t know for sure how many people came – people filtered in and out all afternoon. I think there had to be at least 40. We hardly made a dent in all the food – lots of leftovers were sent home with guests.

Backyard party

Remember that zero percent chance of rain forecast? Well, this is western Washington in June. I don’t think there’s ever a zero percent chance of rain here at this time of year. A few raindrops started falling. Looking at the Radar Express app on my phone, I could see a large area of precipitation to the south of us.

Zero percent chance of rain!

When the rain started to come down steadily,a couple of EZup canopies were quickly deployed.

Party on under the canopy

After lots of food and too much beer, we called it a night and headed back to our coach. I was done in.

It rained again this morning but the weather guessers say no rain this afternoon. We’ll see.

All Together in Arlington

We’ve had a mixed bag of weather the first half of this week. It’s been relatively chilly – highs in the low 60s – and rain showers off and on with brief periods of sunshine.

My daughters are all here now. My middle daughter, Jamie, left with her family from the Corpus Christi, Texas area Saturday night at 10:30pm local time. They pushed through the night and ended up stopping at a hotel only once before they made it here to Arlington, Washington early Tuesday morning. Their trip was more than 2,300 miles!

On Tuesday evening, we got together at LuAnn and Jerry’s house and had beer and pizza. LuAnn is my ex-wife and mother of our daughters. Jerry is her husband. We all get along very well.

Later that night, Alana, Jamie and LuAnn picked up my youngest daughter, Shauna, who flew in from Washington D.C. So we’re all together again for the first time since May of 2015 in San Diego for Shauna’s graduation from law school.

Wednesday was breezy and cold. I ran the heat pumps in the coach several times during the day. The girls went out to get their nails done and do some shopping. In the afternoon, Donna ran into town and over the hill to the Safeway grocery store. She bought a few things and loaded them in a backpack and walked back. She likes to do this whenever she can as a way to to combine exercise and an errand.

When she got back, she made turkey burger patties with green chiles and cumin spice. I grilled 16 patties on the Weber Q – two sets of six and one batch of four. We all sat on the lawn and talked and ate. The breeze made it feel much cooler than the actual temperature of about 62 degrees.

After burgers on the lawn

We decided to move over to Luann and Jerry’s place – a couple of blocks away – as they had gas heaters in the backyard. We sat and talked over a few beers and the kids played badminton – Donna joined in a game as well.

Some of the extended family – Alana and Kevin facing the camera with our graduating granddaughter, Lainey on the right next to Donna

Jennalee, Donna, Gabi, Shauna and Jerry

When we arrived here last Saturday, there were a few packages waiting for us. Donna had ordered a bathing suit and I had three folding Spyderco knives. In the last eight months, I’ve ordered seven Spyderco locking blade folding knives.

One of the knives I ordered is a diminutive Spyderco Dragonfly – a small knife with a blade length of 2.25″ that weighs less than and ounce and a half! I bought this knife for Donna as she had difficulty handling some of the larger knives.

Donna has been carrying the knife every day in her pocket or clipped to her shorts and has found it to be very useful. The blade is very sharp and made of VG10 steel – so it’s durable too. Before, when she needed to open a package – whether it was a cardboard box or plastic wrapper – she would retrieve scissors. Now she just reaches for her knife and says she doesn’t know what she did without it!

Spyderco knives

Collecting knives is a lot less expensive than say high-end watches or cars (something I’ve done previously) and they don’t take much space. My assortment of knives is somewhat eclectic at this point.  Pictured above are the seven Spydercos.

I’ve gone for a variety of blade steels, handles, scale material and locking type. From left to right is a Paramiltary 2 with CPM S30V balde and G10 scales with a compression lock for one-hand operation. Then there’s a Manix 2 LW with a CTS XHP blade and Fiberglass Reinforced Co-Polymer (FRCP) scales. Next is a Manix 2 LW with CTS BD1 steel and FRCP scales – the Manix knives have a caged ball bearing lock. Next is a Tenacious with 8Cr13Mov steel and G10 scales and a frame lock. Then there’s a Delica 4 with VG10 blade and Fiberglass Reinforced Nylon (FRN) scales. Next up is a Chaparral with CTS XHP steel and carbon fiber scales and last is Donna’s Dragonfly with VG10 steel and FRN scales. The last three all have back lock mechanisms.

If I continue to collect Spyderco knives, I need to decide on a direction. Do I continue to find different types or do I focus on something more specific? One guy on a forum started collecting a year ago and now has 23 versions of the Paramilitary 2 – all with different blade and/or scale combinations.

Tonight our granddaughter Lainey graduates from Arlington High School. The graduation is thankfully indoors at an arena in Everett. It’s raining out and under 60 degrees as I type this. The forecast calls for rain to continue through Friday. Hopefully the weather guessers have it right for Saturday – they call for warmer temperatures and only a 10% chance of rain. Lainey’s graduation party is planned for Saturday in LuAnn and Jerry’s backyard.

 

Pine Cone and a Sleepy Squirrel

Donna hiked and found Coarsegold Creek on Saturday morning. Coarsegold Creek runs along the west side of the Escapees Park of the Sierras property. In addition to the developed RV sites, they have an additional 40 acres undeveloped that is left in its natural state. When Donna was coming back to our site from her hike, she found what appeared to be an odd looking fruit that fell from a tree. After some research, we agreed that it was an immature Ponderosa pine cone.

Immature Ponderosa pine cone

Ponderosa pines are sometimes called yellow pine. The seeds are in the cones and take about 16 months to mature. The trees flower from April to June and the cones mature and fall from the tree in August or September of the following year. When they’re immature, they look like a solid mass. Once mature and ready to shed seeds, they have the familiar woody petal shape that’s somewhat prickly.

After lunch on Saturday, we took the Spyder for a ride up to Oakhurst. Oakhurst is a small town with around 13,000 residents about 13 miles from the RV park – it’s about halfway to the entrance to Yosemite National Park. We rode up a grade to an elevation of about 3,000 feet before we dropped a few hundred feet into the small valley where Oakhurst is located. This area was once known as Fresno Flats. The Fresno River runs through it.

We stopped at the Southgate Brewing Company for a cold one. Donna had a pecan brown ale that she thought was amazing – she said it tasted like a pecan pie! I tried a pale ale and it was quite good. We’ll go back and try out their menu sometime.

Saturday evening Donna prepared lemon-butter chicken for dinner. She pounded chicken breasts flat, then lined them with prosciutto and rolled them. She sautéed them in butter and they were very tasty.

Lemon-butter chicken

Sunday morning we went down to the temporary pickleball court here in the park. We met Joe and Melinda there and played several games. It was a fun time, but nothing here in the park is flat – including the pickleball court. The court is lined out on a parking area near the dry camping zone where we parked our trailer. It slopes from one end to the other and has a slight dip in the center. This made it interesting to say the least.

When we came back to our site, we found a squirrel on the deck railing eating the Ponderosa pine cone.

Who knew squirrels like immature Ponderosa pine cones?

Sunday evening I grilled a simple meal. I roasted two ears of corn in the husks and also grilled Aidell’s chicken-apple sausages. Donna sauteed apple slices and onions with fresh garlic and rosemary to serve over the sausage. Simple but delicious.

Chicken-apple sausage with corn-on-the-cob

Melinda told me about pickleball in Fresno. She was going with Joe Monday morning and sent me directions. I rode the Spyder there – about 30 miles and arrived around 8:45am. I played for a few hours. They had four pickleball courts set up on a couple tennis courts at Rotary East Park. Donna stayed home to work on a project.

Pickleball at Rotary East Park

By the time I left around noon, it was hot – in the 90s. I stopped for a plate of rolled tacos before I headed home. The ride back was hot and dry and I felt overheated. By the time I got home, I was a little shaky and nauseous – I think I was dehydrated. Sitting in the shade with a couple of bottles of water helped. Then we came inside and Donna fired up the air conditioners. I read for a while and took a short nap. I’m feeling better now.

The squirrel that ate the pine cone likes to hang out on our deck. He laid out spread eagle on the railing and napped for half an hour or so. It was comical. I couldn’t get a sharp photo – I had to shoot through a window so I wouldn’t scare him away.

Napping squirrel

I saw sad news on the internet today. Nicky Haden succumbed to injuries sustained when he was hit by a car while bicycling with a group near Rimini, Italy – I wrote about it in my last post. Nicky was 35 years old. I followed his motorcylce road racing career since he was in his teens. I unexpectedly ran into him once back in 2004 in Barcelona, Spain. He was known as the Kentucky Kid and always maintained a positive attitude and a quick smile. He will be missed. I extend my condolences to his family and fiance, Jackie.

Tomorrow we plan to play pickleball here in the morning. Wednesday we’ll leave here early and ride up to Yosemite National Park to see the sights. The weather will remain very warm this week – I’ll be sure to bring plenty of water.

 

 

 

 

 

A Chance Encounter

Our three-night stay in Hemet passed quickly. Tuesday morning I went outside around 9:30am and was surprised to hear people on the pickleball courts.I didn’t think enough people were in the park to play pickleball. When we stayed here before, most of the snowbirds pulled out in April and the pickleball activity was finished. We planned on heading down to Sun City (Menifee) around 11:30am to visit my step-dad, Ken, so I didn’t go to the pickleball courts.

Also, it was pretty windy and cool. The temperature never went above 65 degrees for our entire stay here – about 20 degrees below average for this time of year. We rode the Spyder to Sun City and arrived at Ken’s place around noon. His cleaning lady was there, so we sat in his TV room and talked until she finished her deep cleaning of the house. She had been at it since 7:15am and spent five and half hours cleaning.

We drove in Ken’s car to a Chinese restaurant for lunch. Ken generously bought our lunches and we enjoyed talking while we dined. We headed back to Hemet around 2pm. On the way back, we made a stop at WinCo foods to pick up a few items. When we stayed here before, we always shopped at Stater Brothers – I didn’t know at the time what a great supermarket WinCo is. I found a 22-ounce bomber bottle of Stone Tangerine Express IPA for $4.12 – bargain!

Donna planned to have her friend, Connie Kippycash, join us for dinner on Tuesday evening. Unfortunately Connie was suffering from a sinus infection and had to cancel. So we just relaxed and had leftovers for dinner. It looked like rain was imminent, so maybe it was best to relax indoors.

Wednesday morning Donna and I hit the pickleball courts. There was only one other player so we played a couple of games where we rotated through a two-on-one game. After about an hour, another player arrived and we played a couple of doubles games. They were older and the level of play had me holding back. It was fun nonetheless.

Wednesday evening I grilled herbed boneless, skinless chicken thighs on the Weber Q.  When I was younger, I always preferred the white breast meat. Nowadays I find the dark thigh meat to be juicier, tender and more appealing. Donna served it with a medley of roasted baby squash with feta cheese and quinoa.

Grilled chicken thighs with baby squash and quinoa

This morning I need to pack a few things in the trailer – the grill and grill stand, a few chairs and the Spyder. We’re not in any hurry. Our drive will take us north through San Bernardino and over Cajon Pass. We plan to stop at the Elks Lodge in Palmdale – about 100 miles from here. Tomorrow morning we’ll continue north to Coarsegold in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Yosemite National Park.

I don’t want to delay our departure here too long – the Elks Lodge is first come – first served. I made a reservation at the Escapees Park of the Sierras campground yesterday. We’ll stay for one week. At first, the woman on the phone told me they didn’t have any sites available for a rig of our size. Then she had me hold for a couple of minutes and told me she had one site, but we would have to drop the trailer away from the site. She asked me if I wanted to do that. I told her it wasn’t ideal, but we’d take it.

After I gave her my check-in information, she asked me if I write a blog. I said yes. She said you just went to Hemet, right? And you’re an avid pickleball player and your wife is Donna. I was stunned. I laughed out loud when she told me she had been following this blog for quite a while. We plan to get together for pickleball after we arrive. I was so surprised at the chance encounter that I failed to ask her what her name is!

After three cool, cloudy days, today we have abundant sunshine. The temperature should reach 80 degrees today and the next week in Coarsegold should be in the upper 80s. Sounds good to me!

 

 

Cool and Quiet in Hemet

Monday morning we finished prepping for the road. I had removed the tire covers and checked tire pressure on Sunday. When I broke out my Porter-Cable portable compressor to add air, I found an air leak in the hose. I’ve had the 20-foot air hose for about 15 years – not bad for a cheap Chinese-made pneumatic hose that I bought at Harbor Freight.

It was time to kick the tires and light the fires at 11am. Donna rode the Spyder over to the overflow lot and I followed in the coach. I hooked up our trailer and loaded the Spyder. By the time we were ready to pull out, it was already 11:40am. We weren’t in any hurry – we were only going 90 miles up to Hemet, California.

I drove south on East Mission Bay Drive to Clairemont Drive where I got onto I-5 north. Going to Clairemont Drive added a couple of miles, but it’s a much better route to maneuver. I could have taken Mission Bay Drive north and got onto I-5, but there’s always a tie-up where merging traffic comes off I-5 and many cars want to get in the left lane to hit Grand Avenue. There are also five stoplights before you reach the freeway. I think the extra distance we drove is quicker and it’s definitely a lot easier in a big rig.

We followed a familiar route – I-5 to CA52 to I-15. North of Temecula we forked right onto I-215. We stopped at a small travel center on Ethenac Road. It’s a truck stop but the parking lot and entrance are fairly tight. I filled up at the far right pump. This would allow me to make a 180-degree turn in the small lot and come out past the far left pump. I topped up the tank and we were able to exit without any issues.

From there it was a short drive to Golden Village Palms RV Resort. At check-in, I asked if we could extend our stay until Thursday – we booked two nights originally but decided to stay for three nights. We got the Passport America rate – 50% off – for all three nights.

Our site is a 70′ long pull-through, so setting up was quick and easy. The park is very quiet at this time of year and we have empty sites on either side of us.

Roomy site 821

All of the plants are blooming in the park – including the beautiful purple flowers on the Jacaranda trees. I hope my pollen allergies don’t flare up too badly.

Donna has really taken to the new Weber Q grill. She made up some pork tenderloin kabobs and did the grilling as well. The grill is usually my domain but Donna is enjoying cooking on it.

Pork kabobs hot off the grill

She also grilled baby bok choy to serve with kabobs and rice. It was an excellent meal and we have leftovers!

Pork kabobs and rice with baby bok choy

It was chilly in the evening as we had a stiff breeze blowing from the south. This gave us a nice tailwind on the drive up, but made it a little too chilly to dine outside. Rain clouds formed to the east and north of us and I expected us to have a shower during the night.

This morning Donna was up early – she was out of bed before 6am. We didn’t have any overnight rain. Donna watched rabbits around our site after sunrise. We saw a black rabbit the night before. He was back along with a cottontail. I think the black rabbit is a domestic variety that’s gone feral.

Black rabbit and cottontail

Today we’ll ride the Spyder down to Sun City (Menifee) to visit my step-dad, Ken. It’s about a 15-mile ride. We plan to go to lunch with him at noon. It’s cloudy this morning and the high temperature is only supposed to reach 64 degrees. This is about 20 degrees cooler than average for mid-May here in Hemet. We’re at an elevation of about 1,600 feet above sea level. The forecast calls for another cool day tomorrow before it warms up to a more normal temperature in the low 80s.

 

*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!

Easter Sunday on the Bay

Friday went pretty much as planned. We pulled out of our boondocking site near the Imperial Sand Dunes around 9:30am and headed west on I-8. There’s construction in progress on the interstate between Yuma and El Centro, but traffic was light and it didn’t slow us down much. I usually cruise at 60-62mph and we were able to maintain this speed most of the time.

We had a headwind as we crossed the desert. West of El Centro the elevation was zero – mean sea level. There’s a huge array of solar panels covering hundreds of acres with a huge transformer station on both sides of I-8 in the desert there. Near Ocotillo, there are wind generators on both sides of the interstate. This is where the climb up to Laguna Summit begins. There are three summits along the route – Tecate Divide, Crestwood Summit and Laguna Summit. All are over 4,000 feet above sea level.

Although we had a headwind, we were able to maintain a minimum speed of 50mph up the grade and the engine coolant temperature never exceeded 197 degrees. I was happy about that. We stopped and had lunch at the Buckman Springs Rest Area. This is located in a valley between the Crestwood Summit and the Laguna Summit and is a favorite stopping place for us. The exit to the rest area on the westbound side is poorly marked. There’s a sign advising “Rest Area one mile ahead” but the exit at Buckman Springs doesn’t have a Rest Area sign and you can’t see the rest area until you’ve passed it. If you are looking for a rest stop and aren’t familiar with the area, you could easily miss this one.

Getting back on the interstate, we had to merge into bumper-to-bumper traffic. There’s a Border Patrol checkpoint about a mile from the on ramp at Buckman Springs. Once again, we were waved through with no questions asked and got up to speed again.

We checked in at Mission Bay RV Resort in San Diego around 1pm. I had reserved our site here last November and paid a deposit. That locked in the price at $925/month. They’ve raised their rates since then – it’s now $1,085/month – it was $875/month when we started coming here four years ago. While I was checking in, the girl at he counter mentioned our trailer and overflow parking rent of $150/month. I told her we haven’t been charged for trailer parking here since those Dirty, Rotten Thieves stole our trailer from their lot. She looked up our account records and verified the information, but then she told me this will be our last free parking pass. So, next time we come here we will be paying a much higher price.

Although parking our coach at ViewPoint RV and Golf Resort in Mesa, AZ was difficult, the overall dimensions of the site were generous. We dropped our trailer on the concrete pad and had ample space between our coach and trailer to set up our awning mat, chairs and grills. Here at Mission Bay RV Resort, it’s a little more cozy. Our neighbor’s rig is closer to us than our trailer was at ViewPoint.

Neighbor close by

Our friend Sini Schmitt is three sites away from us. Sini came over and visited with Donna while I got us set up. Sini had friends coming down from Seattle and they planned to sightsee on Saturday. They used her friends’ rental car and Sini gave Donna the keys to her Saturn Vue. Donna took advantage of the car to get to her hair appointment, stock up on groceries and also visit her sister Sheila in Point Loma.

On Saturday evening, I grilled a pork tenderloin that Donna marinated in her mojo marinade for 36 hours. Twenty-two minutes on the grill had the internal temperature of the loin at 140 degrees – perfect.

Pork tenderloin with smashed potatoes and green beans

The RV park is nearly full with lots of young families and kids here for the Easter weekend. This is a big change from ViewPoint in Mesa, Arizona which is a 55+ park. Not many youngsters racing around on bikes and skateboards there. The weather all weekend was beautiful with highs around 70 degrees – it hit 74 on Sunday. The Easter crowds around Mission Bay Park were at summertime levels – lots of canopies, grills and volleyball games on the grass.

Donna is still trying to overcome a respiratory ailment but wanted to get some exercise on Sunday, so she walked to Trader Joe’s in Pacific Beach. It was about a five-mile round trip and she came home with a heavy load as she also stopped at Petco and bought a six-pound bag of cat food. I spent the morning watching the Formula One race from Bahrain.

Around noon, I got ambitious and pumped up the tires on my Specialized Crave mountain bike. It was breezy – I rode toward the ocean on the Bayside Walk right into a headwind. It was slow going. I kept at it and rode all the way to the boardwalk at the end of Pacific Beach Drive.

Easter Sunday and the boardwalk at the beach was crowded!

People on the boardwalk near the Surfer Hotel

Surfers in the water

The wind pushed me along on the ride back and I made good time. I stopped to shoot a couple of photos and still made it back in just 20 minutes.

A nice day to be on the bay

View from the pedestrian bridge over Rose Inlet looking toward Fiesta Island

For our Easter dinner on Sunday evening, I grilled salmon. I tried a different technique. Donna coated the salmon with olive oil on both sides and sprinkled it with salt and pepper. I also oiled the grill grates. I put the salmon skin side up on the hot grill for a few minutes, then turned it skin side down for a few more minutes on medium heat. It worked great! The fish doesn’t stick or flake when it it’s skin side up because it isn’t fully cooked yet.

Grilled salmon with orzo, spinach & feta salad

This morning I plan to head over to the Ocean Beach Recreation Center to play pickleball. Donna’s working on a article. Tomorrow Donna is flying to Albany, New York to visit her parents in Bennington, Vermont. Once again, I’ll be a bachelor for a week.

 

Ribs and Racing

Last week I played pickleball five days straight – I played for about two and half hours per day. Donna laid low getting over the cold she picked up while she was in Sedona. On Saturday, Donna borrowed a car from our friend Lana so she could take Ozark the cat to the vet. We suspected that she might have a tapeworm.

Before I dropped Donna off at Lana’s house we made a stop at Seńor Taco for an early lunch. This was our favorite taco shop when we lived in Mesa. They had a two fish taco plate on special for five bucks, including a 20-ounce drink.

Chipotle fish tacos

The tacos were huge and smothered with a chipotle sauce – tasty.

While Donna was out and about, I made a run to a well-known local butcher shop called Midwestern Meats on Main Street. They have high quality meats that are processed on site. We were having company for dinner on Sunday and I wanted to have another go at babyback ribs. The ribs at Midwestern Meats are not like the babybacks I typically find at the grocery store.

Most grocery stores have their babyback ribs delivered from a processing plant where they’re vacuum sealed. Midwestern cuts their own ribs fresh daily. They cut them differently from the mass production butchers. The ribs are meatier and most of the fat is carefully trimmed away.

Babyback ribs from Midwestern Meats

All I had to do was remove the membrane from the bone side of the rack of ribs.

Membrane on bone side

I dusted them with my rib rub which is three parts Pappy’s Choice seasoning and two parts Lambert’s Sweet Rub O’Mine.

Dry-rubbed racks of ribs

I wrapped them and put them in the refrigerator overnight and relaxed with a bottle of IPA Donna bought for me. It was one I hadn’t tried before called DFRNT IPA from Sonoran Brew Company – and it was different alright. Somehow they’ve managed to make a well-balanced brew at 6.2% ABV and only 42 IBUs. This seems like a low number of bittering units and suggests a lack of hops. However, the brew balances nicely and has adequate hoppiness without being over-the-top hoppy.

DFRNT IPA

Sunday was race day for me – I was a couch potato as I watched racing on TV most of the day. I started with the Formula One Grand Prix from Shanghai. It was an interesting race that started on a wet track that quickly dried. Then I watched the Moto GP race in Argentina. Another good one. Then in the afternoon I finished with the Indy Car race at Long Beach, California.

The Long Beach Grand Prix is run on a street course in downtown Long Beach. The first race there was in 1975. An Englishman named Chris Pook, who was running a travel agency in Long Beach, came up with the idea as the city was trying to gentrify and rebuild their image. He envisioned a Grand Prix featuring the best cars and racers in the world – Formula One – racing on the streets as they do in Monaco. The course would take the cars down Shoreline Drive past the iconic Queen Mary cruise ship.

Before the FIA would sanction a Formula One race, the city had to demonstrate its ability to actually operate as a race track. In September of 1975, they held a Formula 5000 race as the inaugural event. I went to that race with my friends Jim Birditt and Steve Drake.

Formula 5000 was chosen as it was a popular class in the USA – as well as in Britain and Australia – at the time. In the USA, the class was sanctioned by the SCCA and USAC. The rules called for an open wheel chassis powered by a stock block V8 engine of no more than 5000cc – five liters. The most popular engine for the class was the Chevy 302 cu. in. V8. The engines utilized mechanical fuel injection and produced plenty of torque and about 500 horsepower. In the lightweight chassis – about 1200 lbs total weight – they were beasts to drive as the tire technology back in the day could barely provide enough grip.

The race was fierce with many top drivers competing. Mario Andretti and Brian Redmond had quite the battle. Brian Redmond was the race winner after Mario Andretti retired with transmission problems. I was looking through a packet of old photos on Saturday when I found a program I had saved from that race in 1975.

Race program from 1975

In March of 1976, the first Formula One race was held at Long Beach. I was there for that one too. Clay Reggazoni won in a Ferrari 312T2 and his team mate Niki Lauda was second. I attended several of the eight Formula One races held there – I saw Gilles Villeneuve win in 1979. The final Formula One race at Long Beach was held in 1983 and I saw John Watson take the checkered flag after starting 22nd on the grid.

I put the babyback ribs on the Traeger wood pellet fired smoker/grill while the race was on TV. With the racks of ribs trimmed the way they were, I was little unsure of the cooking time. After about 140 minutes, I wrapped the ribs in foil and let them cook for another 40 minutes. They came out fine – I probably should have wrapped about 10 or 15 minutes earlier to retain more moisture.

Our friends Howard and Sara Graff joined us for cocktails and dinner along with their daughter, Kenna. Kenna enjoyed playing with Ozark the cat – thanks Kenna for wearing Ozark out – it made for a nice quiet night’s sleep for me! Sara brought home made cornbread and Donna served up green beans and garlic smashed potatoes with the ribs. I got so wrapped up in conversation and story telling that I neglected to take any photos of the group or dinner plate. I had a bottle of Sculpin IPA with the dinner and I have a photo of that though.

Sculpin IPA from Ballast Point in San Diego

This morning, Donna joined me on the pickleball courts and we played for two and half hours. Today was the first time I played without a bandaid on my left finger that I injured last week. It’s mending nicely.

Finger on the mend

We’re expecting a high temperature of 82 today and it will warm up to near 90 over the next two days. I’ll be busy getting the trailer squared away and preparing for our departure on Thursday.

And, oh, by the way, we’re not sure if Ozark had a tapeworm or not, but the vet treated her anyway as it wouldn’t hurt. She also got a rabies vaccination booster shot.

 

Prescription Runaround

In a previous post, I wrote about changes to our health care plan this year. My former employer quit offering group health insurance to retirees. Instead they funded a healthcare reimbursement account and I was on my own to find a plan on the healthcare exchange. The result was a plan that costs triple what I paid in 2016 and essentially leaves us self-insured for the first $13,100 – we’re really only covered for a catastrophic event.

Our previous health care coverage also included prescription medications under a plan through CVS-Caremark mail-order pharmacy. When I looked at the healthcare exchange, I wasn’t too thrilled with the prescription coverage and cost. I called CVS-Caremark to inquire about retaining the plan. I have a few medications that I take on a daily basis. CVS-Caremark told me there were no changes in my prescription plan, prescriptions would continue to be mailed every 90 days. Now that was good news.

In February, they mailed me my prescriptions. Then in March, they sent me an e-mail telling me that I was no longer enrolled in their plan, my previous employer had terminated the coverage. Now I had a problem. I already enrolled through the healthcare exchange and adding prescription coverage would be problematic.

After looking at a few options, I decided to buy my medications out-of-pocket through the AARP discount mail-order plan. I spoke with their customer service and was told I needed to download a form from their web site and send it in along with written prescriptions from my doctor to start the service.

I obtained the written prescriptions and completed the form – including credit card payment information and mailed it to them about 10 days ago. Yesterday I checked my account on their web site and no prescription order was showing. So, I called their customer service again. After the usual automated phone system runaround, I spoke to a representative.

When she found my information, she told me they had the paperwork and prescriptions but I hadn’t asked them to actually fill the prescriptions – what!? I had filled out their form completely and followed all of their instructions. Maybe it’s just me, but I figure that when I drop off a prescription at a drug store, it’s understood that I want the prescription filled. When I sent in the form including billing information it should be de facto evidence of me ordering the prescriptions. After more than 30 minutes of runaround, giving them all of the information that was on the form I sent in, she finally told me the order would be filled. I should expect the meds by April 13th. Whew!

A couple of hours later, my phone rang. I picked up the call and it was a recorded message from OptumRx – the supplier for the AARP discount plan – telling me there was a problem and I need to stay on the line for a representative. I was on the phone listening to their music and recorded messages for 20 minutes before a representative came on the line. She looked up my account and said she needed to verify some information.

We went over all of the same information that was on the form I sent in and also gave to the representative a couple of hours earlier. She put me on hold several times – once for 15 minutes. After 41 minutes on the phone, she told me she had everything she needed to fulfill my order – I hadn’t given her any new information at all, we just repeated everything they already had. After this call, I got a confirmation e-mail, so maybe that’s a good sign and things are moving along as they should. They also sent a link to complete a satisfaction survey. Oh boy – this will give an opportunity to tell them what I really think.

On Wednesday evening, Donna prepared some chicken breasts she bought at WinCo Foods. She spiced them with a green chile BBQ rub that she bought when we were in Taos, New Mexico. I cooked the chicken on the Traeger. About 15 minutes before I took them off the grill, I basted them with Pomegranate and Mango Chipotle Sauce. The combination was excellent, giving the chicken a spicy-sweet flavor.

Green Chile Spicy BBQ Rub

Pomegranate & Mango Chipotle Sauce

Chicken breasts hot off the Traeger

Donna served it with steamed asparagus and garlic smashed potatoes. Once again, I’m dining like a king! We sat outside and enjoyed the meal al fresco.

A meal fit for a king

Yesterday Donna joined me for pickleball in the morning. She took a fall in her first game and scraped her knee and shin. But she hung in there and we played several games. This morning I played again for the fourth straight day, but Donna woke up feeling a little punky with a sore throat, so she passed.

The temperature should reach the upper 80s today and tomorrow, so it looks like we’ll be running the air conditioners again.

Canadians Heading Home

Friday was the last day of March – hard to believe we are already into the fourth month of 2017. It was also a milestone for ViewPoint RV and Golf Resort. The majority of the people spending the winter months here are from Canada. As Canadian citizens, they’re limited to a total of 182 days in the USA during a 12-month period. A lot of the Canadians leave at the end of March and go back to Canada to avoid issues regarding taxation also maintain their health insurance coverage.

On Wednesday we had 22 players in the 3.0-3.5 level round robin pickleball match. On Friday we only had six players! I’m wondering if there will be enough players left in the park to play this week.

Our stay is coming to an end here. Looking at my reservations, I see I made a mistake. I had us booked here until Friday, April 14th. I also have a reservation to return to Mission Bay RV Resort in San Diego on Friday, April 14th. Although the distance is about 380 miles, it takes over six hours in the coach. I don’t like to make the drive in one day and enter the park and set up after a long, tiring day behind the wheel. We usually make a stop overnight in the desert west of Yuma, then we have a leisurely three-hour drive to San Diego and can set up after lunch. So, I think we’ll check out of here a day early and hit the road on Thursday, April 13th.

I’ve been meaning to cook babyback ribs in the Traeger and have friends over. Although Donna is away right now, we only have a couple of weekends left here. I decided to invite Mike and Jodi Hall and a couple of others over on Saturday to try my ribs. We’ll do it again with other friends when Donna’s here.

Mike and Jodi showed up with their granddaughter Swayzie around 5pm. Ray Laehu wasn’t feeling well and backed out, so we had a small party. Mike and Jodi brought a macaroni salad and slaw to go with the ribs. I dry-rubbed the ribs Memphis style – that’s the way I always prepare babyback ribs. I know I’ve covered the preparation of ribs before but I’ll go over what I did again. First, I removed the membrane on the bone side of the babybacks. This membrane is tough and also prevents the salts in the dry rub from penetrating the meat.

To remove the membrane, I start in the middle of the rack and use a regular table knife to separate it from the bone – you don’t want use a sharp knife, it’ll just cut through the membrane. Then I grab the membrane with a paper towel and pull it away from the rack. Then I’m ready to spice it with my dry rub mix. I did this Friday night and wrapped the ribs and refrigerated them. On Saturday afternoon, I cooked the ribs bone side down on the Traeger with the temperature set at 300 degrees – this results in an average pit temperature of about 265 degrees. After cooking for two hours, I wrapped the ribs in aluminum foil and put them back in the Traeger with the temperature set to 180 degrees. About 45 or 50 minutes later I took the ribs out and let them rest for a while before I removed the foil.

Babyback ribs ready to serve

Mike brought a couple of interesting beers to go with the barbeque. He brought a couple of limited releases from Lagunitas Brewing in Petaluma, California. One was a strong ale called Undercover Investigation Shut Down – a long name for a 9.6% ABV strong ale. It was obviously a high gravity ale and little heavy on the palette but worked well with the ribs. The other beer was called Aunt Sally – it’s described as a dry hopped, sweet tart, sour mash ale. I loved it – it tasted like a bourbon barrel- aged ale and was very drinkable at 5.6% ABV.

Interesting ales from Lagunitas

Although the thermometer read 70 degrees, it was breezy and felt much cooler in the late afternoon. We all put on sweatshirts or jackets and little Swayzie needed a blanket.

Swayzie bundled up

We’ll be pulling out of here in about 10 days. I’m starting to think about how I’ll get us out of our site. It’s going to be a challenge and I expect it to take a lot of maneuvering. We have obstacles – on the driver’s side there’s a lamp post only 26 inches from the side of the coach. On the passenger side there’s an orange tree with a sprinkler head 21 inches from the coach.

It’s a tight maneuver to get out of here

Additionally we have a permanent park model dwelling across the street from us. The street is only 27 feet wide – our coach is 40 feet long.

The street in front of the coach

I’ll take my time and hopefully come up with a good exit plan over the next week and a half.

The weather forecast looks good with high temperatures in the upper-70s and low-80s over the next few days before it warms up by the weekend. Donna will return from her girls week in Sedona on Tuesday.

 

Arizona Renaissance Festival

The rain moved out on Thursday morning but the day remained cloudy. The temperature was cooler than normal and we had a high temperature of 70 degrees. A few light showers fell in the afternoon – very brief and not enough to wet the street. It was dry enough for me to put chicken on the Traeger. Spiced with Pappy’s Choice rub, it made a nice dinner. I had the Traeger set to 350 degrees – next time I’ll increase the temperature for the final minutes of cooking to make the skin crisper.

Chicken cooked on the Traeger smoker/grill

Friday was a clear, sunny day. As usual, we started the day with pickleball in the morning – I play in the 3.0-3.5 round robin on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. After the round robin play, I got a couple of pick-up games in with Donna.

Our friends Mike and Jodi Hall have several African Spurred Tortoises in their yard. These are native to the southern Sahara desert on the African continent. They can reach a size of 33 inches and weigh up to 200 pounds. Mike and Jodi have a few large ones and some smaller young ones. They are two or three inches long when they hatch but grow quickly, doubling in size each year for the first few years.

Donna saves vegetable scraps when she cooks and we feed the tortoises with them a couple of times per week. They are voracious feeders and eat mostly grasses and vegetables. They require high fiber diets with little protein or sugars. It’s a good way for us to utilize vegetable scraps or produce that is past its prime.

Large African Spurred tortoise in the foreground, medium size in the background

They love the vegetable scraps from our kitchen

After we fed the tortoises, we rode the Spyder back to ViewPoint RV and Golf Resort and stopped at Fat Willy’s at the park entrance.

Donna saw a Facebook post from Lori Gardner – someone she knew when she was growing up in upstate New York. Turns out Lori and her husband Jeff live less than a mile away from here.

We met them at Fat Willy’s and took a table out on the patio. Friday’s weather was very nice with a more normal high temperature of 80 degrees. We sat outside and talked over a couple of beers and appetizers. It was a good time.

On Saturday morning, our friends Howard and Sara Graff picked us up at the park. We piled into Sara’s Ford Flex along with their daughters Allison and Kenna and Allison’s friend Lauren. We headed east on US60 past Gold Canyon to the Arizona Renaissance Festival. The festival is located on 30 acres of desert with permanent structures. It’s open on Saturdays and Sundays from mid-February to the first weekend of April.

It’s a fun time – part circus, part costume party with a fair-like atmosphere. It opens at 10am and we arrived about twenty minutes early. Getting an early start is a good idea – the festival generates a lot of traffic bringing US60 to a standstill later in the morning. As we stood in line waiting for the gates to open we had entertainment from a few of the festival’s actors.

Donna made a new friend while we waited to enter the festival

The royal family arriving

There’s so much going on inside the festival that I doubt you could take it all in during a one-day visit. We wandered around and watched a few performances. There’s no shortage of good food inside – I enjoyed a curry chicken pastie plate. The cost to enter the festival was $22/person. Parking was free and the food was reasonable – my pastie with a side of peas and carrots and mashed potatoes with gravy was seven dollars. And they have beer!

Old fashioned open-air kitchen

Blacksmith’s shop

I probably wasn’t the best company for a day at the festival – my allergies were getting to me. My eyes were itchy and I had a sinus headache. After about four hours, we’d had all the fun we could stand and headed out.

Today we have clear, blue skies and the temperature should reach 80 degrees again. The forecast for the week ahead looks sunny with highs from the mid-70s to the mid-80s. I can’t complain about that!