Category Archives: Grilling

Roadrunners and Ribs

Tuesday was our last full day at High Desert RV Park in Albuquerque and it was a full day. We planned to have a visitor for dinner – Donna’s friend Hazel Thornton would join us. I rode the scooter down to Smith’s Market on the corner of Coors Boulevard and Central Avenue – across from the Albertson’s store. I stopped at Albertson’s the day before and looked at the baby back ribs. Albertson’s had a buy-one-get-one-free promotion. But here’s the catch – they were frozen, didn’t look very meaty and were priced at $8.99/pound! I didn’t buy them.

At Smith’s, I found fresh baby back ribs that looked excellent for $3.99/pound. Now we’re talking. I bought two small racks – about three and half pounds each. I brought them home and seasoned them with a brown sugar – bourbon dry rub and wrapped them in cling wrap to rest in the refrigerator for a few hours.

Dry rubbed with brown sugar – bourbon rub and ready for the refrigerator

After putting the ribs in the refrigerator, I saw a large calico cat stalking across the road toward our coach. Our cat Ozark jumped up to the bedroom window and was watching outside. I saw what the cats were interested in. There were two roadrunners in our site. They ran down the road, then came back and circled our coach. One jumped up on our picnic table, then they ended up in the tree next to our site.

Roadrunners visiting our site

They hung around our area for a while. The cats – both Ozark inside our coach and the calico outside – were mesmerized by them but had no chance of catching them. Roadrunners have been clocked at speeds greater than 20 miles per hour and they can fly. They generally feed on beetles, grasshoppers and crickets but they are also fond of lizards and snakes. Sometimes they’re called a chaparral bird, but I’ve always known them as roadrunners. The roadrunner is the state bird of New Mexico.

Donna had a delivery at the office – the new walking shoes she’d ordered had arrived. On her walk back from the office, she stopped and chatted with new friends from RVillage, Denny and Veronica. We became RVillage friends some time ago but never had a chance to meet before. Donna invited them to join us for happy hour. They came to our site around 5pm and we got to know each other over a drink. They are young full-time RVers who also have full-time jobs. They have virtual office capability – so as long as they can get online they are as good as being in the office. Their blog is RVOutlawz.com. We had a fun time talking about our travels and the RV lifestyle. Like us, they’ve been on the road since 2013 and are here for the Balloon Fiesta. They seem like a really fun couple and we look forward to our next meeting down the road. It turned out the calico cat stalking the roadrunners was one of their two cats, both of whom like to roam.

Denny and Veronica had some shopping to do so we said our goodbyes and shortly after that Hazel arrived. Our baby back ribs were just about done on the Traeger smoker/grill.

Baby backs looking good

Donna prepared scalloped tomatoes using the last of the green chile sourdough bread from the growers’ market and steamed fresh green beans to go with the barbeque ribs. It was a nice combination.

Baby back ribs with scalloped tomatoes and steamed green beans

Donna gave Hazel a tour of the coach. Hazel brought gifts for Ozark – she’s a cat person. We had a fun evening together.

Wednesday morning I had to get down to business. The trailer still wasn’t packed. I had all of our chairs, the Weber Q and Traeger and the awning mat still out. I also had to put away tire covers and windshield covers and dump and flush the tanks. This may not sound like a lot of work, but it takes time. It was nearly 11:50am when I fired up the Cummins ISL and rolled the coach off the pads I had under the rear tires. By the time I put the pads away and made my final walk around, it was just past noon as we drove up to the office.

The office closed for lunch at noon and I needed to settle up my electric bill for the week. Luckily the girl who works in the office saw us and came back to the office so we could pay and leave. I had taken a photo of our meter before I hooked up our shore power and took another photo after I disconnected. I compared that with the meter readings they were billing. Apparently they read the meter after we hooked up and before we disconnected. They showed slightly less usage than I figured. Our electric bill for the week was just over $23. Not bad considering the high temperatures and a few hours of air conditioning each day.

We made the 25-minute drive to The Vineyard (map) where we’ll be for the next 13 days. This is a 55+ community with about 200 manufactured homes. Our hosts, Larry and Ruth, live here. They’ve set us up with a dry camping spot – 30 amp electricity but no water or sewer – for the duration of the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. There are showers and toilets at the clubhouse and we have access to that. Larry and Ruth coordinate volunteers to crew for balloonists – that’s what Donna and I will be doing starting on Saturday. I’ll post more details once we’re fully involved and I know more of what I’m talking about.

One issue arose as we set up. My Progressive Industries Electrical Management System (EMS) detected an error and wouldn’t allow shore power to flow to the coach. It displayed E-1 which means the polarity at the receptacle is reversed. Not a good thing. I saw a guy that works here at the community and told him about it. He said I would have to talk to Kurt, the owner. He drove me to the office in a golf cart and I told Kurt about the issue. Kurt grabbed a couple of tools and walked with me to our coach. I showed him the error message on our EMS and he opened the 30-amp panel. In short order we had the hot lead and the neutral lead correctly wired to the receptacle and all was good. He said he has many friends that stay overnight here in their RVs when they travel through Albuquerque and no one ever mentioned the reversed polarity. These things can go un-noticed but they contribute to an early demise of components like microwave ovens or other electronic devices.

Our spot at The Vineyard for the next two weeks

The schedule will be a rough start for Donna. This morning, she met a cab at the gated entrance at 4:55am for a flight to New York City. She’ll be at the TV studio late this afternoon for a rehearsal. Early Friday morning she has a satellite media tour that will have her on various TV stations around the country talking about organizing and preparing your home for the winter season. Then she’ll fly back and arrive here late Friday night. Saturday we’ll be up early and head to the Balloon Fiesta Park at 5am.

With our volunteer duty requiring us to head to the park at 5am every morning, I don’t know what my blog post schedule will be over the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned – I’m sure to have some photos and descriptions of a unique adventure!

*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!

Jersey Jack’s Problem Solved

A few days ago, a nice coach pulled into a site near us at High Desert RV Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was a 2009 Foretravel Nimbus with two slides. The Foretravel company came about when C.M. Fore built a coach for he and his wife to use in 1967. In 1974, they introduced the first commercially available diesel-powered motorhome. By the 1990s, Foretravel was well-established as a manufacturer of high-end motorhomes. Foretravel is one of the few RV manufacturers to build their own chassis. Their factory in Texas turns out four models in limited quantities.

2009 Foretravel Nimbus

Another view of our neighbor’s Foretravel

Our neighbor’s 2009 Nimbus is 40 feet long and has a tag axle. He told me he stopped at Camping World and they were interested in trading straight across for a new Entegra coach. He decided against it and I don’t blame him.

Yesterday I noticed water dripping from the compartment in front of his rear wheels. The compartment door was open and so was another basement compartment toward the front with tools in it. I walked over – it looked like water was coming out of an overflow hose.

Later, I saw him poking around in the rear compartment. I walked over to see what was going on. I introduced myself. His name is Jack and he’s from New Jersey. He told me he had the valve for the fresh water fill replaced. Now his fresh water tank slowly fills to overflowing whenever he’s hooked up to city water.

On my Alpine Coach, there’s a valve that diverts fresh water from an outside source to the fresh water tank. It’s a manual valve in the wet bay that I turn 90 degrees to fill the tank. When it’s in the fill position, the rest of the plumbing isn’t pressurized. Water just flows into the tank. We can access fresh water from the tank by turning on the water pump. When I close the valve, water no longer flows into the tank and the rest of the plumbing is pressurized by the city water hook-up.

Looking at his fresh water supply plumbing, I could see his set-up was similar – but heaven forbid an owner of a Foretravel having to manually operate a valve! His valve was operated by an electric solenoid. He could divert water to fill his fresh water tank by pressing a button inside the coach which activates the solenoid and opens the valve. When the tank is full, the solenoid is de-activated and the valve returns to its normally closed position. This is a $300 solution to the inconvenience of manually opening the valve!

Electrically operated valve

This valve had to be the source of the problem. There’s no other path for water to enter the freshwater tank unless the check valve in the pump was allowing water to back-fill into the tank. I didn’t think this was the case because he had a filter with a clear bowl in the line by the pump and no water was moving through it.

Jack removed the cover plate from the brass valve assembly. I saw right away that the valve was assembled incorrectly. There’s a circular plate inside the housing that has a seal around the perimeter to seal the case and an O-ring set in the center to seal the fresh water inlet. A spring on the backside pushes the plate against the fresh water fill opening, sealing it off with the O-ring. Energizing the solenoid pulls the plate back against the spring pressure, opening the fresh water tank fill line and closing off the rest of the plumbing. This plate was put in backwards – the O-ring was on the side where the spring closes the valve. The backside of the plate was closing against the fresh water fill line without the sealing O-ring. No wonder water seeped past it and slowly filled the tank.

I told Jack to flip the plate over so the spring works against the flat plate and the O-ring fits against the fill opening. He reassembled it that way and it was job done!

Later I went online and looked up the solenoid operated electric valve. These things are usually used in marine applications where you may not have easy access to plumbing. A solenoid operated brass valve like the one on the Foretravel costs over $200. At that price, you’d hope for better quality control and not have to disassemble the part and reassemble it correctly.

Today will be a warm day with the temperature approaching 90 degrees. I plan to start organizing the trailer. Later I’ll see if I can find baby back ribs to cook on the Traeger. Donna’s friend, Hazel Thornton, will be joining us for dinner.

Tomorrow we’ll move to Larry and Ruth’s place at The Vineyard (map). I won’t post tomorrow as we’ll be busy packing, traveling and setting up.

Goatheads

We had a fairly quiet day at the High Desert RV Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico yesterday. It was windy in the morning, but Donna was determined to go out for a bicycle ride. Wind is the worst on a bicycle. It’s an invisible force that holds you back as you pedal into it. When you climb a hill, you know there’s a summit ahead. When you ride into the wind, it can feel like there’s no end in sight.

Around here, we have hills as well as wind. High Desert RV Park is just west of the city. Albuquerque sits in a valley – more like a basin actually. The Rio Grande River runs through the center of the city. Our location has us high above the Rio Grande. Most of the good bicycling roads run east from here, down into the valley. Of course that means the return trip is all uphill. At least Donna was riding downhill into the wind yesterday and had a tailwind component while climbing. That was the good news.

The bad news was that she got a flat about a mile away from our site. She decided to walk the distance back to our coach which meant pushing her bike uphill most of the way. When she reached our site, she told me her front tire was flat. I pulled the wheel and removed the tire. I found remnants of goathead thorns in the tire.

Goathead stickers (Google file photo)

Goatheads (tribulus terrestris) are a non-native invasive species that thrives in arid climates. The fruit of the plant drops in clusters of five nutlets or burrs. Each burr has two to four sharp spines. They are a hazard to bare feet and dog fur – and also bicycle tires.

I only felt one goathead spine penetrating the inside of the tire. I pulled all of the spines I could find from the tire. Then I patched the tube and pumped the tire up. Then I noticed her rear tire was flat as well. I found more goathead spines in the rear tire. I located the puncture and patched it after pulling all of the spines I could find from the rear tire. Then I noticed the front tire had deflated. I retrieved a bucket from the trailer and filled it with water. I inflated the freshly patched rear tube and dunked it in the water bucket. The patch didn’t leak but I saw a steady stream of air bubbles coming from two other holes in the tube. I wasn’t going to put three patches on, so I replaced the tube.

Then I removed the front tire again and pumped up the tube. When I dunked it, I had the same result – patch was good but two other holes streamed bubbles in the water. Luckily I had four new inner tubes on hand in the trailer. While I was inspecting her tires, I came to the conclusion that it was time to replace them. The tread surface is fine with lots of rubber left, but the sidewalls are looking thin and fragile with cord showing in places. These are handmade racing tires – not the most durable. Donna’s no longer racing and the liveliness and slight speed advantage these tires offer aren’t worth risking a blowout. I ordered two new Continental Gatorskin tires for her. These are durable tires resistant to punctures. With my Amazon Prime account, they’ll deliver here on Saturday.

Our site at High Desert RV Park

I set up the Traeger smoker/grill. Donna had the large mat under our awning with chairs out and the table cloth on the table. I roasted chicken thigh quarters that Donna seasoned with Stubbs dry rub. The Stubbs has become a go-to rub for us.

Chicken thigh quarters hot off the Traeger

Donna served the chicken with forbidden rice and bok choy braised in white wine, chicken broth, garlic, ginger and soy sauce. And it was ready just in time for the Thursday Night Football game.

Chicken thigh quarter with braised bok choy and forbidden rice

The New York Giants pulled off a win against the Washington Redkins, but neither team looks to be real threat.

We have pleasant weather today, no wind. The forecast calls for a high of 77 under clear, sunny skies. I’ll scooter Donna down to old town Albuquerque where she’ll meet up with her friend, Hazel Thornton, for lunch. After dropping her off, I’ll make a Costco run.

Last Weekend in Santa Fe

We’re not in Santa Fe anymore but I need to catch up on our last weekend there. On Saturday, Donna and I rode the scooter to the farmers’ market down by the Railyard Park. We originally planned to ride the bus, but took the scooter instead to save time. It was nearly noon by the time we got there and the market closes at 1pm. We were surprised at the size of the market – this is a big farmers’ market. We’d only been through about half of the vendors when some of them began breaking down their displays around 12:30pm. Donna bought a small bag of roasted Hatch chiles.

I was hungry and hoped to find tamales or street tacos for lunch, but the food vendors were sold out. We thought about stopping at the Second Street Brew Pub, but the food was overpriced and I didn’t want to have a beer that early before riding the scooter home.

We headed back south on Cerrillos Road and stopped at a Mexican restaurant called Los Potrillos. The salsas they provided with a bowl of chips were outstanding and I knew we were in for a good meal.

Tres salsa and chips

I had the enchilada suizas plate and Donna had chicken enchiladas con mole. It was delicious and we took home leftovers.

We made another stop to buy a whole chicken. Donna had invited our neighbors – the ones with the medium-duty truck in my last post – Audrey and Steve – to join us for dinner. Around 5pm, I fired up the Traeger smoker/grill and roasted the whole chicken which Donna prepared by lightly coating it with olive oil, salt and pepper. After about 75 minutes, my new Palermo instant read thermometer showed an internal temperature of 175 degrees. I turned down the Traeger to the smoke setting and basted the chicken with a barbeque sauce Donna had whipped up from scratch. Ten minutes later, we had a nicely roasted barbeque chicken.

Roasted barbeque chicken

I cut the chicken into quarters. This worked out well since Donna and Audrey preferred the leg/thigh quarters while Steve and I took the wing/breast quarters. Donna served it with fresh steamed green beans and cheesy cauliflower biscuits. Audrey contributed mashed potatoes and a couple of bottles of wine.

Chicken dinner plate

We sat together at the table outside and talked for a few hours. At one point Audrey said, “Look, you have a praying mantis on your back.” The praying mantis climbed up my neck onto my head. Donna snapped a couple of photos. I don’t think I’ve ever had a praying mantis land on me before.

Praying mantis walking up my neck

Praying mantis perched on my head

We talked well into the night and finally went indoors after 10pm. Audrey and Steve planned to pull out of Santa Fe Sunday morning.

On Sunday morning, we said our goodbyes to Audrey and Steve. I watched the Formula One race from Singapore, then proceeded to be a couch potato for the rest of the day watching NFL football. Donna went out for one last bike ride on the Santa Fe trails.

The entire time we were in Los Suenos de Santa Fe RV park, there was a 45-foot Beaver Patriot Thunder parked two sites away from us. The Beaver Patriot Thunder is a high-end motorhome with lots of features including powerful engine options. This one had a 15-liter 525 horsepower Caterpillar engine. The thing that piqued my curiosity was the fact that we never saw anyone enter or leave the coach for nine straight days. It was hooked up to water, sewer and electricity and the AC was running, but it just sat there empty. This seems like an awfully expensive way to store a coach.

On Monday morning, I heard the rumble of a large diesel engine running. It was the Beaver. There were two guys walking around the coach, putting away hoses and disconnecting the electricity. There were two cars – one behind the coach and one next to it by our site. The older of the two guys got behind the wheel of the Beaver and drove away followed by the younger man in a Volkswagen GTI. They left the second car – a Porsche Cayman GT4 behind. Curious again. Why did they come in separate cars and leave the $85,000 Porsche behind?

Porsche Cayman GT4 left behind

I took my time packing our trailer and getting ready for the road. We had a short trip planned and I didn’t need to leave the park before the 11am check-out time. Donna had the interior packed early and walked over to the Ross store to buy a skirt she saw there the day before and decided to go back for. She came back just as I fired up the Cummins ISL. The Porsche was still in the empty site hours after the Beaver pulled out.

Our plan was to head down to Albuquerque where we will stay for two nights at the Sandia Casino & Resort. They have free overnight parking in their RV lot. Our route took us south down NM14 which is also known as the Cedar Crest Scenic Byway or Turquoise Trail. It was a pleasant drive. We went through a few old mining towns. I wanted to stop in Madrid – the town featured in the movie Wild Hogs. The town is quaint, but the road through town is very narrow and there’s no place to park a big rig. We drove slowly through and continued on our way. We turned west at the junction of I-40.

I knew there was a Pilot/Flying J travel center off I-40. I programmed it into the GPS and stopped there for fuel. Then I programmed the Sandia Casino as my destination. I should have studied the map. The Pilot/Flying J is about six miles past the casino, near the High Desert RV park which is our next destination.

We found a nice spot at the back of the RV lot at the Sandia Casino. We have a view of mountains to the east and the city in the valley to our west. Donna and I went into the casino where we were given $25 gift cards to play the slots since we’re first-time visitors. Afterwards, we had a beer at one of the casino bars. Then we checked in with security and they gave us a pass for up to four nights of free parking.

We had rain overnight and there’s more rain in the forecast. If the weather clears, we may take the tram up to Sandia Crest which is a 10,000-foot high viewpoint. If the low clouds hang all day though, the tram ride will not be worth it.

By the way, Donna’s doing a book giveaway and today (September 22nd) is the last day you can download her Kindle book, Secrets of Professional Organizer’s Volume I for free at Amazon. Grab your free copy and help her reach her goal of getting listed in the Top 100 Free Kindle Books by the end of the day!

Gray Water Drip

Amarillo Ranch RV Park was nearly filled to capacity over the Labor Day weekend (map). Lots of grills were cooking on Sunday although most people stayed indoors to beat the heat. We didn’t grill on Sunday – Donna made shrimp fra diavolo on the induction cooktop instead. Served over whole wheat angel hair pasta mixed with zucchini noodles, it was outstanding.

Shrimp fra diavolo over angel hair pasta

On Monday morning, we saw rig after rig pull out of the park as people headed home and back to their workaday lives. We started the day with a treat. Donna cooked up a frittata – which is an Italian egg dish similar to a quiche without the crust. Donna filled it with bacon, potato, mushrooms and green onions and topped it with extra-sharp cheddar cheese and fresh basil. Yummy start to the day.

Frittata for breakfast with fresh cantaloupe

A while back, I noticed our sewer hose had damage. It looked like it had been stepped on or maybe hit with a mower. The three-inch hose is reinforced with a steel wire coil inside the polyolefin hose. The steel wire was kinked near the end. I use Camco Rhinoflex sewer hoses because of the heavy-duty construction. Anyway, when I dumped the gray water, the hose had sprung a leak near the end where it had been kinked.

On Monday afternoon, we rode the scooter to Walmart. Donna bought groceries and I bought a new Rhinoflex sewer hose. We had a full load on the scooter coming back home. I took the old hose to the trash dumpster and set up the new one. I opened the gray water valve and saw water dripping from the fitting on the RV end of the hose. I closed the valve and disconnected the hose. I loosened the locking ring on the bayonet fitting that attaches the hose to the RV drain. I made sure the bayonet fitting was fully seated in the hose end, then tightened the locking ring. I opened the gray water valve again and saw water dripping from the fitting. I looked closely and saw the problem. The fitting is made from two pieces of plastic swaged together to allow the fitting to swivel. This one was defective and leaking where the two pieces are joined together. I’ll have to return it and try another. I’m not having much luck with sewer hoses.

Later, I fired up the Traeger while Donna marinated chicken thighs in sriracha sauce and lime juice. We had plenty of open space around our rig as the park had really emptied out. I cooked the bone-in thighs skin side down for 45 minutes on the Traeger wood pellet fired grill/smoker. When I took them off the grill, Donna basted the chicken with equal parts honey and sriracha and let them rest for a few minutes. This was a new recipe and it was very tasty – you have to like spicy for this one though. Donna served it with a side of colorful cauliflower rice, another new recipe.

Honey-sriracha chicken thighs

Speaking of eating, Ozark the cat has an incredible appetite. We put nearly a quarter cup of dry food in her dish in the morning. We refill it in the afternoon. By bedtime, she’s crying for more food. Donna is concerned about her getting fat. I think she’s still a growing and developing kitty – she’s about nine months old now.

Does she look fat?

We had a few raindrops overnight – hopefully it knocked some of the pollen out of the air. The ragweed pollen count has been very high and I’m feeling it.

Today I’ll return the sewer hose and run a few errands. This afternoon, I’ll take Donna to her hair appointment and have a look at the RV museum at Jack Sisemore’s Traveland.

Just Another Day

I mentioned the wind in my last post. There was a comment questioning the decision to relocate on a windy day. I’d like to clarify the situation.

We were heading west and there was wind out of the south at about 20mph. This isn’t extreme, but it’s noticeable for sure. When the wind is moving perpendicular to the direction of travel, the driver of a high-profile vehicle needs to continually adjust and compensate for the force of the wind. This can make driving mentally and physically taxing. That was my point. Twenty miles per hour wind didn’t keep truckers off the road and we saw other motorhomes traveling as well.

At this time of year, high wind seems to be typical for the area – we’ve had 15-20mph wind every day since we arrived in Amarillo. Along the north side of I-40, east of Amarillo, we saw wind turbine generators. These are usually placed where there is sufficient wind on a regular basis to power the turbine.

Google file photo of wind turbine generators

On Friday, I did some maintenance on the coach. I sealed the seams in the living room slide-out. I sealed the driver’s side bedroom slide a while back. I still have one more slide to seal to complete the job. Over time, the caulking can crack – this can allow moisture to intrude behind the fiberglass. It’s an item that needs to be checked occasionally – just like caulking windows in a sticks-and-bricks home.

Donna prepared a whole chicken by lightly coating it with olive oil, then spiced it with salt, pepper and granulated garlic. I cooked it on the Traeger wood pellet fired grill. A five-pound chicken usually takes around 70-75 minutes to cook. I was inside the coach when I saw a neighbor standing in front of the grill. I got up to see what he was doing, but he walked away and went inside his travel trailer before I got out the door. I’m not sure, but I think he may have opened the grill to see what was happening inside. I went out and saw the temperature had dropped about 50 degrees, so I’m fairly certain the door was opened.

The dry climate here allowed the chicken to cook a little faster than I expected. It came out fine, but I’ll have to adjust my cooking times for dryer climates. Donna made vanilla-maple-bourbon acorn squash mash to go with the chicken along with asparagus. She picked up the squash while out walking in Gettysburg one morning after spotting a pile of squashes with a “Free” sign out at the end of someone’s driveway. (She also grabbed a pumpkin and still deciding on its fate.)

Roasted chicken with maple-bourbon sweet potato mash

Roasted chicken with vanilla-maple-bourbon acorn squash mash

On Saturday, we rode the scooter to the Golden Spread Farmers’ Market at Sunset Center. Most of the produce there is grown on family farms within 70 miles of Amarillo. It was smaller than we expected, but that may be due to the time of year. We kicked around and bought sweet corn, fresh basil and miniature yellow squash.

Amarillo farmers’ market

Lots of fresh melons

We rode through the historic Route 66 section of downtown. This area is about a mile long and has many antique shops. It was quiet on a Saturday morning and we didn’t stop to shop.

Last night, I grilled bacon-wrapped petite filet mignon on the Traeger along with fresh corn on the cob. Donna served it with baked potatoes. What a yummy meal for the Labor Day weekend.

Speaking of Labor Day, tomorrow is the holiday. Labor Day is a working man’s holiday, first celebrated in New York on September 5th, 1882. The following year, it was again celebrated on September 5th. In 1884, it was decided the set the Labor Day holiday on the first Monday in September and that tradition has held for 131 years.

Other than watching the Formula 1 race and making a run to the store, I have no plans for today or tomorrow. I hope your Labor Day weekend is a good one. Since I’m no longer a member of the workforce, Labor Day is just another day for me.

Vixens and Brisket

While Donna was out on her 28-mile bike ride yesterday, I saw a unique motorhome arrive near our site at Tom Sawyer’s Mississippi River RV Park (map). It was a 1986 Vixen. I’ve only seen this model coach once before. After they set up, I walked over to their site and asked if they minded me taking pictures of their unique coach. They were happy to have me take pictures and even gave a tour of the rig.

The owner’s name is Lester and he told me the engine was bad and not running when he bought the rig. The original engine was a turbocharged 2.2 liter BMW diesel. Lester says the coach is underpowered with that engine. He replaced it with a 3.9 liter Isuzu diesel. He says it has plenty of power now and it gets 22 miles per gallon. When I saw one of these in South Dakota, I didn’t realize the roof pops up. I said at that time that the low ceiling would be a deal breaker for me. These coaches were built from 1986 to 1989 in Pontiac, Michigan and were ahead of their time. The design was refined in a wind tunnel at the University of Michigan. This link has a complete description.

1986 Vixen with roof popped up

Lester’s 1986 Vixen

Lester is an active member of the Vixen owners’ club and attended their national rally in Frankenmuth, Michigan last year. He organized this year’s group rally which will take place beginning September 15th at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee.

My big project yesterday was an attempt to smoke a Texas-style beef brisket. I looked at a lot of recipes and information online. It seemed like everyone has their own unique way of making a perfect brisket. A lot of the information was conflicting. I combined some of the common themes and adjusted a recipe. One of things I had to account for was the fact that I was cooking a three-and-a-half pound hunk of flat (HOF) brisket, not a whole packer brisket. This site will tell all you want know about brisket and more.

I started by placing the brisket on a rimmed cookie sheet and seasoned it with Stubb’s Bar-B-Q spice rub.

Dry-rubbed brisket

I let it sit for one hour, then I fired up the Traeger wood pellet fired smoker/grill. I had the Traeger set to the smoke setting and filled it with hickory pellets. The smoke setting is different from the thermostatically controlled temperature settings. The smoke setting is a timed release of the wood pellets. The auger feeds pellets for 15 seconds then stops for 65 seconds before it feeds pellets again. This creates smoke and the temperature runs about 200 degrees.

I left the brisket in the grill on the smoke setting for three hours. I made a mop baste by combining a cup of beer with two ounces of apple cider vinegar and a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce. I put the baste in a spray bottle and sprayed the brisket every hour while it was smoking.

After three hours, I wrapped the brisket in foil, spraying it liberally with the mop baste before I sealed up the foil. I set the Traeger at 225 degrees and left the lid closed for the next three hours. After six hours of cooking time, I took the foil-wrapped brisket off the grill, rolled it up in an old towel and placed it in the microwave oven. I didn’t turn the oven on – I let the brisket rest in the oven. By wrapping it in a towel and confining it to the microwave, it continued to cook as it slowly cooled. After 30 minutes, I took it out of the oven and unwrapped it.

Brisket revealed with a nice, crusty bark

I sliced the tip off it and saw a quarter-inch smoke ring. It was very tender.

Nice, pink smoke ring

I cut the brisket across the grain into 1/4″ thick slices. Donna served it with garlic smashed red potatoes and steamed broccoli.

Tender, moist smoked brisket with garlic smashed potatoes and brocolli

Tender, moist, smoked brisket with garlic smashed potatoes and broccoli

The dinner was delicious – the brisket came out better than I imagined it would. Now I have a new favorite to grill up.

It was hot and humid out yesterday, so I spent most of the day indoors reading. Today we expect the temperature to reach 90 again with high humidity and thundershowers around noon. Hopefully it’ll cool off enough for me to get started on loading the trailer. We’ll continue heading west tomorrow.

Closing the Loop

We opted to stay for a second night in the campground at the Meriwether Lewis National Monument. The free campsites are clean and the scenery is terrific with good hiking opportunities. It’s also very quiet. On Thursday, Donna hiked on the Old Trace trail which is part of the original Natchez Trace. The trail took her past the Meriwether Lewis Monument which is his final resting place near the Grinder stand.

Natchez Trace – wide enough for a wagon

Click to enlarge if you wish to read

Fenceline on the Old Trace

Meriwether Lewis Monument in the background

Meriwether Lewis Monument

Click to enlarge

Grinder house

For dinner on Thursday night, I grilled a pork tenderloin on the Weber Q. Donna had marinated it in a mojo marinade. She reserves half the marinade to pour over the meat after cooking. It’s one of our favorite ways to prepare pork tenderloin and, as usual, it was tender and tasty. She served it with brown rice and roasted peppers, onions and zucchini.

Pork tenderloin with rice and roasted peppers and zucchini

Pork tenderloin with rice and roasted peppers, onions and zucchini

On Friday morning, we packed up and headed down the Natchez Trace Parkway about 16 miles, then we turned west at US64. This is a divided highway with two lanes in each direction. I wanted to avoid I-40 and US64 seemed like a good alternative. There was very little traffic and the road surface was mostly good with only a few sections of construction and rough road. It was slower crossing Tennessee on US64 due to all of the small towns. We drove through Waynesboro, Savannah, Boliver and a few smaller villages before we stopped at Walmart in Somerville (map). We stocked up on groceries, then continued down the road.

US64 hit I-40 about 10 miles east of Memphis. It was immediately apparent that US64 was the way to go. It’s an embarrassment and disgrace how our government has allowed the federal interstate highways to deteriorate. The potholes, cracks and uneven surfaces on I-40 make it barely drivable.

We crossed the Mississippi River and entered Arkansas where we had booked a site at Tom Sawyer’s RV Park. We stayed here the first week of June. Since then, we’ve completed a 4,000-mile loop that took us north to Minneapolis, across Michigan’s upper peninsula, then down through Michigan and east to upstate New York. From there we went down through Pennsylvania and Maryland, across Virginia and finally back to Tennessee. Whew – we saw a lot and had some great adventures over the last three months. Along the way, we picked up a stray cat and also added a Traeger grill.

One big difference we found here in West Memphis this time around is the Mississippi River water level. When we were here in June, the water level stage was 15 feet. When we checked in yesterday, the stage was three feet. There’s a sandbar creating an island right in front of the park. This wasn’t there before. There are fewer barges on the river as well. I’m guessing the low water level makes navigation treacherous.

Sandbar in the river

Last evening, I took a walk in the park to look at the river. Our site has us facing the water only a stone’s throw away from the river. While I was out, I saw a 2012 Newell coach. The owner, John, and his son-in-law, Lee, were sitting outside. A 2012 Newell is a million-dollar coach (it was probably over $1.5 million new). I stopped and talked to John. It’s always interesting to hear the success story behind owning a million-dollar rig. John’s story was much like many I’ve heard since we’ve been on the road. He started out 38 years ago as the sole proprietor of a Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) service company. He had one truck and one employee – himself. He worked hard and established commercial contracts as well as residential service customers. Then he added a second service truck and employee. He continued to build his reputation and business. Today, he has 66 trucks and nearly 200 employees. He’s enjoying life and seeing the country while his son runs the day-to-day operation of his business. I love hearing how hard work, perseverance and being able to make the most out of an opportunity pays off.

John and Lee sitting outside John’s Newell

Radiused corners on the Newell slides

One of the things that tip off a high-end coach like a Newell or Prevost are the radiused corners on the slide-outs. These rounded corners allow the use of pneumatic slide seals. Once the slide is out, the seals inflate making an airtight seal. Before the slide is retracted the seal deflates and the slide moves freely.

We decided to stay here for three nights before we move on westward. Donna has been mapping routes to keep us off I-40 and finding places to stay as we make our way to New Mexico. She went out this morning to cycle the scenic and quiet 28-mile loop she rode several times earlier this summer.

Last night, Donna prepared pan-seared wild Alaskan salmon. She served it with the left over side dishes from the night before. Delicious!

Pan-seared salmon

Today I’m going to try my hand at smoking a beef brisket. Donna bought one the other day – it’s something I’ve never done before. I’m hoping the Traeger wood pellet fired smoker/grill makes it easy to do.

Natchez Trace

Yesterday morning, we walked across the street to Cracker Barrel for breakfast before pulling out of the Opryland parking lot. We had a quiet night with no disturbances. Our plan was to head south down the Natchez Trace Parkway to the Meriwether Lewis National Monument (map). The monument is operated by the National Park Service (NPS). It’s located just east of Hohenwald, Tennessee and features a free campground with paved roads and 32 paved sites.

Ozark the cat got comfortable on Donna's pillow before she made the bed and we headed out

Ozark the cat got comfortable on Donna’s pillow before Donna made the bed and we headed out

Our route took us around the south side of Nashville on I-440 then south on I-65. We stopped in Franklin at the Walmart to stock up on groceries. Then we detoured west on TN840. This route took us over the Natchez Trace Parkway and we had to loop back to Leipers Fork to access the parkway.

The Natchez Trace is an old forest trail. Some say it’s existed for centuries as a game trail. It was used by native Americans and became a major trail for commerce in the 18th and 19th centuries. The trail runs some 440 miles from Nashville, Tennessee to Natchez, Mississippi and traverses the northwest corner of Alabama.

Thomas Jefferson wanted to connect the Mississippi River frontier with settlements to the north. In 1801, the US Army began blazing and improving the trail. Early settlers in the north referred to as Kaintucks would float their goods down the Mississippi River in flat boats to sell in Natchez. They would sell their goods and their boats and walk the 440-mile trek on the Natchez Trace back north. In 1810, it’s estimated that 10,000 Kaintucks walked up the trace to start another river journey. This led to commerce on the trail. Trading posts commonly called stands appeared. Settlements formed along the trace.

The development of steamboat traffic on the Mississippi river made it easier and cheaper to transport goods. In the late 1800s, the Trace lost its importance as a trade route.

In 1809, Meriwether Lewis, who along with William Clark explored the upper Mississippi and the Northwest, was governor of the Louisiana Territory. He was traveling up the Trace to meet with Thomas Jefferson when he died near Grinder’s Stand. There’s much controversy surrounding his death. It was officially ruled suicide but many believe he was murdered. I read a great historical novel – a work of fiction that incorporates factual history in the story – about the Lewis and Clark expedition and Lewis’ death. I read the book about 20 years ago. I looked for it online but can’t find it. I think the title was Who Killed Meriwether Lewis.

The Natchez Trace Parkway is a paved two-lane highway that follows much of the original trace. There’s limited access – only about 50 access points along its 444 miles. We didn’t realize that at first, but found the access points on the Tennesee map we picked up at the visitor center. The road is operated and maintained by the National Park Service. No commercial vehicles are allowed and the speed limit is 50 mph. The road surface is in great condition. It’s a scenic drive with many historical markers and scenic overlooks. We saw a few gangs of wild turkeys along the road and had two whitetail bucks run out in front of our rig, requiring me to brake hard.

Overlook on the Natchez Trace Parkway

I had looked at Google Earth the night before to see what the Meriwether Lewis National Monument looked like. I was leery of pulling into a park that wouldn’t allow us to get turned around and back out again. The satellite view of the campground was obscured by trees but I could see the main road had a turnaround loop at the end. We pulled off the parkway and entered the monument. When we reached the campground entrance, Donna suggested pulling over in a turnout by the entrance and walking through the campground to check it out before pulling in.

The paved roads through the campground are tight with lots of trees along the sides. There are 32 paved sites, some back-in and some pull-through. Most aren’t level. The sites are well spaced with lots of trees and vegetation separating them. There are two loops. The first loop has 13 sites and was totally unoccupied. The second loop is larger and has a bathroom (no showers). There were only a few campers there. After looking around, we thought it was doable and liked the look of site 8 which is a back-in and site 14, a pull-through.

I backed us into site 8 with Donna directing me with a handheld Cobra CB radio. The site was too short for us by a few feet – once I backed in far enough to clear the road, our slideouts were too close to trees. We pulled out of there and moved to site 14. We easily fit our 56-foot overall length in this site.

Site 14

Donna went out for a hike on a trail that leads from the campground to the original Natchez Trace. She was out for about 90 minutes and said she would not recommend the trail for inexperienced hikers or anyone nervous about being alone in the woods. It had a few water crossings and seemed to vanish in the underbrush at times. She returned covered in cobwebs as well as scratches on her lower legs from prickly vegetation. But the trail did lead to some beautiful stretches of river. Here are a couple of pictures from her hike.

Water crossing on the trail

Little Swan Creek

A park ranger came by later and stopped to chat with us. The park is very clean and quiet – it’s hard to believe it’s free. There are no hook-ups although there is a water spigot between our site and site 15. A reader commented on yesterday’s blog that they had just pulled out of this campground and said the water is really good here.

View from our doorstep

I grilled turkey burgers on the Weber Q for dinner. With the special sauce, they were very tasty on toasted onion rolls.

Last night was very dark and quiet. I slept soundly. We’ll hang out here for another night before we head west.

Nashville Talent

On Monday morning, Donna went for a power walk from our site at Nashville Jellystone Park (map). While she was out walking toward the Two Rivers Campground and the Nashville KOA, she saw the downtown shuttle pass by and came up with a plan for the day.

She thought we should roast a whole chicken for a late lunch – kind of a dinner for lunch plate. Then we could take the shuttle to downtown Nashville and see the sights. Sounded like a good idea to me, so I unloaded the Traeger wood pellet fired grill and found a problem. We had traversed some rough roads, especially on I-40 through Knoxville. The Traeger had obviously been bounced around and one of the door hinges came off. The screws had vibrated out and the door was askew, the other hinge was loose. Luckily no real damage was done. I found the screw and nut and reassembled the door.

Donna prepared the chicken by rubbing it with olive oil, salt, pepper and granulated garlic that she bought at Brooks BBQ in Oneonta, New York. She went to the pool for a quick dip while I fired up the Traeger and roasted the chicken. It comes out so moist and tender on this grill – it makes the best chicken you’ll ever have.

Roasted whole chicken hot off the Traeger

Earlier I had scootered over to the Opryland Resort and Convention Center. I wanted to get a look at the bus/RV lot that Donna found mentioned in the Escapee’s Day’s End Directory. The directory said that free overnight parking could be found there. I rode all the way through the lots at the Opry Mills Mall and back through the resort. I saw dedicated bus/RV parking near the Mills, but it was clearly marked “no overnight parking.” In fact, every lot I looked at was posted. On the way back to the campground, I saw another lot at a strip mall that had two RVs and a couple of tractor trailer rigs in it. It looked like it would be fine for dry camping – a big lot and no signs prohibiting overnight parking. The downside was the slope of the pavement and the lot was empty during the day, but there were several bars, restaurants and the Willie Nelson museum in the area. I didn’t know what it would be like at night.

We had reserved two nights at the Jellystone Park for half price on our Passport America discount rate – two nights for $75. A third night would cost another $75. I’m trying to average my costs down by finding free or low-cost sites as we move west. Our trip through the northeast was expensive – we’ve been spending like we’re on vacation. But we wanted to stay one more night in Nashville if we could.

Anyway, the shuttle picked us up at 3pm. There were two other couples already on board from the other RV parks. We made one more stop at a nearby hotel where three women boarded. The drive to downtown took about twenty minutes and the driver talked non-stop, giving advice on what to see and where to eat. The shuttle costs $10 per person for a round trip. The return trip is actually free – they pick up on the bottom of the hour (4:30, 5:30, 6:30, etc.) at the Country Music Hall of Fame. They don’t issue tickets – they work on the assumption that you must have already paid the $10 if you are boarding to go back to the Music Valley area.

Donna and I wanted to check out the music scene on Broadway. There are a few street musicians and many clubs and bars with live entertainment. Most of the places on Broadway don’t have a cover charge. The musicians play for a small fee paid by the bar and tips. They are hoping to get “discovered” by a Nashville recording studio.

Our first glimpse of Broadway was at the corner of 4th and Broadway at the Honky Tonk Central (map).

Honky Tonk Central

We walked east on Broadway and made our first stop at the Broadway Brewhouse for a cold one. I had a Tennesee-brewed IPA that was pretty good and Donna sampled and then went ahead and ordered a Tennesee-brewed stout that was really good. After leaving there, we continued east on the south side of the street and crossed over to the north side at 2nd Avenue. We saw a man with a trumpet, microphone and small amplifier on the corner. He had backing tracks playing through the amp from his smartphone and was singing “What a Wonderful World.” This guy had Louis Armstrong down. It was uncanny – Donna thought he was lip syncing at first. We hung around for a few songs and dropped some money in his trumpet case. He chatted with us before we moved on. He was a super-nice guy and very talented.

This guy could impersonate Satchmo

We walked back west on Broadway, stopping in a few shops to look at western hats and cowboy boots. We stuck our heads in a few bars to see who was playing but we wanted to get a look at everything before we sat down somewhere.

A friend of Donna’s suggested we stop at an off-the-wall place in Printer’s Alley owned by her friend. It’s an English-style pub called Fleet Street Pub. We found it a few blocks north of Broadway. Printer’s Alley is a little off-beat for Nashville, but it has history and charm. We stopped at Fleet Street but the friend of Donna’s friend wasn’t there. Donna chatted briefly with her husband.

Printer’s Alley

We found a blues club in Printer’s Alley and went inside. A very talented guy was on stage playing Mississippi Delta blues – more specifically he was playing songs by the blues great Leadbelly. He took a short break and came over to where we were sitting. His name is Fritz and he was really friendly. While we chatted with him, a woman who was sitting next to us went up on stage and played the keyboards and sang. It was so cool – these talented musicians are all over the place. After a couple of songs, Fritz joined her and they did some songs together. Fritz was playing a cheap knock-off Chinese guitar, but in his hands it sounded great. Then he picked up a saxophone and wailed on a song accompanying the woman at the keyboard (we didn’t get her name).

Fritz making music

We wandered back to Broadway and started our pub crawl. We would stop in a place that had live entertainment. If the band caught our fancy, we would order a drink and hang around for a few songs. Other times we listened for a few minutes and moved on. In one place there was a duo that shined. One of the guys guitar playing style reminded me of Stephen Stills. Donna put in a request for Homegrown by Zac Brown. They didn’t really know the song, but they looked it up on an iPad and immediately played and sang a very good rendition. I was blown away.

We finally came back to the Honky Tonk Central for our last stop of the night. It’s a three-story building with a bar and stage on each floor. We stayed on the first floor where one of the hottest bands I’ve heard in a while was playing. The guitar player was amazing and the sound he was getting from his Dr. Z amp was unbelievable. I haven’t heard tone like that since the Joe Bonamassa concert we went to a few years ago.

Hot band at our last stop

By then I’d downed enough beer and it was time to find the shuttle home.

On Tuesday morning, I got busy re-organizing the trailer – again. I’ve had the Traeger grill in the very back of the trailer, behind the scooter. Donna thought it might be getting a rougher ride back there than it would in the front. I bought into her logic – I could see how the trailer might whip up and down behind the axle over bumpy sections. I took everything out of the right front, next to my tool chest by the side door. I rearranged that stuff and then lifted the Traeger into that area and strapped it in place. We’ll see if it rides better there.

I took my time – check out time was noon and we were only going a few miles. We had everything packed and I fired up the engine at 11:50am. We drove to the lot I had found the day before. There was a bus conversion RV and tractor- trailer rig as well as another semi-trailer parked in the empty lot. We claimed a space between the tractor-trailer and the semi-trailer.

Donna and I walked to the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. On our way, we saw the lot that was mentioned in the Day’s End Directory. It was marked RV/Bus and Trailer Parking. I had missed this lot on my reconnaissance run earlier. I had passed by it on the west side where there’s a private lot being used by Bridgestone Tire and Rubber Company for high-performance driving classes. I thought the whole area was for Bridgestone.

We walked into the RV/Bus lot and didn’t find any signs prohibiting overnight parking. These signs are posted in all of the other lots on the huge Opryland complex. This lot was level and looked to be very quiet. After some debate and walking back and forth across the lot, we decided to go back to the coach and move it across the street to Opryland. While the lot we were in looked to be a sure thing, I was a little apprehensive about how things might go in the night. It wasn’t level and all the bars in the area could mean lots of noise and the possibility of people getting out of hand in the night.

The RV/Bus lot only had a handful of cars in it and one big truck in our section. The next section over has had a number of tour buses coming and going. It’s very quiet and level.

The Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center houses the largest atrium I’ve ever been in. It has waterfalls and a stream running through it. It’s filled with tropical plants – so many were in bloom that I had an allergy attack. A big New York Life Executive Council meeting was happening there. We wandered around. Donna wanted to take the boat ride in the stream that’s inside the hotel complex, but when she saw it cost $9.50/person, it didn’t seem worth it. I couldn’t capture the grand scale of this place, but here are a few pictures.

Fountains in the atrium

Stream inside the hotel

Boat rides through the atrium

Donna in front of a waterfall in the atrium

We went to John A’s for dinner, it was only average food at best. Then we stopped at Nashville Palace to take in some live music. Once again many people that appeared to be regular customers got up on stage to join in for a number or two. Lots of talent here. Our overnight spot turned out to be quiet with no troubles.

Today we plan a short trip down the Natchez Trace Trail to the Merriwether Lewis National Monument. We found free dry camping is available there and we hope to take advantage of it before we head west to Memphis.

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Grilling

Roadrunners and Ribs

Jersey Jack’s Problem Solved

Goatheads

Last Weekend in Santa Fe

Gray Water Drip

Just Another Day

Vixens and Brisket

Closing the Loop

Natchez Trace

Nashville Talent

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