Category Archives: Grilling

Potluck With Friends

Although a few dark clouds passed overhead yesterday, no rain fell and the weather radar app didn’t show any precipitation in the area. So around 11am, I rode the scooter to Papa Joe’s Gourmet Market and bought three racks of baby back ribs and some “Rub with Love” dry pork rub.

I removed the thin membrane from the bone side of the ribs and applied about one and a half tablespoons of dry rub to each side of the racks. I piled them together, re-wrapped them in butcher paper and put them in the refrigerator around noon.

Our friends Bill and Cindy Davey arrived just as I was firing up the Traeger wood pellet smoker/grill a little before 2pm. It was hot and very humid outside – upper 80s. We sat and visited for a while, then Bill unloaded their hybrid electric bicycles. These bikes have electric motors and 48-volt lithium-ion batteries. I took a spin on Cindy’s 1,000-watt bike. You can let the motor do all the work by twisting the right hand grip or you can pedal with motor assist. I pedaled away, then increased the power assist on the controller and did a quick, effortless lap around the campsite area. Bill’s bike has even more power with a 1,500-watt motor.

Around 4pm, our friends Keith and Julie Burk showed up with their daughter Alayna. Keith and I worked together from 2009 until I retired and had a lot of fun times together.

More old friends arrived and we tried to find shade for all the chairs. Everyone sat and talked for a while, then at 5pm I took the ribs off the grill. While I was cutting the ribs, the rest of the feast – pasta, salads and fruit bowls – were spread on the picnic table. The potluck was on.

Visiting in the shade

My friends and former colleagues Allen Hutchinson and Justin Rose showed up in time for the food. Justin and his wife Jen just got back from a week-long trip to Chicago with their two young sons in tow. I think we had about 15 people around the table by then.

Justin, Keith and Ironman Allen

The food was fabulous, the baby back ribs were a hit and once again, the Traeger made it easy. The beer flowed along with conversation. It was fun catching up with the guys and hearing stories about life back at the office. I haven’t thought much about work since I retired two years ago. Back then, I said the only thing I would miss is some of the people – and that’s held true.

I broke out the bottle of Dragons Milk Bourbon Barrel Stout from New Holland Brewing. The bourbon was obvious and maybe a little bit too forward in the 9% ABV beer.

Dragon’s Milk Bourbon Barrel Stout

The VW crew

The time passed much too quickly. As the evening drew on, people began packing up to head home. It was well past 9pm when Donna I cleaned up the picnic table and came inside.

Once again, Ozark provided amusement before we went to bed. She was intent on stalking and catching a fly that found its way into the coach.

Ozark waiting to ambush a fly

Today we should have good weather – not quite as hot as yesterday. I’ll pack the trailer, remove the tire covers and windshield cover and check tire pressures in preparation for travel tomorrow. I want to head out early as we have to hit the dump station on the way out. Our first stop will be in Troy where we’ll return Bill’s vehicle. I don’t know where we’ll end up tomorrow night – we’ll see what comes up down the road. I won’t post tomorrow.

Sudden Shower

Weather guesser is an appropriate term in southeast Michigan. Yesterday’s forecast called for zero percent chance of rain until late afternoon when there was a slight possibility of scattered showers.

Donna drove over to Stony Creek Metropark (map) in the morning to meet up with some girls to rent stand-up paddleboards on the lake. She took her bike along in the back of Bill’s SUV which we still have. She planned to ride with Bill after paddleboarding. Then she wanted to shop at Vince and Joe’s Gourmet grocery afterwards, since it’s close to Stony Creek Metropark.

I had a few errands to run, so I headed out on the scooter. I rode through downtown Rochester where the roads are under construction, creating traffic jams in every direction. I went to Petsmart and bought more food for Ozark. For a little cat, she sure can eat. Then I went to Barnes and Noble and picked up a few more Vince Flynn novels. I’m hooked on the Mitch Rapp series of thrillers.

I made another stop at CVS pharmacy, then went to Papa Joe’s Gourmet Market on the way back. I’d like to know who Joe is. Around here there’s Trader Joe’s, Vince and Joe’s and also Papa Joe’s. Trader Joe’s is nationwide, but the other two Joe’s are local and very upscale.

Papa Joe’s Gourmet Market

I checked out the baby back ribs at Papa Joe’s, thinking if the weather holds out, I’ll buy them on Sunday to grill for our potluck bash. I also found a 22-ounce bottle of Dragon’s Milk Bourbon Barrel Stout that will go well with barbeque ribs.

I came home and heated up leftovers for lunch. Suddenly the sun was blocked out by clouds and it was dark out. I looked at the weather radar app on my phone. A line of thunderstorms stretching from the southwest to the northeast was almost on top of us! I went out and covered the scooter and picked up a few things on the picnic table. I brought them inside just as the rain began to fall. We had a real downpour! So much for zero chance of rain for the day.

Donna texted me from Vince and Joe’s – she spent an hour shopping there and said she was in heaven! It rained there and she wondered if we had rain here. By then, the storm had passed and it was sunny again.

Donna came home with a porterhouse steak. I seasoned the steak and wanted to try grilling it on the Traeger smoker/grill. The thing is, the Traeger doesn’t provide direct heat like I would normally use to grill a steak. It’s all indirect convection heat. This makes it difficult to get grill marks and any charring on the surface of the meat. It’s arguably healthier not to char the meat, but that’s what makes a grilled steak so tasty.

I had an idea. I turned the grill on high and put a cast iron skillet inside while I had potatoes baking. After a while I added the steak to the 450-degree grill.

Cast iron skillet, potatoes and steak

After cooking with the lid closed for eight minutes, I placed the steak in the hot cast iron skillet. My plan was to flip it after two minutes and try to get a little char from the radiant heat of the cast iron skillet. I made a big mistake though. After I closed the lid, the temperature didn’t rise in the grill, it began to fall. I hadn’t stirred the pellets in the hopper and as the pellet supply went down, they formed a bridge over the auger and quit feeding. My fire was out! I stirred the pellets and got it restarted, but my skillet experiment was ruined. The steak came out okay, but I’ll have to try this again and see if I can perfect the technique.

Steak and potatoes hot off the grill

Donna steamed asparagus and sauteed mushrooms and onions to accompany the steak and potatoes.

Steak under sauteed mushrooms and onions with roasted potato and steamed asparagus

After dinner, Ozark the cat amused us with her antics. She loves to bat the parchment paper toy Donna made. She also tosses and chases the little catnip-filled mouse toys I bought. I put a little dried catnip on her scratching post and she attacked it. Finally she wore down and seemed a bit dazed by the catnip.

Ozark dazed by the catnip

The weather forecast for today went from 60% chance of rain on yesterday’s prediction to 35% chance of rain by last night. This morning they say 0% chance of rain, but we know how that went yesterday. I’m hoping they got it right today so we can have guests join us for the potluck picnic we have planned. I’ll head out to Papa Joe’s and pick up the ribs around noon if the weather still looks promising.

Weather Permitting

The heavy rain quit falling by 9am yesterday. The day remained overcast with occasional showers. Donna went shopping in the afternoon and made stops at a pet store, CVS and Trader Joe’s. Our plan for a picnic dinner with the Bates family was on hold due to the inclement weather.

Around 3:30pm, Donna sent me a text saying it was sunny in Rochester (map). I replied that the sun was shining here at Addison Oaks County Park also. The weather radar looked good, so the planned picnic was on. Donna made a stop at Bush’s Grocery and bought a family pack of eight chicken leg quarters. She also bought 6 ears of fresh corn.

When she got home, she rinsed the quarters and patted them dry, then lightly coated them with olive oil. Then she sprinkled Traeger powdered chicken seasoning on them.

Chicken leg quarters seasoned and ready to grill

I fired up the Traeger wood pellet grill and preheated it for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. I arranged the chicken on the grill at 5:30pm – eight chicken leg quarters are the limit for our 300-square-inch grill!

Jason, Danielle and two of their sons, Evan and Austin arrived around 6:00pm. Evan’s twin brother Noah wasn’t with them, he was at his grandma’s house. We met Danielle Bates when we first moved to Michigan in 2009 and have always enjoyed getting together with her family.

At 6:20pm, I began soaking the corn in the husk in a pail of water. I like to soak the corn for 15-20 minutes before I grill it. It helps to keep the husk from burning and the corn gets steamed in the husk on the grill. I put the corn on the Weber Q gas grill and let it cook for 20 minutes over medium heat. I also basted the chicken quarters with a honey-maple dressing we bought last summer at the farmers’ market in Coeur d’Alene and closed the lid for the final 15 minutes of cook time.

The corn was done about the time I took the chicken off the Traeger.

Grilled chicken leg quarters

Shucking the husk from the hot ears of corn is always like playing a game of hot potato!

Slathering butter on hot freshly shucked corn

Jason brought a couple of bottles of Lagunitas Sucks Brown Sugga Substitute ale. It was tasty and just the thing for a barbeque picnic. The chicken was so tender and delicious. The meat fell from the bone and the dressing glazed perfectly without charring. Cooking on the Traeger wood pellet grill is too easy. I love it!

Donna, Danielle, Austin, Jason and Evan

We enjoyed the meal and company at the picnic table. After dinner, Jason and I had Mackinac Island Fudge Stout from Arbor Brewing for dessert. The kids went to the playground and we sat and talked well into the night. It was a very enjoyable time. Donna and I were happy to have the chance to visit with them.

Today the weather guessers are calling for a high of 91 degrees with humidity above 60%.

A Riveting Tale

In my last post, I mentioned how hard the water is here at Addison Oaks County Park (map). It left water spots and streaks after I washed the coach on Wednesday. After writing that post, I couldn’t stand it any longer. I got the ladder out and a couple of clean microfiber cloths and went at it with a waterless cleaner call The Solution.

While I was working on the finish, going up and down the ladder, Donna went for a power walk. She walked about five miles and got her 10,000 steps. I cleaned about 3/4 of the coach by the time she came back. I took a break and we had lunch. I kicked back for about 20 minutes and finished the Vince Flynn novel I was reading before I went back to work cleaning. It took about three hours to get the job done. The water spots were stubborn in places.

Sometimes when we’re rolling down the road, I hear a rhythmic rattling sound on the right front of the coach. It only happens when we’re driving on concrete slab with expansion joints that set up a certain frequency. While I was cleaning, I noticed a side panel on the right front beneath the compartment for the HWH hydraulic reservoir and pump had play in it. This body panel had two rivets holding the trailing edge to the frame. The rivets were worn and loose. I could grab the panel and rock it back and forth and hear the same sound I heard on the road.

I got a few tools out of the trailer and went to work. I drilled out the old rivets with my cordless drill.

Upper rivet drilled out

About this time, Donna was leaving for her hair appointment. When we knew for sure when we would be in the area, she made an appointment with the stylist she used to go to when we lived here. After her hair appointment, she planned to drive to Harrison Township for a meet up with a swap group she established a few years ago. Donna didn’t expect to be home until after 9pm, so I was on my own.

Back to my task. After drilling out the old rivets, I set up my pop rivet tool. Blind rivets are commonly called pop rivets – this is because the original manufacturer was POP. Pop rivets are tubular with a mandrel through the center. You insert the mandrel into the tool and push the rivet into the holes on the parts you are joining. The tool pulls the mandrel, expanding the rivet and flaring the back side until it clamps itself in place. The mandrel then snaps off, leaving the rivet in place.

Pop rivet tool and rivet

Rivet mandrel inserted into tool

After installing the new rivets, the panel is now held firmly in place. This should prevent the rattling sound.

New rivets in place

After I put my tools away, I rode the scooter to the store a few miles from here. I found local IPA brewed by the Rochester Mills Beer Company in 16-ounce cans. I brought a four-pack home and tried it. It doesn’t have the balance and mouth-feel of good west coast IPA. It had a grainy flavor – not malty, but a thin grain aftertaste.

Cornerstone IPA, Rochester Mills Beer Co

Maybe it’s the can that’s influencing the taste. I’ve had it on tap at their brew pub before and liked it. They also have a milkshake stout that I liked before and I’ll have to try it next time.

Before Donna left, she gave me a quick lesson on how to preheat the convection oven and set the cook temperature and time. I planned to reheat one of the frozen pasties we picked up in the U.P. for dinner. It occurred to me that our Traeger smoker/grill is also a convection oven. Why use the indoor microwave/convection oven when I could fire up the Traeger outdoors and maybe also add some smoky flavor to the pasty?

Pre-cooked frozen pasty

Heating up the Traeger

Ready to eat

I had the pasty on the grill for 35 minutes at 350 degrees. It came out perfect, but didn’t retain as much smoky flavor as I thought it would.

Donna got home after 10pm. It was bedtime for me.

Donna’s new do

This morning, I woke up to the sound of thunder and rain drumming on the roof at 7am. There goes a half day’s work cleaning the coach!

Weather radar this morning

The rain has stopped now and I hope it bypasses us this afternoon. We want to grill dinner with our friends Jason and Danielle Bates and their sons. The current forecast shows a 50% chance of rain this afternoon. Our plan B is to meet up for pizza.

Cat House

I got Donna’s bike out of the trailer and aired up the tires before our friend Bill Frahm picked up Donna around 11am. They drove to the parking lot at Onyx skate rink where the Macomb Orchard Trail passes through to start their 20-mile bike ride on the paved trail.

I got my wash bucket and 75-foot hose out and went to work getting the road grime off the coach and trailer. Driving through thunderstorms on Tuesday really left a mess. After two and half hours, I thought it was “job done.” As I installed the windshield cover, however, I noticed that the water spots on the windshield were pretty bad. Then, when I put the tire covers on, I could see the spotting on the alloy wheels.

As the sun moved westward, I could see water spots and streaks all over the right side of the coach. The mineral-laden hard water here at Addison Oaks County Park made the coach look worse than before I washed it! What a bummer.

After their ride, Donna rode with Bill to his house and then he gave her the keys to his Nissan SUV – Bill generously offered to let us use his vehicle while we’re here. On the way back, Donna stopped at Papa Joe’s, a local gourmet market, and picked up a few things.

One of items she bought was a fresh ruby red trout filet. She prepared the trout by coating the fish with a mixture of dijon mustard, mayonnaise, lemon juice and dill. I fired up the Traeger grill and preheated it to 350 degrees. As I explained before, it doesn’t hold the temperature at precisely 350. The temperature swings up and down and averages 350. This is normal. If you could accurately measure the temperature in your oven at home, you would find the same thing happens there.

Preheated to 350 degrees

After lining the drip pan with aluminum foil, I put the fish skin side down directly on the grill. Twenty two minutes later, I removed the fish and cranked the grill to high. Donna also bought fresh baby bok choy at Papa Joe’s. She split the bok choy lengthwise and seasoned it with olive oil, salt and pepper.

High temperature for bok choy

The bok choy cooked quickly – it only took about 12 minutes on the grill. I like a little crunch in bok choy. It’s a favorite side dish for me.

Trout filets and bok choy hot off the grill

Ozark the cat began displaying strange behavior over the last few days. She’s been very vocal and restless, pacing the length of the coach, jumping up on furniture and counter tops, and spending a lot of time looking out the windows. She stretches her body, pressing down close to the floor, tail high and tapping her rear paws in a pedaling motion. Donna did some research and learned that this is textbook behavior for a cat in heat. Donna said she understands where the term “cat house” came from as Ozark struts her stuff in the windows trying to catch the attention of a passing tomcat.

Her behavior is a little annoying but we understand her hormones are raging. We have an appointment with a vet in New York about 10 days from now to have her spayed. The good news is that if she’s in heat, she’s not pregnant which could have been the case as she was a stray when we found her.

Although scattered thunderstorms are in the forecast Friday and Sunday, I think I’ll get the ladder out and clean the coach. I’ll use a waterless cleaner called “The Solution.” I didn’t use this yesterday because I wanted to wash the grit and road grime off with water. Today, I know better about the water here and I’ll go waterless with microfiber cloths.

More Deer Than People

Traveling the last two days left me behind on posting. On Saturday morning, we started off with Donna’s famous banana pancakes made with just two ingredients – bananas and eggs. We eat them with a little maple syrup and a dollop of fresh ground peanut butter.

Donna’s banana pancakes on the induction cooktop

The rain in the forecast never materialized – it passed to the north of us. Donna went out for an 18-mile bike ride to check out Lake Cleary Regional Park. On the way back, she saw what looked liked a farmers’ market in downtown Prior Lake. Sure enough it was, but all the vendors were just breaking down. The market is open from 8am to noon every Saturday.

We took advantage of the dry weather and put the Traeger grill to use roasting a whole chicken. Donna rinsed the chicken, patted it dry, brushed it with olive oil and spiced it with salt and pepper inside. She added grated fresh garlic and put a cut lemon with a few sprigs of fresh rosemary inside. This is how she usually prepares the chicken to roast in the oven.

I preheated the grill on high for 10 minutes, then put the chicken on the rack at 450 degrees. An hour later, I added mixed veggies in a special grilling pan with holes in it. Donna cut up peppers, onions and asparagus and coated the mixture with oil before I put them on. After a total time of 75 minutes, we had a delicious roasted chicken and veggies.

Roasted chicken

Roasted mixed veggies to go with the chicken

Clean-up was a snap. I had lined the drip pan and bucket on the Traeger smoker/grill with aluminum foil before started. All I had to do was wipe down the grill, pull the foil and throw it away and wipe the pan. Simple. I like simple clean-up.

On Sunday morning, we pulled out of Dakotah Meadows RV Park and said goodbye to Prior Lake, Minnesota. We crossed the Mississippi River on I-94 and were in Wisconsin. We left I-94 at the junction of US29. We followed this almost to Wausau before we headed north toward Merrill.

The terrain was a series of rolling hills, never flat. As we drove north on US51, there was a steady stream of vehicles in the southbound lane – cars and trucks pulling trailers with ATVs and boats along with many RVs. Everyone was heading back to the city after a weekend up north.

We took a break at a truck stop and Donna fixed lunch for us. That’s one of the nice things about a motorhome. We can stop and eat, use the restroom and move on without even leaving the coach.

We finally found ourselves driving east on US8 after Nally (our Rand-McNally RVND7720 GPS) directed us along a few lightly traveled county roads. It wasn’t the route I would have chosen looking at a map, but it was interesting drive.

Ozark was in her plastic carrier crate and she wasn’t happy about it. She took a couple of short naps, but spent most of the time vocalizing her displeasure with rolling down the road. I think the crate is the best thing for her though. She isn’t freaked out by the motion and going crazy, just complaining. I don’t know if cats ever get to be good travelers.

We covered about 300 miles of fairly easy driving before we found a wayside park west of Armstrong Creek that we had read about. It had a large lane for parking RVs or trucks with trailers. Overnight parking in rest areas is allowed in Wisconsin, so we set up for the night. We only put out the bedroom slide on the curb side to keep from having a car hit a slide on the street side in the night.

I went outside to check things in the trailer and found the area thick with mosquitoes. Donna put on plenty of insect repellent before she went for a power walk down a forest service road.

In the morning, I went outside to do my usual walk-around before hitting the road. I like to look everything over and make sure all is as it should be before we roll. It had rained in the night and the mosquitoes were out in force. I came inside and swatted 12 mosquitoes on my arms and legs, number 13 was on my face and number 14 got away.

Wayside park for the night

We continued east. Once again, Nally directed us to a little used county road to shortcut our path to US2. The county road was fine at first. Once we crossed the Michigan state line, the road surface immediately deteriorated. Michigan’s reputation for poor road conditions is well-deserved. On this section, we saw more deer than people. My friend Jim Birditt would probably say, “That’s not a bad thing.”

We stopped for fuel at Hermansville and continued east on US2. This route took us through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula along the north shore of Lake Michigan. After 230 miles on the road, we checked in to the Lakeside Park Campground on Lake Michigan about 3 miles west of St. Ignace, where I’m typing this. We lost an hour along the way as we are now in the Eastern Time zone.

Ozark was much better about traveling this time. She spent most of the time napping in her crate and only cried out when Donna would get up or start talking to me. Maybe she’ll adjust to traveling after all.

Donna took a walk along the northeastern shore of Lake Michigan and shot a few photos. I’ve been having a problem with my foot since being bitten by a bug in Texas and have limited my walking while it heals.

Trail from the RV park to the lake

Mackinac Bridge (say Mackinaw) a few miles east of us

Power company sign warning about underwater cables across Makinac Strait

Power company sign warning about underwater cables across Mackinac Strait

We didn’t unpack the grill from the trailer since this is just an overnight stop. Donna prepared tilapia piccata and a veggie medley of oven roasted parsnips, carrots and beets. Like most root crops, beets are full of nutrients but I’m not a fan – they taste too earthy to me.

Tilapia piccata and veggies

Today we are road warriors again making the drive across the Mackinac Bridge south through the state to Addison Oaks County Park in Oakland Township – our old stomping grounds. Addison Oaks is one of the first places we stayed in when we started RVing. So much has happened in the two years since then. It’s the time warp I’ve mentioned before. When we think of all the places we’ve been and the things we’ve experienced, we have to wonder how it could all happen in just two years.

Memphis-Style Ribs

Donna took advantage of the last few hours before returning the rental car yesterday. She drove to Cub Foods and shopped for groceries. She enjoyed walking the aisles and picking up whatever she wanted without having to think about how much she could carry home on the scooter. While she was shopping, I hung out and read. After she brought the groceries home, she had to return the car. The guy at Enterprise drove her home, saving me from making the trip on the scooter.

After lunch, I removed the tire covers and the front window shades. It was warm and dry out, but the forecast calls for rain on the weekend. I always like to pack the covers and shades while they’re dry. Packing them away wet and leaving them in the basement for a couple of days invites mold.

With that chore done, I filled the hopper on the Traeger wood pellet grill. Donna picked up a rack of baby back ribs at Cub Foods. I’ve never tried grilling baby back ribs before, but now that we have the Traeger, it was time to try it. Donna and I loved the Memphis-style ribs we had on Beale Street. So I found a recipe and gave it a shot. Memphis-style means the ribs are dry-rubbed with seasoning, grilled hotter than wet St. Louis or Kansas City-style ribs and served with additional dry seasoning after grilling.

I fired up the Traeger and preheated it to 325 degrees.

Digital controller on the Traeger

The Ortech digital controller on the Traeger doesn’t hold the precise temperature. It monitors the temperature through sensor inside the grill and adjusts the pellet feed and blower fan accordingly. The pellets are fed through an auger – it’s like a large screw encased in a metal tube. As the screw turns, pellets are forced through the tube to the fire pot. When the controller senses temperature higher than requested, it stops feeding the pellets and slows the fan until the temperature drops. Once the temperature drops, it starts feeding pellets and stokes the fire with the fan. The actual temperature at the sensor is constantly rising above and dropping below the target temperature because it’s impossible to burn wood pellets at a precise, constant temperature.

Our Traeger grill also has an analog temperature gauge mounted on top of the barrel. There is very little variation in temperature shown on this gauge and I’m convinced the rising and falling temperature is inconsequential. The meat on the grill is held at the average and doesn’t heat up and cool down quickly like the flame in the fire pot does.

Dry-rubbed baby back ribs

I removed the thin membrane from the bone side of the ribs and seasoned them at 1pm. I wrapped them back up in the butcher paper and put them back in the refrigerator. I brought them out of the refrigerator at 2:45pm while the grill was preheating. At 3pm I put them on the grill.

I kicked back in our lounge chair and read a book. Periodically, I monitored the temperature of the grill and stirred the pellets in the hopper to keep them feeding smoothly. There wasn’t much to it. Donna prepared russet potatoes by washing them, slicing them in half lengthwise, then coating them with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder. At 5pm, I added the potatoes on the grill.

Baby back ribs and potatoes

That was the only time during the cook that I opened the grill. Just past 6pm, it was time to take the ribs and potatoes out of the grill.

Yum-Yum

Just as I held the ribs in tongs over the cutting board they parted in half. The tender ribs broke away from the bone at the tongs! Luckily it didn’t happen while I was holding them over the grass! I grilled the potatoes with the cut side down. Next time I might do them skin side down.

Ready to serve

This was too easy and oh, so good. The ribs were tender with a nice crust but I think I could have taken them off the grill a little sooner than I did. The potatoes were cooked perfectly. The maple-hickory-cherry pellet blend left a nice smoky flavor.

Dinner is served

We dined al fresco at our picnic table. I enjoyed a bottle of Lagunitas IPA with the meal.

Today, thundershowers are expected to move into the area some time after noon. I’ll need to organize the trailer and load the scooter. I need to figure out how to fit the Traeger grill in the trailer too. Hopefully I’ll have that done before it rains and we’ll be set to roll out of here tomorrow with minimum fuss.

Our plan is to head east across Wisconsin. We’ll find a place to dry-camp overnight then continue through the upper peninsula of Michigan to St. Ignace.

Cooking Without Gas

In my last post, I mentioned we stopped at Costco in Burnsville on the way home from Donna’s bike race in Minneapolis. It was a nice store, not crowded at all, but maybe a little smaller than some of the Costcos I’ve been in. I wrote about the start-up of the Price Club and eventual merger with Costco in this post.

We had a few things to pick up – I wanted to stock up on bottled water for our travels next week and also buy clumping kitty litter for Ozark. Costco has a 42-pound bag for just a few bucks more than the 19-pound pack at Petco.

As we wandered through the store, Donna bought organic boneless, skinless chicken thighs and tilapia sourced from Costa Rica. We looked at salmon and that made me think of cedar planks. Sometimes we can find a good deal on a package of cedar planks at Costco. I looked in the area where they had charcoal and other barbeque supplies.

Donna saw a guy by some grills and asked him if he knew where the cedar planks were. He told her he hadn’t seen any, but if we had one of his grills, we wouldn’t need them. I didn’t pay much attention, but I heard him say these grills were wood-fired. I was imagining finding fire wood for the barrel shaped grills anytime I wanted to grill. Then he caught my attention when he said they use wood pellets. What? I didn’t know wood pellet fired grills existed.

I understood the pellet technology and how wood pellet heating stoves work – I had one when I lived in the Pacific Northwest. It turns out that the company that invented wood pellet stoves in ’80s found their market to be too seasonal. People only thought about heating their homes and buying pellet stoves in the fall or winter. In the ’90s, they came up with the idea of making a wood pellet fired grill and smoker. They filed patents and started marketing the grills to fill the slow spring and summer seasons. Over time, they refined the product. This company is called Traeger and it’s headquartered in Portland, Oregon.

Costco is now carrying Traeger smoker/grills. I ended up talking to the guy for about 20 minutes as he demonstrated how it works. I already understood the basic operation. We told him that we’re full time RVers, so he showed us a compact model.

I knew from my experience with pellet heating stoves that the quality of the pellets matters. Low-quality pellets don’t make as much heat and also leave ash deposits. He told me that pellet grills use special “food grade” pellets made only with hardwood (more on this later). Heating pellets are often made from lumber mill waste (saw dust) and contain softwoods such as fir and pine which would not be as good for cooking.

He was a good salesman and kept pitching the product. When I asked how much the Traeger Junior Elite (the compact model) costs, he broke out his iPad and showed me the MSRP was $449 with some places selling it for $429. He said the Costco price was $349. Then he said he would include the grill cover, which retails for $60 (I found it online for $45) and a bottle of dry rub spices. He had a ton of pictures on his iPad of food he and his dad have grilled.

I went for it. I figured we had the car today, I couldn’t see myself strapping this 60-lb. grill on the back of the scooter if I bought it later – and I was getting about a $500 value for $349.

It took some doing to get the big grill box, two cases of water and 42 pounds of cat litter in the rental Passat with Donna’s bike and gear already in the back, but we managed. When we got home, I unpacked the grill box on the picnic table. Some assembly was required!

Some assembly required

Everything was nicely packed. I was impressed with how the hardware was handled – every screw had a washer and nut on it, making sure nothing was left out. All I had to do was remove the nuts and washers, install the part and install the washers and tighten the nuts. I read the assembly instructions, then went to work.

Handle with nuts and washers attached before assembly

Start with an empty barrel

I followed the directions with only a couple deviations where I saw a better way. The hardware pack included spanner wrenches in 3/8″, 7/16″ and 1/2″ sizes. I used my own wrenches and 1/4″ drive sockets to speed the assembly.

Fully assembled smoker/grill

I completed the assembly in about 30 minutes. Once I had it put together, I filled the hopper with Traeger pellets I bought at Costco. There are a variety of wood pellets available – hickory, oak, cherry, apple, etc. that can impart different flavors to the food you cook.

Maple, hickory, cherry wood pellet blend

Maple, hickory and cherry wood pellet blend

Pellet hopper full of pellets

I bought a 33-lb. bag of maple, hickory and cherry blend of wood pellets at Costco for $20. This will last for 15 to 40 hours of cooking time, depending on temperature selected and ambient wind and temperature conditions. This fuel is more economical than propane and it imparts flavor like charcoal or wood-fired cooking. I fired up the grill and ran it on high for 45 minutes to season it and burn off any oils or manufacturing residue.

The Traeger has a temperature sensor inside the grill and a digital controller. Once fired up, you set the desired temperature and let it warm up for about 10-15 minutes. Then you place the food on the grill and leave it alone! No peeking. Let it cook for the required time and voila!

I don’t usually impulse buy like this, but I was intrigued by the wood pellet technology and felt like I needed to move up from our trusty Weber Q grill. This thing has so much potential for barbeque, smoking, roasting and baking – yes, baking. Donna prepared boneless chicken thighs and I preheated the grill. It was so easy – set it and let it do its thing. The chicken was delicious.

Before I began cooking, I lined the drip pan with aluminum foil. Any fats that drip grease are caught by the pan which slopes and drains into a grease bucket. Easy clean up and no flare-ups.

I spent time on the Internet and found that wood pellet smokers and barbeques are quite popular among the barbeque competition crowd. Some people say it’s cheating because they’re too easy.

I also found there’s controversy over “food-grade wood pellets.” Heating pellets are about a quarter of the cost of “food grade” wood pellets. The thing is, there’s no standard for “food grade” that I could find. One site mentioned a USDA requirement, but after half an hour on the cumbersome government site, I couldn’t find anything. My thinking is this – I’ll buy the “food grade” stuff from reputable firms for my own well-being. I know first-hand that heating pellet quality varies and I wouldn’t want to use a pellet with soft woods, bark or recycled construction waste – not to mention made on manufacturing equipment that wasn’t using food grade lubricants.

The reputable manufacturers of pellets intended for grills use only hardwoods with no binders and use food-grade lubricants such as canola or soy oil. The pellets are made by pressing saw dust through dies under extreme pressure at about 250 degrees. The saw dust is lubricated to facilitate the extrusion through the dies. The naturally occurring lignin in the wood binds the pellet together during the process. Heating pellets may contain cornstarch as a lubricant and binder or other undesirable elements. Until standards are established as they have in Europe, I’ll stick with major, albeit more expensive brands. Traeger has their own pellet manufacturing plants to ensure quality pellets for their grills.

There is one consideration that has me keeping the Weber Q at this time. Wood pellet grills are really smokers or convection ovens. They don’t really provide direct heat, so it’s difficult to get pleasing grill marks on meat. The pellets are burned in a small pot with a fan blowing air across them. This oxygenates the burning pellets and also creates a convection flow in the grill. There’s a diffuser over the burning pot – this along with the drip pan prevents direct heat from reaching the grill. There are ways to work around this and I’m looking forward to learning. I hope to move on from the propane Weber in the near future.

I’m afraid this cover says “steal me”

Donna had a book signing in St. Paul last night. Before she drove to St. Paul, we went to the farmers’ market at the tribal Mazopiya natural food market. It wasn’t much of a farmers’ market – just a few tables of locally grown produce.

Today Donna wants to go back to the natural food market before she returns the rental car. The weather guessers are calling for a warmer day with temperatures in the mid 80s before thundershowers move in for the weekend. I think I’ll remove the tire covers and windshield covers this afternoon and pack them away while they’re dry. We’ll pull out of here on Sunday.

Good Guys in Des Moines

Donna went out for a bike ride again on Friday. Before she went she prepared an excellent breakfast for me – an omelette made with leftover parmesan zucchini and asiago cheese with sides of tomato wedges and bacon strips. She treats me like a king.

Excellent breakfast

This time, she had a better idea of what to expect on her ride and where she wanted to go. She went out on the Gay Lea Wilson Trail again and also rode the Vern Willey II Trail. When she returned, I rode the scooter over to a self-serve car wash and washed it. It was badly in need of a wash job.

Our neighbors, David and Karin, are here for the Good Guys car show. While we were talking, we discovered that they’re essentially carless and can’t leave the fairgrounds. Although they have a car hauler trailer behind their Tiffin Allegro Bus motor home, it hauls their 1966 Chevelle convertible show car. David has the car in the show all day and even if he didn’t, it’s doubtful if he would want to drive it and park it in a grocery store parking lot.

Dave’s 1966 Chevelle

Big block Chevy producing 650 horsepower

It made me think of the times when I had Corvettes and would show them in car shows. I had a red 1965 Corvette big block (396 cu. in.) roadster and a yellow 1972 LT-1 T-top. I was amazed at how inexpensive agreed-value insurance on these cars was. The insurer knows there isn’t much risk, because the cars aren’t driven much and when they are, the owners are super careful about how they’re driven and where they’re parked.

I grew tired of the car show scene and eventually sold them. Once at a car show, at the Pavilions in Scottsdale, Arizona, a woman and her daughter were admiring my LT-1. The daughter was 16 years old or so. The woman said to me, “My daughter absolutely loves this car.” I said “Why doesn’t she get in and see what it’s like behind the wheel?” So the girl opened the door and sat behind the wheel with a big grin on her face. The mom said to me, “That’s so nice of you to let her do that.” I said, “What do I care, it’s not my car.” The woman had this horrified look on her face so I quickly smiled and said, “Just joking, no worries, it’s my car.” Maybe it wasn’t a good joke, but I was at a point where I was tired of the car shows and always answering the same questions.

So, back to David and Karin stuck here at the RV park. Donna told Karin that we were going to the grocery store and asked her if they needed anything. Karin lit up and said she would love to have a few items if we didn’t mind picking them up. We scootered over to the store in the afternoon and bought some things we wanted and also got the things on Karin’s list.

When we returned, I went out for a walk in the RV park and found a couple of interesting RVs. The first one is an old bus conversion that’s also a hot rod.

Hot rod bus

The next one is a real curiosity. It reminded me of the black coach guy in Mission Bay back in 2013. I don’t know what the deal is – the web site shown on the front of the coach doesn’t exist and the toll-free phone number is a car dealership in New York. This thing is totally bogus and I just don’t get it.

Specialized Intelligence and Security – huh?

For dinner, I grilled boneless chicken breast and skewered strawberries. Donna makes a balsamic reduction that is almost chocolate-like and drizzles it over the grilled strawberries. She served it over baby kale. Yum!

Grilled chicken and strawberries

After dinner, Donna devised a toy for Ozark. She rolled parchment paper and tied a string to it. We swing it back and forth by Ozark’s scratching post. Ozark pounces on the parchment paper which crackles and stimulates her to attack. Sometimes she leaves it and goes after the scratching post with great fury.

Ozark caught the parchment toy

On Saturday morning, we rode the scooter downtown for the Des Moines farmers’ market. On the way, we passed the state capitol building and I had to pull in and take a photo. The morning sun on the dome was a sight to see – the picture doesn’t do it justice.

Iowa state capitol

The farmers’ market covers four blocks of Court Avenue with additional vendors on both sides of three cross streets – this is a huge farmers’ market. There are approximately 300 vendors and they claim 20,000 shoppers visit every Saturday from May until October. The market started in 1976 with just 15 vendors. It was ranked as the number two “best farmers’ market in the country” by The Daily Meal in 2013 and 2014.

Entrance to the farmers’ market

Once again, we asked our neighbor, Karin, if she needed anything. We were able to find most everything on her list as well as some good stuff for ourselves – fresh produce, fresh-ground peanut butter, local grass fed beef, Nuremberg sausages and local honey. They had street musicians on every block of Court Avenue.

These guys were good

After we came home and had lunch, I went down to the Good Guys car show. Our neighbor, David, had given me a free ticket, saving me the $20 entrance fee. I walked for more than two hours and saw an unbelievable number of fantastic cars. I decided not to take photos because I would end up with hundreds of them once I started. I doubt if I saw more than half of the cars spread out on the hundreds of acres of park-like grounds. The fairgrounds occupy 450 acres – 160 of which are the campground.

I also watched cars compete on the autocross course. Autocross is a tight, twisty course laid out with cones. One car at a time runs the course with timers recording the elapsed time to complete the course. Penalties are applied if you hit any of the cones. It was entertaining and there were some very good drivers.

After dark, Donna and I walked up to the top of the hill west of our site. This high point gave us a great view of fairgrounds fireworks and also turned out to be a great vantage point for fireworks displays in various communities around us. There were fireworks in every direction!

Over the past few days, we left the cat crate on the floor in front of the passenger seat with the top and door open. Ozark sniffed around it and eventually went inside. She didn’t stay there, just looked inside then crawled out the top opening. Later, Donna put one of my t-shirts folded up inside the cat crate. I added a little catnip. Ozark followed the catnip aroma and soon made herself comfortable inside. Yesterday, Ozark entered her crate with the top closed and napped inside it most of the day. She apparently finds it to be a safe and secure place. Today we’ll try driving up to Minneapolis with Ozark in her crate.

Who Said Iowa is Flat?

When we left Kansas City Tuesday morning and made our way to Iowa, I expected the terrain to flatten. To my surprise, we drove through rolling hills all the way to Des Moines, which is in central Iowa. I’ve been to Iowa a couple of times before but I never drove across the state.

Our cat Ozark started out fine but quickly wore down on the drive. I think there’s too much visual stimulation as we cruise along the highway. She gets unsettled and seems anxious. I stopped about 40 miles short of our destination at a Pilot/Flying J travel center for fuel. I topped up the tank with 62 gallons of diesel fuel. I use the Pilot/Flying J RV Plus card when I fuel up there.

I like fueling at the travel center because I never have to worry about tight quarters. I usually go through the truck lane. I’ve read that most RV collision insurance claims happen in fuel stations where RVs hit pumps, posts or other vehicles. Some people complain the Pilot/Flying J fuel is too expensive. With the RV Plus card, you get a discount off the cash price even though you’re buying on credit. We paid $2.62/gallon which is fair for this area. Even if I had to pay the regular price, it’s worth the peace of mind knowing I can easily maneuver in and out of the station.

During the fuel stop, Ozark calmed down. She was good for about 20 minutes before her anxiety level rose again. She started climbing the screen door which is inside our regular door. Donna had to get up and take her off the screen. She would sit in Donna’s lap for a few minutes then go back to the door and climb it again. It was tiresome. I hope she acclimates to road travel soon.

We found the Des Moines State Fairgrounds where we planned to stay at the RV campground there. The campground doesn’t take reservations but we were assured over the phone that a pull-through site would be available. When we arrived, the main entrance to the fairgrounds was closed. We continued past it and found another entrance off a side street. I drove in and went through a midway area where workers were assembling food vendor trailers.

I had no idea where to find the campground or if I was heading for a dead end, which would be trouble. Donna flagged down a worker going by on a golf cart and asked him where the campground was. He told us to follow him. We drove up a big hill and found the campground entrance at the top.

I stopped at the office to register. I asked for a pull-through site for five nights. I was astounded when I was told it would cost $210. The web site showed 734 full hook-up sites at a cost of $28/night. They also showed about 1,500 sites with water and electricity (no sewer) for $26/night. I asked why I was being charged $42/night. The lady told me that the pull-through sites for big rigs with trailers are essentially two sites. You pay $28/night for the main site and half price – $14/night for the secondary site. If I wanted a $28/night site I would have to drop my trailer in a different lot, well away from our campsite. To make matters worse, she added that our site would be 30-amp service! Out of approximately 2,300 sites, they only have four with 50-amp service and they were all taken. I paid the $210.

Another guy on a golf cart led us to our site. Actually he led us to our site area and told me I should go with him and look things over before deciding which sites I would take. I mentioned how we drove along rolling hills. Well, the fairgrounds are in the midst of hills. There isn’t a level site to be found. I picked a site that was as close to level as I could find. I put down jack pads and had to raise the front and right side of the coach considerably to get it level.

Our site at the fairgrounds

Our coach is set up for 50-amp electrical service. I had to use an adapter also known as a dog bone to plug into the 30-amp pedestal. I know, going down from 50 to 30 amps doesn’t sound like it’s a big deal, but it is. Here’s why – a 30-amp service has three contacts. One prong is the hot lead, one prong is the neutral and then there’s a safety ground contact. It provides 3,600 watts of power (120 volts X 30 amps). A 50-amp service has four contacts. Two are hot leads (L1 and L2), one prong is the neutral and there’s a safety ground. The coach is wired so the loads are split between L1 and L2. Each of these contacts provides 120 volts at 50 amps – 6,000 watts. You have total of 12,000 watts available. So a 50-amp service provides more than three times the power of a 30 amp service.

Dog bone adapter between 30-amp pedestal and electrical management/surge protector

In simple terms, the 30-amp adapter connects both legs (L1 and L2) of our 50-amp system in series. The cumulative loads demanded by our 120-volt electrical system cannot exceed 3,600 watts or the breaker will trip.

Donna found this out right away. We haven’t been on a 30-amp circuit for a while and she wasn’t thinking about it when she turned on the air conditioners, put something in the microwave oven and then turned on the Keurig coffeemaker which we shut off for travel. Pop! Circuit breaker shut down at the pedestal. Our inverter was charging the house batteries plus two A/C units and the microwave and coffeemaker on top of that was too much load. On 30 amps, we should only run one A/C unit and take care not to operate too many appliances at the same time.

Once we were set up, I took a ride around the fairgrounds on the scooter. I found out what all the workers were doing. There’s a big Good Guys car show here this weekend and they’re preparing for it. One guy told me they expect 500 RVs to arrive by Thursday afternoon and more than 3,000 cars in the show on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A large crowd of spectators is expected. That should be fun.

When I returned, Donna wanted to stretch her legs and get some steps in, so she took a walk. Here are a few photos from her walk.

At the playground area

Sheep barn

Glider transportation to the main midway

First church in Iowa

One of the things I did before hooking up our water supply was change out the cartridges in our filter system. I’ve written about our two-stage system before. The first filter – a spun polypropylene sediment filter wasn’t too bad. The center 1/8″ was still clean meaning it had a little life left. I also changed out the second filter – a carbon block element.

Old filter cartridges

Donna prepared a mango salsa while I grilled blackened chicken. She usually serves the mango salsa over Jamaican jerk chicken. The mango salsa was every bit as good over the blackened chicken.

Mango salsa over blackened chicken with brown rice and green beans

Yesterday I scootered Donna downtown to Meredith Publishing. She spent the day taping videos on cleaning and organizing for Better Homes and Gardens. After I dropped her off, I rode to the west side of town to Petco where I bought a small cat crate and other cat supplies. We’re thinking Ozark may travel better in a crate. I need to have one anyway so we can take her to a vet.

I had the scooter stacked with the crate and supplies. Rain was threatening. I made a quick stop at the beer store on the way home. I unloaded the scooter and put the cover on it. Just as I stepped inside, rain began to fall. I spent the rest of the day reading. It stopped raining before I rode back downtown to pick up Donna at 4:30pm.

Last night, we slept with the windows open and it got down to 64 degrees in the coach. We’ve been running the air conditioning constantly since we left San Diego. Being able to open windows was a welcome relief.

It may rain again, but I think I’ll get on the roof and start cleaning the coach. It’s so dirty from our stay at Turkey Creek, I can’t stand it any longer.

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Grilling

Potluck With Friends

Sudden Shower

Weather Permitting

A Riveting Tale

Cat House

More Deer Than People

Memphis-Style Ribs

Cooking Without Gas

Good Guys in Des Moines

Who Said Iowa is Flat?

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