Looking For A Lull

...if there was such a thing as Limbo I think we are stuck in it.  The kitchen is STILL torn up and we are STILL waiting for the insurance company to give the go ahead so that work can even get STARTED.  I can say that I'm sufficiently tired of eating out. I'm not tired of eating out because I dislike eating out, I'm tired of it because: I like to cook!  Nobody makes food like you like to eat it except you.   Limited choices.  Don't get me wrong, we live in an area with a TON of restaurants around us, but after a few months, we've exhausted the list and hit many of them multiple times.  We could go further out for some new choices, but after working for 10 hours, well you get the idea. It's expensive.  I can cook a great meal at home for both of us for under 10 bucks, but the minute we step out it's at least $25 bucks if we aren't doing fast food.  Insurance will kick us back some of that money though. It's not healthy.  I think...

I can hardly make a trip to SW Michigan longer than a day without stopping by my favorite restaurant in the area and having a couple of beers.  This trip however, it only worked out that we could go on Sunday which you may know from past posts is when I normally would have brunch with my bloody mary. My favorite Michigan restaurant did not disappoint when it came to delivering a bloody mary, although state law made it so that it was delivered to my table precisely at noon at the tail end of my repast instead of when I began to eat at 11:45 AM. This particular restaurant though is not known for their bloody Mary's but rather their VERY robust selection of beers.  A separate menu for beer is available where you will find hundreds of different choices.  Join the beer club, take a few home, and try something different each time.  Many years ago I was introduced to Big T's in Lawton, Michigan and it was a regular stop for us when we lived in the area.  Now it i...

This trip we've been doing better with the food.  We've cooked almost every meal this week at the trailer with the exception of 1 rotisserie chicken we picked up and even then I still cooked the side dish. The combo of the grill and the instant pot really work well.  We can put both of them into play together and make some great meals.  The small grill works really well although it is easy to burn food on it, and we can use it under the awning if it rains.  We've not used it as much this week though, with the temperatures in the upper 90's and the humidity really high, there have been a few storms that have popped up that caused us to roll up the awning.  I don't grill in a downpour. All in all, we've picked up a few new recipes and even been eating a little more healthy!  It's really nice to sit outside and eat though, but the mosquitoes have been making that difficult at times but we manage.  The dogs really like being out for dinner too! Mak...

Aside from work things have been slow around here for a change, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been filling my time with projects.  It seems like we've been in GO mode for three straight months and its nice to have a little break in the action to recharge.  That said, I've gotten some things done around the house and still have more on my list. I've replaced the kitchen faucet, we've put in the air conditioners, and done some weeding but it doesn't feel like I've yet scratched the surface of my to do list yet.  My to do list is long and contains some pretty ambitious items along with some smaller ones as well; Things like Fix/replace the roof over the deck Repair the water damage in the ceiling from my mouse friends that ate through a water line. Replace the tub faucet and hardware upstairs. Trim the trees that I can reach Finish cleaning the gutters. Repair some of the cracked/settling on the ceilings Build a planter box for the front ...

After spending a day in Hot Springs we packed up the trailer and moved to a new campground just outside that city since it would be a good jumping point for a quick trip across the reservation to Wounded Knee on our way to our midway return point. Aside from the move the day was pretty relaxing and the campground was beautiful.  We decided not to cook for lunch and instead check out a cool brew pub we passed on the way to the campground.  That was interesting.  The menu had many items crossed off the pages and the monitors on the wall that indicate what beers where available held very few choices.  It turns out the place was closing down at the end of the week. :(  The food was delicious though and the beers we tried were quite good and unique.  I'd suggest trying the raspberry Jalapeno beer, but alas no chance for that any longer.  They also had a cool gimmick where they could can a 32 oz of beer to take home with you a "crowler" if you will.  ...

Before the trip we chose a campground near Custer, SD so we were central to all of the places we wanted to go, but not having spent time in the little town I didn't know what we would find. It turns out it was a perfect little place for some shopping, restaurants, and groceries.  We even were able to pick up a replacement stinky slinky from the local hardware store after ours broke. (More on that some other time.) Custer is located just about 10 miles south of the Crazy Horse monument almost right between Custer state park and Jewel cave making it a great place to visit if you are headed to any of those locations.  There is a small grocery store located on the east side of town right off the main drag and their prices are not bad considering they are literally the only place nearby for groceries. We spent time in many of the shops and ate at quite a few restaurants, but our favorite was "Buglin' Bull".  The food was excellent as it was at a number of the other...

Deadwood, SD.  I love history and so this was a highlight of the trip for me.  I've read numerous books on Deadwood and I still enjoy it even though much of what is town now was not town originally due to fires and such.  It is still pretty neat. There is still a lot of gambling in town, and even though we didn't gamble, it is a draw to some of those who visit.  We spent our time in the shops, restaurants and saloons picking out gifts to take back home, having some lunch or a drink.  For drinks we had "The Best Bloody Mary in Deadwood" at the Nugget Saloon, and a couple of mixed drinks with moonshine from the "Bloody Nose Saloon".  The bloody mary was $10, but it was REALLY good and lives up to it's hype. We did the bus tour up to Mount Moriah cemetery and saw the graves of Wild Bill and Calamity Jane.  I'm not much for kitschy tours but I knew Karen and Big Joe would enjoy it.  The bus driver was fantastic and I did end up learning a thing or...

One thing that I find myself doing when we travel over the road is eating a ton of garbage.  It's so easy to just grab a quick bite from McD's at the Flying J while your filling up or stuffing 5 Slim Jims down your gullet because they were right next to the register when you bought fuel.  I've vowed to not let this happen as much on the next trip and we'll see how it goes.  Here is my initial plan:  Make food ahead of time.  Assemble a few sandwiches, pre-cook some taco fixings, pack a small cooler for the truck with pre-made, easy to eat stuff. Buy some fresh fruit before leaving.  Banana's make a great breakfast snack, and grapes or cherry's are awesome when you just want some finger food to munch on.  Must have garbage bag for the skins and pit's, but we can throw them out at the truck stop. Bring more healthy drinks.  This one I do ok at as I don't drink a ton of soda, but I have gotten back into having a little caffeine now and then and...

When I first started working from home a number of years back it wasn't long until I realized I hadn't left the house for a couple weeks.  It was easy to do really.  It was winter, it was warm inside, and I had pretty much everything I needed.  Eventually it became clear to me that I needed to force myself to leave the house so that I didn't move to a level of crazy other than the one in which I normally live. After very little discussion with Karen we decided to make Sunday brunch a 'thing'. We scouted around to a number of venues eventually finding one we absolutely loved.  This place is great!  (See my plug below!)  The brunch menu includes prime rib among many other awesome choices and they have what I consider a key feature:  99 cent Bloody Marys! Holy cow!  I was sold. We've been doing Sunday brunch for a few years now at our favorite spot, sometimes with friends or family, and my Sunday Mary's are cemented in my weekly plans. When w...

Thursday was our final day in Florida before we began our trek back to Ohio.  I spent the day working and took my lunch outside sitting with Jackie when she stopped by to visit us in the afternoon.  After work was over we set out to go pick up Grandma Janet before  heading over to Lori and Mike's for dinner. It was Meghan's birthday (17 wow!) and Mike's parents were over as well.  It was great to meet them and nice to have a relaxing celebration. Pizza, Salad, and Garlic knots from a local joint.  It was yummy!  Birthday cake followed dinner for desert and we had fun just spending time talking and enjoying everyone.  Before long it was time to take Grandma home and head back to camp to get some sleep before the long drive home. We had taken the time to pack up most of the stuff from outside except things like the water hose, electric, and of course the stinky slinky so in the morning there wasn't much to do before heading out.  On the ro...

On Wednesday I worked all day again.  That Weboost still is holding strong, even with heavier winds blowing around stuff today.  Luke told me earlier in the week he wanted to go out on the boat for a sunset cruise and we of course were excited about that prospect.  He came and picked us up in the boat and we headed out into the gulf and over to a neat little seafood restaurant.  Karen and I shared a basket of clams that were excellent. The ride back was beautiful as well.  A bit cold with the wind biting at you and occasional spray of water soaking your clothes.  It was such a great time.  I really can't explain so I'll let some pictures speak for me. The Clan -1 out for dinner View from the restaurant Some of the best fried clams I've had The sun is setting, will we make it back before dark? Heading out to the gulf wow Wow...Again ...We didn't make it back before it was totally dark, which made it that ...

We went to visit Grandma this morning and took her out for Brunch at the Florida Cracker Kitchen.  Neat place!  I'm told that it is owned by the same people that own the Campground we are staying at although it is over in Brooksville.  I'm not sure if that is true or not.  The food was awesome and the company was even better. Brunch Bloody Mary Mmmm After brunch we dropped Grandma off back at home where Jackie would pick her up later to go to Luke's while we ran back to the campground to let the Donk out for a while and rest up before the get together. Luke texted me after a while and said he'd come pick us up with his boat and bring us over.  Door to door Florida river taxi!  Awesome. Luke's house and boat as seen from the Campground Dock The food at Luke's was spectacular.  Fresh shrimp and sausages, awesome salads and PEANUT BUTTER PIE.  OMG, that is my favorite. Winding down on my Third Plate! Later in the evening Jac...

I decided to write about these days all as one entry because I spent some of this time in Atlanta for work while Karen and the Donk stayed at the campground. My time was spent in meetings, seeing colleagues, and learning a little about our new company while Karen spent her time doing classwork and working on her puzzle. Karen's completed puzzle Karen picked up this cool puzzle depicting the 20th Maine on little round top mountain at the battle of Gettysburg on our trip last fall.  You may notice that there were a couple of missing pieces that we later found had fallen between the cushions at the dining table in the trailer. After I got back from Atlanta we had a little time to rest up before we got things around to leave early in the morning on Friday.  We drove around Cartersville area a little and found a neat little southern food Buffet to eat dinner at. Home Cooking Buffet! We woke up pretty early on Friday to leave for Florida.  We wanted to make sure...

Of all of the things that I haven't tried using in the trailer since we bought it, or the old trailer for that matter, the oven is one thing that seems the most intimidating to me.  I love to cook, but baking is one thing that I've not spent a ton of time doing. Sure, I've made bread and casseroles, I've heated meats, baked turkeys and pies at home, but I've never tried baking or heating anything at all in the oven in the camper.  I think it intimidates me because it's so different than the one at home.  Here are a few reasons why I feel that way:  It's so small!  Compared to my home oven this thing is tiny.  What if I get things to close to the heat source?  Will I burn the bottom of my pans and scorch whatever I'm cooking? You have to manually light it.  Come on.  Even the stove top has a little ignition system that helps you light it.  I can visualize myself without eyebrows, sure. It seems like it is best guess for temperatur...

I may not like the cold, but I like my drinks cold and my food fresh.  One of the odd things about us is our love for refrigeration.  In our house alone we have 3 refrigerators (down from 5!) and a large chest freezer.  One fridge in the garage for company and extra drinks, one regular fridge in the kitchen, another small one by the bar, and a chest freezer to store all of our meats and other frozen foods. Camping is not much different, it is our smaller home away from home.  The trailer has two refrigerators one indoors and one outdoors.  We even supplement that with a large ice chest that we carry in the back of the truck to keep our food and drinks cold while we are traveling down the road.  We could leave the indoor fridge running on propane, but I don't like to have that on when we are moving. Years ago we bought a large cooler, I'm guessing that it is 150 Qt but it could be larger, and we took that with us camping.  Back then we tented it qui...