Yes We Can!

It is now January 2016 and we have a big plan in mind! We want to have a family camp out in Yellowstone National Park. Yep a 12 person get together for three generations. This will be a first camp out for my two oldest children and their children. There will be two trailers and one family in a nearby hotel. Our travel start day is 27 May 2016!

I have a countdown calendar and already gathering items for our get together, scheduling trailer servicing, preparing menus, and planning activities for us all to enjoy. I did ask the youngest girls for their ideas and they want smores.

I am really lucky in the friends in my life who are giving me tons of information and inside input on how the park works. Now we are really getting excited to plan, plan, plan. This is so exciting for us. We, after seven years, we are just now really becoming comfortable with the Airstream dream and embracing the experiences yet to come. Stay tuned for our little journeys and prep for the big day.

This must be our year for our dreams of travel come true. I received silver rivet earrings for a Christmas present and a dear friend of ours made us a beautiful reminder of our dream! A stained glass replica of our rig! The silver beauty we love.

Update to today! The work is done, cleaning and updating stuff done, now food and excitement are our focus. We are going to tryout many items that should engage children and adults in old-fashioned, non-tech family fun. An ice cream maker that looks like a soccer ball, traveling eco friendly fire pit for s’moors and a large propane outdoor cookstove so us oldies don’t bend over the fire to cook!

Our fun season starts in a week with a shakedown to recheck all repairs and new “stuff”. This well be a great wine and food experience! Six Sigma here we come! Then onto Idaho and Yellowstone!

Bon Voyage and Great Wine!

Airstream photo and 115 — Its the little things that count

Wine and their little gadgets!

I remember our very first night ever in our Airstream. We drove all of 15 minutes from our home. We reserved spot #1, at Sea Clliff State Park. We had the best site, the waves could be heard breaking on the beach, great view of the beach and about 20 feet to the beach. We set everything up by the book, the rain began to fall, and we were so proud of ourselves! We took the doggies for a short walk before dinner, set the beef stew simmering on the stove, opened the vents and went through a light rain.

As the rain increased in intensity we rushed back to our silver castle dry and toasty. We began our first meal preparation and settle in for the night. The stew’s aroma, the warmth of our coach and the music on the radio set us up for a romantic triumphant evening. BUT we chose our bottle of wine and . . . . NO BOTTLE OPENER!

So we ask what is the best bottle opener for our trailer? THE ONE YOU HAVE! LOL, well luckily about a half mile away and up a hill was a local liquor store that actually had not only a wine bottle opener but a great selection of wines. Five years after our maiden voyage we have acquired a moderate collection of bottle openers. Guess we like the ones we buy for home use too, then forget to put them back and there we are again, no opener.

Everything we need to open, filter, mix and store our libations!

Yep a filter was sent to us in a shipment from a wine club and we have learned to love it! When we first saw it we did not know what it was. We are such great wine lovers.

This is fancy, it breaks the foil seal, can open wine with a flair and look good too! Also it does not rust.

This lovely little prince, the Venturi, has a big brother but this little guy helps the reds breath more quickly.

After we bought a utilitarian opener on our first night we now have our favs! We did also learn some bottle neck widths are just a little different and the old non screw but “wiggle” ones work wonderfully.

Now let’s open a great bottle of Six Sigma Tempranillo and enjoy a glass.. . . . .Happy Travels

A Foodie Must

Glorious, wonderful roads take us many places. How we travel them is a choice. We prefer going where others don’t. If hoards of tourists gather we will go in an opposite path. Nuggets of golden information and joy pop-up in unpredictable places.

Saturday was such a time. Traveling on a day trip with friends and without my silver coach we tasted wines from a barrel, savored great small plates of food paired for us in the 92 degree heat. So what was so unusual? The chef. We sat and spoke with Chef Mark Linback who works with Six Sigma Ranch and Winery, gave us his recommendations of the “must haves” for our Airstream Galley! His suggestions: 1 lb of flour, regular salt, salted and unsalted butter, olive oil-either EVOO or VOO, your favorite spices and baking power. Why? To make pastry, scones, coat fish or chicken, be able to fry anything and add the spices you like to make new finds your kind of yummy.

I have often wondered how long you can keep spices before they loose their taste or get yukkie. Here is what I found walking about in Los Gatos California’s Napa Style store! A cardboard cylinder with stacked small containers with screw lids on them! Not only is it small, about 1 inch in diameter, the containers have spices in them. The label states these will stay useable for up to 4 years if stowed in the cardboard tube in a cool place. It was $29 plus tax and I really am liking that is does not take up precious space in my galley and I have lots of choices to add to local food finds in our travels. Wow! This fits nicely into my galley pantry and is a first must for cooking or grilling as we travel. I like the fact it can be stored for a long time . The portion sizes help keep thing fresh and we can replace spices with our favorites if needed.

On the way up to Six Sigma Ranch we stopped at the St. Helena Olive Oil Company to pick up our favorite rosemary infused oil. We asked the sales person how long we can store our olive oil? Her answer was for up to 2 years from the press date! So now we know how long we can store our spices and olive oil and the sizes we use fit nicely in our galley.

The following Monday we hooked up our Airstream for a day trip to Pietro Santo Winery just south of Hollister California and on the way to the Pinnacles National Park. We were to meet one of the marketing staff to discuss a nice place to visit on our way to the new beautiful national park. This is not a well traveled “wine trail” so it may be a nice side stop on our travels. It was an overcast day but balmy and comfortable. The directions from the winery took us south and away from the main roads to Hollister and Tres Pinos, California. The Cienega Road is a lovely, quiet ranch road. It is a paved 2 lane road. The scenery is breath taking. It is like being dropped into the 1800’s. The time when cattle was king and hard working cowboys may appear on horseback at any moment. It is a winding quiet road, occasionally bumpy but no one is behind you honking, because you are slow. Occasionally vehicles just passed by and people waved.

The wine trail is home to approximately 6 wineries, all closed on Mondays or have tastings by appointment only. The tasting rooms all seem to be about a mile off the main road and there is very little signage to direct you. Our appointment never materialized but the winery grounds are beautiful, clean, green and bottling was in progress. They have an olive press in the tasting room building. This is what I wanted to see. Although the interview never came together the journey was beautiful. Taking a wrong turn almost got us to the Pinnacles instead of homeward bound. Airport Hwy is quiet and as we turned around we approached Tres Pinos, Balado Park and a small, good Mexican restaurant for a homey lunch. This little community of 500 is very reminiscent of the old California I new growing up. Had I not had my appointment on a new trail I would have missed the scenery we often dream about and it is nearby in the Gabilan Hills.