Time for a new post. That is not to say I have anything to blab about, just that it is time. Got to make some kind of effort, even if a half-hearted one. I am back at the house for a little stretch. I needed to take care of a few things, and wanted to check in on the house, so I came back here early last week. I guess it’s a good thing I did, because I came back to find out that the kitchen fridge had died some time ago. Gross. Not TOO long ago I guess, but there was definitely some cleaning involved. The good news is, we had taken most of our food with us in the RV. Mostly lost a bunch of condiments, many of which probably needed tossed anyway, and a little bit of meat. Not too major a tragedy, all in all. Other than that, things were generally in order. The garden is hopelessly overgrown, and much of the produce is well past picking time, but that was expected. Threw most of it in the yard for the deer, hopefully they appreciate it. Still dog-sitting our friend Renfield for a few more weeks. That was a factor in my return home also; 3 dogs in an RV is a LOT. We did, however, buy a nice big kennel to set up outside the RV. That is super nice, I wish we’d have done it years ago. We have always put them on a long cable, which usually lasts about 45 seconds until they are hopelessly tangled. More trouble than it’s worth. Where it really pays off is in the morning, when they jump out of bed at 5:00 AM for their pre-breakfast “business.” Yeah, that is no fun leashing them all up and heading out into the dark and cold every day. That alone is worth the price of the kennel.

Other than that, all quiet and blissfully boring. I’ve been watching the Royals a lot, and now the NFL games too. Which is to say, pretty much the same things I do at the campground, but with more room and a larger TV. I did cook a few slabs of ribs yesterday to eat during the games, which came out so well that I thought it bears a mention. I like to cook ribs, and I like to eat ribs, but they never come out too well for me. These, for once, I was happy with. They went on the smoker at 275 for two hours, then in foil with some spicy vinegar sauce for one hour, then opened the top of the foil and sauced them for about 20 minutes. I made sure to write it all down (for once,) so hopefully I can replicate them next time. If I make any tweaks, I’ll probably add some more wood to the smoker; I like my ribs smokey. Might tone down the vinegar sauce a little bit too, wow they were HOT. Overall definitely some of the better ones I’ve done though.

[Show slideshow]

Still at the campground in the RV. There is not a whole lot to do here, and hence, I do not have much to report. One fun thing we did was drive up to McCloud Falls for a short hike with the dogs. There are several falls to hike in the area, but this was one of the few that allowed dogs on the trails. I try to take them along when possible, so this park was our choice of the day. Definitely worth the hour drive. The hike was easy enough, (OK, we drove most of it,) and the falls were really nice. Only downside? Well, despite reading up extensively about the place before going, I completely forgot my swim suit. It was a hot day and I am sure a dip in the pools under the falls would have been great. Yeah, we could go back easy enough, but we’ve got other sights to see so I doubt we do. I also took the Jeep on some fun trails with the dogs. There are trails criss crossing all over the place behind the campground. I kind of like to know where I’m going before heading out, but I finally decided I wasn’t going to figure it out unless I just took off. I am typing this from back at the RV, so I guess I got back OK. We didn’t get too crazy; I sort of depend on my Jeep for transportation so I didn’t want to tear something up. We bumped along the path for 45 minutes or so, and if things got too sketchy, we turned around and went a different way.

Labor Day Weekend was flat out crazy at the campground. Wow, it was packed. I am pretty sure every spot was taken, and there were some huge groups. Huge groups equal huge noise. Geez, so much for my nice peaceful campsite. I tried counting all the little kids running around like rabid animals, but stopped when I got to 1,758,453. They were moving too quickly for an accurate census. All good, everybody got up and scattered this morning, and all is peaceful again. Hopefully they all had fun, even if it was at the expense of my sanity. (Uh oh, I hope the little gremlins didn’t eat all the ice cream, I better go check…)

[Show slideshow]

So we’re still out in the RV, living the life. At least I am, the missus spends the majority of her time working. Hey, my lifestyle choices don’t come cheap. Time really gets away from me up here. It’s been something of an issue I’ve noticed back at the house, but here it’s even worse. I had every intention of updating this thing last Monday, but it was Wednesday or Thursday before I noticed that I’d forgotten, and then I decided it was just too late. There are worse problems I guess.

Things are going just fantastic here. It is quite peaceful, it is so quiet in the evenings that it’s almost eerie. *Now, the holiday weekend may turn out to be a different story, we’ll see about that. Even so, they’ll all leave as soon as the 3-day weekend is over. I’m continuing my quest to complete the PCT while here, and it’s going just fabulous. I am pleased to report that I am up into the double-digit miles already! Still well over 2,600 miles to go, but hey, you got to start somewhere. I did hit a small snag though; I took the dogs 4 miles one day, and that proved to be a horrible idea. I wasn’t sure they were going to get back to the RV under their own power. I suppose I could carry them if need be, but I wasn’t too excited about that idea. They did make it though. Haven’t gone back out yet until I decide on a new plan. Maybe I’ll just leave them in the RV and head out by myself, but they typically don’t like that idea much. And… that’s about it. Continuing to cook all meals on the outdoor griddle or the grill over the firepit, which I feel I am getting a bit more adept at. We did go out twice also, once to pizza and once for Mexican. Both were great, but you’re looking at a 30 minute drive each way to get to any restaurant so I’d just as soon stay at the campground.

[Show slideshow]

Well, after a brief run, I’m back to my slacking ways. What can I say, I’ve been just super busy. I guess I could say that, but it wouldn’t be true. I’ve been a bit “disengaged,” as they say in the business world. We’ve done a few fun things though! Went to our first CA State Fair, saw a few good concerts, (O.A.R. and Hozier, namely,) took a trip to Tahoe, and also to Old Station, CA. I think I’ll skip coverage of most of those events and just jump ahead to Old Station, as that’s where we are now. These days, my memory is pretty much limited to what’s currently going on. So yeah, we took off in the RV and headed up to Old Station CA for a 10 day trip on July 27th. It’s a very nice park; huge RV spots, nice amenities, and lots of things to do nearby. The nearest town is 30-40 minutes away, so it’s a bit of a nuisance if you need to go get something, but we’ve got the Jeep with us so no big deal. The RV park sits on a nice creek, which fishermen seem pretty fond of. There is a great national park 15 minutes away, with a big lake to take my kayak to. (Haven’t actually DONE that yet, mind you, but I’ve got it with me. We’ve just been there and checked it out a few times.) It’s also right on the famed PCT trail, which is kind of cool. I went ahead and hiked it while we’re here, so I can check that off my bucket list. Well, actually I went about 2.5 miles. I figure I’ll do it in sections; 2.5 miles down, 2647.5 to go. Several people who actually are through-hiking it stop by here for a break though, they’re an interesting lot.

So, for those who are into that whole math thing, you might wonder why we are still here if we left on a 10 day trip back in July. Yeah, funny story. We have some friends who are working here for the summer, and they mentioned that there might be a few jobs still open. We got to talking with the park manager, and bada-bing, we have jobs until October. Sorta. In the interests of full disclosure, (which we at pkenagy.com ALWAYS strive for,) only one of us passed the interview and got hired. And, much like all the other interviews I’ve had this year, it wasn’t me. Oops, back to the full disclosure: I didn’t want a job, and I didn’t interview, only the wife did. The pay is rather… “nominal,” but we get a free campsite, Wi-Fi, laundry, ice, and a discount at the little store they have. Most importantly, at 5,000 ft elevation, it’s a solid 20 degrees cooler than at home. Kinda hated to walk away from the garden, it’s really doing great this year, but what can ya’ do.

[Show slideshow]

Happy 4th of July! We actually psuedo-celebrated this year. No fireworks, unfortunately. I really miss shooting off some loud stuff, but that’s a big no-no up here. Pretty sure the neighbors would show up with swords and pitchforks if they heard a firecracker go off. You COULD cross the county line and get some “safe and sane” fireworks, (i.e. “boring,”) but even those are illegal up here. Can’t argue really. It hasn’t rained since April, it wouldn’t end well. We did actually attend the Pleasant Valley parade this year though, and that was a blast. It’s an annual event, but we’ve never quite made it the mile up the road to watch it. Not much of an excuse this year though. We had nothing better to do, and it was like 70 degrees out. Not sure what happened with the cool weather, but I ain’t asking questions, just enjoying it. So yeah, the parade was a lot of fun. Very small town, local thing. Mostly kids riding decorated bikes, horses and cows, people throwing candy out the back of trucks, that sort of stuff. It only lasted about 30 minutes, which is roughly the same as my attention span. After it ended the weather was just too nice to leave, so we sat around on the patio at Bones until traffic cleared. Solid holiday for us!

Unfortunately, such a strong start to weekend completely knocked the wind out of us for the next few days. We didn’t leave the house Saturday or Sunday, just kind of sat around. Did some (very) light chores, watched some baseball, and spent ample time just sitting on the patio. We did talk about joining a motorcycle ride on Saturday, but I chickened out. The ride email started out “This is a challenging ride,” and I quit reading. We’ll get ’em next weekend.

[Show slideshow]