New Rules For What Comes Next

So, we are just a few days away from our big National Park RV trip. I have been busily packing and freezing and cooking and freezing and making some comfort modifications to the rig and ENOUGH ALL READY! Can't we just go now?

I think they call this short timers disease. Sunday is the big day. That leaves just Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I think I'll make it. It should give our tomatoes time to ripen enough to make some more for sauce and whatever later. I just blanch them in boiling water with a small X cut in the end and take the skin off. Then I cut them in chunks and add fresh basil leaves then vacuum seal and freeze them.

If the green ones can just begin turning, I can take them and allow them to ripen in the RV and prepare them in the same way. We decided on taking the rice steamer and the vacuum sealer with us so it won't be a big deal, but this cloudier weather may force us into green tomato chili instead. We'll see.

This week I made a ton of Hummus, some al dente black beans and pesto. Since we have been hording and freezing organic berries for a while we have plenty of them as well.

About the modifications, we decided that we would make the table area a daybed seating spot instead. We have tv trays so we can still eat there, but because it is just behind the driver seat we hop Athena might take to it while we are driving instead of her needing to be across my lap in the passenger seat. Oh please oh please!

We also picked up a 19 in LCD TV and a DVD player in case we get rained out or whatever. It will also allow us to potentially check local news for weather, etc for our hikes. It is little and we do just have the one. We saw one with 4 TVs in it. Really! 4!

We have added some shelves in one cabinet and found some "totes" that fit in the upper storage areas in back so I can organize my clothes up there. The shelves will allow Pam to do the same there.

I found some information on the Internet about quieting the water pump for when you aren't hooked up to water, and that worked nicely. I also added a whole house filter setup for both water hookups and for filling our holding tank. We added a Pur system on the kitchen water as well for drinking water.

Lots of elastic strap has made the bathroom cabinet more useful as well as the coffee urn more secure, and Velcro has been added for the window covers, remotes, kitchen timer, etc to keep things where they belong.

We elected not to add a breezeway room to the awning for mosquito protection while we are outdoors, but we brought a net with us that we can use in a pinch.

Some cabinet door "locks" were added to keep them shut while in motion. Other than the memory foam topper we added to the mattress, that's it for our modifications since the last trip.

We will do our best to post some pictures every day or so. We are going to be in some pretty spectacular places to take photos so I'll try to do my best. We'll also try to detail our activities as well.

More soon.....

Will Power - A Problematic Catch-22

Will power is defined as the strength of will to carry out one's decisions, wishes, or plans. Pretty straight forward right?

I don't get it or like the implications of it. Here's why. It's just an excuse to not actually decide to do something. "I was doing so good not smoking, but then I lost my will power." That is CRAP! This is how it should be stated "I never decided to really quit smoking anyway so when I failed I figured I'd blame it on will power."

I have to quote Yoda again when he says to Luke "There is no try. Do or do not." Next time you think about blaming will power just admit that you weren't really committed enough to the task to avoid tripping over yourself.

The thing about change is that it IS CHANGE. It's not that hard to get this concept. If you TRY to stop eating french fries you have already failed. If you don't want to eat fries don't. I realize this is a higher level of responsibility than many are used to, but that, itself, is a change that is worthy as well. When things go sideways, like they seem to want to do, own your failures and learn from them.

No one makes us do anything we don't choose to do. Even when people mean well and try they can't make changes for you. Pam was a trooper for years. She would fill me in on the plans to hike this and climb that and I would make an excuse why I didn't want to attend. I had to choose for me. I am glad she kept trying and even more glad that she didn't nag me to do stuff. Ladies - men hate nagging. We tend to do the exact opposite of what is suggested in the nagging instead. Just sayin'.

The one person you can't fool is yourself. You know going into stuff where your commitment level is. All I'm suggesting - not nagging- is that you take a stronger stand. Tell yourself that you are worth the trouble and commit to the change. And if and when you fall down learn from it and move forward with even more resolve. I was taught when I was learning to play bass that there are no mistakes - just bad improvisation.

So here's to banishing Will Power from our vocabulary. I think it is much more destructive than the R word that so many want banned as well.

More soon.....

A Quick Hike And A Quick Festival

Pam and I blasted up Eagle Peak in 1:45 - 3.5 miles one way, had second breakfast, took some pictures and descended back to our car. We were cleaned up and changed and heading to the Mount Rainier Festival in Ashford in less than 4 hours from our arrival.

Here are some of the pictures.

You can see the effect that the fire down by Hwy 97 has on Mt St Helens and Mt Adams, but the wildflowers were still in bloom and it was a super nice day. Pam was playing with her new - bullet proof- camera. Her most recent one died on the Ozette Triangle trip.

The Mountain Festival was great as we were able to get a nice grilled chicken sandwich with  salad and a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale for our efforts while listening to some bluegrass.

That was the last hike here before we head off to Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon and back to Washington for 5 weeks of hiking, biking, walking and camping in the Athenian - that's what we decided to name the RV.

If we get lucky most of our tomatoes will ripen this week so I can blanch the skins off, chop them up and vacuum seal them with a couple of basil leaves and then freeze them for later use. Right now it looks 50-50.

More soon......

The Perfect Training Partner

How would you describe the perfect workout partner? Those of you who describe them as someone who just leaves you alone so you can sleep in won't like my description.

My perfect training partner has great stamina and enthusiasm, never has a day when they just don't feel like getting some exercise, and can always do a little more than you can. They are also happy to work with you at your pace but they are always ready to push you a little harder.

Finding another person who will put their own health second so you can get yours where you want it seems nearly impossible. Luckily, my training partner isn't a person at all. Athena meets all the requirements above. She never quits, always wants to go the longer route at a faster pace, and does it with a smile on her face.

They are not running out of these training partners at the local dog pounds, and the little critters are ready to help.

On another subject, Athena caught some guy in a van looking at her as we turned a corner on our walk today. She took to staring at him so he took to staring back. I wish I had a video camera. The two of them looked ridiculous. They were killing me! She has a bad habit of scanning cars looking for "fans." There is no way we could have known when we named her that she actually was a goddess.

I have continued inventing with the Sprouted Bean Trio that I talked about earlier. I tossed some with some short grain brown rice we had left over as well as some freshly roasted corn and chilis, tomatoes, and some spices - cumin, pepper, salt. It was a great summer salad!

Athena and I got in a pair of 6.7 mile walks this week. On Saturday Pam and I are hiking Eagle Peak in Mt Rainier National Park and then hanging around in Ashford for the Mountain Festival. It should be fun.

More soon....

Chili Harvest And You Need To Own This Movie

I picked these this morning. The largest are Anaheims, the medium size are a super chili, the skinny ones are cayenne, and the fat ones are jalapenos. I already made 2/3s of a large herb container (like the big parsley size) of chili powder. Since I was unable to find poblano starts in time this year I will need to find some organic mild chili powder to take the edge off my blend.

I could have picked an additional 75 chilis if I felt like it. I may need to make chili powder gift packages or something. We'll see. I usually make some hot sauce as well, but I would be able to make a couple of quarts of it with what I have already picked. It's about to be interesting.

If you don't own "The Princess Bride" on DVD, go buy it now. I am shocked at how many people haven't seen it, and even more shocked that everyone doesn't watch it once a month or so. You can usually find it super cheap at Fred Meyers or Best Buy. You can watch it with your kids or without. It is a great movie. Trust Me! Go get your copy and watch it about 10 times in the first 6 months or so. You'll thank me. I swear.

More soon......

Kittens With A Bad Sense Of Direction - Oh And Camp Muir

We'll get to the kittens later. It's like on the news when they start with "Woman chases grizzly up a tree.", but they don't do that story until the very end of the show.

Yesterday Pam, Emily, Natalie, Phyllis, Tom and I hiked up to Camp Muir on Mt. Rainier. It was a spectacular day that started out fairly windy but became quite calm after a couple of hours. Muir is a worthy endeavor at 4.33 miles each way with more than 4500 feet of elevation gain. It was nearly half in the snow which we are very used to this year. The top elevation was 10075 or so.

Here are the pictures and then the kitten bit.

We were able to glissade a bit on the way down, but not as much or as fast as Pam and I did on Mt St Helens earlier in the year.

In the middle of the night Athena was up and shaking her head so her tags make noise so I was an obedient pops and let her out. She was in no way interested in anything but hunting whatever was under the deck. I made her come in and went back to bed.

First thing in the morning she was back barking and scratching - insisting there was something there. I looked under and didn't see anything. I thought maybe whatever it was had chosen wisely and left.

I geared up and took her for our normal 6.7 mile route while Pam rested her sore foot by swimming a mile at the health club. We got back and Athena was back hunting whatever was under the deck. This time when I looked I spied a cat walking around under there. I am NOT a cat guy, but this was a great looking kitten. She was white with tan, grey and even a little black and had a mini lioness face.

Pam was able to coax her out and we set out looking for her home. We were unable to get any hints from a couple of neighbors so we headed home to call some of our "cat people" to try and find her a home. While we were doing that we also took a try to see if maybe we could ease Athena into socializing with another animal. That was a total disaster! She actually attempted to chomp the little thing while Pam was holding it!

We left her inside and went out back where Pam heard more meowing under the deck! It seems our little female friend has a brother. He was hungry and the milk we put out coaxed him out. Now we had 2 kittens to try to find homes for. While they don't kill dogs at the Tacoma pound, they DO kill cats. Again, I am NOT a cat guy, but they were good looking.

We redoubled our efforts and talked to more neighbors, and as we were getting ready to head somewhere with lots of people to try to find them a home a couple of kids from the next block over were coming down the street looking for them. Whew!

So Roy and Lila hadn't travelled too far. They were from directly across the alley. I am confident that they won't make that mistake again, but if they do we know where to take them. I only wish I had taken a picture for you guys. Oh well. That was our good deed for the day.

More soon.

Thanks And Here's A Great Product

First, I want to thank all of my readers for having too much time on their hands. I have over 1000 page views on this blog! It's so much pressure to perform now. I'll try to be interesting.

I was at Costco this week and one item I needed was Quinoia. Costco has an organic product by Tru Roots. As I grabbed the quinoia I saw another Tru Roots organic item called Sprouted Bean Trio. I read the directions and a recipe on the bag and decided to try it. This stuff cooks in 15 minutes and has 1/2 gram of fat, 11 grams of fiber, 11 grams of protein, and 10 mgs of sodium in 160 calories!

I'm going to go ahead and call it Super Food!. Yesterday I made an Italian version of the Salad recipe they had on the bag with tomatoes, basil, scallions, garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper. Tonight I made a spicier version with tomatoes, some roasted chilis (think Anaheims) cumin, Thai Basil, Red onion, garlic, salt and pepper.

You add 1 cup of the beans to 3 cups of water in a pan - bring to a boil - cover and reduce heat to simmer 5 minutes - turn off and let sit for 10 minutes then drain off the liquid. That's it! During the cook and rest you have plenty of time to "Dog It Out" however you choose. You could just add some organic marinara, some fresh pesto, or fresh peas or green beans. You could get all brave and toss some curry in a pan and toast it a little then add some Greek yogurt and make a thickish sauce and serve the beans with some wild or brown rice.

Don't get me going! This stuff will be a staple around here from now on. Anything you use lentils for you could substitute this stuff.

See, I don't just yap about all the crap "food" out there. Sometimes I find something nice to say.


More soon.....