Our first Official day

Our first official Day…

Since we had arrived during darkness the sunlight brought all sorts of new sights and allowed us to see a bit of the immensity of the whole operation. As we picked our final campsite I pointed out the necessity of at least being in sight of porta potties—trailer was only for old people and night.  Although they have many they are spread out with quite a bit of distance between the poo stations. The kids agreed after the first refusal of the trailer bathroom and they realized we were serious. It was a no no to pee or poo on the playa.

What is the Playa? Landforms

·        Sink (geography), also known as an alkali flat or sabkha, a desert basin with no outlet which periodically fills with water to form a temporary lake

·        Dry lake, commonly called a playa in the southwest US

·        Playa is the Spanish language word for beach

I will try to explain the layout somewhat…Black Rock City is set up in a circle of a clock with camping from 2 to 10. The man is considered 12 but he is also a bit in the center like where the hands of the clock would attach. On the north side of the city or between 10-2 is open playa where sculptures (Embrace and the Temple plus many many others) are displayed and art carts can drive. Art cars also drive through the city streets. The city itself is set up is kind of a half or 3/4s circle using the clock format on it’s cross streets with the alphabet as the circle roads that started with A as the inner circle and going out. We camped at 2:15 and J so were basically on the outskirts on the NE top side of the city.  I am guessing but I would say the city is at least 3-5 miles wide and the only transportation, if you aren’t lucky enough to have an art car, is bike and hoofing it.

So back to camp—Of course Kelly and friend were chomping at the bit to explore but the evil aunts made them help set up camp before anyone played. And it turned into a fine camp. As an afterthought it would have been nice to be closer in just of logistics but as the week went on we discovered there was a price to pay for conveniences, dust and noise. More about that later…

Our camp had all the comforts and we finally released the youngsters and decided to take our first step into the land of the bizarre…by bicycle. It started out well but I quickly realized my bike, although looking very cool, was about as uncomfortable as is could be. It just didn’t fit my body and had an incredibly hard and skinny seat. Stacy’s borrowed bike was a bit too short for her but at least it had shock absorbers and a cushy seat. But bikes were definitely the way to go, so after a couple of hours and lots of sights later, we headed back to camp to try to do some adjusting.

We are also now beginning to see what we were involved in. I had always thought at this age I was relatively well traveled and have seen a lot of the bizarre and creative. I have seen a punk rocker demonstration in London, I have done the largest women’s music festival for a week. When my sister lived in SF I wandered Haight Ashbury and Castro Street. I have seen bizarre. I have NEVER seen anything like this.

This city is full of all ages of people. I would say 30% of them are over 50, probably another 25% between 35-50 and the rest the under 30 crowd. And EVERYONE is showing their creativity—in their costumes, their camps, and art cars. So much creative talent, money and energy had been spent to create their playa persona. Everyone can dress or be anything they want to be—it’s all performance art. The costumes have been from nothing at all, then maybe a bit more with pasties and a parasol, to full fur animal costumes, and everything in between. One of the oddest were two people on bicycles with one being a naked guy with some sort of an orange skintight over his privates. Or they could have just been painted orange—I didn’t look close enough to check for sure but all I could think was –that has got to hurt on a bicycle.

The bicycles themselves are a different class. Since most use them at night they are lit up like the Vegas strip and BM has the commodity on fake fur. Bicycles, art cars, camps…it’s everywhere. I could write pages but no matter what I said you would not be prepared. It’s basically indescribable. But it does renew your faith in the creative talent out there. And quite of a few participants are obviously financially successful—if the large number of luxury RV’s and incoming private airport traffic is any indication.  People from all over the world.

For us, BM has been a people watching experience. And there is no place on earth that is better for that than BM. Much of it has been from the comfort of our trailer…Since Wed the weather has warmed and the last couple of days the wind has become a big issue. But we had excellent seats to watch a bunch of BRC rangers follow a screaming naked guy around outside our camp area for over an hour. It was really HOT and it was probably a combination of bad drugs and heat stroke but they were really nice. Just tried to corral him and kept offering water which he refused. Finally they had to take him down and put ice on him and eventually the real rangers were called and an ambulance showed up to take him away so that was probably the end of that guy’s burn. But we were impressed how long they just tried to talk to the guy. The funny thing was that a flamboyant lady on an orca whale bicycle rode up to the group. Before we knew it she was getting her medic shirt out of her big sparkly bag and it brought home what they said in the literature—undercovers are EVERYWHERE! And this has got to be a huge revenue for the law enforcement in Nevada. But I guess it’s the only smart way of doing it. No doubt there is a whole lot of drugs and alcohol consumed here. 

More Reno, More Cops, and ARRIVAL!

Sunday found us hunting and gathering food, alcohol, and the rest of the necessities. Our plan was to leave at 6am Monday. We had to do the final dump and fill of the trailer on the way out of town but were hoping to miss most of the initial traffic of opening and it was only 110 miles from Reno. 

They opened the gates Sunday at 10 am but getting 66,000 people into the playa with only one road takes some time. We experienced minor traffic and got into the last town closest to the playa around noon. Burners and those catering to Burners was all you saw the last 40 miles.  I opened my window as we drove through town and overheard a guy telling his buddy that the playa was closed until noon Tuesday. I figured that he was just trying to scare his buddy but it did put the seed that something might not be right.

But since Kelly and Gianni were in another car we just stayed in the line of traffic—after all we were less than 15 miles from our destination. But we got a bit more concerned when our line stopped about 9 miles from the gate and we were seeing people coming back. It made no sense. Eventually the word came down via the ever present law enforcement that we had to turn around. Black Rock City (BM) had a historic rain and hailstorm and it was a sea of mud. They had to let it dry out before they let anyone else in so they had closed entering BM until noon on Tuesday—it was now just early afternoon on Monday. They wanted us to turn around. No one had any idea how we should turn around big RV’s and trailers on a narrow 2 lane road but that is what they were barking out the loud speakers. After about another hour of that, and some turnaroundable cars had left, no one else had moved. So they then told us to pull off to the side of the road to camp and we could all party hearty. No one was getting into the gates until noon the next day. Law enforcement ok’d drinking and grilling. So we did. Speakers were pulled out of RV’s, grills were fired up and the view was great. We were content and figured luck was actually with us since we were missing out on the alkaline mud and muck and it was all part of the story. Meanwhile on a side note we noticed that we had yet another tire going bad but figured it could be changed at the campsite.

Law enforcement was everywhere and we witnessed a bust down the road. It was kind of like shooting ducks in a barrel. But then they played their hand. The word came about 7pm that they were opening back up—everyone leave. By then we had all had a few cocktails and my immediate thought was this was a perfect setup to get in trouble. Of course Stacy and I wanted to wait until morning but the kids wanted to go in. I had pretty much put my foot down but then EVERYONE was leaving. Kelly ASSURED me it would all be alright so we loaded up and got in the 9 mile long line, and waited. By now everyone in our group was sober and traffic was a slow crawl of snake lights.  I was sure they would have DUI check points but we got to the gates without seeing any incidents.

We finally hit the gates at about 1 am. And just inside of the gates was a gauntlet of 30+ law enforcement vehicles pulling people over. The speed limit was 5 mph and they were stopping people who were going 6. And once they had probable cause they had dogs and were searching everyone. Needless to say we went only 4. It was amazing to watch. Of course we were following Kelly since we had noticed she had a tail light out that morning—one of the reasons were glad were thought we would arrive in daylight. And of course ahead of us we saw the flashing lights pull in behind her. Guess staying by the side of the road was looking pretty good to those kids right now! Of course they were searched and in spite of not finding anything they were sweating bullets. They got REALLY, REALLY LUCKY!  The cops had them roll in playa and a told them they found pound of ecstacy in their car. Obviously not but cops knew deer in the headlights when they saw them. J We just sat about 200 yards off to the side and watched.  But lesson learned…sometimes her old aunts know what they are talking about. We learn from our mistakes and I think the whole thing made a huge impression on them. She got off with only a warning and we parked the trailer in the area they wanted to camp and all four of us slept in the trailer that night. It had been an exhausting 17 hours of entrance…

As we went to bed we starting to see what was in store for us. Huge art cars with neon lights, loud music, laser lights and lighted bikes…amazing. We could also see some of the main lighted sculptures—the Man, Embrace, and the temple among others. It was like nothing we had ever seen…

Wheels, Cops, and Reno

Thursday morning we woke to cooler weather and decided we would take Hwy 50 across the states of Utah and Nevada. It was a bit closer mileage wise, basically two lanes with fewer towns, but through some really desolate and beautiful country, with our evening’s goal of Great Basin National Park just over the Nevada state line.  About this time gasoline was going up and our MPG was going down so we had to plan our stops carefully. We met some other “Burners” at one of the gas stops and learned as much as we could from them. They told us about a little road stand in Utah to buy different melons and we stocked up on some of the best tasting melons we have ever had. One more thing marked of the grocery list for BM (Burning Man).

Above is a banjo BBQ the other "Burners" were towing. 

The bottom is their other trailer in their caravan.

Great Basin park gave us another picturesque camping site where we were visited by a whole flocks of turkeys wandering through. Had a moment of homesickness…and we were getting tired of driving…but the next morning we started our final day of less than 300 miles from Reno. We were hoping for a nice Friday night out with our niece Kelly that finally involved GOOD Mexican and the long sought after Margarita—maybe even a bit of slot play.

Food options had been sparse so after passing the last town before we hit Reno 200 miles away we decided to pull off the side of the hwy 50 just west of Eurika, NV about 7 miles. I was going to make sandwiches. Then it all started with “Houston-we have a problem”.

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I had heard this phrase years earlier about two years after we had bought our brand new 2008 trailer while we were sitting in it in a desolate spot in western Texas. So time for a bit of a flash back…

We were parked in an RV park and in the middle of the night we heard this strange noise. The next morning Stacy came in and said…”Houston—we have a problem…”. A main underneath spring had broken on our trailer—just while we were sitting there!  In spite of having AAA+ towing we ended up having to drive the trailer into the Dallas area where we found an RV repair place and ended up having to leave our trailer for two weeks. The saving grace in this big adventure was that we had our BFF Nancy to stay with so we ended up spending our Thanksgiving with her and our Texas friends. That part was a nice thing…

The repair place ended up getting the wrong part, tried to install it and then having to do it all over again. Keep in mind our trailer should still be under warranty but it still ended up costing us over $700. After a long 2+ weeks, we finally picked up our “fixed” trailer and I asked them if there is anything I should get checked once I get home. The repair guy said “You might want to get your wheel bearings packed again” Not sure why they didn’t just do it at the time but I figured I could get it done at home.

 But of course 70 miles north of Dallas, in Oklahoma, our trailer is spitting out wheel bearings all over the highway…so another tow and $300 in Oklahoma finally got us home. Since that has happened we have had tire wear issues with our back axle. So while we were sitting west of Eurika and Stacy told me that a wheel bearing was going out and our tire was almost falling off…the “Houston issue” it started a new adventure. 

The good news is that the trailer was parked in a parking area next to the highway—albeit the “loneliest road in the US”. The bad news is that we had no phone reception. So we unhooked the trailer, took off the tire, and headed back towards town to try to get phone reception. Just outside of town we met a trooper who had just pulled someone over in the town’s speed trap and we asked him about repair possibilities. He directed us to a tire shop that he said was our only local possibility. Of course when we got there they were closed on Friday! But we did finally have phone reception, so we called AAA for a possible tow up to Elko about 120 miles away—and waited. They never called us back…

So we headed back into town after googling how to pack wheel bearings and hoping someone in town had them. The miracle was that the town did have a small auto parts store which had a very nice lady in it. She started calling around and basically begged a guy to try to fix it. We were told it was going to cost us $300 but we had few choices. So after a couple of more trips he basically packed the wheel at the auto parts store, they couldn’t find a cap that would work so in spite of the $300 price tag he still finished it off in duck tape, but at least it should get us to Reno. We headed out back out to our trailer with a sense of relief and I did a minor celebration with my Denver purchase since Stacy was driving. As our luck would have it about that time we were passing through the local speed trap we had commented about earlier—a 35 MPH sign at the beginning of a steep hill out of town and a quarter of a mile away it hits 55. You naturally want to build up speed as you go up the hill—especially in a big truck. Of course our minds were on other things and feeling happy we were getting it all figured out but when we met the sheriff and he turned around and turned on his lights it certainly darkened our day.  He got her for 53 right before the 55 sign. But of course he smelled Denver and I was busted.

The good news is that Stacy didn’t get a speeding ticket…but they did ticket me and confiscate a very, very small pinch of pot and pipe I had in the truck.  The good news is that most of it was in our trailer. In spite of them almost being apologetic for busting me they handed me a $720 ticket at the end of it all. So for those keeping tally that is over $1000 in just a few short hours and we hadn’t even hit the slot machines…

They did tell me to contact the court and tell our story and often the court will be very accommodating and lower the fine or even offer community service between the different state departments. I have until November to try to convince them to lower the fine. He took pictures and even wrote “very, very small amount”. So we will see how that all falls out but there is some irony that after 58 years I get busted for the very first time and it’s LEGAL pot. As a side note—for all those that want the different states to pick what is legal in their state instead of federally—we end up with this sort of thing happening.  The only thing it does is add another form of revenue…You pay when you buy, you pay when the next state takes it away…but I have become much more careful. It was still a real drag and a stupid way to get caught.

So we finally arrive in Reno pretty beat up but mobile and fortunately Kelly had a place in her neighborhood where we could park the trailer for the weekend while we did our final preparations. So we got parked and comfortable and then had a great Mexican dinner—Kelly’s treat.

Saturday was designated as the gas and water day. We also finally met Gianni, our final player in our BM adventure. He is Kelly’s best friend and planning on pitching his tent next to us. He is going in on the pleasures of the gas for air conditioning and plans on sharing our gourmet meals. So we filled our $250 worth of gas cans—rather a rude awakening for the young people who were now in charge of the buying, and filled our 150 gallons of assorted water containers. By now we were seeing the weight in the truck and I will admit our 2000 mile trip home and what could happen is always in the back of my mind due to our beginning. But with the new rack on the back of the trailer counter balancing once we got hooked up we pulled pretty good.

Saturday night found us on the strip of Reno eating Vietnamese food and losing our token $27 between the two of us on penny slots. When in Rome…

Yes we had a 100 gallon horse tank in our truck bed with a bladder in it. It worked Great TIM!

Heading to Burning Man...the beginning days.

It is now Saturday and we have been at Black Rock City for 5 days. And an interesting 5 days it’s been…

But I will start at the beginning…

We finally left West Plains with the normal amount of trepidation we always have any time we go on a long trip with our travel trailer. With 2 different wheeled “moneypits” we always wonder what will break along the way. But we ended up the first night in Dodge City, Kansas--running and pulling like the best of them.

We found the town cheap RV park and asked for a Mexican with Margs dinner recommendation, and then headed to the restaurant. The trailer was still connected but we found parking and entered said establishment. It went downhill from there when we quickly realized NO margaritas! But pulling a trailer around town looking for other parking meant compromise so we stayed. The bad news is that although basically tasty, they also seemed to have a cheese shortage and Super Nachos with no cheese just lacks something. Stacy was missing her queso and she almost cringed when she saw her cheeseless tacos.  The next morning we headed out of Dodge…

As people who know me well and now everyone else will now know…I am a pro marijuana person—have been all my life and it finally looks like society is catching up. Stacy has never shown interest in it, but I did grow up in the generation that almost preferred pot over alcohol, so she tolerates my vice.  So yes, passing through Denver was a treat for me. Since all the dispensaries seem to be in really congested areas of Denver I dreaded finding parking but googled our choices and picked one close to the interstate. It worked out well—good parking for the trailer and we made our second trip of our life into a legal dispensary.

Dispensaries are amazing. After a lifetime of seeing how pot sales work on the illegal exchange, it was absolutely wonderful to see it being sold in a legal and professional manner. When you go in it’s like going into a doctor’s office. There is a waiting room with a menu of what was available which really was all greek to me. Bud comes in a bag—that is pretty much all I have ever known. This time we met a couple our age, maybe even a bit older, but obviously professional people, who had just flown it from Ohio. They were on vacation and the dispensary was their first stop and their first visit. They were getting “edibles” and believe me it is being like a kid in a candy store.

The best thing is that Colorado has created a whole new industry for employment instead it all going to the Mexican cartels. Each dispensary has security, delivery people, they always have sales people one on one with the customer so there are lots of sales people, and it is making Colorado 17% tax on recreational sales. This is big bucks and the two times we have been in a shop we have been surrounded by older professional clientele as the customers in the waiting room. Not a meth head among the bunch! Medical is about half price without the extra tax and the reality is that good ole’ pot helps a lot of people deal with medical and emotional conditions. It was vilified in the early 30-40’s, yet is so much safer than alcohol. Fortunately society is finally catching up and now that the revenue is needed for the states I have no doubt it will eventually be legal everywhere. But at least we had Denver…So we bought our legal “out of state” amount and continued to head west. We had heard that the “new” revenue for the other western states was busting those that had bought their legal out of state pot so I made Stacy watch her speed, crossed our fingers, and we headed into our dreaded going through the mountain part of the trip.

The good news is that our “BAT”  (Bad Ass Truck) mobile took it like a champ and we ended the second day in a pretty state park just outside Grand Junction CO. and I was a happy girl…

The Day Before Departure

A busy last minute day. Packed and sent the last order up to to Mackinac Island--it was huge so it will be a nice check to arrive mid September. The rest of the morning was spent doing last minute business, shopping and picking up our truck from Billy. Of course the main thing they were suppose to do was checking our wheel bearings as well as oil change and fluid and filter checked. Plus fix a tire in the back--we even gave him a list. But Billy forgot to tell Chris and no fixed tire or wheel bearings checked. He quickly checked and assured us we were cool and the tire will just get done when we get back--it's for the horse trailer anyway. But bless his heart he just automatically asks us if we just want to wait and pay him when shows start again. Guess we just need to give Chris the list.

So now we are home and the pickup is packed to the gills. So strange to not take anything show or copperturtles related. Although we are seriously thinking about putting one of our skulls on our pickup grill--at least when we get there. But other than taking some business cards--a big no no but I can't pass up this networking opportunity--I mean get real--there is life after Burning Man. Or so we hope...

The hope is that our list was complete and we have everything...since everything is now packed and crossed off. Let the adventure begin...

August 2014-6 years later. BURNING MAN ADVENTURE!

Cyber space never ceases to amaze me. Several years ago when I drastically changed my web site and server I thought this blog was lost forever. I was so use to going to it through my web site link I forgot about other ways. I finally searched for it the other day and wal la...The World of Janet N Stacy is back. And what better adventure to follow Alaska than our virgin visit to Burning Man.

The first question for some is What Is Burning Man? So I stole this description from their website "Burning Man is an annual event and a thriving year-round culture. The event takes place the week leading up to and including Labor Day, in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. The Burning Man organization (BRC) creates the infrastructure of Black Rock City, wherein attendees (or "participants") dedicate themselves to the spirit of community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance. They depart one week later, leaving no trace. As simple as this may seem, trying to explain what Burning Man is to someone who has never been to the event is a bit like trying to explain what a particular color looks like to someone who is blind. In this section you will find the peripheral definitions of what the event is as a whole, but to truly understand this event, one must participate."

Clear as mud eh? I've known about it for most of it's 28 years. Always thought of it as a visual arts /camping festival--kind of like Woodstock without the music. Thirty eight thousand tickets SOLD OUT in less than 2 hours! Bill Gates and Mark Zuckinsomething have been participants. Check out images on google. But to be honest it still remains a mystery--and we are leaving for it in two days! Back to that adventure thing...

The Players: Once again it will be Stacy, myself, and my 23 yr old niece, Kelly. She also has a friend, Gianni, who is going to join our campsite.

The Why: As anyone who has read our previous Alaska Adventure can figure out, we really would enjoy some positive memories with Kelly trip wise. And now she is 23...not much her folks can do to screw this one up.  It was intended to be her College graduation gift and this is the first year we could work it out. We are honored that our niece her age wants to do the experience with her old aunts. Plus I look at us a bit as protectors. She only cares that we have the trailer and know how to use it. :) We have air conditioning and she hates heat. Actually I think she is grateful that we are taking care of most of the logistics. And I'm thinking sleeping in a tent for eight days in the desert could get old, which is what most her age are doing. Plus it was always on my bucket list and the memories could be priceless...although with gas the trip is going to cost us an arm and a leg. I promised Stacy that the next time we spend this much money again it will involve swimming up to a bar.

The Reality: We have to bring EVERYTHING IN and EVERYTHING OUT. That means all food, beverage, water, waste water, all trash, and stuff. The only transportation allowed is bikes and art cars--pretty cool. The only thing that can be bought there is ice. There will be porta potties. But nothing else.
It is in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada in August. Yes there are 3 key words that that scare the sh*t out of us. Back to being grateful we have the air conditioning and borrowing lots of gas cans. The good news is that it is at elevation of 4000 and gets down into the upper 50's lower 60's at night and that seems to be when a lot is happening. There are a lot of lazer light shows and night time visuals. I think it will be kind of like camping in the middle of a casino--without the amenities--just the noise and visual stimulation. You can also add plenty of dust and generator fuel smell to the mix. Costumes are huge and nudity is accepted. No doubt we will see plenty of body paint and sunburn tits.

That's pretty much what we know at this point in time. We are trying to leave Tuesday morning since we have 2000+ miles to get to Reno to pick up Kelly. Then we will stay there a couple of days for final prep and head to BRC early Monday morning. It is only 2 hrs but I hear the one road single entrance experience is an adventure in itself.

#52--homecoming

Alas—we are home…but before we got here, here’s what happened…

We woke up Monday and packed up—we all felt conflicted on going home and all that’s involved, but over all—we knew it all had to end. The good news is that I figure that we can take the trailer about once a year and go someplace for a month. We learned about efficiency and saving money, so it should be feasible to do something about every year—at least that is our plan.

Monday we basically just drove, talked, and watched the country change. Stopped east of Ok City at Firelake Grand Casino, where they let us camp for free in their parking lot and didn’t care if we use the generator. Stacy and I went to it and ended up having a lucrative night. I won $30!!!!! And Stacy helped the cause by winning $210. It was cool.

We woke Tuesday with fog and a dreary day. We drove some more. We ended up at home by 5:30 and after doing the basic head count and finding the house all well, we joined our group up at El Charro’s. Not our official homecoming but a small start.

Tomorrow is Stacy’s B-day so it will be her day. I bathed 3 of the dirtiest dogs tonight and we have clean sheets so I figure sleeping late will be the first agenda. It also sounds like she wants pizza so that will probably be lunch and it sounds like there will be an even bigger gathering at El Charros tomorrow night. Then hopefully we can just relax a bit. Our friend Audrey did a good job on keeping up on the bills so it is an easier homecoming than some. And everyone did a good job on the house and working some in the studio. And it sounds like as long as we kept it to just one month—all would take it on again.

We appreciate everyone’s effort—taking care of our life can take some time…So we need to find our trinkets and gifts and pass those out after Stacy has felt she has had her moment. But it is first off Stacy’s day…

#51--Sunday night

It’s late Sunday night and we are through with our show in Albuquerque. We thought it would pull itself out, but we ended about 30% down from what we had averaged over the last 3 years, and it all fell apart just this weekend. At least we had the strong first weekend because the second weekend was the worse weekend show we’ve had down here. It was obviously the stock market of the last week that changed the entire mood. Oh well—at least we are use to being poor…

We are kind of wondering if we should even travel to our last 2 shows—one is in Dallas that has always just been marginal and the other is in Las Cruces—it was down when we did it the last time 2 yrs ago—I have no idea what we should do anymore…Both are before the election and I don’t foresee any major changes before then. Maybe all will get decided once we get home. I don’t have to make any decisions for another week. Maybe the world will explode by then.

In spite of our show we ended up the day on a very positive note. Denise and Rick called and wanted to meet us for dinner so after the 3 of us packed up—much easier with a third person—we went for Italian. It ended up being very good and reasonable—the visit was even nicer. Then we dropped Yuliya at the trailer and headed for one last trip to this casino. We walked out $50 ahead and were home by 10:30.

Now we just have to pack up in the morning and head north. Snow has been happening some in Colorado but it looks like our path is clear. Bad weather at this point in time would just be rude. That is one thing we have really lucked out on with this trip—the weather has been about as good as we could have wished for—especially since it was over 10 weeks—90% sunny and nice.

I have been checking on cruises to Alaska for next year. As far as I’m concerned we should book ours soon, before our money is all lost, and then we know we will get to Alaska! But our luck, the cruise line would go under a week after we paid for it…remember—stranger things have happened in our life. So right now I’m just in the checking prices stage.

Just thought I should mention to the people at home—ours that is—we should be home Tuesday night—El Charro’s? Maybe, but for sure a gathering of some sort at our house for Stacy’s Birthday—after all—you guys have to spend the evening telling us how much you missed us, or, more likely, complaining about all the extra work it was to take care of our life—I’m shooting for a mixture of the two…and hoping for tomatoes.

But ready or not—Janet, Stacy, & R.S.G. are coming home! Prepare thyself…

#50-hitting the economic brick wall

Well It’s our last Saturday on our big trip—couldn’t say last Saturday on the road—cause obviously we have more shows this year—but we will be taking long showers by next week!

Thursday was our last vacation day and we had a good one. After a slow morning in which dumping the trailer was the highlight--Stacy and I hit our favorite restaurant Pei Wei. Then we headed back to get ready for the Special Shapes Gow-deo.

We showed up and Denise & Rick were happy to see us—we loaded up our extra artist friends we had brought and piled into the 2 balloon chase vehicles and drove into the balloon park through the back door. The evening included a potluck dinner, lots of drinks and champagne, wandering through the crowds, and finally the wind died down and it was a great glow—followed by even better fireworks. We were home by 9 and the sad thing is that the “regular” public wasn’t even out of the park by then—let alone the traffic jam to leave. We are so lucky and the word is spreading through the artists we have a good thing going, we already have others that want us to take them next year.

Denise & Rick are 2 veterinarians that were customers of ours and they called us up several years ago to invite us into their ballooning clan. They have 2 balloons (Boobalina & Toots) that make up the “Tit’s Team”. Obviously it was a team we could fit right into—the group is very eclectic and many only come for the Balloon Festival, but there are no strangers. They had to move their base—usually in a junky backyard close to the field—to a new place this year—a Pet Memorial Crematorium—still close to the field. So not only is the whole thing fun, we got a tour of a state of the art crematorium. Kind of think we should be going into that business! But once again I did a first in life—I partied at a crematorium—we do live a strange life…

Friday was show time…but the money forgot to come. Whole new mood and although we did well over $5000 last weekend, our first day this weekend was $300. Just pitiful. And since this is already Saturday I’m sorry to say it isn’t much better. We are well on our way to having the worst weekend we’ve ever had down here. Guess our own concerns about losing 20% of the savings we’ve never had before this year—have a few other people concerned too. Looks like I need to get started on my plan D in marketing. I always have another plan…and we did have last weekend.

#49-a lazy day.

It’s Wednesday night and 6 days before we get home. We all agree we have mixed emotions about getting there. It’s been so nice to just be carefree and not really have the big responsibilities. It’s also been nice just having to deal with the three of us, if that makes sense. After this long—in this little of space-- we have pretty much worked out any differences and have gotten to a good place as friends. We’ve all learned a great deal over the time—about so much and so many…

Today we slept late—or at least I did—and then headed up to our favorite Mexican lunch—it included a couple of margaritas since it was after 12. Then, of course since it was close to the casino, we had to stop there—Stacy helped us come out $30 ahead which is pretty good since Yuliya was part of the losing crowd.

Then it was errands at Sam’s, Walmart, Michaels before we got to go home. We’ve since just been vegging in our homey little trailer. All and all, it’s been a nice, lazy day—one of the last of our life no doubt. The real world is waiting for us…

We ended the day watching the movie that our friends had gotten for our Bon Voyage “Second Hand Lions”. Although I had seen it before, Yuliya hadn’t, and it is a very good and a just plain nice movie.

This morning Stacy & Yuliya went to the health club where we have a couple of passes to go take showers. I once again stayed in bed and now get to take the last shower before we go dump. Hopefully there will be enough water! Stacy just went to Sam’s club to get something Audrey wanted us to bring home, and Yuliya is outside dyeing macaroni for her kids’ tent.

We have yet to do anything balloon oriented. Guess having our own home has changed our priorities somewhat. I do think we are going to find our friends and go to the Special Shapes Glowdeo tonight. It’s a good time and riding in with the pilots makes it so easy—plus it’s free. We have a couple of artist friends that want to tag along with us so hopefully we can make that work.

Guess I better go do the shower deed. If Stacy comes back and I’m still booth sitting she will get frustrated. She has a very hard time just sitting around—even on a vacation. That’s one of the differences between her and me…

#48--shopping, a domino thought, and popcorn

Late Tuesday afternoon. We’ve spent the day making Yuliya a very happy girl. She had gotten some B-day money for getting clothes before she went back to Russia, so we went to Kohl’s. I know you wouldn’t know it to look at me, but I am good at finding nice fashion. Yuliya has a completely new respect for my ability on that. And she has a body that is easy to dress—one of those little ones.

So we took the store by storm and she was convinced to change her style a bit. She was kind of stuck in the teenage era and I think most of those fashions look sleezy, so we encouraged her towards the later twenties, young professional, almost yuppie look, but casual of course, since she will be going to college, but more of a classic look. She finally started to see our vision and we found several very interchangeable jeans, sweaters, and shirts. We had to have a fashion show once we got back to the trailer and we were all pleasantly surprised how so many things could be used together. We did well. I told her I wanted to get it all done in one day—I do not enjoy shopping. Between my body and spending money—nothing works for me. But I doubt if I am completely finished…they’ll suck me into it somehow.

We then had lunch at a salad bar place—Sweet Tomatoes—so that was rather low key and almost healthy. But now we are bored so it looks like we will be headed to the casino after the news. Yuliya wants to stay back in the trailer to get some personal stuff done.

Ohh—almost forgot. We were awaken to the strangest sounds about 7 this morning. I looked out and all around us in the parking field we are staying in, there were balloons setting up. We were hearing the fans and blowers. It was gorgeous, Stacy and Yuliya took a walk outside, but I just stayed in bed and watched from afar. How often can you stay in bed and watch a dozen hot air balloons take off outside your window? It was very cool.

Boy—watching the news is really a bummer now that we have a little money. We have lost about $7000 since this started and we just thought we should stick it out. But now that it’s obviously having a domino effect on everything, I’m wondering how far it can go down before there is no return—and I’m kind of afraid we have already passed it. If anyone knows the answer and has any advice feel free to share it. And then we watch how a company that was just bailed out by taxpayers, was busted letting it’s execs have a major spa treatment retreat for the tune of a half a million dollars. And you know—that is how the corporate world thinks—they have no concern at all what it is doing to the working poor... Back to that desire of mine not to care anymore, we’ll personally either make it through—or won’t. What will be, will be…we tried. But keep the basic ideology in mind. As a compassionate society, do we want it to be “Survival of the fittest-or richest” or “Are we our brothers’ keeper? Even if it means we have to share?” In spite of everyone trying to use God, morality, democracy, and American freedom—that is the basic difference between the two parties, although both are power hungry money machines, it just doesn’t seem like totally free enterprise is working anymore.

And the sad thing is that I know I am so much luckier than most. I figure I can always hustle up a living—think of those who are just dropped with no options? It’s just a lousy thing…back to that “I wish I ran the world”. Some white collar crime might be subject to public stoning—and no one would be allowed more than I billion at a time—I think that’s enough to live well on—no matter who you are.

Promise I won’t write anymore during the national news. It gets me riled…think I need to go back to being clueless…

Guess tonight is turning into a trailer night. Stacy decided to go to Target and another Kohls (we each got 2 100% cotton jackets that will be great for tye dye—cool). Yuliya and I just stayed home. Stacy came home and is making popcorn—I’m watching the debate. Don’t get me started…

#47-We could have slept later...

It’s Monday night—nine days away from getting home. I wonder if home will be easier than vacation…life never seems to be too easy for us, but it does seem that we were really busy on this vacation, so it will be an interesting contrast to watch. It would be wonderful if everything was blissful, clean, and well oiled when we get home. It sounds like everyone has been doing their part, so it should be a nice homecoming. It’s nice knowing responsible, good friends are taking care of our home & WP life.

What’s interesting is that we know we are going home, but I think we will all miss our life on vacation—despite its ups and downs—or what some would describe as a roller coaster of emotions and happenings. Amazingly it’s still been a very nice time—not what we had originally intended but definitely not boring—and a lot of interesting—and a lot of learning about people, about ourselves, and even more about life. No wonder it was a busy vacation…

Today we tried to sleep late and it would have worked, had we not had the phone call for Yuliya at 7:30, another about an hour later, and then finally one for us after 10 from Audrey at home—she had no sympathy that we were still trying to sleep. Oh well—our present schedule allows us to try to sleep late again tomorrow morning—maybe we will have better luck. The other sleeping beauties are sawing logs already—can’t even wait until we have to turn off the generator!

Today we had to take the trailer and dump all the bad water and fill it up with good water. We also got propane for heat and gas for the generators, so we should be good on all those necessities until we get home. Sounds like it’s going to get cold next weekend and we should be totally prepared. They showed mountains where we just were at about a week ago and they were all snow covered—guess fall is here.

The rest of the day was spent looking for a printer for me. Remember ours shot craps a couple of weeks ago and since the error told us there was no hope in the old one, we hit Best Buy after checking some other competitors. I had checked CNET.com for reviews and ending up getting one of their editor’s top 5 choices for less than $50. I had wanted a portable, compact one, but they are about 5x’s more expensive, and printers have turned almost disposable if you can get anything over a year from them. I tend to be hard on printers since they often travel with us and I print business brochures on them. With this new one I need to get started on putting together a postcard for wholesale so I can drum up some business before the end of the year.

We ended the day with finding me a pair of shoes (my back has been bothering me since setup), hitting Border’s books, going to our favorite Mexican restaurant for their free happy hour taco bar and margaritas, and then ended up at the casino. Amazing how that sometimes works.
Stacy once again lost! But I saved the day by winning $8. Figure my luck has changed and I’m just slowly working up to the big win. Probably will be much, much bigger than anything Stacy has won. It will no doubt make all my past losses seem unimportant. At least that is what the $8 meant to me…

But my trailer mates are definitely not night people and even though I’m the oldest of the group—I’m again outlasting them into the night. But remember—I’m always the last one to take a shower in the morning…

#46--Sunday night--tired but a bit richer

Sunday night and all are well on their way to being asleep. Breakdown was minimal since we are here again next weekend and we are under a big tent. We did what needed to be done and then headed to Applebee’s for dinner. Not much conversation there—Yuliya was exhausted. Dropped her off at the trailer and then we headed up to the casino for a quickie. Not much luck there so we were home by 9 and Yuliya was already asleep. She said she was even too tired to put on her jammies. Welcome to our world of doing art fairs. No doubt tomorrow will involve sleeping late and being pretty low key.

The good news is that we have had a good first half of show. It’s the second best, 1st weekend we have had, so that is a very good thing. Hopefully next weekend will hold. Rain today cancelled balloon stuff so that helped us and people still seem to be spending money. Probably won’t be a record breaker, but at least it won’t be the bust we were almost expecting. The most common artist’s comment was “It’s better than I expected…” We have a couple more shows after this one and it will be interesting what will happen with those. Ballooning is a rich persons sport…

Don’t know what our plans are for the week. I have a feeling it will involve shopping, good lunches, sleeping late, and an occasional margarita. Oh—and maybe a casino run or two…sounds pretty decadent doesn't it?

We will probably just stay here at the show site. It’s only costs $50 for the entire 2 wks and is well located to what we want to do. The bad thing is that we will have to hook up about every other day and go dump and get water, but it’s less than 2 miles away so I guess it’s a small hassle. Of course if something better comes up we would no doubt be able to change our plans—remember—we are flexible!

Guess it’s time to join the sleeping beauties. Looks like it’s just me to walk the dogs. Our generator has to be turned off by 10:30 but we do have several TV stations so we are feeling pretty uptown. But I forgot how depressing the media is…

#45--Goatheads, "Tits", showers, and rain...

It’s Saturday night and we are almost halfway through with our first show since we left home. We were really worried about the economy but thus far we are doing ok. Of course we do have 2 weekends, and the final figures are what counts, but right now we are looking decent—middle of the road from past history—it’s just still too early to get too relaxed. Somewhat of a relief—let’s hope it continues. It's now raining and Sunday will probably have lousy weather--could be a good thing for the show.

And yes—Yuliya is handling all that is on her plate. I’ve been helping with the mural—we’ll take a picture—but she has been running the rest of the show. Stacy is better with people in the booth at this stage and helping Yuliya has been giving me a diversion. Sometimes really little kids want to paint and their parents show no thought process of “age appropriate” and let them smear all sorts of lousy colors over parts of the mural—I wait until they leave and repaint it the way I think it should be. No self expression in my world…almost therapeutic at this stage…

Yuliya has also gone with her aunt & uncle for the last 2 evenings, so she is having some good family time with them. Think she would rather be vegging at trailer tonight though—it’s a tiring day, working a show, and she is realizing it. We’ll all be exhausted by Monday…

But the good news is that we don’t really have to break down on Sunday night, so that means setup will be a piece of cake next wkend. That’s a very good thing…it’s a happy thought!

This show is a real treat to do since we are friendly with the establishment and have done it long enough that we have a good base of both artist friends plus customers. Now that we are staying on site, in our trailer, it’s even gotten easier. Just wish we had hookups—although we did find the dump station and it is fairly close and free!

We also wish the lot wasn’t covered with goat heads—those are those sticky NM things that track in and then poke you barefoot. The dogs hate them but we get our share just tracked in the trailer. But if that is the worse complaint, I guess all is well. I also guess we are finally getting old and tired—we would normally be going for dinner and then to the casino but last night it was a “they make/we bake” pizza in the trailer and tonight is leftovers. Figure the casino will be our next week entertainment.

Not sure how motivated we all are for ballooning with our friends, Denise & Rick, although we have gotten the “Tit’s Team” itinerary (and yes, that is the official name of their 2 pink and boob-like colored balloons). We usually try to chase at least one morning, go to the bowling experience, and then do the Thursday night glow—it’s such a treat riding in with our pilot friends and never having to wait in line. Back to knowing the right people at the right time…but chasing starts so early…it’s truly a conflict.

And we have all enjoyed sleeping late. This show has reasonable hours but we have all hated getting up in the morning—might have something to do with not having an unlimited shower to wake you up. Those short ones barely cut it on getting clean—definitely aren’t enough to wake you up. Sounds like we are ready to get home…houses still trump 24ft trailers no matter what the scenery. At least for some of life…

And a good shower is truly almost the meaning of life…but right now all we have is rain.

#44--Almost the end of our vacation--but still clueless...

We left Mesa Verde slowly…and then headed south. On the way we saw a chain saw art guy’s place that just invited a visit. After an hour we hammered out a trade that let us end up with a really cool chain saw vulture that will hang someplace—he ended up with some turtles—hope his wife likes them…

Then we headed on to Albuquerque—got there, said hi to Ruth—dropped off our trailer amongst the really big artists RV’s—obviously they are much more successful than we are—and then we headed to one of our favorite places—El Pinto’s for their free taco bar and very good margaritas. And then it was the casino—surprise, surprise. Of course I left broke and Stacy left with winnings—we are now $110 ahead for this grouping of casinos. Yuliya was my shadow—she was hoping she was my luck—guess not…

And now it’s our first morning of work—we have to go set up for the show and then help Yuliya figure out her job for the creative kid’s tent. She’s running that again this year and we have to come up with some cute but easy projects for kids 2-14. Shouldn’t be too hard…

Then we might try to play some the rest of the day. After all, it’s best to not just jump right into work phase…

I just watched an artist load his cart and then jump on a little motorized “cart puller”—back to the fact that everyone must be much more successful than we are. Obviously success can make you lazier! Good thing we still have to manually schlep our stuff in the old fashioned way—kind of like going to the health club.

Thursday night in our trailer—
Yuliya is frantically making examples of her kid’s projects. We set up our booth today—still have to put out product in the morning but once that is done this is an easy show to do—unless you have lots of irons in the fire--like we do.

The rest of the day was spent helping Yuliya set up her kid’s tent and then shopping for supplies for same kid’s tent. She’s in charge of the Kid’s Creation Station—same job she had here 2 yrs ago. I will help Stacy set up in the morning and then I have to go draw a mural—never have done that but I figure I can handle it—and it will be on a 5 ft by 8 ft piece of canvas. It just needs mountains, balloons, and a big top tent with artists in it. They’ve never attempted a group project like this before but what the h*ll…If it gets chaotic I can just pretend we are busy in our booth and leave Yuliya to deal with it—after all it is her job.

And then her uncle & aunt (actually cousins but in Russia he’s referred to as her uncle) are coming in from Arizona tomorrow about 3 and staying in town until Sunday morning. She has a lot on her plate but she seems excited about the whole thing—made her feel better when we told her it was ok to be a little stressed about everything. It does look like Balloon Fiesta will start of with some lousy weather--guess they will have to come to the show...

Just watched the debate—oh well—after the last 2 elections I have lost all hope in us as thinking people so there’s no reason to think anything will change now. It’s turned into one of the things I no longer really care about. I have no kids so why worry about anyone’s education or the environment as long as we can get at least another 40 yrs out of this decaying world. Just got to quit worrying about some things.

Right now I’m eating sushi and getting ready to draw the master plan for the mural—wish us luck on both Yuliya’s project, but I guess more importantly our sales! The people I’ve talked to are singing the blues. Not doing shows or having any news for the last 2 months we could imagine all sorts of happy thoughts about possibilities. Hopefully we don’t have to change our world—I’ve enjoyed being clue less…

#43--Mesa Verde, and departures...

It’s Monday and a day of changes—we have to leave—nobody really wants to but it’s time. Poor Tom—I think he is going to miss us—Betsy needs to get back to work but I think Tom enjoyed coming home to a house full of women—that told too many old and funny stories. With him right in the middle of it and us hanging on, or commenting about, every word he spoke—and did I mention we always had wonderful food and drink mixed in with all of it? Oh well—all must change…

I just finished my shower and the other girls took the 2 boys and Betsy’s boy, Zeus, down to the lake for a final run. I think I’m suppose to be packing leftovers and putting back my kitchen together since we had spread out into the house. Then it’s about 100 miles to our next camp spot. We will probably stop in Durango on the way and do a Wallyworld fix. T&B live 50 miles away from a decent size town so we have been just picking up minimum from the local more expensive establishments and we could use some supplies—although probably not much food—back to those leftovers.

Guess we should also be thinking about getting home and working on some business stuff. Hope to update pictures before too long too. It’s just been hard to do much more on the computer than what I’ve been doing lately. But enough about riding, recipes, and other fun stuff—I will try to get done what needs to get done. So off to business—maybe more later…

Well it’s now almost 10pm in Mesa Verde National park. We just got back from Cortez after eating at a Mexican Restaurant that obviously had a tourist scam. We ordered the “Regular” margarita but that turned out to be the same terminology as the “Original” which was $2 more than the “Regular”—same size but supposedly “better”. But it was obviously a scam towards the tourists/people going through and they wouldn’t back off. Too bad, since the food was great and we would have gone back tomorrow. No way now…we do have our integrity…but they ended up with an extra $15—guess the scam is working.

The rest of the evening was some serious discussion of life/relationships/goals/and again—life—and what’s important. And the difference of what years of living life really means.
Hopefully we all learned something…we’re probably all more relaxed.

The campground in Mesa Verde is really nice and we have full hookups—of course they are $33 an night! A luxury of unlimited showers and unlimited bathroom use has been few and far between—good timing since we have to “dry” camp once we hit Albuquerque—but that’s only $25 a weekend and free during the week, not a bad deal—easy to rationalize these expensive 2 days. Hopefully we can find a dump station in Alb. close to the show and relatively cheap. Tonight we also actually have a TV station coming in with just a little fuzz. Hard to believe we are excited about it.
Tomorrow we will explore the park—and perhaps do laundry, since they have one, so the 3 of us will be better prepared for our professional life…it’s coming up fast…I might even try to paint one of my flowers…

Tuesday morning—We have internet! Although very iffy. Looks like the day will be pretty much what we’ve planned last night. Showers, laundry, maybe me doing pictures, and exploring a park. Have seen lot’s of deer but no critters came last night to my little pile of scraps I left out. The last park I had feral cats, skunks and much more I missed because I finally went to sleep. We’ll see what happens tonight…

#42--Cook-a-thon declared a tie...couldn't be much better.

Well the finale of the cook off was the ultimate. Tom smoked a pork butt roast all day and then it was grilled veggie kabobs with dill sauce, Spaghetti squash w/butter, grilled portabella mushrooms, and then an Italian veggie salad I made. It was all absolutely wonderful. We just decided that I won on quantity, since I cooked more evenings but it was a respectable tie for quality—anyone hanging out with Tom and I in the same room, would be eating well. Those lucky girls…

And now they are all fighting over the Betsy contribution—homemade apple crisp. There are groans of pleasure happening at the table as we write. And now that everyone is served there is just silence and forks and plates scraping. Short break…

Just came back from the apple crisp feast—it was the perfect ending. The cook-a-thon has to end today—we would be blimps—all of us—if we didn’t leave tomorrow! So I guess we will head out tomorrow. The first half of the day will just be splitting up leftovers!

Betsy & I went on a ride this afternoon. I did the first half on Romeo just for the challenge of making him do what I want—then I was told I had to ride a mule before I got one, so I rode home on Sapphire. I wanted to know where to drop the quarter in for the push button ride. She’s spoiled but if you want to do what she wants--she is a piece of cake. I was just along for the ride. Romeo had insisted on some battles so Sapphire was a pleasant break—and yes I still want a mule as long as it has an out of character pretty head and is gaited. Doesn’t seem like too much to ask.

The morning was another stellar start with my Sausage gravy over Tom’s homemade biscuits and hash browns. I think we all enjoyed this Sunday more than most. It’s been a very good day.

We just retired to our trailer and one of the reasons we have to leave is that we are all sore—not from riding but from laughing…It’s been amazing what has come out of everyone’s mouth—not just me—everyone has been an offender and it has been not only an eat-a-thon it has been more importantly a laugh fest. We’ve decided we all have a very sick sense of humor…people like us shouldn’t gather in groups. And especially never stay together for a week! And poor Tom—the only guy around 4 women…He’ll be looking for his manhood for the next 6 months. Good thing he seemed to enjoy himself.

Tomorrow we will go to Mesa Verde National park where we have reservations for the next 2 nights with FULL HOOKUPS! That means long showers every day if we want! Very cool…Hopefully we will have internet—otherwise the update won’t be till Wednesday when we arrive in Albuquerque…the beginning of the end. But it’s been a good time…Thanks Tom & Betsy for making this part special.

#41-Tom & Janet's Infamous Recipes

Here's what I got written down from Tom--there are a couple here that we didn’t make as a group but are worth sharing if I’m already going to the trouble of writing them all down anyway—Enjoy—but don’t blame us if they don’t turn out the way we cook them. Sometimes it’s hard to be Tom and Janet—not everyone can do it. (and we might have forgotten an important ingredient in the telling…)
These are Tom's recipes

Zucchini casserole
Take whatever size pan you are planning on using sprinkle a light covering of oatmeal—any kind. Then you take whatever squash (zucchini or yellow) and slice ¼ inch thick—cover the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle a med. dusting of bread crumbs over the layer. Sprinkle a layer of onions over that layer. Next layer is your choice of cheese (we used cheddar & Romano) but anything you like is ok. Then start all over again—green chilies are optional for any layer. Take it up to about ½ inch from top of casserole pan. The last layer should just be squash.
Then add a thicker coat of breadcrumbs.
Then mix up golden or cream of mushroom soup with half of the water—add enough to cover entire casserole (If you cook it too dry you can add water in the future)
Then sprinkle—heavy—a layer of Mrs. Dash Original—then add last layer of cheese. Cook at 350 until bubbly and golden brown—could be 1-2 hours depending on size of casserole.
Optional additions—
Corn tortillas instead of bread crumbs
Corn chip topping
Crushed pretzels for topping


Eggplant Parmigian
Put bread crumbs evenly on bottom of pan. Sprinkle extra virgin olive oil across bread crumbs and set aside.

In a shake bag put 4 cups of breadcrumbs, ½ cup of flour and a really heavy tablespoon of Italian seasoning, salt to taste. Shake.

Slice eggplant thin a short ¼ inch—dip in a straight egg batter—and then shake in bag.
Then fry in olive oil until browned on both sides. As they are done just add to bread crumb layer in pan. Layer cooked eggplant with a light layer of basic tomato sauce. Season with Italian seasoning—don’t be shy.
Add better than basic shredded parmesan/Romano layer.
Continue starting with bread crumbs layering until done with tomato sauce/Italian seasoning and cheese as your final layers. Can add sliced tomatoes before the cheese.
Cook at 350 for about 1 ½ hours—it stops bubbling—not watery but not too dry.

The Portobello mushroom concoction—
The best pan is a wok—take 2 large cloves of garlic—peel but leave whole. Chop onions into wedges—set aside. Slice 2 large portabellas about ¾ inch chunks—set aside.
Heat 1T butter until pretty hot and then cook garlic till brown—almost roasted and then add onions. Cook onions until transparent. Add teaspoon plus of olive oil up higher on rim of wok. Add portabellas and toss/cook until mushrooms turn dark.
As mushrooms turn dark add a sprinkle of teriyaki sauce—then add a cornstarch and water thickener—this is where Tom fell apart on his recipe telling—could have had something to do with the s’more made with chocolate frosting and gas stove roasted marshmallow Betsy just handed him. But anyway you want to thicken the sauce. Sauce should come up about 2/3rds the way up the mushrooms. Add water to make it just a light sauce—it also helps cook mushrooms. Once mushrooms turn black or are done—add ¼ c of sherry—stir, cut heat and serve.

Ice Cream
For ice cream you need a blender, ice, a can of sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and then any flavors you want (chocolate, peaches, strawberries, peppermint schnapps, chocolate chips, etc.)
For full blender full use 1 can of the milk, and ½ T of vanilla and then add crushed ice until it thickens, add flavoring to milk at first, sometimes it is easier to do half of blender at a time—just add ice until good consistency—add reg. milk if necessary. It’s easy and good.

Coconut shrimp—use as many shrimp as you want
1-2 Cans of coconut milk—try to get unsweetened & light
Shredded coconut
Bread crumbs—with Mrs. Dash Original mixed in
Cooking oil
1-2 cans of sweetened condensed milk
Egg & milk mixture to use for breading.

Peel, devein, and butterfly some decent sized shrimp. Bread with bread crumbs, Mrs. Dash, & shredded coconut in a shaker bag—use egg mixture to wet shrimp—try to get it all on pretty heavy—double dip it.
Fry shrimp in frying pan with oil over the shrimp—about an inch deep for most size. Drain on paper towels—do all the shrimp.
In a large casserole pan lay out all the shrimp with tail sticking up and most of them touching each other—mix coconut milk with sweetened condensed milk and mix in some nutmeg—use 1 to 1 can ratio. Pour a light layer over each of the shrimp—put in 425 oven. After about 2 minutes cooking pull out and do another light layer of milk over each shrimp again. Repeat every 2 min until milk is gone.
Heat other can of both milks with some more nutmeg and heat until low bubble. Put in gravy dish or dipping bowls for side dipping—Shrimp should be done in about 6-8 minutes when the milk topping is thick. Keep the layers light so the breading stays on—don’t overcook the shrimp when frying it.

These are some of Janet’s recipes--All my recipes are strictly guidelines—they seldom turn out the same way twice—but always good—when in doubt season them some more. Use common sense on basic amounts although mine always seems to grow to the next pan size up…same quality guarantee as Tom’s—you must of done something wrong if it doesn’t turn out…same reasons. E-mail me when you try something and let me know how they turn out.

Baked Potato soup
Clean 6-8 russet potatoes—I leave the skins on. Cube into about ½ inch cubes.
Since Stacy has issues with veggies and I have to hide them or make them too small to pick out I put an onion, about 5 stalks of celery, and a small bag of baby carrots and chop them all up in a food processor.
Boil the potatoes in water that has chicken bouillon added to the water—add veggie mixture about half way through being done. Get the potatoes just tender—not overcooked. Drain and set aside.
In large pot fry a pound of bacon already chopped up in smaller pieces—drain off at least half of the grease or all of it—depending on “how bad for you soup” you want. Drain bacon in paper towels and set aside. Add enough margarine to remaining bacon grease so that you have about ½ c. Once it is all melted add a heavy ½ c flour to make a roué. Cook and stir over medium heat to bubbly and then cook constantly stirring for 2 more minutes. Then slowly add about ½-¾ gal of skim milk—at least that is what we use—any milk will work. Stir frequently until all blended and bring to low boil. Season heavy with Mrs. Dash Garlic and herb, celery salt, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste—and anything else you want—dill etc..
Cut back heat and then start adding cubed Velveeta cheese—we use light. Add most of the block of cheese depending on how much milk and how much you like cheese. Adjust thickness with milk although you want it about gravy consistency. Once it has all melted add your potatoes and veggie mixture—you could also add cooked broccoli or cauliflower at this stage—Stacy refuses both—adjust any seasonings although don’t be afraid to use plenty—it will even be better the next day. Just before serving add all of the cooked, crumbled bacon although you can save back some for garnish. Garnish with bacon, a little shredded cheese, or green onions.


Enchiladas
Basic cheese and onion
Flour tortillas
3#of shredded co jack cheese—Wal-Mart carries this bag already done for you
Sauce—in blender add 1 can of Cheddar Cheese soup to 2 cans of diced tomatoes and green chilies (I use Wal-Mart brand). I use 1 can tomato &green chilies and 1 regular diced tomatoes since Stacy doesn’t like much spice. But the basic ratio is 1 cheese soup to 2 cans tomatoes.
Blend in blender until smooth. I usually make extra sauce since these casseroles freeze really well and the sauce is messy to make. Put sauce in something that is easy to pour from.

To construct cheese and onion—Pam your casserole and then put a light covering of sauce. Take a flour tortilla and put a healthy amount of cheese down the middle of tort. Sprinkle with chopped onions and pour a light covering of sauce. Roll up and place seam down in casserole pan. Continue until casserole is full—cover with a liberal amount of cheese and then completely cover in sauce. Can use knife to get sauce down in it and knock it on the counter to get it to settle. Put final layer of cheese garnish with chopped onion and cook at 350 until bubbly and golden. Plan on cutting down the middle to cut enchiladas in half—too hard to serve otherwise.

For chicken filling: Any leftover chicken will do but I usually use a deboned Sam’s club rotisserie chicken. Chop it or you can put it in a food processor. Add 1-2 pkgs of cream cheese or we use that New*** cheese that is just like it only 1/3 the fat—it’s always right next to it—we just can’t think what it’s called. It all depends on how much chicken you have and what you want. Add some sauce to get it thinner but still a stiff consistency. I also like to add can of mild green chilies. Construct them just like the cheese, a good hunk all the way down the middle, a little shredded cheese, a little sauce and then roll them up and put them seam down. Finish off casserole.

For Beef: Brown ground beef. I would add chopped onion. You can also add taco meat seasoning or salsa and then construct them the same way as the others.

Be generous with the shredded cheese and sauce. Cook and then serve this with chips since it is also great for eating with chips—we use them as our forks.
Great leftovers and casseroles freeze well. And very easy if you just do the basic

Baked Potato casserole
Wash about 2-3 more russet potatoes than you are serving people.
Cook until baked potato quality in the microwave. Cut in half and scoop out meat. You can cut up good skins and add them. Mash with hand masher.
Cook crumbled bacon and add finely chopped onion after cooking bacon—have bacon draining.
Add to mashed potatoes—light sour cream (about 8 oz for 6-7 potatoes), plenty of shredded co jack, garlic that was cooked with onions or powder, onions, and butter—between ½ stick to a whole one—again depends on how bad for you you want it.
Mash all together—salt and pepper to taste and I usually add Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb to about everything I make. Add bacon leaving some to side—dump mixture into pammed casserole. Put a nice layer of shredded co-jack over the top and garnish with bacon. Cook at 350 until hot and golden.

Easy slow cooker “turkey” dinner
Ok—this is the reason we have been known to take a crock pot on the road with us—easy with almost instant gratification—if you don’t mind a bit of a wait.
Layer in Crockpot
Stovetop stuffing—add water as directed on package.
Frozen mashed potato rounds—cover stuffing with single layer
Deboned rotisserie chicken—layer
Mix 1 can of cream of chicken soup with 2 jars of chicken gravy—pour over top of everything.
Let cook in slow cooker until everything is heated all the way through—really good.

Sausage gravy
My choice is straight good quality turkey breakfast sausage but I made a big batch this morning and this is the recipe that we decided to publish.
Brown 1# of turkey breakfast sausage and 1# of pork country sausage. Cook until completely done. Add margarine until you have about ½ c of grease in with the meat. Add 3-4 beef boullian cubes and break them down. Once melted add ½ c of flour and stirring constantly cook at least 2 minutes. They say 2 minutes is what it takes to get the starchy flavor out of a flour based roué. Start by adding the milk and the first 3-4 cups quickly- slowly add about ½ gallon of milk—all depends on how thick you like your gravy. Add lots of black pepper—and salt to taste—always taste it first before you add much salt—the sausage and boullian cubes have already added some. Bring to boil stirring constantly—serve with baked hash browns or biscuits. This amount will feel 5 people more than they should eat and have leftovers—I usually only cook 1# Turkey sausage for Stacy & I—adjusting everything by half. Use your common sense…Enjoy

#40--Saturday breakfast and in general lazing...

Saturday night and all is well. Today has been a totally relaxing day. We slept late and then Betsy treated us to a cast iron breakfast—maple bacon, and the fixings to do cheese stuffed roasted green chilies, eggs, and toast. I took advantage of all of it and it was great. Even bettered my camp breakfast since it was cast iron and butter…it’s kind of like charcoal—don’t like the weight or curing/don’t like the lighting and slower timing—but there is something to be said about the taste. Just not practical on a common basis, with our busy lifestyle. That’s ok—we don’t seem to suffer…but it was a treat.

Yuliya just did yet another daily basil pesto making experience. And the most bizarre part is that she is almost eating it as fast as she can make it. And we are talking at least 15 bushy plants to clean—over a bushel of leaves. I think we are on 4 days of her doing it and she is now looking almost green. We’ve decided she’s the green martian and we are really in Roswell….She just eats it by the fork full at meals. I’m thinking she will start to smell like garlic about the time she moves back in the trailer—joy. We are just thinking it’s a phase. Or at least hoping…

Tom and I started to work on our recipe page—you’ll probably have to take notes from reading it but we are trying to put it down. Just remember—when we mention a spice we usually put a reasonable coat over the entire dish—we’re more liberal but use little salt. Don’t be afraid of spice—especially the blends we usually use.

We had leftovers tonight after a day in the casino town that Stacy & I had another negative gambling experience—we are now only $90 ahead—but at least ahead!

Then we hit the grocery for Tom’s supplies to wow us with BBQ tomorrow and we headed home. After lots of relaxing we took the borrowed horse back home—our truck is the one to use on any of these towing experiences—it’s being lusted after. We hopefully will go on a short ride tomorrow and then just get organized to head out on Monday. Our trailer could use a clean/organization moment since we have only been using it as a sleeping place.

We just had leftovers tonight but will probably have a couple of recipes extra for the trying—If there is anyone more of a story teller than me—it’s Tom—he could actually beat me hands down—and he has the cowboy hat to fit the role…He’d be the perfect one to read my future book.

We also got a good priceline deal for them for their December Columbus, OH show. They were thinking about driving their little RV-- but I got 5 days for them at a Baymont Inn for $214. Can’t really beat it, especially at that time of year—it can be cold! And we are hoping Tom will stop by for a couple of days as he drives back and forth in the van to help Betsy do those shows--and do what he does best—be a handyman! He’s amazing on his scope and we will do our best to use him to his fullest for a couple of days—he already knows we feed well…At least that is what we have planned for them!

Stacy has been busy with making her really cool bracelets and ankle bracelets. She gives them away to everyone--even though she sold one at an art fair for $50. Guess it’s just what we tend to do…I just cook, talk, and be me...

#39--Shrimp pasta, rides, and naps...

It’s Friday afternoon and Stacy is snoring away in the background surrounded by the boys. We started the day with another ride around here. Mine was a little more exciting since Romeo thought he could probably be in charge this second time around. He even tried a bucking routine—although no one is buying my new self appointed title of “Bronc Buster” or as Yuliya said “bronk horser”. I ended up winning all the battles and am leading in the war, but it did make me work a little harder than the rest of the group—although Yuliya did most of it on her walk with the boys so everyone is a bit tired. I think just an active vacation in catching up with Stacy, and it is in the 80’s here—almost too warm for our choice.

I’ve been trying to get a master printed off of this here blog. Figure I’ll have several artists friends at the show and it will be good reading material—especially since I transferred it to word and it’s all in order instead of backwards. Holler is you want a copy…(although we just came in later tonight and our error on our printer is that we have outlived our printer parts and it is dead--sounds like an Albuquerque problem.)

And Romona you are right—I probably didn’t need the entire 25,000+ (yes that is twenty-five THOUSAND) words it is up to this point—but hey—got anything better to do? And I do enjoy the story telling…

Guess I better head into the house and see about making my Shrimp, mushroom, artichoke alfredo pasta—I am earning my keep as cook.

Hoping Betsy will convince her outfitter friend that they need a cook for their September-November hunting camps. I could do that if I got a horse to ride in my spare time—with my organization and Stacy’s muscle we could be quite the team to hire for a couple of months. It would be an interesting experience for us…and think of the blog I could have during that!

Just got in for the evening, the shrimp pasta was wonderful and we’ve been convinced to stay until Monday—we just have too many things to do together—and it’s been a great time.

Tomorrow we will probably do another ride around there—Betsy has been getting some good work time and we are pretty easy guests. She is totally comfortable of us taking off by ourselves—guess we have passed the “can handle horses” test.

And then Tom wants to BBQ on Sunday. Sounds good to us…
We seem to all hang out well together and Tom, being a relative newcomer of 3 yrs, views us as his & their friends, we get along very well, Tom & I relate…nice to have an important niche in another’s relationship—and they with us.

So we will probably sleep late tomorrow and then do our thing, ride, veg, and then top it off with an award winning dinner & libations. It looks to be a great weekend ahead…

#38--a warm fuzzy night...

It’s Thursday night and I be about as content as I can be—wouldn’t have added anything to the menu.

The enchiladas last night were a complete success although Tom’s sensitive towards chicken stomach must have pick up some chicken enchiladas—given a choice he would do it all over again. Staying with the food theme I made us Baked Potato Soup tonight and it was very much to die for and just what Tom’s stomach needed.

I want to do a recipe page to cover some of what we’ve had—very much tried and true…just give me some time…that’s a footnote…

The rest of today found us sleeping late and just being lazy. Then we went into the casino town and left Yuliya with her phone glued to her ear and we went in to make our fortune. But Stacy failed us…we ended up both losing our $40 each so we have back slid to only being $170 ahead with this casino—one of the bad things of playing the money game—be it stock market or slots. But it is the price we pay and we will overcome…

Then I came back and made the hellava dinner and now we are in our beloved trailer. Yuliya has been staying in the guest room in the house and I will admit it has been nice having it all to ourselves. We do like our trailer…

Tomorrow Stacy & I will go riding around here and plan on doing a big ride on Saturday—Betsy needed to catch up on some work so we are on our own until the weekend. Looks like we might head out to Mesa Verde National park on Sunday or Monday—camp there a couple of days before we head to Albuquerque.

Guess that’s all on this end. We’ll try to do something dangerous and illegal tomorrow to spice up the blog. I know how much you'all expect…

#37-Riding, SOAKING, enjoying...

Good Golly—it’s Wednesday already. Guess we are either having a great time or dead…good thing it’s the first.

Yes, we have been having a very good time in our own little world of southern Colorado, riding, soaking, eating, drinking, and enjoying life with friends.

Sunday ended up just being a mellow day—we relaxed around the house/trailer and then Stacy & I went to the casino for an extra $130 dollars. Now Tom & Betsy understand why we go—of course it was totally Stacy the winner—I lost my $40.

Then we came home to a Tom cooked Vegetarian dinner—it was excellent and even Stacy had seconds and cleared her plate. He made a zucchini casserole to die for, eggplant parmesan, again to die for, and then a creamy stir fry portabella garlic concoction, by then we were just dead! And then as if he couldn’t knock our socks off any more, he made blender ice cream! Best with snow we were told, but ice worked quite admirably—if there were more like him—we’d have one!

Monday saw us going to get the horses, while Yuliya held down the home front, and the 3 of us took the horses up into some high country and rode up a mountain from a lake. The view was fabulous and Stacy & I got along well with our mounts. Stacy got to ride the gaited mule, and I, the borrowed horse. Betsy rode her pride and joy, her black and white, Romeo—very Sedona like only very spoiled. I wanted to ride him! We had a close encounter with a rain storm that ended up only sprinkling, but seemed kind of scary and even kind of like the movies—a mountain dream ride.

That night we made cold boiled shrimp and leftovers—a meal fit again for a king…

Tuesday had to be a catch up morning, and we went to do laundry in Ignacio. Of course, once the clothes got started, we left Yuliya in charge and headed to make another $50 at the casino. Kind of like taking Stacy to work. I lost $60 but Stacy made up for it so we are about $250 ahead for this casino. Hopefully we will continue our luck once we hit Albuquerque.

We were home by 2 and we then went up to Pagosa Springs to “The Springs-A Resort”. It was locals night which allowed us all in for 1/3 the price and we treated ourselves to life of the “Rich & Famous”. We soaked for hours in an assortment of various hot spring pools that ranged from 90 degrees up to 112. We felt like wet noodles as we ate our pizza out in a snazzy local restaurant. It was great—and Yuliya now knows where she wants to live—in the pools. It was bed immediately when we got home.

This morning we saddled the horses—with me on Romeo and Stacy on borrowed horse, Betsy on her mule, and we headed out to trespass on Ute Indian reservation. It was great riding and I loved Romeo. We had to reach an understanding—no treats from me and he had to walk if I wanted him too—he totally thought I was ugly and I stank but we ended up getting along fine. And it’s always good for horses like that to have other people to ride them.

And now the day has turned into a catch up day. I’ll try to get pictures up and Stacy & Yuliya are cleaning basil for pesto. I’m going to make enchiladas tonight with Betsy doing guac—and probably all will end up cleaning basil—Betsy’s garden has been prolific with basil…

The weather continues to be perfect, although it is warming up—still comfortable and gets cooler in evening. We will probably stay here until Sunday or Monday—there are several potential plans in the works if we could get a hold of the other players, so we are just taking one day at a time. We have decided not to do the Taos show—horses trump mediocre art fair on this vacation. After all—we did have to give up a couple of things on it…