December dates

We'd had to cancel our mid-month trip for various reasons but the real bummer for me was that meant no traveling to Tarpon Springs for Greek food... :(

However, we do have some nights coming up for the New Year. Since one of them is projected to be around 35 degrees I may sneak off home instead of staying out there. (Thank goodness for being so close to home!)

Here's the killer dessert we have planned: Pineapple Upside Whomp Biscuits!! It'll be cooked in the dutch oven, of course. Pinapple tidbits, butter and brown sugar in the bottom of the pan with whomp biscuits on top. Bake til delicious!!

(whomp biscuits, for the uneducated heathen, are refrigerator biscuits where you whomp the can on the edge of the counter to open the tube)

Silver River at Thanksgiving

Well, last year was temps in the 20s and this year was MUCH better: temps in the 30s. LOL Oh, well.

We did have a great trip with lots of rest and good food and just nice times.

One story which bears mentioning is one which I'm finally starting to laugh at: the Potty Prison Episode. Yes, I'm telling on myself...

I was in the Poo Pavillon in the daytime as it was a little bit of a hike to the bath house. (Usually, I don't use it in the daytime.) I had the window half open as it was a bit stinky when I hear someone enter the campground and start talking to Mama and my sister. It was two ladies from a nearby campsite asking about the Covered Wagon. Now, for whatever reason, I just stay quiet where I am even though I'd been preparing to leave the Throne Room. I think it's because it was stinky...anyway, they all chat and I'm in there, on the "throne," with my head in my hands waiting for them to just GO. The real panic was when one's son pops in to join the chat and I hear Mama confirming what the Throne Room is and saying, "but you don't want to look in there." Heart palpitations-- the window is open and even a medium sized person could step up and would see me sitting there... on the loo... pants around my ankles...

Eventually, they all left and Mama and my sister were hysterical and all I could say was "I'm sure it will be funny later." It's getting there.

P.S. We have decided that if it happens again I'll just pop out of there and say I've finished tidying up.

So, how've ya been?

I haven't been keeping up with things since work has been such a killer lately!!

In October, we did our shakedown run for the opening of the season. The highlights were Mama and my sister repacking the camper and editing heavily as they did so. We've never run out of storage room but they're still fine tuning things.

In mid November, we went to Ft. DeSoto for three lovely days. There was a trip to the dog beach where we all stood in the ocean up to our ankles (the dog's chest). We played games and took naps, too! Awesome trip. Mostly, the a/c was on but we thought the first night we'd need the heater it was so chilly.

Now, off to Silver River for a long weekend. :)

coming soon- camping season 2009

October 23rd will be our first camping trip of the season!! (Again, this year my sister wanted to camp on Halloween but she now takes me seriously that I don't intend to be in a campground on 10/31 since I refused to do it last year!!)

Fall preparations have begun!

Yeah, we're pathetic. To keep my sister from shoppping for camping stuff she asked us to start working out menus already. Like we'd ever refuse to discuss food!!

So, we've gotten an index card box and Mama made dividers from "rise & shine" to the desserts. We'll work on that all summer and, hopefully, have a box full of recipes by September. Then, we'll just mix & match for our menus! :)

*yawn*

I'll be staying up until midnight tonight (Eastern time- about an hour and a half from now) to book Ft. DeSoto. That place fills up so fast we have to be ready to jump in there as non-residents of that county we have to wait to book anything. (sigh)

Wish me luck!

season's over

Gee, I missed out a little this year and our season's already over! Mama and my sister skipped their last camping trip as we'd gone twice in March. They've already "summerized" the Covered Wagon as it won't likely be used again...though my sister has been known to take off for a day or so in late April or May...

lazy slug

Yes, I'm a lazy slug...we did get to go camping at Ft DeSoto over a week ago and I hadn't posted the details...sad.

We had a nice couple of days at a site inland (not on the water). Unfortunately, there was no shade from 11am-3pm in the site. Silly dog of ours loves to sunbathe but is mostly black; he suffered from heat exhaustion as he wasn't smart enough to come back into the shade and we didn't realize it. We had a great shade, too, as we didn't need our screen room since the bugs were bad- my sister brought one of the easy to put up canopies people use at craft fairs. It was great! The interior of the roof was silver and the outside was blue so the blue cut the sun completely and the silver underneath reflected light at night to make it brighter. That thing was fabulous and the couple from Quebec in the next site asked about it and watched us take it down.

Mama also suffers from sun exposure as a natural redhead. She wasn't feeling great even before we went but she really got tired during the daytime. We used the heck out of our a/c in the Covered Wagon! Naps were necessary though she just rested- she doesn't really nap. There were a few unflattering moments on her part to report. She was annoyed the first night that I kept winning at Uno and got her nose a little out of joint. The next day she beat me several times in a row and positively cackled with glee! It was behavior she wouldn't have accepted from her children, that's for sure! :)

I'm a lazy slug for sleeping so much. They even left me napping, went to the beach and dog park and came back- all while I slept! Hey, eating and napping are why I camp so I don't apologize for it.

the food:
Thursday dinner- spaghetti
Friday breakfast- biscuits (yum!)
Friday dinner- turkey burgers for me & Mama, baked potatoes, gee- there was something else...
Saturday breakfast- pan de campo (cowboy bread- basically a cross between a biscuit and a pancake baked in the dutch oven in a pan)
Saturday dinner- veggie stew (cans & fresh), johnny cakes (think corn meal pancakes) and brownies baked after breakfast in the dutch oven
Sunday breakfast- cereal...it was the time change and we have to check out at 11am

shhhh- this post isn't really here..

just trying not to give in too deeply to superstition...but I'm afraid if I mention we're heading out tomorrow for 4 days then something will happen and we'll have to cancel yet another trip....shhhhhhhh

countdown

(sigh) It really stinks we had to cancel that last camping trip- that means both January and February were washouts...I'm missing camping!!

We already have our menu set for Ft. DeSoto in early March (4 day weekend, no less!). That will end up being my only camping trip this year except for the one that ended New Year's Day. I won't be camping again until October due to the heat and the mosquitos.

sadder but warmer

So, the trip was called off. It was in the teens at night but warm enough in the day. I can't possibly imagine our having stayed there the first night and the second might have been bad just becaue we wouldn't have thawed from the first one.

We did, however, pay homage to the trip that wasn't by eating the menu (dinners at least)!

Friday dinner:
bread bowl filled with asparagus (from a can), homemade white sauce and chopped boiled egg
yeah, I hear my arteries clogging but who cares with something that tastes that good?

Saturday dinner:
grilled turkey burgers or Boca burgers on buns w/onions, grilled yellow peppers, pickles & condiments
chips & dip
fresh fruit salad

wagon, ho!

Right- so this upcoming weekend is Silver River again...like at Thanksgiving...as in "freeze off the fanny" cold... Care to guess the predicted temperatures?? (pause) Yup! In the 40s at night! Woooo Hoooooooo! What a freakin' bunch of idiots we are- although my sister swears it's the mid-40s which is much warmer than the mid-30s we endured at Thanksgiving. If she's wrong she's going down... I'll be in the nearest motel by the time they airlift her battered carcass to the nearest trauma center. Mama and Tug have been duly warned: the bus only gives one warning ("I'm outta here") and if they're not on board they can walk to the motel...

prepping for February

January is out. We're not camping this month for multiple reasons (none of them good when you want to be in front of a campfire).

February boasts an early 3 day weekend trip. We're already hashing out the menu- but Mama and my sister tried to cut me out!! They tell me this afternoon they've got most of it planned out. Humph. That's my only real duty besides towing the Covered Wagon. I don't give up my responsibility easily- especially because I'm now on a diet and they're just watching what they eat... Double humph.

It's been fairly cold the past couple of days- I even put on an extra blanket- but nothing that equals Silver River at Thanksgiving and that's where we're going again!! :)

the bear facts

So, like I always say- we don't eat or store food in the Covered Wagon as there's a few state parks we stay at which advise when they have "active bears." If you've realized the item on the right in the photo is an RV you'd probably consider this bear "active" as he's in their site. They were inside with their dogs. Our site was directly behind my sister who took this photo. We were literally across the street. The next night my aunt stayed in the site just to the right of this one and found bear "scat" on the path which led from her site to the bath house. He is just a young 'un but old enough to be away from his mama. Unfortunately, he wasn't really scared of anyone and that's bad news. Bears need to be scared of people so they'll stay away and not have to be tranquilzed and hauled off somewhere- which is probably this little one's fate in the near future.

home again

So my sister and I went out two nights ago but did the "lite" camping thing- no cooking. LOL Here, we are- food hounds with incredible menus- and we've had 2 mini camping trips with limited cooking in a row... I'd hang my head but my big, fat belly's in the way!! We ate at a fastish-food Mexican place after setting up camp. We stopped to get a few things at her house on the way back. We had a small fire and went to bed. For lunch on New Year's Eve my sister and I went to a different chain (fastish-food Mexican) which has a hot sauce bar. [evil grin] I chose to add a hot sauce called "Endorphin Rush" to my meal: it makes my tongue swell for about 5 minutes and I blow a few tons of mucus out of my nose. Pity my poor sister. I think the memory will help her diet, though.

Mama and the dog joined us for New Year's Eve with great food. My aunt had a site nearby. Last year they'd been rained out for part of the trip but we had great weather this year. It was a bit chilly but nothing like 36 degrees. (the 40's, I think) We had a nice night in the campsite though there were issues with the fire. My theory is the wood wasn't "dry" enough (though it wasn't wet- I think it was too fresh and there was too much sap). My aunt did a great job of keeping it going by poking and prodding it and making sure there was air flow under the logs.

We all slept pretty well and the three of us had a nice breakfast. My aunt went bike riding in the AM vs. breakfast with us- she's the active type who kayaks and bike rides regularly. We are slugs. :)

My sister will make the reservations for next year's New Year's Eve soon. We all agreed to meet back there!!

Menu:
New Year's Eve
turkey burgers for the carnivores
soy sausages for the veggie-vore
grilled corn
grilled onions
veggie baked beans from a can (I love those!)
nice wheat buns and condiments

New Year's AM
scrambled eggs in butter
grits with butter and cheese
coffee for the 2 freaks
rich dark chocolate cocoa for me
(water for the dog who did get a bite of eggs and grits)