Thursday, June 22, 2017

Back In The Saddle

So here is the dilemma… do I start back in March and update the blog with a month by month of everything we have done or just pick up with our current life?

The muse says to go with the immediate.  There is no excuse for not writing for months.  In the past I have felt ashamed, now I just feel relief the words are coming again!

We have been home in our mountain duplex since the middle of May after attending the Eggs on the Hiawassee rally in Hiawassee, Georgia.  Lovely rally!  One that we will do again!

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David on the Hiawassee River

Our time at home is a mixture of doctor appointments, errands, reconnecting with family and upgrading our space.

David is having issues with his left hip which is worn out.  It is just a matter of time before another hip replacement. (He had his right hip done in 2011.) Meanwhile he is feeling better after a cortisone injection this week.

When we downsized two years ago and moved into a space that had been rental property for 47 years, we remodeled everything but the bathroom. The bath is overdue for improvement.  Most of the fixtures are the original. 

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Tile samples, 1968 bathroom

The work is to start next week and we will be relocating to the Escape 19 until the facilities are functioning.  The plan is to camp at a nearby county park….(no room to park at our home). 

It’s been part fun and part work to pick out tile, vanity, shower doors and lights. Hope it goes smoothly!!

We can’t leave the area until it is complete.  Still have our fingers crossed that nothing else will get in the way of another Colorado mountain trip in July.

When we are not at the doctors, or Walmart or napping, I am cooking with my magic pot, my Instant Pot!

Those of you who are fiberglass trailer enthusiast….do you recall the excitement, the obsession, the craziness when you first got introduced to the little egg trailers?

Take that obsession and transfer it to a cooking utensil!!

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On Amazon Prime day, one year ago, Chris of Technomadia posted that the Instant Pot was on sale.  I had never heard of an Instant Pot and really never thought of myself as a cook, but I was curious???? And before midnight I ordered the on sale electric pressure cooker.

The Facebook Instant Pot group with its half a million members is constantly feeding the frenzy. I get lost in reading the posts which are so much more fun than the politicalized FB feed.

As a result of the FB group, I am now making my own hummus, my own yogurt and using my IP two, sometimes four, times a day.  Cheesecake will be my next challenge!

About now, several of you are wondering why you are reading about cooking on a camping/traveling blog?

I call it “life”!  We can move from one interest/obsession to another!  I am usually good for about 8 years and we got our first Casita in 2008.

(But we are not leaving our trailer friends!)

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Tortilla Soup

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First whole chicken before

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After cooking….falling apart!

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First yogurt

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meatloaf before cooking

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Meat loaf after cooking

Summing it up……we are having fun with me cooking and David eating!

Going back to camping, we have been to three rallies this spring, the Green Eggs and Ham in March, the Eggscursion in the Great Smoky Mountains in April and the Hiawassee in May.

It was bitter cold for the first of the GE&H but nice the last few days.  We stayed 8 nights at Gunter Hill COE moving three times. (Failed to make timely reservations). Can’t find the photos from the cold!

The Townsend rally….our 8th year to attend…was fun.  We experienced a jolt one night.  I turned over and went back to sleep hoping there were no leaks.

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The limb bounced off the trailer onto the table and Clam….thankful there was no damage to either one.

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The April rally site is at a KOA, much more crowded than the Corp of Engineer parks.

We have been staying pretty close to home for the past month.  Most of our exercise is walking up and down the road where we live. We did explore a new trail a couple of weeks ago.  It goes along a creek in an old coal mining area.  Super nice day!

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Hope to try out the swimming hole soon!

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As you can see, the two men in my life are just hanging out….waiting for the time to get back on the road!